Coloma Gold - New Mexico Whispers

"Franklin, come quick." The voice shouted from the other room. Franklin jumped out of his bed and ran to his parent's room. His father must already be out in field, and his mother lay there desperately with a fever. "Franklin, be a good boy," she said in whisper tones, "and bring me some clean drinking water and a cloth for my head." His face must have looked concerned, because as he turned to go get the water, he heard her say, "I'll be fine, boy, you don't worry about me."

The light was just starting to rise over the hills that looked as if they had been painted by a wide brush in deep purple with broad strokes. New Mexico was home, and the Williams family lived in a small shack of two rooms on about three acres of land. Not a large plot by any means, but Franklin's father was a hard worker and ran the ranch at a small profit. It was 1851, and Franklin was seventeen. He had lived in this same small town, known the same people, visited the same stores, went to the same church his entire life. It was spring, and the cattle were in the field, and Franklin saw his father in the distance riding his horse, surveying his land.

Franklin finished up his small breakfast of a biscuit and salt pork, said goodbye to his mother, and decided to ride out to see his father. Upon his approach, he noticed a familiar figure with his father. Heath Collins was a ranch hand for hire that helped out with different matters from time to time. It wasn't until he got closer that Franklin noticed a calf lying on the ground, bleeding badly from his side. In a deep voice his father said, "Coyotes again." It was hard to concentrate as the poor calf was letting out a high pitched whine that could make a man's ears bleed. "Hey Frankie," said Heath, "Guess you finally decided to join the land of the living." Heath was only older than Franklin by about six months, but made sure to point this fact out to Franklin every time he got the chance. "We don't need to let this one suffer any more," his father said standing up and drawing his rifle from his horse saddle. He cocked the rifle, aimed, and shot him in the head. It was hard to tell if it affected Franklin's father when things of this nature happened. For that matter it wasn't easy to tell what he was thinking at any time. His face was chiseled out of stone, and there was no emotion whatsoever.

On the ride back to the house, Franklin's father asked the boys to head into town for some seed and some other small medical items for his mother. Heath shot a devious smile at Franklin upon hearing this request, and Franklin just had to roll his eyes. Doctor Searcy was the only doctor in town, and he had a beautiful daughter named Millie that had caught Franklin's eye, and Franklin had caught hers. She was seventeen also, and in this small town the choices were few, but settling for Millie was not settling at all. In his own way, Heath was quietly jealous that Millie took to Franklin. After all, he was older, and somewhat stronger than Franklin. That aside, Heath was a good friend to Franklin, and would be for the rest of their lives.

"Franklin, have you heard about what is happening in California?" Heath asked. "I heard a fella outside of the Habit Barn liquor house saying President Polk declared a gold strike in some place called Coloma." Heath's eyes lighted up as he was talking. "I thought he might be lyin' so I asked around a little bit, and old man Harris at the store read me a bit from the newspaper and it's true." Franklin just looked and listened with half an ear. His mind was already drifting to what he would say to Millie. "Frankie!" Heath snapped his fingers startling the horses a little. "Wake up, did you hear me just say there is gold just laying on the ground out in California?" Franklin looked back at Heath and said, "Yeah, I heard you, but what are you getting at? Are you gonna make a run at it or something?" Heath took his hat off and scratched his head, "Well, I gave it some thought, but I would want you to come with me. This one fella was saying that the gold was found in 1849, so we are getting the news a little late." Heath said, "He also told me that along with Americans, the Mexicans and the Chinese have been heading to California also trying to stake a claim." Franklin was young, but he was a man inside his own head. Any idea that got in through his ears would have to be processed carefully, and without haste. "Let me think about it, we are almost to town." Franklin said, and Heath focused forward on the small town set against the New Mexico Hills.

