This chapter came in like several hours after the first…..im still jet lagged from my trip.
So enjoy chapter 2!
It was about mid-day when the boys finally reached Dandelion. The sun was high in the clear sky now, scorching every thing below with its painfully bright rays.
Phineas tilted his cowboy hat to block the light from his face.
"It sure is hot today." Phineas remarked. The three rode their horses to the stables a few yards out from the town. A girl with long black hair was leaning on the gate, filing her nails with a filer. As they rode up to her, they could tell she was a teen.
"Excuse me miss." Phineas greeted. The girl kept filing her nails.
"Miss?" Phineas asked again.
"$5 per stable." she said while holding her hand out to examine her nails.
"Thanks." Phineas said as they rode on in the corral.
The three guided their horses through the middle of the rows of stables. Phineas entered a wooden stable on his right and hitched his horse there. Django took one several stables right from Phineas. Buford took the stable across from Phineas.
"At least these stables are shaded from the sun." Django said as they walked back to the girl, who was now fixing her blouse.
"Miss, what's your name?" Phineas asked.
"It's Stacy." she replied and blew her nails.
"My name is Phineas, this is Django, and that's Buford." Phineas introduced them.
Buford let out a very loud belch. Every one stared at him.
"Sorry, couldn't help it." Buford said and shrugged.
Stacy's eyes were now focused on the three of them.
"Say, you guys are the Valiant Three, right?" she asked.
"Yes, yes we are." Django replied and tipped his hat.
"In that case, the fee is $2." she said.
"Why not free?" asked Buford.
"I need the money, this part-time job doesn't pay much." Stacy complained.
"Well what do you do on your spare time?" Phineas asked.
"I work as a night guard at the bank." Stacy answered.
"Oh, that's nice, too." Phineas said. There was a moment of silence, and tumbleweed happened to blow past them.
"Well, see you around." Buford said, handed the money, and walked away.
"Ok, see ya guys." Stacy said.
"Later." Django said as he and Phineas ran off. Stacy watched the three of them go.
"Those boys are nice." she muttered.
LATER ON IN DANDELION….
"Wow," Django said in amazement, "Dandelion is a small town!"
Phineas, Django, and Buford stood at the tip of the Dandelion's worn dirt street. Two rows of small wood buildings surrounded the sides of the street, and at the end of the street was a stone building. The big wooden sign at the words "JAIL" painted in black.
"I'm going to get the drinks now." Buford said walking off towards the bar on their right.
"I'll get us checked in." Phineas said making his way to the inn on the left.
Django was left in the middle of the street.
"Well, might as well go talk to the sheriff." he said, adjusted his belt, and walked down the brown dirt street.
IN THE BAR…..
Buford shoved the saloon doors open and walked into the crowded bar, a violin player was playing in the back, and several full tables. All the kids were shorter than him, and didn't pay attention to his entrance. Buford didn't care at all. He pushed his was through the crowd of kids and finally reached the bar table. Behind it, a brownish kid was cleaning out a glass. Buford guessed he was the bartender.
"Hey nerd!" Buford yelled to get his attention. The kid turned around and glared at him.
"I have a name you know!" he said in an Indian accent.
"I know nerd, just give me a drink." Buford demanded while leaning over the bar table.
"What the heck is a nerd anyways?" the bartender asked while getting a glass cup from the rack behind.
"I don't know," Buford said, "you just seem like one."
"You don't even know what you called me?" the bartender asked. Buford let out a sigh of defeat.
"Can I have my drink now…ummm…" Buford stammered, cause he didn't catch it the first time.
"It's Baljeet." he said as he poured some juice into the glass and handed it to Buford. Buford grabbed the glass and gulped down the juice. Immediately, he gagged and spat the juice out onto Baljeet's face. Baljeet shook his head to get the juice off of his face.
"What the heck is this?" demanded Buford who was staring at a few yellow drops of the liquid in his cup.
"It's lemonade from California." replied Baljeet as he wiped his face with a cloth.
"Oh," Buford said, "well you have anything stronger?"
"I might have something for you." Baljeet said and turned back to the drinks on the oak shelve behind him.
Burford watched as Baljeet chose a red bottle and poured the drink into his glass. The liquid fizzled and bubbles rose to the tip of the glass. The bubbles faded and revealed a reddish brown drink.
"What exactly is this?" Buford asked, staring at the bubbling drink.
