Chapter 2

Clara was shocked when Tennessee indeed kept to his word and did not blindfold her before riding into town. She stared at the surroundings of the small town she and Tennessee rode into. She was a bit upset when she saw the male raccoon was right about it being a town she did not recognize, but she was glad now that she didn't have to be blindfolded anymore. Clara and Tennessee finally reached the clock tower.
Tennessee with one hand picked up the bags of gold and with the other he grabbed Clara by her hand.
The female raccoon was a bit shocked by this action but she still didn't trust him.
Inside Tennessee dropped the bags of down on the ground before sitting down in a chair. He lifted up his feet and rested them on the table as he leaned back in his chair.
Clara sat down across from him, still being cautious of the infamous outlaw. She pushed back her brown hair out of her eyes as she for the first time studied the male raccoon before her. She focused her eyes on his face, noticing that despite his reputation he had quite a charming face. Her eyes trailed downward, studying his firm chest.
Tennessee tilted his hat up a bit, smirking when he noticed Clara studying his features.

"I thought ya didn't think I was good-looking, Miss Clara." Tennessee said with a grin.

Clara snapped out of her thoughts and glared at the male raccoon, but she didn't say a word against his statement causing him to snicker. She almost felt like yelling at him for sitting there and snickering but she resisted the urge and decided to remain silent.

"Miss Clara, I believe I never did catch where ya from. Miss Paradox had to get you from somewhere." he said.

At that moment Clara's ears flattened against her head. She turned her head away from Tennessee and frowned. She began wiping her eyes to fight back some tears; she never did like crying in front of anyone, especially outlaws.

"Doesn't matter I can't go back." she muttered.

Tennessee raised a brow in confusion, wondering what could have possibly happened that made it where Clara couldn't return home. Quietly he got up and sat down next to her; he saw she flinched a bit when he laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Look, Miss Clara, I know you don't trust me, but maybe you can tell me the reason why you can't go back." Tennessee suggested.

Clara took in a deep sigh and moved away from the male raccoon. She believed he was beginning to tread on her personal grounds and that she had no reason to tell Tennessee the dark secrets of her past. So without a word she left Tennessee alone in the room.

Jeanette loaded her gun as she rode into a small Indian village. She was making plans for a big gold heist and the one thing she wanted was a distraction. Just as she expected Indian warriors surrounded her horse with their weapons pointing at her. Her green eyes widen when she saw a large brown male buffalo approach her; she figured by his tan-colored clothing and the large feather headdress that the buffalo was the chief of the village.
The chief snorted his nose at the female skunk, his eyes glaring at her with rage.

"I am Chief Thunderhooves, why do you trespass on our land?" he said in a strict tone

Behind him stood an orange female buffalo with amber-colored hair that hung in one of her eyes and she wore a tan dress and boots. She narrowed her blue eyes at Jeanette, not wanting to trust any words that come out of the female skunk's mouth.

"My name is Jeanette Le Paradox and I'm just an innocent, defenseless woman seeking food and shelter." she said as she hid away her two guns.

"I do not trust this women, something smells off about her." the female buffalo snarled.

"Hey it's not my fault I'm a skunk! I took three baths just to try to tone the stench down!" Jeanette yelled in an insulted tone.

"That is enough, Strongheart! Let this skunk speak, she seems of no threat to us." Chief Thunderhooves said.

Jeanette grinned as she watch Strongheart glare at her before walking off. Once the female skunk had set down with the chief, she told a convincing lie about how a town not too far from them planned to seize their land from them and force the Indians out of their homes. Chief Thunderhooves snarled, his hands clenching into fists. The more he thought about the news Jeanette had given him, the angrier he got.

"Well there is one thing you could do to stop this from happening." Jeanette said with a grin, "Attack the town before they have the chance to attack you."

"We can't attack!" Strongheart yelled as she entered the tent, "That will only give the town reason to come back for us!"

"Oh, but I thought you cared for your village." the female skunk said in a fake innocent tone.

"I do but that doesn't give us the right to attack them!" the female buffalo replied.

"Be silent, Strongheart!" Chief Thunderhooves said in a strict tone.

Strongheart couldn't believe it, the chief was actually choosing to believe someone not from their village. She clenched her fists and stormed out of the tent. She scaled up some rocks and sat on top of them, upset that no one would listen to her. The Indian village was like her family since none of her biological family remained. Her mother was an Indian buffalo while her father was a western bison. She knew that she had been told her parents met under unexpected events and that their views on life is what drove them apart. Her father hungered for one thing and that was to tame the wild north; so he traveled to Canada during the gold rush, but supposedly died in an avalanche. Her mother was killed when outlaws had set fire to her village; she tried to escape but she was trapped, leaving Strongheart to become an orphan. Strongheart took in a deep sigh, watching as Jeanette left the tent and got on her horse.

