The Promise Keeper

He stared out the window of the passenger train at the flat land that moved by in a hypnotic array of fields, trees, and farms. He thought that he was still somewhere in the state of Montana but was not sure.

His journey began in Long Island. After taking the LIRR train to Penn Station, he transferred to an Amtrak train and transferred again at the Chicago hub.

The further away he got from New York, the more his memories of his old life faded away—and that is exactly what he wanted. He wanted to forget all about his dull job as director of logistics and the daily drudgery of his ordinary life.

But it was not just work that he needed to escape. It was also his previous life with the woman whom he once thought of as the love of his life. But his connection with her diminished over the course of thirty-two years, until nothing remained.

They had two children: a boy and a girl. And when the “kids” moved out and started their own lives, it felt like he and his wife had accomplished their mission and there was nothing left to do. The divorce was amicable, and after selling their house, he moved into a one-bedroom apartment just about one mile down the road—and one mile closer to work.

At first, it was “business as usual,” until he was unable to ignore the feeling that the answer to the meaningless emptiness that he was feeling was not going to be found in finding a new mate—at least not yet. There was something else that remained in the back of his mind that was impossible to deny, and it did not take him long to deduce what the problem was. After a few days of thought, a plan was devised, and he went to his supervisor and notified him that he would be using two weeks of vacation time—even though it was not actually a vacation. It was something more than that. It was more like a mission.

The train slowed down as someone over the intercom announced that they were approaching the city of Spokane, Washington. It was at that moment that he realized that his Montana estimation was way off.

The train stopped, and there was a calm commotion as a few passengers departed. Minutes later, new passengers stepped onboard.

Someone approached the seat next to him. “Is someone sitting here?”

He turned and saw that the person talking to him was a thin, older woman—perhaps seventy-something years of age. He then smiled to help assure her that it was all right. “Go ahead.”

She sat down next to him and put her carry-on bag in her lap. She then turned to him. “This is the train to Portland, right?”

He thought for a moment before answering. “It must be, because I am going in that same general direction.”

“Oh really,” she said. “May I ask where you are going?”

He understood that she was only attempting to engage in some friendly conversation and answered her question graciously: “I am going to Pasco.”

“Oh, Pasco. That’s a lovely town,” she said with a slight amount of glee. “Have you ever been there before?”

“No. I have not.”

“They have an excellent farmer’s market.”

“I might check that out.”

The silence that followed was slightly awkward, and he decided that it would be less awkward if he just continued to share his plans with her. “The reason why I am going to Pasco is because it is near an area called Stage Gulch, and I am going there to fulfill a childhood dream.”

The train began to move.

He looked back at her and saw that she still seemed genuinely interested in what he was saying. He interpreted this as an indication that it was okay to continue: “When I was a kid, I used to love movies about the old west. My favorites were the Spaghetti Westerns.”

“Spaghetti westerns?” she replied with a questioning tone.

“Those are what people call the Western movies that were made by Italians in the 1960s and 70s.”

“Oh.”

“I especially liked movies where they are looking for treasure.”

“Oh, you mean like the Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.”

“Yes,” he confirmed with an exuberant smile. “That is exactly what I mean. That is one of my favorite movies.”

“I am old enough to remember when that first came out,” she said.

“Yeah, it’s great,” he acknowledged before continuing. “I made a promise to myself when I was a kid that when I grew up I was going to go out to the west and go on an adventure and find some treasure. But I never did that, and one day, which was last month, on my fifty-sixth birthday, I looked at my life and realized that not only was I getting old, but I had never kept that promise. So that’s what I am going to do. I am going to go on an adventure, and maybe I will even find some gold.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful.” Her face seemed to light up with an internal glow. “Good for you.” Her expression then changed to something slightly more serious. “But why Stage Gulch?”

“One day I was looking around in the digital archives of a website that posts scanned newspaper articles that date back all the way to the 1800s. I found an article about a stagecoach that was robbed in the early 1900s. The bandits made off with about twelve hundred dollars worth of gold, which would be worth over forty thousand dollars today. But they were captured and hanged. Before their execution took place, one of them confessed that the loot was buried near the scene of the holdup. The site of the holdup was . . . Stage Gulch.”

“Oh, I see.” She acknowledged.

He then continued: “I know that others have looked for it and did not find it, but I have an advantage. I have just purchased a brand new state-of-the-art metal detector that is specifically designed to locate gold. It can detect any gold up to a depth of ten feet. There is no way that they buried the gold anywhere near that far down. So, if it is still there, I will find it.”

“That is so exciting,” she said. “I hope that you find it.”

He smiled again. “What about you? Are you going to do anything interesting in Portland?”

“Nothing as exciting as looking for buried treasure,” she said. “I am just going to visit some family.”

“Oh, okay,” he responded with a nod. “It’s good to keep in touch with family.”

“Have you ever been out to this part of the country before?” she inquired.

“No. This is a first-time thing for me. I have always been busy with my family. This is the first time that I am doing something for myself in a very long time.”

“There is a lot of interesting history out here,” she commented.

“There sure is,” he said as he looked out his window at the moving landscape. He then wondered how many of the battles and adventures of the old west happened right where he was looking. From what he saw so far, the land was just as beautiful as the movies made him believe that it was going to be, and he wondered if he would be a happier person living out here.

When he looked back over to the old woman, he saw that she had closed her eyes and had settled into a peaceful state. He then removed the manual that came with his Minelab Equinox metal detector from his pocket and used the time to continue to study the dedicated gold-mode technology. He experimented using it on random metal objects at home, including his wedding ring, right before he pawned it. It definitely worked, and even though he was not technologically adept, he felt confident that there would not be any problems.

When he was done studying, he got out his smartphone and went over his plans on Google Maps. He already had both a rental car and a motel room reserved at Pasco. His plan was to spend the night there, and the next morning he would drive south on I-82 and cross the Columbia River and continue into the state of Oregon. From there, it was a short drive on 395. That road would take him to the smaller county roads that would get him near Stage Gulch. He would have to walk the rest of the way over a grassy plain. His plan was to search for landmarks that would have been there during the turn of the previous century. He knew from the movies that landmarks are what people use to find their treasure when they come back for it. He was not sure what type of trees were in that particular area of Oregon, but he knew that some Oak trees can live up to three hundred years, so it was possible that some of the original trees were still there. Or maybe it would not be a tree. Maybe it would be a formation of rocks. He would have nine days to figure it out. Then his time would be up. He was concerned about inadvertently trespassing onto someone’s property. But real adventure always involves some type of real danger. He would just have to do his best to not be noticed.

Less than half an hour later, Pasco was announced as the next stop.

“All right,” he said as he turned to her. “This is my stop.”

Her eyes opened. She appeared to be at least partially asleep. “Okay,” she affirmed. “I will get out of your way.” She then stood and moved out into the aisle.

He stepped out next to her with his carry-on bag and extended his hand. “It was nice meeting you.”

She shook his hand. “Good luck, and remember that even if you don’t find anything, at least you tried. And that’s what matters the most.”

He nodded; and although he did not know it at the time, he would remember those words for the rest of his life.

He then turned and exited the train.

The air outside was fresh and warm.

It was going to be a good day.