A Man Out of Time

When Bill came out of the bathroom he was self conscious. They'd seen each other naked off and on all summer and had sex three times during the night but, somehow, showering while Sam pissed seemed strange.

Sam was sitting on the bed blushing faintly. She said, "I'm sorry I barged in on you and made you listen to that Bill. I'd put off getting up to piss because I was afraid I'd wake you, then you got out of bed and beat me into the bathroom. I was almost dancing waiting on you and then you started the damn shower. I just couldn't wait."

"I'm sorry Sam. I never thought about you needing to go. Don't worry about it. You want another shower before we check out and buy our supplies?"

"Yeah. Do you mind?"

"No. Take your time. I'll just lay back down and enjoy the mattress a while longer."

After a wonderful breakfast the couple made their way to a good old Wally World Super Center to pick up groceries and a few clothing items. On the way out of town Bill stopped at a building supply store and purchased some tools, nails and other repair parts for the cabin. They also stopped at a small sporting goods store for more ammunition for their weapons and some fishing gear.

It was just after noon when they left town for the nearly three hour drive back to the trail head. They chatted with Bill's friend while they saddled the horses and loaded their supplies on the mules pack saddles.

It was late evening, almost full dark when they arrived back at the cabin. They could just barely see to go into the building and stumbled on something in the floor. Bill finally found the rechargeable electric light and turned it on to survey the mess inside.

The furniture was sort of out of place and several items had fallen off shelves onto the floor. They unloaded the food and clothes into the house and took the horses to the building they used for a stable. When they got there, they found it leaning off kilter. The small building nearby had fallen down completely and was now only a pile of logs and broken boards.

Bill said, "Well, I guess that was a small earthquake we felt when we were leaving. I hope we don't find more damage tomorrow. I'll check the house closer before we go to bed tonight to be sure its safe to use. Let me check the barn before we put the horses up then we'll fix a quick supper and go to bed. I'm bushed."

The next morning Bill and Sam checked the cabin more closely then went to check the other buildings. It looked like they had several hours of work to repair the slight damage but, except for the one building that had collapsed things weren't too bad. No one had used the fallen building in several years because it was in such bad shape so it wasn't a big loss.

Their garden was still there and growing well so they spent some time picking fresh vegetables then they got their tools and dug up the few weeds and grass trying to grow in it. After that was done, Bill said, "I want to check the mine if you don't mind. I hope the quake didn't cave it in."

"Wait a minute. I'll go with you. I don't want you inside the shaft alone until we're sure it's safe." Sam took off for the house almost at a run. She soon came back with some mining tools, rope, a light and her heavy gloves. "OK. Let's see what the quake did to your mine."

The two friends, now lovers, slowly and carefully entered the dark shaft. The first few feet were much the same as before except for a noticeable increase in dust and a few extra small stones.

At the first bend in the shaft where the shoring timbers were closer together because the rock was softer, less sturdy they began to notice more damage. After they were farther around the bend, near the first branch of the tunnel, they came upon a cave in. Bill looked at the mess and sighed before he said, "I was afraid we'd find a cave in. I don't suppose it matters much but I hate to see it. I hope we don't have to close off the shaft for safety. We still managed to find a couple thousand dollars a year of gold in here and the steam."

Bill began pulling rocks from the face of the blockage. Sam soon set her light down and began helping him. After a few minutes Bill stopped and began examining some of the detritus more carefully. He said, "Look Sam. This appears to be quartz and what I think are small flakes of gold. What do you think?"

Sam took the large rock Bill handed her and looked at it in the light. As she turned it from side to side, it flashed and glowed. She felt her heart rate increase and said, "I think you're right. Let's gather some up and take it outside where we can see it better and run some tests. That quake may have opened up the seam they lost when the mine played out!"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Let's go."

They gathered up several pounds of the quartz and headed outside rapidly, but carefully. It quickly became obvious they had found, at the very least, a small pocket of gold. They spent the remainder of the day working in the mine bringing more of the gold laden quartz out. That night, they spent breaking the gold out of the quartz then, after a night of very poor sleep due to their excitement, they spent the morning melting the gold down and pouring it into small bars of approximately one once.

They had the gold bug now and almost resented the time they had to take to do their normal chores. The gardening time was reduced to a minimum, housekeeping declined to zero and meals became short, resented breaks but the gold began piling up.

After two weeks of ten to twelve hour days, they had exhausted the rocks from the cave in and even panned the flakes from the fallen dust. They estimated they'd collected 53 troy ounces of gold in that time and could see more in the vein of quartz in the side of the rock wall. Depending on the purity of the gold, they could have between $80,000 and $100,000 worth waiting for assay and sale.

Bill hadn't worked on his thesis for the entire time they'd been working the mine and had, in fact, completely forgotten about it. They were inside the shaft working the mine again when they heard voices yelling for them. "Who the hell can that be," he asked as they headed down the shaft toward their house.

When he got into the sunshine, he saw his family standing around the cabin. He and Sam walked up to them and, after hugs and greetings, he asked, "What're you doing here so soon?"

"Son, you've lost track of time. July 4th is next week."

"Ahhhhh, crap. I guess we have. We need to go to town and pick up some supplies then. We've been so busy we lost track of time."

"What's kept you so busy you let that happen," Bill's mother asked.

"Mom, we had a small quake last month and got shook up. After we got things straightened up out here we went into the shaft to check the mine and found the vein of gold again. Part of the shaft collapsed and uncovered it. I think we've taken maybe $90.000 worth of gold out in the last three weeks. I have 54 troy ounces in small bars. Depending on the assay it could easily be that much."

