“That’s it?” Chad asked. He looked eager to begin.
“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Ellie called from the creek bank. “Jem, don’t forget to tell him—”
“Ellie!”
Ellie huffed and shot to her feet. Stumbling over the sharp rocks and mounds of old diggings, she clambered up the creek bank and out of sight. A sudden, ornery-sounding heehaw told Jem his sister had taken her complaints to Canary.
Good riddance. Now, maybe we can pan in peace.
Jem turned back to Chad and handed him the full gold pan. “Ellie’s right,” he admitted. “It’s not easy. And it takes a lot of time. Hours sometimes. There isn’t near the gold in Cripple Creek like there used to be. In the old days, miners could reach down”—he scooped up a handful of dripping sand and gravel—“and pick up a fistful of gold nuggets. But not anymore.”
Slowly, Jem opened his hand and let the dirt and rocks splash back into the creek. No gold in the creek. No gold in the mine. “Anyway, you have to be patient,” he said, shaking himself free from his gloomy thoughts.
Chad squatted and started working his pan. “My brother Justin’s the patient one in my family. I’m the quick one. But when I get fired up about something, I can do what it takes. And I’m fired up about finding some gold of my own.”
There seemed to be no stopping the new kid from searching for what little gold might be at his feet. Pan after empty pan, Chad did not give up. An hour dragged by before Jem finally pointed out three shiny specks no bigger than pinheads. They sparkled along the edge of his pan.
Chad’s eyes lit up, but when he tried to pick up the small particles, he lost them. “Doggone it! They’re too tiny to hang on to.”
“You’ve done pretty good for a first try,” Jem said. He glanced up at the sun. The day was getting away from them. Ellie was still out of sight. Nathan had lost interest in the lesson and wandered over to watch Strike-it-rich Sam and his rocker. “You can come back tomorrow if you want.”
“I’m just getting the hang of it,” Chad protested. “One more try? I’m in no hurry to go back to the Sterlings.”
Jem didn’t doubt that. “How long have you and your pa been in town?”
“Too long. Four or five days. I’ve lost count. Father brought me along so I could learn the mining business.” Chad cringed. “He should’ve brought Justin instead. He’s gonna be a lawyer some day, so he likes that sort of thing. Me? I just want to ranch. I don’t care about anything else. But Mother figures different, I reckon. She wants me to ‘widen my horizons,’ whatever that means.”
Chad scooped up another pan of gravel and grit, then sighed. “I got tired of being a polite guest. I couldn’t sit still any longer, listening to dull talk about mines, stamp mills, and surveys.” He shrugged. “So, I saddled a horse and took off.”
Jem squatted beside Chad, heart pounding. He listened in on mining meetings? Maybe Chad knew what was going on with the Midas mine. Had the men been paid? Were they still rioting? Had a new vein of gold been surveyed? Would the miners go back to work? Could Goldtown be saved?
Questions tumbled around inside Jem’s head, clawing to get out. He knew only what Will had told him last week. Pa didn’t say much either. But he was gone more than he was home, so Jem knew some kind of trouble was still brewing.
He studied the boy working steadily at his side. Chad might be a possible source of news, and he was much friendlier than Will. “Can you pan for gold and talk at the same time?” he asked.
Chad paused. “Yeah, why?”
Jem pointed to the side of his head. Every morning, the cracked mirror in his attic loft showed Jem that his face was still bruised and swollen. But it was no longer painful, and he felt fine. “I got caught in a riot the other day. The miners were demanding their pay. They broke down the office to look for it.”
“I thought a horse kicked you,” Chad said, grinning. “So what?”
“So, I want to know what’s going on. Will told me only a little bit, and I had to lose a checkers game just to get him to talk.”
Chad laughed. “Bet that was hard to do. He’s terrible at checkers.” He swirled his pan a couple more times and picked out a few small rocks. “What do you want to know?”
Jem took a deep breath and thought about which question he wanted to ask first. He settled on the most important one. “Is the Midas mine going to close down for good? I mean … if it does, Goldtown will turn into a ghost town. It’s not much of a town, but it’s my home. I don’t want to see it vanish like other gold camps.”
