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

27. Between Two Fronts

Bill was like paralyzed. The person who stood in front of him was a young female lizard. She had a long-braided plait, wore blue jeans and checkered blouse. In the darkness he couldn't realize exact colors.
"Why are you staring at me like an idiot?!" the female lizard asked. "What do you want on our land?!"
Bill was still unable to speak or to move. "Uh-eh.... I.... me.... uh..."
"What do you want?!" she asked threateningly.
Now Bill managed to speak some clear words. "Do you wanna marry me?"
She released the safety catch.
"Are you drunken, or what?! Get off of our land, pervert!"
"Damn," Bill thought. Why did he say that?
"Sorry, sorry," he apologized quickly. "I'm very sorry. Don't be angry with me. I don't know what came over me. I'm in desperation!"
"Oh, really?" she said sarcastically.
She took a few steps forward and held the barrel of the shotgun very close on his nose.
Bill lifted his hands and stood up slowly. "Please, let me speak a word, please! You don't have to be afraid. I'm deputy of the sheriff."
"Are all deputies perverse?" she asked darkly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. That means... I don't know."
"No more Mr. Nice Guy!" she cut his word. "Either you scram or I push that thing and kick you with that to kingdom come!"
"NO! You would never do that!"
She narrowed her eyes angrily. "Why should I do that not? Just because I'm a woman? – Keep your hands up!"
Bill took his right hand higher after he wanted to reach into his pocket. "No, I didn't mean that. The day when we had met the first time, I had known that you wouldn't do such things ever."
She lowered her gun a little. Her face was angrier than before.
"Don't you remember me?" he asked hopefully.
"I've never seen you here."
"I know it's a long time ago, but it was the death day of your mother."
She blinked in confusion, but she cramped her hand around her gun when Bill reached into his pocket slowly.
"Don't worry. Do you allow me?"
She watched him attentively and saw how the lizard fetched something from his pocket.
He handed it to her.
"Maybe you know this."
Carefully, she came closer and took it, but she kept an eye on him for security purposes. Then she eyed the candy paper.
"You had given me that after you had been in the store with your sister."
She turned it several times.
"Well, do you remember now?" he asked hopefully.
"Not really," she muttered and rubbed the paper between her fingers. "I only remember my dead mother."
"I remember, too. I'm sorry for this."
She gave him a skeptical look. "But you look a little familiar to me. I don't know. It's so long time ago."
Bill cleaned his throat. "Why didn't you come ever back to town?"
"Our dad had forbidden us to enter the city."
"Why?"
"He believes that the town murdered our mother."
"And what have you done the whole time? Did you never go outside?"
"No, never."
"Isn't that a lonely time?"
She petted her forehead. "Indeed, it is."
She put aside her weapon.
"Did you ever thought to go away?"
"Why do you ask me so many questions?"
Bill bit his underlip. "Sorry for that."
She crossed her arms. "If you are the deputy of the sheriff, maybe you came to arrest my father, aren't you?"
Bill looked at her with confusion. "Why should I? Nothing has happened."
She narrowed her eyes. "And why did the sheriff come?"
"We only wanted to talk."
"About what?"
Bill kneaded his hands nervously. "I don't know. Sheriff Jake thought he could find out something about our water problem. But I don't know what exactly."
Her eyes became slits.
"But I'm really not here to ask you something about that."
"And what about instead?"
"I wanted to see you."
"Me? Why this?"
"I missed you."
"Missing me?"
Bill nodded. "I couldn't forget you."
She looked at him like she couldn't believe him. "You aren't here to spy us?"
"No, I swear!" Bill crossed his fingers over his chest.
She turned around and looked like she wouldn't know what to do next.
And before Bill could speak something, she turned around with firm look.
"But you can't stay here. My dad hates people, means, all and everyone"
Bill blinked with disappointments. He couldn't believe that he had to leave her by now and searched for words in despair.
"Do you want that he shoots you?" She added.
Bill scratched his back head. "Uh, no... but... but could we meet later sometime again?"
She blinked with confusion. "Uh, I don't know. Don't know, better never. It's too dangerous for strangers. Even for you. And by the way, it's all so unexpected." She rubbed her hair. "I really don't know what I should think about you, who I would have met so long time ago."
"Rice, please."
Bill put his hands together and looked at her with a pleading look. But that wasn't the reason why she looked at him with big eyes back.
"You know my name?"
"I never forgot."
She stared at him and watched how he reached out his hand to her. She felt so empty. It was all too fast.
"I – I ... don't think that's... I mean, you come here like from the sky and your first words are "marry me"."
Bill didn't change his expression. Her eyes became bigger. Was he serious?
Suddenly a clicking sound made both cringed.
"RICE!" an old man's voice screamed.
Somebody with an old hat on his head stood on a hill and aimed his long gun at them.
"Dad!" Rice cried. "No..."
The shots undermined her words. Bill jumped aside and hit on the ground. But there was no time to react. Joel was already in front of him and reloaded his gun for another shot.
"No, dad! Let him!"
But the old lizard pushed her aside. "Out of my way!"
Bill winced when several shots were fired over his head. But they didn't hit him. Instead, they stroke the shoulder of the older lizards. Joel screamed in pain and held his shoulder.
In the next second a long big shadow surrounded the Gila monster and wrapped his long body around him. Bill was so confused that he wasn't in a state to speak one single word. The shadow grabbed him and pulled him away.
The both other lizards could only watch how the rattlesnake disappeared in the darkness.
"I CURSE YOU!" Joel screamed after them.

