Page 22 of Disciplining Dana

“We were told there was a place here you could try and find sapphires?” Kurt replied.

“There sure is! ‘C’mon!” The man beckoned them to follow as he crossed the shop. They came to a brightly colored archway with lettering that proclaimed EXPLORATION ZONE. Dana stepped through into a room containing a series of displays depicting various forms of sapphires, large historical photos of what was clearly the original sapphire mine, interspersed with a multitude of old tools hung as decoration on the walls. The centerpiece, however, was a large waterwheel that fed a long sluicing table which took up the bulk of the center of the room.

“My name’s Roman.” The man extended his hand.

Kurt took his hand. “Kurt. And this is Dana.”

“Pleasure to meet you both,” he said with a warm smile. “Ever done any mining before?”

Kurt glanced at Dana. “Umm… sorta, once or twice?”

“Okay, awesome, that’ll make things easier.” Roman turned to flick a switch on the wall, and the wheel began to rotate with a soft clatter, water gently sloshing down its length.

“What you’re going to be doing is called sluicing, or sometimes referred to as hydraulicking. You’ll take one of these”—he unhooked a bucket filled with dirt from the side of the sluice—“then scoop the dirt from the bucket into the sluice. You’ll let the water wash through the dirt on the sifting screen and carry it away, then sort through what’s left.” He gave them a quick smile. “If you keep working patiently, eventually you’ll discover a sapphire.”

“Really.”

“Absolutely. Well, most folks do.”

“Okay.” Dana scanned the room. “Where’d the dirt come from?” She pointed to the bucket.

“From the mine.” Roman indicated the opposite wall.

Dana and Kurt both looked in that direction. There, set neatly into the far wall, were two old, heavy wooden posts holding up an equally large crossbeam. Nailed to the beam was a sign that looked newer than the wooden entrance but mimicked it in style: SAPPHIRE MINE.

“That’s the mine?” Dana asked.

“That was the original entrance, yes.” Roman nodded.

The timbering over the opening was worn but well maintained, and it was clear the Exploration Zone had been built in such a way to mask the original mine entrance. A large metal gate covered the opening, but beyond the barrier the original mine tunnel appeared to head back into the mountain behind the gift shop, the passage fading into darkness.

“The diggings in these buckets”—Roman gestured toward a cabinet where several dirt-filled buckets waited to be chosen before bringing their attention back to him—“were taken from the sapphire mine a long time ago. We have a large accumulation of what we call tailings we fill the buckets from. When you let the water in the sluice wash over the dirt, you’ll end up with some small rocks and gravel.” He shook his finger. “Don’t throw those out! You gotta look at them really close, because a sapphire that’s been in the ground as long as these have will be dirty, and you’d probably mistake it for a pebble.”

Dana suppressed a snort. Yeah, right. ‘In the ground as long as these have…’ She snapped a glance at Kurt, and to his credit he was managing to keep his face completely blank too even as Dana struggled not to giggle.

“You want to clean them all off. If you do that and look carefully, I’m positive you’ll find yourself a beautiful sapphire.” Roman glanced between the two of them with a broad smile. “So, any questions?”

“Nope. Seems simple enough,” Kurt replied.

“Good deal.” Roman wiped his hands. “I have to head back and watch the shop, but if you need any help, just shout and I’ll come right back.”

“Thank you,” Dana said politely.

“My pleasure.” He turned, and a moment later she and Kurt stood alone in the room.

“Make sure you don’t throw any rocks away,” she warned Kurt in a serious, low tone. “You never know which ones may have been planted here the day before,” she continued, managing to keep a straight face.

He chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They studied the slowly revolving waterwheel and sluice for a moment, then turned their attention to what they’d come for.

“Steel,” Dana said, running her fingers over the metal frame that barred the entrance to the mine tunnel. A string of lights above illuminated the front ten feet or so back into the bore, but beyond that everything became shrouded in darkness.

“Pretty simple set-up,” Kurt murmured, pointing toward the lock and hasp fitted into the center of the gate. “I’m guessing they aren’t too concerned about guests trying to sneak past this point.”

“Obviously.” Dana reached for the lock, looking it over. “Old, and not exactly high-tech.”

“Well, he didn’t seem nervous about leaving us back here alone, so it’s pretty clear this security”—he gestured to the barrier—“is more than sufficient for their needs.”

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