Young Indiana Jones: Adventures Out West
Chapter Three
by IndyAnna
Morning came around quickly and Indy heard his father calling him to get
up, but the bed felt so warm and cozy he rolled over onto his stomach
and pulled the covers up tighter.
"In a minute... just a couple... more.... minut........" the words barely
made it out before he dozed off again.
Prof. Jones yanked the covers back and delivered a hard, stinging swat
to Indy's backside. "Get up Junior!"
"Ahhh!" Indy's hand flew back, he turned and sat up all in under a
second. "I'm up! I'm up!" He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as his
father continued.
"Breakfast is just about ready." His father stood, fully clothed, hands
on hips by the side of the bed. "And then we're leaving. So if you don't
want to be stuck here all day, I suggest you get moving." He picked up
his satchel and left.
Indy jumped out of bed, pausing to let his brain catch up, then
scrounged through the dresser drawer for some clothes. He threw on a
pair of pants and a white cotton shirt buttoning it as he ran down the
hall to the bathroom. He returned to his room tucking in his shirt with
one hand as he grabbed his shoes and socks with the other. He bounded
down the stairs two at a time, ran to the dining room and took a seat at
the table. Breathing heavily, he looked around to see all eyes on him.
Mrs. Johnson had just put a dish of scrambled eggs on the table, she
turned to Indy and taking his chin in her hand admonished, "I prefer for
people to walk to my table young man." She brushed her fingers through
his sleep tousled hair and held his chin a little tighter. "And to be
presentable. Look at this hair. Do you think you can manage that in the
future?"
"Yes ma'am." Indy's cheeks flushed with color as his fingers nervously
played with the edge of the tablecloth.
"That's a good boy." She patted his cheek then took the chair next to
him.
The usual breakfast hub-bub continued and Indy finally looked up to see
Tommy staring at him with a huge grin on his face. He was happy there
was someone around beside himself to attract some of his mother's
over-abundant attention.
After breakfast Indy helped carry supplies for the day out to the wagon.
Billings and one of his men drove the team over earlier along with one
saddled horse. Tommy walked over to Indy, school books in hand, "Gosh,
you're so lucky. I wish I could go with you, but I've got stupid school.
How'd you get out of going?"
He took Tommy aside and talked quietly. "You know, I was wondering that
myself. My Dad's usually insistent when it comes to schooling, but I'm
certainly not going to mention it to him. Maybe you could come with us
sometime?"
"My ma will never go for that."
"Maybe if my Dad talks to her, he can be very persuasive."
"Gee, that would be great Indy!"
"Let's not rush it." Indy glanced around to make sure no one was paying
attention to them. "You've got to use just the right amount of finesse
when dealing with adults. Leave it to me."
"Thanks Indy. Well, I guess I gotta' go. I wonder what 'Old Pecker-Head'
will be doing today? See ya' later!" Tommy trotted off down the road
turning once to wave.
When everything was packed and ready to go, Prof. Billings came up
behind Indy and plopped a new cowboy hat on is head. "Don't want you to
get sun stroke out there kid."
"Gee Thanks!" Indy said as he pulled off the hat to get a better look at
it. "This is great! Thanks!" He put it back on his head, adjusting it
like the other men wore theirs.
"You can ride the horse Indy. I'll ride in the wagon with your dad so we
can talk over the dig site easier." He climbed onto the wagon alongside
Prof. Jones, clicked his tongue at the horses and started down the
street.
Now Indy had ridden many times before so he knew what he was doing. He
did wonder as he strained to get his foot in the stirrup, why someone of
Prof. Billings size would need such a tall horse. Soon the town was a
speck behind them and they were riding across wide open ground. Even for
this early in the morning the heat was intense. The valley spread out
before them; the climate, wildlife and scrub vegetation making up a
beautiful yet unforgiving landscape.
They were riding for more than two hours now and were almost at the dig
site. Indy shifted in his saddle hoping to ease the building discomfort
as much as he could. The ride started out fun, but now he wished he was
riding in the wagon. Of course he would never admit that to either his
father or Prof. Billings. Oww, I must have blisters the size of
quarters on my butt. At least that's how it felt. The mountain range
was very close now so they must be almost there he thought.
Meanwhile, back in the wagon, Indy's continuous shifting in the saddle
did not go unnoticed by the older men.
"Ow." Billings chuckled. "Someone is looking mighty uncomfortable in
their saddle."
Prof. Jones chuckled with him as he too noticed Indy putting his hand
behind him on the saddle and pushing himself up to alleviate some of the
pain. Finally they were at their destination and Indy dismounted stiffly,
his legs a little wobbly. "Ohhh." he moaned as he tried to rub some
feeling back to his aching posterior.
