Arizona Desert.

The cut-off road he took to reach the junction at Aguila, he passed
another old mine and ghost town, called Robson's Mining World. They
had turned it into a tourist trap. They did have a small working
mine and mill, not open to the public, but the whole, old town had
been refurbished, and was open to all. They had a hotel, café,
mercantile, drug store, all working and usable. A lot of old mining
equipment and Indian artifacts were on display.
Real expensive place to go. He had read about it in a pamphlet from
the museum at Prescott.
Linc went on down the road and at the junction he turned right and
drove to the town of Aguila. There were two roads out of the town that
went to mines he wanted to check out, but for now, he decided to go on
through town and on down toward the town of Hope. He passed through
several small towns, that at one time had small mines, but nothing
that the head office would be interested in.
At Hope, he turned right at the junction and went down to where a
road crossed over the railroad tracks and went up into the mountains.
On up the road he came to a big gravel pit, and the road past it had
been closed, so he had to turn around and go back down to a side road
that went out around the pit area and then up into the mountains.
Going up the road he saw a man standing by a lane that went to a rock
cabin. Linc stopped to see if he needed help, and to ask questions
about the mines in the area as well. The old guy said he was waiting
for the sheriff. Said his name was Steve, and was the caretaker at
two of the mines. He had reported some trespassers that refused to
leave. They had set up dry washers on mine property.
Linc told him he was a geologist and was looking for property for a
mining company. He said he would like permission to do some
exploration work on them if possible. Steve asked him what his name
was, and when Linc told him, he also gave him a card of his. Steve
told him, he would take him on a tour of the mines if he wanted to
wait for the sheriff first. Linc said fine and a few minutes later the
sheriff's truck came up the road.
After Steve talked to the sheriff, he got into the truck with Linc
and they went to the first mine, called the Queen Bess. When the got
there they could see the sheriff's truck climbing up a steep hill to
where three ATV's were parked, by a deep wash that ran down the hill
past the mine itself. This mine was not fenced, but it was posted no
trespassing on the roads going into the property. There was also a
for sale sign, and a sign that told people to check with the
caretaker before entering.
They took one of the roads up to the mine itself. This mine had two
adits, the caretaker said. The first and oldest one was a vertical
shaft, that was now closed up. It had a metal chute, that mover all
the tailings down the hill so they wouldn't pile up below the shaft.
On the other side of the hill was a newer shaft. All of the old mine
buildings had been torn down. The mine had been closed since the war,
and had been dormant for about twenty years before the owner died and
left it to his Son. The Son tried to sell it for ten million and no
one would pay that much for it. He said he needed money so he sold off
all the buildings, equipment in them and everything in the mine as
well. Even the wiring, and air pipes. It was stripped except for the
ore itself. Steve told him when that owner died the mine went to his
Daughter, just four years ago. She had some exploratory work done,
and even though the price of gold had gone up, she had dropped the
price to five million.
At the main shaft, Steve unlocked the gate, then they went in a ways
and he unlocked the main adit door. Inside was a side room where
there were helmets with lights, and big flashlight too. Linc had
brought his geology pack with him as well. Steve gave him a
prospectus folder, that was on the shelf, and then they went on down
the tunnel. Linc could see there were an awful lot of drifts going
off in all directions. They did take a couple of them that Linc wanted
to check out. Right away, Linc could see that they had only high
graded the mine. There seemed to be a lot of paying ore that hadn't
been removed. With permission, he took samples, in several of the
drifts.
After looking around, they went back to the main adit, where they
found the Sheriff waiting. Linc was introduced, to Bruce, the
Sheriff. Steve told the Sheriff that Linc would be doing some
exploring in the area at both the mines with permission. Bruce told
Steve to call him if those guys came back, because he had told them
that they would be arrested if they came back again.
They had been getting away with going onto other claims in the area,
because the claim owners couldn't post the federal mining claims, and
he told them this mine was private property and it was posted no
trespassing, legally.
The guys were from the big RV park at Hope, and they had a great,
recirculation setup for processing all the buckets of dirt they were
taking from the claims. They had really been cleaning up, stealing
from the other miners. Steve said, from the looks of all the dirt
moved, this wasn't the first time they had been up there stealing
gold.
After Bruce left, they went on up to the next mine called the Blue Boy Mine.
There were still buildings at this mine and a big tank. There was a
leach pad with some un-leached ore still on it. There was an incline
tramway going across the big wash, the road, and up on the side of the
hill, across from the mine.. Steve said the main adit had caved in,
so they couldn't enter the mine itself. The area around the building
and leach pad was fenced and posted. Steve said the mine closed
during the war and was never reopened. About fifteen years ago, a
company had put in the leach pad and began reworking the milled
tailings. It turned out that was not as profitable as they had hoped
it would be and they closed down.
Linc told Steve he was only interested in what ore might be on the old
tailing piles and what might still be in the hill around it.
Linc took Steve back to his cabin. On the way back he told Linc about
how the law that the claim miners couldn't live on their claims
anymore, really put a burden on the owners to keep people out of their
