On a noon day, a train comes through the desert, its white smoke fills the sky, and stops at a station named Flamewood. People begin to come outside the passenger cars with their luggage, and some of them hand theirs to the porters nearby. A very fine young gentleman steps outside the passenger car and stood on the platform. He was wearing a nice suit and carrying a leather suitcase in his right hand.
The man looked like in his 20s and had a round face, black almond eyes, black medium shaggy hair, an aquiline nose, narrow ears, slightly rose natural lips, and a cool skin tone.
He looked around to see if there were any porters nearby, but eventually, there was no one to help him. He suddenly saw a young boy looking to do some work. Then he whistled at the boy''s direction. When the boy turned his head around, he eventually raised his left arm and waved at the boy. The boy noticed this and walked towards him.
The kid had a round face with black eyes, a small nose, and pink lips. He wore a long-sleeved blue shirt and a brown short. There was a red scarf around his neck also.
"How can I help you sir?" the boy asked.
"Could you take me to the Pearl Hotel?" He asked.
"Right this way!", and the boy raised his hand with his palm open to carry the suitcase.
"Don''t worry I can carry it; I just need to go to the Hotel" the man said.
"Ok then! Follow me", the boy and the man exited the station.
While going, the man sees a line of buildings from left to right and realizes that he has to go through an alley of 2 buildings. Before entering the alley, the man asks the boy to give him a guide to the Flamewood town before going to the Hotel. So the boy said sure and told him to follow him, they both ignored the alley and walked towards the left side of the buildings.
They both reached the first building''s facade and entered the red sandy road. Behind them was the entrance to the town. The man sees people talking and walking on the road and horses being tied to hitching rails.
The boy raised his right arm and pointed it to the right side and said "So we both came from that side, the buildings on this side are Stables, General store, Courthouse, Bank, Saloon, Blacksmith, and the Barbershop. Behind the Courthouse and the Bank is the Train station, earlier we were going to enter the town through there."
The boy lowered his right arm, then raised his left arm and pointed it to the left side and said "On this side, the buildings are the Sheriff''s office, Post office, Newspaper office, Tailor shop, Pearl hotel, Pharmacy, Telegraph office and the Funeral parlor. Behind these buildings are cabins and houses for the people who work in the town and farms. Every building in this town has hitching rails and water cauldrons in front of them so horses can rest." The boy concluded his guide.
"The buildings here are huge and also you know your way around here", the man said with a smile.
"Well, I was born here so I know my way around the town", the boy also said with a smile.
"You are too smart for a kid, what''s your name?"
"My name is Sam Colton; I''m 8 years old and people here call me little Sam. What''s your name sir?", Little Sam asked the man.
"Well! My name is Luke Roderick; I''m 25 years old", he said.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Roderick", Little Sam said.
"You can just call me Luke, I''m tired of people calling me Mr Roderick", Luke smiled.
"Hahaha......I''ve never called people by their name, instead I call them by their surnames, but you are different" Little Sam laughed.
"Let it be like it then", Luke chuckled." Is that a slingshot in your pocket?"
"Yeah, it''s mine, I use it to practice my shooting skills with pebbles and small stones." Little Sam said.
"That''s good, slingshot can be handy when you are in danger. Before going to the hotel, I''ve gotta go to the Tailor shop because I want some clothes to be made. Here''s a tip." Luke gives 50 cents to Little Sam.
"This is a lot, I didn''t even carry your briefcase and why tip me?", Little Sam was confused.
"You guided me to the town, and it was a huge thing you did for me", Luke said.
"Thank you, Luke, I will get going now and see you later", Little Sam waved his hand and ran away happily.
Luke goes to the Tailor shop and meets a Tailor and starts to talk with him. After some time, Little Sam plays with the town''s kids on the road and suddenly sees Luke inside the Tailor shop. Then he peeps through the window and sees Luke talking and giving his measurements to the Town''s finest Tailor, Adam.
While looking at him, Little Sam thought " Only the richest people in the town get their clothes made by Adam, I hope Luke won''t go broke by spending a lot of money on those clothes".
After a while, Luke exits the Tailor shop and goes to the Pearl Hotel which is next door.
Luke enters through the front door and speaks with the female receptionist.
"Good afternoon Sir, and welcome to the Pearl Hotel, how can I help you?", the receptionist asked.
"Good afternoon, I came to take a reserved room".
The receptionist starts to look at the reserved rooms book.
"Can I have your name sir?", she asked.
"Luke Roderick", He said.
She suddenly stopped looking at the book and slowly looked at Luke with an amazed face by blinking fast and gulping.
"I''m deeply sorry sir! Wasn''t our porter at the station when you arrived?". She started to sweat slowly.
"No", Luke said calmly.
"Please forgive us for our poor service sir and it won''t happen again", she started to panic.
