CHAPTER FIVE
Immediately Indian Skies shakes Indian Lace and wakes her up. As Indian Skies shakes her slightly abruptly like she was anxious to inform her of something, she declares, “They’re on the move!”
Indian Lace wakes up rather quickly from a tiresome sleep after her pursuit of watching and following for an entire day. Of course, their patterns of camping are of the same nature with one of them always on the watch. They have become used to the idea of only getting about a half a night’s sleep each while out on the range together.
Indian Lace wakes and gets up replying, “Let’s pack up and head out!”
Indian Skies has everything already taken care considering she had been watching them with her own binoculars and telescope that she has for the specific purpose. Explaining this fact to Indian Lace, Indian Skies answers back saying, “Everything packed and ready to go except for your bags and blanket. The horses are both saddled up again and ready to move on. In fact I already put the camp fire out and covered it up to hide any further trace from any trackers that may be on the lookout.”
Indian Lace picks up her blanket and folds as fast as she can like a maid at a hotel who does it so perfectly every time like it were second nature. She puts it and tucks it away in her bag and then heads over to her horse to fasten her baggage back to her horse’s saddle that she had made herself specifically for carrying as much as she possibly can while out in the field of her abiding.
Indian Lace looks to the camp fire and notices that it is still smoldering through the dirt slightly saying, “The fire is still smoldering a bit!”
Indian Lace walks over and covers a little spot with her snake skin cowboy boots that are darkened in color. Quickly she comments while holding her horses bridle, “That should take care of it. She pulls her horse’s bridle the other way a bit while kicking a boot full of dirt back onto it while commenting to Indian Skies, “That should take care of it!”
Then she adds while ready to put her left foot in to the stirrups saying, “Let’s head out!”
Indian Skies thinks that they should stay a ways back considering that the sun is still in the rise towards its noon position which will blind them if they look back in that direction but they still may see a darker image on the horizons if they are too close. Relenting this idea in mind to Indian Lace, Indian Skies explains, “Maybe we should stay back a ways and just keep them in our sights just enough not to lose them. At least until after high noon passes over!”
Indian Lace thinks for a moment and then says, “That sounds like a good idea because we don’t want to give ourselves away!”
Quickly she pushes up on her bridle signaling her horse to get a move on while Indian Skies performs the same task following from behind. As they leave their camp site, Indian Skies looks back to take a look at the camp site for anything out of the peculiar that she might have missed as a sign to their identity. They don’t care about their tracks because they will be traveling a really far distance to areas that not many cowboys have trudged over except those who are seeking a new life out west or those who are looking for wanted men. However they do suspect that there are others who will join in on the chase and desire to be a part of the discovery that the cowboys are after. Nonetheless this is a second stage world and the only thing to quest for is gold and not the fires of a first world stage.
Back with the cowboys, or should I say the cowboy and Indians as a typical “Cowboy and Indian” story is concerned, Amigo starts off the conversation with some questions about the reading he did previously with the Book of Revelations. His first question in mind is something about where he got his research asking, “So where did you get most of your research?”
The Prophet Ramon thinks to himself for a brief moment before inquiring, “Most of it was from reading it, I guess!”
The Pawnee Indian wonders what they are talking about enquiring, “What are you talking about, that Bible thing again?”
By now with the psychic on the trail along with them, Amigo questions his authority based on his readings speculating, “Well, I read the whole entire chapter this time!”
The Prophet Ramon is bewildered with a sense of cluing in to what he has gotten out of it so far by probing, “And what do you think of the story?”
Amigo ponders over his answer quickly trying to decipher the story his way like a cultural Indian telling the Prophet Ramon, “Well, it looks like you’re right in my opinion that Jesus Christ comes to see the flocks of the children like written in the Book of John. It’s all spelled out right there in the writing!”
The Prophet Ramon wants to know more about what Amigo gets out of it asking, “So what else did you get out of it?”
The Pawnee Indian butts in for a moment screeching, “Did you discover any hints to where the treasure lies after reading it?”
Then Amigo answers back explaining to the Prophet Ramon, “No, but I know it has to do with an Indian ceremony with the man-child and the testimony of Jesus Christ. And it also has to do with an Indian Woman giving her baby to the dragon so that she can give the testimony of Jesus Christ to the child.”
The Pawnee Indian gets sort of negative about him not having any clues as to the whereabouts of a hidden treasure commenting, “That’s it, you have nothing else?”
Amigo defends his honor of only have read it entirely for the first time. And it’s no wonder that the Pawnee Indian is rushing him like he should know all of the answers right away so quickly. He really hasn’t even had a chance to think everything over yet, although he so far has a good grip on the reading of in-between the lines which are where the truth lies. Nevertheless Amigo expresses his feelings saying, “Oh, I have gotten lots out of it and I just read it all of the way through for the first time. I haven’t even had a chance to go over all of it thoroughly. There’s a lot more to it than that. I can see the whole story in my mind like I was almost there!”
The Prophet Ramon wonders what else Amigo could tell him by testing, “So explain the story in Indian terms then since you agree that it’s an Indian Story.”
Straight forth the Pawnee Indian questions Amigo’s authority by contending, “So what did you get out of that story you read?”
Amigo stops and looks back and forth between the both of them before relenting, “It’s the story of the Conquering Chief, or Indian Dancer. It’s the man-child ceremony which is the sponsor and the child preparing for the visitation of Jesus!”
The Pawnee Indian questions his authority over the story once again shrilling, “That’s it!”
Amigo starts to become sick of his negative attitude, though he continues to carry on saying, “No, there’s a whole entire story line there. The story starts somewhere in the middle and goes back to the ceremony versus of Jesus and the offering of the morning star.”
Amigo continues to carry on with the story adding, “Then the story shifts to the testimony of Jesus Christ and his testimony of his visitation which starts in Chapter Four where the door is open! It even appears that he then goes on to another testimony which is shown to the child somehow.”
The Prophet Ramon realizes that he was right except he doesn’t know where any of these storylines have taken place. Immediately the Prophet Ramon tries to gain insight by rejoining, “So do you know where all of this took place?”
Amigo thinks for moment while trying to give the best answer that he possibly can telling them both, “At the end of the trail!”
The Pawnee Indian thinks that what he said sounds rather funny answering back, “The end of what trail?”
Amigo blurts out the name informing them both talking out even louder like there were a prize at the end of it gibbering, “At the end of the “Old Spanish Trail!”
By now the Prophet Ramon wonders if he knows more about the whole story then he says he seems to know. It appears that he has all of the answers in a nutshell. Maybe he has been looking for these treasures for a long time now already. Nevertheless the Prophet Ramon asks, “So where’s the “Old Spanish Trail?”
Amigo grunts and then chuckles a little. Then he swears to them both, “We’re on it! This is the “Old Spanish Trail!”
The Prophet Ramon looks and sees some areas where the grass is worn away but in some places it seems to be growing back hiding the essence of the old landmark so to speak. Yet he still question what may appear to be a slight reminisce of a trail remarking, “What this narrow worn in line heading west that way!”
Amigo sort of laughs slightly once again answering back, “Yes, this is it!”
The Pawnee Indian all of a sudden wonders where it leads to questioning, “And where does it lead to?”
Amigo looks off in to the far away distance as the trail meanders away disappearing a half mile or so up the road. Then he turns and says, “It heads through the deserts of the New Mexico Territory including the Arizona Territory and through the Mogollon Rim. And then it ends up somewhere in Arizona I believe. And at the end of the trail there should be a white cross which indicates the end of the trail.”
The Prophet Ramon wonders how he knows that the trail leads to Arizona just by reading some bible or does he have some other research that he isn’t admitting to. The Prophet Ramon is curious to know more quibbling, “And where are you getting this knowledge?”
Amigo has heard many stories that have come from his relatives. He admits this fact to them both by explaining, “My father and my grandfather had told me stories of the “Old Spanish Trail.” They were stories that should not have been forgotten.”
The Pawnee Indian thinks back to some of the stories that his father had told him about the trail of the conquistadors adding, “My father had told me a few stories himself about the conquistadors and their laden mule trails!”
Amigo realizes that he has something to add driveling, “Oh really, what stories did your father tell you?”
“He told me that the conquistadores barely made it out alive and there was only about a handful of them that escaped when the Indians united and pushed them out,” The Pawnee Indian narrates to the two of them.
Amigo quickly thinks to the pages that he read about the story relenting back, “Well, according to the bible there were seven heads which sounds like they were conquistadors I reckon. And the seven heads are the conquistador heads and there silver helmets that they wore which were pretty shiny.”
The Prophet Ramon wonders how he is getting this annotation asking, “How are you getting silver helmets out of seven heads.”
Amigo tries to give him an answer that shows how he has an insight about his reading already saying, “It’s easy like I can almost visualize everything like I was almost there.”
The Prophet Ramon wonders what he gets out of another image that comes to his mind. Thinking about the image, the Prophet Ramon shrills, “So what do you make out of the ten horns?”
Amigo thinks back to his reading like as if he has a photographic memory continuing, “The ten horns? Sounds like the head feathers of the Indian Woman who gives her baby to the phoenix!”
The Prophet Ramon thinks back as well realizing that in the reading it said that the dragon was wroth with the woman. He brings this fact to light toting, “It says the dragon was wroth with the woman, you said phoenix!”
Amigo ponders a response in mind considering that he has the city of Phoenix in mind which is only about 45 miles south of where he is taking them all. Now Amigo decides to mention where they are going slightly saying, “I just said that because I have the town of Phoenix on my mind because that’s where I’m planning on going when this is all over with. I figure with a few good finds I can get enough money to open up a saloon or maybe something else.”
The Prophet Ramon still has no idea what he is talking about asking, “So what does that have to do with it?”
Amigo thinks of the image for the town saying, “The phoenix, that’s the town’s image!”
The Pawnee Indian thinks that it doesn’t matter as long as they get the message across asking, “What’s it matter anyways whether it was a dragon or a phoenix that did her abiding?”
Amigo realizes how it really doesn’t matter adding, “You’re right! It doesn’t matter, because we don’t have those female role model and gender issues to have to deal with. All we have to concentrate is on the treasure! She is only involved with this place until the seven heads leave and then she leaves with her hiding the testimony of Christ from the kings of the east!”
The Pawnee Indian is more or less confused with his interpretation of the whole entire story. It seems he is just shooting all over the place without really trying to explain it right. It was almost like he insinuates that we all are on the same level in terms of understanding. Trying to get a clearer explanation from Amigo, the Pawnee Indian bickers, “So far I am a little confused about your explanation anyways. Why don’t you explain it the way you were earlier?”
Back a ways from their trailing is Indian Lace and Indian Sky who are following from a distance behind. Indian Skies has a remark on their interactions off in the distance saying, “It looks like they are talking and getting along so far pretty good!”
Indian Lace understands how that may change once they get close to the find. Then things will take a whole different meaning once they confront the Prophet Ramon on how they have been playing him along for his knowledge. Indian Lace looks off in to the distance and adds, “For now it seems like they are getting along. They won’t confront him until the others show and they reach their destination.”
Indian Skies wonders about the other Spanish Cowboys that have made their way out here for the treasure as well inquiring, “What about the others, the other Spanish Cowboys that we have been expecting?”
Indian Lace has an idea that they have probably made their way out here already and nobody will ever know perhaps. In her mind that is all in speculation because it’s hard to say whether or not they have gotten to them as of yet. Anyways Indian Lace speaks her mind annotating, “I don’t know, it’s hard to say if they have come this way yet!”
Indian Skies wonders what may have happened if they did questioning, “What if they have come this way?”
Thinking of the worst that comes to mind of course, Indian Lace mentions, “It’s hard to say, maybe they have already made the same mistake the Prophet is about to make!”
Going further with the matter, Indian Skies continues on additionally with the same queries asking, “And what if they did make that same mistake?”
With her mind set on the worst considering she has a hard time trying to connect to their fate with her psychic ability, Indian Lace admits the worst of the outcome commenting, “Then they are probably dead somewhere!”
