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Railroaded

By: SW_MO_Hermit



ONCE AGAIN EDITED BY THE INCOMPARABLE 'WIRES' WITHOUT WHOM THIS WOULD BE A POORER STORY BY FAR. HIS HELP IS APPRECIATED IMMENSELY.

*****

Janice Stover drove her old Jeep Wrangler into the parking lot of her software company. She felt a surge of pride when she saw all the other cars there. It had been a struggle from her first day of operation, but the hard work and long hours were now beginning to pay off. They now had 23 employees and were recruiting more. She slowly drove to her assigned spot beside the employee entrance and parked her old Jeep. She was dressed in her usual clothes, faded jeans, T-shirt, and broken down athletic shoes. Her honey blond hair was swinging in a ponytail as usual. She almost ran toward the door, excited to once again get to her private office and fire up her computer. From looking at her you would never know she had been working in this same office until nearly three thirty a.m. the night before. She finished her current project last night and couldn't wait to turn it over to the beta testers so she could clean up any bugs they found and move on to her next idea. She was already roughing out an idea she had for a completely new program she thought would sell well.

Like many programmers, Jan worked long hours but the last two weeks had been worse than usual. She put in sixteen to eighteen hour days because all her senior people were hounding her to finish the program as quickly as she could. She snorted and grinned as she thought about the reason for the rush to completion. Todd hired a pushy new Sales Manager several months before and he pushed his sales force to pre-sell the new application. Apparently promises were made, against her recommendation, of an early release date to a new large customer. She grinned to herself as she thought about the uproar and headaches coming down on the Sales Manager as the promised delivery date drew ever closer and the software was just now ready for Beta Testing. Maybe now he would listen more to her rather than to Todd and not aggressively pre-sell software that was still in the pipeline. They were making plenty of money on current versions of their software so there was no real reason to push the new version so fast. 

She saw her partner Todd's latest new car parked in his space on the other side of the door as she slid her ID/Key through the card reader. She was once again disgusted by his profligate ways. There were many times she found herself sorry she ever let him buy into her business. Of course, she had no other choice at the time. Not only did she need someone with business management knowledge and experience but she desperately needed a cash infusion to market, package, and ship her first simple program. Now, more and more, she resented his arrogant attitude. He showed up in expensive suits and shoes, driving ever more expensive luxury cars, and sat around giving orders to her and her two other programmers as if he owned the company.

Her business, aptly named S-T Business Solutions, wrote and sold computer applications for small businesses and customized other programs on occasion. Todd had absolutely no knowledge of computers-either building them or programming them. He was barely able to turn one on and use the pre-installed software. On numerous occasions Janice had to help him with his machine when he totally screwed it up. As she walked toward her office, she once again began thinking about a way to get him out of her business and then removing the new management team he hired while she was engrossed in her latest project.

Janice smiled at Hailey, the receptionist as she skipped into, then through the break room. She made a very brief stop to pick up a high calorie, fresh baked cinnamon roll and her usual English Toffee Cappuccino. When she caroled "Good Morning, Hailey" instead of the equally happy greeting she usually obtained she only received a "Morning, Jan". Hailey then quickly turned her back on Janice and began straightening the already neat snack display area.

Jan frowned at the abnormal greeting then shrugged her shoulders and took off for her office. She had a meeting with Todd and two of the senior managers in fifteen minutes and she wanted to do a quick check of her e-mail before she went into the conference room. She didn't know why Todd was so insistent about the meeting last night when she called him to report the project was finished but he was so she agreed to come.

Janice hit her office almost at a run and slammed her ass into her soft executive chair. She reached out to power on her computer, then sat almost bouncing waiting on it to boot. Nothing happened, not even a beep when she hit the switch. Crap, she thought. The cleaning crew must have unplugged it again. She crawled under her desk, nope, it was plugged in. She looked at the back of the machine. All wires and plugs seemed to be in order. Fuck, she thought, it was working fine this morning when I powered it down. Now I'll have to spend all morning working on the damn machine before I can do anything constructive.

Jan left her office carrying her roll and cappuccino heading to the conference room. She was seething at the setback. At least she always made two backups before she quit work so her completed program was safe.

When Jan stormed into the conference room she stopped in surprise. Todd was there as was the Sales Manager and Business Manager. There were also two strangers sitting at the table with piles of paper in front of them. A large man in a security uniform stood just inside the door. She didn't recognize him either. As far as she knew they didn't have a security staff and had no need for one.

Todd looked up from where she normally sat at the head of the table and smiled. He said, "Ah, Jan. You finally got here. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to be late once again and miss another important meeting."

Todd didn't rise to offer her the chair he was in. She stood looking at him waiting for him to vacate her chair. Finally, Todd gave her a dark look and said in a demanding tone, "This won't take long, Jan. Sit down and let's get on with it."

Jan felt her anger surge once again at Todd's attitude. As far as she was concerned this was the last straw. She decided she was going to call her attorney and find out what she had to do to get rid of him. He was more trouble than he was worth and his attitude was horrible. None of the old hands cared for him and as far as she could see he held them all in contempt. This was not the first time she found him in her chair but it was the first time he didn't give it up. She decided not to make an issue of the matter right then and took a chair beside Todd and across from the two strangers.

Todd leaned his arms on the table and almost glared at Janice. He said, "Ms. Stover, there's no easy way to say this so I'll just come out with it. You're fired. This business can no longer put up with your cavalier attitude. Your dress is totally inappropriate for business, you are completely unable to get to work on time, and totally ignore policies and procedures promulgated by upper management. You have been warned numerous times and still have not corrected your attitude. Consequently, I am exercising the option given me when I became your partner and buying your share of this company."

Todd smiled and leaned back in his chair. He glanced over at the older of the two strange men and said, "Would you continue, please, Mr. Rodman?"

The older man said, "I am Terrance Rodman, Mr. Tarkington's attorney, and now the business attorney." He handed Jan a stack of papers and continued talking, "I have here documented transgressions and witnessed statements of the times you were counseled for poor performance. You will notice you were actually given two more chances to improve your behavior than the company policy handbook provides. As it was explained to you when that occurred, you were given the consideration because you were one of the founders of this company. Even with this forbearance, you did not improve your behavior so Mr. Tarkington regretfully decided he had no choice but to terminate you and exercise the buyout rights for the company."

Mr. Rodman handed Jan a check for $15,000 and continued speaking. "Here is the check for the fifty percent of the company you currently own. You will find a copy of the contract you and Mr. Tarkington signed three years ago in the papers I just gave you. We have highlighted the pertinent parts dealing with your termination and the purchase of the remainder of your ownership interests."

Jan sat in shock for only a moment then she pushed the papers away and turned to Todd. She knew her face was red. She was almost shaking with anger as she forcefully said, "You arrogant asshole. This is bullshit, and you know it. Get your things and get out. You're fired. And take these- GENTLEMEN - with you."

Todd smiled and gestured to the security guard as he said, "No, Jan. Like we just said, YOU'RE fired. Don't make this worse than it is." He pushed the papers and check toward her then continued, "Take your paperwork and check and go with Tony. He'll escort you to your office so you can pick up your personal items then he'll go with you to your car."

Todd looked at the guard who she now knew was Tony and said, "Be sure she only takes her personal property and make damn sure you get her key card when she leaves. No memory sticks, drives or computers are to leave the premises with her. Don't leave her alone for a moment."

Jan glared at Todd and said through clenched teeth, "This isn't over asshole. If you think for one minute I'm going to let you kick me out of my own business you're crazy."

Jan quickly packed her personal items and grudgingly allowed Tony to look in her purse and bags to verify she had no memory devices hidden away. He followed her to her Wrangler and watched as she loaded her box of belongings and drove from the lot. Jan couldn't help herself; she pulled to the side of the street and sat crying in anger for several minutes. Next she went straight to her small apartment. She started to pick up her bag and get her notebook computer so she could look up an attorney. She'd show that asshole.

FUCK. The bastard kept her computer. Unlike many techies she didn't have a working computer in her dingy apartment. Everything she did was either at work on the larger desktop or on the powerful laptop she used to travel with. All her hardware she supposed was owned by the company, but damn it she owned the company. This was totally bullshit.

Even angrier now Jan grabbed her IPhone and hit the net to find an attorney. After she found a couple of names she made the calls to get an appointment. Over the next week Jan moped around and seethed in anger over what Todd did. During that time she met with one attorney who looked the papers over and sighed. He told her unless she had other documents to support her position he couldn't help her. The paperwork completely supported Todd's actions.

Jan made an appointment with a second attorney and was told the same thing. This time she said, "But this is all wrong. That was, no, THAT IS my company. I didn't agree to sell it to Todd and I was not an employee of the company. I OWN the company."

The attorney very gently, but sadly, explained once again to Jan. He said, "Ms. Stover, I can see where you started the business and I know you were the head programmer, but these documents don't support your contention that you owned the company. I have copies with original signatures that fully support Mr. Tarkington's actions.

"You incorporated the company according to the paperwork when he was hired to help you. You will notice here you and he agreed that you would each provide $15,000 to start the company. His contribution was cash, yours was the company value as agreed between the two of you. Your half contribution included all the machines, software, supplies and good will was valued at $15,000. You were each given badges as employees, his number one, yours number two. All other employees were given badges with their employee number on them.

