Blazing Guns and Flying Fists

[The Great Arcthundus]

Chapter 1


In a bar in a little city, in the state of Texas, sat two men. They sat in the bar at their table drinking their ice waters. The town was small, but it satisfied all of the needs of it's inhabitants. It included a bar, a motel, a general store, a post office, a sheriff's office, a livery stable, and about four other stores.

As the two men, who were alone in the bar, sat sipping their waters, they observed their surroundings. It was much like most of the bars they had seen along their trip. It had seven tables with chairs, a card table in the middle, a bar and windows on all sides.

The first man was a marshal also a bounty hunter of sorts. He had a hard, weathered face with brown eyes and dark red hair. He was exceptionally strong and considerably tall with skin as rough and jagged rock. He wore a dark blue shirt under a brown vest with jeans, a white hat, and brown boots. At his sides were two .38 special pistols which of course were in holsters. In front of them was a hunting knife and a smaller .22 pistol tucked into a holster. In the back under his shirt tucked neatly into his belt was a very small two shot pistol. Around his waist, his belt was covered in bullets. There were also bullets in his pockets and on two straps around his shoulders and across his chest. He carried around in his hand a rifle. On his horse was a shotgun which he almost never used.

The other man was a sheriff, thin but sturdy, with jet black hair, blue eyes, and a younger face. The man wore a black shirt, a black hat, blue jeans, and brown boots. The man had a rifle on his horse. He had two .22 pistols and a throwing knife in his pocket. He had bullets all around his belt.

These two men were wandering around the countryside looking for all of the criminals that they could find so they could get free guns legally and claim bounties for the men they caught. The marshal's name was Wayne Johnson, the sheriff's, Jim Haney.

The marshal glanced over his shoulder at the doorway and calmly said," There's someone watching us, and I doubt he's friendly."

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Expect more soon. Hope you enjoyed it.

[The Great Arcthundus]

Chapter 2


Jim looked over Wayne and saw a man at the hotel across the street glaring at him.

Jim said," What should we do?"

"We'll wait and see what he does" said Wayne. Presently another man came down the stairs. He looked angry as he went outside.

Both Wayne and Jim turned and watched him. The man on the far side suddenly jumped on the other man and started fighting. The two officials sprang out of their seats spilling their waters and rushed out the door. The man who had come down the stairs had yanked out a black jack and had taken the upper hand on the fight. The sheriff went behind one man and the marshal the other. They each pulled out a pistol and hit the men on the head knocking them unconscious. They dragged them into the sheriffs office and put them in separate cells. The sheriff there gave them ten dollars each the black jack, two pistols, and the bullets and holsters of the men. Jim and Wayne sold the holsters and kept the other items for themselves. Jim kept the black jack, half the bullets, and a pistol. Wayne a pistol and the other half of the bullets.

That evening they went back to the bar and had dinner. After, that they went to the motel and spent the night.


The next morning they got up, had breakfast, and left the town. They had been looking for as many recruits as they could get. They had also been hunting a man called John Jackson. He was wanted for robbery, murder, and attempted murder. The reward was $15,000.

Currently they were hot on his trail and were sure of where he was. On their way to the town where John was, they talked about their past. Jim had been raised in Mississippi and had grown up a sharp shooter. He came to Texas and became a sheriff and later met Wayne. Wayne had grown up without any parents. He started his career as a blacksmith but later became a sheriff the a marshal. On one of his searches he was shot in the back but he recovered a year later. The thing was John's attempted murder had been to Wayne. That's why they were looking for him.

All of a sudden a shot interrupted their conversation. It whizzed past Jim's arm. Both men jumped off their horses and ran behind a boulder.

Wayne peeked out and ducked just in time to avoid another bullet. Then all of a sudden they heard a scream peirce the air. When they looked over the boulder, they couldn't believe their eyes.

[The Great Arcthundus]

Chapter 3


What they saw was a man lying face down on the ground bleeding. Behind him was a short but slender, blond haired, green eyed, and not very strong looking young man. He only had a large pistol and a lot of bullets that he was wearing.

"Thank you sir" said Wayne.

"Sure don't mention it. Do you need an extra man? I'll come. I've been looking for someone to hook up with and I have heard a lot about you two," said the man.

"OK, so what do they call you?" asked Jim.

"My name is Bill Troom. I'm a deputy for the state of Texas." replied Bill.

"Well, let's see what this guy you just killed had," said Jim. They checked him and found one-hundred dollars, a rifle, his holster, bullets, and a note. The note read:

Kill the two men who look like state officials. Here's one tenth of the reward. The rest will come when you've returned their guns to me. Don't goof up.

John

"Ya know, I think this guy was hired to kill us." said Wayne.

"He almost did too" mumbled Jim.

"Well, lets be heading into town. We still have to find our man,"said Wayne.

Bill said, "Your on a man hunt, huh? Glad I joined you. You won't regret it. I'm the best shot in this whole county."

"And look at all this money! John must be very rich these days!" exclaimed Jim.

Bill kept the rifle and bullets and the one-hundred dollars(for he had no money). They sold the holsters and boots and hat for thirty dollars when they got into town.

