Chapter 8: The Black Rock

Seeing the dim red glow of sunlight through his eyelids, Mikey awoke. He felt the hard countertop beneath him, and his jacket wadded up under his head as a pillow. He opened his eyes to see a dirty roof, and felt his stiff muscles and stinging forehead. It took him a moment to remember where he was.

Then he heard Edward Garofalo's cold voice in his head.

So it had all been real. The discovery of the spyglass, their chase through the night, and Brand and Andy's kidnapping. Mikey hoped that it had just been a nightmare. But that didn't matter now, there was work to be done.

Mikey shot up faster than his body liked, and looked around the abandoned gas station. His friends lied scattered about it, still in deep sleep. Mouth slouched against the wall with Stef resting her head on his stomach. Chunk snored dreamily on the floor, several empty bags of potato chips around him, while Data snoozed against the counter. In the back corner was Jackie, curled into a tight ball, her head on her knee.

"Chunk, Data, rise and shine!" Mikey shouted, kicking Chunk in the foot.

"Ugh… Wha…?

Seizing Mouth's shoulder, he shook him awake. "C'mon guys, there's no time to waste."

"Ug… Jeez, are we still here?" said Mouth through a yawn.

Approaching Jackie, Mikey dropped to a knee and gently placed a hand on her back.

"Jackie?" he whispered. "Jackie."

Jackie took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She too seemed to have forgotten where she was for a moment.

Mikey smiled at her. "It's time."

Jackie nodded, without smiling.

As they all rose to their feet, stretching and yawning, Mikey stepped out into the morning air. The sun had just barely crested the horizon.

He gathered his thoughts, trying to work out a strategy, a plan of action. The station door opened and Mouth joined him outside.

"Alright, Mike. So what's the plan?"

"The crown," said Mikey. "We have to find it."

"Good plan, Patton. So where is it?"

"I don't know, Mouth," Mikey snapped. "But we've only got one day, and we have to get started now."

"Getting an early start to nowhere still takes you nowhere," said Mouth. "So let's just think a second. Take a deep breath, get the cobwebs outta your head, soak up the morning light."

Mikey's eyes widened. "Morning light?"

"Yeah, dude. Take in some rays, it's good for ya. Nowadays, people are so paranoid about the sun. They think that just five minutes in it is gonna give em…"

"That's it!" Mikey shouted, fumbling around in his pockets.

"What's it?"

Mikey whipped out Crooked Joe's spyglass from his pocket.

"The Fires of the Morning Light! Remember? We have to look west, through the spyglass."

Mikey faced west and raised the telescope to his eye. He saw nothing but woods along the dusty road.

"Wait," said Mouth. "What are you supposed to see?"

"I dunno," said Mikey. "Some kind of beacon. But I need to get higher."

Not wasting a moment, Mikey tore across the street and into the woods, with Mouth in close pursuit.

"Mikey, wait!" he called after him.

Mikey didn't stop to listen as he ripped through the brush, finally skidding to a halt before a towering and ancient oak tree. He smiled.

"Give me a boost, Mouth," he said as he grabbed for the lowest branch. Mouth shrugged his shoulders and made a cradle for Mikey's sneaker.

"Sure hope you know what you're doing."

Mikey clambered up through the limbs and hanging leaves, climbing higher than he knew was safe. Lying on one of the highest branches, he was able to just barely peek over the canopy. He could see the tops of trees swaying gently in the morning air, the arched backs of low hills, and far in the distance, the ocean.

Trembling with eagerness, he raised the spyglass to his eye. He squinted through the distorted sea of color that flashed before him, which sent ghostly waves flowing through the woods.

He searched from one end of the horizon to the next, and amongst the trees on a distant hill, he saw it. A blazing white light, winking at him, beaconing him forth.

"I see it!" he shouted. "I see the beacon."

"Alright!" called Mouth. "We're gettin somewhere."

Mikey's excitement overwhelmed him and made him tremble, and his balance faltered. His back jerked to the side of the branch, his limbs clamping down hard for dear life.

"Whoa," he whispered, the rough bark digging into his skin. Behind him he heard the creaking of wood, and dared a glance backwards. The branch was beginning to break.

"Oh, crap," was all he could mutter before it snapped off, sending him plummeting to the ground.

He sailed through a mesh of leaves and limbs, before landing hard in a weak cradle of limbs ten feet off the ground.

"Mikey!" Mouth shouted. "Uh… don't move."

Mouth's feet darted aimlessly, unsure of what to do. The snapping of twigs filled the woods as the cradle holding Mikey began to sink.

