Page 14 of Riches Beyond Measure (Golden State Treasure #3)
Cord looked at Annie and shrugged. “Every time I think I’ve figured out what he was up to, I find there are more questions to ask.
Maybe the sunlight or soil back then were just right for building a house there.
Still, it’s a hike to the spring to gather fresh water, especially in winter.
Or maybe he figured if the water was this close to the surface, a well might only be ten feet deep.
Could be he was thinking of his daughter-in-law and her comfort by wanting the house where he built it, with a well right out back. ”
Annie beamed at Cord. “That’s it.”
Her smile felt like sunlight shining down on Cord on a cool spring day.
“Considering the rough country we rode through to get here, this area would have looked like an oasis in the desert to Graham. His aim was to build a house, get a farm started on a decent piece of land, then send for his family—not go looking for some treasure.”
“Maybe this area was the floodplain of that old dried-up river. That’s why it’s level here and why the grass is so rich.
” Josh pointed at the young trees growing nearby.
“I’ll bet those trees have grown up since the time Graham MacKenzie chopped down what was here to build his cabin.
The trees here look to be around thirty years old. ”
Cord nodded. “I wonder if a dry riverbed—”
“Better to call it that than the ‘river of death,’” said Annie.
Cord conceded the point. “But I wonder ... if it’s true an earthquake long ago stopped or killed the river dead, could another earthquake bring it back to life?”
Josh scowled.
Annie looked around nervously. Then she gave him a swat against the belly with the back of her hand. “Thanks, Cord. We needed more to worry about.”
“Are we gonna start digging or what?” Lock called out, breaking into their attempts at figuring out what Graham MacKenzie was thinking when he’d homesteaded this piece of land.
Near the well, Lock held up a triangular metal object with some elaborate detail amidst all the dirt and rust. “A spear tip, I think.”
Thayne stopped digging to look at it. “We found a spear tip like this in each of those graves, along with the armor. It was the archeologists who identified them as spear tips. They said they once would’ve been mounted on a six-foot wooden handle or shaft.”
Cord brought a dagger out of the hole he was digging. “Isn’t this like the dagger we had stolen?”
Everyone turned to stare at it. Unlike the spear tip, it was in much better shape. Cord used his thumb to wipe away the dirt that caked the dagger. The weapon was completely intact, just as the other dagger had been. Steel all over, with no wood there to decay.
Cord said, “I’m glad we found one to replace the one that was stolen. I liked the feel of that dagger in my hand.”
Lock gasped. “Did you try and use it, Cord? I admit I picked it up a few times and pretended to do some, well...”
Annie saw his cheeks turn pink and thought she knew the reason why. In fact, they’d both just admitted to it, even if accidentally. “Lock, did you get caught up in playacting with that dagger, taking on the part of a swashbuckler maybe?” Her eyes shifted to Cord. “What about you?”
Josh cleared his throat. “The swords looked a bit fragile. They’re heavy too, and I didn’t want to risk it by swinging one around. But the dagger?” He shrugged sheepishly, yet he was fighting back a smile.
“I might’ve tried a sword once,” Thayne admitted. “But you’re right—it was heavy and seemed like it’d be more apt to snap in half. The dagger wasn’t like that.”
“I waved the dagger around myself, even wore a helmet while doing so.” Annie figured she might as well come clean. “I couldn’t lift the shield or the sword well enough to do much with them, though I tried. But the dagger...”
Josh scratched his chin. “You don’t suppose someone stole it because they were having fun fighting invisible pirates and couldn’t stand to give it back?”
Cord looked at Annie with smiling eyes. “I reckon we all have a tiny place in our hearts that wonders what it would’ve been like to be a pirate back in the 1700s.”
All five of them burst into laughter. After everyone quieted down, Annie said, “I say we stop now. In fact, I think we’ve dug deeper than we should have.”
It was no surprise when Lock argued, “I say we don’t stop, not until we’ve dug up everything that’s down there.”
Suddenly, Annie no longer felt like a treasure hunter but like a mother and teacher combined.
“I think the honorable thing to do is to go fetch the archeologists. We agreed to dig until we were sure something was here to be found. Each of us has unearthed something now, and we were careful in how we went about it. It’s clear there’s more to be found, so it’s time to pack up and ride home and come back here another day.
Everyone agreed to let me decide when to stop, and I’m deciding.
Besides, I’m too tired to keep going. Let’s all eat something—I’ll heat up the rest of the stew. ”
Cord dropped his shovel and headed for the fire. He began building it up from embers. “Lock, help me gather up some firewood.”
Josh turned to Thayne. “And I could use help leading the horses to water.”
Annie was glad to see them all set aside their shovels and pitch in to get dinner ready. They all needed a hot meal and a good night’s rest.
Soon they were sitting around the campfire again, eating and talking about the pieces of metal they’d dug up out of the earth.
No suit of armor this time. Instead, they’d found a dagger and a spear tip and two other bits of iron they couldn’t identify.
Apparently, somewhere near their campsite long, long ago, a ship had run aground when the river drained away during a terrible earthquake.
Annie smiled to herself as they talked. A ship this far inland from the ocean? That would have had to be some river. It was possible, but of course they didn’t really know.
With the stew all eaten, they settled in for the night. It was time to give up on the treasure hunt and, at first light, set off for home.