Instantly all of them stood up, as the Spanish man left. Billy diapered in the back room, Doc ducked behind the bar, while Steve and Shavez left out the back door. Leaving me standing there. Now I figured company meant more then one person coming. And with the hiding and the faint click of gun hammer's, I took it as unfriendly company. I looked at the table. There were four beers… all of them half empty or practically full. I grabbed them all and tossed them to the bartender, hoping he knew that he had to get rid of them. He did.
They were all gone a few seconds, and then he picked up a towel and tossed it to me, and motioned for me to come around. With a quick glance out the door, I quickly walked behind the bar. The bartender gave me a few dirty glasses, and motioned for me to clean them. I nodded my thanks. I would pretend to work here. My eyes flickered to under the bar, where I could have swore Doc went under.
But he wasn't there. A trap door maybe? Maybe it went further back then it appeared? Either way, he was well hidden. My mind wandered to the back room where Billy was. Hope he was well hidden to. All of them. Heavy steps made their way down the path and into the saloon. They were dressed in Calvary uniforms, each holding a long rifle. My eyes went dark. After looking them each in the eye, I knew they would shoot to kill. I was suppose to be afraid. I KNEW I should be scared.
But I wasn't. I was incredibly calm. I cast my eyes downward and cleaned the glasses with the dirty rag I had in my hand. I wasn't shaking, I wasn't nervous, or sweating. My heart was calm, and I moved with ease. There wasn't a drop of fear in me.
"Hey, have you seen a boy about yay high, maybe seventeen, and in the company of three older men?" the captain asked. I looked up calmly from my glass. They were talking to the bartender. His eyes were narrow, but fear shined through them, betraying him. I could see his knees were ever so slightly shaken. He spoke, but in a mumble of Spanish. "I said, have you seen them!" the man raised his voice, grabbing the bar tenderer's shirt. Again the man spoke, quicker, more of a blur and plea… but in Spanish. This time the captain raised his pistol, and held it to the man's head. "I'll ask one more time." The tender was shaking now. Badly. His eyes were wide, and he was giving no effort to hide his fear. I stepped in.
"If you want an answer from him, shooting him won't be of any help." I said, with a spanish accent. The man looked at me.
"Who are you?" he spat.
"I'm the bar hand. You boys want a drink?" I asked. The man lowered his gun, and pointed it at me. I knew he would shoot, but still, not even a spark of fear.
"You, same question this man ain't answering." He said.
"Yes." I said honestly. "But I forgot how long ago." The man stepped closer.
"Now I know that's a lie." He said, "We trailed them in here bout ten minutes ago." A evil smile slimed across his face. I shrugged.
"All I know is they came in, they went out." I said. "sorry couldn't be more help to you." The man frowned, his eyes beady. There was a thud from the back room, and the man jerked.
"Ma'am, please tell the bartender to step outside, and follow him." Said the captain. Without even opening my mouth, I was pushed out with the bartender. As soon as he stepped outside, and took off across the road and took cover. I scoffed. There was suddenly shooting from inside. I jumped and lost my balance. Ok, THAT scared me. Scared me out of my wits. I could have sworn I peed my pants! The shooting continued, and yelling. I ran across the street and took cover in an ally. The shooting went on for about three more seconds, then stopped.
Then there was shooting further down the street. But that lasted maybe three seconds. In a few minutes, the men came out of the saloon. Billy was behind them, in shackles and a hood over his head. My eyes went wide. Steve was next, followed close behind by Doc and Shavez. All shackled, with hoods and at gun point. They were all loaded on horses, and in a few minutes they were gone. Leaving the streets empty.
I didn't even bother going back into the saloon. I just kind of stood there, jaw dangeling a little, astonished at the sudden events. What was I going to do? I looked out towards the horizon where the outlaws had vanished. Should I follow them? They would hang in a few days, no doubt. But Billy was smart, he would get them out. ALL of them? The best he had ever done, was gotten himself out of jail.
Could he get his friends out to? I blinked. Could I get them out? Would I be crazy enough to follow them and do it? I thought. If I did, and if I was, there would be no doubt about it, they would trust me after that. But doing that, and I would make myself an outlaw. Followed by the law, tracked down, hunted. My heart flew at the thought. Did I find that exciting? It was dangerous. But that's not what my heart was telling me. The only phrase that came to mind now was… time for some fun.
My eyes sparkled.
Probably something the time warp had changed. Instead of finding riding as an outlaw dangerous, bad and threatening, it made me find it as thrilling, exciting and fun. My eyes, flared, a plan already forming in my head. I walked down the street, each stride meaningful and strong. There was a solemn look in my face, and a dangerous gleam in my eye.