claims when they were not there working it. It may have stopped
snow-birds from filing paper claims to get a spot to stay for the
winter, but hurt the legitimate ones.
Steve said he could see that Linc was set up for camping in his
pickup, and was given permission to camp there by his cabin if he
wanted to. Linc said he would rather go back up and park by the main
adit at the mine, because he would like to check out the area around
it. He would camp up there. Linc got Steve's telephone number too, in
case he ran into those men from the RV park.
Back up at the adit, he checked all around and picked up samples. Took
pictures. He could see as far as the RV park at hope, and the small
RV park down at the road that came over the railroad tracks. He could
also see several mining claims down on the desert floor, where miners
were running dry washers, in some washes down below, on the desert
floor area.
Linc went back to the truck, locked it up and then went to the
retreat. A lot more comfortable staying there than trying to fix
something to eat, and sleeping in the back of the truck.
Linc and Angel spent five days resting and playing at the retreat,
before going back to the truck.
At the truck, the sun was just beginning to come up. Linc could see
down on the desert why Steve didn't see or hear the ATV's from Hope.
They were coming across the desert , after going under the railroad
tracks and then coming up the side wash to the mine, bypassing the
road past Steve's cabin.
Linc watched them come right back to the mine property, so he called
Steve, and told him.
Linc got in the truck and drove on up to the Blue Boy mine. He got
samples, took pictures, and got the GPS readings, before leaving to
go to Swansea area. Going past the Queen Bess, he could see police
trucks with trailers, loading up the ATV's, and a van held the men who
drove them in. He saw Steve sitting on his ATV, watching the whole
operation. He waved to Linc as he went past.
Back at the highway, Linc went on down the road to the next town and
took a poor dirt road out across the desert toward the ghost town of
Swansea. After about a mile of bad road, it went up onto the old
railroad grade. This was a much smoother road now, because it was
used by all the snowbirds who ran their ATV's on it.
When Linc got to the base of the mountains, he could see that there
were four mines in the area. There were no building of any kind. He
could see that one mine had a smelter, at one time, because there
was a massive slag pile. Linc checked out all the tailing piles, the
slag pile, took pictures and lots of samples from all the mines and
slag pile too. This was all old copper mines that carried gold. As
well. Since this area was far from any town, it could be open pitted.
That would be the best way to go he thought, but that was up to the
head office. It looked good to him anyway. Linc had spent three days
exploring the area, before heading off to Aguila.
Back at Aguila, he took a road to the right, and went out that road
about ten miles or so, where he saw some huge piles of milled
tailings. He went up a bad road to some manganese mines. One small
one was an open pit, down close to a wash. The others were up on the
side of the hill. The roads to them was washed out, so Linc parked
the truck, took his pack and he and Angel hiked up and did his geology
thing for each of them. This too was an area that could be open
pitted, since there were no towns around anywhere.
The guy at the museum had told him that a company had started to take
the milled tailind to a smelter many miles away to have them processed
for the gold left in tnem. But the environmentalists closed the
smelter. So that ended that operation. Linc thought if they were able
to do that and still make a profit, there must still be a lot of gold
still left in the mill railings. He wondered why the mines didn't
have a smelter of their own. Who knows? What info he did have on the
three mines didn't say when they were closed, or who owned them now.
He decided to check at the library he saw when he came thru town.
After doing everything he had to do he went back to the town of
Aguila, across the highway and railroad tracks up another road to a
road that went up a wash He stopped here to put the truck into four
wheel drive to go up the wash. It was quite sandy, but he could see
where it was well driven from all the tracks in it. About two miles
up it, it finally came up out of the wash and onto solid ground. Up
about another half mile he came to a big forest service sign, that had
a map showing all the roads in the area. Seems there are a lot of
hunters, campers and ATV riders that frequent the area. There was
also a bunch of towers on top of the tallest mountain.
Linc took the best traveled road that went up to the towers. About a
half mile up this road, he came up a hill to the base of a small
mountain that had at least from whit he could see three shafts going
into the side of it.
There was places to camp all over the area, so he pulled off into one,
next to an ATV road going up the hill. He had already passed three
other roads going up the hill as well. The whole area was covered with
Paloverde trees, scrub oak brush and lots of cactus.
He didn't see another soul anywhere. This wasn't hunting or camping
season anyway, maybe that's why. It was getting late in the day, so
Linc set up his lawn chair by the fire pit, and made a small fire in
it. He sat there a while til it began to get a bit dark, locked up,
and went to the retreat.
After getting cleaned up, fixing supper for him and Angel, he went to bed.
After breakfast the next morning he went into his office to process
some of the stuff he had already accumulated. The bag he had put the
milled tailings from the manganese mine area, had to be put into a
plastic bag because it was dusty. He processed all the pictures and
put them with the reports he had already done. He would leave all this
at the retreat.
He and Angel spent three days resting up before going back to the truck.
Whoa! This was a surprise. The truck was surrounded with wild
donkeys. They were startled as much as the donkeys were. Angel let
out a bark and started to chase after, but Linc called her back. Linc
was about to unlock the truck when he looked up and saw a blue portal.

