by Jim Cox
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“We ain’t ever gonna get to the top of this mountain,” one of the men said during a mid-morning stop to rest the stock and have coffee. “We’ve climbed all morning and we ain’t even made a dent in the mountain.”
“Don’t you worry none, we’ll make it; just keep climbing. Remember, there’s over a million dollars to be split among us. All we have to do is follow the miner to where he has the gold hid and take it off his hands.”
“How much do we have to give to the banker in San Francisco, John? He ain’t doing any of the work or taking any of the risk. It seems to me that he don’t deserve much of the gold,” the big man who was in the second group asked.
“Don’t worry about him. I’ve got something in mind that’ll keep him out of the picture altogether,” John said.
“What about the bunch we’re chasing? They’ll spread the word we stole their gold and have the whole area looking for us,” someone commented.
“Not if they’re all dead,” John said.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
They were coming to the end of their third day in the saddle after leaving Sutter’s Fort when Lefty motioned for the clan to stop; he wanted to give them instruction about the night’s stop. “There’s a mountain man’s old abandon cabin and barn beside a good-size stream on the side of the mountain about an hour ahead,” he said. “It’s where I found Suzan during my last trip here. It’ll be a good place to hold-up for the night and a place to house our stock. As soon as we get there, I’ll go hunting along the creek a-ways and see if I can shoot us some fresh meat. While I’m gone, the rest of you can take care of the stock and put things away. Then you can wash up, put on clean clothes, and relax in front of the fireplace with coffee. When I get back, hopefully with some kind of kill, we’ll cook a big feast and enjoy a home-cooked meal.”
Suzan piped-up, “You bring in the meat, and Louise and I will do the cooking.” Lefty smiled and nodded at his wife, then they all turned and followed Star across the mountain in a downward, northeast direction.
The crew had everything in place and was sitting in front of the fireplace holding coffee cups when Lefty opened the cabin door and walked in nearly two hours later. Hide immediately noticed blood on Lefty’s hands and pant legs, so he asked what they’d be eating for supper. Lefty smiled and started his hunting tale, “I came across fresh prints of five elk along the creek and followed them for nearly a mile. The wind was in my favor, and the wet leaves muffled my walking, so I was able to slip upon them and get a good shot at a yearling male. I left him hanging where I shot him, but before I left, I gutted and skinned him. I came back for someone to help me and get a mule to haul it on.”
Hide stood and said, “You sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee while I put a pack-rack on a mule and saddle two horses. I’ll be ready to go with ‘ya in thirty minutes.” It was dark when Hide went to the barn, but the full moon was casting a good bit of light.
After Lefty had poured his coffee, he went to the table to be with Suzan instead of joining the rest of the clan in front of the fire. She was sitting alone with watery eyes, holding a sheet of paper. There was no reason to say anything. He simply rounded the table, put his long arms around her and held her tightly for several minutes. They both knew that by finding the letter on the table, the sliver of any possibility her father might be alive was eliminated. After a long silence, Lefty wanted to get Suzan’s mind away from her father’s death, so he asked, “How are you and Louise doing, sweetheart? Are you holding up to the stressful riding we’ve been doing?”
She wiped the tears from her eyes with her knuckle and said, “We’re doing fine. It was difficult for both of us at first to get adjusted to our horses climbing up and down the mountains, but after we got the hang of it and learned the strides of our horses, our bodies toughened up, and we got along okay.” Lefty nodded with a big smile.
He was raising his cup to get a swallow of coffee when Suzan reach across the table for his hand and said, “I thought I had accepted my father’s death when I left the cabin with you last fall, but I really hadn’t. Not until I found this letter I’d written to him still lying on the table. I know now, without question, that he’s dead and it’s time to get on with my life without him.” Suzan released his hand and with a smile said, “It’s time you and Hide are leaving for the elk carcass, Sweetheart. I’m starved and ready to start cooking.”