"You jointly wrote the employee handbook which was later revised when Mr. Tarkington hired the business manager. In each instance you signed off on the policy as the joint owner of the company. You even signed the agreement on dispute resolution. You agreed that, in a dispute, you had resolution authority over anything in the technical side dealing with product development and programming. Mr. Tarkington had resolution authority for all other matters up to and including firing for any reason. You signed the contract authorizing either you or Mr. Tarkington to buy the other major stockholder out for the sum of $15,000 should they violate company rules and policy and have that violation properly documented. There is even a signed employment agreement in this file setting your salary at $30,000 per year. Since you were a salaried employee you never received overtime and are not subject to many of the labor laws. Your termination, and the purchase of your share of the company, was absolutely legal, Ms. Stover. I am sorry."

"But that's bullshit. I owned the company. I never punched the clock. Some days I would work eighteen or twenty hours straight, then I would go home for a break and some rest before I returned to work. Hell, the last three weeks I spent almost all night in the office to meet that assholes deadline for our new program."

"Do you deny coming in late and leaving early some days? I have signed statements from Mr. Tarkington, the business manager, and the sales manager on several occasions when they saw you leave during business hours and not return or when you arrived well after normal business hours commenced. I even have two counseling statements you signed when you arrived late."

"WHAT? That's a bunch of crap. I was never COUNSELED for being late. Let me see those."

Jan looked at the papers in question and sighed. She threw them on the pile of documents and looked down. She said, "Oh, I remember those now. I guess I was a fool. Both times Todd came into my office with the papers and asked me to sign them. He had the Sales Manager in the hallway while he was there. I see he signed them as a witness, the asshole. Todd said I needed to sign the papers because of the labor laws. He said everyone had to be treated the same and if I didn't get counseled for being late he couldn't do it to a regular employee who was late and then he wouldn't be able to fire them if they continued to break the rules. Shit, I guess I'm pretty stupid, aren't I? So there's nothing we can do?"

"Probably not. Oh, I could file a motion or two, we could even contest the value of the buy out if you can provide documentation that would support higher value for the company, but, really, I believe you would probably spend as much as you got in higher value or even more if we did contest these documents. I'm sorry, Ms. Stover."

Jan wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood. She turned and started for the door. The attorney quickly gathered her papers and rushed after her. When he caught her he handed her the papers and said, "Here, Ms. Stover. I really don't know what good this will do you, but I highly advise you to keep these documents safe in case of further need. If this Todd character is as slimy as you say he is you just might need these documents later."

Jan drove slowly and none too safely back to her dingy apartment. After paying the attorneys and her last month's rent she only had about $10,000 left from Todd's check. She still owed almost $6000 on her Wrangler, but that was the only loan she had outstanding. Oh, she had whatever she charged on her credit card for the month. Thank God she always paid the balance off monthly.

Jan sat home alternately crying and thinking about her affairs the rest of the day. After a poor night's sleep she got up the next morning and went to town. Her first stop was the bank where she paid off her auto loan. This left her with $4327.15 of ToddÕs check and a balance of $829.24 in her checking account. She owed $1344.23 on her credit card. After she purchased a new laptop she would only have about $1750 to her name. There was no way she could live here in town long on that money. She had to either move or find another job quickly. Her next stop was her favorite computer supply warehouse where she purchased a new laptop.

After she got the laptop and her needed software she went straight home and polished her resume. It immediately was posted to many websites and printed and mailed to several businesses.

Janice sat in despair for some time, then grinned. She went to the small fireproof safe she kept in her home and took out the personal backup of her latest software development. She loaded it onto her new computer and went to work. In less than eleven hours she had added so many bugs to it even a whole can of raid couldn't kill them all. Next she drove to the parking lot of S-T and accessed their WIFI. She quickly accessed S-T's server. She was surprised, but pleased, to find her access had not been cancelled. She quickly downloaded and overlaid the completed program with her newly fucked up version. This changed version would do everything it was supposed to do but it would not do it correctly. It would take an accountant to find the math errors she inserted in the program. She also inserted parts of the program that would yield erroneous results if certain criteria were met thus making them infrequent.

After the program was safely uploaded she accessed the offsite backup server to work her magic. She corrupted all but one of the backups from the time before she completed the program so they were unusable. She also substituted her changed version of the program for those on the existing backups. As she vacated the systems she removed any trace of her access until she was completely out of the backup system. She next hid her access to the main server after she changed the date and time on the program she just uploaded. 

Her last hack was to read through the system to see what was going on with her ex company. She found that her newly hired programmer now owned five percent of the company stock and was head programmer. One of the two oldest programmers was fired as she had been. The other still worked at his job but he was the worst of the two.

Using her old computer, now belonging to the new head programmer, she terminated her permissions in the system making it look as if he did it. Tired, Jan smiled and leaned back in her seat. She powered down her new machine and drove home. When she entered her dingy apartment she dropped her computer and purse on the couch and stumbled to bed.

Jan woke up shortly after eleven a.m. the next day. She made a pot of coffee then wandered into her living room to drink it. She had no idea what she wanted to do next. Her rent was due in five days and she either had to pay it or give notice then she would have one more month here before she had to move.

As the day progressed Jan decided she was done with this damn town. She had not met one damn person here that was not out to fuck someone, either figuratively or actually. Truthfully, she missed her hometown and the people she grew up with. She now fully understood why many people tried to keep her from moving to California in the first place. The people out here were total assholes. She was going home. She could still program her computers there and she would be with people that understood her, people who were still honest and ethical or at least more so than most of those she met out here. She called her apartment manager and gave notice. She asked if there was any chance of getting back her last month's rent if she left before the end of the current month. The asshole laughed and said, "Nice try honey. You can leave any time you want but the contract says you have to give a month's notice so there's no refund."


Railroaded



"What if I leave early and you rent the apartment before my month is over? Would I get the money back then?"

"Ha, Ha, Ha. Ohhhhh, Boy. You just don't give up do ya, honey? I told ya, ya gotta give a month's notice." Jan heard a click and the phone went dead.

"Crap. Well, I guess I'm stuck here another month anyway."

Jan began sorting and packing her belongings and cleaning the apartment. At least she hoped to get her damage and cleaning deposit back at the end of the month. The third week of her last month in California she got a frantic phone call from Todd. He said, "Jan, that last project you did for us is fucked up. I need you to get your ass in here today and find the problems. We've installed it on five business servers already and they're all having problems with it. If I had known how incompetent you were I would have fired you earlier but you're all I have. Jerry and Dan can't find the bugs."

Jan laughed and said, "No fucking way, asshole. Besides, how could you possibly have five sites installed by now? The damn beta testing was scheduled for six weeks and it's only been four weeks since I finished the program and you stole my company from me."

"Listen, I don't have time for this crap. We tested the program and it worked fine after you left so we installed the sites we had pre-sold. Now you have to get in here and fix it before we have more problems."

Jan laughed and said, "Not my problem, asshole. I don't work there anymore. My responsibility ended the day you kicked my butt out the door. Fix your own problems." For almost the first time since she was fired Jan sat with a smile on her face. 

Over the remaining week she touched base with her few acquaintances in the programming field ostensibly to say good bye, but actually to spread the word on how she was treated by Todd and to find out what the rumors had to say about the failing program. Those who heard about the problems were chortling. This could break the company and send it under. Three of the buyers uninstalled the program and were pursuing legal action to get back their money and damages. Todd hired a high priced programmer to clean up the program. Rumor had it that he found bugs in it galore, but the programming was different enough from the main part of the program he advised Todd a different programmer accessed their copies of the program and trashed it. Todd immediately blamed the one programmer that remained from when Jan was there and fired him. Jan just smiled. She felt a little sorry for the man who was fired but not much. She was considering firing him before she left the company.

Jan did leave her apartment a few days early. She had nothing to do and was anxious to get on the road so just gave up her six remaining days. She felt the worries slip away as she drove toward home. 

Jan was in no hurry to arrive home. It was mid July and she had no job so took her time on the trip. When she was in Albuquerque on Interstate 40 she remembered how beautiful the Colorado Rocky Mountains were. Her family owned a small acreage in the mountains west of Colorado Springs that had been in the family for five generations. Rumor had it that the first owner found gold "somewhar in them thar hills" but that was never proven. He and his partner filed on two adjacent sections of land as homesteaders and proved up on it so it was privately owned. As far as Janice knew he never mined on the land. However, until he died he would disappear for several days at a time and show up with freshly mined gold. Sometimes he would have ore, other times he had flakes as if panned from a stream according to the tales. There was a mine site on the section his partner filed on. 

Almost without thinking, Jan turned left at Albuquerque and headed for Colorado and the family "spread". When she got to Colorado Springs she had to call her father for directions to the land. After he gave her the directions he also gave her a lecture about how dangerous it was in the mountains for anyone, much less a young beautiful woman, alone. She laughed and said, "Daddy, I still have my rifle and pistol. I'll be ok. Besides, I need some fresh air and relaxation before I get home. I'm an old bear right now, and no one would want to be around me, anyway."

"Well, you be careful girl. You come out of the hills every two or three days and call us so we don't worry."

While Jan was talking to her father a tall slender young man in dirty torn clothing was stumbling up a valley alongside a small mountain stream. His pack weighed more than he did. His hair was long and straggly, dirty looking. His beard hadn't been cut in a week or more, making him look like one of the actors in the old movie Deliverance except for his light weight.

As the man stumbled upstream he gritted his teeth once again and kicked a rock muttering, "Fucking DAMN Cunt. I knew when she went to college in California instead of to college with me like we planned that she'd fuck around on me. I can't believe it took me over a year to find out. If Jason hadn't been laughing about it to his cousin I still might not know. Hell, I didn't even know he was going to San Jose State but I'm glad he was. Fuck, what does she see in that damn arrogant prick? After what she did there's no way I could keep working for her Uncle. Fuck. Brand new degree in Business Management and no fucking job. At least I don't have any debts thanks to the GI Bill and living at home while I went to college.