To be continued.

Arizona

When Gus called he told Linc he was sending the paperwork for the mine
shares, a list of the areas the main office wanted him to check out,
and a check for expenses. He figured that he wouldn't fly down and
rent a car because of the rugged terrain the areas were in. He
figured he would want to drive down and go from there. Linc said that
was what he was planning on, because of Angel. She went with him
everywhere now. Gus said he was sending the stuff down with a guy from
town so he should get it all tomorrow. Linc said thanks, he would be
looking for him.
Linc decided to clean out the truck and get some of his things packed.
He would have to pick up a bundle of stakes and some more flagging,
when he got to Arizona.
He put both of his packs in the truck along with a small tent and
sleeping bag in case he needed them. He knew he could always go to
the retreat if he really wanted to, but you never know for sure what
you could run into, when out scouting around. He packed a bag of dog
food for Angel and some snacks for the pack, along with some water for
them. He also took the gun he had before. Never know what animals he
might run into down there.
The Guy from town brought down the package, but it was too late in the
day for Linc to start for Arizona.
He took the papers for the mine shares to the office then to the
retreat and put them in the desk there. He thought about getting a
frame for it and putting it on the wall there in his office. He was
feeling pretty smug about it.
The next morning early, he hugged Lucas, and told him he would keep in
touch with him, and then he and Angel left for Arizona.
Looking at the areas they wanted him to check out, he could see they
were not all far from Prescott, Arizona. He had never been down this
way before so he was surprised to find it was in the mountains. It
was a lot warmer there than up in Goldfield, so he would have ho
trouble camping out if need be, but only if he had to.
He found the Lowes store and got the stakes and flagging. Went to the
BLM office and got maps, and talked to one of the gals that worked
there, about the mines up where the office wanted him to check out.
She told hem he was lucky there, because there had been a forest fire
in the area the year before, so there was a whole lot less vegetation
to contend with. She also told him about the fires they had over by
the town of Cherry that he was to check out. She said there were no
working mines near Prescott because if the environmentalists...He
asked her if she knew about any mines on the desert, and got some maps
of the areas that he had researched on the web before he left home.
He saw that there had been a lot of mines in some areas down there in
the early days. What was best, there were a lot of places to check
out that were not close to any towns. Some of the very old ones were
in remote places. That was good if there were any that could be
reopened or if there were still any good reserves left in them. He
had sent for some prospectus on three of them, and two looked ok . He
would check them out.
He thanked the gal for the info and went to a local hotel and parked
and locked the truck and then went to the retreat. The truck would be
safe in their parking lot and he really wanted a good dinner, a hot
bath and some clean clothes as well as a couple of days rest, that he
could only get there, with the time element.
While at the retreat, he went over the maps of the area above
Prescott, up in the more rugged places. There were very few roads in
most of the areas, but with the fires up there, they may have pushed
in a few. He wouldn't know til he got up that way. One place was on
the other side of a town on the top of the mountain. There were quite
a few old mines in the area. He would have to check them out. He
wondered if they were out of reserves or were closed during the war
years and never reopened. He thought maybe he better go the museum
and check out some of the history of the area, but you would think the
head office had done that already. Who knows? The gal at the BLM
office said they had a lot of info and pictures at the museum there in
Prescott, on the mining history. The gal told him they opened at ten
in the morning.
Linc had to stay at the retreat until he could go back for the truck
at about nine thirty Prescott time. He and Angel got a lot of rest
and some play time too. Angel was good at catching the frizby now, but
she will not run after it if it goes out in the water too far. She
had never really gotten over nearly drowning. She went in for a swim
if Linc went in but never alone. Just as well he thought.
Down at the museum, he looked for the pictures of the old mines.
There was an older gent who was very knowledgeable about the old
mines, and he gave Linc some pamphlets on a lot of them . He also
told Linc thet he thought the mining days were over for the Prescott
area Too many of the old mines have been reclaimed, and sold to
people who have turned then into housing additions. Lots of small
homes and cabins are bought by people from the Phoenix area for summer
places to get away from the heat of the desert. Way too many he said
for the people who want to go to the mountains to camp and hunt He
told linc, a man used to be able to go hunting anywhere up there, but
now so many areas are closed to hunting with all the new houses. A
man used to take a gold pan and go just about anywhere up there and
get some gold, but now they have stopped a lot of it because the
creeks are next to so many new houses. People now days just have no
idea how much nicer it was before all the people moved in. He shook
his head and apologized for being so outspoken, but Linc told him he
was glad to know all this. It will save him a lot of trouble looking
for some of the places.
Linc went up into the mountains, and found one place the main office
wanted him to check out, was now under construction of a new hiking
trail, that will go right past one reclaimed mine. If the owners of
that mine was holding out for a buyer for a housing development, they
are going to be surprised there. The only other interesting mine in
the Bradshaw range was on the other side of the mountain from
