Mostly, I would just say that this chapter is just for introducing my characters I made up. Please comment or ask any questions :) In this chapter we finally meet Bad Bill and his gang. yay! enjoy :)
We all mounted our roadrunners and rode back toward home. Rango talked to Beans in the front. I was trying to ride in the back, but the posse wanted me to ride with them. I sighed and came up next to them. They talked to me and asked me random questions. I tried to keep up with all of it but couldn't seem to. The posse liked me, I was happy for that, but now, I just wanted to be left alone.
The dirt taste was still in my mouth. I carefully reached down and grabbed my canteen. I took a mouthful of water, and swished it around. I spat the water out over to my left side.
We kept riding on and arrived back into town when the sun was sinking low over the mountains. Then the sun was completely swallowed up and the clouds turned from amber to plum. Darkness engulfed the sky. I took my sunglasses off. We all slowed our roadrunners and carefully strolled into the town. I saw the sign we passed by earlier. The town's name was Dirt.
Priscilla greeted us at the entrance. She remembered that she forgot to ask my name before I left. "Banshee," I told her smiling. We tied the reins of the roadrunners to the posts and headed into the saloon for a drink. "Drinks are on me," said Rango cheerfully, everyone cheered and all shuffled into the saloon. I was the last heading in.
We all sat down at the bar stools and ordered a drink. I ordered a glass of water since there was nothing I liked on the menu. The fourteen year old grey rabbit handed me my drink with his right arm, while his left rested on the countertop. I looked down at his left arm. My eyes widened. his left arm was gone, in its place was a foot long metal rod with a corkscrew at the end. They were both tied together by some string. He noticed me staring at his corkscrew arm. I averted my eyes away. He didn't seem upset and looked up at me.
"I lost my arm when I was little," he said with a small, sad smile. "A couple of gunslingers tried to hurt me and my family. One of the gunslingers tried to shoot me," The grey rabbit's mouth turned upward into a small smile. "But, instead, it ricochetedfrom my arm and hit one of the gunslingers. That's how I got my name," he said pointing to himself and straightening up proudly.
I looked at him. "Ricochet?" I asked. The rabbit boy smiled and nodded. I stared at him for a minute, then back to his corkscrew arm. Unfortunately, his arm had to be amputated off, from the lack of blood, ripped tissues, and bone fractures, I thought.I didn't really believe his story of how he lost his arm, but I decided not to say anything.
Ricochet told me when Buford had to go on a mission with Rango and the others, he was left in charge of the saloon. He used the corkscrew to uncork the bottles and served drinks to the customers. Everyone in the bar really liked him.
Just then, a couple of men came in through the saloon doors. "Two glasses of cactus juice, Ricochet," answered one of the customers. "Comin' right up sirs," said Ricochet smiling and got out a spiked green bottle of cactus juice. He uncorked the bottle with his corkscrew arm and poured two glasses.
The men sat at the end of the bar. When Ricochet was done pouring he pushed the two glasses to them. The glasses slid down the counter to the end where the men sat. They caught the sliding glasses and smiled.
"Thanks Ricochet," said one of the men, raising his glass to the one armed rabbit. Ricochet smiled, then turned his head to me. Of course, I watched him prepare the glasses like a pro, and was pretty impressed.
"Not bad, how long did that take you to do that?" I asked him, then looked at his corkscrew arm. Ricochet shrugged, "I dunno, a couple of weeks, it's not that hard," he answered and continued wiping down the counter. I nodded, then looked down at my glass of water.
Suddenly, everyone went quiet when gunshots were heard outside. Instantly, a gang of gunslingers came through the swinging doors. They had their guns raised high and were laughing as they came in. The gunslinger in front, I'm guessing was the leader, was a Gila Monster. He wore a dark brown hat, a dirty white shirt, and worn jeans held up by suspenders.
Next came a strange looking rodent. He wore a sombrero on his head and wore a belt with two gun holsters at his sides. Across his chest were two ammo holders, crossing each other like an X. A serape was wrapped around him. On his feet, he wore black cowboy boots.
After him came in two jackrabbits. Both of their ears drooped. One was short and stumpy looking, and wore a big white hat, and a sleeveless shirt. A dirty, yellow bandana was knotted at his neck. He wore two belts with holsters on each side at his waist.
The other was a little taller. He was the only one who didn't wear a hat. My eyes kept going back to the taller rabbit. I stared at him. His shoulders hunched forward, with a hump instead of a normal back. A hunchback. He wore an orange coverall under a dark blue long sleeve shirt. Chunks of light brown colored fur sprouted from the holes in his shirt and orange coverall. He wore black baggy pants held up by suspenders and a belt around his waist. His matted, stringy, dirty, blond hair fell over his wild, wide eyes, where pinkish, violet bags hung under them.
