Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 02 - Apple Pots and Funeral Plots (16 page)

I screamed, “
Shelby
!”

The barking became louder.
It didn’t sound like it was coming from above me but from somewhere inside the mine.
Hopefully she didn’t get herself into the mine by herself or we’d both be stuck here.
Then I saw a light coming toward me.

Shelby
ran
in from one of the
shafts off of the room I was
in.
She jumped into my lap.
I gave her a big hug and she licked my face.
“Hello, girl.”

Behind her was Kate, wearing her backpack, and leading Jimmy and Ted.
A wave of relief washed over my entire body.
I
wouldn’t
die, not today anyway.

Kate pointed at the fire and yelled.
“Ted, put that out.”

“With what?”
He put his hands in the air.

“Use the dirt from the ground.
The wood is poisonous.”

Jimmy came over to me.
“Are you all right?”

I gave him a small smile.
“Just sitting here waiting to be rescued.”

Kate laughed.
“Sure you were.
I noticed all the little piles of rocks and sticks by the shafts in the mines.
You must have walked over five miles since you fell in here.”

Ted finished smothering the flames and stood by me.
I looked at the three of them.
“How did you know I was here?”

Kate reached down and petted
Shelby
.
“She came to the carnival.”

“Yeah, and there aren’t any dogs allowed around the carnival rides, so the local police,”
Ted
pointed to
Jimmy
, “were called in to catch her.”
He laughed and Kate joined in.

“What’s so funny?”
I asked.

“It was hilarious,” Kate said between giggles.

Jimmy lowered his voice.
“No, it wasn’t.”

Ted slapped Jimmy on the back.
“Oh yes it was.
She kept barking and running.
You and Dave
ran
after her.
She’d backtrack and get behind you.
It was like she was trying to herd you like a sheep dog.”

Shelby
came over and lay down by me.
“How did you finally catch her?”

“Doggy treats,” Jimmy replied with a triumphant smile.
“We got a bag and started throwing them to her.
Pretty soon she was catching the treats and we were able to get a leash on her.”

I petted her head.
“So did she lead you to the hole?”

Jimmy shook his head.
“But she certainly did get our attention.”

“I remembered that you said that you were going to take a walk around the forest and by the mines,” Kate said.
“The three of us took a walk through the forest and then out toward the mine.”

Ted nodded at the ashes.
“We saw your smoke signal.”

“It was coming through the hole you made in the ground.”
Jimmy pointed to the ceiling.

I glared at him.
“And why aren’t there any signs about the holes in the ground?”

“I don’t know how you could have missed it, Liza.
It was a pretty good sized hole.”
Kate also pointed to the hole in the ceiling.

I thought about what happened.
“I was walking backwards at the time.
Shelby was running around and I was yelling at her to catch up.
I must have tripped…”

“That’s probably what happened,” Jimmy said.

I left out the part about feeling somebody pull me backwards before I fell.
Maybe it was just the weight of my body as I fell and not somebody trying to send me flying into a bottomless pit.

“How did you guys get into the mine?”
I asked, thinking about the ropes that were in Kate’s backpack.

“There are several entrances to the mine where you can just walk in.”
Kate smiled.
“It’s a lot easier than falling through a hole.”

“I’m sure it is.”
Finally I stood up.
“Let’s get out of here.”

Kate put her hand up.
“Did you see the waterfall?”

I shook my head.
“I did see the stream of water.”

Kate’s eyes widened.
“You didn’t drink the water, did you?”

“No, why?”

“It’s got all sorts of parasites in it.
I have some pills in my backpack to purify the water.”

“I saw those when I went though your backpack at the car.
But I didn’t bring it with me.”
I put my hand on my head.
“Right now, I was hoping they were aspirin.”

Jimmy finally noticed the new bump on my head.
“Gosh, I’m sorry.
Do you need something for that?”

“Just several aspirin.”

“I’ve got those.”
Kate reached into her backpack and took out the pill case I had seen.
She handed me two white pills.

“I thought these were for the water.”

“Some of them are, but the ones with the big letter E are Excedrin.
They should help.”

“Thanks.”

Ted handed me a canteen and I took the pills.
The water felt cool and refreshing.

“Let’s show her the waterfall.
It’s the most spectacular sight in these mines.”
Kate marched off into one of the shafts.
Shelby barked and ran after her.

I looked over at Ted and Jimmy.
“It doesn’t seem like we have much of an option, do we?”

Ted laughed.
“Not with Kate.”

Jimmy made sure that the fire was totally out, covering it with several more layers of dirt.
Then the three of us walked toward the shaft Kate had taken.

A few seconds later, we heard Kate’s high-pitched shriek.

We all ran toward her screams.

Chapter 16

We found her against the wall in the next shaft.
Her face was covered with her hands and she was screaming at the top of her lungs.

