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Chapter 1: The Egg Hatches

The story begins after the time that a mysterious comet from the skies struck the 19th century western plains, creating a miles high mesa shrouded in clouds, bigger and larger than any mesa below. Every animal species trapped on top had been mutated and evolved, with many cities and towns having grown, and several more that had yet to be discovered and added to the map. But for now, we take a look inside a small wooden house on the edge of a town called High Wind Gulch. Although the house wasn't large enough for an entire big family, and life was extremely uncomfortable for those that lived in this part of the neighborhood, a young buzzard couple were expecting their firstborn child, hoping it would grow up healthy, intelligent, and someday be able to achieve what they needed to make their dreams come true, even when they didn't have the money to put them in school, often made expensive by the politics in office. But like with many things in real life, things don't always go as planned.

Becky Buzzard sat in her rocking chair, knitting something special as she had been waiting patiently for more than a day in hopes that the egg would start to move and hatch. When she had conceived her first egg, she and her husband Avery Buzzard could not have been more delighted to know that they would soon become parents, despite their concern for the lifestyle they had been living in, and knew their child deserved to grow up in a better environment than where they were at.

The egg was given as much attention as possible, being set in the warmest room to be kept safe until it hatched. At times Becky found herself distracted at attending household chores while her husband was at work in the hat shop, sometimes working late night hours to make ends meet and keep food on the table. The both of them had lost count in how long it has been since the egg had been taken care of, wrapped in a nest of blankets and pillows. But Becky remembered it had now been a month and a half that she and her husband had been watching over it, and she never grew bored doing so, unable to contain her excitement to see the newborn chick waiting to come out, with fuzzy feathers and cute little talons, to hold in her arms and cradle.

"If only Avery could come home early to see the arrival of our baby," Becky sighed, wishing her husband didn't have to work such long hours every single day, even if it was to better provide for them. But she was able to help out by delivering her homemade pies to the town baker Mrs. Harriet Hedgehog and vegetable crops to the general store manager Mr. Miles Pronghorn.

Looking at her watch being 4:30pm, it was almost time for Avery to come home and witness the miracle soon to come. In the weeks since the egg had come into existence, Becky's troubled, yet beloved husband had let her know that their unborn child would be their pride and joy during these hard times they had endured and would find a way to give him what he needed, if not everything. The first step was to build a crib where he would sleep comfortably during nap time and be close to where they would hear him crying at night if he would need his diaper changed or his bottle. It was too soon in knowing what to expect from a son or daughter and the career he or she would choose. But as long as their child would be happy and accomplishing something out on the mesa, maybe that's all that mattered.

Of course, with Becky and Avery being buzzards, they were one of those types of animals that had it the hardest when it came to trying to live normal lives like other civilians across the mesa. Long ago, before and after the falling of the comet, there had been a great war that not many talk about too often, which involved the bad blood between the vultures and the crow tribe that often broke out in battle, resulting in mass genocide, with the few survivors having gone into hiding. Since then, the buzzard folk were often looked down upon and mistrusted as vile, evil, rotten vermin by other communities. In spite of that, the couple would do their best to live through what they had, hoping there would come a day when their race would be accepted and no longer feared and hated as much.

By now, Becky was nearly finished with her knitting on the baby's clothing when she was slightly startled at the sudden stirring of the egg, rocking somewhat frantically as if the chick inside was just aching to escape. Alarm erupted inside Becky, and soon enough, the door to their house opened up, being the town doctor's assistant Clover Cottontail, who had just arrived to come check up with how the egg was doing as she helped out whenever she could.

"Oh Miss Clover, thank goodness," Becky jumped up from her rocking chair rather quickly and now full of joy. "Please find Avery, I think it's time now."

"No need to worry, I ran into him on my way here," Clover the cream-colored bunny assured her, having entered inside with her medical kit to help nurse the chick. "In fact, he's comin' home now."

Both she and Becky moved to the sides of the egg, opening a window for the sun to come shining through. And as quickly as it started the egg then ceased moving frantically and settled, splitting here and there until a tiny beak punctured a small hole from within. This hole was made bigger through repeated pecking, with Becky watching tiny rifts and cracks gradually appear in the surface of the egg with a combination of fear and excitement, wanting the child to survive and not appear frozen stiff.

While the egg had taken it's time to break all over, the door had swung open to reveal Avery Buzzard, hanging his coat and hat, anxious to see their newborn child, already seeing Clover Cottontail at the crib, putting a finger to her lip that they had to refrain from making too much sound. He had to move in quietly but could barely contain his excitement to know what was coming.

At long last, the eggshell had split, and the front of the eggshell had fragmented and disintegrated. Egg fluid gushed from the rough-edged hole, and a tiny limp form collapsed onto the mound of blankets with a soft thump. Clover thought to let Becky and Avery take the first look at their baby before she would clean off and bundle it up for them. The chick sprawled out on the blanket had not yet opened its eyes. Its brown feathers were drenched in egg fluid, and it was shivering violently. Soon it started to give a low squeak, like how a baby sparrow or bluebird would chirp after birth. At last, Clover had hesitantly scooped up the chick and began to towel it off.

