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Uncle Scrooge: King of the Klondike
(read the full story here!)
Hi everyone!! Yesterday Topolino released a really fantastic (& romantic lol) Klondike-centric comic. It’s got a lot of good Goldie focus and Soapy Slick scenes and lots of references to Barks and Rosa. It’s really great, please enjoy it!
What’s something a Klondike scroldie baby could do to make their parents mad
Hmmm honestly I had to think about this for a while cause as a baby, they couldn't do anything to make Scrooge or Goldie really mad. Just extremely annoyed or frustrated. (I.e baby not sleeping for the umpteenth night in a row or wasting all the water from a bath)
But older baby, maybe around 9-12 I can see the first time Scrooge and Goldie really got mad is if they developed any association with Soapy Slick.
Now baby doesn't know just exactly who Soapy is, all they know is 'Hey, this guy makes money, maybe I can team up and make money too.' They have no idea the history between their parents and Soapy. However Soapy sees an opportunity when they find out baby's last name. (Just gonna use Jade as an example)
'And why do you wanna partner up with me?'
'You make money, and you seem pretty good at it. I don't need my parents looking over me every second'
'Hmmm.... what's your name, child?'
'Jade McDuck. So? You gonna help me or just sit there?'
'Well why didn't chya say so! McDuck, O'Gilt and I were great friends back in the day!'
'If you were such great friends, then why did they never mention you?'
Obviously Soapy is trying to take advantage or baby to get to Scrooge and Goldie as payback. So when Scrooge and Goldie find out, boy are they pissed.
I was supposed to post this last week, but unfortunately I didn't arrive. I apologize once again. This is actually from comics, primarily from comics drawn by Don Rosa and this is drawn in his honor. In fact, it’s a redraw on the cover of that comic. This is from the comic book "The Last Sled" where the past and the present merge (in 1899 and 1949) in which Scrooge McDuck fights against Soapy Slick, a great fraud and robber (in fact, he is based on the eponymous person in history) for the heritage of the Yukon, the town of Klondike. In fact, I found inspiration from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyS5DXzpIEk
Thanks to Tuomas Holopainen and his music group on great music and a good comic book review.
I also wanted to put triplets on this drawing, but I don't care, and Donald barely escapes while on a big iceberg torn off the iceberg, Scrooge and Soapy fight over that legacy and gold that Scrooge left in part in the Klondike, and these are his clothes and his tools for digging gold and mine (drifting picks). I would definitely recommend you take a look at that comic. And this is a redraw from this cover:
It is a bit like Jojo Bizzare's Adventure where their spirits wake up. In this case with Scrooge and Soapy Slick.
In any case, enjoy this and apologize for my poor photography of my drawing. I don't have a scanner or a printer, so in order to digitize this drawing, this is how it turned out.
Here, have a Klondike doodle.
I got The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck as my Christmas gift and this panel made me think about the meme so here you are...
It was at that moment that Soapy Slick realised he fucked up.
running in circles
chapter one: i've gotten good at stretching the truth out of shape summary: Goldie O'Gilt and Scrooge McDuck first met in Dawson, 1897. warnings: references to sex, nothing explicit wordcount: 5426 playlist (will be updated as chapters are posted): shorturl.at/bfBCQ ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33776632/chapters/83961331
hey guys!! i’ve finally decided to start posting this fic. hopefully i can keep up with it lol. text will also be included in this post for those of you that don’t use ao3:
1896-1897; Dawson:
When Goldie first arrived in Dawson, it was a quiet little town.
Hard to even call it a town, really, when there were just two or three buildings and a bunch of tents filled with anxious men hoping this was a good spot to find gold.
She’d saved up enough money in her travels that once the opportunity came up, Goldie O’Gilt found herself the owner of her very own saloon. She’d had to lie and con and do some unspeakable things to get there, but the important part was that it happened. Occasionally having to interact with Soapy Slick was probably the worst part of her whole adventure, so she rolled with the punches and focused on what she had: moderate cooking skills, plenty of booze, and a couple of tables with chairs to match.
It didn’t take a genius to realize Dawson was about to blow up! ...hopefully just figuratively. A lot of those miners carried dynamite with them, so she couldn’t be too sure.
Only a few months went by before the population of Dawson multiplied so significantly that Goldie suddenly had a fully furnished establishment and several employees of her very own. Regular customers piled up at the saloon entrance every night and she put on show after show, sewed outfit after outfit, cooked meal after meal, and collected more gold and coins than she ever thought she’d have in her life. She had the joy of hard-earned money, plus a bonus every now and then from a sourdough with fewer brain than hands. She’d adopted a rule that made her feel better every time she felt unfamiliar hands on her ass - if you wanna pick a pocket, you’ve gotta get close.
She also found that running a business wasn’t so hard. There were some dancers who just wanted to find themselves a husband, and Goldie didn’t judge them for that - she was a realist. And there were some miners in town who clearly felt they were too good for her dirty little dancehall - like that angry Scottish fellow who skulked by every few weeks to get supplies from the store nearby. But overall, money was flowing and customers were showing and Glittering Goldie’s name made heads turn and eyes light up in excitement.
...most eyes. That aforementioned angry Scottish guy had caught her attention a few times since everyone in town seemed to hate his guts, which made him kind of more interesting than the other men around. She wouldn’t waste her time on him if he didn’t have money to spend (or lose…), but he was always an absent thought in the back of her head when he stomped through.
Soapy liked to talk to her about the men in town. He came by when the saloon wasn’t busy and just sat at the bar - chatting with Goldie as if they were old friends. She hated his guts and would rather see him choke than spend another moment of her life pretending to be friendly with the man, but he co-owned several businesses in town - her saloon excluded, but only because she’d recently paid off her loan - and had a good relationship with the redcoats. When it came to Soapy Slick, Dawson residents had two options: be friends with him, or be destroyed by him. Sometimes both. But Goldie had spent enough time with him to not make the same mistake twice.
“Ya seen that McDuck guy?” Soapy asked her one day, gulping down way too much wine for the morning hour he was harassing her.
“That the grumpy one with the whiskers?”
“I guess,” he answered with a shrug. “Whispers around town say he’s feelin’ pretty confident that he’ll be striking gold soon.”
