Unforeseen

A cool breeze welcomed me as I stepped outside of the mine. I wrapped my arms around my shoulders wishing I had my buffalo coat. The mountain air had a peaceful feeling about it. I could smell just a hint of the nasty odor of death from inside the mine behind me. I looked up at the sky and breathed deeply through my nose holding in a crisp breath of sweet air. Watching the leaves dance from a gentle breeze made me sway. The ground was covered with green grass and wildflowers of all colors. I wanted to see where the river was exactly, but I didn’t get to take another step.

I felt my legs weaken causing me to crumble to the softened grass.

I knew where I was by the darkness and that pungent smell of death as I roused myself out of an unconscious state of mind. I was deep in the bowels of this old gold mine. I felt around in the dark. It seemed I was in some sort of hidden enclosure. I reached out to each side of me and there was nothing but solid rock-hard walls. I was not sure why I was here, but I knew how I got here, and I knew who put me here. I also knew the old timer was close by as I could hear him groaning and the shuffle of his steps coming towards my prison cell.

Stiffness was settling into my bones on this hard, damp, cold surface where I lay. I did not move a muscle so he would not know I had become aware. Even though the earth underneath me was hard, I dug my fingers into the dirt and found I was able to dig. As I laid there playing dead, I had sense to start thinking of a way out even though I could not see my hand in front of my face. I could not tell what the jail-like enclosure was where he dragged me and locked me in.

My back was to him, but his stench and labored breathing told me he was close. The sharp point in my back was to arouse me, but I had played dead many times. Living with the Cheyenne most of my life taught me a lot including playing dead. I knew how to do it. The point from the stick was not enough to make me move or make a sound.

He was mumbling. I picked out a few words, and he sounded as if he was crying again and talking about Mae, his wife.

Then he seemed to snap out of it and asked angrily, “What did you do with my Mae, Injun girl? I know you done something with her. She was here and then gone and then you show up after her disappearance. So, I know you done something with her!” he yelled. “What did you do with her?” he demanded, poking me with the stick. “Did she tell you about the gold in this here mine? She must have told you and once you knew we discovered gold, you killed her. Right? And I am next on your list, Injun girl. Right?”

I batted my eyes at his accusation as I realized what probably happened to Mae and that the old miner was losing his mind. I remained quiet. I had found the sad diary she left behind that revealed the torture she was going through with Eb. She had mentioned the coming and going of his crazy mind.

“Well, I got you back, Injun girl. I killed your pet rabbit like you killed my Mae,” he declared angrily.

From that, I imagined he had killed my dog. I wanted to scream but that would only make matters worse. I will wait. Tears streamed down my face thinking about what he had done with Chief, my dog.

He kept stabbing me with the stick or spear or whatever it was. It was sharp, and I knew he could not see where he was poking me. He jabbed me again and again in the same spot in my back. I slowly turned over. He could not see me, but I was going to be ready the next time he stabbed me.

And he did. When it touched my skin, I wrapped my hands tightly around the end of the sharp stick. At the same time as when I grabbed it, I jumped straight up hitting my head on the top of my enclosure. I jerked fast and hard and pulled him toward me into what seemed like metal bars separating the two of us. As I was pulling him, I yelled the Cheyenne war cry from the top of my lungs and ran towards him. I could only see faint images, but my aim was going to be where I heard his voice coming from. I hit the barrier full force with my face and chest. The impact knocked me backwards. Blood began to pour out of my nose, but I continued my attack. I ran towards him again holding onto the spear and kept yelling until I was right in his face. I felt his arms through the barrier as he held onto the spear. I pulled harder, but he was stronger than I thought. The back and forth pull of the weapon caused an extreme scream to bellow out from deep inside me. I could not see his face, but I must have scared him as he let out a shrill screech of fear. I heard him plop to the ground as he let go of the spear. I stretched my arms through the bars reaching for it. I had to find it! Feeling around on the ground, I touched it. I clutched my hand around it and quickly pulled it through the bars.

I could hear his heavy breathing that came in spurts as he sucked for air. I was standing right at the barrier and could make out the form of his body. It looked like he was clutching his chest. I heard his pitiful cry. He appeared to be lying on his back when he went down to the ground. He was having trouble breathing, and he continued gasping for air.

“My chest! My chest!” he mumbled.

It was dark, and I was not sure what had happened. I was afraid he was faking it so I retreated back with the spear in my hand. The top of my head hurt from the rock or gun butt or whatever it was he used to bring me down. Breathing hurt as I dragged in deep breaths and my face hurt from the impact of the barrier that separated me from him.

I was afraid he was going to get up and shoot me. I had not seen any firearms, but that did not mean he did not have them.

My heart was pounding. However, there was no sound from Eb. He no longer was gasping for air or moaning. There appeared to be no movement, but he might have just passed out. I had to find a way out of here and find it quickly. I had no idea how much time I had before he came back to his senses.

I pawed at the walls and dug in the ground hoping to escape from my cell. I did not want to try the rod barriers that separated him from me as I did not know what he was doing. I wanted to be as far away from him as I could get.

