Chapter 6

Silver Ridge

The cooper gang rested for one day before they pilled back into the team van and headed for the airport. Once at the airport, Bentley released his powerful hacker code on an unguarded computer terminal, and got them tickets on a plane headed for the states. He also organized a cargo carrier to transport the team van, and he made sure it was a priority delivery so that the van would arrive thirty minutes after they did.

Sly, Murray, Bentley, and Blain had all gotten into disguises, and thanks to Bentley's hacking they got onto the plain with no trouble. Sly had disguised himself as a college professor. He was dressed in a pair of black dress paints, a white button down shirt, a black suit jacket he wore unbuttoned, a black tie, and a pair of small, rectangular glasses. He carried Carmelita's book of knowledge tucked under his left arm and a suitcase in his right.

Murray had decided to use a disguise that made him look like he could be a member of the secret service. He even had pitch black sunglasses on that hid his eyes from everyone. Bentley had decided to look like a tourist heading for a tropical vacation. He had the shorts, the sandals, and even the tropical print button down T-shirt. Blain had even disguised himself. He looked like a guy who was ready to go out on the farm or to rope some cattle. He was wearing blue jeans, a belt with a very large, metal belt buckle, a blue denim button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, and a white cowboy hat.

The flight from Paris to their connection at the New York, Baltimore International Airport was several hours long, and then their flight to texas would take approximately two hours. Bentley passed the flight working on his laptop, thankful he had design a battery that would last for days on a single charge, Murray kept himself busy by watching the in-flight movie, and Blain read the wide variety of newspapers they had on the flight.

Sly spent the flight with a pen in hand, talking with Carmelita. Over the course of the flight Sly was able to add a few rooms to the house Carmelita now had in the empty world contained in the book. Among the things he added was a fully stocked kitchen, a very spacious and comfortable living room, a laundry room, and a hallway to connect each room. Sly also made it so every shirt, shoe, unmentionable, and pair of pants Carmelita had in the real world was hanging in her walk in closet or stored in the dresser drawers. Other then that, Sly found out that by turned the pages in the book. He could flip to other rooms he had made for Carmelita, allowing him to talk to her no matter what room she was in.

The gang made their connection at the New York, Baltimore airport and was soon on the two hour flight that would take them to Houston, Texas. This time, all four of them decided to watch the In-flight movie, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Blain even made it possible for Carmelita to watch the movie. By casting a quick spell, and having Sly write in a few things into the book, they put a TV in Carmelita's living room that could pick up any TV broadcast within a certain range. It basically meant that if the book was close enough to a TV, and there was something playing on it, Carmelita could watch it.

The flight soon ended, and the gang got off the plane. They made there way through the airport, grabbed their luggage, and waited until the team van came in on another flight. Soon, they were all loaded up, and were driving down the highway towards Silver Ridge. As they drove, Bentley took the opportunity to describe just what they would have to do to get a hold of Carmelita's statue of will power and medallion of conscience.

Bentley first told the gang about Two Ton Tom, a Texan Longhorn with the temper of a twister. His grandfather and father had both been prospectors, but neither were able to strike it rich. Tom took a different path to find his riches though. He used the most advanced technology he could find, and the knowledge he got from his grand father to find the biggest vein of silver in the world. The mine had been opened ten years now, and produced over a billion dollars worth of silver. Two Ton Tom used his new wealth to buy the land all around the mine, and set up an old west town. The buildings, the signs, everything had been created to be authentic. Some people moved to the town, wanting to get back to their roots while others came to the old town as a form of vacation. All that and more only increased the size of Two Ton Tom's pocket book.

The only modern building in the entire area was a mile south of Silver Ridge. It was the Silver Ridge Rodeo Grounds. It was a large stadium, and it only hosted on event a year, the True Texas Cowboy competition. It was a two part competition. The first part was for individuals. The entrant had to endure three contests, and the best over all would win first prize. The second part of the True Texas Cowboy competition was a country music competition. Teams could be made of any number, and each entrant would perform one country song. Then, a panel of judges would select two, and the two bands would go head to head in a battle of the bands. Each would be given a song, both different but similar enough for the judges to tell who would win first place.

The True Texas Cowboy competition was in a few days, and Two Ton Tom had put the pieces of Carmelita's soul up as the prizes. The Statue of Will Power was the prize for the rodeo competition, and the medallion of conscience was the prize for the musical competition. Bentley had planned for them to enter the competition, and with a little inventive cheating make sure they won the two competitions.

Bentley finished, looking around at Sly, Murray and Blain as he said, "All right guys, any questions."

Blain nodded his head, "Who will be doing what competition?"

