When The Fault Breaks: Life Will Never Be The Same Read online

  John added, "The horses had a hard time getting down there too; we had to walk them past it. It's only about five miles maybe seven down but the trip is treacherous. I have no idea how we are going to get them down, but we WILL find a way.

  "It sounds like we need to make a plan."

  "I suggest we spend at least one night here Peter. It'll be a tough climb down, but at least we will be able to drive part of the way. Then we're going to have to rig everything down again."

  "I will take care of letting everyone know Fred."

  "Thanks, but I will address the riggers separately if you don't mind. We have a lot of detail to go over on how to get down and what to do with the gear. We don't need to bother everyone else with all that information."

  "No problem Fred."

  I stood on my ATV and addressed the group.

  "All right everyone we will set up camp here for at least one night. If you look down, you will see the valley where we will be living but you can't see the cave or even close to it. We have one last hard trek to get down and will only be able to drive part way then we will be rigging everything the rest of the way."

  "When we reach that point we will have to ferry everything by hand like we did a few times before, but this time it is to the end. The good news is this time we can walk all the rest of the way there."

  "I know you're all as excited as I am but I need everyone try to be patient while we scout it out. That means we may still be a couple nights away from our new home. We've had to move people and gear more times than any of us can count so it's a great relief to see the light at the end of the tunnel and know it's not a fast approaching train."

  That night we all celebrated our achievements and rested. The group stayed put for several days while Ben, John, Fred and I scouted out the best way down. We found a route that would take us a week or so to descend, Fred found a path that would allow us to only rig the equipment a couple hundred feet. You could feel the excitement as we drew closer to our home.

  "If I remember the upper plains will come into view just over that hill and around the bend."

  "You're right John, I think I see it, Oh My God it is unbelievable."

  "See I told you that you would love it Peter."

  "You're right there, but love is an understatement."

  "WOW!"

  "Is that all you have to say Ben?"

  "Okay WOW WOW!"

  Laughing, "I guess, so what do you think Fred?"

  "I think we have found our new home."

  John replied, "Just wait until you see the rest of it."

  It was the most incredible place we had ever seen. There were lush flood plains with vast open fields of grass gently blowing in the breeze, and a slow meandering stream with lots of fish. We could see game tracks crisscrossing the fields and berries ripe and ready to eat. The stream leveled out into multiple terraces as it descended further into the valley with several ponds and an oxbow lake along the way.

  Pointing slightly up valley I called out to Ben.

  "Hey Ben, look over there."

  "Where?"

  "Look you see that real long bend in the river?"

  "Yea."

  "Follow up stream, do you see that falls it must be at least fifteen feet."

  "Yea I see it."

  "Now follow it a bit more, look at that clearing, it must be at least two acres with almost no trees, it's on a nice plateau, it's perfect for our garden."

  "Dude you found the perfect site."

  "We're not there yet, we have a long way to go and the biggest hurdle in front of us. Hey Ben could you do me a favor?"

  "Sure what do you need?"

  "I know when we get back here I will be in the front of the column so I won't be able to show this to the girls. Can you make sure they see this? I know they would love to see it from this vantage point."

  "You got it."

  John came up and said, "If you two ladies are done follow me, the cave is not very far from here, maybe two or three miles downstream. Better still is that it's an easy walk the rest of the way."

  "Well lead the way, I know I can't wait to see the rest."

  When the four of us finally reached the cave there was no question, John and the rest of the scouting party had found our new home. We were all in a hurry to get back and bring the rest of the group down, so we just spent one night at the cave and returned to give everyone the great news.

  It took us a couple days to get back and everyone was ready to go right away so off we went. We had made it to the point where everyone had to descend on foot, which was when we lost our second life.

  Megan and Lucy were crossing the shale field at the back of the pack.

  Megan asked, "What is the first thing you plan on doing when we get there Lucy?"

  "We're going to build a nice cabin and have a small garden, one big enough to grow all the peas I can eat. I love to pick them as fast as they ripen then I never have any to can."

  "Now you sound like me Megan, I love to eat them like that. Hey Megan watch that shale field it's really loose."

  No sooner did the words escape Lucy's lips when the large shale slate Megan was stepping on slid out from under her feet.

  "MEGAN!! MEEGANN!!" Lucy screamed.

  As she fell she hit a large rock and both her and the rock careened down the face of the steep slope. Wendell, Megan's boyfriend was at the bottom already when it happened.

