Protector--Part 3

Protector--Part 3 is the seventeenth chapter of Blazin' Trails and is the third part of the Protector arc.

Plot
Picking up from where the last chapter left of at, Marcus McCloud is forced to take Droop-a-Long to his base of operations, much to the chagrin of his partner, Newly, who is aghast to learn that he's a deputy. Newly considers killing Droop-a-Long off, but Marcus talks him out of it, saying that they'll hang if they kill him. Besides, there is one benefit to leaving Droop-a-Long alive: the sheriff who's looking for him probably has a big reward for his return.

Back in Hoop 'n Holler, a grieving and guilt-torn Ricochet prepares to sleep off his guilt when he's stopped by a local named Jeb Forrest, who reveals himself to be a friend of Droop-a-Long's, and asks Ricochet if he's going to take this up as a case, as he believes that the people responsible wanted him dead. Despite Ricochet's distrust and annoyance, he begins to see Jeb's points and later chases him down to the local saloon after he leaves. He tells everyone that he's planning to take it up as a case, planning on stopping the people dead in their tracks before they can kill him and get away with it. In a surprising move, he also makes Jeb his temporary deputy to help him on the case. Unbeknownst to him, Zeb Forrest overhears this and reports to Dave of what happened, as well as the fact that Ricochet was released. Although Dave is angry, he decides to give his men one more assignment before leaving Hoop 'n Holler: to have the mayor grant them full immunity and get them out of jail. Dave also tells Zeb to do what he has to do if the mayor refuses.

Ricochet has a nightmare about Droop-a-Long's death, in which he was there to witness it and was powerless to stop it. His emotional state is no better the next morning, resulting in him snapping at Jeb who in his opinion reminded him too much of Droop-a-Long. Jeb tries to apologize, and this calms the sheriff, although it still brings up memories of Droop-a-Long with them. Ricochet confesses that he has his doubts about Jeb's friendship with Droop-a-Long and his desire to help, but Jeb reaffirms his friendship with Droop-a-Long and tells Ricochet that he didn't want him to give up on the case, as he admires him and knows that he'd never let something like that slide. This moves Ricochet and he apologizes for his reaction, and Jeb offers to clean up the office while he looks for clues.

Back in Havenport, Droop-a-Long wakes up and meets his savior Marcus. It's here that Marcus learns he's Ricochet's deputy, and after "promising" that he'd tell the sheriff that he's alive, he tells Newly of the news. He comes up with a new plan: take care of Droop-a-Long long enough until he's well and then seize the reward. They have to keep their professions as thieves secret from Droop-a-Long, so they make no mention of it and keep up the lie.

When Ricochet goes to Town Hall to find clues, he finds the place is in an uproar and J.P. Nuggets has been injured. After getting him to the doctor, he learns that the mayor was attacked by Dave and Chuck's men, demanding that he sign release papers for their bosses to get out of prison. Ricochet suspects that they're the ones who killed Droop-a-Long, but J.P.'s next words set him off: the leader of the attack was apparently Jeb, as J.P.'s description matches him. Ricochet confronts Jeb about it, and when he attacks Jeb's friendship with Droop-a-Long, Jeb explodes at Ricochet for accusing him and doubting his friendship with Droop-a-Long. Jeb leaves, and Ricochet, feeling guilty for shooting off his mouth, decides to leave as well, heading to the saloon for a drink.

Dave and Chuck are released out of jail, but they give Zeb a final assignment, which is to kill Ricochet while they head off to find Droop-a-Long and finish him off if he's still alive.

In Havenport, Newly is tasked to take care of Droop-a-Long, and the two get to talking. Newly has to keep up the lie of Marcus' promise to call the sheriff, and Droop-a-Long also mentions his girlfriend. Newly takes pity on him, so he plans to get the phone fixed to make Droop-a-Long feel less anxious.

Ricochet pours out his problems to the bartender, Sam, who tells him that he can't protect everyone and can't control what happens, but he can do his best and let people fight the battles they have to fight. Outside, someone's shooting up his office looking for him, and Ricochet runs out to stop the chaos, only to find Jeb yelling at him. He learns that the man in question, Zeb, is Jeb's twin brother, and through Jeb's shocked response puts two and two together and deduces that he not only attacked the mayor, but was behind Droop-a-Long's death as well, and arrests him on the spot. Zeb gives up without much fight and apologizes to Jeb, who reacts with anger.

Back in Havenport, Marcus and Newly argue about a shipment of fancy china that Marcus stole and Newly broke. Droop-a-Long overhears and questions them about it. Their cover blown, Newly tells Droop-a-Long to sit down so they can explain it all.

Meanwhile, Dave and Chuck prepare to make their escape, but Chuck is anxious about Zeb's delay. Dave scoffs and says he'll be back with the news that he killed Ricochet, but Chuck's not so certain of that...

Trivia

 * Ricochet's nightmare of Droop-a-Long's death was not part of the original; it was added in later on, long after the Protector arc was finished.
 * This is the only chapter in the arc where Droop-a-Long was a minor character, as greater focus was given to Ricochet.
 * As of this writing, this is the last chapter to feature J.P. Nuggets as a major character.
 * Jeb was originally meant to betray Ricochet, but iheartgod175 decided against it.
 * Newly was originally going to be a one-shot character, but he eventually became an importatn character in the arc.