Bentley turned to face Blain, "We are all going to be in the band competition, but I haven't decided who to enter in the rodeo part of the competition. The rodeo competition consists of the three traits Two Ton Tom thinks a Texan cowboy needs. The first part is a shooting competition where there are thirteen targets, and the competitor is given two six shooters. You have to shoot as many targets as you can, and then they go by your time to determine your placing. The second part is roping competition, but Two Ton Tom brings in elephants instead of normal cattle. That is the part that usually clears out most of the competitors because they can't manage to tie the elephant up."

Sly raised an eyebrow, "After all that, what's the third part of the competition."

Bentley groaned, "It's much worse, that much is for sure. It's a set of fights between the competators. No rules, the only thing allowed are fists and feet. This is where Two Ton Tom usually wins the competition because he plays dirty, and it's all absolutely legal. Because of this, I was thinking we should put Murray in, but I found out they are having some practice rounds before the competition actually starts. I say we all take a shot at the first two competitions, and see how good we are."

Sly, Blain, and Murray all agreed as the van turned off the main highway, and took a two land road for about half an hour. Then, a fence line began to come into view with a guard post across the road. Murray slowed down as they neared the guard post, and one of the guards dressed in a full cowboy wardrobe came up to the window and said, "Hello strangers, can I ask what your business is in Silver Ridge?"

Murray leaned out of the window and said, "Yeah, were here for the True Texas Cowboy competition."

The guard nodded his head, "Really, all right then. You can pass, but you will have to loose the van. There is a place ten miles down the road that will store your van in an underground parking lot, and will loan you some horses. You must also leave any technology they didn't have back in the old west, and get fitted for some more western style clothes. It's all free to competitors, but you will have to return everything when you leave."

Bentley stuck his head out of the back of the van, "What technology can we take into Silver Ridge."

The guard chuckled, "Computer wise, you can't take a digital watch in. This is the last true western town, and Mr. Two Ton doesn't let any technology in. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. So, I would say a sweet goodbye to your laptop there, you aren't going to see it for at least a week."

Bentley began to frown, but the guard paid him no mind as he raised the wooden arm that was across the road, and Murray drove through the gate. Ten minutes down the road, Murray saw a large, wooden building with a cement structure in the back and a corral filled with horses off to the side. Murray pulled up to the front of the building, and everyone got out and went inside. They were greeted by a middle aged female coyote. She greeted them, and quickly began the common procedure for getting someone ready to go into Silver Ridge. The first step is the coyote woman called a mountain lion, and had him drive the team van around the building and down into the underground parking lot. While the mountain lion was doing that, the coyote woman began to get Murray, Bentley, and Sly set up with some western clothes. The coyote woman offered to help Blain, but he shook his head, and began to browse the selection of clothes by himself.

An hour later, the gang was set. Bentley and Murray were both in the standard sets of clothes that included blue jeans, old fashion shirts, cowboy hats, and boots. Sly had talked the coyote woman into selecting a special set of clothes, and then showed her a picture. Blain, Bentley, and Murray were waiting outside of the changing room as Sly got into his new clothes. A few minutes later, Sly stepped out. Bentley and Murray were both stunned. Sly almost looked exactly like his gun slinging ancestor, Tennessee Kid Cooper. The only thing he was lacking was his ancestor's mustache, six shooters, and the cigarette he always had sticking out of the side of his mouth. Sly looked at himself in a full length mirror a few times, and then thanked the coyote woman.

The last step for the gang was to get them each a horse. The mountain lion that took the teams van down into the underground parking lot walked the gang out into the corral. In the corral, there had to be thirty horses and each were already had a saddle and reigns. The mountain lion motioned toward the horses as he said in a gruff voice, "Go ahead and take your pick. I just stay away from old Black Twister thought. He is the only horse here that not even Two Ton Tom was able to ride. He bucks everybody off, and then chases them for a good ten minutes before he will stop."

The gang nodded their heads, and then spread out through the corral. Sly found a good, lean, fast white horse by the name of Phantom that he took a liking to. Bentley found a smaller white horse with brown spots named Einstein. The mountain lion said it was the smartest horse he had ever seen, and more loyal then any dog, that's if he liked ya. Murray searched the corral for the strongest looking horse, and found a very large, strong one named Thunder for the sounds his hooves made when he really got running.

Blain had looked through the entire corral, looking at each horse before shaking his head and moving on. Finally, he had looked at each horse in the corral except for Black Twister. Before anybody could stop him, Blain had gotten up onto Black Twister's back. The horse sat there for a moment, and then neighed loudly before he began to buck around the corral madly. The mountain lion rushed up, but could not get close enough to calm Black Twister down.

