Aurora's Gold

by K. J. Gillenwater

  CHAPTER THREE

  Ben had been down at the bottom about three hours, and I’d barely heard a peep once I’d talked him through the basics of the air line, hot water line and suction hose. “How’s it going down there?” I spoke into the handset and attempted some dialogue with Ben. Maybe it was time to check the box to see if any gold sparkled. “Did you find the ridge I mentioned?”

  “I think so.” Ben’s voice over the comms had a garbled quality that was typical with the system. “I think I found that big rock you were talking about.”

  The last time the Alaska Darling had been out on this claim it had not been a good day, although Kyle had admitted they’d been on great gold before the accident. The fear and confusion I’d felt pushed back into my brain. I bit my lip.

  Stop. Stop. Stop.

  If I didn’t think about something else, I’d turn into a blubbering mess. I needed to be strong, tough. As captain of my little vessel I had to focus on the work at hand. No use fretting over things I couldn’t change.

  “Good.” I tamped down my runaway emotions. I took a breath to calm myself and provide some guidance to my new diver. “You should see some ground that looks worked over, disturbed.” In my mind’s eye I imagined the pile of tailings next to a deep groove in the ocean’s floor. A sure indicator of the path of a dredger’s hose.

  I liked being underwater. Insulated from the noise up top, I could concentrate my energy on guiding the suction hose back and forth through the cobble. Sometimes I could see the flecks of gold in the sand and gravel under my hands. The sun streaked its way through the cold waters of the sound and glinted off the finest gold flakes yards below the surface.

  “I think I see some!” Ben’s excitement came across the comms.

  I jumped off the stool. If we were on the gold it would be the perfect antidote to distract my mind. “Let me check.” I dropped the handset and let it dangle from the shelf by its corkscrew cord. I examined the sluice to watch the material Ben sucked up from the ocean floor—pebbles, some sand, a few larger rocks—dump into the box.

  “There’s a trail here. I’m gonna follow it.” Although the generator made quite a bit of noise, Ben’s voice managed to reach me out on the deck.

  A torrent of sea water poured over the riffles in the tray, which deposited heavier material in the special carpet underneath. Gold was nineteen times heavier than water and more than seven times heavier than dirt. Although it seemed impossible, even the lightest flakes of gold would sink into the carpet.

  Frigid water sprayed my face. I wiped the back of my arm across my brow to keep my eyes clear. A few glints of gold winked at me from the box. Relief flooded through my limbs and made them tingle. Although our day had just begun, we had many hours ahead of us to push the bank account well into the black. I felt more like myself—in control of the outcome because I’d stuck to the plan.

  Be out on the water as often as you can for as long as you can.

  Buck Darling’s mantra. He’d repeated it to me my first summer up in Nome. I’d grabbed onto him the minute he’d met me at the airport. I had been all skinny legs and wild hair at twelve, but I had his same green-gray eyes. That’s how I knew he was my father. The eyes. He’d given me a big hug, and I’d hugged back twice as hard. I think he liked that. A chortle had erupted from deep inside his lean body when my arms had tightened around him. I had wanted to be loved, and Buck had had no issue with that.

  “Got a problem.” Ben’s voice came over the comms and knocked me out of my thoughts. “I lost suction.”

  I trotted to the handset. “You probably sucked up a rock, got a jam. Can you knock it loose?”

  If a diver wasn’t careful, he could easily suck up rocks and debris too large for the hose, causing a clog and blocking the gold from reaching the sluice.

  “How?”

  He’d have to learn to deal with a clog sooner or later. “Follow the hose, knock it hard every few feet. See if you can jiggle it loose. That usually works.”

  If the rock wasn’t too big, the method I’d described would work and would send the debris up to the surface and into the sluice. A little rough for the sluice box, but nothing detrimental.

  “Got it.”

  Through the receiver, I could hear a muffled, repeated sound that indicated Ben’s attempts to fix the problem.