Frank Ames continued plodding along up the stream. Even in his anger he stopped occasionally to admire the scenery. He hadn't been here in almost ten years and was having trouble remembering landmarks although occasionally he saw something he remembered well. His family had owned this little part of heaven for years but they mostly just used the cabin near the edge of their holdings. His parents both worked in town but were now two states away and didn't have time or the inclination to wander around the mountain on their days off. Twice, when younger he came to Colorado Springs to visit his grandparents he and his grandfather came out and walked up this stream to camp at the old mining camp. He was told that was the same spot his grandfather said his great grandfather and great grandfather's best friend camped and lived for years back in the 1800Õs. He still remembered the stories told about prospecting for gold and hunting in these mountains. Well, he wasn't going to hunt much, but then again, he might. If he shot a deer even though it was out of season, he could stay longer and try to forget the pain. Seems like everyone he knew found out about Paula before he did and now they were asking what went wrong.

Well, he was going to spend at least two weeks at the old campsite while he tried to forget that cheating bitch and unwind. He hoped it was as peaceful as he remembered it. Finally, as dusk was falling on the mountain Frank reached his destination. It was like many other secluded prospecting or old home sites in the mountains. You could see the remains of two or three short log cabins perched on the hillside and a stream running somewhere close by.

The only difference in this site and hundreds of others was its condition. While not in pristine shape there were two buildings still standing and somewhat weatherproof. Most of the chinking was still in the logs and most of the roof was still on the buildings. Of course, that was a result of many hours work by the family while they visited here over the years. When they came here every year or two they didn't have to do much work each time they came to keep the two buildings somewhat decent. Now, if he wanted something to do he could spend his entire two weeks working on the buildings. All he intended to do, however, was make sure one of them was in good enough condition to keep him dry during the inevitable mountain showers. Other than that he planned to hike, fish and, maybe, do a little prospecting.

Frank looked across the small stream at another small building. It was in much better shape than were the ones owned by his family. It belonged to his grandfather's friend's family. From the looks of it they must still come up here fairly often. It appeared to be weather tight and the roof looked good. He was tempted to just camp out in it but didn't seriously consider it. He hadn't been invited and it would be no different than if he went into someone's house in the city without invitation. It just wasn't done except in dire emergencies.

Frank spent the remainder of the afternoon and all of the next day improving his living area and bringing in firewood. Early on the third day he packed a lunch and his water then took off up the stream looking for adventure and relaxation. He took a pan and shovel intending to pan for a little gold. From time to time when he was younger he and his grandfather found a few flakes in the stream. He hoped he remembered how to do everything and was lucky enough to find a little color.

That evening as dusk was falling, Frank stumbled back down the stream and headed for his little cabin. He was halfway from the head of the small clearing to it when he stopped in surprise. There was a small fire in front of the Stover's cabin and someone was working around it. He hesitated, unsure of what to do. Finally, he decided he would go over and find out if they were supposed to be there and try to run them off if they weren't. He checked his pistol before he went any farther. It was almost like the old days, he thought to himself, but what with all the drug pushers trying to grow marijuana in out of the way areas he was better off safe than sorry.

Frank was just stepping into the stream to cross it when the person working around the fire saw him. They stood and looked at him for a minute then moved toward a pack leaning on the old porch. They bent over and picked something up then turned to meet him.

A feminine voice called to Frank, "What do you want?"

"I'm Frank Ames, and my family owns the land on the other side of the stream. This land belongs to friends of my family and I wondered what you were doing here. Do you have permission to camp here? If you don't have permission to stay I'll have to ask you to move on."

The woman glanced at the pistol on Frank's hip and watched him closely. She said, "I'm Janice Stover, so I guess you could say I have permission to be here. What are you doing here and how do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"Maybe the same way I know you are telling me the truth? If you're who you say you are you probably know some of the stories I know. I remember grandpa talking about his friend, Mr. Stover, several times, and I'll bet he talked about Gramps. If that won't help, I'll show you my license if I can see yours."

Frank reached for his pack straps and shrugged it off. He rummaged inside until he found his billfold and took out his driver's license. He held it out toward the young woman and she tentatively moved until she could see it. "Well, you seem to be who you say you are. Now, I think you need to go back on your side of the stream and leave me alone. I came up here to get away from people and I sure don't need someone fooling around making a lot of noise. Are you going to be here long?"

Frank looked at the woman-Janice, he thought she said-and felt a trifle angry. He said, "No problem. You don't bother me and I won't bother you. I was just trying to protect your family's property like our families have done for each other for years. I'm sorry I bothered you."

Frank returned to his side of the stream and began preparing his evening meal. His main course was a nice trout he caught earlier that day. He cleaned it and fried it up nicely. He also fried some potatoes and onions and opened a can of pork and beans. While he cooked and ate his meal he watched Janice across the stream. As soon as she finished her meal she put the fire out and went inside the cabin with her pack. He didn't see her again that evening. When he finished his meal he cleaned up then sat outside enjoying the beautiful mountain evening and occasionally taking a swig of his Balviene single malt straight from the bottle. He chuckled to himself when he thought about the outrage some of his friends would feel seeing him drink such fine single malt straight from the bottle like a heathen. After it was full dark he went inside his little cabin for the night also.

The next morning both young people were out preparing breakfast at the same time. From time to time each watched the other. After she finished her breakfast Janice prepared a day pack and took off downstream shortly before Frank did the same and took off upstream once again. They followed almost the same schedule for the next two days, except Frank did begin exploring downstream. On the night of the third day Frank watched for Janice to return but she didn't.

The next morning he saw no sign of her either so he went over to her cabin and looked through the one window on the porch. Her large pack was still inside. He became worried. Instead of going back into one of the canyons as he planned, he went downstream trying to see if he could track Janice. He didn't believe she left because her pack was still there. The fire pit was cold that morning so he knew she didn't get out before him. After he went about a half mile downstream he saw a trail leading away from the stream that looked as if it had been used several times recently. Having nothing better to do he turned and followed it. He wished he had better tracking skills.

The trail was difficult to follow but led up a side canyon with a smaller stream trickling down it. After he went about a quarter mile he heard cursing and rattling coming from someplace ahead of him. He rounded a large rock blocking his view and saw a bedraggled Janice hobbling toward him using a tree branch as a crutch. Her face was dirty and scratched as were her hands. One leg was scratched and very bruised.

Frank rushed toward Janice and said, "Janice, are you OK? Strike that. I can see you're hurt. How badly are you hurt? I saw you didn't come back last night and I got worried about you so I decided to see if I could find you this morning." 

Jan jerked her head up almost in fear when she heard Frank. Her jaw tightened and her eyes became pinpoints. She flinched aside when he reached her and wrapped his arm around her to help her walk.

Frank saw her flinch and said, "Now, look, you're hurt and I'm here to help you. I don't know what your problem is but you need help. It looks to me like I'm the only one around who can do that for you so relax and let me help you. Our families have been helping each other for years. Why would you think I'm different? Now sit down here and let me see your leg. Is there anything else wrong with you?"

Frank looked up at Janice's face and she shook her head no. She let him guide her to a large rock and sat on it while he looked over her leg. Her knee and ankle were swollen and she had some fairly deep scratches but it didn't seem like it was broken. She flinched and pulled back several times when he touched her leg a little too hard. He said, "It looks like you twisted your knee and ankle but I don't think anything is broken. You appear to only have some soft tissue damage. What the hell happened to you?"

Jan clenched her jaw and glared at Frank then grudgingly said, "I climbed up on a rock to look around and it rolled out from under me. I fell from the top of it and twisted my leg when I landed. Then another smaller rock rolled over my leg and dragged me a little ways down a hillside with the sliding rocks. OK?"

"Damn, don"t you know better than to climb on rocks before you make sure they're stable?" He saw Jan's angry glare and raised his hands with a small smile. He continued speaking, "Ok, sorry. We all make mistakes from time to time. Now, come on. Let me help you back to camp and we'll clean you up. Do you have a first aid kit or will we have to use mine?"

Janice looked guilty and said, "No I don't have a first aid kit. This trip was sorta spur of the moment and I just came with what I had. If you don't mind, could we use yours?"

"No problem. Now, come on, let's get you back to camp before we bandage you up. I don't want to clean you up here. Next time you need to be more careful. You know you could have died here either at that rock, or on the trail, or even back in camp if I wasn't here to find and help you. What were you thinking?"

Janice glared at Frank for a moment and snorted then said, "You're a fine one to talk. I see you take off hiking alone every day, too. You could have just as easily gotten injured and died as me."

Frank started to make an angry reply because of the tone of her voice but controlled himself. Finally, he said, "Yeah, you're right and then again you're not. I make damn sure I don't put myself into a dangerous position if I can help it. Of course, that's what accidents are normally. We think we're being safe and careful then find out we really weren't when we have an accident. All we can do is the best we can. At least when I hike I take a first aid kit with me and try to be very careful."

"Well, I thought I was being careful, too, when I had the accident. Now, would you please just stop your damn lecture and get me back to camp?"

"Ok. I'm sorry but I was worried about you and when I saw you I became scared. OK?"

Jan snorted but didn't reply to Frank's last statement.

Finally, after an agonizing hike for Jan and one that was much longer time wise than either of the hikers wished, they made it back to the small group of buildings. About a quarter mile from the buildings they climbed onto a rise running the length of the valley alongside the stream and turned to follow it. Frank thought it was an old roadbed but it was so narrow he couldn't understand how wagons could meet on it.

During this last leg of the hike at one of their frequent stops Frank turned and looked down hill following the roadbed with his eyes. He frowned and bent down to pick up a rock. He used the rock to dig a small trench across the roadbed. At two places he came across steel rails embedded in the dirt and rocks.

