= 5 =

The first clean up of the sample hole had netted them almost two ounces this spired Becka on to open up another sample hole. Three days later they were rewarded with almost an ounce and a half they were definitely on the gold channel backfilling the spent holes was somewhat easier than opening them up but the allure of Aurum was almost too much to resist for the Badger she worked tirelessly attacking the bench with more determination than Greg could have expected. She was hungry, that was clear; but that hunger for gold was tempered with the knowledge that this was dangerous work. If you weren't careful moving those boulders they could easily cripple or kill you. Greg had said _"Gravity don't care if you are in the way when it moves a rock, when rocks start moving don't be in the path."_The badger took the mantra "Slow and steady gets the gold" to heart. Content that the sample holes were yielding on average of an ounce and a half.

They had been out almost a week the Bench had proven much more profitable than even Greg had estimated. Battling boulders had been harder than she had suspected, but determination drove her, or was it the Gold Fever singing in her veins?

Sinking their forth sampling hole along what they had dubbed 'the golden bench' Swinging the pick in the mid-afternoon sun with the familiar 'thuck-chuck' that had become the rhythm of the Badgers life.

Scraping the pay gravel from around yet another boulder about three feet down with the wide adz blade of the Pick-Axe something drew her attention, sniffing the air a prickle ran along her spine, something was wrong. Straighting up Becka looked around, nothing_seemed_out of place, seeing only Greg trudging along the bench with four empty buckets returning from the sluice. Suddenly a deep throated roar shattered the quiet afternoon as the hulking form rose up from the underbrush. Greg gave a cry of alarm and was cut down by the swipe of a massive paw.. Becka screamed in terror, then everything. Went. _ RED _.

The Badger shot out of the hole as if fired from a canon, snarling like a feral beast she charged the bear towering over her partner. Planting her feet she gripped the Pick-Axe in both hands drew it back over her head and with a bellow of her own, let it fly. It tumbled through the air to land with a meaty thwack in the center of the standing bears chest, the pick sinking to the hilt. The bear reeled Becka noticed it was male, and in true Badger fashion made a beeline for it's crotch tearing into the beasts tender flesh with fangs and claws. Rending, biting deep and clawing deeper, the Bear bellowed but Becka attacked like a thing possessed. Blood fountained from gaping wounds as the Badger's claws shredded and tore her way into the beast In full blood rage.

The bear fell like a mighty sequoia as Becka ripped her way into it's vitals. Pulling back, she gave a howl of victory before a moan from Greg snapped her out of her killing rage. she dashed to the fallen Possum's side. The look on Greg's face was one of pure horror! Becka was covered in blood and gore.

Thinking she had been badly mauled Greg tried to comfort her. "Oh, Becka you're Alive! My God, we've got ta get ya ta the hospital! I don't want ta loose ya now!" he said weakly, Becka shook herself looking down at her horrific state and grinned, her mouth bloody.

"No no, I'm fine! this ain't mine, at least I don't think it is." she exclaimed spitting out a gobbet of bear flesh. "The Bear's dead... How badly are you hurt love?" she asked tenderly "When he swatted you I wend into a blood rage, I...I guess there _is_something to that whole 'Eclipsed' nonsense, I was so afraid, I ...I had to protect you and... Please, tell me, How badly are you hurt love?"

Greg winced when he tried to get up "I think my arm is broke. You sure you are not hurt? Ya look a frightful mess?" Greg asked as Becka helped him to his feet.

Becka ran her bloody paws over her body "I...I think I'm okay, Ugh I look like roadkill and smell worse!" she moaned "Lets get you back to camp and then I'll wash off this gore and tend to you."

standing over the dead bear observing the carnage of the Badger's blood rage first hand. "Welp looks like we got plenty of bear meat, makes good stew, That pick probably kilt 'em dead but you really tore inta him, remind me never ta get ya mad at me!" he chuckled wincing as he cradled his arm as a bloody Becka helped him back to camp to splint his broken arm.

Washing the blood and gore from her fur in the river, Becka replayed the events over in her mind. She never in her life would have believed that that level of savagery would have been physically possible for her. Recalling the old legends her family told of '_ The Eclipsed' _ and how it caused one to fly into an uncontrollable killing rage. Now that she had experienced it first hand, she knew she was forever changed.

Returning to camp a towel over her shoulders Becka approached the seated possum.

"are you in much pain love? She asked gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Naah I've had worse, seeing you standing there buck bare really lifts the spirits." Greg chuckled.

"Let me throw on some clothes and we can get you to the medical center to get that arm fixed."

"it can wait, ya splinted it just fine for now, you should cut up that bear afore it goes bad, then we can drive down to the clinic and get me patched up."

Becka sighed "Ya could have mentioned that _before_I got all nice and clean, now i'm going to get all messy again."she shook her head grabbing the kitchen knife "well you are going to have to tell me what to do, I have never butchered an animal before."

"Just think of it this-a-way, by the time we are finished we'll have a bar skin rug for the tent!" Greg chuckled "Grab the cooler we'll chunk that bar up and trim them out later first thing ya will want to do is lay out that tarp next to it then skin it out and roll it into the tarp as ya go... just lop the head off with the hide we ken drop it off at the tanner."

