Now Playing: Hellfire
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Chapter Fifteen concluded with:
Dehner coughed
from the smoke. “We’ve got to get out of here!”
Hosea and Gail were already standing by the door to the storage room. Rance and
Stacey quickly joined them but Rance shook his head when Hosea started to open
the door. “By now, at least some of the guards are outside. The front door is
locked. They know we will be coming out the back. We’ll walk into a hail of
bullets.”
Gail put a hand to her throat. “So, we burn to death or get gunned down by
outlaws!”
Chapter Sixteen
The
Quick Dollar was engulfed in smoke as the fire continued on its voracious path
of destruction. Ashes tinged with red began to rain all around them.
“What are we gonna do?” Hosea yelled.
Dehner gave the young man an intense
stare. “Listen carefully, prophet.”
Less than a minute later, Hosea
rushed into the storage room. Rance crawled behind him, hoping he couldn’t be
seen through the window. Hosea leaned against the wall beside the door and
began to shout. “Oh Lord, take thy servant away to be with you. You have taken
my beloved. You have taken the gambler and his friend. Now, I beseech you to
take me. Like your servant Jonah, I beg for the comfort of death!”
Dehner was now at the opposite side
of the storage room, crouched down, gun drawn. He heard the laughter outside
and watched as the door barged open and three men stepped inside carrying their
weapons.
One of them continued to laugh as he
raised his Smith and Wesson, “I’ll gladly oblige ya--”
“Drop the guns!” The three gunmen
turned to fire and were met with three bullets from Rance’s Colt. Stacey and
Gail entered the storage room. Dehner picked up the two of the weapons dropped
by the gunmen and handed them to Hosea and his wife.
“You may need these. Help me drag
these owlhoots outside.” They dragged the three outlaws a safe distance from
the burning saloon. Sounds of panic almost overwhelmed the crackling and
collapse of buildings as the fire moved in all directions, engulfing the town.
Another sound joined the chaotic
cacophony: pounding hoofbeats. “The Rangers are here!” Stacey shouted as he ran
along the alleyway behind the buildings, his three companions following.
Reaching a clear passage, they crossed to the front of the street. Dehner eyed
the chaos that was all around. Every outlaw was scrambling to save himself. The
rangers halted and gawked at the destruction and panic in front of them
“Captain Hatfield, so good of you to
come to our aid!”
Hatfield was a large man with a
scarred face and a salt and pepper mustache. He headed a detachment of eight
men. “What’s going on, Hooper?!”
Stacey quickly explained the
situation. Dehner noticed looks of amusement on the faces of Gail and Hosea as
the gambler made himself the hero of his own narrative.
After finishing, Stacey hastily
introduced his three companions. Hatfield gave Dehner a curious stare. “Is this
the gent you told me about?” He asked Stacey. “The man who could outdraw Lars
Olsen?”
Dehner’s eyebrows lifted. “That’s
why you wired me to come here! You didn’t want to have to face Olsen yourself!”
Stacey shrugged his shoulders.
“There was a great deal on my schedule at the time. I had to delegate certain
tasks. I’m sure you understand.”
“I understand all right--”
“That’s enough, gents!” Hatfield
shouted. “There’s no way we can stop this fire. We hav‘ta find Olsen before
this town becomes a pile of ashes.”
Tomorrow: Chapter Seventeen, the
conclusion of Hellfire
