CHAPTER 8 - THE GREAT WAGON ROBBERY
They arrived on Treasure Avenue as the crowd was gathering for the reenactment. The smell of pastry and coffee drifted from the bakery shop behind them. Jason's stomach rumbled even though he had eaten breakfast just an hour ago.
"So was the gold ever recovered from the robbery?" Jason asked.
"Not that we know of," Daniel said. "I hope you're not thinking about looking for this treasure too?"
Jason shrugged. The thought pulled at him like a mirage in the desert.
They found an open spot with a clear view. The crowd started filling in around them, and soon the street was thronged on both sides with tourists. Next to him a little girl with dark braids was sitting on her father's shoulders. It made him think about his dad and wonder how he was doing on the new job.
Shopkeepers stood in their doorways waiting for customers to flock into their stores at the end of the show. As the breeze shifted, someone's cloying perfume irritated his nose.
He sneezed just as sudden gunshots rang out from the other end of the street. Children squealed and wrapped their arms around their parent's legs. A man on horseback came galloping down the street. He stopped, and the horse reared up as he fired off several more shots into the air.
Speakers installed in the storefronts blared out his message. "Are you ready for the gold wagon?"
Some children yelled back, "Yes!"
"Some of you are awake." He leaned forward in the saddle, and the horse shook its head. "Are - you - ready?" he bellowed.
Everyone joined in, "YES!"
The horse pranced down the street as he tossed candy into the crowd on either side. Children scrambled to catch the treats. Jason caught one as it bounced off his chest. It was a chocolate coin with the image of an eagle pressed into the gold foil wrapper. He looked up to see the girl with the braids looking down at him. Her black eyes sparkled as she focused on the candy. She gave him a big grin as he handed her the chocolate coin.
Over the laugher and lively chatter the man on the horse bellowed like a marine sergeant.
"One hundred thirty years ago the Goldwater Mine hit an unusually rich vein. The gold poured out of the mine and soon the owners were ready to ship the bullion to the mint. The wagon was weighed down with a heavy load of gold and the two guards were armed with shotguns and pistols." He paused and the horse reared up. "There it is now!"
He waved his pistol toward a side street. A buckboard wagon pulled by mules was coming out onto the street. The tarp-covered cargo was piled high. Two rough looking men with shotguns across their laps rode in the front.
A cry went up from the crowd at the other end of the street. All eyes turned to see several men on horseback with bandanas across their faces racing toward the wagon and shouting.
"Stop!"
"Pull up those mules."
"Put up your hands and you won't get hurt!"
As one of the wagon men raised his shotgun, the bandit fired his pistol. The mules stopped as the driver keeled over. The other guard fired off his shotgun, and a bandit slumped over his horse. Another pistol shot rang out, and the second guard clutched his chest and screamed as he fell backwards onto the load of gold.
Looking past the wagon, Jason saw a girl standing in the doorway of the Turtle Island Gifts shop across the street. She was wearing a deerskin dress and a leather band around her head. He grabbed Daniel's arm.
"Look, there she is."
Daniel was looking the other direction.
"Daniel!"
"What?"
"It's the girl from the cave," Jason said.
Daniel shook his arm. "Look, it's Silas. Across the street."
"Forget him. Look at her." He grabbed Daniel's head and turned his face. "There. In front of the store." But when he looked back, she was gone. He dropped his hands. "Oh, come on," he said and started across the street.
"Careful!" Daniel said, and yanked him back. Dust swirled around them as the bandits galloped by with the wagon in tow. The pungent odor of hot horses, leather, and gunpowder settled over him along with a cloud of dust.
Jason muttered, "Thanks."
Daniel squinted to see through the dust. "Silas is gone. Now what was it you wanted me to see?"
The speakers blared. "Get a DVD of this and other exciting stories at the Gold Pan Book Store. Make a memory of your visit at Rustic Photos. Sip a sarsaparilla at Happy Jack's Saloon, or stop in for a confectionery delight at Sweet Prospects."
They jostled their way through the crowd and crossed the street to the gift shop. A large turtle was carved into the shop's heavy front door. Moccasins displayed in the window looked as if the owners had just stepped out of them in the middle of a dance.
"She went in here." Jason paused with his hand resting on the handle. "Hey, this is where that girl smiled at me on our way to the library. She was dressed up too."
"Maybe she has a crush on you. She keeps popping up all over the place."
Jason made a face. He pulled open the door, and they stepped into a room that smelled faintly of leather and wood. The soft recording of chanting and windpipe music was a welcome relief from the confusion outside.
An older man stood behind the counter waiting on a well-dressed couple. A painted and glazed ceramic bust of a conquistador in the display case was surrounded by expensive jewelry. Its lifelike eyes seemed to watch them from behind the glass.
"All our art is certified that it is crafted by Native Americans," the man was saying. He glanced up at the boys. His straight black hair was streaked with gray and fell to his shoulders. Dark eyes looked out from a weathered face and appraised them briefly before turning back to his customers.
Jason looked around the room for the girl. Oil paintings with Native American themes hung over shelves that held pottery and carvings. No one else was in the store. Wind chimes tinkled as he eased open the door.
"If you're interested in the history of the area," the man was saying to the couple, "I have written a book on Native American Treasures and Art Forms. Or you could come to my lecture at the university?"
The boys stepped outside, and the door thumped closed behind them.
"Are you sure this is the right shop?" Daniel said. "She went in here?"
Jason nodded. "You would have seen her if you looked when I told you to."
"I didn't hear you. Guns going off. People yelling. It was noisy."
"Well I could hear you. You were looking at Silas."
"Actually he was looking at us. Watching us."
"Well she gave us the slip again."
"First you want to find treasure, and now we're chasing ghosts. Gives me an appetite. How about we go eat?"
Jason grunted. She could have slipped out a back door, but who was she? And how did she get out of the cave? He was now more certain than ever that she was real.