Prof. Jones couldn't resist planting a teasing smack to the saddle sore
seat of his son.
"A little sore Junior?"
"Ahhh! Owch, yea, a little I guess. Maybe I'll ride back in the wagon."
"Sorry son," Billings added. "If you ride out on the horse, then you
ride back on the horse. Those are the rules."
Both men chuckled as they walked away leaving Indy to ponder if they
were joking or not. All three walked in and around the camp and dig
area, Billings pointing out all the spots that items had been
discovered. He introduced Indy and his dad to the other two men who were
working the dig and who also maintained the camp. They were the
assistants Prof. Billings had mentioned the day before. Soon they all
had their hands in the dirt, digging, scraping and sifting. As the sun
rose higher, noon approaching, Indy found himself in the role of water
and errand boy. He tried to start up a conversation with one of the
other men, but apparently talking AND digging were too much for the guy
and Indy moved on to a different spot to work by himself. When he wasn't
bringing tools or fetching water he was in charge of sifting dirt
through a rough screen looking for any small fragments of anything that
looked interesting. Shaking yet another worthless pile of sand and rocks
through the screen he mumbled to himself, "Oh, look more rocks. what a
surprise." It was interesting that something that sounded exciting four
hours earlier was now very tedious.
Finally they broke for lunch and again Indy found himself outside the
ring of conversation and so he wandered around the main camp area.
Spying a surveying transit he looked through the scope and checked out
the area. As soon as he touched it the older of the assistants was at
his side.
"Don't play with that kid. It's very delicate." He lifted Indy's hands
off the instrument and began setting it back to it's original position.
"I'm not going to break it, geez! I was just looking." Indy reached for
the transit again only to have his hand slapped away.
"I don't care. Just leave it alone." The assistant stood there 'till
Indy moved a safe distance back.
"Sor--ry!" the irritated tone clear. "Geez, touchy." Indy said as he
walked away.
The assistant went back to join the others and Indy occupied his time
kicking small rocks around. He picked up a short length of board, about
two inches wide and began batting stones. He'd throw one up in the air,
swing the board like a baseball bat and see how far the stone would go.
On one particularly hard swing Indy felt the board connect with
something on the follow-through and then heard, "WATCH IT!" followed by
a sickening crash. He turned to see the transit laying broken on the
rocky ground and looked up to see four angry men rapidly approaching.
"I'm SORRY! It was an accident!"
"DAMMIT! Didn't I JUST tell you to leave this alone!" As the assistant
picked up the delicate tool glass fell out of one end. "It's broken.
DAMMIT! I knew it!"
"I didn't mean to." Indy pleaded. He looked at Prof. Billings who just
shook his head and walked away. Then his eyes met is father's and he
knew he was in trouble.
"Dad, it was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose." His father's mouth
as pressed in a tight line and his face was turning a dangerous shade of
red. "I-I'm sorry!"
"It will take forever to get another one." the assistant went on. "My
dad bought me this for graduation."
Oh brother! Geez, you'd think his dog died or something Indy thought
to himself. And he's certainly digging me a deeper hole. "God! All
right! I said I'm sorry!" A stinging slap caught Indy's left cheek.
"Ahh!"
"How many times have I told you NOT to take the Lord's name in vain,
boy!" Prof. Jones grabbed Indy by the back of the neck, directing him
toward the nearby tent. "I think you and I need to have a little talk,
Junior."
Once inside the tent Prof. Jones spun Indy around. "You've earned
yourself a little trip over my knee young man!"
"Dad! No! They'll hear. Please!" Indy took a step back. "Can't you wait
'till we go back to town? Please?"
"No! Now get those pants down, now."
Indy looked down at his hands and realized he was still holding the
board. His father saw it too and took it from him.
"Well, thank you. This will come in handy." He slapped it against his
palm a couple times and Indy's jaw dropped. "It's a little long though."
He grasped both ends and pulled the board against his knee, snapping it
in half. He threw down one piece and held the other up. "This should do
fine. I said drop your pants."
"Sir, please." Indy unbuttoned his pants but still hoped this really
wasn't going to happen.
"Move it!" Prof. Jones sat down on one of the cots pulling Indy with
him. He grasped his waistband, pulled his pants to his knees and put the
teen over his left knee with Indy's upper-body on the cot. He clasped
the narrow hips in his hands and moved his son forward till his bottom
was angled upward, the low cot adding to the degree. Five hard smacks
landed dead center causing Indy to hold his breath and grab the far edge
of the cot with both hands.
