A little while later, Mitch pulled up anchor so they could go to a different location to fish. Everyone had pulled their lines in and was talking while waiting for Mitch to start the boat. He was having a problem getting it started, so he pulled his tackle box away from the motor and opened it to get out a can of starter fluid. Mitch sprayed the starter fluid in the carburetor and tried to start it. A loud combustion noise echoed as the engine backfired. Mitch, Toby, and Kyle leaped out of the boat and into the water while Riley ducked down on his haunches and looked around.
“What the hell?” Riley said as Mitch came up from under the water. “What the hell did you do, Mitch?”
“Nothing. I was spraying starter fluid, and it backfired,” Mitch answered, chuckling.
Kyle climbed back into the boat, laughing. “Guess I don’t need a shower when I get home, I’ve already had my bath,” he quipped.
Riley smiled.
Toby climbed into the boat. “I may as well stay in the water and fish,” he muttered under his breath.
The guys spent all morning and part of the early afternoon fishing. “I’m starving,” Mitch said.
“Me too,” Toby said.
“Are you guys dry yet?” Riley asked.
“Yeah, I’m dry,” Toby said, and the others also confirmed they were.
“If any of you stink like fish water, you’ll have to take a shower before I allow you to eat the fish at my place,” Riley said.
“I don’t smell like fish water, Riley.” Toby looked back at him with his hands on his hips.
“Just making sure,” Riley quipped.
“Yeah, and there’s something smelling pretty ripe back here. It must be you,” Mitch added jokingly.
“It ain’t me.” Toby turned and looked at Mitch.
“Well, you’re the one who took a second dive into the lake. Maybe you need another bath.” Kyle continued with the joking.
“You go ahead and try it, Kyle, and I guarantee you will go in with me,” Toby commented.
Kyle came up behind Mitch and brushed his arm with the fish he caught. Startled, Mitch jumped back at least a foot, almost falling into the lake again.
“Gee, you’re a bit testy, aren’t you?” Kyle said, laughing.
“I thought Riley was enacting some sort of revenge on me.” Mitch looked over at Riley.
“Whatever gave you that idea?” Riley smiled wickedly.
“I’m always pulling some joke on you, I figured one of these days you would have your revenge.”
“I’m not like that, Mitch.” Riley grinned.
“Yeah. Uh-huh,” Mitch muttered.
* * * *
Riley arrived at work on Monday morning and read the weekend report. Hmm, the Ferguson boys still causing problems. All the usual stuff.
His deputies arrived for the daily staff meeting. Sergeant Anderson, his day shift sergeant, started the meeting. “We just release three boys after their bails were paid for busting up Coyote Bar last night.”
“Who are they?” Riley asked.
“The Ferguson brothers and their friend, Daniel Gates.”
“They’re developing quite a reputation,” Riley commented.
“Not as bad as the biker gang.” Deputy Verdinstradt smirked.
“Have the two groups met?” Riley asked.
“Not as far as we can tell,” Deputy Martinez replied. “Rod’s gang has been pretty quiet lately.”
“Yeah, a little too quiet. Something’s going on.” Riley grimaced, looking over the assignments he needed to give out. “Okay, here is an arrest warrant to serve on Jesse Baker in Maxville. Why don’t you and Verdinstradt go pick him up.” Riley handed the arrest warrant to Deputy Martinez. A loud knock interrupted the meeting. “Come in,” Riley said.
Liz Towbridge poked her head inside the room. “Sorry to interrupt, Sheriff. There’s a dispute going on at Red Rock River, and a man by the name of Campbell needs assistance.”
“All right, Jack, you and I will go out there. Anderson, you’re in charge here.”
They took Highway 17 north to Highway 350, and went south on Red Rock Road. They drove pass Marissa’s land to Campbell and saw his truck there and pulled up beside it.
