Lifesaver [Engl.]

38. Fire, fire and water

No sooner had Priscilla finished speaking than everyone stormed out of the saloon and stared at the fire in disbelief. The flames were burning meters high now and had spread to two other houses.
"We need water!" Miss Oats yelled.
"Get the pump!" Elgin shouted.
"But it's in the shed and it's on fire!" Buford shouted in shock.
"Why is it in the shed?" Elgin asked.
"Because we've never used it until now," Spoons answered in despair.
Miss Oats put her hands over her head. "What shall we do now?!"
"To the lake!" Elgin yelled.
Immediately they ran to the lake. But no sooner had the houses behind them than several shots rang out. They all stopped in horror. Spoons, who ran at the forefront, lost his hat when a bullet hit it.
"Hey!" Spoons shouted. "What the ...?"
His breath caught in his throat when he saw the mongooses sitting on their roadrunners at a short distance from the city, their revolvers pointing at the city people.
"Well?!", Madog began spitefully. "You are no longer partying now, don't you? Now we get tough!"
With that, he took something out of the saddlebag and lit a match.
Then he threw the object forward.
Immediately Spoons recognized the danger. "DYNAMITE!"
"Retreat!"
Panicked, the residents ran back into the city before the dynamite exploded with a big bang in a fountain of powder and dust. Everyone screamed wildly and fled into the houses. But shortly afterwards the clouds of smoke reminded her of the fire that had now set almost half the city on fire.
Madog ignored the panic of the townspeople. He took out his revolver again with amusement. "Now the little devils are finally getting what they deserve."
With these words he turned to his people. "Listen, guys. You know the plan. Anyone who wants to leave the city gets a bullet in the brain. You will ride around town now and you shoot what you can. Either the fire eats them up or they are riddled with lead. I'll take care of the rest." He ran his fingers over the saddlebag where he'd stowed the dynamite. "They'll think twice in their next life before they mess with mongooses."
Then they rode off and began to circle the city.

"We're surrounded!" Spoons shouted in panic when the first shots of the mongooses hit the windows of the houses.
"To arms!" Elgin shouted.
"But what are we going to do about the fire?" Miss Oats asked desperately. "We're going to burn alive! And we've no chance to escape!"

Meanwhile, Madog had set fire to another stick of dynamite while riding and tossed it in a high arc onto the roof of the bank.
Everyone screamed as the roof of the building exploded with a loud bang.
Pieces of wood, splinters and dirt flew through the air everywhere. The townspeople fled in all directions. Some tried to escape between the houses, but were forced to retreat again by the shooting mongooses.
Madog laughed maliciously when he saw the desperation of the residents.
"Ha! That's even better than chasing snakes. Ha ha!"

In the meantime, the townspeople had recovered from the explosion and were trying to extinguish the fire somehow, despite the hopeless situation.
Some people tried it with blankets, others with sand. Miss Oats used the water from her house. But the fire was spreading uncontrollably now.
Desperate screams came from the saloon.
"No!" Buford shouted, while Spoons and Elgin pulled him outside. The fire had now spread to the saloon as well. Buford, who loved this building so much, refused to leave the saloon and fought back with hands and feet.
"Come over! You have to get out of here!" Elgin yelled and managed to pull him onto the street with Spoons.
"No!" Buford shouted again, trying to turn around. "I won't let my saloon down!"
At that moment a next stick of dynamite landed on the saloon roof. Shortly afterwards, the three of them were thrown to the ground by the shock wave.
Immediately Buford stood up again and stared in disbelief forward, where his saloon had previously been.
Spoons patted his shoulder comfortingly; while Elgin handed the toad her hat. "Here, your hat."

John's brother Frank relaxed his hands and watched everything from a safe distance. In the distance he heard the desperate screams of the townspeople, the shootings of the mongooses and the explosion of dynamite.
"Well, John," he muttered to himself. "Now you're getting to your will. Soon it will be done. Soon the town will be nothing more than pure desert dust."

Miss Oats had gathered the children and fled with them to the very front of the town. Lucky, Cletus, Priscilla, and a few other town boys were huddled together in fear. Some put handkerchiefs over their mouths because the smoke irritated their lungs.
"Where's the water?" Miss Oats cried.
"Cough ... We can't reach the lake! ... Cough," Elgin gasped. "Even the city taps aren't enough to put out the fire."
At that moment another explosion rang out. All the children cried out in shock.
Miss Oats took everyone in her arms comfortingly.
"Are we going to die?" Lucky asked anxiously.
"There is nothing we can do!" Spoons shouted, who was just running up. "I would say that's the end."
All other townspeople who tried to get the fire under control also came running to the town entrance and were at a loss as to what to do next. They couldn't go forward or back. The mongooses were still riding around the city, waiting to shoot the first one who left the town.
"Help! We need help!" Miss Oats yelled hysterically.
"Where's that sheriff?" Elgin asked aloud. "When you need him, he's never there."

