Jem and Ellie and the Incredible Find

         

PICTURE #2

by Angela K. 

Jem! Jem! Jem! Come on, wake up!” Ellie screeched.

“Go back to sleep. It’s very early,” Jem mumbled.

­­His 6-year-old sister flopped onto his cot. “But Jeeemmm!”

“Do you want Mama and Pa to hear us?” Jem asked.

“But-but-but Nugget is acting weird, and he keeps pawing at the ground and sniffing,” Ellie told him.

“Nugget is acting weird?” Jem yelped. Jem would do anything for Nugget. When Nugget acted weird, something was definitely going on.

He ran out into the warm, summer air. “Why did you come out here anyways?” Jem asked. “It can’t be more than four in the morning.”

“Well, I wasn’t asleep, and I was hearing Nugget snuffling around outside the tent, and so I came out to check. But please don’t tell Mama. Please!” Ellie begged.

As she turned to take a step forward, she nearly tripped into a hole that Nugget had made. “Nugget!” she scolded.

Nugget looked up at her and panted. He leaned down into the hole with his nose against the dirt and gave a low bark.

“What is it, Nugget?” Ellie asked as she bent down to get a closer look. Feeling around her with hands, her fingers touched something soft and lumpy. She picked up the strange object.

“Jem,” she whispered. She put the object onto Jem’s hand and said, “What do you think Nugget found? It’s heavy.”

Whatever it was, it did feel heavy. Jem brought it out into moonlight to get a better look. It seemed like a bag. The fabric felt worn and dirty. He loosened the drawstrings and opened it up.

Jem got the surprise of his life. Even in the moonlight, he could see something sparkly inside. Could it be pebble-size pieces of gold? “Wow! Ellie, take a look at this!” Jem said. He could feel his excitement rising.

Ellie peered over his shoulder. “Oh my!” she gasped. “Is it real?”

Jem nodded. “It must be worth a fortune,” he exclaimed. “We have to tell Mama and Pa about this. Based on how old the bag feels, it must have been buried here for a long time.”

Ellie said, “But Mama will ask questions. She’ll be mad I left the tent in the middle of the night without letting her know.”

“We must tell the truth,” Jem reminded her.

“Yes, Jem.” Ellie knew her brother was right.

Jem and Ellie crept back into the tent and tried to go back to sleep until it was time to wake up.

It seemed like forever until Mama and Pa started to stir in their cot. As soon they heard Pa yawn and stretch, Jem and Ellie were out of their blankets in a flash.

“Good morning, Pa,” Jem and Ellie greeted him joyfully.

“You kids are sure up early today,” said Pa, looking surprised at how awake they looked. Usually, Pa was the first one to wake.

Jem thrust out his hand proudly, the bag of gold resting in his palm. “Look, Pa!” Jem was too eager to say anything else.

“What do you have there, son?” Pa asked, raising his eyebrows.

This morning was full of surprises. Ellie jumped in excitedly. “We found gold. Can you believe it, Pa? Real gold!”

“Where did you find it?” Pa inquired.

“Outside the tent early this morning. Actually, Nugget found it,” Ellie explained.

Mama, who had laid on her cot until now, sat upright with a start. “What do you mean ‘outside the tent this morning’?”

Ellie looked shameful. She knew her mama worried about wild animals in the dark and did not like Ellie or Jem to leave the tent in the middle of the night. “Yes, Mama. I’m sorry. I heard Nugget whining outside the tent and I wanted to make sure that he was okay.”

Pa gave Mama a look that said, “Let’s talk about this later.”

After a breakfast of mush (again! Jem did not like mush even with molasses!), Jem reluctantly left the bag of gold behind. “Come on, Ellie, it’s time for school.”

Glancing back at the bag of gold on the table, Ellie followed.

Arriving just as the school bell rang, Jem didn’t have time to share his story with anyone. He slid into his seat and tried to concentrate. The minutes passed slowly.

“Jem, what is the name of the man who founded Goldtown?” the teacher asked.

Jem answered dreamily, “Bag of gold. Yes, lots of gold.”

