‘Only three: Joshua, Grace and Violet. Grace is Gran and Violet was Aunty Violet’s mum,’ she reminded herself.
But how to find the gold? That sent Kylie back to re-read the page of the diary a third time.
“Ah yes! Here it is. He says: Write a letter to Herbert with instructions on how to find the claim in case anything happens to me. And here, on the next day: Pack up. To the ‘Erin’ and mail the letter. A letter! To Herbert. Who was Herbert?”
A check of the family tree showed that Herbert was Hector’s brother; and that he was also Aunty Violet’s Grandfather. She remembered the discussion about cousins marrying.
Holding the diary Kylie ran into the kitchen where her mother and Gran were preparing lunch. “Mum! Mum! I have found the story about Great Grandad finding the ‘Jeweller’s Shop’. And he wrote a letter to his brother Herbert with instructions on how to find it.”
Her mother and Gran both read the diary. Gran finished first. For a moment she stared into the distance, her face very thoughtful. Then she said: “A letter. I wonder if Herbert ever got it?”
“He was Aunty Violet’s Grandad wasn’t he?” Kylie asked.
“Yes dear.”
“Then maybe Aunty Violet knows something about the letter?” Kylie suggested.
“Possibly. I think the Reid boys had some information,” Gran replied.
“We can ask them this afternoon,” Kylie said. She was now gripped by intense excitement. A letter! And it would be the key to the riddle!
CHAPTER 8
THE LETTER
During the drive to the Reid’s Kylie fidgeted with excitement. She also felt the gnawing of the worm of jealousy and that bothered her conscience. The cause of the jealousy was Allison’s clothing. Allison had worn tight, white shorts which showed off her legs to very good advantage. And they were nice legs, Kylie had to concede: smooth and well proportioned and a honey gold colour. Worse still, Allison had opted to wear a short, loose, yellow cloth top which left her navel and midriff bare.
That the arrangement was effective was immediately apparent on arrival at the Reid’s. Both Bert and Victor ran their eyes up and down Allison, while barely glancing at Kylie or Margaret. Kylie had worn jeans and a white cotton shirt and thought she must look very plain by comparison.
Mrs Reid welcomed them and showed them into the lounge room. A Christmas tree had sprouted there since the last visit and Annabelle was busy decorating it. The sight reminded Kylie they needed to buy more decorations for Gran’s house.
The guests were seated and welcomed. Kylie wanted to be next to Bert but found herself outmanoeuvred and was too shy to push in. So she ended on the other side of the room beside her mother. To her chagrin Allison ended up beside Bert. To add to Kylie’s annoyance Bert then began an animated conversation with Allison, ignoring everyone else. Mr Reid appeared, a bluff, weather-beaten man in his forties. He was so obviously Bert and Victor’s father that Kylie had to smile. Tea, coffee and cakes were produced and they settled to polite conversation.
Allison mentioned to Bert that they had watched the calf being born the day before. Bert nodded and said: “That’s interesting. We had a sow drop a litter yesterday.”
“What dropped what?” Margaret interjected.
“A sow, a female pig, dropped a litter. That means it had baby pigs,” Bert replied.
“Piglets, you mean,” Kylie added.
Bert turned and met her eyes, then smiled. “Yes, you are right, piglets.” He then turned to Allison and asked: “Would you like to see them?”
“Oh yes please!” Allison replied.
Kylie could not help herself. “Can we come too?” she asked.
A look of annoyance crossed Bert’s face, causing Kylie to regret her request, but he replied with a smile: “Of course.”
Kylie noted a tiny frown on Allison’s brow. ‘She wants to get him away on their own,’ she deduced. Another spasm of hurt and jealousy stabbed through her. To deflect this she changed the conversation by saying: “I’ve been reading Grandad Hector’s diary. He did find the gold.”
That brought the other conversations to a halt. Both Aunty Violet and Victor swung to look at her with interest. Aunty Violet said: “Are you sure? My dad and his brothers went looking for that famous gold mine half a dozen times and found nothing. They gave up in disgust in the end, deciding it was just the ramblings of a delirious man in the grip of a fever.”
