Gee, what's the matter with this story? Why is it so difficult to write ;_;?! Oh well, next chapter is finally here, sorry for the delay... Again!
*** Chapter Four : Alliance ***
Harry Cold arrived with his men to their headquarters. They didn't think they were being followed, but they had still been riding as fast as they could. As soon as they arrived, Harry dismounted and without uttering a single word, he walked back to his usual spot by the fireplace and sat down. The rest of the gangmembers exchanged glances, but knew not to disturb him right now. Right now he wanted to be all alone with his thoughts.
But when Fickle noticed the red stains on his shoulder, the possum walked up to him and cleared his throat. Harry didn't say anything, he just turned to the possum with a scowl, but the scowl turned into a surprised look when Fickle pointed at his shoulder. Red blood from a slice on Harrys neck had covered the right arm and side of his light gray shirt, probably caused by the bullet Rango had fired. He brought his hand up to the wound, but found that it had almost stopped bleeding. But he still needed to look after it.
He looked up at Fickle again. "Get the stuff" He said lowly with a nod to the mineshafts entrance.
Fickle obeyed, and as he turned to get the box with medical supplies, Keanan and Joss sat down on the other side of the burnt out campfire. The green treefrog scratched the back of his head.
"Umm, boss?" Keanan the treefrog croaked. "For a while, eh, ya looked kinda... Worried?"
Joss nodded in agreement. "But if it's b'cauf yer duel waf intewupted, then don't worry abouf it!" The doormouse grinned and showed his big, yellow front teeth, causing his speech impairment. "We can go back fere an' git him whenefer you're wready, boff!"
"It's not because of the duel, Joss" Cold shook his head and looked down at his bloodstained shirt. "It's that kid that concerns me..."
"The coyote?" Keanan scoffed. "He did a mistake when he interfered! He shouldn't have messed with us! I can take him out myself if ya want?"
"Hey, didn't you fee how faft he waf?" Joss exclaimed, making Keanan who sat next to him, jump in surprise. "He pulled fe gun fom anofer manf holfter fafter than both boff and Wrango could draw pheir own!"
"So what if he draws fast?! He'd die even faster once I stab him in his sleep, y'know!"
"You don't touch a hair on that boys head, Keanan" Harry said sternly, yet calmly, and wiped some blood off from his hand on the clean side of his shirt. "I think I should be the one to deal with him too... To finish what I started..." He mumbled the last sentence, and the doormouse and the treefrog exchanged a slightly nervous glance.
Keanan tilted his head slightly to the side as he turned to his boss again. "Wh-whaddya mean by that, boss? Ya don't think he's another bountyhunter, do ya?"
"I'm sure he is, and he's out for my blood too, only for a different reason"
"Why?" Both Keanan and Joss asked in unison, but Harry didn't answer at once.
He waited until Fickle returned with a shoebox with their medical supplies in. Knowing that Harry rather would take care of his wounds himself, he left the box next to the lizard and joined the other two by the other bench. Cold glanced down at the supplies and grimaced slightly, not too pleased over what he saw; they were starting to run low on medical equipment. He managed to find a bottle with a few swishes of cleansing alcohol left at the bottom and a clean rag, ripped from an old shirt.
He started to clean the wound and tried to ignore the burning pain as he turned to Fickle again. "Fickle" He said, and the possum perked up upon hearing his name. "You remember Eugene Red, right?"
"Huh? The Red Ripper?" The possum nodded carefully. "Yeah, how come?"
"Wed Wippah?"
"Eugene Red?" Keanan frowned. "Who the heck is that?!"
