Dimes toDollars

Teri Thomas

SERIES 1Black Widow BeautyDanger on IceEmpty EyesThe ExperimentKula‘i Street KnightsThe Mystery QuiltNo Way to RunThe RitualThe 75-Cent SonThe Very Bad Dream

SERIES 2The AccuserBen Cody’s TreasureBlackoutThe Eye of the HurricaneThe House on the HillLook to the Light!Ring of FearTiger Lily CodeTug-of-WarThe White Room

Development and Production: Laurel Associates, Inc.Cover Art: Black Eagle Productions

Three WatsonIrvine, CA 92618-2767Website: www.sdlback.com

Copyright ©2005 by Saddleback Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any formor by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,without the written permission of the publisher.

ISBN 1-56254-743-7

Printed in the United States of America

10 09 08 07 06 05 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

SERIES 3The Bad Luck PlayBreaking PointDeath GripFat BoyNo ExitNo Place Like HomeThe PlotSomething Dreadful Down BelowSounds of TerrorThe Woman Who Loved a Ghost

SERIES 4The Barge GhostBeastsBlood and BasketballBus 99The Dark LadyDimes to DollarsRead My LipsRuby’s Terrible SecretStudent BodiesTough Girl

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Anna Torres and Toni Bouchersat in the observation deck of theCalifornia Zephyr. The clickity-clack ofthe train’s wheels was music to theirears. At last they were on the first legof their long-awaited camping trip.

The two 20-year-olds were bestfriends. After high school, they’dtrained to become CNAs, or certifiednursing assistants. Then they’d gottenjobs at the same convalescent hospital.Helping people fight their way backfrom serious injury or illness wasrewarding work.

The fun-loving girls were popularwith both the staff and the patients—especially the elderly. Because Toniand Anna were always willing to

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listen, many old people had sharedtheir fascinating stories with them.

Anna and Toni had beenplanning this trip for more than a year.Toni couldn’t wait to climb mountainsand camp out under the stars. SinceAnna was crazy about animals, shewanted to see plenty of wildlife. Afterhours of discussion, they’d chosenColorado as the perfect destination.

Their adventure had finally begunthe day before. After departing from Sacramento, California, theirhometown, the train had slowlyclimbed the Sierra Nevada Mountains.Then it sped across the high-desertplains of the Great Nevada Basin.Despite their excitement, the girls hadfallen asleep around 11:00 P.M., shortlyafter passing through Elko, Nevada.They were jolted awake early the nextmorning as the train pulled out of

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Provo, Utah. After having a leisurelybreakfast in the dining car, they tookseats in the observation deck. Thehuge, panoramic windows thereoffered spectacular views of the RockyMountains.

Toni dug into her backpack andpulled out the train schedule. “Wecrossed the state line about an hourago,” she said. “We should be getting toSilver Springs in a couple more hours.Then let the adventure begin!”

“Look, Toni! There’s a bald eagle!”Anna cried out excitedly. “And there’sanother one!”

Toni gazed at the sight in wonder.“I see them,” she said.

Anna brushed her long, dark hairaside to adjust her binoculars. Now thetrain was passing through a narrowcanyon. “There must be an aeriearound here someplace,” she said as

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she leaned forward to get a closer look.Toni’s intense green eyes flickered

with interest. “An aerie? I’ve neverheard that word before. What’s that?”she asked.

“It’s an eagle’s nest,” Annaexplained. “Bald eagles use sticks andbranches to build their aeries at thetops of tall trees or in the cracks ofcliffs. That way, predators can’t get tothe eggs. The eagles come back to thesame spot year after year, makingtheir aerie bigger each time. Old aeriesare sometimes 20 feet wide and canweigh as much as 4,000 pounds!”

“You sure do know your animals,don’t you?” Toni said with admiration.

Anna was pleased with Toni’scompliment. “And you also have aneagle eye for spotting eagles!” Toniadded with a giggle.

Anna laughed at her friend’s sillyplay on words. “I really do find eaglesfascinating,” she said. “Did you know

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they mate for life, and that the maleand female take turns watching thenest? I love to watch them swoopthrough the air, so alive and free.”