  This time was I was at the back of the pack so I heard the scream. Wendell heard it as well and we both took off to see what happened. There were a few people already down the hillside working over Megan by the time we got there and they had put her on a makeshift skid and were covering her.

  Lucy exclaimed, "What about Megan we can't just leave her there!?"

  "We will not leave her, we already have people down there getting her off the slope and bringing her down. We'll take care of her, you don't have to do anything except be there for Wendell."

  By now the rest of the group was off the hillside and making their way to the cave or wherever they were going to stay. Unlike in modern day life there was no time for a long wake or services, they had to quickly say good-bye to Megan so predators would not get to her.

  They brought Megan off the hillside and took her to an open field not far from the trail to lay her to rest. The mourners made their way back up to the first clearing, which was close to where she was to be buried. The group was small because Megan was a loner and only had a few friends. Those who had been close to her were there for the simple ceremony, with each of them saying something and tossing a hand full of dirt on her grave before walking away crying.

  The loss of Megan and the hard descent made for a long morning, but eventually most of our new residents had made it to the bottom. The only ones left were some of Fred's team who were getting the last of the ATV's off the face. As one of the ATV's hit the ground, Fred called me over.

  "This is the last one Peter, my guys will be down here in a few and we can meet up with the rest at the cave. But first I have something for you."

  "What you got Fred?"

  Patting his hand on the ATV Fred said, "This, she is all yours."

  "Mine? Really?"

  "Yep, I know you will need it and you deserve it."

  "Holy crap Fred I can't believe it; this will make things so much easier than if we had to do everything by hand."

  "There's more, the trailer is yours too."

  I could not believe what he did for me, no one ever did anything like that before. I jumped in the driver's seat with Fred next to me. As we drove we went over some of the things still ahead of us for that day and enjoyed the ride down what was fast becoming a road.

  When we reached the first group I filled them in on what had happened to Megan and that her friends did not want a large wake or religious service. They wanted to be alone with her and say their goodbyes in private. They said that everyone else was welcome to say their goodbyes at a later time.

  It was easy
to find the rest of the people, there was a nice easy to follow path from all the ATV's. I had left Ann on the ATV we rode there, so when we pulled up with me driving Ann was understandably thrown.

  "What are you doing driving that thing?"

  With a bit of a snicker I replied, "Check out my new ride baby."

  Surprised Ann replied, "What? It's yours?"

  "Hell yea, Fred just gave it to me as we got it off the hill, he gave us the trailer too. We left it above to get on the way up."

  Ann leaned into the ATV and gave Fred a hug and said, "I can't thank you enough Fred, you have to at least come by for dinner tomorrow night to let us thank you. We will have our campsite decked out before nights' end tonight."

  Fred replied, "I have a ton to do but I know better than to say no to you, so I would be happy to."

  "Great, we will see you then."

  Ann turned to me and said, "I can't believe what happened to Megan and less than two miles from here. Are you alright Peter?"

  "I am Ann. I'm just upset, I just can't believe we were so close to her when she fell and we lost her. It's just not the best note on which to start out our new life. Hey I just remembered. Did Ben show you the overlook we saw when we were down here before?"

  "Yes he did."

  "I was hoping you got a chance to see it from above. I need to make sure everyone is settled in, then we need to get started on the cave and I'm going to help Fred find their new home as well. Then maybe if we're am lucky, we can find our way up to our site tonight.

  "Okay; I will meet you back at the cave when you are done. See you soon."

  Later that night after everyone else was good to go, I picked up Ben and the girls from the cave and we headed back up stream to go find our home. It was easy to get back to the point we came down but after that it was a different story.

  There was no trail to follow, we were on virgin ground. We started out following the stream like we had so many times and were able to make it most of the way there. About three quarters of a mile up we hit the open field we saw from the bluff above, after that it was smooth driving, well bumpy but no obstacles in our way. As it came into view we could not believe our eyes.

  Ann looked in awe and exclaimed, "OH MY GOD!!! Look at it, it's beautiful."

  I looked at my wife and with a sly smile said, "It is my sweet but not nearly as beautiful as you."

  Ben decided he wanted to be a smart ass, "Do you have any wine to go with that cheese."

  Beth was none too happy with Ben's response and reached back and smacked him up side the back of his head.

  "Serves you right Ben, sometimes the ladies like to be told you think they are hot."

  Now Sandy spoke up, "Where are we going to stay tonight?"

  "I think over there in the grove of trees is the best choice. We can tie out all the tarps and make a covered shelter with side walls while we figure out what and how we will build."

