Jeremiah's store
Laura explains the layout of the buildings and points out the saloon, jail, church and the Assayer’s office.
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"The Assayer tested the pieces of quartz found by miners and worked out how much gold they contained" |
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"I read about that. Assaying was important because it measured how rich a deposit was." |
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"Ben the know-it-all as usual." |
Laura leads the detectives past several buildings that look too ruined to repair.
Jeremiah’s store is a two storey wooden structure with a wide verandah. As they walk up the steps they see that boards have been replaced and the railings repaired.
The building creaks loudly in the silence around them. The store is cool and dark inside. Laura goes behind the long counter and flicks a switch – and a couple of lights come on.
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"Wow - this place has electricity?" |
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"We ran mains power to old town last year and we hook up each building when it's worked on. We can use power tools now, to speed up the restoration work." |
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"Yeah - we'll need things like cash registers and drink machines. Maybe a cafe one day." |
The detectives examine what’s been done to restore the building’s 1860s’ look. Old clothes and household items hang from the ceiling, advertising what might have been sold.
Linda runs upstairs to look around and Brad finds a trapdoor in the floor behind the counter.
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"Is this the way down to the cellar, Laura?" |
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"Sure is. Pull it open and I'll show you where I found Jeremiah's old box." |
Brad pulls the heavy trapdoor open with a bang and Linda rushes back downstairs to see what’s happening. The entrance to the cellar is a dark, musty smelling hole in the floor. No-one moves except Laura, who kneels down, reaches inside and switches on another light. Peering in, the detectives can see steep stairs going down, and lots of cobwebs.
Laura lowers herself onto the top step, tells them to follow her – and to be careful.
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