"An old friend" Harry answered after a moment of hesitation, while Fickle began to fidget with his hands on his lap. Harry put the bloodied cloth to the side as he spoke to his men, but without looking at them. "Eugene Red, or the Red Ripper, used to be one of us eleven years ago. A good and faithful man who wasn't afraid to do the dirty work, but since he was the only one of us who had a family to take care of, he was constantly poor. So one day he did the mistake in taking a bigger share of our latest spoil, hoping that Joey wouldn't notice. But he should've known better; he knows that nothing escapes Joey..." Harry paused. He wasn't too fond of this memory. "The same night as he returned to his family, we executed him and his family, burning down their farm in the progress as well"
"But..." Keanan spoke up with a confused frown. "What does this have to do with that boy?! We're still talkin' 'bout the kid, right?"
The lizard went silent for a moment, but then he nodded slowly. "I think I might have failed killing his entire family" He finally looked up at his men. "B'cause that young man that interrupted our duel is the spitting image of Eugenes son, Hicks. Only older"
His three men flinched. "A-awre you fore?" Joss gulped, while Fickle winced.
"I KNEW he was familiar!" The possum said, slowly shaking his head from side to side. "But if he's here, do ya think he's out for-...?"
"Revenge? Yes, most definitely" Harry nodded, then turned back to the medical box. "We've got two men on our tails now, one is a professional killer out for the money, the other one is an amateur for revenge. The question is just: which one of them is the most dangerous?"
…
Hicks was lying on the cot bed in his cell, staring up at the filthy ceiling with a bitter growl. He had spent the entire night and next day in this god forsaken cell, and he wouldn't come out until someone from Bedrock could come to get him home. And by then, everyone was sure that Harry Cold would be jailed, or in best case scenario; dead. In any case, unless a miracle happened, Hicks would never get his parents' revenge. How could he be anything but bitter and frustrated at the moment?
He turned to his side, facing the wall instead. Some former inmate before him had scratched 46 tally marks into the wall. One for every day. Counting the tally marks was a very boring way to make time pass in the cell, but sometimes it was all he could do. That, and plotting a way to escape. He knew that escaping from jail would only put him into more trouble, but if he was successful, then it would be worth it! Probably.
The rattling of keys as the door between the jailhouse and the office was unlocked, made Hicks perks his ears and stop counting the tally marks. It was dinner time. The sheriffs daughter, Amelia as he had heard her being called, came in with a tray in her feathery wings. Amelia wasn't that old, maybe 14 years at most, and she looked pretty funny; she still had a chicks fuzzy fluff and some real, light brown feathers sticking out. Hicks turned in the bed and watched as she put the tray down and pushed it inside the cell through a gap between the barred door and the floor.
He mumbled a short and low "Thanks", but didn't move to get the food. Amelia got up and watched him for a while with her head slightly tilted to the left. The young chicken didn't say a word, and Hicks didn't care at first. But when she didn't leave, he couldn't help but to sigh in annoyance.
"Can I help you?" He asked, but she shook her head.
"Why aint'cha eatin'?" She frowned slightly. "Ma doesn't usually cook food for prisoners, y'know, but pa reckoned you'd have the leftovers from yesterday"
Hicks raised an eyebrow and glanced at the plate on the tray. Some kind of meatloaf with gravy and mashed potatoes, and he even got a slice of fruitpie on a separate plate! He nodded at Amelia. "My compliments to yer ma, but I ain't hungry right now. I'll eat it later"
"But later it'll be cold!" She paused and glanced down at the food. "-er!" She added and looked back up.
"It'll be fine" He couldn't help but to growl slightly in annoyance. "I'll eat when I'm hungry!"
Amelia didn't reply. She just looked at him with a slightly tilted head and clattered her beak. "Y'know..." She suddenly said, and he winced when he realized that she wouldn't go away anytime soon. "They don't think you're a real bountyhunter"
Hicks arched an eyebrow. "Who do?"
"Ev'ryone!" She made a shrugging motion with her shoulders. "People say you're just a lost pup lookin' for attention, is that true?"
Hicks muttered something to himself and lied down on the cot again, facing the wall. He didn't really care what people thought about him, as long as they left him alone. In many peoples eyes, he might be just another orphan trying to get attention with any means necessary to make up for the loss of his parents, but he was serious. He WAS a bountyhunter now, and the sooner they realized it, the better!