  Maybe he’d been down there long enough. A new diver unused to the conditions could get fatigued easily. A diver had to learn how to sway with the tide, while holding onto the suction hose and working the ground. Until underwater dredging became routine, the list of things that could go wrong was enough to overwhelm even the most experienced diver who tried dredging for the first time.

  After Ben let fly a few curse words, I decided he’d had enough. “Why don’t you come on up? Get a break. Let me do some diving. I can probably fix it.”

  He agreed.

  As I waited for him to surface the wind picked up. The Alaska Darling dipped as the waves grew in size. I shrugged it off. We’d be okay. We could handle a little bit of rough seas. I needed results today. Ben had done admirably for his first dive, but I couldn’t let on that his pay was in jeopardy or he might split for the next needy dredge once we hit the dock.

  Ben, in the short time he’d been in the water, had proven himself to be a fast learner. Although the gold in the box had been minimal, rookie divers had been known to bomb with their first few dives. Ben had an eye for the work. He could turn out to be the avenue to saving the business before I ran out of time.

  Other boats who’d clustered around their own gold spots headed in. Some less experienced captains didn’t know how to handle the weather change. I’d seen my father hold off on heading to the docks with waves worse than this. We’d be fine.

  We had to be.

  *

  Ben surfaced. He swam to the edge of the dredge. Once he got a grip, he pushed off his diving mask. “I think I found a good streak. But who knows, maybe I was just seeing things.”

  I gave him a hand to help him onto the deck. “Let me show you the box.”

  Ben shook out his shaggy hair. Wet strands flapped like a dog after a dunk in the lake. He pulled off his diving mitts and unzipped his suit. “Sorry about the clog.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It happens.” I didn’t want to tell him it was a typical rookie mistake. He’d done a good job for a first dive, and I didn’t want to discourage him. But it did help me suss out his character somewhat. He didn’t get frustrated, argue with me, or question my knowledge. Suppose that was the good thing about hiring a diver with no dredge experience and no knowledge regarding the doubts of some about my true capabilities.

  He’d peeled back his suit so he was bare chested. Easier to move and, out of the water, a wetsuit could be uncomfortably tight.

  The sight of his slick athletic body took a hold of me for a second. I gave myself a mental slap. He might be nice to look at, but I had work to do.

  I shut off the water feed to the sluice box. The blockage had completely jammed the hose. I gestured for Ben to come closer so I could show him what he’d found during his few hours under water. “See this here, between the mat fibers? That’s gold.”

  “You’re shitting me.” He leaned closer to the box. The bits of gold flake twinkled in the summer sun. “Whoa. That’s nuts.”

  Ben’s demeanor shifted completely. The hulking Beast I’d seen last night transformed into something different. He broke out in a wide smile. His eyes, which I’d perceived as ‘dark’ last night, glinted bright blue. For a split second I sensed someone I could maybe see as a friend. A person I could trust out here.

  “Yeah, you did all right for a rookie diver.”

  The gruffness returned. “I’m not a rookie.”

  I’d only meant it as a joke, but Ben took it seriously. Guess I assumed too much about that smile. Instead of pressing the matter, I moved on. “You think you can run things up top while I dive? The water’s starting to get a little rough out here. I want t
o make sure we go home with plenty of gold in the box before we have to head back.”

  Ben scanned the small waves causing the dredge to bob about. “Rough? You call this rough?” I would have called what he did a laugh, but to my ears it sounded more derisive than anything. Not worth calling a laugh, more of a critical sound.

  I could surmise from his background he’d probably dived under much more dangerous conditions while in the military, but the Alaska Darling was a different operation. We weren’t out on the water to run a mission with military equipment made for rough-and-tumble operations, we were on my father’s dredge—a light, flat-bottomed platform ‘boat’ of sorts that could be easily swamped when the wind picked up beyond five miles per hour.

  “This is my dredge. I know when it’s safe and when it’s not.” In a huff, I ripped off my t-shirt and stepped out of my shorts, stripping down to the faded two-piece bikini I wore under my suit when diving.