Apart from the bedlam, a hidden figure watched all from a hill. He had followed the rattlesnake so far. Now he was seeing how the rattlesnake fled with the Gila monster in his body between the hills.
The figure narrowed his eyes.
"You can't escape forever," he muttered and took a tic tac.

Around Bill twirled sand and dust while Jake was carrying him away from the ranch through the desert. Little by little the Gila monster realized what had happened and tried to free himself.
"No, Jake! Let me down, let me down! It's my last chance."
"Yes," Jake hissed back. "It's your last chance to get a grave for free. Are you out of your mind?!"
"NO! Jake, you don't understand! Jake! She is the woman who I searched for so long!"
"That daughter of an invalid? Are you kidding me? It's crazy to think about that."
"Let me down! Immediately!"
Jake stopped.
Bill looked at him with hope. "Do we return?"
"Quiet!" the rattlesnake hissed.
"But mpff!"
Jake covered Bill's mouth with his gun tail. Bill tried to remove the gun, but then he gave up and listened.
First, there was just the silence of the desert. But then...
A rumbling sound from the distance was heard. Jake lifted his head and looked around with tension. It was a very hard sound. A sound like exploding dynamite.
With effort Bill managed to free his mouth. "Let's disappear. We are in near of the Jenkins Clan area."
Again a rumbling explosion.
"Could you let me down?"
Bill winced when Jake squeezed him a little.
"We will take a look briefly, then we will go back to town."
Bill shook his head in disbelief. "You can't..."
Suddenly the rattlesnake unrolled her body and Bill fell to the ground. At the same moment, he looked at the firing eyes of the snake.
"What use do you have for your town if you are dead? Uh? Tell me! I thought you wanted to get back the water. But what are you doing?"
Bill didn't know what to say. He moved his lips, but he didn't find words.
Jake sighed deeply. "Whatever you think, but it's the wrong time to think about it. I can't help you and the others if you make such activities. It wouldn't have taken much and he had shot you. Either you compose yourself or we let it be. Get it?"
Bill was silent. "But..."
"Get it?!"
The Gila lizard lowered her eyes.
"Yes."
"Fine."
With that the rattlesnake raised up. "I need your help."
Bill looked up. Jake didn't explain more and slithered forwards. With sadness Bill looked back for the last time, then he followed the snake.