“Oh, yeah. Those two surely were aspectacular sight,” Toni agreed.

“There aren’t all that many baldeagles left in the lower 48 states,”Anna continued. “That’s why it’s soexciting to see a pair so soon after wearrived in Colorado.”

“It’s sad that they’ve become sorare,” Toni sighed. “Wouldn’t it beawful if the proud symbol of ourcountry became extinct?”

Anna nodded. “It sure would,” shesaid. “But bald eagles have been makinga strong comeback lately. In fact, theywere just recently taken off thethreatened species list for the lower 48states. There are still lots of eagles upin Alaska and Canada, though. Most ofthe bald eagles living in the wild todaycan be found up there.”

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Toni dug in her backpack formaps. “Come on, Anna,” she said. “It’stime to do some planning.”

The girls spread the maps out asbest they could and started chattering.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted them.“You girls on a vacation trip, or are youhere looking for treasure?”

Anna and Toni looked up. An oldman with a long, reddish-white beardwas sitting across the aisle from them.“We’re on vacation,” Toni said brightly.“We’re going to camp out near SilverSprings for a few days and do somemountain climbing. I’m Toni Boucher,by the way, and this is my friend AnnaTorres.”

“Smithson Jeffers here,” the oldman said with a friendly, toothlessgrin. “But you can call me Smitty likeeveryone else does. Sounds like you’vegot a mighty fine plan.”

Toni was curious.“What did you mean

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about treasure hunting?” she asked.Smitty smiled. “There’s an awful lot

of interesting history around theseparts,” he explained. “Did you knowthe famous outlaw, Doc Holliday, isburied in Glenwood Springs? That’sjust up the road a bit from SilverSprings. Heck, this was the wild, wildWest only about a hundred years ago!Back then a lot of newcomers weretrying to strike it rich in the mines.It was a pretty rough place back inthose days.”

Anna smiled. “You sound like youremember it personally,” she teased.

“Well, now, I’m not quite that old!”Smitty laughed good-naturedly. “I justhappen to like the old stories. And thisarea has produced some great ones!”

“And some of that history has to dowith treasure?” Toni prodded.

“You bet it does!” Smitty grinned.“Have either of you two girls ever heardabout the famous stagecoach robbery

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that happened here? That story goesback more than a hundred years.”

Both girls shook their heads.“Well, then, let me tell you all about

it,” Smitty chuckled.

Smitty settled back in his seatand began his story.

“Seems a stagecoach loaded withsilver dimes was robbed back in Marchof 1898. The stagecoach was goingthrough Silver Springs Canyon—rightwhere we’re heading now. The shinynew dimes were fresh from the DenverMint. That’s where new coins aremade, you know.

“Anyway, all those dimes weresupposed to be delivered to Salt LakeCity—but they never made it. A banditby the name of Cole Drake and four of his henchmen saw to that. Theyrobbed the stagecoach at gunpoint.Then they took a load of dimes and

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headed up the canyon on horseback.“It wasn’t long before the sheriff

was hot on their trail,” Smitty went on.“The posse caught up with them at theend of the canyon. But Drake and hismen didn’t give up without a fight.After a fierce shootout, all the banditswere dead. But the dimes were nowhereto be found. The sheriff figured the bad guys must have stashed themsomewhere along the way.”

“So you’re saying that the dimeswere never recovered?” Toni asked.

“That’s right—they never were,”the oldtimer said. “Not that a whole lotof folks haven’t given it a try over theyears. I’ve even hunted for the dimesmyself a time or two. But that possecovered a lot of ground. They chasedthose darn robbers the full length ofthe canyon! Drake and his men couldhave squirreled away those dimesalmost anywhere.”

“That’s a great story,” Anna said.

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“But how could some sacks of dimesadd up to a real treasure?”

“Well,” Smitty replied, “there werea whole lot of dimes—about $35,000worth, as a matter of fact.”

