by Nerys Leigh
She hated storms. “Will we be safe?”
He set the brake and jumped down from the buggy. “We’ll be just fine. The house may not look like much, but it’s solid. It’s survived plenty of storms and it’ll survive plenty more.” He jogged around to help her down. “I’ll bring the animals in though, and get the chickens into the barn.”
“I can help.”
He kissed her nose and smiled. “I figured you would.”
It took a while to settle all the animals in the barn, with the chickens being the major cause of the delay. Gabriel explained that they weren’t often handled so, even when cornered in the coop, they were extremely unhappy with the prospect of being caught. When they finally got the last one into the barn, she breathed a sigh of relief.
A fat drop of rain landed on her hand and she looked up at the black clouds overhead. Several more landed on her face.
“Better get inside before it...” Gabriel’s words were cut off as the heavens opened.
He grasped her hand and they ran for the house, making it inside soaked and laughing. Brutus spared them a drowsy glance from his new bed beside the stove. Curled up next to him, R.B. didn’t even open his eyes.
“I’ll dry off and get started on supper,” Grace said, swiping the rain from her face.
His gaze heating, Gabriel flattened his hands on the door either side of her, effectively preventing her from going anywhere.
He plucked a chicken feather from her hair. “Can’t say as I’m real hungry. Are you?”
She slid her hands up his wet chest and smiled. “Can’t say as I am.”
~ ~ ~
Some time later, they lay together in bed, listening to the rain pounding on the roof, punctuated by frequent rumbles of thunder.
Stretched out on his back, Gabriel ran his eyes over the twisted strands of Grace’s hair splayed over his skin where her head rested on his chest.
She was a remarkable woman. Strong, determined, passionate, with a temper that could match his own and emotions that changed so fast it left his head spinning. And she was all his.
He loved her with an intensity he wouldn’t have thought possible, even just a week ago. The desire to give her everything overwhelmed him, but he didn’t have everything to give. It seemed more impossible now than ever that he would be worthy of her.
“Penny for your thoughts,” she said, lifting her head and resting her chin on her hands on his chest.
His smiled. “I was thinking we should have more storms.”
She snorted a laugh. At least he could make her laugh, if nothing else.
His smile faded and he moved his gaze to the ceiling, his fingertips drifting slowly up and down her back. “I’ve been thinking about what to do. I can rebuild the cabin and I’ve got a bit saved up so I can buy more tools, but...”
He stopped, reluctant to speak his failure out loud, as if saying it would make it even more real and final.
She took his free hand, kissed the back, and tucked it against her shoulder.
His tension eased somewhat. “I’m just thinking, what’s to stop them from doing it all over again? The people Fowler works for have money and power. When they want something, how’s a man like me going to stop them?” Admitting how powerless he was felt almost physically painful, but he needed her support, and her opinion. Whatever he did would affect her too. “Maybe it’s time I accept that I’m beat. I should just take their money and give up. I can get a job somewhere. Two thousand dollars is a lot of money. We could find a nice house and...”
“No!”
He started at her exclamation, blinking at her in surprise.
“You can’t give up. They shouldn’t be allowed to win.”
“But I don’t know how to stop them.” He ran his fingertips down her cheek. “I want so much to give you everything you want.”
“I already have everything I want. That claim is the most important thing in the world to you. It’s your freedom.” She tapped his chest with her finger to emphasize her point. “They can’t take away your freedom. I won’t let them.”
He couldn’t help smiling at her fervor. With her by his side, he could believe he could face down just about anyone. If only it were that simple.
“I didn’t think you even wanted to stay here, so far from town.” It wasn’t an accusation. He simply knew how she felt about his place, how she’d felt from the moment she’d arrived.
Her eyes opened wide. “Whatever gave you that idea?” He raised his eyebrows and she smiled. “All right, I admit it took me a while to get used to it, but I love it now. I love this house and the barns and Fred and Jed and Goat and the chickens, and Brutus and R.B., and the rocks and the stream and the beautiful view and...”
“And the rats?” he said, smiling.
“Well, maybe not the rats, but R.B. will chase them away once he gets bigger anyway.” She touched her palm to his cheek. “But most of all, I love you. This is your home and that’s your claim and they can’t take it away from us.” She moved up and pressed her lips to his, then she gazed down at him, her hair falling in a curtain around them. “Promise me you won’t give up. Just hold on. God will help us. We just need to hold on.”
Heart bursting with pride, he slipped his fingers into her hair. “I love you so much.”
Her smile made him wonder if the sun had come out, even though the storm still raged overhead. “I love you too.”
She kissed him again and he wrapped his arms around her to keep her there, heart beating fast.
A meow by his ear and a small furry head pushing against his cheek interrupted them.
Laughing softly, Grace raised her head to look at R.B. standing on the pillow, and beyond, Brutus’ head resting on the edge of the mattress with an accusing stare.
“I think maybe they want to be fed.” She reached out to stroke Brutus’ head.
