Cory's Point of View from Trouble with Treasure

by Megs

Here are two scenes from Trouble with Treasure. Both are from Cory's point of view. One is from the opening of the book. Number 2 lets readers know what Cory was up to after he left Andi and Jenny in the cabin and rode away on Flash for help back in Fresno Flats. It's great insight into Cory's personality.

Scene #1: The Map

Cory Blake stepped out the front doors of the Blake livery stable, and was greeted by a blast of hot summer air. “Golly, it sure is a scorcher today!” 

He commented to no one in particular, wiping the forming sweat beads from his brow.

“Hey Blake!”

He looked up, shading his eyes from the bright sun, and saw Johnny Wilson come swaggering up the boardwalk. “Oh, hi Johnny.” 

Cory mumbled his greeting.

Johnny nodded him over. “You wanna see somethin’?”

His curiosity piqued, Cory walked over to him. “Sure…What’cha got?”

Johnny grinned. “Only the biggest toad in Fresno County. And I’ll trade it to you for your most prized possession. ”

Cory chewed his lip, pondering a good trade. Shoving his hand into a pocket, he drew out a handful of aggie marbles. Fingering his prized shooter, he glanced up at Johnny. “Would you trade it for my shooter?”

Johnny picked it up and inspected it closely. “I dunno, is it any good?”

Cory became slightly indignant. “Of course! Why, it’s the best one I’ve got. Best I’ve seen in all these here parts! Now, do we have a deal?”

Johnny glanced at the toad, then at the marble, then back to the toad again. He finally held out his rough hand and nodded. “It’s a deal, Blake.”

 Cory grinned, pumping Johnny’s hand, then quickly handed over the prized marble. “That’s just fine! You’ve got yourself the best shooter in Fresno, now be careful not to lose it.” 

Johnny seemed pleased, and turned to go. “See you around, Blake. Thanks for the only good shooter around.”

Cory wasn’t positive, but he thought that he heard Johnny mutter “sucker” as he clomped down the wooden walkway. 

Shrugging it off, Cory studied the new toad. He was the biggest toad he’d ever seen. Wait ‘till Ollie see’s this! Cory thought to himself, starting down the road in the direction of Ollie’s pa’s land office. Ollie was almost always there helping his pa, so Cory decided he had a good chance of finding him that afternoon.

“Hey Ollie!” Cory called as he raced into the land office. “Come ‘ere and look at this great toad…” He stopped short when he saw a bunch of people standing there in the room. Feeling his face turning red, he quickly exited the way he had come in. “Oh boy, I forgot the new shipment of maps came today...”

He peeked back into the window. Where is Ollie? Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a voice right behind him.

“Hiya Cory, what ‘cha doing?”

Cory whirled around, startled, and saw Ollie standing there with a lopsided grin of his face. Clearing his throat, Cory reached for the toad in his pocket. “Oh hey, I was just looking for you. See what I got this morning?”

Ollie’s eyes grew wide when he saw the toad. “Wow, he’s a beaut!”

Cory grinned proudly. “He is, isn’t he?”

Ollie then snapped his fingers, as if he’d just remembered something important. “Oh hey, the land office just got in their new survey maps in, and Dad gave me some of these old outdated ones!”

Cory raised an eyebrow. “So?”

Ollie grinned, and pulled a wrinkled piece of paper. “Looky here, it’s a map of all the gold diggings in the hills around here. I figured you’d like to take a peek.”

Cory’s eyes widened. The thought of having a real map, and finding gold in one of the abandoned mines, sent excited chills up and down his spine.

He eyed the map. “Gosh, I’d sure like to have a map like that…” He gave Ollie a pleading look. “Wanna trade? I’ll even trade you this toad for that map!”

Ollie narrowed his eyes in thought. “I dunno. What else have you got?  It’s probably worth an awful lot.”

Cory frantically dug around in his pockets, bringing out a large assortment of his treasures: his aggie marbles, some arrowheads, a rusty nail or two, and other miscellaneous items of little to no worth, except maybe to a fourteen year old boy like himself. He held out his palm to show Ollie his merchandise. “Here, how about my five aggies, these two genuine arrowheads, and this here toad for your map. Whaddia think?”

Ollie mulled the thought around in his mind, and fingered the map. “Are those arrowheads really genuine?”

Cory nodded quickly. “They sure are; an Indian gave them to me himself!”

Seeming convinced, Ollie handed Cory the prized map, and took the items from Cory. “Alright, this map for your marbles, arrowheads, and that toad.”

Cory’s face lit up, and he quickly grabbed the old yellow paper. “Gee, thanks Ollie!”

Ollie grinned, then turned and headed for Goodwin’s store.

Cory, smiled to himself, and turned to leave, carefully folding his prized possession and shoving it into his back pocket. I can’t wait ‘till Andi gets back…She’ll love this!