Right away Indian Skies is curious as to what they would have done with their bodies probing, “What would they do with their bodies if they killed them all?”
Indian Lace muses herself over the remote inkling of the thought with her motto, “They probably buried them all in a mass grave somewhere or maybe even worse!”
Indian Skies can only picture grotesque images which could be worse and luckily she has a stomach for that considering she is somewhat of a cowgirl now. Trying to erase the thoughts from her mind of things that could be worth with such a death ritual as the Indian men would give, Indian Skies quills, “What could be worse than that?”
Indian Lace thinks of a worse fate that she has witnessed herself which is that of a nomad Indian Life adding, “A scalping party!”
By now Indian Skies realizes that they may never be able to help all of them, although that isn’t what Indian Lace’s plans are anyhow. Her plans are to redeem the iniquities of the hateful bird that had taken the life of the prophet when he should have fulfilled the answers to the testimony to the other crowned heads. Here’s where Indian Skies understands that they should just concentrate on the situation at hand saying, “I guess we will never know the difference, will we?”
Indian Lace stops a second as she hears something off in the distance. As she looks towards the north, she tells Indian Skies, “We need to try and stay on top dominating the situation is all!”
Then Indian Skies thinks she hears something as well which sounds like fast galloping commenting, “Do you hear that?”
Right then two horse come out from behind the trees and brush that separates them from any other view except for their pursuit and the view of two horses riding fast past behind other trees that stretch the distance. Fast they come as Indian Lace and Indian Skies gather the fact in the mind that more trouble may have arrived for the partaking of the treasure.
Indian Skies is the first to make a statement about the closing in of two more strangers asserting, “Looks like more trouble has come!”
Indian Lace keeps a positive mind, although she doesn’t seem to give much thought to the new arrival causing Indian Lace and herself any trouble. Immediately she brushes the bad luck away as she brushes the laces on her coat sleeve, she states, “It will be more trouble for him than for us!”
At that moment Amigo has already taken his rifle out and has it at shoulders height aiming at the fast approaching unknown strangers that are violating their close space. It seems that there are more stragglers out her in the west that the Prophet Ramon could shake a stick at or should it be meant as aim his pistol towards.
The Pawnee Indian pulls out a large hunting knife that has a blade well over a foot long. As he turns it with the blunt part of the blade lying on his right leg ready for a slice, the Prophet Ramon recognizes that the blade is extremely thick around three inches wide.
The two strangers start to approach at a fast pace before pulling back on their bridles to stop. As they slow down to a fast stop, Amigo yells once again, “That’s far enough!”
Quickly the Pawnee Indian uses this situation as a chance at a wise crack shrilling, “Far enough, they are close as hell!”
Amigo makes another comment saying, “Close enough for a shot gun blast to the head!”
One of the Indians keeps a straight face while trying to ease in with them as easy as he possibly can by saying, “Aren’t you Amigo?”
Amigo realizes that they know his name, although he feels like he should be careful anyhow just in case there’s trouble. He feels like he should act nonchalant no matter what his feelings of circumstance are answering, “So what if I’m not this friend you’re looking for?”
The closest Indian near Amigo declares, “Well, then I guess we will be on our way then!”
Of course Amigo doesn’t want to let them both go empty handed and not knowing what their cruel intentions are without giving it a chance. Trying to feed for more information, “Amigo asks, “What do you want with this guy Amigo for?”
The other Indian spits a mouth full of spit out with his chewing tobacco gibbering, “We have a map for him!”
Amigo wonders what kind of map querying, “And what kind of map is that?”
The first Indian says, “It’s a treasure map!”
The Prophet Ramon and his curiosities are peeked by this so called treasure map that the two cowboys are bringing up. In his mind he never thought so many people besides just Amigo alone would be so smart about the find. With a curious nature, the Prophet Ramon interrogates, “A map?”
Amigo doesn’t want to let them go considering that they may have some evidence that will lead to them have better luck, though they have a three way split already. Amigo decides to string them along saying,” Follow us and we will all look for Amigo!”
The first Indian who seems to the head of the group of the two answers back saying, “That sounds fair enough. So where is this Amigo friend of yours?”
Amigo starts to ride by pulling his horse’s bridle once again signaling a move forward. Amigo then decides to string them along further expressing, “He’s close by!”
The Prophet Ramon looks to the Pawnee Indian and notices that he is sort of acting offhand about the issue and strange encounter. Just then he turns to Amigo stating lightly with a soft unheard voice, “Who are they?”
Amigo thinks up a quick identity for them, although he can’t think of one telling the Prophet Ramon, “I don’t know; just some cowboys looking for a gig, that’s all!!”
The Pawnee Indian looks them up and down trying to get a sense of where they are coming from with their intentions of finding Amigo. The Pawnee Indian figures that they probably realize that Amigo is right there in front of them and they are just playing along with it. Or maybe, this whole quest is nothing but a fabricated situation where only the Prophet Ramon is clueless and left in the dark.
It’s like they are just going stringing the Prophet Ramon along for a ride that may lead to nowhere and the embarking on the journey may lead to nothing more than a complete waste of time. Then in some manner Amigo may have other plans for these pursuits. It seems that so much is riding on his shoulders right now as he tries to organize his goals and objectives. At first it was only the Prophet Ramon and the Indian Amigo who were the original team which ran in to one another by a freak accident, or was it on purpose like some sort of set up. Nevertheless the Pawnee Indian breaks back in to the conversation with a curious notion as to finding more out about the two newest arrivals to their additions.
He glances back and forth between the two men as they glance back wondering what he’s thinking. Then the Pawnee Indian asks, “So you have a map for Amigo?”
One of the new arrivals answers back telling him, “Yes, we do?”
The Pawnee Indian makes another query asking, “So what kind of map is it, a treasure map?”
The other new arrival says, “Sort of you could say.”
The Pawnee Indian thinks they are bluffing in a way like they don’t really have anything. In his mind he thinks they are just two stragglers looking for a free ride to abide their time for something even better than what living on the land like a cowboy has to offer. Going further with his deceitful notions, the Pawnee Indian responds with another question asking, “Well, tell us about the treasure map. What does it say?”
The first Indian replies with a declaration that explains how he will only show it to a particular person telling him, “I can only share that information with Amigo!”
Immediately the Pawnee Indian blows for Amigo by blurting out, “What do you think of that Amigo?”
Quickly the first Indian catches on the drift answering in an agitated response, “So you’re Amigo then? What’s wrong; you didn’t trust us or something?”
Amigo slows down his pace a little bit by slightly pulling on his bridle. Then he turns half way with a little less than a mean look on his face except for the fact that the tone of his voice is becoming scratchy signifying to them both, “No it’s not that. I just had to test you both out that’s all!”
Quickly he turns back to the vegetated trail that has broken wielded over areas here and there. The Prophet Ramon looks his way noticing that he seems a little angry maybe, then again it’s very hard to tell considering that he doesn’t really know him all that well. Just then the first Indian questions Amigo’s authority pointing out, “What did you think we would do? Hold you at gun point when your hundreds and hundreds of miles away from the treasure find still?”
The second Indian springs his mouth in to action expressing, “Hey, it was your friend that gave you away anyways. I guess he’s not that bright like you are after all!”
The Pawnee Indian jumps in with a quickened response shrieking out loud as he pulls his extremely large knife out from its sheath strapped to his waist belt yelling back, “Better watch calling me stupid because I’ll scalp you!”
At this moment Amigo becomes very defensive protecting their interest of the treasure find with his authority, “Nobody will be scalping anybody! Put that knife away and mellow out!”
The Prophet Ramon thinks about how the Pawnee Indian had just blown his game by blabbing, “The Pawnee Indian just blew your cover with them!”
Right away, Amigo agrees with the Prophet Ramon that they did blow his cover by answering back explaining, “Yes, he did blow my cover and he made me look like a fool in front of them both!”
The first Indian doesn’t seem to think so. He has been in so many arguments with other cuckoldry mouths around this terrain that nothing seems to faze him the least bit. In fact he doesn’t even have a slight of eye at most situations. With this fact in mind, the first Indian to ride up onto them voices, “It’s alright, you can say almost anything to me and it won’t faze me the least bit. I have been in so many arguments and situations that nothing surprises me at all. Most people are nothing but a bunch of mouths anyway in this world that what everyone says goes in one ear and out the other!”
The second Indian adds, “Actually it is better that you are careful because we wouldn’t of wanted to team up with anyone who isn’t too careful anyhow. Really that friend of yours needs to learn how to keep from slipping any hints out to strangers, otherwise you’re going to blow the whole thing and risk losing the whole treasure to anyone else who comes along for the asking!”
The Pawnee Indian becomes a little agitated, although he doesn’t feel like creating much more of a ruckus with these two new comer strangers. Trying to elude what they both may have to offer in terms of evidence, the Pawnee Indian remarks, “So all you claim to have is a map and so far we haven’t seen anything yet!”
Amigo isn’t really in the mood to look at what they have to off at this time anyhow. He feels that they should keep on trying to make their way further without any more hold ups or interruptions. Immediately he passes of the offer from the Pawnee Indian saying, “We don’t have time to look at what they have now anyhow. We will wait until we camp tonight!”
The Pawnee Indian isn’t satisfied with what he says by answering, “They should show us what they have right now and why wait?”
The Prophet Ramon butts in quickly adding, “Who cares?”
The first Indian becomes off sided by replying, “What do you have to offer?”
Amigo tries to detour the situation once again by imposing, “We’ll wait to we camp tonight!”
The Prophet Ramon changes the subject by saying, “So how much farther do we have to go until we get there? I feel like I would have been lost a thousand times over by my lonesome!”
The second Indian breaks out a wise crack by shouting, “You’d be a thousand times dead by your lonesome!”
The Prophet Ramon pulls out his pistol as fast as the west has seen briskly iterating, “You’d be a thousand times shot!”
The first Indian makes a belittling line back, “There are only six shots in that gun!”
Then the Prophet Ramon whips up his boot heel from his stirrup and shows some straps on his boot for reloading. Straightaway the Pawnee Indian looks while the first and second Indian both pull back their coats revealing their loaded belt straps of ammunition that exceeds what the Prophet Ramon has by far.
Amigo looks and laughs while pulling out a stick of dynamite and a wooden match that he has in his pouch on the side of his saddle. He strikes the match on his large steel belt buckle that spells outlaw which makes a quickened loud snapping sound. He lifts the match towards the stick of dynamite while everyone notices after hearing the sound. Everyone pulls their bridles away as the Pawnee Indian shouts, “What are you going to do blow us all up?”
Amigo then blows the match out as he starts to put the stick of dynamite away squealing, “Just trying to get all of your attention is all!”
CHAPTER SIX
Quickly Indian Lace puts down her telescope as she notices a slight confrontation with the group as everyone scattered away from Amigo as fast as they could pull their bridles aside. She turns to Indian Lace saying, “It looks like the renegade tried to blow them up or something!”
Indian Skies asks for the telescope saying, “Let me see my binoculars aren’t that good!”
Indian Lace hands Indian Skies the telescope as she takes a peak noticing that everybody is slowly regrouping back onto the trail from their scattered positions. She stares while making a querying, “There are riding back towards each other, what did he do?”
Indian Skies hands the telescope back as Indian Lace takes it answering, “He took out a stick of dynamite and nearly lit it waving it around at them all!”
Indian Skies thinks about that for a brief moment before elusively declaring, “Sounds like they are about to go crazy earlier than we thought?”
Indian Lace knows no boundaries when it comes to disputes, especially when it involves searching for treasure which involves other people. Most of the time there are always differences which can result in tragic loss or perhaps maybe even death. Indian Lace decides that maybe they should stay a little further back to try really hard at not being seen by proclaiming, “Maybe we should stay further back before pieces of Indian go flying around everywhere!”
Focusing back on the group of treasure finders, Amigo calms down looking around at these three Indians they have picked up along the way as he begins to get some doubts within his scheming big brain of his. To him these outsiders seem like a bunch of bird brains to him anyhow. Nevertheless he decides to question their identity considering that he wants to change his name when this is all over with for that matter at any rate. Now Amigo is curious to know more about the two newcomers by asking, “So what are your names? You two haven’t told us your names as of yet?”