R.B. ran his tiny rough tongue over Gabriel’s earlobe.
He heaved a sigh. “Can’t we just let them starve?”
Chapter 23
The following day, with the storm over and the sun shining, Grace accompanied Gabriel to check on his claim, with Brutus and R.B. riding in the back of the buckboard.
The river that ran through his land had grown into a rushing torrent with the extra rain from the storm, and debris had been deposited over the rocky ground where it had overrun its banks during the night.
They stared at the pile of damp, blackened wood that had once been his cabin. Much of the ash had either been washed away or was gathered into dark, soggy clumps, leaving just the stark, charred remains of the heavy frame slumped over the metal remains of his tools and scattered pieces of broken glass from the window.
Grace slipped her hand into his as they stood in silence, tears pricking at her eyes at the sight of his dreams so callously ruined.
Brutus wandered around sniffing at each piece of tangled brush and wood he came to while R.B. chased a cloud of butterflies from a patch of flowers that had somehow escaped the rain and flood.
“I don’t know anything about woodworking,” Grace said eventually, “but I can help you build another one. I can learn. You just tell me what to do and I’ll do it. And if...” She paused, uncertain if he’d take offence at her suggestion. “If you need more money, for wood or tools or anything else, I can ask my father. It’s the least he can do.”
He squeezed her hand. “I appreciate that, but I’d rather not. Not saying your father shouldn’t help you, but anything you get from him should be yours, not mine.”
She wrapped her other hand around his arm, resting her head against his shoulder. “Anything I have is yours, and not just because the law says so.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Let’s get started.”
They began by untangling the mess that used to be the cabin, sorting the remains into two piles, one for pieces that could, with work, possibly be reused, and one for the rest that were now useless as building material. Grace had read that ashes could be used to ferti
lize plants so she was taking any that remained back to use on the vegetable garden she planned to create by the house.
Some of Gabriel’s tools hadn’t been completely destroyed, with the metal parts having survived the flames, so once the structure was dealt with he set about sorting them and removing the damaged wooden parts. With nothing else to do, Grace wandered upstream along the bank to check if the storm had done any damage to the valley.
As it turned out, the area seemed more or less the same as when she’d been there before. Gabriel had told her that heavy rain wasn’t uncommon in the mountains so she supposed the landscape had developed around the periodic turbulent weather. After half a mile or so, however, she came across an area of the slope that must have been undermined by the water and collapsed. The river was much further away now, if still flowing fast, so she picked her way amongst the rock and soil, searching for interesting rocks to take home for her future garden.
A glint of reflected sunlight caught her eye and she leaned down to pick up a stone, brushing off the dirt with her fingers. It was roughly half an inch across, with a whitish, glassy texture. Intrigued, she searched the collapsed dirt more thoroughly and found two more made of the same material, one slightly smaller and another bigger. She carried the three stones to the river’s edge, rinsed them off, and held them up to the light. They were some kind of crystal, probably quartz, although she didn’t know how to tell. Maybe they were worth something.
She dropped them into her pocket and made her way back to Gabriel.
He was clearing the area where the cabin had burned down with the broom they’d brought when she got back. It was a good sign. Maybe that meant he had decided to rebuild.
“I was just about to come looking for you,” he said as she walked up to him. “You were gone for a while.”
“I found something.” She took the stones from her pocket. “There’s a place where a bank has collapsed and I found these in the dirt. Are they quartz?”
He glanced at the stones briefly. “Probably.”
“Are they worth anything?”
“Some. It isn’t all that valuable, although sometimes quartz seams also have gold in them.”
She nudged the stones around her palm with her thumb. “I didn’t see any gold, but I think they’re pretty. I’m going to take them home.”
He finished sweeping and leaned the broom against a nearby boulder. “Can I see?”
She handed the stones over and watched him turn them around, holding them up to the light.
His brow drew down in a frown. “Where did you say you found these?”
“Up there.” She pointed upstream. “About half a mile, I think. The flooding must have washed away the rock beneath them and made the bank collapse.”
“Did you go past my claim markers?”
“No.”
He handed the stones back to her. “Show me.”
They left Brutus and R.B. dozing on a rock in the sunshine and she led him to the place where she’d found the stones. He stood with his hands on his hips, studying the collapsed section of the rock and dirt bank.
“So do you think they’re quartz?”
“I can’t be sure what they are. When I first bought the claim, I learned about the things I might find up here, but sometimes you need special equipment to tell for sure what something is.”
She’d known him long enough to recognize when he was keeping something from her. “But what do you think they are?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you have an idea.”
He blew out a long breath. “This is just a suspicion, mind. And it’s likely wrong.”
She took his arm and turned him to face her. “Will you stop dancing around the issue and tell me?”
He pressed his lips together. “They might, and they’re probably not, but there’s a very, very, very small chance they might possibly be diamonds.”
It was a good ten seconds before she could gather her wits enough to say anything. “D-diamonds?”
“They’re most likely not,” he said quickly. “It’s nothing to get your hopes up about.”
