Rick Brant 8 The Caves of Fear Page 10

  “What?” Chahda was astonished.

  Scotty quickly outlined their adventures while Chahda listened thoughtfully. When he had finished, the Indian boy shook his head. “Something bad wrong. Charlie is one of Bradley’s men. My boss pays him, and he is friendly. You say Charlie told you to go to this junk?”

  Rick thought back. Charlie himself actually had not told them. They had not seen Charlie when the note was dropped on their table.

  “Charlie himself didn’t tell us,” he stated. “It could have been one of Long Shadow’s men. Or one of Ko’s. And that Portuguese with the knife could have been one of Long Shadow’s men, too. I’ll bet he was the one who put the finger on us. He must have heard us ask for Chahda. Long Shadow and his men knew Chahda, of course, and they would certainly try to get rid of reinforcements like us.”

  “Right,” Zircon agreed. “Perhaps the fault was ours in not waiting for Charlie to tell us himself, although I don’t see how we could have known.”

  “I think that is it,” Chahda said. “Charlie is a friend. So the men on the junk with purple sails were Long Shadow’s, and you plenty lucky you get out with your skins, believe me.”

  Zircon rubbed his chin. “Chahda, our instructions from Bradley were to bring a rubber boat and a Nansen bottle. That must mean the heavy water source has something to do with a lake or river. Is that true?”

  “Don’t know about those things,” Chahda said. “I know only that the heavy water comes from a place near here. I know how to get there and I will take you. I do not think we will like this place much. It has a bad name.”

  “What kind of bad name?” Scotty asked.

  “In English,” Chahda said, “it is ‘The Caves of Fear’!”

  CHAPTER XIII

  The Black Buddha

  Long ago, according to the tale Chahda had heard from his Indian Buddhist friends in the monastery, a High Lama and some of the chief priests of Korse Lenken forsook their vows and went in for piracy with the monastery as headquarters.

  For years they flourished, robbing travelers and even swooping down on Chinese cities across the border. The name of Korse Lenken was known throughout the East as a place of terror. Between attacks, the High Lama and his priests made mockery of the religion of Buddhism that they were sworn to uphold, and they built a huge caricature of Buddha, all in black and with the face of a demon.

  Then, went the legend, as they dedicated the great statue to the hordes of the mountain underworld, the Lord Buddha himself appeared in the sky and stretched his hands over them. The vast multitude of robbers fell to their knees and lifted their hands for mercy. And Lord Buddha, the gentle and merciful, gave them mercy. His voice rang through the mountains like the winds of heaven: “Live! Live unharmed. But live in fear! It is written.”

  Buddha, so went the legend, then vanished. A great wind sighed through the valley, and bolts of light flashed from heaven. It grew black, black as the darkest night. And when the blackness cleared and the wind died, new mountains stood where the High Lama and the multitude had been.

  The lamas who had remained faithful to the teachings of Buddha labored to build a new monastery, and as the years passed they heard mutterings in the earth. Then one day a repentant lama, who had been one of the multitude, came forth, an old man. The High Lama and the robbers still lived, he said. But they lived in the blackness under the new mountain, in vast caverns where no light ever came. And there were things in the darkness. Things they could not see, but of which they were terribly afraid. As Lord Buddha had said, they lived in fear.

  The little group was silent as Chahda finished reciting the legend. Then the Hindu boy added, “Of course this is long ago. So very long. Maybe it is only a story. And maybe not. The monks of Korse Lenken do know there are big caverns, and they know of this Black Buddha. I know of it myself. But more than that I do not know.”

  “And it is from the Caves of Fear that the heavy water is presumed to come,” Zircon finished. “That is quite a tale, Chahda. But how do we get to the Caves of Fear?”

  “The entrance is somewhere in the Cave of the Black Buddha,” Chahda said. “At least, that is what the monks have told me. Also, they showed me how to get there. But I did not go in.” He shuddered a little. “Who knows if the old High Lama might not be waiting? I thought better I wait for you.”

