Her Cheating Cost Her a Fortune

I landed the job as a zookeeper, and I called my girlfriend Winifred Henson to share the good news. All I got was a cold little laugh of disgust.

"How is being a zookeeper any different from shoveling manure? Dirty, smelly, exhausting. It's humiliating!"

"Look at Grant, our old class president. He opened his own convenience store, walks in and out of that place like somebody. That's a face you can be proud of."

"Quit, now. Or we're done!"

There was nothing I could do, so I went to find the zoo director. On the way I heard the thoughts of a few wolves in the enclosure next door.

"That pile of gold in the back hills, how has nobody found it yet?"

"Haven't been up to the back hills for a walk in ages. Whoever takes me next time, I'll tell them."

In that second, my heart was slamming against my ribs.

"You sure you want to quit?"

The director said it plainly.

I shook my head fast. "I'm not quitting! I promise I'll do the job well!"

...

The director and I agreed I'd start work the next day. Then I bought two cartons of cigarettes and went to Winifred's place, wanting to tell her the good news in person.

The moment we saw each other, Winifred said, "Tomorrow you start at Chris's Corner Store as stockroom manager. Thirty-five hundred a month, one meal covered."

"I'm not going."

I shook my head. "A zookeeper's base pay is six thousand a month, plus full benefits, three meals a day."

"And I heard the wolves—"

Before I could finish, Winifred blew up, practically screaming. "Didn't I tell you to quit? Can't you understand plain words?"

Her parents' faces hardened too.

"Stockroom manager sounds respectable when you say it. But no, you have to go be some pathetic zookeeper."

"Can't you show a little ambition? Christian's the boss. Stick with him and you'll have a future."

I honestly didn't get it.

Pay-wise, the zoo paid more, with better benefits.

Future-wise, a zookeeper could rise to supervisor, then manager.

Where exactly did it fall short of stockroom manager?

"Reuben Henson, Summer, Winifred."

Just then Christian James appeared in the doorway.

Reuben and Summer rushed to greet him.

"Christian, come in, sit. I'll call in some food for lunch."

"Have a cigarette first. You and I are going to have a good drink this afternoon."

Watching all of it.

Something in me went sour.

Every time I came over, I brought something, and Reuben and Summer always stayed cold with me.

The one and only time they ever fed me, it was the leftovers from the night before.

Christian showed up empty-handed, and the two of them lit up warm as anything, ordering food, handing over cigarettes.

I looked at Winifred.

Instead, she went to the kitchen, sliced up a plate of fruit, and set it in front of Christian.

Another thing I'd never gotten.

"No need to fuss over me. I just stopped by to sit for a bit, and it's a good chance to talk about Herbert Gilbert's work."

Christian smiled, then turned and fixed his eyes on me, saying it with a certain relish. "Work with me, you'd better be able to take it."

"Stock comes in at four. Inventory at ten at night."

I heard that.

Wasn't that just lining up a cheap pair of hands?

Reuben and Summer chimed right in, smiling. "Young people should eat a little hardship."

"This job, I can't do it."

I turned it down flat.

"Are you out of your mind!"

Winifred grabbed a glass of water and threw it in my face. "Christian has vision, he has experience, he's willing to bring you along on the work. That's your good fortune."

"There's something in the hills behind the zoo—"

On reflex I nearly told them the secret of the gold, but the words came right back up my throat and I swallowed them.

Wealth isn't meant to be flashed around, after all.

The Hensons trusted Christian. I didn't trust him one bit.

"Something what? A mountain of gold and silver? Enough to have you this obsessed?"

Winifred was even angrier now.

Her parents shot me blaming looks too, clearly convinced I didn't know a good thing when I saw it.

"Don't fight over something this small."

Christian played the peacemaker, all fake. "Since Herbert's not willing, then forget it. I'm not going to keep offering a warm face just to get a cold shoulder."

"I'll head out."

He'd barely stood up when Winifred yanked him back down.

"You're not the one who should be leaving."

She whipped her head around and glared at me. "Go home and think this over, hard!"

"Either you go with Christian, or we break up!"

With that she shoved me toward the door with everything she had, then slammed it shut behind me.

I let out a bitter laugh, took out my phone, and texted Winifred: 【There really is gold in the hills behind the zoo. Keep it to yourself!】