Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: Chief Mankiller's Lost Treasure (Tales from the Magic Kingdom)

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#1  Edited By mrmonster

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: Chief’s Mankiller’s Lost Treasure

I’ll never forget that day: the day a strange man in an even stranger suit came up to me while I was at work.

“Good afternoon officer.” He greeted.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Well yes, I was thinking you could.” He said. “I heard you used to work on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.”

“Yeah, I did.” I said. “Now can I help you with a law enforcement matter?”

“No, you seem to have law enforcement around here covered.” He said.

“Then please be on your way.” I said.

“You sure?” He asked before tossing a gold nugget at my feet.

“Sir, if you are attempting to bribe…”

“Oh no, no bribes.” He said. “Just a gift. And there’s more where that came from if you meet me for a drink after your shift ends.”

_________

Not many people still talked about the Big Thunder Mountain.

The Big Thunder Mountain used to be the heart of our town’s economy. At one point, half the men here, including myself, worked up there. Given that I was a half-deaf veteran of the Civil War (and the losing side no less), mining was just about the best thing I could do for myself, and for a while, it was pretty good living. But overtime, the mine just stopped producing gold. About ten years ago, the final nail of the mine’s coffin was planted when a flash flood destroyed most of the track and killed a good portion of the miners. The owners simply decided to cut their losses and close the mine completely, and the whole town suffered as a result. Ten years later, and I’m one of the mine’s few workers in town who didn’t leave.

I wanted to just forget that part of my life; but still, I was too curious not to meet the fellow at the saloon.

When I saw him sitting at a table, drinking beer and smoking a pipe, I walked up to him and bluntly asked “What do you want?”

“My name’s Jonathan Cole.” He said. “And you’re Abraham Schneider, I take it.”

“Yes.” I answered. “Now, what do you want?”

“I believe there’s still treasure in the Big Thunder Mountain.” He said. “And I want you to help me find it.”

“What makes you so confident?” I asked.

“Oh, I have my sources.” He said. “Listen, help me find what I’m looking for, and I’ll give you rewards beyond what you’d ever make in this craphole of a town.”

He could tell I was hesitant.

“Look, it’s a completely victimless crime.” He continued. “The land owners have long abandoned the mine, they don’t even know what’s down there. And even if they did, they wouldn’t know where to look for it. You have literally nothing to lose and everything to gain. So, what’s it gonna be?”

_________

The next day, we left. I had a Deputy cover for me, and I went to join Jonathan at the entrance to the mine.

“Who’s all these folks?” I asked as I pointed to three men who were there to join us.

“Oh, they’re just here for protection.” He explained. “Never know what can happen in these old mines.”

“Very well.” I said. I also had a handgun concealed under my coat. “Do you have the map?”

He then handed me an old, faded, and crumbled up map. But still, I could tell exactly where their treasure was.

“Follow me.” I said as I lit a lantern.

______

Even though it had been years, I still remembered those catacombs by heart.

“Alright, here’s where the map is leading to.” I said, as we entered an empty, dead end chamber.

“You sure?” Cole asked.

“Positive.”

“Alrighty then.” Cole said before pulling a bottle out of his jacket.

“You really gonna get a drink right now?”

“Oh, this is no drink.” He said. “This here is nitroglycerin.”

“You serious?” I asked. “You telling me that you’ve been carrying nitroglycerin this entire time? You could’ve blown us sky high.”

“Calm down, I know what I’m doing.” He said. “Now everyone get out of this room, unless you wanna die.”

_______

He set the bottle down near one of the cave walls, and once everyone had cleared out, he pulled his gun and shot the bottle. It caused an explosion that revealed that one part of the cave wall was actually hiding something behind it.

“Gentlemen, we have our riches.” Cole said as he entered a room filled with Native American artifacts.

“Wait, I thought you said this had gold.”

“I said it had treasure.” He explained. “And it does. The lost treasure of Chief Mankiller, a Native American war chief who stashed his treasure in this mountain right before his last battle with settlers. And we get to split it four ways.”

“I’m sorry, four ways?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, that’s the best part. We’re done with you.” Cole said before drawing his gun and firing at me.

_______

Thankfully, the bullet only grazed me. Another inch or so, and I’d have been a goner, but all I got in that cave was a flesh wound.

But still, I had to play dead. It was one versus four, there’s no way I could've won in a fair fight. Luckily, it only took them a minute or so to grab the treasure and be on their way.

Once they were gone, I knew I needed to make a plan. I couldn’t beat them all at once. But then, I remembered that just around the corner, there was something I could use.

I even checked the railroad tracks; they were all in good enough shape. And then, I found her, the train I used to operate back when the mine was open. There was even charcoal left behind in the engine.

“Perfect.” I said to myself as I pulled a match out of my coat and tossed it in the engine. From there, all I had to do was wait for her to start back up and ride her again.

________

I caught up to them just moments before they were going to exit the mountain.

At first, they were stunned; they heard the train coming, but were dumbfounded as to who was riding it or how it even got started at all.

I stopped the train right at the mouth of the cave. If they wanted to leave, they were gonna have to go through me, and I wasn’t gonna let them.

One of them fired at me. He missed and hit the side of the train. I returned fire and hit him right in the forehead.

Cole began running away while his friends opened fire. It would’ve been difficult to outshoot both at once with just a handgun, but then I remembered the shotgun I always kept hidden underneath the train car’s floor.

I then fired through a gap in the train's outer metal lining, and killed both of them.

Then, I turned to Cole. Only bad part about trains is that they can’t go backwards, so I had no choice but to pursue on foot.

I lost him when he turned a corner and went down one of a handful of tunnels. And then, from wherever he was hiding, he fired at me, and I was forced to take cover against one of the cave walls.

“Thanks for doing me a favor back there.” Cole said. “Now I don’t have to split the treasure four ways.”

He fired at me again, and this time, I saw the flash of his gun; I knew where he was hiding.

After he took his next shot, I immediately jumped out of cover, turned, and fired. Killed him with one shot.

_________

Turns out Cole was right; I did end up a rich man that day. All I had to do was ride a few days to Houston, find the right antiques broker, and then I never had to look back at the Big Thunder Mountain ever again.

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@cbishop Possible addition to Wild Western?

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@cbishop Possible addition to Wild Western?

Good story, but no. This is Disney-related. Wild Western is original fiction.

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@cbishop said:
@mrmonster said:

@cbishop Possible addition to Wild Western?

Good story, but no. This is Disney-related. Wild Western is original fiction.

Fair enough.