Rick had been forced off the gold fields by a severe knee injury which required a six thousand dollar emergency surgery. Although he rushed back onto an old lease ten days sooner than doctor’s orders, Rick had a low gold tally, and he needed to find more gold to cover the huge surgery bill. Rick knew that he was behind the season and needed to find a considerable amount of gold to make a profit.
Despite the pain, Rick continued to hunt for gold, and the thrill of finding it kept him going. With each swing of his detector coil, Rick hoped to find a monster nugget that could cover his medical bills and make a significant profit. He discovered a few small nuggets, but they were not enough to cover his bills.
Finally, Rick found a loud target that turned out to be a large gold nugget, weighing around three or four ounces. Excited by the find, Rick called his partner, Jacinda, to share the news. Jacinda was ecstatic, and they both couldn’t wait to weigh the nugget. If the nugget was as heavy as Rick thought, it could be worth more than $16,000, enough to cover his medical bills and make a considerable profit.
Despite his sore and sorry state, Rick knew that he couldn’t go home yet. He needed to find more gold, and the hunt kept him going. He found a few more targets, but they turned out to be worthless bullet casings. Nevertheless, Rick continued his search for gold, hoping to strike it rich and make up for lost time.