“About thirty-five thousand dollars,huh?” Anna pondered. “With inflation,those dimes would be worth well overhalf a million dollars today. Probablycloser to a million, I’d bet.”

“That’s right,” Smitty agreed. “Anddimes were nearly pure silver in thosedays. The U.S. government stoppedminting silver dimes in the 1960s.Nowadays they’re made from nickeland copper instead. So silver dimes arevaluable to coin collectors. And thesedimes would be even more valuablebecause of their history. After all,they’re booty from a famous robbery!”

“Hmmm,” Anna mused. “Maybe wecould look around for the dimes whilewe’re camping in the canyon.”

“Good idea, Anna. Let’s do it!” Toni

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said enthusiastically. “Oh, boy, we’regoing on a treasure hunt!”

Smitty laughed. “As I said, a lot ofother people have searched for thedimes without finding a darned thing.But who knows? Maybe you’ll havebeginner’s luck!”

“You’re right, Smitty,” Anna said.“We probably won’t find the dimes—but it couldn’t hurt to try! Besides, itwould just add more excitement to ouradventure.”

“Dead Man’s Point might be a goodplace to start,” Smitty suggested. “It’soff the beaten track.”

“Why would a place be called DeadMan’s Point?” Toni asked curiously.

“There was a lynching there backin 1885,” Smitty said sadly. “A mob ofranchers hanged a suspected cattlerustler. Turned out the fellow didn’teven do it. The sheriff caught the realrustler red-handed. But it was too latefor the poor drifter who got blamed.”

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“That’s really awful,” Anna said.“This area must have been prettylawless back then, huh?”

“Yup, it sure was,” Smitty agreed.“Well, I hope you ladies have fun onyour adventure. It was a pleasuremeeting you both!”

“You, too, Smitty!” the girls chimedin. “Good luck to you, too!”

Anna and Toni stood on theplatform of the train station in SilverSprings. Their gear was piled upbeside them. “Well, which will it be?”Toni said as she hoisted her heavypack onto her back. “Lunch, or do wehead straight into the canyon?”

“Lunch—definitely!” Anna replied.“I’m starving.”

The two girls gathered up the restof their gear and headed toward themain street of town.

“Look at that old hotel,” Anna said.

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“It’s got a patio cafe where we can eatoutside. That’ll make it easier to dealwith all of this bulky gear.”

The girls found an empty tablenear the street. They leaned theirpacks against a thick adobe wall thatsurrounded the small cafe.

Toni looked around. The cafe wasdecorated with rusty old mining toolsand cracked leather saddles. Therewere even some old boots with plantsgrowing out of them. “This place isgreat!” Toni said. “Look at all the neatstuff they’ve got around here. There’seven an old covered wagon over in thatcorner. Maybe we can use it to haul thedimes after we find them.”

“I thought you were eager to startmountain climbing!” Anna said with alaugh. “But Smitty’s story about thatold stagecoach robbery really wasfascinating! I can’t wait to startlooking for those dimes either. Andeven if we don’t find them, a treasure

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hunt will still be a good way to kick offour camping trip.”

“Afternoon, girls,” a deep voice said.Toni and Anna looked up to see two

good-looking guys about their age.Standing on the other side of the lowadobe wall, they were dressed in fadedjeans and cowboy boots.

The lanky, sandy-haired cowboyleaned over the wall and smiled. “I’mPete Walker,” he said, “and this isSteve Connors. We’re ranch hands outat the J-Bar-K cattle ranch. Wecouldn’t help overhearing yourconversation. Mind if we join you?”

Toni and Anna looked at each other.A silent question passed betweenthem. Then Anna gave a small nod.

Toni turned back to the two youngmen. “Sure,” she said. “We’re about tohave lunch.”

Pete and Steve came into the patioand grabbed a couple of chairs fromanother table. After the server took

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their lunch order, Anna broke the ice.“Are you guys from around here?”

she asked.“Born and raised,” Pete smiled. He

had warm brown eyes and rough,calloused hands. “We were interestedin what you gals were saying about thestagecoach robbery.”

