Lifesaver [Engl.]

24. Back in Town

Rango's eyes wandered to the old clock on the wall. It was almost 11 a.m. He sighed. He had been sitting here for hours in the small cell in the much smaller prison that had seen better days. The bars were partly rusted and everything looked totally shabby.
Not far away sat the old officer who had arrested him last night. He was sitting next to an old table and was reading an old newspaper.
Rango rubbed his eyes wearily. He hadn't slept all night. He kept asking the officer to let him out. But he was stubborn.
But yet Rango tried it again and again.
"Hey!" He called to the officer. "Please let me out!"
Annoyed, the officer put the newspaper aside. "Not before the marshal comes."
"But that can take ages."
The officer snorted. "Your problem. Breaking into someone else's house. Even as a sheriff. I haven't seen anything like this in my whole life. You should really be ashamed of yourself."
"But this is an emergency."
"Save your arguments for the judge. And I am sure that he will show no mercy. You're definitely out of your job by now, ex-colleague."
With these words the officer went back to his literature.
Rango gritted his teeth. "Please. Let me out. Let me go!"
"No. You wait here until the marshal is there, "replied the official without looking up from his newspaper.
Rango groaned. He couldn't hear the word "wait" anymore.
"How many more times should I tell you that I can't wait. Otherwise, someone else dies."
But the officer pretended not to hear him.
Rango's hands clenched around the bars. Why did everything go wrong? All he wanted was some medication.
Discouraged, he let go of the bars and went to an old wooden bench with his head bowed. There he sat down and stared at the ceiling.
Tears welled up in his eyes. "Oh, Jake, I'm so sorry."
He leaned forward and folded his hands together. "Please don't let him die. I need a miracle."
At that moment, steps could be heard from outside. A moment later the door swung open.
The officer folded the newspaper and stared in surprise at the person who had come in.
"Beans?" the officer asked. "Is that you?"
"Hello Jimmy," Beans said.
"Beans!" The officer stood up. "How long haven't I seen you? The last time I saw you, you were so little child with little pigtails."
Beans smiled.
The officer bowed his head. "I'm very sorry about your father."
"That's fine. I know how good you were friends."
The officer sighed. "He was a very good friend. But how nice to see you again. What brings you here?"
"Beans! Beans!"
Rango had jumped up and was rattling the bars like a madman.
Beans went over to him. "Kind of strange to see you behind bars," she said.
"Why are you here?" Rango asked. "How did you know where I am?"
"I was wondering where you were staying for so long, and I thought I'd come by myself to see whether you need some help. I checked the doctor's office and he told me that you wanted to steal something."
Rango sighed. "Just because I needed the medication. The doctor wasn't there. And I..." Rango broke off. "I don't want him to die."
"Oh, Rango," Beans said and held his hand comfortingly.
Rango quickly wiped a tear from his eye. "How is he?"
Beans sighed. "Not very good. He looked very weak this morning."
"Is that your boyfriend?" Jimmy asked, still confused.
"So to speak," Beans replied and smiled.
Rango blushed. But then he got restless again. "Beans, please tell him I need the medication and have to go back to Dirt again. Please!"
"Jimmy, can't you...?"
"Under no circumstance. He is guilty of trespassing. He has to stay here until the marshal comes and settles the matter legally."
"Don't you understand?" Rango said urgently. "This is a matter of life and death."
"Even if you were the Queen of England. Because of that, the US is far from changing its laws."
"Jimmy," Beans began. "It's really urgent. And I would never lie to you. Please do me a favor."
"But Beans, I can't..."
"Think about it. What would you do if my father asked you?"
Jimmy looked at the floor in dismay. He and Bean's father had always got on well. He would never have doubted his trust. The same was true of his daughter. She had always been a nice young girl. Even if she was quite decisive and had a mind of her own, she was always honest.
Jimmy's gaze wandered from one to another. "Actually, I shouldn't do that. But in this case ... But I'm only doing it for your father."
"Thanks, Jimmy," Beans said and smiled gratefully.

Only a few minutes later the three were standing in front of the small doctor's office.
Jimmy had agreed to speak to the assistant and convinced him that for once he could trust that Rango was not a cheat.
When the assistant still refused, Beans talked to him until he finally said: "It's okay, it's okay. You will get the medication, but please, please stop talking."
As soon as Rango had the medication in his hands, he ran out of the doctor's office and looked for his roadrunner, who was lucky that it was still standing in the same place where he had left him yesterday.
Jimmy would have liked to have a chat with Beans, but Rango drove to a hurry. "Beans! Please hurry up."
With a sigh, Beans said goodbye. "I'm sorry to have to leave so soon."
Jimmy nodded understandingly. "It doesn't matter. I was happy to see you again for a moment at least."
Beans smiled. "Thank you."
The officer glanced sideways at Rango. "How good that he has someone like you. Take good care of him not to cause trouble again. "
"I've been taking care of him all the time lately anyway."
"Beans!"
"We have to go."
She hugged Jimmy goodbye. Then she ran quickly to her roadrunner and the two rode away at a wild gallop. Especially Rango. He rode as fast as if he wanted to make up for lost time.
"All the best," Jimmy called, waving after them.
"What's going on here?" Someone asked.
The officer and assistant turned around. "Oh, Doctor Baker. Good morning."
The old doctor examined them. "Did anything happen?"
The assistant folded his arms behind his back. "Uh ... no, nothing. Nothing at all."

