Nightmare at Indian Cave

By D.K. Wood

A MESSAGE TO TEACHERS AND PARENTS

I am a reader. When I was very young, I was fortunate to have a wonderful primary teacher who recognized the reader in me and fed it with an unending stream of books. Though she is worthy of much more, this first book is dedicated to her.

There was a delightful little library on Main Street in Salem, Virginia. It was quaint and inviting in its park-like setting, and I was privileged to spend many hours there. I remember, though, that the books did not jump off the shelves at me. Sometimes they sat there and put up a passive resistance, almost as if they were the enemy of my desire to read. Still, I persevered, and I found good books to enjoy.

But I was motivated to read. What of the student who is not so motivated, who can take reading or leave it to spend time in other ways? Would we have that student spend time in those other ways, never to learn the joy of reading a good story or to experience the thrill of becoming lost in a good book? I hope not without a fight.

So that is what "Nightmare at Indian Cave" is about. The title is chosen to jump off the shelf at the student. The book is deliberately short. I hope it will not intimidate even the most reluctant reader. The chapters are not overly long and hopefully they will keep the reader's attention. The subject matter should interest kids, especially those from the mountains and rural settings. The vocabulary is not difficult, though it is not without the occasional challenge. Dialogue is used extensively in the belief that it has a power to involve the reader. One university English professor called the book "a real page turner". I considered that a great compliment because that is exactly what I intended the book to be. I only hope he was right, but I won't know until the book is in your students' hands.

Though this book is a fantasy, and is a fiction in every respect, I made some effort to be true to history. Daniel Boone is known to have been in what is now Scott County, Virginia at about this time. Benge was not. He came along a few years later. Our Benge is the product of a boy's nightmare, and though he may be based on the legend of "Chief" Robert Benge, he is fictional. The real Benge was probably Cherokee, though opinion on that is divided. The mention of beehive coke ovens may be noticed. They have been dormant for some time now, but I could not resist reviving them.

Tony and Jon are unwilling participants when they find themselves transported back into the year 1774 with Billy. However it happened, they are trapped with Billy in a nightmare adventure. The monster, Hargus, a bear-like pioneer and Benge's partner, wants to kill Billy in a scheme for vengeance that transcends time and dimension. Only the strong pioneer girl, Emily, can save the boys. She doesn't understand how, but she knows that she and Billy must somehow save themselves together. As they are pursued by Hargus and Benge, the boys' knowledge of the mountainous area becomes a factor in the survival of the pioneer town and its inhabitants, and each of the boys and Emily are tested before they finally meet the evil Hargus in a fight to the death.

Middle School students should enjoy this book. It was written for them; however, many older students and adults may find the story interesting. Not enough has been written about the history of the Appalachian Mountains and their place in America's history. The fascinating legend of the Melungeons is beginning to get some attention, but so far much of what is written about these mountain people is contradictory or negative. I don't attempt to throw light on that controversy. I simply want to point out that these people were here when the first pioneers came to the Virginia mountains, and they have a place in our history, as well as our fiction.

The town of Guest's Crossing does not exist,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 8, 2006
• ISBN: 9781465318046

Book preview

Copyright © 2006 by D.K. Wood.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in

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recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission

in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Dedicated to the memory of Margaret (Billy) Northcross Ellis,

on behalf of the countless students whose lives

are richer because she taught them to

enjoy a good story.

Chapter 1

GUEST’S CROSSING, 2004

The three boys stood one behind the other at the entrance to the cave. It was not a large cave, but it was dark. For awhile they crouched together in the door, wishing for the courage to move inside and away from the warm sunlight of a late August day.

How big is it? asked Jon. His large body blocked most of the door, so that only a thin strand of sunlight on either side lit the cave.

I can’t see. You’re in the light, Tony said. Get out of the door, Dumbo. Tony was the smallest and the bravest of the three.

Billy stood between Jon and Tony, and he flinched as Tony turned around. I don’t want to be between Jon and Tony if a fight starts, he thought, but as he looked around he realized that there was nowhere to go. He tried to move back against Jon. Tony liked to fight, and he knew what to say to make Jon mad.

I said get out of the light, Dumbo. This time Jon moved. Billy could feel Jon’s body shaking with anger or fear. He didn’t know which. Now that Jon had stepped back, his shadow covered only half of the door of the cave. He was leaning as close to Tony as he could, and Billy felt Jon’s hand pulling his shirt. Jon was pulling so hard that Billy had to lean forward to keep from falling back through the door.

For a moment Billy thought that Jon was going for Tony, but nothing happened. There was silence in the half-lit cave. The light played on the curves in the stone, making shadows appear and disappear like waves on a pond. It was as if the light were blowing in a wind, so that Tony could not tell how large the room was. At first he thought it was small. Then there was a flash of light, and for an instant the room seemed very large.

There’s something in here. Tony spoke in a quiet tone.

Billy was horrified. Tony’s words were still echoing in Billy’s ears when he felt something push him from inside the cave. A stronger force pulled him from behind, and Billy fell back through the door of the cave.

Billy was trembling and shaking when he heard Tony’s voice say, Run, Billy. Run, but the voice seemed distant. All Billy could see was a deep, black hole. He knew that he would fall into it. There were lights at the other end of the hole. They seemed close at first, then farther away. Tony, help me. I’m falling, Billy screamed. Then he fell, and there was black all around him.

It was a few minutes before Billy saw the distant light reappear at the other end of the hole. He seemed to be in a place where there was no up or down, and he could see blurred faces in the light. He thought the faces belonged to Jon and Tony, but he wondered why they were looking up at him from the bottom of the hole.

Oh, no, Billy thought, Jon and Tony fell in the hole too. Billy was not sure that it was really Jon and Tony. The two boys’ faces were in a shadow, and Billy strained to recognize his friends. The light behind the two faces got stronger, and Billy could hear their voices.