The kids in the class started to giggle.

“Jem,” his teacher reprimanded him sharply, “That is not the name of the founder.” Turning to the rest of the class, she asked, “Does anyone else know the answer?”

Jem’s face reddened with embarrassment. “Sorry,“ he apologized.

“It’s just that we found a big bag of gold this morning!” Ellie explained, her voice full of excitement.

The class erupted with questions for Jem and Ellie.

“Where did you find it?”

“Are you sure it’s real gold?”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“How much does it weigh?”

Jem and Ellie tried to answer the best they could.

The teacher tried to quiet the children, and slowly the noise died down as the history class continued.

The rest of the day was a blur to Jem and Ellie. They couldn’t wait for the school bell to ring and dismiss them for the day.

When it was time to leave, Jem and Ellie were the first out the door. They made it home in record time.

The first thing they did once they got home was to make sure the bag of gold was still there. They found it tucked away under Mama’s pillow for safekeeping. Opening the bag, they examined the pieces of gold closely. Some were the size of Jem’s pinky nail.

“There must be a fortune here!” Jem exclaimed gleefully to Ellie.

It was supper before they knew it. Jem wolfed his food down quickly and excused himself from the table. “Mama, can I go out for a bit?” Jem asked.

“Where are you going?” Mama questioned him.

“Oh, just by Cripple Creek,” Jem lied. “May I stay up a bit later tonight?”

“Well,” Mama said slowly, “I guess that would be okay. But Ellie needs to be in bed early.”

“Thank you, Mama,” Jem said as he took off and headed outside. Instead of going to Cripple Creek, though, he sprinted towards Goldtown. He couldn’t wait to share his discovery with everyone.

The first person he met was No-luck Casey.

“Hey Jem,” No luck Casey greeted him. “What are doing in town so late?”

“Look at what I got!” Jem said excitedly, showing him the bag of gold he snuck out of the house.

“Wow! I guess they should call you Good-luck Jem,” No-luck Casey exclaimed in amazement. “Where did you find all that gold?”

“Actually, Nugget found it,” Jem explained.

“That’s a fine bit of gold, Jem. Be careful carrying it around. Some people might take it from you, thinking it’s an easy way to strike it rich,” No luck Casey warned.

Jem had never thought of that before, but he was too excited to share his story to listen to Casey’s warning.

As he walked up Pioneer Street, he met a group of gold miners returning from their day’s work. He couldn’t help but tell his story and show off his find to the men. They were impressed and congratulated him for his good fortune.

Up and down the streets Jem went, sharing his news. He barely noticed how late it was until he heard a coyote howl at the rising moon.

“Oh, my. Mama will be worried. I best be getting home.” Jem hurried back towards home.

He heard soft footsteps behind him. A stick snapped. “Am I being followed?” Jem wondered, moving faster down the path. As he went around the corner, he ducked behind a tree and waited.

A few minutes later, a dark shape of a man passed by. It was one of the men he had showed the gold to earlier.

He waited what seemed like forever, checking to see if the man would come back to town once he realized he could not find Jem ahead. Just as Jem was about to continue on his way, feeling rather silly to think the man was up to no good, he heard footsteps approaching back along the road.

Sure enough, it was the same man.

Now, Jem felt certain that the man had been looking for him. Maybe he had planned to rob him of the gold.

When it was safe to continue, Jem took off at full speed for home. He was grateful to see his Mama’s stern face from the tent.

“Sorry Mama,” Jem said. “I lost of track of time.”

“I’m very disappointed in you. We were so worried,” she scolded him. Then she hugged him tight. “I’m glad you are back. Now it is really time for you to go to bed.”

Jem happily snuggled into his cot, thankfully to be safe and back with his family. He would remember not to brag about his find again.

The next day was Saturday, and Jem was so glad he didn’t have to go to school. He ate his breakfast quickly and ran to pan for gold with Pa. His scare with the man from last night was already forgotten.

