Cave of Discovery

CHAPTER 5 - A MEETING WITH MANEATER

  The paved road became gravel as the boys turned onto Pickax Lane.

  "Are you sure Silas lives up this road?" Jason asked.

  Their bicycles bogged down in the gravel. Jason stood up to peddle as he struggled against the pull on the tires. He hoped it wasn't too far. The afternoon had become muggy, and the morning breeze had disappeared.

  As they came around a curve, he saw a one-story brick house set back from the road. The wrought iron fence around the yard made it look like a park. Small islands of flowers in a dazzling array of colors surrounded manicured bushes. The ancient pickup truck parked in the driveway looked out of place. Its red paint had faded to the color of tomato soup and rust spots abounded. He was puzzled by the weathered bumper sticker that read I Like Ike.

  They stopped and faced the iron gate. A flat piece of copper cut out in the shape of a miner with a pickax over his shoulder was welded to the bars. One hand reached out and grasped the gatepost forming the latch. The weathered copper had developed a green patina making the hand look moldy.

  Jason swallowed and said, "This is it?"

  Daniel said, "Still want to go in?"

  Jason wasn't sure this was such a good idea anymore, but he nodded and reached for the green hand.

  "Wait?," Daniel said.

  But Jason had already pulled up the hand and released the gate. From the house came a loud "Caw! Caw! Caw!" An enormous black dog came bounding around the side of the house. Snarling and barking it raced toward the fence.

  Jason watched in terror as it snaked along the ground. Saliva dripped from its fangs as it barred its teeth. A few feet from the fence it launched itself.

  "Look out!" Daniel shouted as he grabbed the gate and yanked it closed. He crashed into Jason as he tried to get away from the fence. With a yell and a loud clatter they fell to the ground knocking over the bicycles. From the tangled heap, Jason looked up into the dog's fierce eyes as it leaned over the fence growling at them.

  "Maneater!" he heard a voice bellow. The dog barred its teeth. "Maneater, come here." The dog gave a snort and one last woof before trotting back to the house. Jason sat up and brushed off his jeans. His hands were shaking as he helped Daniel untangle the bikes. They looked over the fence and saw an old man on the porch. The dog sat at his side and glared at the gate. The man bent forward and squinted at them.

  "That you Daniel?"

  "Yes sir," Daniel said.

  "Well, come on in." He turned and went back in the house. The dog didn't move.

  Jason looked at Daniel. "Now what?" he asked.

  "Maneater," said the muffled voice from inside the house. "Leave the boys alone."

  The dog lay down on the porch and rested its head on its paws. Jason took a deep breath and opened the gate. Again they heard the "Caw! Caw! Caw!" The dog lifted its head.

  Keeping a wary eye on it, Jason took a timid step inside and slowly crept up the path. Time seemed to stop between one step and the next. The muscles in his back twitched, and his legs felt like jelly. He glanced back, comforted that Daniel was following and the gate was still ajar.

  He reached the house and put a trembling foot on the bottom step. The dog snorted. It trotted to the other end of the wrap around porch and disappeared around the side of the house.

  They hurried up the steps past a carved, wooden raven attached to a speaker, and dashed inside. Jason pulled the door shut. Some of the tenseness left his muscles now that there was a barrier between them and the dog.

  They were in a small entryway attached to the living room. The smell of freshly brewed coffee blended with the stale odor of fried bacon and made his stomach queasy. A plate on the kitchen table still held the remains of breakfast. He heard muttering and turned to see Silas pulling a blanket off the sofa in the living room. His head was bald on top. A fringe of white wispy hair floated over his ears and touched the collar of his silk shirt.

  "Dog hair," he said. "Maneater sheds something awful. Hope there's no burrs on the sofa. He gets them in his coat when chasing varmits, and I can't always see them nowadays."

  He looked up and his eyes met Jason's. The blanket slipped unnoticed from his fingers and slithered into a heap on the floor. He frowned. "You from around here? You look familiar."

  Jason slowly shook his head. Suddenly he felt cold and clammy. There was something uncanny about Silas. Maybe Daniel was right about him.

  "He's my cousin," Daniel said. "Probably a family resemblance."

