The Legend of Miner's Creek (6 page)

“Copper,” he said. “It looks like what's left of a blasting cap. Whoever set that explosion off must have dropped it.”

“On purpose?” Bess asked.

“Maybe,” Nancy said slowly. “But it probably fell when they were hurrying away.”

“What made it go off next to me?” George said.

“Blasting caps go off easily if they're bumped,” Pete explained. “You might have kicked a rock onto it or something.”

“What exactly are blasting caps used for?” Nancy asked.

“They set off other explosives, like dynamite,” Pete told her. “Usually, it's attached to a fuse and dropped inside a stick of dynamite. Then the
person lights the fuse. When it burns down, the blasting cap blows up and sets off the dynamite.”

“How much time would a person have to get away after the fuse was lit?” Nancy asked.

“Oh, ten or fifteen minutes. More if they made the fuse longer,” Pete said.

“We'd better be careful,” Nancy said. “There could be more blasting caps around here.” She slipped the piece of copper into her pocket. But after twenty minutes of searching on both sides of the creek, no more clues were discovered.

“I don't think we're going to find anything more here,” Nancy said with a sigh.

“How about lunch, then?” Bess suggested.

“Uh-oh,” Rachel said. “I'm supposed to be helping Elsa fix it. I hope she's not mad.”

The group headed up the trail in silence. When they reached the top, Pete headed to the barn, saying he still had chores to finish. George went to the cabin to change into dry clothes. Nancy quickly changed her shoes, then joined Bess and Rachel as they walked across the clearing in front of the lodge. They passed little Aaron Kauffman, who was “mining” for gold in a pile of dirt.

On the porch of the lodge the girls were greeted by Tyler, who was reading with his feet propped up on the railing. He looked fresh and clean, but Nancy noticed that the bottoms of both trouser legs were water-marked. Could he have been wading in Miner's Creek? And if so, could he have been near the spawning grounds?

“Aaron said there was ‘a big boom' here a while ago,” Tyler said pleasantly as they approached. He laid the book in his lap. “Do any of you know what it was?”

“It was my dam.” Rachel spoke in a level but quiet voice. “Someone blew it up.”

Tyler pulled his feet off the railing and sat up straight. He pushed his reading glasses up on his head and looked suddenly concerned.

“Another disaster?” Tyler said.

“Looks that way,” Rachel said with a sigh. “Someone's really out to get us.”

“Is the spawning bed damaged?” Tyler asked. “That
is
an important consideration to the state buying this land, you know. With so many of the salmon runs threatened, protecting them is a top priority with the government.”

Rachel fell quickly silent. Too late, she had realized that she was giving Senator Callihan's aide information that could stop the land sale.

“There's been some damage to the spawning bed,” Nancy said lightly, trying to ease Tyler's concern. “But Rachel can repair it before the salmon come upstream. Right, Rachel?”

“Right,” Rachel said, but she sounded uncertain. “I'd better go and apologize to Elsa for being late for kitchen duty.” She pushed open the screen door and headed inside the lodge.

“We're asking everyone if they've seen any strange activity by the creek this morning,” Nancy
said. She looked pointedly at Tyler's pant legs. “Looks like you were in the creek.”

“Just behind my own cabin,” Tyler said with a shrug. He looked slyly at Nancy. She was sure he'd guessed what she was getting at with her questioning. “I was looking for some black sand,” Tyler went on. “And before that I was in town buying this book. I suppose that's why I didn't hear the blast myself.” He held up a book with a bright gold cover, titled
Prospecting History and Methods.

“I thought you weren't interested in gold,” Nancy said.

“I'm not, but Senator Callihan is. I mentioned the story about that lost gold mine, and he said he wanted more information for his report. If there
is
gold on the property, that could complicate our making it a park. Some people think gold should be mined, and that wouldn't be allowed on park land.” Tyler closed his book and handed it to Nancy. “I've read enough. Maybe you'd like to take a look at it yourself. You seem to be interested in things like that.”