  Rick felt the weirdness of the tale, too, but he made a joke. “I didn’t think hobgoblins would frighten you away, Chahda.”

  Chahda didn’t smile. “People who live in the East do not laugh at hubgubbles, Rick.”

  “I was just trying to be funny,” Rick apologized. “Well, what do we do now?”

  “We look in the caverns for the source of the heavy water,” Zircon stated. “And the sooner we start, the better. Chahda, have you seen men with water bags heading out of here? Men with anything at all suspicious about them?”

  The Hindu boy nodded. “I have seen such men. Once I saw ten men going up the trail to the outside with such bags. The bags were all they had. I am sure the bags had heavy water. If not, why so many?”

  Zircon told him of the plastic-lined bags they had found and of their suspicions.

  Chahda saw the implications instantly. He grinned. “We find out plenty more about these water bags, you bet! I think I go right now and find out if any more men with bags go by today.” He hurried off, getting into his monk’s costume as he went.

  Rick watched him go, shaking his head with admiration. “He’s a wonder,” he said. “I’ll bet Bradley thinks so, too.”

  “Anyone would,” Scotty agreed. “He gets things done. Wish I could say the same for us. All we’ve done so far is travel while he did the work. Why don’t we get busy?”

  “Busy how?” the scientist asked.

  “Couldn’t we look into this cave tonight? I don’t see that waiting until morning will help much. If it’s a big cave, there won’t be light in it, anyway.”

  Rick thought Scotty had something there. He pointed out that plenty of lights were in their packs, and that they had the dark-light camera besides.

  Hobart Zircon thought it over, then agreed. “There’s another advantage,” he added. “Starting out tonight, we’ll attract less attention. We got here about dark, so the people of the area don’t know we’re here. They’ll know in the morning, though, and we’ll have a thousand sight-seers hanging around, unless they’re greatly different from the other Eastern people I’ve met. And the less anyone knows about our interests, the better.”

  Sing nodded agreement. “That is right. By morning many people will come to see the strangers. I doubt if they have seen very many white men before.” The Chinese guide paused. “But I don’t know if I like the idea of going into strange caves while it’s dark. As your little friend says, anything is possible in this part of the world. Even hobgoblins.”

  “We wouldn’t want you to come, anyway, Sing,” Rick said. He looked at Zircon for agreement. “It would be better if you took care of our equipment and sort of acted as rear guard. We’ll need someone to stand by in case we don’t come out of the cave again.”

  “Afraid the hobgoblins will kidnap us?” Scotty asked.

  “Not hobgoblins. But if the heavy water is there, some of Long Shadow’s men will be, too. We probably can take care of ourselves. Only suppose they catch us by surprise?”

  Zircon agreed. “Rick is right. And even if there is no one in the cave, there remains the possibility of accident. I think we’ll do well to leave Sing here. Then, if we’re not out in twenty-four hours, he can take steps to get us out.”

  “That’s wise,” Sing nodded.

  They were debating what to take with them when Chahda returned. He reported that some of the lamas had seen men with goatskin water bags late in the day, men that they knew to come from outside the valley, traveling from the general direction of the Cave of the Black Buddha. It was such water-carrying groups that had made Chahda sure that the cave was the source. There was no other near-by place that was po
ssible.

  “That settles it,” Rick said. He told Chahda what they had in mind.

  Chahda glanced at the sky. “Moon in a little while,” he said. “With no moon, we could not even get there. Too rough. But if no clouds come, we can go.”

  Rick was a little surprised that Chahda hadn’t objected in view of his apparent dislike of the whole idea. Then he realized that the little Hindu boy wasn’t made that way. He might be afraid, but he would go. That was true bravery.

  After some discussion, they decided not to take their full equipment, but merely to use the trip to locate the entrance to the Caves of Fear. Once the way was found, they could return and load up with gear and provisions. However, each of them took a few emergency rations, a full canteen of water, their weapons, and flashlights. Chahda was given a big electric lamp to carry. Rick slung the dark-light camera over his shoulder while Scotty changed his rifle sight for the infrared telescope.

