Double Trouble

Curtis rubbed his shoulder and groaned at the pain. His other hand grasped the reigns of his horse. Mabel leaned over and peered at Curtis’s rough hand as it massaged his shoulder. The two of them gently bobbed up and down as the horse trotted across the searing sands of the desert. Curtis groaned again.

“Think the pain’ll stop soon?” Mabel asked.

“Yeah, probably,” Curtis replied in a gravelly voice. He cleared his throat. “It only hurts when I touch it or move it too much. Jumpin’ up here don’t feel too good, either. At least my side don’t hurt anymore.”

Curtis lifted his tunic to try and see where Sly had shot him just four days before. Curtis thought about it for a second; it had only been four days since he arrived in Sunnyville, but so much had happened. Curtis hadn’t gotten much downtime in the past 18 months. He had hoped that leaving the Southern Slick would mean having a more relaxed journey, but every day in the Mesa Frontier continued to bring new challenges his way.

Mabel glanced at Curtis’s side, but didn’t get a good look before Curtis lowered his tunic again; it was awkward trying to look at his wound while guiding his horse at the same time.

“There might not even be a scar for that one,” Curtis remarked. “This one on the other hand,” he said, touching his shoulder again. “Payton’s rifle is no joke.”

“You could’ve died,” Mabel whimpered. “If she’d hit you just a little higher, you’d be gone.” She rested her head against Curtis’s back and stared into the desert.

“Yeah,” Curtis sighed. “It’s, uh, it’s pretty risky bein’ a wanted Outlaw. I try not to think about it too much.”

Curtis whipped his horse’s reins to bring the metallic steed to a canter, and the two of them, with Sly and Firefly not far behind, hurried on toward Proudkeep. Proudkeep was farther away from Onyxlanding than most towns were from each other. The trip from Onyxlanding to Proudkeep took at least a full day with no stops. It was already midafternoon; the scorching sun would have burned even Curtis and Mabel’s tanned skin that day if it weren’t for their hats and ponchos.

Even with his clothing, Sly’s pale complexion was starting to look slightly pink. The Ranger raced to catch up to Curtis and Mabel, then rode alongside them. Mabel glanced at Sly who met her eyes for a moment, then looked toward the ground before facing Curtis.

“Hear that?” Sly asked, cupping a hand over his ear.

Curtis and Mabel listened closely. Just barely over the pounding of the horses’ hooves on the sand they could make out the sound of rushing water.

“The Twin River East!” Sly shouted with excitement and pointed ahead. He snapped Firefly’s reins and galloped toward the river which revealed itself from behind the waves of heat emanating from the desert sand. By the time Curtis and Mabel caught up, Sly was already down by the water letting Firefly drink; Sly took off his boots and rolled up his pants to dip his feet into the water.

Curtis stopped about thirty feet up the bank, then hopped down from his horse. Mable climbed down on her own—much to the pleasure of Curtis’s wounded shoulder—and skipped down to the water. Sly looked up at the Outlaw who stood by his horse.

“I figured she didn’t need water,” Sly started, “but Firefly was looking quite parched. Or was yours a he? Which did we decide?”

Curtis chuckled. “I don’t like bringin’ it near deep water. It’ll sink right to the bottom if it falls in.”

Sly shrugged and knelt down to splash his face. Mabel, too, removed her boots and rolled up her pants. She took a few steps into the shallower part of the river and felt the strong current. She looked out to the deeper parts if the river where the current was even stronger and saw how easily one could be swept away. The river averaged about 30 feet across; it would be difficult for someone stuck in the middle to make it to shore.

“I’ve never been to the river before,” Mabel said kneeling down to dunk her hands into the water.

Sly watched her. She didn’t give any indication that she was upset with him for walking out on her the night before.

Maybe I’m overthinking this, he thought. Still, I feel bad. He took a step toward the girl. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice. I used to go all the time when I lived in the Big City.”

Mabel stood and shook her hands, then wiped them dry on her blouse. She wandered over to Firefly who was still drinking from the rushing river. Curtis eyed Sly; he noticed Sly’s hesitance when speaking to Mabel and his apparent discomfort in approaching her, but he kept it to himself. When Firefly finished drinking, Sly refilled the water bottle he purchased in Onyxlanding. Curtis and Mabel did the same, then climbed back atop the metallic steed.

“We can cross the bridge,” Sly said after climbing onto Firefly and pointed south.

