The Legend of Red Horse Cavern Read online

  CAVERN CAPTIVES

  A rabbit jumped out from behind some brush. The startled man raised his gun and fired. The rabbit fell to the ground.

  Will looked through a crack in the brush. He was crouched down—waiting, hoping. He saw the rabbit fall. The big man walked within two feet of him. Will held his breath.

  “All right, boy. Have it your way. But if you go for the cops, I’ll kill her personally.”

  The man turned and walked away.

  Will didn’t dare come out for fear that Scarface might hear something and come back.

  He waited there, hardly breathing for what seemed an eternity. His mind was blank except for one thought …

  Sarah.

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  MISSING MAY, Cynthia Rylant

  THE SECRET FUNERAL OF SLIM JIM THE SNAKE, Elvira Woodruff

  AWFULLY SHORT FOR THE FOURTH GRADE, Elvira Woodruff

  THE SUMMER I SHRANK MY GRANDMOTHER, Elvira Woodruff

  HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS, Thomas Rockwell

  HOW TO FIGHT A GIRL, Thomas Rockwell

  HOW TO GET FABULOUSLY RICH, Thomas Rockwell

  BEETLES, LIGHTLY TOASTED, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

  YEARLING BOOKS/YOUNG YEARLINGS/YEARLING CLASSICS are designed especially to entertain and enlighten young people. Patricia Reilly Giff, consultant to this series, received her bachelor’s degree from Marymount College and a master’s degree in history from St. John’s University. She holds a Professional Diploma in Reading and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Hofstra University. She was a teacher and reading consultant for many years, and is the author of numerous books for young readers.

  For a complete listing of all Yearling titles,

  write to

  Dell Readers Service,

  P.O. Box 1045,

  South Holland, IL 60473.

  Published by

  Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers

  a division of

  Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

  1540 Broadway

  New York, New York 10036

  Copyright © 1994 by Gary Paulsen

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

  The trademark Yearling® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  The trademark Dell® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-80395-5

  v3.1

  Dear Readers:

  Real adventure is many things—it’s danger and daring and sometimes even a struggle for life or death. From competing in the Iditarod dogsled race across Alaska to sailing the Pacific Ocean, I’ve experienced some of this adventure myself. I try to capture this spirit in my stories, and each time I sit down to write, that challenge is a bit of an adventure in itself.

  You’re all a part of this adventure as well. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of talking with many of you in schools, and this book is the result of hearing firsthand what you want to read about most—power-packed action and excitement.

  You asked for it—so hang on tight while we jump into another thrilling story in my World of Adventure.

  Contents

  Cover

  Other Yearling Books You Will Enjoy

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  CHAPTER 1

  The moon cast eerie shadows as a velvet darkness covered the Sacramento Mountain range. The young brave sat quietly in the thicket and stared out across the meadow. An old doe raised her head and looked cautiously toward the brush where he was hiding. There was a time when he would have been interested in hunting her, but not tonight. Tonight he was on a quest.

  A quest to help his people.

  His hand touched the soft leather pouch hanging from his neck. The Old One had filled it with powerful medicine to help fight the evil. His hand traveled to the quiver on his back, which contained five new arrows. He would need only two: one for the white prospector and one for Red Horse—the betrayer.

  A movement.

  They were coming. He silently slipped one of the arrows from the quiver and fitted it to his bow. He could see their outlines clearly. He raised the bow, took careful aim, and …

  “Will.” A voice split the mountain air.

  “William Little Bear Tucker. I am speaking to you.”

  Will blinked. He looked up into the face of his best friend, Sarah Thompson.

  She glared at him. “Are we or are we not going to explore this cave today?”

  “I was just—”

  “I know exactly what you were doing. You were pretending you were the brave in that old legend again.” She turned on her flashlight and stepped inside the cave. “Come back to reality and let’s have a look around.”

  Will followed her. “All right. You don’t have to get mad about it.”

  “I’m not mad. It’s just that we’ve been planning on exploring this cave ever since we found the opening last week. My little brother saw me packing my backpack, and I had to give him my best comic to keep his mouth shut about it. My mom gets worried every time we come to Ghost Mountain.”

  “I’m sorry. I guess the reason I think about the legend so much is that my grandfather loves to tell it.”

  “I know. I’ve heard it so often I can almost repeat it word for word.” She hopped up on a nearby boulder, put her hand over her heart, and lowered her voice to sound more like Will’s grandfather.

  “Once, many years ago, my people, the Apaches, lived in these mountains. There was plenty of game, and the fish never ran out. The times were happy. Then one year it forgot to rain. The streams dried up, and the game went away.”

  Will jumped in. “Kaetennae, the Old One, told the people it was because they had angered the rain god. To appease him, they must bring all their gold and jewelry to be melted into a statue in his honor.