The first Indian states his name by telling them, “Just call me the Cherokee Indian?”
Amigo starts chuckles laughing a little bit before noting, “The Cherokee Indian? So what do you have to share with us? A treasure map you say?”
The Cherokee Indian makes a remark about his treasure map suggesting, “That’s right; and it’s a fairly good one. It shows where the Indians took the gold once the conquistadores were pushed out!”
Amigo ponders the thought over in his brain for another second before answering, “Is that right; you have a map showing us where the gold is hidden from there?”
The Cherokee Indian has even more to say to get the picture of things to him by saying, “That’s right; this map shows where the cave is that the Indians hid the gold in and how to detour the spirits that guard it with some Shaman Witch Doctor spells of protection!”
Amigo can only laugh once again adding, “Is that right; we have some paranormal activities to deal with as well? That’s my specialty anyhow!”
The other second Indian wants to expose his identity which sounds superficial and only on the surface almost like they had something to hide affirming, “And you can call me the Sioux Indian because if you guys steal from our treasure map we’ll have to take you to court and start a lawsuit!”
Amigo realized that they are bluffing and hopefully that remark is only a joke to be laughed at because they don’t look like the types to want to mess around for their treasure for any reason. Nonetheless he tells them, “Is that right; if we steal the findings you’re going to take us to court and take a judgment against us?”
The Cherokee Indian gets sort of serious for a minute saying, “That’s right; we have claim to the cave because this map is of our possession and possession is nine tenths of the law and not to leave out the fact that is our discovery as well. We are willing to share it only if you share what lies at your end of the bargain with your findings through your own evidence!”
Amigo deliberates on more views as he agrees with them both by expressing, “You’ll share what you have if we share what we have. It sounds like we all have something to offer in this matter. That’s a lot of gold in that cave. It’s hard to say just how much but there may be booby traps in that cave and some of us may get hurt or killed!”
The Pawnee Indian breaks in to the conversation again by asserting, “Just split the findings evenly and if anything happens to any of us their share is split evenly with the ones who are still alive when this is all over with.”
The Prophet Ramon figures that we have way more partners then he first had reckoned for and he feels that they shouldn’t let any more people in as long as his share is enough to start a business somewhere. Quickly he interrupts bringing a fact to mind, “Then let’s not bring any more people in to the group.”
With his greediness in thought, Amigo agrees on the matter that the Prophet Ramon implies saying, “Fair enough; that’s a lock down. No more cowboys or Indians are joining the group. We have enough as it is and we have no idea what we are going to redeem as far as reaping any treasures are concerned.”
Then right away, the Cherokee Indian thinks about how they all have something to offer and that they should make it an even split informing them all, “Then we should make it an even five way split and that’s enough. There should still be plenty for all of us when this whole escapade is over with!”
The Sioux Indian decides to put a little bit of his money’s worth to his voice exclaiming, “Then we should split the treasures as we all go along about it. When we make our way to the site, we will have to work together to find as much as we can before moving on to the next site for more reaping.”
Straight forth Amigo realizes that they may have to camp for a while. He feels that they will have to study and research the site in order to learn more about it. And not to leave out the fact that there may be other groups of people who may have ventured their way in order to find the treasure themselves. And it will be hard to tell is anyone has been there because they don’t happen to know any of them. Amigo then articulates on his thoughts and aspirations on the problem claiming, “We’re going to have to camp once we reach our destination and try to determine whether or not anybody else has been there desecrating our treasure without our knowing about it. It may take a while for us to read the site over and find anything.”
The Prophet Ramon wonders what he’s talking about as far as camping for long periods of time. In his mind he figured that it was just sitting there like a chalice waiting on a silver platter for the grabbing. He never fathomed the fact that they would really have to work so hard in order to get any sort of return out of there ventures. The Prophet Ramon has a question to ask all of them considering he is sort of new to this inquiring, “So how long are we going to have to camp there, and what are we going to do for food and water?”
Amigo now has a chance to bring his expertise to reality by sounding like he is the most knowledgeable with this situation answering back, "We will probably have to camp for at least a few weeks to maybe even several months before we find anything.”
The Pawnee Indian thinks about a trading post that he knows exists many miles up the “Old Spanish Trail” where they should stop and buy some more supplies considering that they may not be as prepared as they thought they were in the first place. The Pawnee Indian mentions this to them all by stating, “I know where there’s a trading post about a hundred miles or so in the New Mexico territory where we can buy some more food and supplies.”
This is where Amigo displays his generous qualities about himself by saying, “Well, we can use the bag of gold coins to buy some more supplies that I found at a cattle fence with the Prophet Ramon!”
The Cherokee Indian thinks that is a swell idea even though he has some money put away for food and supplies himself. In fact even the Sioux Indian has a few dollars that he saved and scrounged for the pilgrimage. Immediately he brings this aspect to light by telling them all, “I have saved some money for this and so did the Sioux Indian. We are going to have to buy some more beef jerky and some digging tools like a few more shovels and some gold pans to work with. We may even have to buy some more rope and trowels as well.”
The Pawnee Indian laughs at what they are saying they need to buy by shrieking, “You all act as though we were going mining or something.”
Quickly Amigo butts in explaining to them all, “Basically we are in a way!”
The Prophet Ramon wonders about his research and finding out about the arrastras through his family which is where the conquistadores used mules to crush gold ore conglomerate by whipping them around in circles. He mentions this by saying, “So where are we headed then to the arrastras to pan them and see if there’s any gold left behind. It’s my experience that they may have been cleaned out for that matter by the Indians before they ever first left.”
Now Amigo thinks about what they were talking about earlier that the Indians may have taken the gold from the site and the arrastras as well an hid it all in a cave which was protected by Indian Spirits through many Indian Spells that the Indians had casted upon the place in case the conquistadores would ever return. He thinks about this fact for a moment before emitting, “We are going to have to start somewhere in order to see what has been left behind.”
The Prophet Ramon goes further with his knowledge of the site even though he has never ever been there uttering, “To the best of my knowledge I heard an old Spanish rumor that one of the conquistadores his some of the gold in a hand or fist size cave from the other conquistadores which was sort of like a plant for some future time to him. This way he could go back in a future live and collect the reaping once again.”
The Pawnee Indian has a classic line to speak from his lips enunciating, “He probably figured that after eighteen hundred years the gold would be worth the price of diamonds and he could come back to get it!”
The Sioux Indian thinks that it would be hard to determine where he would leave such a treasure hidden from all of the others and that it might be hard to get without some sort of insignia or markings on such a location telling them all, “It would be hard to say where he would have hidden all of the gold from the other conquistadores unless there’s a marking of some kind showing us where to look. We may have to comb the whole entire area in order to find such a place.”
Of Course, Amigo is pretty sure he knows what marking would be in such a place. He figures that the markings will either be an “X” for “X” marks the spot, or there will be someone’s initials with perhaps a date. Amigo brings this fact to their attention by balking, “That’s an easy find. There will be an inscribed “X” where “X” marks the spot.”
The Cherokee Indian wonders how he knows this fact and whether or not what he says is true. The Cherokee Indian interrogates his authority by asking, “Are you sure; how do you know that for sure?”
Amigo carries on with his treasure hunting knowledge by elucidating, “Most treasure hiders won’t use their initials because most of them are wanted in some way, or they are stealing their loot from someone and they don’t want to be found out about. But then on the other hand there are those who are legit and want to be credited in some shape or form.”
The Prophet Ramon wonders why someone would actually steal from the conquistador anyways while risking their life to be exiled and sent back to Spain a thief and be martyred for their disloyalty. The Prophet Ramon questions his authority by quizzing, “Why would anyone hide the gold if there was a chance they could be caught and imprisoned for their dishonesty? And not to leave out the fact that they might not even remember where they left the treasure in the first place?”
Amigo quiets himself for a brief second as he thinks up another reason. The he turns to the Prophet Ramon and says, “I suppose so that they will have something to do like leaving their mark behind for others to journey for and long after.”
The Prophet Ramon thinks a little bit with some negativity replying, “That sounds like a waste of time and doesn’t make much sense to me for some reason!”
The Pawnee Indian interrupts speaking right after the Prophet Ramon saying, “Well, maybe before this whole venture is over and done with it will make more sense to you!”
The Prophet Ramon comes up with a sort of line that just kind of passes the subject by saying, “Maybe if I decide to stash my share of the loot and not cash it in!”
Amigo can only think about picking up some cash and trying to retire perhaps suggesting, “Well, I know what I’m going to do with my own share of the findings, try and retire perhaps!”
Nonetheless Amigo doesn’t seem to be the one to break in to heavy conversations dealing with other aspects of identity. However the other Indians aren’t so reluctant to keep from getting to know him, although the Prophet Asks another question for Amigo saying, “I thought you wanted to go back to your reservation and try a new life?”
Amigo answers back quickly, “I do. I want to start a new life and be able to relax!”
The Cherokee Indian brings a thought to everyone expressing, “We are all going to start new lives and forget these old ones. It’s not like we are going to be outlaws or something. We’re not doing anything illegal!”
The Sioux Indian flickers through the ideals of legalities as well by jousting, “That’s right; all we are doing is going after a lost and forgotten treasure that nobody will ever give a hoot about or ever even miss!
The Cherokee Indian has an image he brings forth disclosing, “In fact most people are all talk and no play. I doubt anybody out there knows anything about what we are after let alone where to look. And if anybody has been out there then they could have missed it and never found anything!”
After listening to all of their ranting and raving, the Prophet Ramon wonders where exactly they are headed to inquiring, “So where are we going headed anyhow?”
Evidently Amigo is the only Indian to indicate where the first stop is at pronouncing, “We are headed to the end of this “Old Spanish Trail” which is marked by a pictograph of a white cross at the end. That’s where three arrastras were used to crush the gold ore conglomerate before being placed on a mule train and taken to the Galveston Bay to be shipped to Spain.”
Then the Prophet Ramon is curious as to whether there are any other towns close by besides the town of Phoenix probing, “Are there any other towns close by besides the town of Phoenix?”
Amigo thinks about that for a second before telling the Prophet Ramon, “Yes there are. There’s a town called Rock Springs which is about ten miles south just east of the Agua Fria River about a half mile or so and then there’s a town called Bumble Bee which is about twelve miles to the Northwest!”
The Prophet Ramon thinks about how that really isn’t that far away? In fact that is relatively closer than they are by hundreds of miles. He even has clicked the notion that maybe he has been there before and maybe he doesn’t want to say something because he’s hoping he didn’t look or find anything. Nevertheless the Prophet Ramon makes a comment about the point speculating, “That’s fairly close, are you sure no one else has been there looking or snooping around. And what about ranches in the area, are you sure there are no ranch owners who have livestock rummaging around that place.”
With the place in his inner eye, Amigo thinks about some deer he has seen running through and some wild herds of horses that have roamed around. Other than that he has maybe seen a few other things like steer. Amigo explains this by saying, “Well, I have seen deer, wild horses and some steer in that area but that’s about it. There’s a cattle fence up on the hill but the last time I was out that way it had fallen down in some places.”
Then the Cherokee Indian butts in asking, “So you have been out there before and you didn’t tell us?”
Quickly Amigo has to defend himself by shrilling, “Yes, I have been through there already but I didn’t have any tools with me to do anything and it was during the winter. I was going to try and check the area out but then a flash flood came roaring through so I followed the river downstream on the east bank until I reached the town of Rock Springs south of Black Canyon which is another small town. Afterwards I just returned back home to my reservation after giving up.”
The Prophet Ramon thinks about how he would have known there’s another town on the other side if he couldn’t cross the flash flood asking, “So how could you know if there’s another town on the other side if you couldn’t cross the flashflood?”
Amigo has the answer to his question considering that he eventually came back another time from above the Coconino Plateau in another attempt saying, “Well, I came back another time by crossing over the Coconino Plateau. And then I looked for other signs of treasure from the other end and ended up in the town of Bumble Bee but I decided that maybe things back at the arrastras were too washed away to take another chance. So I returned home again because supplies and money were running low.”
