Sorry this took so long. Finals, holidays, etc. I hope y'all still like the story and will continue to read/fav/review/whateveryoudo. :3 I enjoyed myself with this chapter.
So, uh, enjoy, partner.
Frozen-Disney
Story-Mine. All of it. Mine.
"She didn't do it, damn it!" Anna slammed her fist on the desk. The man before her looked unimpressed. Deputy Sheriff Gideon Leddy was an older man, being somewhere in his forties and possessing a splattering of grey and white over his beard and frowning mustache. His eyes looked upon Anna with dull contempt. He'd been brought on as a deputy by Elsa early on due to his experience in dealing with criminals. Anna had never liked him, and Elsa hadn't much, either. But his skills and abilities were valuable, and therefore he was tolerated.
"Miz. Arendelle," He drawled, "Everything points to your sister being the killer. Mister Bastable didn't shoot 'imself. The smokin' gun was hers and soon as them folks started sayin' she dun it, what she do? She runs. Ain't no more incriminating evi-dunce than that, Miz Arendelle."
Anna glared, her chest heaving with restrained punches directed at Leddy's face. "I'm telling you, my sister ain't no guilty woman! She never had any interest in Mister Bastable! He waz a kind old fellow with a warm heart. He donated ta the churches n' towards fixin' up the town, too! My sister had no reason to kill 'im. She ran because all you folks started yelling at her! She didn't know what ta do!"
"She knew who to shoot and where to run. It's been weeks, Miz Arendelle. Far as I'm concerned, your sister is gone and guilty. I ain't trying to be mean, ma'am, I'm tryin' to help ya stop fooling yourself. She did some great things for Arendelle, but when it come down to it, she snapped, and she ran, and she gonna get hung iffin' she goes to any town in the Arizona Territory with a tap system. Now," Leddy stood and gently but firmly grabbed Anna's arm. "Your sister ain't in charge no more, I am. And since I am, I can escort you out, Miz Arendelle, and tell you to have a good day, and you can't do nothin' bout it."
He came to the stoop and practically tossed Anna off its short steps. "Now do me a favor and don't come round here again 'less you got something worth saying."
Anna turned around and glared at him. "Son of a whore!"
Leddy smiled and shut the door.
Anna muttered curses, vowing to prove him wrong. Ever since the dance things had gone down to hell. No one trusted Elsa, everyone pitied Anna. Mister Bastable's wife had put up a reward for the capture of Elsa, and it was a sizable sum. Rumors swamped over Arendelle Landing like a plague, and Anna could feel the sickness every day. She'd looked all around the landing for Elsa, everywhere she thought she would be. Everywhere she'd known her to go and then some. She'd pushed her horse to the limits but always she would come home without her sister, and without the hope she'd started with.
Her only positive source in the weeks since Elsa's disappearance was Hans. He'd encouraged her, and dispelled rumors about Elsa being a murdering maniac. He'd ridden out with her on searches and had even spent the night in the guestroom at her home a few times when they stayed up late thinking of ideas, or simply chatting for Anna's sake. She needed company, and the only breathing thing in the house other than herself was usually horseflies and the occasional rogue lizard.
But now, after weeks of searching, fretting, and pestering Leddy to help, Anna had had enough. She didn't know anything about tracking. She didn't know how you were supposed to find a person who didn't wanna be found, but she knew the type that would.
Anna reached into the safe in the cellar of the Arendelle residence. She took money that was somewhere in the thousands and stuffed it in a sturdy leather satchel. With it she put a canteen full of water, some rope, some dried food and crackers, two cartons of ammunition and an 1875 Remington handgun. She also took one of Elsa's Colts and ammunition as well. Finally she grabbed a kitchen knife just in case. Anna went to her door, just to hear a knock on the other side. When she opened the door, Hans was standing there. He smiled and then looked curiously at her satchel.
"What the bloody hell is that?"
Anna looked at him and then the satchel. "It's supplies."
"For what?"