  Ben glanced away.

  I tossed my clothes in the wheelhouse. They landed on the comms system instead of the couch where I’d aimed.

  I ducked inside, grabbed the wetsuit I shared with my father, and pulled it over my legs.

  Ben followed me. He grabbed my clothes with pincer fingers and tossed them at me. “Yes, I think I can handle things up here.” He studied the GPS screen. His blue eyes had turned back to that dark shade I remembered. The door of friendship had closed. He clicked on the handset a few times, and annoying static echoed in the wheelhouse. “What about the blockage?”

  I zipped up my suit, grabbed my mask, and headed to the bow where I’d attach myself to the heat and air. “I’ll fix it. I’ve done it a million times.” I quickly tied my hair with a rubber band to keep it from getting swept into my face while I worked. “Keep an eye on the fuel levels.” I tapped on the generator running my air and heat. “Turn on the sluice when I tell you, and if the waves start cresting over the bow, let me know.”

  I couldn’t read Ben’s expression. The glare of the sun obscured my view. I knew he could hear me, though, because we weren’t that far away from each other. I climbed down the rusted steps my father reattached to the side of the dredge almost every summer. I’d have to get something new soon, as they’d corroded pretty badly in the last few years. I floated in the cold Bering Sea, spat in my mask to keep it from clouding up, and prepared to dive.

  I trusted Ben only slightly more than when I’d found him the night before. I’d have to dive knowing I was the only one who had my back. Sure, Ben would tend the equipment and stay in communications with me, but for the first time since I’d been working on my father’s dredge, I had no one who cared about me working up top. Ben only cared because I was a paycheck—a means to an end. Kyle had cared about me when we’d worked together, as would be expected from a boyfriend. My dad for sure cared about me and would baby me a bit, even after I got dive certified.

  This would be my very first dive where I’d be truly alone.

  I let the water lap against my face. The familiar sting of ice cold salt water hitting my cheeks comforted me in a strange way. Since I was twelve, the dredge and the water had been a second home to me. A place where I’d found refuge from all the hurt and disappointments in my life. My father had cocooned me in Nome even with all of its roughness and dirtiness. I’d been his precious daughter—lost and then found. Something special to take care of. He’d watched over me, held my hand when I’d been afraid, encouraged me when I couldn’t screw up the courage myself and, eventually, turned me into his business partner. We’d been a solid team. Our work had been a joy. Even when we weren’t finding much gold, I’d loved it. But what young girl cared about money? Not until the accident did I get forced from my cozy place and made to care, made to take responsibility of some kind.

  I dove under the choppy waters, and the murky sounds of the ocean enveloped me. I turned inward and ignored the problems waiting for me on the surface. The water covered me up with a quiet rush. I set my worries in the back of my mind while my body took over. Going back to old routines and skills I’d built since I was eighteen. I used the suction hose to pull myself further down and searched for the clog.

  About eight feet from the end of the hose I found the problem. I fisted my hands together and beat on it a few times. With the suction turned off, I could feel the rock loosen and slip out of its wedged position. A few more whacks ought to do it.

  A good sized rock tumbled out and rolled to one side. With the jam gone, the suction could go back to work.

  “Kick on the sluice,” I called to Ben. “Got rid of the clog.”

  “On it.”

  As I waited for Ben to turn on the sluice and start up the suction, I surveyed his work on the ocean floor. He’d done all right. He wasn’t exactly where I’d wanted to be, but at least he hadn’t tried to suck up straight sand. We’d had an inexperienced diver or two who never quite learned gold didn’t sit in sand, it hid under and around rocks and boulders. Gold was heavy. You had to find places where the gold got trapped. Untouched places. That meant looking for undisturbed cobble and helter-skelter rocks and boulders. If you found a perfect line of cobble, you were most likely working someone’s tailings—the stuff a sluice spit back into the water after a dredger had sucked his way through an area and found all the gold. Tailings looked like they had potential if you were inexperienced. But someone who knew what they were doing looked for the undisturbed bottom and stayed away from sandy stretches.

