The Test of Courage

2. Bad timing

Priscilla screamed out through the hand gag. With panic, she hit the person behind herself everywhere from the belly to the feet. A loud groan and the person loosened his grip around her. The girl took the chance to run away, but a strong hand grabbed her arm again.
"Don't force me to hurt you, damn brat! (damn!)" somebody hissed.
The girl felt a hard pull and was pressed against a bigger body again.
With fear, she looked at Kinski's pained annoyed face. He wrapped his right arm around her, with the other one he rubbed his belly. He had never thought that a little girl can hit so hard.
"What's going on?" Stump asked.
Priscilla wanted to make a last try to escape, but Kinski had recovered from her blows and pinned her left arm on her back, with the other hand he closed her mouth.
"This happened," Kinski panted.
Then he dragged the struggling girl to the others.
The lizard and the mouse looked up with deep surprise when they saw Kinski coming with the girl.
"Look, we have a spy here," Kinski explained.
"Espía!" Chorizo spat with disgust.
Kinski put the girl on her feet in front of him.
The girl had stopped struggling and looked up at their leader.
Bill wasn't worried that the girl would be armed, but yet he drew his revolver and lifted her hat to look better into her eyes. The girl breathed heavily.
Bill gave Kinski a nod that he could put his hand off her mouth.
"You better not scream. Kapito?" Kinski warned.
The girl nodded.
Her first free mouth breath trembled against her will. Bill bent more down to the girl.
"Are you alone?" he asked the first question.
"Y-yes", she stuttered, because Kinski hasn't loosened his grab around her arm yet.
And the looks of the others didn't look exactly relaxed either.
"Well, well." Bill pushed his revolver forward so that it almost touched her chin. "Your sheriff friend is not around?"
She shook her head quickly.
"No! I should only be walking through the building here. The others did that as a test of courage."
"Who are the others?"
"The boys. The sheriff isn't here."
"A likely story."
"I swear!" she cried louder.
"Reminds me of my time with courage tests", Stump muttered amused.
"Shut up," Bill chided him.
"But the others aren't here," Priscilla tried again. "I'm supposed to go in all alone...mmmpf."
Her voice died when Bill put his hand on her mouth.
"What shall we do with her now, Bill?" Kinski asked.
The Gila monster stood up and looked down at the big eyes looking girl, where a little begging lay inside her eyes. She didn't know Bill's gang very well. But she knew they didn't like too nosy people. But what about too nosy looking kids?
"I did nothing", she reaffirmed.
"Shut your trap," the Gila monster ordered.
He seemed to think about the unusual situation. It would be an easy answer for the question to shoot a sheriff, but he had never thought about a girl.
Finally, he waved his hand.
"Put her away. After business, we will decide what we should do with her."
"Who wants to do that?" Kinski asked.
"The one who is asking," Bill chuckled.
The others laughed.
With grumbling, the rabbit tugged the girl away. He looked around until he found something for his assumed work. He tugged her more behind the stage. Priscilla winced when she realized some big plastic water bottles in a corner, which had covered with a blanket. Maybe more stolen things. Possible that this place was used for them as a little hiding place.
"Come here", the rabbit ordered without to let her go.
With one hand he held her arm, with the other he fished for some ropes, which lay in a chaos somewhere.
"Turn around."
She obeyed, and Kinski forced her arms on her back, where he tied them together.
The same with her legs.
After he was sure that she couldn't run away, he left her and brought some towels.
"Listen, little thing, we will make a little hiding game now. You don't move and say nothing and nothing will happen to you. Verstanden?"
She nodded.
Kinski smiled and patted her cheek. "That's a good girl."
Her pleading eyes were the last emotional thing what he saw before he blindfolded her. Finally, he wrapped a towel around her mouth to make sure that she couldn't cry for help.
Then he carried her in his arms and brought her to a little storeroom with cleaning tools. Then he closed the door and blockaded it with a chair.
"I think he is coming," he heard Chorizo saying.
"It's about time," Bill muttered annoyed.
"Maybe we should greet him outside..."
"That's not necessary," a strange man voice said.
In surprise, they turned around. Not far away stood a little cat in a dark trench coat and dark Panama hat. He was a kind of jaguarundi, and looked at the four gunslingers with yellow cat eyes.
"How did you come in?" Bill asked with distrust.
"My men showed me the way, which you went."
More than five little varanids appeared next to him. They wore the same clothes like him. With piercing glances, they eyed the western group very watchfully. Their long black tongues tasted every smell in the room.
Bill hid a chuckling smile. They looked like they would come from the mafia or what else.
Anyway. His only focus was the money, the rest could be all the same to him.
"Do you have what I wanted?" the cat looking animal asked inquiringly.
"Of course. Here you are."
He handed the diamond collier at the bandit.
The trench coat cat held it in the light to make sure that it wasn't a fake.
He nodded to a goanna next to him.
"Scan the area. Make sure nobody else is spying us."
"W-why this?" Stump asked. "There is nobody else."
"I don't know," the strange looking jaguarundi said calmly but seriously. "With such an unusual sheriff in near, I'm not sure. If the justice knew about my business, that would be bad for my reputation. You guaranteed me full discretion."
"Of course," Bill agreed darkly. So much discretion, that he still didn't know his name. Maybe some of a rich moneybag, which had so much dirt under his feet that other law loyal people didn't know.
One of the varanids came back and whispered something to him.
The pupils of the cat narrowed.
"Well, you said, nobody beside you would be here?"
"Uh... yes," Stump muttered very quietly, and won a kick against his leg by Bill.
The gang leader stood there with firm posture and said a clear: "Yes."
The jaguarundi narrowed his eyes in a dangerous way. "And what's that?"
All four men turned around. Not far away stood one of the varanids with a struggling tied Priscilla in his hand.