Page 4 of From the Ashes

Our outings to the creek usually resulted in unique finds. The first summer Phoenix moved to town, we found a shed antler from an elk just sitting at the edge of the water. Nix strapped it to his back and took it home, sneaking it into his room before his mother saw it. Of course, she found it eventually and made him put it outside. It still sat in their landscaping, actually, bleached white by the sun.

Then there was that strangely hot October day last year when we found our first arrowhead. We’d found plenty of broken obsidian before and even a fewtinyopals that I kept in a corked jar on my dresser. But when Nix pulled the shiny black arrowhead out of the water and held it up to the sun, the entire world seemed to stand still. In the span of a few seconds, we went from a couple amateur rockhunters to bona fide archeologists. Suddenly we were both Indiana Jones, finding artifacts of ancient civilizations that no longer existed.

Of course, it wasn’t until we were doing research at the school library later that we found out the Kalapuya natives were most likely the makers of our found treasure. I tried to convince my mom to drive us up to Warm Springs Reservation so we could ask them about it. But she told me we couldn’t just roll up on the reservation unannounced and demand information. So, when we didn’t stop bothering her, she compromised and took us to a museum instead. We didnottake the arrowhead with us, just in case the museum wanted to keep it. As much as we loved Indiana Jones, we couldn’t part with our treasure.

Ever since that day, we’d been going down to the creek as much as possible in search of more treasure. So far, all we’d found were more obsidian chips, a couple tiny opal pebbles, big chunks of foggy quartz, and a few very round and smooth jasper stones. None of it was going to make us rich or famous, but it was just enough to keep us coming back for more.

We thought the creek drying up would make things easier to find. But now that the stones were dry, the entire riverbed had taken on a grayish, sunbaked appearance. If anything, it was evenharderto find cool things now. We’d been searching for days and had yet to come up with anything exciting.

So when we tossed our bikes on the ground at the edge of the creek that day, I wasn’t expecting much.

“You start on this side and I’ll go over there,” Nix said, pointing to the opposite side of the creek some twenty feet away. “Let’s stay near the middle this time, and maybe we’ll find something good.”

“Alright,” I nodded, happy to follow Nix’s lead wherever it took me.

“And if you find something good, don’t showme.”

I furrowed my brows, concerned by the mischievous smirk on his face. “Why?”

“Because it’s a competition,” he grinned. “We’ll show each other what we found when we get back home and see who wins.”

“And who’s going to judge this contest?” I asked. “You?”

“Obviously.” He straightened himself up, grabbing at an imaginary hat and whip. “I’m the expert around here. And I’m a doctor. Dr. Jones, professor of archaeology.”

I rolled my eyes. He was always so full of himself.

“If you’re Indiana, then who am I?”

“Short Round,” he nodded. “Or Willie.”

“I’m not that useless!”

“Short Round wasn’t useless! He saved Indy so many times! He’s the only reason Indy survived the Kali Ma!” He cocked an eyebrow in my direction. “But you’re right. Willie was absolutely useless. I’m not sure you’re quite that bad. Although you arereallybad at finding cool artifacts.”

I tried to feign anger, but I couldn’t do it. His reasoning was sound. While Short Round wasn’t the quintessentialgood guyof the film, he was the unsung hero sidekick. Phoenix was like Indy, big, bombastic, and always the main character. And I was happy to play his companion. That was exciting enough for me.

Also, he was right. I was bad at finding cool stuff.

“Fine,” I huffed at last, feigning annoyance. “I’ll be Short Round. But next time I get to be Indy, okay?”

He patted me on the shoulder, a look of solace on his face. “Of course.”

I didn’t believe him for a second, and he knew I wouldn’t fight him for it.

“Now get to work! We have to beat Belloq to the artifacts!”

“Wrong movie,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes again.

But the moment Nix flashed that bright smile in my direction, I forgot all about being annoyed or offended by his comments. He had a magic about him that made it impossible to resist his charms. The only problem was, he knew it. And he exercised that power well and often.

Nix skipped his way across the creek bed until he reached the other shore. With a stiff nod, the pair of us turned our heads toward the dirt banks and started to search. Neither of us looked up to check the mountains or the wildfire burning in the distance. We were so preoccupied with our little game that nothing else seemed to matter.

A few minutes in, I found the perfect stick for poking through the gravel and sand. I turned over quite a few interesting looking stones, only to realize they were exceptionally ordinary. I couldn't help sneaking glances across the creek at Nix, who seemed to be doing the same thing. More than once, I watched him bend down and pick something up before tucking it secretly away into a pocket. I also watched him fish things out of his pockets and chuck them back into the dirt before he gave me a mischievous grin and kept searching.

He was playing games with me. I was certain of it. Psychological warfare was half the battle when we were hunting for treasure like this. So, I did my best to feed it right back to him. Although, I’m pretty sure he never fell for my tricks. Still, I had to try.

We’d both completely lost track of time and it wasn’t until the sun suddenly stopped shining that I finally looked up.

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