Goldie scoffed and continued cleaning glasses and mugs. “Aren’t all the sourdoughs out here confident? Why else would they bother going out at all?”
Soapy laughed and took another swig. “Desperation, I’d bet. Or maybe they just figure the girls up here are easier to snag!”
Her eyes could’ve rolled into the back of her head. Instead, they stayed focused on her hands and her rag making circular motions on a particular spot of dirt that was agitating her. Why wasn’t it coming out? “So why’re you tellin’ me, Slick? Would this guy striking rich mean trouble for you?”
“Nah, he’s nothin’ to me,” Soapy said as he leaned onto his elbow. “But he just keeps to himself so much, it’s impossible to figure out where he’s diggin’!” The hog put down the bottle of wine and turned in his stool to lean his other elbow on the bar counter too. “I don’t care how stubborn or foolish he is, McDuck’s still a man. If he strikes it rich, he’s gonna come in here to brag about it.”
Goldie raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“And I think he’d be a perfect target for one of your little party tricks.”
Her eyes widened for a brief, almost unnoticeable moment before Goldie returned her gaze to the glass. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Ah, ah!” Soapy wiggled his pointer finger and smirked. “You don’t gotta worry about me sayin’ anything, girlie. Any sucker who falls for a stunt like drugged coffee deserves to lose some dignity.”
Goldie inhaled deeply and still didn’t look up at him.
“Plus I love knowing my influence on the community at large. Makes me feel like I could be mayor of this dump someday.”
Another deep breath. She closed her eyes and then looked back up. “I’ve heard about how he is in fights, Slick. If I manage to knock him out, you’ve gotta get someone to drag him out of here before he wakes up ‘n kills me.”
“Peh!” Soapy laughed again and Goldie tried not to look too annoyed. “No one worth their salt comes back here after Glitterin’ Goldie robs ‘em! They’re too embarrassed to admit what happened.”
“You won’t even consider that I just charmed them out of their gold and they left on their own, hm?” Goldie mumbled with a hum, moving onto another glass.
“Not for a second.” He stood up and brushed nonexistent dirt off his coat. “Just keep this all in mind in case that boy ever pokes his head in here. I know he’s got somethin’ goin’ on at his special secret claim and if I can’t follow him there, we’ll just have to crush his spirit instead.”
Goldie watched the frustrating man make his way out her door and let out a deep breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. She could never find even a modicum of comfort while talking to him, but at least she knew he’d let her keep any gold she got off of that McDuck guy.
---
It was only two weeks before she and the miner Soapy warned her about made eye contact for the first time.
She’d yelled at him as he walked around town plenty of times before - occasionally he’d yell back, but normally he just ignored her and continued on his way. She wasn’t desperate for customers like she was just a few months earlier, so there was a lot less reason to harass him. This time, though, she didn’t say anything to him, but he still stopped and turned and stared directly at her saloon...right where she was standing.
Goldie blinked a few times in surprise and stood up straighter - not even sure why, it was like a reflex. Their eyes locked for a few moments and then she looked away, feeling unsure of herself. Was it because of Soapy’s plan or was this guy just so intense she felt weird under his gaze? She glanced back up at him and saw he was still staring.
“...comin’ in to get some grub?” Goldie asked with a thumb pointing behind her.
McDuck exhaled loudly through his nostrils and shook his head. “You let Soapy Slick conduct business in here?”
She frowned. Of course their first real conversation would be about him. “He owns half the town, sourdough. Not like I can stop him.”
“He’s a crook.”
Goldie rolled her eyes. This was making her feel less bad about potentially robbing him in the future. “Yeah, well, y’know what they say about enemies.”
He stared at her for a few seconds before taking a step closer, which surprised Goldie more than it should’ve. “What?”
“...what?”
“What do they say about enemies?”
Goldie took note of his accent and snapped her fingers in realization. “Right. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Y’know...keep an eye on whoever wants to hurt you. I’m sure you say something similar back in the homeland, hm?”
He seemed to be very deep in thought, considering everything Goldie just said, before nodding shyly. “...yes, somethin’ like that.”
As he walked away, Goldie felt herself wondering what was going on in that cute little head of his. He was so dirty (not just dirty - he wasn’t wearing shoes and his feet looked bloody) and grumpy and clearly self-righteous if he thought he would try to criticize her association with Soapy. It wasn’t like she was the only person in town stuck with an annoying hog demanding free drinks...and she had to do what she could to keep her saloon open and away from police interference.
She realized she’d been watching him the whole time he was walking away and blushed the slightest bit before turning back towards her saloon. There was work to do before the lunch rush and she didn’t need a distraction.
As she turned, Goldie caught the sight of Soapy Slick looking in her direction from down the street. She didn’t wave or acknowledge him at all, but she recognized the smug look on his face. He probably thought she was sizing up her future victim.
She walked through her doors and sighed. Maybe she was.
---
The night Scrooge McDuck finally stepped into the Blackjack Saloon was one of the most memorable nights of Goldie O’Gilt’s life.
He barged into the saloon around nine in the evening, looking somewhere between pissed and smug and nervous. Goldie was on stage at the time - didn’t get a chance to confront him right away - but she caught his stare while she was performing and decided she was about to put on the best show of her life.
Something about that man made her want to impress him. She couldn’t place her finger on it, but it did piss her off a little to think about.
She glanced at him several times during her last two songs and noticed he hadn’t taken his eyes off her for even a moment. It was flattering and gave her an odd chill down her spine. His eyes were a fascinating shade of blue and she was proud that he kept staring. She was Glittering Goldie, after all, and what man could resist her beauty and charm? She hit her last note for the night and thought about Soapy’s plan.
It was only a few minutes later that Goldie sauntered over to the bar where the Scotsman was sitting and gulping down what seemed to be...lemonade. Not a drinker, alright; she should’ve figured as much. She took the seat next to him and noticed his face immediately turn pink at the sight of her.
“Hey there, handsome.”
He sputtered over his mug for a moment and shook his head. “...it’s Scrooge.”
“Hm?”
“Scrooge McDuck!” he turned to her and near-shouted - he couldn’t stand how loud the rest of her patrons were. “Not handsome or sourdough or lemonhead or miner! Scrooge!”