“I’m not sure,” Chad said, “but there’s talk that the survey discovered another vein.”
Jem’s heart soared. Thank you, God! As long as the miners knew they would eventually go back to work, they might not riot again. Perhaps the mine owners would give them a portion of their pay in advance, just to tide them over until the blasting opened up the new vein. Things would return to normal. Jem could visit town. His frog-leg business had dried up the past week, but now he could make deliveries again. Mr. Sims at the café will be happy to hear that.
Jem’s excitement spilled over. “How long ’til the mine reopens?”
“Simmer down,” Chad said. “I have no idea. I don’t even know if it will reopen.”
“But you just said—”
“Wait.” Chad paused in his panning, peered at the silt, and blew out a disappointed breath. Then he rinsed his pan and started over. “They found a new vein, but I hear it goes real deep.”
“That’s good, right? It means there’s lots of gold in your mine.”
Chad shrugged. “I suppose. But blasting so far underground means they’ll need a new air shaft. Otherwise, the miners suffocate down there.”
Jem sat still, pondering. If it meant being able to reach the gold, it was worth digging an air shaft. What was the problem? “So, dig an air shaft. It’ll take time, but the mine will reopen. That’s the important thing.”
“I thought so too,” Chad agreed. He put down the pan and looked at Jem. “Father and Mr. Sterling seem to think it’s more complicated than just making an air shaft.” He pointed up. “The shaft needs to stretch from the lower mine to the surface. It will go right through another, older mine that sits above the Midas. Mr. Sterling says he has to reclaim that mine.”
Jem’s ears pricked up. He tried to visualize what might be resting on top of an important mine like the Midas, but nothing came to mind. He shook his head. “I don’t know of any other mines.”
“This one’s really old,” Chad said. “It used to belong to Mr. Sterling. He calls it the”—he wrinkled his forehead—“let’s see … the Belle.”
Jem jumped up. Water splashed in Chad’s face. He yelped and dropped the gold pan. It headed downstream.
“What are you so fired up about?” Chad demanded, sloshing after the pan. With a quick swipe, he rescued it and rounded on Jem.
“The Belle isn’t much of a mine,” Jem answered. “Just a tunnel that barely scratches the surface. I don’t think it goes more than a hundred yards or so into the hill.”
“So, you do know it.”
Jem nodded. “Those diggings have been abandoned for years. Once the easy gold played out, nobody wanted to work it anymore.”
“It won’t be hard to reclaim it then, and use it for part of the air shaft.”
Jem shook his head. “You don’t understand, Chad. Once a claim is abandoned, scavengers can take over. It’s hard work once the easy gold is gone, but they do it.”
“Huh?” Chad’s eyebrows rose. “I’ve heard of scavenger birds, like buzzards. But scavenger people?”
“They’re folks who work claims after the miners move on.”
“What’s this got to do with the Belle?”
“People are working the Belle diggings right now,” Jem said. “They’ve got scavenger rights on the claim. As long as they pay their foreign miner’s tax every month, they have a legal right to work it.”
“Foreign miner’s tax?” Cha
d looked puzzled.
“Yeah. They’re Chinese. My friend Wu Shen and his relatives work that claim.” Jem took a deep breath. “And I betcha all the gold in California they won’t let anybody reclaim their mine for any ol’ air shaft.”
“That’s rather hard luck for Mr. Sterling and Father,” Chad said. “Not to mention for the entire town.”
Jem slumped. A sudden breeze made him shiver, in spite of the hot afternoon sun. Chad was right. Hard luck indeed!
CHAPTER 8
Branding Irons
When Chad gave a shout of surprise ten minutes later, Jem’s thoughts were a thousand miles away. He stood idly by, watching Strike dump yet another bucket of creek water through his rocker screen. Jem could have snagged Ellie’s gold pan and worked some gravel, but he didn’t. He was too busy thinking about Wu Shen, the air shaft, and the old Belle diggings.
Chad’s “Is it gold?” jerked Jem’s attention back to his friend. The boy’s eyes gleamed—just like Nathan’s when he’d found his first bit of color. Chad shoved the pan under Jem’s nose. “Is it?”