  Silas grunted. "Have a seat," he said. He collapsed into the recliner and picked up his coffee mug. The blanket lay forgotten on the floor. He studied Jason over the top of his mug as he took a long noisy drink. The boys sat rigid on the edge of the sofa.

  "Now boys. What brings you way out here?"

  Jason felt silence settle down over the room like a dark cloud. He knew it was up to him to do the talking. He had promised. But he couldn't think of anything to say. His throat felt tight. Then almost as if someone else had control of his voice he croaked out, "Treasure."

  Silas burst into a cackle that made Jason's flesh crawl. "Treasure is it?" Silas said. "What kind of treasure?"

  "Well, your treasure. I - I heard you found a treasure. And - I thought - well, I wanted to hear about it from you," Jason said.

  Silas grinned revealing a gold capped tooth. "Ain't been on the Haunted Cave tour yet, eh?"

  "I went on the tour," Jason said. "But how did you know where to find the treasure? How did you find it when no one else could?"

  "Took me twenty years to find that bag of silver. I was a lad a bit younger than you when a stranger came through town. My Pappy owned the Silver Lode and we lived there - same as Daniel and his family do now. Back then it was called the Prospect Inn. I changed the name after I found the treasure."

  "Who was the stranger?" Jason asked.

  "His name was?let's see?Jim. Yes, Jim Bentley. Well, Jim stayed with us, and he had a map with him."

  Jason leaned forward, his eyes bright. "A treasure map?"

  "A copy of one. Said he was gonna get rich. It led him to the cave alright." Silas chuckled. "But he came back from the cave and threw the map in the fire. Said he'd had it with treasure hunting and was never going back to that haunted place."

  "Haunted?" Jason said. "What do you mean, haunted?"

  Silas whispered, "Saw McPherson's ghost, he did." Then he nodded and collapsed back in the chair, wheezing.

  "McPherson? Isn't he the one who hid the treasure?" Jason said.

  "Yep. Got rich out west, but I guess he didn't want just anyone finding his treasure back here. So after he died, he sorta moved into that cave of his. To keep watch."

  "Have you seen the ghost?"

  His eyes narrowed and glinted as he studied Jason. "Sure have. Him and others." A sinister smile curled at the side of his mouth. "And if you're there in the moonlight, you'll meet them too."

  Jason squirmed in his seat. Daniel gave him an I-told-you-so poke.

  "So, the map burned up?" Jason said.

  "Oh no lad. It was early spring and Pappy had a fire going, but the day was warm. The fire had burned low and was banked for the evening. Of course the coals was hot, and the old map started to burn right away. I was a spry young lad then with my head full of treasure tales. Well I jumped right up and grabbed that map from the fire while Jim was busy talking to my Pappy."

  Silas paused. His eyes were unfocused and he seemed to have forgotten they were there. When he spoke, his voice was soft as if he were talking to himself.

  "It was the strangest thing," he said. "That old map was on fire and I slapped it out with my bare hands." He held up his hands showing them his palms. "And wouldn't you know? Not a burn did I take from puttin' out that fire."

  "Was it damaged too bad for you to read?"

  "Not for me, lad. That map led me straight to Haunted Cave. Right outside the entrance I found this here dollar." He tapped his belt buckle where a
Spanish Milled Dollar was encased.

  "I was sure there was more treasure in that cave. I searched it from top to bottom and nary found another thing. Leastways I didn't find no treasure. Heard a lot of voices and saw some strange things." He looked hard at Jason before continuing.

  "One night I was there when the full moon was shinning into that cave. It lit up that pillar till it looked like it was made out of silver itself. For years, I figured that was all the treasure there was. Just a pillar full of moonshine."

  "So what happened to the map?"

  "Can't rightly remember. Didn't matter though. I'd looked at it so many times I had it memorized. All safely right here," he said, and he tapped his head.

  Jason wasn't sure how safe Silas' memory was. He wondered about the strange things inside the old man's head.

  "But you did find the treasure," Jason said.

  "Reckon I did. I was out chasing my dog. He wasn't a good mannered dog like Maneater. When that old dog got something in his head, twern't nothing gonna get it out. He woke me up in the middle of the night with his barking and carrying on. Led me through the woods a hollering and shouting after him. Then we came up on Haunted Cave and that mean old dog went in. I didn't want to go in there in the middle of the night I can tell you."

