Page 39 of Schooling Little Sage

“It stays with the apartment, they all come furnished. We’ll have different stuff in the new one. Come on, let’s head to our first stop.”

More than one stop?

Hmm, sneaky Daddy.

We came outside and walked toward that big mountain next to our apartment building. “Are we going hiking, Daddy?”

“No, sweet boy. This is the Sapphire Mines.”

“Isn’t that where the miners work?” I’d seen it on the map but figured it was for the miner people.

“No miners here except for you.” Daddy winked. “It’s a decommissioned mine that’s been turned into a fun space. I’m told it’s a favorite with all the Littles.”

Funny, no one mentioned it to me.

We walked inside and right into some sort of gift shop full of neat stuff. “Look, Daddy, a treasure chest.”

“Argh, that be for your booty, matey,” a guy wearing a Rawhide Ranch shirt said. “Welcome to Gem Mountain, I’m Roman. What’s your name?” he asked me.

“I’m Sage, this is my Daddy.”

“Hello, Sage and his Daddy, it’s nice to meet you. Are you here to mine or shop today?”

I looked up at Daddy, not sure how to answer.

“Hello, Roman, we’ll be doing both. This is Sage’s first time here.”

“Excellent, we love first timers. May I recommend starting with mining first, then ending in the gift shop.”

“I get to mine? Like for my own rocks and stuff? Do I get to keep them?”

“Aye, you do, matey. And there be more than rocks in that there mine.”

“Daddy, he’s a pirate. This is so cool!” My feet had a mind of their own, dancing and tapping away. I couldn’t wait to find all the buried treasure.

“It is. Ready to go inside?”

“Yes, please, Daddy.”

“Follow me into the Exploration Zone.” Roman pointed to the sign that hung above the entrance.

There were a couple of other people back there. One was digging through buckets and making a mess. Their Big wasn’t very happy with them. Every time he’d get it cleaned up, the naughty boy would dump the bucket over again. The other one was working on this giant table with water running through it with his Big supervising.

“That’s the sluicing table,” Roman said. “Since it’s in use right now, let’s start with a tour of the mine.”

“’kay.” Daddy held my hand as we walked around the room.

“Along this wall are photos of the miners who used to work here. The main source of this old shaft was sapphires. Do you know what those are?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir, they’re pretty blue stones.”

“Yes, ones that match your eyes.”

“That’s what Daddy says.” I smiled and Daddy squeezed my hand.

“Sometimes you’ll find pieces they missed in those buckets over there,” he pointed to where that boy was making a mess. “Those are for you to sift through and search for buried treasure using that table where the other boy is at.”

“Someone is getting a spanking as soon as we get home.” That Big was mad at his boy for sure, but that boy still wasn’t listening.