the gold pan and was
off. While it was warm in the sun, there were several high, puffy
white clouds dotting the blue expanse. A slight breeze skipped
across the grass; the air in the shade a few degrees cooler than
previous days. A cooling trend coming in, she thought.
Going directly to her usual spot, Amanda
began the now familiar task.
Time slid by. Unaware of passing minutes,
Amanda contentedly washed gravel and grit patiently with pan after
pan of water. Twice she thought she spotted gold flecks, carefully
claiming them from the pan bottom and placing them in the small
vial she carried.
One of the harmless clouds drifted in front
of the sun, shading the patch of creek bed Amanda was working on.
Immediately, she felt cooler. The mountain air itself was not warm;
the sun gave the day the warmth she’d been enjoying. In the shade,
the water also felt colder, turned dark gray.
Glancing up, Amanda was reassured. It was a
brief interlude; already the cloud was moving on, releasing the sun
to resume its warming functions.
A short time later Amanda stood up,
stretching. Her back ached a little, her hands were cold. She
leaped to the shore, wandering a few feet upstream to an area
fairly free of rocks. She sat down, stretching her legs out before
her, leaning back to soak up the sun's rays. She took off her hat,
using it as a pillow, lay back down. The sun was hot on her face,
her arms, her legs. Slowly she relaxed, easing the tight muscles
across her shoulders, easing away tension. The creek played a
gentle music. Amanda dozed.
A shadow covered her face, blocking the sun's
warmth again. She frowned a little. If the cloud blocked all of the
sun, she'd start to get cold. Squinting, she looked up to judge how
large this cloud was, startled to find herself gazing into Mac's
amused face.
'Taking a sun bath?' he asked politely, his
eyes taking in her recumbent figure.
She shook her head, scrambling to sit up,
feeling decidedly at a disadvantage as he squatted down beside her.
She put her hat back on, noticing Mac's horse tethered to a nearby
shrub.
'I didn't hear you come up,' she said,
scooting back a little, away from his overwhelming nearness. This
was twice she had missed his approach. Maybe being by the creek
wasn't all to the good if its noisy gurgles drowned out sounds of
his approach.
'I think you might have been asleep,' he said
gravely.
She nodded. 'I was, I guess. I've been
panning and was a little stiff, so I lay down. The heat put me
out.'
'Any luck?'
'Only flakes. But I don't care. I love it. I
don't really expect to strike it rich.'
'Still a lot of gold in these hills. The
mines around Timber produced over two million dollars in their
prime. It’s estimated the Mother Lode has more than two hundred
million dollars still buried in the hills.'
'Around here?'
'Here to Placerville and north. You're
panning for placer gold; lode gold can be found around here too,
but not as easily.'
'Lode gold? I thought gold was gold.'
'Placer gold is loose, gold that's been
worked up and out by nature, tumbling free in the streams and
rivers of the Mother Lode during flood season. Settling out
sometimes miles from the vein that produced it. Lode gold is the
gold still in veins. In this area, gold is usually found in quartz
veins. If you find quartz rocks, examine carefully to see if there
are gold traces. Come on, I'll show you.'
Mac rose to his full height. Amanda slowly
stood up, a little at a loss for his change of attitude. It had
been daggers at dawn before; now, an almost friendly overture.
Warily she followed as he headed briskly upstream, his eyes on the
creek bed. There was no awkwardness, no time to think about how to
react to the man. He appeared to be ignoring their last
confrontation. Far be it from Amanda to drag it up. She hurried to
keep up with him.
'Here.' He stopped and waited for her to
catch up. With long strides, he left the bank, stepping nimbly on
to the large rocks and boulders rising up through
off. While it was warm in the sun, there were several high, puffy
white clouds dotting the blue expanse. A slight breeze skipped
across the grass; the air in the shade a few degrees cooler than
previous days. A cooling trend coming in, she thought.
Going directly to her usual spot, Amanda
began the now familiar task.
Time slid by. Unaware of passing minutes,
Amanda contentedly washed gravel and grit patiently with pan after
pan of water. Twice she thought she spotted gold flecks, carefully
claiming them from the pan bottom and placing them in the small
vial she carried.
One of the harmless clouds drifted in front
of the sun, shading the patch of creek bed Amanda was working on.
Immediately, she felt cooler. The mountain air itself was not warm;
the sun gave the day the warmth she’d been enjoying. In the shade,
the water also felt colder, turned dark gray.
Glancing up, Amanda was reassured. It was a
brief interlude; already the cloud was moving on, releasing the sun
to resume its warming functions.
A short time later Amanda stood up,
stretching. Her back ached a little, her hands were cold. She
leaped to the shore, wandering a few feet upstream to an area
fairly free of rocks. She sat down, stretching her legs out before
her, leaning back to soak up the sun's rays. She took off her hat,
using it as a pillow, lay back down. The sun was hot on her face,
her arms, her legs. Slowly she relaxed, easing the tight muscles
across her shoulders, easing away tension. The creek played a
gentle music. Amanda dozed.
A shadow covered her face, blocking the sun's
warmth again. She frowned a little. If the cloud blocked all of the
sun, she'd start to get cold. Squinting, she looked up to judge how
large this cloud was, startled to find herself gazing into Mac's
amused face.
'Taking a sun bath?' he asked politely, his
eyes taking in her recumbent figure.
She shook her head, scrambling to sit up,
feeling decidedly at a disadvantage as he squatted down beside her.
She put her hat back on, noticing Mac's horse tethered to a nearby
shrub.
'I didn't hear you come up,' she said,
scooting back a little, away from his overwhelming nearness. This
was twice she had missed his approach. Maybe being by the creek
wasn't all to the good if its noisy gurgles drowned out sounds of
his approach.
'I think you might have been asleep,' he said
gravely.
She nodded. 'I was, I guess. I've been
panning and was a little stiff, so I lay down. The heat put me
out.'
'Any luck?'
'Only flakes. But I don't care. I love it. I
don't really expect to strike it rich.'
'Still a lot of gold in these hills. The
mines around Timber produced over two million dollars in their
prime. It’s estimated the Mother Lode has more than two hundred
million dollars still buried in the hills.'
'Around here?'
'Here to Placerville and north. You're
panning for placer gold; lode gold can be found around here too,
but not as easily.'
'Lode gold? I thought gold was gold.'
'Placer gold is loose, gold that's been
worked up and out by nature, tumbling free in the streams and
rivers of the Mother Lode during flood season. Settling out
sometimes miles from the vein that produced it. Lode gold is the
gold still in veins. In this area, gold is usually found in quartz
veins. If you find quartz rocks, examine carefully to see if there
are gold traces. Come on, I'll show you.'
Mac rose to his full height. Amanda slowly
stood up, a little at a loss for his change of attitude. It had
been daggers at dawn before; now, an almost friendly overture.
Warily she followed as he headed briskly upstream, his eyes on the
creek bed. There was no awkwardness, no time to think about how to
react to the man. He appeared to be ignoring their last
confrontation. Far be it from Amanda to drag it up. She hurried to
keep up with him.
'Here.' He stopped and waited for her to
catch up. With long strides, he left the bank, stepping nimbly on
to the large rocks and boulders rising up through
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