Shortly after bringing the buffalo meat into Paradise Valley, Joe spoke of another trip into town for pitch, and whatever else we might need. John was adamant about buying the goods we needed. It would do no good to argue with him, because John did what he felt like he needed to do. Keeping us well supplied was a need.

They left and returned in the usual way. They were probably gone a day and a half, and besides the pitch came back coffee, sugar, beans, flour, and items John found that he was sure we liked.

John was still speaking about returning to the horse ranch to get it ready for the coming winter, but not yet.

When we finally pulled Joe back up to the Eagle's nest, he was holding on to a book. His finger was shoved into the place he left off. I tried to see the title, but Joe kept the cover of the book down against his leg.

"What's he reading?" I asked John, after Joe kept the title hidden as he settled back into Paradise.

"Don't know. I saw him take it out of Morton's used book box. It was the only one I saw in there, but he paid his nickel and he started reading it last night when we got heading back here."

For the next day or two, Joe wasn't up on top in the Eagle's nest. He didn't go in the cave. He read that book.

He had been like that when he brought back Wuthering Heights. He read from it for a long time before he brought it to the firepit and began reading it. I remembered what he said many times after he began reading that book to us.

"Who would do such a thing, Phillip?"

I must admit, I certainly wouldn't, but Joe couldn't stop reading, but he read it when he read to us. He didn't read ahead like he was doing with this new book. No one knew the title and I waited for him to read it to us.

One night he brought the new book to the firepit when it was time to eat. Both Samuel and Young Antelope got a rabbit. People came to get a share, and once Joe ate most of what was on his plate, giving Demon his portion, he stood up with the book.

It was Joe, Running Horse, me, Samuel, Riggs, Angel, and Herb Woman sitting in their usual spaces. The meal was coming to a close, and Running Horse began to ready the leftover meat to go to the smoke house.

Joe began to read, "Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne."

I was immediately taken aback. What did he say the title was? I mean, come on. There really wasn't a book about men going into the earth and finding a world below them. What would make anyone go into the earth expecting to find anything but more earth.

It would have been funny if not for Joe opening passages into the earth.

Eight of us went on the maiden voyage. We were mesmerized as Joe read in a flowing voice that carried us along with the professor, his nephew, and the Norwegian guide. They had a far more difficult journey than we had. They ran into all sorts of difficulties, got separated, were threatened by the environment they were in, and the guide was always there to pull their bacon out of the fire. It was fascinating.

There were fifteen or sixteen listening by the end of the week, and by the time Joe read for three or four nights, there were twenty more people, plus the original eight that were in the story from the start. There was no doubt we were on our own journey, and some of Running Horse's clan knew what was going on below Paradise Valley.

There were rumors about what was going on, but no one knew everything about what we were doing, where we were going, and why we were doing it. With Auto, the professor taking the lead, it couldn't help but be an intelligent piece of literature I never heard of.

The story was far more adventurous than anything we had done so far. We weren't going to the center of the earth. We were a few hundred feet below the valley where we lived. While there was a volcano in their journey, there had been an earthquake in ours, and like the volcano, the earthquake figured into where we were going and how it happened we were going there.

The professor was an adventurer who had bitten off a bit more than he could chew, and the guide, with his steady hand, kept Auto and Axle from getting too far off the deep end. Alls well that ends well and they did come back to rave reviews. It was a thrilling journey.

After hearing it, I was glad Underworld wasn't in the center of the earth.

"Phillip does that remind you of anything," Joe asked me. "Those men went into some tunnels. We hardly scratched the surface."

It was true, and Joe knew I was never going to take a journey to the center of the earth. Phillip Dubois liked his feet firmly planted of topsoil, but I must admit, that adventure topped any of my close calls. Except for when Trag put bullets in me, my life hadn't been very dangerous, even if I was a wanted man. I survived it.

My life as Phillip Dubois was a surprisingly good life. It allowed me to experience life in a way I never imagined I would. The good people I met, people like Dan and John, far outweighed the bad people I met, like Nester and Trag. There were more good people in the world, but the bad people are so bad that there only needs to be a few to ruin things.

Like the two polecats that had it in mind to ambush me, and Joe happened along and he dispatched them without putting much effort into it, and no matter what he did after that, it was fine with me. If saving my life was good, I hadn't seen anything yet, and Joe is still keeping me on my toes with his discoveries.

