Gypsy - Lesley Pearse [191]
Beth had never known such happiness. From the moment she opened her eyes in the morning to see Jack beside her, till they fell back into bed late at night, she was filled with the joy of knowing she’d made the right decision to come out here.
They hadn’t spoken of love or even of the future, for it seemed unnecessary when it was so clear that they were meant to be together for all time. Beth worked alongside Jack and Oz, shovelling and sluicing the dump piles cheerfully. She didn’t mind that it was hard, dirty work, or that at times it seemed pointless. It was enough to be beside Jack, to laugh and chat and feel utterly secure.
Sometimes in the afternoons he would take her fishing on the creek in Oz’s little rowing boat, and she would lie back, basking in the sunshine, and greedily contemplate making love when they got back to the cabin. Other times they would tramp up to the woods at the top of the claim and she’d pick flowers while he chopped wood for the stove. Lust often overtook them up there, for there was something deliciously wicked and dangerous about making love in the open air, especially when a bear or even a human could come along and surprise them.
‘Let’s go down and see what he’s up to,’ Jack said. ‘It’s time for something to eat anyway. Maybe a bit of canoodling later would be in order?’
Hand in hand, they ran down the hill to find Oz in a tattered checked shirt with his trousers held up with string, bent over his sluice.
As they approached he looked up, his wide smile revealing his blackened teeth. ‘Lookee here at what I’ve found!’ He picked up an old baking soda tin and handed it to them.
It contained four small gold nuggets. Jack shook them out into his palm. ‘Jesus Christ!’ he exclaimed. ‘You found them all together?’
‘Yup,’ Oz said. ‘I’ve sluiced through five dumps this morning and nothing, then on the sixth I was left with those.’
‘I’m so glad for you, Oz.’ Beth went over to him and gave him a hug. ‘How marvellous!’
‘Which hole did they come out of?’ Jack asked, looking around. All the ground to the side of his cabin was full of holes and dumps beside them.
‘That one there.’ Oz pointed to the one nearest his cabin. ‘That one was the last we did. Remember you was afeared I’d fall into it when I came out the cabin?’
Jack smiled and turned to Beth. ‘It was just before you came. When he asked me to dig it, I tried to put him off.’
‘I suppose you’ll be wanting to move the cabin now to dig underneath it?’ Beth asked.
Oz grinned. ‘Maybe. But first I had it in mind to get myself spruced up and go into town and spread the word around that old Ostrich has struck it rich again. There’s been folks laughing at me for a long time. This’ll stop ’em.’
‘You’ll get some eager to buy the claim off you,’ Jack reminded him.
‘If they offers me enough I just might take it,’ he retorted.
Beth looked at Jack in alarm, wondering where that would leave him, but to her surprise he was smiling at Oz. ‘You go on into town,’ he said. ‘We’ll do some sluicing down here while you’re gone, see if we can find more for you. But look after what you’ve got there, won’t you? That might be all there is!’
An hour later, Jack and Beth waved goodbye to Oz as he went off in the boat to Dawson. His sprucing up consisted only of trimming his beard and changing his clothes into slightly less tattered ones. Beth had made him put the nuggets into a poke around his neck and tucked inside his shirt. Jack had advised him to deposit them at the bank before he began drinking or playing cards.
‘What if he does sell the claim?’ Beth asked when they’d waved the older man out of sight. He had left Flash and Silver with them and they remained sitting on the creek bank looking towards where their master had gone.
‘I hope he does,’ Jack replied. ‘He won’t last another winter here.’
‘But what about you? The new owner won’t want you