Golden Dawn by Hake Cathy Marie

Author:Hake, Cathy Marie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-07-19T04:00:00+00:00

Eleven

“Thanks.” Ian accepted the dipper of water from Meredith and took a long, refreshing gulp. Tucker had loaded Bess with garden truck and led her to town. Several more trips would be essential—both to sell the produce and to bring in supplies for the coming year.

Meredith accepted the empty dipper. “Thank you for sending Tucker to town today. He can be so stubborn!”

Ian grimaced. “Aye. But that thumb has to be paining him something awful.”

She nodded. “He knows better than to be using a wet sledgehammer on a rainy day. He’s lucky lightning didn’t strike him.”

“I’d be a hypocrite to condemn him for that. We get so much rain, there aren’t many days’ work we’d get done if we ran inside each time the sky took a mind to spit.”

“I wonder how far he’ll get before someone stops him and asks to buy something straight off Bess.”

“Not far.” Ian lifted his pickax. “I knotted everything on with a diamond hitch, so he’ll be able to take things off without her losing balance as long as he keeps the sides fairly even.”

“That’s good.”

“Best you know, Merry, that the vein in the stone isn’t getting any wider yet. We’d hoped it would grow big and fat.”

“It still might. Even if it doesn’t, you’re getting more than we ever panned.”

“I saw you panning yesterday.”

“Why not? I was waiting for the laundry pot to boil. I got about a pinch and a half of gold dust. With gold at sixteen dollars per ounce, that’s not a bad show for an afternoon’s work.”

“Pure gold is sixteen dollars per ounce, Merry. Gold dust is impure. When it’s all melted and the dross is removed, it weighs far less.”

“Oh.”

The disappointment on her face tugged at his heart. “Every bit counts.”

“Yes, it does.” She smiled. “Did Tucker speak to you about removing rock now in as much bulk as possible?”

“He did.” Ian found a comfortable grip on the pickax. “I’m in full agreement. We’ll be able to crush it down and put it through the shaker box during the worst of the winter.”

“So you don’t mind?”

“Why would I mind?” He gave her a surprised look. “Long days like this can allow us extreme amounts of outdoor work. When we’re locked inside by the most frigid part of the winter, we’ll still be able to make progress.”

“It’ll make a mess of your cabin—all the dust and grit.”

“Man came from dust and will return to dust.”

Merry’s laughter filled the air. “Woman came from bone. Where does that leave her?”

“If all goes as God intended, it leaves her right by her man’s side and inside his heart.” And that’s where I’d like you to be.

“Well, for now, this woman is going to do a few chores. Tucker said he’ll be back tonight, but I’m not so sure.”

“I believe he will. The sunlight will allow him to travel safely, and he’s got a lot of stamina.”

“That’s true.” Her pretty hazel eyes sparkled. “I think it’s more a matter of stubbornness. Once my

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.