Priscilla's Point of view (POV)...
"Well, I'm off. Go run along and play, Priscilla," said Rango after their conversation. Priscilla said goodbye to Rango as he headed off down the street. She watched him till he was gone. She smiled mischievously. She was up to something today. She had been planning it since yesterday. Priscilla turned her head out toward the open desert. She was going to go off and explore the abandoned mines.
Priscilla looked around. There was barely anyone up at the time, so it was perfect. It was her favorite place to hangout. She never went down into the mines since the mines were off limits to everyone in the town, (because of all the horrible accidents that happened there in the past) She was good, and knew better, but the abandoned mines called to her, and today was the day to explore them.
Priscilla ran back to her house to grab some supplies: a couple of matches, a lantern, and a canteen of water. She slowly opened the door and carefully peaked out. Priscilla's nose twitched, her tail swished. Then she quickly ran out of the house.
She didn't look back to see if anyone noticed her. She was on a mission. Those abandoned mines are itchin' to be explored, she thought to herself. The mines were a half a mile away from the town down in a small narrow canyon. Priscilla didn't have any friends, but she didn't care. She had the mines all to herself.
Priscilla arrived at the canyon -like mines. There was three different ways to get down to where the mines entrance was. One was an old ladder, the other was a rusty elevator, and the last was a pathway that slowly snaked down to the bottom.
Priscilla never trusted the ladder or the old elevator. She knew that the ropes and wood have rotted away over the years and were ready for someone dumb enough to use them and then fall to their deaths. The canyon was a good thirty to forty feet down. Priscilla walked over to the pathway and casually walked down the lazy twisting path. Thick, long wooden beams crisscrossed and supported each other to keep the canyon up and to not all of the sudden break down and cave in.
The sun was now almost in the middle of the sky. The hot rays hit inside the canyon, lighting the inside to make the sandy walls glow a reddish orange color.
Priscilla wasn't sure what she would find down in the mines. She was hoping to find something cool like dynamite, or if she was lucky, some valuable minerals, or gold! The thought of finding gold made her walk a little faster down the trail. Pricilla walked up to the entrance of the mines. It was boarded up by a couple of wooden boards. One of them had red paint with the words: Keep Out!
Priscilla ignored the sign and started to pry the boards away from the mouth of the tunnel. When she was done. She took a quick look down it. Inside was pitch black. A cold wind blew. Priscilla shivered. Then she took out her batch of matches, took out one, and struck it. She lit the lantern and held it up by the thin, metal handle.
The lantern let off a warm glow and lit five feet of the inside of the tunnel. Priscilla looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was behind her and was going to stop her from going into the mines. Seeing that there wasn't, she took a deep breath and entered the mines.
She breathed steadily. The inside of the mines smelled of sand and dirt. The ground had a mine cart rail road track heading down into the darkness. Inside was a little harder to breathe. The cold wind blew into Priscilla's face. Her skirt rustled a bit. Her huge eyes looked along the curving walls of the tunnel. Beams supported the tunnel. Above were burnt out hanging lanterns. She kept walking till the one tunnel split into two different directions. One of the tunnels was blowing the cold wind. The other wasn't.
She decided to go on to the tunnel that was blowing the cold wind. It calmed her. She went down the chosen tunnel. It bended slightly to the right. The tunnel stretched on till it hit an opening. A huge blast of cold air hit her and then settled down. Priscilla blinked a couple of times and then focused.
The opening was the core of the tunnels. Light came in through the small holes in the ceiling. She was one story above looking out to the other tunnels that also had mine cart railroad tracks. Below, on the bottom was where the storage mining supplies were. Mining carts were scattered everywhere. Some filled with rocks and dirt. Others were empty. Boxes of dynamite were next to some shovels. Priscilla smiled happily. She was going to find a lot of fun things down here.
She was just about to head down when all of the sudden, she heard voices. The one tunnel at the bottom started to glow. Someone was coming! Priscilla quickly snuffed out her light and hid in the shadows.
"I hate this place, can't we hangout somewhere else?" asked a voice. "No! this place is perfect! It's abandoned, it's quiet, and that stupid sheriff ain't around!" yelled a different voice. Priscilla gasped. She recognized the voices instantly. It was Bill and his gang, but how did they get here? They must have known a different way into the mines.
Bill, Stump, and Chorizo appeared. Priscilla looked down at them, but was careful to not be seen. "So, boss, what was it that you wanted to tell us?" asked Chorizo, looking around at the tunnels. Priscilla froze, hoping he didn't see her as he scanned the huge room.
"Why are you bringing us in this room anyway?" asked Stump, looking up at Bill. Bill growled. "Can't you two just shut it and listen!" he shouted. His voice echoed, making parts of the ceiling crumble and fall. Chorizo and Stump jumped out of the way when a huge chunk crashed in front of them. They closed their mouths and looked up at Bill. Bill grunted and continued. "
I have a plan," he said, "A plan that I have been working on for months." Bill started walking over to a door in the wall next to him. "I have brought you two here, so you know what the plan is; behind this door, is what is going to help us take over Dirt," finished Bill smiling slyly. Bill opened the door. Inside, from floor to ceiling, were hundreds and hundreds of crates.
The gang gasped. Priscilla gasped. Priscilla's gasp was a little louder then the gang's, causing it to echo. Priscilla quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. Oh no! what have I done? She screamed in her head. Bill and the gang heard the echoes and looked around the huge room.
Chorizo growled and sniffed the air. His mustard colored eyes darted around the room. It was quiet for a minute. Priscilla held her breath. Finally, Chorizo stopped looking around. He gripped the lantern tightly in his hands as he slowly walked over to the tunnel on the other side of the room and disappeared through it. Bill and Stump watched him go through the tunnel till he was gone. They looked at each other and shrugged.