Prescott. That mine hadn't been reclaimed as yet. Linc couldn't get
anywhere near it for all the fences, and no trespassing signs. He
pulled out a pamphlet for the area and found that this particular mine
was under a litigation of some kind. Something the head office will
have to check out. He just knew he wasn't able to
Back over the mountain, and over another mountain on the other side of
Prescott was the last mine in this area for him to check.
It was too late in the day for him to try and go there so he went back
into town and parked the truck at another hotel and went to the
retreat.
After a few days there, he went back early in the morning to get the
truck and go over to the other side, to the Copper Basin mine. This
was an old copper mine, that had been reclaimed and it too was fenced
and posted, no trespassing everywhere. He saw two older guys gold
panning in the creek below the road past the mine, so he stopped and
talked to them. One old guy knew a woman who used to work in the
office of the mine when it was open. He said she told him when the
mine pettered out somewhat, they wanted to open pit the mine but the
environmentalists blew that idea out of the water. The guy also told
him that all the free gold in the creek was from old ancient river
gravels, that went over the top of the mountains millions of years
ago. He told Linc, two old timers that used to live up there,
dredged the creek, back before the mine took over all of their claims.
The only gold in this mine was with the copper, and they had a smelter
to get it. Not heavy in gold. A big mining company own the mine now,
and they are holding on to it to use for collateral when they need a
loan or something. That big mansion you passed up there on the hill
used to be just a small mine. You are wasting your time here buddy if
you think this will ever open as a mine again. In time it will just
be another housing addition. People still get a little gold here and
there on this creek, if they are willing to move some dirt to get to
it. Some days good, some days not so good. Linc asked them about the
gold mines out by Cherry. They told him there are no working mines
that have not been reclaimed for housing. There are a couple of
creeks that have panning claims on them, but more gold found right
here. Waste of time looking out that way. Your best bet is down on
the desert. Darn few people want to live down there. Lots of old
mines and creeks to find gold in but only when you have water or a
metal locator. If you are looking for free gold, try around Hope. If
looking for lode gold, go on down to the next town and take the old
road out to Swansea. Still some good old mines out that way. Yep,
Linc said, "I heard them, and was going to head out that way next" .
The old guy told Linc, if he was still looking in this area, go on up
the road, and when you have passed the second gate on your right, take
the next road to the right. Back in about a half mile you will come
to an old mine with an incline shaft. Whole thing full of water. The
road takes you across the old tailings . I have panned the creek that
runs out of the mine, under the road, down over the tailings, and
into an old creek bed. and got a few pickers and such. Trouble is,
it's a nasty climb up and down that hill, back to your rig. This was
not a big mine, and I can't remember the name of it. Back to the road
and on down it farther are two more mines one reclaimed and back to
the forest service, and the other is now a homestead. The road will
take you on down to Kirkland. Turn left and it will take you to a
junction . Right one will go to a big open pit copper mine at
Bagdad, and left will take you back to highway 85. At the junction,
left to Prescott, or right, to the desert. Linc thanked the old guys
and went on up the road. The road they said to turn on, was right on
the top of a ridge. He turned there and found the mine they were
talking about. He pulled off onto the tailing pile and got out to
take a look around. The mine shaft was just off an old creek bed It
probably had water underground most of the time and now it was running
through the mine itself. They must have had a hard time working it
back in the old days. Maybe in the summer the water was lower in the
mine and they had some pumps that could handle it. Some of the ore on
the tailings looked ok but this would be a very expensive mine to ever
reopen. This area would even be hard to reclaim because it was in a
wash to narrow to do anything with, even if they wanted to turn it
into a housing development. Mountain too steep too, that's why the
road went across the old tailings. Old guy said they made the road
there, to get to the timber in the area.
Back at the road, he turned right and went down the hill. He could
see the remains of an old rock cabin up on a hill, and just below
that was nun old road that had been kelly hunpped three times, and an
old sign that said,
Old Navy Mine. On past it, down the road a bit farther was the
mine, turned homestead. The house and outbuilding were quite old.
Looked like they raised a lot of pigs and some horses.
The creek that drained from the incline mine and all the other
drainages went passed this old homestead. It was deep here because
the canyon had narrowed down quite a bit from the top. Past the
homestead the creek dropped off a great deal, and ran through a
narrow spot. Linc could look down to the creek that was running good
and he could see four guys had a small dredge in it, working by the
boulders . He could also see the remains of an old ore hauler that
had went over the steep hillside into the creek, and they had never
taken it out. It was very old looking, and the motor was the only
thing rescued from it.
Going on down a road that wound along the canyon wall he finally came
out on a ridge top over looking the town of Skull Valley. The road ran
down one ridge after another til it reached the valley floor.
At the end of the road, he turned left and went back to highway 85.
When he got to that junction, he could look up on the mountain and see
an open pit gold mine that was still working. All other mines in this
area are now private property, the old gent at the museum told him.
Linc turned right here and went down to the desert.