The day my brother died was the worst of it. The day I returned to Running Horse the best of it, and what came in between was my education. I knew nothing the day I carried the Hawkin across the river, after leaving the cabin in the valley where the river runs for the last time. I would never live there again. I was determined to get me a griz and prove to Paw, I was a man.

I had been a man for a lot of years, when I went back to Running Horse. Having had so many lives, and such diverse lives, I learned a lot of lessons well. We were in the process of starting yet another life. This time it was Running Horse's clan, and I was with them. It was still one more life for me. We were exploring and trying to figure out what Joe found hundreds of feet underground.

I didn't know what Running Horse was thinking, because he didn't tell me. I wanted to ask, but I knew better. He would do what he thought was best for his people. Maybe he was doing what he was told to do. I accepted that I was the junior member of this partnership, and as difficult as it was, I kept my mouth shut while Running Horse listened to spirits he did not know.

Running Horse would decide what was best for his clan. Even when I didn't know who the hell he was talking to while in his trance. He usually gave me clues to what he was being told and what he intended to do, but since these spirits began talking to him long after we arrived in Paradise Valley, it was unclear who they were.

We were in a desperate situation. We were protected by the cliffs that kept Paradise Valley hidden. No one knew where we were. The only problem with being in a hidden valley, we would be trapped here as soon as the cavalry figured out where we had gone. Once they did, they would figure out some way to get to us. They had plenty of time, and our time was running out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When I woke it was daylight. Running Horse wasn't in the buffalo robe with me. I slept sound, because I didn't go to sleep until after we exhausted ourselves and had that talk that had me thinking about those events. Once he answered me, I could let it go. Those questions had been there for all those years. Once I had the answers, I finally put it away. Fifteen years ago, my reaction might have been different.

I had done a lot of living in those years. I could let go of things now. It's funny how smart you get if you have the time. Running Horse didn't think we had much time. We would take the time to do a little more exploring. There was talk of another valley. There was a lot of talk about buffalo, but there was no talk of moving. No one wanted to talk about moving again, but if we were to survive, we would need to move to Underworld.

Moving to Underworld put one more step between us and the cavalry. They didn't know where we were. Once they found Paradise Valley, they could use cannon to blow their way into it, and once inside, they still didn't know where we had gotten off to. It would take time for them to find us in Underworld, if they ever found us.

There was wisdom in making one more move, whether or not his clan wanted to move again. Paradise Valley was a wonderful place to live, but Underworld would be much safer, and maybe one day, the cavalry would no longer be hunting down Indians, and on that day the cavalry might stop looking for Running Horse's clan.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When I got up the following morning, Running Horse was back in the corner of our lodge. I let him meditate. I went outside to the firepit to brew coffee. The smell of coffee could bring Running Horse right out of a trance before he was ready, and while I was worried about who he was talking to, I didn't want to annoy him.

I put the pot of coffee on at the firepit. Anyone who came to talk would need to pass the firepit first.

"Chief in," Joe asked as he approached.

I poured Joe's cup full of coffee.

"In but not taking visits at the moment. Figured I would make the coffee out here to cut down on traffic."

"I have news he will want to hear. We've dug down as far as the Cathedral cave goes. I want him to see it. I want you to see it, Phillip. Tall Willow, I mean. Maybe one day I won't see you as Phillip."

"I am Phillip, Joe. I am Tall Willow. You can call me Phillip, I know who you're talking to."

"I suppose," he said. "Do you want to see what I've found? I mean where the Cathedral cave goes?"

"I don't need to make any extra trips down there. I'll go when Running Horse goes," I told him.

He smiled.

He knew that I didn't like the caves, but Joe had a way about him. When he sounded this sure of himself, he usually had something surprising to show us. I could wait to be surprised. Running Horse and I would be surprised at the same time. I didn't think we were going to be surprised today. When Running Horse came back from his visit to the spirit world, it would take a while for him to get his feet back under him.

I watched Demon walk over to Joe. He put his nose up near the coffee cup in Joe's hand, and he took to waiting for Joe to toss him something good.

"Sorry Boy. No meat this morning. Maybe later," Joe explained.

Demon lay next to Joe's leg, and one of Joe's big hands dropped to Demon's fur, and he stroked gently while watching my dog.

