River Rocks: A West Virginia Adventure Novel

by Steve Kittner

  Eddie drew a deep breath and looked over at Josh once again and then back to Giselle, eager to spill the beans to someone. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked.

  “Sure,” she said, shrugging one shoulder. Her expression grew more curious.

  The boys were both thinking the same thing. Giselle was much more knowledgeable of the library and the way it worked and could probably speed up their search and maybe be able to reference other information that would help them, too. They could use all the help they could get. Plus, she was darn cute!

  “You got time to sit down for a few minutes?” Eddie asked again.

  “Wow!” She half laughed. “Sure. What’s going on?”

  Josh started out. “A couple days ago, me and Eddie were fishing down below our house and across the river on a sand and rock bar. We were goofin’ around and getting ready to leave when we looked back down over the riverbank and saw an old milk can. One of those old ones about this tall that was used a long time ago to take milk around, I guess.”

  Eddie said, “You see them on people’s porches and stuff now days.”

  Josh continued. “We pulled the thing out of the mud and it still had the lid on it. We carried it over to the water and washed it off and, while we were doing that, we heard something inside flopping around so we figured ’hey…let’s open it up.’ So we did.”

  Eddie said, “It took some doing, but we got it opened and inside there was this old, like, deerskin that had been tanned a long time ago. It had writing on it.”

  Giselle shifted in her seat and leaned up on the table, now becoming more interested in the two boys’ story.

  Eddie continued. “Josh and I took it up to my garage and spread it out to see what we could read.” He paused. “This is where it gets cool. We wrote down everything that we could make out. Some of it was smeared or faded and there was also a little drawing at the bottom.”

  Josh reached into his backpack and pulled out his copy of the deciphered document that was written on yellow legal paper. He put it on the table, flattened it out with his palms, and turned it to where Giselle could see it. Her expression turned back to that curious look again with her eyes slightly squinted and her mouth slightly opened. Her eyebrows had flattened out, losing that natural arch, and her brow furrowed a bit as she started to read what the boys had written from the old document.

  The boys let Giselle look for a moment and then Josh said, “This part right here is what caught our attention first…Southern Jewel.”

  “What is that?” Giselle asked. “Southern Jewel.”

  “We had no idea either,” Josh answered. “That’s why we came here yesterday, just to see if we could find out what that meant. See this up here? It’s a date, we think. 9104. September 1, 1904. We figure that was when this deer hide thing was written,” he shrugged.

  “How do you figure that?” She asked, sort of skeptically.

  The boys glanced at each other once again and then Eddie said, “We didn’t find anything here yesterday with ’Southern Jewel’ in it for the early 1900s.”

  Josh interjected, “At least we didn’t think we did.”

  Eddie continued, “So we went to Josh’s house and thought we could do an Internet search for it.”

  “Did you find anything?”

  Josh pulled out the pages from his backpack that they had printed from the “Legend of The Southern Gold” web site.

  “This is what we found on the computer,” Josh answered.

  Giselle took the papers and began to read. She read the part about the story of the gold that was discovered in the caves of Vicksburg, Mississippi, by the Union Army and how it was then shipped up north to be stored in a West Virginia bank vault until it could be temporarily displayed at the Smithsonian.

  Giselle’s eyes widened and she drew a quick breath when she got to the part after that. The gold was dubbed “The Southern Jewel.” She looked over at the yellow paper. “Southern Jewel.”

  She continued to read and came to the part in 1903 when, on a stormy, rainy night while the gold was being transported by train to Washington, D.C., a band of southern sympathizers had somehow stopped the train, and killed all five men aboard taking the gold for themselves. She read over the part about the government denying the gold ever existed and slowly shook her head.

  Josh said, “What we did find here yesterday was an article that we didn’t think anything of at the time. An article about a train robbery in 1903. We laughed about it at first until last night when we got to this part here.” Josh pointed to the printed papers and tapped his finger on the lines about the train robbery in 1903, where the supposed southern sympathizers had held up the train and taken the gold, leaving five men dead. “We need to find that article again and read it this time to see if it matches up with what we found on the web site,” Eddie said.

  Giselle O’Conner stared at the boys for a moment while thinking deeply and trying to put all of this together, trying to figure it out for herself at the same time. “So what do you guys think you have here with this animal skin thing? A treasure map?”

  “Not sure, but if the two stories match up, then we have something pretty cool here at least, don’t ya’ think? We just have to figure out what it is,” Josh replied.

  “Let me ask you a question,” she paused, “Why did you tell me this?”

  “Well, you asked and we figured you might be able to help us look stuff up, since you know your way around a library pretty well,” Eddie said. “And you did say you could keep a secret.”

  There was silence for a moment.

  “It’s very intriguing,” she said, thinking for a bit.

  The boys still weren’t sure that they had made the right decision by telling her.

  “Well, I guess I’m in whether I want to be or not, now. Right?” She added. “OK, let’s start cranking through these films.”

  “We’re pretty sure it was the last one that we looked at yesterday, whichever one that was,” Josh said.

  Giselle looked at the micro film containers and then said, “If you looked at them in chronological order, then it would be this one here.”

