Gold, Guns and Death in the West - A Wild West Story

CHAPTER 9 - The Showdown

The decrepit, decaying house was eerily silent. Five years hadn't been kind to it, neither to the bodies which had been left in the yard. A woman, a man and a young child, along with an old man; beaten, bruised and hung onto a noose atop the chimney. Inside of the house, Eugene Timothy Edwards watched closely through holes in the wooden walls as he could see dust being kicked up by a horse which was approaching the home. As it stopped, a boot stepped down into the vicinity, an angry fist clenched tightly as the boy searched for any sign of his opponent.

"Come out, you coward!" He yelled out loud.

"You care so much about those people!? You're a fool, to think that you could've gotten wealth beyond your wildest dreams?!" Eugene called back, his right hand twitching with both nervousness and excitement for the battle to come. The boy fiddled with his revolver as he replied.

"I'm a bounty hunter, I ain't no slave driver!" The boy shouted back. "People like you disgust me! You believe that you're so superior to others? Come down and prove it!"

"You better have chosen what kind of wood you'd like to be buried in, boy!" He called.

As the boy stepped out onto the yard, his eyes landed onto the various bodies left like useless garbage on the gravelly ground. Ultimately fuelling his determination to finally stop the madman.

The rotting door opened soon after a little commotion was heard inside the house. Eugene stepped out into the searing sunlight, kicking the mayor's body out of his way as he threw an expensive cigar to the ground. Snuffing it out with his boot before it reached the end of its life.

"Countless people and my men happen to 'hire' you." Eugene chuckled to himself. "What's your name, boy?"

He said nothing. Walking to the side, the boy mirrored this to keep him in his sight. Ultimately they began circling each other.

"You ain't doing this for the money, that's as much as I can take out of this. Why do you care so much? These people mean nothing to you, this town you've definitely never been in. You're doing this for the girl, ain't yah? Pathetic as anything..." He smiled as he mocked his opponent.

The two kept their eyes to each other, how close their hands were to their holsters was the thing that mattered more than anything. Meaningful enough to determine the outcome of this fight.

Eugene saw how far the boy's hand was to his pistol, taking it as a challenge. He furthered his hand from his own revolver just to humour him a little.
"You think you're so fast? This'll only end one way, no matter how far our hands are from our guns." Goaded Eugene.

Any sudden movements would trigger a response from either party. They kept their movements slow, mirroring each other in order to keep each other in their sights. Ready to draw quickly and fire if necessary. The fiery anger behind the boys eyes glared daggers at Eugene, seemingly speaking from a deeper part of him. Something locked far into his mind due to the sheer trauma of it all.

*****

A man walked past a burning ranch, a rifle slung on his back. Approaching four men surrounding a young child, with a man strung on a noose posted on his shoulders. The bleeding body of a woman lie only a few feet away from them.

"We got the money?" One of the men asked, who was reloading their pistol.

"Yup, after all. Haymond did say that there would be silver here." The gang's leader said.

"There's no silver here!" The father yelled in anger and sorrow at a younger Eugene. "You goddamn animals!"

Eugene glanced at the man angrily, then to the child beneath him.