The Legend of the

Gunslinger Brothers

Now, dear Reader, is the time I must relate my tale of the Gunslinger Brothers. Some may call it fact; others, fiction. I shall yet you be the judge, on this occasion. So read for yourself, and make your decision about them.

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One hot summer’s day, two boys were just coming into town. They had known each other once before, in infancy, yet neither of them remembered it, due to the fact that they parted ways while still very young due to the will of their elders. But they still knew each other, in a way unbeknownst to most.

Life had not dealt the greatest of hands to one of those boys. His family was continually falling apart, friends came and left, and nothing ever seemed to settle. As a boy, he knew more sorrows, and was stronger and meaner, than many grown men.

The other boy, played his handful of aces with ease, and got just about whatever he wanted. All was good, and change seemed to be a word unfamiliar to his vocabulary. I suppose both of these boys needed to be humbled, in their own way.

As these men-like humans stepped into town, they saw each other from down the street. Like I said, they knew each other in some strange and unspoken way, and as the hustle and bustle of the town continued, they stood still, peering into the other man’s soul. Each silently received an understanding of the other, and after a solemn nod, they went their separate ways again.

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The last of the green leaves were fading into the warm colors of fall, and the town was celebrating its many years of freedom and peace. This was all due to the Gunslingers. They were the greatest marksmen in the entire world, and were rumored to never miss a single shot. Many mothers, when they saw a stoic, broad-shouldered Gunslinger pass by, would look hopefully towards their sons, and wish they would fill those boots someday.

That was rare, however, to see a Gunslinger in town. Most of them kept to the outskirts to prevent any and all attacks, and ever since the Gunslingers were formed, peace ruled. If any hostile person were to ever encroach on a Gunslinger’s territory, that man would see a flash of silver, hear a single shot, and then give the Undertaker some business.

Some people, despite the peace the Gunslingers provided, doubted their very existence. To a small few, the Gunslingers were merely legend. A story made up to keep the peace, to encourage the widows and orphans, or what have you. Merely ghosts, come back from the dead to frighten the children and scare off wild things. But whatever anyone called them or said about them, the Gunslingers were very real and very dangerous.

And it would be safe to say that, in their own respect as heroes, all the Gunslingers were famous, but of all these legends, there were two that stood out as myth. Even among a group some classified as legends themselves, they, too, had stories about their own kind. Some nights, after the drink was empty, the fire roaring, and silence prevailing, each Gunslinger would begin to tell his story about how he once beheld the Gunslinger Brothers, the Marksmen of all Marksmen, the only two Gunslingers who truly never missed.

Each story would be a little different from the one that came before it, but always with a slight degree of exaggeration. One detail, though, was in every story, despite its teller: the Gunslinger Brothers were never in the same place together. Everyone who had seen one, could identify him as one of the Brothers because of his incredible skill with a revolver. Still, the Brothers were never seen together in the flesh.

But one night, when the drink was empty, the fire was roaring, and silence prevailing, someone came running like a man possessed to the fireside. He was a Gunslinger, and had a story to tell about the Brothers unlike any other.

(Part of the Code of the Gunslingers, was that the revolver was never to be brandished unless a shot was to be fired into an enemy, or if it was to be cleaned. Yet, it was said about the Gunslinger Brothers that they never holstered their guns, but kept them in continual and methodical spin on their fingers)

So the story was this: the man was in town, and all was silent as the grave. He was the only one in the town square when the clock struck noon. The sound rang on seemingly forever, but upon the last stroke, a silhouette had appeared to the East, and another to the West.

The man dared not breathe, for fear of interrupting this otherworldly encounter, or perhaps waking up. The two shadows approached each other, the sound of their spurs being carried on the breeze as they spun their revolvers in silent contemplation. They each arrived in the town square, and stood looking down at their feet. Simultaneously, they tilted their heads upwards, to peer into each others souls, once again.

Suddenly, amongst the silence, their guns stopped spinning, and were holstered after an impossible flourish. They stood, far beyond time and the world, waiting. The very ticking of the second hand could now be heard. And in an instant, they both drew their guns and each fired a single shot. An unholy ringing sound shot forth instantly, and, after the man had opened his eyes, he saw both Gunslingers, standing, alive, and spinning their revolvers again, each broadly grinning.

After this, they walked towards each other, embraced, exchanged words unknown to man or spirit, powerfully shook hands, tipped their hats, and began walking back from the way they came; one to the East, and one to the West.

No one knows exactly who they were, but many believe they were the Gunslinger Brothers. No one knows if that was the first time they reunited, or if that was just the first time there was a witness. And most of all, no one knows what words were said between them. Despite not knowing much, one legend about these Brothers was certain: one would never fail to answer the other’s call, when it was time to out-reap the Reaper.