Goldie blinked at him - feeling similar to how she did when he caught her off guard the first time - and then settled against her hand, leaning onto the counter. “Alright, Scroogey. Based on your chipper attitude, I’m guessing something good happened today.”
He looked confused and Goldie realized he probably struggled with sarcasm. Maybe it was the language barrier...though they spoke English in Scotland, too. It was just very different from the English spoken in Canada. But his accent wasn’t that thick - it distantly reminded her of her parents’. “Let me try again...how’re you paying for your drinks tonight?”
“Ah,” Scrooge smiled nervously and reached down into his pocket. “You don’t have to worry about that, ma’am. I’m good for it.”
“Ma’am…” Goldie repeated, offended. “It’s Goldie. And I’ll need to see some proof of that, considering you’ve avoided my saloon like the plague up until now.”
Scrooge frowned and seemed to grab something in his pocket, holding it tighter. He pointed to the sign behind the counter that read Goldie O’Gilt: Proprietor. “This is the only saloon I’ve seen that’s run by a, um...a lady.”
She saw his attempt to change the subject and decided to play along for the moment. “Does that bother you?”
“No,” he answered quickly, taking another sip of his drink. “I just didnae know it was allowed.”
Goldie let out a short laugh and leaned back, gripping the counter so she wouldn’t fall off her chair. “Oh, it’s not. But I don’t let the law stop me from doing what I want. I’d never get anything done!”
Scrooge seemed to consider that and nodded slowly. He squeezed the item in his pocket again and finally pulled it out, dumping the biggest gold nugget Goldie had ever seen onto her counter.
She hoped her mouth wasn’t watering, but holy hell.
“What…”
“I’d say this’ll be more than enough to cover a drink or two,” Scrooge said with a smirk, clearly very proud of himself.
Goldie reached her hand out to grab it, but Scrooge took it back before she could even make contact. She’d never seen so much gold in her life and she didn’t want to stop seeing it. She brought her attention back to the miner and leaned into his personal space, putting a hand on his chest.
He was blushing like mad and she was excited to know she made him sweat. “Wh-what are ye-...”
“How long are you planning on staying tonight, Scrooge McDuck?” Goldie said with a wolfish smile. “I’d love to sit and chat when there’s less of a crowd.”
“Well, I-I, um…” He looked impossibly nervous, like she just asked him the most personal question he’d ever heard.
Goldie leaned forward a bit more, her beak hovering just an inch away from his. She took note of a few nasty whoops and comments coming from other patrons - of course they were watching her; there were always eyes on Glittering Goldie - and didn’t get any closer than that. “Stay a while and talk to me. No charge for your drinks?”
His eyes lit up at the mention of no charge and he nodded, though Goldie noticed him nervously gulp as she backed away and continued to smile. She couldn’t help herself, he was such an easy mark and the prize was too good to resist. Even if Soapy hadn't pointed her towards him, Goldie would have locked onto that nugget from a mile away. She blew him a kiss as she left her seat and headed back towards the stage - she had to make sure the other girls were getting ready.
Scrooge mumbled in embarrassment and focused on his drink. Goldie briefly wondered if he had any kind of experience with women.
---
He was still there, sitting in the exact same seat, four hours later when things had quieted down. The girls who worked extra jobs after dancing found men to spend their night with and the rest of the guys were either too drunk to leave or they’d already started back to their tents and cabins and wherever else they rested their heads.
Besides a few stragglers, that left Goldie and Scrooge pretty much alone. And he looked nervous as hell.
Goldie motioned for him to follow her to a little booth off in the corner. He complied hesitantly, not quite sure if he was making the right decision. She leaned on her hands and tilted her head to the side to make sure she looked cute. He didn’t seem like the type to offer compliments, but it was always fun to make a man blush.
“Nice of you to stay for me, Scroogey.”
He shrugged. “Cannae say no to free drinks.”
She leaned forward, making sure her breasts were on top of the table to emphasize her cleavage bulging from the top of her dress. “Oh? That’s the only reason?”
Scrooge’s face turned redder and his gaze immediately tore away from her chest and up to her face. “Yes! Well...no, I mean…” He scratched the top of his left hand. “...you’re a very nice singer.”
Goldie raised an eyebrow, not expecting that. “That’s why they pay me the big bucks.”
He looked at her in confusion and she let out a short laugh and shook her head. “Nothing. Thank you. I appreciate you choosing to spend your gold in my saloon instead of one of the others.”
“The others arenae as...nice,” Scrooge muttered as he looked around. “I figure if I’m celebratin’, I should go somewhere worth spendin’ money at.”
She smiled genuinely and moved her hands up to play with her hair. He was very matter-of-fact and a lot less grumpy than she’d thought he'd be. Perhaps he was just in a particularly good mood. Because of his newly found gold? Or because of her company? Perhaps a little of both.
They chatted for about thirty minutes - just random, friendly chatter about the town and her shows and his mining - when the saloon door opened and a small group of men walked in.
Goldie shrugged at Scrooge and then stood up to greet the new guests. “Sorry, boys, we’re cl...oh.”
Soapy Slick and two of his closest confidantes stood in the doorway looking smug and douchey. Goldie put on her fakest smile and adjusted her dress to cover her cleavage a little better.
“Soapy. How can I help you?”
“You can get that feathered little ass of yours behind the counter and pour us all some beers,” he answered with a leer.
Out of the corner of her eye, Goldie noticed Scrooge grip the table in front of him and she quickly swiped some hair out of her face and laughed. “Always the charmer, aren’t you? Take a seat and I’ll be right there.”
As the pigs headed to the bar, Goldie quickly shuffled back over to where Scrooge was sitting. “Just wait a min-”
“Are you alright?” Scrooge interrupted, looking deadly serious. “Do you...need help?”
Once again, Goldie was caught off guard by his words and just stared for a few seconds before shaking her head. “I’m fine, he’s just being his regular disgusting self. I’ll be right back.”
Scrooge nodded and Goldie made her way over to the bar, fully aware that Soapy had watched their little conversation and he looked very happy to see that Scrooge was present. As Goldie started putting the beers together, Soapy glanced between the two ducks that had his attention.
