Chapter 9

On the other side of the mountain past the waterfall trail there were two men hiking through the tall trees. There mission wasn't that of rest and relaxation, it was to retrieve something that they were owed. They were having a family reunion of sorts, eager to 'catch up' on old times.

"How much further is it, my feet are killing me!" The younger of the two had been whining since they had started their trek uphill.

"You know if you weren't my brother, I would have pushed you over that last bluff an hour ago!" He spat at him.

"Well I don't understand why you couldn't have buried it somewhere flat! I mean why did ya haffa stick it way up here!"

"I'm telling you to shut up, already! This is a public park! You don't know if we're gonna come across hikers or campers! That's all we need is for someone to hear you hollering about buried treasure!" He often seriously wondered if their Mother had smacked his kid brother on the head one too many times.

"Oh Derek, please don't be sore at me! I'm sorry I'll try to be quiet...." The younger man whimpered.

The blond man put up his hand; signally they were going to stop for a short rest break. They had covered a large distance; they were a slightly ahead of schedule. They weren't meeting at the actual hiding place; he would only take them to it when they were all together.

"Danny calm down! I'm not mad at you; listen, you know how much money we're gonna have, right? This is the last day that your belly is gonna be hungry. I just don't want anything to go wrong; you don't want me to go back to prison do ya?"

"NO! Oh please you can't leave me again! I tried staying at home but Momma gets real mad! She hits me on the head all the time! I promise I'll do whatever you want!" He was actually shaking at the possibility.

"Alright, now let's keep moving. The faster we get there, the sooner we can get our money and we can go away where Momma can never hurt you again." He could care less about any one else in this world but his kid brother didn't deserve what that Witch did to him.

It was only another fifteen minutes or so of walking before they were at their destination. In perfect timing the other two men were headed up the opposite side of the tree line. They were a few years older were a lot more haggard looking then the younger brothers. They also carried something that the others didn't, 9mm handguns on their hips and bowing knives tucked into their boots.

"Long time no see Burt!" Derek called out to the taller one as they approached them. He had been the only one who knew exactly where the money had been hidden. Since he was the only one who had been prosecuted for the bank job; he wanted to make certain that the money would still be there when he got out.

"So you finally convinced the parole board that you are a changed man?" Burt responded with a sly grin. His teeth would never be on a toothpaste commercial, they were a sickening shade of gray.

"But of course, I just looked them right in the eye and said that I would be a good little boy!" He did his imitation of an angelic smile, which came across as anything but.

The other man finally spoke up. "Did you really have to bring the retard?" He pointed one of his bony fingers towards Danny.

"I am NOT retarded! Tell 'um Derek....tell 'um I'm not stupid!" Danny was all but hiding behind him as he shouted back at the others.

"Easy Danny, take it easy!" He shot a look at the heavier set man. "He's not an idiot; he's just a little slow!"

"Now, now gentlemen; we are losing sight of the reason we all have met here today...the money. Let us go to the hiding spot, once we dig it up we can all say our goodbyes and never lay eyes on each other again." Burt was stockier than Sid; his partner in the numerous heists they had pulled off over the years.

"OK, then would you care to follow me? I'll take you to the site, look there are bound to be people all around, so we should try and look like just another group of hikers walking the trails."

The men headed off. Their trek would take them to the top of the mountain and down the other side....to the trail of 92 waterfalls, exactly where the friends were already hiking and enjoying each others company.