If you have been following the Busted Gulch story here at the Storytellers Saloon then you know Ruechari has been selected for a special destiny...yet to be revealed. Having grown up in the KitKat Nation. Chief DamagedGoods was the only father she h...
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Wild Bill rode up hard and fast. He could see the hellion buzzards flying around like a plague of locust. How he hoped and prayed Jane was still alive. As he got closer, he heard gunfire and his heart leaped at the sound.
"Lord be praised. She lives," he said riding up upon her.
"It's about time?" she said. "Thought you all, forgotten all about me?"
Jane had been swiped a few times. Her buckskin coat shredded by claw marks in several places. Wild Bill almost wanted to laugh when he had seen she still had her hat on, however. Jane did love that hat.
Wild Bill shot a buzzard right past Jane's left shoulder.
"Hey, now? Cuttin' it pretty close there aren't you? I think I caught a breeze off that last bullet of yours."
"Stop you gripin' and keep shootin," Wild Bill said taking out three more.
"Love too, but I'm running out of ammo," Jane told him.
Bill negotiated his horse closer to hers and slipped her a box of ammo from his saddlebag. "That ought to hold you over, at least until help arrives or we make a speedy retreat."
"You know there ain't no out runnin' these hellions and we can't head back to town, they'd just decimate the place," Jane said, now reloaded, she cocked her rifle and took out a couple that were headed for Bill's back.
"Thanks!" he said with a grin, taking out three more before he said, "Well if you got a better idea now would be the time to say it."
"Afraid I'm plum out," Jane said, "What we really need is some more firepower."
"What we really need is a blasted miracle," Wild Bill corrected.
"Someone ask for a miracle?" Hellzing asked kneeling on top of a stagecoach, his special order six-shooters already at work taking out several of the hellion birds.
Frank James hung his head out of the stagecoach window firing his pistols with deadly accuracy. Even the Vamp minions had joined in, one leaping from the coach through the air to take down a bird in flight, right before ripping out its throat and going for another.
"Well, WhoWee! Now we are gettn' somewhere!" Jane said, her new cohorts breathing life back into her tired body. Up until a few moments ago she really began to believe she was a goner.
They fought together for what felt like forever until the last bird was downed. Tired and exhausted they slid from their horses, or in Hellzing's and Frank's case, stagecoach.
"Sure do appreciate the help, uh...?" Wild Bill said holding out a hand.
"Hellzing, Liem Hellzing and that there is Frank James," Liem said taking his hand in a firm handshake.
"That was some mighty fine shootn' you both had done," Jane said and then looked at Liem's sidearm and asked, "May I?"
Liem handed her one of his guns. She studied it with avid interest. "Custom built, huh? What do you use for bullets?" she asked, she was impressed with the amount of damage Liem had done and in half of the time as the rest of them. She was pretty certain without him and his gadgets the battle would have been lost.
"Love to tell you, but it's a trade secret," Liem said, taking the gun back that she offered him.
"Well, all I know is that I could have used something so useful a moment ago," Jane admitted.
"I'm rather impressed you held them off as long as you did without the special weaponry," Liem told her and to Wild Bill's amazement, he had seen Calamity Jane, brave frontierswoman, look momentarily shy.
"So did you go looking for this fight or did you just happen upon it?" Frank asked.
"I was trying to bide some friends some time to escape," Jane said not wanting to reveal too much more as these two were traveling with vamps.
"We are on our way to Plainsway," Frank told them. "Big trouble is a brewin' and truthfully we can use some help if you'd feel so obliged."
"Trouble?" Wild Bill asked concerned. More trouble? Didn't they just get done dealing with their share?
"Those buzzards belong to a man named Reaper?" Hellzing began.
"We know him," Jane said before spitting on the ground, just the thought of Reaper left a bad taste in her mouth.
"He's after a girl, her name is Ruechari and she is destined to become the new Shaman of the west," Frank added.
"Okay, fellas so far you ain't told me anything I don't already know. So, what's the big trouble your talkin' about?" Jane asked.
"Reaper is just a pawn, a stooge for an immortal called the Wraith. Who has raised all the killers from boot hill to travel with Reaper and bring her back to him."
"Shoot! That is bad news," Jane said.
"We believe he is hoping for a showdown in Plainsway. They are on there way there now," Hellzing said.
"What? Now?!" Wild Bill said, he gave Jane a concerned look that did not go unnoticed by Frank and Liem.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Hellzing asked.
"My friends I was trying to give a head start to are that girl and Billy?" Jane told them.
"Who's Billy?" Liem asked.
"Billy the Kid," Jane supplied.
"The murderer? I thought he died years ago?" Frank asked, concerned fearful that Ruechari was being held, hostage.
"He is, but he's on our side now. He's looking out for her. But they are both in Plainsway right now!" Wild Bill explained.
"What the hell are we doin' here then jibber jabberin'? We got to get back! We have to warn them," Jane said alarmed.
"What about the Wraith's killers?" Liem asked as they mounted once again to ride.
"We'll figure that out when we get there. Most important thing is to get Ruechari out and to safety. If she dies, all our lives won't be worth horse shit," Jane told him before taking off like a shot.
"She really doesn't mince words, does she?" Liem asked.
"That's my Jane," Wild Bill said, right before he spurred his horse on to catch up with her.