"Hey, don't feel bad 'bout it!" He heard the chicks wings brush against the bars, but he didn't care. "People are startin' to doubt Rango as well"
That, however, perked Hicks' interest and he slowly turned around on the cot. "What?" He frowned at the chick. "Why? It's only been two days?"
"Yeah" She shrugged again. "But after what happened in that duel, people are startin' to doubt all those rumors 'bout him bein' a bloodthirsty an' fast drawin' killer. I mean, YOU drew faster than any of 'em, an' I've heard some whisperin' that Cold an' Rango has some kinda deal"
"A deal?" Hicks sat up on the edge of the cot, now she had his full attention. "What kinda deal?"
"I dunno, but I think it could be somethin' 'bout 'em stagin' Colds capture, an' then Rango will help them escape an' once they're safe, split the bounty in half. It does kinda make sense, since Cold came here to challenge Rango the same day as he came, huh?"
Hicks didn't reply. That did make some sense. Maybe they had this all planned already from the beginning, ever since the bountyhunter rode into Bedrock? "Sonnova bitch..." Hicks couldn't help but to mutter. He KNEW he couldn't trust that bountyhunter!
"But pa doesn't b'lieve those rumors. He's sure Rango's gonna git 'em any day now" Amelia leaned her head against the cool bars. "He says that Cold's always been eager to git rid of the bountyhunters after him as fast as possible, an' that was just what he had been tryin'a do last night. He doesn't think they were stallin' on purpose when they drew against each other either, he just think you're faster than both of them, that's all"
Hicks didn't reply. Of course he was fast. He had been practicing every day for the last 9 years JUST for an opportunity like the one yesterday! He looked up at Amelia. "Whaddya think?"
The young chicken just shrugged with her wings. "I dunno..." She said, hesitating. "I guess I'll jus' have to trust pa on this... He's usually right, y'know"
He didn't reply on this either. He just turned his head away, since he felt he needed to think on this for a while. "Thanks fer the chat, kid" He mumbled. "But I reckon it would be best for ya to go now. Yer dad might not approve of ya talkin' to a prisoner like this"
"We don't see ya as a prisoner, sir" Amelia shook her head and stepped away from the bars. "Pa's jus' keepin' ya here fer yer own safety, he doesn't want'cha to git into trouble"
Hicks mumbled something inaudible in return. After not getting an answer for a while, Amelia sighed and turned around.
"Hope ya enjoy yer meal, sir" She said and went out the door. "See ya 'round!"
The coyote was silent and still for a while, but then he lied back down on the cot and stared at the grimy ceiling again. Could Cold and Rango really be working together on this? That would explain why Rango was so eager to get him out of the way. But, didn't Rango fire at Cold after all? And wound him in the neck? Or was that just staged as well? After everything he had heard about the bountyhunters ruthlessness, was he really the type who'd do something like this? Make deal with a wanted outlaw?
His thoughts were interrupted when his stomach rumbled. He first glanced at it, then at the tray with food. Maybe he was a bit hungry after all? He got up and picked the tray up. The food was cold, yet tasted better than anything he'd eat on his journeys, and the ordinary prison food wasn't even able to compare to this. He made a mental note to thank the sheriff and his wife late. Even if it was the sheriff who kept him here, locked up like a criminal just so that he wouldn't get in the way of another bountyhunter.
…
The next morning, after Hicks had been able to sleep for a couple of hours, the door to the office suddenly creaked open. The sound make Hicks jolt awake and almost spring up from the cot. To add to his surprise, he saw Rango and sheriff Cobs stand in the doorway.
"Ten minutes" Cobs reminded the bountyhunter, who just nodded and waved him away with his hand.
