Lifesaver [Engl.]

17. Impossible

Jake avoided Rango's gaze. He began to shiver again and looked around in panic to all sides, as if he was expecting an attack at any moment.
"Jake, calm down!" Rango said, raising his hands. "Do you need water?"
Jake nodded hastily.
"Okay, I'll give you water."
Immediately Rango rushed back to the desk cabinet and took out a full glass jug with water. Then he passed it to Jake, who drank the glass without stopping. With panting, he put the glass bottle down and handed it back to Rango. Slowly he calmed down again.
"Okay," Rango said. "Now take a deep breath."
Jake did.
"Now say who did you see?"
Jake looked at him. He seemed reluctant to answer. Then he took a deep breath.
"The mayor."
Rango dropped the glass bottle.
"What?! That ... I thought you had him ..."
"I did!" Jake yelled at him inadvertently. "I even tortured him to death. And yet he was standing in front of me!"
"Okay, okay, you saw him. And what happened after that?"
Jake swallowed.
"I ... I was ..."

Jake didn't know what was happening to him when he saw the mayor rolling towards him in his wheelchair.
"That cannot be! That cannot be! You are dead!"
"That's right," the turtle replied gloomily. "But I have returned. Or did you think I would let your insolent treatment sit on me forever? No, if then you should come to a miserable end as you did to me."
Again lashes from all sides. Jake whined inadvertently. There was chaos in his head.
How could that be possible? The mayor was dead! He had seen it. He had killed him in cold blood. He couldn't stand in front of him.
In vain, he tried to convince himself that he was only faced with an illusion. He must have gone mad. The sun, the hawks, it was all too much for him.
"Believe it or not," the mayor continued, giggling darkly.
Then he took a long stick and brought it down on Jake's neck. Jake screamed as the stick hit his carotid artery. The mayor laughed. "Face it. The days of the old west are over. And you won't be there either."
Again he hit him with the stick. Jake just didn't know what to think anymore. Suddenly the lashes stopped and there was silence.
Jake gasped. He was completely exhausted. He looked up at the mayor, who gave him a cold look. Then the turtle nodded. Jake heard footsteps beside him. At the same moment he felt a rope around his neck. Jake gasped as the noose was pulled. He gasped for air. He twisted and tried to get out of the noose. His struggle for life left the bystanders completely cold. He gasped. The vision blurred before his eyes. He couldn't breathe. Then he passed out.
No sooner had he closed his eyes than the noose loosened. Immediately Madog checked his breathing.
"Woe to you killed him!" the mayor said in a warning voice.
Madog made a dismissive gesture.
"Of course not. He's just passed out. "
"Well, because I want him to suffer a little longer."
"Don't worry, boss."
The mongoose gave his people a sign. They shrugged their knives and cut the ropes with which the rattlesnake had been tied.
"Come on guys! Get the roadrunners! Then we drag this snake into the desert."
Together they pulled the unconscious rattlesnake in front of the farmhouse where the roadrunners were already standing. There they tied the ropes to the roadrunners. Then they drove forward and Jake was dragged along.

It took a while until they reached the old trek cemetery.
The mayor had accompanied them all the way and seemed to enjoy his power over the greatest killer of the west.
No sooner had the roadrunners stopped than the mongoose leader walked next to the mayor. "Where do you want him to go?"
The mayor looked around. His gaze remained fixed on an old sheet of tarpaulin that was stretched lonely over an old covered wagon.
"Hang him there."
Madog nodded. "As you wish."
He showed his people the direction and they directed the roadrunners to the old prairie schooner.
Madog stopped a moment. Jake had moved a little. Immediately Madog urged his men to hurry.
"Hurry up! The monster is waking up again. "
At a faster pace, they drew close to the covered wagon. Once there, they untied the roadrunners and let them run onto the open plane.
Jake groaned. Madog reacted quickly and hit him with the whip. Jake convulsed and straightened his torso, half passed out. But Madog didn't want to give him an opportunity to escape. He reached out again and wrapped the whip around Jake's neck. Jake sank to the ground like a humiliated dog.
The other mongooses took the opportunity and tied long ropes through Jake's belt.
"And make sure that he can't scream," the mayor said.
"I thought of that," replied Madog.
He gestured to two of his people. The mongooses understood and took sturdy steel rods to open Jake's mouth.
Then they pulled a large cloth through his mouth and knotted it tight.
Jake blinked. He was still very weak.
"And so that you really don't give a peep," Madog said and took out a long wire rope. "I'll tie this souvenir around for you."
With that, he quickly wrapped the wire around Jake's mouth. Jake narrowed his eyes as the mongoose brutally tightened the wire around his mouth.
Then they threw the ropes over the covered wagon arch. They tied the ends of the rope to the roadrunners again and pulled Jake up by the rope. Once at the top they knotted the ropes and Jake was hanging in the air.
Jake was not at all comfortable in his new position. He opened his eyes with difficulty. The mongoose had gathered under him and looked up at him gleefully. Including the mayor.
"I hope you are satisfied with your dying position," the turtle shouted and grinned nastily. An unspeakable anger rose up in Jake. But he was far too exhausted to resist him. Besides, he was not able to do anything to move.
The mayor raised his hand. The mongooses understood and took out their whips and stood around the hanging rattlesnake. The mayor lowered his hand. Immediately the whips began to crack again, hitting Jake's skin.
Jake didn't know how long they hit him, but eventually they stopped.
He was close to fainting.
In the distance he could still hear the mayor's scornful voice.
"If you're still not dead by tonight, the game will start over. I would advise you to say goodbye to this world quickly. "
Then they went away and a dead silence fell over the landscape.
Jake flexed his body in hope somehow to break the rope. But he was far too weak. He no longer had the strength to fight. He hung helplessly in the air by the ropes. Only now he felt the merciless heat of the sun burn down on him. He moved his neck and wanted to scream, but his mouth was too tight closed. There was no way to call for help.
He stopped. A shadow had flown over him. The birds of prey came.
But Jake was far too weak to be frightened. He closed his eyes weakly.
Die quick and it's all over.
He bowed his head. Then his body hung limply.