I remembered a time when Joe wouldn't get his hand near Demon's mouth. Now Joe was as likely to toss Demon meat as anyone else. I would have bet against it when he first saw Demon, but life can surprise you.

I laughed at my wandering mind.

"What's tickled you, Tall willow?"

"Nothing", I said.

Joe finished his cup of coffee, and I watched him walk toward the western cliffs. He walked directly to just below the Cathedral cave and he began his climb with Demon right behind him.

They disappeared inside a few minutes later.

I was used to the Window cave now, and it was broken in half by the window in the Window cave. If we walked out to look to see what we could see from the window, it helped the trip to Underworld go faster, and there was no telling what we would see when we looked out. We knew what was there now, and from the window I could recognize where I had been in Underworld. The river was the valley's most distinctive feature. Rivers often were and this river meandered for miles until it went out of sight.

Running Horse was back sometime that afternoon. I had gone to the pond near the Window cave for a soak. He was at the firepit when I got back, drinking coffee that was made that morning.

"I can make fresh," I told him.

"No. This is fine. Just gathering myself together. Coffee helps."

"How do you know who you are talking to?" I asked again.

I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I was worried. Nothing was as easy as what we found hundreds of feet down in the ground. What was down there had no right to be there. I didn't like it. I didn't know what to do about it.

"They have told me true, Tall Willow.'"Go into the dark, you'll see the light. Go there. You will be safe.'"

He added a few words to what he was being told. Was that it? Was he gone for most of a day to have someone or something tell him that he would be safe? We would be safe? His people would be safe?

Could we be safe anywhere? Not as long as white men hunted us. They wanted us off their land.

"Shouldn't we take some time to find out more about Underworld, before moving down there? I'm uncomfortable with what we are doing, Running Horse. It seems a bit fast."

As usual, I sounded like a ninny who had too much time on his hands. I knew he didn't like me getting in the middle of him and his spirit world, but I couldn't help it.

He looked at me before standing up to toss what was left of his coffee into the firepit.

"We are out of time, Tall Willow," he said, walking away.

That was about as final as it got.

That put an end to the conversation. We were out of time. I had nothing to say about that. I was too stunned to say anything. The rush into Underworld was necessary because we were running out of time?

What did we know about Underworld?

"Out of the frying pan into the fire,' I heard Maw saying.

What did we know about the spirits who were guiding us there? Why were they so interested in saving us?

"Joe was here," I told him. "He wants to show us something. I told him you were busy. When he left, he went to the Cathedral cave. I figure that's where he wants us to go."

Running Horse looked toward the Cathedral cave.

"What has he done to the cliff going up to the Cathedral cave entrance?" he asked me as his eyes scrutinized what he saw when he looked at the cave entrance.

"I don't know. I noticed he went directly up, without needing to go around any rocks. It looks like there is a path leading straight up to the entrance. Didn't notice that before. He has something in mind, I'm sure."

In the morning, Joe was back. The man liked getting an early start. Luckily, Running Horse and I were up and drinking coffee when he arrived.

I poured him a cup of coffee, and he drank some before getting down to business.

"Chief, gots something you needs to see," Joe told him after he took a few sips.

"Let's finish our coffee," Running Horse said.

Moses was standing outside our lodge when we left with Joe. He took the reins and led his horse as we walked directly toward the Cathedral cave. When we got there, a path had been cleared to allow a horse to walk up to the cave entrance. Moses followed Joe as we went to the cave entrance.

I wanted to laugh when Joe took Moses up to the entrance. Was he going to take a horse into the cave?

The path wasn't put there to make the climb easier for people. It was there to take a horse to the entrance.

Joe had a talk with Moses. He patted his neck and whispered into his ear. When he took a strip of cloth from his pocket, he put it over the horse's eyes, and he walked him inside the cave along a path that had been cleared to take us to the back of the cave without rocks being in the way. It was the three of us and Moses.

This time we kept going down long after we entered the cave. The torches were lit every few minutes. One torch was lit, and another was put out, as we went down, down, down into the earth. The cave was more like a tunnel, and it was a tunnel that took us down more convincingly than the Window cave went down.

We had seen the upper level of the Cathedral cave, and Running Horse wanted to know if something more significant than another cave going into the ground was found. After what I calculate was an hour of going down into the ground, the torch Joe carried was put out, and no torch was lit.

