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

48. A question of trust

It was quiet in the bank. Neither of them said a word. Beans sat with his back somewhere in a corner behind the bank counter, while Rango let his gaze wander here and there. Sometimes, he glanced at the hole in the bank vault, which was still battered by the bank robbery. Then he looked back at the girl who was staring at the floor with her legs tucked up.
Finally, the chameleon cleared his throat. "Can't you stand to see this yet?" he asked.
Beans raised her head slightly. "Whenever I see a gun, I have the picture of my falling mother in front of me." She sighed. "11 years is a long time. But not long enough for me."
Everything was quiet for a while. Then the gunslinger started moving and sat down next to her, gently pushing his revolver forward and scratching the ground with the barrel.
"Who killed her?" he asked.
Beans avoided the gun and looked to the side. "My father said, the town killed her, but it was just an argument what she had nothing to do with." She pulled her legs closer to her body. "I wish I could get away from this place. Everything reminds me of mother."
Rango raised his hairless eyebrows. "And how far away?"
Beans looked over at him. "Very far away."
A slight smile crossed the chameleon's mouth. "It's very far away where I come from." He waved his hand. "Even very far away."
Beans looked up at him. "And what do you mean by that?"
Rango shrugged. "No reason. That means, if you ever need an invitation for a journey..."
The lizard girl narrowed her eyes. "With you?" She looked to the side. "Never!"
At first, the chameleon seemed disappointed, but then he smiled. "You can think about it. I will keep my offer open. At least until I've done something."
Beans lifted her chin indignantly. "What do you mean? My father's water?"
Rango twisted his mouth. "I'm not interested in the private dispute in this town." He rubbed the domes of his fingers on his revolver. "All I want is to get that snake down."
Beans raised her eyebrows skeptically. "You mean the sheriff?"
Rango was silent, then he snorted in amusement. "A sheriff? The guy killed my father. And he has to pay for it." He tightened his grip on the weapon. "I have to kill him."
Beans looked at him uncertainly. "So after everything my sister told me about him, he should be nice."
Rango gave her a cutting look. "I see you really come from a closed society. You have no idea what's going on in the world."
Beans narrowed her eyes. "I may come from the country, but I also have a certain knowledge of animals." She stood up and went to the exit of the bank. "And while we're talking about bandits, you're not a bit better either."
She yanked the door open, but before she could put one foot over the threshold, Rango grabbed her arm and pressed her against the open door. Beans was a bit startled when she looked into his angry face.
"If I were a ruthless bandit," the chameleon growled. "Then I would have shipped you somewhere else a long time ago, or maybe even cut your neck."
He swept the air with a cutting movement of his finger, just below Beans's chin.
At first, Beans was completely irritated, but then she pushed him away and went outside. The chameleon followed her grimly.

In the prison cell, the Gila lizard and the lizard girl had sat down on the floor and stared straight ahead, leaning back to back.
"I still remember the first time you came to town," Bill muttered. "You were so unique. Nobody was remotely like you."
Rice raised his eyebrows. "Not even my sister?"
Bill smiled. "No..."
Rice kneaded her fingers. "Our father never allowed us to speak to anyone else in town. With everyone and nobody."
"I'm not everyone," Bill said. "I'm the one." He paused for a moment. "Like you are the one."
She turned her head back to him. Then she smiled. "You're nice."
He smiled back. "Thank you. - You too."
She looked at him questioningly. "How does it happen that you've never met another woman?"
There was a short pause. "You want to know it?"
"Somehow yes."
"Well, have you ever seen my teeth?"
"Not really."
The Gila lizard rubbed his chin. "Everyone is afraid of my venom, which is underneath."
She turned to him. "But you're not a monster." She raised the corners of her mouth encouragingly. "Even if everybody calls your species like that."
They looked at each other. With every second that passed, their faces came closer. But then both of them suddenly raised their heads at the same time when they heard two loud voices from outside on the street.
"That's Beans."
Rice immediately ran to the bars of the window. A little further away, her sister and the chameleon really stood and carried out a more or less heated debate.
Bill joined her and together they watched the strange spectacle.
"I can't believe it," Rice muttered. "That he should be the famous gunslinger Rango." She shot Bill a questioning sidelong glance. "Or did I misunderstand you?"
The Gila monster shook his head. "No, you have already understood correctly..."

