Chapter 3: The Tragedy

Warning: There is a small mention of gore and blood in the chapter.

16-year-old Brandon Wishford spent a lot of his time with Ryder, the two friends riding together on the grassy prairies just near their farm. He remembered to take care of Ryder as if he were a family member with his mother, Maria's guidance. Today, Brandon was going to ride off to town by himself with Ryder, ready to show his folks that he's come out of his old shell.

"Alrighty, bud," Brandon spoke to Ryder, patting his side, "We're gonna take a nice, long tour around town so you get familiarized with it. That okay?"

His horse would nod, as the two of them began their friendly tour. Brandon whoaed Ryder to stop as he looks over to Sheriff Kurt Barkson's office.

"That over there is Sheriff Kurt! He's the protector of the town, as well as a hero I look up to." Brandon told Ryder while waving hello to Kurt. Then he showed him the saloon and the hitching posts where he had to get Ryder used to waiting outside. "I'll go inside and get myself some water. Wait here, bud."

Brandon goes inside the saloon, making this his third or fourth time ever going in at all. Most of the folks dining in here were cowboys, but they didn't seem to bother Brandon. After all, he lived near the town, but wasn't as popular. The collie didn't mind, already ordering a single glass of water after he paid the bartender. When he left the saloon, Brandon unhitched Ryder from the post and mounted on top.

"See? That wasn't so slow!" Brandon told his horse as he guided him to tour the rest of the town. In the end, their favorite place was the rodeo arena, since Ryder had been shown to proudly buck around during their small training session. It would really fit well for a big draft horse! They trained over their most of the day after the tour, and when nightfall hit, Brandon and Ryder knew it was time to head back. Well, even if it meant ignoring Carl's past assumptions and all, but they weren't as bad after he found out about what happened to Brisket…

Around the same time, Austin and Maria were taking care of their horse farm while Brandon and Ryder were away in town. The couple was happy to see that their son had livened up again after four months, knowing he could still thrive on in life.

"Maria, I think we did the right thing," Austin said to his wife, "I wonder what are the folks in town sayin' about our son."

Maria thought of the same thing. After all, Brandon had made a few friends six years ago as well as having a horse companion of his own, who also counted as a friend. "Well, some of them might say a few things about Brandon, but when he gets older, I think they'll see him for who he really is. Maybe he'll be a great rodeo star. Or… he could probably be like the Sheriff."

"Yep, but…" Austin began to sound a little serious. They must've been hiding something that they couldn't reveal in a long time, "Will our boy make the same mistakes as he did? Wait, no… He ain't gonna try."

"After what Kurt did to save our town…?" Maria had questioned Austin.

"There was no other way for him… Even though it felt wrong…" He still ponders about the mysterious past mistakes that the Sheriff had made, but it is not yet specifically mentioned. When Austin was going to say more about this, something hard had touched his backside. The voice behind him had scared Maria and shocked Austin, but the shadows concealed the mystery figure…

"Howdy," The voice spoke with a deep, yet scary southern drawl, "Are y'all ready to die?"

Meanwhile, Brandon was riding Ryder straight back home after a long day of the tour of Dog-Town. He couldn't wait to tell his parents all about it.

"Hoo-wee! That sure was fun, Ryder!" Brandon exclaimed as he petted his mane gently, "Let's go see Ma and Pa. I bet they… Huh?"

There was a rise of smoke seen just near his family farm. At first, Brandon wondered if his Pa went into town to bring in cattle meat to set up a barbeque. It would've been delicious to eat with his folks, but that was clearly not true. Instead, the smoke was huge, with the flames visibly shown in the background. Something was wrong… VERY wrong.

"Oh no, Ma! Pa!" Brandon shouted as he spurred Ryder to hurry on over to the farm. When they got over there, it was… it felt like the pits of Hell opened up and swallowed everything in its fiery path, engulfing the whole land with its flames. The farmhouse burned. The crops, flowers, grasslands, the barn… all of it was destroyed. Brandon got off of his horse and yelled so that his parents could hear him calling out. "MA! PA! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Brandon was panicking, extremely worried for his parents and the missing horses that may have escaped in a panic as well. When the flames settled, he could almost hear a distant sound… It was like a wolf was howling in the distance. Yet Brandon did not know if this was related to his home burning to the ground. He finally found his parents, but they weren't in good shape. Both Austin and Maria Wishford were pale faced with a stab wound in each of their bodies, as well as some severe burns on them too. It seemed they weren't going to make it, but with only a few words…

"Brandon…" Austin had croaked with his dying voice, "We…"

"We… lo-love… We love… you…" Maria had finished her husband's sentence as Brandon held both of their hands together. They drew out their last breaths with their son once again returning to a state of depression. Brandon had several tears emerging from his eyes, mourning for his parents as the fires finally stopped. Aside from himself and Ryder, the young collie had lost everything that he called home, as well as the ones who raised him after all this time…

"M-Ma… P-Pa… Wh-Why…?" Brandon sobbed, almost feeling as if he was now all alone. The tragedy that struck the poor farm boy orphan so much had remained a mystery. Did a bolt of lightning strike his house? No. Had Maria or Austin accidentally set something on fire? Not close. Was an ambush carried out by someone? That might've been the answer, but Brandon was not aware of that. Someone had truly murdered his parents and burnt his home to the ground, along with the crime of stealing all of the horses that lived there. He wouldn't find this all out until the day came. It could only be a coincidence if he and his enemy met…

Not shortly after, a funeral was held for the couple, their tombstones were next to each other apart from the many tombstones in the graveyard. Brandon was ultimately devastated and almost didn't show up. Yet he had to be present, since it was HIS parents that were mysteriously killed. His old friends had accompanied him, and even his somewhat old bully had attended the funeral too.

