Thing-a-Day Jan #14 - Sash {Part 2: Lucky}

Sash

Part 2: Lucky

February 15th, 1847. The sun was high, the sky was clear, and the light was reflecting brightly off the snow covering the walls of the canyon.

It had been a week since Clancy Noyes was contracted to work on this new claim being prospected by Mr. Harold Crimson. Seven days of back-breaking work digging into the frozen Nevada dirt. Clancy didn't mind it one bit. He'd been raised to do exactly this kind of work! The only thing that bothered him was a sinking feeling that this prospect might not yield any results.

The noon-time bell of the large church rang out, and everyone but Clancy broke for a meal. See, Clancy had proven to be the hardest worker of them all, and this was noticed by Mr. Crimson and Dr. Parrish as indicated by him already receiving a raise of thirty cents on his daily wage.

While the other nine miners relaxed in the bright, cold Nevada air, Clancy was swinging his pick to break the ground up for the rest. With each swing of the pick, the ground became softer, as to be expected. However, with one final blow, Clancy's pick sank deep into the earth and became buried up to the eye. A loud cracking sound rang out from below the pick, and he let go and back away. He blinked, somewhat confused by this but observing and taking mental notes all the same. The dirt and gravel was completely frozen, but the dirt here was dry and flaky.

"Mr. Crimson!" He called out, "I may have ..." Clancy was interrupted by another cracking sound. In an instant, his pick was blown out of the spot where he had left it, and wind was whistling through the small hole left by the pick. Accompanying this gust was the scent of...

"Roses?" Clancy wondered aloud, "Why would this wind carry the scent of roses?" Mr. Crimson approached calmly and placed a thin sheet of cotton near the new opening which was widening by the second. His cold, grey eyes shifted momentarily as if lost in a deep thought before speaking, "Clancy, go to the Delta and fetch Dr. Parrish and Elliot Sash." Straightening up, Mr. Crimson called out to the other nine miners, "Fellows, you'll all be taking the rest of the day off while we assess the current state of our little prospect." The men all took this as a blessing and started packing up their gear.

Clancy, always the dutiful employee, excitedly obliged Mr. Crimson's request and swiftly made his way back to the Delta Saloon to find Dr. Parrish and the town blacksmith, Elliot Lee Sash, seated at what the locals described as a lucky table playing poker. The table gave them no luck with their cards, but seeing Clancy burst in through the saloon doors, they knew their luck had come a different way.