The Promise

7. I'm not a coward!

"Any last words?" Roscoe asked, while he smoked his cigarette.
Bill moved his hands on his back. Roscoe grinned.
"Your fault, better you tell me where the money is before you leave this world."
"Go to hell," Bill said with clenched teeth.
"Well, we will meet there in, don't know, forty, fifty years? Until then, the train and the stagecoach belong to me, including your territory now."
He blew a smoke cloud in the air.
Roscoe's men had left their roadrunners and stood beside him or kept Bill's gang covered. The three guys looked to their leader, but they couldn't help him.
Roscoe took out his pocket watch. "Time's over and time is money."
He looked at Bill, but the Gila monster compressed his lips. He would never say where the money is.
Roscoe took a new long drag from his cigarette. Seconds passed. The silence countdown ended, when the coyote blew out the cold smoke slowly. He nodded.
One of his men gave the roadrunner a sign and the chicken ran away. Bill lost the connection to the ground and hanged in the air on an old tree. A few seconds, he hanged helpless on the rope, struggling against the death. Suddenly the branch broke off. Bill fell to the ground, and stay there.
Roscoe rolled his eyes.
"He is too heavy," someone said.
"I see," Roscoe muttered. "We have not much time until the train comes in near. All right. We have to end it in fast way."
He drew his revolver and kneeled beside the big lizard. The Gila monster breathed heavily, but he was still alive. Roscoe lowered his gun and pressed it on Bill's head.
The coyote was on the point to shoot a bullet in Bill's brain, but suddenly....
[BOOM!]
There was an explosion. The roadrunners fluttered up like crazy and ran away.
"Stop chicken!" a coyote cried. "Damn poultry!"
Roscoe stood up and looked around. "Who was tha..."
[BOOM!]
Dust and dirt flew in the air.
"We lost the runners" one of his men yelled.
"Catch them!" Roscoe ordered and coughed.
[BOOM!]
"Retreat, after them!" Roscoe shouted and meant the roadrunners.

Rango, who still stood in near the old hut, threw another stick of dynamite, which he found in a wooden box.
"Useful explosives," he mumbled.
[BOOM!]
The last explosion forced the last coyote to leave the place.
Kinski, Stump and Chorizo lay on the ground and dared to raise their heads now.
Dust hovered still in the air, but they were alive.
"Bill, are you okay?" Chorizo asked and bent down to their leader, who lay still motionless on the ground. Bill coughed and tried to sit up.
"Come on, buddy."
Stump and Chorizo helped him to sit up, while Kinski cut through the ropes.
With effort, Bill stood up and held his neck.
"D-damn", he cursed with hoarse voice.
"Gosh! You had a stroke of luck," Chorizo said.
"Without the explosives, uh... who was it?"
Bill guessed something and went to the hut.
"This damn creature!" he cursed and coughed again.
His men looked over his shoulder and saw the empty box next to the hut.
"These were our last sticks of dynamite!" Bill shouted. "This damn lizard. I kill him!"