The Cherokee Indian thinks that maybe he has a lot of time devoted in this venture and that maybe it’s time for him to reap some rewards for all of that lost investment. Immediately the Cherokee Indian mentions his devotion saying, “That’s a lot of time to have invested in this venture. That’s more than the Sioux Indian and I have done. What about you Pawnee Indian?”
The Pawnee Indian makes a comment about his travels introducing, “Well I have traveled the “Old Spanish Trail” through El Paso which lies on the border of New Mexico and Texas along with Juarez which is an old site as well. We will be reaching El Paso in about fifteen miles or so and I suggest that we camp there and have another look around. What do you think of that?”
Amigo gives it a wink of inkling as he thinks that maybe he is on to something and maybe they can find some hints as to what other types of treasure they may have been looking for. With a tongue in to the desire to run away with and set him free, Amigo gaffs, “That sounds like a swell idea; we’ll keep on trailing until we reach the outskirts of El Paso and Juarez and then we will camp along the camps of the old conquistadores and have a look around!”
The Sioux Indian grasps the notion how that is a great way to start the anthropology on this great adventure by speaking out, “That’s a brilliant idea; then we can do some anthropology and study the culture of these conquistadors in ways which haven’t been studies before. Maybe one of us should have a journal to write our findings down on so that we can record everything and maybe later we can write a book and sell it becoming famous!”
The Prophet Ramon has seen many works which were huge with lots of pages in the form of disorientations covering whole aspects of the world of science along with the lives of other cultures. He references this fact by averring, “In fact we could each be co-authors and write about the bible facts and their culture creating disorientation with the culture shock that they had to live with for their survival.”
The Pawnee Indian thinks that is a great idea and knows where they can sell it at the trading post but there is only one problem which he remarks, “How cool if we can hook up a few trading posts to sell it and then maybe we can find a publisher to print copies for us to sell!”
Amigo thinks realistically saying, “And how are we going to do that without giving the details of our venture out right away. I think we should document the culture in itself and forget about mentioning the treasure at all. This way we can keep the rewards and make a little bit of money on the side.”
The Prophet Ramon thinks that is a brilliant enterprise in thought shrilling, “Then maybe we can be famous the world over and never have to work again. Maybe we can do speeches and create more education for students and scholars!”
The Pawnee Indian hopes that they don’t become wanted men by boasting, “I hope we aren’t doing anything wrong and become wanted or something!”
Amigo thinks back to the mining laws elucidating, “We are protected under the mining law of 1865 if we file a claim and gain the mineral rights, but that only protects us under the land that we file the mineral rights on in other words.”
The Pawnee Indian thinks that it is too complicating to try and file for mineral rights and give up parts of the treasure that we don’t want them to know about. In a response, the Pawnee Indian says, “And why would we want to do that when there’s nothing really there anyhow, huh? So far we have no idea of what we are going to find and exactly where anything will be and we have no idea of what to stake out for that matter!”
The Cherokee Indian has a line that’s up his alley of things mentioning, “Wouldn’t we then have to turn our stuff in for any reason?”
The Sioux Indian has a few ideas about the mining law of 1865 suggesting, “Not really, under the mining law we would have the right to gold, silver, platinum, iron ore, garnets, gemstones, and not limited to. In other words we would own everything that is minable as a mineral.”
The Pawnee Indian grasps the circumstance as a good way to go about things, though that is a bit out of their way for now citing, “Sounds like brilliance; yet we are still hundreds of miles from Arizona and it used to be that you had to file in the New Mexico territory and we aren’t even that far yet.”
Then Amigo sheds some light on the aspect ringing a bell, “Then we would have to travel fifty miles south to the town of Phoenix and look for an office when we could just keep our mouths shut in other words and tell no one and worry about any books later.”
The Prophet Ramon doesn’t want to waste that much time if they would have the rights to everything if they were to just get some easy access somehow. Nevertheless he admits to them, “I don’t feel like wasting too much time anyhow. We should wait and see what we all come up with first. What do you have to do to file a mining claim anyways in any event?”
Amigo wonders if any of them know anyone that has tried to operate a mining claim asking, “I don’t know; does anyone know anyone who has had one? I just know someone who wanted one but never went much further with it.”
The Sioux Indian knew someone that has a mining claim in another state telling them all, “I knew someone that had a mining claim in Colorado near the Rocky Mountains where there was some Rhodochrosite and some Rhodochronite with some black streaks!”
The Prophet Ramon wonders further speaking, “And did they make money because I never heard of such a mineral?”
The Sioux Indian understood that they did make money although it was too expensive to try and dig in to the mountain adding, “Yes, they made money but there were mining and recording fees to shell out and they had to fill out mining maps of the mine and they had to fill out annual affidavits of their work and what improvements that they had made every year. Eventually I lost contact with them and moved on towards the Northern New Mexico Territory where I lived as a frontiersman for a few years or so. And nobody has ever heard of Rhodochrosite or any crow site; that’s just for us smart Indian Shamans to know and understand when it comes to their astrological properties.”
Right away, Amigo butts back in to the scheme of things as the sun starts to pass overhead, “We’re off to the crow site!”
The Pawnee Indian figures that they are about to reach the outskirts of El Paso as he can start to see little images of life off in the distance saying, “We’re getting close to El Paso? I think we should stay out of site and just swing around the outer perimeter by staying on the trail until we get to the old Spanish ruins!”
The Sioux Indian agrees how that is a great idea expressing, “So it looks like we don’t even have enough time to stop for a drink or two or maybe a room in that lovely El Paso?”
The Prophet Ramon is very curious as to why or what image is behind the name El Paso anyhow asking, “So what does the name El Paso stand for anyways I reckon?”
The Cherokee Indian shares an image to thought insinuating, “Stands for “The Pass;” and that’s just what we are going to do is pass by and tip our hats and kick the spurs on our boots at!”
The Prophet Ramon figures that it won’t be long before they camp again searching, “So I suppose we are getting closer to our next camping spot, huh?”
Nonetheless Amigo decides to speak further in terms of the voyage avowing, “Once we pass El Paso we will have to cross the Rio Grande before we reach Juarez.We will keep traveling until we swing around El Paso, Texas and enter the outskirts of Ciudad De Juarez! You understand Spanish don’t you…. Hables Espanola?”
The Prophet Ramon responds back immediately with a Spanish tone repeating with a variance of the language, “Si, Hablo Espanol muy being y tu?”
Amigo answers back quickly in Spanish again shrilling, “No, hablo un poco Espanol!”
The Prophet Ramon becomes inquisitive like at picturing how far the city of Juarez is from where they are as they all approach closer towards the city El Paso. The Prophet Ramon quizzes Amigo like he were talking to him directly, “So how far away is Juarez from here?”
Amigo ponders around in his brain for a moment before advancing, “We are going to go about another thirty five miles or so and then camp just outside of Juarez for the night. We don’t need to go in to the city because the part of the trail we are taking goes by some older mining camps that were set up long ago.”
The Prophet Ramon is getting tired and realizes just how much longer that will take to reach their destination, although he wants to make a good time on their perseverance. Quickly the Prophet Ramon asks, “That will take us another four or five hours!”
The Pawnee Indian figures that they have about that much more time left before they should have to camp for the night anyhow shrieking, “We still have about that many hours left for that reason, hey?”
Treading behind is Indian Lace and Indian Skies who are staying as far back as they can without leaving the possibility of ever being noticed. Indian Lace turns towards town informing Indian Skies, “Looks like they are heading to Juarez after they cross the Rio Grande!”
Indian Skies pulls her bridle along turning with her answering, “What’s that mean?”
Indian Lace wants to take a slight detour to visit someplace telling Indian Skies, “That means we are going to stop in to town for some supplies and then take our shortcut where it’s easier to cross and then we’ll catch back up with them!”
Indian Skies wonders if they will lose their track they both have on them asking, “Won’t we lose our tracking them?”
Indian Lace is sure she knows what they are up to rambling on with her presumption, “Don’t worry; we know where they are headed?”
Indian Skies give it a whirl at taking a wild guess at their destination boasting, “Where to the Juarez mining site?”
Smart indeed Indian Skies is to Indian Lace, who reckons as she absolutely avers, “Yes, I’m sure they won’t want to spend much time around here near El Paso. Once outside of Juarez they can start making some good time so we better hustle and pick up a few items and get back on their trail.”
Indian Skies has some money to buy one or two necessities that she needs as well telling her, “That sounds like a good idea because I have a few things I would like to buy before we head out again!”
While picking up the pace, Indian Lace develops a curiosity about what she wants to buy querying, “So what are you going to get?”
She wants something to occupy her idle time while they are treading which causes her to say, “For one thing I would like to get some Indian gum to chew on and another canteen for water so we have enough. And I want some new moccasins to wear. Don’t worry I have money?”
Funny that is Indian Lace thinks as she clarifies, “Worried I’m not! We’ll stop at a general merchandising store I know of just outside of town and then we will have to hurry back!”
Really they don’t have to be that much in a hurry considering that they are trying to keep out of sight anyhow. Indian Skies suggests as they make their way closer to El Paso, “Let’s not be in too much of a hurry and let’s camp further away this time because I think they may have seen us for some reason!”
Many hours go by as Indian Lace and Indian Skies carry on with purchasing the items they need to ensure a better trip. Before long they both regain their place with their pursuit after crossing the Rio Grande. The group of Indians and the Prophet Ramon reach just outside of Juarez and stop to camp after making their way across the river. Amigo takes the first watch while going over the map that the Cherokee Indian and the Sioux Indian have about where the Indians hid the gold. There are many drawings of artwork depicting where it is with some images of Indian Cave Spirits guarding the entrance. He looks around the map with a keen eye as he tries to decide if the map is real or just some fake treasure map that someone had drawn up. So far he feels a psychic connection saying that it was drawn up by someone who had some knowledge with the remnants of the past.
SEVEN
Suddenly Amigo is touched on the shoulder by the Prophet Ramon who is ready to take the next watch for the night by the camp fire. The Prophet Ramon can see that he is looking at the map trying to figure some things out. Wanting to take a quick glance, the Prophet Ramon queries, “So what do you think of that map, anything interesting in there?”
Amigo wonders what time it is commenting, “What time is it, and it must be late?”
The Prophet Ramon is ready to leave him of his watch telling Amigo, “It’s time for me to take the watch over for the night so you should go get some sleep?”
Amigo agrees because he is tired from staying up for the first watch while reading the map trying to decide if it really leads to the hidden treasure that they are looking for. Nonetheless he starts to get up with the map ready to head back over towards his horse where his bag is to get out his blanket and get some sleep for the night.
The Prophet Ramon has his eye on the map wanting to get his fair chance to take a look at it for something to read during his watch besides the bible which he should study even more. As Amigo stands the Prophet Ramon asks, “Can I take a look at that while I take the next watch? I’m tired of reading the bible right now anyways?”
Amigo figures it is okay considering he really doesn’t know that area all that well. Maybe he won’t decipher anything out of it. With ease Amigo says, “Sure, just be careful with it and don’t leave it sit anywhere for the next few hours!”
The Prophet Ramon will be very careful with by boasting, “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of it and just look at it while watching out for anything!”
Then Amigo wants the Prophet Ramon to fold it up the way it was if anything is to stir up saying, “If anything happens or stirs up make sure that you fold it back up the way it was and set it in that bag right underneath that blanket before you get up!”
The Prophet Ramon agrees with him that if anything happens while they are asleep he will place the map under the blanket telling him, “Sure if anything happens I will put it under there!”
Then Amigo turns to head over to his horse. After a few steps, Amigo turns back asking, “Who has the next watch after you?”
The Prophet Ramon sits down with the map by the fire which has plenty of fuel answering back, “I think the Pawnee Indian has the next watch I believe!”
Then Amigo wants him to relay the same message before the Pawnee Indian relieves the Prophet Ramon of the nightly post requesting, “If he asks to look at it make sure he does the same because the map belongs to the Cherokee Indian and the Sioux Indian and not to ruin it. If he doesn’t ask then don’t say anything and put it next to the Cherokee Indians bag underneath!”
