Buck Up (eBook)

CHAPTER 1

“So, do you have a wife?” Jodie asked his new friend.

“A wife?”

“Sure, a special lady you live with.”

“Well, I do have someone special in my life,” Nick acknowledged.

“Is she pretty?”

“No, not pretty, but she’s cute. She has big brown eyes and red curly hair. She and I have been together a long time.”

“What’s her name?”

“Cindy.”

Susanne, a fellow passenger, watched this exchange with interest. She knew Nick well, and she knew he had no wife; Cindy was his dog.

“What do you like best about Cindy?” Jodie asked.

“She loves me and is always glad to see me. Not everyone is.” Nick grinned.

“Is there anything you don’t like about her?”

Nick leaned forward confidentially and said, “She snores.”

Jodie giggled. Susanne suppressed a smile.

Nick held his finger up to his lips. “But if you meet her, don’t tell her I said that.”

“It’s our secret,” Jodie promised.

Nick smiled at the boy whose incessant chatter had kept him awake during most of the long journey. A Thomas Hardy novel rested on Nick’s lap but had mostly been unread. Instead, Nick had listened to the young boy and had even encouraged him by asking him questions.

Nick had not married and had no children of his own, but he seemed protective of the boy as an elder brother would be. He had seen that the boy had eaten when the stagecoach had stopped to change horses at the home stations. He had covered him with a blanket in the night when he slept. No one had gotten much sleep on the journey, especially those passengers sitting upright on the middle bench with no back support. Nick’s back ached, but he didn’t mention it. Nick had been so solicitous of both Susanne and Jodie that passengers entering the coach at various stations had incorrectly assumed the three were a family.

Four other passengers now shared the coach. One, a slovenly shopkeeper, had slept most of the way when he wasn’t taking a nip from the flask he kept in his pocket. Only once did he look up and admonish Jodie. “Stop that danged ruckus.” Then he fell back asleep. Nick looked at him sprawled in the corner taking up more room than he should. Nick found his soft snoring oddly comforting and hoped he would not awaken again before they reached their destination.

Susanne, the only woman in the group, had also started her journey in San Diego. She had enjoyed listening to the banter between Nick and his new, young friend. Nick was quick witted and quick with his words, but the boy also had a sharp mind and had readily traded barbs. Susanne had been in San Diego on business; she owned a photography studio in Bodie and was on her way home. She knew that Nick was also in San Diego, and although they had not planned to meet there, she was pleasantly surprised when they had ended up on the same stage for the return journey. The trip had been uncomfortable and tedious. Even the leather coach shades couldn’t keep the dust out, and Susanne could feel the grit inside the collar of her dress. She looked forward to a cleanup and a change of clothes. Now that the stage approached Bodie, the uneven road had become even rougher, and the passengers all held on and braced themselves. All except the shopkeeper who slept on. Whiskey is an effective sedative.

Jodie opened his mouth to speak, but Nick sidestepped his upcoming question with one of his own. “So, Jodie, you never did answer me. Why are you traveling alone? Who will meet you when you arrive?”

“My Aunt Tess is going to meet me. Or rather, I am to go find her. I don’t think she knows I’m coming. At least not yet. My mother told me to go find her and Annabelle.”

“Annabelle?”

“My cousin. I’ve never met her because she’s only four. She is Aunt Tess’s daughter.”

“When did you last see your aunt?”

“Not since I was a baby in Montana. It’s been years and years, so I know I won’t recognize her.”

“She won’t recognize you either,” Nick pointed out.

“Right. Tess is my mother’s younger sister. My mother put me on the stage and told me to find her in Bodie. I am to stay with her for a few months.”

“Nick,” Susanne interrupted. “You know so many people in town. Do you know this aunt of Jodie’s?”

Nick looked at Susanne. Then he looked at the boy as if he were making up his mind. Nick did not normally lie, but he lied now.

“I do know your Aunt Tess. Listen, Lad, I’m sorry to tell you this, but she isn’t in Bodie right now. She went away to visit friends and took Annabelle with her.”

Jodie looked alarmed. “How can that be? My mother specifically told me to stay with her until Mom gets better. She’s sick.”

