SILVER CIPHER

A storm loosens the cedar roots on Sehome Hill, and a sealed glass jar surfaces. Inside: a fragment of silver ore, a brass claim tag stamped 1855, and pages of symbols no one in Penrose can read.Ari Penrose sells books for a living and reads history for pleasure. He knows the tag should not exist. It belongs to Excelsior, the mining settlement that stood here before Penrose had a name and has neve...