Lifesaver [Engl.]

44. The town

With limping steps, Rango ran towards the city, closely followed by Jake, who did not want to lag behind. He also wanted to know what had become of the town. After all, it was his town, too. Even the wounds couldn't stop him from walking a long way. Doc, who had slept nearby, looked after them in amazement when he saw them walking towards town at dawn.
It was not easy for Rango to move forward with his injured leg, but he was doing Jake a favor, as Jake was also not able to keep up that fast.
Exhausted and tired, they reached the city. Both of them could see the extent of the town fire from afar.
A few meters from the entrance to the town, Rango stopped and shook his head in disbelief.
Only a few debris and a few charred scaffoldings remained of the wooden houses. Only the tower clock survived the fire in the best way. Even so, its damage was not small.
Even Jake, who was standing next to him, had to admit that the damage was more than devastating.
After this initial shock, Rango hesitantly walked down the street. Jake looked after him questioningly. Rango walked slowly past the burned houses. Alternately, his gaze changed from right to left. Occasionally the citizens stood in the burned houses, looking in the rubble for what to do with their belongings. But of course, everything had fallen victim to the flames.
When Rango passed the bank, a smashed box with a small hole in the floor was waiting for him. The dynamite hadn't failed the work. Rango's gaze wandered to the town hall, which also looked like a burned-down ruin. Everything in it was gone. City documents, papers, records, just everything that was important for a city, gone forever.
Rango turned around when he heard a low sigh. Buford was still standing in front of his former saloon and stared sadly at that what was left of it. Half of the old tin container was still there, but the hotel next to it had burned down almost to the ground.
Rango lowered his gaze. Completely withdrawn, he continued to walk down the street. Shortly before the tower he stopped and looked up at the tall building that towered sadly over the city.
Through a side street, he recognized the cemetery, which had been spared the fire.
The sight of the tombs made Rango feel cold. With heavy steps he went to the cemetery. He stood there for a moment, then dropped to his knees. A terrible feeling spread in his chest. A feeling that made his heart heavy and that made him want to lie down next to the graves and never to wake up again.
Rango didn't dare to speak it out loudly, but he knew his city was destroyed. And this fact left him sinking in endless sadness and guilt.
He stared blankly at the floor.
He didn't know how much time had passed before he felt a shadow.
Slowly he turned around and looked into Jake's face.
Jake smiled slightly. Even if with a forced smile. But his mind also had a sad expression. The city had meant more than something to him, too. Still, he found no words for this situation.
Rango sadly averted his gaze again and stared lost at the ground.
Jake curled up in silence and let his gaze wander over the morning sunrise, which bathed the graves in a reddish dawn.
He was startled when he discovered the tomb of Amos not far away.
Without paying attention to Rango, Jake crawled slowly towards it and let his gaze rest on the tombstone, where it was written in spooky letters:
Sheriff Amos, Thurs - Sat, R.I.P
Jake chuckled softly. Then his gaze wandered back to the sad, slumped chameleon, who was still kneeling on the floor with sagging shoulders like someone sentenced to death.
Jake sighed. "Hm, sometimes I really wonder how you managed to survive. Your predecessor hadn't that lucky."
Rango slowly raised his head and stared at Jake in silence. Then he raised and stood next to him in front of Amos's grave.
"Was he exactly like me?" He asked softly.
Jake twisted his mouth mockingly. "Well. He had the same daring courage as you, but he was nowhere near as clever and above all not as ... magnanimous."
Jake bit his lip briefly. He didn't like to use words like that in his mouth, but he couldn't suppress it with Rango.
Rango looked at him questioningly, like a little child who had just heard a big secret.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
Jake cleared his throat. "If Amos had been in your place today, he would have shot me long ago. And the town would certainly have been doomed if you hadn't spared me. I'm a killer, but I appreciate generosity. Nobody would have been so insane and let me live."
"Nobody?" Rango asked quietly.
Jake shook his head. "Definitely not. And much less a sheriff. You know, I always thought sheriffs were just agents of the law and nothing more. People who can't do anything and only want to show off their position and give a damn about the lives of others and just to pose as great heroes. But you really did manage to save these citizens and would have been willing to sacrifice your life for it. It's more than just daring courage."
Rango wondered a little about the way the snake changed. In contrast to this morning, when he was on the verge of killing him again.
But despite these words, Rango did not regain his courage. Sadly, he looked down at the floor and hugged himself.