"Finding Elsa. I'm going to...I'm going to hire someone, Hans. Somebody to find her. A bounty hunter." She hopped down the steps until she stood before him, and looked up at his disbelieving face. "I was just on my way to go fi-"
"Anna, you can't be serious." Hans said gently. Anna raised an eyebrow.
"I am."
"But, a bounty hunter? There a more salty sort than I think you should go running with."
Anna wasn't entirely shocked, but that didn't mean she really appreciated the sentiment, either. Hans was a gentlemen, born and raised. While he might not have any reservations with her clothing choices, he did occasionally comment on her behavior. Spitting, cursing, and a few other un-ladylike habits she had attained over the years. She really didn't care. "I'm fine, Hans. I've got to do this, I've got to find Elsa."
"Anna..." Hans gently took Anna's hands in his own. "I really don't think you should do this. It's dangerous out there, especially with men of the mercenary sort. You could get hurt in any number of ways...and, really, would Elsa want that?"
Anna's courage faltered when he said that. Would Elsa want this? Her little sister, grabbing part of the family's fortune and hiring a bounty hunter to find her and bring her home? Would she take kindly to her traversing the great territory of Arizona on horseback with a surly man who spat tobacco juice and spoke foully about anything and everything, simply for the sake of doing so? Would she take kindly to the dangers her sister would face? The extreme heat of the day, and the deadly cold at night?
Anna decided that no, Elsa wouldn't take kindly to it.
But then again, Elsa hadn't taken kindly to much of anything Anna had done recently.
"I'll be fine." She said, gently shifting her hands so they held Hans's, and smiling. "Elsa knows I can handle myself. I won't be long, I promise!"
Hans seemed frustrated, but relented and kissed her cheek. "You keep that gun loaded, dearest."
"Of course." Anna smiled and after a hug and a prayer, left Hans for the Old Crow Tavern.
The tavern wasn't exactly built for the surly sort, though it was occupied by such. It had oak paneled walls and the floorboards only creaked a little when Anna walked across them. Several circular tables were set up around the long bar table, imprints worn into the seats by hopeful gamblers throwing their weeks pay into the pot hour after hour. Anna went to one of the bar stools and looked around, barley being acknowledged. There were a few tavern girls flirting with card players or sitting in the laps of men conversing with friends. Anna thought how Elsa would have a coronary and throw dresses at the lot of them for running around in their unmentionables, and smiled a little.
She scanned the crowd, looking for a man that might be willing to let a lady accompany him on a bounty hunt. None of them looked too promising. She shyly approached one man, only to jump back to her stool at a raunchy comment he made about her figure. Creep, she thought. She tried another man, but he refused, laughing at her before spitting tobacco juice in a spittoon. Anna muttered and continued until she exhausted her resource at the tavern and forlornly went back to the bar table and sat.
"Want something to drink, Miss Arendelle?" The bartender frowned pityingly at the young woman.
"No, thanks s-"
There was a slam as the door was flung open.
Anna looked over and stopped, transfixed by the figure standing in the doorway. He filled the frame with broad shoulders and a chest that seemed firm as a boulder. Something-no, wait, someone- was flung over his shoulder. When he walked, the worn floorboards shook slightly. Anna figured he might break through it if he stepped too hard. In the light of the gas lamps, you could see the stubble on his face, and the bright blonde hair that swept around his eyes and shoulders. His clothes were dusty and worn, but of good quality. Jeans, boots, a thick vest, all jet black, and a white undershirt with a red bandana around his neck. His hat had a couple feathers tucked into the rim.
He came up to the bar and dumped a lanky looking man over the table like a sack of flour. "Your robber, sir." His voice surprised Anna; it wasn't a drawl of Texas or anywhere else in the Deep South, as she had expected, but Northern. New York, or something similar. Clear, crisp syllables that even her sister hadn't trained herself to speak.
"He have all the money on him?" The bartender asked, regarding the squirming human casually.
"Yes, sir." The man reached a gloved hand into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills, handing them to the bartender. "I took what we agreed too."