"Hey…" Jesse Reinfield started, who had grown up in the last six years like her friends, "Sorry for your loss. It must've been hard."

"Everything's hard these days, Jess…" Brandon had moped in response, "I dunno what to do."

Dustin tried to cheer up Brandon at least, "Well, you could stay over at my Momma's bakery. We got plenty a bit of room for you to share."

"You could also stay at my Papa's ranch. We could use a helping hand." Rico also told Brandon his optional choice.

"..." Brandon didn't say anything. He kept looking away from his friends and at his parents' graves.

"Brandon, I'm… err, I'm sorry." Carl spoke up, showing remorse for the collie that he formerly made fun of six years ago, "I wish I–"

"Don't you try and cheer me up," Brandon growled a little, looking back at Carl, but then at his friends, "I got nobody! No place to live, no other family here, nothing I can do to… to…" He covered his eyes thinking he was going to cry again. Brandon didn't want to embarrass himself, but he would instead make up his own mind, "Anywhere's better than here… I wanna leave this damn town. Bad things are happening to me… I'm suffering so m-much…"

His friends didn't want to see Brandon like this, so they would join in and hug the poor collie with a group hug. This would change his mind about leaving town since he knew he wasn't truly alone. Brandon cried as they continued to hug him and give him company. After they left the graveyard, Brandon decided to talk to Sheriff Kurt about needing a place to live.

"Again, I'm sorry for your losses, Brandon," Kurt said, looking at the saddened collie sitting in a chair with him, "I can understand how it feels to be alone, since I too lost somebody in my life…"

"I lost everything…" Brandon had answered once. He doesn't say anything else after that.

"Yes, I know… your family, your farm, everything that meant somethin' to you…" Kurt spoke, "But that doesn't mean I'd let you be without a home. You and your horse really need somewhere to stay." He pulled up his chair closer to speak up with Brandon. Somehow, Kurt might've found a way to help the troubled farm boy. "Your parents left their insurance money in the bank before they died, so how about this? We'll use the right amount to rebuild your old home, and you get to inherit it?"

Brandon's left ear slowly perked up, looking back at Kurt. "Really? I… I'll own the whole land?"

Kurt nods confidently. "Yup. But that doesn't mean you'll just live in it. You'll have to pay the mortgage every month. So I'd consider that you find a job that suits you, or pays a pretty good price."

"Like ranching?" Brandon asked, since it could suit him better than most average jobs.

"Yep. There's the livery stable you can work at too, and you can join in with a handful of folks delivering cattle to the towns across the mesa. Take your pick." Kurt listed these options for Brandon to choose, but then he remembered something else, "Say, weren't you training for the rodeos we hold here?"

"Yes sir." Brandon answered honestly.

A smile came across Kurt's face, knowing that the boy would love to compete for prize money to help him pay for his home. "I see. You can also compete for the prize money they have. I tell you what, it's a risky job, but you'll love it. Your parents would be proud of you, too."

Brandon knew that they were already gone not too long ago, but he finally was able to smile at least a little. There could be a spark of hope coming out of the darkness after all. "Yeah… they would be."

When everything was settled, Brandon's temporary home was at the hotel he stayed at, yet he had to make money working off of three different jobs. Helping out at the livery stables, delivering cattle across the mesa which gave him an opportunity to visit the towns he went to, and lastly, competing in rodeos for prize money to pay the rent of his hotel. Of course, Ryder lived at the stables whenever he and Brandon weren't busy together. In the span of the next 6 years, Brandon's home was finished, as he and Ryder were finally able to live together on their homeland. It was tough being the only one working on the farm, so a few ranch hands for hire seeking for a job helped around here too. They also would stay if Brandon needed to head out somewhere, since someone had to look after the few horses he was able to keep at home. Brandon was now 22-years-old. Even after the tragedy that nearly destroyed his whole life, Brandon was able to carry on and move forward. However, he would not be aware of another incident that happened outside of his town, or just maybe… the few signs of trouble would soon start there with a problem relating to a certain buzzard…

End of Chapter 3

Coming Soon, Chapter 4: New Allies/Trouble A Brewin'

Author's Notes: This chapter was somewhat painful for me to write, since it's hard for me to describe the darker parts of one's suffering, just like what happened to Brandon. Although, I do want to conclude it with a hopeful ending to assure that everything would be okay in the end. The next chapter will indeed have a blend of existing characters and shared OCs from a friend of mine here, who is known as Bovine Beauty. It'll be like a crossover, but only in the Cowboys franchise. I'll see y'all next time in the next chapter!