“Yes, we heard about it from a mannamed Smitty we met on the train,”Anna replied. “We just got off the trainfrom California.”

“California, huh?” Steve smirked.“We get a lot of tourists from there—yuppies who come out here for theambience,” he continued sarcastically.

Toni and Anna looked at each other.“Actually, we came here to go campingand mountain climbing—and also tocheck out the wildlife,” Toni saiddefensively. “But after hearing aboutthe stagecoach robbery, we decided alittle treasure hunting might be fun.”

“Yeah, everybody around here has

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heard that story a thousand times,”Steve snickered. “And lots of peoplehave looked for those dimes, too. Yougirls might as well forget about yoursilly treasure hunt. If you ask me, it’s awaste of time.”

Both girls were annoyed. “Well,”Anna said gruffly, “we didn’t ask you,did we?”

Pete glared at Steve and thenturned back to the girls. “Please let meapologize,” he said. “Steve seems tohave left his manners back at theranch.” He gave the other man a kickunder the table.

Just then the server put down theirplates. For a few minutes, they allenjoyed their hamburgers in silence.

Anna finished hers first. “Anyway,we’re certainly not getting our hopesup about finding the money,” she said.“We just thought it wouldn’t hurt tolook.”

“Sure, nothing wrong with a little

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added excitement,” Pete said. “Whereare you planning to start looking?”

“We thought we’d hike over to DeadMan’s Point,” Toni said. “Smitty saidthat would be a good place to start.”

“He’s right,” Pete smiled. “DeadMan’s Point isn’t all that far fromwhere the stagecoach was ambushed.I’ve actually done quite a bit ofresearch on that robbery. As a hobby,my family’s spent a fair amount oftime looking for those dimes. We’vebeen through Dead Man’s Point lots oftimes. But we never found a singledime. Still—you never know.”

“I’ve been thinking about therobbers being on horseback,” Annasaid. “They wouldn’t have been able togo up a sheer cliff or down a reallysteep ravine. So maybe we’ll stick tothe canyon floor.”

“That’s a good point,” Pete said. “Iremember reading that the dimesweighed nearly 2,000 pounds! Drake

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and his men had a few extra packhorses. But still, the weight of all thosedimes must have really loaded downthose poor animals. Drake must haveknown they’d be too slow to outrun aposse. So, I’d bet they hid the dimesnot too long after the robbery. Once thedimes were stowed, they could lead theposse on a wild goose chase. Then,after they’d lost them, they could goback for the loot.”

Anna was impressed. “That suresounds reasonable to me. You’ve reallydone your homework, Pete!” she said.

“Like I said, my family and I havehad some experience looking for thosedimes,” Pete said bashfully.

“Hurry up, Pete,” Steve interruptedrudely. “It’s time to hit the road.”

Pete looked at Steve and sighed.The next time I meet some pretty girls,he thought to himself, I’m going toditch Steve fast.

He turned back to Anna and Toni.

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“Would you like a ride—at least part ofthe way?” Pete asked. “My truck’sparked just across the street, and wewere headed in that direction anyway.”He pointed to a very battered oldturquoise-colored pickup.

“No, thanks—we came here to dosome hiking,” Anna said. “But maybewe’ll see you guys around.”

After they left, Toni heaved a sighof relief. “That Steve was a first-classjerk,” she grumbled.

“I couldn’t agree more! But Peteseemed like a real sweetheart,” Annasmiled. “I wouldn’t mind at all if weran into him again.”

The next morning a blood-redsun rose over Silver Springs Canyon.The afternoon before, Toni and Annahad hiked several miles into the gorge.They’d finished setting up camp just as the sun started to dip behind the

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dark and shadowy canyon walls.Over the next few days, the girls

hiked farther and farther as theyworked their way toward Dead Man’sPoint. They kept an eye out for thedimes, but both of them knew it waslike looking for a needle in a haystack.They didn’t let the search interferewith their real reason for being there.

