Once the girls had finished their duties with the animals, they all met up at the farmhouse where they found Audrey sitting at the kitchen table and talking to Anne.
"And Miss Princess is just sitting in here all pretty. Isn't that fine living?" Uma sarcastically acknowledged as she spun a chair toward her and straddled it as she faced the others at the table.
The other three slid down into their seats more gracefully and properly than Uma had, and they looked at Anne and Audrey expectantly.
"Well, I've found something that you girls can do," Anne informed them with a kindly smile gracing her wrinkled features. Evie tilted her head, listening sweetly as she eyed the old woman. Uma just raised an eyebrow, keeping her gaze firmly on Audrey. Audrey just returned her gaze with just as much unimpressed emotion.
"What would that be?" Mal questioned with what she hoped was a smile that complimented Evie's natural bubbly lovingness.
"I need you five to head out to town and get me a few things in the store," Anne told them, and it was then that Mal noticed the piece of paper in Audrey's grasp.
"I've given Audrey the list," the old woman said with a gentle pat to Audrey's shoulder, and Audrey looked at her fondly.
"Make sure that when you get to the end of the driveway, you turn left and keep going straight. You'll see the town before too long. It's really traditional, and I think y'all will like it," the elderly lady explained to them, and Evie's eyes lit up in excitement. Mal turned her gaze to the bluenette with a slight smile, enjoying Evie's presumable romanticism of a place that was likely not nearly as traditional as Evie was imagining.
Audrey grinned widely at all of them, and Uma just glared at the pink princess with a complete lack of any appreciation. She was still angry with the fact that Audrey had stayed inside with the cushy job while Uma was outside running for her life from a crazy horse that wanted to chew her up and spit her out.
Mal finally sighed, and Evie supposed that the purple-haired girl had recognized the tension in the room.
"Well, let's go, girls," Mal announced after a moment of rest, and they all started to get up from the table and head outside.
They all headed over for Charlene, and they got in their traditional seats as Evie cranked the car. Everyone clasped their seatbelts at Evie's instruction, and got themselves situated for the ride ahead, despite how short it would likely be.
Mal, Audrey, and Uma were deathly quiet as Evie started up the driveway. Evie glanced at them strangely but didn't say anything. However, when the silence persisted, Evie finally had to ask when she stopped at the end of the driveway.
"What is going on with you girls?" Evie questioned with a slight bewildered laugh, gazing at her best friend, the pink princess, and the pirate.
"We were just scared you'd start up 'Delta Dawn,'" Uma chuckled sincerely, and Evie immediately rolled her eyes, a big grin coming onto her face as she turned left in the direction that Anne had said the town would be in.
"Oh, I think I've learned my lesson about all that authentic, traditional country stuff," Evie emphasized to the group, and they continued on about their driving for a little while longer.
However, the pavement suddenly transitioned into dirt road as they approached the very beginnings of town, and Evie almost squealed as she took in the little area's appearance.
Mal's jaw went slack as she gaped at it. The town looked just like it came out of one of those traditional Westerns, with dust roads all around. There was a general store, a feed store, and a little white church some distance away.
And as Mal looked at Evie, she knew that Evie hadn't given up all that "authentic, traditional country stuff." Evie's face was currently lit up with the biggest smile Mal had seen on her face in a while as her eyes sparkled with wonder, looking at all of the fascinating history lying in the very logs that made up each of the buildings they passed.
"It is magical!" Evie breathed, mesmerized by it all as she looked from one store to another. Evie finally parked not too far from the general store, and they got out of the car carefully.
There were people sitting on benches at the front of stores, talking and relaxing as they stuck out the heat of the day.
Evie grinned widely and she suddenly gasped as her gaze fell upon one particular place.
"M! M, look!" Evie cried, grabbing Mal's arm tightly as soon as she had come around the car. Mal almost fell into Evie as the bluenette put in an unexpected amount of force.
"What, E?" Mal questioned, and Evie excitedly pointed to a particular building on the other side of the road. Mal squinted, furrowing her brow as she tried to make it out through the bright sunlight. Evie tightened her hold on Mal's arm, and after looking both ways, crossed the road so they could get a better look at the place. Uma, Audrey, and Jane shared a glance but shrugged as they followed the two.
"Evie, seriously," Mal simply spoke, and Evie grinned widely, looking out from underneath the brim of her cowgirl hat.
"Seriously," Evie replied shortly, and Mal shook her head as the other three caught up to them.
"What are you doing, Evie?" Jane asked, and Evie turned to her with a flourish, gesturing at the place with a raise of her arms. Jane looked at it and her eyes went wide as her gaze settled upon an old-fashioned bar of all things. Uma just raised an eyebrow, the barest hints of a smirk starting to twist at the corners of her lips. Audrey pursed her lips, obviously not appreciating Evie's find.
