The Desolation Of The Red Rackham

Chapter 10

I got up and as it turns out, I spent half of the night on the roof of the hut and fell asleep there. I woke up early in the morning and as I looked in front of me, there was the same beautiful lake with green trees all around it which had little birds making their nests on them. There was a pleasant chirping sound every now and then, there were butterflies flying from flower to flower. From behind the trees, the sun was rising with a dim orange-ish glow. A little part of its refection on the water and the flowers on the lake bloomed with joy. Louis's house had smoke coming out of the chimney, so I guessed he had come back. Some ducks were swimming in the lake and there were many other birds that were flying above. My bruises had started to heal, and the swelling of my arm was lesser now.

I climbed down the ladder and saw some of my mates laying their heads on haystacks. There was just Austin that wasn't shot, but everyone else, had a big stain on their shirts, a stain of blood, big enough to tell that they won't be the same if they do wake up . And I didn't think that they will be able to get up, as those were gunshots and either just kill the man or send him to rest for a long, long time. So even if they get up, they wouldn't be able to help. I was still devastated by the war and the scenes just came coming back in the form of flashbacks. The bruises of my leg had mostly healed, which took me by surprise as the doctor I was suspecting , gave me the right and perfect medicine. I was on top of the roof, while I saw Louis coming through the front door on a horse in full speed towards us, with a clear sign of fear of death on his face.

He was shouting 'GET DOWN! GET DOWN!' which freaked me out so I got down from the roof immediately, went inside the shed and waited for him to come. He came, got down from the horse and came running to me. 'HIDE!! HIDE!!!'He shouted out. I quickly looked around the shed for some place to hide my friends who were still unconscious. We went in and closed the door of the shed. Through the window, I saw a group of bandits coming in. After sometime, I could see a girl, roughly my age, running away from them. She fell after running for some time and that's where the bandit group almost caught up. She was crying and had a fear on her face which was far more than what Louis had. I had no other choice but go and save her.

She nearly was at a distance from the entry of the house, so I had time to go and save her. I could practically run, so I started to limp, then jog and then after started to gain momentum, I started running. I reached the door of the shed and picked up the Kaewoo lying next to it. I picked it up, and ran for the main door of Louis's entrance.

The girl was near. I had the gun. The bandits were near. I could easily kill anyone if I was fine, but my hand was severely bruised. Her life depended on me. I had her fate in my hand , and only I could save her, but this won't be easy.

The bandit group was near and there were roughly ten or fifteen of them. They had gun and knives , and all I had was one gun with god knows how many bullets. I had some in my pocket, so I quickly loaded them. She came running towards me, and saw me having the gun. She was really beautiful, and terrified as hell. The bandits were closing in and the girl needed my help.

She ran and hid behind me, put her hands on my shoulder. All the bandits were closing in, and my heartbeat was racing and I had to save the girl's life. I loaded my gun and got it ready to fire. I loaded the gun and put it on my shoulder and aimed. I was just so mad and Red Rackham for the war and all his army did to my friends. I roared with anger and started to shoot those bandits right off their horses. I was furious for reasons you already know. I shot them all with such ferocity they would probably never get up. My hands, though were bruised, stood as steady as a rock because of my anger. One by one, all of the bandits fell right off within seconds. To my luck, the gun I picked was a type of an assault rifle so the continuous shots killed the approximately 10 – 15 bandits within seconds. Hopefully, I didn't hit any of the horses.

Just to be sure, I shot everyone again. The girl behind me was shivering and glued her eyes shut, so she wouldn't freak out more than she already was. The horses though were freaked out, were fine. Right after I had shot everyone down, they thought I would shoot them too, so half of them fled and one of the bucked and raised his front legs in confusion and fright. It was right in front of me, so I looked in his eyes , dropped the gun, and raised my hand in surrender, so he would stop. Like I wanted, he did. He went and gave him a pat on his mane (neck) and made him feel that he was safe and I meant no harm to him. That one horse was my favourite; perfectly white and strong Lipizzan horse. I had horses as pets before all that stuff took place. Right after all this happened, Louis crashed out of the gate and screamed out, 'Are you crazy??!!' He rushed out and saw the girl.

'You better hide.' I said to the girl, smirked and laughed quietly as he approached. Louis's expression was indescribable. He was so freaked out that I guessed he never saw bloodshed before.

'Ten seconds ago, this girl..' He said as he pointed towards the girl behind me. '..was running from bandits and YOU were laid down. Now? They're all laid down and ........you freak! You know whose men you shot?' He squeaked. I gave out a hearty laugh and said. 'Red Rackham, I know. She was in danger and it was my duty to go save her.' And I said with giving out the finger puppet action 'And don't call her 'this girl', she has a name...' I said as I bent down a little so that she could tell me her name 'Emma.' She whispered. 'Emma!' I said like I knew her since ages. And this mess is my responsibility, and I promise I will clean it up.' I said as I turned behind. 'Hey, Emma. Welcome to Valle de Luna. I know this wasn't a very hearty welcome here, but you are safe now. Louis, take her inside and give her food and new clothes to wear. Make yourself home. And if anyhow you need anything, I will be right beside in the shed.' I said as I showed her the way. Finally! I had someone to talk to. 'Louis, please give her a room in your house, she won't cause any trouble, I promise.' I told him. 'Fine.' He said as he sighed and showed her further into his house. I picked up the gun, and looked at the horses, who were having their lunch on the grass of the nearby ground. 'You guys have fun.' I said as I walked in, not even giving a glance at the dead bandits laying flat on the ground.