One quick look told Jem the story. Fool’s gold. The sparkling chunk stood out from the rest of the pebbles, sand particles, and silt in Chad’s pan. Gold might still be buried under the mud, but this big, shiny rock was not the pure stuff. Chad looked so eager—so excited. How do I tell him the bad news?
Then Jem’s hand went to his pocket. He fingered his pouch, loosened the strings, and felt around for one of the larger nuggets. “Let me have a closer look,” he said. With his free hand, he lifted the fool’s gold and eyed it carefully.
Chad held his breath.
“I’m sorry, Chad, but it’s fool’s gold,” Jem said finally. He tossed it back in the creek.
Chad whirled and dropped the pan. “Hey! Are you sure? Why did you throw it away?”
Jem rescued the gold pan just in time. “Fool’s gold is worthless. But don’t give up. Finish panning the rest of this muck.”
Scowling, Chad crouched and began to slosh around what was left in his pan.
“Slow down,” Jem warned. Or I will have just wasted a perfectly good gold nugget. “Look!”
Chad peered into the pan and caught his breath. “Is that gold?”
“Yep. That is gold.” Jem picked up the pea-sized nugget and smiled. “Not bad, Chad. Not bad at all.”
“Yippee!” Chad snatched the gold from Jem and held it up. “Just wait ’til my brothers see this beauty! They’ll turn green as pea soup.” He slapped Jem on the back. “You are a good teacher.”
His shouts brought Ellie and Nathan running. Puffing out his chest, Chad showed off his gold. Even Strike-it-rich Sam took a few minutes to admire it. After all, a fella’s first strike was something special—even if he did have a little help.
When the gold was safely stashed in Chad’s pocket, Jem gathered up their pans and shovels and dumped them near Strike’s campfire. “Keep an eye on our tools, will ya?” he called to the old prospector. “We’re heading home.”
Strike waved. “Tell your pa howdy,” he called in farewell.
“Do you need a ride?” Jem asked Chad as they picked their way across the old, abandoned gold claims and headed to the tree line. “Copper can carry four as easily as three. We can drop you off at the bottom of Belle Hill.”
“I told you I rode out,” Chad replied. He pointed beneath a scrub oak. “There’s my horse.”
Jem’s mouth dropped open. There was no mistaking the paint horse’s markings. “That … that’s …”
“That’s Will’s horse!” Ellie finished with a gasp. “He doesn’t let anybody ride Prince Charming. Not anybody.” She gaped at Chad, her hazel eyes round with respect. “How didja get him to—”
“I didn’t ask him. Mr. Sterling told Father we could borrow their horses. I picked a likely-looking one and saddled him up.” Chad shoved his hat farther down over his eyes and chewed on his lip. “Maybe Will won’t notice he’s gone.”
“He’d have to be blind as a post hole not to notice his best horse is missing,” Jem said, laughing. “Boy, are you ever gonna get it when you get back.”
“Then I just won’t go back yet,” Chad said, hurrying to the paint horse. He untied him and followed Jem to the chestnut gelding tied up fifty yards away. “How ’bout showing me your place? Do you live in town? I mean, since your father’s the sheriff an’ all.”
Jem hesitated. “We … we have a small ranch a couple miles out of town.”
Chad’s eyes lit up. “How many cattle do you run?”
“Uh … a couple dozen or so, plus calves.” He didn’t ask Chad how many cattle his family owned. They probably had so many they couldn’t be counted—all fat, sleek, and well-fed on rich alfalfa hay.
“That’s a good start,” Chad said. He didn’t offer to share—or boast—about their own numbers, and Jem relaxed. “Why don’t you ride out with me?” Chad added. “I’d like to see your spread.”
Jem, Ellie, and Nathan exchanged worried looks. Jem remembered Nathan’s words when he first saw the ranch: No amount of chores can fix this place up. If a city cousin from back East thought the Coulter ranch was a dump, what would a rich rancher’s kid think? Jem swallowed. There was no easy way out of this fix.
Chad climbed in the saddle and offered Jem his hand. “Mount up. I’m sure Prince Charming”—he chuckled—“can carry us both.”
