New York, 1997. Christmas Eve.
The fire crackled as an old woman rocked back and forth in her chair, knitting needles clicking together as the snow continued to fall outside. She looked up at her granddaughter, who was knotting a piece of string into a lasso while sitting on her rocking horse. She flicked the end of the string towards one of her teddy bears, managing to loop it around the bear's middle.
"Is this how Tilly did it, Granny?" She asked, standing up in the horse's saddle and yanking the bear towards her.
"She would be proud." The woman told her.
"Do you remember her?" Her granddaughter asked.
"She was my great-grandmother. I met her only a few times when I was very little. But I do remember seeing a photo of her when she was younger. She was very beautiful. You have her hair. Dark reddy brown, almost a purple maroon." The woman said thoughtfully.
"Can you tell me the story again?" The little girl asked, curling up in front of the fire with her bear. The old woman smiled and set her knitting down in her lap as she began to tell the story of her great-grandmother, Matilda Pratt, the legendary outlaw of the Wild West.
"Matilda, or Tilly Pratt was brought up in the Texas desert by outlaws. When she was twenty years old, she saved the life of John Reid, the local sheriff's son, and they became friends, eventually falling in love. Four years later they were ready to spend the rest of their lives together, but John's father did not want his son to be seen with, let alone marry an outlaw. So, his father told him to leave her." The old woman recalled.
"There's no way John would do that, though, right? I mean…he loves her." Her granddaughter asked innocently.
"If only that was true." Her grandmother replied, shaking her head. "On the day John was scheduled to leave Texas to study Law, he pulled Tilly aside. She was so proud of him...He told her that she was no longer appropriate for him. This broke Tilly's heart, and as she watched him leave, she vowed to never be appropriate for anyone, and it became one of her most recognisable qualities. It was not appropriate for a woman to be a lawman, so she became an outlaw. It was not appropriate for a woman to bare her ankles in a skirt, so she wore hers well above her knees. And so, everything that she couldn't do, she did and everything she could never be, she became." The old woman finished.
"But that's not the end. Is it?" The little girl asked. "Isn't there supposed to be a happy ending."
The old woman smiled at the girl's eagerness to hear the story, even though she'd heard it many times before.
"No. It is not the end." The old woman said, and continued the story of the Tilly Pratt, the Lone Ranger and the Indian.
Colby, Texas, 1869.
On the ridge, Tilly sat atop her horse and looked down into the valley where the small town of Colby sat quietly in the center. Through the valley lay the newly erected railway. Built to unite the country of America. But Tilly couldn't care less about trains. She was more interested in what was in one that was due to approach Colby any minute.
The outlaw, Butch Cavendish, was en route to hang in the town and that was all thanks to Tonto, a Comanche and friend of Tilly. While Cavendish was a fellow outlaw, Tilly had a sense of decency, and a general respect for human life.
Tonto had gotten aboard the train, and was keeping an eye on Butch, so all they had to do was make sure he got to his hanging on time. Tilly stood up in the saddle as she saw the train round the base of the ridge. Right on time.
Aboard the train, sat a man who hadn't been in Colby for the past five years. He'd been at law school and was returning to become the town's judge and Texas Ranger. John Reid flicked through his pocket sized constitution, until he reached the photograph he used as a bookmark. The photograph was of a beautiful girl, whom he hadn't seen since he left Colby. He smiled at her pretty face, but was nervous about what would happen if he ran into her.
Back on the ridge top, Tilly watched as the train snaked it's way through the valley, but her attention was quickly drawn to loud yells from the bottom of the ridge, where she saw a group of men aboard horses racing towards the train.
She recognised them as Butch's men, and knowing that things had been going too smoothly, stirred her horse and galloped off the ridge top, giving chase to the train.
By the time she caught up with the train, some of Butch's men had already made it inside the carriages and were no doubt terrorizing the passengers. As an outlaw, Tilly was neither hated nor loved, but she always made sure she hid her identity, just in case. So, she hooked the other corner of the black clothe that was hanging by the side of her face behind her ear so it was covering her nose and mouth, and urged her horse forwards.
She reached the passenger car and after clicking to her horse, to keep pace with the train, stood on top of the saddle and leapt across to the carriages couplings. Tilly drew her two pistols and pushed open the door to see a carriage full of Presbyterian women and children. One of Butch's men was trying to take a ring off an old woman, while another was singing along with a sobbing lady as the band was held at his gun point.