"Don''t worry I got help along the way from someone", Luke patted the shoulder of the receptionist.
She calmed down.
The receptionist rang the bell on the counter and a bellhop arrived, then she gave the room key to the bellhop and said, "Escort Mr. Roderick to his room on the 3rd floor,5th door.
The bellhop requested Luke to come with him and then he carried Luke''s bag.
After they went, the receptionist told a servant to tell the manager that Mr. Roderick is here.
The bellhop opened the room door, put the briefcase on the bed, and started to talk about the room and their services.
The room had a big white comfortable bed, 2 small drawers beside it and 2 portable lamps on top of it. Around the left corner is a big cupboard and next to it is a table with 4 chairs. There is an attached bathroom in the right corner and a balcony in the middle of the left and right corners.
The walls of the room are painted white and yellow. The ceiling and the floor are made out of dark oak wood. There is a painting of an eagle flying above native Americans on the bedside wall.
The bathroom had a sink, a toilet, a bathtub with a shower and curtains. A small window can be seen above the sink.
The bellhop said that servants would clean your room, give massages, wash your clothes, bring food, and do more services if needed.
The bellhop left the room and Luke was alone there, then he opened the balcony and went outside for a moment. He put his hand on the rail and looked around.
He saw beautiful women wearing, long dresses and skirts, blouses and bodices, bonnets and hats, corsets and petticoats.
He then suddenly saw kids playing on the road and saw Little Sam playing with them.
Luke closed the balcony and went to take a shower.
After taking a shower, he opened his briefcase and put on a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a belt. Inside the briefcase, there was a revolver, a bullet box, and a holster. He thought he wouldn''t need it for now, so he closed the briefcase and left for the Saloon.
It was a little bit dark outside and instead of getting dinner at the hotel, he chose to have dinner at the Saloon. He enters through the wooden door and saw men drinking, talking, singing, and gambling, also he saw women dancing on the stage. The saloon has 2 floors, the second floor has about 5 rooms.
Luke goes to the bar counter and asks for a drink.
The bartender behind the counter looked around 40 years old. He wore a white colored button-up shirt with a stiff collar, a dark waistcoat, high-waisted cotton black pants with suspenders, a black bow tie, and a pair of brown leather shoes.
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He has an oval face with black hair and eyes, a raised nose, narrow ears, a handlebar mustache, and heavy upper lips.
"I''ve never seen you around boy, are you new to the town?", the bartender asked.
"Yes, I came to the town today", Luke replied.
"Alright what do you want to drink?", the bartender said
"I''ll have a beer", Luke said.
Luke sat on the chair in front of the bar counter.
"Do you have peanuts?", he asked the bartender.
The bartender gives Luke a bowl of peanuts and a beer bottle.
"Tell me boy what''s your name and where you come from?", the bartender asked.
"Well, my name is Luke and I''m from the state of Oasis", Luke said.
"Didn''t Oasis appoint a new senator named John a few days ago?".
"Yeah, they did".
"Hahaha.........then why did you leave there and come to this hell hole", the bartender smiled.
"I came here for a vacation".
"We people are so glad that the previous senator Edward got thrown out, it turns out that he worked with the most notorious gang in Eagle''s Nest, Gang Caravon," the bartender said the name with a whisper. "The gang gave Senator Edward treasures and drugs, in return, he gave them protection from the law,
"Could tell me about this Gang Caravon", Luke told him while drinking the beer.
"We exactly don''t know where they live but there are rumors that says, they live near the South-east canyon side. Sometimes they come to each town in Eagle''s Nest and steal people''s money and goods. They are cruel people, and if someone tries to go against them, it will be the end of that person.
"When will they come here?".
"They haven''t come here recently, but some people in this town owe them money, so they can come here anytime. My advice for you is to go back to Oasis or, you will be dead very soon."
Luke smirked when the bartender said that to him.
The bartender notices the smirk and thinks for himself that There is something on with Luke.
"I still haven''t asked your name", Luke said.
"My name is William", he said.
"Nice to meet you William", Luke said.
Luke finished the beer and asked for another one, he ate the peanuts in the bowl one by one.
"So William, tell me what you think about the new senator?", Luke asked William.
"I hope he is not corrupted like Edward, but I believe that he can wipe out all the violence happening in Eagle''s Nest, so people here can live without a problem."
Luke nodded when William said that.
Suddenly 3 men enters the saloon. People stopped talking, singing, and gambling. All the dancers quickly exited the stage, and the whole Saloon was silenced.
They looked like gang members.
These three men wore the same outfit: White Stetson hats, long-sleeved white shirts, gray waistcoats, grey wool pants, leather belts with holsters, and black boots.
"Oh no!!!," William panicked. "They are the members of Caravon," William whispered to Luke.
