“Fine,” Mom said as the kids were putting their boots on.

“Stay away from the river, and don’t go near the ice caves,” she sternly announced to them.

“Ice Caves?!” Alex exclaimed. This was his first time visiting his cousin at their ranch. Every time he turned around, there was another fascinating aspect of this rural life. The coyotes howling each night, the arrowheads and ancient fossils littering the sage-covered desert. It was all so new and wonderful, and now an ice cave.

“Yeah,” Tom replied nonchalantly. Shrugging his shoulders and passing it off as no big deal.

" During the last ice age, a piece of glacier dug down into the sandstone. The glacier melted, but some of the ice is insulated in the earth. Year-round, even if it’s 120 degrees out. The cave is still there at a set temperature. The Sioux and settlers used it to keep their food fresh like a fridge. We find all sorts of artifacts in that ravine.”

Alex’s eyes grew enormous, and his jaw fell open. He was one of those geeks that found everything fascinating. Never having spent time out in the country, everything was so new and borderline terrifying. The most horrifying aspect of it to him was the open space. His view had always been of the building across the street. Once he lived across from a cemetery, which traumatized him. Being able to look around and see for miles was a bit too much for him. The feeling of how small we all are in the scheme of things was far too powerful for him to comprehend. Such forced humbleness struck a chord of panic in Alex’s brain.

“Why did your mother say not to go there?” he asked, disappointed by this turn of events.

“Mom’s old school, spent her entire life here. Her parents, and their parents before them. She still believes the old stories from the settler days. I don’t know the details. Her people are quite cautious telling the old tales. It’s one of those stories you can only tell when snows on the ground, or you might catch its attention. Kinda like don’t say their name or they might appear philosophy.” He explained while fidgeting with a piece of wire he’d picked up while they walked and talked. His straw cowboy hat with a red bandana wrapped around it. Well worn over the years, it was stained with countless gallons of sweat. The top of the hat had a hole in it from when it became a goat’s appetizer. “Built in air conditioning.” Tom would say.

Once they reached the barn, they filled up the four-wheelers and went out onto the range to check on the cattle. The scoria contrasting with the coal and sandstone. Antelope and deer running through the pastures eating the grass and shrubs growing in this arid land. Dust devil blowing off in the distance adding to the surreal cowboy nostalgia he never understood before.

“I’ll let you shoot the gun later!” Tom yelled back at Alex while cruising down a cattle trail on his four-wheeler. Dust clouds tracing their trail for miles around. Easy to spot where they were at from anywhere the folks would be at right now. So, upon reaching the west pasture water troughs, they decided to stretch their legs and throw some rocks at the old schoolhouse that was hardly standing.

“Our Great Grandma taught there.” Tom said, while whipping a stone at the roof. The ricochet sent it straight up in the air, landing a dozen feet from the boys. This caused them to laugh at the thought of it landing on their heads.

“See there?” Tom said pointing at the floor in the crooked building.

“Those are bullet holes from the teacher before her getting shot. That’s how she got the job out here, other teacher died!”

Alex looked in and was horrified to see the bullet holes still scarring the building.

“Well, who shot the teacher?” Alex asked unable to take his eyes off the ancient crime scene.

“Just some bad guy as the old people called them. Nobody knew him or where he came from. He just showed up like cowboys were known to do. He didn’t make it far. Some farmer was on the otherside of the hill harvesting. The noise drew him and his sons. No trial, probably not many words spoken at all. Tied his hands together with a rope around his neck and let his own horse drag him in to the horizon.”

“That’s the craziest thing i’ve ever heard!” Alex shouted his eyes still as large as ever.

Tom laughs in an obnoxious manner drawing Alexs gaze towards him.

“That’s just the start!”Tom said excitedly.

“Want to go see the ice cave?!” Tom pretended to ask. Already walking down the trail before Alex could answer.

“Why aren’t we suppose to go down to the ice cave anyways?” Alex questioned Tom.

“ It’s weirder than you think. I lied about the glacier. This was the only area in the state not covered with glaciers during the iceu age. Nobody knows where they came from. The natives avoided this area. They called the entire place “The bad lands to travel”. Nobody knows how deep they go or anything. They avoided it and so do we. Sometimes on the still nights you can hear noises echoing out of there. Not like anything i’ve heard anywhere else. Type of noise that even makes the old cowboys pretend they didn’t hear anything. I’ve never had anyone around to go with me. I sure as hell wasn’t going to go alone. But now you’re here. We can check it out together.”

“This sounds like a stupid idea ,cuz.” Alex said, pushing his glasses up on his nose. Only for them to slide right back down again.

It was too late, was already at the mouth of the cave.

“Yode lay he hoo” he yodeled into the ice chasm. Hearing the echo return in an odd distorted way instantly sent shivers up both their spines. Both start backing away swiftly, no longer pretending to be brave.

“Tom, is that you?” a voice faintly said in the back of the blue cold dark.

“Tom help!” the voice began to scream.

“Help us Tom come save us!"