Jan watched him with a frown on her face then said, "What's the matter with you? You act as if you never saw an abandoned railroad before."

"I've seen rail lines where they were abandoned and the track was taken up, but this is the first one I have seen where the track is still present. I didn't even know there was a rail line up here until today."

"You're kidding, right? I thought you said you were the grandson of Steven Ames and heard all about this land from him. Didn't you tell me you used to come up here with him? I'm starting to think you've been lying to me."

Frank became angry at the accusation, and replied hotly, "Think whatever you want. I told you who I was and showed you my license. I remember seeing the raised roadbed but I don't remember the tracks and I sure don't remember any stories about there being a line up here. OK?"

"Now, let's go to the stream and wash the worst of this dirt off your leg before we get you bandaged up. The cold water will help with the swelling also. After you soak a while we'll wash with hot soapy water and get some antibiotic on the cuts and scrapes."

As Frank worked on Jan's leg they exchanged a few more sentences but mostly they were about her treatment. Finally, they finished doctoring her injuries and he carefully helped her across the stream and into her cabin. After she was seated he said, "I'll go make us something to eat now. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"NO. That's not necessary. I can fix my own food."

"Bullshit. You can't even walk empty handed. How do you think you'll be able to carry food and work around your fire?"

"I can do it, OK? Just leave me alone."

Frank felt his anger rising again. He glared at Jan and said, "OK, fine. I'll see ya around." Frank stomped out of her cabin and across the stream to his smaller shelter. He quickly busied himself preparing his meal. He cooked some of the venison he killed the day before and prepared some instant mashed potatoes along with some canned green beans. After he ate his fill he sat looking across the stream. He watched as Jan hopped out of the cabin on one leg, barely touching her injured leg to the ground. She was trying to carry something toward her fire pit.




Railroaded



Just before she arrived at the fire pit she dropped her armload of goods then fell while trying to pick them up. Frank cursed under his breath and stood. He picked up his left over food and carried it across the stream. He stood over the crying Jan then set the food down beside her. He picked her up and began carrying her back to her small porch.

When he picked her up Jan hit him and said through her tears, "Just leave me alone, asshole. You damn men just don't know when to leave a girl alone do you? I don't need any damn man helping me."

Frank tucked his head down against her chest where she couldn't hit him very hard and continued walking. When he got to the porch he set her down and jumped back then said, "Listen, Bitch, I don't know what crawled up your cunt and touched you off but I'm trying to help you here. Now sit there and be good while I bring you some food and pick up that mess you dropped."

Jan felt her anger flare. She lunged for Frank and tried to slap him. That was the last straw for Frank. He grabbed Jan and sat on the porch with her over his knees. He gave her three hard slaps across her butt and said, "Listen, you little bitch. I'm not going to put up with your abuse. If you insist on acting like a spoiled brat I'll treat you like one. Now sit here like an adult and let me help you."

Jan was speechless. When Frank rolled her upright he twisted slightly and helped her sit on the porch. She sat crying while she watched him walk away from her. She wasn't sure she was this angry when Todd, the asshole, stole her company. The nerve of that asshole was unbelievable. He spanked her. He actually SPANKED her!

Frank went back to Jan's fire pit and brought the food to Jan first. He held it out to her but she just looked up at him, her face still showing her seething anger and pain, tears streaming down her cheeks. He sighed and placed the containers of food on the porch beside her. He immediately returned to the fire pit and picked up her uncooked supper. When he got back to the porch he asked, "Now, where do you want me to put this stuff?"

Jan angrily said, "Inside on the table with my other things."

Frank came outside and sat on the porch a little ways away from Jan then leaned on a porch pole while he looked at her. Finally he said, "Go on. Eat it before it gets any colder or I'll have to warm it up for you."

Jan's stomach growled. She looked at him and slowly reached out to pick up the food. Before long she was eating ravenously. After everything was eaten she leaned back against the porch support pole beside her and looked at Frank. She looked down at the ground then quietly said, "Thank you. Thanks for helping me today and for the food. I'm sorry I was such a bitch. I've had a hard time lately, and I guess I was taking it out on you."

"That's ok I guess but..."

"But, what?"

"Nothing. You just. Fuck. Look, I know you don't know me from Adam, but you can't just treat everyone like you have been treating me. There was no reason to assume I was an asshole and out to do something bad. I know there's a lot of shit goes on out here and you were right to be cautious, but you went way too far. You know you've been treating me like shit and all I wanted to do was be sure everything was on the up and up, then later help you." 

"I said I was sorry. I guess I was still feeling sorry for myself over losing my business and took it out on you."

"Yeah, ok. I probably wasn't too nice either. I came up here to get away from the assholes back home laughing about how my ex put one over on me for over a year."

"Oh, are you divorced? I'm sorry."

"No, at least I found out what a cheating bitch she was before I married her. Never did get my ring back though. If it wasn't so damn far to Cupertino I would have looked her up and taken my ring back. The asshole she took up with gets what he deserves in her. She was always about her first but I put up with it. Looks like she thought he was a step up over me and she took it. If she did that to me, though, I bet she does the same thing to him later. Just because he was President of some damn little startup software company doesn't mean he's all that great but I guess it did to her. I think I got the last laugh though. The friend that told me about her and her lover said one of the programmers got shitcanned and trashed an important program before they left. He says the company is going under because they can't figure out what the problem is and they've already sold and installed the program in several computer systems."

"I'm from the San Jose/Cupertino area. What was the name of the company? I may know of them or at least I may know some of the people."

"Hell, I don't know. The asshole she took up with had a stupid name. Rod or Todd or something like that. His last name was sort of like a football player. Tarkington or Talkington or something like that. I just hope the asshole loses his shirt and takes her down with him."

"WHAT? That sounds like the asshole that stole my company. Are you sure that was the name of your girl's asshole buddy? I'm getting a real bad feeling here. The asshole that stole my business was Todd Tarkington. We were a startup software firm and I wrote all the programs. Well, not all of them, I had two assistants that did some of the code, but I did most of it and they ran tests and did simpler programs. When I was kicked out I hadn't finished the last program. Well, it was done but we hadn't beta tested it. He sold and installed it before it was ready.

"I remember he had some little bimbo running around with him a lot. She seemed like a high maintenance airhead, always wanting him to take her to someplace expensive and he did. He was always flashy. You know the type-Rolex watches, fancy clothes and cars, can only eat in the fanciest, most trendy restaurants." Jan laughed and continued, "If his little chippy was your ex they both got what they deserved. I love it."

Jan looked sort of sheepish and continued, "I uh, I did make a few changes in the program after he stole my company from me that maybe messed up the program a little. Was your fiancee's name Paula by any chance?"

Frank looked surprised and stared at Jan for a moment, grinned, and said, "Yeah. Is my asshole your asshole?"

"I think it might be. If he is the one that stole your fiancee she didn't choose a real stellar guy. In fact, unless a miracle happens, I believe he is going to lose his shirt on my company. I understand from friends in the business that he lost almost all his good employees and has lost most of the companies that used our software. I think some of the businesses that bought the last release have filed suit against him and the company."

Jan and Frank continued talking for several more hours as they discussed the strange coincidence of sharing the same nemesis. Finally, well after dark, Frank said, "Look, I'm beat. Let me help you inside, then I need to get back to my place and catch some sleep. I'll make us breakfast tomorrow. You need to stay off that leg for a few days."

Janice smiled at him this time and said, "Ok, Frank, but you need to come over here and use my food this time."

For the next four days Frank prepared the meals and helped Jan hobble around. They made three or four trips to the stream daily for her to soak her knee and ankle and generally hung around the camp. As the days progressed they became better acquainted and began to realize they even knew some of the same people, mostly acquaintances from years past. They shared stories from their grandfathers and admitted to each other their day trips were to try and discover where the grandfathers found the gold they came up with frequently in years past.

Finally, a week after Jan's fall Frank said, "Jan, I'm not ready to go home, yet, but we're out of food. I need to go to town and buy more. Do you want me to help you back to your car or are you planning to stay longer also?"

"I really have nothing to go home for right now and it sure isn't costing me much to live here. If you let me pay half on the food I'm good to stay a little longer. I'd still like to do more exploring and I think my leg will be good enough by next week to take some easier hikes. Sure, if you don't mind, pick up more food and we'll stay longer." Jan looked guilty and continued, "Also, while you're in town could you call my folks and let them know I'm ok? I promised to come out of the mountains to where we can get cell service every two or three days and call them to let them know I'm ok. They're probably getting worried now it's been so long since I called."

"Ok, that's no problem. Just give me their number before I leave. Is there anything specifically you need or want? If there is, give me a list and I'll pick it up."

Frank made breakfast the next morning with Jan's help. Just before he left Jan gave him a list of items she needed him to purchase for her. She also gave him a $50.00 bill to help with the costs. She blushed when she gave him the list and said, "I'm sorry you have to buy some of this but I am really going to need it soon."

Frank looked at the list and laughed the said, "Well I haven't bought some of these items before but I think I can do it. It looks as if you have enough specific information down for me to get the correct item." He looked up at the still blushing Jan, smiled, and said, "Well, I better get on the trail. It's going to be a long day."

Frank then took off walking down the old railroad just before the sun rose above the mountains to the east. He had a rough two mile hike across gullies and small streams to where he left his truck. From there he had a two hour drive over poor dirt roads before he even got to a paved road. After that it was about a half hour to town. His trip would probably take almost all day.