Millie was sitting out on the porch of the little house where Doctor Searcy hung out his shingle. She had long dark hair, almost black, and the most piercing green eyes. Franklin felt his heart beat faster in his chest as they slowly walked their horses up to the tie off. "Afternoon Millie, is your dad in?" Asked Franklin. Millie's eyes sparkled as she said, "He's around the back, Franklin." She was trying very hard to conceal her smile, because she didn't want to give too much away. Franklin decided to go around to see the doctor and said, "Heath, I'll go around to see the doctor, please stay here and keep Millie company." Heath smiled broadly, and relished the chance to talk to Millie by himself. Franklin found the doctor out back tinkering with some sort of metal contraption that was obviously not working properly. "Excuse me, Doctor." Franklin said, startling the doctor and causing his to drop his tools. "Yes, what is it? Oh, Franklin, you scared me. I expect that you are here on account of your momma?" The doctor asked. Franklin looked respectfully down at the ground when he talked to the doctor. Not only did he have a special place in his heart for the doctor's daughter, but he also knew that the doctor was a very educated and respected man. "Yes, sir, she has taken quite ill with a fever and a cough. Just this morning I thought she coughed so hard she passed out." The doctor furled his eyebrows and stared intently into the young man. He knew that this sounded like Tuberculosis and that either way, this would not be an easy thing to get through. He went inside the house, and came back out with a small bottle. He said, "Tell your momma to take a spoon of this in the morning and at night before bed to help with her coughing. If it gets any worse, she may need to come and stay here so that I can look after her."

Franklin walked around to the front and found Millie listening intently to Heath. Whatever he was saying, it was capturing her curiosity. Franklin heard faintly Heath say, "I swear Millie, and you could come with us if you want." Franklin stepped into the conversation, "Heath, don't be telling her stuff like that, we don't even know if we are going. Hell, we will probably never leave this town anyway, why conjure up stories and get people so worked up." Millie looked surprised to hear Franklin talk this way, as if he was already grown up and the adventure had left the boy. "Franklin Williams! You sound so boring, listen to yourself. You sayin' I can't come because I'm a girl or something?" Franklin looked apologetic and hadn't realized what he was saying. "No, Millie, I just don't think we should get our hopes up. The gold could be gone already for all we know." Heath started to smile, "So it sounds like you are considering this. I'll get some supplies and meet you tomorrow morning. Millie, if you are going to come, then you will have to pull your own weight." She just sneered at him and turned to walk in the house. "You boys better be getting home, it is almost supper time." She turned and smiled at Franklin and said, "Franklin, I'll see you tomorrow." With that, she went inside.

Franklin and Heath split ways, and Heath was already making his list of the supplies they would need. Franklin was almost starting to believe that Heath was serious about making the trip. Did he not realize that Coloma was probably over a thousand miles away? Who knows what was out there waiting for them? Outlaws, Indians, animals and a whole lot of desert between here and there. The boy was growing up, and it would soon be time for him to fill his father's shoes and take over the ranch. Suddenly, the prospect of being on the same ranch for the rest of his life was starting to sound a little suffocating. It would be time soon enough for him to plant his own flag in the ground, this might be his last chance to set out into the wild and the unknown and maybe get rich in the process. If Heath was serious, and he showed up tomorrow, Franklin had made up his mind to tell his father that he was going. Now, Millie was another matter. There is no way he was going to bring her along. What if something happened, or if she got killed? He would never forgive himself if that happened.

Just a few hundred yards from the family ranch house, he could see the lantern burning on the porch and light from the fire inside. There was still a golden tint to the air around him as the sun showed its last little peek above the hills before going to sleep for the night. Franklin could make out the silhouette of his father sitting on the porch with his face buried in his hands. Whatever was on his father's mind, Franklin would wait until after supper to tell him, he was going to Coloma. Everything inside of Franklin began to imagine what Coloma would be like, and his imagination soared. His rational thought had left him, and now all he could see, was gold.

*Note from the author - This is only part one of three of this short western story. Please feel free to provide comments below. I'll be releasing the second part of the story soon.