"Mother what would you have done if you were alive?" the female buffalo thought.

Clara opened her eyes when she heard the sounds of struggles, curious she got out of her bed to see what it was. She pressed her feet against the wooden floor, taking silent steps as she tried to find the source of the struggles. She kept looking till finally she found the source of the sounds. She was shocked when she saw the outlaw that loved to make her angry, tossing and turning in his bed, his eyes squeezed shut in fear. Clara had never seen that side of the male raccoon; hesitantly she began shaking Tennessee in an attempt to wake him up.
Tennessee's eyes snapped open as he gasped and instinctively grabbed his revolver and aimed it at Clara's head.
The female raccoon froze in fear when she found herself staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.
Tennessee blinked his brown eyes, finally taking notice of his surroundings, when he saw he had his revolver aimed at Clara's face he quickly jerked it away.

"Miss Clara, you startled me. I would have never aimed old blue at ya if I had known it was you." Tennessee apologized.

"I-I understand, y-ya were only ha-having a nightmare." Clara stuttered, still shaken up from having a gun aimed at her.

"I truly am sorry, Miss Clara. Normally people aren't around whenever I have one of those nightmares just like a while ago." he explained.

Clara began to calm down a bit when she saw the male raccoon really was sorry for what he did. That was when to Tennessee's surprise Clara sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms around Tennessee, running one of her hands up and down his back.

"My ma did this whenever I had a nightmare, it always helped calm me." she explained.

Tennessee was stiff at first, but eventually he did find that the action was indeed calming him like Clara said it would. He rested his head on shoulder, welcoming the sleep that he yearned for. Before he fell asleep he could have sworn he saw Clara smile at him but he decided it was only his imagination playing tricks with him.
Clara gently pushed Tennessee back down on his bed. She was going to get up but for some reason she found herself still sitting on his bed. She didn't know why, but quietly she reached out her hand and began tracing the features of the sleeping raccoon's face. She ran her fingers down his chin, thinking how he had been kind to her all of this time, like a gentlemen.

"Maybe ya'll not so bad after all." she thought to herself.

Jeanette grinned in victory as she walked into her bedroom, everything was going according to her plan. The longhorns would provide as her muscle for the job while the Indians would be her distraction. She sat down at her mirror dresser, admiring her reflection.

"How do you like me now Pa?" she said as her green eyes stared at her reflection.

She could remember the memory very clear, her father wanted to have a son to continue the Le Paradox Clan legacy. After her mother gave birth to her she was left unable to bear any more children. Jeanette's father was enraged by this, but forced his daughter into her training in order to continue the thieving line. Every time she would falter and grow tired, her father would start beating on her and tell her that she was worthless. Eventually her father was arrested and thrown in prison during a failed robbery; after that he was hung for his crimes. Ever since that day Jeanette vowed she would bring the Le Paradox name to light and finally prove to her father that she was not the worthless being he always believed her to be. Her eyes squeezed shut as she thought of the painful memories, curious she turned her back to the mirror, but still made it where she could see the mirror. She grasped the straps off her dress and slipped them off of her shoulders, revealing her bare back. She almost cried as she stared at the different whip marks that covered her back, all of them came from her father's constant beatings whenever she messed up. At times Jeanette for forget why she's even trying to bring her family name into the thieving light but when she sees the scars on her back, she remembers the reason why.

Daylight had finally come, the sun shined down upon the scorching hot desert. Tennessee opened his eyes, letting out a yawn as he stretched his arms until he heard a satisfying pop. He remembered last night's events where he almost shot Clara due to him being startled from his nightmare. He didn't mean to do that; he wasn't thinking at the time. Though these were the farthest thoughts from his mind, right now he was focused on the news of a steamboat that will be passing by in the river. He knew there would be lots of passengers' money on that steamboat, giving him the perfect opportunity for a heist. He was about to get out of his bed until he noticed lying asleep on the floor was none other than Clara. Her curled up sleeping form was next to Tennessee's bed, her tail twitching a few times. With a smirk Tennessee got down in the floor next to Clara, laying his hand on her cheek.

"Well, Miss Clara. I didn't know you were that kind of girl." he smirked.

Clara's eyes snapped open and she jerked her body away from the
male raccoon. Her brown eyes glared at him with anger.

"I am not that kind of girl! To think I was worried about ya last night!" she yelled as she stood up and stormed off.

