Bailey and the Santa Fe Secret (14 page)

“This is what we’ve dreamed of, Mama.” Elan took his mother’s hands. “We can have our mine back.”

“We don’t even know if there is still turquoise in the mine,” Halona said. “That will be important to learn before we get too excited.”

Bailey stuck her hand in her jeans pocket and pulled out two blue stones. “Will this be enough proof to answer your question?” She opened her hand to show the stones to Halona.

Halona inhaled sharply and tears sprung to her eyes. “It is too good to be true!” She grabbed Bailey and Elizabeth and hugged them fiercely. “Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to our family.”

Thursday morning, while the Tses went to the county recorder’s office to update paperwork on the mine, Bailey and Elizabeth called the other Camp Club Girls.

Elizabeth had her phone on speaker so she and Bailey could both hear as she conferenced in the rest of the girls.

“Mystery solved!” Bailey announced.

“No way!”

“What?”

“How’d that happen so fast?”

“Amazing!”

“Yep,” Beth told them. “We followed the old map showing where the mine should be. We couldn’t see it at first, but then noticed a big pile of rocks with some old rusted barbed wire around it.”

“We started moving the rocks and found the mine entrance,” Bailey added.

Bailey and Elizabeth recounted their work getting the mine entrance cleared.

“Wait a minute,” Alex said. “You didn’t go into the cave, did you?”

“We only stepped in at the edge,” Elizabeth said. “We didn’t walk back into it.”

“But Sydney forgot to mention one thing in the safety talk she gave us,” Bailey said.

“I did?” Sydney said. “What?”

“Earthquakes.” Bailey waited for a response.

“Huh-uh,” Sydney finally said. “You did not have an earthquake while you were in that mine!”

“We sure did,” Bailey said. “And we were trapped inside for hours.”

“You should have listened to me in the first place and not gone in there!” Sydney scolded.

“I know,” Elizabeth said. “You were right. We had no business going in there.”

“What’d you do?” Kate asked.

Bailey told them what it was like being stuck in an old abandoned mine, and Elizabeth added information about how they worked to get out and made a flag to help rescuers find them.

“Were you scared?” Alex asked.

“Totally!” Bailey said. “I was more scared than Beth. She kept telling me cool Bible verses to keep me calm. I need to memorize more verses so I’m better prepared for bad situations in the future.”

“Bailey was very brave,” Elizabeth said. “It was pitch dark in the mine except for when I shined my cell phone light. She did great.”

“So did Beth,” Bailey said, “especially for a kid who used to be afraid of the dark. We couldn’t get a signal for Beth to call for help on her cell phone, but at least the light on it worked.”

“We were afraid the battery would die, but we decided to trust that God would get us out safely.” Elizabeth winked at Bailey. “We even prayed together in the dark.”

“So how did you get out?” McKenzie asked. “Did you move all the rocks?”

Bailey told them about hearing the men’s voices and how they were rescued. “We climbed out the hole they cleared, and boy, did that sunlight seem bright when we came out!” Bailey covered her eyes and laughed.

“Was Halona surprised about the deed and the mine?” Kate asked.

“We told her we had a surprise for her, but we didn’t tell her what it was until we got back to Earth Works.” Bailey scrunched up her shoulders.

Elizabeth continued the story. “Her store had a lot of damage in the earthquake with broken pottery all over the place. As soon as we got back there, she forgot about the surprise. She started talking about how much it was going to cost to replace all the ruined merchandise and how they might have to close the store.”

“It was really sad,” Bailey said. “But then I thought about the deed and the mine. I went into the studio and found the piece of pottery with the pocket to show Halona.”

“And I got the deed from my bag,” Elizabeth added.

“Then we presented it to Halona.” Bailey couldn’t stop grinning.

“She must have had kittens right there on the spot,” Kate said.

Elizabeth laughed. “Practically! She could hardly believe it was real.”

Bailey went on. “And then she decided she shouldn’t get her hopes up too high until they found out if the mine was still around and if it had turquoise in it.”

“We informed her that we found the mine and Bailey showed her the turquoise stones she had picked up while trapped inside.” Elizabeth shook her head. “She was dumbfounded!”

“I’ve never been hugged so hard in all my life!” Bailey teased.

“What will they do now that they have the deed?” McKenzie asked.

“They’re at the county recorder’s office right now updating their claim.” Elizabeth smiled proudly at Bailey. “They have the deed, and she has her identification to prove it’s hers.”

“It didn’t look like it would take much work to make it operational again, and it should pay off for them in the long run.” Bailey shrugged.

“You guys were amazing!” Sydney said. “I can’t believe you found the deed and the mine in only a few days.”

“We wouldn’t have found the deed if the pot hadn’t broken,” Bailey admitted. “I’d say God had something to do with that.”

