A/N: I don't know if anyone is going to want to read this, but I really want to write it, so I'm going to. This is very short because its just a Prologue, the story proper starts next Monday - same time, same place ;)
Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to John Rogers, Chris Downey, TNT, and other folks that aren't me.
Prologue - A Storm Brewin'
There was a storm coming in.
Most would know that when it came into sight, rolling across the prairie like a devil come to ravage the land. In winter time, they came with stark regularity, most folks knew to watch out for them. All white with snow and cold as a killer's stare.
It was different in the summer months, when they were much less frequent. Still could do as much damage though, and still he always knew when they were on the way.
It wasn't seeing the clouds change, or even feeling a shift in the wind that tipped him off. It was a sense, something he never had been able to explain, but he reckoned it came from his Momma's heritage. Daddy said as much, when he was no more than knee high to a cricket.
These days it was hard to tell this guy was anything but the upstanding white man he appeared to be. A Texas Ranger known near and far for his courage and strength. The woman that died bringing him into this world was long forgotten by the town he and his father had settled in, but her son would always hold onto the stories he knew of that beautiful daughter of a Cherokee chief.
Eliot Spencer loved to know he was half his mother and half the well-respected town sheriff that had been his father. A child of the land, and a child of the law, all rolled up into one man. He took his role in this world as serious as anything, and anybody who knew him took that as read.
"'S gonna be a bad one, boy," he said softly to his mount, patting the trusty steed on his neck.
The faithful horse seemed to nod in some kind of agreement.
Animals understood the Earth better than most people. He probably sensed the storm coming too and knew it would be just as awful as his rider said. Of course, as much as Eliot understood the destruction the storm could bring, he also had a feeling some good might yet come out of it.
All things happened for a reason. The wind, the rain, the sun, the snow; God sent each of his seasons with a plan in mind. He knew what he wanted, what the people needed, even if they couldn't figure it out themselves.
As far as Eliot knew, no man was supposed to understand the way of such things. They were just meant to do their best with what they had, what they were given in time, and accept that some things just had to be, even if they seemed unjust or unfair .
There was a storm coming in, and for reasons he couldn't ever explain, the realisation of it made Eliot Spencer smile.