“Well it wasn’t Aunty Violet,” Kylie replied. “Grandad Hector did find gold. He wrote it all in his diary. I’ve got it here.” She reached down into her bag and pulled out the diary. The others stared at the old book in fascinated interest. Kylie flipped the diary open at her bookmark and said: “Only I don’t think it was a gold mine. He didn’t actually dig any tunnels or anything. He just found the exposed gold reef. I’ll read it to you.”
The others sat in silence as she read the last page of the diary.
“Gold nuggets just lying in the creek bed!” Bert said in awe.
“And gold dust in the rock crevices just waiting to be scooped up!” Margaret added.
“And gold sticking out of the rock like raisins in a plum pudding,” Victor breathed.
Kylie nodded, then said: “It says here that Grandad Hector wrote a letter to his brother Herbert with instructions on how to find the gold, in case anything happened to him.” She read the actual paragraph, including the part on the next day about posting the letter. “So, if he posted the letter, did Herbert ever get it? Is there and old letter?” she asked.
Aunty Violet frowned, then shook her head. “Oh I don’t think so.”
At that Bert sat up and turned from Allison. “Yes there is Mum. You know, the one in that old jewel box of Grandma’s.”
Again Aunty Violet frowned and appeared to think hard. Kylie also noticed Victor purse his lips and give a slight shake to his head. If it was a warning, Bert did not see it, or heed it. He stood up: “I know where the letter is. I’ll get it.”
Aunty Violet put up her hand, then hesitated: “Oh.. Oh.. Oh yes dear. I think I know the one you mean.”
Bert left the room and a brittle silence settled. Kylie had the distinct impression that Aunty Violet was not happy. Victor certainly wasn’t. To keep the conversation moving Kylie said: “This diary is fascinating. Would you like to read it?”
“Thank you dear, yes,” Aunty Violet replied. She took the offered book and settled to read the page.
Kylie smiled nervously, then said: “It is a bit hard to follow without a map. There are lots of places mentioned but nobody seems to know where they are.”
As she said this Bert came back into the room. He was smiling and had an old brown envelope in his hand. “Here is the letter. It was right on top of that pile in the old wooden case. I knew I’d seen it about recently.”
Mrs Kirk now spoke: “Oh please keep it to yourself if you want. I know your family has often looked for the famous ‘Jeweller's Shop’ and we don’t want to pry into your family secrets. Kylie just has a bit of a bee in her bonnet about it.”
Kylie blushed: “I just want to help Uncle Bill keep the farm. If he can’t get money the bank will take it off him,” she explained.
Uncle Bill gave a short laugh and shrugged. “It will be alright. We will make out somehow.”
Bert smiled and walked over to Kylie, holding the letter out: “That’s great Kylie. Here, you have it. We don’t need a gold mine. We are doing very well here.”
“Oh thank you,” Kylie said. She took the letter and found her hands were trembling slightly. She extracted the single sheet of paper from the tattered envelope, noting the old Penny stamp with the picture of one of the King Georges on the front as she did.
It was the letter. Her heart leapt the moment she saw the date: 28th March 1932.
“This is it! Look, it is dated the same day as the diary says; and it is headed Nugget Creek.” With her heart fluttering with excitement she read down the letter. It was a detailed description of how
to find the gold. Having read it once she looked up, her eyes shining. “This is it alright. Listen. Hector says: Dear Bert, that must be Herbert, I have found the ‘Jeweller’s Shop’! It is the richest find I have ever seen. I have collected samples and stored them nearby as I am too weak to carry much. I am on my way home now but am very sick. Just in case something happens to me here are the details on how to find the place. Use the same method as we used in school.”
There followed a detailed list which Kylie read one by one: “One: From the Erin Mine go South; Two: Don’t cross the main stream; Three: Turn right at the ‘Bright Smile’; Four: Don’t cross Nugget Creek; Five: Turn left at Frank’s Claim; Six: Go downhill to the mossy rocks; Seven: Take the left fork; Eight: Second Creek; Nine: Downstream 50 paces.”