When he reached the valley floor from the top of the pass, he went
past a road the went to the town of Stanton It and others in the area
had been turnd into huge camping spots that have recreational gold
panning on their creeks. No more working gold mines here There was
one old mine that had been re-running tailings from another mine that
had been closed by environmentalists

He drove on into the town of Congress, turned there onto the road
that went through the place and out toward California and the desert.

To be continued.

Lucas sees the cabin

Lucas see's the cabin.

The next morning, Linc went back to the farm to get Lucas.
While Lucas was packing a bag, Linc gathered up some old newspapers,
got meat from the freezers, eggs, some jam and fruit from the cellar
and then told John and Trudy to follow them up to see the cabin.
Trudy went ahead and fixed a big picnic lunch and then they all went
up to the new cabin.
Linc called Axel when they were almost there, then Fannie put on a pot
of coffee, and Axel built a fire in the fireplace and opened the doors
to let the sunlight in through the storm doors. The smell of perked
coffee and wood smoke, made it seem just like old times.
As they drove in next to the cabin, Lucas gazed in awe. A log cabin
with a fireplace . Looks nice. He smiled broadly. Linc saw this and
remembered how hard the three of them had worked in the last couple of
days. While Fannie had arranged the furniture, put bulbs in the lams,
washed all the new dishes and put them away, arranged the pantry and
laid rugs, he and Axel had cleaned up the outside, finished the picnic
table, trunk, and put shelves in the out house for toilet paper and so
forth, hung a deodorizer, and installed a battery powered light. It
too had been painted an off white inside.

John and Trudy had driven in behind them.
They all went inside the cabin. It was very light in there with the
open storm doors, the window in the bunk room and the window in the
loft.
Lucas was smiling as he went around touching things, and shaking his
head. He went and stood in front to the fireplace and held out his
hands. When he turned around, there were tears flowing down his face.
Axel went to him and put his arms around him and patted him on the
back and said, " Linc did a fine job here, didn't he Papa"? Lucas
wiped his eyes on his forearm and said, "He sure did. Makes me
proud to be his Grandpa. I am so happy with the place. I'm glad I
trusted him to do it. I just couldn't face doing it again.". Linc and
Fannie went to them and they had a big hug around. John and Trudy
clapped their hands and told Linc the cabin looked very nice.
After checking the place out, and putting the food stuff away that
Linc had brought from the farm, they all went and sat in front of the
fire place with coffee cups in hand, and talked.
A couple of days later, Linc and Axel went to town and got the ATV. A
four seat, and a trailer, to be delivered the next day. They got two,
five gallon cans of gas as well.
The next day after the ATV was delivered, they went to the retreat with it.
At the retreat, Angel ran up and down the beach like a crazy dog. You
could see how happy she was to be here., in fact they all were a bit
glad to be here in the warm sunlight after the coolness at the cabin.
While Fannie fixed lunch, the guys sassed up the ATV and tried it out.
Later they moved things around in the office to make room for the roll
top desk, then went to the cave to get it. They got the desk onto
the trailer and took it up to the house where they put it in the
office. Then Linc hung the dueling pistols above it, on the wall.
He got the box with the enameled metal box and the plastic cases with
the diamonds in it and they went and sat at the patio table. Linc
took the enameled box out first and showed it to Axel and Fannie.
Then he took the plastic cases out and opened them up. Axels eyes
bugged out and he let out a long whistle. He said, "man when you
fall into it, you really fall into it. These things must be worth a
fortune, and not a small one either". So very beautiful even with the
poor cutting job, and each a different color. Fannie asked if he knew
just how many carets each one weighed. Linc told her that Uncle
Vernon had weighed them and all total they weighed they weighed close
to a hundred carets. He told her the caret weight of each of them was
on a tag on the bottom of the box they were in. Fannie turned the
box of the blue one she was holding and said, "Oh my God!….This one
alone is worth millions. I can hardly believe it. And I hope you are
going to let my office dispose of them"? Linc said, "as things stand
right now, you can dispose of the last of the French money, but I
think I will hold off selling the stones for a while. You might put
out some feelers though, about that one. They are safe to keep here
on the island since no one can come here". Fannie just shook her head
and looked at the bottom of each of the boxes. At the last and
largest stone, she squealed, and said, " makes me wonder if anyone
has this much money laying around. It's such a beauty even with those
two very tiny black specks at the rim. It would really need to be
re-cut, there is hardly any flash. You can see the old timers, cut for
weight, not beauty. These stones must be very, very old". Linc told
her that Uncle Vernon thought they may have come from Russia. Maybe
stolen by a Mongol from some old Tsar or other old leader, since
Roland Hankes had gotten them from a Mongol concubine. He told her he
didn't care where they come from, they were his now. Axel had to
joke and say, " I'm going to retire next year, maybe I should come
and follow you around. Maybe get in on one of these things too".
Fannie said, " oh no you don't. I don't retire til the year after,
then we will do it together. Might as well get Dad here in on it to
while we are at it". Linc had to smile at this. He said, " most of
the time it is just work. You would get bored real quick following me
around the hills and deserts looking for some kind of minerals someone
wants to file claims on or buy. I never know when I might stumble on
a portal to somewhere, and they are not always a great place to be. I
have had some real close calls on a few of them, and just got back
through the portal in time. I think I have told you about most of the
trips I have went on. One must have been a real bad place, because
Angel refused to go and she barked and barked at me when she thought I
might go into it. I think I trust her enough to know when something
smells bad". At hearing her name, Angels ears perked up, and she
looked at everyone.

