Author's Note:

I apologize for the really long chapter and I hope that it doesn't seem like I crammed everything into one chapter. I know that I am writing another book at this time, but I had collaborated with a friend of mine on this book like a year ago and I neither wrote a beginning or an end to it, so I figured I might as well add more to this story. I also want to apologize for using a storyline that is so often used, but I was pretty young when I wrote this and I promise to add in more scenes that doesn't stick strictly to the Young Guns Movie and is different from any of the other 'daughter Tunstall' books I've read on here.

Chapter 1-New Arrivals

Cheyenne Tunstall rose her hands above her head, taking a small step forward. She took in a calming breath before launching herself forward, her hands contacting the sandy ground and flipping her feet above her. She landed her feet and pushed off the ground once again, pulling her hands close to her as she flipped completely in the air before sticking a landing.

Her best friend, Tristen, clapped her hands from behind her as Cheyenne turned and grinned at her. "You're getting pretty good at that," she acknowledged, walking over to greet her friend. Cheyenne chuckled at the compliment before releasing her tight position.

"How did you find me?" Cheyenne asked, tilting her head at Tristen with curiosity.

"Honestly, Cheyenne, I'm your best friend. You should know better than to think that I don't know every place you try to escape to."

"I guess you are right. Why'd you come up here anyway?"

"Can't a girl go looking for her best friend just to chat?" Tristen asked defensively. Cheyenne raised her eyebrow and stared at her friend, showing that she didn't believe it for a second. "Your father wanted me to find you, he hired a new ranch hand and he wants you to meet him." Cheyenne groaned loudly.

"Honestly? Why on earth does he continue to fill our house with ex-cons. One day, he'll hire one that's bound to kill me and him as well."

"Your father is a good man. He takes in young men and gives them new lives," Tristen reminded, nodding her head behind her to hint at them walking back. Cheyenne nodded as she walked over to Tristen as they began walking side-by-side.

"I know, but, Tristen, you have no idea what it is like living in a house full of men."

"Really?" asked Tristen. "I'm at your house a lot more than I am at mine." Cheyenne chuckled.

"I'd switch lives with you any day of the week, Tris." Tristen scoffed.

"I don't think you would. My parents are the most strict people you've ever met," Tristen replied and Cheyenne gave her a skeptical look.

"They let you come over almost everyday to a house full of unmarried men who had run-ins with the law, not to mention stay the night." Tristen laughed.

"They trust your father."

"Cheyenne!" Cheyenne and Tristen turned to see Richard riding up to them, the other regulators riding up behind him. These were the young men that Cheyenne was referring to. Now quite civilized (though, not so much to one another), they were definitely not the strays her father hired. They were the cattle hands of the big ranch.

"Tristen," Richard greeted, tilting his hat to her. Cheyenne scoffed. Even if the two didn't realize it, Tristen and Richard were crazy about each other since they met about two years ago. Richard was especially fond of her, Cheyenne noticed. It may just of been that he was a gentleman at heart and knew that if you liked a lady, you treated her with respect. Even so, the two never told each other their feelings and Cheyenne was ready for them to get together soon. Not only were they 'destined' and seemed incomplete without each other, they would dance around the subject as much as they could which annoyed Cheyenne. She would rather not hear, 'Tristen this,' or, 'Richard that' every day of the week. "Cheyenne, what are you doing out here?" Richard asked, turning back to the young girl he considered a sister.

"Practicing," Cheyenne replied with a shrug.

"Do you ever stop practicing? I'm starting to think that that's just your way of avoiding us all now."

"Well, it's an excuse to," she teased and he smiled.

"Cheyenne, you really shouldn't be out here without anyone watching you."

"I got Tristen. Apparently it's impossible to avoid her." Tristen gave her infamous flashing smile.

Richard shook his head. "I don't think your father wants you running off every chance you get and being unprotected."

"I'm fine, father," Cheyenne said, clearly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be concerned for you," Richard replied.

Cheyenne nodded. "I know, but you are overly concerned. I don't think anyone is going to try to violate me if I'm more than twenty feet away from the ranch."

"It's debatable," Richard argued.