Rango ran like crazy. After he had thrown the last stick of dynamite, he left the area.
He didn't know where he should go now. Around him desert and rocks.
With relief, he gasped for air. Thanks good, he was free. He touched about his cheek, where he could feel the crusted scars. Damn! Bill didn't deserve his rescue, but Rango wasn't a bad guy like him. Maybe not. But he felt a bit of satisfaction, when he had seen Bill hang for a few seconds in the air. He smiled a little. Alright. Nobody was harmed. But now, he stood on the point like at the beginning. Still he hadn't found someone who could help him.
He winced when he recognized a sign with a directional sign.
"Water" he read.
He opened his eyes wide.
Water! That's what he needed now!
He ran quickly in the direction, where the arrow showed the way, happy to satisfy his thirst.
Suddenly, he lost the ground under his feet.
"AAAAHHHH!"
With loud cry, he landed deep in a whole, which had been well camouflaged.
Moaning, Rango sat up. He needed no much time to understand that this was a trap. He looked around. Cold stony walls surrounded him and over him free sky.
"Oh, my trap still works," he heard a familiar voice.
Rango startled. NO! No, this can't be! He thought. It can't be true!
He looked up and saw four figures on the edge of the hole trap.
"You!" Bill shouted. "I will cut you in thousand pieces!"
Rango didn't understand. "What do you mean? I helped you with..."
"We wanted to use the dynamite to destroy the railroad tracks to rob the train, you idiot!" Bill cut him off.
Rango opened his mouth of disbelief and disappointment. Instead of thanks, he got this. He snorted and regretted his action immediately again.
This Gila monster was really a monster!
Kinski and Stump helped Rango out of the trap. As soon as he was on the ground again, he felt a gun on his belly from Chorizo.
Rango was speechless for a moment and gave Bill a frosty stare.
"And that's thank for saving your life? Thanks a million," he said sarcastically.
"I didn't ask for help," Bill spat. "In this desert you get no reward for something. Either you are stronger than the others or you lost."
"What has that got to do with that I risked my neck for you?"
Bill growled annoyed. "Do I look like someone who says such absurd words like t-h-a-n-k-s?"
The Gila monster hissed with the tongue with disgust.
Rango narrowed his eyes. That was to be expected, but maybe he was too naive.
"Bill, think about it!" Rango said calmly. "Make no mistake."
"A mistake? You made a mistake! Why are you in your damn town and help grandmothers over the street?"
"I can't go back at the moment."
"Why? Is your girlfriend annoyed with you?" Kinski asked and laughed.
"Jake is in town," Rango said.
Kinski stopped laughing.
"He banished you again?" Stump asked in surprise.
"Not really.... I..."
"You ran away?" Chorizo asked.
"No I..."
"We have a coward here," Bill said mockingly.
"I'm not a coward!" Rango reaffirmed. "I just wanted to bring help."
Bill chuckled. "Hey guys, did you hear that? The hero of the town need help."
Bill grabbed Rango on his clothes and lifted him up. "Guys like you I loathe."
He threw him away and the chameleon fell to the ground.
Bill drew his revolver and shot some bullets. "Come on! Dance for me!"
Rango avoided hastily away from the bullets, which Bill had shot to the ground.
"Stop that, Bill! I just wanna go and let me go."
"For what?" Bill asked, but he interrupted his "bullet-dance-fun". "To save your little towny? We aren't ready yet."
Rango bit his underlip. He was so furious with this desert creature. For Bill, it was just a game, and behaved like a child who played with fire.
"Bill!" he began seriously. "I'm not here to argue with you. I'm sorry for your dynamite. But if I haven't done it, you would be dead now. So, let me make a suggestion. You help me to take back the town and I will give you a replacement. What do you say?"
Bill's men looked at each other, then at Bill, who growled annoyed.
"I'm not dealing with someone like you! I hold my dynamite back myself without your damn help. I never make the same mistake like Mayor John. From the beginning, I was against his idea to involve you in his plans."
Rango lowered his glance.
Bill grinned. "Are you homesick, dastard?"
Rango looked at him with anger. "Never say this again to me!"
"Alright," Bill said. "If you are so a fighter, let's rumble."
Rango opened his mouth. Bill was stronger than he. He had no chance without weapons or a good plan.
"Come on, bussycat, show me what you can," Bill challenged.
Kinski, Stump and Chorizo murmured amusingly.
Rango stood like frozen. Suddenly he ran.
But Kinski and Stump caught him and pushed him back. "No! You stay here."
Rango crashed against Bill.
"Oh, you are looking for trouble. You can have it."
He hauled off his hand and struck Rango in the belly. Rango sank to the ground.
"Stand up and fight like a man!" Bill sneered.
Rango looked at him with rage like never before. He never hated someone before like now.
Regardless of whether he had a chance against him or not, Rango stood up quickly and struck with his fists as fast as he could on Bill like a little child. Bill laughed amused. He backed away and gave him a hard slap. Rango was irritated for a moment. Suddenly the next fist of Bill hit his face and for a moment, he saw black. He whirled around and landed with his face on the sandy ground.
Bill wasted no time and put his foot on Rango's back. "You are such a loser," the Gila monster said mockingly.
Rango panted, but he didn't try to stand up again. His fists flinched. He had a lump in his throat and anger inside his stomach. With effort, he choked back his tears.
"Could anybody let me alone?" he yelled. "Just ONE damn minute?! Damn! Kill me if you want! I don't mind! Lord help me! Why didn't I die before the snake found me? Why?"
He gasped for air when Bill added to the pressure on the chameleon's back. But Rango didn't fight anymore. His nerves were frazzled. Everything went wrong. What had he done to deserve this?
Bill snorted and directed his gun on the little lizard. Rango didn't look at him when he heard how he released the safety catch. He just thought about Beans and the town. He lost. He lost everything. He closed his eyes when he felt the end of Bill's revolver on his right head side. His hands flinched to fists.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pain.

Meanwhile in Dirt...