The next day they took the ATV down to the other end of the island.
The fruit trees were loaded, but still green The coconuts were still
too small to see just how many there were. They did find some berries
that looked and tasted a lot like raspberries. Axel and Linc decided
to take a swim in the pool, so Fannie and Lucas picked a bunch of
berries.
They really enjoyed themselves for a week, then went back to the cabin.
After a couple more days there, Axel said they were going to head back
to Vegas. The law office had called. Seems no one could find
anything. Axel said he was glad he was going to retire. The stress
of the last couple of years had been wicked. He told Linc that the
time spent at the retreat did wonders for him. Fannies said she could
second that too. Axel said he would like to come back in the fall when
the family came and all of them go to the retreat, since he and Linc
got the solar panels up and the cave all wired up, the crypt and last
room in the hall boarded up , the bunks made for the rooms in the
cave, and now there was room for everyone, to have a place to sleep.
It would be great to have the whole family together at one time.
The next day after Axel and Fannie left, Lucas decided he would get up
early, put on a pot of coffee, then build a fire in the fireplace.
When Linc got up, he joined Lucas in front of the fire. Lucas was
smiling. He looked at Linc and said, "see, haven't lost the touch.
I wanted to see if it was any harder than before, and find now I don't
have to go down to the creek to get water, it's a lot nicer. I think
I can get used to this. In fact I really like what you have done. I
know I could spend time alone here even now. This fireplace seems to
warm the place up faster the old stove did". . Linc said, I didn't
tell you before, but the Chinese jerks had set a dynamite charge in
the old stove and blew it bits. They put one in the trunk too, but
the sharp edge on the lid cut the fuse and it didn't go off. Axel,
completely refinished the old thing, oiled the rollers, and I got a
pad for the top so it can be used for extra seating. He did a great
job on it too". Lucas said, I noticed that it looked like a new one, I
didn't know it was the old one. Now I really glad it was saved. Sure
used it a lot to store the bedding and stuff it to keep it dry and to
keep the mice and rats out of it". Linc told him that it still is
used for extra bedding, and now the other stuff is put into drawers,
and no mice can get in here now.
As they sat in front of the fire, drinking coffee, the sun came up and
Linc opened the door to let the warm sunlight come in through the
storm door.. He asked Lucas if he was going to make breakfast too?
Lucas said he wasn't going to go that far this morning, he was getting
used to being waited on hand and foot.
After breakfast and cleanup, they were sitting by the fire when Gus
called. He told Linc that the home office had done some testing on
the last desert site he had flagged, They like it and have their
legal team working on a claim. None of the other desert finds were
good enough after testing, to do anything with, but the place below
the mine at the bottom of the mountain, was. They have filed on it.
The mine itself turned out to be a fantastic find. The legal team was
able to buy it outright for back taxes. The company is very pleased
with what they found in it. Head office said you wanted stock in it,
and they have granted you ten shares. Gus said he would send out the
paperwork on it right away. Linc smiled broadly, raised his fist and
yelped, yes!, yes!, I knew it. Gus told him they were so pleased
with his work, they were thinking of sending him down to Arizona to
check out some other links they have heard about. Linc said to tell
them thanks, and let him know where and when.
After he hung up, he told Lucas what the call was about.
Back at the farm, Linc went with John to get four little pigs to
raise. The next day they gathered up all the old layer hen and took
them to the butcher and picked up feed for the pigs and the new
chickens that had started to lay. They still had a few old layers
The young cow was giving a lot of milk and the older cow was about to
have a calf.
Linc told John if he and Trudy wanted to spend a few days at the
cabin, to go ahead and do it because he had time to do chores now
before the mine sent him ti Arizona, so they went the next morning.
Linc and Lucas had no trouble taking care of things until they got back.
The next morning they had a new calf. The old cow was now ten years
old,. Good thing the new calf was a female. Going to have to turn the
old cow into meat for the freezer. John said he was going to fatten
her up after one more year. Later that day, Gus called about Arizona.
To be continued.

Home again.

