Thousand Pieces of Gold

A picture of the mountains precedes this chapter.

Now into her fourth harvest at Salmon Creek, Polly harvests all kinds of fruits that she can preserve. Charlie often uses her produce to trade for items they need in Warrens. Polly does not go with Charlie to Warrens because she sold her boarding house, and people from town that she wanted to see came to visit her instead.

Charlie calls Polly over and tells her he plans to dig for gold. He tells her that he plans to go into town to stake his claim on their property, and Polly becomes nervous as she remembers the prospectors that have been coming through the area, disrupting her peace. Charlie explains to her that he wants to file a claim on the ranch in order to give Polly some ownership of the property. She is unable to own the ranch because she is Chinese, but she can have a mining claim.

A boy on his way to dig for gold tumbled off the mountain, leading him to recuperate with Polly and Charlie. After the boy rests for two weeks, Charlie takes him to where he wanted to mine.