"…Uh, Mouth?" Mikey stammered. The cradle shattered under Mikey's weight, dropping him hard. Mouth braced himself as Mikey came crashing down on top of him, and both of them hit the dirt.

Mouth shoved Mikey off of him, trying to gain back the wind that been knocked out.

"Well," he panted. "That was a great idea."

"At least we know where we're going now."

The two of them dusted themselves off and made their way back towards the gas station. Data was out front, filling up a few empty jugs from a water valve. Stef stood next to him, cutting into a can of peas with her pocket knife. She looked up to see Mikey and Mouth coming from the woods.

"Where were you two? Starting the adventure without us?"

"Nah," said Mouth. "Mikey just wanted to go down on me."

"Shut up, Mouth!"

Stef screwed up her face, but didn't ask any follow up questions.

"Have some breakfast," she said, offering them the can of peas.

"Are you serious?" asked Mouth.

"Hey, it ain't the breakfast of champions, but it's better than nothing."

Mikey let Mouth indulge first, and instead went back inside the station. Chunk was raiding the shelves for any salvageable food items he could find and throwing them into a black garbage back. All the while regaling Jackie with a heroic tale.

"As I rode toward the pillar of black smoke, I saw the entire nursing home up in flames. All the old people were still inside, screaming for help. That's when I knew it was up to me!"

Jackie listened politely, a smile on her lips. She seemed more interested in Chunk's passion for story-telling than the actual story. She came up from behind the counter with a first aid kit, slinging the strap over her shoulder.

"Hey, good idea," said Mikey with a smile.

"My mom's a nurse, so…" her voice trailed off, and a sad looked came to her eyes.

"You ok?" Mikey took a step closer.

"I was just thinking about my parents. They're probably worried to death about me."

"Yeah," said Mikey. "I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess mine are too. Especially since, y'know, this isn't the first time me and my brother have gone missing."

"Well, I don't usually make a habit of it."

Mikey smirked. "Hang with us long enough, and you might."

Jackie's eyes sunk to the floor, and she gave a shy smile.

"… and then I emerged from the flaming wreckage with Mrs. Struthers flung over my shoulder. The entire structure began to… Hey, is anyone listening?" Chunk glared at the two of them. "Now as I was saying…"

"We've heard it all before, Chunk."

Mikey searched beneath the counter for anything else of use, and discovered a large silver flashlight. After several vigorous flicks of the switch, he was able to light it.

"Hey, look at this," said Jackie, picking up a small, black cylinder under the counter.

"What is that?"

Jackie's finger found a button at the top of it. She grinned.

"Pepper spray."

"Uh… that stuff could be dangerous," said Mikey as he reached out and took hold of it. "You'd better let me hang on to it."

Jackie raised an eyebrow. "What, you don't think I'm capable?"

"I uh… just don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I think I can manage, Mike."

"Mikey!" came Mouth's voice from outside, too which Mikey was very grateful.

Stuffing the flashlight and pepper spray in his jacket pocket, he went back outside, Chunk in his wake. Jackie followed more slowly, with her arms crossed and giving Mikey an odd look.

Mouth, Stef, and Data all had jugs of water slung over their shoulders with twine. Mouth was finishing off the can of peas, a disgruntled look on his face.

"So what's up, Mike, where we headed?" he said, forcing himself to swallow the last of the peas.

"I know where we're going. I saw the beacon on a hillside, deep in the woods, towards the coast. I don't know what's out there, but it's the only thing we got."

The others nodded, and prepared to move out. Stef, however, just stood there.

"What if there's nothing out there, Mikey?" she said. "What if we find absolutely nothing?"

"Don't say that!" Data snapped at her. "We gotta believe this crown thing is out there. How else are we gonna help Brand and Andy?"

"There's nothing else we can do," said Mikey. "This Garofalo guy said he would kill them if we went to the police."

Mouth put a hand on Stef's shoulder. "It's the only chance we got."

Stef looked Mouth in the eye, a little taken aback by the surprising sincerity in his voice. She smiled at him.

"Don't wuss out on us now," he quickly added.

Growling, she slapped his hand off her shoulder.

Seeing as there was no way they could ride their bikes through the dense forest, they stashed them inside the station, where they hoped they would remain undisturbed. When they had prepared themselves as best they could, they set out for the beacon on the distant hill.

None of them talked much as they hiked. Each of their minds were drifting off to their own places. Their families, their homes. The danger that awaited them.

Mikey found the quiet calm of the forest comforting. The warm sun streaming through the trees, the singing of the birds, the wind in the leaves. He could almost believe him and his friends were simply on a relaxing walk in the woods. Then he would feel the weight of the spyglass in his pocket, and would set his jaw in determination.