Two Hours later...

"Ya done real good there Becka." Greg said as she was driving to the clinic in town.

"Thanks, I guess there is a first time for everything, butchering bears is messy! But we have a cooler full of meat and a hide I hope they can fix the mess I made out of it."

"don't you worry none, Max is an artiest when it comes to taxidermy, considering it was yer first time, I think ya done fine. We can trade some bear meat for his services so it won't cost us nothing, we can drop it off in town then go to the clinic.

"Well Mr. Meadows you got off rather lucky to only escape with a broken arm, bear attacks can be fatal." Doctor Brightwater said looking at the x-rays ? And whoever splinted you up did a fine job as well." the Otter smiled.

"That would be Becka Woodland, Doc, she's my prospecting partner took that bear down with a Pick-Axe to the chest, kilt him dead, I'm so proud." Greg grinned. Becka blushed, the doctor looked over his glasses at the Badger.

"You took on a bear, with a Pick-Axe?" he asked incredulously.

"Not intentionally!" Becka squawked "It was what I had on hand it attacked Greg and I had to do something so I threw the pick I was using at it then went in with tooth and claws." she said grinning showing a maw full of sharp teeth and flexing the daggers at the end of her hands.

"That...is rather impressive." the doctor whistled. "You sure you didn't get hurt?" the doctor asked Becka shook her head

"Believe it or not I didn't get a scratch Greg said the pick to the chest did all the work I was just so afraid the bear had killed him, that I kinda lost it and just blindly attacked. In hindsight, not the wisest thing to do but it all worked out for the best." the Badger grinned sheepishly

"So it would seem. Well let's get you in a cast and see you on your way."

"Glad my emergency first aid coarse came in handy for something. It was part of some on the job training I had for a warehouse assignment."

"Well you did a good job taking care of your patient, _'doctor'_the otter winked.

"So how long you figure I'll be outta commission with this busted wing, doc?" Greg asked

"Anywhere fromsixto eightweeks but itcould be as long as twelve,being over 50 your bones don't mend as fast as they did in your youth."

"Well...Nutbunnies, That's gonna really put the kybosh on the season. I guess it can't be helped." the Possum grumped.

"I want you to take it easy with that arm, no overdoing it or it won't heal properly. I want you back here in four weeks for a check up." the Otter demanded.

"I hear ya doc..." Greg moaped

"And I want YOU to make sure he convalesces properly." the doctor said turning on Becka. "I am charging you to make sure he takes it easy."

Becka stood at attention snapping the Otter a crisp military salute "Yessir! I'll do my best sir, Greg can be stubborn, but it is what's best in the long run, right?" she asked.

"Indeed. He is very fortunate to have a partner as skilled and resourceful as you by his side."

"Where too, Greg?" Becka asked once they got back to the Jeep.

"Well we are over halfway home, might as well head back ta my place we can package up the rest of the bear meat, have a decent meal and head back to the claim in the morning, Iffin ya don't mind staying over that is?" the possum asked.

"Not at all love." Becka said pausing a moment. "Greg, that bear attack really scared me, I thought I lost you and I had never told you how I felt about you...about..._ Us. _ It may have been the heat of the moment back at camp but sitting at the clinic gave me time to think about it, and...."she sniffed as a tear crawled down her cheek.

Greg placed his left hand over hers with a squeeze and a nod.

"I know, darlin, ya have come ta mean a lot ta me as well, Prospecting can be a lonely life, and I am glad you have come to embrace it and share it with me just glad ta know that it's not one sided."

standing in the shop after running the cons they brought back from the field through the recirculating sluice Greg weighed out the bright shiny metal...

"With everything we pulled out so far, we have one hundred seventeen pennyweight or 5.85 troy ounces. with your quarter share, that comes to twenty eight and a half pennyweight, or almost an ounce and a half. One point four two five, But I think events of the day alter that, so I am going to up your cut to one third, or thirty nine pennyweight or one point nine five ounces. because you _ deserve _it. You have proven you can work hard and you are the kind of partner a person gets once in a lifetime if they are lucky... That okay with you, partner? Greg asked. Becka's jaw hit the floor.

"Are you sure about this Greg? You sure that isn't the painkillers talking?" she asked concerned. He chuckled weighing out her share and pouring it into a stout screw-top bottle and placing it in her hands.

"I'm sure, besides I haven't taken any of them yet. Becka...You understand what prospecting is all about, it may not be glamorous or easy, but there are benefits and rewards beyond the gold we pull out of the ground. If this week has proven anything is that you have what it takes to be a successful prospector. Call it that Pioneer Spirit or dogged determination or just a love of the great outdoors. I'm glad you are my partner. With the three pennyweight you got from your first panning you should have a total of about forty two pennyweight or a little over two ounces."

"Wow, what's that worth?" she asked adding the small vial to the larger jar.

"Let's see... forty two pennyweight, at sixty dollars a pennyweight comes to... Two Thousand, Five hundred and Twenty dollars." the Possum grinned.