Susanne leaned over and put her hand on Jodie’s shoulder. “Sick how? What’s the matter with her?”

Jodie looked unsure of himself now. “She has consumption. It’s a lung disease. She coughs a lot, and sometimes she spits up blood. Doc Murray is making her check into one of those hospitals called a sanitarium. He was going to drive her there himself. We had no idea where I should go, so Mom finally told me to go find my aunt in Bodie.”

Susanne asked, “Don’t you have other relatives to take you in?”

“No,” Jodie replied, “only my aunt.”

“Where is your father?” Nick wanted to know.

“I don’t know. He went off to the gold fields almost a year ago. He was going to find lots of gold, and we were going to be rich. He was going to get me a dog, and we were going to buy our own house.” Jodie sighed. “But we haven’t heard from him.”

Nick shook his head. “A year is a long time.”

Jodie wiped a tear away. “I’m afraid something has happened to him. He would have come home if he could have. He would never leave us because Mom depends on him so. He’s a great guy, but we haven’t heard from him.”

From the coach window, they could now see the bustling town of Bodie, and they could hear a thunderous roar. It was late afternoon, and the sun had begun to weaken on the high plain of this booming mining town on the California border.

“What’s that awful noise?” Jodie asked.

“It comes from the stamp mills. You are hearing the huge steel rods, called stamps, that fall and pound the ore after it is taken from the mines. By crushing the ore, it is easier to extract the gold. Look over there.” Nick pointed in the distance. “That’s the Standard Mill. It alone has twenty stamps.”

“When will the mill close for the night?” Jodie wanted to know. He was tired and knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep with all that noise.

“Sorry, but the mill never closes. That pounding noise will go on all the time you are here.”

Jodie looked bewildered. He knew nothing of mining, but he was naturally inquisitive. “How do the miners raise the heavy stamps, so they can fall on the ore?”

“It’s all done with a steam engine that lifts the big stampers. So, if you guessed that it requires a lot of water for the steam engine, you’re right.”

“And wood,” Susanne said. “Twenty cords of wood a day are needed to keep it working.”

Nick gazed at Susanne now as she sat next to Jodie. “Susanne, will you do me a favor? This young lad needs a place to sleep. Will you take him to the Manor and make sure he gets some dinner and a bed for tonight? I have a quick errand to run, but I will be along directly. I’ll take your bag and leave it off at your place. My errand is important. Do you mind?”

Susanne nodded her assent. “Sure, I’ll visit with Mary Kay and help her make up an extra bed. She will probably put Jodie in with Tristan.” Susanne handed Nick the key to her studio. Normally, she did not lock her door, nor did the townspeople lock their houses. However, a huge influx of men had converged on the town recently hoping for jobs in the mines. The pay of four dollars a day was good, even if the twelve-hour shifts were long. Unfortunately, there were more miners than jobs and not enough lodging to accommodate them all. Men could be found sleeping in doorways and under billiard tables. So, Susanne had locked up when she left town.

Nick thanked her and turned to Jodie. “You heard all that? What do you think? Mind bunking with us until we get your situation worked out?”

“No Sir. I would be greatly relieved. You’re nice to help me.”

“Yeah, yeah. I‘ll do what I can.”

Jodie looked hopeful. “Maybe you can find my aunt. Otherwise, I’m not sure where to go.”

The stagecoach stopped on Main Street. The weather was pleasant for April, and hundreds of residents congregated on the board sidewalks and out into the streets. Teams of mules, pulling a variety of freight, jammed the muddy streets. Saloons were busy as barkeeps poured shots of whiskey to men standing three-deep at the bars and as blackjack dealers shuffled cards. Nick could hear talking and laughter, and every so often he recognized voices he knew. Normally, he would have been right there with them drinking beer and telling stories.

Nick helped take the baggage down from the roof of the coach, thanked the driver for a safe trip, and picked up his bag and Susanne’s. Then, he knelt down in front of Jodie, put his hands on the boy’s shoulders, and looked him in the eye.

“Listen to me, Jodie. I have a piece of advice for you. You are a little boy. I think you said you were eleven on your last birthday. So, I need you to...