The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy

Chapter 25 - Wednesday

Chapter 25 - Wednesday

The snakes are surrounding us. I'm shooting and shooting, but they won't stop invading. Kai is right beside me, also shooting. But it's no use. They're crowding around him. They're dragging him away. He's calling out to me:

"Be a survivor so I can survive in your heart!"

Sam woke up with a start in the middle of the night in her Qubla hotel room, next door to the room of that murderous madman, Morro. Her heart was pounding after the nightmare she had just dreamed.

Yet she felt like she was still in a nightmare. Just a dozen or so hours ago, she had watched Morro hand Kai a death sentence by abandoning him in the middle of the desert.

From that point on, even during her hours of being under the influence of the potion, her tears had fallen constantly. They did not stop until the time she fell asleep.

Now she had greater insight as to how Bansha had felt, witnessing her man face his inevitable doom.

But just like Bansha had taken comfort from the final words her husband had uttered, perhaps Sam could take comfort from these words as well. Though she didn't feel like she could live without Kai, she resolved to go on as best she could, so that he could live on, too.

She resolved to hold her head high when morning light came.

And when she and Morro went to go visit the bank.

And when, as Morro informed her they would do, they traveled to his log house in the Stone Mountains.

She tried to steel herself, for she knew that being a survivor meant enduring a journey of anguish with an unknown end.

And she guessed that her anguish would intensify after the very next sunset.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Sam!" I'm standing in this dark cave calling her name. She's not answering.

"Kai!" Jay's voice is filling the air.

"Kai, look at me!" This time, Doc Julien is talking.

"But I have to find Sam!" I explain to them. "Morro took her away from me and she's in serious trouble!"

"We know, but you have to wake up before we can find her!"

Sweating, Kai opened his eyes to an early dawn sky. He looked up at Jay and Doc Julien. They were kneeling on either side of him, still holding on to his shoulders after shaking him awake.

"You were having a nightmare, Kai," Doc Julien said. He picked up the canteen of fresh water next to him and opened it.

"Morro double-crossed Sam! He's not going to let her go!" Kai exclaimed, still not quite fully awake.

"Well, pardner, we kinda figured that was why he left you here in the desert yesterday," Jay said, lifting Kai's head while Doc Julien gave him some water out of the canteen.

"But don't worry, we'll get her back," Lloyd said as he walked up to them. He, along with everyone else in the group, was awakened by Kai's shouts.

He kneeled by Kai. "How ya doing?"

Kai sat up quickly. "I'm fine. But we need to get going..." Because he had sat up too quickly, dizziness almost overcame him. He put a hand on the side of his head to steady himself.

"Easy there, now," Lloyd cautioned. "We found you in a tight spot last evening. Let's see, you were dehydrated, you had a bullet wound to your foot..."

"Don't forget about being sunburned," Cole added, joining the conversation.

"And having rope burns on your wrists," Zane chimed in.

"And a bump on my head, thanks to Archer," Kai remembered, upon noticing Morro's right-hand man. "I see he's joined the group."

"So we're glad we found you when we did," Lloyd smiled, giving Kai a pat on the shoulder before he stood up again.

Kai looked around at the group. "Thanks, boys, I'm grateful for that."

"Here, Kai, this belongs to you," Jay said. He took off his hat and reached in to retrieve Sam's hairpin. He put it in Kai's hand and closed Kai's fingers around it. "It helped us find you. You could say she helped us find you."

Kai's throat tightened as he fingered the metal hair accessory. "And now we're gonna find her!"

"All right, let's eat our cornbread and get going," Lloyd said. "We got us a lady to save today."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thanks to a little persuasion from Lloyd, Archer revealed that the reason Morro had been heading to Qubla was to see a man named Adams at the First National Bank. Morro had wanted to make sure the deposit of money had been made. Lloyd, Cole, and Zane went to pay a visit to Adams while Jay, Doc Julien, and Kai waited at the far edge of the city. Kai had not wanted to be in the group that waited, but Doc Julien thought he needed to rest up some more. The waiting group kept an eye on Archer, who was mad that he wasn't going to be able to collect the cash that Morro had promised him.

While Kai waited, he fingered Archer's gun, which had been given to him by Lloyd to use. Kai imagined using this gun on Archer's head in the same way Archer had used it on Kai's head. Doc Julien offered to give Kai's original gun back, but Kai told him to keep it for a while.

Lloyd and the two ranch hands returned with good news. They had found Adams and fooled him into thinking they were friends of Morro, so he had revealed that Morro and a pretty blonde girl had left his office just three hours before, and also that they were heading to a log house that Morro had built years ago in the Stone Mountains, about a nine-hour ride from Qubla.

Kai's heart beat faster. Apparently Sam was still all right and she and that scumbag were not too far ahead of them.

"Archer, have you ever been to this log house before?" he asked the scoundrel.

"Maybe," Archer grinned. "Maybe not."

Kai had no patience for playing games. Time was of the essence. He drew Archer's gun out of his holster and pointed it at him. "Wouldn't it be embarrassing to be shot by your own gun?"

Lloyd held up his hand at the hothead cowboy. "Whoa, easy there, Kai. We need him."

"Yep, ya better listen to the sheriff," Archer taunted.

Suddenly Lloyd spun around and connected his fist to the varmint's jaw. Archer staggered backward onto the ground.

"So, Archer, have you ever been to this log house before?" Lloyd repeated the question, standing over him.

"Yep, I have, Sheriff," Archer replied, holding his face. He could feel a looseness in one of his remaining teeth.

"Good, I'm glad we have an understanding," Lloyd said, reaching down to grab Archer and pull him back up to a standing position. "We'll need you to guide us once we get to the mountains."