Failed Prospects.P5

Randall ‘Randy’ Tarsh [Paleontology professor], Martin ‘Marty’ Robbins [Archaeology professor], Hugh Johnson [Geology student], Barbara Malters [investigative Journalist], Charlie Stutz [student of Photography]

6pm, Saturday , Oct 20^th: Sunset and Hugh took first watch per his paranoia. Marty pitched a tent near the campfire they started  while the others each slept in a truck cab. Suspicious of the country gal Jane, Barbara took time to set up a perimeter alarm of pots and pans. Hugh woke Barb for her shift but stayed up with her as he still hyped. When he finally turned in for sleep, he had a fitful rest like the others, plagued with nightmares: 

• Randy looked at the others around the campfire and flinched with revolt at the warts growing on their arms and neck. He suddenly woke up and checked himself for such warts. He cracked open his whiskey bottle to settle his nerves but still struggled to get back to sleep. Come morning, he awoke fatigued.
• Charlie peeked into Jane's cooking pot and saw Dr Baker's head and heard him say, "About time you showed up." Charlie screamed himself awake. It seemed to take forever to get back to sleep. Come morning, fatigued, he walked the camp trying to wake himself.
• Hugh looked in his hand-held mirror to shave and cut himself per fright. His reflection included a bald head with thorny ridges while his teeth looked yellowed and sharp.
• Marty didn't so much dream as he suffered bug bites while lying on the ground.

8am, Sunday 21st: The smell of fresh coffee stirred most folks. After breakfast and packing gear, they headed out to the northwest per Jane's instructions. Charlie and Barb led the way as Randy guided with his compass. Any footprints faded into the undergrowth. When they paused to check the compass, Marty noticed a flock of birds sitting on a branch within 20ft staring at them. Spooky! Didn't flinch till Marty yelled "Go! Get!" 

They trekked further into the woods till they heard voices. "Dr Baker? Who's there?" Silence which only added to their unease. Hugh was already on edge; this didn't help. They remembered the legend of "voices of the Indian spirits" till they reasoned it was only the gust of wind shaking the leaves on the branches. Not that that put Hugh at ease.

Then there was Barb almost falling down the bank till Charlie caught her. And once again all unnerved by the red creek water per the legend "blood of our ancestors." Hugh thought iron oxide. Professor Tarsh analyzed it as "Rhodophyta algae." Marty nodded, “Like I said, a rational answer to everything.” They ambled around as Hugh struggled to get his boot out of the mud. So much for trying to jump the creek. While waiting, Charlie found footprints to confirm they were on the correct path. 

1:30pm: As the ground slowly angled upwards from the creek, they finally came upon a wide path that looked like an old wagon trail. They read an old sign barely hanging on a cross post. "Mel's Creek. Population...” was 153 but crossed out to 49 and now 1. Everyone reasoned "Jane!" They could see buildings just beyond the trees. 

Marty kept calling out Baker's name as they entered the town. Only the drone of animals and insects replied. While Marty angled towards the church with its dilapidated steeple, Barb and Charlie headed for the general store "maybe we can find supplies." Hugh rushed to the far end corner of the hotel for a better view, as Randy ambled down the street.

Church: Most of the steeple lay on the ground along with the brass bell. Marty stepped upon the porch that gave way under his weight, falling into the crack up to his crotch, bruising his privates. He gingerly crawled out, this time walking nearer the walls for best support. He studied the one double door barely hanging from its hinge while the other was knocked down. Pews were butted together and angled in an inverted 'V' pattern. Only the iron frame of the stained-glass remained in most windows. Some windows were completely broken with colored glass and iron framing littering the floor.  And that's when he noticed bullet holes in the interior walls and doors. And gouges on the back of the pews! "Looks like they defended themselves." He approached the pulpit and found a dark red stained open bible. He read psalm 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,…” The inside of the bible was dated 1859. The pastor’s faded sermon notes were dated May 1862. 

General Store: Broken bay-window glass crackled under their shoes as Barb and Charlie entered the store. They gawked at the ransacked shelves. Only a few items remained: moth-eaten clothing of ages ago, rusting canned goods, and a few glass jars of fermented preservatives and jams. The gun rack and display case were empty. Charlie checked the cash register and found coins dated 1840-1860 and paper money dated from the 1850s. He also found two old 41 caliber revolvers under the counter. "Looks like folks left in a hurry." They checked the back of the store and found an open crate of dynamite; only 4 sticks remained. 

Road Intersection: Hugh swore he saw movement up the north road between the houses. The white tail of a deer? He cautiously walked closer till he confirmed it the dull white canvas of small tents (the canvas shredded with cuts). Broken poles and gear were also thrown into the trees as if somebody make a poor attempt to hide everything. And that's when he saw the drag marks in the road and began to backtrack south as he called out to the others. Randy showed them the tent stake he found in the street. All joined Hugh in a procession angling behind the hotel and jail. 

