Chapter 3 – Follow that Coal!
Indiana blinked rapidly as he rolled his head from side to side. What was that muffled noise? He wondered. 'THUMP' His head cracked into a wall of think iron. He tried to move his folded legs but hit another iron barrier. As Indiana's head cleared he realized that the muffled yells were coming from David, whose back was forced against his in what he figured was some type of crate or…CART. They were bound and gagged in a coal cart.
The memories of the evening's discussions, the miners, the mansion, the berries, all came tumbling back to both helpless men. The darkness was unnerving. Think, think, you have been in a mine before! Indiana reassured himself. My hands. I need to free my hands.
Indiana wrestled back and forth until he had managed to position himself upright. Quickly, he chafed the roped back and forth using friction and the sharp edge of the coal cart to spilt the ropes that prevented his freedom. 'SNAP' yes!
Indiana raced to untie his gag and then his bound feet, and them promptly rushed to untie David. This was challenging as there was not a fleck of light in this wing of the extensive mine. As the two scientists felt their way in search of an exit, David asked, "What do you predict we will encounter in here?" his voice unsteady with fear.
"Well as long as we don't run into rats. I hate rats! panted Indiana as they began to walk up a steep incline.
"Not to worry, this is rat-free Alberta."
"What about snakes?"
"Sorry, we do have a few of those, but I'd be shocked to find them in here." David informed as he huffed laboriously.
They simultaneously quickened their pace as they saw a dim orange glow in the distance. The scientists slowed down again as they reached an intersection to rest their lungs and their hunched backs, as coal mines were built to conserve space and produce high yields.
"Shhh." David motioned as he heard voices and clanging.
They flattened against the wall just in time to be concealed from a speeding coal cart overflowing with gleaming black chunks and two stern miners. The iron vessel was barely gripping the track as rocketed around the corner out of sight.
"We have to follow that cart. The carts lead to the tipple outside!" David exclaimed, demonstrating his informational advantage of over the situation.
He had seen the architectural plans and engineering blueprints of both the mine and the tipple while studying at University of Calgary. The tipple, which acts as a filtering house for separating coal by size and use, was a truly fascinating structure. Coal was loaded onto to conveyor belts at the mouth of the mine high on the hill. After the coal traveled down the shakers, it was filtered and sorted into enormous bins. Next it was deposited directly into export cargo bins as the train cars or cargo trucks went underneath the external spout down at ground level at the base of the hill.
Indiana seemed lost in thought as he lifted his nose to inhale. "I smell … hay, …manure."
"The horses!" David whispered with excitement.
"Horses?!" Indiana was at attention.
"Yes, the mine horses are kept down here for approximately six months to help haul coal loads through the mine. Every six months they are rotated so that they don't go blind from lack of exposure to sunlight."
"They must be awfully short!"
"They will never run the Kentucky Derby but they are extremely strong animals." David pointed out. "And intelligent."
Suddenly there were foreign voices echoing and footsteps approaching.
"Hungarian" Indiana confirmed. "But I can't make out what they are saying. Whatever it is, I doubt they are on a mission to rescue us."
"Mr. Coulee and the Earl will be coming for us." David acknowledged frantically.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Giddy up!" Indiana adjusted his hat and slipped around the corner. David followed closely behind.
The two scientists shuffled over to the small ponies standing in their stalls. They mounted quickly, lay as flat as they could along the horses back, and snapped the reigns.
"Stay low, one concussion is enough for this trip." Indiana joked.
The horses sped down the low alleys of the mine as if celebrating their light loads.
"What is this!" hollered a familiar voice.
The four miners from the previous day were now joined by ten more strapping miners. The mining mob began pursuit after Indiana and David. They could all see the target light at the mouth of the mine. The miners piled into two coal carts and rapidly reduced the distance between themselves and their prey.
"We are almost there!" Indiana yelled sideways to David.
Just as they reached the boarder of sunlight the horses skidded to a dramatic stop sending Indiana and David catapulting into the tipple.
"We didn't cover their eyes! They need their blindfolds to leave the mine. The sunlight is too powerful!" David winced as he clung to the side of a great conveyor belt descending two stories below.
