NIGHTIE POV
Shorty and I were made slave miners by the Thuggees. Our ankles and wrists were chained together, and we swung pickaxes. Shorty explained what happen to Dad, and I lost hope. The next day, I stopped swinging my pickaxe to rest my aching shoulders, and rough hands grabbed me. A whip struck my left cheek, I put my fingers to the stinging area. I felt a really large and deep gash across my cheek. When I looked at my hand, blood completely covered my fingertips! I picked up my pickaxe again and got to work, after another whipping to my left arm. "Nightie, are you all right?" Shorty whispered. I nodded, silently sobbing. Suddenly, I could feel the chain around my ankles being struck, I looked to see Short Round striking it with his pickaxe. "What are you doing?" I whispered. "You got to escape, save Dr. Jones, and Willie." he said, striking harder, and faster. "But what about you?" I asked. "Don't worry about me, I catch up!" he said smiling. Soon the chains binding by ankles were broken, and he began working on my hands. After those were broken, I hugged him. "Hurry Shorty, I don't want to lose you." He blushed a deep red. "You won't." he promised. I took off running, I grabbed Dad's gear, and started climbing the ladder. I heard a Thuggee voice yell out in Hindu. I may not have spoken the language, but I didn't need to, I knew I had been spotted. When I got to the top, I pushed the ladder down, and grabbed the rope hanging from the ceiling. As I climbed it, I could hear the other children cheering for me. This was giving them hope! I made a silent promise to them, that I would wake up Dad, and we would save every single one of them. I rushed through the caravan, searching for my father. I managed to get to the sacrificing room, they were lowering Willie into the pit, and Dad was just watching! I ran over to him, and shook his wrist. "Dad, wake up, please!" I pleaded. He growled at me as he pulled his hand away from me, and backhanded my right cheek as hard as he could, causing it to swell too. Tears stung my eyes as I looked up at him. He began to chuckle at my pain, and that hurt more than my cheek. The guards started to chase me, I ran to the wall and grabbed a torch to defend myself. One tried to grab me, and I stabbed his chest with my burning weapon. He shook his head, and looked around super confused. "Where am I?" he asked. The fire woke him up from the black sleep, I could save Dad! I ran towards him, tears in my eyes. "Daddy, I love you." I said. He turned to glare at me as I shoved the torch into his side. "Wake up! Please, wake up!" I pleaded. He screamed in pain as he fell on the ground, two of the guards turned me towards the lava pit, they were about to throw me in! "Wait!" I heard Dad shout, almost desperately. The guards turned to face him. "She's mine." Dad snarled, aggressively grabbing me, and holding me over the lava. "I'm ok, sweetie." he said winking. He moved me to the side and proceeded to fight the guards. "Stay there, I don't want you getting even more hurt!" Dad told me as he threw a guard into the other lava pit. Shorty came running right at that moment and karate kicked a guard unconscious. Mola Ram laid down beside a statue, Dad grabbed a large stick and ran towards him. "Mola Ram!" Dad shouted, raising the stick above his head. Mola Ram laughed as he disappeared in a secret passage. Willie began to scream, and Dad dashed towards the wheel, and started pulling her up. I saw Chattar Lal sneak behind my father with a large knife. I ran towards them with my torch and burned the prime minister's side. He screamed in pain, and swung his knife at me. I only just moved out of the way in time. Dad let go of the wheel, and punched Chattar Lal. He then threw him on the wheel, it spun Lal around, and he landed on the other side, two of the handles crushing him. Dad pulled the wheel back up until Willie came back in the view. "Shorty, Nightie, pull on the wheel while I pull her to safety." Dad told us. We grabbed the wheel and pulled Willie up. "Give me some slack!" Dad yelled. We lower her down a little, and Dad pulled her away from the lava pit. Once the cage was on the ground, Dad opened it, and shook Willie. "Willie, wake up!" Dad exclaimed as he shook her.
WHACK!
