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Stories from the Verse
Con Version
Chapter 130: Cooper 42
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Takano 124
Brian considered converting some of his surprised-to-get-back spare cash together with some of his own back to gold, but decided to wait until he was on better financial footing. After sparring both physically and mentally with Red Swashbuckler, he went back to The Paris. He knocked on Cabin 6’s door, and Tommy answered it.
“I thought I should tell you that I’m going to go hiking in the mountains,” he said looking down at her. She gestured to the door, and he stepped back, hoping she was not planning on joining him because even comfortable walking shoes and mountain hikes don’t totally agree with each other.
“You caught me just as I was going out. Shopping for me. I need more formal clothes, and I hear there’s a K-Mart in easy walking distance.”
“They might have a cafeteria there to eat,” Brian said. She shook her head.
“Yeah, I remember they had one in Woolworths last time I was in the fifties. It was one of the teen hangouts. I know it's not our past, but at the same time, the past is a weird place.”
He nodded, having felt much the same a time or three himself. Leaving her to possibly the favorite form of womanly exercise, he set his eyes on a peak and struck out. He was wearing his jeans and his college T-shirt, carrying his walking stick and wearing the fanny pack in which his water can was contained. He had considered packing his backpack for the hike, but instead put his emergency kit and his compass into the Mister Justice duffel, along with his flannel shirt in case it was chillier at the top than he anticipated. He also had a sandwich and soda he’d picked up for the trip. This was not the mountain on which The Eagle had his roost, but instead the one called Last. It was a tale reminiscent of the Masada. Instead of Roman Imperial Legions and Jewish revolutionaries, it had been the US Fifth Cavalry and the last remnants of the Diagount Native American tribe who had chosen to fight to almost the very last, until the last dozen had jumped, hence the name. There was a marker up there at the cliff from which they had taken their last step. He had heard it was a decent hike, and had a hand-drawn map made by Bobby Junior, the front desk clerk when Dorothy or the other two were not around.
An hour later he had reached the base of Last Mountain. A trail, provided by the American Forestry Patrol according to a sign, led him with no doubts up the path. It was steep at first, but then the grade lowered to a more reasonable climb as he crossed in front of the mountain. Going back up a switchback took him two-thirds of the way up, and he sat down, and decided now was a good time for lunch. Dangling his legs over the edge, as he had in the Alps when he looked down on Wenbrunnen, now he did the same in the Rockies, and looked down on Berkeley.
A bologna and American cheese with mustard on white bread sandwich topped him up, and after it he watched for a while. The Eagle flew down to the city, and disappeared out of sight behind one of Downtown’s taller buildings. For a second, he wished for flight or teleportation, but he had to know that a man could only do so much. He was far too far away to help whatever was going on. This led him to wonder if there were other heroes in town. Right now, he knew The Eagle, and William Tell Junior, and of course, Truth. Was that all, or were there others? He resolved to check next time he was at the library. The local newspaper, the Berkeley Bulletin, should have the information he needed.
Getting up, he dusted off the crumbs, and grinned when a robin dove in and snatched a crumb from the trail before instantly fleeing. Taking a moment, he checked his bag for more crumbs and laid them out where the other had been. Leaving it behind, he saw a couple birds approach, hesitate, and then dart in.
Loving it, he watched the birds until they were gone. Starting back up the mountain, he came to a small tombstone cut out of the mountain wall above the trail.
“A dozen Diagount braves and a squaw died here in 1871. Nameless, but not forgotten.”
He paused, then went onward. Reaching the top, he found it was being sliced off for a mining operation. Most of the top of the mountain was gone, but a side trail with a sign led to the ‘Indian Cliff’. He went down that way, for it was a hundred feet below the peak, and saw an old Indian man sitting cross-legged near the cliff’s edge. Not wanting to disturb him, Brian began to turn to go. But the brave, clad in a necklace of teeth and wampum and leather leggings, turned to face him.
“Justice,” the brave said, and Brian felt chills. How did this man know he was the superhero Mister Justice? This could be bad. But at the same time, he did not want to lie.
“Perhaps you have the wrong man, sir.”
“Perhaps you do not lie as much as most palefaces with their crooked tongues do, Brian. I see you. I am not like those born in this world. I fell through a portal in my youth into this world, and found to my surprise that a simple handkerchief could hide one’s identity fully.”
“Who are you?” Brian said cautiously.
“Better to ask, why am I here?”
“O.K., that seems a very good question as well. Why are you here?”
“I see another tragedy. Go back to the mine, Justice. There are those who would have been of my blood and the White man’s mixed in danger.”
Brian wanted to ask for more information; he always had that desire, but the shaman foiled that by transforming into a green-tailed hawk with most of its feathers touched by gray. The hawk dove off the edge, and flew down and away. Storing questions for later, Brian went on his way. Running back up the trail, he heard a low boom that shook the ground. Coming to the cut-off top, he saw clouds of dust shooting out of the mouth of a mine. He heard shouts from fearful men in hardhats.
“Number Three shaft blew early. We’ve got men trapped inside!”
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with eleven other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #512: Versers Work. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
