The Legend Of Dawson's Mine: Chapter 10: Angus Dawson Goes To War

In which we learn about the history of our foe; a plan is hatched; a battle begins.


Angus Dawson was a young man when he lost his mind.


He was born in the same small cabin in the mountains that he lived in now.  When he was a child he was kept from outsiders. His father taught him about car maintenance, about how to survive in the mountains alone, how to hunt, how to farm.  How to locate ginseng and sell it for money so he could get the things the mountains didn’t provide.

His father also taught him his letters - how to read and write - and an unhealthy mistrust of strangers.
Ever since he was a young kid his father told him the story of Seamus Dawson. How he was betrayed, how he was forced to live alone, how his gold was hidden somewhere in these woods.  Under no circumstances was anyone to find it.  Angus was to defend that gold with his life. That gold was Dawson gold, and he’d be damned to let these boys, these brat children, get their grubby hands on his gold.


His life had been full of tragedy. When Angus was two years old his mother froze to death during a blizzard. His father died when he was 16, crushed by a landslide.  Ever since then he had been living off of the land, all alone, and watching for the threats of strangers. This obsession, and lack of socialization, slowly drove him mad.


Those boys! Those boys were up to stealin’.  He could feel it in his bones. Something had to be done about them.  He just wasn’t sure exactly what.  This required some ponderin’.


When he finished talking to the boys, he walked slowly across the bridge to get some distance.  When he got to the far side he turned around and watched them.  They were staring back at him, like a wild animal staring down their prey.


In anger and frustration, Angus tossed the carving he was whittling into the river.  He turned around and carried on up the trail. In the back of his mind he would have sworn he heard the older one day “let’s go find the box”. He meant the box of gold, he was sure of it.  His muscles tensed.  His eyes flashed with rage.  Something must be done to stop these boys, but it wasn’t yet time to make his move.  He had to wait.  


He was good at waiting.  


As soon as he was around the next bend, and out of sight of the boys, he jumped off the trail into the woods, and doubled back to the edge of the river.  There he sat and waited in the shadows.

He couldn’t see the whole trail, but he could see the top of Cockney’s Knob.  He settled in.  Sure enough the boys finally appeared at the top of the knob.


When they left the knob again, he’d close and and make the kill.  He’d done it before. He’d do it again.  Anything to protect grandpappy’s gold.

In the shadows of the river bank he waited another hour for the boys to finally move on down the trail.  He had enough time to think himself up a plan.


He knew where they were going.  They had told him themselves when they spoke. They were looking for the gold at Grandpappy’s mansion. Angus knew these mountains like the back of his hand.  Even with a huge head start, he knew he could beat the boys to the site.  He would wait for them there.  It was a quiet place. Out of the way.  No one would see him take them down, and no one would find the bodies.


As soon as the boys silhouettes disappeared behind the far side of Cockney’s Knob, Angus moved out.

He quickly rushed over the bridge.  He had no choice but to take that path - swimming the river would take too long. However once he was safely on the other side he immediately cut into the woods.  The trails would be faster, but he didn’t want to risk being seen by anyone, especially his prey.

He moved through the trees quickly and silently.  Pushing thru the underbrush like a silent ghost.

He arrived at the top of Brysons Peak just before the boys did.  He hid in the shadows and, again, he waited.


He heard the boys coming a full 5 minutes before they finally broke through the trees and stepped into the clearing, about 100 feet from where he stood.  He watched them as they rested a bit.  Then they started moving closer to the mansion.  


Angus picked up a large stick, and got ready to move.  The brothers headed straight for the front door, not looking around much.  Their backs were turned to him. This is going to be easy.

Angus stepped out into the clearing and started to move silently towards the boys.  They were making a lot of noise, and it was unlikely they would hear him.  He kept his pace about 50 feet behind them. By the time the boys entered the house and walked to the back wall he was at the door.


He heard the young one say “I think I got it!” and he flashed red.  It was now or never.  It was time to strike.  It was time to protect his grandpappy.

He jumped through the door, raised the stick above his head, and charged.




This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Copyright 2015 by Dave DeBaeremaeker. All Rights Reserved.