“Looks like McDuck over there is aching to get in that dress of yours, O’Gilt,” he said with a laugh. He elbowed one of his associates and added an obnoxious, “Nothing wrong with my sloppy seconds, hm?”
Goldie pretended not to hear that and plopped a mug in front of each man. “Enjoy.”
Before she could walk away, Soapy grabbed her wrist, tugging her closer to him. Goldie’s eye twitched and she felt a desperate need to shove him off, but chose to look him in the eyes instead.
“Don’t forget what I told you,” Soapy whispered menacingly.
She ripped her arm out of his grasp and didn’t bother acknowledging his words, simply walking back over to Scrooge and not looking back.
Scrooge was standing up and staring at her, hands balled into fists. She crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her hip. “You’re very high-strung, aren’t you?”
He sat down, looking grumpier than before. “It looked like he was tryin’ to hurt you.”
Goldie focused on her breathing for a few moments as she felt Soapy’s eyes on her back. She was planning to drug this miner no matter what, but somehow having a watchful eye on her made it worse than usual. “I appreciate the chivalry, but I’m fine. Now are you planning to stay the night or can I make you some coffee for the road?”
“The night?” Scrooge glanced towards the staircase. “Is this a hotel, too?”
Goldie almost laughed, but opted for a big smile instead. “No, it’s not. Nevermind. I’ll go get you some coffee - it’s on the house.”
He nodded and tapped his fingers against the table. He was clearly confused by the number of free drinks he was getting from this woman - trying to decide whether he should be flattered or suspicious or a little bit of both.
She was pretty. Prettier than any woman he’d ever seen in his entire life. And that scared him quite a lot. His father always spoke highly of his mother’s appearance, but he also said to be wary of women whose looks could sink ships.
Could Goldie’s looks sink ships? He didn’t think so. But the combination of her looks and her kindness was giving him butterflies. Besides his sisters and the occasional neighbor girl, he’d never spent this much time with a woman near his age. Was any of this flirting? It seemed like it, but he didn’t know what for. She was probably just interested in him because of his gold nugget. The other miners around town had talked about her and some of the other saloon girls in Dawson being “gold diggers” in a very different way than their own...but he didn’t really know what to make of it.
“Here you go.”
Scrooge’s thoughts were cut off by a steaming mug placed in front of him - the smell was almost intoxicating. He hadn’t had coffee that wasn’t thick as mud in months and he felt his mouth practically water in excitement.
Goldie didn’t even get another word out before he’d taken a huge gulp. She had a small smile on her face as she watched him drink the coffee like he’d never had it before - and she was a little impressed that he didn’t seem to burn his tongue. Maybe sleeping in a freezing tent on the Yukon Trail left him unable to feel temperatures anymore.
“It’s been nice meeting you, sourdough,” Goldie mumbled. The last thing Scrooge saw as he lost consciousness was Soapy and his friends getting up from their chairs and Goldie’s smile turning into a deep frown.
---
This wasn’t her first time knocking out some miner and taking all his gold. Often she’d let them get drunk and handsy first, let them feel like the man of the hour and then convince them they’d spent all their gold on a night of fun. But Scrooge didn’t order any booze and he never tried to grab her so she used her next best option.
Watching Soapy and his friends drag the poor sucker out of her saloon, however, was new. She didn’t feel great about it. Even with the giant gold nugget in her hands - a nugget that made her feel like she could buy the entire town and fight the Queen of England - she still didn’t feel quite as whole as she wanted to. She needed to distract herself with a plan.
First, she figured she should break up the giant nugget so she had smaller pieces to work with. Easier to bribe people with smaller pieces and of course she wouldn’t want anyone to know exactly how much she had. Plus, she had no way of knowing who McDuck might’ve shown his nugget to before her. If anyone recognized it, surely they’d accuse her of theft and she didn’t have time to deal with that.
Goldie dragged herself and her heavy dress up to her room on the second floor. She and a few of the other girls lived in the saloon, but they were all either asleep or pretending to be asleep, so she changed into something light, took off her makeup, and got ready for another day.
Though she was faster than some of the girls, it still took her a good thirty minutes to get everything off and get ready to go to sleep. Looking fabulous was a tiring job, but at least it paid the bills.
Only dressed in her slip - makeup and jewelry gone - Goldie walked towards her bed to finally get some shut-eye after a long day with a lot more Soapy interaction than she wanted...when she heard the familiar sound of her saloon doors slamming open.
Her eyes widened and she ran out her door towards the balcony, happy she always had a gun strapped to her thigh in case of a robbery like this.
Instead, she looked down to see Scrooge McDuck - the man Soapy claimed he’d take care of for her - covered in snow and dirt and looking angrier than she’d ever seen. His cheeks were red and his hat was bunched up in his fist and for the first time in many years, Goldie felt genuinely afraid. Especially when he turned and saw her.
“GOLDIE!”
She didn’t make any noise, simply rushed back towards her room and prayed that none of the other girls planned to get up. She shut her door and shoved a chair under the knob in the hopes that it’d slow him down, then quickly grabbed one of her overnight bags and started packing important things into it. The gold nugget, some old photos and letters, some clothes…
Her bedroom door opened roughly with the sound of her favorite chair splintering under the pressure. Goldie didn’t even turn to look, instead closing her bag and hoping she had enough time to jump out the window before he caught her.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down to his level, his angry breath in her face as he seemed to take a moment to let his brain catch up with his body.
Goldie tried to get out of his grasp, but he was much stronger than he looked and the more she tugged, the tighter his grip got. It was making her nervous, especially considering her state of dress and the way he’d been staring at her earlier.
“Give. Me. My. Gold,” Scrooge seethed quietly, holding out his free hand and wiggling his fingers.
She stared up at his face and found herself feeling a tiny, temporary amount of guilt before looking away and going back to her cold hearted normalcy. “I don’t know what you’re talking ab-”
“My gold nugget!” Scrooge repeated, louder than before. “I know you’re a lying crook, just like Soapy, I know you took it from me, and I want it back! Now! Before I tear down this whole stupid saloon and leave you homeless!”
Goldie closed her eyes on an inhale and exhaled angrily in the miner’s face. She couldn’t stand being spoken to that way, but he wasn’t leaving her with a lot of options. It wasn’t like Scrooge McDuck would go around ruining her reputation, he’d just leave and never come back and she’d continue living her life as always.