The carriage fell silent as they saw Tilly standing in the doorway. She was certainly a rare sight, dressed in a dusty purple skirt that was eye-wateringly short at the front and circled round to her calves at the back, her matching corset showed off her tanned and strong shoulders and her heeled, lace up boots extended her already long legs. While her face was mostly covered by the cloth, her aqua eyes stood out against the dark makeup she wore around them.
"Hey, Frank." She said to one of Butch's as he stared at her.
"Uh, hi." He replied nervously. Butch's other man wasn't as distracted and aimed his pistol at her. Frank ducked out of the way as Tilly beat the man to it, firing a single shot that hit him in the chest. The women in the carriage screamed as she looked around for Frank, but he'd disappeared.
Tilly started through the carriage and reached for the door handle when a shout came up from behind her.
"Harlot!" The priest screamed, looking from her to the dead man. She glared warningly at him and he stepped back, not daring to challenge her again.
She wrenched open the door to the carriage and stood on the coupling as, above her, Frank leapt to the next carriage, running across the rooves.
Tilly whistled to her horse, and Bessy appeared beside the carriage. She leapt down and landed in the saddle. With the extra speed, Tilly chased after Frank.
As the train approached the town, Tilly realised she had more things to worry about, as the powerful engine wasn't slowing down. Tilly caught up with Frank, who was pointing his pistols at Tonto, who had somehow escaped, with another man in a suit.
Tilly pulled the whip from her belt and snapped it towards Frank's leg, wrapping itself neatly around his ankle. He just had time to look down before Tilly yanked his feet out from under him, and he toppled off the side of the train.
Standing beside Tonto, John watched as Frank disappeared over the side of the carriage and looked over the edge to see a woman jump on top of her horse's saddle and prepare to leap onto the carriage.
"Who is that?" John asked the Indian he was chained to.
"Great warrior." He replied as the woman leapt onto the carriage and pulled herself up, onto the roof.
"We have to stop the train! That's the end of the line." John said to the woman as she stood up and looked ahead to where workman were still constructing the track.
"Must jump!" The Indian yelled.
"There's no time. We have to unhook the carriages." She replied, running past them and leaping across to the next carriage. The trio ran along the top of the train til they reached the first passenger carriage. The woman dropped down and pulled out the bolt, letting the carriages free of the speeding train.
"Oh, damn." The woman muttered to herself as she realised, the three of them were still aboard the engine.
"Now what?" John asked, as they were now only two hundred meters from the end of the track.
"Now, you jump." She replied, and dropped down into the empty cabin, where she found a pick axe, and broke off the end. She hurried back over to him and the Indian, tying the spike to the end of their chains.
"You're gonna want to hold on to each other. This is gonna hurt." She yelled, and threw the spike over the back of the train. John hesitated for a moment, not understanding what was happening, but as the pike caught on one of the sleepers, he understood. The chain tightened and he and the Indian, were yanked off the back of the train, flying for a second before landing on the track where they'd previously been standing.
Once Tilly was sure the pair had cleared the train, she whistled once again to Bessy and she jumped down, onto the horses back as the train ran off the tracks and into the soft sand, skidding violently, before tipping on it's side and rolling to a stop.
"Good girl." She said to her faithful horse, patting it's flank as they walked back to where Tonto and the other man where laying, still on the railway.
She thought for a moment that they were dead, but Tonto soon let out a wheeze, and rolled onto his back as the other man gulped in lungful's of air trying to regain the wind had been knocked out of him.
"You alright, Tonto?" She asked her friend, leaning forwards in her saddle.
"Oh yes. Very fine." He said sarcastically.
Tilly turned to the other man, but paused as she recognised him, much to her annoyance.
"What are you doing back here?" She asked and the man squinted up at her, confused.
"What?" He wheezed.
"You shouldn't of come back." She said, and pulled away her mask, revealing her identity to the man she once loved.
"Tilly?" John Reid asked, astonished, but she ignored him as Tonto pulled himself to his feet and walked over to her.
"Windigo gone." He said, referring to Butch.
"Great." She replied tiresomely.
"His fault." Tonto added, pointing to John. "Half-wit. Wet brain."
"I agree." Tilly said as John continued to stare at her.
"Must find Cavendish." Tonto decided and started off, towards the desert.
"If you need me, you know where to find me." She said to him, as he went off to try and track down Butch…again.
"Tilly." John called, having found his tongue.
"You stay out of my life." She interrupted him, turning Bessie back towards town.
"I was gonna ask if I could have a lift." He said.
"You have legs, don't you?" Tilly called over her shoulder, and she saw John looked down at his legs.
"Use them." She added, before riding back into town.