The Moonlit Road - Chief Sawnee's Gold

-2-

Well, maybe the Chief didn't want the gold that badly, but Bill Morgan certainly did. He moved two barstools down toward the old man and said, "Tell you what, Chief. You draw me a map, and I'll go up and get that gold. I'll even give you a cut of it."

Tom looked at his friend in disbelief. "I ain't goin' bushwackin' up there on some wild goose chase!" he said.

Bill put his arm mockingly around the Chief and grinned a phony grin. "It ain't no wild goose chase, is it, Chief? That gold's up there, and we're gonna get it!"

The Chief took a long, contemplative swig of beer, then stared at Bill with his black, piercing eyes. "You two church going men?" he asked.

"What difference does that make?" asked Bill with a chuckle.

"Like I said, the gold is protected by Chief Sawnee's spirit," the old Cherokee answered. "If you go in there, you gotta go in with a pure heart. So a church going man will stand a better chance with the spirit than a sinful one."

Bill rolled his eyes, grabbed one of the bar napkins and said, "Yeah, whatever. Draw us a map on this napkin and we'll go see if your story's true or not." Then winking at his friend Tom he whispered, "If Chief B.S. is right, we're gonna be rich this time tomorrow. Besides, what do we got to lose?"

After the Chief had drawn the map, Tom followed Bill as he staggered out of the bar. Bill tossed his keys to Tom and said, "You drive. I'll show you where to go."

"You can't be serious," answered Tom. "C'mon, you're drunk. There ain't no gold up there. Besides, it's dark out."

But Bill wouldn't be swayed. "C'mon, I need your help. We'll just take a quick look, I promise."

Now Tom knew he had done plenty of stupid things himself after one too many beers. And his friend Bill had always been there to bail him out off trouble. So with a heavy sigh, Tom grabbed a couple of flashlights from the back of his truck and said, "Alright, which way do we go?"

-2-

Return to top