"But the town is in ruins. And all because of me."
"Who said that?" Jake asked sharply. "The mayor, or his brother? What do they know? They only used us for their lies. In truth, they are the only culprits."
"Yes," Rango said. "But it would never have come to that if I had listened to you immediately and investigated the matter. If I had believed you earlier that you would have seen the mayor, who was actually his brother, it would be like that things would certainly turn out differently and the town would not have been destroyed now."
Jake said nothing. Rango might be right, and Jake even felt a trace of satisfaction, but now it was pointless to think about "what if". It had happened what had happened now. Nothing could be done about it now.
Disappointed that he couldn't cheer Rango up, the snake turned away. He hissed briefly as he felt his wounds again. Silently, he let his gaze wander over the broken town.
"Have you ever seen a ghost town?" Jake asked more to himself.
"No," Rango answered. "I always avoid ghosts. At least normally."
"That's not what I mean," Jake said, shaking his head. "I meant ghost cities. I've seen many cities that were once in bloom, but then they were abandoned. Forgotten and abandoned. And do you know why? Because their residents have moved away. Although the houses are still standing, they are still dead. Do you understand?"
He turned to Rango. He looked up at him and gave Jake a thoughtful look.
With a slight wave, Jake turned his body and met Rango's eyes.
"I tell you, a city is not dead as long as the citizens are still in there. A city is based on inhabitants, not on houses."
Rango's gaze wandered to the town, which lay there sadly. What Jake said made sense to him.
Jake had twisted his long body into a wave again and sat down behind Rango. Then he bent his head down to the chameleon.
"Take a closer look," he whispered in Rango's ear. Rango felt Jake pressing his body against his back and pushing him towards the city.
"Just look closer carefully," Jake repeated.
Rango gave him another quick look, then went back into the town.
As soon as he was back on the street and past the big clock tower, he realized what Jake had meant. In silence, he watched as some of the townspeople moved some charred furniture out of the houses and onto the sidewalk. Miss Daisy had got herself a broken broom and was sweeping the sooty floor while Elgin drank listlessly from his water bottle. Only Buford was still standing in front of his saloon and gave the impression to be in a trance. They all looked affected and perplexed. Everything they had built, everything they had... none of that existed anymore. Now Rango realized that life in this city was far from extinct.
All the residents who were still there... these were the city, not the houses.
His gaze wandered up to the tower clock. The clockwork, which always decided the time periods in the city, gave the impression that it wanted to tell him: the time has not run out yet. I'm still here.
Rango sighed sadly. The hands on the clock plate were difficult to see because of all the soot. What time was it?
His gaze wandered forward to the entrance of the bell tower, the door of which hung charred on its hinges. With a jerk he went up to it and touched the door, which gave way immediately. Startled he backed away. In front of him was a room in the middle of which a long rope hung down. Probably for the bell.
Hesitantly, he entered the room and looked up at the rope that reached to the top of the tower.
Carefully, he touched the cord. Soot stuck on it. Thoughtfully he rubbed the soot between his fingers.
He turned when he heard Jake, who had also crawled to the tower. He looked at Rango meaningfully. But with a look which he couldn't define. It seemed to him that he could still read Jake's mind directly.
A town is only dead without its inhabitants.
And without a bell, Rango thought. The "heart" of the town had to beat again. Carefully, he pulled on the rope. He coughed when the falling soot irritated his lungs. Nevertheless, he continued. Only with difficulty, he managed to move the heavy bell in the partly sooty frame. Shortly afterwards, a quiet, pitiful bell rang out.
Jake's gaze shifted when he saw Beans coming.
Jake smiled. "I think your little friend needs some help."
Without saying anything, Beans went to Rango in the tower. At first Rango paused in surprise. But when Beans also grabbed the rope, he understood and together they pulled hard. Shortly afterwards the bell rang and played in a regular chime.
The townspeople raised their heads when they heard the sound of the bell. Their eyes wandered to the clock tower, which in the morning light was sad, but still seemed alive through the sound. Slowly they rose from their work and marched one by one to the tower.
Rango and Beans rang the bell for almost a minute. Then they let go of the rope.
The sound of the bell subsided until it finally stopped completely. When Rango left the tower again, a gathered crowd was waiting for him outside, looking at him expectantly.
First Rango didn't know what to say. Then he cleared his throat.