They looked around, but didn’t see Campbell nearby. They walked over to the property line between Campbell and his neighbor and found Campbell in an intense argument with three men. Riley walked up to them as Campbell yelled, “This is my property line, and you got no right to encroach your machine on it.”
“What seems to be the problem here?” Riley asked.
“Sheriff, these men have been encroaching on my claim. My claim goes along this line.” He pointed at a stake near the river and then to another one by the road. “I’ve been dealing with this problem with them for several weeks. I want it to stop. They need to move their damn machine off my land.”
“It’s not your land, and we’re not encroaching on your property,” one man said.
“All right. Who are you guys?” Riley asked.
“I’m Joe Ferguson. This is my brother Ryan, and his friend, Daniel Gates.”
“Do you have the papers that show you have the right to be on that land?” Riley asked, pointing at the property next to Campbell.
“Yes, sir. Right here.” Joe handed Riley the claim.
“So, according to this, you have sixty acres starting from this line and going south.”
“Yes, sir,” Joe said.
“Why are you at this edge of the property?” Riley asked.
“We have the right to dig at any spot on this property.”
“Right, the sixty acres from here over to the end there.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Still, why do you have to dig right here, specifically at the end of this property line and into his?”
“Well, there are sapphires to be found here.”
“On my property!” Campbell yelled.
“Hold on, Campbell. Don’t get your hackles up again,” Riley said. “Ferguson, I suggest that you move your trommel machine off the property line and into your own area, and not encroach on Campbell’s land.”
“Here’s the thing, Sheriff. The lands are not divided into squares. They are angled at twenty degrees. If you look at where the stake is at the river, and where the stake is by the road, it’s not a straight line. It’s angled, and so, this little plot of land that Campbell claims is his, is actually ours,” Joe Ferguson said.
“Ferguson, if you and Campbell can’t agree on the property line, I suggest you both pitch in and pay for a surveyor to come out and stake the property every few feet from that stake over there to that one by the road. It will cost you some money, but it will be clearly marked. Otherwise, a less expensive and neighborly way to do it is to move your trommel over on what you know is your property.” Riley gestured at the machine, noting its size. It looked like an industrial-sized one with a revolving sieve used commercially to screen gravel, coal, or whatever was being dug up.
“We’ll move it for now, Sheriff. But if Campbell wants to pursue it, he’ll have to pay for the surveyor himself. We don’t have an issue or a problem, and we feel we’re on our rightful property,” Joe said.
“You’re just trying to get close to where I’m working,” Campbell said gruffly.
“It’s obvious that you’re on his side, Sheriff, so we’ll cooperate this time,” Joe said.
“I’m not on anyone’s side, Ferguson. I’m trying to settle this peacefully. With all the acreage you have, why are you butting heads about this?”
“Because all the sapphires are located under these rocks.”
“Which, based on the way I see it, is on Campbell’s property. If what you say is true, have a surveyor confirm it and mark it. That way there would be no question about where you’re digging.”
“Yes, fine, Sheriff. We’ll move the trommel as you requested.”
The men headed toward the machine, and Riley stood next to Campbell watching them walk away.
“
Thanks, Sheriff. I don’t think it will do any good though.”
“Well, don’t go taking the law in your own hands. If you run into more trouble, call us.”
Campbell nodded and walked back to his pit.
Riley shook his head as he watched the old man walk away. “People will do most anything when it comes to gold and sapphires.”
“Yeah, you’d think they would work together on something like that,” Jack, his deputy, said.
“It’s all about greed. People don’t want to share anything with anyone.”
Chapter 7
Marissa raced home from work, ate her chicken, and then changed her clothes. She left quickly to get out to the dig site. She had spent Sunday morning shifting through all the rocks in the buckets, and she found eight more sapphires. She spent the afternoon on her faceting machine. Hoping for more finds, she was excited as she pulled her car up at the dig site. Campbell was there waiting for her.
“Hi,” Marissa said as she got out of the car.