“And of course you guys helped, too!” Elizabeth said. “Biscuit’s paw prints showed us that the landscape around Puye Cliffs really did match the pot’s painting with trees added.”

“Good old Biscuit, the Wonder Dog,” Kate said.

“And Sydney eliminated the idea that the things Halona’s grandma and mother said about the pot was some sort of code when she researched the Native American code talkers from World War Two,” Bailey added.

Elizabeth jumped in. “And Alex researched all the public records on the Tse and Kaga families.”

“The rest of us prayed for you like crazy!” McKenzie said.

“We know you did!” Bailey said. “We might still be sitting in that dark mine if you hadn’t been praying!”

“Anyway, we just wanted to let you know that the mystery is solved, and Halona has her mine back,” Bailey said.

“I’m glad you called,” Sydney said. “But mostly, I’m glad you weren’t hurt in the earthquake or from being trapped in the mine.”

“God really was looking out for you,” Alex said.

“No doubt about it,” Elizabeth said.

“We go home this afternoon, so we’d better hang up so we can pack.” Bailey looked at her clothes strewn all over the bedroom.

“Okay,” McKenzie said. “Thanks for calling us with the good news. Hopefully, we’ll have another mystery to solve soon.”

“I hope so!” Bailey said. “Bye!”

Halona hugged Bailey’s mom good-bye. “It was so good to see you again.”

“I’m glad we could come to help out for a little while,” Mrs. Chang said. “I hope you can get things repaired and replaced in Earth Works soon.”

“I will,” Halona replied. “I spoke with the insurance company this morning, and they’re going to pay for more of it than I thought.”

Halona’s arms went around Bailey, then Elizabeth. “When I invited you all to come give us a hand, I had no idea how helpful you’d be.”

“Thanks.” Bailey held the finished dish she had made in the studio. “It was fun to learn to make pottery and work in your store. I’ve never done those things before.” She looked at her dish, which had somehow survived the earthquake, and admired the sunset she’d painted on it. “This will remind me of our time together.”

Elizabeth hugged Halona. “Thanks for letting me come with the Changs.”

“You girls gave me far more than a little help in the store,” Halona said. “You gave me a better life for my family. I can’t thank you enough.”

“We’re happy everything turned out so well,” Elizabeth said.

“But I still feel a little guilty about breaking your ancient family pot,” Bailey said.

“That’s okay.” Halona smiled at Bailey. “You showed us that sometimes we have to sacrifice something good to get something better. The real treasure wasn’t the beautiful pot. It was what was inside, a bright future with my family.”

A week later, back home, Bailey called Elizabeth.

“Hey, Beth, guess what?”

“I give up.”

“Remember how I said I needed to learn more Bible verses so I’d have them ready in a tough situation?” “Yeah …”

“Well, I’ve already started.” Bailey smiled proudly. “Wanna hear it?”

“Sure!”

Bailey cleared her throat. “‘Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ Matthew 6:20 and 21.”

Elizabeth cheered. “Way to go, Bales! I’m proud of you!”

“I’m learning the real treasure is knowing God and letting Him be the boss of our lives,” Bailey said. “Like when we had to trust Him in that mine.”

“Wow, Bailey,” Elizabeth said. “That’s pretty good!”

“But I didn’t really call to brag about learning a new verse,” Bailey said.

Elizabeth laughed. “You didn’t? Then why did you call?”

“We got a package in the mail today!” Bailey squealed.

“Cool! Who’s it from?”

“Halona!”

“Did you open it yet?” Elizabeth asked.

“Not yet. I thought I should wait until I called you so we could sort of open it together, since it’s addressed to us both.”

“Well, open it!” Elizabeth begged.

Bailey cut through the mailing tape with a pair of scissors and tore off the brown wrapping.

“There are two smaller boxes inside the bigger box,” Bailey reported. “One has your name on it, and one has mine.”

“Open yours first,” Elizabeth said.

“Are you sure?” Bailey asked.

“Yes! Open it!”

Bailey lifted out the box bearing her name and removed the lid. She gasped.

“What is it?” Elizabeth asked.

“It’s a beautiful turquoise necklace!” Bailey said. “Wait. There’s a note under it.” Bailey picked up the note and read:

“Wow!” Bailey fingered the turquoise stone. “Shall I open yours, or do you want me to mail it to you as a surprise?”

Elizabeth giggled. “Open it!”

Bailey lifted the lid and found a similar necklace and note for Elizabeth. “You’re going to love it, Beth.”

“Thanks for letting me come with you on that trip,” Elizabeth said. “It was a real adventure.”

Bailey laughed. “You can say that again. I’m just glad we know where our True Treasure lies!”

Can’t wait for the next Camp Club Girls adventure…
here’s a sneak peek into book 16.

Kate and the

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