The chance to hitch a ride on Will’s precious horse was too much for Jem to refuse. It was even worth letting Chad see the rundown Coulter spread. Grinning, he handed Copper’s reins to Ellie. “See you back at the ranch.” Then he grasped Chad’s hand and clambered up behind his new friend.
“Will’s gonna have a conniption fit when he finds out you rode his horse!” Ellie shouted after them, but Jem just laughed.
A few minutes later, Chad cut through town. Jem’s conscience flickered. The streets were quiet this afternoon, but Jem did not want to linger. Pa might step out of his sheriff’s office just as Jem rode by. It would be awkward trying to explain why he was trotting through town with a strange boy on the Sterlings’ horse.
“Can we go a little faster?” he urged Chad. He craned his neck as they passed the jailhouse.
“Sure!” Prince Charming broke into a swinging lope at Chad’s command.
Jem had often watched Will try to manage his horse. The paint fought the bit and caused all sorts of trouble. Today, however, he did everything his rider asked. It was easy to see that the Carter boy knew his way around horses.
“Turn here,” Jem directed.
“How does your father find time to run a ranch and be a sheriff too?” Chad asked when they’d rounded the corner and left Goldtown behind. The road to the ranch wound between hills covered with scrub oaks and pines and through summer-dry creek beds.
Jem wanted to say that Pa could do anything and everything, and do it well. But the hard truth of the last couple of months—and especially the past week—told a different tale. “He was keeping up pretty well,” Jem said, “until this trouble with the mine broke out. Now he’s never home. I’ve got heaps of chores, but my aunt let me off easy until my head healed.”
He let out a long, disappointed sigh. “Not a lot is getting done. Our calves haven’t even been branded yet, and a couple of fences are getting ready to fall over.”
Chad slowed Prince Charming to a walk and turned around in the saddle to look at Jem. “I don’t know how long Father plans to stay in Goldtown. Probably until he and Mr. Sterling get the mine reopened.”
“That won’t happen if they need an air shaft,” Jem muttered.
“Maybe not, but Father will think of something,” Chad said. “We might be here a couple more weeks. I know lots about running a ranch.” He gave Jem a wide smile. “I know how to brand calves. I could teach you.”
“Pa was going to teach me,” Jem said, “but he never got around to it. Who knows how long it’ll be put off now?”
“I can mend fences too.” Chad made a face. “
It’s not my favorite chore, so I know how to get it done fast.”
Better and better! “It would sure take a load off Pa’s mind if I could help out more,” Jem said. “When do you want to start?”
“Depends. How many calves have you got?” Chad asked.
“Just a handful so far—eight or nine.”
The boys trotted through the broken gate and up the short drive. Jem motioned Chad to stop near the barn, then he slid off the paint horse and looked around. Ellie and Nathan were nowhere in sight. They must have gone the long way, clear around the outskirts of Goldtown. It meant Nathan had the reins. Ellie would have raced Jem through town to get home first.
Chad tied Prince Charming to an old post. “We could brand a couple of calves every day ’til the job gets done. I suppose they’re roaming all over the place?” His face showed that he hoped they were. When Jem nodded, he grinned. “Let’s get to it.”
“Right now?”
“Sure!”
Caught up in Chad’s excitement, Jem rummaged around in the barn until he found the JE branding iron. “Pa used Ellie’s and my initials for the brand,” he explained. He dug out a coil of rope and an extra pair of leather gloves for Chad and found his saddle. “Soon as Ellie and Nathan get back, I’ll saddle Copper up.”
Chad nodded. “They’ll need to help too. Branding is a three- or four-person job. It takes a lot to hold down an ornery critter while somebody brands it.”
“You’re the boss,” Jem said, grinning. “Thanks for doing this.”
“Fair’s fair,” Chad said. He whipped his gold nugget from his pocket and held it up. “You taught me to pan for gold. I can teach you to brand a calf.”
A few minutes later, Ellie and Nathan trotted into the yard. If Ellie was surprised to see Jem holding the branding iron, she didn’t let on. Without a word, she slid from Copper’s back and watched Jem toss a blanket and saddle over his horse.
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