AN- hey, guys! I'm back! School is finally finished for me, so I hope to be able to update more frequently! This chapter will be mostly be The Riot. Hope you like it!
Hizer entered the warden's office, "are you ready, gentlemen?" the three men sitting around the table stood, leaving the warden sitting by himself. On the way out the door, Hizer gave them a warning, "you won't like what you see, too many prisoners, not enough space, and no money to do anything about it."
"Maybe we can do something about that," Ben Cartwright spoke up, pushing his way through the other men to stand beside the guard.
"I can give you two ideas, more guards, better pay. Listen up," they stopped right outside the entrance to the prison area. "You can speak to whoever you like, say anything you want to any prisoners, but, there are two rules: stay close to me at all times, and don't get within arm's length of any of the prisoners."
"Sounds more like caging animals than men." Ben said.
"That's close." Hizer said, bringing Ben to a halt, right in the doorway. He looked incredulously at the guard, before continuing onward. They stopped before a large barred door. "This is the lion cage, except our lions make their own claws. We do bed and body checks two or three times a week." Hizer stepped to the side and grabbed a small knife, to hand to Ben.
"We found this one this morning, but for every one we find, there's a dozen or more we don't."
Ben turned to the other two inspectors and gently tapped his finger on the tip of the knife, withdrawing it quickly, when he felt the sharp tip. He looked worried. The other men reached out to touch it too. Then they all regarded the lion pen with a bit more trepidation than before.
The Kitchens:
A prisoner shook his head at the inspection stew that Cooper was making, disgusted that they had to hide their real food. He then walked over to Griff, who handed him a platter of meat. Just then, Hizer, another guard, and the inspectors entered the small kitchen. The prisoners kept their heads down, ignoring the free men.
Hizer gestured toward Cartwright, "Man from the governor's office, to what he says, get a raise in your salary." The other guard laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Ben approached the closest table, he picked up a few vegetables in a basket, "Nice fresh vegetables," he said approvingly. He headed over to where Cooper was making the stew, sniffing the air. Griff hurriedly dried a spoon and handed it to the older man. "Thank you." He gave the con a once over, a bit surprised at his politeness, before turning back to the stew. He stirred it around, scooping up each vegetable. "Carrots, potatoes, beef," he sniffed it. "Smells good."
Griff spoke up, "Inspection Stew, that's what I call it." He said bitterly.
Ben furrowed his brow as he looked at the young prisoner.
"I've eaten the food many times, not fancy, but good." Another one of the inspectors, a balding, slightly small man spoke up.
"Try some Mr. Cartwright?" the cook offered.
"Thank you," Ben said, dipping the spoon into the warm stew.
"My names Cooper," the con continued, "You don't know me, but I seen you in Virginia City.
Ben nodded, not surprised, everybody knew him. "Mmm, you're a very good cook."
"Oughta be, I've had plenty of practice, six years, nineteen left to go. While Cooper conversed with the elder man, Griff slipped behind the guards and stuffed pieces of meat into the lock. He then quickly returned to his station. Ben let the other men try the stew, and walked over to Griff's table. As he was looking over the meat, Griff 'accidently' tipped a bag of rotten potatoes onto the ground.
Ben stooped to pick them up, and stopped short; he opened the bag wider, and looked concernedly at rotten food. Then he opened another bag, tipping the contents into a bowl. He picked it up, and showed it to the balding man, "Rotten potatoes, weevil in flour." He shook his head.
"Ben, there sure ain't nothing wrong with this stew," the other inspector, a short man with a black mustache gestured to the Inspection Stew.
"Waste probably, happens in every kitchen," the balding man seemed quick to cover up the awful food.
Hizer looked panicky, "garbage, we would've gotten rid of it, but the inspection got in the way. Now, would you like to see the rest of the place?" he was eager to get them out of the kitchen.
The men left through a side door and entered the lion cage. Griff and Cooper followed, wheeling a cart with meat and a bucket of water. Up ahead, Mr. Cartwright stopped at a man sitting on the ground, shirt off, displaying horrible whip marks.
"If you're wondering about those marks, they're not our work." Hizer spoke up. However, the man looked at Ben, and slowly shook his head. They moved on down the line, but Ben hurried over to the Hellbox.
"What's this?"
"A cell."
However, one of the prisoners yelled across the pen, "It's a Hellbox mister! 48 hours in there, and your DEAD!"
Hiser gestured with his stick, "Loudmouth, we gotta lot of those in here." Ben didn't look convinced though, and he took a look inside. His face was grave, when he emerged. They were all interrupted when a line of prisoners, held together with chains, walked into the Lion's Pen.
"Not enough guards, that's why we have to move the work gangs in and out one at a time. They all stumbled in, holding their chains. The men in the middle bunched together,
"When Cooper says go, get ready," one of the men on the chain whispered. Cooper was still handing out food. Meanwhile, Cartwright was bending over a sick man, arguing with Hizer about a doctor.
"It's a prison, doctor only comes twice a week, from what they tell me, that's all they can afford." Hizer told them.
"Well, we are going to change that."
"You're right about that." The balding man offered his support
"We've tried Ben, two or three times!" the man with the black mustached looked sympathetically at the man on the ground.
The chain gang was busy threading their chains through the loops, so that their hands would be free to hold their meal. Just as they finished, Cooper yelled, "NOW!"
The prisoners grabbed their chains, and used them to take guards out of commission. The inspectors were attacked next, tackled to the ground. Two guards outside the kitchen rushed in and looked through the door.
"Lock the door in the kitchen!" one yelled, just as he tried to do that, one of the guards was tackled by enraged prisoners. The other tried to shut the door, that connected an office to the kitchen, but the meat stuffed in the lock served its purpose. However, the guard escaped, and locked the door to the office, trapping everyone inside.
AN- thanks for reading! Please review, it motivates me to update faster!
Reviews:
jolana: Thank you for your support, I hope I will be able to update tomorrow!
AureaD: don't worry, it will! :D