Tennessee Kid couldn't help but laugh at the fact he had made the female raccoon angry once more. He got off of the floor and grabbed a hold of his revolver. After Clara had cooled down, he told her that they were going to pull a heist on a steamboat and he needed someone to help cover him.
Clara agreed to the task due to the fact it would be useless to leave Tennessee since she still didn't know what town she was in.
The two raccoons gathered up the supplies before leaving the clock tower. They both quietly made their way down to the river, not wanting to alert the town's people to their presence. Once there they both got on a raft that was tied to the docks. Tennessee had Clara grasp the handlebars of the pump that controlled the raft's paddles as he untied the raft, shoving his foot against the dock. The raft traveled down the rivers, the water's currents splashing against the wood of the raft, making the surface slippery.

Clara struggled to keep her balance on the raft as she tightly clung onto the raft's pup bar. Her boots slipped and slid all over the wet surface as she struggled to remain standing upright.
Tennessee couldn't resist laughing at the sight. He thought it was hilarious how much the female raccoon at the moment. This earned Tennessee a very angry glare from Clara. It wasn't long before Tennessee saw the steamboat come into view.

Tennessee grabbed some rope, creating a loop before swinging it over his head and latching it onto one of the steamboat's spouts. He tied the other end of the rope to the raft and tugged on it to make sure the rope was secure.

"Alright, Miss Clara, stay here while I go get the money." he said as he climbed up on the rope, making sure to keep his balance.

Clara still didn't like the idea of helping an outlaw steal, but she agreed to it.
With that Tennessee ran up the rope, making his way to the top of the steamboat. He chewed on the toothpick in his mouth, focusing on reaching the boat's vault where they kept all of the passengers' money. He clung onto one of the steamboat's poles, slowly crawling down on it and planting his feet on the solid floor. Tennessee grinned seeing he was right outside of the vault room. Silently he opened the door, spotting the huge grey vault in the center of the room. He pressed his ear up against the vault door, his hand firmly grasping the vault dial. His ears twitched as he turned the dial, listening for the clicks that signaled the combination. With one last turn there was a loud click and Tennessee was able to open up the vault door.

"I may have to take a vacation after this one." Tennessee commented out loud.

"How about in prison?" a male voice suggested.

Tennessee Kid turned around to see Sheriff Wiley Fox snarling with his gun aimed at him.

"You've escaped the law for too long, Cooper, now it's time to go where you belong." Sheriff Wiley Fox snarled.

Thinking fast the male raccoon grabbed the bag of money out of the vault before running away, swiftly dodging the bullets fired from the sheriff's gun. He ran as fast as he could, trying to avoid the gunfire being shot at him by the very fox continuing to pursue him. Tennessee saw the rope leading to the raft coming into view; his sense a freedom beginning to grow. But he failed to see Sheriff Wiley quickly firing his gun. Tennessee screamed in pain as he felt the bullet tear through his right ear, leaving a bleeding hole. Blood dripped down on his shoulder as he dropped the money to try to stop the bleeding as he continued to run toward the rope.
Sheriff Wiley fired his gun again and this time it hit Tennessee in the shoulder.
The male raccoon squeezed his eyes shut as he felt himself fall over the railing of the steamboat and into the water. He sank deeper and deeper into the rushing currents, watching as the water around him turned crimson from his blood. For the first time Tennessee thought he was going to die.

Clara stared with wide eyes at what had happened. At first she thought about untying the rope and fleeing; with Tennessee dead she would no longer have to stick around with him. She reached the rope, but she couldn't find it in her heart to let the outlaw die. Without any second thoughts she dived into the water after Tennessee. She swam to his sinking body, grabbing his gun and holding it in her mouth before wrapping her arms around his waist. Her legs kicked with all of her might as she swam to the surface, trying to make sure the now unconscious raccoon didn't die. Her head broke the surface a few times but the river's currents forced her under again, making her have to fight harder to get her and Tennessee to safety. Finally after many attempts she managed to reach the raft; she pulled Tennessee's body up onto the raft and quickly untied the rope, allowing the raft to drift down the river, away from the steamboat. Quickly she ripped off the male raccoon's shirt and vest, exposing his bare chest so she could examine the gunshot wound in his shoulder. The wound was bleeding badly and she could see the bullet still in his wound.

"Come on, Tennessee, don't die on me." she said as she held her hand against Tennessee's bleeding ear.

She knew she had to get back to the clock tower in order to treat his wounds. Clara dragged Tennessee's body up a bit more on the raft before grabbing the handlebar on the pumps, making the raft return to the direction they came from. Her brown eyes glanced down at the male raccoon, hoping she wasn't too late.