Moonscape Read online

  Sheriff Azgo was not even in sight. “Charlie!” Another light came on somewhere ahead and around a corner.

  He appeared at the bend. “We might as well be in a circus, what with the talking and the lights.” He looked back from where he had come. “Never mind. We have another body here. Come ahead, Tom. You, too, Nellie. We’ll need help getting this one loose. Moonshine, stay.”

  “Loose?”

  “A stalactite pinned the body to the ground.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Mrs. Bock showed Rosy and the two boys Gladys’s old room. She had removed the double bed and all her belonging when Gladys, the former roomer, left. Three single beds jutted out from one end of the room, and a small table and chairs as well as an overstuffed couch filled out the other end. A long bureau rested against the hallway wall. She turned on the overhead light, and the bright-colored bedspreads cheered her. The walls were now bright yellow, and several Oriental rugs covered most of the parquet floor. “You boys and Rosy stay here.”

  She turned to Esther. “I have a room down the hall for you. It’s not as big, but . . .” She wanted to say “beggars can’t be choosers,” but didn’t want to hurt Rosy’s feelings. “You all can stay here until—” she said and led Esther to a cubbyhole of a room past the bathroom. “Bathroom is shared with everyone. No one should dawdle.

  “School’s started already. It’s just down the street. There’s about two, maybe three classes. Matt can get in the middle class and Campbell in the younger one. I already talked to the teachers. If you decide to go to Hailey, there’s grades.”

  “Is Nellie Burns still living here?” Rosy asked. He had given a cursory look at both rooms.

  “Yes, she’s in her usual room, right across from Room Six— your and the boys’ room.”

  Miss Kipling harumphed. “Is she that camera lady you keep talking about, Ross?”

  “Yep. Saved my life.” He ruffled Matt’s hair, and then the boy scooted back to his and Campbell’s room. “In more ways than one. She here?”

  “She’s off somewhere with the sheriff.”

  Rosy grinned. “Ah, that the way it is?”

  “No, they’re down at the lava fields finding dead bodies.”

  Miss Kipling gasped. “That’s not something to say in front of these boys. What if they heard you?” She glanced back to Room Six, but the door was closed.

  “What if they did? They’re in the Wild West now. Got to get used to bodies and all manner of goings-on.” Mrs. Bock walked to the stairs. “You get settled now and come down for some pie.” She could hear Esther yapping behind her but ignored it. Getting used to Esther was going to take some doing.

  Rosy was first to enter the kitchen. “Hiya, Goldie. Did you miss me?”

  “Are you still drinkin’ like a fish?”

  “Nope. I give it up. My sister said it wasn’t fittin’ to be drinkin’ around the boys. And I knew Lily wouldn’t like it.” He sat at the table, where Mrs. Bock sliced generous pieces of peach pie and slipped them onto plates.

  “Those boys have grown so much. What are you going to do with them?” She looked up and studied Rosy. He had always been ornery after his wife Lily died. That was not a match made in heaven, but it seemed to work, even given the difference in their ages, almost twenty years.

  “I don’t know, Goldie. I couldn’t leave them back in the city. I knew Lily would want them home, but we can’t live out at Last Chance Ranch, what with school and winter comin’ on and all.” He lowered his head and heaved a big sigh. “Does the sheriff know I’m back?”

  “I didn’t tell him, but I suspect Nellie will say something while they’re out at the lava fields.”

  The boys came running down the stairs like two young ponies. They found their way into the kitchen, chasing each other with cap guns. “Whoa!” Matt said.

  “Sit down,” Goldie said. She placed an ample piece of pie in front of each of them with a fork and a glass of milk. “Now, don’t shovel it down, but eat up!

  “I expect they’ll get back tonight or some time tomorrow. Charlie can’t stay out of the office too long. Too much goin’ on here and in Hailey, what with hunters comin’ in to slaughter elk and deer. I’m hopin’ I’ll get a venison from one of the miners boardin’ here, but Henry is gettin’ too old to shoot straight. Still, someone out at Triumph might get lucky. Will you get your old job up there back?”