The last part of the letter read: “I am real sick and fear I have scrub typhus. Please take care of Emma and the kids if I don’t make it and make sure they get their share. God be with you, your loving brother, Hector.”
On the margins of the letter were pencilled: ‘Where is Frank’s Claim?; Which creek is Nugget Creek?; Where is the ‘Bright Smile?’ These same questions obviously crossed everyone’s mind. Uncle Bill said: “Well, all we need to do is work out which creek is Nugget Creek and we should be able to find the place.”
Aunty Violet shook her head: “I doubt it. Dad and his brother Bruce spent weeks searching several creeks from end to end. I even went once.”
“Maybe a flood caused a landslide which covered it up?” Margaret suggested.
Aunty Violet again shook her head. “Maybe. The problem was in working out which creek was called Nugget Creek.”
“Wouldn’t it be on the map?” Allison asked.
“There are several Nugget Creeks scattered around the region,” Bert answered. “And I don’t doubt there are a hundred more in Australia. But these were local names that did not always make it onto the official map.”
“But the mines would have,” Mrs Kirk said. “Don’t all mining leases have to be registered and accurately marked.”
“Yes they do,” Uncle Bill replied. “So, if we start at the Erin Mine then we should be able to work out which creek it is.”
Again Aunty Violet shook her head; “I’m not so sure. That is what dad did, and he tried for years.”
“What about the mine called ‘The Bright Smile’?” Kylie asked. “Is it on the map?”
Bert turned to Victor. “Get us that old map of yours Vic and we will have a look.”
For an instant Kylie thought Victor was going to refuse, but he shrugged and went out of the room. Kylie again read the letter and the talk became animated about gold mining. When Victor returned he had a stiff parchment map which he spread on the coffee table. They crowded around to study it. Victor pointed. “This is the old family farm at Warramine Creek, and here is your place Mrs Feltham. Now, there were three main goldfields in that area. There was the Towalla Goldfield but it is too far south. Then there is this belt of mines which extends across the top ends of all these creeks from Wiandra Creek to Coopooroo Creek. The Boonjee Goldfield is its name.”
Allison ran her ginger across the map. “They are all in a line. Why is that?” she asked.
“Because they are on the edge of the basalt country. The Atherton Tablelands were formed by volcanic activity and the lava flows formed a layer on top of the auriferous rock. That is where the underlying rocks have been exposed by erosion,” Victor explained.
“The what rocks?” Kylie asked.
“Auriferous. Gold bearing rocks. Where the actual gold reefs are,” Victor explained. He then pointed further north. “There was another cluster of claims here, just east of your farm in the Swipers Flat and Churinga Flat areas. That is where we think the Jeweller’s Shop is. See, here is the ‘Pride of Erin’ mine.”
He placed his finger on the map. Kylie looked eagerly at it. Her eyes scanned around. “There is Christmas Creek!” she said excitedly.
“Is the ‘Bright Smile’ shown?” Margaret asked.
Kylie looked hard but she could not find it. Dozens of other names were marked and she read some of them out aloud: “The ‘Union’, the ‘Blarney Stone’, that’s Irish isn’t it? The ‘Just in Time’; the ‘Astronomer’; the ‘Caledonia’. That is Irish too isn’t it?”
“No, Scottish,” Gran corrected. “Caledonia is the old Roman name for Scotland. Ireland is Hibernia.”
“No ‘Bright Smile’ though,” Allison said.
“Only yours,” Bert replied.
Kylie glanced up sharply, just in time to see Bert smile at Allison, who blushed and smiled back. A sharp stab of jealousy lanced through Kylie. Margaret glanced from Allison to Bert and giggled.
Hiding her hurt with an effort Kylie turned to Victor. “Can we have a copy of the map please?” she asked.
Victor answered: “Take a while to copy.”
Bert shook his head. “No it won’t. We can photocopy at the Newsagents. Be done in a few minutes.”
“Have to go to town to do that,” Victor replied sourly.
“We were going anyway,” Kylie replied.
Kylie held up the letter. “Could we also get a photocopy of this too?”
