Mutt Williams and the Wrath of the Golden Goddess

Lily Brody sat in the hot, cramped cabin watching the desert slowly turn to jungle. The train was rattling along at frightful speeds, and it wasn’t helping her mood. When she’d gone to Indiana with her father’s journals, she’d expected him to go on this hunt himself. Instead, he’d sent her with his son, some uncivilized greaser, who she’d found out hadn’t even finished school. How was he supposed to be any help? She glanced over at him. He was staring out the window, flicking a switchblade in his fingers. The knife twirled across his hand effortlessly, all his attention on the scenery outside. How did he do that? She shook her head, then turned back to the window. She sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked back across the cabin. This time Mutt was staring at her. His dark eyes were intense, and completely unreadable. “What?” she asked snippily.

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Well… stop staring at me, then.” Lily turned back to the window. Still, she felt his eyes on her. She looked at him. “What!?” she snapped.

Mutt raised his eyebrows. “You don’t like me,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact.

“No, that’s not - “ Lily sighed. “I’m just… look, I never really knew my father, okay? I got two letters from him ever year, one on my birthday, the other on Christmas. He put me through school but I never met him. Then, I get this telegram one day telling me I’m the sole beneficiary of his entire estate. I mean, I had no idea he even *had* an estate.” Lily took a deep, steadying breath. “it’s just… off-putting, you know?”

“Yeah, actually, I do,” Mutt replied. “My dad only showed up about two years ago. Before that, I thought someone else was my father.”

Lily sat back, relaxing a bit. “Is that why you two have different last names?”

“Yeah, my mom married my step-father, Collin Williams, when I was about three months old. Mom and Dad - my real dad - got married two years ago. So yeah, I know how freaky it is for some random guy to show up and be like, ‘What’s up, daddio? I’m your father!’ Definitely strange.”

Lily nodded. “So, have you… ever done this sort of thing before?”

“Well, I accidentally ended up on one of Dad’s expeditions when we first met. That’s how we found out we were father and son. He didn’t know about me, either, see? Mom surprised the hell out of us with that little revelation.” He shook his head, smiling slightly. “Anyway, after that I started going to the college where he taught, but I got bored. I’m not really a school person. What do you do?”

“I’m studying anthropology at Oxford,” Lily replied.

“Ah, an egghead.” He flipped his knife shut and slipped into the pocket of his leather jacket.

“Egghead?” Lily repeated indignantly. “I’m a scholar, trying to better myself, something that you obviously know nothing about!” She crossed her arms again.

“Yeah, sure,” Mutt scoffed. “Fix a carburetor. *That’d* be impressive. All you eggheads are all alike. You sit in school learning fact after theory after fact. But none of it has any bearing on the real world. But you still manage to look down on those of us who have skills you can actually, you know, *use*.”

Lily was shocked. She’d never met such an aggravating person. “How dare you!” she cried. “You… greaser!”

Mutt laughed slightly. “Oh, sugar, if you’re looking to insult me, you’re gonna have to try as lot harder than that.”

Lily stood, wobbling slightly with the train’s movement. “I am NOT your ‘sugar’,” she declared, her hands on her hips. “I’m not your *anything*. And when we get off this train, it would probably be best if you just went your own way. I can handle this on my own.”

“Really?” Mutt said, standing up himself. “Have you ever seen my dad mad? Because if I leave you in some Indian train station, I’ll deal with a very angry Indiana Jones. And trust me, sugar, that’s not a pretty sight.”

“I swear to God, if you call me ‘sugar’ one more time, I’ll - “

“What? Quote Darwin at me?”

“Why, you - !” Lily took a menacing step forward, but just then the train hit a bump, and the cabin jumped. Lily lost her footing and fell forwards.

Right into Mutt’s arms.

He caught her and held her up, his arms around her back, pulling her against him. She raised her hands to his chest, intending to push him away. Except, somehow, she didn’t quite make it that far. He smelled faintly of motor oil and aftershave, and the muscles under her hands were unexpectedly solid. Lily realized she’d never been that close to a man before. The thought was startling. She wondered why, in all her twenty years, it had never occurred to her to date.

Lily looked up at Mutt. He was staring down at her, those dark eyes inscrutable. Lily cleared her throat, and finally managed to pull away. "I think the train’s slowing down,” she said, smoothing her shirt.

“You still want me to leave when we get to the station?” Mutt asked.

Lily thought about it. On the one hand, he was incredibly maddening. On the other, he’d made a valid point among all his rudeness - Lily was completely inexperienced at the whole “adventure” thing. He wasn’t. Lily sighed in resignation. “No,” she said. “I - I still need your help.”

“Alright,” he said with a smile. He held out his hand. “Friends?”

Lily took his hand and shook it. “Sure,” she replied. His hand was large and rough, covered in calluses. It dwarfed hers.

Mutt used his grip to yank her close. He leaned his face into hers, his expression suddenly serious. “But you HAVE to listen to me, you got that?” he said, his voice suddenly dark. “When I tell you to stop, you stop. When I say hide, you hide. And for God’s sake, when I tell you to run, you don’t hesitate. I’m serious, sugar, I’ve seen simple trips go deadly all because some egghead wouldn’t take orders from someone they saw as inferior. You listen to me and I’ll keep you alive to do all your scholarly best. Got it?”

Lily nodded. The intensity in Mutt’s voice and eyes was almost frightening. “Got it,” she replied breathily.

“You swear?” he demanded, his grip on her hand tightening.

“Yes, yes, I swear!”

“Good.” Mutt released her just as the train began grinding to a halt. He glanced out the window, then pulled a comb out of his pocket. He ran it though his hair, then said, “Looks like we’re here.” He put the comb back into his jeans, then turned to Lily. His look was serious, and echoed the intensity of just moments before. “You ready?”

Lily took a deep breath. “Ready.”

“Let’s go.”

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed this, though I know it's short. Chapter 3 is on the way!!