Later that evening when everyone was sitting around with full stomachs and heavy eyes, Lefty asked Hide to help him tend to the stock before they banked the fire and went to bed. When they got to the barn, Hide asked, “You didn’t call me out here to help with the stock ‘cause there ain’t nothing to do; what’s on your mind?”
“The seven mules we have ain’t gonna be able to haul all the gold diggings I have hid; we’ve got to get those mules from the thugs.”
“We don’t know for sure the thugs are following us, Lefty, and if they are, how in the world are we gonna pull off stealing their mules; they’re gunmen and have us outnumbered. We need to stay ahead of ‘em and not slack off, or somebody in our crew might get shot.” When Hide saw the smile surfacing on Lefty’s face, he asked, “What do you have in mind?”
“There’s two ways in and out of the mountain’s boxed valley where the gold is hid, and both are almost impossible to find. As I pointed out on the map I drew-up for you, the hiding place is above the tree line, two mountains east of where we are now. There’s a good-size river flowing for miles down the mountain between two straight-up cliffs that’s over a hundred feet high which makes the entire valley boxed in. A couple thousand feet above the mountain’s tree line, there’s a wide overhang in the west cliff beside a little waterfall that comes from a stream over the cliff’s top. The gold is behind the waterfall. However, to get to the gold’s hiding place, a person must approach it from the cliff’s top, west of the valley. There are two fallen pine trees at the top of the cliff not far from the tree line, one lying crossways on top of the other, and behind them is a concealed narrow path descending into the boxed valley. The waterfall where the gold is hidden is a couple days ride on up the mountain.”
“I get the picture about where the gold is hid and how to get there, but what does that have to do with stealing the thugs’ mules?” Lefty smiled.
“I figure we’re nearly two days ahead of the hoodlums, Hide. I want you to take charge and lead our crew and mules to the gold, while I go back and entice the thugs to come to this cabin by leaving prints and a few other signs. When they get settled in for the night and get all liquored-up and sound asleep, I’ll slip into the barn during the wee hours and steal their mules. I’ll also turn their horses lose to delay them from following me. I should be a day ahead of ‘em and at the other boxed valley entrance within two days.”
“Are you sure you can pull it off?” Hide asked.
“You just do your job, Hide, and start out at first light in the morning. I’ll get the thug’s mules and try to divert them away from the gold.”
The men started back to the cabin, but Lefty pulled Hide to a stop and said, “You’ll probably get to the site before me, Hide. Be sure and show the inspectors around. Make sure they go up the mountain three to four hundred yards from the waterfall. That’s where the richest gold ore is.”
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The plan went off as scheduled. Four days later Hide had his crew at the two fallen pine trees at the top of the cliff, ready to descend down the trail into the boxed valley, and Lefty had the thugs four mules close to the area where the Argonauts were panning in the river below the beginning of the high cliffs. He was waiting until predawn when the miners were still asleep to lead the mules into the river and head upstream between the cliffs.
Lefty was more at ease riding up the river than the last time because he knew what to expect. It would take nearly five hours to reach the river’s waterfall that prevented farther travel upstream, and where the crack in the wall was located leading to the top of th
e cliff. He also knew the mules would be sure-footed and that the best location for Star and the mules to wade through the swift water was close to the river’s west edge.
By noon, Lefty was riding up the trail through the crack with the four mules following. Hopefully, Hide and the rest of his crew would be at the hiding place when he arrived in a couple of days.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Four days after Lefty had climbed through the crack in the cliff beside the waterfall, he was approaching the smaller waterfall where the gold was in hiding. Suzan and Louise were cooking the clan’s evening meal when Lefty rounded a boulder with the mules several yards from the camp. When Suzan saw him, she quickly laid her ladle down and ran to him with kisses and hugs. While the two were walking back to the cooking site, Hide approached with an ear-to-ear smile and welcomed Lefty back to the group. Afterward, he took Star’s rein and the mules tether lines from Lefty and led them to grass with the other stock and hobbled them.