  The moon was up by the time they were ready. They shook hands with Sing and started off, Chahda leading.

  The way led across the valley at a slight angle, heading toward the river. At first it was smooth going, with only high grass underfoot. Rick was enjoying himself. The moon gave light to the valley center, but the sides, under the sheer mountain walls, were shrouded in shadow. The peaks themselves, snow-capped to the west, were bright.

  Then Chahda cut back away from the river toward the nearest mountain wall. The way began to get rougher, with hillocks to climb and rocky outcroppings to skirt.

  Soon they were out of the grassland entirely, walking through rock masses. Now and then they went from the moonlight into dense shadow and had to use their flashlights. Except for their flashlights, no man-made light disturbed the wild scene. They had been traveling for some time. It was late and not even a fire in front of a herder’s tent could be seen. By Rick’s watch, it was almost eleven.

  It was closer to midnight when Chahda stopped. He pointed to a rocky defile. “This is as far as I went before. My friend who showed me said the cave is there.”

  Zircon took the lead. Behind him, Rick put his own flashlight away and held his rifle ready for use. Scotty, too, was ready. Chahda, crowding Rick’s steps, had the big light ready to turn on.

  Zircon’s beam picked out rocky walls that rose for a hundred feet. He picked his way over tumbled rock, the others following. The way took a sharp turn, then came to a dead end.

  “Nothing here.” Zircon’s light covered the area a foot at a time. There was no opening.

  “Maybe we missed it,” Scotty suggested. “Let’s go back, and examine everything on the way.”

  They reversed their steps. All of them used lights now, and the combined beams illumined the steep walls brightly.

  “Take a look at that,” Scotty said suddenly. His light was on a pinnacle of rock that appeared to have some sort of opening behind it. He moved in, cautiously, the others close behind. There was an opening, sure enough, where the pinnacle leaned against the main rock wall. There was just barely room to squeeze through. Zircon almost got stuck.

  Once past the opening, a new trail seemed to open up. And at its end an aperture in the rock wall loomed black before them.

  “That must be it,” Rick said, and his voice echoed hollowly.

  Scotty moved ahead to the entrance and flashed his light inside. The beam was lost in the blackness beyond. “It’s big,” he said, and the words rolled around in the emptiness.

  Rick felt a shiver run down his back. “What are we waiting for?” he demanded roughly. “Let’s get inside.”

  The opening wasn’t large. Zircon had to duck going in. Rick was right behind him, Chahda bringing up the rear. Just inside, they stopped, all lights going.

  The cave was tremendous. The level rock floor stretched away from them, and when they shot their lights upward, a vaulted dome reflected the beams a good hundred feet overhead. Slowly they moved away from the entrance, lights busy searching the cave. There was nothing near the entrance but rock, solid and smooth. And it was so quiet Rick thought he could hear his own heartbeat. Then his light beam picked up a green reflection on the far side of the cave.

  “There’s something there,” he exclaimed. In spite of himself, his voice shook.

  “We’ll soon see,” Scotty said. Their voices rumbled through the cave, echoing and re-echoing.

  Zircon gave a sudden exclamation. “Chahda! Where’s the big light?”

  The Hindu boy had been playing the bright beam on the walls to one side. Now he swung it squarely ahead, and Rick gasped.

  The Black Buddha!

  It seemed to crouch against the far wall, a giant, loathsome thing of dead black with live green eyes.

  They went toward it, all lights on the thing, and as they made out more details, Rick shuddered. The Buddha was completely the opposite of every other Buddha he had seen. Instead of the bland, quiet look of peace, this thing had its mouth open, showing sharp ebony teeth. It leered over a nose like a pig’s, and its body was gross and misshapen. It was, Rick thought, toad-like. It quite frankly gave him the willies. His imagination gave it life, so that the obscene lips smirked, and almost seemed to drool.

  Something white at the base caught the light beams, In a moment they stood before a pile of bones, heaped against the statue’s left side.

  Zircon’s light swept them. “Human,” he said.