Feeling defeated, I sat completely still in the silence of the cave. I needed to calm myself down, so I thought about my Cheyenne mother. She had a way of calming me when my anxiety became too much. Then my mind went to Jake, the lone mountain man, I came across when I was forced to leave the tribe. The two weeks we had together showed me that white men treated women totally different. There was a gentleness that the braves did not have. I was infatuated to say the least. I hated leaving him but my desire to find my real family on the other side of the mountain was all I wanted.

Tears and blood did not mix well. I squeezed the top of my nose to stop the flow of blood. I was sick to my stomach as I could taste the nasty stuff in my throat.

I don’t know how long I sat there. It was quiet, dark and cold. If I could just rest, if I could just calm down, maybe I could figure out a way to escape. I slipped down from my sitting position. I rested my pounding head on my arms and went to sleep.

I woke to something wet against my skin. The wet tongue was rough on my face. It was black as night, and I could not see a thing. It had to be a big rat! A big rat was crawling on my face! I would not yell out as badly as I wanted knowing that a rat was attacking me. I did not know where Eb was. I lay confused and in a lot of pain. I did not want to move. But having a rat crawl on my face was more than I could handle. I reached for the thing and threw it as hard as I could against the cave wall. I grabbed the spear and was about to stab it when I heard the whimper. It was a quiet whimper, but it was a whimper.

“Chief?” I asked with a trembling quiet voice. “Chief?” I asked again. I did not reach out for it, because I was convinced it was a large rat.

Whatever was in my cell was licking my face. Crouching low, it crawled towards me keeping its distance. It was afraid I would hit it again. It continued to whimper. But I could smell him now, and I knew my best friend had found me. I called him to come to me.

I leaned down and felt for his head. Holding it in my hands, I rubbed it. I felt for his front legs and pulled him to me. He winced in pain. I picked him up, and he started licking my face again.

“Oh, Chief. I am so sorry I hurt you. I would never hurt you,” I told him. He lay quietly in my arms. For fear that Eb would hear me, I asked in a whisper, “Where have you been, boy? "Tears trailed down my face as I petted his head and kissed him. “How did you get in here?”

It was then that a distant clomping sound caught my attention. As if I could see what it was, I turned my head towards it so I could hear better. I could have sworn it sounded like footfalls on the hardened floor. The approaching sound increased as it continued towards me. I sat very still. My heart was beating out of my chest, and my breath was short and fast.I scooted back until I felt the rock wall against my back.

The heavy footsteps were faint at first but steadily became louder. Someone sure of himself walked boldly but cautious.

“Sarah? Sarah?” came a distance call.

At first, I thought it was Eb. I was frozen in my place against the wall. Even though my ribs were hurting, and my nose was killing me, I was not going to let him know I was awake and alive. Chief tried to move to the sound, but I held him back. His tail began to pat the floor, but I did not pay attention.

Whoever was coming was carrying the lantern and coming toward me. The light was getting brighter. I noticed the lantern was being held high and moved up and then down and from left to right. I was sure it wasn’t Eb. The approaching footstep pattern was not unbalanced as his wobbly walk and stance was. And Eb did not know my name.

“Sarah?” a worried voice called a little louder.

I remained quiet. If only my vision could adjust to this blackness, I could make out who was coming. But I had to wait until he was almost on top of me. Since this person was carrying a lantern, I would soon be able to see his face.

The hesitating footsteps were familiar. The soft, masculine voice traveled down the hallway of the cave to my anxious ears. However, I would not let myself believe who I thought it was. The voice was not an angry voice, nor was it loud and boisterous. I was getting antsy the closer he got and then crying overtook me. Tears streamed down my cheeks and my face was hurting from the slight movement of my nose and mouth.

I called and stuttered out his name, “J-J-Ja-k-e?”

“Sarah?” he asked in a hopeful voice as he approached my pen stepping over something on the ground in front of the enclosure.

He let out a breath as he moved a lump out of his way and squatted down on the outside.

He then raised the lantern to eye level and said, “What are you doing in there?” he grinned.

If I wasn’t so ecstatic to see him and surprised, I would have laughed with him. But all I did was cry and reach out through the bars to him.

He raised the lantern up and waved it around as if looking for something.

“Where is the door to this damn thing?” he questioned. Using the lantern, he searched the wall for the hidden door. He grabbed at the bars with his strong hands and shook them powerfully and said, “The bars are bent. He kicked at the dug-out area next to the bars trying to loosening them from the floor.

He began talking again to comfort me as he pulled and pulled on the door trying to get it to give way, but it wouldn’t budge. With a lot of muscle, he rammed it with his shoulder one more time. Finally, it popped open and swung hitting the side of the rock wall causing dirt and rocks to crumble down. He rushed in quickly sliding on his knees causing more dust to fly. I felt his muscled chest and wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around me. My whole body was shaking from the uncontrolled cries. Using the light, he looked at my wet, swollen face and gently touched my tears and wiped them away.

I went limp as a wet rag. He lifted me into his arms, grabbed the lit lantern and carried me out into the sunshine. He sat down with me on his lap and asked what had happened.

“The unforeseen happened, Jake,” I told him. “We have to be careful. The old man is still in there and he is a dangerous man!”

“You don’t have to worry about that old man again, Sarah. He is dead. You are safe.”