Claimed (The Flash Gold Chronicles, #4) (6 page)

A few more bones littered the floor as he ducked his head to continue deeper, but they tapered off. The scents of rotting meat and urine grew stronger as he walked. More and more, he doubted that anyone would choose this as a hideout. Perhaps the girl had seen men using the hole but had not realized they were dumping bodies instead of camping in it.

Cedar passed a broken pickaxe and a rusty shovel. The tools and the support timbers seemed older than anything being used out on the creek claims. People had been exploring out here longer than the year since the Yukon made the newspapers back East, he reminded himself.

He stepped around a bend, and his light bounced off a rubble pile that stretched to the ceiling. Soot smeared the cave-in rocks, especially near the top. The ceiling was covered with it too. Someone had passed a storm, or maybe an entire winter, back here once, though he didn’t see a natural hollow that might have been used as a fire pit or any soot or charred remains of wood on the floor. Perhaps the area had been flooded in a storm at one point. Although...

He spun a slow circle. There weren’t any bones or anything else on the floor back here, nothing to justify the smell of the rotting meat. There had to be more to the place, unless the cave-in had been recent and hid part of the passage. But, no. He touched the caked-on soot. It had been there a long time. He poked about near the top of the pile, wondering if some of the rocks might have been moved recently.

Scrapes and clacks came from the direction of the entrance. Rocks bounced free as someone else scrambled down that slope. It was probably Kali—he winced at the notion of her landing amongst those bones—but if it wasn’t...

He thought about cutting off the lantern. Instead he jogged a few steps back toward the entrance and set it on the floor. Then he retreated into the dark dead-end, his back to the rubble wall. He rested the katana beside him and pulled out the Winchester, ready to fire if an enemy stepped into the ring of light instead of a friend.

“Cedar?” came Kali’s whisper.

He sighed. So much for her staying outside where it was less grisly. “Back here,” he said, heading for her. He kept himself from saying that she should have waited outside or that this place wasn’t fitting for a woman. She never took kindly to such judgments.

She had a lantern of her own lit when Cedar reached her. Her face seemed a tad paler than usual as she stood amongst the chewed bones, but all she said was, “Not your work this time?”

“I don’t usually eat the criminals before I turn them over to the Mounties.”

“A comforting policy.” Kali pointed toward the cave exit. “I got restless waiting for you, so I dug out a spyglass and shimmied up a tree.”

“Restless? Have I been gone more than five minutes?”

“At least seven, I should think. My mind doesn’t take well to idleness. Anyway, I spotted our guide racing out of the trees and running down the creek to a claim with a little cabin on it. She was inside for a minute or two, then two men jogged out, grabbed kayaks, and took off down the creek.”

“That seems a might suspicious,” Cedar said.

“If they were these brothers she spoke of, they were a lot older than her. One had gray hair.”

“So maybe she’s a spy after all, and those two are off to warn someone that strangers have been snooping around.”

“That’s what I was figuring,” Kali said. “We might want to save the spelunking for another time.”

Cedar gazed toward the back of the cave. “If those men were heading back to town to warn someone, they’ll have miles to go. We should have a few hours before they get back.”

“Good, then we can be long gone by then. Or was there something back there calling to you?” Kali jerked a thumb toward the darkness. “If it’s that stench, I’m going to be concerned for your sanity.”

“I think there are bodies back here somewhere. Recently slain ones. Killing folks is a more heinous crime than scaring them into selling their land.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t appreciate a suggestion that we could simply tell the Mounties how to find this cave and let them explore it themselves while we do equally noble but less corpse-related activities, such as finishing our airship.”

Cedar wasn’t surprised that she would prioritize that—or that she wanted to get out of this cave—but it was something else that made him smile. “
Our
airship?”

Kali shrugged. “You’ve been helping me with it, and it’s the partnership you offered me that’s allowed me to order all the parts for it. I reckon you’ve a right to a share if you want it.”

“Does that mean I’ll get to drive it?”

“Land sakes, no. And the proper term is pilot.”

Cedar snorted. “So, I’ll own a part of it, but I won’t have any actual rights to use it?”