Elgin, Spoons, Ambrose and Buford sat in a lap on the sandy ground and were playing cards.
"Do you think it was right to let Beans ride away unaccompanied?" Spoons asked with concern.
Elgin grimaced. "She'll be fine. What I just don't like is that we have to watch over this snake."
He nodded over to Jake, who was still in the shade beside the shed. The rattlesnake had closed its eyes and was breathing heavily.
Buford and Spoons looked over at him, too.
"He'll die," Buford said and sucked on his cigar.
Ambrose looked up from his cards and looked around questioningly. "Maybe we shouldn't be better ..."
The other three gave him a punishing look. "We promised not to mess with the queue," Buford warned firmly. "And it stays that way."
Ambrose looked apologetically at his cards again. "Okay. It was just a suggestion."
"Not until Rango comes back," Elgin muttered grimly. "If he comes back at all."
Spoons looked up. "But not Rango ... he has always managed everything so far."
"Now just wait and see," Buford interrupted. "Beans will find him."
With these words the four immersed themselves in their card game again.
In the meantime, Doc had gone back to Jake and looked worriedly at the rattlesnake. Priscilla, who had followed him, looked at him questioningly with her big eyes. "Will he make it?"
Doc sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I don't know. I don't know. It definitely doesn't look good."
"Doc?"
In surprise, the doctor turned and looked in amazement into the face of the spider of Mr. Black, the town's undertaker.
"I don't want to be intrusive," Mr. Black said. "But just in case ... if he dies, where should we bury him? Uh ... just that I know. You know? I mean, I don't think, next to Amos would be a bad idea."
Doc wrinkled his nose. "Don't worry. I am sure that will not be the case."
"And what if yes?" Buford asked, who came along with Elgin, Spoons and Ambrose, who had become aware of the conversation.
"Then who should give the funeral address?" Spoons asked with a frown.
"He's right about that," Buford agreed. "I'm not a pastor, but what kind of Bible verses should you read at a snake funeral? I think Genesis is bad, right?"
Ambrose couldn't help but chuckle, but swallowed down a laugh as soon as he saw Doc's stern face.
"Now listen, alright. He's definitely not going to die. "
"I heard rattlesnake meat is supposed to be very tasty," Mr. Snuggles said, who was marching past.
Doc glanced up at the sky. "He won't die."
Mr. Black raised his hand. "Uh ... just in case ... should I measure the coffin or should it be a grave without a coffin?"
"He's not going to die!" Doc yelled.
Everyone backed away. They had never heard their doctor screaming so loudly.
When Doc noticed how they were staring at him, he cleared his throat. "I'll take a drink now."
With these words he disappeared into the saloon.
The others gave each other questioning looks. Then they went back to playing cards.
Priscilla, who had heard everything, looked sadly at the floor. Then she went down the street in silence and looked up at Cletus, who had been sitting on the roof of a house since this morning, staring intently into the desert.
Suddenly the raccoon cub jumped up and pointed excitedly forward.
"They are coming! They are coming!"
That took a load off Priscilla's mind. At last! They were there.
Buford, Spoons, Elgin and Ambrose, who had also heard the calls, looked up from their cards.
"I think I won the round," Spoons said triumphantly and jumped up.
The other townspeople had also become aware of the calls and tore open the doors and windows of their houses. Doc came running out of the saloon into the street with a glass in his hand.
Before long, Rango and Beans came galloping down the road with their roadrunners. As soon as Rango saw the doctor, he directed his roadrunner towards him and stopped in front of him.
"Here," Rango said, completely out of breath, and pressed the medication into the doctor's hand.
Doc quickly put his whiskey glass aside and ran to Jake with the medication.
Rango had also jumped off his roadrunner and ran after him.
While Doc was about to draw the medication into a syringe, Rango had approached Jake and was gently touching his neck.
"Jake? Jake?" Rango asked in an exhausted voice. "I ... I have the medication. Unfortunately, it took a little longer."
Jake blinked a bit, but he was way too weak to speak.
By now Doc had filled the syringe and injected it into Jake's bloodstream.
"Now we can only hope that the drug will still work," the doctor muttered quietly.
Rango looked at Doc. "Is there anything else I can do?"
Doc shook his head. "All we can do is wait."
At that moment Priscilla ran up to Rango and gave him a big hug. "Rango! I am so glad that you are back. I knew you would come back."
Rango looked at her in amazement. "Why shouldn't I come back? I keep coming back. Or did anyone doubt it?"
Not wanting to embarrass the others, Priscilla changed the topic.
"Where have you been for so long?"
"Oh, just a formal delay. Nothing of importance ..."
His eyes went back to Jake. "What is he actually doing on the street?"
"It was too cold for him in the town hall. He needed heat. So we brought him out here."
"And kept him warm with hot towels," the doctor added.
Rango looked at him in amazement. "Alone?"
Priscilla smiled. "We all did that together."
Rango looked around. Because meanwhile the other townspeople had come together and gathered around Rango. Everyone looked at the chameleon and seemed to be very relieved that he was back.
Rango was still speechless and didn't know what to say. He would not have believed that the townspeople would support him so much.
"Uh ... thanks." He didn't know what else to say at the moment.
Elgin cleared his throat. "You should thank Beans sooner. She was very committed to it."
Rango's gaze shifted to Beans. "Oh... Beans, you really are... thank you..."
But to Rango's astonishment, Beans turned his back on him and marched away with brisk steps.
Rango looked after her in confusion. "Did I say something wrong?"
Doc smiled. "She just doesn't want to admit that she liked to do it. She has the stubbornness of her father. He was just as stubborn."
Rango smiled slightly. "Of course she is."