"I just hate being lumped together," Rango growled on, while Beans walked ahead of him with brisk steps on the street.
"Don't tell me anything," the girl countered. "We were also kidnapped - only because of you!"
The chameleon froze for a fraction of a second. Then he crossed his arms and looked offended. "This is my way of returning the revenge to someone."
Beans lifted her chin. "Your upbringing has suffered tremendously."
The chameleon started. "Hey! Don't say anything against my relatives!"
He grabbed her arms. But before he could continue with his indignation, Beans looked over his shoulder and looked out on the street in amazement. There, two riders were riding on roadrunners, who came racing towards them at a wild gallop.
Beans never got around to saying anything. In the next moment, the riders were with them. She recognized two rabbits, which tore her away from the chameleon and one of them dragged her onto his mount. Rango was so taken by surprise by this action that he drew his revolver too late. The riders were well prepared. Before Rango could shoot, the other knocked the gun out of his hand. Beans screamed as the rabbits rode off down the street with her.
The two reptiles in the prison couldn't believe what they were seeing. And least of all Rice. She shook the bars excitedly. "Hey! Let go of my sister! Beans!"
But her calls could not prevent the riders from galloping away with her.
The chameleon struggled to follow them, but because of the still fresh wound on the leg, it was impossible to take up the chase.
Now the Jenkins brothers and cousins had also noticed the noise. In the next moment, Joey and two of his brothers stormed out of the saloon and looked around in surprise.
"What's going on?" Joey wanted to know and looked down at the angry chameleon.
"They took her with them!" Rango snapped.
Joey raised his eyebrows. "Who took whom?"
"One of the girls!" The chameleon explained angrily.
The rodent jumped up. "WHAT?! You should take care of the brats and not just let them snap away from your nose!"
He grabbed the chameleon by the collar, but he pulled out his revolver and held it in front of Joey's face. "Better watch what you say..."
"Hey, Joey," one of the Jenkins brothers intervened in the confrontation and patted his brother on the shoulder. "We still have the second girl here. Isn't that enough?"
Joey loosened his grip. "True that. One is enough."
"Hey!" Rango pushed him away and pointed in the direction in which the riders had disappeared. "Don't you want to pursue them?"
Joey shrugged. "What for? We still have the other little one. Or maybe not?"
The chameleon narrowed his eyes gloomily. "Yes. - But she's mine!"
The rodent rolled his eyes. "Pray, then you ride after them. We're not getting our paws dirty now! And besides, we have to wait until this crazy old bastard appears here anyway."
Everybody could see, that the gunslinger did not agree at all. But for now, he had no choice but to think about riding with his bad leg or chasing after them on foot.

"This can't be true!" Rice shouted indignantly. "Where are they taking her?"
Bill bit his lip. "I'm afraid I have such a suspicion."
Rice looked at him in surprise. "You know where she is?"
"Not really," Bill replied. "But these riders... they were from the Danby clan."

Joey paid no more attention to the chameleon and withdrew into the saloon. But no sooner had he settled down at one of the tables than a cousin stormed into the room.
"Hey! Joey!"
The leader growled in annoyance. "What is it, Jeda? You should keep watch outside the town..."
"Yes, I did!" Announced Jeda, his chest puffed up proudly. "And I even found the one we were waiting for."
Joey jumped up. "Is he here?"
His cousin nodded. "Yes, he is..."
Joey didn't let him finish and pushed him aside. "Guys, today we will not only get a city, but also the water! Go out with you!"
Immediately, the rest of the wicked family stormed out of the bar room onto the dusty street.

"Where do these Danbys live?" Rice asked, but Bill withdrew into a corner.
"Even if I tell you," the Gila lizard pointed out. "How do you want to get out of here?"
Rice hit her right fist on her left open hand. "Damn it! You're right."
In the next moment, someone opened the door that was in front of the sheriff's office.
"So, let's go get some fresh air now!" Joey bellowed without greeting. He didn't pause until he saw Bill standing next to the girl in the cell.
"Oh no! You here, too?" Bill pressed himself a little closer against the wall. But Joey just laughed. "Relax. Today we're not after you..."
He unlocked the cell door and grabbed Rice by the arm. She struggled indignantly against him. "Hey! What's the point of that?!"
"As I said," Joey repeated her request. "You come outside in the fresh air. I think your daddy would like to see you."
"Leave her alone!" Bill intervened, but an appearing revolver in Joey's hand immediately froze him.
"You stay where you are!" the rodent growled. "We'll also settle accounts with you. And now out with you!"
With these words, he dragged Rice out of the cell and slammed the door again. Indignant, Bill went to the bars. "Hey! Let her go!"
"Oh, shut up!" Joey berated and left the prison with the girl in tow.

