Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ah...achoo!”

The sneeze shook the ladder Geronimo stood on.

He yelled in alarm as he fell, flailing, to the floor.

Luckily, Benjamin had caught Geronimo before he could hit his head.

“Oh, thank you, Benjamin...” He sighed in relief.

“You okay, Unc?” Benjamin asked.

Geronimo shakily stood up.
“Yes, I’m fine...
But we will need a new ladder...”

Benjamin and Geronimo looked at the floor in front of the tall bookshelf where the ladder lay, broken in half.

Benjamin sucked in through his teeth.

“Benjamin, do you mind running to the shop and getting some wood glue?” Geronimo asked, handing him some coins and bills.

Benjamin nodded and rushed out the door, the bell ringing.

Geronimo went to the window and watched Benjamin leave.

Luckily, it was a pretty small town, so Benjamin was safe going out on his own. The boy was twelve after all.

The town was Cheddar Creek, not much happened there.

Sure, there was the occasional bandit that robbed wagons on the outskirts of town, but no one had ever actually caused trouble inside the town.

And Geronimo liked it that way.

Geronimo’s family was actually quite famous in Cheddar Creek.

The Stiltons ran the biggest farm in town.
Their name was always associated with good crops and good food.

Geronimo’s grandfather, William Shortpaws was the one who founded it, but now he’s retired. But that doesn’t stop him from nagging his family for the farm to be run ‘his way’.

Thea, Geronimo’s sister, was the main breadwinner of the family, not only did she run the farm, she also earned prize money in rodeos and horse racing competitions.

Trap, Geronimo’s cousin, however, was the opposite.
He lounged about on the farm, doing barely anything, even when asked.

He mostly just sits at the Stiltons’ produce stand, helping to sell their crops.

Benjamin, Geronimo’s nephew, helps out on the farm, mostly just doing chores, but some days, like today, he goes to visit his uncle in his bookshop.

You see, Geronimo was the ‘black sheep’ of the family.

Instead of resigning himself to manual labor on the farm, he chose to break off from the family business and start a library and bookshop.

As a result, the family cut him off, to them, aside from Benjamin, Geronimo doesn’t even exist.

However, that was exactly what Geronimo wanted.

Besides, it’s not like he was struggling to make ends meet.
His bookshop was actually pretty profitable, even though it also doubled as a library.

Geronimo smiled and turned away from the window.

He picked up his feather duster and walked to the bookshelves.

These books tended to gather a lot of dust, and Geronimo liked to keep everything nice and tidy in his shop.
No matter how many times it made him sneeze...

Trying not to breathe in the dust, Geronimo carefully and meticulously dusted the bookshelves and books.

As he dusted, the little bell on the door rang, telling him that someone had come in.

“Ah! Benjamin, did they have any wood glue?” He asked.

But it wasn’t Benjamin’s voice behind him.

Behind Geronimo, was the click of a gun, a flintlock.

“Put yer hands up old man.”

Geronimo’s blood ran cold, cold as ice.

He dropped his feather duster, and put his shaking hands in the air, behind his head.

He turned around to see who was threatening him.

Just as he suspected.
Three bandits were at his door.

The one at the front, whom he presumed to be the leader, wore a tattered cow skin vest, baggy brown pants, and black boots.
The other two had similar outfits.

But what caught Geronimo’s attention the most was their ivory white cowboy hats, lined with the teeth and fangs of animals.

These weren’t just any ol’ bandits.
Oh no.

These were the Bone Raiders.

The mouse at the front towered over Geronimo, with curly dark brown fur and black streaks all over his face.

At first glance he didn’t look very strong, but a closer look will identify his muscled arms and scars riddling his body.

Though his hat shadowed them, his gray eyes shone bright with ambition.

He sneered at Geronimo.

“We’re looking for a book.”

His accent was surprisingly eloquent, speaking in perfect pronunciation.
It was clear that this man knew how to speak the gentleman’s language.

“Well, there are many kinds of books in this shop...” Geronimo said shakily.

“Ha, ha. Cute.
But we’re looking for a specific book.
A book that contains a map. A map to the Mine of Avarice. Heard of it?”

Geronimo was a little confused.

From what he’d heard, the Mine was just an old bedtime story.
A cautionary tale about being consumed by greed.

“Are... Are you sure? I mean, the Mine of Avarice is but a story...” Geronimo stammered.

“I assure you, the story is true.
Now, the book.”

The mouse raised his flintlock.

