Silver Dreams by Cynthia Thomason Page A

lifetime, isn't it, Max?”
     
    “You want the Gazette to send all of us to Colorado, Betsy?”
     
    She couldn’t ignore the skepticism in his voice. Maybe she’d pressed too hard. “I was hoping,” she said. “But if the cost is too high, I can put in a bit of cash.”
     
    “Can you now?” Max said.
     
    “If I have to. This lead is the absolute best way I can repay you for what you did for Ross and me. But I have one condition. I want to help write the story. You'll let me help write it, won't you?" 
     
    She realized she was babbling on without giving Max a chance to talk, and he must be as bursting with ideas as she was. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Well, what do you think? Isn't Dooley one of the most fascinating men you've ever met?"
     
    He expelled a sound that was something between a snort and a chuckle and shook his head slowly. "Betsy, we have a saying in Ireland. It translates to something like this. 'If that guy were a sack of potatoes, he'd be missing a couple of spuds.'"
     
    Her mouth dropped open. "Wh...what's that supposed to mean?"
     
    "Come on, Betsy. That guy's crazy as a loon. You’re playing a joke on me, right?" 
     
    She was too stunned to answer him.
     
    "I mean, you don't believe the half-witted git, do you?" Max raised a cupped hand to his mouth, but it didn't completely hide the grin that grew broader the longer he looked at her. After a moment, he forced his lips into a thin line and said, "Oh, hell, you do believe him." Muffled laughter sputtered out despite his efforts to contain it.
     
    Anger boiled inside Elizabeth. She set her hands firmly on her hips and glared at him. "Of course I believe him. He's as sane as you or I. In fact, I'd say he's a lot saner than you are. Dooley's got names, dates, locations. And he's got the rock!"
     
    Max's reaction was as hard for Elizabeth to swallow as a spoonful of bitter medicine. But she had to accept that there was no way to get through to a thick-headed person who held his jaded skepticism over the heads of the rest of society like a weapon. He didn't even try to stop his ill-mannered chuckling. Just when she'd decided that he could be trusted, he'd done a complete turnabout and proved that he truly was a snake.
     
    This is the last time I'll be made to feel like a fool by that crass, egotistic, overconfident Gazette reporter! she promised herself.
     
    Finally Max's reaction to Dooley’s story mellowed to subdued snickers. "I'm sorry, Betsy, really I am, but that rock is probably just a hunk of pyrite. You've heard of pyrite, haven't you?  It glitters just like gold or silver, and thousands of miners have been fooled by it. Do you know how many stories of lost fortunes and phantom mines have come out of those mountains in the last forty years? This old codger's tale is just one more."
     
    "Oh?  And this analysis comes from experience?" she said defiantly. "You've been to Colorado?"
     
    "Well, no, but..."
     
    "Then how the blazes do you know anything, Max? Do you just make up facts as you go along?” She drew her hand along the darkening sky as if she were pointing out a headline. “The world according to Max Cassidy. Dooley Blue's crazy. There's no Fair Day Mine. The rock is pyrite.” She glared at him. “Well, if you ask me, it's all just a convenient way to cover up your own stupidity!"
     
    He sobered instantly and reached for her hand. "I know you're upset, but I don't want you to be taken in by this guy. If you're so sure that my hunch about Dooley is wrong, then why don't you tell me why you think your hunch is right?"
     
    She slapped his hand away. "Because I trust people, that's why."
     
    "Yeah, like Dooley Blue and Ross Sheridan. They're a couple of sterling candidates for keys to the city."
     
    "How dare you say something like that to me?  Ross is my brother!"
     
    "No apologies necessary, kid. I'm aware that we don't pick our relatives. Sometimes we just get stuck with the apples that fall far from the