and I’ve been thinking. He’ll need a place to live. We’ll start building a bunkhouse with separate quarters for the engineer and the foreman.”
“I know what you’re doing,” Daniel said as he pushed the heavy box up flush with the back of the buckboard. Then he clambered over the seat to take his place at the reins.
Charles hopped off the back of the wagon and strode to the front. “What am I doing?” he asked as he climbed aboard.
“You’re trying to keep your mind occupied with anything other than what is going to happen twenty minutes from now.” Daniel blew out a breath. “I swear my heart is pounding so hard the sound is echoing inside my poor head. My hands are icicles, and my brow is beaded with sweat.” He glanced at his partner. “And not from exertion, it’s the the cold, clammy kind.”
“I know what you mean.” Charles grunted. “My mouth has gone as dry as the dust on my boots, yet I keep swallowing over and over. Everything in me is screaming do not enter the ravine. I’m just praying I don’t lose control over my bladder.”
“No one will think poorly of you if you do. Very likely we’ll both need a change of trousers before the morning is through.”
Charles started to rise. “We should bring—”
“Sit down, Charles. Let’s just concentrate on breathing and get this over with.”
Charles sat back down. “What if—”
“Don’t start.” Daniel released the brake and started the mules moving. Worrying about what could go wrong had kept him up all night. “Tell me again about the hydraulic mining method your uncle’s letter described.” Up until now, they’d used pickaxes and a sluice box to separate the gold from the quartz gravel they’d laboriously extracted. Hydraulic mining was said to be safer and much more efficient. “We do have a river running through our claim.”
“A river you say? It’s more like a spring-fed creek, enough for our wee sluicing operation, but that’s about all.”
“Fine. We’ll compromise and call it a stream.” Daniel flashed Charles a wry look.
“Anyway,” Charles continued. “Other prospectors in the area won’t take kindly to our diverting or damming said stream. The crushing method will be more effective for our operation. Our gold is threaded through quartz, not lying about in gravel on the ground.”
He and Charles continued to discuss their plans, and way too soon the ravine came into view. Impending doom gripped Daniel, and his blood chilled in his veins. Not a bird sang or a cricket chirped. None of the winged insects dared to buzz. Daniel glanced upward toward the clear blue sky, and in that instant it seemed the entire world held its breath.
Somewhere in the rocks ahead, three men waited to brutally murder them. He prayed six men also hid, waiting to save their lives. “It’s going to be mighty difficult to feign carefree laughter,” he whispered.
“Aye. Hold on the signal until the wagon’s rear wheels are completely inside the ravine, and we’re near the center point.”
“You too.” Daniel glanced as his best friend.
“Of course me too,” Charles hissed.
Daniel drew in a long breath. “Look, we should be conversing normally, not whispering like a couple of old biddies passing along a juicy bit of gossip.”
“Right you are,” Charles said in a more normal tone. “As I was saying, the crushing method will work better for our operation, don’t you agree?” Charles asked.
“It makes no difference to me, so long as we manage to extract a fortune.” Daniel shifted nervously as they drew closer. Once the mules passed the entry point. Daniel could hardly breathe. “Say, why don’t we try that new hotel for lunch today. I hear the food is quite good.” His slightly raised voice bounced off the granite walls and came back to him.
“Can’t beat Prudence Klein’s desserts though,” Charles replied.
“Two stops then.” Half the wagon was now inside, and Daniel had to force himself not to reach for the gun at his waist. It would be so easy to just shoot the man who would soon appear at the other end. The outlaw’s rifle would be proof enough he’d intended to rob them.
“The hotel for lunch, and Klein’s Diner for pie.” The back of the wagon cleared the entrance. “Hell, we can afford two lunches and two desserts if we want,” Daniel declared.
He and Charles gave the signal, laughing loudly as if stopping at two places for lunch was the funniest thing ever to pass through Daniel’s lips. All the while he feared