The group rode south about a quarter-of-a-mile to reach the stone bridge. As they approached, they noticed a carriage half-way across that appeared to have flipped onto its side. The horse leading it stood in front seeming to have broken free from its straps. Curtis and Sly picked up the pace and could see that one of the wooden wheels on the hooded wagon was broken off. When they reached the carriage, they heard a grown from underneath it.

Sly and Curtis jumped down from their mounts and rushed over to help a bald man trapped under the hooded cart. The man groaned again as the Ranger and Outlaw each grabbed hold of one end of the cart to hoist it up for the man to crawl out. Just as they were about to lift, the man spoke.

“Please,” the man bleated. “Help my brother. He fell into the river.”

The man pointed to the low wall of the bridge. Sly looked at Curtis, then released his grip on the carriage.

“Hold on,” Sly said, then made his way to the edge of the bridge and looked into the rushing river below. He could see another man, one with a bald head just as the one under the cart had, who was holding on to a large rock jutting out from the middle of the river. The bridge hovered only six-or-so feet above the river.

“Dawn,” Sly shouted, looking to Curtis. “If you hold on to my legs, I think I can reach him and pull him up!”

“Sit tight fer just a sec,” Curtis told the man underneath the carriage. He hurried over to Sly and put his weight on the Ranger’s legs as Sly leaned over the wall and tried to reach for the man in the water.

“Hey,” Sly shouted over the noise from the strong current. “We’re going to help! I need you to try and pull yourself up and reach a hand toward me!”

The man in the water looked up, but just then, Curtis felt a hefty shove from behind and his grip loosened on Sly’s legs. The ranger slipped from Curtis’s grip and plunged into the water. He was quickly swept away and the man holding the rock was knocked from his hold. Curtis recomposed himself and turned around to find the first man freed from under the carriage and holding a revolver toward Curtis. He looked to Mabel who stood to the side with a fearful expression.

“I’m sorry, Curtis,’ she whimpered. “He aimed at me first so I couldn’t say anythin’.”

Curtis sighed and looked back to the man, raising his hands. The man grinned and seemed to be holding back laughter.

“So, you’re not really needin’ any help, huh?” Curtis guessed.

“Oh, you can help me,” the man said in a playful tone. “Empty your pockets! I’ll be takin’ yer horses, too!” He released a harsh laugh.

“Damn,” Curtis whispered. “I guess that’s what I get fer tryin’ t’be nice.”

Curtis slowly lowered his hands and began lifting his poncho. When the man noticed Curtis’s guns at his hips, he jerked his own and commanded Curtis to put them on the ground. Curtis complied, then showed that his pockets were empty.

“Don’t think yer purse went unnoticed,” the man sneered. “Toss that down, too!”

Curtis begrudgingly obeyed, then said, “I assume yer friend in the water is in on this, too. So, what can I call my muggers, the Bald Bandits?”

The man howled with laughter, then looked Curtis in the eyes. The man’s eye’s screamed ‘crazy.’

“We’re the Duster Brothers, Liam and Lyle!”

“Twins, huh? Which one’re you?”

“Folks call me the Dust Devil, Liam Boone! My younger brother’s known as the Dust Mite.”

Meanwhile downstream, Lyle Boone rushed through the water to catch up to Sly. The Ranger reached out to the Duster Brother as the two drew nearer and grabbed onto him once close enough. Lyle hoisted himself on top of Sly who was trying to support Lyle in the water, still under the impression that the bald man was in need of saving. The bandit shoved Sly’s head under the water as hard as he could, but the Ranger forced himself above the surface.

“What are you doing?” Sly asked confused.

Lyle pushed the Ranger’s head back under water, but Sly again brought himself back up and tried pushing Lyle off of himself. Lyle punched Sly in the nose, disorienting him along with the rapid current of the river, then punched a second time to knock him out. Once Sly was unconscious, Lyle grabbed the Ranger and began guiding him to the riverbank. Back on the bridge, Liam Boone still held his gun to Curtis.

“Good, good,” Liam growled. “The kid doesn’t have anythin’ valuable, does she?” he asked, looking to Mabel with an evil grin.

“No, she doesn’t,” Curtis answered. “Wouldn’t trust a kid her age with money or anythin’ like that.”

“Well, all right,” Liam chuckled. “Git goin’ then! Leave yer horses and head back the way ya came. If you’re lucky, you’ll make it to Onyxlandin’ before the heat gits ya!”

