Chapter Three

Gabriel has some fun here during this chapter. The next one will probably be delayed. Mention anything related to the story that's on your mind, because I enjoy the feedback. Thanks

Chapter III

Franz Turphoil lashed his horses unmercifully, cackling as he did “Aha ha ha! Hee hee hee! They shall pay! Will they not be surprised when they are chased and attacked as soon as they leave the harbor? And who shall have the honor of knowing that information? Only myself, no one else, and I shall claim the reward!”
A short time later he found that he was in need of food, for which reason he stopped a short way off the path to eat from the supplies which he had brought with him. As he ate, he failed to hear his pursuers come upon him from behind. A moment later, the bread and meat had been knocked from his hand and he was lying sprawled upon the grass, unconscious.
Luke, looking down at the comatose form which had lately been the target of his knockout blow, remarked “Well, I don’t think I like defeating enemies this way. Do you think of I’ve killed him, father?”
“If you had,” David replied, “it would be a surprise. Grown men who can kill with nothing but their fists are few and far between. Rest assured that he’ll be out like that for hours, but that he will rise again. Now, it is time for us to catch up with your uncle.”
As David was speaking, Dameon and his son had busied themselves with moving the body, while Mark and Matt calmed the horses and prepared them as best they could to start once more.
After they had let the horses rest for an hour, Dameon, Tony, and all of the boys took seats in the cab as David took the place of the driver. A moment later, they heard the whip crack as David snapped it in the air above the heads of the horses. The horses, scared by the ominous sound, began running at a breakneck speed, causing several of the coach’s occupants to bounce out of their seats, singing of the excitement that filled them at the thought of the adventures to come.
As the main party concluded their pursuit of the waylaid luggage, Gabriel and Raphael had run into far more serious trouble of their own. In moments, they found that they had ridden straight into the center of a surprisingly large band of highwaymen. As soon as he saw the men in front who were standing in the center of the path, Gabriel produced two pistols from beneath his cloak and announced “You can see well enough, if you’ve got eyes in your heads! We’re armed!”
The leader of the bandits scoffed at the challenge. Turning to the men behind him, he called “They’re armed, they say! Is that going to stop us from collecting our toll?” Turning back on the cab drivers, he concluded “No. It won’t. The toll is your life.”
In the moment of silence which immediately followed this announcement, Raphael heard his father say “We can survive until the others catch up with us, if every one of those guns out there misfires and explodes.”
“This is not part of the adventure I signed on for.” Raphael replied nervously.
“Don’t worry.” his father answered “It’s not like you’re going to die, is it?”
As he made this remark, they could hear the band leader berating his men. “Come now, attack them! They’re sitting up there like ducks with broken wings, and you haven’t killed them yet? Do I have to beat you?”
But he had reckoned without Gabriel Mellino, whom the men seemed to know and fear, as he had passed this way many times before while providing mail service between his hometown and the coast. Gabriel, remembering this, laughed in their faces and threw off his coat. Underneath, everyone could see a menacing array of weaponry which included two cutlasses, several more pistols and two pepperpots.
Drawing out several more pistols, Gabriel passed one to his son, ducking enemy fire as he instructed him “Watch their next round closely, avoid them ass you can, and then fire back. Listen for my call.”
“What are you doing?”
Gabriel appeared to ignore the question, jumping off the seat and swinging inside.
Mystified, but obedient, Raphael fired regularly until he heard his father calling to him. “I’ll need one of those pistols now!” Raphael quickly shoved one of the loaded guns so that slid along the seat and dropped off the edge. A moment later, he heard a loud bang from behind, and then his father’s voice. “Excellent. Blew out both windows, and hit a man on that side too. I’ll need another one!” Immediately, Raphael shoved another gun in the same direction as the first. Soon, he heard the explosion, followed by the sound of a door beginning to separate from it’s hinges.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Raphael scrambled to the edge and leapt down, shouting “Why exactly are you removing doors now? I’ve only got two more guns!”
“That’s perfect. One more shot’ll do it!”
“Do what, exactly?” Raphael asked as he handed his father the last pistol. As soon as he had said that, he knew what was up. The final shot blew the door completely off its hinges. Dropping the pistol, Gabriel pulled his two pepperpots from his belt and handed one to his son. “You take this. These’ll keep us alive awhile longer.” Grasping the door which he had removed from his cab, he continued “Pick up your end, and let’s give them a charge.”
Carrying the door, they abandoned their cover, catching the enemy unawares. Setting their wall down close by the coach, they leaned it against their shoulders and fired over it.
Ten minutes later, their pepperpots useless, they each took a cutlass in one hand, raised their shield with the other, and charged out into the midst of their enemies. Laughing maniacally, Gabriel challenged the robbers “Come and meet your friend Cold Steel! Though I must admit, he’s far more sociable escorted by my brother Tony! And, he doesn’t usually associate with cowards like you anyway! Prepare to die!”
Like two tornadoes Gabriel and his son tore unstoppably through the ranks of their opponents, slaying or maiming everyone within reach of their blades. They were still fighting furiously when a loud rumble startled them all.
Moments later, another coach arrived on the scene. The driver called out “Keep it up, Gabe, we’re only here to help!” In an instant, there were eight more sword-waving whirlwinds, led by Tony, slicing through the ranks of the robbers.
Taking on four men at once, Tony laid them all low. It only took him five more minutes to reach the leader. As the man drew his sword, Tony casually disarmed him, finished him off, and returned to the fray.
Half an hour later, the Mellinos and the Sponsler twins were left standing in the middle of a road otherwise vacated by living men. It took them another hour to clear the road, then, as the horses attached to Gabriel’s coach had, surprisingly, survived unscathed and were well rested, they all piled in once more and continued their journey.