Blood Wedding

“That’s it,” Molly said when she’d recovered from the unexpected jolt. “The end of the line. We aren’t getting out of here, Fargo.”

“The water goes out, and we can smell the bats. We’re getting out.”

Fargo let go of Molly’s hand and bent down to kneel on the sand. There was a small opening at the base of the wall, though not large enough to slither through.

“The bats must be in another cave that’s connected to this one by this hole where the water goes out,” Fargo said. “They like a cave with water in it, and a high ceiling to catch the warm air. There must be another opening somewhere in this wall leading to the other cave. If there weren’t, the smell wouldn’t be so strong.”

“Look up,” Molly said, touching his shoulder. “Is that light up there?”

Fargo looked up. Thirty or forty feet above them there was a thin line of light, unless he was imagining it.

“We’d never be able to climb up there,” Molly said. “Not in the dark. Maybe not even if we could see.”

“If we can’t go over, we have to go under,” Fargo said.

He started scooping sand away from the bottom of the wall. Molly heard what he was doing and got down on her knees to help. Before long they had made an opening big enough to slide through. A faint light shone under the wall.

“You first,” Fargo said.

Molly didn’t wait for him to say it again. She flopped down on her belly and wormed beneath the wall. Fargo was right behind her, her feet practically in his face. When he stood up on the other side and brushed off the sand, he found himself in another cavern. He could almost make out the contours of this one because across from them there was a slit in the cave wall, no wider than three feet across. Light shone outside it, and looking at it hurt Fargo’s eyes.

Above them the bats stirred. It was as if a giant sigh had gone around the cavern. The smell of their droppings was almost overwhelming.

“Let’s get out of this smell,” Molly said. “I don’t want to be here when they wake up.”

“They won’t start flying out of here until dusk,” Fargo told her.

“I don’t care. I want out of here now.”

Molly started off across the floor of the cave and had gone eight or nine steps before her feet slipped out from under her on the slick guano. She landed on her rear and sat there until Fargo made his way to her.

“You have to be careful when you’re walking in shit,” he said.

“I appreciate the good advice. Now help me up from here.”

Fargo did as he was asked, and Molly stood up, holding onto his hand to steady herself. Clinging together, they went toward the light.

When they reached it, Molly shoved through, with Fargo right behind her. The rivulet ran out of the cave into a small pool that overflowed on down the side of the hill that they found themselves standing on. It was late afternoon, and there were clouds in the sky, but the hazy sun was almost blinding to them because they had been in the cave for more than twelve hours. They fell down on the grass and closed their eyes.

After a while Molly sat up and said, “I’m filthy. I’ve been crawling around in a cave all day, and I have bat shit all over me. I’m going into that pool.”

“With your clothes on?” Fargo asked.

“No. I plan to take them off and wash them out after I’ve bathed. I’ll trust you to be a gentleman and keep your eyes off me.”

“I’m glad you trust me that much,” Fargo said.

Molly started to take off her shirt, but she stopped and said, “You’re not being a gentleman.”

“That’s one thing I’ve never been accused of. Do you mind?”

Molly grinned and said that she didn’t. “But maybe I shouldn’t bathe. Murray must know we’re gone by now. You don’t think he’ll find us here, do you?”

Fargo didn’t see how it was possible. Murray probably didn’t even know about the connecting caves. He’d surely checked on his prisoners by now and discovered they were gone, but he probably thought they were just wandering around in the depths of the cave or trapped in the tunnel. Or maybe he was smarter than that. Maybe he’d search for them.

“I think we can take a quick bath, and then we’d better get ourselves out of sight.”

“What do you mean ‘we’ can take a bath?”

“I think you know what I mean.”

Molly grinned again. “All right, then, come on.”

Molly stripped off her clothing and waded into the pool. Fargo removed his buckskins but paused long enough to admire the action of Molly’s ample but firm backside as she moved away from him into the water. It was the kind of sight he never got tired of. When she entered the water, she turned to face him, and Fargo went in after her.

The pool was only a couple of feet deep and the water was cold, but it felt good on Fargo’s skin as it washed off the grime and sludge. He ducked his head under the surface and came sputtering to the top, flinging his hair back out of his eyes. The pain in his head was easing, and the cuts on his hands no longer stung.