The trip had been wonderful so far—everything they had imagined. They’dmade some really exciting climbs. Andwhile at first glance the land seemedbarren and desolate, they had seen avariety of wildlife. Anna was thrilled.

“Hmmm,” Anna said, peeringthrough her binoculars. “It looks likethat might be an aerie up ahead—onthe ledge of the canyon wall. Fromhere it looks like we could get to itwithout too much difficulty. Let’s gocheck it out!”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous to go toonear an aerie?” Toni asked nervously.

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“Being attacked by a bald eagle isn’thigh on my list of fun-filled activities.”

Anna laughed. “Well, I don’t thinkthat aerie is being used right now,” shesaid reassuringly. “If eaglets werethere—or even just eggs—either themother or father would be with them.Both parents wouldn’t leave the nestat the same time. Don’t worry, Toni.I think we’re pretty safe.”

As the girls neared the nest, Annapulled out her binoculars again.

“Yep, it’s definitely an aerie,” shesaid excitedly. “I don’t see any eagletsor parent eagles around. Bald eaglesusually lay their eggs in March. If thisone were being used, there’d be eagletsin it by now. I think this nest musthave been abandoned.”

“Okay. I guess it’d be safe to climbup for a better look, then,” Toni agreed.

The girls shouldered their climbingequipment and started to work theirway up the wall of the steep cliff.

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“This aerie must be at least 15feet wide!” Anna exclaimed. “Andjudging from all the moss on the sticks,I’d say it hasn’t been used for years.”

Toni climbed into the center of thenest. Flapping her arms, she cried out,“Squawk, squawk. Feed me!”

Anna laughed at her friend’s sillyantics. “Get out of there before youhurt yourself,” she warned her friend.

But Toni was having too much fun.She crawled toward the edge of thenest shouting, “Time to fly. Catch youlater. I’m out of here.” From her loftyperch, she looked down toward thecanyon floor.

“Oh, look!” she cried out.“What?” Anna said. “Are you okay?”“Yeah, I’m fine,” Toni replied. “But

you’ve got to see this!”Anna crawled across the nest and

joined her friend. They both peereddown at the entrance to a cave. It

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was almost hidden behind a cluster of huge rocks.

“Wow! A secret cave!” Anna said.“From anywhere but up here, you’dnever know that cave was there.”

Anna reached for her binocularsand took a closer look. She could justmake out an old cloth bag stampedwith the words U.S. MINT.

“Omigosh!” Anna screamed. “It’s thedimes!”

Just then Anna spied a turquoisepickup at the bottom of the cliff. It wasPete and Steve! Both girls waved theirarms and shouted, “Up here!”

“They see us!” Toni said. “Come on.I can’t wait to tell them.”

“I thought we might find youladies up here!” Pete greeted themwith a beaming smile. “Since it’sSaturday, we thought you two mightlike to go with us to a dance—”

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Before Pete could finish, Annathrew her arms around him and gave him a big hug. He grinned at theunexpectedly warm greeting. “Oh,Pete, I’m so glad to see you!” sheexclaimed. “You won’t believe this. Weactually found the dimes!”

“Yeah, just this very minute!” Toniadded excitedly. “There’s a cave behindthat cluster of rocks over there. Wespotted it from the eagle’s nest.”

Pete’s mouth dropped open. “Holycow!” he exclaimed. “Let’s go look!”

The four of them searched aroundthe cluster of rocks for a few minutes.Then suddenly, Pete shouted, “Hey,over here!” The others ran to him.

“Boy, if you didn’t know this washere, you’d never find it,” Steve said.

A few moments later, they allstopped in their tracks and stared. Abig pile of burlap sacks lay just insidethe mouth of the cave.

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Toni whistled in amazement.“Just look at all those bags!” shewhispered. “Altogether, there must be40 or 50 of them.”

“Yeah,” Pete said, “40 or 50 bags invery poor condition. We’ll have to goback to town and get some sturdycrates to move them.”

“Yes,” Anna said, “and notify thesheriff. I imagine he’ll want to contactthe Treasury Department.”

