The Mystery of Crystal Cave

The Mystery of Crystal Cave

It was a day full of celebrations. The friends and family gathered at the ranch house for the 4th of July. Fireworks out here usually consist of shooting off a gun or two, maybe banging a pot and pan together, but usually holidays are spent eating and swapping stories of past times.

Today was no different. The young married couple, their close friends Dr. Frank Claytor and his wife, and the couple from the neighboring ranch. It was a muggy hot July day. The air was stagnant, not even a hint of breeze. The cattle even crowded under the oak trees positioning for a sliver of shade.

Air conditioning was a luxury and few had it installed in their homes. A 5-blade fan in an open window, a wet towel and a sense of relief when the sun sank down over the horizon. The ranch house was a favorite gathering place because the river was just a short pickup ride away and several weekend afternoons ended up at the banks of the river to escape the summer heat.

Today was no exception. Frank didn’t have to twist any arms when he said, “I’ll drive”. Everyone knew what that meant and in just a few minutes everyone was piling into the pickup. Off they went, dust boiling up from the tires, flailing towels hanging over the edge of the pickup bed. A carefree feeling of anticipating the plunge into the river. Who would be first in? Who would stop to feel how cold it was before wading into the water.

The river was always cool as its headwaters came out of the Sierra peaks, ran through granite rock, waterfalls spilled over into several different pools along its path. This particular area of the river was “Our Spot” but several people claimed this wide area in the river as “Our Spot”. Still on a busy day you may find 10 or 15 people. There were a couple of old wobbly picnic tables. The roots of the large pines elbowed out over the banks and the old dangling rope with a board weaved into the bottom of the rope that you could either sit on or hang from. It was the old tried and true rope swing, that no one questioned its integrity, but if it could talk, oh the stories of bravery and daring it could tell.

People were always cordial to others that were at the river. Everyone was there for the same reason of escaping the heat, or relaxing, or simply escaping the drudgery of the day. Today was no exception. As the group settled their belongings onto one of the rickety picnic tables, a gentleman was setting not far off enjoying a smoke. They exchanged pleasantries and introduced themselves to him. He said Jarvis is my name. How long have you been coming out here? One of the group asked. “About 15 years” he replied. Frank asked, “we come out here pretty often and I don’t recall seeing you here”. “Must because I usually sit across the river, you know just under where crystal cave is.” Jarvis answered as a smoke ring rolled out of his mouth. “Must be”, Frank said, “nice to meet you”. Jarvis just nodded his head in agreement.

Crystal cave was talked about by a few people in the area, but no one really knew anyone who knew its exact location or had even been in the cave. Rumors circulated that it was hard to find in the thick brush, but as soon as you found the opening, the trip back into the cave was spectacular. It was rumored to have a large room at the end of the cave that opened into a spectacular underground pool of crystal-clear water.

After a few wrestling matches in the water, a few swan dives from the rope swing, showing off for the girls and some digging up fools’ gold from the bank of wet silt, everyone started the process of drying off, ringing out hair, shaking the water out of ears and getting dressed. Dick casually mentioned, “hey we should go over and see if we can find the cave”. Frank yelled to the girls “Hey, you want to go see if we can find the cave?” One answered back, “We don’t have a flashlight, it’s getting late, and what if we get lost!” That’s when Jarvis walked down the bank and leaned against the tree and said, “I know that cave like the back of my hand”. Frank said, “I have a couple flashlights in my toolbox”. Raymond and Fay said they had to get back and feed. So, with anxious anticipation the remaining couples agreed. “Jarvis, lead the way”.

They crossed over the river where an old bridge that had long been abandoned was hanging from it’s rusted trusses. Then skirted along the bank a few hundred feet before turning up the hill and pushing through the sage brush. It looked to be somewhat of a path but likely more of an animal trail than a walking path. The brush got thicker and pushing through it more difficult. How much farther? Irene asked. It’s just up a little higher Jarvis hollered back. Then the brush cleared and what looked like simply large granite rocks, there it was. Crystal cave. It was true. It was real.

The entrance was just a space between two large boulders that you had to turn sideways to get through. It wasn’t the typical large hole in the mountain that their imaginations conjured up. Jarvis lay back against one of the granite slabs and pulled out another cigarette, lit it with a wooden stick match and took a deep draw. “Well,” he said, puffing out three smoke rings, “This is how we have to go in. Dick, you follow me with a flashlight, the two gals next, then Doc you follow up with the other flashlight. Now stay close, because it gets real dark and some of the spots are real narrow”. Jarvis flicked his half-smoked cigarette on the ground and stepped on top of it with a scuffed-up logging boot. He twisted it into the ground, leaning into it as if the extra weight on his leg would be the final crush to extinguish the smoke.

