The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy

Chapter 31 - The Confrontation

Chapter 31 - The Confrontation

"The jig is up, Morro," Lloyd said, aiming his weapon at his adversary as he stepped over the broken parlor chair which, seconds earlier, had prevented the front door from opening until he and the cowboys burst through.

"Well, if it isn't Sheriff Lloyd. Nice bullet hole in your hat. Still mad about what happened on Sunday?" Morro jeered.

Kai stirred, beginning to recover from the tumble down the stairway.

"Surrender peacefully, Morro," Lloyd commanded. "You're taking a little trip back to Ninjago Town."

"There's one little problem, Sheriff. You can't make me go back with you. In case you didn't know, you have no authority in Skeleton Territory."

Out of the corner of his eye, Lloyd noticed movement at the top of the stairs. Doc Julien had quietly appeared to observe what was going on.

Lloyd redirected his attention toward the villain. "Yes, I know I have no jurisdiction here, Morro, but you've committed enough crimes right here in Skeleton Territory to get tossed in the pokey. Unlawful restraint, for one. I would think you'd prefer to spend time in a Ninjago Town jail rather than a Skeleton jail. The only rats in my jail cell are the prisoners. By the way, what happened to your eye?"

Lloyd became aware of more activity at the top of the stairs. Sam had appeared and stood just behind the doctor. She was holding up a blanket against her chemise at shoulder height, and the blanket dangled down to her feet.

"That little vixen shoved a lit candle in my eye," Morro explained. "It hurts like the dickens."

Kai sat up and rubbed his head.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "You deserve a thousand times worse than a candle for all the crimes you've done, Morro."

"Oh, you mean like murder your daddy?" Morro chuckled.

This time, Lloyd's eyes widened.

"Yes, I suppose that was one of the more heinous crimes I've committed," Morro smiled. "You should know that he showed fear when I put the barrel of Ol' Ghostmaker to his forehead."

Lloyd gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the insinuation that his daddy was a coward. "So you're confessing?"

"I am," Morro grinned. "But you can't do anything about it because we're not in Ninjago Town!"

Kai looked at Morro and suddenly realized that in the dim light, the villain had slowly been edging his way toward his gun. Kai lunged toward the weapon, but Morro reached it first.

Sam screamed.

In a flash, Morro pointed his gun at Kai and fired. The bullet missed.

Lloyd pointed his gun at Morro and fired. The bullet did not miss.

Morro froze for several seconds. Ol' Ghostmaker dropped from his grasp. Morro's eyes closed as he fell backward onto the floor. He was still.

Doc Julien rushed down the stairs. He knelt by Morro and checked his vital signs.

"Morro's dead," he announced as he stood up again.

Kai rose up and joined the other men as they stood around the body of Morro. All were quiet. No one wanted to say anything until Lloyd said something.

Lloyd stood there tightlipped, running his fingers through his hair, looking at the dead man. Suddenly he said, "I'll be back in a little while," and went outside to walk around. The others figured he needed time to process the end of a journey that had consumed him ever since that day when he was a young whippersnapper and his daddy's body had been brought to Garmadon Ranch after having been found on the bank of the Ninjago River.

After Lloyd left, the younger men remained standing around, still not sure of how to acknowledge the passing of the villain. Doc Julien, sensing this, spoke up and said, "May God have mercy on his soul," and that seemed to suffice.

Then Doc said, "I should go find something to cover him until we can take care of him in the daylight."

"And we'll go collect our horses and put them in the barn for the night," Cole said, motioning to Zane and Jay. When the posse had arrived earlier that evening, they had tied the horses a short distance down the mountain and sneaked up to the house on foot, intending for their presence to be a surprise to the now-deceased kidnapper.

"And maybe we'll do something about Archer. Or maybe not," Jay piped up as they headed out the door.

Doc headed upstairs to retrieve a blanket. Kai followed him up the stairs but stopped on the second-to-top stair while Doc went on to pass by Sam, who was standing on the top stair. Kai and Sam now faced each other, eye to eye.

"You all right, Sam?" he asked. Even in the dim light, he could see that her face was pale.

Sam nodded. "How about you?"

"I'm fine," he responded.

"Too bad he didn't live a better life," she commented.

"I agree," Kai said. "At least he can't hurt us anymore."

Doc held a blanket as he exited the room in which he and Kai had been imprisoned a short while ago. "Excuse me," he apologized as he brushed past the couple on his way back down the stairs.

Sam cast aside the blanket she had been holding against her chemise. Her hands were now free to gently cup her cowboy's face, which sported a bruise from Morro's punch along with several days' growth of a beard. She guided his face toward hers, her lips finding his. She reveled in his scent - part fresh air, part mesquite campfire.

Not wanting to slide his arms around her waist for fear of aggravating her back injury, Kai instead encircled her shoulders and pulled her tightly against him, grateful to be holding her once again.

As his lips explored hers, he was glad that the light was dim so that she could not see him blush. He realized that the flimsy cotton fabric of her chemise was the only separation between her sensuous body and his hands.

There were three words he desperately wanted to say to her right then, but he decided to wait. Tonight, having been spoiled by injury and death, was not the right time.