"It's Coke." replied Baljeet. Buford held the glass, and drank the whole thing in one gulp. He slammed the empty glass on the bar table's oak surface. Baljeet just stared at him with surprise.
"I never have seen anyone drink a Coke in one gulp before." Baljeet said, still amazed.
"Anything stronger?" Buford asked, while holding out his empty glass.
MEANWHILE…..
Phineas walked over to the inn. As he approached, he read a sign that said "The Mallet Inn".
"Hmmm, wonder why they call it mallet." Phineas wondered aloud. He walked over to the stairs and walked up to the porch. His cowboy boots made a clunking sound against the wood.
At the top of the five decks of stairs, off to the left side, a platypus laid, taking a noon nap under the shade of the porch. The platypus awoke when he heard Phineas's footsteps on the stairs. The platypus stared at him as he walked up the stairs.
Phineas reached the top of the stairs, and knelt down to scratch the platypus. He scratched the platypus's back. The platypus's leg started to move up and down, with the platypus arching his back into the scratching.
Phineas stopped scratching the platypus and walked through the saloon doors. He didn't see it, but the platypus followed him inside.
A small girl stood behind the desk. She had a green dress, white blouse, brown short hair, and glasses. Phineas walked up to her.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Yes, I need three rooms." Phineas said.
"That will be $12." she said. Phineas handed over the cash. The girl walked around the desk and towards Phineas. She was way shorter than him.
"I see Perry has taking a liking to you." she said and nodded to the platypus who sat right beside Phineas's leg.
Phineas knelt down and scratched Perry's head. Perry just chittered.
"You own Perry?" Phineas asked.
"Nope, he wonders around Dandelion and sleeps on the front porch." she replied while reaching in her pocket. She pulled out three keys.
"My name is Gretchen by the way." she said, offering her hand.
"My name is Phineas." he replied, shaking her hand.
"You're part of the Valiant Three aren't you?" Gretchen asked.
"Yes I am." Phineas said. The two walked down a hallway with doors on the left side. Perry followed right behind Phineas.
Suddenly one of the doors opened and a red hair teenaged girl stepped out into the hall way. She wore a rose colored elegant dress, but Phineas was focused on her head, it was a P shaped head and neck. Both the girl's and Phineas's eyes met, and both gasped.
"Phineas?" she asked in shock.
"Candace?" Phineas asked, stunned.
Candace suddenly ran over to Phineas, bent down, and gave him a huge, tight, squeezing hug.
"I can't believe it's you!" she said, starting to cry a little.
"Can't believe it either, sis." Phineas wheezed as he tried to escape her squeezing hug. Candace was hugging Phineas like a toddler hugs a teddy bear when scared.
She finally released Phineas, who was gasping for air.
"Don't ever leave home without telling us again Phineas." Candace told him.
"How are Mom and Dad?" Phineas asked. Candace suddenly fell silent, and tears of sadness started to pour out from her eyes. Phineas remembered the times when he saw Candace cry, and he suddenly knew what happened to his mom and dad. His eyes started to water up, but he wiped his eyes.
"It's ok Candace, they are in a better place." Phineas comforted her. Phineas wasn't as close to their parents like Candace was.
"You missed the funeral awhile ago." Candace said sadly.
"I know." Phineas said, and gave Candace a hug. Gretchen, who heard everything, walked up to Candace and gave her a hug, too.
After what seemed like an eternity, the three released each other.
"So," Candace began, "what brings you to Dandelion?"
"We're just stopping for a little bit here, and then we head out." Phineas explained. Candace's eyes turned to the size of dish plates.
"You're going to leave again?" she screamed.
"Well," Phineas said with a smile, "I am part of the Valiant Three."
"The Valiant Three?" Candace carefully repeated his words.
Phineas gave a quick nod. There was another moment of silence.
"Well," Gretchen said breaking the silence, "shall I show you to your room now?"
Phineas and Gretchen walked down the hall, and Candace went the other direction.
Perry was the only one in the hallway. He checked both ways so no one saw him. When he was clear, Perry stood on his hind legs and pulled out a cowboy hat. He slid it onto his head. Perry took out his boots and quietly dropped then on the carpet spread on the wood plank floor. He hoped into his boots and buckled a belt around his waist. He quickly ran to a nearby window, opened it, and jumped out.
MEANWHILE AT THE BAR…..
