For once I said the truth! As I couldn't post on Sunday, here's the next chapter and I promise that we are going in a direction with this. Once more I wanted to thank my betas, Kadeeleigh and miley-avril, because without them this story would be so much worse.

Thank you for reading and again: please tell me what you think.

Also, I changed the rating to T. I'm always trying to be very careful with ratings, but I think I over-rated this one.

Chapter 6

Bikers rarely visited Granny's, and Ruby – although she liked to play the tough girl – had a bad feeling about them from the moment they arrived. She knew of course who they were. She had seen them a few times in town and down at pool-hall. The Stone brothers were quite infamous. Their visitors were Rafe, the oldest, Rob the youngest and one of the twins...either George or Tim – Ruby couldn't tell for sure. At least it wasn't all five of them present. After drinking a few beers and firing a few rude comments at Ruby, the three of them left quietly.

She stayed to close up shop after everyone had left, and then started to walk home. She had already forgotten about the bikers, but they appeared out of nowhere, just as she turned onto the street where the motel stood. They cornered her before she could look for a way out.

"Isn't it dangerous for a beauty like you to be walking around in the dark?" Rafe asked.

She frowned at him.

"If listening to your lousy jokes counts as dangerous." She answered flippantly, but she regretted it when she saw the wolfish smile appear on his face.

"Oh, we have much more on our minds than joking around, don't we guys?"

His two brothers nodded eagerly.

"We heard that you really like bad boys." said the youngest, who was no more than twenty.

Rafe moved closer and put his big hand on her ass. She jerked away violently.

"Take your hands off of me!"

"Oh, Ruby baby, don't play hard to get, we all know the truth." Rafe said and he pushed her against the wall, feeling her up roughly.

She tried to kick out but she couldn't find any leverage and the other two were coming closer, too. One, (the twin), grabbed her arm in an iron grip. She wanted to scream, but Rafe pushed his mouth against hers and kissed her forcefully. His free hand that wasn't pushing her into the wall was moving down, between her legs. He smelled of beer and sweat and she cried out, but that too, was muffled by his mouth.

"Let her go!" A voice suddenly rang out from the end of the street and she could hear running footsteps.

She knew that unmistakable accent immediately and she sighed in relief. The men let her go and three of them turned towards the newcomer.

"We were just fooling around, sheriff" Rafe said placatingly.

The sheriff stopped a foot away from the three brothers and he carefully kept his eyes on them as he addressed her.

"Are you all right, Ruby?"

"Yes." she answered, but her voice came out weak and trembling.

"Please, go inside the motel." Graham said and Ruby realized that they were only two doors from her home.

She did as she was told, her limbs still trembling. She stopped just inside the door and watched what was happening outside through the glass. She was close enough to hear what was being said, amazed how calm the sheriff sounded facing the three brutes.

"You are under arrest for assault." the sheriff said. "I suggest you come to the police station willingly."

One of them laughed out loud.

"And how do you plan to arrest all the three of us, when you are alone?" Rob, the youngest one, asked mockingly.

To be honest, Ruby wondered the same thing. Maybe she should call someone. But who? The sheriff was the police force in town. There was no one else, not even a deputy. There was Sidney who helped out in the department sometimes as a volunteer, but she had no idea how to contact him.

"You really want to try it out?" the sheriff asked with a smile.

"I don't see a gun on you, so I guess we'll take our shot." Rafe said.

"That would add assaulting an officer to your list of charges. Just so you know." the Sheriff said with a shrug, his smile still in place.

The brothers obviously didn't care about their criminal record much, or at least Rob didn't, because he jumped the sheriff with a shout. Ruby cried out, too, in warning or in fright, she wasn't sure, but she didn't have to worry. Rob attacked with fervor, but Graham sidestepped him easily. He grabbed Rob's raised left hand and twisted it hard. Rob cried out again, in pain this time, and was forced to turn to prevent a broken arm. When his back was to Graham, the sheriff pushed him, and Rob fell to his knees.

