Carnival Cowboy

Chapter 1 Suddenly there were gunshots exploding into the air as loud as thunder, in rapid succession. Men with kerchiefs covering their faces backed out of the bank with their guns drawn, carrying dirty cloth bags filled with money. Just as the last robber was mounting his horse, he took a bullet, and fell. “Johnny got hit!” one of the robbers yelled out as he pulled back on the horse’s reins, causing him to rear up. “Looks like he’s dead!” Reno Stokes yelled out. “We can’t stop now; we gotta get out of here.” In among shouts and blasting guns, they all jerked on their horse’s reins, turning them toward the end of town where they rode hell for leather, kicking up dirt and galloping hard. The injured man lay on the dusty street fighting for his life. Maybe the sheer will to live, or the fear of being caught pushed death away, but somehow, in all the confusion, he managed to crawl into the alleyway, and out of sight. He hid there until most of the excitement had died down, got to his feet and stumbled out, looking for his horse. When he didn’t find him he knew that in the wake of so much commotion his horse must have spooked, and rode off with the rest of the gang. The man sank back down into the darkness, the pain in his chest taking him close to death. In spite of his agony, he began an awkward gait down the alley, hiding behind barrels, in corners, and under stairwells while a posse was being formed. When they finally rode out after the gang of outlaws, the town seemed empty and quiet. The townspeople that were left had taken their unrest out of the street, and into the Rough Rider Saloon. While they relived the whole thing over and over again, the injured man crawled out slowly, looked around, and then began to creep down the dark road, stumbling and staggering like a drunk from one shadow to another. He could feel his strength slowly leaving him with every step he took. He had to find some place to lie down and rest before he lost any more blood, and headed toward the soft hay in the town stable. While he stumbled, one foot in front of the other, he saw in the distance what looked like a row of gaudily colored tarps standing tall, whipping in the wind. As he got closer, he discovered that the tarps advertised freak shows of all kinds, such as acrobats, rope dancers, jugglers, a sword swallower, a bearded lady, and even burlesque shows. He could tell it wasn’t big enough to be a circus, and knew it must be a struggling carnival or a sideshow. He staggered toward it, until he noticed that behind the tarps was a beat up circus train used for temporary housing of the performers. The train compartments stood in back of the larger tents where the exhibits were displayed. All were dark except one. The light drew him, so he continued on until he stopped and looked inside. There he saw the strangest sight he had ever seen in his life. It was difficult to tell if he was looking at a man or a woman since she was dressed in bloomers, and was cinching up a corset. She had bright red hair, green eyes, and sparkling red lips. Her heavy makeup covered a lantern jaw, strong chin, and her shoulders and back were muscled, but it all just seemed to flow down into the corset that struggled to give her strong body an hourglass figure. The sight was so bizarre, he almost got dizzy trying to take it all in. His gaze shifted around to the brightly ruffled costumes that were decorated with sequins and fringe. He also saw yards of silk lace, net stockings, garters, and built up bodices. In another corner were colorfully hued petticoats that were so stiff they stood up by themselves. On a false head he saw a wig, and lying beside it were scattered tins of colored balm, beeswax, olive oil and rosewater. Looking much like the legs of a spider, were strands of horsehair used to make eyelashes, and some kind of glittering dust for—whatever, he didn’t know. And then his gaze moved to something sparkling, and he saw a pistol, and a jeweled dagger lying side by side in among a mess of spilled powder. Just when he thought that surely he had died and gone to some kind of bizarre hell, he fainted.