Tunnel of Gold by Susan K. Marlow

Author:Susan K. Marlow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Supper was served late that night. Pa gave an extra-long blessing over the food. Trouble was, Pa talked to the Lord more about instilling good judgment in his children than thanking Him for the steaming kettle of chicken and dumplings. Jem’s stomach rumbled. Pa is preaching, not praying.

Jem’s “amen” came out in a breath of relief. Aunt Rose shot him a sharp look before passing him a heaping plate of food. Jem gave her an innocent smile and dug into his meal. Preaching or praying, it did feel good to see Pa sitting at the table for once. This whole week had been worse than the town burning down, in Jem’s opinion. Towns could be rebuilt. Empty mines could not be reclaimed.

But maybe things had at last settled down in town, now that a new vein was being explored. Maybe that’s why Pa could spend a quiet evening at home rather than break up another fight between miners gone crazy from fear and worry.

Jem took a swallow of milk and blurted, “I reckon I can start delivering frog legs to the café again, right, Pa?”

Pa looked surprised at Jem’s question. “Why would you think that?” He popped a forkful of fluffy dumpling in his mouth and chewed.

“Well, you’re home tonight. It must mean the miners know the Midas will reopen soon, and they’re calming down. No riots. No fights. Right?” Jem searched Pa’s face for a satisfying answer.

“Hardly. I took a chance and left a temporary deputy in charge—No-luck Casey.” Pa reached for his coffee cup. “He’s pretty green at the job, but he’s happy to earn fifty cents a day. It’s more than he finds in that played-out claim of his.”

Jem’s heart sank. “But Chad told me they found a new vein. It’s a deep one that might stretch for—”

“Did he tell you that this new, deep vein needs an air shaft?” Pa broke in. “And did he tell you where this new air shaft will be located?” His eyes flashed.

Jem lost his appetite at the memory. “The Belle diggings.”

“That’s right.” Pa pushed his plate back. It looked like he’d lost his appetite as well. And no wonder. Wu Shen’s kinfolk stood in the way of reopening the Midas mine. “Mr. Sterling wants his old mine back.”

“Can he do that?” Jem asked. He’d told Chad that Wu Shen’s folks owned the claim, but maybe Jem was wrong. Grown-ups could do a lot of things—especially important grown-ups. And Mr. Sterling was the most important grownup in Goldtown.

“No, he can’t,” Pa said. “Scavenger laws are binding, and the Wu claim is on the town books. I checked.”

Jem let out a quiet breath of relief, but it was short-lived. If Mr. Sterling could not go through his old mine for an air shaft, what would happen to the Midas? Or the town?

Pa was still talking, so Jem pricked up his ears and listened. Nathan and Ellie, who had been hungrily stuffing chicken and dumplings into their mouths, paused in their eating to listen too.

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