Oklahoma's Gold (33 page)

"Eureka!" Daniel shouted as he threw his clippers down.

Jess noticed the large gap in front of him. He'd done it, thank goodness. Her fingers were blistered and stiff, but that didn't seem to matter now. They were one step closer. That's what counted. Of course closer to what, she wasn't sure. All they had to go by was the fortuneteller's words. Look for writing and drawing on the cave wall and something buried nearby. Yeah, right, she sniffed. That sure narrowed it down.

Gathering up their flashlights and a few other supplies, Daniel led the way with Jess close behind. A slight rustling sounded right before Jess passed to the other side. She turned sharply to catch notice of whatever made the noise, but found nothing. A bird maybe? Then she shrugged her shoulders and followed Daniel into the dark.

She wrinkled her nose at the dank, musty smell. Of course she was unsure which got to her more, the smell or the dark. Both were kind of creepy, she decided. Out of necessity she and Daniel turned on their flashlights. It was a slight risk. Bats or other creatures might come flying out, startled by the intrusion. But the explorers had to find their way around without stumbling and tripping. After a couple minutes though, it seemed safe to assume no sudden surprises were coming their way. At least for the moment.

"Well, there's nothing on these walls," Daniel commented as his flashlight took in the perimeter of where they stood, finally stopping to shine in one particular corner. "Seems that might lead somewhere."

It did indeed look like a passageway. Jess glanced over at Daniel and he nodded. With apprehensive steps they forged ahead. The path led them down steeply, sometimes stretching wide enough for them to walk abreast, then narrowing to the point where Daniel could barely fit through. Jess glanced at her watch. Nearly twenty minutes had passed and they still hadn't reached another cave. They were beginning to doubt anymore existed. Suddenly though, the path began a sharp upgrade making it more like a climb than a walk. The further along they went, the lighter it seemed to be getting. Maybe this was a way to the outside, Jess thought, trying to stay optimistic. But that was discouraging because then they'd have to go back and start all over.

The next turn however brought them into another cave. Much bigger than the first. And the reason it was so light came from the small opening at the very peak of the cave ceiling. Though no bigger than eight inches in diameter, the hole illuminated the entire area and left no need for their flashlights.

Taking a quick look around proved to be no reward. Still no writing or drawing. "Maybe she was wrong. Or maybe these are the wrong caves." Jess looked dismayed, feeling they'd wasted their time.

Daniel wasn't listening though. He walked over to one side of the cave where there appeared to be a cluster of stones, the size of a small door, built into the wall. He ran his hand over them, back and forth, up and down, as if looking for some clue. Grabbing hold of one, he pulled hard and loosened the stone. He tried another and another, until several crumbled and fell to the ground. What it left surprised both of them.

"Looks like an opening. Maybe it leads to another cave!" Jess exclaimed, running over to join Daniel. She stuck her hand through it before Daniel had a chance to stop her. Neither one of them knew what to expect, and he felt they should be a bit more cautious.

However, all her hand found was air. "Go get a flashlight," she said as a rush of excitement overcame her. What if they found a treasure of some kind?  Even though Madame Zorda hadn't said anything about that. Still, maybe Emma's grandfather had hidden some of his millions up here since there was no Martha to share it with. After all, it was possible John Wallace had made more riches than what Emma had inherited. Growing impatient and just a bit too anxious, Jess decided to make a bigger opening so they both could get through.

Leaning forward, she began pulling at stones with both hands and made great progress. Turning around, she saw that Daniel was still fiddling with the flashlight.

Obviously the bulb was loose or out. So, he started to walk over to where hers was lying. Sighing with impatience, Jess turned back around quickly to continue breaking down the stone wall when she lost her balance. Hands, arms, feet, legs—all went flying as she fell through the opening. An avalanche of crumbling stones and rock quickly followed. As she hit the ground, a large chunk of rock tumbled downwards, making her head its target. The last thing she remembered was Daniel yelling, "Jess!" Right before she blacked out.

* * *

Daniel just stood there frozen, not fully registering what happened. He covered his mouth to stop from coughing. Dust and dirt had created a thick cloud in front of the stone door. As it settled, Daniel's eyes grew wide with fear. The opening, or at least what was once open, now formed a massive pile of broken rock. And Jess was on the other side. Daniel's heart pounded so loudly the sound was hurting his ears. Jess was on the other side. He couldn't stop saying it. Over and over, it went through his mind. When his legs finally would move, he ran to the wall and began frantically trying to clear the doorway. It soon appeared hopeless. He'd pull rocks away; more would fall down to take their place.

"Jess! Jess! Can you hear me?" he yelled, desperate for even one word from the other side of that wall. One word, just to let him know she was okay. He waited, minutes, but it seemed an eternity. Nothing. His instinct persuaded him to stay here close to her. Anything else would seem like abandoning her. He couldn't do that. It tore him apart to think of doing that. He slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. More rock crumbled. As he stared at it he realized there was only one thing to do. Though it tore his heart, he knew he must leave. Go get help. He couldn't do this alone. He forced himself to walk away, convinced himself it was the right move. "Hang on, Jess. Just hang on," he pleaded, then left the cave.

