Golden Feather Press
EMERALD VALLEY

CHAPTER 20

Sitting in a small office in the Grand Junction court house, Dix and Kyle faced Judge Stevens.

Holding up Bill Lewis' will, the Judge read, "I hereby bequeath all my earthly possessions to my nephew Dix Logan." Stevens tossed the paper on his desk. "Short and sweet."

Kyle noticed the law firm name on the will was the same as the blank sheets he'd seen several times on Bill Lewis' desk at the ranch. He wondered why Bill had that blank stationery.

"If you can prove you're Dix Logan," Judge Stevens said, "You are the sole heir to Bill's ranch and his money." He squinted. "I have to tell you, however, no one in town has ever heard of you. Plus, the law firm of Johnson and Bode in Denver has no copy of this will. I find that very odd." He pointed at the will. "However, that's Bill's signature." He studied it carefully as he'd done for weeks.

"How can I prove I'm Dix Logan?"

"That's your problem," Judge Stevens said. "Have someone who knows you send me a written and signed statement. A school, a bank, an employer or anyone of importance will do. I won't release the ranch or the money to you until I receive it."

After leaving the court house, Dix walked hastily to the telegraph office. He looked around before he wrote out a message, then shoved it through the grille.

The telegrapher glared at Dix, knowing full well who he was. "You pay first. Two bits."

Dix slapped down a quarter. "Send it now."

The man grabbed the money, dropped it in a cash drawer, then locked it. After sending the wire, he turned to Dix. "It's sent. Is that all?"

"That's all," Dix snapped.

When he turned to leave, Kyle grabbed his arm. "I have to send a wire. I'll be out shortly. I can't write too good."

"I'll be sitting in the chair out front." Dix slammed the door when he left.

Kyle stepped up to the grille. "I take it you don't like Dix Logan much."

The man smiled. "I know who you are. My name's Nate Schuller. You're right, I don't hanker much for Logan." Nate shrugged. "You work for him so I shouldn't be telling you that." He squinted defiantly. "I think he's a fraud."

Kyle chuckled. "So do I, but I have to prove it. Who'd he send that wire to?"

"You know I can't tell you that," Nate said. He raised an eyebrow. "But I can offer you a cup of coffee. You can get it yourself back here. And you'll have to walk right by that message."

Later that afternoon, Kyle and Lake rode the dry riverbed to the rock dam. They noticed that someone had ridden to the dam two separate times since they'd been here. Reaching the dam, they sat together facing the opposite direction in a spot closer to the huge pile of rock.

Lake suddenly grabbed Kyle's arm. "Look at that!"

Kyle spun around. "What?"

"See how all the rocks are imbedded in the bank at an angle from the blast?" He pointed straight ahead. "Those rocks hit the bank straight on, like someone threw them."

They rushed to the area and began pulling away dirt. A jagged inch-wide vein of gleaming gold appeared in a seam of white quartzite.

"Well, I'll be," Kyle said. He headed for Killer, grabbed his saddle bags and brought them back to the site. He pulled out a hammer and chisel.

"What's that for?" Lake asked.

"Proof. We can show a chunk to Dix and get him to go in with us." Kyle set the chisel and whacked it. A fist-sized chunk of rock, lined with gold, broke away from the vein. Before Kyle stopped, they had thirty-six samples of white rock with pure gold seams.

After filling the bags with the rocks, they carefully placed soil and stones over the gold vein, hiding all traces of it. Lake marked the spot with a flat white rock shoved into the sand in the middle of the riverbed. They both stood by the rock and discussed landmarks so they could find the vein again if needed.

Riding back to the house, Kyle said, "You have to take Dix to the barn and give him a long bath. I've got to search that office."

Lake laughed. "My pleasure! Playing around with Dix gets me off! I can see why you've stayed so long." He looked at Kyle. "What do you expect to find?"

"Don't know," Kyle said. "I guess I'll know it when I see it. A lot of people, me included, are wonderin' if he's really Bill Lewis' nephew. I think Judge Lewis is stallin'."

