Lifesaver [Engl.]

27. Save me!

Madog paused and turned around.
The door of the office room was open and a dark figure stood in the door frame.
"Who are you?"
Without an answer, the figure entered the room. When the moonlight fell on the chameleon, Madog stood up with a jerk.
"That's the guy a few days ago," another mongoose said.
Rango put his hands on his hips. "Leave him alone and get out of here!"
Madog snorted contemptuously. "Mind your own business! We have something to do here! That does not concern you!"
"Oh, but I think so. It's my business because I'm the sheriff."
Madog looked up. "Are you kidding me or what? We saw the sheriff two days ago and he looked completely different."
"More ugly," another mongoose giggled.
Rango drew his revolver and pointed it directly at Madog. "Believe it or believe it not. But I'm the sheriff and this snake is under my protection."
Jake winced. Did Rango mean that seriously?
At first Madog stood there confused. Then he laughed mockingly. "You won't be so stupid and take on us all, will you? Just one shot from you and we'll shoot you down."
Rango raised his eyebrows. "Then you will be the first one..."
Rango howled. Madog had swung his whip in a flash and knocked the revolver out of Rango's hand. Rango held his hand with trembling fingers. Madog lashed out again and caught Rango in the arm with the whip. Rango stepped back in shock and held his arm, his face contorted with pain. He would never have thought that lashes could hurt so badly.
Madog grinned nastily. "Well, are you scared now?"
He raised the whip again and Rango backed away. He didn't want to be hit by that whip again.
Jake growled. He wanted to bite Madog, but his body was still completely numb.
Madog grinned maliciously and looked gleefully down at the chameleon.
"Well, do you want to play?" He asked scornfully. His grin grew wider and wider.
He took a few steps towards Rango. While he was still holding the whip in his hand and just waiting to strike.
Rango raised his hands protectively. "Well, well, well. Who is going to be so aggressive? We can reasonably talk about anything."
Madog laughed and shook his head mockingly. "Wrong answer."
In a flash he brandished the whip and threw it in Rango's direction. Rango evaded. But Madog had drawn out again and struck several times. Again and again just to past the chameleon. Rango didn't know longer where to look. He had never seen a creature that could handle a whip so skillfully and quickly. But also because of the darkness, that prevailed in the room, it was impossible to predict Madog's hand movements.
After almost ten lashes, without hitting the chameleon, and Madog obviously did it on purpose, Rango felt a hard blow on the leg. Yowling, he got on his knees. The pain of this lash was worse than a gaze shot. He held his leg whimpering, which Madog found more than amusing.
"Well, do you still feel so strong now, Sheriff?"
With lazy steps he went to Rango, who was still kneeling on the floor. The mongoose giggled darkly. He stopped just before Rango. Jake winced inwardly as Madog kicked Rango. Rango sank to the floor with whimpering. Why did the mongoose kick him in the stomach so brutally? Anger rose in Rango, as it did in Jake. But neither seemed to have a fair chance against the gang. And certainly not against Madog.
Disregarding Rango, Madog lifted one leg, put his foot on Rango's chest, and put all his weight on it.
Rango gasped and wanted to jump up. But his stomach was still all cramped. The mongoose giggled again. He seemed to enjoy humiliating his victim.
"Maybe it would be the best if I cut your throat first and then of your" friend "."
Madog pulled the knife out of his pocket again.
Suddenly something hit Madog in the head.
"Good shot!" Cletus jubilated.
Madog turned around with loud snorting. Cletus and Lucky sat on the balcony railing; each one was holding a slingshot.
Again Madog hit something on the head when Lucky also fired his slingshot.
"I was better," Lucky cried and they both shook hands.
Madog growled angrily. "What's that about?! There's no kindergarten here!"
"All right," a female voice started. "Then we'd better play adult games now."
Madog turned and stared straight into the barrel of Beans's rifle. But the mongoose was not easily intimidated. "You little thing? What are you going to do against nine people? "
"Who says I'm alone?"
At that moment, several townspeople appeared behind Beans and held up their guns, which was slowly becoming too much for the mongoose leader. Nevertheless, he tried to intimidate the townspeople with his threat. "Don't you dare! Just one shot from you and we ... "
At that moment all townspeople unlocked their guns.
At first Madog and his men stood there like frozen. But then Madog turned around in a flash and ran towards the balcony. His people followed him immediately. Like artists, they jumped over the balcony, to the great astonishment of Cletus and Lucky, and skillfully climbed down the facade of the building onto the street in no time at all.

