Chapter 1 –
The town of Andyville was a little town located within the West. It contained an array of shops and a single saloon for the local people with a lone school in which the local children attended. Canyons and fields surrounded the town. In varying fields, the Indians quietly lived their peaceful lives while the buffalos and wild horses roamed free across the prairie. Eagles occasionally soared above in the sky as the sun beamed down causing a glow to strike the ground. The townsfolk all got along well, except for the occasional drunk or gun fight which the Sheriff of the town soon sorted out. Sometimes they got bandits from far off places or cattle rustlers which the Sheriff always managed to outwit, even in the most difficult situations. The Sheriff was loved by most people within the town. He kept the peace amongst them all even if some were more stubborn than others. His heart belonged to his job more than anything so he was a single man. His deputy was also adored by most the town. They were both the major heart throbs for both the young and old, well women that is. Loyalty and kindness lied within their hearts. Unlike the Sheriff though, his deputy's duties lied more to his heart than his job.
In a private office, the Sheriff was sat at a brown desk flicking through some papers. The office was medium sized with his desk at the back of the room with his chair and a chair opposite him. A cabinet stood in the left hand corner at the back of the room with piles of paper work stacked high. There were a pair of door flaps which led to the reception area of his office. His golden Sheriff badge glistened on his brown vest shirt as the sun shone through the large rectangular window at the far side of the room. He slowly took off his brown hat and placed it on the desk as he ran his fingers through his slightly curly brown hair. With a sigh he mumbled, "I don't believe this."
The bell above the reception room chimed through the building and a lady came through the two flapping doors to his separate office. "Morning Woody." The lady smiled. Long, fiery ginger hair lined her face while light blue eyes sat perfectly on her face. Like her eyes, her skin was also light blue. She had a rare illness within the womb which caused her skin to be the colour it was. It certainly didn't bother her and it didn't bother the local townsfolk either. Travellers in the town made an occasional comment but she either ignored are gave them a piece of her mind. She wore red lipstick and a long green dress that flared out at the bottom while she held a brown basket on her left arm. "Good morning Mira, how are you today?" Woody questioned moving his gaze from the papers to look at her. "I am fine thank you. Buzz will be here soon, he has just dropped Ella off at school and has gone to get this morning's paper. Are you okay?
Woody hesitated to answer. He looked down at the papers in front of him and sighed. "I'm alright, just not so alright about my papers." "Why, what's wrong with 'em?" "This is yesterday's paper, I didn't get to read it properly because of the ordeal with Chunk and Twitch starting that pathetic gunfight. Nobody would give me answers so it took most the day, then I had to file the reports so I didn't get to read it at all." Woody let out a frustrated sigh. "And why's it so bad?" "There's this bandit gang which have been hassling different areas around the West. They've been stealing cattle and causing a variation of problems for both the locals and the Sheriff's. Not one of them has been able to stop them." Woody said looking up at her. "Oh, well that's not good. But you shouldn't be worrying too much. They aren't in our town." Mira said sitting down on the chair opposite him. "But it is a problem." He looked back at the papers. "The reports are saying they are getting closer to this town. They have already hit Bonville and Sunnyside which are the two towns that border us which could be a sign we are next."
Woody shuffled through the papers and mumbled some things to himself. Mira slowly stood up and put her hand on his shoulder which caused him to freeze. "Woody, you have managed to defend this town from murderers; thieves and cattle rustlers so many times in your four years of being Sheriff and you'll be fine defending the town if these lot strike. And plus you are twenty two; they are probably getting on a bit so you will be able to take them on easily. Plus, Buzz is also young; he is twenty six and is strong. You two can easily defeat a few rustlers. Woody put his hand on top of hers and sighed. "But they are a big gang. There is seven of them. Seven people against two means me and Buzz are severely out numbered. And I don't know the strength or age of them." "I'm sure you'll be fine. And plus, I am pretty good at sorting people out. I could whip a few asses for you two." She laughed as she moved her hand. "And Ella can have a little temper in her too." Woody half smiled, "Thanks Mira. Yeah, you do know how to kick some ass don't ya?"
The bell violently rang as the reception door swung open. Heavy footsteps could be heard making the way towards Mira and Woody. A well built man with bulging muscles and dark brown hair with blue eyes fumbled through the doors. He was wearing a white short sleeved shirt with brown stripes crossing through it which was tucked into some blue jeans while his brown boots hit the floor. In his hands he was holding a paper.
"Buzz are you alright?" Mira questioned with concern as she walked over to the man. Buzz was heavily breathing and he placed his hand on Mira's shoulder. "I'm fine Mira, just out of breath. Boy, haven't run that fast in a while." "I can tell." Mira giggled. "What's the matter?" Woody questioned sternly looking at the two before he returned his gaze to the papers.
Buzz headed over to the desk and slammed the paper in front of Woody, "This." Woody flinched a little before reading the headline. 'Sunnyside Turns Un-Sunny' it read. Woody read down the paper and took in the key details. "So this means Sunnyside has now officially been hit by the rustlers?" Woody said itching the back of his neck. "Yeah, and they took at least one hundred and fifty cattle which ain't good." Buzz said heading over to the filing cabinet. He pulled out another newspaper marked 24th April 1890. He headed to the desk and stood next to Woody and unfolded the paper. "And if you look here it said Bonville had no troubles and then suddenly some minor events happened for a few weeks. Then bigger issues like thieving and shooting began. Then it was quiet with a few incidents then bam, the rustling began for a good three weeks. Then they were left alone by the rustlers then no more was said about them because they disappeared. Three months down the line Sunnyside had the same problems. Now suddenly bam they have got the rustling happening to them." "And they'll have a few more weeks of it...but it might not be a few weeks. They could strike once like in some other town's then leave it or it could go on for ages like in the other towns. Either way...it means..." Buzz and Woody looked at each other and both said, "we're next"
A/N - Ohhhhhhhh the bandits are causing trouble but when will Woody have to be sorting it all out? Will it be soon or not that soon? Bet you all thought Jessie was the deputy! Ha ha! You were wrong! But if you didn't think it, well done. I hope you liked it!