The Jenkins family had gathered outside the town and were staring straight ahead. Several meters further away another figure was standing on a hill, armed with a rifle and repeatedly shouting: "Come out with my daughters!"
In the next moment, the Jenkins crowd parted and Joey stepped forward with Rice.
"Hey, old man! Unlock your eavesdroppers!" he yelled at the old lizard up on the hill and held his revolver in front of the girl. "Give us the water pipe that you are hiding on your shabby stretch of land." He unlocked the revolver. "Or we shoot her."
Suddenly, shots rang out from the opposite side. "No!" a scratchy, rebellious voice shouted. "Give us the water! And we shoot her down!"
"Didn't you mean to say "or", Danny?"
The rabbit immediately got a fist in the face.
"Shut up, Deny!" His brother hissed at him before he came back to the subject. "So what is it now?"
He rolled the revolver in his paw and then he pointed it to Beans who was being held between all the Danby brothers.
"What are you doing here?" Joey yelled indignantly over to them. "Get out of our land!"
Danny the rabbit puffed his cheeks angrily. "This is a free country! Everyone can do what they want here!"
Joey laughed out loudly. "Pah! The sticky dust under your boots may belong to you, but the town is ours!"
He pulled out the contract what Mayor John had signed earlier and held it over his head.
Danny showed his long buck teeth. "I don't care! Now give us the water, old geezer! Or she is dead!"
Before Joel could answer it, Jenkins leader Joey got involved in the heated discussion. "You have nothing to say here! We are in the majority!"
"But we're smarter for that!" Danny echoed back. "So who are you giving it to now? Make up your mind!"

With anger, Bill rattled the bars of the prison cell. "Let me out of here!"
Suddenly, the door to the sheriff's office opened. "Bill? Are you here?"
As soon as the Gila monster recognized Kinski's voice, he jumped up and down excitedly. "Yes! Let me out of here!"
Kinski took the keys from the hook and unlocked the cell door. But before Kinski could ask him any questions, the lizard rushed past him outside.

"Give it to us!"
"No, to us."
"Shut up and drive home!"
"Now give us the water or we'll shoot her!"
"The town already belongs to us. So we have a right to the water!"
Joel was torn by it all. He stamped his foot furiously. "Hell again! I can't leave it to either of you or each of you!"
Joey grinned. "Maybe yes."
"Let her go!"
The Jenkins leader turned in surprise. Behind the group, Bill stood with a revolver in the hand.
Joey tapped his forehead. "You are probably hollow in the pear, aren't you? If you pull the trigger, we'll pop her off, too."
Rice froze as Joey pointed the barrel of his revolver at her head. That sobered the big lizard for the time being.

Danny craned his neck. "What's going on up there with them?"
He had noticed that Joey wasn't paying any more attention to them and stamped his foot angrily. "Hell damn it! We'll never get any further today."
He raised his ears when he heard a click behind him. All Danby members turned around in amazement.
"Put her down!" the chameleon demanded sharply.
The Danbys exchanged furtive glances, then Danny laughed first, then the rest of the group.
"You must be crazy!" He giggled. "Just bend your finger and she'll drop dead."
Beans froze as Danny waved his revolver in her direction.
Rango narrowed his eyes.

"Quit joking," Joey growled. "And crawl home to mommy."
Bill sucked in a sharp breath. "Not without her!"
"Bill!" At that moment, Kinski and Chorizo came running. "Stop the nonsense! You won't achieve anything with it!"
Joey grinned. "He's right. We'd better make it short."
To Rice's horror, the Jenkins leader waved the gun over at Bill. But before the rodent could pull the trigger, another clicking sound spoke up.
Joey's mouth remained open when he saw the mayor standing in his wheelchair, armed with a rifle.
"Neither of you get close to my son," John threatened.
That brought Joey back on track and the rodent wrinkled his nose disparagingly.
"He's not your son. He will never be your son," Joey countered. "He's a nobody and nothing more, maybe even less."
"He's got more than you have in a lifetime," John replied.
Joey laughed. "And what do you want to do now, old man? Shoot me down? Then we will need a lot of coffins here."