As soon as the mongooses fled across the balcony, Beans leaned worriedly down to Rango, who was still groaning on the floor. "Rango? Everything okay?"
"Yes, don't worry, everything's okay," Rango said and rubbed his belly. "He just kicked me in my stomach."
He got up with difficulty. Beans helped him up.
"Why did it take so long?" Rango asked as he adjusted his shirt.
"We all had to wake up first," Waffles replied next to him. "And then we had to wake up Spoons. When he's asleep, even a bomb can't wake him up."
Rango raised his eyebrows. "So I would be dead now if Spoons hadn't woken up?"
Waffles shrugged. "There are worse things."
Rango frowned. "What could be worse now?"
"I don't really want to interrupt," Buford interfered. "But we'd better chase the intruders out of town."
Immediately everyone left the town hall to pursue the mongooses. Only Rango paused in the hallway for a second when he saw Doc go to Jake in the mayor's room. Then he ran down the stairs, too.

In the meantime, the mongooses had fled to the outskirts. There they hurried to their roadrunners and mounted. Only Madog hesitated. Angrily, he looked ahead where the townspeople had stopped some distance away.
"You'll regret that!" He yelled. "Everyone! Nobody messes with mongooses with impunity!"
Rango, now fully recovered from Madog's abuse, folded his arms in triumph.
"Better let this be a lesson to you!" the chameleon countered.
"We'll see you again, Sheriff!" Madog shouted angrily and raised his fist threateningly.
You could tell that he wanted to tear Rango up in midair.
Rango twisted the corners of his mouth mockingly. "Don't threaten, but tell me who hired you."
Madog stopped a moment. Then he snorted contemptuously. "Nobody!"
After that, he swung himself onto his Roadrunner and galloped away.
"We showed them to them," Lucky said and tossed something again with his slingshot.
"Okay, that's enough," Rango said, pulling him over to him.
"We gave them a lesson or two," Cletus said.
"Now it's time to go back to bed immediately," Miss Oats said in her pajamas.

Reluctantly, Rango entered the mayor's room again. Jake was still lying on the floor, his eyes open and motionless. Doc was examining the needle that Jake had hit. Rango approached him worried. "And Doc?"
"Oh, not bad. I guess the effects will wear off soon."
Rango seemed to be relieved.
Doc turned to go. "Do you want to come with me, Sheriff?"
Rango looked at Jake. "No, I'll wait until the effects wear off."
Doc nodded and left the room. No sooner had Doc left the room than Rango approached the paralyzed rattlesnake. Jake followed him with his eyes.
Rango looked down at him worriedly. "Everything okay?"
Jake mumbled something unintelligible. Of course he still couldn't talk as long as he was still numb.
"Oh, sorry," Rango apologized and took off his hat. "I completely forgot. Well. Let me know when the effects wear off."
With these words, Rango sat down next to him and pulled his hat over his eyes. Then he waited.