"Well, I'll scream for you if that happens."

"Can we just go ahead and meet the new ranch hand like her father instructed me to get Cheyenne for in the first place?" Tristen interrupted through their sibling-like talk with a chuckle.

Cheyenne's eyes widened as she turned to face her best friend. "Oh, yeah, Tristen, can you go home and ask if you can stay over? I don't want to be bored while the boys over here harass the new stray."

"And have the possibility of the guy being a mass murderer? I don't know... just kidding I'll be back in a jiffy." Cheyenne laughed as Tristen walked off and turned back to Richard.

"Now, I think I can handle the walk back home by myself," she said, already starting to walk off. Richard rolled his eyes as he shook his head, trailing behind her. "Richard!"

"What? I would like to meet the new stray for myself, you know," Richard defended.

"You already did," Charlie commented from behind which Richard glared to. Cheyenne rose her eyebrow.

"What I love is that when you try to lie to me, one of you always expose the other. It's quite comical." With that, Cheyenne began running, despite knowing that Richard was on a horse and still following her until she made it to the ranch.

To her surprise and delight, Richard and the others walked off as soon as she had reached the ranch, knowing that they were the cattle hands and needed to do their job. Bang! Cheyenne jumped when she heard the sound of a gun going off and a bullet firing not to far away from her. Regaining her senses, she smiled as she seen the source of the sound as a young man standing in the swine pin, pointing his gun at one of the pigs.

"And here I was just coming over here to introduce myself," Cheyenne said smiling, raising her hands in surrender as he pointed the gun at her for a split second before lowering it.

"And who might you be?" The man questioned, straightening his stance and acting like he knew what he was doing at the moment. Cheyenne chuckled, clasping her hands behind her back as she walked toward the pin.

"Well, I would think he would've told you about me. Cheyenne Tunstall, pleasure I'm sure," she said, smiling.

"You mean the guy that hired me? Are you implying that I just pointed my gun at his very own daughter?" he said with a drop of sarcasm as he bowed.

"The very one," she said, unaffected by his sarcasm as she rounded around the pin, so that she was on the same side as him. She studied him for a moment and she had to admit, she knew this was the one that would get the worst of the jokes from the boys. Working with the hogs compared to working with the cattle was like the lower class compared to the upper. Of course, she didn't show any pity in her eyes or expression, she knew the boy wouldn't want that and she had a feeling he dealt with worse.

"Well?" she asked, smiling. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself? When one person says their name, the other person usually does as well around these parts."

"I go by Billy," he introduced. He stuck to the shortest answers possible because they both knew that he wasn't in the mood for talking, nor would be any time soon. He was more focused on punishing that pig that had embarrassed him in front of a girl.

"Billy," she repeated, glancing down at the pigs who were running around the pin in panic. "Well, if you are able to deal with them, I'll owe you one. They cause more trouble than they're worth." He scoffed at her words. Instead of showing any annoyance at his reaction, she remained grinning. She knew the little act that all of them did and honestly, she learned not to take it personally. That was usually why her father always wanted her to meet the strays, she never was riled or annoyed by their rudeness or intimidating selves while the boys always did except Richard. It usually got on their nerves, but eventually, they were pretty decent lads. Instead, she rose an eyebrow at him and laughed.

"That's not the usual reaction I get there. Normally the girl acts all offended and I have to fix it with compliments. Good thing I didn't have to with you 'cause I don't know if I have any," he joked.

"And same to you, hog boy," she teased, glancing at the window where she spotted her father watching. She smiled and waved at him.

Her father opened the door and walked outside, appearing at his daughter's side soon after. "I see you've met William," her father said as Cheyenne smiled innocently at her father.

"Yes, charming he is," she said, glancing over at Billy and smirking. Billy narrowed his eyes at her before looking over at John.

"I go by Billy."

"Don't take it personally, Master William, but I call all the boys by their formal names. It's good grounds for an education and sounds better at the dinner table."

"Oh, Father, that reminds me. I invited Tristen over for supper," Cheyenne said, turning away from Billy to face her father.

"Without asking me?" John asked, glancing at Cheyenne.