Hotel: But Marty was drawn to the muddy prints on the hotel stoop. Randy and Hugh continued to follow the drag trail as the others entered the hotel. Marty checked the old registration book to find "Baker and Tucker signed into upstairs rooms on the 16^th." Charlie climbed the rickety and rotting stairs (distributing his weight and testing as he climbed) and was at the top when he heard the crash. The stairs gave way under the hefty professor who followed. More bumps and bruises to Marty. Barbara opened their first-aid kit to help patch him up. Charlie turned his attention to the upstairs hallway where he found wooden crates lined up (scavenged from the general store, hotel, and undertaker). Each labeled with its contents:

• More coprolite stones,
• Human bones (inspected later to reveal slashes, gashes, and breaks),
• A 6ft long coffin was labeled “Bi-pedaled new species.” It was filled to the top with large bones.
• There were a couple of 4ft long spears leaning against the wall between the boxes. [Archaeology/History: Marty would later identify these as non-native Indian per length and lack of leather wrapping.]

Charlie tied a rope to each box and slowly lowered it (individually) down the broken stairs to the waiting professor and journalist. While they studied the boxes closer, Charlie returned to the other rooms.

Charlie’s Dream: A rhythmic muffled banging drew Charlie to the last room on the left. He realized the slight breeze thru the broken window was the source of the door’s movement. Inside he found: the silhouette of a man sitting in a chair facing the window (that looked out over the street), with an old lantern at his feet. [Sanity failure] Charlie shrieked in memory of his nightmare days ago. He inched closer only to shudder at the sight of the hole in the man’s skull while his bony fingers still gripped the revolver.

Barbara called out at the shriek, “Everything OK?” She climbed the now broken stairs to lend aid. She too shrieked when she found Charlie with his finger in the hole. “It’s huge! He took his own life. I didn’t see that in my dream.” Together, they backtracked to check the remaining rooms. The adjacent room was in a state of mess with two sleeping bags laid over the rusting spring mattress on the old bedframe. Backpacks and gear lay in the corner while 3 coprolite stones laid about the room. Glass shards littered the floor and the gear. “Someone threw rocks at them.” Charlie grabbed the backpack, went to the stairs, and tossed it over the side. “Present for you. Check it out.” Charlie and Barb continued checking the other rooms before coming downstairs.

Campsite: Meanwhile, Hugh and Randy followed the drag marks behind the hotel where they found compressed grass and empty stake holes. “Jane must have cut the tents and ditched them in the trees. Someone on Baker’s team must have pissed her off.” Hugh offered, “Maybe they too refused her amorous advances. I thought I counted at least 2 teeth.” Randy angled his flashlight into the well beside the site and saw something glistening, “She dumped more of their gear down the well.”

Jail: Curiosity or fear guided Hugh to the Jail house. The one-floor stone building included 2 small empty jail-cells. But something glistening drew Hugh closer. He found the rusting old chain that once held the cell closed had been recently cut. Did they let someone out? A stick pointed out of the broken floorboards. He retrieved it to realize it was a 3ft long spear. [Natural World] While it looked maybe 50-100 years-old, Hugh realized it wasn’t native Indian make.

Baker’s Journal: Randy and Hugh entered the hotel as Barb and Charlie carefully descended the stairs. They listened as Marty read Baker’s journal. “I found this in the backpack Charlie threw down. Dr. Baker summarizes their journey to each dig site to include their own encounter with the Indians. Describes finding a skull with sharp ridges and horns and shark-like teeth… all less than 100 years-old. They too met Jane who told them about this mining town littered with more bones and stones. They found a complete bi-pedal skeleton locked in the jail cell. We need to lay it out to determine its size. Anyway, they found a picture of Jane’s mother or maybe grandmother.”

Charlie interrupted to show the picture he found upstairs, “The back is labeled as an 1861 photo of Mel and his teen daughter Jane. That Jane would be in her 70s. The Jane we saw was probably in her 40-50s.” Hugh interrupted, “Professor Robbins, didn’t you just read their Jane was in her 60s?”

Marty continued, “Baker writes his concern Dr. Stewart and student Clara Potter missing. Searched late into the evening and plan to search the mines the next day.” Barbara interrupted, “Back at the Penman Hotel we found love letters between those two. Maybe they ran off for a little hanky-panky.”

Marty gave a pissed scowl before continuing, “Oct 17^th, pre-dawn, he hears some kind of hooting outside in the streets. Sees movement in the quarter-moon lit street below. He extinguished his lantern out of concern. I fear whatever brought the end of Mel’s Creek mining town repeated itself 4 days ago!”

Professor Tarsh broke the silence, “Barbara, I think you were right. We ARE on a rescue mission. We need to get to the mine to find Baker and his team. And find that damn country gal and wring the truth out of her!”

TO BE CONTINUED: https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2023/05/failed-prospectsp6.html