  “Dunno. I’ll head out there tomorrow, I guess. Is my auto around somewhere? Did Nellie run it into the ground, or did it give up the ghost?”

  “She put a lot of miles on it this summer. She went up to a sheep camp with Gwynn Campbell and got mixed up with moonshiners and cowboys. That girl doesn’t have a scared bone in her body, near as I can tell.”

  “Moonshiners? Not that gang of robbers up there at Fourth of July Creek, did she?”

  “Those’re the ones. Bad business. One of ’em got shot. Not before he tried to slit her up one side and down the other.”

  “Who got slit up?” Matt asked.

  “Oops, little pitchers have big ears.” The boys might need to know some bad things happened, but they didn’t have to know how they happened. Goldie cut up two more small slices and added them to the empty plates. “You want more, Rosy?”

  “Was she hurt?”

  “She survived it. Gwynn sewed her up. Not a bad job either.”

  “I would like a cup of tea.” Esther strode into the kitchen and plunked herself down on the only remaining chair. “If you please.”

  “I’ll get it for you this time, Miss Kipling, ’cause you’re new here. Watch close so you know how to do it yourself next time. I ain’t nobody’s servant.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Nellie and Mayor Tom followed Sheriff Azgo around the bend. With both flashlights on, the interior of the next section of the cave glistened. The lights reflected off thin icicles hanging from the ceiling in prisms of color—red, orange, yellow, blue. Nell wasn’t sure she had ever seen anything so beautiful in her life. Until she saw the dark lump with what looked like a sword sticking out of it. No scream, but she heard herself gasp. This time, no animal had plundered the body or face. It was upturned and looked beatific in the light—like a frozen Madonna.

  The sheriff, Nellie, and Mayor Tom paused in stunned silence. Around them, Nellie heard again the water dripping and wondered where it was. The sound echoed, almost like footsteps. She glanced up, not wanting to look at the sight and hardly able to look away.

  “Do you have your camera, Miss Burns?” the sheriff asked.

  “Ye-es. No, it’s outside.”

  “Mayor Tom, can you retrieve Miss Burns’s pack and tripod? I think we should have a photograph here.”

  “No, I’ll get it. I can’t—” Nellie backed up and stumbled toward the entrance. “Moonshine, come here.” After the two of them rounded the corner again, she stopped and choked, trying to keep her food down, but she was not successful.

  “Mayor Tom. Get her pack and tripod.” The sheriff must have heard her.

  Nellie pulled herself together, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, and hung on Moonie’s collar to guide her. The sunshine was so white, she blinked and covered her face. Moonie barked and waited for her as she climbed back up the rocks. Her pack and tripod were where she had left them. She found the leash for Moonshine and tied him to a rock. “I’m sorry, Moonie. You must stay here.” She knelt and circled his body with her arms. He felt so strong and warm and brave. She must be, too. She gathered up her equipment and re-entered the cave. The flashlights still reflected off the icy walls, making her feel as if she were in the middle of half a dozen rainbows, except for the deep dark behind it all.

  “Sheriff, I need your help with the flash.” Nellie wished Rosy were with them. He had done this for her in the mine last winter. “I’ll explain what to do.” She secured her Premo to the tripod and placed it close to the scene—the body. She poured flash powder into the inverted narrow length of the tray. “Hold this tray steady. Wait until I get
situated. Here are some wood matches and a strike pad. When I tell you ‘now,’ light the match and touch it to this powder. It will explode in light but keep hold of the tray here.” She demonstrated. “At the same time, Mayor Tom, you should keep both flashlights just behind and above . . . her. Not directly on . . .” They did as told.

  Nellie pulled the black cloth over her head and concentrated on the view through the ground glass, the upside down and inverted image. A doll, she told herself. A play. She lifted the black cloth and swung it over her shoulder and set up the film and shutter release. Nell motioned Charlie and Tom to stay still. “Now!”

  The explosion of light blinded all of them. Nell, at least, had closed hers in anticipation. “One more. Wait until I move about to get a different angle, Sheriff,” she said and turned to him. “I should only take one more. Do you want to direct me?”

  “I still cannot see. Take the view from the feet toward her . . . head, and include the stalactite as much as you can.”