“...fine, just let go of me already,” Goldie grumbled, tugging on her arm again. She was surprised when Scrooge released his grip and let her pull away - he still stood there angrily, huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf, but her fear of being assaulted by this man seemed to melt away. She reached into her bag and pulled out the nugget, holding it up between them. It felt desperately cold in her palm and she wondered why it didn’t feel like that before.
Scrooge snatched it away from her and scowled. “I cannae believe you thought you’d get away with this!” he hissed at her, stuffing the nugget back into his pocket. “Did you expect me to just let you have my gold and move on? Do you think I’m a complete idiot?!”
Goldie hissed right back. “That’s what every other miner does! It’s not my fault you think you’re better than the rest of us!”
“Every other…” Scrooge sputtered, looking baffled. “So you do this to unsuspectin’ hard workers all the time, hm? Maybe I think I’m better than you because I am! You’re a liar and a thief and a cheat and you’ve clearly never had to work hard a day in your life! I got this gold,” he said, taking it out of his pocket again for emphasis, “by workin’ hard and workin’ smart and I won’t let some deadwood trollop take that away from me!”
She gaped at him, anger flaring in her eyes, and roughly poked him in the chest. “You don’t know me, you-! You rube! Just because I’m not out there in the dirt every day doesn’t mean I don’t know hard work! You’ve never-”
“Oh, sure,” Scrooge interrupted with an eye roll. “You used Soapy and his stupid cappers to make yourself look like a damsel just so I’d act like some kind of pathetic knight in shinin’ armor! That’s not hard work, that’s just stupid!”
“Why you immature, aggravating-”
He interrupted her once again, shoving the gold back into his pocket for the last time of the night. “You couldnae last a single day doing the work I’ve been breakin’ my back over for months! You’d be used up in less than an hour! So you should just stay here in your little saloon and be glad I don’t report you to one of those redcoats!” Scrooge turned towards her door, ignoring the sounds of doors opening down the hall.
“You don’t get to talk to me like that!” Goldie yelled after him, running into the hall to make sure he could hear her anger. She noticed the other girls staring at her from their doors and gave them all a collective glare before looking back towards Scrooge on the stairs. “You think you’re so noble, but you came here with the same ideas as every other man!”
Scrooge turned towards her from the bottom of the staircase and glared. “You’re not gonna play me for a sucker again! Just back off, Glittering Goldie. I hope I never see your thievin’ mug again!”
She watched him walk towards the door and Goldie felt her chest rise with the hottest indignation of her life. She refused to let him leave thinking he’d won - thinking he’d gotten the best of her. With a huff and a brief moment of hesitation, she turned around and rushed back into her room. She took off her slip and threw it into the bag from before. After a few seconds of standing there naked, staring at her bag, she grabbed her only pair of pants and slipped them on with a simple button-up and looked out the window.
He hadn’t gotten far.
Goldie stepped out of her room only to find two of the other Blackjack girls staring at her. She squeezed the strap of her bag tighter.
“Um...Goldie?”
“What?” she said a bit harsher than intended.
“...are you...gonna be gone for a while?” Snake-Hips asked, looking uncomfortable while Lulu walked up beside her.
Goldie ran a hand through her hair and scoffed. “Just for a few days. I need to show that sourdough that he can’t just say whatever he wants and get away with it!”
“So…” Lulu started.
“So you guys know your schedules! You can handle everything here for a few days by yourselves, I don’t need to be hands-on all the time.”
“Yes, of course, Goldie,” Lulu said, awkwardly rubbing her arm. “Good luck out there.”
“Don’t need it,” she muttered, rushing down the stairs and out the door in her attempt to catch up with Scrooge. Goldie glanced back at the saloon for a second, and knew she should consider that this was a stupid idea...but she wanted that nugget back. Letting him keep it was just letting him be right. And she wasn’t going to let some sourbellied old fogey call her a lazy whore and just go back to his comfy cabin in the woods to get rich.
She grabbed her lantern, flicked her eyes down to the ground, and caught familiar footprints headed towards Moosehide Mountain, then let out a long sigh and started to follow.
---
---
DEFINITIONS:
- sourdough: common term for gold diggers during the Gold Rush. a longtime resident of Alaska or the Yukon, though after the Klondike loosely applied to anyone who had lived through a far northern winter. stemmed from the use of sourdough as a leavening for bread, and perhaps, from the use of the alcohol from fermented sourdough for distilling hooch - red coat, redcoat: canadian mounted policeman - deadwood: unimportant, lazy - cappers: accomplices in cons or rigged games of chance who lure the unsuspecting by posing as lucky gamblers
REAL HISTORY FACTS:
- all the Dawson origin facts! before the gold rush the town barely existed (for whites, I didn't find much about the native population of the area lol) - women couldn't own businesses without a man in the picture, usually they'd inherit from their dead husband. in this case, Goldie and Soapy came to an...agreement. of sorts - there's a decent amount of literature about saloon girls in the Klondike stealing from miners, but many saloon girls were poor and/or prostitutes so often the miners wouldn't say anything 'cause they felt bad for them. it was a complicated time - women working in saloons were performers, bartenders, waitresses, seamstresses, chefs, choreographers, dancers, singers...they did a LOT of work. different work than mining, but it was not a forgiving schedule. the narrative Scrooge has about Goldie not knowing hard work is popular among men from that time but it's very much not true
DUCK FRANCHISE REFERENCES:
- Soapy Slick is from the comics, based off of real life conman Soapy Smith! He's a loanshark and hates Scrooge's guts - Goldie drugs miner's coffees in the comics and then steals their gold, Scrooge is the last guy she tries that on - Scrooge's goose egg-sized gold nugget is iconic for the comics - Lulu and Snake-Hips are two of Goldie's saloon coworkers from the comics! - From the DT17 book Solving Mysteries and Rewriting History!: "Dawson Days: She was the proprietor of the Blackjack Saloon, and I was an old sourdough making my way to the Klondike to find my fortune."
running in circles
chapter five: you’re a pond & i’m an ocean summary: It's been almost a month since the avalanche. warnings: references to sex, nothing explicit wordcount: 3867 playlist (will be updated as chapters are posted): shorturl.at/bfBCQ ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33776632/chapters/83981521
here’s chapter five!! text will also be included in this post for those of you that don’t use ao3:
1897; White Agony Creek:
DAY TWENTY-ONE
They hadn’t spoken in several days. The confrontation, the freezing, the night of cuddling together next to the fire and awkwardly waking up in each others’ arms, the two days of Goldie sneezing and coughing and sniffling and then...nothing. Not a word was said about it. Despite the sweet moment between them, the tension and awkwardness still hung in the air.