“You can ride in it, sleep in it, and chase off any pirates that try to board it.”

“Are you sure you’re not confusing the duties of owners with the duties of hired hands?”

“We’ll figure out the details once we’re ready to get it in the air. Sometime after we get out of this cave.” Kali pointed at the exit.

“Just give me five minutes to see if I can find where the rest of the bodies are hiding.”

Kali grumbled but didn’t object when he headed back to the rubble pile. Indeed, she followed him and held up her lantern for him. He thought of asking her to wait outside—if he
did
find those bodies, they might be in a gorier condition than the bones—but maybe she would have an idea as to where a secret chamber might be.

“What’s this?” Kali murmured from a few feet behind him.

She was kneeling on the ground, running a finger along the rock.

“Find something?” he asked, taking a step in her direction.

“A crack.”

Something gave beneath his foot, and his heel descended an inch.

Kali stood. “It occurs to me that—”

The ground tilted so sharply, Cedar was flung against the rubble wall. The angle grew steeper, and he dropped to the cave floor, scrabbling with his hands, trying to find a grip. The smooth stone offered nothing. It tilted to vertical and he plunged into darkness, air whistling past his ears.

He landed on his feet, but the fall had been too far and too fast, and he wasn’t prepared for the jolt. Pain shot up his legs, even as his heels slipped out from beneath him, and he tumbled to his butt. Only his backpack helped break the landing. His lantern had escaped his hands on the way down, and it struck the ground a few feet away and went out. He still had his rifle, but he couldn’t see a damned thing. Maybe it was just as well. He had found the source of the stench, of the urine and sweat and rotting meat. His hand squished in something cold and damp when he pushed himself to his feet.

“Kali?” he called, peering upward, hoping she hadn’t fallen in as well. But the light was gone up there.

A groan of pain answered him, and his shoulders slumped. She had fallen into the pit too.

He took a step in her direction—something squished beneath his boot.

“Kali?”

She wasn’t the one to respond. The faint sound that reached his ears was familiar, though he hadn’t expected to hear it up here in the Yukon. He had last heard it when he passed through the New Mexico Territory three years ago—the buzz of a rattlesnake.

More buzzes started up—so many that it almost sounded like there were angry bees in the walls.

“Not a positive development,” Cedar muttered.

Even though he wanted to check on Kali, he had a feeling he needed a light, and he needed it fast. He found the lantern, but the flame had gone out. Something slithered past his leg. His instincts were to pound at it with his rifle, but that would only irritate a critter. Besides, he couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face; there might be twenty of the infernal snakes down here. The last thing he wanted was to make them angry.
More
angry.

The rattles were picking up in intensity. Something plopped to the ground near him—it sounded like the snakes had been holed up in the walls and were coming out to feed.

Cedar started to yank off his backpack, intending to grab his flint again, but a memory popped into his head. Instead of digging for the flint, he grabbed the bottle of kerosene for the lanterns. He ripped off the lid and spattered the liquid on the ground around him. He groped his way to Kali, dumping more kerosene on the way. He found her and pulled her to her feet—the groan that escaped her lips reassured him; she might have taken a hard fall, but she was alive. He doused her boots and trousers with the liquid and did the same to himself. Given the other stenches in the pit, the alcohol scent was an improvement.

“Cedar?” Kali asked, a wince in her voice. “Is it my imagination, or did you just douse me in kerosene?”

“Yes.”

“Uhm, why?”

“There are rattlesnakes everywhere. If I hadn’t been certain Cudgel was involved in this scheme before, I am now. The man’s got a fascination with reptiles. He hunts crocs and gators, and he even did an expedition to South America at one point, looking for evidence that dinosaurs still live in remote jungles.” Cedar was intimately aware of that expedition since he had followed Cudgel down there. That had been the closest he had come to killing the man, but the criminal was even slipperier than the snakes and lizards he kept for pets. “He didn’t find any, but he did bring back some deadly snakes for his personal zoo in California. Nobody else would send someone out to capture rattlesnakes and go through the trouble of bringing them up here to harass people.”
Kill
people, Cedar corrected to himself. Falling on a pile of rattlers was a sure way to get a lethal dose of venom.