  “Then one day a prospector discovered the golden statue and made plans to steal it. He was aided in this evil by Red Horse, a brave who had lived with the whites and despised the traditions of his people.

  “Every man and boy in the tribe went after the two thieves. They finally found them in Rancho Rio Canyon, not far from here. But they didn’t find what they expected.

  “The white prospector was stretched out over an anthill—dead. The body of Red Horse lay a few feet away. But his head was missing. The braves looked and looked for the head but they never found it. The head, along with the gold statue, was never seen again.”

  Sarah made a spooky noise and wiggled her fingers. “And the headless ghost, the spirit of Red Horse, is still up here roaming the canyon, searching for his head. Because unless he finds it and does something to bring honor back upon himself, his spirit can never be free.”

  Sarah shuddered. “The whole thing gives me the creeps.” She moved farther into the cave. “Boy, this place is bigger than I thought. I still don’t see the back.”

  Will flashed his light around on the glistening walls. “It’s huge. You could live in here. It’s bigger than a house.”

  Sarah moved to the back of the cave. “Will, take a look at this.
”

  He shifted the weight of his backpack. “What is it?”

  “There’s a passage back here. Let’s see where it leads.”

  The passage was narrow at first but gradually opened into another larger room. Crystal-covered stalactites hung from the ceiling. Large brown stalagmites grew from the floor.

  Will’s teeth were chattering. “I didn’t know it would be so cold in here.”

  Sarah pointed her light around the new room. There were passageways taking off in every direction. “This is so neat. It’ll take us forever to explore all of these.”

  Will pointed the light at his watch. “We don’t have a lot of time. I told Grandfather we’d be back in time for supper.”

  Sarah flipped her French braid behind her back. “We’ll just try a couple. My mom told me the same thing. She heard some news report about an armored truck shipment being held up a few days ago, and she’s convinced we’ll all be killed in our sleep.”

  Will headed into the left passage. The walls glistened like shiny marble. “This is so incredible, Sarah. We’re probably the first people ever to see the inside of this place.”

  The passage narrowed. The air was musty, and they had to duck to avoid the stalactites.

  Will flashed his light around the tiny room. “Wouldn’t it be great if the legend of the rain god were true and we found the golden statue down here?”

  Sarah made a face. “The statue part would be all right. I’m not too sure about finding Red Horse’s head though.”

  Sarah pointed her light at the far end of the cavern wall. “What was that?” Something gold reflected the light.

  They both spoke at once. “The statue!”

  Will jumped over a small boulder and ran for the shiny object. He tripped and fell to the rocks on one knee. A jagged stalagmite ripped his flesh. Pain tore through his body.

  “Are you all right?” Sarah held the light on his leg. His pants were torn, and blood was trickling out of an open gash.

  “It looks bad, Will. We’d better get you out of here.”

  Will shook his head. “Reach in my pack. I wrapped some apples with a bandanna. Get it for me.”

  She quickly pulled out the bandanna and handed it to him.

  “Point your light over here.” He folded the cloth and tied it around his leg the way his grandfather had taught him. “There. That ought to hold it for a while.”

  Sarah was still rummaging in his backpack. “Look at all this stuff. You’ve got everything from ropes to flares in here.”

  Will jerked it away from her. “I like to be prepared.” He eased himself into a standing position. “Come on. Let’s see what’s over there.”

  “I don’t know, Will. You’re hurt pretty bad, and this place is spooky. Maybe we should come back another day.”

  “It’ll only take a minute.” Will made his way to the edge of the wall. “Well, how about that? I guess we’re not the first people to explore down here after all.”

  Sitting on a ledge in front of them, shimmering in the flashlight’s soft glow, was an old-fashioned metal trunk.

  CHAPTER 2

  “It’s locked.” Will sat down on the ledge beside the trunk. “What I wouldn’t give for a hacksaw right about now.”

  Sarah sat down beside him. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. If we can get this thing open, we’ll be filthy rich.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about. Think about it. How did that chest get in here?”

  Will shrugged. “Somebody hid it here.”

  “Don’t you get it? There weren’t any tracks the way we came. There has to be another entrance.”

  He hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Duh. Of course. I was so busy thinking about treasure I didn’t stop to think about how the trunk got here. But now that you mention it, there is a lot of fresh air in here. It has to be coming from somewhere.”

  “Maybe tomorrow we can find the other entrance.”

  Will stood up on his good leg. “Why not now?”

  “It was nearly dark when we came in here. Your grandfather will be worried if you don’t show up pretty soon.”

  “I guess you’re right.” Will patted the chest. “This thing’s not going anywhere. We’ll come back and explore some more tomorrow.”

  Sarah put her backpack on one shoulder. She took the light. “I’ll lead the way back to the entrance. If I go too fast for you, holler.”