Geronimo gulped.
“R...Right this way...”

He led the three mice deeper into the bookstore, to the shelf where that book was located.

With the mouse’s flintlock to his back, he shakily plucked out a book.

“Is...Is this the one...?”

He presented the cover.

The mouse’s sneer turned into a smirk.

“Perfect.”

The mouse buried his snout into the book.

Geronimo glanced towards the window.

Benjamin had come back from the store.

Benjamin looked inside, and his eyes widened at the sight of the bandits.
He shot a concerned glance at Geronimo.

Geronimo vigorously shook his head.

“No, no Benjamin! You’ll get hurt!” Geronimo wanted to shout.

Benjamin scowled and strode into the shop.

The bell jingled.

“You guys leave my uncle alone!”

The bandits all turned to Benjamin, taken completely by surprise.
Except for the leader.

He simply closed his eyes, and closed the book.

He slowly turned to Benjamin.

“Just what are you intending to do about it? You’re a child against three grown men with guns. Not to mention, your uncle is our hostage.” He said, plain and simple.

Benjamin’s determination faltered.
“Uh...well...”

“Exactly. So do us all a favor and stay quiet. We’ll be leaving in just a moment.
Watcher, hold him.”

One of the three bandits walked over and gripped Benjamin’s arm.

The leader kept reading through the book until something fell out.
He picked up the paper and smiled.

“This is it...” He murmured.

He put the book in his bag.
He tossed the bag to the other bandit next to him.

From his belt, he took out a length of rope.

His arm snaked around Geronimo’s torso.
With quick hands, he started wrapping the rope around Geronimo’s arms and wrists.

“What are you doing?!” Benjamin yelled, jerking his arm against Watcher’s grip.
“Why are you tying up my uncle?!”

“Why else? He knows these books better than anyone. With his help, we’d have a better chance at finding the Mine of Avarice.”

“You can’t-!”

“Benjamin, please! Don’t fight! I’ll be fine! I don’t want you to get yourself hurt!” Geronimo interrupted.

“You’d best listen to your uncle.” The leader narrowed his eyes at Benjamin.

He threw Geronimo over his shoulder, as if he weighed nothing.

“We’re done here, boys! Go go go!” He shouted.

Quick as a shot, both of the bandits ran out the door, Watcher letting go of Benjamin.

Benjamin ran after the three bandits as they went to the side of the bookstore and hopped on their horses.

“Someone, please! Bandits have got my uncle Geronimo! Someone help!” Benjamin yelled at the top of his lungs.

The leader growled and pointed his flintlock at Benjamin.
But before he could shoot, his gun was shot out of his hand.

Two other mice rode up on their horses.

The female mouse kept shooting around the leader and his horse until the horse whinnied and raised its front legs.

Geronimo fell off of the horse with a yelp, but the other mouse caught him.

The two newcomers and the Bone Raiders stared each other down.

The leader clicked his tongue.
“Back off, boys. We got what we came for.”

“Yes Bane!” The other two bandits shouted.

Then the leader, who’s name was Bane, rode off with the two other bandits, with the book in his bag.

Chapter Text

The mouse that caught Geronimo hopped off his horse and untied Geronimo.

“Thank you sir... Who might you be?” He asked.

The mouse gave him the slightest of smiles.
“Kornelius.
And this is my sister Veronica.”

Veronica, hearing her name, waved at Geronimo.

“What are we gonna go? Those bandits have Uncle G’s book!” Benjamin cried.

“You know what, they can have it... I can just buy another one... Eventually...” Geronimo stammered.

“It’s not just about the book...” Veronica said.

“If the Bone Raiders got ahold of the riches that lay in the Mine of Avarice, they would be unstoppable. Before long, they could rule this land.” Kornelius finished grimly.

“Hold on- Are we sure that the Mine of Avarice is real...? It’s just an old bedtime story for overactive mouslets...!” Geronimo tried to protest.

“If the Bone Bandits are after it, that story must at least have some nugget of truth in it.” Kornelius said.

Geronimo gulped.
“So what do we do?”

Kornelius lifted Geronimo up and onto his horse.

“We go after ‘em!”

“Wha- Why me?!” Geronimo cried.

“Like they said, you know that book better than anyone! And it seems you are very familiar with the legend.” Kornelius explained.

“But what about Benjamin?” Geronimo asked.

“He can come with us! We were able to help because of him, after all!” Veronica chimed in.

Benjamin beamed with pride.
“Really? I can go? Yee haw!”