In the meantime, the mongooses were getting bored of constantly riding around the city.
"Boss!" One of the mongooses called to Madog. "They don't want to come out!"
Madog slowed down his Roadrunner and stopped near the entrance to the city, where the townspeople were crowded. An ugly grin spread across his face. "Well, if they don't want to come out ... Some of them have to be forced to be happy."
He took out a new stick of dynamite. "Then we'll light a fire under their bums."
Again he took out a match and lit it. At the same time, he cast a venomous look at the burning city. " "Nobody messes with mongooses with impunity. Nobody!"
At that moment a loud shout made him jump.
"Boss! Look! There!"
Madog paused and looked in the direction where one of his men was pointing his finger. Madog forgot for a brief moment that he was still holding the burning match in his hand and cursed as he burned his fingers on it.
A thick, dark cloud could be seen in the distance. But it wasn't a natural cloud.
Madog narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's this?"

The bats flew towards the city at breakneck speed. Rango tried hard not to fall down and clung to Ezekiel tightly. The chameleon's heart almost stopped when he saw the clouds of smoke over the city.
"Put out the fire!" He ordered.
"You heard it!" Balthazar shouted. "Let's do some extinguishing work."
The prairie dogs dipped their bats across the lake and scooped out water with their buckets. Then it went over the city at the same pace, where they tipped the water over it again.
Madog's mouth stayed open when he saw this. But only for a brief moment.
"Shoot them down from the sky!" He shouted to his men.
Immediately they all fired their revolvers.
"Those again!", Rango cursed. "Drive them away! Chase them away!"
"No problem at all," Ezekiel said and took a terrific dive with his bat.
Rango gave a startled cry. "Not so fast!"
But Ezekiel was in his element and flew so low over the mongooses that they ducked their heads in shock.
Shortly afterwards, more bats appeared above them and always flew just above them. One of them flew so low that the mongooses jumped off their roadrunners.
Madog tried a few more times to keep the bats away with his revolver, but then the prairie dogs opened fire and Madog had to give up.
Out of sheer anger, he let out a loud scream and galloped with his roadrunner near the burning city, where the bats couldn't chase him.
"Ezekiel!" Rango shouted. "Take me to town! I have to get the others out of there."
"Okay, okay," Ezekiel said and steered his bat towards the city entrance.
"Not so fast!" Rango shouted.
But too late. Ezekiel couldn't brake in time. The ground came closer and closer and before they knew it, the bat landed with a crash landing on the ground.
Rango and Ezekiel were thrown from the bat and landed roughly on the ground. For a brief moment, Rango saw only stars. But immediately he was wide awake again when he caught the acrid smell of the fire.
"Sheriff!" Some townspeople shouted in relief.
"Rango! I knew you would come," Priscilla cried and clung to Rango.
"Sheriff! What's going on here?" Elgin asked indignantly.
"Yes," Spoons agreed. "What kind of riot is this?"
"There is no time for explanations!", Rango interrupted. "You have to get out of the town immediately!"
"What do you think we're up doing all the time?" Elgin said. "But we can't get out of here. The mongooses have surrounded the city."
"The bats will give us protection. Come now!"
"My saloon!" Buford shouted.
"There's no saloon anymore, mate," Elgin said, pulling him with him. "Come on now."
They left the city in a hurry, while the flames continued to devour the city and the prairie dogs kept pouring a bucket of water over the fire.
At last Rango and the townspeople had moved far enough from the town that their lives were no longer in danger.
"So, we're safe here for now," Rango said with satisfaction, although the sight of the city more than hurt him. Because although the prairie dogs did everything to put out the fire, it was clear to everyone that there wasn't much left of the city would stay.
Everyone was silent and stared sadly at the fire.
"There goes our town," Miss Oats whined. "Where should we live now?"
She took a handkerchief from her pocket and blew her nose.
"Don't worry," Rango tried to cheer up the sad townspeople. "There is always a way out of a hopeless situation. No matter how hopeless it is."
PENG!
Everyone was startled. The shot had been fired behind them. Everyone turned around.
"I see that quite differently, Sheriff!"
Rango went pale with shock when he saw Madog standing a few meters in front of them ... with Priscilla in his arms.
No one had noticed that Madog had mingled with the townspeople in disguise and caught the little Priscilla in the process. Totally frightened, Priscilla stared at Rango while Madog held his revolver to her head with an evil grin.
"Nobody moves on the spot!" the leader ordered and pressed the revolver closer to Priscilla's forehead. "Or she dies!"