“Last chance to back out” Jarvis smirked. Dick spoke up and asked with a slight concern in his voice. “Hey, what if something happens, you know if someone gets hurt, or bit by a snake”? Doc chimed in and reminded everyone that both He and Dick had pistols strapped to their hips. It was not uncommon out here to carry a gun and was the preferred method of signaling that trouble of some kind was taking place, as cell phones were still decades in the future. Doc hollered “Lead the way”.

They slipped past the two slabs of granite protecting the entrance and walked just a few yards before coming to the first challenge. Jarvis told them in a muffled voice. “Now it’s going to get narrow, then you have to crawl on your knees for about 50 feet, then it will open up into a small room. We should all be able to fit pretty comfortable, then we will catch our breath”. They started further into the darkness. The echoes of the crunching gravel seemed to be getting louder, deeper sounding, and cascading ahead of them. The narrow passage was leaning slightly off center like two dominos just before they fell. The contour of the passageway seemed to naturally force their bodies into a kneeling position. The only sound was that of an extra deep breath, and the occasional grunt as they pushed forward into the next room of solid granite.

Pulling themselves up to their feet, Jarvis asked if everyone was, OK? Everyone responded with yeah, yeah, we’re good, yeah we’re good”. He continued with the next set of instructions. “This is the hardest part, we have to go down through this passage, it’s about 15 feet down, but the foot and hand holds on the side are good. There is a small ledge that goes back into the side of the wall about halfway down and you can sort of pull yourself into it and rest if you need to”. By this time the group knew that they were glad they had Jarvis as a guide. It was obvious He did know Crystal cave like the back of his hand. “So, once you get down to the bottom”, he continued, we will have about a 200-yard walk that is pretty easy, then we will end up in a room the size of a large barn with a lake of crystal-clear water. Nobody has ever touched bottom in it so it’s pretty deep”. He laughed.

They decided to send Doc down first just in case someone were to fall he would be able to tend to them. Frank was a local family physician that was raised close by and everyone thought they had seen the last of him after he went off to college, and he tried the big city, but couldn’t stay away. And even though he’s been offered some freshly butchered beef in lieu of cash for services more than once, He wouldn’t trade it for anything. He and Dick have been friends since grade school. Dick is a cowboy, pure and simple, some say he was born 100 years too late. He doesn’t have a lot of material wealth, but his friendship is pure and forever.

They made their way to the end just as directed by the man they all called bud by now.

It was indescribable, the water was as crystal clear, the room was likened to a cathedral Dick proposed. Jarvis broke the silence of Aw. “You can swim in it if you want”. Doc’s wife Hazel picked up a baseball sized rock and threw it into the middle. It splashed into the water with a thud and a deep fa-wump. They could tell by the sound it was deep. Hazel said, “No thanks”. They all laughed.

Doc chimed in with “we better think about heading back, it’s getting late and we still have to make it through the brush outside and back across the river”.

“Yep” Dick agreed. “Better get the girls back”.

Jarvis lit another cigarette, and the glow of the match illuminated the large class ring on his finger and made it stick out like a glowing ember from a campfire. Jarvis eased into the group and said “I think I know a quicker way out, but I can’t really remember. I am going to go check it out real quick and Ill be right back. Let me use one of your flashlights”. “Um, sure”. Doc said. A little surprised at the thought of using another way out. But Jarvis grabbed the flashlight and scurried off into the pitch dark and with only a few steps the only evidence of Jarvis was the sound of his logging boots fading into the abyss.

15 minutes, 20 minutes, 45 minutes, and no Jarvis. Dick said, “I hate to say this, but we have a problem here”, “That guy isn’t coming back”. Doc said, “let’s not panic”, I have 3 blank rounds and 3 live rounds, we’ll shoot off the 2 blanks and wait 15 minutes more. If he doesn’t show up, I think we can find our way out of here, and we’ll start back”.

So, he fired the rounds and the echo was deafening. The ringing seemed like it lasted for the entire 15 minutes. And they waited. “That’s it” Doc said, “Let’s start making our way back, slowly and carefully, and we only have the one flashlight, so everyone hold on to the one in front by a belt loop or pocket or something, but don’t let go”.

