Holiday Havoc by Sherryl D. Hancock

Author:Sherryl D. Hancock
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Vulpine Press
Published: 2020-12-21T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

The next morning, everyone slept in, taking full advantage of the comfortable beds. They had a late breakfast at High Sierra Bakery, then got on the road, headed to Bodie. There were clouds gathering on the mountains to the west, but they hoped the weather would hold at least for the day. The gravel and dirt road to Bodie was far from easy to negotiate. At a number of points, Jet grimaced as her Mustang bottomed out in a huge rut.

“Hope I don’t get stuck,” she growled into her radio, after yet another run in with a hole.

“My Challenger’s not doing much better!” Shenin called.

“Same here!” Jericho chimed in.

“I’m betting there’s gonna be shit all over inside the camper when we finally get there!” Lyric put in. The truck’s four-wheel drive helped make it easier to get through, but the camper was bouncing all over the place.

As they pulled into the Bodie National Park, the group took in the view of the various houses and buildings still standing there. The town of Bodie had been born when William S. Bodey had discovered gold in the hills north of Mono Lake. It had become a boomtown in 1876 when the Standard Company, a mining company, had discovered gold bearing iron ore in the hills surrounding the town. The boom lasted all of about three years, and then the town declined as other gold deposits were discovered in states like Utah and Arizona. The ‘get rich quick’ miners had moved onto better prospects. The invention of a cyanide process to garner more gold and silver from the remnants of the mined ore revived the town for a short while. In 1893, the Standard Company had even built its own hydroelectric plant near Bridgeport to more effectively mine the site. It was one of the first recorded transmission of electricity over a long distance in history.

The town had declined as people left to find a better life. By 1910 the town was down to only about 700 people. By 1920 that number was down to 120. In 1932 a fire ravaged the town, and by the 1940s the Cain family that owned most of the land the town sat on had to hire people to take care of the remaining buildings and keep vandals away. In 1962 the town was labeled a historic site. It isn’t known exactly when all of the residents left Bodie, California.

“Wow… this is incredible,” Shenin said, as they walked up to the town.

Wooden structures weathered by age and years in the sun were bleached and spotty. It was obvious that many of the buildings were leaning and ready to fall down.

Jericho wandered over to a house identified as the J.S. Cain House and looked in one of the windows. “Well, holy hell,” she muttered, “there’s still people’s stuff in there!”

“What?” Quinn queried, walking over to take a look. “She’s right, there’s like an old sewing machine, a bed frame.”

“Over here there’s even a bowl for water still sitting on the dresser!” Lyric called, standing at another window.

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