The bandit released a devilish giggle and nudged his gun toward Curtis who looked to Mabel and gestured for her to follow him. Curtis waited until Mabel passed Liam before slowly walking back toward the horses, but just as he began to walked away, Mabel lunged back and tried to take the gun away from Liam. Liam was stronger and easily shook away from Mabel’s grip, then aimed the gun toward her.

Curtis jumped in and pulled Liam’s arm back as he shot, firing into the air a few feet over Mabel’s head. The girl ducked with her hands on her head as Curtis scuffled with Liam. Curtis situated his foot behind Liam’s and forced the bandit to the ground, but he still held the gun. He fired another shot, but missed the Outlaw and snarled as he tried to get away from him. Curtis wrapped his arms around Liam from behind and directed his gun in the opposite direction from where Mabel crouched.

Mabel took the opportunity to duck behind the fallen carriage and use its body as cover. Curtis wrestled with Liam on the ground, trying not to let the bandit throw himself down and smash Curtis between his body and the stone bridge.

“That was a dirty trick ya pulled,” Liam said between grunts and groans.

“Dirtier than robbin’ people who were only tryin’ t’help?” Curtis retorted.

“It’s not about playin’ clean in the Valley Strip. It’s about makin’ money to thrive and the fun of doin’ it!”

“I probably would’a agreed with ya in a recent phase of my life,” Curtis answered. “But lately, I’ve found that money ain’t worth the consequences!”

The two struggled for dominance for a moment longer, then Curtis thrusted Liam upward and punched the Duster Brother. He went in for another blow, but Liam leapt back and avoided the attack, then aimed his revolver at Curtis and cracked a maniacal grin.

“I tried to let ya go,” Liam said. “But now you’ll be facin’ the consequences!”

He pressed his finger against the trigger, but just before he fired a bullet at the Outlaw, a rock collided with the back of his shoulder. He turned around to see Mabel duck back behind the carriage. In his absence of attention, Curtis once again lunged at Liam and grabbed the arm with the gun to keep it pointed away from himself and Mabel.

“Another dirty trick!” Liam screeched.

“You’re no better!” Curtis replied.

Curtis thought for a moment. This was his chance. He could lure Liam in.

“If you’re all about fun,” Curtis began, “then why not indulge in an exciting duel between two skilled gunmen?”

During the scuffle, Liam raised an eyebrow and look at Curtis’s face.

“What d’ya say?” Curtis continued. “You and me, fair and square.”

“And what if I don’t wanna?” Liam answered. “I’m a slippery fella; we already know I’ll get the upperhand if we keep wrestlin’ like this. Just give up and let me kill ya!”

“Ain’t no way in hell that I’m givin’ up on this,” Curtis said.

He had him.

The two grappled for another moment, then Liam loosened up saying, “All right, all right!”

The two let go of one another and Liam looked at the Outlaw. He continued.

“You’re the first person t’ever suggest a duel to determine their fate,” he said. “I guess if I win, I get to keep your stuff anyway. But if I lose…”

Curtis shrugged. It didn’t matter. Liam had already fallen under his Spell.

Mabel made her way to the middle of the cart and poked her head above the side to watch the scene unfold. Curtis handed her one of his revolvers.

“I’ve got ‘im,” he whispered. “Just trust me.” He turned to Liam again. “The girl will act as judge,” he said. “She’ll aim the gun up and fire. The moment we hear the shot, we draw. Sound fair enough?”

“Yeah, that’ll do,” Liam agreed.

Curtis retrieved his other revolver and paced away from Liam. The two stood opposite each other about twenty paces and hovered their hands over their holstered guns. Mabel shivered nervously, but held the gun above her head. She plugged one ear with a finger from her empty hand and tried to use her raised shoulder to muffle the sound for the other. Curtis focused on his gun. He knew his plan. Liam swallowed hard and wiggled his fingers over his holster. Mabel took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then fired.

Liam swiftly pulled his revolver from its holster and aimed at Curtis, but before he could fire, Curtis dove to the side and hid behind the carriage. Then he drew his weapon and fired toward the horse standing in front of the cart, startling it. Liam glanced at the horse as it brought its forelegs into the air before slamming them down and galloping away. He reached a hand out as if to try and stop the horse, but failed to grab its reins.