"So, what's so important about this crown anyway?" Mouth said finally.

"No idea," said Mikey. "All I remember is something about some guy called Alfred the Great."

Mikey was met with blank stares and shrugged shoulders by everyone except Jackie.

"I know him," she said, squinting as she tried to remember. "My grandma was raised Catholic, so she talks about him sometimes."

"Was he a saint or something?" Stef asked.

"Sort of, but not really. I think he was one of the really early Kings of England after the Saxons took over." Jackie thought for another minute, and her eyes widened. "It was his crown that became the one worn by all English monarchs. It was the same crown that was taken by William the Conqueror when he invaded England."

"Holy shit," said Mouth. "So why the hell would that be in Astoria and not sitting in Margaret Thatcher's living room?"

"It wouldn't be," said Jackie with a furrowed brow. "It was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War."

"What year did that happen?" asked Mikey

"Uh… mid 1600's, I think."

"That was around the same time that One-Eyed Willy fled. Maybe the crown wasn't destroyed, maybe everyone just thought it was. Maybe Willy really did steal it. And if he stole it, maybe Crooked Joe stole it from him. Jesus guys, don't you get it? This thing could really be there!"

Mikey's excitement was not shared by his friends.

"If it is, Mike," said Mouth. "Then we're really in some deep shit."

"Hey guys, listen," said Data with his compass in hand. "It sounds like there's a stream over there. And this is right about where Mikey said he saw the beacon."

Mikey darted ahead of the rest of them, cresting a small incline ahead. From out of the cliff on the nearby hill poured a wide, roaring waterfall, feeding a small river. Mikey smiled. It reminded him of a place he might read about in Huck Finn.

"Oh, wow," said Chunk, coming up behind Mikey.

"It's beautiful," said Jackie with a smile.

Mikey looked towards the top of the waterfall, and there he saw it. A large rock, standing in the middle of the rushing torrent, made of black volcanic glass.

"There it is guys!" he shouted, his finger stabbing the air. "The black rock."

Mikey grabbed hold of the spyglass and raised it towards his eye. Under the noon sun, the rock glimmered weakly, but in the morning light, it had been the blazing beacon Mikey had seen.

"So we made it?" said Data. "The crown is here?"

"Maybe," said Mikey. "Look around, there's gotta be a clue or something. Maybe near the waterfall."

While the rest of them fanned out, Chunk made his way downstream towards a calmer spot.

"Water!"

Dumping the garbage bag full of food, he plunged his round face into the river.

Upstream, Mouth waded into the water, taking a close look at the base of the waterfall.

"You don't think it's beneath the waterfall, do you?" he said to Stef.

"Do you wanna swim under there and find out?"

"No way! You do it."

Data pressed himself against the cliff face and inched his way towards the falling water. Tiptoeing across the large rocks, he brought himself right up next to it.

"Hey guys!" he yelled, quivering with excitement. "I see something! I think there's a cave behind the waterfall."

"All right!" Mikey shouted back. Now they were on to something. They just might succeed.

"Wait," said Mikey. "Where's Chunk?"

"He went down there," said Stef. "I'll get him."

Stef made her way downstream while the others gathered by the waterfall. She saw Chunk by the water, gulping huge mouthfuls of it. Then she looked behind him, and her jaw dropped.

"Hey Stef," said Chunk. "I'll tell ya, this adventuring stuff really works up a thirst, y'know. Plus, I hate nature."

"Chunk," said Stef in a horrified whisper.

"What?"

Then he heard it. A low, fearsome growl.

Chunk's face turned a deathly white, and he dared a glance over his shoulder. His nose nearly brushed the big black snout of a monstrous grizzly bear. It stood hunched on all fours, its fur ruffled and skin scratched from some recent battle. Its cold dark eyes were fixed on Chunk, burning with hunger.

"Uhhh… help," he whimpered.

"Chunk, don't… move."

"Uhhhh…."

"Don't… move."

The bear revealed a chaotic mass of fangs, dripping with drool and the blood of its last victim.

"AAAAGGGHHHHH!"

Chunk shot to his feet and bolted up the river, not realizing his fat fist still clung to the bag of food. Forgetting her own advice, Stef ran too, echoing Chunk's scream.

The grizzly loosed a deafaning roar and bounded after his prey.

By the waterfall, Mikey, Mouth, Data, and Jackie turned towards the commotion.

"Hey, what's going…?" Mouth began.

They saw Chunk and Stef come barreling towards them, the great grizzly less than a second behind.

"Holy shit!"