Amazingly, Blain held on as Black Twister continued to buck. Sly, Murray, and Bentley watched as Black Twister almost bucked Blain of several times, but Blain held on tight. He kept one hand on the saddle and one hand on the reigns as he began to shout at Black Twister, trying to calm the horse down. Ten minutes later, the mountain lion was staring in amazement as Black Twister stopped bucking, and stood perfectly calm with Blain still on his back. Blain gently hit his feet against Black Twisters side, and he began to walk slowly towards the others. Blain just smiled down at the mountain lion who looking at him in aw, and then looked up at Sly, Bentley, and Murray as he said, "Well, shall we get going."

The gang gathered up there newly acquired supplies, and Sly grabbed Carmelita's book of knowledge before they began to ride down the dirt road toward Silver Ridge. It took a good hour of riding, but Silver Ridge finally came into view. It was a small town by current standards, but it would be considered a city back in the days of the old west. The town was built up against a large plateau that rose high above the city. The cliff side was completely covered in old style mining equipment, and the gang could see people of many species and ages working the equipment.

As the gang rode into town, they got some friendly hellos from people on the street, but then saw a large, dark brown, Texas Longhorn walking towards them. He was dressed in almost all white, and he was far taller then even Murray. While on his horse, Phantom, Sly could just look the Longhorn guy right in the eyes. The Texas Longhorn walked up to them, smiling as he said, "Well howdy strangers, are you here for the rodeo and music competition?"

Sly nodded his head, "Yes, were here to take home the first prize."

The Longhorn roared with laughter, "Are you now? Well, we will just see how you far in the competition. There are two hundred cowboys here from all over the world hoping to do just that, but where did my manner run off to? I am Two Ton Tom, the owner of the silver mine and mayor of this town. Who might you be?"

Sly pointed to himself, "I'm Tennessee Kid Cooper. These guys with me are Bentley, Murray, and Blain."

Tom nodded his head, "That's all well in good, but you got any nicknames. I mean my name Tom Stevenson Lander, but nobody calls me that. Also, we will be using your nicknames when we introduce to the crowd at the competition."

Sly nodded his head, "All right, but it's kind of hard to think up appropriate nicknames on the spot."

Tom was about to say something when Blain spoke up and said, "My old nickname from Wyoming was the Tornado."

Tom nodded his head, "All right, I guess two out of four is enough. You all can head over to the hotel and get yourself a room. Few of our competitors are staying in town, so the hotel has a few rooms open. You can go get yourself settled, and the sign up for the competition is in the hotel's lobby. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go check a few things at the silver mine."

Two Ton Tom gave them a gentle tip of his hat, and then walked off. Sly, Bentley, Murray, and Blain watched him go before they gently rode their horses down to the hotel. The hotel was a large, two story building with a stable off on the right side. The gang got down from there horses, and tied them to a few poles outside the hotel before they walked in. The hotel lobby was filled with laughter, many different people sitting at the tables as they played cards and drank lemonade. A female rattle snake was working the bar, cleaning the glasses with her tail. She noticed Sly and the others walk in, and smiled as she said, "Hello there boys, what can I do you for."

Sly looked over at the girl as he said, "Can we get some rooms?"

The rattlesnake set down the glass she was cleaning, and moved down to the end of the bar where a book was propped open on the bar. She pulled a pencil from underneath the bar and handed it to Sly as she said, "Go ahead and sign all your names in the registry while I get your room key. We have a few doubles and one big room with four individual beds that can fit all four of yeah."

Sly bent down, signing the registry as he said, "We'll take the large four person room."

The rattlesnake nodded her head, and disappeared under the bar as she searched for the room key. Blain, Murray, and Bentley each signed the registry before the rattlesnake gave them a pair of room keys and said, "It's on the second floor, at the end of the hall. You can come down here when ever you want for some food, and we have some of the best lemonade in the world."

Sly nodded his head, and then took the key from the rattlesnake before he led the others up to the second floor, and to their room. Once in the room each claimed a bed, and then began the process of moving there clothes and personal belonging from the horses to the room. When that was done, they moved the horses into the stables, and then went up to their room to rest. Bentley laid on his bed, reading a book about the old west that had been left on the end table. Murray and Sly sat on their beds, and Blain sat next to Sly as they talked about the competition. Finally, Sly decided to ask Blain something that had been bothering him, "Hey Blain, you seem to be pretty good at all this cowboy stuff. You care to fill us in a bit."

