Mona followed Noah’s directions and found the outcropping. Tying Shaggy to a tree, she searched for the cave mouth. She found it behind cut branches of pine and Kentucky cane. Throwing them aside, she crawled into the entrance with a flashlight from her saddlebag. The small entrance led to a large cavern where all the expedition’s supplies were stored. She quickly located the med kit and opened it. Everything seemed intact. Rummaging around, she took a sleeping bag, stuffed a sack with oranges, apples, meat tins, sweet oats, and bottles of Ale-8-One. The liquor was gone.
It took two trips crawling in and out of the cave to load her booty upon Shaggy, but she did it while frantically eating an orange. Once loaded, she held out a hand with sweet oats for Shaggy. “I promise that I will give you all the treats you want when we are safe, Shaggy. Just stay strong for the next twelve hours. Next stop, Chloe.”
It took Mona forty-five minutes to retrace her steps to find Chloe. The dog was alert and licked Mona’s hands. Mona opened a bottle of Ale-8-One and let the poodle drink as much as she wanted. “Ah, you like this, huh? Drink up, girl. Drink up. Then she found a pouch of sleeping powder in the med kit and mixed some in another bottle of Ale-8-One which she coaxed Chloe to drink. “Sleep, little one. Next time you are awake, this nightmare will be over, and you’ll be fit as a fiddle.” Mona polished off the last bottle of the soda drink. “Gosh, that tastes good.”
As Chloe drifted off, Mona stuffed her in the sleeping bag and with the last ounce of her strength, mounted Shaggy and pulled the sleeping bag off the ground and tied it around the saddle horn.
Pulling her gun from its holster, she fired one shot. Then she started down the mountain.