The Bombs Come First!

The train could be a true tragedy! No way could she allow the bridge to collapse! “Curse you, Marian! I figured ya for a crook, but never for a murderer!” She kept her gun trained on the lioness as best she could, before running, against her instinct, toward the fizzling bombs.

“You ain’t trained in explosives, sheriff, I reckon.” She lowered her arms and crossed them. “All you’re doing is making yourself a casualty.”

“Can it, ya desperado!” The sheriff angrily retorted. Turning to the bombs, she gulped. This would be rough. Marian was right. She’d never even held one of these things, and here she was, with a bunch of the stuff, burning away. How was she supposed to stop them?

“What if I just…” She pulled out a pocketknife in her offhand, and went to work. She reached the first dynamite pack, and put the knife to the fuse. Grunting, she pressed it on the cord, pushing, and even sawing through it. After what felt like forever, it fell to the ground at her feet, burning, before fizzling itself out uselessly.

She let out a sigh of relief. She could retrieve the dynamite later. For now, she needed to defuse them and capture a criminal. She scurried around the base of the column, flashing glances at Marian, before severing the fuses of more explosives.

“Don’t worry about me, sheriff. I’m just enjoying the show.” Her apprehensive smirk relaxed a bit, as she took a seat on a rock. “Can’t wait to see ya under a dozen freight cars. If ya aren’t turned into charcoal first…”

Tex would make sure she paid for this. But for now, she had to focus on the task at hand. She ripped down another bomb, throeing it to the ground, before crushing and snuffing the fuse under her boot with a hiss. She was running out of time!

There were two of them left, on the other pier. The fuses were nearing the end, and she was too far away to clear them! Holstering her gun, and turning her back on Marian, she pulled out her lasso.

It would take a crackshot to pull his off. She couldn’t grab them one at a time. She needed both. And judging from the fuses, she had a single shot. She could wrangle the most ornery of cattle, but never did she rope a cow that exploded. Taking a deep breath, she swung the lasso, and threw it.

The rope snagged both packs, before yanking them tightly against each other. It was a perfect toss! Without a moment to spare, she tugged them back to her. Once these were out, the train was safe, and Marian’s plans were thwarted.

“Watch out!” Came a yell from Marian. The shout distracted her, and her rope skills faltered. The rope slackened, and she found the bombs flying through the air, and right for her! Gasping, she watched as they landed in the dirt, kicking up dust and bouncing along the ground, sliding under her. The fizzling of the fuses stopped. Time was up! Tex dove low and covered her ears, waiting for the inevitable boom.

…….

But no explosion came. The drag through the dust had extinguished the fuses. The sheriff let out an overwhelming sigh of relief, as the train roared overhead, undisturbed.

Suddenly, Marian’s voice called out. “You missed one, sheriff!” The weasel growled, and looked to her target. She unfortunately took her eyes off of her in the scramble. And now it cost her. Marian was holding a massive bundle of dynamite, tossing it in her hand, before throwing it right at her! “Catch!”

“You rat!” Tex cried out, dropping her lasso to catch the bomb. This one had been given a much shorter fuse, and was already nearing its end point. It was too big to snuff out, with a mess of fuses burning about and leading into every stick. Lifting it high above her head, she realized her only choice...