The bartender licked his finger and quickly sorted through the bills before nodding, binding the stack, and tossing it under the bar. "Thank you, Bjorgman. Saved my business."
The man called Bjorman tipped his hat and went to leave. Anna stared after him. "Who is that?" She asked the bartender.
"Who? Oh, him? That's Kristoff Bjorgman. Mighty fine bounty hunter-came here from somewhere up North. Maryland, I think. Maybe New York. Either way, he works round these parts and some of the other counties catchin' runaways and robbers n' the like. Worked for me a couple times." The Bartender's mustache smiled. "You need a man to find somebody, you get him."
Anna nodded, slipping off her seat. "Thank ya, sir."
It didn't take her but a minute to run out and locate Kristoff, who was just giving a carrot to an astronomically large Mustang, who had a gleaming brown coat with an oddly mixed white and brown mane. The sheer size of the animal made Anna hesitate, but she eventually pursued her quest and came to stand by the ginormous man and his equally large horse. She stood on her toes and then awkwardly tapped his arm like a child. Kristoff turned his head and saw no one. Then he looked down and raised an eyebrow at Anna.
"Yes, ma'am?" He gave her clothing and odd look.
"Y-You're Kristoff Bjorman, right?"
He nodded. The horse whinnied, looking at Anna. He seemed to be raising his eyebrows- do horses have eyebrows?- at her. She sheepishly waved. He bobbed his head and then snapped a carrot out of the satchel on Kristoff's hip.
"I, um." Anna extended her hand. "I'm Anna Arendelle."He raised both eyebrows and gently shook her hand. Her's were so small and soft compared to his; rough and covered in callouses. "And I-I need your help."
Kristoff leaned against the hitch outside the general goods store, patting his horse's side and shifting the satchel away from his reach. "Shoot, Miss Arendelle."
So Anna explained, in detail, about the night at the dance hall, and her sister's disappearance. Her need to find her and clear her name, and how the bartender had spoken highly of him. Kristoff remained utterly silent through the entire explanation. He only seemed interested when Anna mentioned how much money she had.
"Sure, I'll find your sister." He said. Anna grinned immediatly. "Really?"
"Sure." Kristoff unhitched his horse and pulled himself up onto the saddle. His body blocked the sun. "Just give me third of what you said you pay. I'll take the rest when I bring her back."
Anna grinned. "Great! I'll grab my horse and-"
Kristoff snorted. "No, ma'am. I work alone."
Anna paused. "Well, that ain't part of the deal, sir." She put her hands on her hips. "I ain't letting no one go be hero while I sit here like some damsel. I ain't no damsel, mister."
He raised an eyebrow. "You're a woman. Woman ain't made for traversing-"
"Don't start any of that "woman can't do this" bullshit. I get enough of that from the rest of the men!" Anna huffed, folding her arms. She took a small joy in the surprised, possibly even impressed, look on Kristoff's face. His horse made a slight whinnying sound, as if to say let the girl come. "Either you let me accompany you, or I'll take my money elsewhere."
Kristoff seemed to sit on it. He rubbed the reins between his thumb and forefinger. He glanced over at the tavern, his brow knit in concentrated thought. The horse flung it's head and made some sort of snorting noise, and Kristoff nodded as if he understood. "Alright, I'll take you. But since I'll have to find your sister and keep an eye on you, ma'am, I want half up front."
Anna didn't think much on it before handing over the bills. She needed to get her sister help, and fast. And he was the only one that hadn't made a lewd comment about her backside.
He stuffed the money in the satchel and then walked his horse alongside Anna until they reached her house and she got her own steed. They then rode to the edge of town and stopped before the dirt and dust that danced across the landscape in a low, dry breeze. "Follow me, Miss Arendelle." Kristoff said, clicking his reins and starting off. Anna followed him, jaw set in determination.
Even if I gotta search the whole territory, Elsa. I'm gonna find you, and then I'm gonna clear your name.
I promise.