This time Victor actually scowled. Kylie thought he was going to say no but Bert cut in: “Of course. We’ve had the bloody thing for seventy years and haven’t been able to find the gold. You can have a go. Just give us our fair share when you find it.”
Kylie smiled her thanks. Victor said: “What about giving us a copy of the diary in return?”
“That’s fair,” Gran said.
“Let’s go then,” Bert said.
“Hang on. We only just got here,” Uncle Bill said.
“I will drive the girls to town then,” Bert said. That was news to Kylie. She knew Bert was seventeen but it had not occurred to her that he might have a driver’s licence.
Mr Reid nodded. “That’s a good idea,” he said.
Aunty Violet looked doubtful. “You drive carefully Bert,” she warned.
“I will Mum. Who wants to come?” Bert replied. He stood up and looked at Allison.
Allison stood up, smiling. Kylie joined her and so did Margaret. “Don’t be long you children,” Mrs Kirk cautioned. “You only have an hour and we must start back for milking.”
“Milking!” Margaret said as they walked out onto the side veranda. “I don’t think I could stand living on dairy farm. You would never be free; always tied to milking times dawn and dusk.”
“I could be,” Allison answered.
“It’s not that bad,” Bert replied. “Besides, there are contract milkers who look after the herd if you have to go away for a while; or if you need a holiday.”
“You’d have to pay them though?” Allison asked as they reached the car.
Bert nodded. “Sure. Nothing in life is free,” he replied. He stood and opened the front passenger door for Allison and she slid in. Kylie and Margaret were left to open the rear doors themselves. That put Kylie in a bad mood, seeing Bert beside Allison in the front. She knew this was unfair and just jealousy. She also had doubts about whether she wasn’t just fickle herself. For years she had had a crush on Peter Bronsky, Graham’s best friend. Peter was on the same army cadet promotion course as Graham and she had hoped to see him when he returned.
It only took a few minutes to drive into Malanda. The quiet little town had its usual sleepy air. “I love this place,” Allison said. “I come from London and this is heaven compared to that.”
Kylie gave her another sharp look. ‘Is she just saying that? Or are they serious hints?’
As they stood in the Newsagents photocopying Allison asked Bert: “Is it true, that your farm is doing well?”
“Yes it is,” Bert replied. “In fact mum and dad are going to buy the old farm next to ours and will give it to me on my twenty first birthday.”
“Oh isn’t that wonderful! You are so lucky,” Allison gushed. Kylie watched unhappily, aware of hurt in her heart. ‘Is she
a scheming ‘gold digger’ or what?’ she thought. Then she regretted it and tried to forgive Allison. ‘After all Bert is very handsome.’
Margaret searched the shelves for Christmas decorations but was quite disappointed. The range was very limited and not what they were looking for. “All sold out dearie, sorry,” the lady explained.
“We will look in Atherton next time we go there,” Kylie said.
Half an hour later they were back in the car on their way back to the farm. Once again Allison sat in the front with Bert. Kylie pretended to study the map as they drove along. In this she was more successful than she meant as she became absorbed by her search for the gold mine.
Back at the Reid’s farm they had more afternoon tea, then went to look at the piglets before setting off home. On the way Mrs Kirk said: “I don’t think Cousin Victor was very happy with you Kylie.”
“No. I suppose he wanted to keep the letter and the map secret so he could find the gold mine and keep it all for himself.”
“Oh that’s a bit unfair,” Allison protested. “They don’t need money that much.”
“Maybe not,” Mrs Kirk said. “But gold does funny things to people.”
“If he does find it he should share. That’s what Grandad Hector wanted,” Kylie said.
“And you do the same,” Mrs Kirk replied.
However, that evening after tea, when Kylie had spread the map on the table to study it, Uncle Bill made a comment which thoroughly depressed her. “From the look of it that gold mine of yours is slap in the middle of the ‘Wet Tropics World Heritage Area’. Even if you find it you won’t be allowed to mine it. So you may as well stop wasting your time.”
That was very depressing to Kylie but she did not give up that easily. “We need a modern map that has the boundaries on it then.”
“You can get that from the Land Resources people in Atherton,” Uncle Bill said.
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