RAILCAR GOLD Chapter 1 . . Eureka . . Part 2
RAILCAR GOLD is a historically accurate multi-generational fictional tale of hidden treasure, primarily set in York County, Pennsylvania during the latter half of the Nineteenth Century. This is Part 2 of Chapter 1 . . . Eureka. A new part will be posted every Thursday. New readers may want to start at the beginning.
CHAPTER 1 . . . EUREKA . . . Part 2
Stephie peppered Ashley with a rapid-fire string of questions. “How’d you find that?” “Where’s that railcar located?” “What are they doing to that railcar?” “Don’t they know if they go much further they might find the clue?” “What if they trash the clue?” “Oh no Ashley, what are we going to do?”
Ashley urged Stephie, “Calm down. Calm down. We’ll find a way to get out to Colorado before anything happens to the clue.”
Stephie exclaimed, “Colorado!”
Composed as could be, Ashley revealed, “Yes, Colorado. That Billmeyer & Small Railcar is being restored by the Colorado Railroad Museum. They’re posting pictures as the restoration progresses.” Pointing to her computer screen, Ashley notes, “That picture was posted two days ago. And yes, we do need to get out there as quickly as possible.”
Stephie reluctantly realizes, “We both just started our summer jobs. I know that they are not going to be thrilled at giving us time off so soon. And what are we going to tell our parents? They are going to insist that this is another wild-goose-chase. You know how they feel about throwing our lives away looking for gold that they claim is merely a family legend.”
Ashley already had her mind scheming, “That’s why I have to come up with a really clever plan.” It was as if Stephie could see an imaginary plan hatching while Ashley sat there as if in a trace; focusing like a laser on the picture of the railcar on her computer screen.
Stephie did not dare interrupt her trend of thought. Ashley had a pretty good track record for coming up with foolproof schemes to do things that did not have their parents’ approval. This was a talent Ashley had going all the way back to their childhood. Stephie only remembered one scheme backfiring on them, but that is another story.
What seemed like an eternity to Stephie; although it was only ten-minutes later, Ashley starts to type on the keyboard. Stephie looks over her shoulder to see that Ashley is composing an e-mail message to the Colorado Railroad Museum.
“Saw pictures of the Billmeyer & Small business car now being restored at your museum. My cousin and me are Great-Great-Great-Granddaughters of Dan DeWyatt who worked for Billmeyer & Small for several decades. We will be visiting in the area next week and would like to see the restoration. We are aware of some things passed down in the DeWyatt family about this railcar and would like to share them with the people restoring the railcar.”
Ashley hit send and the e-mail was on the way. Stephie could not wait to hear another always-brilliant plan, however was disappointed when Ashley announced, “That should punch our ticket to get access to the railcar. Now, all I have to do is come up with a plan to get us out to Colorado.”
Ashley reluctantly told Stephie, “You know that my Dad called in some favors to get me a pretty good summer job. I’m struggling with either disappointing my Dad or giving up on tracking down this clue to find Danny’s gold.” Stephie could not believe her ears, it was not like Ashley to ever consider giving up on a chance to find the gold.
All of a sudden it is as if a light bulb goes on for Stephie, she poses the question, “Whom do we know out in Colorado?” Telepathically, it was if Ashley knew exactly why Stephie raised that question.
Ashley and Stephie looked at each other and with big grins, eyebrows raised and exclaimed in unison, “Mel-o-dy!”
Go to Part 3