“That’s... an interesting side note,” Kali said, “but I don’t see how it answers my question. I’m powerful curious to know
why
we’re wearing kerosene, seeing as how it would be nice to light a lantern and look around about now, but I wouldn’t care to go up in a flaming bonfire if I did so.”

“Snakes don’t like kerosene. I thought standing in the dark would be preferable to being bit by a dozen venomous rattlers.”

“Huh. They’re also afraid they would go up in a bonfire?” Kali asked.

From her lack of terror at the rattling sounds that continued to buzz from the periphery of the pit, Cedar judged she hadn’t encountered venomous snakes before. He couldn’t think of any that were native to the area. Just as well. He had been bitten once while chasing a criminal through rocky desert country and couldn’t recommend the experience.

“I think it’s the natural oils on their skin,” Cedar said. “The alcohol sucks it up, and they don’t like the feel of it. I’d still be careful where you step.”

“Something that would be easier with light. Although...” Kali sniffed, then coughed—or maybe that was a gag. “Judging by the smell of this place, I may not want to see what else is on the floor besides snakes.”

“I had that thought as well. This must have been a sump for the original miners, but I doubt they were the ones to put a trapdoor on it.” He was surprised they weren’t standing in water. Maybe the water table was lower this late in the summer.

“Someone must have wanted his snakes to stay put.”

“And his prisoners.” Cedar shook his head. “I haven’t explored thoroughly yet, but from the echoes on those rattlers, I figure our pit is about ten feet by ten feet.”

“The floor tilted away,” Kali said. “I saw it coming, but wasn’t fast enough to react and get off. That was worlds of stupid, getting caught in a trap when we
knew
this was a trap.”

“Yes, I apologize. You wouldn’t have come back here if it weren’t for me. You were right. I should have left it to the Mounties to come poke around in here.” Cedar hoped Kali would say it wasn’t his fault and that it could have happened to anyone. She didn’t. This wasn’t the first time he had pulled her into trouble because of his obsession with Cudgel. He hoped that once he finally got his man, his tunnel vision would resolve into something less narrow. He didn’t mind taking risks and getting himself in trouble—that came with the job—but if something happened to Kali because of his choices...

“At least you found the bodies,” she said dryly.

“Yes. Any thoughts on ways to get out of here?” Cedar had a feeling they had dropped too far for him to jump and catch the ledge up there—if it were even accessible. He hadn’t heard the creak of hinges or the grinding of stone moving, but the trap might have reset itself somehow. “You did promise to rescue me if I needed it.”

“Something that would have been easier if I hadn’t fallen into the trap along with you.” Kali sighed again. “Fooled by a ten-year-old and a cave. I’m definitely not having a bright day.”

He was still holding her upright, so he gave her a pat on the shoulder. He decided not to admit that he had gotten himself into situations this dumb numerous times in the past. His athleticism usually saved him, along with a refusal to give up. “Let’s see how deep this pit is. Why don’t I give you a boost up, and you see if you can reach the top. I didn’t hear the trap reset, and it seems I can still feel a draft against my cheek.”

“It would take some fancy engineering to make a self-closing trapdoor, especially with something that heavy. Did your rope fall down here with you?”

“Yes. Did your tools?”

“They’re out by the SAB,” Kali admitted. “I wasn’t certain of my ability to scale that cliff with extra weight swaying around on my back.”

“They can’t all be out there. Something’s jabbing me in the ribs. And in the arm. And... if I weren’t reasonably positive you were a woman, I would be concerned about that hard shaft sticking into my thigh.”

Kali stepped back, but not without slugging him in the stomach. He deserved that, he reckoned.

“That’s a wrench. I always have the basics. I’m ready for that boost.”

Cedar probed the ground with his foot, making his way to a wall. Slowly, very slowly. Soft rasps and the shifting of rocks—or maybe bones—promised the snakes were still in the area. Several scurried away as he and Kali moved. The kerosene was keeping them back, but they weren’t fleeing. He didn’t think rattlesnakes ate humans, but he could be wrong.

When he reached the wall, he interlaced his fingers so Kali could step on them. “Here.”