Blain shrugged his shoulders, "I may be descended from very powerful ancient mystics, but that doesn't mean I didn't grow up learning some other skills. I grew up in a small farming and ranching community in Wyoming. Though it is a far more modern then this, we still have the occasional rodeo. That's how I spent my summers, I would work at the nightly rodeo they held in Cody, Wyoming. I became one of the best ropers in the state, and gained the nickname the Tornado. It came from the fact that I would always kick up a lot of dust when I hogged tied anything, and because I moved so fast the dust would begin to swirl into a very weak Tornado."

Bentley looked up from his book, "I guess that decides it. Since you actually know what you're doing, you can enter the rodeo half of the competition."

Blain shook his head, "I wouldn't say that. Maybe we should put two people in the competition, there by doubling our chances of winning at least half of the competition."

"Since you know what's in store, who would you say should be in the competition?"

Blain shrugged, "I'd say Sly, with a little help of course."

Bentley shook his head, not liking the idea of putting Sly in the competition when he thought Murray would do a much better job. Still, he looked up at Blain and said, "Fine, but speaking of helping, you are going to have to help a lot with the music competition to."

Blain raised an eyebrow, "Why's that?"

Bentley sat up, "I originally planed to hack the stadiums hidden speaker system, and play a country song over the speakers while we lip synced. Now, since I don't have any technology, we will actually have to play the music. If we really played, we have a better chance of Carmelita jumping out of her book by herself then winning the competition. If you can help us with your magic though, we can almost ensure our victory."

Blain chuckled, "All right. I can put some spells on our instruments so we can play them, but there is only so much I can do. We will have to have at least one practice session with the music, but we will have time for that after the rodeo competition. Right now, I think Sly should go out on some recon."

Sly looked over at Blain, "Are you sure. We haven't really got any idea how to do recon with out Bentley's laptop or my binocucom."

"I know one person that would have an idea how to do it. Tell me, do any of you know of shaman magic."

Bentley nodded his head, "Yeah, it's a mystic art that specializes in contacting dead spirits. Some powerful shaman can actually call spirits back to our world, and then do something called Spirit Unity. When this happens, the shaman joins the spirit with a mortal person, and the spirit actually guides the mortal person through many actions, increasing the mortal persons strength and skill at the same time."

Blain nodded his head, "Exactly right Bentley. Now, tell me. Who do we know that is dead, was a master thief in the old west, and is a raccoon?"

Sly's eyes widened, "Tennessee Kid Cooper, my gun slinging ancestor."

Blain nodded his head again, "Correct. So, tell me Sly, would you mind sharing your body with your ancestor for a roughly hour. He could guide you on the recon, and you can right down everything you find. Then, you bring back your notes to Bentley and he can figure out what we can do to tip the scales in our favor for the True Texas Cowboy competition."

Sly paused for a second, and then nodded his head. Blain then returned the nod as he stood up from Sly's bed, and moved to the center of the room. He rolled his neck around a bit, causing it to snap loudly. Sly, Murray, and Bentley watched as Blain let out a long slow breath, and put his hands together in front of his chest. It looked as if Blain was praying, but in an instant his eyes began to glow their characteristic white as his hands began to glow.

Blain held still for a few seconds, and then reached his hands forward. Suddenly, Blain's fingers seemed to disappear into midair, and a slight of light hung in mid air. Blain slid his other hand into the seam, and then pulled slowly apart. A thick, dark grey mist started to spill out of the whole, but Blain continued to pull until their was a perfect circle floating the air. Blain then stepped back, and a bright green mystical seal appeared in the circle, keeping it open.

Blain then stepped back, his hands and eyes still glowing as he said, "Sly, that is a door into the spirit world. If I call out to your ancestor, he might not come, but if it's you calling out for him then he will almost certainly be drawn to the opening. Then, it is a simple manner to perform Spirit Unity between you and him"

Sly nodded his head, and stood up from his bed as he moved over toward the circle. He bent down, and looked into the almost pitch blackness. Sly cleared his throat, and then cupped his hands around his mouth as he shouted, "Tennessee Kid Cooper."

From the other side of the circle, a raspy voice with a thick western accent said, "What in tarnation. Is that my great, great, great, great, grandson I hear. Well take away my six shooters and call me a law abiding citizen, where are you boy."

Sly stifled a laugh and then yelled, "Over here."

In a few moments, a shadow appeared in the circle. Blain gently pushed Sly out of the way, and then reached into the circle His hands disappeared into the spirit world, and his muscles tightened as he caught hold of Tennessee Kid Cooper. From the circle, Sly's ancestor began to curse and shout as Blain pulled him out of the spirit world. When a resounding pop Blain went flying back and the gateway to the spirit world disappeared. Blain, Sly, Bentley, and Murray looked at the figure now in the center of the room, floating gently above the floor with his feet replaced by a ghostly tail. It was Tennessee Kid Cooper, the most infamous gun slinger of the old west.