Becka almost dropped the jar. "Oh My GOD! are you Serious?"she said in shock.

"Not too bad a haul for about a week in the field moving rocks.." Greg deadpanned.

"That's more than I made in almost two months at the warehouse and that was before Taxes!" The Badger exclaimed.

"You do realize, you are not going to always get hauls this good all the time." Greg advised.

"Oh yeah, some of the creek pans were not spectacular, but at the end of the day, it all adds up. Right?" she asked with a wicked smile. Holding up the jar and shaking it "It's soo Pretty!" she declared and giggled like a schoolgirl.

Greg chuckled shaking his head, "How does a nice bear steak sound with a cold beer and we put in a movie?" he asked leading her back in from the shop

Becka locked her eyes on his "Sounds delicious, hopefully he tastes better cooked than he did Raw." the Badger chuckled evilly rubbing her hands together. Sniffing the air she paused, Running her nose through the fur on her forearm she made a face. "Ugh I still smell like dead bear, I think I need a good hot shower to finally scrub the smell of that beast off my hide. I don't want to smell like roadkill when we cuddle." the Badger said giving Greg a kiss on the muzzle as she headed off to the bath.

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"So, Becka, ever see the movie Paint Your Wagon?" Greg asked from the kitchen.

"Nope, what's it about?" she asked coming into the kitchen in just her fur.

"Hope you don't mind, but I like being in just my fur around you." she said stepping up and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"I don't mind a bit darlin, you are one of them rare gals the_'Nothing_' looks good on!" he winked. "the movie is about the California gold rush. I think you might really enjoy it."

"Sounds fun, and those steaks smell fantastic! Shall I set it up for us?" she asked heading into the living room.

"Thanks hon it should be in the DVD rack next to the entertainment center." Greg called back.

"I thought _ I _ was the entertainment center!" Becka fired back with a giggle "Ah, here it is.... wow this does sound fun!" she called setting the disk in the player as Greg came in with a couple steaks on plates with foil wrapped baked potatoes.

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"That was a really good movie with a lot of memorable songs! And all the Gold! Was it like that? Spilled gold just swept under the floorboards?"

"Could be, you want to take a run up to some of the old ghost towns and rip up the floorboards?" Greg chuckled.

"Thinking about it..." Becka grinned.

"Wouldn't be worth it." Greg said "when this movie came out a lot of people had the same idea... which is why the few remaining ghost towns have almost no floor boards anymore."

"Oh well, it was just an idea." The Badger grinned and started to sing "I got that, Go-o-old Fever, Nothing can help you but the yellow stuff...What, can stop that itching _, ain_'t. around the kitchen, Gold. Gold. hooked am I. Suzanna go ahead and cry...Go-o-old Fever...Go-o-old Fever,...Go-o-old Fever, man, I_ love _ that song, it's sooo true!"

"Yup that it is, I must say Becka, ya have a lovely singing voice." Greg said.

"Aww not really, thanks. I sing mostly in the shower, but thanks." the badger smiled as a blush crept across her muzzle.

"Well I'm partial to it. So feel free to belt out those show tunes anytime ya want." the Possum grinned back at her.

"Speaking of songs, that one about being born under a wandering start really hit me, I almost cryed it just..." Becka sighed.

"I was born under a wandering star, Wheels were made for rolling, Mules were made to pack, I never saw a sight that didn't look better looking back..." Greg sang. "I was born under a wandering star,I was bo- __o_ rn under a wan-derin star, Mud can make you prisoner, and the plains can bake you dry, Snow can burn your eyes, but only people make ya cry... Home was made for coming from and dreams of going too, which, with any luck will never come true.._." Greg crooned Becka gasped.

"My God, I didn't know you could sing you sing just like that Mr. Rumson, more please!"

"Well okay,...When I get to heaven, tie me to a tree, for I'll begin to roam and soon you'll know where I will be... I was born under a wandering star, a w __a_ n-der i n, wa n- derin, Star..."_ Greg finished.

"That song really speaks to my soul, I guess it is a real prospectors song." Becka said with a sigh.

"Well you said you didn't like the idea of being tied down to a cube farm job, so that makes sense why it speaks to you hon." Greg said holding out his left arm, Becka cuddled in to fill it snuggling close Greg's hand resting on the Badgers breast.

"These are nice." He said fondling her and teasing her nipple into a craggy peak, Becka trilled her hand settling on the possum's crotch lightly caressing him 'awake'

"Like em? I grew them myself, ya know." she giggled. "Seems like someone wants to play! Would you mind... If I were careful, straddling you? I could really use a ride." Becka asked nuzzling Greg's cheek.

"I could use a bit of relief myself darlin it has been an eventful day. Thanks again for staying with me tonight, I truly appreciate everything you do Becka." Greg said as the naked Badger moved herself into position placing her hands lightly on his shoulders.

"Heh, I'll stay with you as long as you want me to... You are my partner, And Partner's help each other out." she gave a long throaty moan as he slid into her. "Oh yeah, you feel soo good in me, let me know if I get a bit too 'enthusiastic', okay?" she cooed into his ear as they slowly made love on the couch.

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