The Ride

“Dad!”

Ben rushes down the street, sliding to a stop in front of his foster-father. He presses his hands against the bullet wound in the old man’s chest, and looks at the man slowly walking away from them. With a growl erupting from his chest, he starts to stand, but a sharp cough attracts his attention.

Abandoning thoughts of immediate revenge, he turns back to his father, to the man who raised him ever since himself and six others were dropped off on this backwater planet. He had argued with his dad about taking this position, becoming the sheriff of this scum-infested town, but his father had not listened, had told him that if good people did nothing, then they supported evil.

The other six who came here with him, all became deputies at that point, or shortly thereafter. When Ben turned eighteen, he dutifully became one as well. Not because he believed his father’s statement, it was just that Jysella did.

Another cough drags Ben’s focus from the past to the here and now. “Dad?”

He is greeted by silence, and he lets loose a scream into the afternoon sun. A hand drops to his shoulder, and he looks up through tear-rimmed eyes to see his cousin, Anakin, standing there over him. “You can’t help him Ben, especially if you give into your hate and rage.”

Ben’s face hardens, as he stands. Keeping his eyes on the still form of his foster-father, he speaks to Anakin, “Gather the others; it’s well past time we cleaned this town out.”

“Ben-”

Ben spins towards his cousin. “I said gather the others. We’re cleaning up this town.”

Anakin tersely nods his head. “Don’t give into hate Ben. That is not the way.”

An hour later, he walks into the Sheriff’s Office, glancing once at the closed door where his father spent so many hours. He looks at those gathered, the six others who were abandoned on this planet along with him.

Jysella Horn, a dark-haired woman, a few years older than him, walks to him, and wraps her arm around him. “I’m sorry Ben.”

He looks down at her, and nods his head, and then he allows his gaze to travel to each of the others: Valin Horn, Myri and Syal Antilles, and Anakin and Tahiri Solo.

“Do any of you have any questions?”

They all shake their heads.

“Good, then we start with the scum who killed my pa. We don’t hold anything back, we are here to clean up this town, and make sure that none of these scum are around any more to inflict pain and suffering on the citizens around here. That’s our job. Now let’s ride.”

Ben walks out the back of the office, to a stable. Within it are seven horses, which Ben and the others quickly saddle up. When they are done, they ride out of the stable, the hoofs thundering against the hard packed dirt which makes up the road.

As they near the edge of the town, Ben pauses closing his eyes, deciding which way to go. After a moment, his eyes pops open and he takes off towards the south again, at a full gallop, heading towards the Illiko Mountains, and their numerous caves and caverns and Ullaso Pass.

As they near the pass, Ben pulls back on the reins, an unsettling feeling causing his stomach to clench. He reaches for his pistol, drawing it as he scans the mountains and hills on either side of the pass.

A cold sweat appears on the back of his neck as he glances towards a darkened overhang.

Something dangerous is up there.

He frowns, wondering how he knows that.

The crack of a rifle shot rings out on the still air.

He pulls down on the reins as his horse rears back, and as he looks around he growls in anger at the sight of Myri on the ground, her hand grasp protectively around her stomach. Ben can see blood flowing from her back as Syal screams out her name, and another rifle shot rings out.

Another name is screamed out, but his time it is Valin screaming Syal’s name.

Yet Ben saw where the shot came from, the darkened overhang. Aiming his pistol, he lets it drift to the left, and pulls the trigger.

A rustle of rocks and that sickening knot disappears from his stomach.

He turns back to the group, and sees Valin down next to Syal, who is bleeding profusely from a bullet wound to the shoulder. Valin looks up at him, an angry scowl on his face. “I’m taking them back to town.”

Ben nods his head, and starts down the pass once more. As he nears the end, he closes his eyes again, quieting his mind, trying to make up his mind.

Should he go on forward? No. He his instincts tell him to go to the west, further up into the mountains. Slowly.

Opening his eyes, he looks at the four that are left with him, and slides off his horse, and begins walking slowly up the trail leading higher into the mountains. Without looking behind him, he knows the others are following.

Two hundred meters up the mountain, Ben kneels on the path, looking at the footprints, and then he lifts his head and scans the hills around him. Frowning he stands back up and once more starts walking down the path.