Scrooge had caught her trying to steal his nugget again, he had screamed at her, he had kicked her out into the cold. It was an uncomfortable reminder of how little power she had out here in the middle of nowhere. As much as Goldie had been trying to pretend she was in control of herself, her life was still in McDuck’s hands. His calloused, dirty hands that she could still feel wrapped around her arms when she thought about it hard enough. And she’d been thinking about it more often than she’d care to admit.
Goldie had spent the days going through an odd range of emotions. She was angry and terrified, but also guilty and ashamed. And her chest hurt for a variety of reasons and she couldn't stop thinking back to that night. She’d finally gotten her hands on the nugget that she’d been searching for, but then she just...let him catch her. She could’ve put it back and waited until the path back to Dawson cleared and then run for the hills, but instead she just sat there. Like a chump. Like a moron! There was absolutely no reason for her to just sit there staring at him, and yet that’s exactly what she did.
Her hand still felt cold from the way the gold felt against her palm. It reminded her of that night, almost a month ago, when she’d first stolen it.
Scrooge, meanwhile, was grumpier than usual. After three weeks of cohabitation, he’d been starting to think they were on friendly terms. Not friends, he could never be friends with an associate of Soapy Slick's, but friendly enough. After everything that had happened, he should’ve known better. Saving her life didn’t change who she was.
A thief was always just a thief. That was the end of it.
So for days, they ate their meals silently. They mined for gold silently. They slept silently (save for Goldie’s snoring, which Scrooge could hear from all the way in the wood bin). And if he was being completely honest with himself, it was exhausting. He’d spent months in that cabin, silently working and never dealing with other people. Barely even thinking. And he’d had no problem with that! Other people were liars and cheaters and thieves. He didn't want to deal with them. But having Goldie there with him and not speaking to him was even more tiresome than when they were arguing.
On their twenty-first day of living together, Scrooge felt like he was getting to his breaking point. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he had to: he missed talking to someone.
...he missed talking to her.
Even if she was frustrating and single-minded and backstabbing, she was also smart and charming and mysterious in the most interesting ways. Scrooge found himself thinking about her even when he didn’t want to be, and though it hadn’t been too distracting so far, he was a little worried that would change. For whatever reason, not hearing her voice or talking to her made him think about hearing her and talking to her more than usual.
Even that day, when he was cleaning up in the cabin after a hard day’s work, he found his mind continuing to drift back to Goldie. He’d seen her working outside near him, but despite his efforts to get her attention, they didn’t interact. And since they weren’t talking, he wasn’t waking her up in the morning, and she was starting later and continuing to work later. Scrooge accepted that, so long as it didn’t get in the way of his work.
After another hour of eating and cleaning around the cabin, Scrooge realized that Goldie still hadn’t returned. He sat at the kitchen table and angrily tapped his fingers against the wood.
She was an adult. Perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Of course, he did watch her use dynamite incorrectly and ignore a tree falling right towards her and almost freeze to death (though that was on him)…
Scrooge sat up and grabbed his coat, shuffling out the door towards where he remembered seeing Goldie a few hours earlier.
He didn’t say anything or shout her name, just in case she was fine. He didn’t want to embarrass himself by letting her think he was worried. Finally his ears caught a familiar noise in the distance.
Scrooge followed the sound - he was pretty sure it was singing, and the gentle melody could only be coming from one source - out the cabin and down the hillside a bit. As he got closer, the words became clearer, and he realized it was the exact song that Goldie was singing that first night he saw her at her saloon.
Despite the lack of amenities in her current life, her voice didn’t falter once. She still sounded every bit as beautiful as before. And he couldn’t deny being enchanted by the sound.
The view wasn’t hurting, either. Scrooge took a seat and watched her (from a respectable distance) as she sang and danced as if she was on stage with several dozen men watching her move. He didn’t really understand theater and wasn’t a dancer or a singer himself, but he knew he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Hearing her voice again after so many days was a treat by itself, but he’d certainly never expected to get a show.
As she continued to sing, he thought about how many times she’d mooned about missing her saloon and missing her work. He still didn’t really think of what she did as real work, but watching her do it reminded him of how passionate she looked on stage. She was not only talented, but she seemed to love it, and Scrooge had to admire that.
Goldie did one more spin as she hit the last note, and struck a final pose before curtsying. She was still facing away from him, but Scrooge couldn’t stop himself from clapping as the creek went quiet once again.
With the sound of his applause, Goldie’s eyes widened and she whipped her head around to stare at her unknown audience. Her cheeks burned a little and Scrooge was surprised - considering he’d seen the exact show once before - and then he finally noticed the family of squirrels that were situated right in front of where she’d been performing.
Scrooge couldn’t help himself and he smiled - a really big, nice smile, bigger than he’d had in quite a long time.
Goldie’s blush got even redder and she quickly waved her hands at the squirrels, shooing them away. She brushed her hands on her pants and glared at Scrooge. “My shows aren’t normally free, sourdough,” she said finally, breaking the several-days’ silence as casually as possible.
The cuteness of the situation was still filling Scrooge’s head, and his cheeks had a bit of pink to them as he chuckled and stood up. “It was free for all of them, wasn’t it?” he asked sarcastically, pointing to where the squirrels had been.
She glared at him for a moment, but as soon as their eyes locked, Goldie felt her anger fade away and she didn’t fight the smile that came to her beak.
Then the two of them laughed at the exact same moment, and though neither wanted to think about it...it felt like something had changed. It almost felt like they were old friends.
Goldie waltzed up the hill to elbow him in the arm. “This was my first ever audience where no one interrupted me. Maybe I should sing for wild animals more often.”