Chapter 47

The sound, the words, all were muffled, distant, too far away. And it hurt for Jess to listen. She winced in pain. Why did her head hurt so much? She wanted to answer whoever was calling to her. Her lips formed words, but no sound came out. Instead, she coughed and tried to clear her throat. The chalky, thick dust and dirt burned her lungs.

Sitting up, slowly and carefully, she felt a slight wave of dizziness, but it soon passed. Her hand gingerly touched the bump near the crown of her head. It was sore, not bleeding though.

First, waiting to regain her sense of balance, Jess looked around her. Indeed, she had found another cave. Not quite as big as the previous one, but still roomy. There was light in this one, too. She couldn't see exactly where it came from. Somewhere off to the right maybe. At least that looked like another path, and possibly a way out. She might need it later because there was no going back the way she came in. She looked at the pile of rock in disgust. How stupid. She should have been more careful. Daniel had warned her not to go anywhere without him. And now here she was. Alone, injured, in a hell of a jam.

She wanted to cry by now, but biting her lower lip, she prevented the tears from coming. To stop worrying, Jess resolved to keep busy by looking around. She guessed it was possible this cave might be the one from Madame Zorda’s vision, but she was doubtful. After all, they hadn’t discovered much of anything so far and this was the third cave. Yet, it puzzled her. Why would someone go to the bother of covering up the opening like that? Only if they had something to hide, she concluded. Why else?

Jess examined each wall carefully, looking for anything unusual. It wasn’t writing that caught her eye at first. Instead, she was drawn to an object lying on the ground, near the corner where two walls butted together. It looked dull white in color and very small. As she got closer it took but a second to recognize it. She gasped at the realization and took a step back. A bone. It was a bone that registered in her brain. Gathering courage, she went forward to pick it up. She shuddered, nearly dropping what clearly was once a human finger. A million thoughts went through her mind. Was this the
something old, gone from this world
Madame Zorda spoke about? If it was, then shouldn’t the writing be close by? She looked up and examined the two walls in front of her. Glancing up and across from side to side she saw nothing. Nothing at all.

Jess sat down on the dirt floor, next to the finger bone, rested her chin in the palms of her hands to think. She tried analyzing the situation, putting the clues together. Why would there be writing on the wall? Who would put it there? She looked at the finger bone again and suddenly her eyes opened wide. She squatted on all fours, bending her neck down to scour the surface of the wall nearer to the ground. It took a couple minutes and she almost missed it, since the letters were so tiny, but there it was. Three simple words –
John, Paul, Lou
scratched into the rock.
Lou
looked rather faint and wobbly. She speculated that the writer must have been running out of strength by then.

"John, Paul, Lou," she chanted aloud, over and over again like a mantra, hoping the sound of those names would give her some idea, some clue. Anything. "Who could they …?" she began to ask herself, when it suddenly clicked. "John Wallace! That’s it!"

 She stood up straight, the effort making her dizzy. Her mind raced. Paul and Lou had to refer to his buddies and business partners. It made sense. But this was too eerie to believe it was really happening. Who was the
something gone from this
world
then? Faintly, in the back of her mind, an idea nagged at her. She wasn’t sure.

Jess began to scrape away the dirt where she’d found the bone, no longer squeamish or afraid. Curiosity had gotten the better of her. Immediately, she uncovered the rest of the hand. No doubt if she kept going, the rest of the body might appear. She wasn’t sure if she was that brave. Hesitating, not certain what she wanted to do next, a sound from the lighted corner of the cave made her turn around.

A coyote, its eyes a piercing blue, stood there staring at her. Jess blinked a few times, thinking that the clump of rock must have hit her harder than she realized. Suddenly, a sense of fear built up inside her. What if it attacked? She had no weapons. Other than that pile of rocks, she thought sarcastically. But the coyote just stood there, staring.

She only looked down for a second, once more thinking about the bones. That's all it took. And the coyote left as quickly as he had come. Jess blinked again, just to make sure. Yes. The image was gone.

Thinking that maybe she should follow it, that it might lead to a way out, Jess took a few steps toward the light. Then she stopped. No. She might get lost. It had only been an hour or so since she regained consciousness. She needed to at least give Daniel a chance to return and find her. If that was what he was going to do.

So, Jess sat back down again to wait. She tried calculating how much time had passed since they'd first ventured into the caves. The task made her head hurt even more. How long had she blacked out? Minutes? Hours? A little panic began to set in. What if Daniel hadn't gone anywhere and was passed out on the other side of the wall? On all fours, not bothering to get up, she scrambled to the pile of rocks.

"Daniel! Can you hear me? Daniel," she shouted and pounded on the wall. For all her effort, too much rock debris began falling, creating more irritating dust, so she quit.

Reaching for a rock, she threw it across the cave in frustration. Tears streamed down her face. What had she done? The elation of her discovery suddenly meant nothing. She had to get out. That was the only conclusion coming to mind.
Get out
.

"Jess! Jessica Clinton! Are you in there?" A voice called to her from another place. Of course, she realized, this must be all a part of her delusional state. No one was really shouting. No one was there. Just her and her desperation.

"Jessica!" There it was again. She began to shake her head, trying to clear her mind, telling the sound to go away. But then the sound had a face. She was going crazy. That was it. Crazy. Had to be. There was no man standing there right where the coyote had stood. A man she didn't even recognize. Crazy. Her mind had finally snapped.