On the Trail

 by Fallyn C., age 11

Photo Prompt #6, Prescott Twins

Chapter One

Memory Creek Ranch, May 24, 1898

 

   Lottie and Lilly Prescott raced each other to the table, playfully pushing each other on the way.

   “I win!” Lilly said, smiling.

   “I lose!” Lottie announced happily, an identical smile spread across her face. They hurried to the table for breakfast.

   Around a mouthful of bread, Lottie whispered to Lilly, “Mama’s birthday is the day after tomorrow.” Since she was talking with her mouth full, it didn’t really sound like what she was actually saying, but in the way only an eight-year-old twin can, Lilly deciphered it perfectly.

   “What should we get for her?” Lilly whispered back.

   Lottie shrugged.

   “Let’s finish quickly and think about it in the big room,” Lilly said.

   (The “big room” was Andi and Riley’s bedroom.) 

   They gobbled down their remaining breakfast and rushed to the big room. They crawled under the bed, their favorite hiding spot, and began planning.

   “Okay, what should we do?” Lilly asked.

   Lottie shrugged again.

   “Well, what if we could”-

   Lottie sneezed.

   “Bless you, now, what if we could”-

   “Wait a minute, there’s something behind the bed.” Lottie grunted then pulled out a crinkled piece of paper that had been stuffed behind the headboard. Crawling out from under the bed the twins stared at the piece of paper in Lottie’s small hands. As careful as an eight-year-old can be, she unfolded the paper.

   “Whoa!” Both twins said in awe. No other words came to their lips.

   On the map there were woods taking up almost the whole paper. In the middle of the woods there was a river and to the right of the woods there was a cave and a canyon. At the bottom right hand corner, a drawing of gold.

   “Whoa!” Lottie said again.

   “Is this a- a treasure map?” Lilly asked.

   “Only one way to find out. Let’s go ask Mama!”

   They found Andi waving away smoke that was pouring out of “the black beast”. (Their cookstove.)

   “Mama! Mama! Mama!” They shouted.

   “Hold your horses!” Andi said as she took a black edged, crispy topped pie out of the stove. Laying it on the table, she glared at “the black beast” and turned to face the girls. “Now, what’s got you riled up?”

   “What’s this?” Lottie held up the map.

   Andi went to the sofa, sat down and took the map from them. They scrambled up beside her. “Oh,” she whispered. “Elijah…”

   “Huh?” The twins asked at the same time.

   “Elijah.”

   “From the Bible?” Lottie squealed. “We have a map made by Elijah from the BIBLE?!”

   “No, silly. Remember about a year ago, when we took you to the glade and you met the old man, Elijah Hunt?” Andi asked.

   “Ohh, that Elijah.” Lottie paused. “So, we’re not going to find hidden treasure with a treasure map that Elijah from the Bible made?”

   “Unfortunately, no.” Andi looked at the map thoughtfully, and a smile crept across her face. “You’ve heard Elijah’s story, right? And how he was my father’s friend that was shanghaied?”

   The twins nodded.

   “Well, when Elijah came back from the sea, he found an old map when he was looking for my father. But he never looked for the gold. He had plenty of gold already. So he gave it to me to keep. I’ve kept it for years now, but we’ve never looked for the treasure.”

   “Really? Why not?” Lilly asked.

   “You guys were too young, and I guess I just forgot.” Andi handed them back the map and went to the kitchen. “I have to make dinner.” She tapped the pie tin that still held the burnt pie. “Again.”

   “Okay.” Lilly and Lottie went back to the big room and under the bed again.

   “I’ve got a great idea for Mama’s birthday present,” Lilly said.

   “What?” Lottie whispered.

   “Let’s go find that gold.”

 

 

Chapter Two

 

   After the sun went down and the rest of the family was asleep, Lottie and Lilly crept out of bed and to the kitchen.

   “Lantern, jar, food, water, map,” Lilly whispered. “That’s all we need. Oh, and matches.”

   “Here’s the lantern,” Lottie said. Lilly lit it with a match.

   The bright flame illuminated the twins’ smiling faces.