They immediately started looking for John. They asked a few people, but either they didn't know or they were too afraid to say anything. Finally they found a man who knew. He pointed to a big casino at the end of the street. The trio walked in and saw it only had about six people in it.

They saw John, but John didn't recognize them. Jim went over to a slot machine and slipped in a quarter. The first and second times he lost. The third time he won five dollars. He tried one more time and by some bizarre chance, he hit the jackpot and a whole seven hundred dollars and fifty cents poured into a large bag he had at the base of the slot machine. John was watching and and walked over to the now very happy Jim.

"Well done my boy!" he exclaimed. Then his tone changed as he said "Now how about you give me that back now." The other five men got behind him and stared threateningly over John's shoulders at Jim.

Jim looked at them and slowly reached to his belt for the black jack(as you need to know, a black jack is a metal ball about the size of a golf ball on a stick). The other two snuck up behind the men and prepared for a fist fight. Then it all happened.

Jim bashed John on the head knocking him unconscious. Four of the men spun around to fight Bill and Wayne while one jumped on Jim and started beating on him. When the four turned around, only two stayed there while the other two flew into some card tables scattering cards in all directions. The other two were locked in a battle with Wayne and John. Jim meanwhile had thrown his opponent into the slot machine which knocked out the man and another two hundred dollars as he fell on the machine's handle(all this money is in quarters).

Bill and Wayne weren't doing so good. They had been taking blows here and there as well as giving them. Then the two men gave a gasp and fell over with Jim standing there with a grin on his face and his black jack in his hand.

They dragged the men to the jail and collected all $15,000, while Jim went to the bank and turned his quarters into dollars. And came out a very happy man and when he was given his share of the money, he almost fainted.

He said," I am the happiest and richest guy on earth!! I can't wait to go get the next guy!" They laughed as they went into the bar for a very nice dinner that night.

[The Great Arcthundus]

Chapter 4

The next morning they woke up at about 8:00. They got dressed and went downstairs for a breakfast of coffee, eggs, and lots of bacon. They then walked out and prepared their horses for their journey back for their next job.

Suddenly the loud crack of a rifle was heard. They jumped back into the motel and peeked out the door all except for Bill who now lay in the street with blood trickling from his head. They saw a man run into the store and they ran up to the door of it. Another crack sounded and a bullet whizzed inches from Wayne's leg.

Jim watched from the door and Wayne ran over to Bill. Bill looked at Wayne, tried to say something, and fell limp in Wayne's arms.

Wayne set him down and yelled,"That fool! I'll kill him!." He then rushed back to the store with his large pistol in one hand and a smaller one in the other. He and Jim ran to the door of the store that the man was in.

"On the count of three," said Jim. "We rush in." One.......Two........"

He didn't have the chance to say three because Wayne had already jumped in and knocked over a table which he was now behind. The man was behind the store desk and ready to fire. Jim ran in when suddenly Wayne jumped up and shot the man three times in the chest and one in the arm. The man looked stunned and fell over the counter to the floor.

"Well that's one less jerk to worry about" remarked Jim.

Wayne said,"I can't believe it! This idiot just murdered Bill! We just got him to come with us and he's already dead!"

Wayne let out a sigh and said,"Let's bury Bill and get out of this town." They went a few hundred yards from the town and buried Bill. They spent a fair amount of time there paying their respects then came back to collect supplies, Bill's horse and posessions. They decided that they shouldn't let the loss of their friend weigh them down.

While they were at the post office they saw a reward poster for a man named Achmed Sortez wanted for postal robbery. The reward was a whole $5,000.

"Wow!" exclaimed Jim. "I wonder how long he's been in business."

Wayne shrugged and replied " I dunno but I think we'll be going along with the mail tomorrow. That's quite a bit of money." So they went in to talk to the postmaster.

"He's been at it for five years. We'd be happy if you'd stop him. He's stolen so much we'll go out of business if he isn't stopped" said the postmaster. "He's usually on our route to El Paso, and it just so happens that that is tomorrow's route."The men shook hands and thanked him.

"Well, I suppose we'll retire after this." said Wayne.

They laughed, "Yeah right!", and went over to the bar for an ice cold water.

[The Great Arcthundus]

Chapter 5

The next morning they got up early. This time they were cautious when they left the motel after breakfast. When they saw the coast was clear, they went over to the post office to discuss the work ahead of them.

The postmaster told them that along the way, about in the middle of the regular route, was a light forest. That was where most of the robberies happened.

"Do you suppose there will be a lot of them?" asked Wayne.

"There usually aren't any more than four" replied the postmaster. "I think the odds are pretty good this time because with both you and the other two armed, you should have a good chance of getting them." .

"Well" Jim said, "It looks like we're ready, so let's go."

The men made their way out of the post office to where the stagecoach was sitting. The two men's names were Phil and Cicho.

"I'm glad your coming" said Cicho with a heavy Mexican accent.

Phil agreed" Yeah we're going to be a lot better off with you guys around. Once you catch them all, we'll be problem free and can continue our job much more easily."

Wayne and Jim went and put their horses in the town stable, then hopped into the stagecoach. They set out as soon as the mail was loaded on and roped securely to the top.