“But... but... diamonds?!”
He laughed at the astonishment on her face. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Oh no, you can’t take it back now.” She grasped his hand and tugged him over to the collapsed bank. “Let’s see if we can find any more.”
Chapter 24
The following day they traveled to Auburn in the buckboard, Brutus riding in the back. They were taking two of the probably-not diamonds to the assay office there, just to check.
Gabriel was almost sure they weren’t diamonds. Yes, in his limited knowledge they looked like raw diamonds, but he refused to believe that they were. They couldn’t be. He wasn’t that lucky, except when it came to women. And then only when it came to Grace.
Of course, he’d heard the stories of places where you could pick diamonds up off the ground, but those were few and far between and had probably all been discovered by now anyway. And yes, he knew it was likely that bank had been there for hundreds, if not thousands of years and those stones could conceivably have been trapped there since they were formed. It was true that diamonds had been discovered relatively close by, but that didn’t mean they would be on his claim.
The whole idea was ludicrous.
Wasn’t it?
On reaching Auburn they went directly to the assay office, even though it had been a long drive. Neither of them wanted to wait for the answer about the stones.
Although they most definitely weren’t diamonds. That would be impossible.
The armed guard inside the door nodded to Gabriel and tipped his hat to Grace.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Silversmith,” the man behind the counter on the other side of the small front room said.
“Afternoon, Mr. Thompson,” Gabriel replied, slightly taken aback. Even though he saw him every one or two months when he came in with the gold he’d collected, Mr. Thompson never remembered him. Maybe, after more than two years, he’d finally made an impression. “May I introduce my wife?”
Mr. Thompson nodded at Grace. “Ma’am. So how much have you got today?”
“I’m not here with gold this time,” Gabriel said. “We’d like to see Mr. Cook, if he’s available.”
“I’ll check if he can see you.” He stood from the stool he sat on behind the counter. “What’s it about?”
“We think we might have found diamonds,” Grace said, before Gabriel could stop her.
Mr. Thompson’s eyebrows reached for his receding hairline. “Diamonds?”
“They’re probably not,” Gabriel said quickly, before her excitement prompted her to offer more details. “I’m almost sure they’re not, but we just thought we’d check. It’s just a couple of tiny stones.”
“Well, I’ll see if Mr. Cook’s free.”
Once he’d left through a door into the rear of the building, Gabriel turned to Grace and lowered his voice. The guard had stepped outside, but he was still close to the door.
“It’s probably best if you don’t tell anyone about the diamonds. And don’t mention them when other folks can overhear.”
The excited smile melted from her face. “Oh, I didn’t think. But surely he’s not a danger? He works in the assay office. He must be around valuable jewels all the time.”
“I’m sure you’re right, but just in case.”
Her smile returned. “So I suppose that means you do think there’s a chance they’re...” She looked around and then leaned in towards him, lowering her voice to a comically clandestine whisper. “...real diamonds.”
He snorted a laugh. “I didn’t say that.”
The door behind the counter opened and Mr. Thompson stepped back into the room. “Mr. Cook can see you now, if you’d like to follow me?”
Gabriel had never been anywhere but in the front room of the assay office, since all he ever brought in were small amounts of gold that Mr. Thompson dealt with hi
mself. He’d somehow imagined a treasure trove of gold and jewels spilling from safes and drawers. All that lay beyond the door, however, was a thoroughly plain hallway.
“Just go on in,” Mr. Thompson said, indicating the only open door.
They found themselves in a large, white-walled room containing several high, wooden tables sporting a range of scientific-looking paraphernalia. And not a hint of gold to be seen. The only person there was an older man with a neat, gray beard who sat at one of the tables, peering into a microscope. He looked up as they entered.
“So you think you’ve found diamonds,” he said in a bored voice that suggested he very much doubted it.
“Yes,” Grace said immediately.
“Probably not,” Gabriel added.
Mr. Cook held out his hand. “Let’s see them then.”
Gabriel took a pouch from inside his jacket, emptied the two stones into his palm, and handed them over.
He looked bored as he held them up. “Well I can tell you just from the size that these aren’t...” He stopped. After a few seconds, he murmured a vague, “Hmm.”
For the next twenty minutes he didn’t say another word as he put the stones through a series of tests using the microscope, a series of hand lenses, and even removing a tiny chip from the corner of one, which made Gabriel wince.
After a while, he and Grace sat in two chairs by the wall to wait. He silently took Grace’s hand.
Finally, Mr. Cook focused on them for the first time since they’d arrived. They both stood at once.
“I would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, but what you have here are raw diamonds.”
Grace gasped, her hand tightening almost painfully around Gabriel’s.
He stared at Mr. Cook, speechless. Eventually, he started breathing again. “Could... could you repeat that?”
“Diamonds,” he dutifully said again, “and good quality. Where did you get them?”
“Uh... I have a placer claim up in the mountains.” They couldn’t be real diamonds. It just wasn’t possible.
“So you found them on your land?”