“As a matter of fact, I would like to read it,” Nancy said. “It should make our ride to Prospector's Canyon tomorrow more interesting.”

She took the book and followed Bess inside for a lunch of chicken salad sandwiches and fresh peaches with milk.

“I thought Bess would appreciate some ‘tame' food today,” Elsa teased.

Bess's face turned red as she remembered the venison episode the night before.

Everyone was still eating when the sheriff's deputy arrived. Nancy gave him the remains of the blasting cap and told him what she knew about the near-disaster with the jeep. Charlie left his lunch to take the deputy to see the ruined dam. Nancy decided not to go along. She was pretty sure the deputy wouldn't find any more clues, and she knew she could get a report from Charlie later.

“I have to help Elsa for a while,” Rachel said when they had finished their sandwiches. “I guess you guys are on your own for the rest of the afternoon.”

“That's okay,” Nancy said. “I'm going to read this book about prospecting.”

“There are some hammocks in the trees by Miner's Creek,” Rachel said. “It's a perfect spot for reading.”

“Sounds great,” Bess agreed.

Soon Nancy, Bess, and George were swaying comfortably in large hammocks tied to huge evergreen trees. Miner's Creek babbled gently in the background.

“Nancy, do you have any idea who is trying to stop the sale of the retreat?” Bess asked.

Nancy sighed. “Not really. For the time being, we don't have much to go on.”

Bess gazed through the tree branches toward the blue sky. “I think Maddie and Pete are definitely suspects,” Bess said. “They both seem to be around
when things go wrong. Maddie even showed up at the fire, remember?”

“Yes, but Pete had been in the meadow that morning, too,” Nancy said.

“And Pete was taking care of the jeep when the explosives were set,” George pointed out.

“Undoing the rope from the jeep's steering wheel and parking it back next to the barn could have been done quickly,” Nancy said. “I think Pete could have done that and set the explosive, too. A long fuse would have given him time to circle around behind the lodge before it went off, then come down the trail as though he were coming from the barn.”

George nodded. “I guess you're right.”

“And then there's Tyler,” Nancy said. “I don't know if I believe his story about being in the creek looking for black sand.”

“And he could be the one who's been losing the land sale documents in the senator's office,” Bess added.

“But if Maddie is telling the truth, there's another suspect,” Nancy said. “Someone driving the vehicle she saw by the retreat's driveway.”

“That's true. And we did see tire tracks near the fire,” George said. “So where does that leave us?”

“Tired,” Bess said.

Nancy and George laughed, and then all three fell silent. George and Bess were soon lulled into sleep by the gentle rustle of the breeze in the pine trees. Nancy concentrated on her book. It was filled
with fascinating stories of lost mines and the tricks old prospectors used to protect their secrets.

Suddenly she jumped from her hammock, startling her sleepy friends. Bess nearly fell out of her hammock.

“What is it?” George asked anxiously.

“I'm not sure,” Nancy answered. “But I have an idea.”

Nancy dashed to their cabin, followed by George and Bess. She threw open her suitcase and pulled out the scrap of paper she had found near the fire, examining it carefully.

“Yes!” she shouted, waving the paper in the air triumphantly. “This is going to help us solve the mystery!”

“What do you mean?” George asked.

“I know what this slip of paper is,” Nancy said. “It's a report from an assay laboratory, where rocks are analyzed for different minerals. I bet this is an analysis for gold on a rock from the retreat. Look.” Nancy showed the girls a page that had an example of an assay report.

Then Nancy set the small scrap of paper she'd found near the fire down on top of a larger piece of scratch paper. She began to fill in the missing letters. As she completed the words, it began to look more and more like the example in the book.

“The first line is the date, and the third line is the address of the laboratory,” Nancy said. “We still don't know the address, but I think I can figure out the rest.”

As she scribbled, “say Labo” became “Assay
Laboratory,” “eport” became “Report,” and “mple #653” became “Sample #653.”

“What's ‘and Re'?” George asked.

“Maybe it's ‘and regarding,' ” Bess said.