When they stopped laughing and shooting, their heads turned. They stared at me. I froze. The Gila Monster narrowed his eyes, but his mouth curved upward into a sly smile. "Well, well, well, what do we 'ave 'ere?" he asked. The rodent and two rabbits bared their teeth and snarled. My ears went back in fear. The gang approached me with mischief and anger in their eyes. The Gila Monster stopped in front of me. My dress touched his huge stomach. He loomed over me and leaned his ugly face close to mine.
"There's a newbie in the bar boys," said the Gila monster. The gang snickered mischievously. Rango cleared his throat and got in between me and the gunslingers. "Bill, I don't want you or your gang causing any trouble, I'm warnin' you this once. Don't harass Banshee here… and at least give some personal space, please." said Rango, putting his hands up in front of his chest.
The Gila Monster, now named, Bill, glared down at Rango. "Banshee? What the hell kind of a name is that?" asked Bill, as he pushed Rango out of the way and glared down at me again. I shrunk down lower in my seat. A voice spoke up. "I-it's a female spirit!" said Waffles in the back. The members of Bill's gang looked at me nervously and took a step back. Bill was still in my space. Ricochet spoke up from behind me nervously. "S-she's not technically a s-spirit, she just has the wail like a B-Banshee," the boy explained. "Can send an object clear across the horizon," said someone in the back, I'm guessing was Spoons
"Is that so?" said Bill, sounding a little bit more interested. I didn't say anything as I stared wide eyed up at them in horror. The gunslingers grinned. They enjoyed seeing fear in people's eyes. After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, the men licked their lips thirstily, remembering why they were at the saloon in the first place. The gang shoved some of the people off the stools to sit at the bar next to me, completely ignoring everyone. The hunchback rabbit sat next to me on my left when I turned myself back around to face the bar. I turned my head to him.
Ricochet served the gunslingers their drinks, he averted his eyes from them. The hunchback jackrabbit grabbed the glass and licked his lips greedily. His dirty pink nose twitched a bit. Then his wild, wide eyes flickered to the side. He turned his head to me. He noticed me looking at him and glared angrily at me.
"Vhat are you gawkin' at?" he snapped. He had a German accent. I quickly looked away, but then turned my head back to him. Ricochet poured more alcohol into their drained glasses. It was dead silent in the saloon as the outlaws drank.
The stumpy looking rabbit tapped the taller rabbit's shoulder, making the taller rabbit turn his head to him. The stumpy rabbit pointed at me. The taller rabbit turned his head back to me, noticing I was still staring at him. The taller jackrabbit growled angrily. At lightning speed, he quickly stood up, causing his stool to fall over.
"You've got a problem vith me?" he snapped angrily. All the citizens in the bar jumped at his shout. I trembled in fear. "N-no-" I said. The hunchback jackrabbit snarled "I zink you do!" he yelled. His right hand shot forward, gripping my neck tightly and pulling me closer to him. His left held a gun. Everyone in the bar gasped.
The taller rabbit pointed the barrel right next to my head. He snickered. His mouth turned up into a wide grin. His eyes were filled with insanity. Bill and the other two gunslingers didn't even bother turning around. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I struggled in his grasp.
Instantly, everyone in the bar whipped out their guns and aimed them at the jackrabbit. Bill, the stumpy rabbit and the shrew's ears perked up. They swivelled around in their seats. Their eyes widened. Twenty-five against four, not a good idea. The gang slowly raised their arms and moved their way out. They cautiously walked backwards to the saloon doors. Before we knew it, they bolted. The rusty hinges on the saloon doors squeaked and moaned.
The hunchback jackrabbit still stood in the middle of the saloon. His furry hand gripped my neck tightly. I struggled in his grasp, kicking helplessly, my lungs screamed for air. He snarled. His eyes shifted to all the guns that were aimed at him. Suddenly, when his head was turned, someone smacked him upside the head with a wooden chair.
The jackrabbit screamed in pain. His fingers loosened around my neck and I collapsed to the floor. The rabbit held his head, but wasn't able to hold himself up much longer. He swayed a bit before collapsing right next to me. I jolted and quickly got up. He was knocked out cold. I could hear everyone breathing heavily in the room. We all stared down at the unconscious jackrabbit, sprawled on the floor.
Rango, Elgin, and Sergeant Turley, helped up the unconscious jackrabbit and carefully dragged his body out of the saloon, down the street, and to the jail. Everyone started talking again and went back to drinking. I didn't move as I watched the unconscious hunchback jackrabbit till he was out from my sight.