"And you're thinking Dix is only after the gold?"

"Somethin' like that."

"I forgot to tell you what I found out in town," Lake said. "John Moore in the general store said Bill told him his only brother was killed in the Civil War. And I discovered no one knew Dix Logan before this summer."

"I was beginnin' to think along those same lines," Kyle growled. "We gotta pretend we're crooks an' get Dix to come in with us."

"He won't like that since he's Bill's sole heir."

"But is he?" Kyle said. "If he isn't, that gold belongs to anyone. Either way, I'm gonna send a box of it to Francine and Michael. It'll help 'em along." He grinned at Lake. "And a couple dozen chunks of that gold'll keep us in food for a long time."

Lake laughed. He pulled off his hat and rubbed his head. "Thank you God! I found my man, a barber and some gold."

At the house, after Kyle had two large pots of water boiling, Lake only had to whisper "bath" to Dix. In the barn, while Lake poured the bucket of cold water into the tub to temper the heat, Dix stripped naked. He already had an erection.

After listening to the goings-on in the barn, Kyle chuckled, then rushed into the house. In the office, he carefully searched every desk drawer and pile of papers. Noticing a few books on a curved table by the wall, he grabbed each book and fanned it. Three sheets of paper flew out of the tattered Bible. Kyle picked them up and studied the front and back. He laughed out loud when he saw hundreds of Bill Lewis' scribbled signatures. Someone had also practiced the exact words in the will.

That evening at the kitchen table, as Kyle passed Dix the potatoes, he said, "We found the gold you've been looking for."

"You did?" Realizing what he'd said, Dix added, "Gold? You found gold? Where?" He squinted. "It's mine! I own this land!"

Since Dix didn't take the bowl, Kyle clunked it on the table. He scooted back his chair and retrieved the saddle bags he'd placed by the door. Kyle dumped the heavy bags on his chair and pulled out a chunk of white quartzite with the widest gold vein of the samples. He held it in front of Dix's face.

Dix gasped and grabbed for it.

Kyle pulled it back. "Are you in with us?"

"In with you? That's my gold! Give me that!"

Kyle chuckled. He dumped the gold sample in the bags and set them on the floor. He sat in his chair and scooted it closer to Dix. "Let me tell you how it's going to be. Lake found out Bill only had one brother who'd been killed in the Civil War. You're way too young t'be his son." Kyle smiled. "I don't care who you are. Lake and I found the gold. Do you want in with us?"

"That's my gold!" Dix snapped. "You have to give me all of it!"

Kyle knew he was taking a chance, but decided to bring up the man's name from Dix's telegraph message. "Sidney Radcliff sent Lake an' me here. He didn't trust you. If you go in with us, we'll tell Radcliff we didn't find any gold an' split it three ways."

"Sidney Radcliff!" Dix snapped. "He sent you here?"

"Sure did," Lake said. "He didn't think you were man enough to get the gold."

"That asshole!" Dix shouted. "Not man enough? I killed Lewis! What more does he want?"

"One question," Kyle said. "How did Radcliff find out about Bill's gold strike?"

Still angry about Kyle and Bolton being here, Dix snapped, "Across the river is Coby's land. He saw Lewis chip away at the gold after the explosion. Coby got drunk at a poker game in Denver and bragged about getting his hands on it."

"Radcliff hired you to find the gold?" Lake asked. "Why didn't Coby get it himself?"

"Because Coby thought I was Lewis's nephew!" Dix shouted.

"I get it," Kyle said. "You were getting it behind Coby's back." He grinned at Dix. "But you didn't find the gold. We did. Do you want in with us or not? Marshal Hooker has a thing for me. He'll believe me if I decide to tell him you killed Bill Lewis."

"You're blackmailing me!" Dix shouted. "Sure I killed Lewis! That means all the gold is mine!" He leaped to his feet and grabbed for his gun. "I'm going to kill you!"

Kyle shot off Dix's right kneecap.