Chapter Nineteen

Key City, Iowa Territory,
July 11, 1834

When Bowe came for work the next day, he found Mr. Butterman and Nate Tilden waiting for him. They had shovels. Mr. Butterman wanted to dig a water well behind his new house.

“We need a good place to get water,” said Mr. Butterman. “Last summer I heard they had cholera. No one really knows where that comes from. But I think it’s from drinking bad water. If we have a good water well, we might be alright.”

Nate thought so, too. Cholera was a scary sickness. It killed a lot of people and always in summer. Maybe it came from bad water. Digging a new water well might help.

Nate said, “We’re going to need more stones. After we dig down and find water, we’ll need them to line the well. That’ll keep the sides of the well from falling in.”

“We have more stones on my land at Calder Creek,” said Mr. Butterman. “We can bring back a wagonful by dinner time.” Mr. Butterman left Bowe to start digging the water well. Mr. Butterman and Nate drove a wagon with two horses to Calder Creek. They loaded more stones and rocks onto the wagon until it was heavy and full. It was only two o’clock.

“That should be enough for now,” said Mr. Butterman. “And anyway, I think it’s going to storm. We should get back.” Both men looked up at the sky. To the east toward the river the sky was blue and sunny. But to the west they could see dark clouds.

“Huh,” said Nate. “We’d best get back. Make sure our windows are closed. It looks like rain, for sure.”

Mr. Butterman and Nate Tilden drove the wagon as fast as they could. It was hard for the horses to pull so many rocks. And there wasn’t really a road.

The clouds to the west became black. They moved slowly over the sky until it almost looked like night. And it was only the middle of the afternoon. There was a flash of light with a crack. Then a giant boom of thunder. It sounded like it was right overhead. The two horses tried to run. But Mr. Butterman held them back. They could get hurt pulling such a heavy wagon.

Nate pointed to his right. He shouted, “We can’t make it back before this storm hits! Go up there, next to the bluff! See there! It’s a lead mine! We can get out of the worst of the storm!”

Mr. Butterman saw the spot. He and Nate jumped off the wagon. They led the scared horses to the base of the bluff. There was less wind there. There were a few trees outside the small black entrance of the mine. A heavy rain began to fall. There was another crack of lightning and a boom of thunder. But it was moving to the east. As the two men watched the storm, two more men came up behind them. They were covered in dirt from the lead mine. Nate turned around first. Rick and Ed Ginn stood there. They were smiling. Rick Ginn was missing a front tooth. Mr. Butterman turned around and saw them, too. He looked hard at the Ginn brothers. He was ready for trouble if he had to be. But then a strange, loud sound came over the bluff. It was so loud the men could not think!

“Look at that! Look at that!” shouted Nate. Right overhead, in the black-green light of the storm, was a huge black cloud. It turned and turned and turned.