"I thought you were the expert in coal mines." Indiana teased as he stood up on the conveyor belt.
They both turned around to be greeted with fourteen sinister smiles and one large gloved hand gripping a long switch handle.
"Do you like to dance?" the largest miner bellowed from above.
He threw the switch as the other men dumped two cartloads of coal boulders down the conveyor belt. The belt began to shake violently as the coal pieces shot back and forth. The two scientists were pitched forward. Indiana's hat flew over the left side as he rolled forward.
"We are going to be crushed!" cried an extremely frantic David.
Thinking fast was one of Indiana's legendary qualities. As though inspiring heroic music played in their heads, the two scientists regained composure and held onto the supporting posts to avoid the certain death of falling stories below into a giant coal bin. In a flash, Indiana released his whip and maneuvered it to wrap around a ceiling beam. He swung hard in David's direction. Instinctively, David leaped toward Indiana and was able to grab his shoulders from behind as they both swung back towards the paned glass window on the left wall of the tipple's top floor.
They both squeezed their eyes shut and sheltered their heads as they smashed through the flimsy pane. Fortunately their feet landed on the narrow double boarded staircase which served as a fire escape.
Indiana reached in and, with an experienced twist of his wrist, unwound his whip. In the next jerk, he had wound the end of his whip around the top of his had and pull in his catch in seconds.
"I never leave without my hat." Indiana winked as he began to descend the stairs.
They were almost to the bottom when they spied two furious coal miners climbing the ground floor stairs. David, inspired by Indiana's bravado, kicked in the near by window pane.
"Quick, this way. We can make it to the truck before the miners see us."
Indiana took a second to smile in pride. David was learning fast.
They sped down the descending ramp and stopped at the cargo opening. All they would have had to do is jump the ground and drive away. Six smirking Atlas employees waited, pick axes raised.
"Glowing coal, what is this?" Indiana spun around and noticed a large cauldron of florescent orange paint with the logo "So Hot it Glows" painted on the side.
The relentless miners began to clamber up the wall towards them.
"People around here think that this glowing coal burns hotter and last longer than the average black lumps. Really, Atlas just splashes orange paint on some of it before delivery so it seems to glow."
"Hey fellows, you're looking a little dull today!" Indiana taunted the miners.
As if reading Indiana's mind, David grabbed one side of the large pot of paint while Indiana grabbed the other. Paint splashed down dousing the miners in orange, and sent them sprawling all over the ground. Taking this glowing opportunity, the two scientists jumped to the ground and dove into the Atlas truck waiting for a fill below.
As Indiana grinded the shift stick into first gear, he glanced into the seat behind him.
"Dynamite!"
"What?!!" David begged for clarity.
"This little surprise package, here, has just bought us some escape time." Indiana beamed as he stomped on the gas.
They had only gone a very short distance down the gravel road when Indiana slammed on the breaks and leapt out of the driver's side door. After hauling the squeaking rear steel door open, Indiana grabbed an armful of dynamite sticks and the small tin of wooden matches from the filthy floor below.
"We have company, Doctor Jones!"
"Dr. Tyrell, QUICKLY, ignite this bundle and put it by the bridge deck supports. I'll lay this bundle by the electrical box here by the pole light. Meet you on the other side."
David shot a look of horror.
"I mean the other side of the bridge." Indiana winked and sprinted towards the light pole which lit the opening to the wooden train bridge serving as one of two routes to the other side of the river.
The two scientists had not a second to spare. They simultaneously secured both truck doors, and shot forwards. The tires of the escape vehicle spit gravel backwards towards the two truck loads of furious miners and they were forced to skid to a dusty halt.
"Get them!!!" ordered the driver of the first pursuit truck.
The timing was perfect. Even before they could roll onto the wooden deck of the bridge, fireworks filled the air. The bridge collapsed into a fury of splinters and beams. As the debris and dust cleared, the only evidence of the escapees was a sinking Atlas truck and rustling bushes up the hill beyond the exit of the former bridge.