They made their way back to the shaft that they had to climb up to reach the next level. Dick suggested that they fire the last blank round up the shaft, thinking that the sound from the other 2 rounds may have been trapped in the large room. So, Doc fired the last blank round upward through the shaft. Nothing. Irene took the flashlight and said, “I want to go halfway up to make sure I am comfortable climbing out. I will only go to the shelf that intersects the shaft”. So, she made her way up 10 feet or so to the shelf. She shinned the light back down at them and said, “it’s fine we can make it”. As she turned to come back down her light went onto the shelf carved into the granite. Stopping she thought, that’s not right, as fear started to overcome her, and she looked again. A scream came out of her that was unmistakable. The sound that you hear and know something is truly wrong. She slid almost freefalling down the shaft and Dick yelled “what? What is it? She said, “a dead body”! It’s lying right there. How do you know it’s dead? Because it looked stiff, she said, it looked dead!”

Doc authoritatively commanded the group, “Listen, that’s the only way out. We have to go through that shaft. Let’s just wait a few more minutes and see if Jarvis shows up. I’ll go up to check the body”. So, Doc climbed up hesitantly and moved the light slowly to his left, and there it was, no mistaking, no fun and games, this was a dead body that Doc concluded had regar-mortas. Being the only doctor for miles around he was no stranger to what a dead body looked like. He slid back down the shaft and gave the group the news. Dick said, “We have to get out of here now”, “that thing was not here when we came in”, “Let’s not panic” Doc demanded. “I have 3 live rounds and Dick you have all 6 right? Right”? You could hear the nervousness begin to quiver in his voice. “Yeah, I’m good”, Dick replied in a more aggressive tone. “Listen I think we should fire 2 rounds back down toward the crystal lake in there and wait a few more minutes”. “What about ricochet”? Doc’s wife quietly injected. “Here, shine the light right down the middle of the tunnel and everyone cover your ears”! K-Rack, the blast and muzzle fire exploded down the empty cavern. The sound was eerily absorbed by the open cathedral and the reverberation seemed to stay in that room.

“How long do we wait”? Irene asked “Lets wait another 15 minutes and then get out of here. No stopping, no looking for Jarvis. We just head back into town and call the sheriff and let him know what happened.

The 15 minutes seemed like it took forever to pass. “Let’s go” commanded Dick. “This time I will lead, and everyone follow me, no stopping, don’t look off onto the shelf where that guy is laying, we’re just getting out of here”. It was obvious Dick was taking command, and no one was arguing the fact. Dick started up the shaft.

He could not help but look over to his left when he passed the shelf. “What are you talking about Doc? There isn’t any dead body up here.” “Let me see” yelled Doc. Dick yelled back “you can look on the way by. Dead body or not we are getting out of this cave”. Bewildered on the way out, not believing what they were seeing, or not seeing, Irene and Doc both saw a dead body. Doc had looked at it long enough to determine it had been dead for over 24 hours in his medical opinion. But now, nothing. They didn’t hear any noise, and they were just below where the body was. Surely, they would have heard someone moving the corpse. It didn’t matter now, their pace was even faster as they crawled through the last part of the narrow rocky passage to the entrance.

Once out Dick said keep moving, we’re not stopping. They crashed their way through the brush back down the embankment, over the old bridge, to where the pickup was parked. Not a word was spoken. They drove straight to the house and called the sheriff. Butch came out within the hour. Unfortunately, so did the media. They had been monitoring the scanners when Butch called his deputy. “What do you remember about Jarvis” Butch queried. “He had a great big class ring on his left hand.

Crystal cave was never the same. The story grew and people of all types scoured the cave and the hills hoping to solve what was now dubbed “The mystery of Crystal cave” Years went by and nothing was found. No dead body, No Jarvis, No class ring. Some folks never really trusted Doc, Dick and Irene after that. Doc probably even lost some business. It was sad I was thinking to myself as I watched the man across the isle talk with the stewardess as she was handing his drink to him. A distinguished older gentleman, about my mom’s age. Must be proud of his school I was thinking.

The rest of the flight into Denver was uneventful. People with connecting flights standing in the isle grabbing their overhead bags. I was no exception. Everyone started pushing for the exit and I overheard the stewardess ask that older gentleman’s name as he was exiting. “Jarvis” he said as he stepped out of the plane. A cold sweat came over me instantly, I had to catch him. But I was 10 people back from exiting the plane. When I finally made it onto the ramp and rudely pushed past several people. When I got up to the terminal, I knew I didn’t stand a chance of finding him.

To this day I still look for that class ring being worn by a man named Jarvis.