Stinky Pete the Prospector cackled as he pulled tightly on the rope. "That'll hold you!"
On the railroad tracks under him, Bo Peep glared. "You won't get away with this!"
Prospector just cackled again. "I'll let you go if you tell me where the gold is!"
Bo turned her nose up and looked away. "Hmmph!"
Prospector's face turned red with anger. "Don't you 'Hmmph' me! I know you discovered a cave of gold while you were looking for your sheep!" He pointed down the tracks with his pickax. "The eight o'clock train into town comes this way around seven-fifteen, approximately ten minutes from now, and if you don't want to be a squashed shepherdess, I suggest you start talking!"
"Never!" Bo cried. "Sheriff Woody will save me!"
"I pushed Sherriff Woody over the cliff into the river!"
"But he can swim."
"With a stick of dynamite in his mouth?" Prospector laughed. "Now tell me where the gold is!"
"No!"
"In that case, let me take you out to dinner."
"I'd rather be hit by the train." Said Bo.
"Have it your way!" Stinky Pete replied. He swung his short legs over the burro that was waiting nearby. "I'll find that gold mine myself, and with you out of the way there'll be no one else to stake a claim! I'll be rich! Filthy, stinking rich!"
"You're already filthy and stinking!"
"Why did he jump on a burrito?"
"It's a burro. It's like a donkey."
"Then why didn't you say donkey?"
"Who's telling the story here? Me or you?"
"Sorry…"
From a distance, Sherriff Woody sat on his faithful steed, Bullseye. The train whistle could be heard from a mile away. He could see Bo Peep tied to the track.
"Looks like Stinky Pete the Prospector is up to no good again." Woody said to his horse. "We better go rescue Miss Peep!" Bullseye nodded and reared on his hind legs. "Ride like the wind, Bullseye!"
The train crashed toward the blonde captive as Woody raced toward it. "Hey howdy hey! Giddy up!" The Cowboy shouted. He began to twirl his lasso above his head…
"Where'd the lasso come from?"
"It was just there."
"But it had to come from somewhere!"
"No it didn't. Now let me continue…"
Bo watched the locomotive in terror as the wheels began to barrel toward her. She squeezed her blue eyes shut and turned away.
The lasso fell over her shoulders as Bullseye galloped past. Woody pulled her up onto the saddle…
Just as the train ran over the spot where she had lay. The two watched it as it charged past. The Sherriff smiled as he held Bo, still tied, in his arms. "'Scuse me, Little Missy, but you seemed to be in a bit of trouble."
"To put it mildly," she answered. "But I thought you couldn't swim with a stick of dynamite in your mouth!"
Woody shrugged. "True, but Bullseye can!"
Bo sat up straight. "Oh Sherriff Woody..." She leaned toward him, her lovely pink lips puckered…
"Ew!"
"What now?"
"Kissing! Gross!"
"Yucky yucky!"
"Well excuse me but some grownups happen to like it!"
"Bleh!"
"All right, all right! We'll skip the kissing…"
"Is there anything else I can do for you, Ma'am?" Asked Woody as he began to undo the binds that held Bo.
"Well, you could capture the guy who did this to me."
"I think I can do that…"
Stinky Pete stood inside the cave, rubbing his hands. The walls glittered with gold. "Mine! It's all mine!" He cried joyously.
"Ahem."
The Prospector turned around. Bo was standing at the mouth of the cave. He gasped. "You! But I heard the train! How did you escape?"
"About dinner…" Said Bo coyly. "I'm afraid you're going to be just too busy tonight."
Woody suddenly appeared, twirling his lasso. He threw it and it landed around Stinky Pete and he tightened it. "Don't worry, Prospector," he said as he dragged him forward. "I'll treat you to dinner! How's prison food sound?"
Bo was looking around the cave. "Imagine all this trouble just for a little bit of gold."
Woody was wrapping the rest of the rope around Stinky Pete. "Well, gold is a very valuable metal," he answered. "Too bad it's not gold."
"What?" Said Bo.
"WHAT?" Shouted Prospector.
"It's pyrite." Said Woody. "Bullseye and I discovered this cave a few years ago. I had some of it taken into town and examined…"
"What's pirate?"
"It's pyrite, and it means Fool's Gold."
"So it's only for fools?"
"Will you guys stop interrupting?"
The Prospector's shoulders slumped. "I can't believe it. All that work for nothing!"
"Well, not nothing," said Woody. "You'll get three meals a day and a nice comfy room all to yourself! And by comfy, I mean small, cold, and cramped." He pulled him to his short stubby legs and led him to Bullseye. As Woody pushed him up on the saddle, he commented to Bo, "By the way, I liked that line you used back there. About how he's going to be busy tonight."
"Well," Bo slipped her arm through his with a sly smile. "He's not the only one…"
"What's that mean?" Smudgy asked.
Woody stopped telling the story again. "Pardon?"
"What did she mean that Stinky Pete's not the only one who's…"
Woody's cheeks turned red. "Never you mind!" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, that's how I saved Bo Peep from the Prospector. The End."
The younger toys were gathered around Woody in a circle. "Wow! Is that true?"
The Cowboy smiled. "Of course it's true! Would I lie to you kids?"
Tuk was sitting next to Smudgy. "Bo Peep sure gets captured a lot!" he said.
"Yeah," Dimple Darling agreed. "Like when you told us the story about how she was kidnapped by Stinky Pete the Pirate because she wouldn't tell him where the treasure was!"
"Or when she was a'ducted by Stinky Pete the Martian 'cause she wouldn't tell him where the planet of gold was!" Added Tuk.
"Well its true Bo gets herself in all sorts of scrapes," said Woody, looking at his fingertips as he rubbed them on his vest proudly. "But luckily Sheriff Woody's always there to save the day!"
"Uh huh…" Said a voice and Woody suddenly felt someone leaning on his shoulder.
He blushed as he turned his head to see Bo, an amused look on her face as she rested her elbow on him. "Oh, erm…h-hi, Bo…"
She raised her brows. "A stick of dynamite in your mouth?"
Woody laughed, embarrassed. "Uh…dramatic tension?"
Bo poked his forehead as the other toys giggled. "Sometimes I think you've got a bigger imagination than Andy…"