“Hello. Did you have time to go through the gravel we dug Saturday?”
“Yes, I did. I got a few nice sapphires out of it.”
“Good. I think I did too. Care to take a look at these?” He handed her a vial with stones in it.
Marissa looked them over carefully. “Oh, yeah, they look good. Two of them will need to be heat-treated.” She handed the vial back to him.
She got her sluice running, and then they got busy digging and shaking the shaker box.
“It’s a hot one today, don’t you think?” Campbell said.
“Yes, very warm, and very unusual. I hope it doesn’t mean we’ll have a dry summer.”
“Why’s that?” Campbell stopped and wiped his forehead with an old rag.
“Dry summers mean forest fires.”
“Oh. Guess I never thought about that.”
After they’d worked for the agreed on hour and a half, they checked the sluice and found some gold flakes. Marissa dumped the dirt in a bucket, then cleaned out the sluice and put it in the back of Campbell’s truck.
“Ready to go to your place?” she asked.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
They drove to his dig site and set up the sluice in the river. They walked over to the place they dug the last time and began to dig.
“Had to call the sheriff this morning,” Campbell said.
“You did? How come?” Marissa lifted an eyebrow.
“Guys next to me had their trommel over here and were digging on my land.”
Standing up, Marissa looked around and spotted the trommel. “They are close, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, I knew it would just be a matter of time before they got onto my claim. You be mindful of them. They are sneaky and deceitful. They told the sheriff that the property lines run at a twenty-degree angle instead of straight back. That’s bullshit.”
Marissa looked at where the stakes were. “No, they’re not angled. When I saw the picture of the layout of all this land, it showed the land in squared acres.”
“Where did you see the picture?”
“At the county building in Anaconda where I renewed the claim.”
“I’m going to go get a copy of it to show those guys and get them off my claim. You be wary of them. I don’t trust them at all.”
“I will, but don’t you try to take them on by yourself. Call the sheriff if you need to.”
Campbell dug into the earth and Marissa shook the shaker box. They stopped for a few minutes to watch the mule deer as they came up to the other side of the river to drink water. One of them had a full rack of antlers.
“Wish I had my gun here now, I’d shoot that one. He’s mighty fine-looking,” Campbell said quietly.
Marissa stood there watching them.
“Do you like deer meat?” Campbell asked.
“It’s okay.”
“My wife used to enjoy having it once in a while. She was a good cook. I sure miss it sometimes.”
“So, she had cancer?” Marissa asked.
“Yeah. Breast cancer,” Campbell said, turning his attention back to the dig.
“Did you guys have a good marriage?”
“Yes, we did. We had two children, one son and one daughter. Both went off to college and earned their degrees. Our son got married, and he gave us two grandsons. My wife didn’t work, she took care of the home and thought there was nothing wrong with doing that. She had no desire to work outside the home.”
“It sounds like you guys had a good relationship and were happy together.”
“We were. It was hard to go on after she passed away. She was in a lot of pain toward the end though. I wish there was something I could have done for the pain. But, in the end, there was nothing to ease her suffering. She was a beautiful woman.”
Marissa didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing.
They worked for a while in silence, then Campbell asked Marissa, “What caused your divorce?”
Marissa didn’t know how to answer his question. She had told no one the reason for her divorce, and she didn’t want to divulge the information. However, Campbell had wormed his way into her heart. She found that she liked him a lot. Beneath the rough exterior was a nice man.
She finally spoke. “When my ex-husband drank, he beat me. The last time he did that he hit me in the back with a two-by-four that had a rusty nail on the end of it. The nail sliced through my skin and ripped it open from the back to my front. I was in the hospital for a while and decided that was it. I would not put up with the abuse anymore.”
“That son of a bitch,” Campbell said. “Glad you got a divorce from the asshole.”
“I’m glad he’s no longer in my life.” She didn’t tell him the rest of the story. She wanted no one to feel sorry for her or pity her and try to help her. She intended to make it on her own.
