Lifesaver [Engl.]

30. That explains everything

Snorting angrily, Jake stormed into the mayor's room and slammed the doors behind him.
"Idiot!" He shouted, banging on the tall bookcase. "Idiot! Idiot!"
Angrily, he bumped against the desk where the mayor had previously sat. "It's all your fault! Where are you from?!"
He glanced up at the sky. "Please come down and show yourself! Or are you too cowardly for that?! You shall burn in hell!"
In his anger, Jake thrashed around, as if trying to rouse the mayor's ghost. Angry as he was, he rammed the bookshelves and several books and papers fell to the floor. But Jake didn't care about the chaos he was creating, he churned up all the things and hurled them across the room.
"Show me yourself!"
He raged in the room for almost five minutes. Then he sank to the ground, exhausted. For a while he lay with panting and silence fell. He slowly calmed down, but the anger in his stomach remained.
Why didn't anyone believe that he had seen the mayor? He had seen him. He knew that very well. He had seen him. But how could that be? He had killed him and until now none of his victims had come back.
The snake raised his head and looked at the mess what he had caused in his anger.
He snorted. The whole thing cleaning up would take ages.
The gunslinger sighed. He had never had such a tantrum in his life. Before, when he was angry, he could always vent his anger on his victims. But nothing could do against a... ghost. Not even against Rango. When he saw Rango's doubts it had fueled his blind anger, but something held him back from killing him. No, Jake couldn't kill him. Still, he felt betrayed. Rango didn't seem to believe him any more than anyone else.
Jake felt like crying, but held back the tears. He wasn't a little kid, damn it. But the whole uncertainty was getting too much for him, too. He couldn't go on anymore. Was he really crazy? Had the mayor really been just an illusion? But he hadn't dreamed!
Jake held his head. He gasped, but he didn't want to cry. After taking another deep breath, he silently lay down on the paper-strewn floor. He didn't want to see or hear anything from the world today. He just wanted to sleep without anyone bothering him.

Jake spent the night very restless. These pictures of the mayor kept popping up in front of him, half asleep. How he laughed. How he enjoyed his suffering. Every time Jake thought he heard the laughter in the room, he woke up and didn't lie down until he'd made sure he'd only been dreaming.
It was 4:00 a.m. when he slowly fell into a restless sleep. He didn't wake up until the clock struck 6:00 a.m.
DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG!
Jake blinked as the first rays of the morning sun hit him across the room. He opened his eyes wearily. The first thing he saw was a floor covered with books and papers.
Immediately Jake remembered what had happened yesterday. Sighing, he stood up. His temper was not uncommon for a rattlesnake. The wild blood in his veins had caused him a lot of trouble always.
He looked around. He had been so tired last night that he had stopped thinking about the mongoose. He checked himself down, but he wasn't hurt.
He glanced outside at the balcony.
They're just waiting for you that you come out, Jake thought grimly. But he didn't want to give in so easily. But who knows how long he could hold it out in this town. Especially with this sheriff.
Jake shook his head. Today he didn't want to think about Rango anymore and most of all he never wanted to see him again. Let him believe what he wanted. But then he should leave him alone.
Jake snorted and did everything to distract himself. He stared grimly at the floor, which was now littered with books, files, and loose papers. Listlessly, he wiped the papers with his body. All trifling paperwork that didn't interest him at all. City maps, population registers, personal files, ownership documents...
He stopped one second. A photo album peeked out from under all the papers. Between the pages a few old, faded photos came to light that had been detached from their adhesive corners when they fell off the shelf. But that wasn't what caught Jake's attention. One of the photos showed the mayor. Jake didn't feel like looking at old photos, but finally his curiosity won and he pushed the photo album out of the papers. Then he opened the book, whereupon another part of the old photos fell out immediately. Jake pushed his cannon forward and brushed the old photos for a closer look.
There were several photos with the mayor on them. From younger years. Without a wheelchair, of course. One of them showed how he stood in a pose next to a hunted game. There was even a photo where the mayor was depicted in swimming trunks. Jake felt sick at the sight and quickly looked at the next photo of the mayor standing in the desert with the highway in the background. Obviously, a reminder of the progress.
Jake looked at one photo at a time. Maybe he should burn the photos to avert the "mayor's curse" and thought about evicting ghosts. Maybe that helped...
Suddenly Jake stopped. "What..."
Hastily, he produced a photo and stared at the photograph in disbelief. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Several seconds passed. Seconds where he just stared at the photo in disbelief. Finally, he slowly raised his head. His eyes were menacing and anger rose in him. Everything was clear to him now.
"That explains everything ..." His face darkened. "That idiot!"
Snorting with anger, Jake snatched the photo and stormed down the stairs. He stopped for a moment on the street and looked around again in all directions. Nobody was around. Nobody was watching him. And that could be fine with him.
His angry eyes wandered to the town exit. From one second to the next, his fear had completely vanished into thin air. The rattlesnake narrowed its glowing eyes. Now that he knew the truth, he was more determined than ever to teach his opponent a lesson that he really would never come back from.
Nobody messes with the West's Grim Reaper with impunity!
In a flash, Jake pushed forward and crawled down the street at a fast pace without realizing that two eyes were following him.
Priscilla had woken up very early that morning and was worried about the argument between Rango and Jake. So worried that she crawled out of bed before sunrise.
Worried, she watched Jake, who gradually disappeared into the desert.