The Prophet Ramon approves his plan saying, “Okay, I make sure of that if he doesn’t ask anything!”
Fast like Amigo turns around and leaves to head back to his blanket and bags to sleep. Meanwhile the Prophet Ramon situates himself sitting on the blanket and opens the map further exposing the substances of its knowledge. With a sense of peace he starts to look at it contents and sees many mountains and locations drawn on the map that so far make only a little sense to him considering that he only knows what has been said by everyone in the group. It seems that he is sort of new to this treasure hunting stuff and he feels like sort of an outcast in the group being a newcomer.
Nevertheless he tries to make some sense out of it as he looks at the entrance to a cave which has some sights marked on the map as far as Spiritual Mountain and Sacred Paradigms such as places and sights to see is concerned. There are some sacred sights marked on the treasure map that are signified by being centered upon being a traditional cultural property in modern terms to the Indians. However they are marked by the name of prayers that have been used in these sacred rites which were to incur spirits to protect the area and entrance of the cave by highly evolved spirits. There is even a spell that talks about protecting one’s self with the powerful qualities of the lapis lazuli stone that guards and protects against such evil treachery when worn and blessed accordingly.
Moreover he still tries to make more sense of it with his sense perception and memory as he tries to remember everything that he visualizes. Some of the sites of sacred places and towns he tries to remember considering that he had heard of three of them by listening and asking as many questions as he could with the Indians. So far he feels that he knows more than he would have on his own because he probably would have gotten lost or at least had to find work here and there in many of the towns along the way and he still wouldn’t have ended up in the right place.
In fact there is a chance that he could of ended up lost and gave up on it after so many of years with the desires of wanting to return home and return to his old life back in Madrid, Spain. There he could go back to his father’s other plans of him being a preacher and at least he would have the experience with trying to decipher parts of the Book of Revelations, although now he knows more than he would have on his own by his lonesome.
Another hour goes by as the Prophet Ramon continues to read. Meanwhile Indian Lace and Indian Skies have returned back to the pursuit with more northern latitude than before. Still they can see without any problems with their visual aids that they have brought along as part of their navigational attribute. Indian Lace is taken the first long watch of the night as usual while Indian Skies is getting her beauty sleep.
Indian Lace can see the Prophet Ramon with her telescope pretty clearly as he continues to read the treasure map trying to gain some insight on their future travels. Indian Lace wonders what he is looking at as she tips her eye away from the telescope and takes a glance with her naked eyes focusing far away in the distance.
She can tell that he is looking or reading something over as his body size appears to be that of a spec or shadow shining in the far away firelight, although she can’t tell what it is exactly. Nevertheless it seems that maybe he has some of his own material for that matter or maybe they all have some reading entertainment in their possession. To her it seems like they are rather mellow and really in to their work or so it may appear for the time being until the situation escalates in to chaos.
She can tell that they are sort of getting along at this time except for the little outburst of Amigo’s personal ego they may have tended to get out of hand a ways back. Other than that she expects things to go smoothly until they reach their destination which happens to be the remnants of the three arrastras that lie at the end of the “Old Spanish Trail.”
In the back of her mind she realizes that they will without a doubt somehow incorporate the lost treasure that was hidden by the Indians within in some protected cave that is totally left anonymous to anyone for any matter of reason. It’s also no surprise that they will expect to find obstacles along the way and one of them may be worse to them than any kind of spiritual spell that has been casted upon them or the whole entire expedition.
Nevertheless she thinks about how they will probably never even make it that far before they change the course of action by giving up the rewards of treasure for some waited payback. Quickly she takes another last look and decides to turn away to sick back at the fire and wait out the last hours of the night.
As she turns back to her own business, the Pawnee Indian rises and approaches the Prophet Ramon for his turn at the night watch. As the Pawnee Indian approaches he sees the Prophet Ramon start to fold the map up saying, “No need to put that away it’s my turn to look at it. I heard Amigo tell you to put it away! We’re all in this together so we may as well act like it!”
The Prophet Ramon agrees with him answering back, “Alright, but just be careful with it because it’s been quiet out there tonight!”
The Pawnee Indian takes the map from him and starts to sit down next to the blanket they have laid out next to the camp fire telling the Prophet Ramon, “Don’t worry; I will be careful with it. We all have something to offer!”
The Prophet Ramon gets up and heads back to get some shut eye while he can before long. Of course there is still one more night watch which will end with the Cherokee Indian before they head out for the early morning light. It seems they have enough of them to switch off now and try and get some rest which they will need as they go farther and farther in to their journeys.
The Pawnee Indian doesn’t seem to waste any time with glancing at the supposed treasure map of the hidden Indian Treasure. In fact he turns away with his back towards the camp fire so that he can have more fire light for a better reading. Yet the names of the towns and sacred sites mean a whole lot more to him integrally than to the Prophet Ramon who is a newcomer who has never ventured out this way or yet alone this far.
In effect many of the places correspond with the stories that have been handed down to him from his family over the many generations. And in actuality many of the shaman rites of spell protection by using potion anointments have brought some images to light that he had heard through the many carried over stories which were still completely forgotten.
While glaring at this masterpiece of someone’s ingenuity, the Pawnee Indian realizes that there are many spells that will transform you over to the dark side of good and evil. It’s very apparent that you almost have to be a witch or shaman in order to understand the treacheries of its evil. He realizes that he isn’t a witch, though he has been raised by his parents and other patrilineal family. Many of them have been shaman like by helping him endure his manly rites of passages that he had fulfilled.
Then on the other hand, he understands that Amigo is Navajo from his father’s side and most likely Apache from his mother’s side just by noticing his facial features which have symplesiomorphies to both Native Indian Cultures. Yet he feels that Amigo is such an Apache Warrior that he may want to hide his Apache qualities so that he doesn’t have to admit that he is indeed a witch who has gone on many vision quests such as this one.
He can almost rest assured that Amigo won’t relinquish any information regarding that matter and he actually will probably play dumb for any other reason. Still he feels that he has some social control by the point that he is hiding his true identity from them and he even expects that they are doing the exact same thing so that they will never be implicated in anything involved with this treasure hunt.
After reading a few passages, the Pawnee Indian can tell that it will take years to learn all of these chants and they will need the power of menstruation to win over the deeds of evil sorcery and witchcraft. And naturally that power was highly achieved by the Woman of Heaven through her pregnancy and her offering while no such imitations can harness that same power. The Pawnee Indian is even sure that if Amigo was a true Apache shaman or witch doctor that he would be circling the camp fire in a sort of dancing frenzy like the Chiricahuas did when they were pillaging with Geronimo in a ghost dance. However he may only have some of those qualities and maybe he is just simply a renegade that is out for glory though he desires no fame or money for that matter.
Another fact that crosses his mind as he reads over the treasure map is the inkling of how the Prophet Ramon is probably unaware of these occult like powers of connecting in to the supernatural, although he may have some knowledge about witchcraft or magic. Nevertheless the Pawnee Indian feels that there is no way he could ever clue in on what the negative side of these powers is in reality. And hopefully the Prophet Ramon will never accuse them of being a witch or witchdoctor in real life and that would only happen if they were to use evil sorcery against him and he was aware of such negative energy being directed his way. An there is no doubt that this circumstance would only happen if he were to become sick or ill, or maybe even injured in some way. And so far it hard to say what will happen considering that he is teamed up with other Indians and a man of Spanish ethnicity.
Regardless of what he has crossed over within his beliefs, the Pawnee Indian continues reading and studying trying to change the subject in his mind to hide whatever the outcomes may be later. Still the hours drift by quickly as he tries to regain a photographic memory of the location that is indicated on the old drawn and slightly faded treasure map. For a moment he spaces off as he looks at the entrance with a feeling of insecurity like maybe there could be some booby traps of some kind inside. Then he can feel a connection to the place like somehow in the remnants of his past lives he was in some way involved with such a sacred and hidden destitute.
Then on the other hand he remembers other past lives where he had a different Indian life where he was Havasupai and Paiute trying to keep the guard of the spiritual cave at hand and protected. Yet he even slightly remembers that maybe the gold and other minerals that were mined may have been taken out of the cave and used for some good for the Indian people who have been pushed onto smaller areas of land which are now known to us as reservations.
Now he feels like turning around towards the fire so that his back is facing away while he starts to relax. Before he can turn around completely he hears a slight rumble sound coming from behind him. Before he turns his head back the other way he feels a hand on his shoulder. He glances at an eye level view before hearing, “So what do you think?”
It’s the Cherokee Indian ready to take the last night watch before morning. The Pawnee Indian can only think that what he has to offer in the form of stories is no match for the Cherokee Indian and the Sioux Indian’s possession of this very intricate treasure map. Regardless of what he tends to correlate, the Pawnee Indian answers back telling the Cherokee Indian, “I think it’s extremely thorough with lots of details. Where did you get this treasure map?”
The Cherokee Indian thinks back to when he first received the treasure map. Firmly with a strong tone to his voice in a deep manner, the Cherokee Indian tells the Pawnee Indian, “The treasure map was handed down through the years within my family. It was handed down to me by my father who used to look at it when I was younger. He would look at it with his father who was my grandfather who had it handed down from my great grandfather who I had only met once that I remember before he died. The Sioux Indian and his parents were friends of my family who my family trusted with its knowledge. My father has passed away along with my mother and the rest of my family lives on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. So here we are with the map ready to see if there is treasure like the legend says you could say!”
The Pawnee Indian thinks about how he is a far way away from home conjuring, “You’re far away from home; don’t you think?”
The Cherokee Indian remains quiet for a moment before saying, “So are you; you’re not that far off!”
The Pawnee Indian goes back to history stating, “If it weren’t for our lands being super ceded to the United States Government I’d be from Nebraska!”
The Cherokee Indian figures he doesn’t like Oklahoma as much as Nebraska answering back, “So you don’t like Oklahoma so much?”
The Pawnee Indian decides to inform the Cherokee Indian expressing, “Not like back home on our reservation in Nebraska!”
The Cherokee Indian thinks about the great conquistadores who have traveled through Oklahoma adding, “Hey, lots of famous conquistadores have come through Oklahoma!”
The Pawnee Indian chuckles and says, “Who Coronado? He didn’t discover anything. All he did was get lost in Tornado Alley and headed back not to long after!”
The Cherokee Indian supports his remark the best that he possibly can while mustering, “Well, he came through there!”
The Pawnee Indian thinks about it a little more saying, “But they never tried to mine anything! Any smart conquistador miner would know where the gold is located just by looking at the hills. They can spot the gold from miles away like an eagle and they know what other minerals come close to where gold is located. Such as Cabeza De Vaca who was believed to have turned south from Arizona. He wrote about manganese paints and ochers which were used for paints by the Indians. And he discovered iron pyrite which is commonly found close to gold ore loads. They were the last of the Spanish miners; well, I better go get some shut eye!”
The Cherokee Indian starts to fold the treasure map back up as he says, “Well, maybe I’d better put this treasure map away for good keeping since everyone has seen it!”
The Pawnee Indian goes back to his blanket to lie down for the night while the Cherokee Indian puts his treasure map away and then heads back to the camp fire to perform his night watch for the evening. All is quiet as he thinks about everything that he has shared so far with everybody there and that maybe they will have a fruitful unearthing.
The Cherokee Indian has put the treasure map away though he still thinks about his photographic memory of it while picturing himself at the entrance of the cave alone. Then he shakes his head realizing that he has to share the rewards which brings thoughts of being there with the others as they decide how to enter with precaution.
The entrance has an eerie look to it as they all approach. The presence of Cave Spirits which were summoned to do the abiding of protecting through witch craft was strongly felt by him in his low trance of a dream. He stares at the fire as some howls of coyotes are heard fighting somewhat sounds to be wild dogs of some kind. Anyhow it sounds like they caught something or maybe vice versa. Then the sounds of squealing end as he takes a look around about the perimeter.