Priscilla's heart pounded fast. I have to get out of here! she said in her head. Panicking. She slowly got up and cautiously walked backwards. Watching Bill and Stump, to make sure they wouldn't see her. Then she turned around and started running blindly through the tunnel, not bothering to light her lamplight.
Suddenly she bumped into something, causing her to fall backwards onto the hard ground and tracks. She shook her head and looked up into the darkness. A lantern lit up. Chorizo's face appeared in the light. Priscilla gasped. Chorizo smiled evilly.
"Well, well, well, look what I found," he said, revealing a mouth full of rotten, yellow teeth. Then he grabbed Priscilla by the arm and dragged her back down where he came. "Let go of me! Let go!" Priscilla snapped. She struggled, but Chorizo's grip was too strong. His hand gripped her arm tighter.
Chorizo shoved Priscilla in front of him. She fell to the ground. Bill and Stump looked down at Priscilla and then looked up at the shrew. "Found senorita Prissy here in one of the tunnels, possibly spyin' on us," said Chorizo, pointing at Priscilla. Priscilla slowly got up and brushed the dirt off her skirt.
Then she looked up nervously at the three outlaws. "What do you say we do to her, boss?" asked Chorizo smiling evilly, one of his eyes twitching. Stump grabbed her arm and shoved a gun into her face. Priscilla's eyes widened and froze in fear. Stump grinned, "I say we see how much she heard about our forming plan and decide whether to let her go, or keep her hostage," he said laughing softly.
"P-please, I d-don't know anythin' ab-bout your guy's p-plan," Priscilla whimpered. Tears brimming in her eyes. Chorizo and Stump looked up at Bill. Bill waved his hand. Stump snarled, but let go of Priscilla's arm. Priscilla scurried off, as fast as her little legs could carry her.
The gang watched the little girl till she was out of sight. "Did you believe her, boss? About not knowing about our plan?" asked Chorizo. Bill shook his head. "No, but she's the least of our worries," said Bill. Stump narrowed his eyes up to Bill. "And what about Kinski?" he asked. Bill waved his words away. "We'll break him out of the jail later, but for now, lets just worry about the plan I have in store for that stupid sheriff and Dirt," growled Bill angrily.
"Rango! Sheriff Rango!" yelled Priscilla as she came running into town and down the street. Rango heard his name and quickly ran outside to see what all the commotion was about. I came out from the saloon and watched the two.
"Priscilla! What's wrong?" he asked and ran to her. Priscilla saw him and ran up to him. "Bad Bill! His gang! Plan!" she huffed out. Breathing fast. "Ok, ok, calm down," He told her. She did. Her high breaths slowly came down to short calm breaths. "Bad Bill and his gang are up to something, something big!" she said. "What do you mean?" he asked her. "I don't know, but it's not-". Priscilla started, but then tilted her head to the right.
She looked behind Rango. Rango turned his head to where she was looking. Kinski stood at the barred window of the jail with his furry hands gripping the iron bars tightly. His wide eyes staring at them. His droopy ears seemed raised up a bit, listening in on their conversation. Rango stared at the hunchback jackrabbit, then gently pushed Priscilla away from the jail and down the street. I walked out of the bar and followed down the street after them.
Rango and Priscilla kept walking till Rango assumed that they were out of earshot from Kinski. Priscilla told Rango, what happened. "You were in the mines?" asked Rango starting to get a bit angry after she finished the story. Priscilla's ears went back and she looked down at the ground sadly. "Yes, I know it wasn't right, but I wanted to explore it. Please don't tell anyone I did, I would be in so much trouble," said Priscilla looking up at Rango with huge teary eyes. Rango's angry face softened.
"You are already in trouble…but I will let this one go, and I promise not to tell anyone. Even Banshee promises, right, Banshee?" asked Rango. One of his eyes turned and looked at me while the other looked at Priscilla. I jumped, "Oh! Yes, of course," I said. Priscilla smiled up at us and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Later on, Rango gathered the posse and we all stood inside the saloon. Rango told his posse just what Priscilla told us. He left out the part how she was in the mines. Instead, he said that she overheard them when they were behind her house last night. When he was finished, everyone started talking.
"How are we going to know their plan?" asked Sergeant Turley. "Yeah, we can't just ask them what they're up to," said Elgin. "Yeah, can't just ask them," repeated Waffles. Everyone muttered amongst themselves till everyone fell silent, trying to think of a plan that would work.
Wounded Bird raised his wing, braking the silence. "Only one way. One of us join Bill's gang," said Wounded Bird. Suddenly, as if it were rehearsed, everyone's heads all slowly to me. "No," I said, my eyes widening and putting my wings up in front of me. "Banshee, you are the only one who has to do it, you are new and they barely know you," said Doc. "I can't-" I started. "Well, how else are we gonna know about their plan? You are the only one who can do it," Beans said.
I opened my mouth to protest, but then closed it. My stomach churned. Beans was right. I was the only one. Bill knew everyone in the town, except me. He doesn't know who I am or anything about me. All he knows, is that I'm a bat with a weird name. I rubbed my wings nervously.
Bill is going to kill me, i'm not going to last five minutes... I thought. I sighed,and looked up at Rango, "If i'm going to try to join, how am I going to convince them?" I asked. The posse exchanged glances. Rango exchanged glances with Beans, then looked back at me and rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Suddenly, a loud roar was heard from across the street. Everyone all walked out of the saloon doors and looked down the street. Loud clanging sounds of metal was heard from the town's jail. Kinski screamed and cursed loudly in his cell. Rango and I exchanged glances, thinking the same thing.
dun dun dun! chapter 5 is finished. :)