The Secret of the Broken Arrow Mine: A Four Cousins Mystery

By Margaret Krivchenia

Kate, Emma, Harrison, and Parker are traveling back to Wyoming with their parents to visit their friend Jimmy, now called JW. He was their rescuer in The Ghost of Canyon Camp, and now lives with Father Mike and the boys of the Flying J Ranch near Cody, Wyoming. He has planned a wonderful, exciting vacation for them! He even has a Western ghost town for them to explore. What could go wrong?Emma senses danger and something coming. The four cousins meet a new friend at the Flying J, Tommy, a ten-year-old boy who has suffered the loss of his father and is unable to speak due to the trauma. Then there is Chief Joseph, the descendant of a Nez Perce Indian Chief, and his granddaughter, Shooting Star, who has a sixth sense, like Emma.All these acquaintances will play an important part in the dangerous adventure and mystery that the four cousins are about to embark on. It will be a roller-coaster ride filled with hungry wolves, cave-ins, becoming trapped in an abandoned mine, and the discovery of the secret of the Broken Arrow Mine that will bring a miracle as Kate, Emma, Harrison, and Parker help to offer salvation to a lost little boy and the boys at the Flying J Ranch.Come experience their newest hair-raising adventure!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098042721

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The Secret of the Broken Arrow Mine

A Four Cousins Mystery

Margaret Krivchenia

Copyright © 2020 by Margaret Krivchenia

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Reunited

The Flying J

Little Lost Boy

New Friends

The Wild Mustangs

Shooting Star

Foreboding!

Dinosaurs, Petroglyphs, and Other Things

A Warning on the Horizon

The Tale of the Broken Arrows

Into the Unknown

The Ghost Town

Fire!

Into the Mine!

Cave-In!

Panic!

The Secret of the Broken Arrow Mine

Miracle!

Ten Months Later

This book is dedicated to the Four Cousins, my grandchildren, who have brought such spirit and joy into my life. They are truly a gift from God.

And to my husband, my best friend and my companion on the journey!

Prologue

The state of Wyoming is vast and a land of wonders and enchantments. The oldest national park, Yellowstone, lies within its borders, and is a park like no other on earth as it sits atop a giant dormant volcano. Bison, elk, wolves, bears, and coyotes roam freely. Hundreds of geysers erupt daily. This was the scene where the four cousins first encountered the ghost of Canyon Camp.

The mountains, valleys, and forests surrounding Yellowstone are also spectacular, awe-inspiring, and majestic. Ranches and wildlife abound. There are caverns, abandoned mines, and the strange drawings on rocks, called petroglyphs, that were created by ancient peoples who populated this area hundreds and thousands of years ago. They are waiting for the curious traveler’s exploration.

It is in just this setting that the Flying J Ranch is located. When the four cousins visited this area last summer, they met Jimmy, who quickly became their friend and Parker’s favorite superhero. The Flying J became Jimmy’s home after the adventures at Canyon Camp in Yellowstone, and Father Mike, who runs the ranch, has become like a second father to JW, as Jimmy is now called once again.

JW was the nickname Jimmy’s parents had given him since the time he was just a child. His real name was James William Mason. He gave up his nickname when his parents were killed in a car crash when he was ten years old. It was just too painful for him to hear JW. So he went back to being called Jimmy.

However, with the help of Father Mike and the ranch hands who have taken him under their wing, Jimmy began to heal from the terrible sorrow and loss. Those emotions would never completely go away, but he was learning to live with them by the grace of God’s mercy. So Jimmy decided that it was time to be called JW once again. After all, he had just celebrated his sixteenth birthday this past June. JW sounded more mature than Jimmy.

Now, JW was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the four cousins. It had been a year since he had seen them, and he had changed a lot since then. He was no longer a lost boy looking for a purpose and a family.

Kate, Emma, Harrison, and Parker had taught him the meaning of a true friend. JW considered them more than friends. They were his family, and he loved them. He couldn’t wait to show them the Flying J and all the skills he had become proficient in. He had become an expert horseback rider and could herd cattle with the best of the cow hands. He had learned to cook, and everyone praised his chili out on the trail. Most of all, he knew that God was with him every day and that he was never alone.

He had become close to the thirty boys who lived and worked on the ranch. So he was anxious for the four cousins, especially Kate, to see how far he had come in just one year.

Like the four cousins, JW had a spirit of adventure and was fearless in nature. He had explored the forests, the caves, and he had one site that he couldn’t wait to show his friends: he had discovered an abandoned town and mine with a strange and mysterious history.

A few hardy tourists visited the town and mine either attempting the long hike up to the town and mine entrance or by driving a 4 × 4 Jeep over the narrow, twisting, hair-raising road that was treacherous in the rain. Most turned back before they reached it because the hike was strenuous through the dense forest and the trail was rocky and dangerous.

JW thought that some of the sure-footed horses from the ranch could take them up the winding path quicker than hiking, he even thought that 4-wheel drive jeeps might be the answer. Also, an overnight camping experience would be fun. He was convinced that the four cousins would be so excited by his plan, and no one would be disappointed!

What JW did not know, or could even have suspected in his wildest imaginings, was the bone-chilling secret hidden deep in the Broken Arrow Mine that would test the courage and resourcefulness of all of them.

The adventure awaits! The mystery begins!

Chapter 1

Reunited

Kate gazed thoughtfully out the window of the plane as it winged its way over the mountain peaks below. For the past several minutes, the landscape of Wyoming had been visible far below. She could see the deep valleys turning golden in the summer heat and the narrow waterfalls cascading down the jagged slopes.

The waterfalls were no longer the torrential rush they had been in late June when the warm weather had finally arrived, and the melting snow had begun its furious trek to the valley floor. However, the falls were still a beautiful sight, creating small rainbows as the sun shone through the droplets of water.

It was late July, and Kate, her sister Emma, and her cousins Harrison and Parker would be spending three whole weeks at the Flying J ranch with Jimmy, who now wanted to be known as JW. It had been a year since they had met him and had begun their adventure in Canyon Camp.

Would he have changed much? Kate wondered. Was he as anxious to see them as they were to be reunited with him? She knew he had turned sixteen in June. That age seemed so mature to Kate as she was only twelve, Emma and Harrison eight, and Parker only six. They were probably just little kids to him. Although his letters hadn’t sounded like he thought of them in this way. In fact, he wrote that he considered them the sisters and brothers that he never had. Kate sincerely hoped that this was true.

Jimmy—JW, as his parents once called him—had transformed his life since they had found him in the Whispering Caves in Yellowstone. He had been so fearful of his future then, and he couldn’t imagine what his life could possibly turn out to be.

However, God had plans for JW, and he sent an angel called Father Mike to help him discover who he really was, and that he was loved. Kate was so proud of Jimmy, as she still called him. Through his letters, she had learned that he had become quite a cook and went on roundups with the ranch hands. He could expertly ride a horse and rope a steer.

The cowboys loved his presence on the cattle drives as he made delicious homemade chili, stew, and biscuits for them at the end of a long day on the trail. He felt right at home at the Flying J, and he considered the other boys and the adults as his new family. He had written to the four cousins and expressed his thankfulness as they had saved him in more ways than one. Not only did he have a place to live, learn, and grow in, but also he was surrounded by faith-filled people who taught him how God had blessed his life and was always looking out for him. So he said a silent prayer of gratitude each day for the goodness and mercy of God in his life.

JW had promised to meet them at the Yellowstone Regional Airport and to personally escort them to the Flying J Ranch, where they would be staying for three weeks. He had planned all sorts of activities and adventures for them, not the least of which was going on a real cattle drive and sleeping out under the stars