She slapped him in her dazed state of mind. "Willie, it's me! I'm back!" She woke up, and looked at him. "Oh, Indy!" she exclaimed, kissing him again. Dad put his hat on, put the stones in his bag, and knelt before me, not looking me in the eye. "Helen, I'm so sorry." he wailed, tears falling down his face as he lightly touched my bruised right cheek. "Dad, it's ok. You weren't you." I said. He then noticed the gash on my left. "I'm going to kill them." he muttered. "Dad, don't. Let's just get out of here!" I pleaded. "Right, all of us." he replied, pointing over to where the slave children were. We snuck down into the area they had Shorty and I working earlier, and one of the little girls fell down. The guards following them began whipping her back, and aggressively standing her up. That's when the guard noticed us. Within a few seconds of me seeing Dad's angry face, the guard was sent flying along the gravel. What happened next was glorious. The children began working together to create traps for the guards, Dad would knock out any guards that remained conscious, and Willie, Shorty, and I would steal as many keys as we could. Dad and I spent the next three hours freeing all of the kids, they then ran out overpowering any guard that stood in their way. It was an awesome sight to behold, and honestly, it inspired me. Those kids were help prisoner here for who knows how long, and still had their fighting spirit. I had been here less than a day and was ready to give up. I promised myself I would be more like those kids from now on. Suddenly, a really large man came out. Dad grabbed a sledgehammer and swung at his ribs. The large Thuggee just caught the sledgehammer, and punched my Dad as hard as he could in the stomach. Shorty and I both ran forward to help Dad, but Willie stopped us. "No!" she cried, holding us back. "I need to help Dad!" I yelled at her, but she ignored me, watching Dad with fearful eyes. The giant threw the sledgehammer and it landed on another Thuggee's head. Dad then tried to jump into the air and kick the giant's chest, but all that resulted in was Dad receiving a punch to the back, and being thrown against a mine cart. Shorty and I desperately tried to escape, but Willie just kept holding on. "We've got to save him!" Shorty shouted. "He can take care of himself!" Willie responded. "We need to save Indy!" Shorty yelled. The giant lifted my father into the air, and I guess that's when Willie realized Dad wasn't in his A game. Shorty and I each grabbed a metal pipe and began whacking the giant. "Put him down!" I yelled desperately. "Do it, or I kill you!" Shorty demanded. Our blows seemed to be unnoticed by the giant, until he threw Dad into a mine cart, turned around, picked both us up in each and and threw us to the ground.
The giant got in the mine cart with Dad, Dad tried to fight him off when he suddenly seemed to be screaming in pain for no reason, but then would continue fighting as if nothing happened. "What's the matter with him?" Willie asked one in particular. "Nightie, look!" Shorty yelled, pointing at at a cliff in the cave. The Maharajah was up there stabbing a voodoo doll of my father. "Come on!" I yelled taking off to go stop him. I could occasionally hear Dad screaming as he fought the large man on the stone crushing track. Shorty and I had better hurry before Dad get crushed! There was a machine with buckets for hauling water under a waterfall. Shorty climbed up into one of the buckets, and helped me into it. I looked back at Dad, who was laying on the track, screaming in pain as the giant stood on him like some prize. The Maharajah had the pin deep in the voodoo doll's back. Shorty and I got to the top, and I grabbed the Maharajah in a choke hold, while Shorty ran to grab the doll. As Shorty ran, the Maharajah tripped him oved the ledge, thankfully he managed to grab the cliff, and hold on, but I wasn't sure if he could reach the doll. I tried to, but the Maharajah was hilding me back! Dad began screaming in pain and fear as his head got closer to the stone crusher. I elbowed the Maharajah, and pulled the pin out of the doll. The Maharajah pulled out a knife, and stabbed my right shoulder as I tried to help Short Round up. Shorty managed to climb the rest of the way and kick the Maharajah's head. He then grabbed a torch and burned the Maharajah's back. "You were under the Black Sleep of the Kali." Shorty explained to the Maharajah. "Short Round, Nightie! Quit fooling around with that kid, and get in the cart now!" Dad yelled, pointing at the cart in question. "Okie dokie, Indy!" Shorty shouted. "Please listen, to get out, you must take the left tunnel!" The Maharajah warned us. "Thank you." I smiled. He smiled weakly at me, and Shorty and I climbed down. Willie was pushing the mine cart with a large wooden boars in it along the tracks when a Thuggee guard grabbed her. Shorty used a wooden board as his weapon, and struck the guard down. Another guard grabbed me, and I stomped on his foot. He let go of me to hold his foot, and I punched him as hard as I could in the mouth. I ended hurting my hand in the process, Dad would have to teach me the correct way to throw a punch. Shorty however was having no trouble in fighting. I watched in amazement as he took down three grown men using karate. He then noticed me staring. "What?" he asked me. Oh ho, how the tables have turned. Now I was being the weird one. "Oh, nothing. We should probably get on the cart." I said. So he and I joined Willie in the cart, and the three of us began to yell at Dad. "Come on, Dad!" I shouted. "Hurry Indy!" Shorty yelled. "Let's get out of here!" Willie said. Dad grabbed a hook and swung down into the cart with us. When we entered the tunnels, Dad used a shovel to pull the switch to get us out the right tunnel.