I put my hand on her shoulder.
“Kate!
What’s the matter?”

She took a deep breath and pointed to the other side of the room.

A body.
A chill ran up my spine.
How would I have reacted if I had found this body while I
searched
for a way out of the mine?
I was glad I had company.

Jimmy headed over, while Ted put his arms around Kate, who was crying.

I walked over to Jimmy.
The body was mutilated.
I could see part of the skull and several bones through missing sections of flesh.
The skin looked gray and had small holes in it.
There were teeth marks on the arms and legs; an animal must have been chewing on it.
From what was left of the body, I could tell it had been a woman.
I hoped that the animals hadn’t gotten to her until after she was dead.
The odor was terrible.
I couldn’t believe that I didn’t smell it while I was wandering around the mine.

I flashed back to the last time I had seen a dead body.
It had been one of the clown employees who had stumbled onto the illegal activities at the clown camp.
He’d been on his way to tell me when he’d been brutally murdered.
At the sight of his body, I’d been shocked and horrified.
This time, I felt nauseated by the sight of the mutilated body and I was having trouble breathing through the smell.

I put my hand over my mouth and tapped Jimmy on the shoulder.
“Who is it?”

“I don’t know. Except that it was a woman.”

I pointed to the brown purse that lay next to the body.
“There’s probably ID in there.”

“Yeah, but I’ll
wait for the crime boys.”
He nodded at the body.
“She isn’t going anywhere.”

“How long do you think she’s been here?”

“Maybe a year or so?
But it looks like rats have gotten to her so it might be less.”

“Are you missing any local people?”

“Not that I know of.”
He walked over to Kate.
“My
radio won’t
work inside the mine, so I need to get out of here.
Can you get us out quickly and then show the other officers back into the mine?”

Kate looked at him.
Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she nodded.
“Of course I can.
You all would get lost if you tried to do it by yourselves.”

Jimmy signaled for me to come over.
“Let’s get out of here.”

Ted put his arm around Kate.
“That’s a good idea.”

Ted and Kate led the way and Jimmy and I followed.
A few minutes later, we came to a large opening that led out of the mine.
It was just getting dark when we exited the mine.
Jimmy used his radio to call the station.
As soon as he stopped talking, I heard the sirens in the distance.
It
would
be a long night for the Clainsworth Police Department.
I’ve seen enough “CSI” and “Law and Or
der” shows to know that a crime
scene can take hours to process.

My cell phone read
seven o’clock
.
I’d been trapped in the mine over three hours.
I put
Shelby
inside Kate’s car so she wouldn’t bark and run around.
The sirens and all the activity would drive her nuts.

A few minutes later, five police cards arrived with sirens blaring.
They drove up to Jimmy’s squad car and parked.
Jimmy started barking orders at them and pointing to Kate.
A few minutes later, Lieutenant Damson drove up in his unmarked car.
As big as that man’s potbelly was, I was surprised he could even get out of the vehicle.
Jimmy went straight to him.
He glanced my way and then signaled for Kate to come.

Ted held Kate’s hand until they got to the opening of the mine.
She kissed him on the cheek, turned and led the officers back down into the mine.
He turned and walked over to where I was leaning against the Mustang.

“Sometimes it sucks to be the smartest person.”

“Yes.”
I nodded and patted him on the shoulder.

He leaned next to me.
“Who do you think it is?”

“I don’t know.
It’s your town.
Who’s missing?”

“Nobody that I know of.”

“If
Jimmy
’s right and the body has been here a year it could be a tourist who came for the eating contests last year.”

“That could be.
We get a lot of strangers here during the festival.
And we certainly wouldn’t miss one if they wandered into the mine and got themselves killed.”

“True enough.”

Ted lowered his head.
“I guess this means our dinner is cancelled.”

“I think I already ruined that.
You guys came looking for me instead of preparing the food.
I owe you guys a good meal.
What’s the best place to eat in this town?”

Ted’s eyes widened.
“Rogan’s Steak House!”

“As soon as Kate gets out, let’s call Bill and have him meet us there.”

His face lit up.
“Great idea.”

A few minutes later, Bill drove up in his tow truck.
He got out and ran over to Ted and me.
His eyes were wide and he was breathing hard.
“Where’s Kate?”

“In the mine,” Ted said, pointing to the entrance.

“Is she okay?”

I put my hand on his arm.
“She’s fine.”

“I heard they found a woman’s body in the mine.
I know Kate likes to wander around in there.
The first thing I thought was it was…”

I shook my head.
“She’s just helping the cops find the body and then she’ll be out.”

Bill took a huge breath and leaned against the car next to me.
“Thank God.”

“I’m buying dinner at the Steak House.
Do you want to join us?”

“Of course,” he said, then looked at
Ted
.
“Are the kids coming too?”