  Jason squirmed. It was hot in the room, and the clock's ticking vibrated in his head.

  "The moon was full and the wind was blowing the clouds till they was a scooting across the sky. I called that dog, but he weren't listenin'. I went up to the entrance and looked in. That's when that crazy old dog came tearing out so fast he almost knocked me over. Then I saw a light."

  "In the cave?" Daniel said.

  He nodded. "It was real dark where I was standing, but I could see there was an oil lamp burning farther in."

  "Someone else was there?" Jason said.

  "I figured I'd find out. So I crept real quiet like and stayed in the shadow. There was McPherson unloading his mule. He dropped a heavy bag to the ground and reached for a second one. I leaned forward to see what he was doing and it set loose a shower of pebbles. He dropped the second bag and crouched as he looked my way."

  "Did he see you?" Jason said.

  "I couldn't tell, but I was right scared. I was chiding myself for not being more careful and wondering if a ghost could do me harm. Then there was a loud crack of thunder, and the mules charged straight for me. I forgot all about McPherson. I started to run, and tripped in the dark. I expected to be trampled, but suddenly it got real quiet. When I opened my eyes, the oil lamp was gone and moonlight filled the cave."

  "What happened to McPherson and the mules?" Jason said. He was beginning to think that Silas was making the whole thing up to see how gullible they were.

  Silas shrugged. "I reckon they was ghost mules like McPherson himself."

  "Ghosts?" Jason said.

  Silas narrowed his eyes. "Wasn't the only ghosts I've seen in that haunted place. Then the moonlight faded out and the oil lamp was back. I shrank into the shadows."

  "Who did you think you saw that time?" Daniel said. Jason elbowed him.

  "Didn't think - I knew who it was," Silas said. "It was McPherson of course. He had his back to me and was dragging one of the bags across the floor. He dumped it by a pillar, and covered it with some rocks. Then he picked up the other bag. There was another crack of thunder, and the oil lamp went out. It was dark and quiet. I found my way out by following the flashes of lightening. When I got to the cave entrance it was raining."

  "What about your dog?"

  "Durndest thing. Never did see that dog again. But it seemed like a fair enough trade. The dog for the treasure, you know. Went back the next day and found the treasure right where I saw McPherson bury it. Now what do you think of that?"

  Jason heard a soft clicking coming down the hall. Maneater loomed in the doorway. His stomach tightened. The dog's nails tapping on the hardwood floor continued as it crossed the room and sat down a few inches from him.

  "Um - Mr. Silas, sir?" Jason said.

  "Seems you have his seat youngun," Silas said and then broke into his rasping cackle.

  The dog laid its head on Jason's knee and looked up at him. One lip was pulled back showing a sharp fang.

  "Dad gives tours of the cave all the time and he's never seen a ghost," Daniel said. "Maybe McPherson left after you found the treasure."

  Silas scowled and his face turned a little red. "You can think what you want. It's not everyone that sees 'em. Old Jim Bentley, he saw McPherson right enough. Told about how he saw him unpacking his gold."

  Jason forgot about Maneater. "Gold?" he said. He sat up and shifted his weight. Maneater growled and he stiffened. The dog's saliva seeped through his jeans and the fang poked his knee.

  Silas wheezed. "Yep, gold. You see I found the silver treasure, but some think there's another cave called Eagle Cave and that's where McPherson hid the gold. But he ain't likely to let anyone find it."

  Jason tingled with excitement. "Did you see the gold?"

  The old man took another gulp of coffee. "Saw McPherson myself unpack two bags off that old mule. One was silver. I figure the other was gold."

  Maneater sat up and barked.

  Daniel stood up. "I think maybe we should be going."

  Jason's legs were stiff as he stood and inched his way to the door. He looked back and found Silas staring hard at him.

  "Maybe you'll meet McPherson and he'll take a liking to you," Silas said. "He might even show you where he hid the gold."

  "Thanks for talking to us, sir," Jason said as they opened the front door and stepped outside. The last thing he wanted was to meet a ghost.

  As soon as the door was closed they bolted down the path. Maneater came tearing around the side of the house and lunged at the gate, crashing it closed behind them. Leaning over the fence, it barred its teeth and woofed at them as they got on their bicycles. The barking continued until they were on the main road.