The Test of Courage

3. Black theater

The four gunslingers stood there like frozen, still staring at the girl who hung in the air.
The Aye-Aye couldn't see anything because of the blindfold, but she heard, the strange voices weren't very friendly. Including the harsh grasp of the goanna who cramped his claws around her bound hands.
"Th...that's... is..." Stump didn't know what he should answer.
"That's a part of our merchandise", Bill said quickly, trying to keep his imperturbability in his voice.
His friends looked at him with big eyes.
"Merchandise?" Chorizo asked and scratched his head.
"Yes!" Bill confirmed. "We wanted to sell her on the slave market."
Chorizo wanted to ask whether his boss was serious or not, but he just won a kick of the lizard and he closed his mouth again.
But the cat looking animal in trench coach wasn't happy about this explanation.
"I don't like witnesses," he said in a calmly dangerous way.
"But she can't see you," Stump said and won a kick by Bill again.
"But she can hear!" the jaguarundi said. "I don't need ear witnesses, too."
He gave the goanna a cutting sign with his hand, and the lizard understood. But the gunslingers understood that sign, too.
The girl seemed to know what he wanted to do and screamed in a whimpering way, when the goanna wanted to take her outside.
"Hey, you can't do that," Kinski protested.
But the rest of his words froze when the varanids aimed their guns at him.
"Did you want to say something?" the cat asked calmly.
"No.... I...."
He looked for help and stared at Bill. But the gang leader didn't seem to have an idea, too.
The goanna was almost gone, when Bill dared to open his mouth.
"Hey! Do you really want to sully your hands with her?"
The goanna stopped. The cat narrowed his eyes.
"We could take the work out of your hands."
"Why so generous?" the jaguarundi asked.
"Why so leery? We know a good place where we could recycle her corpse. The sheriff is a smart guy. I know him very well and he finds out a lot of mysteries around. Believe me, he could find out what you have done. Do you really wanna take that risk?"
The cat rubbed his chin.
"Alright. But you make it here and now." The jaguarundi pointed at the floor. "In front of my eyes."
The Gila monster shrugged his shoulders. "No probl'."
"Bill!" Kinski grabbed the lizard's arm and pushed him aside. "I can kill everything," Kinski hissed at him. "Maybe except puppies - but not a child!"
The gang leader narrowed his eyes. Meanwhile the goanna came back with the quiet wailing child in his hands.
"I will do that," Bill said and turned away from the speechless rabbit.
For a little moment Bill disappeared and came back soon with a gun in his hands.
Then he grabbed the girl by her tied hands and dragged her with him.
"Where do you want to go?" the cat animal asked.
Bill looked back. "I don't think that you wanna hit by a bullet, do you? I will do it over there. If you want, you can clap applause after that."
The big lizard felt how the muscles of the Aye-Aye tensed.
Priscilla wasn't very afraid about death. Mr. Black had told her a lot of stories about the afterlife. But it was never her wish to die so soon. Especially not after she had met someone like Rango. Her eyes became wet behind the blindfold. She had hoped to hear so many adventures of Rango in her life. But that time would never happen now.
Bill stopped on a free place between the stage things for the stage.
He put the girl on his bounded feet. The others watched how the Gila monster bent down to the girl and seemed to whisper some words to her.
Then he walked backwards a few big steps away from the girl. Priscilla stood there with dropped face. Wet spots on the blindfold still visible. Because of her gag she couldn't speak a last word. Bill released the safety catch of his revolver.
Kinski, Stump and Chorizo watched the scenario with big eyes. Bill's face showed nothing. Just stone-cold muscles. He aimed the weapon at the girl.
Then he fired. Three times.
Kinski wanted to scream, but held his hand over his mouth, without noticing that he almost bit into it.
The Aye-Aye girl stumbled one step backwards. A muffled cry escaped her gagged mouth. Then she sank to the ground.