“No, I don’t think we’ll do that,”Steve said. His voice was oddly flat—and threatening.

Pete and the girls turned to look athim. Anna’s breath caught in herthroat. “He’s got a gun,” she said in ashaking voice.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Steve growled.“And this gun says that we don’t needto involve the sheriff in this littleadventure.”

“Steve!” Pete cried out. “Think

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about what you’re doing. You’ll neverget away with this!”

“Sure I will,” Steve replied in thesame cold voice. “A few guys back intown aren’t quite as upstanding as thethree of you. They’ll help me get thedimes out of here.”

Steve waved the gun at them. “Butright now,” he went on, “I’ve got to putyou folks out of commission for awhile. Take this rope, Pete. Tie thegirls up. Then I’ll tie you up.”

Pete thought fast. “Okay, Steve,take it easy,” he said soothingly. “I’ll tiethem up, just like you said.”

Pete tied up Toni first, then Anna.“All right, Pete,” Steve said roughly.

“It’s your turn. Get on your knees withyour hands behind your back,” hesnapped. Then he tightly bound Pete’shands and feet.

“There,” he said. “That ought tohold you until I get back.”

“And then what?” Pete asked. “Are

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you going to leave us out here to die?”“That depends on just how bad you

want to live,” Steve snarled. “Maybeyou can gnaw your way loose. Eitherway, I’ll be long gone and far away,living in luxury!”

A few minutes later they heard theroar of the pickup’s engine.

“What are we going to do?”Toni whimpered.

“Don’t worry,” Pete assured her.“We’re going to be okay.”

Then he twisted his body aroundtoward Anna. “Pull on your ropes,Anna,” he said softly. “Steve wasn’tpaying attention when I tied you up.When you pull on them, the knotsshould come loose pretty easily.”

Working at the ropes, Anna asked,“Where did Steve get that gun?”

“From me,” Pete said apologetically.“Or at least from my truck. Some of the

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wildlife around here can be dangerous.”“Yeah,” Anna grumbled. “And some

of the humanlife, too.” Finally freeingherself, she untied Toni and Pete.

“I’m really sorry about this, girls,”Pete said. “I haven’t known Steve forvery long—I had no idea he was such arat! But he’s going to have a nastysurprise waiting for him when he getsback to town.” With that, he pulled hiscell phone out of his pocket.

“Darn it!” Pete groaned. “No signal.Let’s just get as far away from here aswe can to avoid Steve and his buddies.”

“Wait a minute,” Anna said. “Giveme your phone, Pete.”

A few moments later, Anna was onceagain climbing up the canyon wall tothe eagle’s nest. Soon she was sittingcrosslegged in the middle of the aerie.

Anna popped open Pete’s cell phone and looked at the display.“Yes!” she cried out. Then she quicklydialed 911. “Hello? I’d like to report a

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robbery and attempted murder,” shesaid to the dispatch operator.

Home at last, Anna and Toniwalked through the door of theconvalescent hospital. It was their firstday back on the job. They stoppedsuddenly when they heard the soundof cheering voices: “Surprise! All hailthe conquering heroes!”

The surprised girls were usheredinto the sun room. There they weregreeted with more applause by staffmembers and patients. Pinned on thewall was a display of newspaperarticles. Several included pictures ofToni, Anna, and Pete shaking handswith the Silver Springs sheriff.

A tiny, gray-haired woman shuffledover to the girls. “We were afraid youmight not come back,” she said, “nowthat you’re rich and famous.”

“We did get a reward,” Toni said,

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“but, believe me, we’re far from rich.”“That’s for sure,” Anna added. “And

I think we’ve already used up our 15minutes of fame.”

There was a merry twinkle in theold woman’s eyes. “What about thathandsome young cowboy in the picturewith you?” she asked.

Anna blushed. “Well,” she said, “hedid say that he’d sure like to visitCalifornia someday.”

“Yeah,” Toni added. “And he alsopromised to bring along a few of hiscowpoke friends for me, too.”

The two girls looked at each other,laughed, and jumped into a high five.Life was good!