Jim observed the scenery around the outside of town and said" I guess we'll be waiting a while. So let's just enjoy the ride." The two men sat there and drooped off to sleep since they hadn't slept very long last night.

They woke with a start when a gunshot rang out across the landscape.
"Nothing to worry about yet" said Phil as he bent down for a shotgun. "That was just a warning shot, but you had better get ready. They're coming in fast!"

The two grabbed their guns. They looked out the window to see three men on horses getting closer very quickly.

"Well" said Jim. "They'll be in for a real surprise when they get to this here stagecoach and find a couple of guns pointed at them."
Wayne smiled and got ready to 'recieve' the criminals.

Two of them came up alongside the stage. Suddenly the doors opened and they were pulled into the stagecoach.

"Man" Jim remarked. These guys are really tough!" as he said this he knocked out the man he was holding while Wayne was waiting patiently with his man already out.

While this was happening, the other robber had figured some thing was wrong. He came close to the stagecoach with his pistol ready. When he got there Phil grabbed the unsuspecting man by the shirt and yanked him up to the top of the stagecoach.

The stage had been moving this whole time and so when Phil yanked the man up, he fell towards the rear of the coach on his back in the dust. At this Cicho stopped, and when he did, the man flew ahead of the stage, over the horses and hit his head on a huge rock killing him on impact.

Wayne and Jim jumped out and walked over to Phil while Cicho meandered over to the dead man. He picked him up and laid him on top of the stage. Phil appeared to be fine except for the bruise on his arm.

"Is this all of the men there are?" inquired Jim.

"Yes"said Phil. "We got the other one two weeks ago.I don't remember seeing any others."

"There was another!" argued Cicho. "I just saw him ride off toward town! We'd better get there quick!"

So they quickly set off back down the road toward the town. Not a single one of them would have guessed what would happen when they would walk into the town.

[The Great Arcthundus]

The stagecoach was moving quickly down the road with random trees and cactus' passing by as the came closer to the town. There was a strange feeling in the air. Something wasn't right.

Finally Jim turned to Wayne and said," Don't you think it's odd?"

"What?" asked Wayne.

"That the other guy was headed towards the town," said Jim."Why would he go back there? Surely he knows that he's in danger walking into a town whose mail he's been stealin' for the past who knows how many years."

Wayne rubbed his chin for a while then said,"You know, that is strange come to think of it." He shrugged. "Maybe he has some friends there. They would probably keep him safe until everything calmed down."

[The Great Arcthundus]

They approached the outskirts of the town, moving with all speed. They came to a screeching halt just outside the sheriff's office.There was no one in the streets, save a lazy dog laying outside the sheriff's office. They jumped out of the stage and ran into the building.

"Sheriff!" Jim yelled."We got a problem!"

BOOM!!! A large explosion sounded across the street. As they ran to the window to look, they saw splinters of the post office flying in every direction. Smoke billowed from the obliterated form. People were running to the windows and doors of buildings all down the street. The dog had fled under the porch of the office and now sat there cowering. Jim and Wayne stepped out of the office warily.

A shot was fired Cicho flew forward from the stagecoach, his foot catching on the rim. He dropped with a heavy thud beside the stage, landing squarely on his head. Phil turned quickly around and raised his gun. Another shot was fired. Phil tensed immediately, and blood began to poor from his chest. He fell onto the seat of the stage, cursing with a sickening gurgle in his voice.

Wayne dove for cover inside the sheriff's office, and Jim ran behind the stage drawing his pistol. Wayne was peeking out the window as he slowly drew his .38. He looked longingly at the stage in which he had so carelessly left his rifle.

"Shoot!" Wayne thought to himself. "He wasn't coming back to hide! He was coming back so he could take revenge and go out with a bang!"

He felt a pang of grim, ironic humor pulse lightly in his head.

Jim was within good hearing distance and Wayne called to him with a regular voice,"Where are they Jim? How many are there?"

"I don't know for sure," Jim said."I think they're over at the casino somewhere. I don't think there are more than two."

He looked at Wayne rather sure of himself and said bluntly, "I'm pretty sure one of them is our runaway from the mail run."

Wayne nodded, observing the scene that lay before him. By this time there were shots being fired regularly. One hit the window pane close to Wayne, blowing a splinter off into the room. The smoke continued to pour from the post office. There was no sign of the postmaster. Jim was taking well spaced shots at the upper floor of the casino from his spot behind the stage. Wayne signalled to him that he was going to try to sneak around to the back of the casino. Jim opened the door of the stage and pulled out Wayne's rifle. Holstering his pistol he began to take quick shots in the direction of the casino. Bullets were ricocheting at random intervals from the stage.

The casino was located on the other side of the street, ending the row of buildings on it's side. Wayne went to the back, telling the sheriff to cover him from the window. He walked carefully out the back door, watching for any accomplices. Seeing none he decided to go to the end of the buildings on his side of the street, on the other end of the small town, and to make a run across to the other side there. He walked quickly, keeping his guard up, to where a building was under construction. He went around the side and looked out into the street toward the casino. He could see Jim had pulled his rifle out of the stage and was continuing to fire at the casino.