"It's a saloon!" Evie called out happily as if it were obvious. Audrey moved her head in an agreeing movement that communicated just how obvious the princess thought that statement was, and Uma just chuckled at the bluenette.
"It's a bar, Evie," Mal tried desperately to interject and reason with the other girl.
"No, a saloon."
"It's the same thing!" Mal attempted to get through, and Evie bit her bottom lip as it all flew over her head. Once Evie set her mind to something, there was no stopping her. Mal knew the resistance was futile, but she figured she'd at least try to ward Evie away from it. After all, she could always use the "I Told You So" trick afterward. Not that she really had the heart to do so.
"They've got the swingy doors and everything," Evie almost squealed as she pushed experimentally on a door. Mal rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well, if you go in there, there's two rules: no drinking iced tea, and don't get into a bar fight," Uma informed her with a grin, and it was then that Mal realized the pirate wanted Evie to go inside.
"Oh, I've learned my lesson about iced tea. Iced tea is bad. Rootin' tootin' shootin' bad," Evie's voice started to slowly evolve into more of a country drawl as she gazed at the girls from underneath her hat.
"Why are you talking like that? Stop, just stop right now," Mal commanded, but Evie just looped her thumbs around the belt holding up her jeans. Mal closed her eyes, knowing that Evie wasn't going to give up that easy.
"Take it easy there, pardner," Evie overexaggerated, and Mal reopened her eyes to look at Evie tiredly. "I ain't gonna be gettin' no booze."
"You sound like you've already had a few," Uma couldn't help but unhelpfully pipe up. Evie just looked at her with a half-lidded gaze, and Uma held her stare firmly with a wicked smirk.
"Welp, I reckon I'm gonna be goin' on in yonder for a lil' somethin' to wet my whistler," Evie took one hand away from her belt to tip her hat to the others.
"Please, don't do it. You are not going in there and getting drunk."
"Oh, I'm not going to get drunk! I'm going to show them I'm a real authentic cowgirl," Evie stage-whispered in her normal voice before returning to her country sound.
"You ladies comin' in with me?" Evie questioned, and Mal shook her head, trying to emphasize some semblances of firmness with her sister.
"No, we aren't, and you're not going in either," Mal informed her, hanging onto Evie's arm firmly.
"Yes, 'fraid I am," Evie shook her hand off, and started through the saloon doors.
"Evie, no."
"Evie, yes!"
So Evie strode through the saloon doors, pushing them out of her way as she entered.
"Howdy, cowpokes!" Evie greeted, and Mal shared a positively mortified glance with Audrey.
Everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and stare at the bluenette with eyebrow raises, squints, and overall general confusion about Evie's ultimate goal here.
Evie swallowed and steeled her nerves. After all, she wanted to experience real country living and be a real cowgirl. Only now, she was starting to question why she had actually thought it would be a good idea. However, she could feel Mal's firm stare on her back, so she knew she couldn't give up now. Besides, she wanted to fit in with these country folks and enjoy a real saloon experience.
Evie stepped in a bit further, trying to look country as she felt this sudden doubt gripping her.
They all kept their eyes on her, and Evie offered a grin, tipping her hat kindly.
"I rode here all the way from Beast's castle, and boy, Heidi, is my rear end sore," Evie tried to joke, but no one seemed to find it funny. However, Evie pushed right through the stale atmosphere, stepping up confidently to the bar where a mustachioed man was polishing a cup.
"Howdy, sir, I'd rightly enjoy me a cold one," Evie confidently spoke, and from her position at the door, Mal slapped her face with a hand. Uma resisted the urge to laugh, and Mal looked over at the pirate.
"Should I go get her out of there?"
"No, no, I wanna see what happens next!" Uma cackled finally, and Audrey looked like she was about to melt on the spot from pure embarrassment and humiliation at being associated with Evie.
"The good part about it is that if she gets a cold one, we're in her car instead of mine!" Uma joyfully announced, a huge smile on her face, and Mal rolled her eyes, returning her gaze to the girl inside.
"A beer, ma'am?" the bartender asked finally, an eyebrow raised as his lips twitched in a valiant effort to keep from laughing at her over-eccentric antics.
"No, no, no! Not that! How did you get that- I mean," Evie caught herself, trying to regain her cool in the midst of her total shock at how the man had interpreted her words, "I'd like me a mighty cold water."
He nodded with a slight raise of his eyebrows, and Evie turned toward the piano player, listening to his music as it started to pick back up since the novelty of Evie's weirdness was starting to wear off.
"That there's some purdy music you're a playin'," Evie complimented, and he didn't offer any sort of reply outside of a sideways glance thrown her way.
Evie swallowed, recollecting her nerve as she started to say something else.
