RANGO // OӘͶAЯ - Another Outlaw Story [Engl.]

41. Dark night in Dirt

Doc scared marrow-deep when the chameleon released the safety catch of his revolver, which was pointed at the rabbit.
"One wrong movement", the green lizard warned.
"Yes, Sir."
Rango lay with the belly on the treatment table in Doc's house. His leg lay free.
After the rattlesnake had escaped, he had gone to the Doc office to treat his shot wound.
With trembling fingers, Doc cleaned the injury and stitched it up. The bullet wasn't sticking in.
Suddenly, without knocking, the door opened and Joey came in.
"Why didn't you tell me, there is no water in the bank anymore?!"
Rango narrowed his eyes angrily. "That was non-scheduled."
Joey growled loudly. "I advise you to bring us the water or you can sing your last song."
"Watch your language!" Rango shouted and aimed this gun at him. "Or you can spit blood instead of words! I said you can get the water if you apprehend the goddamn rattlesnake."
Joey's brother Jim and cousin Jajo held their leader's shoulders.
"Calm down, Joey," Jim hissed.
"Yes," Jajo agreed.
The Jenkins Brother leader took a deep breath. "Well, the water was stolen, what now?"
The chameleon lowered his revolver. "I sympathize with your situation. Because of my current severely limited movement I will need time to continue my snake hunt. But something preys on my mind." A cold smile crossed his mouth. "I still have a score to settle with an old man."
He leaned his upper body on the elbows on the table in a lazy way. "For this reason, I have a plan B for you."

Meanwhile, it was loud in the saloon. Joey's brothers and cousins had taken their place on the counter and drank one cactus juice bottle after another.
Not far away in a lonely corner which lay separate from the main saloon room under the stairs, covered with a curtain, peeked one eye through it and watched the boozy session.
She winced when two little hands gave her dress a tug.
"What's going on there?" Portley asked.
But Fresca pushed him away.
"Go back to your father."
With silent protest Portley ran through a little door into a little back room. In the room stood a table with some chairs. Stump, Stanley and Kinski sat around it and were hoping that the bandits will go to sleep soon.
"Portley," Stump cried. "I said, you should stay with me."
"Why can't we go back to mum?" Portley asked, but his father shook his head.
"Not as long as that guy is in Doc's office."
"He's right, big boy," Kinski said and took him on his lap. "Stay with us. It's the best for all of us now."
"Where's the big snake?" Stanley asked.
Both men sighed.
"We don't know, kid."
Their eyes wandered to the door, where Fresca came through and closed it.
"They are still busy with drinking," she said and took a seat next to Kinski.
"Thanks for shelter," the rabbit said.
Fresca nodded. "No problem."
"Where's the girl?" Kinski continued his questions.
"She is with Melonee, don't worry."
At this moment, the back door opened and Chorizo came in.
"Anything new?" Stump asked.
"Mr. Merrimack is gone," the desert mouse said without forewords. "Mr. Parsons said, he can't find him. Since the water is gone, he is gone too."
All exchanged glances.
"By the way, do you know where Bill is?" Chorizo asked without more explanations.
Stump shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't see him since the morning."
Kinski crossed the arms. "Maybe he ran away again."
The mouse raised the eyebrows. "Where?"
"What do you think?" Kinski said with a bored undertone and rubbed over his face. "I'm tired of running behind him."
Fresca watched the mouse. "And Coral? Where did they bring her? Priscilla asked for her."
Chorizo took off his hat. "We have no knowledge about it."
For a moment there was silence around the table. Even Portley and Stanley didn't dare to say one word.
Finally, the mouse hit with the flat hand on the table.
"What should we do now?" he asked. "We have no water and at the end no sheriff anymore." A deep sighed escaped his mouth. "As long as we could call him a sheriff."
Stump dropped his glance. "I can't believe that he is a murderer."
All faces wandered to him.
"How do you want to know?" Chorizo asked.
A warm smile played on Stump's mouth. "I know that Meggy would say so. After all what had happened on our home, she would say, we should trust him."
Silence fell again. Until Fresca nodded.
"Maybe you've got a point there. If he was, he had shot the green lizard already."
"And what are you trying to say to that?" Kinski asked. "Even if he is a good one, what I'm thinking too, we don't know where he is. And because of the Jenkins Clan it's impossible to leave the town."
Chorizo slapped on his hat. "True that. All what we can do is wait and hope, that everything will be over soon." He silenced a few seconds. "Just if we survive that invasion."
Fresca leaned back and sighed deeply, her glance up to the room ceiling. "Farewell, Mr. Jake. God be with you, wherever you are now."