 Scene #2: Riding Away from the Cabin
 

“Cory, I’m scared. What if something happens to you? Then what?”

I gave her braid another tug. “If it makes you feel better, sure, I’ll take Mitch’s gun along.” I then scooped up the pistol, turned, and walked out the door. Andi followed close behind.

I went over to Flash, mounted up, then gave Andi a cheerful wave. “I’ll be back within two days. See you soon Andi!”

Then I headed down the trail to Fresno Flats…and help.

~~~

I rode in silence for about twenty minutes, then I started to get kinda bored seeing the same scenery I saw on the way up. So I started talking to my horse. “I’m glad it’s a nice day, huh, Flash?”

He shook his mane, as if in agreement. I grinned.

“But then, you’d probably be happier if you were out in a nice green pasture, eating to your hearts content…”

It was a quiet ride, save an occasional bird that belted out a song here and there, and normally, I would have really enjoyed it. But with all that had happened in the last few days, my mind had too much to think about to be having any fun.

Around two o’clock, my stomach started to growl, so I kept a lookout for a cool place to have my lunch. I soon spotted a nice looking green spot beneath some pine trees. “Hey, this looks like a nice spot for eating…” I tugged his reins, “Whoa there boy, let’s stop here.”

I threw my leg over the saddle horn, and slid off the saddle. Lifting up the flap of my saddle bag, I pulled out an apple, a piece of bread, and a half eaten, moldy biscuit. “Eww.” I wrinkled my nose and tossed it over my shoulder. “Don’t know why I packed that in there…” I then plopped down into the soft grass, and took a chunk out of my “lunch,” the bread.

As I swallowed the last bite, I lay on my back and sighed. “Lord, please help me get some help real quick. Mitch needs you bad, and please keep the girls safe while I’m gone…”

A loud crunch sounded near my head and made me jump. I sat up, and saw that it was just Flash; he had found my apple, and had gobbled it right down. “Well, there goes my snack for later.” I sighed, “Oh well, you probably needed it more than I did anyway.” I reached out and patted Flash on the neck. He nickered, and nuzzled my hair. I laughed, and shoved him head out of my way. “Alright, that’s enough buddy. We’d better be going...”

So I mounted up, and we both rode on down the trail. After about a half an hour, I heard hoof beats coming up the trail, so I quickly pulled Flash off into the bushes; just in case it was another one of those bank robbers. I watched as the horse and rider appeared over the ridge, and was partially relieved to see that it was the former Deputy Baker.

Hoping he held nothing against me from our little jail encounter, I nudged my horse’s sides and went back onto the trail and into his view.

Hugh Baker stopped short, but seemed to relax when he saw that it was just me.

“Mister Baker!” I called. “Boy am I glad to see you. Mitch has been shot, and the girls are up at the cabin alone, and I’m headed to Fresno Flats for help… ”

He stopped just a few feet from me. “What’d you say boy? Somethin’ about a…cabin?”

I nodded. “Yes sir, and two men were up there, and shot Mitch up pretty bad, and we need help. Will you come with me to town? I sure could use…” I stopped short when I saw the strange expression on his face. “What’s wrong?”

He jumped off the horse he had been riding, and came up to me. “Did you find anything…valuable in the cabin?”

I blinked. “uh, no…why?” He looked as if he didn’t believe me. “You ain’t lying, are you boy?”

I grew indignant. “Of course not! Now are you coming down with me to town for help, or not?”

He reached out, grabbed my arm, and yanked my off my horse. “You’re coming with me boy, you ain’t goin’ to town. No sir ’ee!” 

I tried to wriggle free of his grasp, but he wouldn’t let go. I had a bad feeling about this guy, and knew right then that I really did need help. So I kicked his shins as hard as I could. He let out a howl of pain, and let loose of my arm. I took that chance, and leapt onto Flash, and dug my heels into his sides. With a surprised squeal, he took off...leaving me sitting in the dust, watching in horror as my horse left me behind with this crazy ex-deputy.

Hugh Baker stomped up to me and yanked me to my feet. Sticking his nose in my face, he bellowed, “Don’t ever try that again boy!” and he reached up a hand, and slapped me across the face.

I winced in pain, then swung my fist at his face with all my might. And was lucky enough to land a good hard punch on his jaw. He stumbled back from the shock of it, but then chuckled a low evil laugh, and slammed his fist into my face. That’s the last thing I remember before everything went black.

I woke up later, to find that I was tied up tight, had a gag in my mouth, and my eye was swollen almost completely shut. I looked around and found myself behind Deputy Baker, draped over his horse. My whole body ached, and my head was pounding. I judged by the position of the sun that it was late afternoon the next day. I figured that I had been knocked out pretty hard, and slept the rest of the time.

It wasn’t long before I saw the cabin coming into sight. I silently prayed that the girls would see us before we got there, and would meet Deputy Baker with the rifle, but no such luck . . .