Burford's drinking started to attract a crowd around him. Every time the bartender gave him a drink stronger than the last, Burford just gulped it down. Meanwhile, Django had also entered the bar, but ignored the crowd around Burford. He heard a violin playing, but it was a slow tune. Django made his way towards the violin sound, and saw a kid playing the violin.
"Is that the best you got?" Django asked as he walked up to him.
"You think you can do better?" he challenged and offered the violin. Django snatched the violin and took a violin bow and started to play like Charlie Daniels. All of the kids in the bar turned and watched in astonishment as Django played the violin. After about a good minute, Django ended the song and handed the violin back to the violinist, whose jaw had dropped.
"Nice job, Django!" Burford yelled and held up a glass. He then drank it again and burped.
Suddenly, all the kids cheered for Django. Django made his way through the cheering crowd and towards Burford. When he got to the bar table, Burford drank down another drink and slammed the glass down on the counter.
"What else you got?" Burford demanded, not fazed by the strength of each drink.
"Well, I got this drink only teens can drink." Baljeet said as he reached under and pulled out a green bottle.
"Well what is it?" Burford asked.
"It's Guinness, imported and brewed from Ireland." Baljeet said and held it up.
The kids around them suddenly gasped. Burford and Django exchanged glances. Django nodded. Burford turned back to Baljeet with a determined grin, and held out his glass. The kids around him whispered to each other.
Baljeet poured the Guinness into the glass, and Burford stared at the white foam from the Guinness that formed on the tip of the drink. Burford raised the cup to his lips and drank the Guinness. The kids around him gasped. After a few gulps, Burford had drunken the whole Guinness. He slammed his glass onto the counter, and he had a sick look on his face. All the kids leaned in to see what would happen. Burford had shut his eyes tight, then opened them.
"Is that all?" he finally asked. Every one cheered and chanted his name.
"Bu-ford! Bu-ford! Bu-ford!"
Buford stood up and bowed. Baljeet was impressed, no kid had ever drinking that many drinks and didn't pass out. Buford handed Baljeet $10 to pay for all the drinks he drank.
"You must be Django right?" Baljeet asked, glancing at him.
"Yep that's me." replied Django and leaned over the bar counter.
"My name is Baljeet." he introduced himself.
Just then, a girl came from the back door. She glanced around and then spotted Baljeet. Baljeet also spotted her.
"Baljeet dear, the delivery wagon is out back." she said, moving to stand beside him.
"Thanks Ginger." Baljeet said and headed out the back door. Ginger turned to the two boys.
"Can I get you anything?" she asked.
"Get my buddy a glass of lemonade please." Buford said handing her $2.
Ginger took out a glass of lemonade and poured it into a new glass. She handed the glass to Django and put the money away. Django spotted a gold ring on her finger.
"You married to Baljeet?" Django just asked out of curiosity.
"Yes, yes I am." she said as she cleaned the counter with a towel.
"Why did you marry him?" Buford asked.
"Well, we were in love, he proposed, and I accepted." Ginger casually said as she washed a glass.
"I'm not looking for a girl at all." Buford said flatly.
"You never know." Ginger said as she served a drink to another kid.
"That's it, I'm outta here." Buford said, stood up, and walked away. Django and Ginger watched him push aside the saloon doors and walk outside.
"You guys are part of the Valiant Three right?" Ginger asked.
"Yeah, it's him, me, and Phineas, too." Django explained, while taking a sip from his lemonade.
"Where is Phineas anyways?" she asked.
"He's getting some rooms for our temporary stay here." Django replied and drank his lemonade again.
OUTSIDE….
Buford stepped out of the bar. There were some kids walking around, but not many. He suddenly heard the sound of a cow.
"I think I'm gonna go see the cows." Buford said aloud as he walked off towards the sound of the cows.
MEANWHILE…..
"So how long you think of staying?" asked Gretchen.
"I'd say about…..one week." Phineas guessed.
"That will be $50," Gretchen told him, "you get a discount because the Valiant Three are actually going to be sleeping in my inn!"
Phineas handed her $50.
"Thanks," Phineas said. He then glanced around the lobby room. He only spotted red cushion chairs, tables, and a few kids.
"Say, where's Perry?" Phineas asked.
TO BE CONTINUED…..
Well, looks like Buford has gained some fame, so did Django, and Phineas was reunited with his big sister. My mistake, Buford is spelled with 1 R, not 2 R's, my mistake in chapter 1.