a long time.”
Clint nearly dropped his pan at the sound of Amelia’s soft voice. He’d been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard her approach. So much for keeping an eye on everyone. He glanced down the stream and noticed Whitt had waded into the water to pan by a large boulder. The children were now playing a game on the bank, gold forgotten for the moment.
Amelia sat near Clint on a fallen log and leaned forward to watch him agitate his pan. “I’m afraid I don’t have the patience for this.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Clint admitted.
Amelia inched closer to him and lowered her pan into the water. “The boys were trying to teach me, but I may be hopeless.”
“Here.” Clint picked up his spade and scooped the river contents into her pan. “It helps to have a spade.”
Amelia imitated Clint’s actions, swirling and dipping her pan into the stream.
Clint reached over, placed his hands over hers and tilted up her pan a few degrees. “Don’t let too much flow away at once. Gold is heavier and it will settle at the bottom of your pan.”
Amelia laughed. “I see now what I was doing wrong.” She glanced into Clint’s pan. “Mr. Mitchum, I think I see gold in your pan.”
Clint was so busy staring at her flushed cheeks that he’d forgotten his own pan. Just having her so near made his heart skip a beat. When her eyes met his, he quickly turned his gaze to the contents in his pan. He was surprised to see shiny, gold flakes mixed in with the dark sand covering the bottom of the pan. He moved the black sand around with his fingers. Not only did he have gold flakes, there were several small nuggets of gold. “I never expected to find anything like this.” He held his pan for Amelia to see.
Amelia’s eyes widened. “Oh, Mr. Mitchum! I’ve never seen nuggets that size!”
Clint grinned at her excitement. “Call me Clint. It’s rare to get so lucky the first time you pan a place.” Clint pulled the nuggets out of the pan and held them in his palm.
Amelia looked around to see if anyone was watching. “Mr. Nelson told me you shouldn’t let anyone know if you make such a find.”
Clint chuckled. “I think we can trust our group.”
Amelia nodded her agreement. “Of course. But more and more people are arriving here every day. Mr. Nelson advised that it’s best to keep our business quiet.”
“Good advice.” There were many things Clint wanted to ask her, but it wasn’t about finding gold. He wanted to know when her husband died, and what her plans were for the future. Yet he didn’t want to broach the subject if her feelings were still tender. Instead of talking, he reached over and helped her swirl her pan. “Let’s see if we can find you some gold.”
Amelia smiled up at him. “Thank you. It would be wonderful if I could purchase gifts for the girls this Christmas. They’ve faced too much sorrow, and I would love for them to have some joy, particularly during Christmas.”
Clint looked into her eyes, wishing he could replace the sadness with some hope. “The children have had a rough time. Bo and Boone lost their mother.”
“Almost every family I know lost someone. It’s been a terrible time for so many families.”
Clint thought now might be the right time to mention her own loss. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you. I miss my parents terribly.”
Clint glanced down at his large hand covering hers. He noted she hadn’t mentioned missing her husband. “Here’s how you do it.” He gently dipped the pan at an angle in the water and allowed the water to remove some of the debris. He released her hand as she repeated the process. “I think you’ve got it.”
They worked side by side for several minutes before Annie and Katie joined them.
“Look at what we found.” Annie opened her small hand.
Amelia and Clint looked down to see a few flakes of gold in her palm.
Katie opened her palm for them to see. “I found some too.”
“Oh my! You girls did a good job.” Amelia hugged them to her.
“You can buy my dinner,” Clint teased.
“Bo and Boone told us you can buy things with gold. Is that true, Mr. Mitchum?” Katie asked.
“The boys are right. It might take a bit more flakes than you have so far to buy things at the mercantile, but it’s possible,” Clint answered.
“We’ll work