  "It's perfect, let's get started."

  That night we set up our temporary home. While the girls made dinner Ben and I set out the blue tarps so that we could collect the water and be out of the rain that started to fall on us. Funny it must be a universal thing because as soon as we set them up it stopped raining.

  We collected some rainwater off the tarp before it stopped but didn't really need it for drinking because the stream was crystal clear and sure to be safe to drink. After making a nice fire and having dinner we were all tired and went to sleep. The next day we headed back down to the cave to help out.

  Chapter 10: The Cave

  When we arrived what we found looked very little like a cave. Hundreds of years of growth had allowed the forest to take over the opening. Vines covered every surface including the roof and walls. Trees and brush had grown well inside the opening, and huge chunks of the rock from the roof had collapsed to the floor below. Large trees stood guard in front of the entrance almost completely obscuring its very existence. That morning after breakfast we all gathered outside the cave.

  "We have a huge undertaking ahead of us here, the first thing we need to do is to clear out all of the vegetation growing in and around the cave. But for now do not cut down any trees in front, just the brush, vines and weeds. Oh by the way save all of it, we will use most of it for something."

  Henry asked, "Why do we want to leave the trees standing Peter?"

  "Because we may use some of them as structural support, but we will not know for sure until we get a better view of the rock without all that pesky vegetation in the way."

  "Stack any large flat rocks in one pile near the front on the right side, and all the smaller ones between six and twelve inches in a stack near the front on the left side, we will have use for them. All the rest of the rock we remove from the cave and the front entrance should be put in a pile somewhere out of the way, nothing gets wasted."

  Henry said, "I think this is going to be a hell of a shelter."

  "It is; did you find your own site yet or are you going to be staying here?"

  "I kind of like this for now, it looks like it has potential to be really decked out."

  "What kind of things do you have in mind?"

  Henry replied, "I would build a one-foot-thick solid rock wall all the way up to the top of the cave."

  I pointed to the ceiling at the entrance.

  "Hey Henry do you see that black line?"

  "Yea."

  "That is rock varnish. It's black manganese oxide deposits, which is the point where the water drips off and no longer moves inside. If we build behind it a bit, it will stop the rain and drips."

  Henry continued, "I would build a large fireplace on one end of the front wall. It would serve as the cooking area including a wood fired oven for baking and a hot box to heat water."

  "You have some great ideas there Henry, how would you feel about me handing over the task of designing and building the structure to you? Feel free to use your own judgment, it sounds like you won't need my help in designing or building it."

  "I don't know if I want you to walk away from it all, but sure."

  "I will be around checking on everyone else, if you have any questions or simply want a second opinion of something feel free to ask."

  Henry reached out and enthusiastically shook my hand and said, "You got it Peter."

  Then he stepped in and gave me a manly hug and said, "Thanks for entrusting me with such an important task, I promise you I will not let you down."

  "I'm sure you won't, I'm sure I put the task in the right hands."

  Fred had just arrived and was ready to go checking out the location for the fort. As I headed out with him I heard Henry calling out to the rest of the people working on the cave.

  "Peter has tasked me with getting the structure done, so what do you say we all get started, all right?"

  "Way to go Henry we're here for you, what do you want us to do?"

  "That's what I like to hear Brian."

  "We're all behind you Henry, we know you can do it."

  "I will mark the trees in front that I want saved. Make everything else here that is green go away. The opening of the cave is almost due south so we want the sun shining into the cave from sunrise to sun set in the winter."

  Susan inquired, "Why is that important Henry?"

  "Because with the higher sun in the summer, the overhang from the roof and the remaining trees, will block the direct sun. But in the winter the sun will shine inside all day long and help with heat. Now with everyone's help it will not take very long to clear out all the growth from inside the cave."

  Everyone worked real hard to get the clean-up phase completed. After it was all done, we were finally able to step back and see what we really had accomplished.

  The cave had been carved out of limestone similar to the sandstone used by the Mogollon that built the Gila Cliff Dwellings and many other cliff dwellings so long ago. The opening was almost seventy feet wide and the cave went back at least thirty feet. The floor was mostly flat but had a coupl
e terraces inside which made it nice for dividing it into smaller areas and sleeping platforms. The shape was perfect to build a single front wall to completely enclose the cave from the weather or intruders.

  The floor jetted out well beyond the roof of the cave and was twenty feet above the stream so it made a good over look of the stream below. The twenty-foot drop to the water provided good protection from flooding and it allowed us to watch for game from a high point as they came in for a drink.