Shoot It

Without a moment’s hesitation, she drew her pistol and fired!

BOOOOOMMM!!

With a terrified whinny, her horse reared up, as debris scattered all around them. Thankfully, though, the pair weren’t caught in the direct blast. “Tarnation!” The sheriff shook her head, before pushing her steed onward. “Go!”

Another barrel rolled into view, burning and bouncing. She fired another shot into it, blowing it to smithereens. The blasts rumbled and shook the surrounding rock formations, but they held strong.

Closing the distance, Tex could see the outlaw throwing out some more road bombs for her to contend with. Growling, the sheriff offered no quarter! Firing off with the fury of country justice, she blew the barrels, each time closer and closer to their sender.

Marian swore under her breath, shielding her eyes from some flying embers, before readying yet another barrel. Tex fired again, this time blasting the barrel while it was still on the edge of the wagon!

BOOOM!

Immediately it detonated, sending bits of the cart flying in every direction, and reducing it from four wheels to two in an instant. A red glow from the remains showed that her shot had ignited much more of the dangerous cargo. Marian, now coated in soot, scrambled off her cart in a panic, grabbed some supplies, and cut it loose, hopping on the horse that was pulling it. The cart, now unguided, crashed into a wall, and exploded.

BOOOOOOOOOOOMM!!!

The violent shaking of a massive load of powder going off was enough to crumble even the strongest of walls, and a slab of sandstone high above crumbled and crashed down.

Nevertheless, Tex drove her horse onward! She would not lose that outlaw again! The rumbling of the hefty rock filled the air, as it threatened to block the path, or worse, make a Texas flapjack. She pushed her steed to the limit, under the rock as it eclipsed the sun, leaving her in almost pitch darkness for one second.

Marian saw the rock touch down, throwing out a cloud of clay and sand. She cheered, seeing that her pursuer was finally stopped. Her elation quickly turned to frustration, though, as a horse and a sheriff, hat still on her head and badge still on her chest, broke through the powdery fog.

“Lord, you’re hard to get rid of!” Marian hissed, before driving her horse onward. The rumbling of the train slowly got louder, and one side of the canyon gave way to another path, this one with train tracks! Marian grinned, and drove hard, up toward the cargo cars. “Thirty three… thirty four… yes!”

She picked out one of the cars, and pulled out some dynamite from her bandoleer. Her trusty loaded belt was all she could save from the cart. She stuck a stick into the chains and lock covering the door, before swerving away.

BANG!

The lock stood no chance against such a device, blowing off the car as it slowly creaked open. Even from the distance, Tex could see almost holy rays emanating from inside. Only one thing could carry such a luster: pure gold. Marian gave a salute to the sheriff, before leaping off her horse and into the train.

Tex drove her horse onward, running out of time. The train was coming up to a tunnel. Once the lioness and the gold car were in it, she couldn’t follow. “C’mon, girl. I believe in ya. No way yer gonna let that scoundrel get away.”

Her horse let steam blast from her nose, before pushing to her limit, charging up to the open car. Tex gave her an appreciative pat, before getting up, and getting ready to jump. Taking a deep breath, the weasel took a long leap, knowing missing meant a certain splat under a train or against a tunnel wall.

With something sounding like a battle cry, she crashed into the car, landing on her shoulder. The last thing she saw was her horse putting on the brakes as best it could, before they entered the tunnel. Immediately, the sheriff was blanketed in darkness.

She hurriedly got up, fishing around her body. She had her revolver, and after picking through her pockets, she pulled out a matchbook. She struck it, as it fizzled to life, and she looked around. The car was loaded with palettes of gold bars, reflecting in the light. One other thing she saw was Marian, not with a bomb for once, but with a gun.

“Found you!” She cried out, before firing at the sheriff. Tex’s eyes shrank to dots, and she leapt away, as the bullet struck the wooden wall of the boxcar. She dropped the match, which lit some straw on the ground, keeping the room lit for a few seconds more.

Marian still had her bomb-laden bandoleer, and a derringer two-shot pistol. “Ya can’t hide forever, sheriff…”

Tex hid herself among the rows of gold bars. The place was packed like a maze, with Tex and the outlaw in a cat and mouse chase. Tex popped her head up and aimed at her.

Click!

No bullet came out. Tex was out of shots! Marian grinned gleefully, before aiming and firing back at her. The loud shot echoed about the car. Once again, Tex scrambled away, behind another golden wall. Not a second later, the burning straw was quickly reduced to embers, and once again the car went dark.

Tex let out a sigh of relief. The pitch blackness gave her some cover to reload her sidearm. It was no easy feat doing it by feel, and she knew dropping a single cartridge would give her presence away. But she could pull it off. She had justice on her side!

Though, she heard a fizzling sound. Another match had lit, this time in Marian’s fingers. She reached up to the ceiling, as the glow of the match illuminated a lantern! Tex was only two bullets in, and in a second, the car was going to be lit up. She would be a sitting duck! Her one advantage was that she was almost within touching distance of the scoundrel. She would need to act fast. She was about to be seen! No point playing Russian Roulette with her barely loaded gun.