Chapter 1
Merle
Getting a ride the last part of the journey was easier said than done. I had several offers but they were from sketchy people and I was sure that I would be found next year when the snows melted in some far off place by hunters.
I finally found a female that was going to Nome and I was lucky enough to talk her into letting me tag along. I had a couple of duffel bags with all of my equipment in it, so I had to toss those in the back of the truck and get in. It was a couple of hours and that gave me time to learn more about the place where I was headed. Molly was an older woman and she liked to talk. I got a basic tour of everywhere we passed by and when we got to our destination, I felt like I had actually learned quite a bit. She would have been perfect to do tours. It was like Molly was made for it.
“Well good luck Merle. I hear that the diving out there right now is dangerous. Have you ever done it before?”
I told her that I had, just not with the cold that was Nome, Alaska right now. It was easy to see how it was dangerous, but I’d always wanted to dive for gold. It was literally just sitting on the bottom of the ocean and I wanted to go scoop it up. This was to be how I paid for my last year of school. I came up here with high hopes and a name that I was supposed to contact when I got here.
At the moment I was outside of a small bar that had drink specials on a board. I wasn’t here for a drink, but directions. Molly hadn’t known the man I was looking for. His name was Kevin and that made me nervous that she didn’t know him. Everyone kind of knew everyone in places like Nome and I wasn’t sure what that meant for the man who had a rig and was supposed to hire me. I had come a long ways and I didn’t even want to think about the idea that I was not going to have a contact here. The season was already in full swing and it might be hard to pick up some work now. I certainly wouldn’t get the good percentages that I was promised before by Kevin.
When I made my way in, it was hard to see because it was so dark in the interior. I had to go slow and let my eyes adjust to the new surroundings before I was able to start noticing faces and trying to find the one face that I was there for. Kevin told me to meet him here. He said he was here if he wasn’t on the rig. Now I was sure that it was a dead end, but I went up to the bar and waited for the bartender to make his way to me.
The bushy-haired man’s eyes matched the brown hair on top of his head. He looked like he was fresh from electrocution and I had to look away before the smile on my face got bigger. It wasn’t a good way to start the day. Of that I was sure and I straightened up enough so that I could ask about Kevin. I half figured that the bartender wouldn’t know who I was talking about and I was going to be stuck here with no real direction of what to do next. I didn’t have a plan in place and I was nervous now. It had been a big leap of faith, I knew that, but maybe it was bigger than I would have imagined.
“Oh Kevin Leer. You must be talking about that newbie that came down. He says he is going to make his fortune on the gold here, but I don’t think he will. He is usually held up in that back booth, shooting the shit with someone, but he is out on the water today.”
I was worried that he had found someone else to take my place and I wasn’t going to be wanted or needed when it comes down to it. I was so afraid of him picking a local that had more experience than taking a chance on me. I knew that I had what it took, but as I had never dove in these conditions before, I know there was a question of if I was going to be able to do it or not.
“Do you know where I could find him?”
The bartender gave me direction, but told me that I had most likely missed Kevin. If he was sober before noon, he would be out on the water early. It was sounding like he liked to take his gold and melt it down for cash pretty quickly and once he had ran out, it was time to go out and get some more. I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with that arrangement, but I just needed a chance. If I could have a few good dives, there is a possibility that I could find a spot with another captain and boat.
So I made my way down to the shoreline. He was in walking distance from what the bartender told me. I just had to find the boat, Second Chances. It was a name that sounded about right for Kevin. He was fresh from a divorce and after losing everything in the divorce, he planned to get his money back by picking it up off the sea floor. It was one hell of a gamble, but it was the same one that brought me here so I knew the chances too, yet here I was, gambling it all.
I walked down the dockside and saw hundreds of boats of all shapes and sizes. It looked like about half of them were set up to gold mine and I started to get excited. It was strange to realize that I was finally here and I had a feeling that I was going to find my fortune out here as well. It may have been misplaced, but I was starting to have hope again. I just had to find Kevin and I was sure that I was going to get what I came here for.