Late that evening Frank came hiking slowly up the old rail line to their camp. His pack was stuffed full of food and weighed, he estimated, between 80 and 100 pounds. He purchased mostly dried foods but he did bring a package of lettuce and some fresh green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, a couple zucchini, some carrots, and celery. The fresh foods could be kept cool in the stream in sealable plastic bags until they were gone. They needed the vitamins from the fresh food badly enough he thought it was worth the weight to bring them in. He also had a few cans of canned vegetables as well as the dry beans, rice, flour, potatoes, dry milk to cook with, and biscuit mix. As a treat Frank even bought some ground beef, buns, and a package of steak for them to eat. They would eat pretty well for a couple more weeks then they could either make another trip to town or leave. With the fish and game he planned to take out of season they would live pretty well for the time they remained on the mountain.

A worried Jan hobbled toward Frank with a smile on her face when she saw him trudging toward her. She insisted on taking some of the plastic grocery bags from him. He slowly walked to her porch and dropped his pack and the bags he still carried. He followed the food to the porch floor rapidly and groaned. "Damn, I'm beat," he said. "I bought way more than I should have but it was all things we needed. I just didn't realize how damn exhausting carrying that much weight up this effing mountain would be. Give me a few minutes to rest and I'll make supper."

"No. I can handle the supper. You just sit there and rest."

After the food was put away and supper cleaned up Frank leaned back and stared into the almost dark sky. "Damn, it's pretty and peaceful here. The noise and crowds in town almost drove me crazy. I'm really glad to be back out here."

Jan smiled and said, "Yeah, I almost hate to go back home when we have to leave. The Springs (Colorado Springs) is nice but I really would rather live out of town a ways. I think I hated the congestion and people more in California but Colorado Springs is busier than I like also. I was almost ready to move the company somewhere else before they fired me because I hated the city so much."

The next morning at breakfast the two new friends discussed what they wanted to do over the next few days. Frank said, "I've been panning for gold upstream ever since I got here. I haven't found anything but I know this was a mining camp. Where the hell was the gold? Gramps sometimes showed up with a little ore and from time to time he even had some flakes that had obviously been panned from the stream."

"Have you done any panning downstream from here?"

"No. Gramps always went upstream and came back from that direction so that is where I looked. Is there another stream somewhere up the mountain that I don't know about?"

"I don't think so. Let me get the map."

Jan went into her cabin and came out with a map of the area put out by the government. It had contour lines and showed all the streams, even intermittent streams. There were a couple of intermittent streams farther up the mountain that eventually ran into the stream running down the valley but they didn't enter until they were below the little settlement.

Jan looked at the map and frowned. She said, "Do you suppose they found the gold somewhere along one of those intermittent streams? I think they only flow during wet times of the year and, of course, during a flash flood. They could also have found the gold on one of the smaller streams that flow into this one farther down the valley."

"Hell, I don't know. I suppose we could check them all but that will sure take a long time."

"I still don't see why they built the camp here if the gold is farther down the valley. And why did your Gramps always go upstream to get his gold?"

"Well, for one, the camp was built here because this was probably the best place for it. As for Gramps going upstream, maybe he went upstream then circled around to his mine to throw off people trying to find it. Hell, I don't know."

The next morning a slow moving Jan and Frank walked downstream until they got to where the first dry intermittent stream entered the little stream that flowed continuously. Below the junction Frank began panning for gold. He turned over several rocks and dug the mud and gravel out then ran it through his pan. The first pan yielded nothing. Neither did the second or third. After he washed the fourth pan he grinned and yelled "Yeah!"

He rapidly walked out of the stream and trotted up to where Jan sat watching. He showed her the pan. There were several small glittering pieces of metal in the bottom with a little detritus.

She grinned and looked up at him then asked, "Is it gold?"

"Not sure, but I think it is. It sure looks like it. I didn't begin to find anything until I was well below the confluence. This would indicate the gold came down the intermittent stream I think. Let's see if we can find any gold in some of the dirt in the dry stream bed. That would be a sure fire way to prove or disprove the location."

Once again Frank put dirt in his pan and swirled it in water. Nothing. Again he filled his pan from a different location and washed it. This time there was a couple of specs of color he picked out with tweezers and put in a pill bottle with the ones found earlier.

The two friends sat in the shade beside the stream and ate their lunch while they talked about their discovery. They decided to spend some time walking up the dry stream bed to see if they could find where the gold came from. Since it was late Frank went back to the flowing stream and panned more gold. He worked for three hours taking an occasional break as needed. During that time he found one small nugget and several more flakes of gold that were carefully placed in his pill bottle.

When they got back to their camp Jan prepared supper. As they ate she asked, "How much gold do you think we got today?"

Frank laughed and said. "I have no idea, but I'm sure I didn't make decent wages. We might have ten or twenty dollars worth, but I'd bet it's a lot less than that."

"Where do you think it comes from? Maybe, if we find where the vein is we can find more. I think grandpa brought out some ore occasionally, and there had to be a mine around somewhere or they wouldn't have the cabins and old train tracks up the valley." 

"I can answer part of that. You know the big pile of rocks and the scar at the head of the valley?" Jan nodded and Frank continued, "There was a pretty good mine there but it was almost played out when someone made a mistake and set off a whole load of dynamite. It collapsed the tunnel and started a rockslide to bury everything. The miners that lived just packed up and left. They abandoned the tracks and eventually sold off the land to our distant relatives. They each added their share of the mine land to the section they owned before. I have even thought about trying to find some gold in the few tailings that are still accessible up there, but from what I've read the process to leech the gold from them is too difficult and expensive for an amateur like me."

"Oh. I knew this was an old mining camp but I didn't realize the mine was this close to it. I was going to suggest we work on the tailings if we could find the mine. I don't remember gramps ever mentioning that to me. I guess we both knew part of the secrets of this area. Maybe it's a good thing we met up after all."

The next morning Frank and Jan packed a large lunch as well as their prospecting tools and took off downstream. When they arrived at the confluence of the intermittent stream and the one flowing down the valley they stopped to rest for a spell. From that point on the going would be slow and difficult. Jan still had to walk carefully because of her leg pain. She absolutely refused to let Frank go alone, however, so he accommodated his travel to hers.

They moved up the draw, crossing the dry watershed several times, always on the lookout for anything that resembled quartz, gold, or even an attempt at mining. They moved slowly and carefully back and forth from wall to wall in the narrow valley. After going almost a mile down the rising valley they came to a jumbled pile of stones and found some old boards and even a few empty cans and pieces of metal. This excited them both and they spent several minutes giving the area a much more careful examination. Unfortunately, that was all they found. They didn't know if they found an old camp or what but they did know they didn't find a mine.

After several more hours Frank sat under a small tree in exhaustion and said, "Well, we've been all over this valley and not found anything. Why don't we go back to camp and try again tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm beat too. If there's anything to find here it's hidden too good for us to find it."

The next day was an almost exact repeat of the previous one except in the valley with the other intermittent stream. Once again, it was a long, hot, tiring day with nothing to show for their work. This time they didn't even find evidence other humans had ever been in the little valley. That evening the exhausted couple stumbled back to their camp once again. 

That night, for the first time, Frank didn't go back to his little cabin to sleep. After they finished their supper and cleaned up he said, "I'm beat. I'm going to sit in the stream and clean up a little then go straight to bed."

"Sounds good. Hang on a minute and I'll go with," said Jan.

Frank hesitated and stammered out a reply, "Uh, Jan I wanted to take a bath before I went to bed."

"So? I want one too. Now let's get going."

When they got to the stream Frank hesitated and looked around in embarrassment. Finally he stripped off his shirt and boots then walked gingerly into the cold water. In the deepest part he sat and began washing himself with a bar of soap. After he did his torso he stood and used the soap under his shorts cleaning himself as well as he could. He handed the soap to a grinning Jan and sat down to rinse off. 




Railroaded



Jan grinned at Frank and turned her back on him. She slipped her shorts and shirt off and sat in the stream with her naked back to him. She, too, soaped herself then stood and did under her now nearly see-through underwear. She sat back down in the stream and rinsed off then stood and walked to the bank. She dried off with a towel as best she could and pulled her shirt back on. She bent down and picked up her shorts then grinned over her shoulder at Frank and slipped her panties off. By then Frank had left the stream and dressed once again. He watched as Jan pulled her shorts on commando. His cock was harder than he remembered it ever being even after the dunking in the cold, cold mountain stream.

Jan turned to Frank and said, "Damn, that feels better." She held her hand out to Frank and continued talking, "Come on, Frank. There's no need for you to go back to your little cabin and sleep on the ground. There is an extra bunk in mine and if I can't trust you now, I'm a pretty poor judge of men."

Frank hesitated for a moment then grinned and took her hand. "Fine, but you have to promise not to abuse me."

The next morning, after the best night's sleep he had in the mountains, Frank awoke to the wonderful smell of coffee. He looked up at a smiling Jan as she handed him his first cup. Without thinking he threw the light blanket off and sat on the edge of the bed. He normally slept naked but since he was in Jan's cabin he wore his boxers to bed. When he sat up his morning wood bounced out of his boxers. Jan gasped and stared at his impressive seven and a half inch pleasure pole.

Frank realized what he'd done and almost spilled his coffee as he grabbed for the blanket to cover himself. He felt a blush rising in his face as he stammered out an apology. When he looked up at Jan's face he could tell she had blushed, also. She was still staring at his crotch. She licked her lips and said quietly, "Damn, I've never seen one of those before." She realized what she said and stammered out an explanation, "I mean I've never seen one so large before. How do you even get that inside?"

Jan blushed and turned away before she said, "Oh, shit, I can't believe I just said that. I'm sorry."

Frank took the opportunity to pull on his shorts and walk up beside Jan. He just stood beside her and said, "It's ok, Jan. I'm sorry you had to see that. I just forgot how loose the boxers are."