It was fairly quiet during the evening meal, but there were a few conversations. Lefty explained his six-day ordeal of stealing the thug’s mules and his travels over two mountains and wading up the river between the cliffs.
After Lefty had finished and more coffee was poured, Hide brought Lefty up-to-date on their trek. Especially the part about being cautious when they came to the crossed fallen pine trees that hid the path descending into the boxed valley. He said after they came to the fallen trees, they all continued up the mountain for several hundred yards with the mules following, trying to throw off their pursuers. Then they made a big circle and came back to their original path that led back to the crossed trees. Hide said he did his best to wipe out all of their excess tracks around the hidden path before joining the others at the cliff’s floor.
Lefty let a few minutes pass, and then he asked Samuel, the lead inspector if he had made a survey of the area and what his estimation was of the gold deposits. The inspector let the question ruminate for a spell and then answered. “We’re not supposed to discuss our findings with our clients, but I feel you might be the exception to the rule.” He then cleared his trough and said, “I’ve never been to a site in all of my years as an inspector that has shown more concentrated gold deposits than what I see here. I will report to my company’s management that you have truly hit a mother lobe. And another thing; I’ve staked a property-rights sign, giving you full ownership to all mineral rights in the area. That means you own the gold in this area for six months. If it’s not tended within the six months, another miner can claim it. I dated the sign, June 28, 1850.” Lefty thanked the inspector with a hardy nod and a broad smile.
The table was all grins, but Lefty’s grin quickly turned sober, and he stood. “I’ll be back in a little while,” he said to no one in particular. Suzan started to rise and go with him but Hide reached for her arm.
“He’s going to where he buried Shorty, Suzan. I’d let him have some time to himself if I was you. She nodded, knowing Hide had given her good advice.
It was dark when Lefty got back to camp; the only light came from the flickering campfire at the edge of the overhang. Lefty poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down on a sitting log by the fire with the other crew members. “There’s no reason for us to hang around here any longer since Samuel and Joseph have completed their inspection of the gold deposits in the area. We’ve all rested, and the horses and mules are in good condition for the trip back, so we’ll leave after breakfast in the morning. Have your personal things packed tonight, so we can load them and the gold on the pack-mules first thing in the morning.” Lefty paused and said, “I’d suggest we all hit the sack early ‘cause it’ll be a long day tomorrow.”
Hide started another conversation, but Suzan excused herself as she stood and reached for her husband’s hand. Minutes later they were sitting on a boulder at the river’s edge, listening to the rushing water flowing down the mountain. The full-moon beamed its light, giving a bit of brightness to the area, and the slight breeze was chilly as the thin mountain air brushed their faces.
Suzan was leaning her head on her husband’s shoulder with his arms around her when she asked, “What are your plans after you get the gold to San Francisco and exchange it for money at the bank? I mean, where do you plan to go and what kind of work do you want to do? Where will we live, Sweetheart?” Then she pulled back and looked directly into his eyes for answers.
Lefty thought on her questions and said, “It’s not just up to me. You have a say in the matter, too. I’ll be happy wherever we live as long as it’s with you.” Suzan leaned forward and lightly kissed him, then she snuggled back into his long, warm arms and held his hands.
Not long afterward, she squeezed his hands and said, “I feel the same way. As long as I’m with you, I’ll be happy.” Time passed, and the river gurgled as it flowed swiftly downward.
“Would you like to go back to Boston and visit your mother,” he asked. “You have a lot to tell her. Your adventures in the wilderness, our marriage, and…” Lefty stopped short.
Suzan pulled herself from his arms and looking into his eyes said, “You were going to say my father’s death could be explained to her, weren’t you?” He nodded. Suzan squirmed a bit and then said, “I’d have something else to tell her, Honey.”
“What’s that?” he answered.