  Nell detected the crack in his firm voice. She moved with care to the different angle, helped fill the flash tray, pulled on the black cloth, and proceeded as before. After the flash exploded, she thought she heard Mayor Tom gasp, but she didn’t stop her end of the photo procedure—placing the film in the carrier, releasing the camera from the tripod, folding up the camera, re-packing the flash tray. As soon as she was finished, she looked at Tom. “Please help me out of here.” He did.

  Outside, Nell waited for the two men to return. “What are we going to do with . . . ?” she asked when they appeared at the entrance. She wanted to sit but was still too upset.

  Mayor Tom looked as sick as Nell felt. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” Mayor Tom rubbed his mouth. “How are we gonna get this . . . this . . . out of there?” He motioned behind them.

  “I do not know. Just the three of us probably cannot do it. We need another stretcher and rope and couple of men.” The sheriff stared at Nell and then looked elsewhere. “I tried to move her, but her clothes are frozen to the ground.” He squatted down. “And a shovel so we can pry her loose.”

  “I don’t think I will be any help at all,” Nell said.

  Neither man said anything for a spell.

  “We must do what we did before,” the sheriff said. “We’ll have to ask for a stretcher and several men to help remove the body and take it to Hailey.”

  “I’m purty sure this was one of the women with the man, but her face was covered mostly with a veil. She didn’t say or do anything, like the other one. This must be the one that looked so plump and didn’t say much. Can’t tell now. So what about the other woman?” Mayor Tom’s jollity had disappeared long since. “Do we keep lookin’?”

  “Not now. I have to return to Hailey and enlist other searchers.” Sheriff Azgo did not get to his feet. His voice had lost most of its strong timbre.

  “I am not waiting here this time,” Nellie said. “I can take the horse back and—”

  “No, we are not leaving you behind again. We will all leave. Tom, can you come back again with a stretcher team in the morning? You are the only one I know who can find this cave again. This is much to ask, and, if you do not wish to do so, I understand.”

  Tom sat on one of the large boulders in front of the cave. He dropped his head between his knees. He said nothing for a moment. “Guess I’ll have to, won’t I?” He looked up at the sheriff. “I’d sure rather you come back, too.” Another pause. “I don’t think I got the heart to push and shove . . . her like might be needed.”

  Sheriff Azgo sighed and stroked his chin. A dark shadow had begun to grow. “All right. Let us do this. I will take Nellie back to Hailey and round up a stretcher and team. You can go back to Arco and meet me here tomorrow morning. We can use your horse to load our packs and camera,” he said and gestured to Nellie, “and Nellie, too, if she wants to ride. I do not wish trying to sling this dead body over the horse. I would like to see what I can see once we get it out into the sunlight.” He glanced between Nellie and Tom. “If she . . . it may have been here for days, so one more day will not make a difference. But,” he said, as he pushed himself up to standing, “I want to stack rocks in front of the entrance to reduce the chance of animals getting to it.”

  Nellie felt as if moving rocks were a Sisyphean task after her morning’s experience. The two men were much more efficient and with their strength could move larger rocks as well. When the cave front was mostly closed, all three made their way back to the camp, picking up the horse where Tom had tied it to a tree near the cave Nellie didn’t enter. The sheriff carried Nellie’s tripod, and she carried her camera. No one spoke until they reached the tent and then only to share the dismantling and loading. Nellie said she would walk, at least over the roughest surface, so the horse’s feet would be saved. Moonshine was as quiet as they were.

  Much later at the road, the sheriff and Nellie climbed into the sheriff’s automobile, and Moonshine curled himself around at her feet. Mayor Tom waved good-bye and turned his auto to face Arco. They left the horse hobbled with a long lead and feed near several trees. Mayor Tom said it would be all right another night. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more help,” Nellie said.

  “No matter, Nell. It was as distressing a sight as I have ever seen. I would have followed you out, but the county pays me to handle distressing sights.”

  “If you want photos, I should come back with you. It might be easier once she is outside.” Brave words, she thought. The icicle in the woman’s body would bring her nightmares, perhaps forever. Portraits grew more appealing by the minute. “What time do you want to leave in the morning?”