Billy. Billy. Are you ok? Are you ok? The voices seemed distant, and there was something desperate about them that reminded Billy of another time. There was something he could almost, but not quite, remember. Was there danger in the hole, or was the real danger behind the blinding light?

Leave me alone, Billy mumbled.

I don’t know what to do, he thought. Then he saw a rope coming toward him from out of the light.

Here, grab hold. It was Tony’s voice, but Billy couldn’t see Tony. Billy reached for the rope, but it dangled a little short of his hand. I can’t reach it, he thought.

Grab it, Billy, Tony yelled. Billy reached again and found the rope. It was a strong rope. Its fibers burnt his hands. He pulled, and slipped. Then he stopped falling and started up the rope, one hand over the other, until he could see Jon’s hand reaching for him. He grabbed, and Jon’s strong, friendly hand pulled him out of the dark hole and onto the mountainside.

* * *

Boy, you were out like a light! The wonder in Jon’s face seemed magnified by alternating glow and shadow from the fire. They had walked from the cave in the twilight. Now they sat in a little circle of pine trees, staring into a fire. Jon had lit the fire with an old cigarette lighter that he had found in a box in his Dad’s top chest drawer. What happened to you? Jon asked.

Billy hesitated before he answered. I thought I had fallen into a hole. He spoke quietly, hoping they would leave it alone. He did not want to tell them about the bottomless hole.

What kind of hole? Tony had a way of getting right to the point.

It was just something I used to dream about when I was little, Billy said timidly.

They all three sat looking into the fire, and there was silence for a moment. The sound of a distant coal train rolled across the ridge and into the hollow. The rumbling sound seemed to be all around them, like a heavy fog.

Then Tony jumped up so quickly that he startled the other boys. He pointed straight at Billy. What the hail is wrong with you, boy? Tony liked to make it sound like he was cursing when he really wasn’t. He thought it was fun to watch people’s reactions. Especially adults. Then he would always say something like, No ma’am, I said ‘hail’. You know, like sleet.

Billy had moved away from the fire, and Tony was quick to notice the fear in his eyes. You just fell and hit your head. What’s the big deal? Tony asked.

Billy was angry. You knocked me down, that’s what’s the big deal! He moved toward Tony, but he was careful to keep the fire between them. He wasn’t really angry at Tony. It was just that the bottomless hole had come back when Tony knocked him down, and he was afraid. Besides, his head hurt where he had hit it when he fell against the cave wall.

Look, Billy. Jon’s curiosity made him break his customary silence. You can’t just leave us hanging like this. What do you mean, a hole you used to dream about? Tony and Jon stared expectantly at Billy, and he knew that he was trapped. He would have to tell them, or they would never leave him alone.

Billy sat silently for a moment. Then he began to tell the story. We moved here from the Southside, he said. Jon and Tony looked at each other knowingly.

We already know that, Tony said impatiently. The Southside was the other side of the tracks, but that didn’t mean anything to Tony and Jon. Billy had been their friend as long as they could remember. Tony glared at Billy. Tell us something we don’t know. Ok?

Well, give me a chance, will you? Now Billy was irritated. Do you remember the time we were going to Benge’s rock and I showed you where I used to live?

Jon nodded, but Tony had turned his back and was looking into the darkness. There was more irritation in Billy’s voice as he continued. Will you pay attention? You’re the one who asked me to tell this story.

Tony whirled toward Billy. You didn’t show us anything. You just pointed at the house and ran. You wouldn’t tell us how it burnt down, but I heard. There was a knowing look on Tony’s face.

I know, said Billy. They say that I started the fire.

Well, didn’t you? asked Tony.

No. Billy stared into the fire and grimaced in pain as he remembered the night it had taken so long to forget.

Then, who did? Tony asked without mercy.

Billy took a deep breath and thought, Well, here we go. Then he said, It wasn’t a who. It was a thing.

Tony and Jon moved closer to Billy. Their huddled faces glowed in the light of the fire. They were alone, and there was no need for quiet, but Billy began to tell the story in a half-whisper.

Mom and Dad said I was having nightmares. But they weren’t dreams. They were real. I was little then, and Mom would put me in bed and tuck me in. You know what I mean about all that stuff.

Billy paused. There was a knot on his head where he had fallen against the cave wall. He rubbed the knot, but it didn’t hurt. The pain came from somewhere deep inside him.

I can’t remember when the thing started coming, but it would sit on the foot of my bed and just look at me. I thought it wanted to hurt me. Maybe it did. Now that I think about it, there must have been something stopping it. After a while, it would move toward me, slowly. If I moved, it would stop and just look at me again. It had a horrible look on its face.

What did it look like? Despite himself, Tony was excited. He loved a good story.

Billy looked like he was in a trance. His eyes were wide, and his pupils were little black dots, like pencil marks.

It was ugly.

Was it a man? Jon asked.

This question seemed to bring Billy out of his trance. I don’t know. Maybe. I didn’t think so then, but now I believe it could have been. It was big, and I used to think it was a bear. It was hairy, even all over its face, and it had a black hole where one eye should have been. There was a big scar in the middle of its forehead, shaped like an X. It smiled in a scary way, and it had only one tooth. It was sharp, like a dog’s tooth. It had a knife.

Well, if it had a knife it wasn’t a bear, was it? You should have figured that out. Tony wasn’t very patient sometimes.

Yes, I know. Billy paused for a moment. I was little. But I remember the knife. It was big, and it had a polished wooden handle. The handle had a cross in it like the one your mother wears around her neck. Billy looked at Tony. I think it was silver.

What about the hole? Jon was excited. Get back to the story about the hole.

The flames of the little fire had died down to a glow. The shadows of the