"Where is Jason? The one who works on the farm? Where is he?" member #1 asked.
No one didn''t dare to speak, Luke looked around and saw people''s eyes filled with fear.
"I SAID WHERE HE IS DAMN IT, SPEAK!!!", member #1 shouted because of the silence.
Then he picked his revolver from the holster, raised it, and shot the ceiling.
The women inside screamed when they heard the bullet sound.
Suddenly a man stands up from his chair in a corner table and stares at the members with fear.
"There you are", member #1 said happily. "Stay right there".
3 of them walked towards Jason''s table.
"Jason buddy," member #1 put his hand on Jason''s shoulder. " You know why I''m here right?".
Jason nodded.
"Good, you owe us some bucks and we are here to claim it", member #1 said.
"Please give me 2 more weeks Sir, I still don''t have money to pay you", Jason said, frightened.
"2 more weeks? This guy is insane", member #1 told it to the other 2 members beside him."
"Last month you didn''t pay and said you would pay this month, now you are refusing to pay this month and says to give you another 2 weeks. What should I go and tell my boss then? I can''t go empty-handed to him, so DON''T YOU TEST MY PATIENCE, GIVE THE DAMN MONEY," member #1 shouted at Jason and pointed the revolver onto his head.
Luke notices that there is a boss who runs the Gang Caravon.
"Please I''m begging you, I have a family to feed", Jason begged. "With this season, it''s hard to grow crops in the field".
Member #1 sighed after hearing that.
"Ok OK alright, since you gave me the reasons, I won''t kill you today", member #1 said it and took away the revolver from Jason''s head.
"Thank you", Jason praised him.
"I''ll give you one more chance, 2 weeks from now on to pay us and if you can''t do that, there will be consequences", member #1 said.
"I''ll pay you soon enough", Jason was happy.
Member #1 started to smile.
"But here''s the thing, your chance comes with a price", member #1 said.
Then he grabbed Jason''s head and banged it on the table. All the 3 members started to punch and kick roughly to Jason. Member #2 picked up a chair and smashed it on Jason''s back.
" After I''m done with him, I''ll come for others who owe us", member #1 said.
Luke eventually tried to get up to save Jason, but William grabbed his shoulder and stopped him from getting into the scene.
The people saw Luke''s action.
Member #3 saw this and told member #1 about it, 3 of them stopped hitting Jason and started to walk towards Luke.
Luke sees Jason on the floor with bruises and blood all over but luckily, he''s alive. No one went near to check Jason or carry him to a doctor, because they feared that they would end up as him in the end.
The members stood in front of Luke at the bar counter.
"Boss he tried to stand against us", member #3 said.
Luke stared at the members like he didn''t care.
"Please spare the boy, he''s new to the town," William said.
Everyone stares at Luke and thinks that he will die if he does anything stupid.
"New to town eh!", member #1 said. "Boy you got guts if you stood against us, people here should obey the Caravon Gang, or they will be killed or beaten like that man on the floor", member #1 pointed at Jason. "Our boss directly ordered us to kill whoever gets in our way, and if you do anything against us, I''ll make sure it will be the last thing you do," member #1 threatened Luke.
Member #1 sees Luke''s beer bottle on the bar counter and picks it up.
He then pours the beer on Luke''s head, other 2 members start to laugh at Luke, while he gets wet by the beer.
"Look at him, he looks like a wet chicken," member #3 laughed.
"HAHAHAHA........you are damn right about it man," member #2 replied.
People around were disbelieved of what was happening to Luke, even though all of them wanted to help him, they couldn''t.
"Consider this as a warning boy," member #1 said to Luke.
Suddenly Luke grabs the beer bottle from member #1 and smashes it on member #1''s face by knocking him down.
People were astounded by what Luke did to member #1.
While seeing this, member #3 grabbed his revolver from the holster and began to point it at Luke, with quick thinking, Luke picked up his first empty beer bottle on the counter and smashed it on member #3''s face, his revolver dropped, and Luke caught it.
Member #2 was going to grab the gun from his holster, Luke then shot the floor between member #2''s legs and backed off, then he grabbed a chair and smashed it on member #2. Luke slowly picked up member #2''s revolver, removed the bullets from the cylinder and threw it away.
He hears a revolver grip pulling down, then turns around and sees member #1 has gotten up, pointing a revolver at him with his right hand while his left hand covers half of the face due to the pain.
"YOU DAMN HAVE THE COURAGE TO FIGHT WITH ME BOY", member #1 panted. "KNOCKING DOWN 2 OF MY MEN TO THE FLOOR, DON''T EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING AWAY FROM THIS EASILY. I''LL KILL YOU!!!!," member #1 screamed.
Before pulling the trigger, a pebble comes at a speed and hits member #3''s forehead. He steps down a bit. Luke looked behind to see who did it, but no one was there instead the scared people.