Bills family liked shocked and all started to talk at once. It was almost ten minutes before they calmed down. They all trooped inside to see the small pile of gold bars then they all wanted to go into the mine to see the location of the new find.

Later that evening, after a festive meal, they spent several hours discussing how to handle the find. Bill's mother was the only child of his grandfather and inherited the mine and land around it when he died. Neither she nor his father wanted to work the mine or manage it and truthfully, they had no idea if it would even be commercially feasible to do so. Finally, it was decided that Bill would work the mine as long or as short a time as he saw fit. He would pay operating expenses from the take and keep 75% of the remainder for himself as salary for running the enterprise. They all agreed to keep the new find secret in hopes of preventing theft during the times no one was present.

During the remainder of the holiday, several hours a day were spent by the family working in the mine. Each person that worked inside the shaft was to keep a pro rata share of that days production. This, of course, made Bills siblings very happy.

When his family left, they took most of the gold with them intending to sell some along and store the remainder in a safe place. Bill and Sam continued working the mine in between bouts of lovemaking.

One evening Bill was sitting outside watching the sun fall below the mountains when Sam sat on his lap. She gave him a kiss and said, "Now what Bill. We have to leave in a couple of days so we can go back to college. What're your plans for after?"

"Well, first I'm going to ask my girl to marry me then."

"WHAT." Sam broke in. I thought she dumped you." She started crying and tried to get off his lap.

Bill held her tightly as she fought and, after he captured her hands laughed, making her angrier. He then said, "SAM. SAM just stop it. NOW. Finally, still crying, Sam quit trying to hit him and he continued, "Now, let me finish. Sam will you marry me? I've liked you for a couple years but I've fallen in love with you this summer."

"You asshole." She exclaimed. This is the way.... Oh, never mind. YES, I'll marry you asshole." She grabbed him as he let her arms go and gave him a deep kiss then relaxed against him.

The third Sunday in July Bill and Sam reluctantly packed up and headed back to civilization where they would finish college. They left the little remaining canned food and their tools for future use, hoping to return before it became too cold and get some more work done in the mine. They were taking the remainder of the summer's ore with them after piling up rocks in the tunnel hoping to obscure the sight of the gold if someone wandered in while they were gone.

Plans were made to return after Sam's summer session of college to build a secure gate across the mine opening and place danger signs in hopes of further securing their find.

On the way home, Sam asked, "What're your plans for after you get your Master's and we get married honey?"

Bill looked worried when she said that and she saw the expression. Sam felt her stomach drop and, fearfully, she said, "What's wrong Bill. You haven't changed your mind have you? You still want to get married don't you?"

"Yeah, I do but..." He sighed and continued, "Sam, you remember what I told you Sharon said about me? She's right in a way. I believe a couple is just that. We live, love, and go out together. I believe in fidelity and being exclusive. If you can't or won't live like that we'd better call this off. I'm a one woman man and I expect a one man woman."

"Bill have I ever given you any indication I feel differently? That's what marriage is. Oh, we may each have a drink or two with our coworkers but no late night partying with the girls or guys and definitely nothing that wouldn't pass the spouse test. Do you want a prenuptial agreement? Would that make you feel safer? Would that help you trust me more?"

"No, I don't know. I trust you right now but I trusted her too.... Just, well just the slightest hint of impropriety will be enough to end this thing. I WILL NOT put up with a wife that wants to run around and party without me. I'm sorry."

"Same here bud. Now, back to the original question, what's the plan going forward?"

"I think I'll try to find a position somewhere near the mine so we can work it on some weekends and holidays. With some luck, between our share of the mines earnings and our salaries we can live pretty well and save a nice nest egg. I've already talked with Mom and Dad. We have permission to build a better house up at the mine and, hopefully, after a few years we can quit and live there full time. We'll keep working the mine until it plays out again then reassess. I don't want to be a wage slave all my life."

Sam smiled and said, "Sounds good to me. Maybe we can find a job with the same company."

When they got home, Bill found out the gold they mined assayed out at 90% gold, 7% silver and the remaining percentages were copper and detritus. Each bar was worth about $1470.00. the summer's take from the mine came to 77 bars of approximately 1 troy ounce each or slightly over $130,000.00. Bills parents sold 7 ounces and his other family members each sold one, leaving 52 bars remaining. They gave 2 bars to Sam for her work and put the other 50 bars in a safe deposit box for future sales.

Just before the wedding, Sam presented Bill with a prenup that basically addressed all his fears. It spelled out who got any children in the case of divorce and left 90% of their assets to the injured party if one of them cheated. A fair split based on their relative salaries if the divorce occurred for reasons other than infidelity.

Bill and Sam worked for several mines over the next ten years, coming back to their family mine most long weekends and at least part of their vacation every year. They did build a nice house in the valley near the mine. At the end of the ten years, they quit their jobs and moved to the mine full time, continuing to work it and do consulting work as mining engineers for the rest of their career. The little family mine continued to supply a nice yearly income, being worked the old fashioned way with a pick and shovel primarily. They did collect much of the tailings and detritus to run through more modern collecting efforts to squeeze more gold out of the little mine but they just didn't have the volume to make that commercially feasible.

By the time they fully retired, they had a vault built under their house containing several hundred pounds of the little bars. They lived in their valley until their last days, the nearest neighbor now only about six miles away down a much improved trail/driveway.