"Get inside! Get inside!" Data screamed.

Mouth, Data, and Jackie dived under the waterfall and into the cave. Stef, not wasting a breath, plunged into the river and swam under it.

The grizzly opened its maw to bite into Chunk.

"Chunk! Drop the food!" shouted Mikey.

Without even thinking about it, Chunk dropped the garbage bag. It slammed on the ground, sending cans spilling across the rocks.

The grizzly grinded to a halt and buried its nose in the black bag. Chunk plowed into Mikey, wrapping his arms around him so tight he squeezed the wind out of him.

"Make it go away! Make it go away!"

"Chunk… let go…" Mikey choked. "Get inside!"

Chunk dropped Mikey and darted under the waterfall. Mikey didn't wait to see what the bear would do, and dove into the cave after his friends.

All of them now stood in the small cave, dripping wet and gasping for air. The roar of the falling water echoed off the walls, drowning out all other sounds.

"Is it gone?" Jackie shouted above the torrent.

"Sshhh," Mikey hissed. "Let's just sit tight until it goes away."

They quietly huddled together, both shivering from the cold and quaking with fear. They stood in silence, looking at each other with bulging eyes.

"Well," said Mouth. "It must be gone by now."

As if it had heard him, the grizzly bear exploded through the waterfall, roaring like a dragon. It swiped its claw toward the group of them. They scattered like ants, their screams filling the cave.

They had nowhere to flee. They pressed themselves together against the back wall of the cave, Mikey in the front. The grizzly's foul breath filled his nostrils as it readied its fangs to sink into him.

Shutting his eyes tight, Mikey was scarcely aware of Jackie's arm around his waist, clinging to him for safety. At least he thought that was why, until he felt her hand fishing in his jacket pocket.

Before the bear could rip into Mikey, Jackie drew the black cylinder of pepper spray. She aimed squarely for the bear's black eye and squeezed the trigger.

A cone of burning white mist consumed the bear's face. Moaning in agony, it shot back from them, its paws beating at its eyes. The grizzly staggered under the waterfall and out of the cave, yelping like a wounded dog.

It took a long moment for any of them to fully register what had just happened. Jackie stood frozen with her arm outstretched, gasping for air.

"Whoa…" said Mouth. "That… was… AWESOME!"

The rest of them jumped at the outburst.

"You were so scared, Chunk! You were like wheezing! That bear was all like RAAAR, and we were all like AAAAHHHH! Stef, the look on your face when he-"

Stef beat her open palm across Mouth's face.

"OW!"

"Are you crazy! We all could have been killed!"

As Mouth and Stef began to squabble, Mikey turned to Jackie.

"Uh… quick thinking," he said with an awkward stutter. "You saved our lives."

"Yeah," said Chunk. "You totally maced a bear. That's pretty cool!"

Jackie smiled, finally lowering her arm. "Somebody has to save us kids. You want this back?"

"No, no! You… you keep it," said Mikey. Jackie gave Mikey a playful slap on the arm as she pocketed the pepper spray.

"Hey look," said Data. "I don't think we're the first ones to find this cave."

Mikey turned to see Data pointing at a faded peace sign sketched on the wall with pink chalk. Beneath it sat the remains of a decades old fire pit.

"All right!" said Mouth. "Looks like some free love happened here!"

"Shut up, Mouth," said Stef.

"So wait, is this it?" asked Jackie. "Is this where the crown is hidden?"

"Could be," said Chunk. "But I think we would have heard about a couple of hippies finding an ancient crown in a cave."

"Come on guys, we've come this far. Don't give up now," said Mikey.

There wasn't much in the cave to explore. It was a single room with no tunnels or offshoots. Besides the fire pit and the graffiti, its only feature was a large flat stone against the back wall. Mikey stooped to take a look at it. Leaning in close, he blew away a patch of dirt. The others gathered around, leaning over his shoulder.

Etched in the rock was a skull and crossbones. Mikey's face could barely contain his smile.

"Drink up me hearties, yo ho!"

Mikey shot to his feet and grabbed the side of the rock.

"Come on guys, help me."

They each took hold of the rock and began to pull. Chunk whimpered, Data panted, and Mouth did his best Schwarzenegger growl. Mikey lifted his feet from the ground and pressed them against the wall of the cave.

"Pull! Puuuuull!"

Like the snap of a gun, the rock fell from the wall, bringing the Goonies down with it. A suffocating blanket of dirt and dust erupted from behind it.

Coughing and sputtering, they wiped the dust from their eyes and climbed to their feet. Mikey took a step forward to see what they had uncovered, and looked into the pitch black maw of a tunnel.