Page 23 of Riches Beyond Measure (Golden State Treasure #3)

Sixteen

“We’re going to have to take a break from the digging for a week or so,” Professor Hardy announced a week into the treasure hunt.

Cord sat up straight, feeling as if he’d just been poked with something sharp.

“Why, Professor? I don’t understand. We’re finding more artifacts every day, and there’s no sign we’ve found everything.

” He thought of the shield, hanging there not far away from them.

Deep in his gut, Cord knew it had to mean something .

The place where it hung wasn’t by chance.

“For one, I’m running low on paper,” Hardy replied. “Secondly, we’ve collected so many antiquities, it’s time we transport them to a place that’s safe where they can be properly cared for.”

Cord’s eyes slid to the sizable stack of antiquities , as Hardy called them. While the pieces were interesting to look at, they were a long way from being the treasure Cord had imagined they’d dig up.

Lock piped up, saying, “Well, I’m not ready to quit, not by a long shot. You go on back to town, Professor, and fetch more paper. We’ll stay here and keep at it, and we’ll be careful with whatever we dig up.”

It’d been five days since Lock had shown Cord and Annie the gold coins.

After that find, he’d been searching with more enthusiasm than ever.

Cord had to wonder if the kid had since dug up more gold and pocketed it.

He trusted Lock to be honest about it with him and his brothers and the Hart family, but he didn’t intend to share any of this with Professor Hardy.

“No,” countered the professor. “I want to get all these artifacts to a secure location.”

“If you wanna haul them back to the ranch,” Thayne said, “I reckon we could rig up a travois and carry the things that way. The trail here got mighty narrow after Cornerstone.” He looked at Annie.

“I suppose, once we’ve hauled everything to Cornerstone, someone could go fetch a wagon and team to get us the rest of the way to the Two Harts.

Otherwise going the whole way back with a travois will be mighty slow. ”

Annie nodded. “I think—”

“I don’t intend to take the antiquities to the ranch,” Hardy broke in brusquely. “I intend to take them to the university, where they can be analyzed by those who know what’s what.”

“Wait just a minute,” Annie said, directing her ire at the pompous professor.

Lock, who’d been sitting near the campfire in the dying light, looked up at Hardy with clenched teeth. “That’s not gonna happen.”

“He’s right,” said Annie. “If we take the artifacts anywhere right now, Professor, we take them to the ranch. Once there, we’ll help you with cataloging what we’ve found, and then we’ll decide which pieces you can take on loan to the university and for how long a time.”

Cord knew, and Hardy certainly did too, that on loan meant paying to borrow the artifacts for a period of time with the MacKenzies still having full ownership of them.

It’d been Michelle’s idea, concocted after a long talk with Tilda.

Because the artifacts had been dug up on Graham MacKenzie’s land, by rights they belonged to his heirs.

Hardy didn’t have the authority to just ride off with their so-called antiquities, not without an arrangement beforehand, one drawn up and agreed to by the MacKenzie family.

Cord also knew that, after a talk with Josh and Ellie, Brody had purchased the land where they’d found the graves and all the armor before they’d headed east last fall.

It’d belonged to no one, and being way out in the wilderness, the land had cost only pennies per acre.

They’d checked the law in the area, and sure enough there was nothing stopping them from keeping anything found on their property.

The law included a few exceptions, such as if property had been stolen recently and was found stashed on someone’s land, like money or gold hidden away that came to be there due to a bank robbery.

That money had to be returned to the bank.

But artifacts this old were theirs to do with as they pleased.

What it amounted to was that Hardy wouldn’t be taking the artifacts anywhere but the ranch.

“The find here goes back to the ranch, Professor Hardy.” Annie repeated it with crisp finality.

Hardy glared at her, his hands fisted. “I’d think by now you’d trust me, but clearly when it comes down to it, you don’t.

This is important. Discovering that the Spanish were in this part of California three centuries ago rewrites history.

I need to preserve these artifacts, to record everything, and bring in experts besides myself.

You’re all still thinking of these pieces as some kind of treasure, but you’re wrong.

You’re small-minded, uneducated, and selfish. These artifacts belong to the world.”

Cord surged to his feet, as did the rest of their group. He moved closer to Annie. Mr. Rombauer, who happened to be present at the moment, went over to stand next to the professor. Would the man go on a rampage if Hardy ordered it? Or would he stop Hardy if he started swinging his fists?

Not responding to Hardy’s insults, Cord said, “If you feel we must take back what we’ve found so far, we can do that, but it’ll be on our terms, Professor. On loan. Anyway, it might be just as well to stay home for a time.” He glanced at Annie, who nodded.

“I’ve been away from my daughter for too long,” she said. “It’s time to head home.”

The mutinous expression on Lock’s face was a clear sign of objection, yet he knew Annie did need to get back to Caroline. She couldn’t just abandon her child for weeks at a time.

Thayne didn’t speak, but he was watching Hardy with sharp eyes.

Annie went to Hardy and rested her hand on his arm. “I can see these artifacts are important to you, and I—”

Hardy shook her hand away, and Cord got ready to do harm to the man if he so much as touched his wife.

Quickly, he stepped between Hardy and Annie.

“You wouldn’t be studying any of the artifacts we found if it wasn’t for the MacKenzies and the help of my family.

You need to think about that. You’re only along on this little ‘archeological expedition’ because we invited you.

And we did that because we respect your knowledge.

There’s no call to go and insult our intelligence.

Remember, Professor, all these artifacts belong to the MacKenzies.

That means they can do whatever they want with them. It’s their call.”

Annie reached over and patted Hardy’s arm again.

“We try to keep it in the forefront of our minds that to be greedy over what we’ve found is equal to ‘laying up treasures on earth.’ We’re people of faith, and we already have riches beyond measure through our faith in an Almighty God.

Now, tomorrow we’ll load everything up and head back to the ranch.

And I’ll thank you very much to never take that tone with me again. ”

With that, Annie spun on her heel, walked back to the campfire, and sat. Watching, Cord was reminded how Annie could keep a roomful of children quiet for long hours every day.

The professor had a scowl on his face. It was clear he could hand out a scolding with ease, but he didn’t like taking one in return. Without saying more, Hardy moved to the log on the opposite side of the fire from where Annie was. He sank onto it and stared into the glowing embers.

Annie continued, “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow—building a travois, packing up, and riding home. Everyone get some rest.”

They’d been there digging a full week. Cord had enjoyed the intimacy that had passed between his wife and himself on their wedding night. But nothing of that sort had gone on between him and Annie while they camped with these other folks right at hand. He was ready to go home, too.

He and Annie settled under their blankets side by side.

He watched as the others prepared to bed down.

He could tell she was a bit upset, and he was sorry for her tension, sorry she’d had to confront Hardy.

But he was proud of how she’d handled herself.

He rolled onto his side and wrapped an arm around her waist.

It came to mind to tell her again that he loved her. Normally he wasn’t one for such talk, and neither was she. Up to now, they’d had a sensible understanding regarding such matters. Maybe when they got home, though, they’d start to share more with each other.