Hidden Jewel (Landry 4)

"Well, this house here belongs to the Tate family," the older man said. "No one told me anyone would be coming around today. I didn't mean to scare you, but we kinda keep our eye on it for them."

"I understand," Daddy said. "We thought my wife might have come here."

"Your wife?" The older man looked at the younger one, who shrugged. "We ain't seen nobody but you two," he replied. "Right, Jack?"

"Nobody," the younger man said.

Daddy nodded. "I've got to get to a telephone," he said. "Where's the closest one?"

"You can come over to the trailer and use ours. My name's Bart. I'm the foreman." He extended his hand, and Daddy shook it. "This here is Jack Clovis. He's the one looks over number twenty-two." Daddy shook his hand too, but he turned back to me.

"It's nice to finally meet the owner," Jack said, nodding at me. "Hello." He held out his hand, and I took it quickly.

"Hi," I said. We shook. My hand felt so tiny in his strong fingers and thick palm.

"Well's still doin' real good," Jack said.

"I don't even know which one it is," I said.

"Really?" He looked amazed and turned to Bart.

"What she have to know which one it is for?" Bart said. "She just has to know where the money's kept." When Jack looked at me again, I thought I saw disappointment in his eyes.

"I'd like to know," I said quickly.

Jack beamed a smile. "Glad to show you," he said. I looked at Daddy, who seemed surprised at my sudden interest. Then he looked at Jack Clovis and smiled. "You can go look at it if you like, honey, while I go to the trailer to call Aunt Jeanne and home."

"I don't want to trouble anyone," I said.

"Oh, heck, it won't be any trouble," Jack said quickly.

Bart laughed. "Jack's been waiting for someone to talk to about his well for months now."

"It's Miss Andreas's well," Jack reminded him. "Not the way you brag about it," Bart retorted.

Jack's deep brown complexion took on a crimson tint. "I'd love to see it," I said.

Jack straightened his shoulders. "Right this way, ma'am," he declared.

"I'll come and get you," Daddy said. He left the house with Bart, and I walked out with Jack, who pointed toward the rigs.

"Yours is fourth from the left there," he said. "You know anything about oil?"

"Just that it comes in a can," I said, and he laughed so hard I thought he would crack a rib.

"It doesn't come in a can, ma'am."

"Please, call me Ruby."

"Ruby. Oil starts as crude oil deep in the ground. It takes several million years to be formed," he said in a tone of almost religious respect. "You know what it comes from, right?"

I shook my head. It seemed as long as I was willing to listen about oil, Jack Clovis was willing to talk.

"Dead plants and animal material that lie buried in sedimentary rock. So," he said, smiling at me. "You can see why it takes a while to get into that can." "Do all those rigs have oil?" I asked.

"All the ones you see here are called

development wells because this is a known oil field," he continued. "Even so, some of them were dry. We call them dusters. There's one," he said pointing at one that stood still. "Once the oil is pumped up," he continued, "we put it in a metal tank called a separator, to separate the oil from the natural gas and water. Then it's stored in those stock tanks. It gets shipped off to the refinery where it's turned into the product you buy."