"Congratulations, you two have a son," Clover smiled, wrapping the chick up in blankets, still having its eyes closed and squirming inside. "He may be havin' the shivers for now, but just keep him wrapped up for now until it fades."

Becky's eyes grew wide, and her heart nearly stopped for a minute to set eyes on her baby boy, born into this world, now handed over to hold in her arms by Clover. She carefully cradled the chick, who finally stopped shivering and was sound asleep, her heart swelling up with joy and smiled down at the little one. The chick was indeed reddish brown all over his feathers, light brown hair on his head, purple liners under his eyelids, and his beak as yellow as it could be. There was no question that their newborn son had part of his mother and father's facial features.

"Our son," Avery began to say, having his arms around Becky. "He may be mighty small for now, but he'll grow into a fine young buzzard someday. We'll be sure o' that."

"Have you thought about what to name him?" Clover asked, placing supplies of milk mix, diapers, wipes, and a plastic bottle on a small table for the couple.

"Well, we did plan on that early if our child turned out to be a boy or girl," Avery has replied, caressing the blanket wrapped around his sleeping son. "But now that he's a boy, we're ready to call him…. Baron…named after Becky's grandfather." He stepped in closer to inspect his young son further; Avery smiled warmly as Becky cooed softly to the baby.

"Howdy there my little Baron," She whispered, seeing that the chick was starting to open its eyes, halfway to stare up curiously. "I'm your mama." The chick blinked at his mother upon first sight, before smiling. Becky's eyes were filled with tears to know that her son recognized her.

"He's a beautiful boy," Clover managed to tell Becky, having finished with unloading the supplies on the table, happy for the couple.

"Indeed, he is," Avery had agreed, as he was in silent tears of joy himself, seeing little Baron stretch his beak wide open in a yawn, and he blinked up at his father the first time. "Our son, our Baron sure is our little bundle o' joy. He has made us proud today. Thank you, Nurse Cottontail."

"Just doin' my job Sir," Clover tipped her hat for the thanks and picked up her kit. "I'll be leavin' back to the office now, so best give you two time to know your firstborn child. Don't hesitate to drop by our office if there's a problem."

The parents had thanked the bunny assistant as she left the house carefully, now with just the two of them taking all this time to admire and love their son, who had made a quiet, content sort of cooing and shut his eyes again, pressing his face against his mother's breast, having a reason to sleep peacefully for now.

"If only dear Sally was here to see our baby boy," Becky crooned, rocking baby Baron in her arms, she and Avery now sitting together on the one sofa they had. "She'd be proud to know about her nephew."

"Then I'll be sure to write her a letter by tomorrow," Avery assured his wife.

For the rest of the night, Becky and Avery continued to give their son the love that was needed for him in these hard times that they faced, and anytime he stirred, Becky would rub his tummy and he would drift off again.

"I know just the thing he needs to help him sleep if he ever gets fussy," Becky then came up with a suggestion as she handed Avery their baby to hold for a few seconds, so she could walk over to their treasure chest of family heirlooms, and pulled out a beautiful music box, shaped all circular, decorated with small jewels that were red and green. "My Ma used to play this to me every night when I was a little girl. And now I want Baron to have it." She winded it up all the way and set it down on the nearest table.

The music box played a beautiful, sweet tune that floated across the air with its high plucked notes swaying around the cradle that Becky had prepared for him since the day that the egg had come into their lives.

"I think he loves the song," Avery whispered, not wanting to speak too loudly and wake up the baby, not even as he watched Becky sit up and gently place him into the cradle as she started to rock it slowly while the music box continued to play it's sweet, gentle tune. "Dream on, Baron. And welcome to the world."

For the next several days, the couple would enlist the help of Clover Cottontail to take precautions so they would know that their baby chick was in good health. Indeed, times would be hard for them ahead in the lifestyle they were living for now, but their baby brought comfort to remind them that they had something to be thankful for and know that things will be better eventually. Maybe not entirely perfect, but better for all of them.

When Becky and Avery were told of any developments or changes, they didn't know what would happen if there would come a time if their baby ever got ill and may or may not be even to afford the treatment. But the town doctor had given word to Clover that they should not worry about that too soon, for their one goal was to provide medical care for all folks, rich or poor.

AN: My first fanfiction set in the universe of "Wild West Cowboys of Moo Mesa". I've become a fan of the criminally underrated show ever since the pandemic started back in March of 2020, having grown an obsession for Boot Hill Buzzard somehow that I noticed there was never any stories about him here or anywhere, only one, so I just had to be the first at doing it. By the time I finished the series, I did some analyzing of my own into this character regarding theories that came into mind and how even villain sidekicks are bound to have a story of their own and are not always what they make themselves out to be. I have even started with fan art on all this as well. So, this is the first chapter to Boot Hill's childhood. More will be coming.