Like the Window cave, after an hour, the cave had some light source we couldn't see, but as we walked, it became brighter, until we stepped out into the morning light. Joe stepped outside behind us, pulling off the blindfold, patting the horse's flank, Joe set him free.

Moses ran out into the fresh air and green pastures. I recognized the spot with the rocks piled up a dozen feet from the Cathedral cave exit. The pile of rocks was there the day we went this way to get some sleep before going to the surface for the feasting. There was no opening behind the rocks that day. There was one now.

Moses ran out into the pasture where we slept the day we returned with the bison meat. It was a big pasture, and after a good romp, Moses grazed on lush green grass. The morning was clear. The air was fresh and cool.

I was amazed. Joe said he could take horses into the Cathedral cave, and he did it. He showed us, and he showed me. Why I ever question the things Joe did, I'll never know. I guess I do a lot of needless worrying.

We were standing fifty feet or so from the two openings in the Window cave. I looked up at the higher hole. That's the one we came out of on our first trip into Underworld, and the hole on the ground made it easier to get up and down in the Window cave. No one was around, and now we had a bigger cave to speed up trips into Underworld, and we could take our horses with us.

I had been in Underworld, and there was nothing too unusual about it. Perhaps animals grew a bit larger here, because they weren't hunted close to extinction. The predators were threatening, but predators usually did what it took to get enough to eat. They didn't hunt their prey to the point of extinction. Wiping out a food source wasn't smart, and animals tended to be smart enough to live and let live. They took what they needed and left the rest to reproduce and be there when wolves and coyotes wanted supper.

Killing just to be killing wasn't wise for any species. There was enough as long as you were careful not to wipe out a food source you depended on for survival.

I saw no indication that any animals in Underworld were unhealthy or in distress. The animals we had seen were quite healthy and came in the large economy size. The wolves could be a problem, but when they could have insisted on getting into our buffalo meat, they didn't. They were smart enough to keep their distance.

The idea of having horses to ride in Underworld changed everything. We could go as far as we wanted, while going as fast as we wanted. How much more could we see on horseback? We were a lot more imposing on a horse, and something would think twice before getting too aggressive. Not only could you go as far as we wanted, but if there was trouble we needed to avoid, riding a horse made it easier to avoid that trouble.

The thought of another trip into Underworld became exciting. We could actually explore the countryside. We would take a good look around, and if we didn't encounter anything more dangerous than we had already seen, it could be a good place to live, if we needed to move down there.

"We can start bringing horses down, Chief. I have a few of your warriors ready to bring their horses down. When we bring the horses down for the next exploration. We'll be in position to go far further than you've gone. Each man who will go with us can bring his horse down before we go."

"We, Joe?" Running Horse asked.

"Moses is already down here. May as well give him some exercise now that he has room to roam," Joe said.

Running Horse laughed.

"Glad to have you along. Give you something to do now that you've opened up two caves to get down here."

It was good. The idea of Joe going along made what could be an exciting trip more exciting. I felt safer with Joe around. He saw things I missed. He was good with a bow, and nothing scared him."

Joe wasn't asking. This time he was telling us what he intended to do. Running Horse had pretty much let Joe do what Joe did, and he had been the one who explored the caves to find out where they went.

No Joe. No Underworld. He could go along if he wanted to go.

"We'll bring a few horses down each day, Chief. First we'll get the ones in place we'll be riding, and then we'll move extra horses down. By the time we come down to explore what we can of Underworld, we'll have most of the horses down here. It's not like there is any place to ride them on the surface,"

We went back to the surface, leaving Moses munching away on a patch of grass he liked. It was a beautiful day down there and on the surface. I couldn't tell if the temperatures were the same, but it was close.

The mystery of how Underworld got there had not been solved. Everything I knew told me it couldn't be where we found it. How can you go down in the ground and come out on the surface? Once you did it, what did it matter? We came out on a surface, and it was time to find out what was down here with us.

Two days later, I guided Dobbin, Running Horse took Horse, and Samuel led Tomahawk into the Cathedral cave. We set them free in Underworld, an hour later. Seeing the horses that were already down below, our horses joined them in a romp across the pasture land, and we left them grazing near a stream. The horses didn't know they were far underground, and we weren't going to tell them.

As the exploration of Underworld on horseback neared, we spent time gathering the goods we would need to keep us going for a week or more. We would take our time going out and see what we could see of the new valley. Once we saw as much as we needed to see, we would come straight back to report to our people.