“But Benjamin is only twelve! What if- What if he gets hurt?” Geronimo stuttered, worriedly.

“He won’t, I swear on my life that those bandits won’t hurt a hair on his lil’ head.” Kornelius ruffled Benjamin’s hair.

Benjamin laughed.

“Come on Unc, please? I’ve always wanted to go on a cowboy adventure!” He pleaded.

Geronimo got off of the horse.

He tugged on his collar nervously, debating whether or not to trust this mouse’s word, or to have Benjamin stay here.

But Benjamin would not be happy if he forced him to stay.

Geronimo loved his nephew dearly, and it would be quite upsetting if Benjamin decided not to visit him anymore.

“Oh...alright... But you’d better keep him safe!” Geronimo conceded.

Benjamin whooped and cheered and hugged his uncle.

“I’m so excited!”

“You’d better be careful! The last thing I want is for you to get hurt on my watch...” Geronimo placed his hands on Benjamin’s shoulders.

“I’ll be fine!” Benjamin insisted.

Geronimo sighed.

“Then let’s begin, shall we?”

Kornelius helped Geronimo back onto his horse, and Veronica helped Benjamin onto hers.

“Make sure to hold on tight to me, alright?” Kornelius murmured to Geronimo.

Geronimo was taken aback.
Who knew that such a big, strong, even boisterous mouse had such a soft, kind voice?

He nodded.
“Alright...”

Kornelius tapped his foot against his horse.

“Let’s go!” He shouted.

With that order, he, Geronimo, Veronica, all rode off, out of town, and towards where the Bone Raiders had retreated.

“Remember Veronica, we can’t get too close. That’ll tip ‘em off.” Kornelius yelled to Veronica over the pounding of hooves against the dry, dusty ground.

Veronica nodded in acknowledgement.

The Bone Raiders were much faster than they were, so they quickly lost sight of them.
In addition, as the sun was setting, light was getting more and more scarce.

Once the sun was almost completely set, Kornelius and Veronica decided to stop and camp out for the night.

They decided to set up camp near a small creek, so they and the horses could drink.

Benjamin and Kornelius were filling up all the canteens while Geronimo helped Veronica set up camp. Or, tried to anyway.

“Who exactly are you mice...?” Geronimo asked.

“We’re just wanderers... We ride from town to town, get supplies, help whoever needs helpin’, and ride off again to the next town...” Veronica said.

“That sounds pretty lonely...” Geronimo said.

Veronica nodded.
“It can be...
But we meet all sorts of people on the way...
And besides, I have my brother.”

They both glanced over at Kornelius, who was still hunched over the creek.

“It was actually Kornelius’ idea. He suggested that we leave our home and go find something to do with ourselves.” Veronica said.

“Why would you want to leave...? Don’t you have friends? Family?” Geronimo asked, concerned.

Veronica made a wry smile.
“Even if we didn’t leave, we would’ve been lonelier there than we would’ve ever been here.”

Geronimo was curious now.

Why would they be lonely?

“Our uh... Our parents were never in the house you see...
And we could never make friends no matter how hard we tried.
Everyone else in the town just viewed us as just ‘those rich kids’...
Snobby, lazy, untouchable...
So we left.” Veronica looked down at the ground, the explanation clearly giving her some bad memories.

Geronimo pursed her lips.
He knew what that was like...

Despite having a big family, he was always the black sheep.
They never gave him the same attention they gave Thea, or even Trap.

He knew how it felt to feel isolated from your own family.

Eventually, Kornelius and Benjamin finished filling the canteens up with water and helped set up the campsite, much to Geronimo’s relief.

Benjamin managed to start a good fire, and they all sat around it.

Kornelius sat next to Geronimo.

“So, what’s your story?” He asked, his eyebrow quirked up.

“Oh, nothing much...
My family runs a farm, and I decided to break away from that and start a bookshop. Benjamin visits me twice or three times a week.” Geronimo said, with an attempt at nonchalance.

“How’s that goin’ for ya?”

“Good actually! I’ve always adored books growing up! Reading and writing was my passion.
And I never really had the strength for farming...”

Kornelius made a small smile.
“You know, you seem pretty well educated...
You’re pretty well-spoken.”

“Why- Why thank you!”

“I like that in a man.” Kornelius’ smile widened, just a little.

Geronimo’s cheeks turned slightly pink.

“Now let’s get to sleep before it gets too cold.”

Everyone agreed, huddling together in the tents, slowly going to sleep.