Lifesaver [Engl.]

7. Haunted

Rango's thoughts rode roller coaster again. What should he do now? He couldn't do anything against nine men who were armed to the teeth.
"Listen," Rango tried to save the situation. "Couldn't we talk about it properly? We'll find a solution."
A grin covered the leader's mouth. "Of course."
He reached into his pocket and pulled his revolver. "There is always a solution for everything."
He unlocked his gun.
Rango's eyes widened.
Suddenly, like out of nowhere, the strange figures were thrown aside.
Rango was so scared that he thought he was going to drop dead at any moment and didn't know what had happened.
Jake had jumped up at lightning speed and struck his tormentors with such a blow of his tail that they fell dazed to the ground.
Rango looked up. In the glow of the campfire light, he recognized Jake, who was panting and holding his forehead against his body. Rango feared the snake might lose consciousness at any moment, but then Jake shook his head violently and crawled away blindly somewhere at a frantic speed.
Rango heard a groan. The strangers had recovered.
Rango quickly ran after Jake. Behind them the angry cries of the strangers.
Finally, he had left the rocks and entered open desert land.
Rango stopped. In the dim moonlight he saw Jake's silhouette on the desert floor just a few yards away. The snake had stopped and held his head groaning.
Rango ran to him in a hurry.
"Jake ?!"
Rango couldn't react so fast. Jake had struck him so that he sailed several meters through the air and hit the ground hard.
Rango stood up panting.
"That wasn't nice now," he cried, rubbing his back with a groan.
"What are you doing here?" He heard Jake's weak voice.
Apparently, Jake hadn't recognized him before.
"Jake! It's me. Rango! And I was just wondering why someone like you can hang on a rope half dead..."
He stopped when he heard rapid footsteps. He turned around. The strangers ran in their direction.
Jake gasped again. Apparently, he was trying to clear his head again.
"Where's the city?" He asked laboriously.
"Well, it's not far away from the "Death Mountain"..."
When Jake heard Death Mountain, he obviously knew where he had to orient himself. He raced away without asking.
"Jake! Wait!"
Rango ran after him, but Jake was much faster and left Rango alone.
Rango panicked as he heard the stranger's footsteps approached.
Without hesitation, Rango kept running. But Rango knew that even if he arrives in the town, they wouldn't let him escape.
Rango's lungs ached. He couldn't run anymore. He pulled his revolver and shot behind. He couldn't see whether that scared off his pursuers, he just kept running.
Then he heard gunfire behind him. Instinctively, he threw himself on the floor. More shots were fired.
Please let me alive, Rango implored silently.
Then shots again. This time from a completely different direction.
Beans had been around all the time, firing in the direction of the pursuers.
The pursuers had stopped in surprise. Apparently, they suspected an ambush and turned around as a precaution.
Rango didn't hesitate longer, he jumped up again and ran towards the city.
After a while, he sank to the floor, panting and exhausted. Then he heard a little squeak next to him. He looked up. Beans stood next to him and sat on her cart.
"Are you all right?" She asked a little worried, but stern.
"Yes ... everything ... all right," Rango gasped.
Beans signaled him to come on the wooden cart. Rango climbed up to her without objection. Scarcely sitting down next to her, she steered the cart toward the city.

As soon as they entered the town, both noticed that everyone in the city was very agitated.
The lights were on in the houses, some people were walking up and down the streets with torches or lanterns. When they saw Rango and Beans driving down the street, they hurried over to them.
"Mister Rango! At last you come."
"Would you explain to us what Jake is doing here?"
Rango looked up in surprise.
"Oh, Jake is here?"
Rango hadn't expected that Jake would flee blindly into the city.
"I thought you promised us he wouldn't come to town."
"Silence!" Rango shouted. "I know what I said and I'll explain everything to you later. But now tell me where Jake is."
Buford pointed to the town hall. "He barricaded himself in the town hall."
"He dashed like a mad man through the street and broke the doors of the house by force," Spoons said.
That was enough for Rango. "Okay. I'll check it out."
With these words, Rango walked past the townspeople and went to the town hall.