RANGO // OӘͶAЯ - Another Outlaw Story [Engl.]

7. All Snakes Are Cowards!

Jake winced when the big shadow was stumbling through the door and crashed on the wooden floor of the saloon. His gun rattled nervously. He had often seen such kind of lizards. It was a Gila monster. Panting and exhausted, it lay on the floor. He wore a black suit and a black bowler hat.
"Stay here, you fat coward!" a voice yelled from outside.
Jake looked to the city people. It wondered him why no one gave him a help to stand up. Instead, the big lizard had to regain his feet alone and ran to the counter.
But before he could hide behind it, the door opened and three men came in.
"Don't move, Bill, or you will have a bullet in your brain!"
The lizard Bill stood like frozen when they aimed their guns at him.
Jake narrowed his eyes. The three men were three rodents. With big yellow front teeth. One of them was small, but seemed to be the same age as his companions. The second one was slim, but large. The third one, who had spoken, was plumper and a little smaller than the lizard but more dangerous with his revolver. All three wore dirty, perforated, black-gray jeans, white brown shirts with black vests. On their heads everyone had a black hat.
Angrily they held their guns and the one who stood first seemed to be the spokesman of them. He looked angrier than the others.
The Gila monster leaned with trembling hands against the counter table and pressed his back on it.
"I did nothing," the lizard panted out words.
"Don't talk bullshit!" the bigger rodent growled. "My brothers saw how you pried about in near the pipelines. On our land!"
He loosened the trigger. "I don't like creatures who are too noisy. But maybe I have to do something that you forget it completely."
He gave his two companions a sign and they walked next to the lizard on the left and to the right side. Bill paled. Both grabbed one arm of the lizard.
The rodent looked around.
"Anyone else?!" he shouted.
The city people avoided his glance and ignored him.
The rodent grinned. "Let's go out."
Suddenly a ball flew through the doors and hit the rodent's nose.
"OUUCH!"
With pain filled face, he covered his face. The ball rolled over the floor.
"GOAL!" A child voice cried.
Little footsteps came closer. A little shadow jumped through the door. It froze when it saw the big rodent.
Meanwhile, the rodent had recovered and picked the ball up.
"Give it back!" Stanley grouched and reached for his toy.
"I will give it back to you," the rodent growled.
With a quick movement, he grabbed the rabbit boy's suspenders and lifted him up.
"HEY!" Stanley protested and hit with his little fists around.
"This brat needs a disciplinary measure!"
With that the big rodent walked with the boy to the counter and smashed him on the table on the belly. He fetched a roadrunner whip from his boot. The lash hit the boy hard.
The boy cried in pain. Jake, who still sat in a dark corner looked around. But nobody dared to move or to say a word. Suddenly clicking sounds were hearable.
"You stay there, Bill!" the rodent warned. His two brothers had aimed their guns at Bill's nose who was going to make a step forward.
"Anyone else?!"
There was no reply in the room.
The second whiplash followed, with loud sobbing.
"Let him go."
The rodent knocked over a bottle furiously. "Who said that?!"
He looked around. All people shoved themselves into the room corners, with exception of a big shadow. Now they recognized the big rattlesnake in a dark corner.
Usually, anyone would be afraid, but the rodent seemed to be unimpressed of that big reptile.
"I thought snakes were forbidden in that dump."
The rattlesnake didn't reply to his words.
"Let him go!"
The rodent added his pressure on the boy's body.
"You are very brazen," the rodent laughed. "This could be very unhealthy for you."
"What's going on here?"
Another shadow walked through the doors and swayed his rifle around.
"Shut your trap, sheriff. That's just something between us and this."
He pointed at Jake.
Amos narrowed his eyes angrily. "Didn't I said, you shouldn't make troubles?"
The snake sighed. "Indeed, you did. I don't want to make troubles."
The rodent laughed. "Did you hear that, boys? A no-troublemaker snake. How crazy is that?"
Amos wasn't very happy about the presence of these bullies.
"Take your hypocritical relatives with you, Joey, and disappear!"
Joey raised his finger warningly. "That's Mr. Joseph Jenkins for you!"
Amos snorted and spat into a corner.
"I say goodbye."
He pointed with a warning wave at Stanley, who still lay with the belly on the counter with wet eyes.
Joey growled, but he opened his hand. Stanley jumped down, but suddenly he turned around and kicked the rodent heavily against his knee.
"OUUUCCCH!" Joey howled with pain. "You sonofabitch!"
"Guard your tongue," Amos hissed. He grabbed Stanley's ears and pushed him to the door.
"Hey, my ball!"
But Amos pushed him away again and the rabbit child fell down the stairs.
"That's no playground!" Amos growled. "And you, pack off!"
Joey grunted. "Alright, we will go. But first we have to make something clear with that slithery thing."
Amos shrugged his shoulders. "As you wish, that doesn't concern me."
With that he put his rifle on his back and left the saloon.
"Since when are dirty snakes welcome in our clean town?" Joey mocked.
Jake avoided his glance and put his bottle on the table.
"What do you want to do?" Joey continued. "Are you going to bite me? Want you?"
For a moment, Jake wanted to speak something, but then he emptied the whole bottle and slithered to the exit.
But Joey didn't like that someone ignored him.
"Yes, let's go outside where we can talk calmly."
"I don't wanna make troubles."
"You're not scared, aren't you? I think that's fair. Three against an armed big snake."
"My gun was damaged."
"Lame excuse."
Jake didn't reply and pushed through the doors outside to the road.
"You are a coward!" Joey shouted and followed him to the sidewalk.
"Snaky shaky. Snakes are always cowards!"
Jake didn't stop and slithered over the dusty road. But it hurt him more than someone could imagine. He hated words like this.
He took a very, very deep breath to calm down himself.
"All snakes are cowards!" the rodent's words cried behind him.
"Coward, coward, coward, coward, coward, coward, coward, coward."
His lips trembled. The damn word echoed through his mind.
"All snakes are cowards!"
Joey's brothers laughed and shouted over the street: "Coward, coward, coward, coward, coward, coward, coward, coward."
Jake lowered his head more down.
Don't listen! Don't listen! Don't listen!
"Coward, coward, coward, coward, coward, coward, cow..."
The voices fell silent.
Jake hesitated. He felt running footsteps.
He turned around. But all what he saw was just a dust cloud of the running away rodents.
Suddenly windows were closed. Some people ran into houses and slammed the door behind themselves.
"What..."
Jake stood alone on the road now.
It became quiet. Very disturbing quiet.
Suddenly he felt a soft gust behind himself. He grew stiff. He felt eyes who stared at his back.
Slowly he turned around.
Their eyes meet, one with fear and the others with revenge and hunger.