The next morning…
I woke up feeling sore. I rubbed my eyes with one wing and grabbed my sunglasses off the counter with the other. I was back in the same room that I woke up in before. The morning light came in. I found my clothes I wore when I entered this town folded up at the edge of my bed. I slipped into them, careful to not hit my bandaged wing. When I was done, I walked into the bathroom. A huge, oval mirror sat on the wall above the sink.
I took a good look at myself. My hair was dark brown. A pair of light brown bat ears peaked out from the top. The fur on my face and body was a very light, pale brown. My nose slightly came up like a snout and flattened against my face and my eyes were yellow with a thin black slit in both. They looked almost like cat eyes…very demon like. Surprisingly, I didn't recognize myself. I stood there for a minute, looking at the strange, freakish looking bat in the mirror. I shook my head. I decided to not dwell on how I looked, and washed my face with cold water in the sink.
When I was ready, I went downstairs. The creatures who let me stay for free in the one room, was a family of rodents. Four in all. The mother of the family, Mrs. Rodent, greeted me. She held a young six month old in her arms. It was a girl, named Petunia.
"Good Morning, Banshee," said Mrs. Rodent. "Morning," I said with a smile. "Babbi!" said Petunia happily and reached for my ears as I walked by. "Babbi!" she said again, this time she succeeded and pulled my furry pale brown ear. I yelped and stopped in my tracks. "Oh dear, no Petunia, let go of Banshee's ear," she said, trying to pry the strong baby's paws from my ear.
"Babbi! Babbi!" said Petunia happily and started to tug on my hair. I couldn't really understand baby, but I was sure she sort of knew my name, but since she couldn't say my name, she just said Babbi. Finally, Petunia let go of my ear and hair. She fell asleep in her mother's arms. I rubbed the top of my head and the tips of my ears. Then I continued to the table where the father, Mr. Rodent, and the oldest son, Stub sat. Stub was twelve years old. He wore a small dirty pair of overalls. His hair was matted and dark colored. His fur was a dark shade of brown, just like everyone else in his family.
I sat down next to him. Mrs. Rodent served me scrambled roadrunner eggs and beans. A glass of water stood next to the plate of food. I salted the eggs and took a forkful in my mouth. The food wasn't that bad. When I was done eating, I drained my glass. I thanked them for the warm meal, and headed outside.
"Mornin' Banshee," said a townsperson as I stepped out onto the main street of the town. I smiled and said good morning back. As I walked along, more of the townspeople who passed by me said good morning. I was in a good mood today. Everyone in the town now knew who I was, even though I didn't know who I reallywas, but the town was really nice and helped me start over.
I spotted Priscilla bounding along to the sheriff's office, and quickly jogged over to her. "Hey Priscilla," I said. Priscilla's eyes widened with excitement when she saw me. "Mornin' Banshee! What are you doin' here? You comin' to see the sheriff as well?" she asked.
"Yeah, I guess, but I was also wondering, since, you've been here longer then the sheriff right? You know what I mean?" I asked her. She nodded, "What do you want to know?" she asked, smiling. I looked around, then looked back at her. "I was wondering if you could tell me about Bad Bill and his gang," I said. Priscilla's smile faded. "Oh, those jerks? There's not much to tell. They're just a couple of low life criminals who come into town to hurt people and drink," she said.
"What are their names?" I asked her. Priscilla placed one of her hands under her chin and thought for a minute. "The leader's name is Bad Bill, the rodent with the sombrero is Chorizo, the rabbit with the white hat is Stump, and the hunchback rabbit's name you insulted last night is Kinski," she said. I narrowed my eyes.
"I didn't insult him! I was just looking at him, he just got all upset for some reason…and how do you know?" I asked. Priscilla adjusted the black hat on her head. "I was watching the whole time from my room," she said and pointed at her house, which was ironically across from the saloon. "Oh," I said, looking up at her house.
Priscilla lowered her hand and turned to me. "You're lucky he didn't kill you, he's more psychotic then the others," said the ten year old little girl.
Just then, Sheriff Rango came out of his office. "Good mornin' girls, what are you up to today,?" he asked us, smiling. Before either of us could answer, we heard a loud roar from inside his office/ the jail. I jumped from the loud roar. It was Kinski. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was thrashing around wildly inside his cell. I flinched in fear as I heard the sounds of screaming and banging against the iron bars. Priscilla turned back to Rango and started asking him something. I took one last look at the jail and walked off. Priscilla's words kept repeating in my head:
"You're lucky he didn't kill you, he's more psychotic then the others,"
As I walked further away from the jail, I could still hear Kinski's cursing and screaming. Psychotic. The thought made my stomach turn and feel sick. I decided to push the thought away as walked into the saloon.