Scrooge smirked at her as he rubbed his arm - not really hurt by her nudging, but feeling a little weird about the contact. “...why were you singin’, anyway? Practice?”
“Yeah,” Goldie said with a shrug. “It’s been almost a month, so...figure I’m gonna head back to Dawson soon and I don’t wanna be rusty for my big return. I’m hoping my absence will mean even more customers than usual when I make my comeback!” She motioned into the sky with her hands, making the shape of a rainbow over the last few moments of sunset.
Scrooge followed her hands and stared off at the darkening sky. “...just make sure everyone knows I didnae kidnap you, alright? I dinnae need that kind of scrutiny.”
“Eh,” she replied as she continued uphill towards the cabin. “I’m sure they’ll all be so happy to see me they won’t even care where I’ve been. It’s gonna be all about the money I’ll be making that night!”
He slowly trailed after her, glancing up at the sky as the sun was leaving and the Northern Lights were starting to be visible again. One of his favorite things about the Yukon (besides the gold, of course) was the Lights. They were beautiful and breath-taking and awe-inspiring…
...and as he looked up at Goldie, who’d finally reached the top of the hill, Scrooge saw how the Borealis shone around her head and made her look like she was glowing. He blushed and looked away just as Goldie turned around to look back at him.
“What’s wrong, slowpoke? Get your foot stuck in the mud?”
Scrooge huffed, her familiar teasing making him feel normal once again. He picked up speed and quickly caught up with her, not looking her in the eyes as he started mumbling. “Just thinkin’ about how once you’re back in Dawson, I can finally stop worryin’ about havin’ a thief in my midst.”
Goldie froze as he continued walking and loosely crossed her arms. It wasn’t as if she thought he trusted her all-of-a-sudden, but come on. There was literally nothing she could do to keep him from insulting her at the end of the day. She’d thought something happened between them back there, but in the end they were still just...Scrooge McDuck and Goldie O’Gilt.
And they couldn’t change who they were.
DAY TWENTY-SIX
Since Scrooge watched Goldie’s practice performance so many days earlier, their relationship had gotten a little better. She practiced at least once a day, and Scrooge watched her every single time. He didn’t always clap or let her know he was watching, but he had a feeling she knew.
Five days of enjoying free shows and listening to her voice and Scrooge was starting to get a little frustrated at himself (and her) once again. If she properly seduced him with her singing and dancing, then how could he keep his guard up for when she decided to steal his nugget again? He had to be careful. He had to keep a close eye on her literally all the time, since he was sure the snow was almost melted to the point where they could get back to Dawson.
That day, while doing his usual gold mining, Scrooge wondered if he should go check. He hadn’t checked the path in a while and it’d been very sunny the past two days. If Goldie could leave, she’d probably like to know the option was available.
As he was mining and thinking about getting rid of her, Goldie was mining and thinking about how weird it was going to be to get back to civilization. She was excited to take a real bath and use a toilet and sleep on an actual mattress and eat real food! But there was a little part of her that thought she was going to miss Scrooge. She’d still see him every once in a while, of course, but...she’d still miss him. Going from 24/7 cohabitation to occasionally waving at each other from opposite sides of the street would be quite the change. No matter how much he frustrated her and insulted her, their almost-month together meant a lot to her.
Goldie sighed and shook out her sluice box, hoping to find some significant amount of gold in her (potentially) last few days at White Agony Creek.
That’s when she heard an odd noise.
She glanced up towards Scrooge, who didn’t seem to notice anything, and then looked back towards the cabin. She definitely heard something come from there. Maybe an animal broke in? That wouldn’t be good, it’d probably steal the small amount of food they had left. And Scrooge refused to kill any of the animals by the creek, so they’d starve right before she had a chance to go home.
Goldie put down her tools and started towards the cabin to check and maybe chase out whatever was in the way. As she got a little closer, she noticed the front door was wide open. Good thing her almost-incident with the tree taught her to pay more attention to small noises.
She kept walking towards the cabin when probably the most unexpected thing happened: Soapy Slick emerged from the doorway, holding Scrooge’s lockbox in his hand and a vicious smirk on his face. He looked up and saw Goldie not-too-far away and simply responded to her stare with a tip of his hat as he started back towards the path to Dawson.
Goldie genuinely felt like she was dreaming. If Soapy was there, that meant...she could go home. But if Soapy was there and stealing Scrooge’s gold, that meant Scrooge was going to think they were working together and then he’d go back to hating her the same as he always had! Even after everything they’d been through, it’d be just as bad as their first night.
After a moment of hesitation, Goldie decided to rush towards Soapy and see if she could get the box back. He was huge and tough and probably had a weapon on him, but...she had to try.
“Soapy!” Goldie yelled out, running closer. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
The hog turned around with a raised eyebrow and shook the lockbox back and forth. “What does it look like, O’Gilt? I’m just gettin’ what I deserve.”
“You can’t take that!” she yelled again, hoping Scrooge would overhear and come over. “I...I’m the one who's been working her ass off out here - that box and everything in it is mine!”
He laughed loudly and stepped closer, getting right in Goldie’s face. “You know first hand that I’ll take whatever I want. I don’t care if it’s yours, or your Scottish boyfriend’s, or the Queen of England’s! It’s mine now, and if you don’t want to get hurt, you’ll just have to learn to live with that.”
She clenched her teeth and glared at him. “You’re an ass! Don’t act like you can just-”
Goldie was cut off by Soapy pinching her beak closed, smirking as she started scratching at his wrist to free herself. He laughed again and lifted her off the ground, ignoring her squeak of pain. “Maybe it’s time for you to come back to Dawson, honey. All this fresh air can’t be good for a woman’s brain.” He turned around and started back towards the path. “Everyone’ll be real excited to see Glitterin’ Goldie back on sta-”
“HEY!”
Soapy turned around with wide eyes at the sound of Scrooge’s voice. He still had a grip on both Goldie and the lockbox, and Scrooge felt himself getting angrier and angrier as he took in the scene before him.
“Well hey there, McDuck,” Soapy said with a grin, roughly tossing Goldie to the ground so he’d have use of one hand in case he needed it. “It’s too bad, I was hopin’ to grab your stuff without you findin’ out, but I s’pose...here we are.”
