Chapter 23

The partners spent more time digging into the hillside. Jeremiah had insisted that the gold had to come from the upslope. They dug into the rich earth held together by the roots of trees and bushes, a hard slog. Stones and roots often got in the way. There wasn’t any sign of color in the earth they pulled out and down to the creek to pan.

“Are you sure Jeremiah that we aren’t just wasting our time?” Chance asked on the third day.

“I’m as sure as I can be, given that we’ve not seen any signs. But we’re still only in the topsoil. We must try to get to the alluvial deposits.”

“Sure, if this damned rain lets us. The soil is runny with it. I dig a hole and it fills with water.”

“I know, but I feel the weather’s easing up.”

After supper they sat around the campfire resting their tired muscles, Jeremiah smoking, Chance slurping a very hot tea. Standing in the water all day, he’d felt something on his throat and he hoped to get ahead of it with something hot.

“You know Chance, I must thank you,” Jeremiah said unexpectedly; Chance looked at him in surprise. “In Vancouver I was just hanging about trying to strike up a deal with anybody, just anywhere. I was desperate to get back into the gold fields. But no one wanted to stake me. Then I met you. At the time, I thought you were naive and gullible, just the mark I was looking for. To this day I don’t know what I said that convinced you. But you’ve been the best partner I’ve ever had, and if I never find anything I could still be content, at least I found you. You know how rare that is? Especially in the gold fields.” And he chuckled loudly. He emptied his pipe and stowed it in his vest pocket. “I guess I trust you with my life. I never thought I’d say that to anyone. If you know what I mean.”

Chance knew. The only time in his life he felt that was in the shadow of death with bullets and shrapnel flying by. He trusted the men beside him as they charged toward death. But not since, not until this moment.

“Give me your hand, partner.” They clasped hands firmly. “And that’s for life.” Jeremiah’s eyes misted up. After that there were no words to reach that high water mark.

On the following morning it was drizzling, and Chance swore repeatedly as he slipped up and down the slope, carrying earth to the creek. They were both busy panning through the last batch, when a whistle upslope caught their attention.

“Who in thunderation...?” Jeremiah grabbed up his rifle.

“Relax, I know him. That’s Ormond, the boss of the outfit at Crooked Bend. He’s alright.”

Once Ormond reached them, Chance made the introductions, and all three walked back to the fire. The coffee pot was put on and they were all soggy and uncomfortable.

“A pox on this rain,” Ormond said. “You can’t get dry.”

“I should think it would help you with the mining, it’s a lot easier to wash away a hillside with the ground so soaked.”

“That yes, but we can’t keep up with the sluice box getting full with boulders so quickly; most of my men are picking through the aggregate.”

“And how goes it with the Carmodys?”

“Oh, they left, but before they did, they bought out Pines who was getting very discouraged with the low yield. And two more owners. So they own fully half of the operation, her mother owns a third and a friend of the family the rest.”

“Do you think it was a rash investment?”

“Yes and no. The site still pays for itself, but for how long? Nathan is a clever man. He told me he isn’t investing so much in this mine as in the crew. If something breaks somewhere else, he’ll be ready with a team. He says every three to five years there’s a new discovery, so he thinks we’re due for one soon.”

“He’s right. Sounds very clever,” Jeremiah allowed, his voice a little envious that he’d not thought of it in those terms himself. “Too bad I’ve never met him.”

“A very nice couple...”

“Are they the ones you saved from the bear attack?” Jeremiah interrupted.

“Yes, from Toronto,” Chance said softly.

They talked some more. A little about unstable nitroglycerin and something called dynamite that was supposed to be more stable and safer. Chance had heard about nitroglycerin being used by the Chinese side of the railroad. “As the talk goes, a lot of Chinamen using that stuff died on the Central Pacific line. Dynamite must be something new, I never heard of it.”

“It would speed up work, to have something that could safely blow a hill open,” Ormond said, then he looked around. “So, how’re you doing here?”

Jeremiah looked a little reluctant to answer but Chance had no reservations. “Fair to middling. We’re breaking even, but hope to be ahead of the game.”

Ormond nodded. “The boys below us abandoned their site, so they won’t need any more water. I just came from there. There was only one guy left, a German who barely speaks any English. I don’t know how the hell he got this far.” Then he looked at the others. “We’re thinking of reclaiming the diverted water, if you boys don’t need it.” Chance and Jeremiah shook their heads. “Frankly I don’t know if we’ll be back next year. At least not with a full crew. I’d hate to lose even one man, but we’re only earning wages.”

They had another cup of coffee, and venison with biscuits. Afterwards, when Ormond started off, Chance accompanied him a little ways.

“Have you heard more from the Carmodys?” Chance asked.

