A Wild West Night at the Smithsonian - outlaw - young gun - Billy the Kid

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"They're over there!"

All four of them snapped their heads to the elevator where Napoleon was pointing directly at them flanked by Capone and Ivan. Behind them their goons all flooded from the lift and the gang charged their way. Anna and Billy took off after Larry and Amelia who had also started sprinting. They headed straight for the stairs and rushed up the flights as fast as their feet could move.

"Streltsy. Run!" Anna heard Ivan command his troops.

"Gentlemen!" Amelia shouted with a touch of glee as they ran into the Tuskegee Airmen again. "Could you buy us some time please?"

They nodded to their idol as the group of four passed them. When they reached the top, they circled the perimeter of the second floor above until Amelia stopped cold. "It'll have to do."

Confused, Anna looked where she was staring and her eyes widened when she noticed which plane Amelia had chosen.

"No!" Larry protested, his mind at the same place Anna's was, "That's the first plane ever made!"

"Come Streltsy make your feet move!"

"It's made out of balsa wood and paper." Larry criticized.

"It's made out of spruce and canvas and good old fashioned American ingenuity." Amelia defended it proudly as she climbed on. Then she turned and noticed all three of them had stopped at the rail and were looking at her very uncertain, "Are you coming or what?"

The shouting of their pursuers grew louder as Larry climbed aboard with the tablet. Amelia laid on her belly and Larry followed her example. Anna's stomach was doing flips because she was really unsure about if this thing could hold all of them as well as Amelia seemed to believe.

Then the shouting doubled and Anna looked to see the Tuskegee Airmen brawling with Kahmunrah's hired help. But the airmen were outnumbered, they'd only buy them time, they wouldn't be able to drive them back. Anna climbed carefully onto the rail as some of the Streltsy got through and continued up the stairs. Then a flicker of movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye and she turned just in time to see Billy rush off toward the fight. She should have known they wouldn't be able to keep Billy from the action for long, and after running and hiding all night it was only a matter of time before this happened.

"Billy!" Anna shouted after him but he either didn't hear her or ignored her. He drew his gun in the blink of an eye and started firing at the men who'd gotten through. His shots bounced off their helmets, but perfect headshots they were nonetheless. The echo from the bullets against the metal made the Streltsy grab their heads from the ringing and they stumbled back – right over the rail and fell onto the first floor knocking down displays and breaking glass cases as they landed hard.

But from lower on the stairs Capone had caught sight of Billy and aimed his gun at the Kid. Anna reached him in time to grab him by the arm and pull him away from the stairs, continuing forward toward an enclosed hall where they'd have more cover. The sound of Capone's automatic gun firing and the bullets ricocheting off space probes hanging from the ceiling made her give a small scream as she ran. Billy suddenly let out a groan before he started limping. Anna readjusted her arm to help support his weight more as they ran into the hall with missiles and rockets lining the walls.

She saw a sign for the Einstein Planetarium and helped Billy limp through the door.

Inside was dark and had rows of seats like a movie theater. She hurried as quick as she could past the first twenty or so rows before choosing one to scoot into and crouch below to hide. Billy sat and bent his legs in front of him as he caught his breath and started pulling cartridges from his belt and began reloading his pistol. As Anna settled down beside him she noticed there was a bullet hole in his pants, his thigh to be exact. She pushed her hair out of her eyes trying to get a better look. She'd lost the holder she'd tied her hair up with when they'd been running so now it fell in a tangled mess.