My first thought was that it would have to wait for a day until I could charge up the battery in the White's XLT. There may be enough "juice" in them to do the job but with a fully charged battery, there is little doubt that the machine is running at full capacity. He asked if I could call Jean Carter to see how we could work out a time to search, find out where the site is located and so that I could ask for some other pertinent information about how the ring was lost.

When I called, Jean had been waiting near the phone. I started the interrogation by asking some questions that were necessary to get an idea of how and where the loss occurred. Where were you when you noticed the ring was gone? I knew the ring was on my finger in the morning and by the evening it was gone. Not much information in that response. What did you do yesterday when you lost it? I started out at my brother's home, he is building a new house and I helped unload some rafters off of a truck. That sounded like the place to start, when working with heavy materials, a ring could slide off of your finger while moving around and you may not have noticed it. Were you wearing gloves and take them off while working? Your ring could still be inside the glove. No I didn't wear any gloves. What else did you do that day, did you wash some dishes? Yes, but I take my ring off and put it by the sink. Did you look there? Yes. What else did you do that day? I was at my brother's new house site, I was in our yard, and I also was at my other brother's home. That meant it could be in any one of the three yards, this was sounding like a big job.

Jean asked if I could make the drive to search the area where we assumed the ring had come off, at or near the new home site. I reminded her that the sun would be setting soon, the battery was probably low in my machine, but if she really wanted me to search, I would be glad to grab the XLT to meet Jean and her husband, Pat in a parking lot in Winona. She wanted to start searching now and not wait any longer. They had looked for a few hours trying to trace their activities, looking in the grass and everywhere the ring could have been.

I agreed to make the 15 mile drive and meet them. Arriving at the arranged location, I saw their vehicle immediately. It was easier for me to follow them to the site, there wasn't enough room in my vehicle because I had grabbed all three of my detectors, the White's XLT, my White's Eagle Spectrum and my White's Classic III, just in case the batteries caused some problems. Its always a good idea to have a back up detector. We had to drive another 15 miles to the site and I kept watching the sun getting lower and lower in the sky. What seemed like an eternity later we arrived, a quick glance at my watch - it was 4:00.

I asked where she had been working and she pointed to the pile of rafters still stacked against a bank. Jean then demonstrated the motions of unloading the lumber. I grabbed the XLT and showed Pat how to start it up. I started about 10 feet from where she was standing and made a visual pattern parallel to the bank. I fully expected to find the lost band of gold there but as I got closer and closer to the lumber, my doubts started rising. Getting nearer to the rafters, I had to avoid them because of the nail plates holding them together. Finishing up the area, my next thoughts were, what if Jean had lost the ring when she just started unloading? It was possible that the ring could be under the pile of rafters! We decided to move them and detect as we gained some ground to detect with my machine. As of yet the only signal that the XLT had given off was from the plates on the lumber and the signal I got when I tested the readings from my own wedding ring.

We had finished moving the materials completely and still hadn't found the elusive band. I detected on the bank. At last a signal! Looking down, I saw the piece of foil from a gum wrapper, I picked it up and put it in my pocket. Well at least I knew the machine was still operating. The time to ask some more questions arrived. Did you just stay down here or were you up by the other workers? Oh, I was all over this area, up by the picnic table and near the construction area. The next site to check was near the table, Jean had helped to serve some lunch for the family. I kept the machine on and the coil moving as we walked, explaining to Pat that the ring could be lying right there on the gravel road. Glancing around the table, I suggested that we remove the aluminum folding chairs and any other metallic items too close to the area to detect. I made the usual 3 foot wide pattern parallel to where the table had been. I asked also if the bonfire had been going on the previous day. No, we just made it today. I said that they better hope that the ring wasn't under the fire!

On the third pass and about 3 feet from the fire, I received only the second signal of the afternoon. The readings on the Liquid Crystal Display were on 36 and the depth after pinpointing showed 1.5 inches. This could mean a pull tab or it could be the target I'm looking for. I didn't say a word but got down on one knee to brush the soil and trampled dry grass. There in the brown dirt was a golden circle.

I picked it up and held it high passing it to its relieved owner. I said well that job is done, now we can go home! Jean was yelling over to the crew working on the house, "He found it!!" There were cheers and laughter echoing through the valley for several minutes. I received my usual hug from the grateful owner, its the only reward that I was willing to accept. We walked to where the vehicles were parked and I grabbed a soda from my cooler to celebrate. Pat made the comment that he was really impressed. Jean said that I was her "hero" and that she had really wanted that ring back in the worst way. I couldn't think of anything else to say but "That job is done, now lets go home." I glanced at my watch - 4:30, the whole search had taken only 1/2 hour including moving the lumber. Further discussions revealed what could possibly have caused the ring to come off. Jean had been playing a game with her niece in the approximate area of the recovery. She said the game involved trying to tie each others fingers in "knots" and there was a lot of twisting and pulling of fingers. Perhaps that is when the ring slipped off. It was on the drive home that I had realized the drive to the site had taken a lot longer than the actual search.

A few days later, a small card arrived in the mail from the Pat and Jean Carter family. Opening the card, there was a "Thank you" note and hand written words again stating that the ring was really dear to them. Also inside was a $20.00 gift certificate to a local restaurant! Now was the time to say "Thank You" to the Carter family for a fine meal with my wife, Nancy!

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