Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 1 Chapter 1 Dark clouds rolled in from the west, hovering over the

house on the river. It was an unusual summer storm for the Northern California town of Redding, but a refreshing break from the earlier 105 degree late summer August afternoon. All three kids made it into the house from the black bottom swimming pool just as the wind pressed its way up against the dual paned windows that overlooked the back yard, pool and the Sacramento River. Giant sycamore trees reached high into the sky as if to touch the bottom of the growing cumulonimbus clouds expanding like water balloons the kids filled earlier in the day. Long branches on the majestic trees wrestled with each other, protesting the wind, as if made to dance at a High School formal. Outside on the overhanging porch, a thermometer read 86 degrees with the barometer increasing, indicating moisture in the air. Grandma Lynn waited to close the door behind the kids, but hesitated while Shasta, the life guard and black Labrador ushered in at the back of the line. A gust of wind found its way into the house before Grandma shut the door to any additional unwanted intruders. Looking South out of the windows in the rear of the house, a bright bolt of lightning struck just across from the river, only several hundred yards away from the house, followed by an explosive boom that rushed against the bay windows and pounded each pane like robber searching for treasure. The oak Sean McClure 2012

Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 2 floor of the wood paneled house felt the disruption outside and shuttered under the feet of the wet, towel wrapped swimmers. All three kids winced to block the flash of light and jumped with fright, including the oldest, Tyler who recently celebrated his fifteenth birthday only a month ago. Seconds later another lightning bolt lit up the sky and simultaneously cut the electricity in the house, cutting power to the TV in the family room. Fierce lightning pierced a hole in the bottom of the water balloon cloud, opening a torrent of rain the size of quarters, smacking the porch as if snapping fingers to a rock band beat. Evidence of swimmers waves in the pool were replaced with water kamikaze dive bombers ending their short life that began moments ago only five hundred feet above. Pappy rose up from his chair in the family room, unaffected by the sudden storm outside, and called out to the kids, Who wants to hear a story about the gold mines of Redding? The kids loved their Pappys stories and the way he came up with a story on the fly and acted it out. They were on the edge of their seats and never wanted the stories to end. Shasta was equally excited to be part of the story, or maybe it was just that she could sit between three kids who would pet her during the entire story. The ten year old dog followed behind pappy into the living room on the other side of the house. I do. Exclaimed Ben, the youngest of the three kids and four years younger than Tyler. Sean McClure 2012

Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 3 Alison, was almost dry and took her towel with her so she could dry up any drops of water she left behind on the hardwood floor. Me too. Said the thirteen-year old without hesitation. Tyler was excited about the story, but his teenage status would not allow him to act excited or interested in the same way he was when he was his youngest brothers age. He followed Ben into the tiled living room where each found a seat on the floor facing Pappy who sat in the leather chair next to the empty and unlit fireplace. More lightning found its way in through the windows and illuminated the house, inside and out. Nighttime would not come for another four hours, but the thick clouds blocked the scorching sun, leaving the impression of late evening. Grandma lit some candles to add ambient light into the room. Pappy settled into his chair as Grandma took a seat on the opposite facing couch. Light flickered from the wicks of sweet smelling candles, licking the air and fluttering across the walls and Pappys face, as if invisible shadows walked throughout the room. Each kid used their own towel for a cushion against the hard floor, with Shasta laying sprawled in front of the kids who were already transfixed on Pappy. Pappys gray eyebrows rose above his widening eyes, as he leaned forward as if telling a secret that nobody else should hear. His shifting body caused the leather beneath him to moan. Placing his elbows on his knees he gestured with his hands to open the scene of the story, and began in a deep whispery voice. Sean McClure 2012

Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 4 This story is real. It was passed down from my grandfather to my father, and I passed it down to your father. This land by the river we own, along with the tens of thousands of acres throughout Redding including where the barn and the hilltop are. This story is about how we got that land. Its a story of old miners, lots of bright shiny gold, dark caverns and real live ghosts. Bruuhha haaa haaa haaa. Pappy added for emphasis with his hands raised high in the air as if he were going to sweep down and snatch up the kids. Smiles covered each of their faces and the two younger ones recoiled a bit at the gesture. It all started in 1852 when the gold rush became a way of living for the young and old alike. Your great, great, great grandfather had already built a house, this house, as a matter of fact. It has since been re-built several times, but this is where the first gold nugget was found. How big was it? Asked teenage Tyler, a bit more enthusiastically than he had intended. It was this big. Pappy made a circle with his hand the size of a quarter. He found it right down there at the river bank. Pappy extended his right arm and pointed out the back window beyond the formal dining room to the river less than a hundred yards away. Redding was rich with gold, but our great ancestor knew that gold was limited along the river bank. He was a geologist and land surveyor and he knew where to look for gold.

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Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 5 Ben held up his hand and interrupted, Whats a geeligist and sir-bayer? he asked, struggling with the unfamiliar words. Pappy chuckled and explained. A geologist is someone who looks at rocks and dirt and takes samples to know what is deep in the ground. A surveyor makes maps. As you can guess, these are two very important skills to have if you want to dig for gold. Pappy paused a moment to settle the mood and then continued. His name was Jack, well call him Grandpa Jack. He knew he could find gold here. Lots of gold. So he and his sons started to dig in the areas he thought there would be gold, and guess what? The kids hung on every word, so Pappy continued, He found gold, lots of it. But there was only so much he and his family could do on their own, so they started to employ miners to dig deep into the ground. They had found enough gold already that they could buy dynamite and tools for going deeper into the earth and finding gold where nobody else wanted to look. As they mined more gold they bought the land over the areas they were mining so that no other prospectors could dig where they were. At one point they had thousands of men digging hundreds of tunnels all over Redding. Most of these men would live, but some of them would die. Another lightning bolt split the air, illuminating the sky and finding its way in through the curtain-less windows, dancing on Pappys grey beard and stately glasses. Wind continued pressing on the windows, looking for a way in but finding none. Shasta, sitting between the kids and Pappy, lifted her head, ears perked as if to hear an un audible noise beyond the Sean McClure 2012

Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 6 human hearing spectrum. She decided the noise was not worth pursuing and rested her head again on her two front paws. Tyler, turned his attention from outside and asked, But didnt the miners steal gold from grandpa Jack? I mean they were down there mining it, they could easily take some for themselves and become rich. There were many thiefs among the miners. Many who put gold nuggets in their mouth or try to hide it in their boots. But grandpa Jack knew all the tricks of these miners and he would fire them immediately and make sure they could not get work at any of the other mines in Shasta County. Grandpa Jack paid a good wage to get the best miners. They made more money working for grandpa Jack than they would have anywhere else, including their own prospecting. Although many left to chase their own riches, they would many times come back to work so they could earn a living. The miners respected Grandpa Jack. They knew he was a tough man, not to be double crossed, but he respected his workers back and they remained honest during their employ with him. Rain thumped the roof of the large river house as if thousands of little men repelled from the bottom of the clouds to the top of the house, then tumbling to the edge of the roof and falling to the ground. Alison saw a hole in the story and asked, How did Grandpa Jack check thousands of men every day after work? That would take days just to make sure nobody stole the gold.

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Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 7 Grandpa Jack hired supervisors and managers, making each responsible for each set of miners. Grandpa Jack had an idea of how much gold he should be receiving each day and if he did not receive that much, people would be fired from their job. Another rumble, this time from a far distance, but loud and strong enough to cause everyone to peer out the window as if the rumble was a bulldozer waiting outside the front of the house for its order to destroy. By the time Grandpa Jack finished mining for gold, he was a multi-millionaire, and he had purchased thousands of acres of land to protect his tunnels from other mines. But why havent we heard about grandpa Jack when we go to Turtle Bay and learn about Redding history? asked Tyler. Grandpa Jack was a very powerful man, and a very good friend with the man whom Redding was named after, Benjamin Redding. Hey, thats my name. Proclaimed Ben who was excited that Pappy would name a character after him. Yes, you two share the same name. Pappy acknowledged. Benjamin Redding controlled the newspapers and was a politician here. As with any politician and businessman, they like money, and since grandpa Jack had a lot of it, he paid Mr. Redding a lot of money to keep his name out of the papers and to keep land purchases hushed. When Mr. Redding died in 1882 he took a lot of grandpa Jacks secrets with him. The only thing we know for sure is that Grandpa Jack hired men to Sean McClure 2012

Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 8 dig mines and we only know this because of stories that were told by miners, but nothing was really official. We know that Grandpa Jack owned a lot of land because we have the deed to most of it. Throughout each generation, some land is sold so we do not have as much now as we used to, but it was all that gold that bought this land. And you all have been to the old Redding Saloon and Hotel by the fish hatchery. That is now a historical monument and is protected by the State, but grandpa Jack built that hotel for travelers along the Sacramento river. What happened to all of the mines? Alison asked. Who knows. There are stories of people who have tried to locate the mines and while some say they have, it turns out that it cant be because the stories from the miners talk about miles and miles of tunnels, and the mines people find on grandpa Jacks property dont go very far before they dead end. As a matter of fact, there is a old mine shaft on the Redding airport property to the east of the runways. That property belonged to grandpa Jack, but was sold by my father in 1942. Pappy, you said there were ghosts. What about the ghosts? Ben asked with trepid excitement. The Ghost of miner Joe. Pappy began. Is the ghost real too? Ben added. As if on queue, a flash, then another, followed by two simultaneous roars permeated the house, interrupting the story, while the wind had a voice of its own. Wind is invisible except when it carries with it rain or leaves or dirt. Rain did Sean McClure 2012

Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 9 not fall sideways either, but this storm found unity in the wind and water drops, as together the rain made the wind visible and the wind carried the rain to a destination other than straight down. Legend has it that Joe was one of the first miners Grandpa Jack hired. Joe was a quiet man, kept to himself and was a good hard worker. After a year of working with grandpa, miner Joe was setting dynamite to carve out a tunnel. Another miner who did not like Joe very well caught Joe alone in this tunnel. A fight broke out between the two men. They say it was because Joe caught this other miner stealing gold, dynamite and supplies. Instead of turning a blind eye, Joe was going to tell the supervisor at the end of that nights shift. Others heard the commotion and broke up the fight, but not before on man fell back against the ignitor box for the dynamite. The delay was 8 seconds before the dynamite erupted. One miner screamed out fire in the hole! causing the group of men to scatter, but the original miner pushed Joe back into the tunnel, catching Joe off guard and off balance. As the thief fled, Joe lost his footing and fell backwards. By the time Joe could have found himself back on his feet, the dynamite responded to the request of the ignitor box, and BOOM! Pappy screamed, motioning with his hands high above his head, and standing to his feet. His emphasis was enhanced by the roar and rumble of the excited storm outside. Grandma jumped along with kids, and they shared a chuckle before Pappy sat down and continued the tale in a hushed voice. Sean McClure 2012

Mystery of the Secret Gold Mine 10 Miner Joe never made it out alive. But he lingers in the mine searching for justice. Miners who worked with Grandpa Jack over the years said they heard voices and felt a breeze pass by them, when there was no air flow in the tunnels. Shadows in the room danced as the tips of each candle resisted a gentle breeze from the unknown, causing light to flicker throughout the room. Shasta, took notice of the unusual occurrence and spoke through a low throaty growl, warning the invisible imposter to leave. She was satisfied with her warning and lowered her head, but her ears remained attentive, and her eyes focused on the window to the front yard. Pappy finished with The last man out of the tunnel on the last day that grandpa Jack had his gold mines open, displayed a white face, despite the dirt and soot from the tunnels, and his eyes spoke of fear. The words that were spoken from the mans mouth were: Hes not dead, hes still down there.

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