"Well, it already seems like she lives here. I usually don't ask and you usually don't mind."

"Fair enough," John replied. "Why don't you head inside and get ready, Cheyenne?" She nodded, smiling at Billy before walking inside, quickly dashing up the steps to her room where she would get into her supper clothing.

When she finally finished, she found Tristen downstairs at the dinner table, waiting for everyone to come in for dinner. "So, I'm assuming they said yes?" Cheyenne asked as she took her time down the steps.

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"You told them you're spending the night, right?" Tristen shrugged.

"They'll find out eventually," Tristen replied and Cheyenne laughed.

"My father would kill me if I did that!" Cheyenne said, taking a seat beside Tristen at the dinner table that surprisingly, her father had already set.

"Maybe, you don't know for sure," Tristen said.

"He would."

At that moment, John walked inside, the boys trailing behind him as they all took their seats. John took his seat at the end of the table, different from everyone else's who sat side by side. Cheyenne was now sitting in-between Charlie(who was sitting the left of Steve) and Tristen, while Richard, Doc, Billy and Chavez sat at the other side.

Finally, they were all ready with food on their trays. "Shall we pray?" John asked as every nodded. Cheyenne bowed her head. She didn't actually believe in God, but she didn't ever say anything, not wanting to offend her father or anyone else about something that didn't really matter to her.

"Lord, we want to thank you for this fine food that you have blessed us with and allowing us all to gather together-." Cheyenne opened her eyes a little and spotted Billy staring at her across the table. She rose an eyebrow at him. He smirked before closing his eyes and pretending to pray as well. She frowned when he didn't see and stared at him curiously. She had expected him to be lacking in manners and very rude as he had been and she thought it'd be a long time before he warmed up to her. But he had been staring at her which she didn't think was too strange since she hasn't been looking but when she showed him that she had caught him... he smirked. Smirked. Why on Earth would someone who tried to make a show of disliking her smirk and not care that she had caught him in an embarrassing act. Men, thought Cheyenne, always a mystery to her.

"... And in Jesus name we pray, Amen," said Richard and everyone lifted their heads and began eating. Tristen and Cheyenne shared a smile as they witnessed every one of the boys throw down on their food. "Well now, look at those appetites. William? Have some more." John said, nodding at Billy in conformation. Billy stared at him for a moment before getting another spoonful of the stew.

"Have you ever worked beef before, Billy?" Richard asked.

"Yeah... I worked a little out Fort Sumner way. Pete Maxwell's place. Did the chow line. But, I got a way with cattle," Billy said and Steve mumbled something under his breath that made both him and Charlie start to laugh. Cheyenne glanced over at them before sending a sneaky glance at her father who was staring at them in irritation.

"Is that so jolly funny, Master Steven? That's no proper table manners," her father replied to which Steve looked down to avoid her father's eyes.

"Got a way with hogs," Charlie snickered and both him and Steve laughed.

"Congratulations, Charles... You and Steven will be doing the dirty crockery alone this evening." Charlie chuckled as he sat his fork down and turned to John.

"Sorry, John, it struck me funny," Charlie replied and John nodded towards Billy.

"And to William. Both of you."

"Apologies William. Just hacking on you, that's all," Charlie apologized; even though, most of the table had a least cracked one smile at his comments.

"Yeah, we're just hacking on you," Steve added to which Billy didn't reply or show much expression.

"Rumor has it, you killed a man, Billy? You don't seem like the killing sort," Richard interrupted, changing the subject after a period of silence. Surprised, Cheyenne's eyes shot up, staring at Billy.

"Yeah Billy, what'd you kill him for?" Steve asked, hoping to provoke him even more. Billy glanced over at him and stared directly in his eyes before saying, "He was hacking on me."

Steve gulped loudly before him and Charlie shared a look as everyone stared at them in silence. That is until Cheyenne starting laughing loudly. John sent her a knowing look as she quickly covered it up by coughs. "That's not funny," she said, shaking her head at her father before looking down at her plate and taking a bite. Her father; though, couldn't help but smile as well when he looked down at his plate.

Billy grinned, pleased that he had gotten the young woman to laugh.