As he slowly climbs upwards, that sickening feeling once more appears in his stomach, a knot of worry which causes his hands to become damp. He stops, and looks around; frowning as there is nothing within sight where a rifleman could be hiding.

He once more advances, and with every step that knot grows larger.

The explosion takes him entirely off guard, tossing him up onto a small ledge hidden from the path. He tries to lift himself up, but a wave of vertigo washes over him. He gives a quick glance over the edge, and sees Jysella on one side of the pile of rocks, and Tahiri and Anakin on the other. Then darkness claims him, and he rolls away from the edge of the ledge.

He comes to, in stages. The first thing he’s aware of is the thirst which burns his throat. Then it’s the myriad number of aches and pains.

The finally he is aware of the stone beneath him.

He opens his eyes and lets out a curse as the sun hammers down at him. He lifts himself up, fighting the vertigo, and looks down at the pile of rocks. He sees Anakin and Tahiri there, Tahiri fussing over him, as his leg is trapped beneath some rubble.

Then he looks to where Jysella was laying, and lets out another curse as the only thing there is dried blood. Slipping and sliding he gets off the ledge and back onto the path. As soon as he is down, he starts once more, hunting not only for the man who shot his dad, but also for Jysella.

Ben follows the occasional drop of blood, until he nears a copse of trees. The smell of burning wood and cooking meats tells him that he’s near a campsite. Slowing down, he creeps closer, and hears the deep laughter of men who are drunk and planning something they shouldn’t.

Looking around, he walks back down the path, and then climbs up a small hill so he will be able to look down onto the overlook. Once he gets into position, anger and disgust flares in his chest. He sees five men surrounding a fire. Off to the side is Jysella, her arms and legs bound, and a gag in her mouth.

Ben aims for the first man, and pulls the trigger. The man twitches backwards, and slams into the dirt. Then Ben starts slipping and sliding down the hill, and lines his pistol up with the second man. As the crack of return fire reaches him, he pulls the trigger and a second man flies backward, and lands unmoving.

The crack of the pistol again, and Ben can feel a brush of superheated air flash by his cheek, as a burning sensation takes up residence there. Then he pulls the trigger a third time, and a third man drops unmoving.

Ben reaches the bottom, and pulls the trigger again, but the Ben’s landing throws his aim off slightly, instead of the fourth man being killed, he twists around, screaming at the wound in his arm.

Ben walks over and fires his gun again, killing him as he looks for the fifth man, the important one, the leader of the gang.

He sees him, hiding behind Jysella, his pistol pressed against her ear.

The man smiles. “Howdy boy.”

“Let her go.”

“Now, I can’t do that. Her pretty little body is the only thing keeping you from killing me.”

“Then you realize that if you hurt her you’re dead.”

The man shrugs. “That won’t mean much, because she’d be dead as well, and then where would you be?”

Ben narrows his eyes, his lips tugging downwards.

The man’s smile grows larger. “Why don’t you drop your gun?”

Ben hesitates, and as the man presses his gun harder against the soft point beneath Jysella’s ear, she lets out a muffled squeak.

“All right, I’m dropping it.” He lets go of his gun.

“Good, now kick it over here.”

Ben complies, kicking it halfway between himself and the man.

Ben is amazed as the man’s smile grows even larger. “I don’t think I’ve ever killed a Sheriff, the Sheriff’s son and the Sheriff’s son’s girlfriend all in the same day before.”

Then time seems to slow down for Ben. He can see the man move his arm, and point the gun towards him. The puff of smoke from the barrel, and the bullet as it heads towards him. Ben is already twisting trying to move away from the bullet, but his body feels sluggish, as if it’s under water.

Then the bullet strikes him, spinning him around and dumping him to the ground. Ben lets out a growl of frustration, and closes his eyes wishing his pistol was still in his hands.

He hears a footstep at the same time he can feel a thump in his hand. Opening his eyes, he sees his pistol once more in his hand, and he turns, and sees Jysella on the ground staring at him with fear in her eyes. He sits up and points his gun towards the man, who was coming over to see if he was dead or not.

Fear widens the man’s eyes. “How’d you get your gun back?”

Ben smiles. “Magic.”

Then he pulls the trigger.