"No, we need to take the left tunnel!" Shorty and I yelled. "Too late now, Shorty, get on the brakes!" he replied. Willie screamed as we went downhill very quickly. Doesn't she ever stop screaming? "It kinda feels like we're on a roller coaster." I told Dad. He chuckled right as a bullet struck the cart. We all turned around to see two carts full of Thuggees chasing us. "We've got company!" Dad announced. Shorty braked as we turned. "Shorty, let her go!" Dad yelled at him. "What?" Shorty asked. "Let the brake go, it's our only chance to outrun them!" Dad exclaimed. The Thuggees continued to shoot at us as we raced through the tunnel. We turned suddenly over a moat of lava, and our cart was tipping towards the pit! "Dad!" I shouted. "Everyone, lean away from the pit!" Dad ordered. We did so, and the cart tilted back onto the track. "Shorty, come back up here and take the brakes again. Be sure to watch it on the curves, or we'll fall right off!" Dad warned. "Ok!" Shorty yelled. We raced further and further down the track, when Dad suddenly threw the board on the track behind us. It didn't stop the Thugees behind us, but it did slow them down! There was a metal container above us holding dirt. Dad laughed as he grabbes the shovel. He struck the bottom of the container as we sped under it, and when the Thuggees went under it, the dirt completely covered them, with the large board still slowing them down. We got to a very narrow tunnel, so narrow, that the board would be too wide to fit in, actually. We all cheered as the cart flipped over because of this, but our celebrations were cut short by the arrival of the second Thuggee filled cart. Dad grabbed the shovel again and held it outside the cart. "What are you doing?" Willie asked in fear. "Short cut." Dad simply responded. "Yes, Indy?" Shorty asked, think Dad was calling him." I quickly exained. "Short, cut." Dad swung at the switch with the shovel and we switched tracks again. We crashed through two warning signs as we entered the tunnel, and I felt my stomach turn. Soon the Thuggees reappeared on the tracks right beside us and grabbed Shorty and I. "Let us go!" Shorty yelled. "Dad, Willie help!" I cried. We were pulled between to two carts back and forth, and I looked to my left to see a large wall where tracks split into two tunnels. "Wall, wall, wall!" I shouted. The Thuggees let go of Shorty and I, and Dad and Willie pulled us back into our cart. We went through the tunnel, and an unexpected third car appeard above us, one of the Thugges jumped down and began to wrestle with Dad. The Thuggee had a knife, which Dad struggled to keep away from any of us. He knocked the Thuggee down and smiled at us. The Thuggee however, climbed back up, but Willie punched him off the cart. He landed on the tracks, causing the cart now behind us to fall. We then turned around, and to our horror, we saw the track ended, and the ceiling was getting lower! Willie, Shorty, and I began to scream, as Dad forced our heads down yelling "Duck!" as he did so. We landed on a track below us, and laughed at our good fortune.
"Shorty, brake. Slow us down." Dad instructed. "Ok!" Shorty replied. Shorty pulled on the brake, however he must have pulled too hard, because he then held up the brake stick yelling "Uh oh, big mistake, big mistake, Indy!" Willie shook her head. "Figures." I pointed at her in anger. "Leave him alone, he's trying his best!" I defended my best friend. "Quit arguing, both of you." Dad snapped as he climbed outside to step on the brakes. The brakes fell off however, and Dad was forced to use his shoes instead. There was another wall ahead of us! "We're going too fast, there's another wall!" Willie cried. Dad shoved his feet into the wheels with all his might, yelping in pain as the weels burned him. There was less than a foot of space between Dad and the wall when we stopped. Dad chuckled at us before he started yelling "Water, water!" he shoes were smoking from all that friction. Shorty, Willie, and I stomped dirt on his shoes to put the fire out when there was a rumbling. A large body of water was rushing towards us! "Water, water! Move!" Dad yelled, as he grabbed me and ran. We went through the tunnel, and it ended in a cliff! We climbed out each side of the tunnel, Shorty and Willie taking the right, and Dad and I going left. "Meet at the bridge!" Dad yelled at the other two. He and I climbed up the mountain, I was freaking out hard. "Dad, I'm not going to make it!" I shouted, tears forming on my face. "Nightie, honey. It's going to be alright. I'll climb behind you, so if you fall, I will catch you." he assured me. We slowly scaled up the mountain, and we ran towards the bridge. We were stopped however by two Thuggee guards, who swung their swords menacingly. Dad chuckled as he reached into his holster for his revolver. "It's in Shanghai." I said weakly. One of the guards ran towards us, Dad grabbed his hands, kneed him in the stomach, and took his sword. He dueled the other guy, and used his whip to disarm. The two guards ran as Dad screamed at them, chasing them with his whip and sword. He then came back running, looking afraid. "Nightie, we have to move, now!" he yelled. I ran behind him, and saw Willie and Shorty being forced back on the bridge by Mola Ram and about twenty Thuggees. I looked behind us, there was about seventy Thuggees on that side. We were completely surrounded. "Let them go, Mola Ram!" Dad demanded. "You are in a position unsuitable to give orders!" Mola Ram shouted. Dad pulled off his satchel and dangled it dangerously over the bridge. "You want the stones? Let them go!" Dad said, glaring angrily. I saw Mola Ram pause, he looked scared at first, but after careful consideration, he grinned. "Drop them, Dr. Jones. The stones will be found, and you and you daughter won't!" He began to cackle before shouting something in Hindu. I'm guessing he shouted attack because some of the seventy Thuggees behinds us began to get on the bridge, while Shorty, Willie, Mola Ram, and about ten of the Thuggees on their side began to come on too. Dad had his thinking face on again, and he looked at the sides of the brige. "Hold on tight, I'm going to cut the bridge in half." Dad told me in German as he twisted rope around his ankle. "You're going to do what?!" I replied in German. "Just hold on." he said in German. He then turned his attention to Shorty and told him the same in Mandarin, as I twisted rope around my wrist and ankle. I know he said the same thing because Shorty then looked at Willie and said "Hold on lady, we going for a ride!" as he twisted ropedl around his wrist. Willie looked from Shorty to Dad who grinned and raised his sword high above his head. "Oh my gosh, is he nuts?!" Willie asked, whimpering as she twisted rope around each wrist. "He no nuts, he crazy!" Shorty exclaimed. I had no choice but to agree, this plan was completely insane! "Mola Ram, prepare to meet Kali, in Hell!" Dad yelled as he began chopping the bridge. "No, you fool! What are you doing?!" Mola Ram shouted, trying to run back off the bridge. But he was to far away, and the bridge split. Aside from being absolutely terrifying, it was actually kinda fun.