Graham stepped back in a defensive posture. The two other brothers attacked together. The movements were too quick for Ruby to follow properly. Graham grabbed Rafe's arm, made a half-turn, pulling the guy man with him, slamming him into his brother. The twin fell at the sudden impact, but Rafe turned back, somewhat dazed, but still putting up a fight. Graham dodged a fist, and then punched Rafe in the face. Rafe crumbled to the ground without a noise. Meanwhile, George (or Tim) was attempting to attack the sheriff again, but he actually had become extremely slow in comparison to the other man. Graham even waited a second, letting the attacker come closer, before striking out again – the movement reminded Ruby of a predator attacking – striking George on the chin. His head snapped backwards forcefully, and even from behind the glass door, Ruby could hear something crack. George was strong enough to stay standing, and even made a slashing move with his right arm, but the sheriff bent under it, and his fist pounded against the biker's left side, leaving him breathless. This time he too fell and stayed down, panting and moaning.

By this time Rob stood up, but seemed to be more careful now. He stayed a foot away and his eyes moved between the sheriff and his brothers worriedly.

"You still think I can't take you in?" Graham asked. To Ruby's amazement, the attractive sheriff was still smiling, and barely breathing any harder than he had been before the fight.

Rob raised both his hands in surrender.

"Good idea." Graham said. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights I have just read to you?"

"Yeah" Rob mumbled.

"You too?" the sheriff asked the other two brothers. "Because I don't want to repeat myself."

Rafe mumbled something and George (or Tim) nodded.

"Good."

The sheriff put handcuffs on Rob, then moved to the other too and pulled some zip-ties from an inner pocket. When all the brothers were secured, he pulled them to their feet.

"Step to the wall." he said and they obeyed meekly. "Ruby?"

She opened the door and stepped outside.

"I'm here."

"Are you all right?" he asked again.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"I'm gonna need a statement from you later."

"Of course."

"Could you come in tomorrow? Or I can come to you if you would feel more comfortable at home."

"No, it's okay. I can go to the station tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then. Take your rest. Don't worry these three won't bother you ever again. Right, guys?"

They just groaned something, but seemed much less dangerous now, standing cuffed at the wall.

Graham waved at her once more, and then herded the Stone brothers away. Ruby looked after them for a few second but when they disappeared at the corner, she went inside to follow the sheriff's advice.

ooo

"And now give me back what you took."

The Huntsman straightened, panting and pushing a hand against his aching left side. He could barely believe that he actually won this fight. He still was in a precarious position, though, as he couldn't be sure the trolls wouldn't just kill him, anyway. The best way to avoid that seemed to be to play it tough.

All the trolls stood up, only Urkh stayed sitting on the ground, massaging his neck. The trolls' leader looked at the Huntsman with a dismayed frown, but hearing his words, his frown turned into an even uglier snarl.

"We don't have it." he growled.

"So, you lied."

"You didn't ask whether we had it. Besides, I didn't think that I would actually have to deliver."

For a moment, the Huntsman had really thought that this mission would be successful, but now it seemed he had to go back empty-handed. The Queen will not be happy. He shivered as he thought about telling her. Even in her best mood she could be dangerous, but when she was angry then he could anticipate a world of pain.

"Where is it?" he asked in an empty voice.

"We didn't steal it for ourselves, it was just a job. We gave it over to the buyer."

"Who is the buyer and where can I find them?"

"You won't be able to get it back from her. If you go there you will surely die."

"What does it matter to you? You wanted to kill me yourself an hour ago." he pointed out.

"True." the troll said and after some hesitation he added. "The blind witch has it."

The Huntsman had heard about the blind witch before, she was almost as infamous as the Queen, but mostly rumors. He knew that she was dangerous, but nothing could be more dangerous than disappointing the Queen.

"Where can I find her?"

"Do you know Lake Marble?"

He nodded.

"Two miles north from there, is a clearing with a strange house on it, you can't miss it, really. The witch lives there."

"Thank you."

He won't be able to go after the stolen item, but information was still better than nothing.

He turned and left the trolls. The wolf joined him after a few feet, nuzzling against his hand.

He looked up at the sky to see the time.

"Well, brother, we better get going."

And so, they started back to the castle as quickly as they could.

TBC