“That we’re going to have a baby!” Lefty face stiffened as he glared into Suzan’s eyes. Then after collecting himself and realizing what he’d just been told, a wide grin surfaced, and he pulled her to him for a rather long kiss.
“Are you sure, sweetheart? We’ve only been together sexually since our wedding, and that’s been less than two months.”
“Apparently, that’s all it takes. I’m three weeks past my monthly period and starting to feel a bit oozy in the mornings.”
“Will you be all right riding all the way back to San Francisco? As you know, the trip will be very stressful, especially through the desert.”
“I’ll be fine, and the baby is just getting started and most likely very strong since it was fathered by you.” She snuggled back into his arms, and then the young to-be mother and father sat thinking of their upcoming responsibilities to their first son or daughter.
After a while, Lefty said, “You never did answer if you wanted to go back to Boston to visit your ma. I think you should go see her…it’s the daughterly thing to do.”
“I agree, but I’ll have to wait until our baby gets old enough to travel.” She paused, “Of course, I can’t wait too long because I’m apt to be pregnant again.”
Lefty’s eyes bugged a little at her comment, and then he asked, “How many children do you plan on having, sweetheart?”
“I like large families,” she said. “It’s not fair to raise a child without siblings. I was the only child in our family, and I’ve always felt deprived for not having at least one brother or sister.” Suzan sat in thought and then said, “It’s not just for me to decide, you’re involved, too. But I’m planning on having at least five children, maybe six, if you’re agreeable.” Lefty nodded; what else was there to do.
Suzan squeezed his hand and with a smile asked, “You never answered my question about what you wanted to do with your life after you cashed in the gold, what occupation interest you and where we will live?”
Lefty squirmed as he thought on the matter. Finally, he answered, “First off, I’d like to live in the south where it’s warm. I don’t like this cold Northern California weather. As to the type of work I’d like to do, we both know I’d never have to work again in my entire life because of the money we’ll be getting for the gold, but I don’t want to sit around doing nothing… I want to keep productive doing something.” Lefty stopped talking as his mind studied on the matter, and Suzan stayed silent waiting for her husband to express himself. “The only thing I’ve ever done is ranching,” he said, “and I’ve always liked it even though it’s hard work and aggravating at times.”
“There’s no reason why y
ou can’t pursue that line of work. You could purchase a large established ranch or a track of land and hire men to do the hard work. That way you can stay involved but keep away from the back-breaking jobs.”
“Before we can buy anything, we have to get this gold sold in San Francisco. That’ll give us plenty of time to think about our future, but right now we’d better be going back to camp so you can get a good night’s sleep. Morning will be here before you know it.”
They both rose to leave, but Suzan stopped him and said, “Please don’t patronize me and treat me like I’m a fragile woman. I’m as strong as ever and up to whatever comes along. Me and our baby are not going to break.” Lefty nodded his understanding.
When they got back to camp, bedrolls were filled, and bags of personal items lined the shelter’s wall. It wasn’t long until the covers were pulled up and Suzan snuggled her cold body against her warm husband.
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Morning came early at the sound of Hide bringing the fire back to life and the rattle of the coffee pot. They were fully clothed except for their boots and hats when they rolled out of bed, so after shaking out and stomping on their boots and putting on their hats, they walked out a-ways to relieve themselves. By the time they all got back to camp, Hide had cups sitting alongside the fire ready to pour coffee.
After their first cup, the women got busy frying bacon and a skillet of potatoes along with warming Bear Paws while the men enjoyed a second cup.
When their breakfast was eaten, the men brought in the stock and readied them for the trip. Saddles were placed on the six horses, and pack-racks were placed on the eleven mules. By this time the women had washed the dishes and were hustling back, calling to the men in an excited voice, “While we were at the river, Suzan and I saw a column of smoke rising above the trees. We both feel sure it was coming from a campfire…probably those hoodlums that’s been chasing us.”