The Pawnee Indian looks back to the fire and then he turns his head to everybody sleeping by their horses for the night. He glances over towards the Prophet Ramon wondering how he really fits in to all of this. A few images of the past shrug his mind as he then shakes them off trying to think of only the rewards of treasure. Soon the thoughts of his past emerge as one of the Indians of the past chasing the conquistador out, although they are very slight with distorted faces running amuck.
Now he feels the fact of how he may be involved with the past in some way and that maybe he ought to try and self-hypnotize himself to discover more images. He tries to do this but every time he just gets these pictures in his mind with distorted and malformed faces that are arrayed in an array of different colors. Many of the images that he visualizes are in fact of faces painted entirely with facial paint that covers almost the whole entire face so that he can’t seem to get a clear look in his mind’s eye.
He looks over towards the others as he connects to their faces as well to the faces of the past like there was some sort of connection there that had been established for thousands of years or so. Then he looks over towards the Prophet Ramon trying to look back to see where he fits in with all of this. His inner feelings pull up such images though they are very faint and changed from the other imaginings.
He looks back to the camp fire as the fire starts to downsize and slowly go out. Then he grabs some more wood to throw in as he looks to the east to notice the sky is starting to turn blue as the sun is nearing its rise for a new day. Then he thinks some more as he figures he’ll wait until the sun starts to rise before he wakes the others up for an early morning start once again. The he sits back just thinking again about where everyone fits in with the whole scheme of things.
Soon more pictures and visualizations come to mind slowly but most surely. He feels like everything is so real in his dream impressions that he even starts to feel some religious iconic beliefs. They flow through his mind like he was getting a drift from his cultural traits that he once had. Everything in his dreams are on the surface and aren’t so deep yet as he can see what life was sort of like back then.
He even catches some glimpses of the mining that was used as a bright white painted face whips a mule around trying to crush gold ore from some conglomerate rock which he places in a burlap money bag size satchel. There seems to be a few more working along with the person of interest in his dream as his techniques change to some more cultural possessions such as the conquistador quarters that he can for the first time visualize in his mind. However he can’t see anyone inside because he can only just picture the outside walls. Yet some voices are slightly heard that sound like they are in a different language such as Spanish within some Portuguese dialect maybe he figures.
After another moment he can feel the whole entire scene shift as the places is surrounded by the armies of the neighboring tribes that have encases from the rift valleys that stretch their way around. Then he turns his inner eye towards the north which gives him an image of a woman decorated like that of a fiery bird of some miraculous kind; though he can’t seem to put his finger on it as her face is covered in an array of facial paint to hide herself from her enemies. She seems like that of a masquerade or a Mardi gras figure that has a strange facial expression along with everything else.
As he musters a painting of the quick passing scene, the Cherokee Indian can pan across like he was one of the conquistadores making their way from there. The eyes of a female hero follow while the shot passes her end fades out. There is even a slight action of her presence which is mysteriously unknown to him at the time; though he can see others who help in her preparations as if it were a passage of one of her rites to her cultural expression.
Still he stares until the camp fire as it starts to die out again, yet this time he doesn’t do anything to try and rekindle the flames. It seems he has a new kindled flame of his own dream technique that has made him bestowed. Soon he thinks up another visualization of a flash back that tends to fade away as he hears some footsteps. Quickly he turns and sees Amigo who is ready to get back on the move and blow this camp site.
Amigo approaches and says, “Let’s get that fire out and wake everyone up. It’s time to boogie!”
The Cherokee Indian wonders what the hurry is jousting, “What’s the hurry; the treasure isn’t going anywhere?”
Amigo has a sure plan for the day which consists of checking out the Juarez site which is slightly better according to rumor. He doesn’t feel like wasting too much time with all of these other stops that he feels didn’t have as many minable minerals to excavate for making loads to Spain. Trying to get the message across, and how to do things, Amigo says, “I want to try out this Assay Kit that I bought at a Trading Post to see if it works right!”
The Cherokee Indian is sure there isn’t anything to discover in El Paso let alone Juarez explaining, “We’re not going to find anything in El Paso or let alone Juarez!”
Amigo is sure of that as well. In fact he doubts that the conquistadores would leave anything behind once they reached in to the trail as far as Juarez or El Paso. Though he feels they may have made their mark somewhere in some sort of shape or fashion. This could include inscribing of names or maybe some other markings in the form of Christianity. This could include the carvings of crosses or other Christian like symbols.
Then on the other hand he feels that there may be other indications which could include other arrastras or dwellings that would signify their presence at an earlier time. And, of course, this means more gold to trade for money or supplies that will be needed for their travels. Immediately Amigo feels like spreading his gold fever by informing, “No but at least we could try some panning a little. If there’s no water around now that we have past the Rio Grande we could dry pan for an hour or so and then move on!”
The Cherokee Indian thinks how they should have stayed there though the water wasn’t flowing as rough like the last time he had seen it. Feeling that they should have tried their first luck there, the Cherokee Indian conveys to him, “We should have stayed there and tried when we crossed over to the other side?”
Amigo only has the site with arrastras on his mind considering that the river doesn’t play such a significant role in these days like it did back during the time of the first recorded conquistadores or let alone ones as far back around the time of Jesus Christ. Carrying on with his point, Amigo blurts, “There wasn’t much there. Most of the bigger rivers have nothing and we were lucky the water was only a few feet deep this time around. Usually I have to swim across with my horse. The next site is better because there are some arrastras and there are deposits of iron pyrite and manganese which many of the Indians use for their facial paints and skin pigments. So there is definitely some gold around that area and we just have to find where the conglomerate vein is and crush the gold out with our horses.”
The Cherokee Indian doesn’t want to exert his horse too much answering, “I don’t want to have to throw any good horse shoes. I only have so many!”
Then Amigo is ready to go and wake everyone else up saying, “Don’t worry; we’ll buy more at the trading post. Let’s wake the others……… put that fire all of the way out!”
The Cherokee Indian starts to put the camp fire out by kicking dirt all over it with his cowboy boots. Then he even takes a few handfuls of dirt and throws them over it trying to cover the hottest spot that starts to smolder out. Amigo walks over towards the Prophet Ramon and wakes him up saying, “Wake up; it’s time to hit the trail we have only a little ways to go to the next site.”
Then Amigo heads over to the Pawnee Indian and does the same by shaking the Pawnee Indian commanding, “Come on; wake up. We have to go!”
He takes another few steps and shakes the Sioux Indian babbling, “Come on; wake up. We have to get an early move on!”
Amigo seems to carry on his conversation by explaining, “This is just an old Indian Camp site that some Indian Renegades use occasionally when out running the law.”
The Prophet Ramon wonders if he is such a renegade asking, “Are you such a renegade?”
Fast like Amigo answers telling him back, “Once we make away with some loot we all will be!”
The Sioux Indian wakes up and starts to fold his blanket while querying, “So where are we going anyhow?”
Amigo thinks about the site while putting some of his belongings in his leather satchel as he grabs his saddle to strap back on his horse, “We’re headed to the next site that I have visited but the weather was bad so I didn’t stay long. It’s not too far just a little ways further up the trail!”
The others start to put their belongings away and grab their saddles as well to strap back on their horses in order to get a move on. The Pawnee Indian wonders how they are going to find anything once they get to the site questioning, “So how are we going to mine or find anything once we are there?”
Amigo gives the idea a little thought before shrilling, “We will pan the arrastras and see if there’s anything left. Chances are that there will at least be a few nuggets that we can trade for supplies. I have a few pans but we will have to dry pan unless the stream close by is flowing. Then we can take some dirt and just walk a little ways over and pan for a little while and see what turns up!”
A few minutes go by as they all saddle up and jump on their horses. Amigo is the first saddled to make the exit hitting his horse on the side yelling, “Yaw!”
The others follow in unison as they all leave the camp site making their way once again along the “Old Spanish Trail!”
Nearby Indian Lace and Indian Skies are ready to follow as well like they had been watching for the night from a faraway distance. It seems they are very good at following their mark without ever leaving a trace at being scene or discovered. Indian Lace gets on her horse. Indian Skies waits on her horse imploring, “Well, it looks like they are on their way to the Old Spanish Mining Camp outside of Juarez!”
Indian Skies figures that they won’t have to ride as fast and that they should take their time saying, “Maybe we should take our time since they will be stopping for a while! I wonder if they will find anything anyhow.”
Indian Lace thinks that they won’t find anything saying, “I doubt it; I’m sure those Indians cleaned that out a long time ago and if there is anything; it is probably a plant or a salted pan to stir the new comer up with the adventure.”
Indian Skies wonders what a salted pan is quilling, “What’s a salted pan?”
Indian Lace explains, “That’s when Amigo flings a smashed flake of gold in to his pan when he’s not looking so it looks like he found something and gets excited!”
Soon Indian Lace signals her horse to move on by slinging her bridle saying, “Yah!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Eventually they reach the Juarez Mining Camp as Amigo pulls his horse’s bridle back ready to slow down to a stop commanding, “Here’s the spot!”
Everybody slows down and stops. Amigo gets off of his horse and heads over to a nearby tree to tie his horse up. Then he looks to the others and says, “Well, make yourself at home and we’ll hang out for a few hours.”
Quickly they all start to get off of their horses in order to tie them up as well as Amigo. Amigo begins to unpack all of his gear which consists of mining pans and an old assay kit that he acquired some time back. Amigo even takes out a small trowel or hand shovel in order to dig some dirt up and perform a few tests. He looks over and wonders if the stream or crook nearby is running. He first walks over that way by a nook or cranny with some trees and brush that mark the small oasis that runs next to the mining camp site. He sees the stream running with a slight flow, though there are some areas which are good enough for a little panning.
Amigo returns back after walking about twenty yards or so saying, “There’s a little bit of water flowing; just enough for a few goods pans or more to see if there’s anything here worth getting!”
The prophet Ramon is curious about where they are going to start asking, “So where do we start; I have a few tools of my own and a pan I brought as well. It’s a little old and rusty though from all of the mining and panning use it’s had.”
Amigo turns to him as he heads over towards the old arrastra that he had noticed the last time he had come out this way when the weather was really bad. Fast like he asks the Prophet Ramon, “So you know how to pan for go then?”
The Prophet Ramon answers Amigo back slightly quick saying, “Sure, I know how to pan a little. My father taught me how to when we went mining back outside of Madrid.”
Then Amigo gives him a task to do by gibbering, “Good, then come with me over here and let’s pull some rocks back and see what is underneath in the clay like mud beneath this arrastra over here!”
They both approach the arrastra that is so overgrown and eroded from all of the years of weather that they can tell that it hardly may have been used or maybe there have been so many storms in the area. At this time Amigo wonders if anyone else has learned how to pan querying, “Do any one else know how to pan or are we going to have to teach them?”
The Cherokee Indian explains that he knows how to pan saying, “I have had a few lessons here and there back home but most of what we panned was too small to do anything with!”
Then Amigo turns towards the others and kneels down while setting his mining pan aside, while he inspects the rocks lain in to form the bed of the arrastra saying, “Anyone else?”
The Sioux Indian discloses the same saying, “Same here, I have had a few lessons here and there!”
The Pawnee Indian acts a little indifferent noting, “No, I have only seen a few people try it!”
Amigo starts to remove a few rocks from the arrastra to expose the dirt underneath. Then he sets them to the side so that he can put them back after he refills it to its originality once again. Next, he digs up some loose dirt with his hand shovel and places it inside his mining pan one scoop at a time. After a dozen small hand-sized shovels full he looks to the Prophet Ramon who already has his mining pan ready.
Amigo glances at it noticing a very rusty looking thing that may dirty the water up more than he wants. It’s bad enough that the water becomes so mucky from all of the sifting that panning does when they are trying to sift down to the smaller minerals. Finally after taking a quick glare at the rusty old thing, Amigo takes it from his hand and starts to fill it up with a pan full of soft dirt. There are many smaller rocks along with some less than a fist size river rocks that are very rounded. Once Amigo fills the pan he hands it back to the Prophet Ramon leading, “Now let’s take the pans over to the stream and pan away.”