  “Let’s try it,” Eddie said.

  Giselle sat down at the projector and loaded up the film. Josh and Eddie squeezed in to get a look at the articles whizzing by. They all looked familiar since the boys had just scrolled through them yesterday, but nothing really jumped out at them. She continued cranking and the boys continued skimming the write-ups from a long-forgotten paper.

  A few minutes went by and they were getting a little stare crazy again from gazing at the screen and then Josh said, “STOP,…. hold it!” He had gotten a little excited and had shouted a little too loudly, and a few people sitting downstairs looked over at him. Josh held up his hand a little to apologize, but something had caught his eye and he knew they were close.

  “The articles about the union organizations and rallies were real close to the train robbery article!” he exclaimed. “Go slower now.”

  The boys leaned in a little closer and Giselle slowly turned the handle until Eddie and Josh said at the same time, “There it is!”

  “It’s not a very big write up,” Giselle commented.

  Giselle zoomed the article up closer and began to read:

  5 DIE IN LOCAL TRAIN ROBBERY

  -Officials are unsure of cargo stolen-

  Mountain County Officials are unsure what was on board the freighter of the late night Hillsburg train that was held up just north of Red Creek on the C&O route last week. All five crewmen on board the train were reportedly found dead at the scene.

  “It seems a little curious to us,” a local official stated. “These trains run through here regular and usually it’s just coal they are haulin’ and maybe a freight car or two.” When asked what was so curious about this situation, the official went on to say that normally, he thought, they only carried a crew of two: a fireman who threw coal into the boiler, and the engineer. “Why there were five men on board, we don�
�t know at this time,” he said, “and what would be on board one of these trains worth killing five men over? It‘s possible it might be wildcatters that killed them fellows kind of random, but it seems a little extreme, even for them crazy union organizers.”

  The Railroad had no comment at first, but later said that three of the men on board were “in training” with C&O.

  Curious rumors have begun to surface that the train may have been hauling the old Confederate gold that has been legendary in these parts for years. The gold has supposedly been stored in a cement and steel vault in Hillsburg since being discovered in a Confederate entrenchment or cave in Vicksburg during the War.

  The three kids rose up and looked at each other, then read on.

  Local Sheriff, Dan Bloom, laughed when asked about the rumor. “That has been an old wives tale around here since I was a young boy,” he said. “It don’t exist and we don’t need that kind of nonsense interfering with our investigation of this incident. We have enough ground to cover without chasing crazy, made up stories about some secret gold.”

  Bloom had nothing else to say on the matter and took no more questions on the train robbery.

  The Kanawha Chronicle will continue its investigative reports on this story as information becomes available.

  Giselle and the boys sat in silence for a moment collecting their thoughts and putting it all together in their minds.

  “This is very interesting now,” she said.

  “Well, there it is,” Josh said. “I mean, I would say that the article we have here and the one we pulled off the internet have a lot in common, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Oh, absolutely they do,” replied Giselle.

  “I wonder if there are any other articles on the robbery on film,” Eddie said.

  “Well, the paper said that they will continue to report on the story so there might be more,” she replied. “And…I wonder what the rest of the skin means. We haven’t even got to the other lines yet,” Josh added

  Thunder rumbled in the distance as Josh noticed that the light coming through the small basement windows was beginning to diminish.

  “Is it supposed to rain today?” he asked.

  “I guess it’s going to whether it was supposed to or not,” Eddie responded.

  “We better get home.”

  “Man, I wanted to keep looking!”

  “You guys take off and I will look for more later,” Giselle said. “I need to get back to what I was doing but I will look for more when I get time. Give me your number and I will call you if I find anything good, O.K?”

  “Alright. Yeah we better get out of here,” Josh said.

  Thunder rumbled once again in the distance. Josh and Eddie got up to leave and Giselle said, “Hey guys.” She paused. “I appreciate your trust! It’s pretty cool.”

  The boys looked at each other. “We appreciate your help,” Josh returned.

  Josh wrote his number down on a piece of paper and gave it to his new friend. Giselle stuffed it in her jeans pocket and gathered the films once more to return them to the shelf.

  The boys bounded up the stairs, past Elton Mansfield and out the door to where their bikes were parked. Thunder once again rumbled as they mounted up and headed over the hill on the dirt path that led to the old railroad bed. No time for ice cream today.

  Josh couldn’t wait to hear from Giselle tonight. For more reasons than one!

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  By seven o’clock that evening, Josh hadn’t heard from Giselle. The rain had come and gone and, as Josh stepped out onto his back porch, he noticed that the river had risen only slightly after the rain and that it was a little muddy. Perfect for cat-fishing!

  He called his best friend and fishing buddy, Eddie Debord, and, in a few minutes the two friends were sitting on the boat dock with bare feet dangling, and two fishing lines anchored on the bottom of the slightly swift Elk River, with a 1-ounce pyramid sinker.

  The chicken livers that they had thawed out two days ago would not go to waste. As the sinker kept the line in one place, the bait would float up about eighteen inches off the bottom and no catfish in his right mind could refuse a good chicken liver.

