Lucky Coin

Chapter 1

The fire was warm on a cold night, and the two cowboys on the road home huddled close to it to stay comfortable. They drank coffee with a little whiskey in it, they chatted about the pointless trip they had just taken, and they stared at the fire. But then something caught his eye, beyond the fire. Heath spotted it, glittering in the dirt about ten feet away but catching the firelight enough for him to notice. Nick watched as Heath got up and went to it, then bent over and picked it up. He frowned at it as he brought it back to the fire.

"Whadaya got?" Nick asked.

Heath sat down, turning the object over in his hand. "It's a coin. Got what looks like French words on it. 'Centimes.'"

"What date?"

"1853. I wonder how it got here?"

"Fell out of somebody's pocket, probably," Nick said and reached out for it.

Heath put it in Nick's hand and watched as Nick turned it over and scowled at it. "Think it's worth anything?"

"It's worth some centimes, whatever they are," Nick said. "The amount's been rubbed off. I don't know what a French coin would be doing out here in the middle of California."

"Lots of people come and go around here."

"Not so much along this route."

"Well, we sure weren't the first to pick this spot to camp in for the night. Somebody French who was here before probably dropped it. Let's see what Mother and Jarrod think when we get home."

XXXXXX

"Hmm," Victoria said as she looked the coin over. "I really can't remember meeting anybody French around here, except for the Marquis, and I really doubt he'd have been camping for the night on the road to Angels Camp."

Nick and Heath had gone to Angels Camp to check out a mining operation there, one they had decided was of no interest to the Barkleys. This coin was the only thing they had found of interest in the whole trip.

"Some Frenchman gone looking for gold, I guess," Heath said.

Victoria gave the coin back to him. "Jarrod might know something, though I doubt it. You might be better off just keeping it as a good luck piece, if it brings good luck."

Heath smiled a little. "I think I'm more inclined to make my own luck than to trust it to a French coin that's been in the dirt for who knows how long."

"I'll keep it for luck," Nick said and held out his hand.

"You're welcome to it," Heath said, "but if you're thinking it'll lead you back to Michelle deLacasie – "

"No, no," Nick said. "I've got no interest in that direction anymore. I'd just like to see what kind of luck it does bring me."

"If any," Victoria said. "You always did have a superstitious streak, Nick, but it never seems to help you out."

"Besides, I'm the one who found the coin," Heath said.

"But you just gave it to me," Nick said, rubbed it a little, and put it into his vest pocket.

"You still might ask Jarrod about it," Victoria said.

At that moment, the oldest Barkley son came in the door, and stopped for a moment at the sight of his brothers and mother huddled in the foyer. "Well," he said, taking off his hat and leaving it on the table by the door to the library. "Family meeting going on? What have I missed? Something good about Angel's Camp?"

Nick took the coin back out of his pocket and held it out to Jarrod. "Not a thing at Angel's Camp. Forget about it. Just this little thing Heath and I found on the way back from Angels Camp."

Jarrod took it and looked at it. "You didn't find anything interesting in Angels Camp?"

"No, that mining operation is already playing out," Nick said.

"I found that in the dirt where we camped last night," Heath said.

"French," Jarrod said, turning it over. "Kind of worn. Somebody must have dropped it at some point but heaven knows when." Jarrod handed it back to Nick. "It didn't necessarily have to be a Frenchman. If you don't look closely when somebody hands you the change in San Francisco, you can end up with foreign coins that are worthless here."

"I'll keep it for luck," Nick said, then to Heath, "unless you want it back."

Heath held up a hand. "Like I said, Nick. I believe in making my own luck."

"Besides, your lucky coins have seldom brought you any luck," Jarrod said.

"But they've kept bad luck away," Nick said. "And I lost my lucky penny right before we took that pointless trip all the way up to Angels Camp."

"I really doubt your lucky penny would have turned a played out mine into a good one," Victoria said.

"Well, lucky coin or not, it's kind of interesting to have around," Nick said. "Who knows? It might come in handy if I meet some nice mademoiselle and need a way to introduce myself."

"Forget about Michelle deLacasie," Jarrod said. "She and the Marquis are moving off to San Francisco."

"Where'd you hear that?" Nick asked.

"I saw them at the train station today," Jarrod said. "They already have a place lined up and they started shipping their things last week."

"I'm surprised they ever came here in the first place," Heath said.

Jarrod grinned a little wry grin. "I understand the Marquis made a pretty penny on the sale of his property here. That investment is probably why he came here in the first place."

"Stockton is a growing city," Victoria said. "Not the sleepy little place you boys were born into. Now, why don't you all clean up before dinner."

"I got the bath," Nick said and darted off up the stairs. "See? It's brought me luck already!"

Jarrod laughed, shaking his head. "If he's got that coin, Nick is gonna start chasing the first girl with a French name that he meets."

Heath said, "There's lots of girls with French names around – Marie who's last name I don't know, Angelique at the Empire saloon, there's even an Antoinette serving tables at the Cattlemen's."

Jarrod headed for the refreshment table, smiling. "Nick's gonna be like the prince looking for Cinderella to fit the glass slipper. Wine, Mother?"

"White, please," Victoria said and headed for the settee.

Behind Jarrod as he poured wine for Victoria, Heath said, "Maybe it'll do Nick some good to look for that French Cinderella. He's had his mind too much on business lately, and you know Nick. He isn't happy unless he's got some beautiful girl he's chasing."

Jarrod poured himself some scotch and took the wine glass to Victoria while Heath poured his own drink. As he handed the glass to Victoria, he said, "Heath has a point. Nick needs to fall in love again."

"For good, sometime soon I hope," Victoria said. "I'd like to see something work out for him. For all of you, actually. I need some grandchildren."

"Well, if that coin works for Nick, I'll get it back from him," Heath said.

Jarrod didn't say anything. It gave Victoria an unhappy twinge. Unlike Nick who maybe loved not too wisely but too well, Jarrod was never a man to give his heart easily. Since losing his Beth he'd been avoiding romance even more. That was more than a year ago. He'd been dealing with a lot of grief and guilt, and wariness. Would that ever change?

Jarrod never had any trouble reading his mother's eyes, or anyone else's for that matter, and he knew she never had any trouble reading his. He knew she was thinking about him. He knew she understood everything he was still grieving about, and it was not just losing Beth. He also knew she thought he'd been grieving, and blaming himself, long enough.

Heath watched the silent interplay but stayed out of it. His tendency was not to get involved in problems like this in the family unless he was invited, or unless matters had become dangerous to him or someone he loved. That wasn't happening yet with Jarrod. But what if this silly old coin actually brought Nick some luck with his romantic life? If it happened to Nick – or even to him – might it loosen up life for big brother too?

Heath silently toasted the future and sipped his drink, thinking, Here's to some good luck that coin might bring. He resolved he was going to watch out for that good luck and see where he might help take it.