Amigo gets back to his feet with his hand trowel stuck inside his pan full of dirt that he has gathered so brisk fully. The Pawnee Indian watches with a jealous eye asking, “So what are we supposed to do?”
Amigo answers back ghastly, “Watch and learn!”
The Sioux Indian starts to chuckle a little stating, “Yes why not? Let’s all watch him pan and see what he comes up with in this so called mining camp he says has treasure!”
The Cherokee Indian has another idea in mind for the beckoning flinching, “How about we make a wager between the two and see who is better at panning for gold?”
The Pawnee Indian thinks that sounds ridiculous shying away, “Who would ever play such a stupid wager anyhow?”
The Sioux Indian thinks up a line as they all follow Amigo as he walks over towards the little crook nearby. A few steps later, the Sioux Indian Recoils, “I bet the 49ers bet wagers like that, especially in California!”
The Pawnee Indian stops as Amigo stops at the stream and kneels down laying his pan inside a deep spot that is big enough to pan. The Prophet Ramon follows suit by finding a place to pan his own rewards hopefully. The Pawnee Indian watches while commenting, “Well, we aren’t the 49ers!”
Smoothly Amigo starts to weed through the mud and rocks that are in his pan full of dirt. He picks up a few rocks and cleans them off over the pan just in case there are any sediments of gold clinging to them. Then Amigo tosses them out one by one after each other. The Prophet Ramon watches as he does the same like he was taught with the same manner.
A moment later while watching, the Cherokee Indian has another joking remark to make saying, “We can consider ourselves Indian 9ers!”
Amigo tries to pan while keeping his full concentration rattling back, “Enough with all of the cock a mania!”
Everybody quiets down but only for a minute before getting in to the panning session. The Pawnee Indian wonders what they are doing asking, “So that’s what you want to do is clean some rocks off and then throw them in the stream?”
Now Amigo feels like giving some instructions by adding, “Yes, you have to work the pan by cleaning all of the bigger rocks and then you toss them out after you clean them off. You basically work down through all the grab able rocks until there is only some fine sifting dirt left.”
The Prophet Ramon starts to shake his pan back and forth to bring up the larger rocks in his pan. He does this a few times and sets it back down taking out some larger pebbles. Then the Prophet Ramon tries to give some instruction himself narrating, “Then you shake the pan back and forth so that you can work all of the bigger pebbles to the top and then you remove them as well.”
Amigo continues to work his pan with his fingers. Then he picks the pan up and starts to shake his pan back and forth. Amigo does this with an agitated face about it like the Prophet Ramon has spoiled his authority.
Hastily the Pawnee Indian butts in conveying, “What if you throw out a huge nugget and you’re at a fast moving river?”
Amigo comes up with a quick reply answering, “I never make a mistake like that because I clean them and look at them. Sometimes you may even find some stone tools here and there depending on where you’re panning at. And sometimes if they are in good condition I keep them. In fact I have a few arrowheads I have found over the years.”
Amigo comes up with some more instructions by informing as he brushes many small pebbles from the pan by tipping one side under the water and swinging them out lightly. Then he starts to twirl around and shake back and forth sifting even further. Of course, the Prophet Ramon has a few techniques similar to his that are only looking showier maybe.
They both seem to have muddied up the stream as they finish up meaning they have sifted down to only black iron which seems to have some sparkles to it here and there. As Amigo starts to twirl his pan he instructs, “Then you work out your way down to the black iron and look for the gold sparkling in there. But I still have some dirt mixed in to work out.”
The Cherokee Indian reaches in his pocket and pulls out a glass bottle with some smaller nuggets that he had smashed flat. Unnoticed the Cherokee Indian takes one out and holds it in-between his thumb and finger. Smoothly like he gets right behind the Prophet Ramon and waits for him to turn looking at Amigo. A moment later the Prophet Ramon turns slightly as the Cherokee Indian flings it in his pan salting a piece for him to think he had panned.
Another glimpse of a second goes on by as the Prophet Ramon looks back away from what Amigo is doing. Quickly he glances at his pan as he sways it around trying to expose any black iron that has settles at the bottom of the pan. The moment he swings it a time and back, the Prophet Ramon notices the small gold flake rolling its way over the black iron sparkling like a yellowish crown.
The Cherokee Indian and the Sioux Indian gather around right behind the Prophet Ramon just like they were expecting some sort of reaction to his discovery of the gold flake. As soon as the gold flake rolls around a few times, the Prophet Ramon sees it getting very excited like and yelps, “Ooh look! I found one……. a gold nugget!”
Amigo gets excited as well, realizing that there is something out here after all of the poor planning on his part. Immediately Amigo retorts, “Let me see!”
The Prophet Ramon tips his pan as the Cherokee Indian and the Sioux Indian lean over even more trying to get a better look like it was a first for them. Amigo looks and sees the gold flake resting in the iron and then it rolls over from its thin width and light weight. Amigo gets a fast glimpse before telling the Prophet Ramon, “That’s a good size flake!”
The Prophet Ramon believes that it is a nugget saying, “It’s a gold nugget size flake!
Of course Amigo thinks that what he found isn’t necessarily that big of a deal speaking, “It’s not too bad, but it’s a little thin!”
The Sioux Indian hovers over the Prophet Ramon from behind looking at it like it was the first sign of the day saying, “Well, you win the wager Ramon; you’re better at panning then Amigo is because you have found the first bit of gold on this treasure hunt!”
Right off the mark, Amigo gets a little angry of offensively towards that last remark especially considering that he has no idea that the other guys had a plan to make the Prophet Ramon feel a little more worthwhile on this journey. Amigo sets the tone for his jealous nature signifying, “That’s nonsense. He just got lucky with a lucky streak. I’m the one who picked this spot within the arrastra and by removing a few rocks.”
The Cherokee Indian looks at it sparkling in the water of the Prophet Ramon’s pan while excitingly pointing out, “Just face it; he already knew how to pan and probably found plenty of findings in Spain, huh Ramon?”
The Prophet Ramon thinks back to many of time with his father he had found some gold at one of his relatives claims outside of Madrid, Spain where there were some placer deposits. Bringing this fact to their attention to protect his interest in the claim, the Prophet Ramon recoils telling them all, “Sure, I and father once found some smaller nuggets at my relatives mining claim outside Madrid, Spain!”
By now the Pawnee Indian thinks that something funny is going on and decides to better the odds for Amigo asking, “Anything Amigo?”
Amigo looks in his pan as he twirls it around answering back, “Just some small flower grains inside the black iron, nothing much!”
Quickly Amigo finishes by throwing the dirt and iron out of his pan and then he washes it off ready to get another saying, “There’s nothing; time for another one!”
Amigo walks back towards the arrastra with his small sized hand trowel ready to get another pan full of dirt to try his efforts once again at panning for some reward like gold. Immediately the Prophet Ramon picks out the gold with a pair of tweezers that he has brought along and he places it in a small glass bottle that he has brought along for the occasion as well. Slowly the Prophet Ramon takes out the small cork he has to enclose the glass bottle and he fills the bottle of with some water and places the gold nugget inside while the pan lies there in the slow running stream.
The others watch as Amigo heads back with some more dirt to try and pan from the arrastra once again. As Amigo nears the stream, the Prophet Ramon dumps the iron in to the stream and washes the pan out by dipping it under a time or two. Then the Prophet Ramon hands the pan to the Pawnee Indian asking, “Do you want to try?”
The Pawnee Indian takes the pan from him and says, “Sure, why not? Maybe I’ll come up with something!”
The Pawnee Indian takes the mining pan with one hand and the knife he has strapped to his belt which is full of bullets all of the way around making it a sort of bullet strap. He pulls out his knife and heads over to the arrastra to try his luck at digging a little bit of dirt up for the panning. As the Pawnee Indian walks away the Sioux Indian thinks about his nice gesture of letting the Pawnee Indian try it out for a change of heart.
A moment later the Sioux Indian relents on this by affirms, “That’s pretty nice of you to let him use your pan to try it out. After all he has never panned and we all have, huh?”
The Prophet Ramon is just trying to be nice considering that he isn’t alone on this journey after all and now he has some company to keep up in a way. He feels he should act more like a gentlemen rather than a cowboy at times although they probably feel that he isn’t really worthy of one as of yet. The Prophet Ramon tries to demean what the Sioux Indian says by disclosing, “I’m just trying to keep up everybody’s company is all!”
The Cherokee Indian thinks about how Amigo wasn’t so nice and walked back to the arrastra to try his change of luck one more time before ever letting or giving someone else the chance. He feels that maybe they should wait until they reach a trading post and buy perhaps their own supplies. With a turn of his head towards Amigo, the Cherokee Indian winces, “Well, we were just thinking that Amigo didn’t seem to let anyone else have a chance but then it might take a couple of pans before we all get something?”
Amigo turns his head as he starts to clean the rocks in the next pan replying, “Who’s we; does it take the two of you to think? You want the next pan after this one. After this pan I’ll let you both try it and see what turns up, okay?”
The Sioux Indian butts in and make an assertion, “Sure; we’ll give it a whirl, why not? Maybe we will get enough to buy even more supplies when we get to the trading post near the Arizona border.”
The Prophet Ramon thought that they were crossed through in to New Mexico Territory already asking, “I thought we were in New Mexico already?”
The Cherokee Indian laughs slightly considering they’re not eluding, “No were in Mexico!”
The Prophet Ramon gets a surprised look on his face querying the debate, “Mexico?”
The Sioux Indian clarifies this more by explain to the Prophet Ramon as the Pawnee Indian returns with a pan full of dirt, “Yes, Mexico, the state of Chihuahua. But we aren’t too far away from New Mexico. We will start heading that way pretty soon before the days half way out I bet!”
Amigo has to agree at least one hundred percent bearing in mind the point of how he isn’t finding anything and his luck is either running out or maybe it’s just a bad streak. Nevertheless Amigo speaks of how they probably will be leaving fairly soon by disclosing, "With the looks of things, you may be right. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything really out here. This is just another camping spot for the Spanish miners along their way to the Port of Galveston Bay.”
Just about at that moment the Pawnee Indian returns with his pan full of dirt from the arrastra which he had dug in to with his long bladed skinning knife. The Pawnee Indian does the same as Amigo and the Prophet Ramon; he sinks his pan in the water of the stream without stirring up much more cloudy water than what Amigo is stirring upstream a few yards away. Of course, the Pawnee Indian has heard that they were talking about leaving already. And straight forth, that isn’t kosher with his agenda now that he has a pan in his hand and he is ready to try panning for the first time.
The Pawnee Indian looks to Amigo who is cleaning a few small thumb size rocks up before tossing them out. Quickly he looks back and starts to do the same thing before nearly freaking out, “What we’re leaving already and I haven’t even tried my first pan yet?”
The Prophet Ramon doesn’t know what to say at the moment and just stands there watching and observing the Pawnee Indian continue with the task like he has learned through watching. Then Amigo answers back to the Pawnee Indian’s question about leaving already advising, “We’re not leaving right now; everybody will get a chance to try out a pan or two. But there’s nothing worthwhile here and once we are at the final stop of our destination you’ll all have forgotten about this place!”
The Pawnee Indian picks up another good size rock and notices that it looks like a stone tool that may be of an Indian origin in nature which signifies a taste of their culture. As he cleans it and the colors of a water sapphire like color strew forth, the Pawnee Indian cheers, “Wow look! It looks like the tip to a stone tool maybe?”
Amigo turns and glances from a few yards away and notices that it looks like a chiseling of what could have been a tomahawk. Figuring that maybe he should save the piece for good luck with the realization of how stone tools have given him the recognition he feels he deserves, although sometimes it may not seem that way, Amigo says, “Looks like piece of a tomahawk made from some sort of water sapphire maybe!”
The Cherokee Indian approaches from behind along with the Sioux Indian and contends, “That the axe portion of the tomahawk!”
The Sioux Indian thinks about how Amigo is right and that he should keep it and take it with him along the trip for ensured good luck perhaps. The Sioux Indians leans over the Pawnee Indian and tries to distract him by adding, “You should save that one and take it with you and carry it like a warrior!”