  Rick’s scalp tightened.

  Next to him, Chahda let out his breath in a sigh that was nearly a moan.

  In the second that they stood silently looking at the pile of bones, there came a slight sound from somewhere behind the Black Buddha. Instantly their lights swept in the direction of the sound, until Scotty hissed, “Put ‘em out!”

  Blackness flooded in on them. Rick strained his eyes to see, his ears to hear. He tried to control his breathing, sure that its sound could be heard forty feet away.

  Then he saw a horizontal thread of light about three feet long against the wall behind the statue. It spread upward slowly, forming a rectangle. Rick watched it, his palms wet on the rifle as he tucked the flashlight away and gripped the weapon tightly.

  It was yellow light, eerie as a will-o’-the-wisp and scarcely stronger. Then, as Rick watched, a shadow rose up in a black narrow path from the bottom of the rectangle. It rose and rose until it almost filled the frame, and the blackness was in the form of a man, almost, except that it was too long, too thin.

  The four stood as though hypnotized for a dozen heartbeats, then Zircon came to life. He jumped forward with a great roar.

  “Long Shadow!”

  The light vanished and again blackness closed around them.

  CHAPTER XIV

  The Caves of Fear

  Instantly all lights were directed at the back of the cave. Zircon rushed around the statue and stopped short as his light found only rock walls.

  “He has to be here somewhere,” the scientist bellowed. “Hunt for him!”

  Rick stood for a moment estimating the direction from which the light had come. He walked to the part of the wall on which they had seen the shadow, and stood with his back to it. He flashed his light straight ahead, and it fell on the broad back of the Black Buddha.

  The others had followed his line of thought and were watching.

  “Look for a door,” Scotty said. He hurried to the back of the statue and began examining it with his light. Rick joined him. Zircon got out a jackknife and began to probe into cracks. Chahda got down on hands and knees and felt along the base.

  The back of the statue was seamed with cracks, but they ran helter-skelter without apparent order. The illumination against which the shadow was cast had been rectangular.

  “There isn’t a straight line in the bunch,” Rick said, disappointed. “What now?”

  “There must be a way to open the door, wherever it is,” Zircon stated. “That’s what we must look for, I think. It may be on the statue itself, on the floor, or on a wall near by. Rick, you and Scotty take the statu
e. Chahda and I will take the walls and floor.”

  “What are we hunting for?” Scotty asked.

  “I don’t know. Perhaps a knob, perhaps a keyhole. Look for anything unusual.”

  Rick and Scotty began at opposite sides of the statue’s back and started working toward each other, examining every inch of the black stone minutely. Zircon and Chahda started side by side on the wall behind the statue and worked away from each other. Rick used his jackknife to probe every suspicious crack or chip, but without success. He and Scotty covered the back as high up as they could reach without finding a thing. Zircon and Chahda worked along the wall until they were thirty feet apart, then the scientist called a halt on the theory that the secret lock wouldn’t be that far from the door. The door was either in the statue’s back or near its base.

  While Zircon and Chahda started examining the floor, Rick and Scotty started on the statue’s sides. There was more decoration along the sides, so they had to go more slowly and carefully.

  After a while, Chahda called, “Something here.”

  The others stopped what they were doing and hurried to him. The Hindu boy’s light was on a tiny slot in the floor. It seemed shallow. Rick pointed out that the floor in the area was checkered, almost like a tile floor.

  “There must be a reason for that,” Zircon said. He knelt by the slot and peered into it. “Nothing in the slot, however. Rick, isn’t yours a scout knife?”

  “Yes, sir.” Rick handed it to him.

  Zircon opened the screwdriver blade and pushed it into the slot. Nothing happened. He moved it from side to side, with no effect.

  “There must be some reason for that slot,” Scotty said. “Try again, professor. Push harder.”

  Zircon shoved the blade down into the hole and pushed. “There must be a special key of some kind,” he said finally. “That is, if the slot has anything to do with the door. I suggest we continue the search until we’re satisfied that this is the only possibility.”