“I don't think so,” Nancy said. “Watch.”

She continued to work her pencil. “and Re” quickly became “Highland Retreat.”

“Of course,” George said. “So it does have some connection to the retreat.”

“And because I found it near the fire, I'm betting that the same person who is looking for gold also set the fire,” Nancy said, setting down her pencil.

“Then someone really believes there's gold here?” Bess said.

Nancy nodded. “I think someone believes that the legend of Miner's Creek is more than just a tall tale.”

“But why set the fires?” George still looked confused.

“Remember what Tyler said about the retreat becoming a park?” Nancy said.

“No prospecting or mining would be allowed,” Bess finished.

“So there would be park rangers around to make sure no one broke the rules,” George added. “If someone is after the gold, they need to stop the land sale.”

“Did I hear someone say gold?” a teasing voice came from behind the girls. They turned to see their pilot, B.D. Eastham, standing at the screen door of their cabin.

“Sorry to interrupt,” B.D. said cheerfully. “I just stopped by to say hi.”

Nancy quickly stuffed the scrap of paper into her pocket and stepped outside to greet B.D.

“We've decided to become prospectors,” she said, holding up the book she had been reading.

“Rachel's taking us to Prospector's Canyon tomorrow,” George put in. “We're all planning to strike it rich.”

“You know a lot of history about this area,” Nancy said to B.D. “What do you think of the legend of Miner's Creek? Do you believe it?”

B.D. folded his arms. “You bet,” he said with a wink. “Just like I believe in the tooth fairy.”

“Then you think it's all a hoax?” Bess said.

“Let's just say I don't think you should waste your vacation looking for gold,” B.D. said. “There are plenty of other things to do around here.”

“What brings you here today?” Nancy asked, casually changing the subject.

“Oh, I brought up some supplies and mail for Charlie,” he said.

“I think he's still with the sheriff,” Nancy told him.

B.D. raised his brows. “The sheriff? Has something happened?” he asked.

“Just a fire, an explosion, and a runaway jeep,” George said.

“Was anyone hurt?” B.D. asked.

“Not so far,” Nancy said.

“It seems like a lot of things have gone wrong
since Charlie started talking about selling this place for a park,” B.D. said. “Maybe he should just give it up.”

“Give up what?” Charlie came up beside B.D., sounding happy to see his good friend. The sheriff's deputy was with him.

“I was just looking for you,” B.D. said. “I've got some mail. By the way, I hear you've had more trouble.”

“I'm afraid so,” Charlie said. “The deputy here wanted to ask Nancy a question or two before he left. He's been looking into things.”

“Any clues as to who set the explosives and sabotaged the jeep?” Bess asked the deputy.

The deputy shook his head. “Unfortunately, I haven't found much to go on. Charlie said he kept a key in the jeep's ashtray, so most anyone could have started the vehicle,” he said. “Nancy, when you got to the jeep, did you see anything or take anything out of the jeep?”

“No, I didn't take anything,” Nancy said. “Did you talk to Pete?”

“Yes,” the deputy said. “He showed me the board and rope. There was nothing else to go on, and I didn't find any usable fingerprints.” He turned to Charlie. “I don't know what more I can do than file a report. Call me if anything else happens.”

The deputy walked to his patrol car, and Charlie and B.D. strolled toward the lodge.

The girls were soon back in their hammocks. Nancy began poring over the pages of her book again.

“It shows a picture here of a gold nugget the size of a walnut,” Nancy reported to Bess and George. “It only weighs three ounces, but it could be worth more than a thousand dollars, even more to collectors because it's an unusual shape.”

“And that's for one nugget,” Bess said. “Think what a whole gold mine could be worth.”

“Millions,” Nancy said. “And there's a story here from an old newspaper about a ton of gold that was mined from one ore pocket.”

Just then Rachel walked down from the lodge. “So what happened while I was away?” she asked, leaning against one of the trees. “Are you guys having a nice rest?”

George quickly told Rachel what Nancy had discovered about the piece of paper she'd found in the meadow.