"... So they left me alone. I do not know more. Only that you showed up all at once. "
It went quiet.
Rango looked at him in silence. Jake was getting uncomfortable with Rango's gaze and turned around. He didn't want pity! He hated that. The greatest killer of the west needed no pity. He closed his eyes and lifted his head a little so as not to look humiliated.
Rango sighed and got up from his chair. Despite everything Jake had been through, Jake's pride was still unbroken. Rango was admiring his pride, but he also felt disapproval. No matter what he did for Jake, the rattlesnake wouldn't let anyone in its near.
A little uncertain, Rango looked around through the room. "And you are sure ..."
"Yes!" Jake interrupted him and turned to him, his eyes glaring angrily. "I'm not that crazy! I saw him!"
"All right, all right," said Rango. "Let's leave that. But what I just don't understand is, why you fled here of all places when there is a fairly high probability ... the mayor's ghost could be haunted here."
Jake started to say something, but then he closed his mouth again. He thought it's the best to be silent.
Both were frightened. Someone had coughed behind the door.
Immediately Rango jumped to the door, yanked it open and saw Beans and Priscilla running down the hall.
"Hey!" Rango shouted.
Both stopped and turned around.
"Did you listen?"
Beans crossed her arms. "Do you have a problem?"
Rango looked at her with wide eyes. Today she really surprised him. First, she lied, now she was secretly listening at the door?
At that moment Jake stormed past him and blocked the way for the two spies.
"If you talk, I'll kill you!" Jake yelled at her.
Priscilla was so frightened that she fearfully hid behind Beans. But the female lizard didn't change her expression.
"Then do it," she countered.
Rango quickly stood between the two. "Stop it! Please calm down!"
But Jake couldn't be rested. "They'll talk, then I'll be found!"
"Jake, stop it!" Rango yelled at him.
Immediately the rattlesnake fell silent and looked at Rango with wide eyes. That was the second time today that Rango had contradicted him.
"Actually, you should be grateful to her," Rango continued with a raised voice. "She made sure that the mongooses left the city. The townspeople didn't say anything either. Nobody will betray you. Believe me."
"Why should I believe you?" Jake asked mockingly.
"If I didn't care, I would never have helped you."
"And how should I know that this is not a trick?"
Rango looked at him in disbelief and was speechless for a moment.
"We won't tell anyone," Priscilla said and looked pleadingly at Jake with her big eyes. Jake looked at her sternly and screwed up his eyes as if he didn't trust the whole thing.
Meanwhile, Rango had regained his composure. "Jake, nobody is going to betray you. We all won't, will we? "
Beans crossed her arms. She didn't want to make promises to Jake.
Fortunately, Jake didn't bother about Beans, but looked at Rango carefully.
"Why should you do this for me?"
"What any normal citizen would actually do," Rango said. "If someone is in need, you help them."
"You seem to forget completely that I'm a widely wanted killer and not a good citizen." Jake grinned darkly. "And as a sheriff you should know that very well."
Rango swallowed. "Yes. But ..." He looked for a suitable answer. "But at least we got ourselves into debt back then. Don't forget that we both defeated the mayor in the past. Most of it from me, but you gave him the rest if the mayor has both of us in his sights now, it would be best if we stick together for now."
Jake's eyes twitched. He had almost forgotten the mayor again. Rango noticed the uncertainty was rising again in the rattlesnake. If the mayor really did come back under mysterious circumstances, then it wouldn't be a bad idea to put himself under Rango's protection. On the other hand, the suspicion was too ingrained in Jake. Up until now he had trusted no one except himself.
"Why should I trust you?"
Rango raised his eyebrows. "I think you have no choice in this case."
Jake had to see that too. As long as it was unclear where the mayor had come from or as long as the mongooses were in the area, he had no choice if he wanted to survive.
Jake stood in silence for a while, looking at the group in front of him. Then he sighed. For once he wanted to trust them.

After all the excitement, Jake pulled back into the room and closed the door. Rango, Beans and Priscilla also started to leave the house. Although they still had many questions, but they no longer wanted to bother Jake. They saw that he urgently needed rest. They marched thoughtfully down the corridor.
When they passed the two oil paintings, Rango stopped and looked at them thoughtfully.
Beans gave him a questioning look. "What do you think of the matter? Do you think the mayor really came back?"
Rango shrugged. "I don't know."
He stared silently at the two portraits of the mayor. Then he narrowed his eyes.
Who are you? Or did you really come back?