Back at the farm, Linc asked Lucas if he would like to go and open
the cabin in a couple of days. Lucas said it was fine with him, he
was anxious to see the new landscaping that the guy from the mine did
after they closed the cabin last fall.
Linc went to the office and called Axel to see how his time was.
Fannie too. Told him he was going up to the cabin in a few days, and
thought maybe he would get the ATV he wanted and take it up there,
ready to take to the retreat when they were able to come up for a mini
vacation. He also told him he got the solar panels and stuff to put
lights in the cave. Axel told him he was tying some things up and
might be ready to drive up in a week or so. He would let him know for
sure , just when. Linc asked to talk to Fannie, and asked her if she
would see if any of her contacts were interested in buying some of the
French money because he wanted to get an ATV. He said he could get
one now, but would cut him a bit short, but not broke. Fannie said
That the guy who bought the last ones, was asking about them because
he knew she had more of them. Sad she was going to call him about
them when the guy upped the amount he would pay for them. She said
there was another guy who was interested too. Linc said he would mail
them down to her in the next few days, when he got back into town.
Next Linc wrote down all that he had heard the time master tell his
son, and faxed it to his Dad. Told him about both of the portals, and
what he saw there. He also asked him what his views were on what the
time master said. He remembered when he was a kid and he talked to
his Dad about how the pyramids were made when in school they told
them the Egyptians made them, and how they figured it was done.
Linc talked with Trudy about Lucas's birthday that was coming up in
two days. He would be ninety years old. He didn't want to plan a
party but he was going to take him up to the cabin for a couple of
days. Maybe she could make him a birthday cake.. He knew everyone
would call him on his birthday so he planned to go to the cabin the
day after it.
Lucas had a lot of birthday calls, and was in good spirits when they
took the clean bedding and food for a couple of days and went up to
the cabin.
At he gate, Linc saw that it was standing wide open. Oh, oh, he
thought, this don't look good at all. He drove on up to the cabin and
was shocked to find nothing but a big pile of rubble and stuff
scattered all over the area.
Lucas got out of the truck and staggered over to where the cabin had
been, and stood there, tears flooding his eyes. Linc ran over to him,
and saw the color drain from his face. He grabbed him, touched the
broach and said retreat.
At the retreat, he sat Lucas on a lounge in the sunlight and sat there
with him until he started to get some color back in his face. Lucas
said, " who in the world hates me that much? Who would do something
like this to me? He shook his head and told Linc he didn't think it
was his old prospecting partner, because he would just move in and
pretend the place was his".
Linc went in and fixed Lucas a hot toddy and brought it out to him.
Lucas was staring off out over the ocean and petting Angel, who had
put her head on his knee. Linc told him to drink it while he went back
to get the hidden, motion activated cameras. Maybe they would show
what had happened. Lucas said he hoped so because he was going to kill
who ever did it, if he could.
Linc went and got the cameras and brought them back. He downloaded
the pictures onto the computer and showed Lucas what had happened. In
the first set of pictures showed the blue van driving up to the gate,
opening it and driving through. The next showed the three Chinese
men. Who were killed in the cave in, going to the cabin. The next
showed them by the cabin lighting fuses, and the explosion. "Well,
said Linc, I don't think you need to kill them after all. Looks like
Karma did it for you". Lets go back and get some pictures of the big
mess and take it all to town to the Sheriff's office.

When the Sheriff saw the pictures he started cussing. "I knew those
damn Chinese were up to no good the minute the came back into town.
I'm glad they are dead, so they can't bug anyone any more. Couldn't
have happened to any one else better. I want to get these pictures
copied and send them to the lawyers in Carson City for the trial of
that last killer.

The whole office expressed sympathy to Lucas for the cabin.
Linc went to the post office and mailed the rest of the French money
to Fannie's office. Told her he needed the funds for a new cabin.

