Redemption

Chapter One - Discovery

Stanley's horse had been galloping at the same pace for over an hour. He was surprised the horse didn't fall down in exhaustion. The heat was definitely getting to Stanley now and if he wasn't wearing the dark brown hat of his, he would have probably gone down with heatstroke. The horse, however, didn't have any protection from the sun, yet it still managed to keep going.

Stanley decided he was riding a hyper-active horse, and he guessed that was the reason why it was still moving at such a pace, but he didn't bother stopping it. However, he soon found out he made a bad decision, when his horse collapsed, causing Stanley to fall off and land nastily. Stanley landed on his side with such a bump, he struggled to feel his right side for a few moments afterwards.

"Aw, crap.." he groaned, slowly sitting up, trying to ignore the strong pain in his side.

Stanley observed his horse. It looked horrible. Stanley nudged it a little, trying to see any signs of movement, but none came. It was dead. He was full of guilt and thought it would be best to give the horse, who had helped him escape, a proper burial.

He began to dig a hole in the ground, using a rock he had found nearby. After a while, it began to get dark, and he began to pick up his pace a little. Stanley looked at the horse then back to the hole, seeing the sizes were far different to each other. He was never going to fit it in there and with the small amount of light that was left fading away into darkness, his only choice was to leave it.

"I'm sorry, buddy," he said, tapping the horse on the side, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Now that it was completely dark, and Stanley had no where to sleep, he decided it would be best to start walking until he found some shelter. It was no place for a 16 year old boy to be walking about at night, especially when he was stranded. To make matters worse, it started raining.

The rain was so heavy, he struggled to see through it. He narrowed his eyes, to try and get a better focus, but it was no use. He was drenched, stranded, full with guilt and scared. He was on the verge of giving up until, at last, he saw a light in the distance. He straight away, without thought, walked towards it. As he edged nearer and nearer to the light, he began hearing country music and the loud voices of drunks' walking back to their house from the, what Stanley guessed, saloon.

It wasn't long before he reached the light and discovered it was a camp-fire just on the outskirts of the town. "I'm in luck!" he said, grinning widely to himself.

He entered the town and walked straight to the saloon, craving a taste of whiskey. "One bottle of whiskey on the rocks, my good friend," he said to the bartender, whilst flicking the rain off of his hat.

"You look too young for whiskey, boy" said the bartender, observing Stanley's face.

"Well, i've always had a baby face. I'm actually 19 years old," lied Stanley because the age for drinking was 18 at the time.

The bartender paused for a moment, taking a real good look at Stanley, keeping note of what he said as well. "Well, I suppose there's no proof against you being 19, so I guess I can serve you."

Stanley grinned, trying his best to conceal his joy. The bartender went under the counter and came back up with a bottle of whiskey and a shot. He poured the whiskey into the shot, filling it to the top, then he slided it over to Stanley. Stanley, rather quickly, put it to his lips and swallowed it down in one.

The strong, but enjoyable taste of whiskey was one taste not to be missed. "Another shot, my good man," he said.

The bartender nodded and need the same procedure again, sliding it over to Stanley. This time Stanley didn't gulp it down whole, he swished it about inside his mouth for a few moments to savor the taste, then eventually swallowed it.

Due to Stanley being a lightweight, he refused to have anymore, as he felt a little tipsy already. "Eurgh, that'll be enough for now, thanks."

Stanley looked around him, seeing the whole place full with people enjoying themselves. He then noticed the clock: 11:30pm. He then walked up the stairs of the saloon to the bedrooms. Although, they were all occupied, he still went in.

Fortunately for Stanley, he managed to find the room with a hot woman inside. He gave her a grin, then stumbled over to her still in his almost-drunken state. She was sitting on the bed when he walked in, but quickly got to her feet, not to give him the wrong idea.

"Hey baby," he said, slurring a little. "Wanna' have sex?"

She quickly marched over to him and gave him the slap of his life. It had so much power that it not only gave him a red mark on his cheek, but it also sent him to the floor. "F*** you, pervert."

She walked past his body with a furious look on her face. "Is that a no?" he asked.

Seeing as she left the room empty, Stanley took it as the opportunity to have a nap. He observed the bed. It was a marvelous double-bed, so obviously she was expecting another person to enter, but Stanley didn't care. The room smelt of perfume...cheap perfume. Stanley emptied out his belongings onto the drawer, beside the bed, and flopped onto the luxury not many would usually have.

     The next day, Stanley was awoken by gunshots outside the saloon. The gunshots made him jump so badly, he fell off the bed, with the cover wrapped around him. "What in god's name!"

He poked his head up to the window and looked out, where only the top half of his head and his eyes could be seen. It was a stand-off. Stanley watched in terror as the two men faced each other. He'd missed the beginning but damn it was intense. Bang! Off goes another gunshot, scaring Stanley even more.

The windows had very thin panes so it was easy to hear noises from outside. Every time a gunshot went off, Stanley ducked in reflex. He just wanted it to end so he could go back to sleep, was that too much to ask?

The first man was currently hiding behind a wooden fence, obviously not very well educated. The second man just stood up and came out of his hiding position, which was a wheel burrow, and fired at least 5 bullets into the fence. It then went quiet. Bump! The first man's body had fell onto the ground. No surprise when thinking about all the bullets that was sprayed into the fence.

Stanley looked over at the man who'd won the stand-off, and boy, did he look menacing. He wore black everything. It was also hard to see his skin, due to the masks and gloves he was wearing. The terrifying feature he had was his black mask, which covered his whole face, presumably to cover a burnt or ugly face.

Stanley watched the other people clap and praise him. It was then he heard the man's name: Blake. There were very few claps and cheers for him, as the rest were probably hiding somewhere inside.

Stanley was obviously terrifyed by Blake, but he also felt intrigued and wanted to find out more about him, but he was too scared to even approach him, so how on earth would he even find out anything?