Delphi took Neill’s hands and squeezed them.
“But Delphi’s parents are helping. They’ve done good selling cotton to the north and they’re helping my parents with the logistics of it. They’ll be back on their feet soon enough. Georgia will rebuild better than ever.”
Ellen wondered why Neill hadn’t stayed with his parents. If they were in dire straits, they could have used him.
“I take it David didn’t tell you what we found?” Jim said.
“I wasn’t sure it was my place,” David said hesitantly. “Thought I’d talk it over with you first.”
“Found?” Neill said.
Jim dumped the contents of his saddlebags onto the table. Bits of broken quartz spilled over it. Jim picked up a piece the size of a hen’s egg. He held it up to the light and a seam of yellow flashed. He passed it to Neill.
“Gold,” Jim said. “And Ellen and I found where it’s coming from.”
Mouth open, David held up one of the largest fragments. Tears were running down his cheeks. “How? Where?” he asked.
“Oh, Father,” Ellen said, and hugged him tight. “Just wait till you see it.”
“Quick as this weather clears, we’re all going down to Onionville and filing claims,” Jim announced.
* * * *
Two days after the snow melted, Jim and David set out alongside Neill to see the valley. The stream was their first stop.
Jim got down and dropped his pan in the water. He sifted out the bigger rocks first, then the smaller gravel, swirling the pan round and round. He used his finger to brush away bits of black dirt until the colors emerged. Then he motioned Neill over.
“It’s a strike, sure enough,” Neill said. “I was at Sutter’s Mill when that started and that wasn’t half as rich.”
Carefully, Jim put the flakes into an empty tobacco pouch, then folded it away.
“Donovan always liked it here,” Neill said. He was looking out over the rolling green hills into the trees and the mountains beyond. “Said it was the quiet he liked most.”
“Do you think he knew?”
Neill smiled. “Wouldn’t surprise me. He was a right canny man.”
“Why didn’t he just stay here, then? Why keep leading all those settlers west?”
“With Donovan, who can say.” Neill shrugged. “It’s a beautiful valley, green and ripe before the world. I’ve seen what men do looking for gold. They gouge and tear at a place. They strip it down to bare bones like hungry buzzards.”
“He liked people too much,” Jim said. “He might have liked the solitude for a time, but he was a man who liked to talk and visit with people.”
Neill smiled. “That might be it. He would have made a fine politician. Governor, maybe.”
“Governor Donovan.” Jim shook his head. “It fits. Though I can’t quite imagine it. I don’t even know his first name.”
“He never told me either,” Neill said with a shrug. “Let’s go see this outcropping of yours.”
Jim headed south, riding mostly from memory. At the tree line, he cut east until he found the small stream where he’d picked up the nugget. This time, it was David’s turn to pan. He struck twenty colors with his first pan.
“It’s loaded. How did we miss this before? We checked every feeder into the main creek.”
“I’m not sure,” Jim admitted. “Should we follow it down?”
They rode alongside the narrow stream. Just beyond the tree line it ran into a pile of loose rock, and when it came out the other side, the water had separated into four or five even smaller streams. The grass grew along each, thick and lush, making a fan shape and soaking up every drop of water.
“Never reaches the main creek. Just goes into the ground,” Jim said. “No wonder we couldn’t find it.”
“Might be that this little trickle was once bigger, stronger,” David said. “Strong enough to carry the gold down. But now the water’s changed course.”
“Happens quite often in the mountains,” Neill said. “Beaver dam or rockslide or even a fallen tree can turn a watercourse. Most folks think the mountains are eternal. Truth is, they’re living things, always changing. Forests grow, the aspen replaces the meadow, then the pine crowds out the aspen, a fire comes through and allows the grass to creep back in and start over.”
“Let’s ride up and see the quartz,” Jim said.
He led them to the quartz outcropping. With a hammer, a beaming David broke another slab of material free. It came away sparkling.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I just can’t…”
He turned away from them and his shoulders shook. Jim patted him once on the back, then he turned to Captain Neill.
Neill bent near the outcropping, studying it closely.
“What do you think?” Jim said.
“I’m not an expert by any means, but I’ve been around mining men. I’ve heard their talk.” He straightened and removed his hat. “Seems like the veins dive underground and into the mountain. I think you’ve hit the mother lode here.”
“We’ve hit it,” Jim said. “I want you in with us, Neill.”