On the other side, the mood wasn't exactly better. Danny and Rango had a real word war.
Joel, who was still standing lonely on the hill, didn't understand the whole mess.
"NOW THAT'S ENOUGH!" The old lizard finally roared. "I WANT MY DAUGHTERS BACK! RIGHT NOW!"
In the next moment, several shots rang out. The clans looked at each other, but none of them had shot. Not even Joel. Only one.
"HEY!" Someone cried across the square. "If you want the water, I have it!"
When the great rattlesnake appeared behind a hill not far from John, the clans stared at him in amazement. Until Joey let out an angry growl.
"How does he get here again?"
"What do you want here, you long noodle?" Danny asked aloud now.
The rattlesnake curled up. "As I said. I know the main problem."
"And what do you mean by that?" Joey growled.
"That means that I challenge you to fight!"
Joey wrinkled his nose. "We don't need a challenge! We already have the town."
"You have nothing," John cut him off and got a dirty look from the rodent. "What's that supposed to mean, old man? You signed the scrap of paper."
The turtle narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure? Check it out for yourself. What do you have on the paper?"
Joey unfolded the contract and his gaze wandered to the bottom of the paper, where the signature should actually be. But she was gone.
Joey's jaw dropped. "What...?"
"I signed the contract in ink that disappears after a while," John explained and grinned. "A little life insurance for the town."
For a moment, Joey was frozen, but then he threw the worthless contract on the floor and trampled on it.
"This is postponement! This is fraud!" He pointed the revolver at him. "That's what we stuff you for!"
Suddenly a rattle shuddered the air. "Nobody moves!" the rattlesnake ordered. "If you want to have the water, you have to pass me first."
Danny and Joey thought they weren't hearing properly.
"You want us to play against you?" Joey asked, just to make sure his ears weren't clogged. Danny was also completely out of the role.
"We? Against a snake?"
He looked questioningly at his brother Deny. But he shrugged his shoulders.
But before any of the leaders could say anything, the snake spoke up again with an announcing rattle. "We'll compete in a three-way duel."
That surprised the clan leaders even more.
"Three?"
Jake nodded. "Just you two - and two more from town."
The two rivals narrowed their eyes at the same time. "And who is playing the third part?"
Jake raised his eyes. "Rango."
The chameleon, who had said no word so far, stared at him in amazement. Danny was confused by this announcement. "Hey, wait a minute! Again to take notes..."
"But you can't write at all, Danny," his brother objected, and a punch silenced him again. Danny started all over again.
"Are we supposed to compete against each other with three people? And who are the others? And what does the green alien have to do with it? And what do we actually get out of it?"
Deny rubbed his head in confusion. "Well, somehow I don't get it..."
Jake narrowed his eyes. "Rango competes against me, and you two..." He hesitated for a moment. But then he continued. "You will fight against Bill and Kinski."
The lizard and the rabbit jumped up in horror. "WHAT?!"
Bill's knees went weak and he couldn't get a word out. In contrast to Kinski, who didn't even know what to say.
"I - I don't know anything about that..." the trapper finally managed with difficulty.
Bill rushed to Jake and shook his belt. "You're joking, right?! Tell me that was just a joke!"
But Jake's gaze was determined. "The situation is far too serious to be joking..."
"That's all bullshit!" Joey growled over to them.
Danny wasn't thrilled either. "Is even more stupid than Joey's hollow brain."
Before another dispute between the parties escalated, the rattlesnake interfered again.
"How come? It's very simple," he shouted around. "Danny competes against Kinski and Joey against Bill. - Unless you're scared."
The two clan leaders raised their heads in anger.
Danny even went a step further and shouted out loud: "I'm not afraid of that. I can do it in a wink."
Joey showed no concern either, especially since he knew what a coward Bill was sometimes. "I don't mind recycling this bottle." He narrowed his eyes. "Then we have a little more space in our town."
"And then, who owns the town if we have won?" Danny wanted to know.
Jake's expression darkened. "You can make that out among yourselves. Should I no longer be, then nothing stands in your way. And one of you can get the water. John knows where you can find it."
"Just over my dead body!" Joel yelled down from the hill.
But Jake paid no attention to him. "So, do you agree? Because at the moment you give the impression that out of sheer fear you would rather hide behind little girls."
That broke Joey's patience. "That's enough now! Okay, we'll kill some of them first, then we'll do the rest. And it's clear that I will win..."
"You wouldn't even meet an elephant," Danny countered. "If you lose, then the water is mine without any problems!"
Deny nudged his sleeve. "Didn't you mean to say "us"?"
The rabbit dodged a blow from his small brother just in time.
"Come on!" Danny yelled. "When does it start? Right away?"
Jake's gaze wandered to the tower clock. It was 15 minutes to 12.
"At noon on the dot in the town."
"Just a moment!" Joey objected. "In any case, I will not be fooled! If we're already doing a duel, then without spectators who can shoot us!"
Jake sighed deeply. "And what do you want?"
"Everyone is going out of town and will keep my relative some company!"
At first there was silence. Then the snake nodded. "Agreed." His frozen gaze fell on Rango, who looked at him with hatred.