John and Joe were talking about their next trip into town. John wanted to leave us with plenty of goods before he and Barnaby returned to the horse ranch. He was content to stay until we returned from our exploration, but he was getting anxious about being cut off from his home.

We all knew the cavalry would be back sooner or later, and it was a mystery why they hadn't been back yet. Joe and Riggs thought their return was long overdue, but they had no contacts to advise them of what was going on out on the plains. Some warriors would never go in and give up their freedom, no matter what their chief did. Most people in a tribe were going where the chief took them, but as time was running out, more and more warriors were refusing to give up their weapons and go in. Once they did that, they were in the hands of the enemy, and putting yourself in the hands of the people trying to wipe you out didn't seem wise.

Not knowing had a certain appeal. I wasn't dying to find out the hour of my death. I was alive and I wanted to live until I was dead. Once I was dead, I would worry about death then. For now, we intended to explore what Running Horse thought was an alternative to dying at the hands of the cavalry. I didn't know if Running Horse shared my view of how we would die.

Joe began to talk like he could close the door on the cavalry, once the move to Underworld was decided on.

I watched the wall in the sky as it was being built, without knowing the wall was a door Joe closed. I saw no such door in either the Window cave or the Cathedral cave. They were long narrow passageways that took us deep underground. If we could go deep into the ground, what was stopping the cavalry from coming after us?

I didn't voice my concerns, because we were about to take a look at the land that might be a good home. If we didn't find any reason not to move to Underworld, that's where Running Horse intended to take his clan. There was plenty of time to voice objections if I had any, but I would go where Running Horse went.

The idea of taking horses into Underworld was something to look forward to. Even the Cathedral cave was easier on me when it came to going underground. It began feeling like an adventure we were going on. Maybe Underworld could be a good place to live. We would go as far as Running Horse wanted to go, and hopefully we would find out what we wanted to know.

Running Horse, me, Samuel, Big Joe, Young Antelope, Big Bear, and Barking Dog were all going to go. There was talk of taking Riggs, but Riggs did not want to leave Angel. He wanted to be where she was, and I was sure I understood it. I had no desire to be anywhere Running Horse wasn't. Riggs would keep his eyes open for the cavalry, and he would know how to help prepare for them if they came while Running Horse was away.

Riggs wasn't that well known, even after the lengthy stay in Paradise Valley, but he had taken up with someone well known and accepted in the village. That meant people began to look upon him as Angel's man, and Riggs seemed more relaxed among the people of the village when he was with Angel.

When I woke a few days later, Running Horse was gone from our buffalo robe. I heard voices outside, and I got up to investigate.

When I reached the entryway into the lodge, Running Horse and Joe were busy spreading out the buffalo skin that came back with us over two tripods used for such a purpose. Usually, one tripod held most skins without difficulty. This skin had two tripods sagging under the weight of what would make two or three buffalo robes.

There were usually deerskin or rabbit, antelope, or other such skins drying next to a lodge.

By the time the hide was stretched out for the distance required to display it, several people had stopped to watch Running Horse and Joe. I put on my breach cloth and went out.

The audience was having trouble believing their eyes. Yes, they ate the buffalo meat, but it tasted like meat from a normal size buffalo.

Who worries about what size the animal was you are dining on? You eat it with gratitude toward the hunter.

By the time I had the coffee pot on at the firepit, half the village came to see the buffalo hide. Word spread fast, and people wanted to see what the talk was all about. Even when they saw it, they had trouble believing their eyes. It did have everyone talking, and that's why Running Horse had Joe help him put the hide out.

The hide needed explaining.

Was it real? Did hunters kill a buffalo that large? What did it mean?

"That's why we need to take a longer journey into the valley we found," Running Horse explained.

As usual, there was a lot left to the imagination. I could see how folks might be shocked by the skin that now hung drying in front of our lodge.

The warriors, the ones who didn't mind working in the caves, saw the wall art. While the wall art lower in the cave was far better developed art, the animals in some of the art were huge.

"There is wall art in the caves that showed very large animals we have not seen before. The animals we have seen are larger than any we've seen."

I immediately thought of Young Antelope's killer rabbit, which had me smiling.

"It's why we will take another trip to the valley we found," Running Horse explained. "We need a longer look."