Jan looked at Frank and smiled. She said, "It's not a problem Frank. I know you didn't do it on purpose. I was just surprised. Now, let's get out there and finish breakfast. I'm starved and I want to get back to work."

This time they went farther downstream to the small valley Jan was in when she got hurt. They once again began exploring at the stream and worked their way deeper into the valley. They were almost half way into the valley when they came to the rock Jan fell from. She was showing Frank where the rock was and what she was trying to get a better look at when he stood and stared at a spot nearby. He didn't even answer Jan as he moved toward the clutter of rocks that had caught his eye.

Frank wove his way through the clutter and around a small point. There was a lot of brush growing across a small side canyon or valley but there seemed to be a lot of rocks and debris lying around. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about the place just didn't look right. He pushed his way through the brush and down the small valley a ways. There was a small spring trickling out of the valley until it joined the small stream that eventually led to the larger one that ran past their camp.  

After they were back into the small valley about a hundred fifty feet, they could tell there had been a lot of human activity nearby but they still could not find a mine. "Fuck," said Frank as he sat on a rock underneath a shady tree. He shrugged off his back pack and pulled his lunch from it. He leaned against a larger rock beside the old gnarled tree trunk and began eating. Jan sat beside him in companionable silence for a while. 

Finally, they began talking. As they ate and talked, Frank kept his eyes roaming, looking over the area once again. Shortly he frowned and said, "Jan, look over there near those old boards. It seems strange to me that the whole area except for right there is covered with all sizes of rock and brush. All that is near there is very small rocks, a few cans and those boards of course. That just doesn't look right to me."

"Yeah. I see what you mean. And I also see several pieces of quartz and mica scattered around. There has to be something there, but what? The old stream bed runs just down from that area and it is full of rocks. Some of them look as if they fell from above because they are not rounded from tumbling in the water either."

After they finished their meal Frank stood and walked back over to the area they discussed during their meal. He pulled and pushed on the larger rocks, peering behind them as he moved around. One of the rocks he pushed against gave slightly when he put his muscles to it. There were some smaller rocks blocking it and some scrub brush and grass growing in the cracks. He went back to his pack and pulled out his small pick and entrenching tool then returned to the stubborn rock.

After about five minutes Frank had the smaller rocks and brush cleared from around the larger rock. It was buried in the ground about six or eight inches on the bottom and still difficult to move but he persevered. Finally, slowly, he managed to roll it aside to uncover a small hole in the mountain. The hole was no more than 36-40 inches in diameter and obviously man made.

Frank yelled back to Jan, "Jan bring the flash lights over please. I've found a cave or tunnel. It may be the mine. It's obviously man made."

Jan brought the requested lights as quickly as she could move. Frank took one and knelt down to shine it into the cave. The shaft widened and was taller as it progressed into the mountain. There were shards of quartz, mica, and rocks on the uneven floor. He could not see the back of the tunnel. He shined the light all around and looked at the cave carefully. He did not see any obviously dangerous cracks or hanging rocks so slowly crawled deeper into the tunnel.

When he was in about thirty feet the tunnel curved to the right and rose slightly. After he turned the corner he saw a wall about ten feet ahead that glittered. He saw darker spots in the glitter. When he got closer he saw an old pick and shovel as well as a kerosene lamp near the end of the tunnel. There were also a couple of old bags nearby.

Frank used his pick and dug some of the glittering rock from the end of the tunnel. After he had about fifty pounds in one of the old bags he replaced the pick on his belt and crawled back out of the tunnel pulling the bag with him.

After he got outside again Jan grabbed him and wrapped him in a tight hug. She said, "Don't you ever take off like that on me again. I was worried sick about you. Why didn't you answer me when I called?"

"I'm sorry, Jan. I didn't hear you, honest. Now, look what I've found." He opened the bag and showed her the quartz and the fine fingers of what he was sure was gold streaked through it. He described the tunnel and what he saw to her then said, "I think we need to cover this tunnel again and try to hide our work for now. I want to take this down to the stream and clean it or better yet, back to the old mine above our cabins to break the worst of this quartz off the gold. We need to decide how we are going to handle this find before we get too crazy digging it out. I'm not real sure this is on my family's property either. If it isn't we are technically stealing the ore here. I am going on the assumption it is on our land since we own a full section here and I don't think we walked off it, but before we get crazy I need to check that."

"What will we do if it's not on your land? Surely your grandfather wouldn't have taken the gold from here if it isn't on your land would he?"

Frank laughed and said, "You don't know Gramps very well if you believe that. If this is government land he would take all he could get. He might even have mined the gold if it was someone else's. He was a strange old duck for sure. He was honest as the day is long in some ways and in others he was crooked as a dog's hind leg. He wouldn't hurt someone for anything unless they were a danger to him or his family. He would figure this gold was just here for the taking and if the land didn't belong to a friend he would figure it was fair game. Of course, we really have no idea if this is where gramps got his ore but I bet it was."

"What should we do if this isn't on your land?"

"I don't know, Jan. I guess I'm sort of like Gramps. I think I might just take some from the mine off and on like he did. Obviously, whoever owns this hasn't mined it for a long time, if ever. Hell, this might even be one of the lost mines we're always hearing about."

"The first thing I'm going to do is find out if this mine is on our land. After that we'll decide what to do about it and how to do it."

The next day Frank walked out of the little valley again and went to town. His first stop was the county recorder's office to get the legal description of the family land and to purchase a map showing the boundaries of the surrounding plots. After that he went to the store and replenished their supplies. Once again he returned to the camp just before dusk and collapsed tiredly onto the porch. This time, however, after he was seated Jan sat beside him and gave him a hug and quick kiss.

Jan leaned on Frank and looked up at his face then asked, "Well, is the mine on your land or not?"

Frank sighed and said, "I really don't know for sure Jan. I have the legal description and a map of the area showing the boundaries. Now I have to find the corner pins or markers of the land and then the property lines. I don't think it was ever fenced so I can't find a fence line. I do have some of the old boundary descriptions to help though. You know in the old days they didn't survey a lot of plots they just recorded boundaries and distances from prominent landmarks. That was one reason there were so many disputed boundaries over the years."

It took the couple three days to find a corner they were sure of and trace the property line but they finally did so. Fortunately, or unfortunately the entrance to the valley was not on Frank's property but as far as they could determine the mine itself was. Jan said, "Well at least we know we can legally take the ore from the mine even if we are trespassing to get it."

"Yeah but what the hell will we do with the ore? I'm no mining engineer or geologist but even I can see there probably isn't enough ore there to be commercially feasible to mine."

"We don't know that for sure Frank. There may be a huge amount of ore there."

"Yeah, there might be, but there might not be, either. I'm not sure I even want to go that route. I think I might just do what gramps did and take a little out along to supplement my income."

"What income, Frank? I thought you told me you quit your job when you and your fiancee broke the engagement."

"Well, I don't intend to be unemployed forever."

That evening Jan found Frank sitting on the porch looking at the train tracks. She walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Without thinking he placed his hand on hers and smiled up at her. She said, "What are you thinking about, Frank? You look as if you were a thousand miles away."

"I was thinking what it would be like to see one of those old trains chugging up the tracks over there." He smiled and continued, "When I was young I thought I wanted to work on the railroads. That was all I dreamed about. Now look at me. I have a degree in marketing and management and no job."

"I know what you mean. I have always dreamed about the old days and the excitement of the railroads. I'm afraid they are a dying industry though since the government chose years ago to support the trucking industry over the railroads."

"Oh, I don't know, Jan. I think they're holding their own, now. Many of the larger Class I and II roads have increasing revenue miles as well as increasing profits from the higher shipping they carry. Now their only major drawback is the limited number of metro areas they service directly."

The two friends spent two more weeks in the mountains before the cold weather and the need to make a living forced them to leave. They exchanged contact information and hugs before they parted. Each returned to their home towns and tried to rebuild their lives. Their return to their home towns were made easier because of the gold they mined while in the mountains. By the time they left the mountains they each had almost a pound of gold to sell for living expenses.

When Janice returned home she found work at a small financial services software company. Frank found employment in a small trucking company as a warehouse and loading dock supervisor. After he had been working there for almost three months his boss called the department heads together for a meeting. He was smiling when they all entered the conference room. As soon as everyone was seated he opened the meeting with a surprising statement. He said, "Gentlemen, this company is about to grow faster than it ever has in the past. The railroad has finally decided to stop serving its customers along the spur from Joplin through Monett to Cassville and on to Branson. I have already received verbal commitments from the shipping supervisors for us to begin serving them when the spur line is closed. All we have to do is get a contract prepared and signed and we're in the money. You all need to plan for increased traffic within the next three or four months. I'm going to use owner operators for the expanded business until I see if it is feasible to purchase more tractors. I think we own enough trailers to do the job."

A couple of weeks later the railroad announced they were abandoning the track through the towns Franks boss had mentioned. There was a public uproar and congressional investigations but the abandonment was finally approved by the various Federal agencies. Frank found himself thinking about the abandoned track over and over. He even went out and looked at several places along the track from time to time and dreamed about trains once again rolling down the rails.

One cold, dreary, boring Friday evening in January Frank wanted to do something different. He couldn't face another night alone in his house and he certainly didn't want to do the bar scene. He felt he had nothing in common with the young people in the bars or the older ones trying to catch a young one. After some consideration he decided to go to one of the small Indian casinos near his home. 

After having a nicer than normal meal Frank wandered through the casino looking for something to entertain himself. Finally, he settled on poker and found a seat at one of the lower stake tables. While playing he listened to the chatter and even made a few comments of his own. It was amazing what you could learn listening to the conversation as it ebbed and flowed. 