“They’re safely back in Toronto. Nathan can whistle any bird call you ever heard. It’s the most amazing thing.”

“Have you ever met her mother?”

“Emily’s mother? No, never. All I know is that Nathan handles her business affairs. She must be quite a woman though. Almost all Emily talks about is her and Nathan nods dutifully. Brooks might know more.”

“Well then, the best to you.” They shook hands and parted.

Back at camp, Jeremiah looked Chance over. “You’re mighty chummy with a man you hardly know.”

“Nathan trusts him and that’s good enough.” Chance hit his partner on the back reassuringly. “But don’t you worry, I ain’t replacing you just yet.”

They worked the rest of the day in spite of the continuing drizzle. Chance put extra wood on the fire to give them more heat. Jeremiah sneezed and swore. “I hope I’m not coming down with something.” They climbed into the cave and made an early night of it. Chance heard Jeremiah sniffing from time to time.

Chance woke in the middle of the night with a premonition of danger. He heard the wolves howling but there was a different edge to their sounds. Chance frowned, concentrating. He suddenly realized there were other sounds as well, twittering of birds that came over the sound of the falling rain. Birds? At this time of night? He sat up, apprehensive. Something was cooking, but what? He grabbed his rifle and chambered a round.

Suddenly the ground trembled, then began to shake and a roar filled the cave. Earthquake! Chance grabbed Jeremiah by the collar and dragged him bodily outside. Not twenty paces from them the whole slope was in motion, a river of rocks and mud slurry flowing down the hill.

“What in tarnation...?” Jeremiah yelled, scrambling to his feet.

“Rockslide! Earthslide! Mudslide!” Chance struggled to find a term for it. A fresh wave swept by, breaking a tree in its path and carrying it away like a match stick.

“We’d better move out of the way!” Chance yelled over the roar and dragged Jeremiah further back to the side. From there they watched as the hillside flowed downhill. A tumble of rocks ground through a stand of pines, moving it down. Chance held his breath, praying that their stuff wouldn’t get swept away or the cave buried by the slurry.

Finally the slope stopped moving, except for an occasional trickle of stones. A strange quiet filled the night air. Even the wolves were quiet.

“Hell’s bells!” Jeremiah seemed overly cheerful but why not, they’d narrowly escaped death. Just ten feet more this way and they would have been trapped in the cave or chewed up like mincemeat. Cautiously they approached the slide, but pulled back when a trickle of rocks started up again.

Although their camp and the cave were untouched, they dared not go back to them in case the slope started sliding again. They tore some branches from the pines and made a rough lean-to. It was only enough to keep the worst of the rain off, but by dawn the rain had thankfully stopped.

In the daylight the devastation was astounding. It was as if the whole hill had been ripped open. Dark stone that had never seen the light of day now lay exposed, vomited up by the mountain itself. Chance approached the slide, but as he got close he could feel the earth give under him. Hastily he backed away. Below them the avalanche had blocked the creek, and was slowly turning it into a lake, and already the trees that were on the banks were standing in water.

They stood around undecided for a while. Jeremiah sneezed four times, bending over with each explosion. They needed fire and food.

“The hell with it,” Chance muttered half to himself, strode into camp, collected everything and dragged it to safety. The cave was trickier, as it was lot closer to the slide and the ground proved unstable. On all fours Chance scrambled in, grabbing whatever came to hand. In four trips he’d emptied the cave. In the meantime, Jeremiah sorted through their stuff and made order. He quickly made a fire pit and by the time Chance returned with the last load, he had a fire going.

“It’s a good thing we got out when we did; a bit of the roof came down.”

“The whole roof?”

“No, but enough to crush a head or two.”

“Well then you saved my life again.” Jeremiah looked troubled, but then cheered up. “Which only tells you that I know how to pick a partner.” In spite of all the upsets, Chance had to smile at his friend’s irrepressible optimism.

With hot food in them the world looked friendlier. Still Chance’s stomach was jittery. He remembered the tremor of the earth as the slide began and he had the same feeling as on the battlefield advancing into a hail of bullets. It seemed it all came down to being in the right or wrong place at any given time. He wondered if there was a Providence watching over him. He reached for his Bible and to his dismay founded it soaked. Carefully he extracted the newspaper cut out, unfolding it and letting it dry on a rock.

Jeremiah looked at it. “A good-looking woman, no doubt about it.”

“A lady through and through.”

“Do you know who she is?”

“Yes. Emily Dubineau,” Chance replied, for the first time admitting it aloud. He and Jeremiah had been through so much that trust wasn’t an issue anymore.

In an hour the sky cleared and the sun shone over the water-choked countryside. Suddenly there was a rainbow arched across the sky.

Jeremiah’s eyes opened wide. “Gold at the rainbow’s end. I tell you it’s a sign!”