I only saw him once, and then he was gone. But that was all I
needed to know that he was a hero. I didn’t know his name then, but now his face and
blinding speed stand out firmly in my memory. I can close my eyes, and the Lone Ranger
lives once more! I was only twelve years old then, so I thought I knew it all, I
thought I could do it all. Ma, Pa, my sister Elizabeth and I went into town that Saturday
to get supplies. It had rained the previous day, so the trail to town was slippery, muddy
and treacherous. Eventually though, we made it to Lucky lake relatively unscathed except
for a muddy wagon and tired horses.
Ma, Elizabeth and I were waiting in front of Hodgsons store while pa picked up some
hardware. In a few minutes, we’d all be going to the store to get groceries and such,
so we were getting anxious. Pa told me to help look after my sister, cause some day
I’d be the man of the family.
I wasn’t doing a good job of it though, she kept on running away, and not
listening to mama, who yelled at her out of frustration.
“Elizabeth!” she said loudly. “Elizabeth-come on back now!”
But, as always, she didn’t listen and kept on running out to the edge of the
wooden walk, then as if fishing, came back a little bit to taunt our mother.
“Elizabeth-come back” she said again.
This time, she listened and sat beside us on the well worn bench. Mother looked at her,
and wiped some mud off her face with a rain-barrel moistened cloth.
“Elizabeth, the street is muddy. You don’t need to go out there. It could be
dangerous.” she said scoldingly.
She looked up at ma with her brown eyes, and sighed resignedly.
“Okay ma, I’ll stay” she said almost defeated.
I piped in, it was my turn now.
“You could hurt yourself, or get stuck up to here” I mocked her holding my
outstretched hand near my neck.
She looked at me, forgetting that ma was near, and glared. Her brown hair, nearly
covering her face, and her piercing eyes, magnified the impression.
“I’ll get you Glenn!” she screamed as she stood up to kick me.
I ran away, Elizabeth nipping at my heels. Although I could run faster than her, I
almost always let her catch me. We weren’t watching, and we even forgot that the
street was a sinkhole, so we headed across the street, our feet slurping as we went after
each other in sibling pursuit.
Down the block, the stagecoach waited. The passengers had boarded, the driver had
secured their luggage atop the wooden coach, and finally the driver climbed up to his
seat, and reined the horses to a start.
Slowly at first, the stage coach moved. The horses strained to build up speed and
maintain power. From one of the windows of the hotel, a gun was fired, and the driver
slumped over, his blood oozing from a chest wound. Instinctively reaching for his gun, his
finger tightened on the trigger as he pulled it from his holster. The horses, startled by
the bullets abrupt staccato, bolted down the street.
The passengers inside the coach, jostled back and forth as the coach hurled
directionless down the swooshy street. Their luggage’s rattle echoed inside the
compartment, mingling with the passengers shouts of fear and confusion.
“Lookout-runaway coach!” someone yelled as animal and riders moved out of the
way.
Inside, a woman fainted. One of the men crawled out of the side window, and grasped the
top rails of the coach. Pulling himself up to the back of the coach, he crawled towards
the injured driver.
We were still chasing each other as ma yelled at us.
“Children-stop”
We didn’t listen.
“Children, you’ll get stuck!”
She didn’t tell us not to get muddy, because we already were.
Around the corner from the store, the coach hurtled forwards. The man, very close to
reaching the huddled driver, stood up and leaned right as the horses jerked left to
navigate the corner. He lost his balance, and fell off the coach and landed on the muddy
ground. The driverless wagon, now lighter, kept on turning left and headed directly
towards the children.
Glenn looked up, and all he could see was the approaching horses. From left to right,
they filled his gaze, their flaring nostrils growing larger every second, and their
pounding hoofbeats drowning out all noise save the clattering of the wagon.
“Children-get up!” Elizabeth’s mother yelled in desperation.
They didn’t hear her. Elizabeth, frozen by fear, cried out to her brother.
“Glenn-help me!”
Out of the left corner of his eye, he saw a flash of blue, black, and thenwhite. Then
time stood still for a moment.
