It was October on Beaver Island. The autumn rain lashed Lake Michigan and turned the island's dirt roads into slick channels of mud. At the end of the longest paved road on the island was a Burger King. In the Burger King were two cultists of the Court of the Burger Queen. Their shift was almost over, and with it their tenure on the island. They had seven charged burgers to hand out before then, seven pieces of meat loaded with magickal energy that would, somehow, make the world a better place when fed to customers. Then they'd shut down the restaurant for the season, get on the ferry and go back to the mainland, before the lake froze and travel became impossible.
In attendance:
- Murbella "Bella" Braddock, Gunshot Survivor, initiated into the Court after a charged burger saved her from a botched suicide attempt
- Saladin Fisher, Cult Survivor, initiated into the Court after he escaped the isolated compound where his parents kept him
There were only a couple hours left in their shift, and they'd be free. Their stuff from the rental house was all boxed up in the Toyota hatchback in the parking lot. The rain hissed on the roof of the restaurant.
A bicyclist came into the store, dripping water and mud from himself and from his bicycle. Exercising his authority as manager (despite only being 16) Saladin asked him to lock up his bike outside while Bella put down a wet floor sign and mopped up the excess water. The guy ordered a double cheeseburger, chicken fries and a large fountain drink. Saladin gave him two charged patties, a double special order.
The cyclist sat down to eat, depositing the panniers from his bike in the seat opposite. He pulled out a forty ounce Miller and drank alternating from that and from the Coke. Bella didn't know what to do, the customer was always right but the store didn't have a liquor license. She asked Saladin, who used his psychic connection with the Burger Queen to get some Corporate Direction.
What would Erica Fisher do?
He asked himself.
The answer came: wait until the guy finishes the burgers, then ask him to stop with the beer. The rules must be upheld in the Queen's realm, but getting the charges into the diners is more important. So Sal waited patiently until the dude was finished eating, then told him to put the forty away. The cyclist twisted the screw top back on, drank the entire rest of the Coke without stopping, and left the store.
The cyclist left a fire trail as he pedaled away into the oncoming dark. A blue, yellow and red streak that burned without setting the trees ablaze or steaming in the endless rain. He accelerated rapidly and there was a sonic boom. Bella filmed the whole thing, excited. She uploaded the footage to the Surfa platform, the burger conspiracy's corporate communications platform. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to follow the cyclist and see what happened next, so she used the Corporate Direction ability to see what Erica Fisher would do in that circumstance. She was immediately struck with a psychic lance of irritation - she had accidentally tapped into the True Queen's mind in the middle of something important, and been rebuked for the interruption. She decided not to pursue the cyclist.
At 3:33 PM, a Tyrian purple Chevy Impala pulled into the parking lot of the Burger King. A man in his early twenties and three teenagers got out. They came into the store and ordered four cheeseburgers, four fries and four drinks. The oldest paid in cash. Bella suggested it was a bad idea to give special orders to kids. Saladin made the managerial decision to only give special orders to the kids - three more charged patties expended.
The four customers sat down to eat. The youngest one pulled out a bronze orb that looked like a compass or astrolabe and began fiddling with it. He whispered something to the oldest one. Bella noticed the guy had guns under his raincoat. At least four pistols. She asked Saladin what to do. Sal waited until all the guests had finished their burgers, then told the oldest one he couldn't carry concealed in the restaurant. The guy nodded and got up to leave, taking the three teens with him.
Through the window, the Courtiers saw the guy open his raincoat, and the three teens take guns out of it. Then they came back into the store. Bella ran and hid in the back while Sal yelled at them to leave, then hid behind the counter. The adult told Sal he knew the king's treasure was somewhere in the restaurant, and he needed to hand it over. Sal convinced him he didn't know anything about any king's treasure. The robber explained that they were looking for the treasure of legendary Mormon pirate King James Strang, and they had it on good authority it was in the restaurant. He left two of the boys to guard Sal while he went in back with the third to find the loot.
Bella realized the "king's treasure" the bandits were looking for was probably the two remaining special orders. She locked up the freezer, but got caught running for the drive through window. The kid tried to grab her but she shoved him into the oldest robber and jumped out the drivethru window to freedom. In the front of the house, Sal recognized that the two kids pointing guns at him were ex-cultists, trying to survive in the secular world. They were like him. He was getting through to them, telling them there was a better way than robbing restaurants for pirate treasure, when the other two robbers came back up to the register. The oldest told the youngest to check the coordinates again, but this time look for King Strang's Treasure instead of just the King's Treasure. The kid pulled out the bronze orb again, fussed over its dials and knobs, then announced that the loot wasn't in the restaurant.
Jephthah, oldest of the ex-Mormons, caught himself before he swore in frustration. He told the other three to pack it up and they went out in the parking lot, pistols ready in case Sal tried something. Jep tried to shoot one of the tires on the Toyota so the Courtiers couldn't easily follow him. His black powder revolver malfunctioned in the rain, and he had to borrow a semi-auto from one of the kids to do the job. Then they all got in the Impala and drove off. They drove past Bella without noticing her or stopping.
Bella came back to the restaurant and discussed the situation with Saladin. He explained that the robbers were looking for lost pirate treasure, and their divination system had mistakenly locked on to the special orders instead. Bella looked up the name the bandits used: King James Strang.
Following the assassination of Joseph Smith and the ensuing succession dispute in the LDS Church, Elder James Strang led a breakaway sect to Beaver Island in 1848. There he and his 2,000 followers founded a Mormon theocracy, taking over the island and ejecting its existing Odawa and Irish Catholic inhabitants, or subjecting them to forced conversion. Strang even went so far as to coronate himself King of Heaven and Earth in 1850.
Not content to farm, log, and fish the lake, Strang and his followers engaged in piracy and ship wrecking throughout his reign. They set false lights and killed the crews of vessels which ran aground at night. In the most lurid accounts, the cultists would kill all the men aboard passenger vessels, carrying off the women for forced marriage and subsequent rape. (Strang embraced polygamy in 1849 after he saw a teenager he wanted to fuck).
Like many cult leaders, Strang was eventually killed by his own followers. His 1856 death by gunshot wound precipitated a mass expulsion of Mormons from Beaver Island at the hands of the dispossessed Irish fishermen. The majority of civic buildings erected by the cult were destroyed, with only the print shop surviving.
Rumor has it that while Strang lay dying of his wounds, his followers snuck away with the royal treasury, burying the King’s stolen wealth on nearby High Island. The treasure was buried thirty paces from the “large tree” visible form the harbor. High Island was logged soon after the incident, removing the landmark forever.
They thought about their options as they fished the spare tire out of the Toyota's trunk. Digging up the treasure of a legendary pirate king would elevate Bella and Saladin in the Court hierarchy. All they had to do was somehow get to High Island, find the spot where the gold was hidden, dig it up and bring it back, and do it all before the heavily armed rival treasure hunters caught up.
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