Just then the Pawnee Indian turns further trying to look towards the Prophet Ramon and the Cherokee Indian who are now standing off to his right a few feet behind. Swiftly the Sioux Indian flings a small flake once again just like the Cherokee Indian did with the Prophet Ramon’s pan. Luckily he throws it perfectly when everyone is concentrating on the Pawnee Indian except for Amigo who is concentrating on his panning only.
A moment later the Pawnee Indian turns still looking at the stone tool that he has decided to keep for the purpose of sake to bring about good luck. Then the Pawnee Indian decides to keep the tomahawk relic as he places it in a pocket of his cowboy riding breeches. Then the Pawnee Indian looks back to his pan and continues to clean out the remainder of the small rocks in the pan without noticing the gold flake.
The Cherokee Indian stands there behind him about a few feet back watching like he was taking lessons or just curious about what he will find. Then the Sioux Indian looks to the Cherokee Indian giving him the signal with his hand that he may have goofed up, although nobody else really notices the gesture. The Cherokee Indian tries to ignore the Sioux Indian by keeping his watchful eye on the pan even though he has another back up toss out just waiting in-between his fingers.
As the Pawnee Indian continues cleaning the last rock before tossing it, Amigo is really working his pan carefully while remarking, “This place has been cleaned out before they had left. It’s impossible to find anything under those rocks of the arrastra.”
The Prophet Ramon feels that it’s not so bad continuing the conversation, “It’s not so bad; we know how to pan and if there was anything to be had, we were bound to find it, huh?”
Quickly Amigo butts in to the conversation roaring to go and get out of there telling them all, “A few more pans for us all and we should get a move on!”
About that time the Pawnee Indian begins shaking the pan back and forth trying to settle all of the fine iron materials to the bottom of the pan. He keeps doing this while the others continue talking back and forth to each other. In fact he does it so perfectly that Amigo even glances over and shrugs his head like he’s so surprised at how serious he looks panning away. The Sioux Indian sort of steps back away from the Pawnee Indian and says to Amigo, “Well, how about letting me pan one or two before we head out?”
Amigo looks at him while he swings the pan around trying to find some traces of any flower gold that he may be able to see with his naked eye. The he turns to the Sioux Indian agreeing with him saying, “Sure, I’ll let you try one in a minute. I just want to work it down another notch.”
Amigo dips the pan under the water a few more times and then he dunks the pan underneath the stream washing away some more of the lighter colored material exposing the black iron ores underneath the grains. Then he sways the pan around two or three times trying to even out the iron combing it over like. Luckily this time he notices some small grains or flower gold lying in the iron speckled in a few places.
Slowly he sways it again by swinging the pan from right to left influencing his control over exposing a few more grains of flower gold that are lingered within the iron layers. He turns to the others enlightening them all, “Looks like some small grains of flower gold have shown up with some speckles of platinum maybe, but they are too small to do anything with!”
The Sioux Indian walks over a few steps and stands right behind him and looks over his shoulder and in to his pan. Quickly he notices some sparkles below the small amount of water covering the bottom portion of the mining pan. The Sioux Indian can see that there are some rewards maybe somewhere under the rocks of the arrastra just waiting to be found and discovered. Suddenly the Sioux Indian begins to become very anxious and really is eager to give panning a whirl even though no one knows that they have some spiking gold with them. Nonetheless they didn’t pan their gold here. Some of it they pan from other places and some of it they bought because they know how to smash it down tempering it in to wider pieces. By now the Sioux Indian would really like to try his luck saying, “I bet you I could find something!”
Now Amigo feels sort of rushed a bit because he really wants to leave as soon as they can in order to move on to the real treasure. Anyhow Amigo decides to throw the iron and all of the small grains of flower gold back in to the stream. Of course, they’re too small to do anything with in his time considering they don’t have any methods of getting the microscopic gold out of the iron grains like they do now days. Anyhow afterwards Amigo cleans the pan off and then he hands it to the Sioux Indian. The Sioux Indian takes the mining pan and small hand trowel from Amigo and starts to make his way over to the arrastra to get some dirt. Along the way he nearly trips because he is too busy staring at the pan.
Still the Cherokee Indian is still watching the Pawnee Indian pan down his material as he soon sees a small thin like flake poking out of the iron a little. The Pawnee Indian sways his pan around exposing a little more making it a good size flake. Right away the Pawnee Indian says, “Look, got one!”
The Cherokee Indian looks over his shoulder by taking another step towards the Pawnee Indian realizing that it may be the flake that the Sioux Indian flung in there. Anyhow it pretty hard to tell but it looks like one that was smashed flat to make it look bigger than it really is and that’s why it’s so thin.
The Sioux Indian returns a moment later with a pan full of dirt while Amigo says, “Let me see!”
Amigo walks over towards the Pawnee Indian who tips his pan to him exposing the reward he thinks he has found. Amigo sees the small flake and says, “That’s not too bad; make sure you keep it as a token from this place!”
The Pawnee Indian agrees with Amigo that he should save the flake of gold nonetheless boasting, “Sure, I going to save it. But I don’t have anything to put it in!”
The Prophet Ramon happens just to have another small glass bottle that he could give him considering that he has found something for that matter. The Prophet Ramon makes the Pawnee Indian the offer by saying, “I have a small glass bottle you can use if you’d like!”
The Pawnee Indian accepts his offer diligently relating, “Sure, I’ll take it, why not? Where did you get the small glass bottles?”
The Prophet Ramon thinks about it for a split second before revealing, “They were small cologne bottles I had from back home!”
The Prophet Ramon reaches in to his small bag that he has strapped to his belt with a few items inside and pulls out his small glass bottle and another one that he had brought along for the journey. He looks at it for another moment before handing it to him. The Pawnee Indian takes it from him and starts to unscrew the cap off. The Prophet Ramon explains to the Pawnee Indian how to get the gold in the bottle saying, “Dunk the bottle under the water and fill it up all of the way to the top.”
The Prophet Ramon pulls out a pair of steel tweezers that he happens to have in his bag as well telling the Pawnee Indian, “And then use these tweezers to pull the flake out and drop it in the glass bottle!”
The Prophet thinks further explaining, “For smaller flakes you dry your finger and then you press it down on the gold really quick sticking it to your dry finger. Then you stick your finger over the glass bottle so it hits the water falling down inside there!”
Then Amigo wonders why he didn’t say anything about that before when he had some small grains asking, “Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?”
The Prophet Ramon figured that maybe they were too small anyways shuddering, “I forgot but they looked like they were probably too small anyhow!”
The Cherokee Indian thinks about how they don’t really have any way of getting out any of the smaller flower size grains anyhow by explaining, “It’s nearly impossible to try and excavate the smaller particles, though you can save the iron and spread it out on a table or something and try to use a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers to pick them out the best you can.”
Regardless of what methods there are to extract the smaller grains of gold, Amigo doesn’t really feel like wasting his time with the small time consuming aspects of treasure hunting. Then on the other hand, maybe he should have been more prepared and had something to put the iron in to go over it later when he had more time. Wishing he had saved the iron anyhow and brought a jar at least for the three arrastras at the Agua Fria River, Amigo recoils, “Screw all that nonsense. Maybe I should have brought a jar to put it in so I could pan it all again later!”
The Prophet Ramon figures that they could have put the iron in a leather bag considering that he had an extra one, yet it’s a little too late now after they both tossed their iron out in to the stream after just taking out all of the larger flakes. The Prophet Ramon mentions this by saying in an enthused tone of voice, “We could have used a leather bag to put the iron in. I have an extra one. But then on the other hand it’s a little too late now.”
Amigo has some small burlap sacks himself which were from a bank. They aren’t stolen or anything because he asked for them so that he could carry his coins in. When he was working he used to like being paid in coins because they were the real McCoy or in other words the genuine article of precious metals which can’t be found in paper money. Though he still uses paper money at times even though it is backed up by its face value in gold from what is kept at Fort Knox. Amigo relates to his burlap bags expressing, “I have some burlap bags we could use as well, I just didn’t think about it right away.”
By this time the Sioux Indian has nearly finished his pan as they all chat while not really paying any attention to him because they are relatively bored with this site. Maybe by now it’s time for them to move on and head to the next location which is some arrastras in New Mexico which aren’t that much better than this one here. The Sioux Indian interrupts them all by disclosing his little discovery by yelping, “Hey look, I think I found one!”
Everyone gets a little excited but not by too much and it doesn’t really matter anyhow considering that he probably salted his own pan to show off. Though what he threw in is no bigger than the rest of the flakes that have been panned up by the others. Amigo is the first to riposte to his call testing him, “Is it another thin flake that looks like someone smashed it down in a barrel churn or old farmhouse stamp press to make it look bigger!”
The Sioux Indian answers back with a shaky voice saying, “I don’t know?”
The Prophet Ramon wonders what in the hell is going on with this accusation of a find with what Amigo is speaking of probing, “What are you saying that someone planted that gold under the arrastra before we got here?”
Of course, that’s not what Amigo is talking about. What he is talking about is that one of them has salted the pans and it’s obvious which ones. Anyways Amigo carries on clarifying, “No what I am saying is that I have seen that trick many of times at this panning booth some cowboys had back at home. Either they would put fool’s gold or iron pyrite in the horse trough and let people pan. And then when you get upset they would fling a small flake in your pan when you weren’t looking to make you happy.”
The Sioux Indian thinks about that for a moment saying, “None of us has really ever had a chance to pan that much before. It must just be coincidence somehow I guess. This is only the third or fourth time I have ever tried panning anyways.”
The Cherokee Indian wonders why Amigo would seem to insinuate that they would ever do such a thing which would cost them money. The Cherokee Indian questions Amigo’s authority by quailing, “What makes you think that any of us would do such a thing wasting money we don’t have on gold and flicking it off in everyone else’s pan?”
Now Amigo really has to protect himself in the argument by just simply shunning off the whole entire conversation for any reason. With a quick turn like it may be time for them to head out and leave, Amigo states, “Maybe I have been to too many cowboy mining rodeos I suppose, I guess!”
The Cherokee Indian doesn’t feel like it is that important to take on a pan of his own. Maybe he should just forfeit and wait until the next site and ask for the first dibs at it. Nonetheless Amigo continues to walk away without taking a close look at the Sioux Indian’s gold flake and heads back towards the arrastra. The Cherokee Indian turns to give up his turn for a later time suggesting, “I’ll just wait until the next stop to try my luck at panning!”
As Amigo continues walking away, he turns his head back slightly contending, “Suit yourself!”
The Sioux Indian decides to finish up now that he is at the bottom of the pan with only some iron left with his gold flake he supposedly dropped in according to Amigo. Then the Sioux Indian starts to feel nervous as he takes a quick look at the pan without any notice of any minerals he can see with his naked eye. Quickly the Sioux Indian quotes, “What’s gotten in to him?”
The Pawnee Indian turns handing the Prophet Ramone’s pan back to him saying, “Let’s just take off and blow this joint!”
Suddenly they all start to leave as the Sioux Indian cleans the pan out and begins to follow the others back to their horses without being in such a hurry. Evidently Amigo is ready to head out so that they can make good time getting to the other site. Though for some reason the next site may not be as good as this one either, yet it is still part of the journey.
Across the close distance that separates the two groups through time and space is Indian Lace who notices that they are abruptly leaving. Swiftly Indian Skies see this as well and decides to use her sarcasm swaggering, “Looks like they didn’t get nothing?”
They all start to ride off as quick as they can while Indian Lace makes a classic line picking, “Maybe they aren’t really out for nothing?”
By now Indian Skies is sort of sick of this cat and mouse game. She feels that they should quit following them and just basically head off to the main site in Badger Springs insisting, “Why don’t we just head to the last site and wait for them to get there, that way we are ahead of them and then they won’t see us!”
Indian Lace feels that there may be delays and they should follow in order to make sure they get there articulating, “It’s better to follow them and make sure they don’t hit him up too early!”
Below is a link to "Bags of Gold" subpage 3.