Through the Oval Lens

The San Juan Mountains were once loaded with silver. Prospectors staked their claims and started digging. Eventually the ore ran out and the miners did the same, leaving behind a labyrinth of tunnels and the budding communities built around them. When a pristine nineteenth-century silver dollar shows up in a small-town antique store, latent passions are rekindled. Sixteen-year-old Dalton is a newcomer to the mountains. An upcoming deer hunt with a new rifle and the hope of getting to know a girl he's seen in a nearby town offer consolation as he prepares to start at a new school. But as classes begin, a local youth is reported missing. Surprisingly, he's not the first in the idyllic region. Sadly, he won't be the last. As Dalton takes in stunning perspectives of an adjacent mountain from a picture window in his second-story bedroom, he discovers the remnants of a mining camp. When the peaceful views become distorted and obscured, he turns to his powerful hunting scope for clarity. Dalton's fate, and the future of the mountain town, hinge on the observations and judgments he makes through the oval lens.