  Sarah made one last sweep of the room with the light. “It looks like a palace.” She held the light on a big rock. “There’s the throne.”

  Will hobbled over to it and sat down. “How do I look? Would I make a good king?”

  “I don’t know. I was thinking it looked more like a throne for a queen.”

  Will picked up a handful of gravel and tossed it at her. “That’ll be the day.”

  Sarah moved into the small passage where they’d started. “I can see daylight.”

  A deep voice boomed at her. “But not for long, sister.”

  Will swung around. Two burly men were holding guns on them.

  CHAPTER 3

  The shorter man had a mustache and wore a brown felt cowboy hat. The bigger one had a wide scar running from his cheek to his neck.

  The short man spoke first. “Take them in the back to one of those bottomless holes we found. Push them over the edge. No one will be the wiser. Don’t fire your gun unless you have to.”

  Will was stunned. These men were serious. They actually intended to kill them.

  “You heard him.” The man with the scar pushed Will and motioned with his gun for them to go ahead of him.

  Sarah bent over. “I just need to tie my shoe.” She came up with two handfuls of thick black dirt and threw it in Scarface’s eyes.

  “Run, Will!”

  Will didn’t hesitate. His leg burned like fire from his wound, but he ran for all he was worth. When he reached the entrance he didn’t slow down. He ran into the forest until he was sure no one was following him.

  The short man grabbed Sarah by her braid. “That was stupid.” He slapped her hard across the face and knocked her to the ground.

  Shorty yelled at Scarface. “Go after him, you idiot. Let him know that if he goes for the cops, we’ll kill the girl.”

  Scarface glared at Sarah. “I owe you one, girlie. I’ll be back.”

  Shorty growled after him, “Don’t come back without that kid.”

  The big man stumbled down the passage and out the cave’s entrance. The bright sunlight blinded him. He searched the ground for Will’s footprints and started tracking him.

  “Come here, sonny. Let’s talk. Listen, I wasn’t really going to hurt you. Shorty just said that to scare you.”

  The big man still had his gun out. He followed Will to a cluster of pine trees and then lost his trail in the pine needles. He wiped his brow with a dirty handkerchief.

  “Come on out, boy. I’m through playing games. We have your girlfriend. She’s not going to look so pretty after a while. If you come out, I’ll let you both go.”

  A rabbit jumped out from behind some brush. The startled man raised his gun and fired. The rabbit fell to the ground.

  Will looked through a crack in the brush. He was crouched down—waiting, hoping. He saw the rabbit fall. The big man walked within two feet of him. Will held his breath.

  “All right, boy. Have it your way. But if you go for the cops, I’ll kill her personally.”

  The man turned and walked away.

  Will didn’t dare come out for fear Scarface might hear something and come back.

  He waited there, hardly breathing for what seemed an eternity. His mind was blank except for one thought …

  Sarah.

  CHAPTER 4

  The first edges of darkness came. Will had moved to the shelter of the trees. He sat clutching his knees, thinking.

  Sarah’s mother and his grandfather would be worried by now. They had probably already called the sheriff
. The only problem was, no one would know where to look for them.

  What was the smart thing to do? Maybe he should go for help while he had the chance. After all, the police were trained to deal with this sort of thing.

  No. That goon said if he did, they would kill Sarah. Where did that leave him? Alone, that’s where. He had to try to save her by himself. But how? It was one thing to pretend he was an Apache warrior, but it was another to actually pull it off.

  Even with all the things his grandfather had taught him about survival, he knew he would have a tough time.

  And time was short. The crooks could decide to leave at any minute. They could just shove Sarah into the pit and take off. Whatever he was going to do he’d have to do it soon.

  He rummaged through his backpack. Ropes, flares, candles, a bottle of drinking water, apples, matches, and a small lantern.

  Will bit his lower lip and thought. He remembered something his grandfather had told him and slowly he began to form a plan.

  He grabbed the bottle, poured out the water, and filled it with lantern oil. Next he untied the bandanna from around his leg and stuffed it in the bottle, saturating it with oil, leaving one end sticking out like a fuse. He filled one pocket with pebbles and put his matches and flashlight in the other.

  Quickly he lit the two flares and fired them into the sky, watching them arc red against the dark, knowing that by the time help arrived—if it arrived—his plan would have worked or failed miserably. Either way the police would be needed to clean up the mess.

  Will repacked his backpack, slung it over one shoulder, and started toward the cave.

  There was hardly any light, and he had to pick his way carefully. His leg throbbed, but he tried hard not to notice.

  He watched the front of the cave for several minutes. It seemed odd that there was no guard. Obviously the goons didn’t think of him as a threat. And as Sarah said, they probably knew a secret way out of the cave.

  Will crept closer to the entrance. There was no noise. The first room of the cave was dark. He wanted to turn on his flashlight but knew he couldn’t. He’d just have to feel his way.