   “Jar, please.” Once handed the jar, Lottie stuffed it into her pillowcase.

   “Biscuits come next.” Lilly dropped four leftover sourdough biscuits into the pillowcase.

   “Water.” Lottie was handed the canteen. “This is empty.”

   “Yep,” Lilly replied. “we can’t fill it with the kitchen pump.”

   “We have to.”

   So, with a stool and teamwork, they managed to fill the canteen to the brim. With the help of their small stool friend again, they also managed to unbolt the back door.

   Stepping off into the darkness, the twins ran to the barn to get their ponies. In honor of their parents’ old horses they had named their ponies Midnight and Taffy. They mounted quickly and went off into the mysterious High Sierra wilderness beyond.

  

 

Chapter Three

 

   The steady clopping sound of their ponies’ hooves was a comforting sound as they traveled further into the woods. The moon shone brightly, giving them light.

   “Are we even to the river yet?” Lottie asked sleepily.

   “No,” Lilly answered.

   (Lottie’s question had already been repeated five times but Lilly was too tired to care.)

   “How long is this gonna take?” Lottie sighed. “We have to get the gold by Mama’s birthday, not by after Mama’s birthday.”

   “Tired.” Lilly mumbled.

   “Me too.” Lottie mumbled back. “Are we”-

   “No.”

   Finally, they reached the river. It had swelled up to twice what it would normally be with the late spring storms.

   “Oh boy,” both twins said.

   Slowly, on top of their barebacked ponies, they began to cross the river. Water splashed up on them with each step.

   Midnight, Lilly’s pony, whinnied at the cold water.

   Taffy stamped and snorted.

   Gray clouds churned above the river.

   The water reached up to their knees.

   Then before they knew what was happening, thunder boomed, Midnight reared and Lilly slipped into the rushing river.

 

 

Chapter Four

 

   Lottie watched as Lilly fell into the river and Midnight struggled to get to the river bank.

   “Lottie!” Lilly shouted, fighting to stay above the water.

   “Lilly!” Lottie shouted. She saw her sister go under then pop back up again.

   Lottie tried to get Taffy to move but she refused. Lottie watched as Lilly got swept further and further downstream.

   “Hold onto something!” Lottie shouted to her, tugging on Taffy’s mane to get her to move.

   Lilly barely snagged a fallen tree branch lodged between two rocks on the river bank. Lottie inched Taffy step by step to where Lilly held to the branch.

   “Grab on.” Lottie held out her hand.

   Lilly grasped on. She managed to get up on Taffy and they made it to the other side of the river. They got off Taffy and collapsed onto the muddy ground.

   Rain poured.

   They sat under a tree and snuggled together to stay warm.

   “Whoa,” Lottie said.

   “Yeah,” Lilly agreed.

   They fell asleep a moment later. The next morning when the rain had stopped, a rustle woke the girls. They turned to where the sound had come from.

 

 

Chapter Five

May 25, 1898

 

 

   Morning dawned on the Memory Creek ranch and dark clouds filled the sky.

   As Andi was putting pancakes on plates, she called for the children to come eat breakfast. Jared came, but the twins didn’t.

   “Jared,” asked Andi, “where are Lottie and Lilly?”

   Jared looked surprised at her question. “I don’t know.” He looked around as if expecting them to pop up at any minute.

   Andi called again. No answer. She checked their bedroom.

   Empty.

   Panic rose inside her. Her daughters were gone.

   “Riley!” She called.

   He rushed in. “What’s wrong?”

   “Lottie and Lilly are gone.” Andi choked back a sob.

   “What?” Riley looked at Andi, then at Jared. “Are you sure they’re not here?” He asked.

   “I’m sure, I checked.” Andi took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

   “They couldn’t have gone far.” Riley said after a moment of silence. “I’ll go after them.” He turned to go.

   “Riley, wait.” Andi pulled him back before he could make it out the door. “Me and Jared are coming too.”

   “No, stay here,” Riley argued.

   “Riley,” Andi said, blinking back tears. “They’re our children, we’re gonna find them together.”