"You can't be serious!" Bill repeated over and over again while everyone went into town. Jake crawled ahead of everyone. At first, it was uncomfortable for him to crawl into town so easily, but he gritted his teeth and paid less attention to Bill's pleading. Mayor John, however, had made it his business to inform the townspeople about the current situation. At first, there was extreme confusion, but when Joey threatened war, everyone stormed out of their homes and fled to the outskirts.
In the meantime, Kinski and Bill had stood in front of Jake and begged him to reconsider his duel offer.
"Jake! I can't do that!" Bill pleaded with clenched hands. "I couldn't get through this!"
Jake leaned down to him. "Do not worry. Nothing will happen."
"But what if yes?" Kinski objected.
Jake looked at him in surprise. "Why these concerns? You're a good gunman."
"Yes, that may well be..." The rabbit looked down. "But I..."
The snake raised his eyebrows in amazement. "But what?"
For a moment, Kinski stood completely indifferent. But then he sighed loudly.
"Jake, I can't kill!"
Jake narrowed his eyes. "You don't have to kill anyone either."
"But what if I kill someone by mistake?" Kinski pointed out.
"You don't even have to shoot," Jake instructed him. "Nobody has to shoot."
"Okay, I let everyone know," John announced. "We can start. Is everyone ready?"
"No, we are not," Bill intervened.
"Me neither," Kinski agreed, which this time also surprised Bill.
"Why not you? As a trapper you have to be used to shooting someone in the knee..."
"I never killed! Not even a wild animal!" The rabbit burst out. "I bought the insects that I always brought with me and said I had killed them."
They all looked at in silence for a brief moment, until Jake started talking again.
"Why this?" He wanted to know.
Kinski sighed. "When I was a little boy everyone thought I was a coward. Even when I was a young adult because I never wanted to pick up a gun. - So I pretended to be a trapper and suddenly everyone looked up at me."
There was silence. But then Jake took the rabbit aside. "That is not important at the moment. It's much more important that you keep your nerve now and do what I tell you."
Lizard and rabbit looked up at their sheriff with desperate looks. The snake looked at them seriously.
"Do you trust me?"
A glance between the involuntary challengers followed. Then they nodded.
"Trusting a snake is a sin!" a tired voice shouted behind them and Gordy stumbled towards the small group. "I just remember Eva."
"You're drunk again, Gordy," John reprimanded him and instructed him to leave the town as well. The turkey mumbled away. "I tell you, it's a sin."
Jake narrowed his eyes, then he looked back at his two comrades-in-arms. "None of you will be harmed. Just trust me."

It was quiet in Doc's hospital room. Only now and then, Stump mumbled a few words to his wife. "Oh Meggy," the rabbit sighed sadly. "What should we do?"
In the next moment, the door opened behind him and Chorizo came in.
"Stumpy! We have to get away from here!"
But Stump held the hand of his comatose wife. "No, I'm not going anywhere!"
But the mouse could not be dismissed and grabbed Stump by the arm. "Come on now! It will be a bit noisy here!"
"And what about Meggy?!"
"That won't bother her," Chorizo said and managed to drag his buddy out of the house with great difficulty.