I found the gun shop. The bartender was inside with a two other men. I looked around. I found all the guns here were familiar to me from the shooting range. I found two .44 pistols with ivory handles and a sharp looking metal, Winchester lever action rifle which I would saw about a half a foot off, and a shot gun. All of them just my size, and just my type. My favorite to use. I set them all on the counter, and kept looking around. I grabbed about two boxes of bullets for each gun. As I set to work on finding the leather working, a voice rose up.
"You looking for gifts for a friend young lady?" a man asked. I looked up from the glass box.
"I'm looking for my own, thank you." I said. The man looked at me side long.
"Ah, ma'am. I'm sure your pa don't want you buying guns. Specially at this age. Just carrying a gun causes trouble." He said.
"Well then, are YOU going to go get Billy and the others?" I snapped, standing straight. The man looked startled.
"Look, miss, that's no job for a lady. Not in a million years will women ever use guns! It just ain't natural."
"Where are you're holsters?" I asked, ignoring him. "I need cross action holsters for the left hand. Preferably with tags for the bullets." I said. The man was surprised I said those things. Ladies shouldn't know anything about any of that kind of stuff.
"Ma'am, your gonna get yourself killed." Said the other man. "We can't let you do that!"
"Are you gonna let Billy get killed?" I asked, my eyes meeting his for the first time. He flinched and looked away. My eyes were blazing down. Both with anger and excitement. I found the holster I wanted, and looked for a shoulder belt with more bullet tags. I found one that would hold both shotgun and regular bullets. I set in next to the guns with the holster. I found a few nice looking knifes. Oh boy did I know how to use those. I set them on the counter to, mentally counting up the money I had to pay. I looked around for any other items. I ended up grabbing a saddle rifle-holster like the one on the first horse. It wasn't as nice, but it would do. It wasn't exactly money I wanted to spend, but trust me, I wasn't even leaving a DENT in the amount I had raised. "This is it." I said.
"Young lady," the first man said. That's it. I pulled out my wad of money, and slammed the amount on the table. I gather the things up and stepped outside, with the bartender and the second man behind me. They ran off, no doubt to tell the rest of the town what I was up to. I loaded all my things onto my horse, making sure the straps were tight and useable.
I emptied out the saddle bags, and put only the things I needed in. I went off again, and bought some food for the trip. I thought of everything. I bought rubber bands for my hair, a few pins for lock picks, some horse treats, a hankercheif, some leather gloves, an extra saddle bag, a roll up blanket, a saddle mat, a few tools for the horse to clean them out so he wouldn't limp, wire clippers, matches, rope, and last but not least a bag of tobacco for bribing the dumb ones.
When I went back outside, the whole town was back on the streets, starring at me, whispering, talking, and pointing. I ignored them all, and loaded my supplies onto my saddle. Before mounting up, I loaded all my guns, including the shot gun. I buckled the holsters on, and slid the pistols into the fits. There was a comforting weight on each of my hips now, and I actually felt safer, though I knew it wasn't true. I slid one knife into my boot, and the other in the back groove of my pants.
This had a reason. If my hands were tied behind my back, it would be easy to reach the knife without anyone seeing it. I filled the tags with bullets, slipping the shoulder belt around my right shoulder. I felt prepared. I mounted up, and took a deep breath. When I turned my horse around, there were a few men standing in front of me. My eyes flared, but I said nothing. By the look in there eye, and the way they stood, they weren't there to stop me. There were small, skinny Spanish men, their eyes blank.
"We are letting you go for one reason." The man in the middle said, "Otherwise we wouldn't have even let you buy the guns." I almost rolled my eyes. And exactly HOW were they intending to stop me before? Even with fist they were no match for me with this anger.
"Mind telling me that reason, so I can be on my way?" I asked, my eyes dark.
"We're letting you go, because we see something in your eyes we recognize. Almost horrifying." I waited for them to continue, "You have the same wild look in your eye, that Amigo Billy has." They said.
I blinked. I WHAT? "We are warning you, that that look can cause more trouble then you think. But we think you just may be as daft as Billy… daft enough to get them out." Without another word, they disappeared into the crowd. I hesitated, my eyes scanning the crowd. I grinded my teeth, realizing how much time I had already wasted. I kicked the horse into a full run. The crowd parted and I busted out of town. I rode hard, thinking of Billy and the gang. I pictured Billy galloping through the dead valley, his hair ruffeling in the wind, making tracks hard and fast, and a famous smile across his face. I brought my mind back to myself.
The wind in my hair, kicking up dust behind, loaded with deadly, yet somehow comforting weapons, and an thrill ahead. My heart fluttered, and a wide grin spread across my face. Maybe I WAS like Billy the Kid.