- THE HERO IS HERE.
A few minutes and a quick cleaning later (luckily, he landed on mud), The ColoRed Chuck was sitting at the table with Blake, Stinky, Hoods, and Eugene, talking about the problem with the criminal, while Lila carried some drinks on her tray for them; lemonade for Blake and Hoods, root beer for Eugene, Yahoo for Stinky, and a fruits' smoothie for Chuck.
"Thanks, Miss Lila." Chuck thanked her for his drink, and took a sip while she retired, and then returned to the conversation. "So, basically, this Kill-A-Lot Kid comes here once in a while to take whatever he wants."
"Yes. And I can't do anything against him. I hardly can use a gun without hurting myself, or someone else." Eugene commented.
"And nobody had tried to stop him?" Chuck asked.
"Yes, and almost all of them are ten feet under ground, except my friend Harold. He is fifty feet under." Stinky told him.
"Why you buried him so deeply?" Chuck asked, confused.
"No, he is still alive, but since Kill-A-Lot threatened to finish him for trying to defend us, the only place he feels safe is in a colt mine." Stinky informed.
"Can you blame him? Remember what happened to Foutley!" Blake said, shaking his head.
"To whom?" Chuck asked, noticing the sad expression of his companions. Hoods sighed.
"Carl Foutley, my best friend. We co-own a little business, The Kid tried to rob it once, and Carl wasn't intimidated. Luckily he's still alive, but he needed almost one year of physical therapy just to walk again." Hoods commented.
"So, you see, ColoRed Chuck, we just can't fight this guy without help. He's way too dangerous." Eugene said, looking down.
"Okay, okay, don't panic in fall... I mean, fall in panic." Chuckie said, correcting himself at the last part. "Now, just remember the old and known proverb; There no such thing as numbers!" Chuckie said in his expert-like tone. Everyone at the table got confused looks. Chuckie realized his mistake, and tried to correct it.
"No, no, wait... oh, yes! Strength is on a weak enemy!" Chuckie said, but then realized he just said it wrong again, and shook his head.
"No, that's wrong... okay... the strength on a weak enemy... can't be so big because, otherwise, he wouldn't be weak... of course, he can be a she, because there are female enemies too... and there's no such thing as numbers to measure the strength of an enemy, because they wouldn't cooperate with the measurement, since they are your enemies... and to fight an enemy you need strength, so you go to a gym to work-out...Well, you got the idea." Chuckie finally gave up with his attempt of an explanation.
"Eh... I'm the only one that didn't understand that?" Hoods said, scratching his head. Chuckie sighed.
"Honestly, I didn't either. But, the point is that the whole town must cooperate to fight this or any other criminal, because, sure, I'll help you, but I can't stay here forever. I have another persons to help, criminals to catch, kittens to take down from trees, and a beautiful yet short-fused girlfriend that will kill me if I don't buy her an anniversary present next week. Okay, so, you guys are with me?" Chuckie asked. The guys at the table started whistling innocently while becoming very interested in the ceiling. Chuck sighed, and directed to the rest of the people at the saloon.
"And the rest of you? There's any volunteer to help me catch Kill-A-Lot Kid?" Chuck asked loudly.
Chocolate Boy played a "dramatic pause" kind of tune. Everybody looked down, with ashamed expressions. Chuck then noticed Lila, the only person half-raising her hand.. Chuck smiled, and directed to the other guys as well.
"You notice that? The only one here who is brave enough to defend her rights is that girl. Shame on you. Thanks for the support, Miss Lila." Chuck directed to Lila at the last part. She made a double take.
"Uh... thanks, ColoRed Chuck... but why you say that?" Lila asked innocently.
"For, you know, raising the hand to volunteer." Chuck replied, raising his left hand just like her. Lila got a confused expression, then looked at her hand, and gasped. She got a serious expression, placed her hands on her hips, and directed to the people at the saloon.
"Okay, nobody exits the saloon until certain prankster returns me my tray!" Lila said in a upset tone. Chuck slapped his forehead.
"You take advantage of my nobleness." Chuck said to himself while sitting back at the table. Blake sighed, and directed to him.
"Sorry, ColoRed, but, as we said before, we are just too afraid to fight Kill-A-Lot. He is very dangerous, and mean, and aggressive..." Blake was cut by Chuck.
"Yeah, right. As the old and known proverb says; Since there are excuses, working is hard." Chuck said in an upset tone. He shook his head, realizing his mistake.
"No, wait... Asking is easy, there are no fools." Chuckie corrected himself. He slapped his forehead again.