   “Alright, I’ll saddle up the horses.” He rushed out the door.

 

 

Chapter Six

 

   The girls’ eyes widened as they looked at the moving brush. A little growl sounded.

   The girls tilted their heads. An even littler sounding bark came from the brush.

   Then a small golden-furred puppy popped out from the bushes.

   “Puppy!” Lottie squealed, rushing towards him. He ducked just out of her reach and leaped into Lilly’s arms, licking her face.

   Lilly laughed. The puppy jumped down and ran in a happy circle around the girls’ feet.

   “We should keep him!” Lottie said.

   “He’s probably starving,” Lilly added.

   “What should we call him?” Lottie asked, lifting him up again.

   “Well, he’s got gold fur. What name has to do with gold?” Lilly asked.

   “I know! Nugget!” Lottie set Nugget on the ground and hugged him.

   Lilly joined her. Then they gave him a sourdough biscuit. The puppy licked their faces and his tail wagged like crazy. He barked happily. 

   Little Nugget ran in circles of excitement while the girls sat back under the tree. Eventually he got tired and plopped down on the girls’ laps.

   “Let’s have dinner, I’m hungry,” Lottie said.

   “Me too,” Lilly agreed.

    As they were eating, rain started to fall again and thunder rumbled. Lightening ripped through the sky. The tree offered the girls and Nugget some cover, but not much. The wind blew, and the girls shivered as they finished their sourdough biscuits.

    “There’s no way we can search for the gold in this storm,” Lilly sighed.

    “I guess we’ll have to wait for it to stop,” Lottie said.

     They waited and waited but the rain didn’t let up.

 

Chapter Seven

 

   Andi called again and again with no answer. Riley called. So did Jared.

   No answer.

   As they left Memory Creek Ranch, Andi remembered the map. After checking to see if it was at home still, and finding out that it wasn’t, they went to the secret glade to find Elijah. He gave them directions and told them he’d be praying for their little girls.

   So far, they weren’t going very fast. Andi was impatient but she couldn’t just leave Riley and Jared behind. The storm that had started was slowing them down. Lightening struck the sky. She prayed for the Lord to keep her daughters safe and to keep her calm.

   Andi kept thinking about her little girls, frightened, cold, maybe even in danger. She was tired and stiff from riding but the thought of her girls, alone, urged her on.

  

 

Chapter Eight

 

   “Was this a bad idea?” Lilly asked, as thunder boomed.

   “Why?” Lottie asked, shivering.

   “Look at us, we’re freezing, wet, and hungry,” Lilly said.

   “You’re right,” Lottie sighed. “This wasn’t a good idea.” Thunder loudly boomed again. Lightening struck, grey clouds crowded out the rest of the sky.

   “I want Mama,” Lilly said. Nugget whimpered and shook the water from his fur.

   “We shouldn’t have done this,” Lottie agreed.

   “Mama, where are you?” Lilly whispered, a tear rolled down her cheek.

     “I want to go home,” Lottie said.  

 

Chapter Nine                                                                

 

   An hour later, Andi heard neighing mixed with barking.

   “Wait a minute, did you hear that?” She asked.

   “Yeah,” Jared said.

   “Come on,” Andi said, turning Shasta and urging him into a fast trot. Riley and Jared followed. “This way!” Andi called. She led Shasta through some brush.

   Tears started in her eyes at the sight in front of her.

   Sitting there, under a tree, in the falling rain, with a puppy on their laps, were her twin girls. Midnight and Taffy stood by the tree.

   As soon as Andi saw them she got off Shasta and opened her arms to hug them. They ran to her and hugged her.

   Riley and Jared smiled and stood by the horses, silently watching the rest of their family.

   “I love you Mama,” Lilly whispered.

   “Me too,” Lottie said.

   “I love you too,” Andi said, a smile on her lips.

     The family celebrated Andi’s birthday, May 26, 1898.

   Even though the twins didn’t find the gold, they still got Andi a present. Nugget. He became a permanent member of the family. And a week later, they went searching for the gold. Together.