Watching from the store’s sidewalk, ma gasped in astonishment as she saw the
heroic pair speed towards her children. In slow motion she saw the men reach down in
unison, both balancing precariously on their steeds.
Elizabeth looked up as Tonto’s arm reached her. She grabbed on as Tonto’s
lifted himself up to Scout’s saddle. Glenn, his senses overwhelmed by the thundering
cacophony, reached out desperately towards the masked mans’ outstretched hand.
Finding his firm grip, he held on and felt himself carried on to safety.
Ma watched as the, by now, doubled up horses carried on across the street in safety.
The stagecoach, still speeding narrowly missed the horses and riders. The Lone Ranger,
dropping Glenn onto the sidewalk near Tonto, turned Silver quickly, and accelerated
towards the flying stagecoach.
Nearing the rattling coach, the Ranger stood up in his stirrups and jumped onto the
right hand side of the drivers bench. Hanging on tightly, he crawled towards the prostrate
driver. Reaching over the buckboard edge into mid-air, he grasped the animated reins then
pulled up and back. The out of control horses, feeling pressure, slowed down. The
passengers, breathed a sigh of relief as their jostling calmed down.
“Whoa boys, whoa” the masked man shouted. “Whoa, good boys” he
said, now in a soothing fashion as the horses slowed to a walk, then stopped.
The Ranger turned around and called down to the frightened passengers.
“Thank you sir, thank you” the woman in the back seat said gratefully.
“God be praised” the pastor, who sat beside her uttered, his hands raised
upwards.
“Are you all right?” the masked man asked.
“We’re fine now, thanks to you” one man spoke up. “What’s your
name mister, anyway?” The Ranger smiled and replied,
“The Lone Ranger sir, the Lone Ranger.”
With a whistle from the masked man, Silver came alongside the idle coach. With an agile
leap, the Ranger mounted Silver. He looked at the passengers again. The pastor, had
crawled up to the drivers seat and taken control of the reins.
“Get that man to a doctor, he’ll be fine if you get there real soon.” he
told the pastor. “Hiyo Silver” he said as Silver reined in a tight circle to the
right. Galloping hard back to where Glenn, Elizabeth, and now their ma and pa stood. He
dismounted.
“Kemo Sabe, the children are okay” Tonto said.
The Ranger knelt down beside the children. Concern showed on his face.
“What are your names?” he asked.
Glenn spoke first, his mud splattered face beaming with gratitude.
“Glenn” he said.
“Mine is Elizabeth” she said, swinging her now dark brown skirt back and
forth.
“Well Glenn, that was a close one, wasn’t it.” he commented.
“Yes sir, it was. I won’t do it again, I promise.” Glenn pleaded.
Elizabeth, beside Tonto, looked up at the Indian.
“Thank you” she said as she hugged him.
“You’re welcome little one” he said.
“What’s your name mister?” she asked curiously.
“Tonto, my name is Tonto.” he replied.
“Thank you Tonto” she said smiling.
Elizabeth’s mother and father crowded around them.
“Thank you Tonto, if it weren’t for you and the masked man, we don’t
know, what could’ve happened” she said weeping.
The Ranger looked at Glenn, admiration filled the boys eyes. Reaching into his gun
belt, the Ranger drew out a bullet, and handed it to him. Glenn held it in his hands and
rolled it around, it felt cold, yet different. He felt a surge of confidence move through
him. Somehow, the tone in the masked mans voice brought him to the realization that he
could do anything, if he believed he could. Glenn, closed his fist on the bullet and put
it into his pocket.
“You’re welcome Glenn” was all the masked man said.
The Ranger and Tonto, both mounted their horses. Looking back at the young family, the
pair smiled, and turned to leave.
With a flourish of his gloved hand, the Ranger reared Silver up and shouted
triumphantly.
“Hi Yo Silver, Away!”
As the duo rode out of town, Glenn looked at his father with a question in his eyes.
“That was the Lone Ranger son, that was the Lone Ranger.”