That's how I felt until I saw the alligators underneath us in the river. We needed to get out of here! I looked below me to see Dad climbing towards me. "Let's get to the top!" he yelled up at me. "Not without you!" I replied. So I waited for him to be beside me, and when he arrived, we climbed up together. Suddenly, Mola Ram fell from his place, and landed right above us. He knocked down of the Thuggees, and landed in his place. The falling Thugge nearly knocked my father and I down. I could hear Willie sobbing as Dad and I climbed and Dad grabbed Mola Ram's leg. After a swift kick in the face, Dad managed to pull Mola Ram down to face us. "Cover your hearts!" Shorty yelled as Mola Ram reached towards my chest, Dad grabbed his hand and tried to force it off. My heart felt like it was coming out of my chest! It hurt more than I could of imagined! As Dad pulled his hand off, I bit Mola Ram's finger. Dad then forced him to punch himself. Mola Ram climbed up ahead as I panted, and Dad checked on me. "You ok?!" he asked desperately. I couldn't talk, I was too exhausted, so instead I nodded. "Watch out!" Dad shouted as he swung us to the right, we narrowly avoided a falling Thuggee. Mola Ram shouted at the Thuggees in Hindu, and they began to fires their bows and rifles at us! I followed Dad as he climbed up towards our enemy. Willie and Shorty stomped on his fingers as he reached them, and he fell on top of Dad, who just barely managed to hold on. Mola Ram grabbed Dad's satchel, and they began to fight over it. "The stones are mine!" Mola Ram shouted. "You betrayed Shiva." Dad replied in English. He then began chanting in Hindu. "You betrayed Shiva!" Dad repeated. He chanted once again in Hindu, and the satchel caught on fire! I watched in horror as two of the three stones fell out of the satchel and into the river. I caught the third one as it fell, and Dad shoved Mola Ram off the bridge. He fell into the alligator pit, and I climbed as carefully as I could with one hand. Soon help arrived to get rid of the remaining Thuggees. This help being the British Army. Dad waited for me, and helped me climb up the bridge. When we finally got to the top, we saw Willie and Shorty anxiously waiting for us. They laughed in relief when they saw us with the stone. It was a long walk back to the village, but when we got there, everything was different for the better! Crops were growing, water was running, and everyone in the village was smiling! The kids hadn't arrived yet, but they're arrival brought the adults hope. "We knew you would return when life returned to the village." Marhan said, approaching us with a smile. Dad handed him the stone, and Marhan put it in its shrine. "Now you understand the magic of the rock." he told the four of us. "Yes, we understand its power now." Dad told him. At that moment, the children arrived. Parents screaming their names, and the children calling their mothers and fathers. Both parties rushed forward and embraced each other. I began to cry at the sight, and Dad embraced me. "This is how I feel everytime I come home safely." he whispered in my ear. "I'm happy to see your smile once again." he said, holding me to see my smile. "You could have kept the magic rock, you know. It would have given you your fortune and glory." Willie told Dad. "Eh, what for? They would have put it in a museum. It would do nothing but comlect dust." he responded. I nodded in understanding. In America, the Sankara Stone sould be nothing but a boring museum piece with a legend attached. Here, in this village, it was treasured, it was special, it meant something. "I think that the four of us have earned a treat when we arrive back to the states. How does anyone feel about seeing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in theaters?" Dad asked us. "That sounds exciting! Who's making it?!" I asked. "A small company owned by a man named Walt Disney." Dad replied.