"Well, I know it looks worse than it is and I apologize for the inconvenience. I never wanted that to happen. I haven't lived here long, but I know how much the town means to you. And we've only lost when we give up. You heard that the town is not dead yet. It may be in ruins, but as long as we don't give up, there is still hope."
"How should we have hope?" Spoons asked. "Everything we had was taken from us."
"He's not so wrong," Buford said quietly, who was still mourning the loss of his saloon.
"Listen," Rango began again. "I told you in the past that as long as we have the water or as long as the sheriff's sign over the jail is still there, we still have hope. But hope does not depend on objects. Not even this tower clock only stands for hope. But the hope is that we are still alive. As long as we live, the town will be preserved."
With these words he leaned over to Spoons.
"Believe me. Our town is not lost yet. Not while we're still there."
But in Spoons's face lay sheer hopelessness. In disillusion, Rango straightened up again and looked at the other townspeople. Doubt was still written on their faces. Nothing seemed to motivate them. As if they had lost all courage to face life with the loss of their town.
"Are you serious or do you just wanna lie the people again?"
Everyone turned around. Jake had risen and was crawling over to Rango, albeit with difficulty. He stopped before Rango.
Rango looked at him questioningly. Jake had that twinkle in his eyes again. A sparkle that always scared him a little. It was a dangerous, serious look. Jake's pupils were slit and looked defiantly at Rango with his glowing eyes.
"Or what do you want to say with your words, little man?" Jake asked in a dark tone. "Do you wanna cast a spell over people like you did in the past with your story that you had shot the Jenkins Brothers?"
Rango swallowed. Was Jake just trying to make things worse?
The townspeople held their breath as Jake continued his monologue.
"Your lies that you were a killer were more than devious. To fool a poor town like that. All good citizens who would never have said anything about themselves. And you just wanted to be popular with the people here, didn't you? Now tell me that it was!"
Rango looked around hastily, but he didn't want to run away, instead he took a deep breath.
"Yes, okay, it's true..."
"So, and your lie about being related to me was more than mean. You don't joke with someone like me."
Rango lowered his gaze. "Yes, I'm sorry."
"So you admit it, do you?"
Rango was silent.
"Answer!"
"Yes!"
The rattlesnake circled the chameleon with a grim look. Then he stopped moving and stood facing Rango. Rango hardly dared to look him in the eyes. But Jake wasn't finished with his speech.
"Basically, you were just a liar and a coward," Jake continued. "And you dragged my honor into the mud. It was all just lies. The only thing you kept back then was your promise to bring back the water, to save these good citizens from death."
Rango looked up.
"And now you've even managed to defeat a whole gang of mongooses. Didn't you swear that?"
"I must have said something like that," Rango mumbled quietly and didn't know what promise Jake was getting at. Or was he talking about the promise to protect Jake?
"At least you managed to keep this one promise. And that was more than just a good performance."
The townspeople looked at Rango in surprise. That Jake praised someone for a good performance was completely new to everyone.
Jake smiled bitterly. "If someone like you can do something like that, then hopefully you will rebuild this town without lying, won't you?"
Rango lifted his head. "Uh... well..."
"I can also rely on you that you aren't lying to your town anymore," Jake asked emphatically.
"Uh... no."
"Speak louder, please," Jake said impatiently.
"No!" Rango shouted in a firm voice. "Definitely not this time! I would never lie. The town will be the same as it used to be. You can all believe me. After all, I'm the sheriff here and as a sheriff I have the big task of keeping a town in law and order."
"Really?" Jake asked in a hypocritical voice. "So you promise not to give up your town?"
"Yes, really!", Rango shouted. "And nobody, absolutely nobody can stop me. But for that I need your help. From all of you."
First it looked like the townspeople would refuse after all, until Priscilla stepped forward and hugged Rango. "Rango, you promised to bring the water back to us. And you did that. And you promised to always protect us. You always did. Do you really promise to help us?"
Rango looked at the child warmly. Then he put his hands around her. "Certainly. But that is only possible if we all help together. Even if we have to start from scratch. Everything starts with a single groundbreaking before a town is built. And if the city's founders have been already able to do that, then we will."
A murmur went through the crowd, but Rango knew their doubts had been overcome.
His gaze wandered over to Jake and smiled gratefully at him. He nodded with satisfaction. Although he was a little jealous of Rango because he now had all the attention, it wasn't important to him at the moment. He was just glad that Rango had understood what he wanted to say to him with his words.