Somehow the conversation at the table next to his moved to the abandoned rail spurs. One of the older players angrily folded his hand and began speaking. He said, "That was total bullshit. I'm about to pop their little balloon for them too. My great grandfather sold those assholes the track they abandoned the other day. I have the original contract still and it specified if they ever abandoned service on the lines they had to turn them back to my family with the same or equal equipment that they purchased from us for the exact same price they purchased the lines for." The old man saw Frank listening to the conversation. In a lull Frank even made a comment or two, then turned back to his own table and the game he was playing. 

"They are going to scream bloody murder when I drag their asses into court. When they purchased the line we owned seven box cars, two engines and tenders, three cabooses, two baggage cars, three flat cars, and four Pullman cars. I intend to enforce that contract then find someone to purchase the line once again and continue service to those small towns."

As the evening progressed luck for the players did the inevitable ebb and flow. Frank was having a great evening. He normally didn't play at a table with the stakes his current one had but when his first table closed he was ahead enough he moved to one with higher stakes and continued playing. The old man with the railroad contract moved to the same table also shortly after Frank did.

The old man's luck went opposite to Franks and he lost almost his entire stake. The man sat back and looked around the table. He spied Frank and eyeballed his stack of chips. He said, "Hey, young feller. I remember you from the other table. You were interested in the old railroads as I recall. I'm not ready to quit playing tonight and I've used up my entire line of credit here. Would you be willing to loan me a stake son?"

Frank looked over at the man. He was half drunk from the free booze they provided to players. He did not know the man and had never seen him before that he could recall. Finally, he said, "No, sir, I'm sorry. I don't know you at all and I don't loan money to people even if I do know them. I just barely make ends meet as it is. My winnings tonight will help pay some of my bills and I don't want to risk them. I'm sorry."

"Oh, come on, son. I saw you buy in. You bought in with $500. How much you got there now? I bet it's at least $25-30,000. I won't stiff ya, son. Tell ya what. You help me out by loaning me a small- no, I've got a better deal for you, son. You give me $25,000 from your stack there and I'll transfer the rail line Union Pacific just abandoned to you lock, stock, and barrel. I'll even help ya get it back and pay the legal fees to do it. From the looks of your stack you'll still have $5000 or so for your evenings work. Hell, you're a gambler, son, what the hell do you have to lose? Money you didn't have before the evening started? Think what you'll win when I regain control of that track and all the equipment. Hell, at today's prices it will be in the millions."

Frank sat a moment and played with his chips. Hell, the old man was right. Even if he took Frank's money and ran, Frank would still be ahead for the night. Besides, he wanted to believe. It could be his dream come true if he did get the line and could make it pay. Finally, he said, "If I do give you the chips I would need a contract signed here tonight and witnessed by these gentlemen. Would you do that sir?"

"Yes, sir, I will. I'll even help you stick it to those Union Pacific assholes any way I can."

Frank was worried; no doubt about that, but, damn, this could be his chance to live his dream and own a railroad or at least a part of one. He rose from the table and went to find a piece of paper to write out his contract. After everyone signed he gave the chips to his new "friend" and they both resumed playing.

As the night continued, Frank's luck held and so did his new friends. By the time Frank decided to stop playing he had won back over $20,000 of the money he gave for the railroad. As he was leaving the old man stopped playing and moved to talk to Frank for a moment. He said, "Boy, you don't know me from Adam, but you helped me out. I'm telling you I'm a straight shooter, son. I'll begin working on getting you the track and rolling stock the first of the week. I don't know how long that will take, though, boy. You've got my phone and address and I have yours. I'll keep in touch and we'll nail those bastards. You'll see."

Frank grinned and made pleasant conversation with the old man for a while. Eventually, they shook hands and each returned home. Over the next several weeks he forgot about the old man and the railroad. He continued working for the trucking company and hated it, but it put food on the table so he kept on. From time to time he spoke with Janice. She was as unhappy as he was but stuck with her job for the same reason he stuck with his.




Railroaded



Almost a year after his poker game, Frank was leaving work one evening when he heard an older man's voice yelling. "Hey, boy. Come on over here. I got something for you."

Frank looked around and saw a vaguely familiar figure standing beside a Lincoln Mark LT grinning at him. He looked around to see if he was really the "boy" the old man wanted to talk to. He once again heard, "Well, come on, son. Don't ya remember me? I suppose not. I bet ya thought I would just take your $25K and cut out didn't ya? Well, I didn't. We had us a real fight there for a while, son, but we beat 'em. Come on over here. You got yourself a little railroad and we need to do a bunch of paperwork as soon as we can."

When the man began talking about the railroad Frank remembered him and the deal. In truth he was surprised. He had completely forgotten about that night. Frank slowly walked over to the man and shook his hand. The man said, "Well, son, we got us a railroad now and I made sure you didn't get stiffed on the rolling stock either. I made them send the maintenance records on all the stock and I wouldn't accept any that hadn't been through the repair yards recent like. Hell, boy, I even got you a dining car. I'd forgotten they got one of those from us until I read the inventory lists. You have two decent locomotives with only a little over 1000 hours on the overhauls. Should be good for a long time if you care for them correctly. As soon as you can get off we need to get with my attorney and transfer the company to you. You'll need a company name and should incorporate it also. Like I promised, I will help ya get everything set up and ready to go."

The old man looked at Frank for a moment and said, "After I do the deal with you I know it will be your railroad, but I would surely like to see you revive the name it held before we sold out. I live by the tracks, son, and I would surely like to see trains going past with my family's name on them again. We ran the Southern Missouri Railroad for years and I would like to see it run until I'm gone."

The next few days were a blur for Frank. He still had most of his $22,000 from the old mine and he even saved a little from his job and poker winnings but he had nowhere near enough to begin operating the short rail line. In between signing papers and taking control of the business he had to find money to operate and he had to drum up business for the new railroad.

As soon as the deal was completed Frank got to work. He began planning for resumed service and gave interviews to the local papers, TV, and radio stations. One result of the interviews was being called into his boss's office. After a royal chewing out for being disloyal he was fired for going into competition with his current employer. Another result of the interviews was a phone call from Jan.

Frank's phone rang late on the evening the first TV interview played. When he answered he heard, "Frank, I can't believe it. You really own a railroad now? I thought you decided that old man just took your money and forgot you. Tell me all about it. When are you going to begin operations? I'm so excited!"

Frank explained his financial difficulties to Jan and also told her he was having trouble finding freight to haul as well. She broke in and said, "That's a bunch of bull. How much do you have and how much do you need to begin operating? If you get the funds we can find customers."

After Frank answered all her questions they visited for a while. Just before she hung up, Jan asked, "Frank, can I come down and help you for a while? Please? I have some time off and I really, really want to see the trains and get up close and personal with them."

Frank laughed and said, "Sure, Jan. Come on. Hell, even if we don't have any freight we'll run down the track a little so you can ride. I've hired an old retired engineer to operate the engine and teach me what I need to know about things so I can meet all the legal guidelines. The old man that sold me the business is helping also. He used to work on the railroad and is a fountain of knowledge. After he sold the line to me I talked him into taking back 25% of the stock after we incorporated and working with us until we got the operation up and running again. He agreed to do it with the provision he didn't have to work daily after I had learned the business. He even threw some greenbacks into the bank for operating capital."

Two weeks later Jan arrived late on a Friday evening at Frank's house. When Frank opened the door she bounced into the building with a grin a mile wide. She gave Frank a big hug and said, "I can't wait to get started, Frank. I'm so excited about this." They talked long into the night about the railroad. Jan was just full of excitement and ideas.

The next morning Jan woke Frank clattering around in his kitchen preparing breakfast. He took a quick shower and stumbled into the room. As soon as she saw him she placed a cup of coffee in his hand and pushed him toward the table. She said, "Sit. Breakfast's almost ready. We have to hurry and eat. I want to see our railroad."

After the meal Frank led Janice to his truck and they drove down to his small rail yard. He parked and locked his truck then took Jan over to one of the engines. He did the necessary preoperational checks while Jan shadowed him then climbed into the cab. He started the huge diesels and let the engines come to operating temperatures. After he was satisfied all was in order he slowly moved the engine out of the yard onto the main line. As he slowly made his way through town pulling a lone Pullman car Jan stood in the window of the engine and waved at the people watching from the side and cars stopped at the road crossings. 

When they arrived at the first small town, Jan said, "Frank, can you stop here and let me go shopping for a few minutes?"

"Yes but why? We can go shopping when we get back to Joplin if there's something you need. Oh," he said as he glanced at her crotch. "I'm sorry. I didn't think. Yeah, we can stop. This is my line exclusively so there will be no other traffic."

Jan blushed when she saw where Frank was staring and realized what he thought. She said, "Frank, it's not that. I just had an idea and I want to try something, ok? Please?"

The small station and siding for his line was still on the edge of the old business district so they didn't have far to walk to find what Jan wanted. To Frank's surprise she ducked into an office store for her purchases. She bought several bright colors of spray paint, some strong tape and some poster board. After her purchases she almost ran back to the train and straight into the Pullman.

Frank watched as Jan quickly made some signs. She only asked him one question. She wanted to know the business phone number. Frank hadn't gotten around to getting one so he gave her his cell number. After the signs were completed she placed them in the windows on each side of the Pullman. Jan ran outside and looked at the car with pride as she, Frank, and several passersby read them. The signs showing through the windows said, "Coming Soon; Rail excursions to Branson and other towns along the SMRR Line. Freight Service Also Available. Call x-xxx-xxx-xxxx for more information."