It had happened all so fast, Jake thought, while he was still lying motionless on the floor and Rango was waiting next to him. Too fast.
He was still in a bit of shock, which was very unusual for a cold-blooded killer. But Jake had been scared to death many times. Even if he only saw a hawk from a distance, he was afraid. Even back when Rango had threatened him with a weapon, he had never been this close to death. But today ... that was too close.
Only now he noticed that he had been close to death quite often recently and he had managed to pull his head out of the "death loop" at the last moment every time. As if death had pity for him always. He had felt the first big shock when Rango had defeated him in the past. And shortly afterwards the mayor had almost shot him. Jake paused. He looked uncertainly around the room. A queasy feeling made himself in wide to him. Was the mayor waiting for him somewhere?
Then the torture of the mongooses. Much would not have been missing and he would have died... but then this chameleon came again...
Jake's eyes wandered to Rango, who was still sitting next to him, staring warily at the balcony door. Was he afraid of another attack?
Jake mentally counted again. Three times ... Three times this chameleon had saved him. No ... more precisely, four times. If he hadn't removed the bullet from the revolver at the time, the mayor would have shot him. Now he had saved him once again from the torture death, then from his illness and now from the stabbing...
Why did the chameleon all this?
This lizard was a mystery to him. Even though he had rejected Rango so hard earlier, he had risked his life for him again. Although it was more than risky. Madog could have killed him without difficulty. If not even he himself could beat him. Not even him. The greatest gunslinger.
"This snake is under my protection."
Why? That made no sense to Jake. Why did the lizard sacrifice so much for him?
"You and the sheriff are more alike than you think. You're nothing but legends."
But was that really all they had in common? Or ... did Rango really consider him as his brother? That one look when they'd first said goodbye had been more than a favor between two legends. Maybe for a second there was something like... friendship.
Jake paused. He felt himself slowly moving his tongue again. After a few minutes he even managed to move his upper body a little.
Immediately he wanted to get up, but shortly after he sank back to the ground. He wanted to move, but his body wasn't doing it yet. Reluctantly, Jake waited until he was finally back in control of his body. Meanwhile, Rango had winced when he felt the rattlesnake slowly began to move again. He stood up hastily.
"Oh good, you're moving again. Is everything okay? "
"E-ver-y s o...kay", Jake answered. His voice still sounded a bit slurred. He moved his jaw and his tongue with difficulty, which slowly reacted completely to his commands. With a jerk, he straightened up. But suddenly he started to sway unexpectedly.
"Don't fall!" Rango shouted. But too late. Jake tilted to the side and landed directly on the chameleon. Immediately Jake got up again. Rango was on the ground, but he didn't seem to be injured.
"Sorry," Jake said quickly.
"It's okay," said Rango. "Wouldn't be the first time. Will it work again?"
Jake nodded. "How is your leg?"
Rango felt down. "He wasn't gentle."
"It hurt, right?"
Rango checked his leg. "Yes. How did you endure it? "
Jake smiled. "Maybe because I have a thick skin."
"That wouldn't have helped you much earlier either."
There was a silence.
Reluctantly, Rango looked up at Jake, who was staring thoughtfully at the floor. "That was pretty close; wasn't it?"
Jake sighed. "Yes, too close. ... Why did you come?"
Rango smiled slightly. "I had such a strange feeling. So I checked. I just couldn't get back to sleep. As if my instincts woke me up. Then I ran out quickly and told a city dweller to round everyone up."
With these words, Rango went to the balcony and looked outside. Everything was so peaceful as if nothing had ever happened.
"They will definitely not come back today," Rango said more to himself.
Jake sighed and struggled to straighten up. He staggered a little because of the anesthetic, but managed to keep his upper body up.
Rango looked at him pityingly. Jake had been lucky again tonight, but how will it be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow or some other time?
Jake felt his gaze and looked at him questioningly. What should he do?
While he was the most feared killer in the West, the snake hunters were just too cunning for him. Now they had almost managed to kill him again. And Jake slowly began to doubt whether he would ever be able to live properly again when these hunters were constantly on his heels.
Rango frowned. "You're scared of them, aren't you?"
"Yes."
Rango's eyes widened. Jake admitted he was scared? Rango had seen fear in him for the first time when he had almost put him to flight with the hawk trick. Just the shadow of a hawk had panicked this rattlesnake. And fear was something that was seldom seen in Jake. Even in a duel, he always seemed confident of victory, self-confident and dangerous. There was no trace of fear. But in the last few days, since Rango found him, he had seen fear in his eyes so many times. Almost every second, as if fear was constantly with him, like a shadow.
"Why did the townspeople help me?" Jake asked quietly.
Rango smiled. "Well, if someone attacks a city member or someone who is under the protection of the city, you defend them, too. A city holds together and protects one another."
"Oh," Jake said thoughtfully.
"Should I stay or do you prefer to be alone?"
"I think I'll be left alone. They won't come tonight anyway. "
He looked at Rango. The chameleon nodded. "Right. Why should they try again today? "
Rango went to the door.
"But you're guarding the area, aren't you?" Jake asked.
Rango smiled, but didn't turn around.
"A sheriff is always on duty," he said. "I'll take a look now and then to make sure that everything is okay."
Jake seemed to feel a kind of relief, but didn't want to show it. Silently, he curled up again while Rango left the room and closed the door quietly. As soon as Rango had closed the door, a slight smile played around Jake's mouth.
"Thank you."
And this time his "thank you" was meant honestly.