Pretinella's Journal

April 14, 1883.
Returned today from the Tehachepi Station. Father stayed in Mojave so as not to be arrested if Beale were about.
To think I paid Mr. Vineyard to find the body.
A man showed me the cross for the dead. I don't believe that George is there.
At night, I watch the stars and the
bonfires down by the river. I am only 24. Two children to care for. Already, father is planning to take my darling John prospecting with him and marry me to the man who owns the cannery.
But we are no closer to the gold, and
George is lost for nothing. A woman said it was an earthquake that started the cars.