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry" The basilisk said and for a moment locked eyecontact with the skeptical Hicks. Then he looked back at the sheriff. "This ain't gonna take too long" Sheriff Cobs nodded and walked out, closing and locking the door behind him again.
Hicks moved to sit on the edge of the cot, still frowning in disbelief at the other bountyhunter. Rango pulled a nearby chair out and sat down barely two feet away from the bars.
"G'mornin', kid! Sorry if I woke ya up" He said and leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees.
"It's fine..." Hicks muttered skeptically. "Whaddya want?"
"I just wanna talk, that's all" The bountyhunter paused and slightly tilted his head to the side. "An' I think I'll get right to it; why are ya out to git Cold too? An' don't tell me it's the money, b'cause I can tell it's somethin' else b'hind this!" When Hicks didn't reply, he continued. "The sheriff mentioned somethin' 'bout revenge, is that true? An' for what?"
Hicks clenched his jaw tightly. "Cold works for Joey Garcia... An' they killed my parents eleven years ago..." He answered eventually in a low voice. "I need Cold to tell me where Garcia is, so I can punish him for his crimes, that's why I couldn't let'cha kill him" Unless y'two DO have a pact... The last thing he added in his mind, he didn't dare to speak it out loud.
Rango was silent for a while, then he leaned back in the chair. "So, blood for blood, huh?" He asked, and Hicks nodded in return. "Ya do know that killin' Garcia won't bring yer parents back, right?" Hicks didn't reply. "An' what makes ya think Cold will tell ya where he is?"
"It's worth a shot"
The two bountyhunter watched each other tensely for a while, but then, to Hicks surprise, Rango grinned. "You're brave, y'know that?" He said, and Hicks blinked in confusion.
"Huh? Wh-what?"
"I'm a bit of an expert when it comes to revenge, an' I know how satisfyin' it is to see the people who wrong' ya fall to the ground with yer bullets lodged in their chests" However, while he spoke, his grin gradually disappeared. "However, killin' someone in revenge is different than killin' someone in self defense, or shootin' down a bankrobber. When ya kill someone out of pure hate, jus' for the sole reason of vengeance, somethin' changes within you. Ya stoop to the offenders level, an' it's near impossible to climb back up again" He paused, watching the words sink into the coyote. "Revenge is powerful. Almost a bit too powerful for some people. Are ya still sure ya wanna face Garcia?"
Hicks was quiet for a while, then he stood up from the bed and stared down at the basilisk. "Yes" He growled. "I promised my parents I'd punish the coward who murdered them, an' I'd rather die tryin' that breakin' that promise! I don't care what happens to me, they're just outlaws anyway an' how bad can it be to rid the world of yet another scum?"
The other bountyhunter instantly grinned again. "I like yer style, kid!" He nodded in approval and got up from the chair, stepping closer to the bars. "Therefore, I've got a preposition for ya!"
"A preposition?" The coyote frowned and walked closer to the bars as well.
He nodded. "Ya see, I just recently discovered Colds hideout. The problem is just that it's an old abandoned mineshaft, which they probably know from the inside out an' I could easily be overpowered in there. So I have advised a plan to git 'em to leave the mineshaft so they'll be easier to arrest, but I can't do it on my own..." He noticed that Hicks instantly realized what he was asking, but continued. "Therefore, I could really use yer help, kid"
Hicks took a step away from the bars and frowned skeptically. This could be a trap.
"I can tell that ya don't wanna trust me, an' I really don't blame ya! But I'm honest right now; I really need some help with this! An' if ya help me, I'll both split the bounty with you AND let ya take care of Cold!" He held his arms out in a gesture. "This is 'bout as generous I can be these days! So, whaddya say?"
Hicks grinded his teeth as he watched the bountyhunter with a skeptical expression. "How do I know this ain't a trap?"
"What?!" Rango exclaimed, clearly surprised.
"I've heard rumors that ya made a deal with Cold; you'll stage his capture an' then, when ya got yer money, you'll help him escape an' split the bounty!"