"I" SMACK! "CAN'T" SMACK! "BELIEVE" SMACK! "YOU DID" SMACK! "SUCH
A" SMACK! "STUPID" SMACK! SMACK! "THING!!"
"Ahhh! It was an Ahh-Accide-e-e-ent!" Indy gritted his teeth and held
his breath again.
The Professors hard hand fell continuously as he spoke. SMACK! SMACK!
"Well, young man, it's an accident you'll be paying for twice!" SMACK!
SMACK! SMACK! "NOW!" SMACK! SMACK! "And later when you work to pay me
back the cost of replacing the transit!" SMACK! SMACK! "Do you
understand that?"..............SMACK! "I SAID,
do...you...understand?!"
"YES! YES! I understand!" Indy yelled. He didn't want the question
repeated.
Prof. Jones picked up the short piece of board off the cot, pulled a
bandana out of his back pocket and wrapped it around the splintered end.
Indy thought this pause meant the spanking had ended and started to get
up from the awkward position.
"Oh, we're not done quite yet, Junior." He placed the makeshift paddle
beside him and pushed Indy back into position. He quickly yanked down
his son's underwear till they were at his knees. Indy's hand flew back,
but not quick enough.
"DAD! Nooooo!" He turned his hand palm up and held it protectively over
his already sore bottom. "Pleeease Dad, d-o-o-o-n't!"
Indy's hand was moved to the small of his back and held there.
"So Junior," Prof. Jones swung his right leg over both of Indy's pinning
him securely in place. "How much do you think a new transit will cost?"
"I don't know." the reply muffled by the blankets on the cot.
The Prof. picked up the paddle, the bandana covered end gripped firmly
in his hand. "I think at least fifty dollars." he said as he tapped the
board on the rosy pink cheeks.
"Dad, no! Not fifty! Please, Dad." A sob escaped the repentant youth.
"Owww!"
The first swat landed low on the right cheek and the second in the same
spot on the left. "Owww-hooo-hoo!"
Outside the tent, Billings and the other two men stopped talking when
they heard the sharp 'crack' of the wood meeting bare skin. Five more
'cracks' were heard,
"Owch, poor Indy." Billings commented. "He's getting it good."
"Serves him right, the little brat."
"Why don't you two get back to work. No need to waste time here." All
three moved away from the tent giving the father and son some privacy.
Inside the tent Indy started to buck and squirm as the paddle did it's
job. "Stop! Please!" he begged, but it did no good. "Owww! Owwww!
Owww!".
Prof. Jones didn't lessen the strength of any of the fifty swats of
the paddle and when he was finished the rosy pink was an angry crimson.
Indy by now was crying hard, his backside felt raw. His father gently
slid him off his knee till he was kneeling on the floor, still bent over
the cot. The Prof. leaned down and tousled his son's hair, "Junior, I
expect you to come out and apologize to everyone shortly." He put his
bandana back in his pocket and left Indy to get himself together.
After a few minutes Indy got to his feet and still sobbing he slowly
pulled up his pants. "Owwsobwww." He blew his nose and wiped his face
and carefully moved to the front of the tent. He watched the four men
outside, knowing he still had to apologize to three of them. I
can't.... You have to. He fought with himself and tried to move, but he
couldn't. "Damn." He started out again, but was too embarrassed to face
them. They HAD to have heard everything He made it outside the tent
then stopped. I can't!
He started running away from the dig site and toward the large boulders
that marked the start of the mountain range. He ran and started to climb
the steep incline of loose rock. After the running and climbing about 30
feet we was feeling winded and decided to rest. He laid down on his
stomach on top of a flat rock and kept his eyes on the camp. The warm
sun felt good and his eyes quickly closed.
Prof. Jones watched his son run off and decided to let him take his
time, but he was going to apologize before they left today.
A bit later Indy woke with a start. It took him a minute to realize
where he was and as soon as he moved the pain in his butt brought
everything into perfect clarity. "Shit!" How long have I been here?
The sun didn't look much different so it couldn't have been too long. I
better get back. He started to walk and on the first step, the rock
under his foot crumbled and he found himself riding a current of loose
gravel and shale down the steep incline. Catching his foot on a rock, he
was pitched to the side and went into a uncontrollable roll.
"OWWWWW!" Indy yelled out as something sharp grazed along his right leg.
"Ahhh! Hmmppp." He finally stopped as the incline lessened and for a
moment just laid there. He looked at the long tear down his right pant
leg. There was blood and when he carefully pulled back the material he
could see dozens of cactus thorns sticking in his skin. Looking in the
direction of camp he yelled out, "D-a-a-a-a-a-d!!!"