"That had to be the most uneasy dinner I've ever had over here and trust me, you have had some pretty uneasy dinner discussions over her before," Tristen had said when her and Cheyenne came inside Cheyenne's room after dinner. Cheyenne plopped on her bed before staring at Tristen.

"Thank you for being so blunt, Tris," Cheyenne replied, rolling her eyes. Tristen chuckled as she plopped on the bed beside her.

"Anytime. What are they doing anyway?"

"Reading," answered Cheyenne, wondering how Tristen had never asked before since it was a nightly thing that her father and the boys did. "Father likes to keep the boys educated, so he usually has them read a paragraph or two from the newspaper. Richard and Doc aren't usually the target of this since they've both been educated much longer and can read pretty well. Father likes to focus on Charlie and Steve's reading really, but he says they are coming along." Tristen nodded in understanding.

"Speaking of the newcomer-."

"We weren't," Cheyenne pointed out, leaning back on the bed so her head rested on her pillow.

"Anyways, what do you think of him?"

Cheyenne merely shrugged. "I don't know." Tristen scoffed.

"You don't know?" she asked with a tone of disbelief.

"I just met him, Tristen. I haven't formed an opinion about him yet, I guess."

Tristen had to roll her eyes as she leaned back until her back touched the wall the bed was sitting against. "He's handsome though, you have to admit," Tristen pried, staring intently at her good friend.

"I've seen better." Tristen heaved out a loud groan as she shook her head in annoyance at her friend's difficulty.

"Why can't you confess anything? Just one feeling is all I ask."

"What?" Cheyenne asked, furrowing her eyebrows together as she stared at Tristen with curiosity.

Tristen sighed. "I seen the none-too-subtle looks you two were exchanging."

"What are you talking about?" asked Cheyenne, sending her friend a very confused look.

"I'm talking about the rules of attraction, Cheyenne. The glances, the smiles. I've never seen it so obvious before." Cheyenne inwardly scoffed. She probably had never seen it-period.

"You are delusional, my friend" Cheyenne replied, tilting her head back and closing her eyes in relaxation.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I'm not right about this," Tristen insisted, leaning closer anxiously to hear what Cheyenne would say. "Divulge me, what do you think of him?"

"What do you think of him?" Cheyenne countered after a few moments of silence.

"Don't change the subject," Tristen said, ignoring her question. Cheyenne raised an eyebrow at her. "Although, I will take him for myself if you don't." That wasn't true and Cheyenne knew it. Tristen would never chase after a man she believed that Cheyenne fancied. And since she couldn't get the silly notion out of her head, Cheyenne was utterly annoyed.

Even if she were attracted to Billy or any man for that matter, she would never want to pursue such a relationship. No, she had read books like North and South or Pride and Prejudice and as much as she wanted to believe that love would be that way, she knew it wouldn't. Even from a very young age, Cheyenne didn't have much faith in marriage. She had witnessed the true means for marriage and often realized that you either married for wealth and you don't feel the true 'love' that marriage was supposed to have or you married for love which usually ended in you struggling to get food on the table each day. After all, her mother had married for wealth and only two years after she was born she ran off, probably because she couldn't stand living with a man who she didn't love; although, it was clear her father loved her. So, while the other girls dreamed of marriage and a family, Cheyenne dreaded it, knowing that life wouldn't be easy in marriage or without marriage.

"Oh, really? And what about Richard?" Cheyenne choose to ask, deciding that she wouldn't ruin the idea of love to Tristen.

"What about Richard?" Tristen asked, feeling a little flustered already.

"If we are going to talk about obvious, it is pretty obvious you two are in love with each other."

"Stop trying to change the-."

"I'm not. I thought it was only fair that I bring up something obvious to myself." Tristen sighed, rubbing her temple before glancing over at Cheyenne.

"Let's just get some sleep. It is already late enough."

"See, not so funny now, is it?" Cheyenne teased, but agreed. Tristen was quite odd at times, she could find some sort of attraction out of a look or two Cheyenne and Billy had shared yet, she couldn't figure out her feelings or Richard's feelings that they had for one another for two years.