Shortly after that, Bill left his shot place and bent over the girl.
The jaguarundi didn't care about that and waved at a goanna. "Check her."
"I think, she is dead enough," Bill said.
The Gila monster held his hand over the girl who had filled with blood. The red liquid dripped over the girl's clothes and soaked the fabric with its deep red color.
Stump thought he had to fall, but Kinski and Chorizo managed to keep him standing.
Bill had lifted the upper body of the girl and threw it on the floor again.
"Don't forget my money," he said when he was cleaning his red hands on a towel.
The cat animal nodded and reached for a little bag. He threw it to Bill and they disappeared as fast as they had come.
There was a silence. A very cold, black silence.
The only sound was the running roadrunners of the cat mafia outside. Then the silence came back again.
Kinski stood there with open mouth, Stump leaned against a clothes-stand and Chorizo didn't know what to do. But all three looked at their leader, who was busy counting the money in the sack. Finally, he closed it.
"At least the price was right."
Only now he seemed to realize their consternation. He put the money away, then he put the hands in his pockets and looked around. "What?"
Kinski didn't dare to speak it out.
"You... you shot."
Bill snorted. "Yes, I'm also angry about myself that I shot three bullets for nothing. I guess, you owe me three new cartridges now."
He took his revolver and opened the magazine in annoyance. Then he seemed to remember about something and turned around. "Rizo, pick her up."
He nodded with his head at the blood covered girl on the floor.
"Pick her up?" Kinski was still dumbstruck and raised his hands in desperation. "Did you understand, that you killed a child?!"
The Gila monster rolled the magazine of his gun calmly.
"In this case, she would be the first one who died with that."
He threw something through the air. Kinski caught it automatically.
It was a little bottle with an old label.
"Stage blood?"
Quickly the three ran to the girl, who still didn't move. Bill watched them with a track of disgust on his face.
"You can stand up now," he ordered darkly.
With a quiet moan, Priscilla started to lift her head. Because of her bound hands and feet, it was difficult for her to sit up.
Quickly Kinski and Stump pushed her hands under her arms and lifted her up. The girl had some efforts to keep standing on her feet. Kinski grabbed for her blindfold and removed it. Priscilla's blinking eyes proved that she was still alive. Unharmed, but still a little filled with shock.
With heavy footsteps, Bill walked up to her. Then he drew his knife and kneeled down to her.
She stiffened when the blade touched her between her neck and upper body.
"Listen, little girl," he said with a serious and emphatic voice. "I'm tired of wasting my bullets for you. And I don't want to clean my parer on my shirt."
He added the pressure on her small body. Suddenly a cold smile played over his mouth. "And I advise you to avoid such childish tests with such evil little boys. That can be unhealthy for a little girl like you."
The Aye-Aye girl winced when the cold blade touched her left cheek. A claw of Bill's reptile nails lifted her chin. "I think you will behave like a good girl, won't you?"
She trembled, but she nodded.
Suddenly Bill grabbed her right shoulder and turned her around. The girl felt some cutting movements and some pulling on her hands and feet.
Shortly she was free, Bill pushed her away and she stumbled on the floor.
"And now, disappear! I don't wanna see you here again!" the Gila monster cried at her.
Quickly the girl stood up and ran away as fast as she could.
With snorting, Bill put away his knife.
Like paralyzed, the others watched how the girl disappeared. Then they looked back at him.
Bill crossed his arms.
"Don't ask me why!" he shouted. "I don't wanna hear one question of you, alright?! Or I cut your throats!"
The others shook their head wildly. Nobody dared, despite all. Bill turned around and went away.
"Do you think she will keep her mouth?" finally Stump asked.
Bill crossed his arms on his back. "We should change our hiding place, just to be on the safe site."
"What a shame," Kinski muttered. His knees were still like butter. "I became homelike with that."
"Idiot," Bill railed.
Chorizo chuckled. "¡Idiota!"