  The sun was about forty-five minutes from setting and the bugs and mosquitoes were beginning to make their presence known and so were the frogs. The boys sat there watching the current take an occasional log or piece of debris downstream and, looking at it, they both wondered out loud how far it would go. Would it get stuck just around the bend or would it make it all the way to the Kanawha River?

  If a log could make it that far and get into the deeper and wider water, maybe it could even make it to the Ohio River. And, if it could make it to the Ohio, then it’s a sure thing it would make the Mississippi. This is where it got tricky because only the really clever Elk River logs could make their way down the Great Mississippi River and through the series of lock systems that were set up to control The Old Man. But, if successful, an adventurous log would then find itself at the mouth of the Mississippi and the northernmost point of the Gulf of Mexico, and, from that waypoint, that old Elk River log could then explore the world.

  There is a lot of time to think when fishing and, as twilight fell, Josh wondered the same thing about himself. Would he stay here on the banks of the Elk River, or would he make his way downstream one day? Was it possible to leave and one day come back? Would he ever get the desire to roam or would he be as content all his life as he was right now, 14 years old, sitting on the muddy banks of the Elk River with a line in the water and his best friend beside him.

  What if Eddie left one day and Josh stayed behind? What makes friends split up and go seek other things in life when all seems well enough in their existing world? Or how would Eddie feel if Josh moved on one day to find other things and make other friends?

  Josh decided then and there that he was going to do his part to keep their great friendship together, because one good friend, one really good friend, was one of the greatest things that a person could have. If a person had one really good friend in their life, one friend that they could trust with all their heart, that person would be very lucky.

  “Hey Ed.” Josh broke the silence and spoke slowly, “Do you think there is really gold around here somewhere?”

  Eddie paused a moment. “What would you do if you went to all the trouble of holding up a train and stealing all the gold and then killing off five guys to top off the night?”

  Josh thought for a moment and said nothing, just shrugged his shoulders slightly.

  “I don’t know about you, but I think I would go spend some of it. Live it up a little. Make it worthwhile before I went to prison.”

  “Yeah… But if that is what happened, why do we have this crazy animal skin thing with these clues on it? If there is no treasure, then why a treasure map? Why would someone go to the trouble of drawing it up and sealing it, if there were nothing to find?” Josh replied.

  “Good point. But are they clues? We don’t know what this thing really even is.”

  “I think we need to study it and see if anything else jumps out at us,” said Josh.

  “HEY GUYS !!!”

  Both boys just about jumped off the dock and into the water.

  Giselle O’Conner stood on the bank above the boat dock with her hands on her hips.

  “You scared the fire out of us! What are you doing here?” Eddie blurted out.

  Giselle was laughing at the two friends’ reactions to her carefully timed interruption, as if she had pulled it off just as planned. Giselle was now in jeans and a Fender Guitars T-shirt with a pink girly baseball hat. Again, the boys admired how easy on the eye this girl was, no matter what she wore.

  “My Dad remembered where Josh’s Dad lived and told me how to get here. Any luck?”

  “We haven’t been down here long. We just got our lines set. How about you? Did you find anything else?” Josh asked.

  “Well.” Giselle studied the steep bank for the best way down to the
dock. “Is this slippery?”

  “Yeah…it can be. You might wanna watch your step.” Eddie said

  “Are there snakes?” she asked, taking a couple of well-placed steps.

  The boys just looked at each other. Girls.

  “Hang on, Giselle,” Josh said. “I’m gonna come up and light that tire. Then I’ll help you down.”

  Eddie rolled his eyes as he reached down and cranked his reel a couple of times.

  Josh shimmied up the bank, grabbed a small can of used motor oil and glazed it over the old used Goodyear that lay on the bank above the boat dock. The tire was placed in a well-used fire pit that the boys had made out of old bricks. The oil would allow the fire to catch slowly and not have an explosion factor like gasoline. Much safer.

  Josh struck a match and tossed it down on the tire and after a few seconds the oil fire came to life and began to smoke dark blue. He then tossed on a couple of logs that Eddie had brought along from his dad’s woodpile.

  “That thing will burn?” Giselle asked.

  “Oh yeah. It will burn for about two hours,” Josh replied.

  “Cool.”

  “Keeps the bugs away.”

  “Oh.”

  “Alright, you going down?” Josh asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll go down, if you don’t let me fall.”

  “I’ll hold onto your hand. You go down first and I’ll hang onto you.”

  Giselle grabbed Josh’s left hand with her right hand and started down the bank. Josh held back on her so she wouldn’t slip as he dug in to the bank with his bare feet and held tight to her hand. She let go at the bottom as they both stepped onto the dock. Josh stepped over to his pole and gave the reel a couple of cranks to tighten the line.

  Eddie said, “So did you find out anything else at the library?”

  “It’s weird,” she answered. “After that first article that we found, there was no more mention of it in the papers at all. That seems funny to me because back then this area was just a small little place, and a train robbery would be BIG news. You would think it would be in the papers for weeks. But no, there was no other article at all…except one little small thing about an empty wallet that was found at the scene.”