“Yes.
I owe them for rescuing me from the mine.”

Bill bellowed, “What?”

Several minutes later I had explained what happened after the eating contest.

By the end of my story, Bill was shaking his head at me.
“You sure get yourself into trouble easy, lady.”

“I don’t do it on purpose.”
I put my arms across my chest.

“It’s like a line from a movie I saw once,” Ted said.
“She doesn’t go looking for trouble, but it always knows where to find her.”

I hit Ted on the arm.
“No, it doesn’t!”
I pulled my hand back.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you.
I think I’m spending too much time around Kate.”

“That’s not a bad thing, Liza.
Kate seems to be able to avoid trouble.”

“And that’s a good skill to have.”
Ted replied, nodded
his head and grinn
ed
.

A few minutes later, Kate came out of the mine and walked over to us.
She was frowning.
“I forgot about getting dinner ready.”

I put my arm around her. “Don’t worry about it.
I’m taking us all out to the Steak House.”

“Really?”
Her eyes lit up.

“Yes.”

“Great.”
She rolled her eyes at her dad.
“We never get to eat there. Dad says it’s too expensive.”

“After rescuing me, I owe you a good dinner.”
I looked at Bill.
“Do you want to take your truck or should we all go together in Kate’s car?”

“I’ll leave it.
You can swing back here when we’re done.”

“Great.”
I threw him the keys.
“You drive.”

Before we could leave, Lieutenant Damson stomped over to me.
“What the hell were you doing in the mine?”

“Falling,” I said sarcastically.

“You need to stay away from here.”
He looked at Bill.
“You need to keep a better eye on her.
We wouldn’t want something serious to happen to her, would we?”

“No,” Bill replied, a little more forcefully than I wanted.
He wasn’t my keeper.
That wasn’t even a job that Tom could handle.

The lieutenant marched off and we all piled into the Mustang.
Kate and Ted sat in the back and I rode shotgun.
Shelby sat on my lap.

I placed my hand on Bill’s arm.
“Can you take me back to the inn first?
I’d like to change my clothes and put
Shelby
in the room.”

“Sure, no problem.”
Bill nodded and smiled.

Bill drove to the inn and Shelby and I got out.
I glanced back and smiled, “I’ll just be a minute.”

Bill smiled and nodded again.

As soon as I opened the door
Shelby
ran over, gobbled down her entire bowl of food, drank some water, and then jumped on the bed and lay down.

“A little tired, girl?”
I asked.

She lifted her head, didn’t even bark, and then laid it back on the bed.

I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror.
My reflection said –- disaster victim.
I had dirt and soot on my face and arms.
My clothes were dusty, filthy, and torn.
As I took them off, I noticed that they smelled like the smoke from the wood.
No amount of washing
would
fix that!
As I placed the clothes and flip-flops into the black plastic bag lining the garbage can in my room, I felt the piece of pot in my pocket.
I retrieved the piece and put it into my cosmetic bag.
Then I tied the bag closed.

How quickly could I take a shower?
I hated making them wait, but if I smelled only half as bad as my clothes, who could eat?
I jumped in the shower, washed my body and hair and then quickly dried and changed into clean clothes and tennis shoes.
No time to dry my hair or put on any makeup, but at least I smelled okay.
As I left the room, I grabbed the black plastic bag and threw it into the inn’s dumpster.

When I got into the Mustang,
Kate
un-pinched her nose.
“I’m glad you decided to just get rid of the clothes?”

“Why didn’t you tell me I smelled and looked that bad?”

“I knew you’d figure it out soon enough.”
She smiled.

Bill and Ted smiled too.
Then Bill started up the car and we were on our way to dinner.
My budget really didn’t include taking four people out to an expensive meal, but I’d still be sitting in a mineshaft if it weren’t for them.

Rogan’s was decorated in a western theme.
It had wagon wheels for doors, and ropes, saddles and spurs hung all over the walls.
A wooden fence separated each booth.
The waitresses were dressed in blue jeans, collared Western shirts, cowboy boots and hats that matched their shirts.
It was a cool restaurant.

Bill led us up to the podium where they were taking names.
I was hungry, so I hoped there wasn’t a long wait.

“How many for dinner?” the hostess asked.

“Four,” Bill replied.
“How long is the wait, Dana?”

“No wait,” she said, grabbing four menus.

“You’re kidding me,” Bill said.

“There’s always an hour or so wait at this place,” Ted said to me.

“A few minutes ago, several of the cops left, and their wives left a few minutes later.
I’ve got four open tables.”

We followed the hostess to a back booth.
I slid in first,
Bill
followed, then
Kate
and
Ted
came in the other side.
The hostess handed us the menus and took our drink orders, two Diet Cokes, one regular Coke and a beer.
A few minutes later our drinks arrived as we studied the menu.