by T. R. Kelly
Dolan was quoted in the Skagit Valley World at his father’s memorial that if Linn’s great-grandfather hadn’t established the mercantile store in North Fork and paid the original Finns to blaze a trail to Lake Wilhelmina, “there probably would not have been any treasure buried on our lot.” It was an amazingly generous gesture that brought a standing ovation from the huge memorial crowd at the Lake Wilhelmina Fire Hall. A handful of the attendees donned I Pulled the Plug t-shirts for the day while a woman showed up as a Cher lookalike, a tribute to Martha’s favorite star.
As Harvey and I entered the store, Barbara was busy at the coffee bar.
“You know, I’m a Melville guy and could use a really clean copy of Billy Budd,” I said, as we took seats in the café section. “Actually, Zane Grey fished these rivers, so anything you got by him I’d be interested in, too.”
“Oh, Coach,” Barbara sighed. “You are so thoughtful to stop by. I have been thinking about you. And, Mr. Johnston, how are you?”
“We both seem to be getting older faster than you,” Harvey replied. “It sure looks like you enjoy what you are doing.”
Barbara flashed a flattered grin, then served us each a hot apricot scone, their golden tops sprinkled with tiny squares of rock sugar. She then pulled up a chair next to us. “Those are Yakima apricots,” she announced proudly. “Straight from the Creekmore orchard.”
“Wait until my dad hears about that,” I said. “He just might begin making more deliveries west of the mountains.”
Barbara crossed her arms on the blue-checkered tablecloth. “Everyone’s been so generous, especially the Dolan family. I have been writing thank-you notes to everyone. It’s amazing the number of people who were so kind and interested.”
Harvey lauded the fresh paint and trim, and the newly finished floors. “I hope you got some help with this from that basketball player.” He pointed to the walls and floor.
“Actually, my biggest helper has been Ellie Phillips,” Barbara said. “The little touches she’s added have been amazing. She’s getting along in years now and only wants to work two days a week. Plus, she can bake. Wow, can she bake.” Barbara slid back in her chair and pointed to the glossy floor. “Linn spent the whole weekend on the finish coat. He said he wanted to make this as nice as the floor in the Crab Pot on the first day of practice. You did hear he’s going to help with the freshman team this year?”
“A great addition,” I said. “He’ll be a terrific coach.”
“He couldn’t be happier. Back in the woods, back in basketball. Even though he’s been getting home long after dark. I also heard you’d been seen after dark—in a sport coat and slacks?”
I laughed and could feel the heat coming to my face. “Had a few dinners with Jessie McQuade,” I said. “Thought I’d take her down to see the Mariners on Thursday.”
Harvey cringed and spread his arms out on the table. “We’re going to have to talk about this,” he said. “You’re all she talks about in the office, and she’s getting very little work done.” He looked at Barbara. “Jessie, my now-distracted assistant, said you had called the office with some questions. Is there something in particular that I can answer for you?”
Barbara walked to the side of the room and opened a drawer of a large oak bureau. When she returned, she held two folded pieces of worn, faded paper in her hand. The edges were jagged and a light brown. “I got these back from Sheriff McCreedy. I copied them and showed them to Dr. Oliver.”
She unfolded the pages before me on the table. I stared down, mesmerized by the first entry:
Ellie Phillips
North Fork, Washington
July 28, Skagit Valley Clinic – My beautiful little girl, Amy, arrived two nights ago. She just wouldn’t wait! She was born on a train before I could get here. She’s so tiny. The nurses have been taking good care of both of us. Mr. Oliver stopped by today, said I could return with Amy to the camp when I felt up to it. I need the money. I could also use the help of the other women there.
