Jo's Journey (9 page)

Bart shook his head. “You have to be awake to discover something. It could easily have been Dead Man's Creek—if you hadn't —” His voice cracked and he blinked hard a couple of times. I studied the gold in my palm and then carefully tipped the flakes back into my poke to give him a chance to gather his wits.

“Jobart's Creek,” he said after a minute. “What do you think about that for a name, Miss Joselyn Whyte?”

“I think my belly is good and ready for something to eat,” I said, but I couldn't help smiling. Jobart's Creek. I liked the sound of it.

“Well, Mr. Bart Ridley, would you care for tea and beans or beans and tea?”

“Yes, I would,” Bart said, and the sound of our laughter mixed with the chuckle of Jobart's Creek.

Author's Note

For those interested in learning more about the Cariboo gold rush, a visit to Barkerville during the summer is an invaluable pilgrimage. Astute readers will notice that some of the place names were spelled a little differently in 1862 than they are today.

Books

Art Downs,
Wagon Road North: Photographs from 1863 of the Cariboo Gold Rush
, 3rd edition, Heritage House Publishing, 1980.

Art Downs, ed,.
Pioneer Days in British Columbia
:
Volume One
, Heritage House Publishing, 1991.

F. W. Howay, et al.,
Cariboo Gold Rush
, Heritage House Publishing, 1994.

Meredith Bain Woodworth,
Land of Dreams
:
A History in Photographs of the British Columbia Interior
, Altitude Publishing, 1993.

Richard Thomas Wright,
Barkerville
:
A Gold Rush Experience
, Winter Quarters Press, 1998.

Websites

British Columbia Archives
www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca

Cariboo Gold Rush/Barkerville
www.collections.gc.ca/cariboo/barker

Historic Barkerville
www.barkerville.ca

Nikki Tate
is the author of more than a dozen books for children, including
Jo's Triumph
. Born in England, Nikki Tate lived in the U.K., Australia and various places in Canada before settling down on a tiny farm on Vancouver Island, where she is surrounded by horses, goats, birds, dogs, cats and koi. When she's not writing or dreaming up ideas for new books or exploring far-flung corners of the world, Nikki works as a professional storyteller and writing workshop leader.