Mag 7 Jungle Adventure Part 9: Cowboys

The group finish lunch after about half an hour and decide to all go horse-riding at the ranch down the road. Dorothy and Shirley love horse-riding and go along after their cook says she will look after the children while they're gone.

They get to the large ranch not far from the house and wonder if they have enough horses for all of them. Lu can't ride very well so agrees to share a horse with JD. Vin still wants to play cowboys as he's still a big kid at heart.

He whispers to Buck; "Hey, we're playin' at cowboys. Find some ropes so we can tie people up."

Buck grins at him and laughs; "We're not tying anyone up, Junior - that's crazy!"

Vin thinks for a moment then says, "How about we get some water pistols as it's such a hot day, and pretend they're guns?"

Buck nods in agreement with this idea then smiles; "We've even got some cowgirls for our game!"

Vin grins and the two men wait until they are each assigned to a horse. When they are both seated on horses, they ride away from the rest of the group.

"I bet Dorothy's kids have water pistols," says Buck, remembering their idea for their cowboys' guns.

"I'll look after your horse while you go back and get them. We only need some for us," says Vin, thinking about the look on Chris's face when Vin 'shoots' him.

Buck dismounts from his horse and runs back out of the ranch and down the road back to the house.

The others are riding when Chris looks around and notices two of their number are missing; "Where's Vin and Buck gone to?" he asks. He's looking at JD as he says this.

JD answers, agitated that Chris thinks he would know, "How should I know? I wasn't watching them!"

"Perhaps they're gonna play a trick on us," suggests Nathan, remembering the tricks the two men have played on the others in the past.

"I strongly disagree with you, Mistah Jackson. We outnumber them easily so they would be asking for trouble if they attempted any kind of mischief," said Ezra, with a slight grin on his face.

"Okay, everyone be careful - maybe they're up to mischief," said Chris, feeling uneasy at the thought of what two men like Buck and Vin could do to them on this ranch.

Dorothy decides to change the subject upon sensing that everyone seems tense now, so she comments, "This is such fun, myself and my husband often come here riding in the summer."

Suddenly, Vin appears with a worried expression on his face. He is holding the reins of Buck's horse, which moves alongside Vin's.

Chris suddenly gets a bad feeling in his stomach upon noticing the expression on his sharpshooter's face. "Where's Buck?"

Vin's expression doesn't change as he says, "I don't know - he's run off somewhere."

"Why did you two separate from us, Vin?"

"We jus' wanted t' explore," says Vin innocently.

"When did Buck get off his horse?" asks Chris, the anxiety evident in his tone.

"I don't know, he was there a few minutes ago," answers Vin, absent-mindedly.

Chris glares at Vin; "I can't even trust you to look after Bucklin."

"He's not a kid you know - he can look after himself," says Vin, thinking that this plan is going very badly so far. "If you really want, I'll go and look for him," suggests Vin.

Chris nods, then says "I'll come with you."

Vin nods at him and starts riding away from the group. The two men ride away calling for Buck.

Buck creeps up behind Dorothy without anyone seeing him. He taps her on the shoulder and she turns around and jumps slightly, startled. He puts his finger to his lips.

"Where have you been?" whispers Dorothy.

"I found some real pretty wild flowers. Come with me and I'll show you," invites Buck.

Buck leads Dorothy away without anyone else seeing them, as they are all chatting.

"What are we supposed to do now?" asks Nathan.

"I suggest we evaluate our surroundings," says Ezra.

"Do you mean explore?" asks JD.

The ranch is a huge place with very natural surroundings for people to explore while they ride around.

Ezra nods at him.

Meanwhile..

Vin has led Chris to a small stream that flows through the ranch. There are even some fish swimming about in it. Vin tells him he saw a rainbow coloured fish and Chris dismounts his horse to get a closer look. Vin gets Chris to look in the stream then pushes him in.

"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" asks Chris, very angry and wet.

Vin laughs evily and says, "You're the bad guy and you deserved it."

Chris is all wet and not amused but decides that two can play that game. He looks innocently at Vin; "Help me out?"

Vin holds out his hand and Chris grabs it. He pulls him into the water and starts laughing loudly. Vin soon joins in, knowing that Chris is enjoying himself and that Chris can give as good as he gets.

Meanwhile, Buck has lead Dorothy into some trees and she's dismounted from her horse to look at some wild flowers growing there. Buck takes out a water pistol, walks over to Dorothy and points it at her. She looks up upon hearing him approach her and sees straight away what he's pointing at her.

"Bucklin?" she says anxiously.

"I got a water pistol, you haven't," teases Buck.

"What are you doing with Billy's water pistol?" she asks him.

Buck shoots her and water appears on her white T-shirt.

"He-he, I can see through your T-shirt now," says Buck with a big grin on his face.

Dorothy puts her hands over her T-shirt embarrassed. Buck moves towards her, still pointing the pistol at her.

"You're my prisoner now." He takes out a rope.

"Bucklin?" asks Dorothy, certain that he's gone mad.

He ties her to a tree, laughing madly. He kisses her.

"Bucklin? Have you gone mad?"

"I'm just playin'," he tells her.

JD comes along, interrupting Buck's plan, which Dorothy is starting to enjoy as well. "I'm the sheriff. I'm here to arrest you for all your crimes, Bad Buck!"

"You can't get me, Sheriff," says Buck, pointing his 'gun' at JD.

JD dismounts and runs bravely towards Buck planning to subdue him. Buck shoots him with water.

"Do I look like I need a bath?" asks JD, jokingly.

"You ain't takin' me alive," says Buck.

Ezra and Josiah ride along.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Wilmington," says Ezra perfectly in character, due to being an undercover agent.

Josiah unties Dorothy, with a grin on his face as he notices her wet T-shirt. She frowns at him and he moves away from her feeling guilty.

"I'm not an outlaw," says Buck.

"If you're not, then who is?" asks Ezra, pretending to be worried that an outlaw is still at large.

To be continued..