They went on back to the farm and told John and Trudy what happened.
After some lunch, while Lucas took a nap, Linc called Axel and told
him what happened. Told him to bring his motor home up so they would
have a place to stay while the new cabin was built. Linc told Axel he
was going to make arrangements to have a firm in town put one up.
They said they could do it in a couple of weeks. Axel said, "we will
be coming up there in about two weeks from today. I've got to call
Dad and tell him how sorry I am".
Linc contacted the outfit that thought they could build the cabin and
told them he would be in town and finalize the deal on Monday, since
today was Saturday.
Monday, Linc told Lucas what he was going to do in town, and Lucas
said, " go to it. I will let you take care of everything, I can't
seem to forget the old place. Too many memories there. I'll just sit
here and read the papers and watch tv. I trust you to do it alone.".
Linc and Angel went into town. He knew that the mess had to be
cleaned up first, before any construction could ever begin. As he was
going up the road, he got a phone call from Gus. Gus told him he had
talked to the sheriff, and some of the guys around town got together
and are on their way up to the cabin site to help him get it ready for
any new construction. Linc had to smile at that and went up to the
cabin instead.
There were a dozen men and a big dozer already on the way up the
road to the cabin. The men started right away to clear out what they
could from the mess. They could see that the Chinese had set one
charge in the stove itself. Set a charge in the cupboard, and one in
the big old steamer trunk, they kept the bedding and towels in. it
didn't go off because the old trunk had a sharp rim on the lid. When
the lid was closed, it cut the fuse. When they opened the trunk They
could see three sticks of dynamite. One of the men said, I just wish
each one of those Chinese had one of these up his butt when the cave
in happened. The trunk had been over against a wall that had fell
over into it, protecting it from the winter snow. The men pulled out
a plastic tote that had been under a bunk, that had all the cast iron
fry pans and dutch oven stored in it. They were ok.
There were men stacking the old pile of firewood and then they put the
old trunk by it and covered it and other salvaged stuff, with some
boards and metal roofing that was still usable.
Linc saw that someone had started a fire in the new fire pit and other
men were breaking up and burning as much of the wood just lying
around. Another man was sawing up some of the old logs that had been
in the walls, while a couple of others were stacking them over by the
fire pit,. Another man was picking up all the glass and smaller
pieces of metal he could find, and putting them in a plastic bucket.
There were a few of the plastic buckets that had been stored in the
shed behind the cabin, that were still usable, but the old BBQ was a
casualty of the blast. Linc was glad he had remembered to take the
propane tank when he left the cabin last fall. After they had salvaged
what they could, one of the men started up the dozer and went down
toward the blackberry patch and dug a hole, then pushed all the rest
of the debris, and the old outhouse, down into it and covered it up.
Then he came back and leveled u[ a big spot for a new cabin. By this
time, Linc had profusely thanked some of the men for coming out to
help, and they had left. He and Gus talked about what had been done
Linc said he had worried about the clean up, but thought maybe the
construction crew might help him. Gus started laughing, and said, "
funny you should mention that bunch, because one of them should be
here in a few minutes to get measurements and ideas for your new
cabin. I called him, I hope you are not mad about it. Sheriff told
me you had contacted them, so I took the liberty to try and help you
there. The owner's wife is a good friend of Annie's, and the gals
talked about it, then to me and the boss".
Linc told Gus he wasn't mad, he was overwhelmed that every one had
done so much to help him and Lucas. Gus just patted him on the back
and told him that Lucas had made a lot of friends since he came to
Goldfield. He was very well liked. He told Linc he was well liked in
town too.
A truck drove in about two minutes later, and a couple of guys got
out, came over and shook hands all around. Gus knew them and made the
introductions. One of the guys had a portfolio that he opened on the
hood of his truck, and asked Linc to look through it and see if there
was anything in there he liked. As Gus and the two men talked, Linc
went through the book and saw what he had in mind. He didn't want a
big place, but he did want more space than before and more sleeping
areas. He chose a small two room cabin with a sleeping loft. One big
room ,with kitchen area, and a fireplace. A smaller room with two
bunks. The loft would have two bunks, and there could be a couch that
made into a bed in the main room. A pantry could be under the steps
to the loft. All this on a concrete floor, and well insulated.
He showed the men what he had in mind, and they went to work measuring
the area that was cleared. Figured it would work out fine with out
taking down the big old tree that shaded the old cabin. They talked
to the dozer owner and told him they wanted him up the next day with a
small back hoe., He said he would do it then loaded up the dozer and
left. The boss from the construction crew told Linc they would be
there first thing in the morning.
The next morning Linc was up at the cabin site early, when the truck
with the back hoe and the construction crew arrived. There was a huge
load of planks that some of the men unloaded while others set stakes
for the man with the back hoe to use to dig for the foundation. When
the foundation was dug, the crew set to work putting in the planks.
The man with the back hoe dug two deep holes. One for the new out
house and one for the new dry well. Then he went down to the creek
and dug a ditch for the new waterline to the cabin. All this done,
the crewman head said the cement trucks would be up the next morning
at about eight . Linc said he would be there.
Linc had to smile when he thought about the new cabin. He hadn't told
Lucas anything about it. He thought, Gramps will really be surprised
with it.
The cabin was going to be almost twice as large as the old one. It
will have small kitchen appliances like one would find in a trailer
or motor home, that run on propane. There would be a sink with water
pumped from the creek. A kitchen work bar. Solar powered lights, and
new comfortable furniture by a new fireplace. All cupboards, cabinets,
bunks and shelves were made of pine, with clear finish. Fake rock to
cover the fireplace
They were almost done with the fireplace when Axel and Fannie arrived.
The next day they drove up to the cabin in the motor home The main
part of the cabin was done and all appliances were installed. The
floor looked like pine boards The wiring done and the solar panels
up and running. The new outhouse was in place. The sleeping loft and
the bunks had yet to be done.
Fannie said she had gotten some really good money for the French bills
and still had two left. More than enough to pay for the cabin and an
ATV. The office she worked for liked the cut they got too. Linc told
them that was good because he still had to get everything to furnish
the place, and make it livable.
Linc had brought his truck up too, and they went into town to shop.
Linc and Fannie had made a long list of everything needed to furnish
the place. The furniture was to be delivered, and the rest was loaded
into the truck, along with three new propane tanks, and got them
filled. A couple of days later, everything was finished and the whole
place painted an off white. The exterior had a fake log cabin siding.
The crew had made an eight foot picnic table and benches for the new
concrete patio that Linc sanded and varnished while Axel refurbished
the steamer trunk.
Two days later, the furniture was delivered and placed in the main
room. Linc and Fannie made up the two bunks in the bedroom, and the
hide-a-bed. Linc put the bedding for the loft bunks in the drawers
under them. Axel laid a fire in the fireplace, ready to go. And
carried in fire wood to fill the wood box next to it. This new cabin
had two doors One with storm door going out to the patio that would
be used for the entry, and another with a storm door just below the
steps to the loft. The last thing to do was to go food shopping that
they did the next morning.
After everything was put away, they were all tired. Linc planned to go
get Lucas the next morning. To be continued.