“Well, I think we’re good for tonight, don’t you think?” Campbell asked.
“Yes, we did quite a bit tonight, and it’s starting to get dark.”
As they cleaned the area up and pulled the sluice out of the water, Riley drove up in the sheriff’s cruiser. He parked the vehicle and got out.
“Good evening, Campbell. Marissa, what are you doing over here?” he asked.
“We got a deal where we’re working together. She’s helping me, and I’m helping her,” Campbell said.
“I see. You arranged a deal with Marissa, but not with the people next to you?”
“Them guys over there are a gang of hoodlums. Nothing but trouble,” Campbell said gruffly.
“Have they gave you any more problems since this morning?”
“Take a look at where they got that damn trommel and tell me what you think.” Campbell pointed at the machine.
“Why don’t you do as I suggested and get a surveyor out here?” Riley asked.
“I’ve got a better solution. Marissa told me she saw the layout of the land at the county building in Anaconda and it showed the properties were squared, not angled like they said, and I intend to get a copy of it.”
Riley looked at Marissa and then back at Campbell. “Well, that should settle it then.”
“I don’t know about that, Sheriff. I saw the two brothers with rifles a few times shooting off cans like they were target practicing or something.”
“Hmm, it’s not illegal to have guns, and they are outside the town so I can’t arrest them, but if they shoot in your direction, be sure to get ahold of me,” Riley said. He walked over to Marissa and asked, “Did you find any sapphires?”
“Yes, a few.”
“Good!” Riley’s eyes lit up. “I’m looking forward to having lunch with you tomorrow.”
“I heard that The Lunch Box is a good place to eat.” Marissa smiled.
“It is. The sandwiches are large and they make homemade kettle chips. I’ll see you at one tomorrow.”
Marissa watched as Riley got in the cruiser and drove off.
“So you’re going on a date with the sheriff,
huh?” Campbell said with a slight smile.
“It’s not a date. I’m just going to lunch with him.”
“He seems like a good guy.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Marissa wasn’t so sure. She turned her attention back to packing her car. “I think we got everything.”
“Yep, I’ll follow you to your home.”
“Okay.”
Ten minutes later Marissa pulled into her driveway, and Campbell came in behind her. He unload her buckets and put them on the porch, and then Marissa showed him her sapphires.
“Here’s what I got by the river on Saturday.” She handed him the vial.
“You faceted them already? Do you own a faceting machine?”
“Yes. I bought a used one from Dave at the store.”
“These look really nice!”
“Yes, they are pretty clear, I didn’t need to heat-treat them.”
“A couple of these are a nice color of blue.”
“Yes, they are.”
“Are you going to sell them? Is someone interested in buying them?”
“Yes, I have an exclusive buyer. They buy only from me.”
“Think they might be interested in buying from me?”
“No. They only want to deal with me, sorry. But there are a few places in Anaconda that will give you a fair price for your sapphires. I can give you the names of the places if you want.”
“Yes, if you could. I’d appreciate it. I think the guy here likes to lowball the price on me.”
“Sure, just give me a minute and I’ll write their names and numbers down for you.” She took the vial back and walked into her house over to the antique secretary desk. She pulled out a piece of paper, wrote the names and telephone numbers of several jewelers in Anaconda, and brought the list out to him. “Here you go.”
Campbell looked at the list and then stuffed it in his pocket. “Thanks. I’ll see you about the same time on Wednesday.”
“Okay, Campbell. Good night.”
Marissa went into her kitchen, pulled out the last of the leftover chicken, and took it into the dining room. As she sat at the table eating she looked out the window and up at the log house above her. The lights were on, but she didn’t see any movement.
She wondered why Riley was interested in having lunch with her. What was he after? She couldn’t tell if he was genuinely interested in her or just playing her. Clearly she wasn’t good at reading or understanding men; she barely got out of her last relationship with her life.
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