After she had read the sign Jan grabbed Frank's hand and pulled him back to the engine where she insisted he continue her trip to Branson and back. All during the trip she jumped and waved as people stopped to watch the train. Their excursion was an all day proposition and Frank tried to ignore the fuel cost which wasn't small. Jan was having a ball and, to tell the truth, so was he. He even got into the excitement and enjoyed talking to the people that gathered around when Jan made him stop in each small town they went through.

The next morning the local paper featured a picture of the engine and Pullman on the front page with the headline "LOCAL RAILROAD IN OPERATION AGAIN". There wasn't much to the story because no one contacted Frank about the trip the day before. He and Jan read the short article with interest and excitement, however.

After they finished reading the article, Frank and Jan were drinking their morning coffee and talking about the railroad when the phone rang. It was the paper wanting to send a reporter to interview him for a follow up story. He agreed to visit with the reporter at three that afternoon. 

Jan was almost jumping with excitement when he hung up his phone and turned to her again. She said, "See. I told you this would work. If we can get enough publicity I know we can make a ton of money here and still have loads of fun." 

Jan jumped from her chair and ran into the living room. She came back carrying her purse. As she walked she was rummaging around in the purse. Finally she found what she was looking for and pulled it from the depths of her enormous bag. She smiled and handed an oblong piece of paper to Frank saying, "Here. Take this and use it for the railroad too. I know it's not much but I want you to have it. All I ask is that you let me help. Please?"

Frank looked at the cashier's check made out to the SMRR. He couldn't believe it. The check was for $53,276.43. He looked at Janice and said, "Jan I can't take this. What if we go broke? You could lose it all. This is all your savings isn't it? Did you even keep anything out to live on?"

"Yes, Frank. That IS all my savings, but I did keep some money out for emergencies. Actually, that was what I had in my retirement accounts and what I had left from the gold this summer. You know that gold was really yours anyway so I only put a little over $30,000 of my money in this. I know for a fact you put everything you own in the business so I couldn't do any less than that, could I? There's no way I will let you give that back to me."

The two argued for a while and finally Frank gave in but he exacted a compromise from Jan. For her money she had to agree to take a 9% stake in the company's stock. There were now three shareholders in the company. Frank owned 66%, the old man whose name was Thomas Steele owned 25% and Jan now owned 9%.

Jan told Frank she had an agreement with her employer to telecommute and do her programming from home. By doing that she intended to spend substantial amounts of time helping Frank with the railroad. They spent the rest of the day until the interview planning for the beginning of operations. There was so much to think of, so much to do!

During the next week Frank and Tom hired three retired men with previous railroad experience to work part time on maintenance of the equipment and tracks. Jan had the bright idea of enlisting local ticket outlets in Branson to sell tickets for excursions. She also found people in each of the towns along the route where they wanted to stop to serve as ticket agents and sell tickets for the passenger service. Within a month they had the passenger side of the line set up and ready to go. 

Now they had to decide how to price tickets. In the terrain their line went through they expected the engine to burn between 100 and 150 gallons of diesel per hour, depending on the load it pulled. It would be more efficient if they could combine freight and passenger service but if they stuck to a strict timetable for passenger service they might not be able to do that. If that was the case they had to figure out how to price freight and passenger service to be profitable. Their line was about 150 miles total. They estimated the trains could average 40-45 miles an hour on the lines for total fuel usage of around 700-850 gallons of fuel for the complete round trip. Current fuel costs would make that about $2,800 per round trip in fuel costs alone. This equated to approximately $9.34 per mile for fuel alone assuming one engine running at low to moderate power.

Each of their passenger cars held 52 seats. If they pulled passenger cars only and had a 50% fill rate the tickets would have to cost about 36 cents a mile for the round trip to pay for the fuel alone. Of course that assumed a passenger rode the entire distance. It was probable that the passenger would board the train in Springfield, Joplin or one of the smaller towns on the route and go to another destination rather than make the complete round trip so ticket prices would have to be adjusted for that. Frank and Jan decided to price the tickets based on the miles ridden. They decided to price the tickets at 50 cents per mile ridden initially. If they had 50% fill on one car only that would be more than the fuel expended and go a long way toward the overhead. They decided to adopt the freight rates in force with their connecting railroads. Since they weren't a Union Shop they would make more money with the standard rates than the larger railroads did.

Finally, the reincarnated railroad was ready to begin service. Surprisingly, instead of initiating service with their passenger cars they actually began freight service first. Several feed mills along their line became their first customers, using the railroad to ship in loads of grain. There was one feed plant for a major broiler chicken company on the line that used an average of three carloads of grain a day. This was the business that Frank's old boss expanded to get. Their first passenger service was a Valentine's Day trip to Branson from both Joplin and Springfield. They actually had to put on a second car from both locations. Passenger service ran to Branson from each of the terminal cities every morning and returned in the late evening.

One great thing about the rail line was they managed to pick up some airline traffic from Springfield. Even with the new airport in Branson many people still flew into Springfield and rented a car to go to Branson. They made a deal with the local cab company to give cut rates to those who wanted to use the train to go to Branson instead of renting a car. Of course they didn't get a lot of travelers that way because of flight and train schedules not syncing well but every rider helped. They also got several riders from Springfield who wanted to go to Branson for a day or weekend and not have to worry about driving. There were even some riders who just wanted to ride the train for recreation. In fact, there were a large number of those people. The service became profitable rapidly as its reputation grew. The dining car had been redecorated and meals improved. Alcohol sales helped immensely, too.

The fledgling railroad also put on special trains to commemorate special events and days. They had a Valentine's Day special, New Years special, and specials that ran during the fall so riders could see and appreciate the fall foliage. All the passenger trains pulled one of the baggage cars and used it to haul light freight that could be loaded and unloaded rapidly. This helped revenue and the bottom line.

At the end of the first year of operation the small railroad actually had a small profit, even after paying a salary to all involved in the business. The stockholders decided not to pay a dividend on the stock, however. Instead, they used the profits to improve the line and equipment.

After the railroad operated for six months Jan quit her programming job and worked full time for it. Somehow, she never found the time to move out of Frank's house. The evening they closed the books on the first year of operations she and Frank walked into his house together (they had taken to riding to and from work together). Frank went straight to their wine rack and pulled a good bottle of red from it. He quickly popped the cork and set it aside to breathe. He wrapped Jan in his arms and gave her a quick hug, saying, "I need a quick shower, then I think we need to have some wine to celebrate our first year. After that I want to take you out for a celebratory supper. OK?"

Jan smiled and replied, "Yes, that sounds wonderful. I'm so happy for you Frank. Who would have thought your railroad could turn a profit the first year? Especially since the line was abandoned because it wasn't profitable for the Union Pacific to operate it."

"I have to admit I was worried but you have to realize they had a much higher breakeven point than we do. They have union labor and we don't, plus their pay scales are much higher than ours are. I do sort of worry about our long term chances when we have to begin repairing equipment and track or buying new. I want to build up a large cash reserve to get us through bad times, too."

"Yeah, but if things keep going as they are that'll be no problem. Heck, you might even be able to take a higher salary next year."

"Honey, there's no need for that. I already make more than I ever have in my life. I don't need more. The retired guys don't want a raise, either. They are working and making all they can and keep all their pension checks. Right now we're in that sweet spot for sure."

The two friends walked down the hallway together and split when they came to the bedrooms. Each went into his or her own bedroom and closed the door. Frank used the master bath for his shower and Jan used the guest bath to clean up. Frank had just barely sat down in the living room when Jan came down the hallway smiling, legs flashing and hips swaying.

Frank saw her and his heart jumped. She was absolutely gorgeous and her dress accentuated that fact. He was so lucky she was one of those women that didn't tarry over her makeup and dressing and also didn't play games making their date wait.

That evening was magical. They went to their favorite quiet restaurant and had a wonderful meal. During dessert Frank took Jan's hand in both of his to stare into her face. He said, "Jan, I know we've never officially dated, but we've lived together and gone out to eat together many times. I can't imagine my life without you in it. I think you would make a wonderful wife and mother. Would you marry me?"

Jan sat staring at Frank. Her mouth dropped open and she made no sound. Frank began to worry he made a bad mistake. Finally, Jan croaked, then licked her lips and managed to begin talking. She said, "I don't know what to say Frank. NO, that's not true." Frank felt his heart sink into his stomach. He started to pull his hands away but Jan grabbed them and held on. She continued speaking, "I mean you just surprised me so. I just wasn't expecting you to do this. I've thought about us being together forever, almost ever since I came to help you with the railroad, but I never got any idea from you that you considered me anything else except a friend. I wanted more but decided I would be happy with what I had. Yes! Yes! Frank I will marry you. I am so happy now I don't know what to do or say."

Frank felt himself relax. He was exhausted from the tension he had been under the whole evening since he decided to ask Jan to marry him. He reached into his pocket and pulled his grandmother's engagement ring out. He held it out to Jan and said, "I brought grandma's ring in case you said yes. If you would rather have a new one I'll understand, but I would be honored if you wore this one. I know gramps would be, too."

Jan smiled and held her left ring finger out for Frank to place the ring on. As she did so she said, "I can't think of another ring that would mean as much to me. Yes, I will wear it and I will be proud to do so."

Frank quickly paid their bill and escorted Jan out of the restaurant. This time when they walked toward his truck he wrapped his arm around her. She leaned into him and rested her head on his chest as they walked.

When they arrived back at Frank's house they walked into it arm in arm. Without a word the two lovers walked into Frank's room and undressed. This was the first time they would sleep together and it would be the first time they made love to each other. A new chapter was opening in their lives and they looked forward to it with excitement and high expectations.