"No, that's wrong again... okay, since there are no fools, it's easy to ask, because everyone will understand... and if someone has to excuse himself, he'll need to work hard later to compensate his time out... but if this guy is no fool, there's no need to excuse because he'll have a valid reason... Well, you got the idea." Chuck sighed in frustration. Everyone at the table looked at him, dumbfounded.
"Look, instead of talking about that, let's focus on catching the criminal. Do you guys know if he had ever been captured before?" Chuck said, returning to the main problem.
"Yes, one of the previous sheriffs could catch him... but The Kid escaped jail that same night, and eliminated the sheriff while he was sleeping." Stinky informed him. Chuck got a thoughtful expression, and directed to Eugene.
"And you know how he escaped? Because we can't catch him knowing he'll easily escape later and have revenge on us." Chuck told the sheriff. Eugene rubbed his chin.
"Now that you mention it, no, I have no idea about how he escaped. He was caught like three or four sheriffs ago, way before I moved here from Hillwood, because of health's problems." Eugene informed the hero.
"Oh, because the country's air is better for your lungs." Chuckie guessed. Eugene shook his head.
"No, because there are less cars, tall buildings, angry pitbulls, and open sewers here. I am a little prone to accidents." Eugene said, and, without noticing, hit his glass, pouring all the remaining liquid on his pants. When he leaned to check the damage on his clothes, he hit the table with his forehead by accident.
"I'm okay." Eugene said, rubbing his forehead in pain. Chuck sighed.
"Want to form a group? Anyway, let's go and check your jail. Maybe we can find out how he escaped." Chuckie proposed while finishing his drink. Eugene nodded, and then they left the building. Chuckie started rubbing his temples the moment he excited the saloon.
"You have a migraine or something?" Eugene asked him. Chuck nodded, and started adjusting his antennae.
"Yes. This antennae on my hood help me sense when an enemy is approaching, but, since everyone is so scared about this criminal, the "fear waves" are doing interference with the "warning" ones. I'll need to turn off my enemies' detector for a while until my head feels better." Chuck informed the sheriff.
A couple of minutes later, they entered the town's jail, who also was Eugene's home.. It was the classical western jail, with a large cell behind the sheriff's desk. Inside the cell, there was a bed (nailed to the floor) right under a window with steel bars on it, and the basic hygienic services, and a large sign hanging on the top of one wall, reading "Jail, Sweet Jail", but nothing more. However, The ColoRed Chuck noticed that the ceiling was way higher than the average building, and commented that to Eugene.
"Well, we had a little earthquake a couple of years ago. There was little damage, but the floor of some buildings sank a little. I wasn't the sheriff back there." Eugene informed Chuck. The earthquake's detail was an important one, since maybe it weakened the walls, allowing The Kid to make his own exit.
Chuck started checking the building, but found nothing. The walls and the floor seemed to be quite solid. However, when he was about to exit the cell, he gave another look to the sign.
"Eugene, that sign, who put it on?" Chuck asked.
"It had been here since the jail was built. It wasn't easy to read for a while, because the previous sheriffs hardly cleaned the sign, but I had tried to keep this place in a neat condition." Eugene told him. Chuck rubbed his chin.
"And you had checked behind the sign?" Chuck asked. Eugene got a confused expression.
"Well, no, I hadn't. Now that you mention it, I guess I should. After all, there most be some dust behind it." Eugene admitted. Chuck snapped his fingers.
"Or something else! Maybe there's a hole behind the sign, or a tool or key that The Kid can use to escape. Now, the only mystery is how he could reach the sign, because I don't think he is tall enough to reach it on his own, and the bed is on the contrary wall, so he couldn't had used it to reach the sign." Chuck said, looking at the sign.
"Well, maybe he used the ladder." Eugene commented. Chuck raised an eyebrow.
"What ladder?" Chuck asked, confused. Eugene climbed on the bed, and grabbed the window's frame.
"This one I use to reach the sign and clean it." Eugene said while pulling the bars. A moment later, he retired the barred frame, and then carried it next to the other wall, with a little effort, and leaned the bars on it. Then, he used the bars as a ladder, and reached the sign, looking behind it.
"No. There's nothing behind here." Eugene said, and turned to see a shocked ColoRed Chuck. When the sheriff was about to ask him why he looked that way, the hero pointed at the window, who was bar-less now. Eugene got an ashamed look.
"Okay, now I don't wonder about why The Kill-A-Lot Kid can control this town so easily... but why he is the only one." Chuck said, rolling his eyes.