However, before she could get very far, this giant woman sitting nearby snapped at her.
"Sit your butt down and quit trying to act like you're country. You don't sound country," the woman told her, and Evie visibly recoiled.
"Well, if I don't sound country, then what do I sound like?" Evie questioned, trying to keep her country accent but somewhat failing as she looked at the sizeable woman staring at her.
"You sound like a hillbilly drunk come stumblin' in from the mountains," the woman deadpanned, and her group started to laugh. Evie furrowed her brow, tilting her head as she looked at them.
"Well, that's not very nice," Evie informed her shortly, and the woman just laughed at her harder.
"Wake up to the real world, cowgirl princess," the woman cruelly shot at her, and Evie breathed out of her nose.
"Some of us could really afford some manners," Evie murmured underneath her breath as she took a sip of the glass of water that had been placed next to her.
The woman quickly sobered, standing up as she approached Evie. Mal furrowed her brow, and she caught Uma in her peripheral vision straightening a bit as they got on guard, ready to interfere if necessary.
The woman stood there, looming over Evie as she breathed down on her. Evie just looked at her, trying to avoid running out the door as fast as she could.
"Are you sassin' me?" she demanded and a bit of spittle flew from her mouth and hit Evie's face.
"No, ma'am. But you might want to swallow when you're speaking to someone at this close of a distance," Evie politely informed her with a smile, and the woman's eyes immediately turned to pure rage as she held back her fist to punch Evie in the face. Mal and Uma burst through the saloon doors at that moment, but before they knew what was going on, everyone was punching each other and there was a full-on barfight erupted.
Uma and Mal looked at each other, and Mal's eyes widened as Uma suddenly shoved her toward the saloon doors. She quickly realized that someone was about to punch her, and Uma had just saved her from the hit. Uma dodged another swing and shouldered her way out the saloon doors, pulling Mal out with her.
"Stop, Evie's in there!" Mal cried, and Uma shook her head, keeping an arm in front of the young Queen. The pirate steeled herself, starting toward the door with the full intent to punch her way through until she found the blueberry.
"I'm coming with you," Mal told her firmly, and Uma eyed her for a moment before nodding. They both ran back in, trying to push through and dodge the fighting as they searched for Evie.
Jane was just pacing outside the doors, freaking out as her mind flew to her mother.
"What will Mom think?! If she ever finds out I was on the doorstep of a saloon and that one of my best friends started it, she'd kill me!" Jane whimpered, and Audrey sympathetically patted her on the back as she passed by.
Audrey was nervous, and she felt a building pit of dread in her stomach as Uma and Mal didn't come out for a minute.
Finally, Mal burst through the door, Uma close behind her, and both of them looking worse for the wear.
"Well, where is she?!" Audrey cried, and Mal shook her head, trying to collect her breath as she looked back through the saloon doors longingly. Uma shook her head as she leaned down, grasping the knees of her jeans.
"It's madness in there."
"We're going back in," Mal declared, and Uma shook her head with a deep breath. However, before they could even open the saloon doors, there was someone crawling out from underneath them.
Mal reeled as she watched her best friend clamber from under the saloon doors, looking terribly dazed and confused, but not injured in the least. Her hat was skewered to the side, and her hair was mussed all around her head.
"I guess they don't like country folks," Evie stammered a bit, and Mal laughed with pure relief as she grabbed one of Evie's arms. Uma took the other one, and between them both, they managed to successfully pull Evie out from under the door. They sat her down on the bench, and Mal grabbed Evie's face in her hands to check for any injuries.
"Are you okay? Did she punch you?"
"No, I ducked, and she punched the bartender. Another guy came running toward her after that, and then everything fell to pandemonium," Evie informed her, trying to focus on Mal as she had a dopey look on her face.
"Thank goodness you're alright. You are a mess, Evie," Audrey proclaimed, running over and straightening the girl's hair and hat. Evie just giggled, and Mal plopped down next to the bluenette, leaning her head on Evie's shoulder.
"Don't scare people like that," Mal commanded gently, and Evie nodded her head, closing her eyes with a slight smile of relief.
"Selfie time!" Uma cried suddenly, and Mal looked up just as Uma had taken a picture with Audrey and Jane next to her and Evie and Mal in the background on the bench.
Mal's eyes narrowed, and she stood up, taking off after the pirate. Uma ran from her as fast as she could, her adrenaline from earlier pushing her forward as she cackled at Mal's expense.
"UMA!"
"I guess we're about to have a barfight out here," Evie joked, and Audrey just shook her head, resting a hand on Evie's shoulder.
It had certainly been a heck of an afternoon.
A/N: Unbelievably, today has been suckier for the girls than yesterday… Well, I hope everyone's thoroughly enjoying their misfortunes. XD Until the next chapter!