“Wait!” Liam called to the horse.

He began to face the cart again, but was caught off guard by Curtis’s fist flying toward his face. Curtis knocked Liam in the jaw.

“Why you—” Liam tried to say before Curtis kneed the bandit and punched his gut.

Curtis put his foot around Liam’s and tripped him again, sending him tumbling to the ground. This time, Liam fell back and slammed his head against the low wall on the side of the bridge, falling unconscious. He dropped his gun and fell limp. Mabel, who had ducked behind the carriage right after firing the revolver, lifted herself up and saw Curtis standing over Liam. She ran out from behind the wagon and looked at the bandit.

“You were reckless,” Curtis said to her.

She looked up at the Outlaw and frowned.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” she said. “It seemed like you were really stuck, so I tried t’help. And I did! You got the opportunity to fight with ‘im and trap ‘im with your spell.”

“Yeah, but what if I hadn’t succeeded? You’d’ve been in some serious trouble.”

Mabel frowned more and looked away from Curtis.

“I can take care of myself,” she whimpered. She rested the revolver on the side of the carriage that was flipped upward and walked toward the horses.

“I know,” Curtis replied quietly.

Curtis picked up his gun and followed Mabel. She tried to lift herself onto Curtis’s horse, but wasn’t able to swing her leg over its back.

“You’re getting’ there,” Curtis said in praise. “Stay here, though.”

“Why?” Mabel rebelled immediately.

“Watch after Firefly. The Dust Devil over there shouldn’t wake up anytime soon, but just in case, take this.”

Curtis handed Liam’s revolver to Mabel.

“He doesn’t appear to have any other weapons on ‘im. I’m goin’ t’check on Sly. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He guided his horse toward the bridge, then turned back to Mabel.

“I trust you, Mabel,” he called back.

Curtis then whipped the reins on his horse and galloped over the bridge, then followed the river south downstream. Meanwhile, Lyle finished taking anything valuable from Sly—his purse, his boots and poncho (which weren’t very valuable but were new and clean), and his seven-shot revolvers.

Never seen anythin’ like these before, Lyle thought.

He wrapped his loot in Sly’s poncho, then slung it over his shoulder. He turned to head back up stream to where he assumed Liam had been successful, but didn’t notice the sound of hurried galloping over his devious thoughts. The bandit was met with cold, steel hooves to his chest and fell to the ground. Curtis ran up after the kick and brought his boot to Lyle’s face.

Lyle recoiled and rolled on the ground, holding his nose. Curtis slowly approached and pointed a gun at the bandit. Lyle looked up with his bloody nose at the backlit Outlaw who towered above. He sighed and sniffled, then wiped blood on his sleeve.

“Jig’s up, Dust Mite,” Curtis said.

“Who you callin’ Dust Mite?” Lyle questioned. “I’m the Dust Devil!”

“You’re Lyle Boone right? Yer brother, Liam, said he’s the Dust Devil.”

“Well, he’s a liar! I’m obviously the superior brother.”

“Obviously.”

Curtis whipped his revolver at Lyle and knocked him out cold, then reclaimed Sly’s belongings. Sly came-to and saw Curtis leaning over him and waving a hand. His right cheek felt oddly pained.

“Git up, Sly,” Curtis commanded. “The Duster Brothers are Done…ster Brothers…”

“What?” Sly inquired, still dazed.

“Never mind. Come on, Mabel’s waitin’ at the bridge.”

Sly stood and looked at the bald man lying unconscious on the ground. Curtis handed him his things, as well, and picked up Lyle’s revolver.

“Okay, I see,” the Ranger said.

“Ever heard of ‘em? The Duster Brothers?”

“No.”

Sly took the bounties pamphlet from his pocket and scanned through the names; he didn’t see either of the Boone brothers’ names anywhere on the list.

“Probably wouldn’t be worth the hassle to bring ‘em in, huh?” Curtis wondered aloud.

“Probably not for money, no,” Sly said. “But should we let them keep wandering the Mesa Frontier? I have a feeling that we’re the first ones to successfully protect ourselves against their scheme.”

Yeah, we, Curtis thought. “Eh, I don’t see it as a big deal. We can take their carriage with their stuff. I guess whatever they have is probably stolen, but at least they’ll be left with nothing.”

“I guess you’re right.”