One of the retired nurses was in the building for a birthday party. Says she knew all about Lake Wilhelmina and the old resort. Said she sewed up an old drunk named Tyler one night after a bar fight. Tyler bragged his daddy, guy named Vance, burned the resort down because the woman running the place refused to return his uncle’s gear. Called her a squaw. Tyler told the nurse that his uncle buried bags of Skagit gold and a leather satchel of stones near the resort and outlet crick. The man said they looked for the loot for entire years, then figured the Indian plain lied to him. This Vance Tyler fella had a daughter who snooped around for the gold some years later. She went by Mavis. Mavis Moore.
I looked up and cleared my eyes with my fingertips.
“Coach, you were there!” Barbara gasped. “On that train. I’d heard Dr. Oliver once delivered a woman in a train car, so I showed him. He said you ...”
Harvey leaned back in his chair, his mouth slightly open.
“A lifetime ago,” I whispered, barely getting the words out. “And a night I will never forget. Second toughest woman I ever met.”
Barbara and Harvey glanced away, allowing me a chance to pull myself together.
After a brief silence, she rolled a paper napkin in front of her and held it tightly with both fists. “Mr. Johnston, I understand Mitch Moore wanted that gold more than anything, but why didn’t he ...”
Harvey finished the question. “Just keep living like he had been? Hard to say what he was thinking. Taking your dad’s Chevy, constantly digging for treasure, not monitoring the Dolan house sale. It’s almost as if he wanted to get caught. Turns out Arnold Dawson was much the same. At some level, he probably knew he could not continue down the same road much longer. I’m glad the authorities nabbed him at the Houston airport and we were able to bring him back here. Now, they’re both behind bars. Wide Load was in a stingy, desperate panic that night in the Montlake Gym parking lot. And, in the end, he was an over-the-top basketball fan. My guess is that the combination was too much for him. In the anger and fear of the moment, he overreacted and took it out on the best player ever to come our way.”
Acknowledgments
THIS BOOK COULD not have been possible without the following individuals who provided creative insights and useful information for this effort. I called upon them often and their patience, interest and kindness have been extraordinary: Jim Thomsen, Danny O’Neil, George and Jean Johnston, Leigh Robinson, Dr, Michael R. Kelly, Kelyse Nelson, Dr. Meghan Sheridan, Dennis Dahlin, Alicia Dean, Craig Smith, Linda Owens, Bruce Brown, Kevin Hawkins, Paul Bossenmaier, Sara Sykora, Victoria Cooper, Adam Fuller, Amelia Ramsey, Bob McCord. James Walker Ragsdale, Dr. Robert X Morrell, Joanne Elizabeth Kelly and Dorothy Von Der Ahe Olsen. Special thanks to the Skagit County Historical Museum to the overworked, underpaid high school coaches everywhere who have their hearts in the right place.
About the Author
Cold Crossover is the first book in T.R Kelly’s Ernie Creekmore series featuring the adventures of legendary high school basketball coach turned real estate agent and amateur sleuth. It is followed by Cold Broker and Cold Wonderland.
Before launching into fiction, Tom served The Seattle Times readers for 20 years, first as a sportswriter and later as real estate reporter, columnist and editor. His ground-breaking book How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment (McGraw-Hill, written with economist John Tuccillo) showed consumers and professionals how one additional piece of real estate could serve as an investment, recreation and retirement property over time. His other books include Real Estate Boomers and Beyond: Exploring the Costs, Choices and Changes of Your Next Move (Dearborn-Kaplan); The New Reverse Mortgage Formula (John Wiley & Sons); Cashing In on a Second Home in Mexico (Crabman Publishing, with Mitch Creekmore); Cashing In on a Second Home in Central America (Crabman Publishing, with Mitch Creekmore and Jeff Hornberger), and Bargains Beyond the Border (Crabman Publishing).
Tom’s award-winning radio show Real Estate Today aired for 25 years on KIRO,
the CBS affiliate in Seattle. The program also has been syndicated in 40 domestic markets and to 450 stations in 160 foreign countries via Armed Forces Radio. Tom and his wife have four children and live on Bainbridge Island, WA, where they back the runnin’, gunnin’ Bainbridge High Spartans when not wrestling with three of their five grandchildren.
