Pedro's Pan. Matthew Lasley

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      Pedro’sPan

      Written by Matthew LasleyIllustrated by Jacob Souva

      A Gold Rush Story

      He is Pedro, and I am Pan. Up here, on Pedro’s pack!

      I am not a Frying Pan. I am a Gold Pan.

      You can call me Pan for short.

      Pedro is a prospector. He likes looking for gold, and I help him.

      Looking for gold is hard work.

      It means a lot of walking and digging. There are no roads or trails out here, so we have to climb over mountains. We whack our way through thick brush. We wade through cold streams.

      And I am always on the lookout for wild animals.

      But it is not all work. We have fun, too.

      I like hiking up the snow-peaked mountains so we can slide back down!

      Pedro enjoys berrypicking.

      And we both love cooking over a campfire.

      On rainy days I keep his head dry.

      On sunny days I shade Pedro’s eyes.

      But no matter what we do, we like searching for gold most of all.

      We wade through icy creeks searching for signs of gold. Pedro scoops up a small white stone.

      “Quartz,” he says. “This might be the place to find gold.”

      Pedro fills me up with gravel from the stream bank and then lowers me into the water before giving me a good shake. This settles any gold to the bottom of the pan. Then he dips me in and out of the stream, carefully washing away the dirt.

      The water is cold, but it is the only way we can find what we’re looking for.

      Look, Pedro! Is that gold?

      Pedro shakes his head and dumps the dirt back into the water.

      Creek after creek, we search. Pedro sifts some fine black sand through his fingers and smiles. “This might be the place to find gold.”

      He dips me in the water and fills me with gravel and dirt.