Maybe five people heard the comment, but everyone would have heard about it by day's end. There was another valley, and that's where the buffalo roam. There was excitement and disbelief."

During the day, when we came and went, people were standing and staring at the buffalo hide. There would be no further explanation. There had to be another trip to the new valley that had been found. Once they returned the next time, there would be more information to explain the situation.

"John, if you want to come along, I'm sure we can make room for you," I told John.

"No, I'm fine here. You know how I love Paradise Valley. I'll need to go back to the horse ranch, but I won't go until you return from down there. I want to make certain you have all the supplies you need before I go home. I'll take Joe into town to get plenty of supplies, and I'll come every few weeks to go get what you need."

John could read between the lines. He knew by what I told him, that the valley below us was a possible future home. John did not need to run from the cavalry, and he didn't need to go live in the ground below Paradise Valley to be safe, but he wanted us to be safe and well supplied.

John remained a good friend and probably the man I was closest to after Running Horse. There was a distance growing between us, and there was nothing either of us could do about it.

It was after my conversation with John, and before the trip into town, Running Horse and I heard rocks being banged together three times. A few minutes later, the signal was sounded a second time.

We were already up on the cliff heading toward the Eagle's nest. When we got there, Riggs was standing and watching someone going south toward Denver beside the trail on the flat ground there. We moved up beside him to look for ourselves.

There may have been ten soldiers on horseback carrying one of those triangular yellow flags that told you who they were. I couldn't see what number was on the flag, but Riggs knew who it was, and everyone knew that any sighting of the cavalry required the signal to call for Running Horse to see for himself.

I didn't care where they were from. I cared that they passed us by. They wouldn't come for us today. More likely they were going into Denver for some reason. They used 1st National's section to ride beside the trail no one had come to repair. As long as they kept going, I wasn't worried. The cavalry was still out there, and while they weren't coming for us today, tomorrow was another day. It reminded me that they could come anytime.

We weren't the only ones who knew the signal, and a dozen warriors stood behind us looking at the riders going out of sight down the trail. They were walking their horses, so wherever they were going, they were in no hurry to get there. It was rough going around the trail, and a soldier took care of his mount.

Once Riggs told Angel, the word was spread far and wide in Paradise Valley, the cavalry had come and gone again. They still hadn't gotten up between the boulders yet, but in time, they were bound to go on another search for where Running Horse's clan got off to.

"Joe, you and John need to go to town before we go exploring in Underworld. I need you to get the things you told me would close the door on the cavalry once we move. Do you still think that will work?"

"Yes, Chief. I'll take care of it. We can go to town any time. John intends to go to his horse ranch once he takes us to get goods. He has horses to care for,"

Nothing happened that didn't alert Running Horse's clan of the dangers not far away. While we had been in Paradise Valley for months, no one forgot our arrival, and how close we had come. No one completely forgot about our situation, and each time an alert was sounded, folks were on guard again.

I didn't think it was necessary for the entire village to be alarmed by the cavalry passing. Running Horse did.

Twice a week Running Horse sounded the alarm, and warriors walked behind 1st National's wagon to take a repeating rifle and to take a place behind the rocks that stood above a higher exit to the canyon. No one thought the cavalry could get through the canyon, but big Joe had given us something to think about.

"They have cannon. It might take a while, but the cavalry could open the canyon, once they know we are here."

"How would they know we are here, Joe?" Running Horse asked him.

"Send men over the front of the cliff. Mostly they would send scouts up to take a look around. Once they come up between the boulders, you can still see the entrance to the canyon. They'll see it has been filled with rocks. They might not wonder what was behind the rocks right off, but someone would, and it's anyone's guess what might be done about it once someone did."

Letting our people know that the cavalry was still out there meant reminding us that we might not be as safe in Paradise Valley as we would like. That idea was what Running Horse needed his clan to consider.

Usually, Running Horse would not make it so easy for his people to know what he was seeing and what was on his mind, but I knew moving to Underworld was on his mind. If things on the surface started to go bad, knowing there was another valley wouldn't hurt. If things got bad enough, his people might think moving down below might be a good idea.

The latest sighting of the cavalry was on all our minds. It wouldn't do to forget about the cavalry.

As I watched soldiers walking their horses around a particularly damaged piece of land, I had a feeling of foreboding that chilled me through and through. We were caught between soldiers who intended to kill us, and the unknown. What was really in Underworld? Who was Running Horse really talking to?