At first, they worked side by side, but then Jem heard a bullfrog croak and so he moved downstream to find the four-footed hopper. He could sell the frog to Mr. Sims, the café owner, for money. He stooped to capture the bullfrog and was just about to put his hands on the big croaker when he heard Ellie scream. Maybe she came to bring them a snack and a snake had scared her?

Jem took off in her direction to see what was wrong. Nugget followed Jem.

Soon Nugget was bounding ahead. “Woof! Woof!” Nugget barked loudly and growled fiercely at something up ahead.

“Why is Nugget barking at Ellie?” Jem thought. “Is he trying to scare off a coyote?”

Jem hurried faster along. He just caught sight of Nugget, and the vague shape of a man, tugging Ellie deeper into the forest.

“Hey, let her go!” Jem yelled, chasing after them.

Nugget leapt at the man’s sleeve and tugged him to the ground. As the man fell, Ellie shook herself free from his grasp. She ran towards Jem. “Oh, Jem!” she cried. “I’m so glad to see you! I thought the mean guy was going to take me away.”

“Help! Please help! Please call your dog off,” the man begged over the sound of Nugget’s ferocious growling.

“Not until you tell me why you were trying to steal Ellie away from us,” Jem said angrily.

“When I heard you telling the rest of the miners about your lucky find, I hoped to get some of it for myself. You see, I haven’t found almost any gold and I have no money to pay for my food. I just needed something to survive on. I was desperate. I’m very sorry,” he apologized sorrowfully. “I didn’t think about the consequences for what I did. I see now that it was wrong.”

Jem looked at the man’s worn clothes full of holes and saw how thin and tired he looked. He could see this man had not had a decent meal or proper clothes for some time.

“Nugget, come here, boy.” Jem decided to help the man, who seemed to be in need of a helping hand.

Nugget gave one last bark at the man and trotted slowly towards Jem.

“Good boy, Nugget,” Jem said as he stepped forward to help the man up.

“Sorry miss, I really needed the money.” The man looked ashamed. “Well, I best be going to see what scraps of food I can gnaw on.”

As the man turned to leave, Jem called, “Wait. You said you don’t have much food?”

“No,” the man said simply.

“Well, how about you have a meal with us. You can tell us about yourself,” Jem offered.

“Thank you very much, but I don’t deserve it. Not after what I’ve done,” the man looked truly sorry for what he had done.

“We all make mistakes,” Jem said.

The man seemed amazed by this kindness. “D-d-do you really forgive me?”

“Of course, I forgive you,” Jem gave him a kind look.

“Are you sure you have enough food to go around?” the man hesitated to accept the offer.

“Yes, but first you must tell me your name,” Jem offered his hand in friendship.

The man shook Jem’s outstretched hand, “You can call me, Empty-Handed Ezrah.”

Jem, Ellie, and Empty-Handed Ezrah headed back to the creek to bring Pa home for lunch.

Pa was surprised to see such a raggedy-looking man walking with his very own kids. He raised his eyebrows and asked, “Who might you be?”

“Call me Empty-Handed Ezrah,” the man answered.

The man looked so poor and raggedy that even Pa felt sorry for him. “It looks like you could use a good meal,” he said.

“That would be mighty kind of you,” said Ezrah.

“Well, let’s be off,” Pa said, gathering his tools.

The four of them talked as they went back to the tent, as if they were old friends.

Mama served a hearty meal of fish and a wild turkey that Pa had just shot the day before. The man ate as though he hadn’t had a bite in days. He was the first to clear his plate. Mama offered him a second round, which he gladly accepted.

As Ezrah was leaving, having thanked the Coulter family with such a look of gratitude, Pa was so moved that he offered him some gold to buy some new clothes and food.

Ezrah was astonished. He had never held so much gold in his life.

“Thank you! Thank you for such a blessing. In truth, I do not deserve it.” Ezrah opened his mouth as if to tell the whole story, but Jem cut in, “Everyone should lend a helping hand to those less fortunate.”

Mama and Pa had always encouraged Jem and Ellie to be compassionate to others. Jem was happy to help someone else. Good luck was meant to be shared.

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