"Augh my head!", he closed his eyes for a second.
The next second he opened his eyes; Luke punched his face and lifted his right arm to prevent him from shooting. He pulls the trigger, and a bullet goes through the Saloon''s window.
Luke kicks member #1''s stomach with his knee, drops his gun, and then throws him out of the Saloon. Member #1 rolled on the road.
The sky was dark and there were lamp lights everywhere for able to see. People inside the Saloon went outside to see what''s going to happen next, and people from other buildings came outside to see what the ruckus was about.
Member #1 stood up from the road, his clothes were covered in sand. Luke removes all the bullets from the revolver cylinder and throws it away. Member #1 realized that Luke wanted to have a hand-to-hand combat with him.
" Someone go pick up Jason from inside the Saloon and take him to a doctor, he''s in terrible pain and I''ll pay for his recovery and the damage that is done here", Luke ordered the people.
A few of them went inside the saloon and carried Jason on their shoulders to the pharmacy.
Member #1 throws punches at Luke, but Luke blocks all of it and punches member #1 back. After a while member #1 drops on his knees in front of Luke for being exhausted and blood coming out from his nose, then he looks directly into Luke''s eyes with a bruised face.
"You are no ordinary person," he coughed. "You came to this town for a reason, and I wonder what it is. No matter how strong you are, you are no match for our us," he then touched the road with his bare hands and looked down for a bit while coughing, afterwards he raises his head. " If our boss finds about you......you''re dead!".
Member #1 faints.
Luke looked around and saw people crowded around him; they all were whispering to each other, and it looked like they were scared or happy for what Luke did. Little Sam too was in the crowd and saw everything, instead of being scared of Luke, he was happy because there was someone brave enough to stand against those 3 Caravon members.
The sheriff entered the scene with prison guards beside him and ordered to take away the 3 Caravon members to the "Blanco prison". The prison guards took the 3 knocked-out members and leaves the town.
People talked with the sheriff, and they explained everything from the beginning to him.
The sheriff was a tall skinny guy, he wore a white Panama hat with a black ribbon on it, a long-sleeved blue shirt, a black vest with 2 pockets and a gold-badge on the right side, a pair of brown pants, a leather belt with a holster, and a pair of black boots with spurs.
His face was round and had, white hair, a white handlebar mustache, black eyes, a hooked nose, square ears, and heavy upper lips.
He kinda looked old.
The sheriff knew that Luke wasn''t a folk around here, so he went near to talk with him.
"You aren''t around here, where do you come from boy?"
"Oasis", Luke replied.
"Hmmm......leaving such a big state to come to a dangerous place like this, that''s stupid," the sheriff said. " You are young to fight with people like these, you could have even died while fighting with them, and yet you are lucky enough to be alive."
"I did what I was supposed to do", Luke said.
" You did a good thing by taking down those criminals, you also risked your own life for it. If a word about this gets out to the Caravon Gang, you are in danger, and even I can''t help you with that". The sheriff said.
"I can take care of myself," Luke said.
"Now I have to take you under arrest because, you did some damage in the saloon, it''s the law here, you may come with me to my office, and I''ll ask you a few questions, then you have to spend the rest of the night in the jail", the sheriff said.
"Fair enough", Luke nodded.
The sheriff handcuffed Luke and started to walk toward his office. While they were going, people started to praise Luke for the good thing he did. Some tried to bail him out by giving money, but the sheriff refused.
Both went inside the office and the Sheriff closed the door. There was a table in the right corner between 2 chairs, and both of them sat down.
"My name is Hank Anderson and I''m the sheriff of this town". He introduced himself. " Ok, I''m gonna ask some questions, and I want you to be honest with me, understood?" he said.
"Yes," Luke replied.
"Who are you? And why did you come to this town?".
At the same time, the interrogation was going on, Little Sam saw Luke and Hank talking to each other while watching them from the Stables across the road. He sees both of them speaking through the window even it is a little bit far away.
Suddenly Hank''s face started to change. His mouth went shut; his eyes became big by raising his eyebrows. It looked like he found out something, maybe the truth? This reaction confused Little Sam.
Hank immediately got up from his chair and uncuffed Luke. Then Luke got up by rubbing his wrists. Little Sam saw Hank apologizing to Luke and didn''t realize why. Luke then patted his shoulder while smiling.
After they finished talking, Hank opened the door and let Luke go to the hotel. Little Sam hid behind the long water cauldron in front of him to prevent getting noticed by Luke or Hank.
While Luke is on the road, he hears Hank trying to say something.
"Could you meet me here again after breakfast tomorrow," Hank requested.
"Sure, I''ll come", he replied and waved his hand instead of saying goodbye.
When Luke is walking on the road, Little Sam thinks to himself, "Who is this man actually?".
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