Chapter Eleven

In spite of Hannah's pleadings, Heath had managed to get her to tell him who might be able to help them find the mine they were looking for. Now, he and Nick had ridden into Strawberry to talk to the bartender while Eliza had walked over to the hotel to talk with one Nora and Lyle Warren. The couple had bought the hotel once owned by Matt and Martha Simmons; the Warrens had picked it up dirt cheap after the Simmons had deserted the place and disappeared. Now Eliza stood in the middle of the hotel foyer. She was impressed how nice the place looked. Decorated by new carpet and freshly painted walls. She couldn't help but think that Heath was right…his aunt and uncle had sold at the wrong time as Strawberry had actually had a few families move in. It might not ever be a booming mining town again, but it just might have a chance of not dying out.

"May I help you, ma'am?" Nora Warren, a salt and peppered haired woman in her early fifties who stood; maybe, five feet three, looked up from the desk. The smile upon her face was soft and friendly, spreading from one ear to another.

Eliza glanced at the ring at her left hand. To the unobservant eye it was simply a small gold wedding band. However, truth was Heath had had it among his things in his room. He told her he had bought it shortly before joining the family, intending to give it to a gal he wanted to marry…only to have the young woman decide she wasn't ready to marriage. "Nick's right, having us pretending to be engaged and the three of us traveling to Strawberry to visit Hannah covers our concerns. After all, no one will question me wanting Hannah to meet you and, his coming along as a chaperone will only seem the proper thing to do. And no one in Strawberry should question my showing you around town or taking you around in the hills to show you where I spent a lot of my time growing up." Said Heath as he handed her the ring,

The two brothers might be right; still, it didn't keep away the awkward feeling she had as she looked at the ring. "Yes, you can. My fiancé is going to be showing his half brother and I Strawberry, along with the area around it." She then went on to explain to Mrs. Warren that-due to her fascination with mines-Heath was going to take her to a few of them on the condition she not go inside any of them by herself. "The only thing is," she paused and then said, "it's been many years since he lived here and he can't quite remember where the old Seamon Mine is. We were hoping someone in town would know."

"Your fiancé and his brother?" Mrs. Warren looked past Eliza to see if someone was about to enter the hotel.

Eliza had to fight to keep from laughing at the look of utter confusion that was upon Mrs. Warren's face. Eliza won the struggle only because she knew it would not be polite to do laugh. "Heath and his brother went over to the saloon to make inquiries. Since none of us thought it proper that I go into a saloon, I came over here."

"Oh," a smile again spread over Mrs. Warren's face as her eyes started sparkling. "Well, your fiancé and his brother are right. A saloon is no place for a woman." The hotel owner leaned on the counter and sent shock waves through Eliza when she said, "You know, you're the third person to ask about that this week."

"Third?" Eliza forced herself to smile and appear relaxed.

"Yep, a dark haired tall fellow and his cousin checked in last night. Said they were doing historical research," Mrs. Warren lowered her voice and said in a bare whisper, "Historical research my foot. Those two have 'the fever' as I call it." Mrs. Warren wasn't surprised when Eliza gave her a puzzled look and explained, "They're looking for gold I tell you. They think that mine still has something of value inside. I could tell it by the look in their eyes when they asked about it."

Eliza's heart skipped a beat, hoping the woman couldn't read her as well. Then, thinking on Mrs. Warren's guests, Eliza asked, "So, do you know where it's at?"

"North of Strawberry from what I've been told, but that's all I have ever heard. Personally," Mrs. Warren told Eliza as she, Mrs. Warren, removed a rag from underneath the counted and started dusting the counter in front of her, "I think the whole thing is a myth. A story for people to chase around in hopes of getting rich, something that will never happen."

Eliza wasn't about to tell the lady any different. If there were men already in Strawberry looking for her family's mine, they had to be working for Crown-or someone like him anyway. "Thank you for your help anyway." She started to turn away only to have Nora Warren stop her.

"It's going to take more than one day for him to show you around Strawberry and the area around it. You'll need a couple of rooms." She started to get a key out.

Even though Eliza knew Heath had told Hannah that he, Nick and Eliza would be staying at her home, she might have been tempted to take the key and ask the Barkleys if they could stay at the hotel. However, she didn't for two reasons…one, Hannah was such a good friend to Heath; and two, Eliza feared that, if the woman was willing to talk about the other guests, she'd also talk to them about the Barkleys and Eliza. No, she wasn't going to give her anything to hand the men she'd just talked about. "Thanks, but we're staying with a family friend. Thanks for your time; I need to go now."

"If you ever need a room, come on back." Mrs. Warren smiled as Eliza turned around and left the hotel. 'To be young again,' the woman chuckled and then went back to looking at the papers on her desk.