  I hauled the hose closer to the area my father had been working last week. He’d been at this for decades. Well before I ever came to Nome. He was a methodical diver with excellent recovery skills. He had a nose for the gold and could clean out an area faster than a man half his age. I’d been chasing his abilities since the very first day I qualified to dive.

  I straddled the suction hose, grasped the end by the handles and settled in for a long day of dredging. The choppy water worried me, but what else could I do? I had to make the most of the day. Get as much gold as possible. The huge air ambulance bill I split onto two credit cards would arrive in a matter of weeks. I didn’t have time to think about a little bit of weather interfering with my dive.

  Ben could handle it.

  “Hey, your cell’s ringing. Should I pick up?” Ben’s voice came across my comms.

  My first thought was: the hospital is calling. “Yes.” My heart raced. I needed to control my breathing when diving. Steady, slow breaths. Calm thoughts. I focused my sights on the untouched ground in front of me.

  “Ok.” The mike clicked off.

  Maybe I should’ve told Ben more about my situation, or at least the situation with my father. I didn’t even think about phone calls and treatment updates. “Hey, if it’s the hospital in Anchorage…” He should take some notes for me or get a person’s name or number. I’d heard so little out of them in a week’s time. Hard to keep up-to-date when I was 500 miles away.

  “It was your sister. She wants you to call her back ASAP. She didn’t sound happy.”

  Crap.

  Zoe. My half-sister. She must be back home finally after some work seminar or whatever. I’d left a message with Henry, my stepfather, about Buck. I’d been in a panic. All the words I’d left on his voicemail and then spoken to him when he’d returned my call had come from a place of pure fear. I’d hurt his feelings. Again.

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  Why couldn’t I just be left alone to find gold? I wanted maybe one day to go by without drama and tragedy. First, it had been Nate with his threats and odd behavior and now, having to deal with Zoe.

  I positioned the suction hose right under a large boulder and cleared away the cobble and bits of sand. Glints of gold twinkled. A stream of gold dust swirled up and into the hose. Far more satisfying to stay down below than deal with the hot tempers flaring above the waves.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “Hey,” Ben’s voice filled my ears. “You told me to let you know if the waves were coming over the bow.”

&nb
sp; My arms ached from holding the suction hose. I’d been working the bottom for five hours straight. My stomach growled, but I’d ignored it. No telling when conditions might turn. And Ben’s update told me I’d made the right decision. “I’m coming up.”

  I left the hose on the bottom and swam for the dredge. We’d made good progress on the patch of untouched cobble, but I’d noticed the visible gold had been harder and harder to find.

  When I surfaced the skies had changed. An additional layer of dark clouds had gathered in the distance. I prayed the incoming storm would blow by overnight and clear us for dredging tomorrow. The chop had grown strong with whitecaps as far as the eye could see. I scanned the horizon—not another dredge in sight. My stomach lurched.

  Ben gave me a hand, and I hoisted myself onto the deck. “Thanks.” His palm warm against mine. I unzipped my suit, shook off the sensation, and headed straight for the anchor. “Could you pull up the suction hose and shut off the genny?”

  “Got it.” Ben quickly turned off the generator and hauled up the hose.

  He worked as if he’d done it many times before. I couldn’t believe how lucky I’d gotten at Ernie’s last night. I’d really assumed I’d be attempting a one-man dive today—incredibly dangerous—but in desperate times one took desperate measures. Not only did Ben figure out how to get on the gold, he had some mechanical know-how. That twenty-five percent I’d promised him seemed well worth it in hindsight.

  A wave smacked the side of the dredge. I fell against the wheelhouse and barely kept my footing. “Damn it.” Seawater flooded the deck. “We’ve gotta get out of here. Now." I started up the motor while trying to maintain my balance. The wind picked up.

  Ben instinctually headed for the controls. “I’m on it!”