  “Early.” He didn’t argue with her, so she supposed her services were needed.

  “Maybe Rosy could come with us, too. He used to be very strong, and I suspect that hasn’t changed. As long as he doesn’t bring his jar along with him. Don’t you think?”

  The smile on the sheriff’s lips was the first good sign since they entered the auto. “I think that is a good idea.”

  The sheriff drove Nellie all the way to Mrs. Bock’s boarding house. She was relieved because she didn’t want to have to find a ride from Hailey to Ketchum. She knew he was as exhausted as she was and probably more so. “Come in,” she said.

  “Not tonight. I will come to pick you up at 7:00 o’clock. If Rosy wishes to go, he should be ready too, with sturdy shoes and warm clothes, gloves, a hat—”

  “I think he probably knows how to dress for cold, Charlie.” She patted his arm. “He may even have been to the lava fields for all I know. Maybe he looked for gold there.” As she swung her legs out the door, Moonshine crawled out, too. Then Nellie leaned back. “Thank you for understanding how I felt.”

  Nell could hear noise all over the house. Pounding on stairs. A woman shouting. Clattering pans in the kitchen. Nell quickly walked back to the kitchen, where Mrs. Bock was by herself. “Anything left to eat?”

  “Lord a mercy, child! You scared me to death!” Mrs. Bock looked as frazzled as Nellie felt. “I can fix something up for you quick as a wink.”

  Her landlady looked so undone, Nellie rushed to her and hugged her hard. “Oh, Goldie. This has been an awful day, and it looks as if it were for you, too. Are Rosy and the boys back?”

  “Can’t you hear them monkeys on the stairway? I should slit my throat for saying they could stay here. They were quiet and shy when I met them at the train. And now, listen to ’em!”

  “They’re happy to be here, I’m sure.” Doors slammed upstairs and downstairs, and then the noise stopped. “Where’s Rosy?”

  “He said he was going out to see about his automobile. I told him you left it at the motor garage. He hasn’t come back, and I’m afraid he stopped to fill up on liquor.” Mrs. Bock pulled a big haunch of lamb out of the refrigerator, where it took up most of the space. “I can fix you a lamb sandwich. The boys ate like birds, and Miss Kipling looked like she would never stop.” She took a quick glance to the door. “That’s Rosy’s sister, who says sh
e is here to stay.” Mrs. Bock wrinkled her nose. “She’s as priggish a woman as I’ve ever met. I don’t want her around any longer than necessary. I’d move her out tomorrow if I could.”

  The back door slammed open, and Rosy stepped into the kitchen. “Nellie!” In three steps he had his arms around her and held her close. “I thought you’d never get back!”

  “That’s what I thought about you! It’s been—what? Five months? Six?” She threw her arms around him, too. He had gained weight from the time at Last Chance Ranch and looked about ten years younger. And then she felt shy. He was a handsome man, something she had never thought before, perhaps because of his one bad eye. And, maybe for the first time since she had known him, he was not drinking and didn’t smell of it.

  “Sit and eat, cookie,” Mrs. Bock said. “Rosy, go calm those boys down, get them to bed, and come back, so we can talk.” She motioned to the three of them. “And don’t bring your sister down with you, please.”

  “I had to bring her, Goldie. She ain’t easy, but she’s got a good heart.” He left the room, letting the kitchen door slam behind him.

  CHAPTER 8

  “First,” Nellie said, “the sheriff and I are going out to the lava fields again, the Craters of the Moon. We have found two bodies, and there supposedly were three who are there. Charlie needs people to help carry the newest one back to the road and get it transported to Hailey. And to find the third person. I hope this one isn’t dead, too.” The vision of the ice sword still wouldn’t leave her, and she curled her shoulders up and in.

  “Charlie, eh?” Rosy puckered his lips.

  Nell could feel her face flush. Mrs. Bock heaved herself up from her chair. “Nell and Charlie,” Mrs. Bock said, emphasizing the name, “spent quite a lot of time in the mountains in July, Rosy. They’re good friends. Don’t interrupt.”