Indiana Jones and the Quest of the Hidden Gold


Written June 2002-




Prologue


A slim, dark blond young woman with snapping blue eyes sat at a wooden table in her one roomed thatch roofed hut. She stopped writing and glanced at the clock ticking beside her. Where are they? She wondered impatiently. She pushed back her chair and paced the length of the room a few times. It's long past time for them to be back, what could be keeping them? I know, she thought, I'll go ask Cran-Chee if he will send out a search party. She took a quick look in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. One did want to look one's best when going to see the chief of a tribe. After patting her hair in a few places she went out the door and started along the path that led to the center of the village.


She and her father and one his coullegs had been here for almost three weeks now and everything was going great. All of the natives had excepted Jesus Christ as their savior and now wanted her father to teach them more about this man from Galilee.


The report that they had sent back a few days ago to the Mission Agency had been dripping with news of this or that person being baptized and how sure he was now that God had sent him to these people to help them.


As she came to the entrance of Chief Cran-Chee's hut she was stopped by the Chief's guards. She explained to them that she needed to see the Chief about finding her father since he had been gone since first light and had supposed to have been back a long time ago. One of the huge men nodded and replied that he would tell the Chief that she wished to speak with him.


While the man was gone the other guards starred at her. She was used to the village people staring at her since she was a different color than them and wore different clothes but this time they seemed to be staring in a different way. Like they knew something about her that even she didn't know.


Just then the guard came back and motioned for her to follow him into the hut. As she entered the dark hut a foul stench reached her noise and she had to keep herself from reaching up to cover her nose, as this would have been rude.


She bowed before the Chief who was sitting on his throne which was made of sticks with the bark shaved off and decorated with jewels and feathers. He had a stern expression on his face but he spoke rather kindly, for a tribal chief that is.


"God-man's daughter want to speak with Chief Cran-Chee?" By "God-man's" he meant her father, the missionary.


"Yes. My father and Mr. Dillard were due back hours ago and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sending out a search party to look for them." The Chief considered this then an evil smile spread across his face. He pointed behind her and all but shouted:


"There they be!"


She whirled around but didn't see her father or Mr. Dillard. Suddenly she noticed that on either side of the doorway were two skulls grinning at her from their perch on two sticks. She gasped as her hand flew to her mouth. Then she whipped around to face the Chief again. Many images were running through her mind. Had her father and his friend been attacked by and animal? No, surely not. Their heads would not be on sticks if that had happened. Had another tribe killed them then done this so that the heads were like trophies? Yes, that had to be it!


"What tribe did this? Where were they found? Oh, please tell me!" She was shaking but she tried to control herself. The chief leaned forward in his chair.


"We be tribe that done!" He said. She almost fell over in surprise horror.


"What? But... but why? Jesus, would not like such things!"


"We no like Jesus! I be god! I be god of the Allries!"


"But I thought that you'd given your lives to Jesus! All of you! Why did you pretend to love God and then do this?"


"We need sacrifice. Two God-men make good sacrifice. The fire god like them. And you be next."


She stood frozen for less than a second then she looked wildly around for a way to escape. There was none. She ran toward the door but it was blocked by two guards. She ran to the side of the hut and started to kick the wall down but the two guards came over and stopped her. Each one took a hold of by her upper arms then dragged her back to stand in front of Cran-Chee. She tried kicking them but they had metal leggings on their shines so the didn't feel a thing. Cran-Chee smiled.


"Good spirit. Make good sacrifice to fire god! Take her to the waiting place."


"NO!" She cried, but they dragged her, kicking and screaming between them toward a black hut at the other side of the village.


Unknown to her and everyone else, the whole scene was being watched by someone who was hiding in the bushes.