The Coleman Gold Mine a Western Mystery

By Burr Cook

A short fictional western containing romance and adventure. The story is about prospecting and mining for gold in California's Mojave Desert. A family inherits the mine and searches for a mysteriously lost treasure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312530706

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The Coleman Gold Mine a Western Mystery

The Coleman Gold Mine a Western Mystery

Copyright 2013 Burr Cook

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-1-312-53070-6

Chapter 1 Alan Gets a Letter

The Coleman brothers had parted ways about 2 years prior to Alan hearing from his brother Patrick again. They had been raising cattle in partnership in northern Arizona for several years. There were no hard feelings; Patrick had just grown tired of ranching and decided to go prospecting for gold in California. Unlike Alan, Patrick had no children to support even though he was the older of the two. He did have a wife, Rhonda. Alan had a wife Joann and two children, 16 year old Paul and 18 year old Pauline. Both brothers were large men toughened by a life of hard work. Both brothers had a crop of dark brown hair which was never well groomed.

Alan had been to a nearby small town to purchase supplies and thereby found the letter from his brother Patrick. He opened the mail as soon as he had arrived home. He and his wife sat on the front steps to read the news.

The first shock came when they read that Patrick’s wife had left him. They had not been getting along from the time they left Arizona. She had family in Ohio and went back to live with them. The second shock had to do with a gold mine. Patrick had struck gold and was now pretty well off financially. He was still working the mine and had two employees helping him now. He added you may contact me in care of general delivery in Barstow, California.

Alan responded by mail the next time he visited the general store in town, about a month later. He wrote I’m sorry about your family problems but it sounds like you are accepting things as they’re unfolding. Your good fortune in the mining field pleases me. You deserve some good luck. Perhaps luck isn’t the right word. You’re a hard worker.

The cattle business isn’t going well this year. Prices are very competitive since many areas now have rail heads. Driving our herds to market tends to take some weight off from them at just the wrong times. We’re thinking of getting out of cattle entirely and concentrating on sheep. We are however, getting by with a little belt tightening. Alan went on to say how his wife and son and daughter were doing. Paul dropped out of school in order to be of more help on the ranch. We’re trying to grow corn here to fatten the cattle but it doesn’t do well in this climate and soil. After adding a little more about his and Joann’s health and such, Alan addressed the letter to Patrick and placed it on the mantle until he went to town next and then dropped it off at the post office in the general store.

Alan had given some thought to packing up and leaving for California like his brother had. He knew the idea wasn’t practical, however. He knew of