The lizard gawked at him with a disbelieving frown. "What?" He repeated. "Why would I do that? That means less money for me an' a dangerous criminal turns loose again, no thanks! B'sides, Cold would never agree on somethin' like that; he NEVER trusts bountyhunters, an' considerin' that bounty on his head he's got a damn good reason not to either!"
Hicks stepped up to the bars again and gripped the cool metal. He arched an eyebrow at Rango; what he said did make some sense. And the rumor about the two of them even having a pact from the beginning had seemed paranoid, not even the sheriff and his family believed in it! Hicks hesitated for a moment, but then he stuck his hand out through the bars.
"Fine, it's a deal. I'll help ya out with yer plan if I git to talk alone with Cold. I don't care 'bout the money"
Rango instantly grinned once again and grabbed his hand and shook it violently. "Great! Can't wait 'til we git these bastards, eh?"
"There's just one problem though..." Hicks added, and Rango stopped shaking his hand but didn't let go of it. "I'm locked up, an' ain't gonna get out anytime soon 'til someone from Bedrock can pick me up!"
"Don't worry 'bout that" Rango scoffed. "It'll be all taken care of!"
Without warning, Rango suddenly gripped the coyotes pawlike hand tighter before throwing himself at the bars with his back first. He moved Hicks arm up around his neck and stuck a knife in between the bars. Instinctively, Hicks tried to jump away, but the lizard held his arm still around his throat.
"Wh-what the HELL are ya-...?!" Hicks exclaimed and tried to pull his hand back again.
"YOU are gonna take me hostage, now TAKE the god damn knife!" The lizard hissed between his teeth and reached as far in as he could with the knife in his hand until Hicks reluctantly took it.
"Wh-what...?"
"Shut up an' play along! Sheriff! SHERIFF!" He shouted and slammed himself at the bars again. "SHERIFF, FOR FUCK SAKE GIT OVER 'ERE!"
They could hear feet shuffling about in a hurried fashion on the other side of the door, and soon the sheriff had burst in through the door, and was now gawking with a wide open beak at the hostage situation in front of him.
"Thanks fer warnin' me 'bout not gettin' too close, sheriff!" Rango said with a sarcastic snort and seemed angry. "Ya NEVER told me he was a god damn dangerous looney!"
"Wh-what?! B-but, he...?" Sheriff Cobs stuttered and took a step back. "Is this some kinda trick?"
Hicks decided to play along and pressed the blade of the knife against the lizards throat. "Open the door, sheriff! Lemme outta here!"
"Ya better do as he says, sheriff" Rango nodded. "This boy's desperate! An' desperate men are dangerous, am I right?!"
"Correct" Hicks growled and pressed the knife harder against the lizards skin until blood seeped out. Rango twitched and growled warningly at Hicks, who simply whispered a low "sorry" in return. "Sheriff, the door"
"Red? C-calm down now..." Cobs said in an effort to gain somewhat control over the situation. But when Hicks didn't budge, the sheriff carefully and reluctantly pulled the keys out and stepped over to the jail door.
He unlocked it, but just after he opened it Rango pulled himself loose, turned to the sheriff and punched him, sending him staggering into the cell. Hicks hurried to slip out as the rooster fell to the ground and tried to process what just happened. The lizard quickly closed the door after Hicks got out and locked it.
"Sorry, sheriff!" The bountyhunter apologized and shook his head. "But I need to borrow the kid for a while, hope ya don't mind?"
"R-Rango...?" The sheriff got up to a sitting position, and his wing rubbed his aching face. "Wh-what the hell are ya...?" He began to ask, but trailed off when he noticed that both of the bountyhunters were gone. They had left the keys on the floor outside the cell; just out of his reach.
GAH! Not only is this story slow to write, for some reason, I was also forced to get a completely NEW computer before I could finish this!
I'll try to NOT be as slow with the next chapter, can't make any promises though :/