She clung to him when he reached her.
“What’s this for?”
“I was afraid. Afraid when they saw us and afraid while you were gone that they’d come back and catch us.”
Jim grinned. “You know me better than that. If they catch me, there’ll be a lot of shooting.”
“Are we out of danger?” Ellen said.
“Never entirely, I’m afraid,” Jim said. “But it’ll take them some time to find that trail and by then we’ll be long gone. I know some ways to lose them along the way. They won’t catch us this time.”
“But what about the next time? What if they find the cabin?”
Jim sighed. “Sooner or later, they will. The only help for that is the one your father fears the most.”
“Filing the claims.”
“Filing the claims,” Jim nodded. “When we get back, we’ve got to do it. Time has run out. Once we file, the valley will be overrun, but there’ll be too many witnesses for him to outright rob us.”
“Father isn’t willing to give up on finding the gold’s origin,” Ellen said. She looked at her hands. “I wish he’d be happy with what we have. We’ve more than enough already.”
“It’s his way,” Jim said. “We’ll just have to work together to convince him.”
“I’ll recruit Mother. If anyone can do it, she can.”
“I’ll count on her, then,” Jim said. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 19
Jim walked alongside the valley’s little stream. The grass was knee high and thick enough to drag against his boots. Spring had been brief, not even a few weeks. Summer was coming on strong, but there was a strange coolness in the air.
Though it had taken them another full day, he and Ellen had reached the cabin without seeing more of Cord Bannen or his gang. The following morning, they’d set Abigail to convincing David to file claims on the best stretches of the creek. Jim knew it was the right thing to do. The safe thing to do. But here he was, walking the stream, searching once again for the gold’s origin.
Jim walked into a thin grove of aspen, stopping to sit on a log some enterprising beaver had gnawed on. His cattle were grazing across the heart of the valley, tearing at the lush growth like they’d never seen grass before. They would put on a lot of weight over the coming months. There were several newborn calves among them.
Too few, though, far too few to make a real ranch.
One of the older cows stepped through the creek to reach a clump of clover on the far side. Idly, Jim wondered if she’d uncovered any new nuggets.
It wasn’t likely. The stream ran dry of gold just twenty yards ahead and Jim was no closer to understanding where the gold might start from.
They had to file their claims. Now. Before Bannen and his men found them. Before someone discovered what they’d stumbled across. Sure as shootin’, filing a claim would announce to the world what they’d found. It would be a better outcome than Bannen’s gang riding in here to find them alone, but they’d surely miss out on the valley’s true treasure.
Taking what they had to San Francisco had been the right idea, but the road was no longer safe. Now that Bannen had seen them near Onionville, he would be searching all around, and sooner or later, he would stumble on someone who knew them. The Appaloosa wasn’t a common horse, not in these parts. He’d been lucky in Bidwell’s Bar. A man traveling alone might be forgotten, but that horse and the fact that Jim had been with a woman? It was only a matter of time.
Jim took a breath and let his eyes take in the distance.
While he and Ellen were gone, David had panned out another half sack of gold. Jim suspected he’d spent most of his time searching for the source. He couldn’t fault his father-in-law for that. What would they do when they had more bags filled? Bidwell’s Bar was out. Bannen would have men watching there. San Francisco, too, and for the same reason. So what could they do?
He examined the streambed for answers. What was he missing?
“Lovely in the summer,” Ellen said. Deep in thought, Jim hadn’t heard her approach.
“Not summer yet,” Jim said. “Just spring. There’s still a chill in the air.”
“Father’s ready to file the claims,” Ellen said. “You would think he’d be glad for it, but he seems almost sad instead.”
“We haven’t been able to find where the gold starts. In the stream, it ends there.” Jim pointed just ahead.
“And you’re out here to look again?”
Jim grinned up at her. “I thought I’d give it another shot.”
“See something you missed?”
“Foolish, I guess.” Jim climbed into the saddle.
“Did you check the mountains?”
“There’s a lot of mountains. The gold had to get here somehow. Water’s the only thing that could have carried it.”
“So follow the water.”
“First thing we tried. None of the small feeder streams show color in them.”
“Color?” Ellen tilted her head.
“Flakes of gold. That’s what they call it, color.”