Scrooge didn’t even acknowledge Goldie on the ground as she rubbed her aching beak. He was looking directly at his lockbox - the box that contained the culmination of twenty years of painstakingly hard work. “Put the box down and leave if you don’t want to get hurt.”
Soapy laughed again, agitating both McDuck and O’Gilt. “Just try ‘n stop me! I’ve got-”
He didn’t get a chance to finish before Scrooge was on him - rushing around the hog’s shoulders and head and beating at him every which way. Goldie could barely keep track of what was happening, Scrooge was moving so quickly and angrily that it was like a blur around Soapy Slick’s head.
After a few moments, Soapy started punching at the air - which Goldie thought looked idiotic until Scrooge managed to get hit - hit very, very hard - and knocked right down to the ground a few feet away. Soapy wiped at some blood dripping from his lip and started walking towards Scrooge, clearly ready to beat him with the metal lockbox.
Goldie didn’t realize what she was doing until her feet were already moving. She rushed towards Soapy and tackled him from the side - despite her small stature, with enough speed and power she was able to knock him over and get him away from Scrooge.
Soapy glared at her as he stood back up and reached out instinctively to grab her by the hair. She screeched as he lifted her off the ground again - her short blonde locks bunched up between his fingers and her hands gripping and scratching at his giant hand to let her go.
“You’re such an annoying little whore,” Soapy grumbled as he held her face closer to his. “You think you can play me like some kinda sucker? I’m Soapy Slick, the richest man in Dawson!”
He swung the lockbox right at Goldie’s stomach, making her gasp and hiss in pain as he spoke.
“The cleverest man on the north side of America!”
He hit her again and Goldie held her arms out, punching towards him in an attempt to defend herself.
“You’re just some trash whore from nowhere who thinks she can act like a man,” Soapy mocked, hitting her again. “You’ve spent a month fucking some ugly foreigner and you think that means you deserve anything?” And again.
Goldie kicked out towards him, trying to ignore the pain in her stomach. “Shut up, Soapy! Let go of me!”
Soapy pulled her higher in the air and laughed in her face. “Not on your life, O’Gilt! I’ve got you right where you should b-”
Once again, Soapy’s insults were cut off thanks to Scrooge’s intervention. But this time Goldie felt like she experienced it all in slow motion.
The miner didn’t say anything as Soapy was beating on Goldie, his anger simply grew as he watched the scene and decided on his next course of action. Scrooge reached into his pocket and grabbed one of his knives - throwing it directly at Soapy’s hand.
Thank God for his good aim, since Goldie’s head was just an inch underneath. But as the knife sliced through her hair and stabbed into Soapy’s fingers, Scrooge felt a surge of pride and relief. Soapy screamed out and dropped Goldie and the lockbox, choosing to focus on his bleeding hand instead.
“You-you stupid sourdough! This hand is worth more than your life!” Soapy cradled his bleeding hand against his chest and glared before running off towards the nearby woods.
Goldie looked in front of herself to see clumps of blonde hair scattered on the snowy ground and slowly brought her hand up to feel her hair. She didn’t pay any attention to Scrooge as she breathed a sigh of relief at the amount of hair she still had left. It was probably a nasty, uneven cut, but since her hair was pretty short, it wouldn’t take long to grow back out.
Scrooge glared towards where Soapy had run off and glanced down at both Goldie and the lockbox before deciding to stay put instead of follow. He exhaled loudly and took off his hat, running his free hand through his hair.
Goldie watched him, the light from the sun glowing around his head as he stood there. She’d heard about the Buckaroo of the Badlands. She knew he was the same duck who’d been seen lifting weights beyond his own and taking down men five times his size. Everyone in Dawson was aware of his reputation and almost everyone was afraid of him for it. But there was something so intimately different about actually seeing his skills up close. Seeing his accuracy with that knife, hitting so close to her head that he chopped out a chunk of her hair. Seeing his strength as he punched Soapy so hard a few teeth flew out…
It was incredibly sexy. She’d already been having odd, conflicting feelings about him in the past few weeks, but watching him like that - for her, especially - brought everything up to the surface.
He grabbed his lockbox before rushing over to her side and Goldie knew she should make fun of him for it but she couldn’t speak.
“Are you alright?”
There was something so intense in his stare that Goldie couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly to her. No one had ever put their life in danger for her before. Not her family. Not her friends. Not even a lover.
After a second of hesitation, Scrooge wrapped his arms around her middle and hugged her back. It hurt like hell, but Goldie didn’t care one bit. He laid his beak on her shoulder and Goldie felt his sigh tickle her hair.
They both took a few moments to catch their breath and feel happy to be alive. Goldie knew Soapy wasn’t above taking a life, and she was sure after that encounter, Scrooge realized it, too. He wasn’t just a conman, he would do anything to get whatever his eyes were set on.
Scrooge loosened his grip around her and Goldie followed suit, but as they started to pull apart she felt a tug on her heart. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure what was happening with her feelings...a nice face, a cute accent, and visible abs weren’t enough to make her stray from her goals. But there was something with him. Something that she hadn’t experienced since she was a little girl. And she didn’t know any better way to express those feelings.
She closed her eyes and started to lean forward, grazing the tip of her beak against the tip of his. She had a feeling he’d be a sloppy, amateur kisser, and she couldn’t find a single problem with that.
Instead she heard a sharp intake of breath and felt his hands shove against her shoulders. When Goldie opened her eyes again, she saw that Scrooge had not only pushed her away, but had fallen back onto his butt and was staring at her like she’d just grown another head.
Their eyes locked and Goldie felt a humiliating heat rise up to her cheeks. She definitely hadn’t expected that.
---
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You can see the full comic to go wtih that last scene right here: https://lettheladylead.tumblr.com/post/654577205587984384/scroldie-week-day-one-kiss-happy-first-day-of
DEFINITIONS:
- sluice box: a trough of boards with riffle bars to capture gold.
DUCK FRANCHISE REFERENCES:
- Scrooge really really loves Goldie's singing - Ok so in the comics Soapy doesn't do all this nonsense, but I didn't want to include all the 4-6?? other characters involved in the story. So it's Soapy's time to shine - Scrooge slicing Goldie's hair with a life-saving knife throw! It's a classic comic moment
