Rango kept pulling me down the dusty street and to the gas can saloon. I hitched up my dress so I wouldn't trip over it. The dress was grey and black. It was sleeveless because of my wings. I also noticed I was wearing black boots like Beans's. I wondered if they were hers, and she let me borrow them.
A couple of the early risers watched as I was dragged down the street. A couple whispered to each other. I knew they were talking about me. Then Rango pulled me up the steps to the saloon and swung open the doors. We walked into the bar. The music that was playing in the room suddenly stopped, and the murmuring that was heard went dead silent, except for the strange scraping sound the fan was making overhead. Some boots shuffled, drinks were carefully set down. The place reeked of stale alcohol. I wrinkled my nose.
All eyes were on me and Rango. Rango smiled and waved, "Hello, everybody," he said. Everyone's face relaxed and said hello to Rango. Rango beamed, happy to get the attention. I was happy to not get the attention, but that was short. Everyone quieted down again and looked at me.
"Hey Rango, isn't that the bat who screamed at that coyote and killed it?" asked a desert mouse, who looked like an old miner. He had a long white matted beard and held a couple of spoons in his small, pale pink hand.
"Yep, you are correct, Spoons, this young girl is the one who took down that coyote single handedly, but she also couldn't have done it without the help of me," said Rango smiling triumphantly.
"How did ya do it?" asked a voice at the back of the bar. A couple heads turned. Standing right behind the bar, next to a toad, was a floppy eared, light grey jack rabbit. His matted dark grey hair was dirty and looked like it hadn't been washed for about a week. He wore a sleeveless dirty white shirt that didn't look white at all. He seemed to be around fourteen years old. He stared straight to me. I just shrugged.
The alcohol drinkers in the bar turned back and continued to stare at me. "I've never heard of a bat who could do that before," said a rodent in dirty coveralls. Everyone agreed. Instantly, the creatures in the bar started asking me questions.
"What's your name?"
"Where do you come from?"
"What are you?"
"Why were you being chased by a coyote?"
"Hold it! Hold it! Quiet you savages! Calm down!" yelled Rango. Everyone fell silent. "I brought her here to introduce herself to you guys, but, yer questions cannot be answered. She has no idea where she came from, or who she is. She was lost out in the desert, I'm guessing she came from the prairie dog people who live out in the canyons and own those bats," he said.
Bats? Canyons? Maybe that's where I came from… prairie dogs? I asked myself in my head. The people murmured to themselves. "You could be right, Rango," said a creepy looking black cat. Rango nodded. "I know I am, now, come my posse! We ride!" said Sheriff Rango excitedly.
Outside, Rango introduced me to his posse. There was eleven in all, including himself and Beans. He introduced me first to his deputy, Wounded Bird. Wounded Bird was a black crow, an Indian. He wore a poncho looking thing and a drooping top hat. He had a crutch supporting him because he was missing a leg. He nodded his head, not saying anything to me.
Then Rango introduced me to Mr. Furgus who was an old bird losing a lot of white feathers, he wore blue overalls and had rusty old keys hanging around his neck.
Then I was introduced to Waffles who was a desert lizard. He shook my good wing and smiled up at me. "Nice to meet you Miss Bat girl," he said in a raspy sounding voice. I smiled back.
Then I met Ambrose who was a small owl in a nice black coat and top hat. He bowed and smiled up at me. Then I met the bartender from the bar. His name was Buford. He wore a pale blue vest with a strange dash pattern over a white rolled up long sleeve shirt. He tipped his small, black bowler hat to me.
Then I met Elgin, the creepy looking black cat from the bar. He wore a long dirty coat and a worn out old cowboy hat. Sergeant Turley was an old bird who wore a soldier outfit. He had an arrow through his eye and out on the other side of his head. I already met Spoons, but I was still introduced to him anyway, and last, but not least, was the doctor. He was a drunk rabbit with one ear missing. He's mostly referred to as Doc and nothing else.
Just then, a young girl came up to Rango. "Rango! Where are you guys goin'? can I come too?" she asked hopefully. Rango crouched down to the little girl's level. She looked somewhat like a mouse. She wore a white shirt and a black skirt. A black wide brimmed hat sat on top of her head, and two small braids came down from behind her head.
"Sorry little sister, but I have an important job just for you instead," said Rango, "I want you to watch over the town for me, you'll be in charge while I'm gone, and if something goes wrong…well, lets just hope nothing goes wrong," said Rango as he stood up. The girl smiled, then her head turned to me. Her eyes widened. "Hey! You're that bat that took down that coyote!" she said, amazed. I smiled and nodded. She looked at me for a long time, smiling up at me. Then Rango cleared his throat and gently pushed the girl away from me. "Ok, that's enough, Priscilla. Now go run along, and take care of the town for me, ok?" he asked the girl, who's name was Priscilla. "Ok! Bye Mr. Rango, bye everyone!" she said.
When she was gone, the posse, Rango, and I got up on our roadrunners, ready to ride out. A couple of the men helped me get up on my roadrunner. I had to sit sideways because of my dress. It felt awkward. "And now, we ride!" said Rango excitedly. We rode our roadrunners out of the down and into the desert. I tried to keep from falling off the roadrunner. Rango was failing to do so. He fell off while the roadrunner was still running, but quickly got back on the saddle.
Just then Waffles rode his roadrunner up next to me. I turned to him. "Hey Waffles? Do you know where we are going?" I asked him. Waffles gave me a funny smile. "We're going to the canyons and see if you are from the Prairie Dog territory," he said. "How far is that?" I asked. "About a day away," said Wounded Bird, riding up on the other side of me. I haven't heard him speak until now.
I felt awkward being here. It didn't seem I was making friends amongst the posse that much. I wonder if they liked me, just like how they liked Rango. We kept riding. We would sometimes stop for breaks, then we would get back up on our roadrunners and ride again. We rode on for what seemed like days. The sun started to dip down low over the horizon.
The beautiful bright, blue sky changed to darker shades of blue. The golden sun dipped low over the mountains. We stopped for the night. A roaring fire was started up and we circled around the warm embers. I placed my sunglasses into the pocket of my dress. The posse and Rango talked about stories and told jokes. I stayed quiet. I didn't want to talk, I just liked listening in on the conversations.
They talked about the time when Rango first arrived in their town. They said that the town was slowly dying because of the shortage of water. Then everyone got out their own canteens filled with water and drank happily. They didn't want to go through that again. I could tell.
Waffles brought out a bag of marshmallows. Everyone instantly grabbed a stick and got a marshmallow. "Would you like a marshmallow, miss?" offered Waffles. I accepted one from him and found a stick. I stuck the delicious treat on the end of the stick and placed it over the fire with the rest of the marshmallows on their own sticks.