There were two kinds of spirits. I couldn't be sure which kind Running Horse was listening to. I'm sure he thought he knew what he was doing, but there was a lot of treachery in the world, and I worried that some of it was leading Running Horse's band into the darkness, and that was a place where I didn't want to go.

I had two people I was most worried about. Maybe three, counting Samuel. Running Horse had an entire village to keep safe. I knew which of us had the most to worry about, but I still wasn't able to see in the dark.

"We are moving pretty fast. We could take our time to have a good look around," I said.

"We don't have much time," Running Horse told me.

I knew what he was going to say before he said it. If we don't take time to get to know where we are going, we might end up in a worse situation.

He had been quieter than usual. I thought I knew when he was in touch with the spirit world, but not always, and not since the new spirits arrived. If they were talking to him, if he thought he could trust them, he would follow what they told him. They told him where to go on foot, and they might be telling him which way to go once we were on horseback.

Regardless of which way we went, we should know if there was danger in Underworld after we spent a few weeks exploring it. I wanted to explore it. I wanted to feel like it is a fine place to live, but whatever Running Horse decided was how it would be.

"The spirits have told you this?" I asked, putting pieces together in a way sure to anger him.

"They have. The cavalry will be back soon."

"Just tell me what you want me to do," I said. "I stand with you no matter what."

"You stay close to me. I am going to need you. You see things I don't see, and I need that now."

I still wasn't sure what we found in the ground. I halfway expected a red guy with a pitchfork for a tail to pop up. We were way closer to hell than we were to heaven that far underground.

If he wanted to explain it, he would. I was with him. No matter where he went, I would follow. He had more on his mind than keeping a smile on my face. No matter what he decided, I would stand with Running Horse.

My place was by his side in good times and bad.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning, Joe went to the horse ranch for two pulling horses. He rode one and led the other one back between the two boulders where the wagon waited.

By the time they lowered John to the ground, the horses were hitched to the wagon, and Joe guided them back out between the boulders, and he ran ahead to check both directions to see if anyone was riding on the flat land beside the twisted trail.

He waved John on, and he was in the passenger seat as they turned south to make the trip into Denver. I watched as John let the horses out to run, and in a minute they were out of sight. With fresh horses, the trip into town and back wouldn't take much more than a day. They knew what they wanted to purchase, and once they were back, and the wagon was unloaded, John and Barnaby were returning to the horse ranch.

I wasn't sure what Samuel would want to do. He hadn't said and I figured he and Barnaby knew what he would do, and I would find out when they did it. The shape of things to come was being decided, and whatever form it took, I would adapt to it.

Samuel was like a son, but he was a grown man capable of deciding where he wanted to be. I wanted him to stay here with the people who accepted him as one of their own.

I was a bit out of sorts the day John and Joe went into Denver. It wasn't unusual with so much going on and me knowing so little about it, but this was the day Running Horse told me what the plan was. It was subject to change after we took our horses out as far as we dared go in Underworld. Once they arrived back from Denver and unloaded, John and Barnaby would return to the horse ranch.

It was the night before that Running Horse let me in on some of his reasoning. He knew that I wasn't comfortable with the spirits he was talking to. He wasn't going to fall for trickery.

"Tall Willow, I had them kill that buffalo because I wanted to make sure it was real. The thought came to mind that I didn't know who I was talking to, and they didn't come to me for a long time after we got here. The buffalo was real and there is a valley in a place where it has no right to be. I am being as careful as I can."

It didn't make me less suspicious. It did allow me to see that Running Horse wasn't jumping into anything. He was making sure that what we were seeing was real. Perhaps Lone Wolf had warned him about the tricksters that lived in the spirit world. Whatever the reason, I felt better knowing why he had the buffalo killed.

It was real, and very good eating, and with that established, a move to Underworld was being considered.

How could I believe that hundreds of feet in the earth was a valley every bit as real as Paradise Valley?

My thoughts went from all the buffalo meat we brought back with us, to the size of the thing. That's when I thought about the cave art and the size of the animal the four hunters were trying to bring down. Is this the place those hunters hunted? Where did those hunters get off to?

On to Chapter Eighteen
"Down Below"
Back to Chapter Sixteen
"Valley Low"
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