Sunrise Shootout
This story takes place in the year 1892, in the small American town of Beechwood, Arizona. It was a town like many others in the old west, closer in size to a modern village than a modern town, a place where most of the town folk lived in their place of business, whether that meant living above a barber shop or a general goods store.
The town had two saloons, one on either side end of the town – so less than a mile apart. One of them – Billy Bob’s – was reasonably family friendly, it was where you would go to have a good lunch or dinner, or meet up with a old friend for some good conversation over a drink. The other one – The Bull’s Horns, was… well, not for children. It was a den of gambling, hard drinking, frequent fights and even the occasional shooting. To a fifteen year old boy named Jimmy, it sounded like the coolest place on Earth.
Jimmy lived on a ranch on the outskirts of town with his parents and two younger sisters. He was a good boy, almost always listening to his parents and rarely getting into trouble. They forbid him from ever going to The Bull’s Horns though, knowing that he would only find danger there. But of course, no matter how good of a boy he was, being forbidden from going somewhere naturally made him incredibly curious about it. From what he had heard, this was the place where men went to be men… and no-one told them what to do.
One night, his curiosity just became too much for him. He waited until the rest of his family was asleep, then, as quietly as he could, snuck out the house, got his horse out of the barn and rode into town.
By the time he got there it was 11:15pm. He tied up his horse outside the saloon and walked through the saloon doors. The place was busy that night, at least twice as busy as he had ever seen Billy Bob’s be.
As he headed to the bar to buy himself a drink, he heard someone behind him call out his name. He spun around, surprised to be recognised and hoping it wasn’t a friend of his parents. But before he could see who had called his name, he bumped backwards into someone. He turned back around and immediately felt panic grip his heart. Not because the man he had bumped into had spilt the beer he was carrying all over his own shirt, but rather because he recognised the man from a wanted poster he had seen: this was William Walters, AKA Bronco Bill, a notorious bank robber!
“Boy, what did you just do?!” the outlaw shouted at Jimmy. “My mother bought me this shirt, and you’ve ruined it!” He pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Jimmy’s chest. “I should shoot you right here…” He hesitated for a moment. “…but I don’t think my mother would like me killing a boy. Hmph, I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you a chance. Pistols at dawn! Yeah, that’s right, you and me, outside this saloon at sunrise. Best shooter lives. So go say goodbye to your mummy and daddy, and don’t make me come find you!”
As Bronco Bill pushed past Jimmy and strode out of the saloon, Jimmy stood frozen to the spot. He had never shot at a man in his life. What chance might he have against a famous outlaw? How would he get himself out of this?
What will Jimmy decide to do? Go to the duel, run away or get some kind of help?
Who called out Jimmy’s name in the bar?
If Jimmy does decide to go to the duel, how can he possibly survive it?