April 30, 1901

Bisbee.

I walked downstairs this evening hearing three children talking and Natalie and Jimmy introduced me to their new friend Sarah. We talked about how I was just like Sherlock Holmes and Jimmy told me about how they’d gone to the orphanage for dinner. 

Jimmy showed me a buckle they’d found at the cemetery and I smiled. “Oh wow! That looks real old. And it says CSA on it... I bet your pa would be real interested in that.” 

“Yeah ma! We gonna start a gang!” Natalie grinned. 

“Excuse me?” I blinked.

“The good kind!” Sarah giggled. 

“We’re gonna hunt for gold and stuff!” Natalie exclaimed. 

“Like Robin Hood!” 

“Yeah, we gonna cal us Nuggets,” Jimmy said. 

“The nuggets, huh? Well that sounds a bit better.” I chuckled. 

“Yeah but… Ma you know that place ya used to live above your office in Diamond?” Nat asked. 

“Mmmhmm. Sure do.” I grinned. “That danged duck still up there?” 

“I didn’t see no duck ma,” Jimmy said. 

“Oh good. David must have taken it out finally.” 

“What duck ma?” Nat asked. 

“A while ago... there was this lawyer... Buster’s uncle David… He would put yellow ducks everywhere in town.” 

“Why?” Sarah asked. 

“Well ’cause he wanted to see how long it would take ’fore I would shoot one, I guess.” 

“Did ya ever?” Nat giggled. 

“I almost did,” I said with a smirk. “We found ’em all over the place... The worst was the one he put on my bed up there. How he got into my apartment... I don’t even wanna know. Why ya askin’ bout that place, Nat?” 

“We wanna use it to hide our loot up there ma,” Jimmy said. 

“Well just do me one favor, okay? You tell your pa ’bout everything you find. He’s the deputy over there and if anyone ever found out what was up there.. Especially if it’s old stuff like this buckle that could be worth somethin’.. Then you’ll want him to know what you’ve got there. Deal?” 

“Okay! We’ll be treasure hunters!” Sarah said excitedly. 

We talked about Sarah sleeping over and I smiled, hearing the girls talking upstairs. I told Jimmy to keep his BB gun on him at all times while they went out exploring, and to keep Thomas posted on what they did. I told him that if they ever found something that could be worth something, they could take it to one of the bankers, but I told them not to tell other adults about it. 

I heard Natalie telling Sarah about our family and smiled as Jimmy hugged me tight and went up to bed. 

Thomas came home eventually and I heard the kids telling him about the treasure they’d found. Thomas teased Jimmy about being in a house full of women and then came into the bedroom, getting himself ready for bed. I fell asleep in his arms, happy to have such a full, happy house.