To say that the small town of St. Petersburg was surprised when the cowboy, Mr. Anderson, came to town with a herd of cattle and a small herd of boys to round them up was an understatement. They were bewildered. To the point where Moff Potter actually stopped drinking for a few days, just to get a look at the cowboys. But the surprises didn't end there. Mr. Anderson's daughter, Scarlet, was with them too. She was riding in the back with their wagon and chef, Mr. Nightlinger, but she was on horseback and helping the boys round up the cows and keeping any from wondering off. That shocked the town to its core. Girls weren't supposed to do that kind of stuff, they were supposed to stay home and cook and clean and take care of the kids. A lot of the boys in town were a little weary of her, though they tried not to let that show through. A few of them went up to her and asked her, "What's a girl like you doing with all those work that's made for men?" To which she replied. "What's a boy like you going to do when you get trampled by a herd of cows?" The boys didn't know wether or not to take the girl seriously or not, they hoped that they didn't have to. But there were two boys in particular that kept a very keen interest in her.
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, the heroes of the town that had discovered treasure.
Though Scarlet actually showed little interest in them, wether they were trying to talk to her or someone was talking to her about them. It didn't matter though. In a few days Scarlet, her father, the cows, and the cowboys would all be on their way again. But that changed pretty quickly. The chef fell ill and couldn't go anywhere, not only that but one of the horses was injured. They weren't sure how but it was obvious that the horse was in great pain. Everyone had their own conclusion as to why it was, but it was never proven. Any of them. So the large group had to settle down in that small town for a while and it was quite interesting. To say the least.
Scarlet was a pretty girl, prettier then a lot of girls in St. Petersburg. She had long brown-blonde hair that went to her mid-back, sun-kissed skin from being outside so long, and sea green eyes. She was older than a few of them, around Huck's age. Which, at the time, was fifteen years old. Since she was fifteen that also meant that she looked more 'grown up' then all the other girls but she was still skinny and sort of small.
Tom didn't dare mention the new beauty to Becky, though the Thatcher girl never showed any sign of resentment or any of those kind of emotions towards the other girl. But Huck wouldn't stop talking about it. Tom got the idea that his friend had a crush on her but soon dismissed it. He was still trying to get used to Huck going to school and staying in town for more than a few months at a time. Though the boy did have a tendency to sneak off once or twice during the night, he usually brought Tom along.
"What's that?" Sid asked wide eyed as he stared at the rope one of the boys, that came with Mr. Anderson, was wrapping around there shoulder.
"It's a lasso," Tom said as he watched the boy too, it looked interesting. "When a cow tries to run away they throw that rope and catch it around its neck, then bring it back."
"But that will hurt the cow!"
Tom ignored Sid and continued to watch the boy as he finished and put the lasso in his saddle bag for easy access. Both boys froze when one familiar boy rode up. There was one Mexican in the group of young cowboys that Mr. Anderson brought to town, his name was Sumaron. He was a great rider and herder, not to mention a great fighter. All the boys were scared of him, including Huck. Even though the great Huckleberry Finn would never admit that. Tom was so absorbed in watching the boys that he didn't even notice the stranger sneaking up on him.
"You haven't blinked for about ten minutes so ether you see something very interesting or you got the fear knocked right out of you," a voice said.
Tom recognized the accent and turned his head to come face to face with the smiling Scarlet Anderson. Sid had wondered off by now and Tom made a mental note to beat him later for it. After all, he was supposed to be 'watching' him while Aunt Polly and Mary talked to some friends. The boy continued to stare at the beautiful girl until she smiled and climbed up onto the fence that she had been leaning against. Tom's mind raced. What was he suppose to say?
"So how is the nigger feeling?" He asked. His hands flew to his mouth once the words escaped it, had he really just called the chef a nigger? The new girl probably wouldn't like that. But she took no mind in it, and if she did then she hid it very well.
"Fine," Scarlet replied as she looked over at the two boys and whistled sharply to get there attention. The boys turned to her, their horses even looked over. "Where's Charddy?" She asked and one boy said something that Tom could barley hear, but Scarlet nodded as if she heard whatever her friend said, which she probably did.
"Hey Tom!" A familiar voice called and the brunette looked over to see Huck walking over, though he faltered a little when he saw who his friend was with.
In that moment the idea of Huck having a crush on Scarlet came to the younger boys mind but he pushed it away and turned to his friend with a small smile. Scarlet was tracing patterns in the dirt with the toe of her boot and didn't seem to notice the other boy. Tom was about to say something about it when they heard a scream. Then someone yelling Scarlet's name. Tom and Huck glanced at each other then over at Scarlet, to see that she had already gone. They quickly ran after her and when they got to where the screams were coming from there was already about half the town there. A small boy, about nine or ten, was standing there with a terrified expression as one of Tom's rivals, Alfred, glared down at him. The older, and obviously bigger, boy had the smaller boys shirt in his hands and he was lifting the boy off the ground by it. Before Scarlet could do anything to help the boy a loud, angry yell filled everyone's ears.
"Put him down!"
The people turned to see Mr. Anderson walk over and grab Alfred by the scruff of the neck, pulling him away from the smaller boy. Once he was free the small boy ran over to Scarlet and hugged her waist tightly. Still looking completely terrified. Before Mr. Anderson could chew out Alfred the boys own mother pushed herself through the crowd and started doing it for him. It was interesting to watch, because Alfred was supposed to be so polite and good.
After reassuring the little boy, Charddy, his name was Charddy, that he was going to be okay Scarlet brought him over to the other boys. Fatso, the chubby one in the group, stepped forward and put a hand on the youngest's shoulder. Charddy followed Fatso to the others and let the girl go back to where she had been previously standing. Right next to Tom and Huck. The two boys were staring at her with a bewildered expression, even though she wasn't the one at had done anything. It had been the fact that the little boy had cried out her name when he was about to be beaten by the other boy. Why would he call to Scarlet?! She was a girl! Actually, no, never mind about that topic. Tom knew exactly why Charddy had called out for Scarlet, he had seen the girl fight before. Even thou she had just been messing around with some of her friends, a small group of St. Petersburg boys gathered around and watched in amazement as the girl beat one boy after the other. And that was why Charrdy called out to her first instead of the other boys. She could easily beat any boy, and some of the men, for that matter, any time if she wanted too. But, of course, she would get her head bit off by her dad if she did. Though she came close too it because Alfred had threatened Charddy. Not even the boys she's been traveling with for two months now could explain exactly what the girls relationship was with the little boy. The just summed it up to her acting like an overprotective mother, or sister. He was the baby out of them after all. With his wide brown eyes, small frame, and innocent look you couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to convince Mr. Anderson that he could herd cows with the rest of them. Everyone in town thought that his parents must be worried sick having their son out in the wild with Mr. Anderson, who was a piece of work when he wanted to be. Which was almost every single day that he was delayed in the little town.
They had a schedule to keep and because of the chef becoming sick they would probably never make it to... Wherever they were going in time. Sumaron had tried to keep the other boys spirits up but failed, just like the boys before him had. It was a repeating pattern. And, lets just say, the boys (and girl) couldn't wait for the chef to be better again.
