Paul Mendelsohn

Gold's Fool: a Lake Murray Tale Paul Mendelsohn

The year is 1929. Two sixteen year-old migrant boys, Charlie Griffin and Emerson Moore, find a huge gold nugget while working in South Carolina on the world's biggest earthen dam. Charlie is killed when the tunnel they are digging caves in. Emerson survives and keeps their discovery a secret. Seventy-three years later Blake Lubeck, a greedy and ambitious businessman, hears the legend of Lake Murray's gold. The earthen dam undergoes reinforcement because it lies on an earthquake fault. During construction the lake is lowered, exposing buried villages and Emerson's secret. With the help of a cruel hit man and a callous woman, Lubeck begins his campaign to become rich. In order to salvage the gold, he must dig under the dam without anyone knowing. Inevitably, someone finds out. Lubeck resorts to blackmail and murder to keep his secret. Two hurricanes and a ghost upset Lubeck's plans. Monsoon rains fill up the lake and threaten to breach the weakened dam. Will the courage of a young boy and his great-grandfather's spirit be enough to save a city from Gold's fool?