The two hopped atop Curtis’s horse and rode calmly back to the bridge; Sly had wound up almost 300 yards downstream. They found Mabel standing by Firefly and watching the still unconscious Liam Boone when they returned. She perked up when she saw Curtis and Sly approaching the bridge.

“Sly!” she called. “You’re okay!”

“Relatively, yeah,” Sly chuckled.

“Help me flip this thing, will ya, Sly?” Curtis requested.

Curtis and Sly hoisted the carriage right-side-up and found the detached wheel underneath and seemingly only disconnected rather than broken off. They found a small bag of tools inside the hooded wagon, along with other goodies, and screwed the wheel back on.

“By the way, Curtis,” Mabel said as the men were fixing the cart and rummaging through its contents. “I’ve noticed somethin’…about yer Spell.”

Curtis stood straight and looked at Mabel.

“Yeah?” he entertained. “What’s that?”

“Whenever you use it, you usually say ‘I’m not givin’ up on this’ or somethin’ along those lines. Why?”

Curtis sighed and tried to think of how to explain it.

“Well, it’s just the type of Spell I have. So, my Spell involves havin’ to speak with someone. In order to make someone duel me fair and square, I need t’make ‘em think that there’s no other outcome. Usually, I can convince ‘em just by talkin’ briefly with ‘em, but if I get the sense that they’re not catchin’ on, then I’ll say that to plant the thought in their head and trap ‘em in my Spell. Make sense?”

“Okay, I think I understand. So, that’s the phrase you use to both bait them into your Spell and check to see that it’s worked depending on their response?”

“You got it.”

“It’s like your mantra.”

“We should start a jar and keep track of every time you use a word you learned in school.”

Mabel chuckled but frowned slightly at the joke. Sly also felt uncomfortable.

I’m sorry Mabel, he thought, but didn’t say it. “You know,” Sly said, trying to change the subject. “That sounds a lot like a Spell that a Ranger used some years ago, before he died that is. Have either of you ever heard of Irving Craig? He was called ‘Silver Tongue’ by his peers.”

Mabel shook her head, but Curtis nodded slowly.

“His Spell involved talking to people, too,” Sly explained. “Once he activated it, he had to keep the target within line-of-sight or the Spell would break.”

Curtis thought for a moment, then said, “Hmph, mine doesn’t require line-o’-sight once I’ve caught someone in it.”

“Yours also isn’t quite as powerful,” Sly said.

Curtis rolled his eyes.

“Silver Tongue could control his victim’s actions once they were caught,” Sly said. “I don’t really know how it worked, though. Apparently, he used to say stuff to make sure it worked, too, though. I just noticed the similarities is all.”

“That’s really fascinating,” Mabel said. “I knew that every Spell is different, but I didn’t know there are different categories.”

“You didn’t even know Spells existed before comin’ with me,” Curtis said.

Mabel stuck her tongue out playfully.

“Anyway,” Curtis continued. “We should get movin’ to Proudkeep. We’ll already arrive in the late morning with the delay from the Duster Brothers. Besides, I don’t feel like stickin’ around until Liam here wakes up.”

Sly emptied the Brothers’ guns of ammo and tossed them into the river after declaring that the group wouldn’t need them; Curtis agreed. The Ranger stashed the extra ammo into his bag and tossed the sack aboard the carriage. Other possessions on the carriage included nice-looking clothes for men and women, food rations and waterskins of varying fullness, a wanted poster for each of the Duster Brothers (neither of which labeled either one of them as the Dust Devil or Dust Mite), knapsacks, more revolver ammunition, and two als, seven silver, 22 dimes, and 11 pennies.

Curtis and Sly agreed to split the money relatively evenly amongst the two of them until they got to Proudkeep where they could deposit it into a bank. Sly brought Firefly to the front of the carriage to tie him up, but thought for a moment before doing so.

“Would it make more sense to tie your horse up here since it doesn’t get fatigued from hauling weight around?” he asked Curtis.

The Outlaw shrugged and led his horse to the front of the carriage and tied it up. Then, he and Mabel climbed into the hooded wagon as Sly rode Firefly alongside. Sly looked at the crude map of Curtis’s creation and pointed in the direction of Proudkeep before leading the way on Firefly.

“Let’s get a real map in Proudkeep, yeah?” Curtis called.

Sly laughed and rode on. Mabel chuckled. After a few more hours, the gang noticed the silhouette of a city in the distance as the sun fell below the horizon.

To be continued…