Take a Shot: Pt. II
It wasn't too cold during the day, but it was freezing during the night. Dick never thought such a hot, dry place could become so frigid (but still dry) within the same twenty-four hour time span.
He pulled the coat he wore around him closer and hung on to his horse. Roy, Artemis, and Wally were already far ahead, but still in sight. Dick had never actually done anything without telling his dad, so this was a little odd for him. He expected that they'd get caught any second and get sent back to town and grounded for life.
That didn't exactly happen, but it was close enough.
The local sheriff had been patrolling around the town that night, and he'd caught the kids sneaking off. He beckoned them near and Roy turned his horse towards the sheriff. The other three followed.
Dick observed that Roy and Artemis didn't look nervous at all. In fact, the only one jittering like a bug was Wally, who couldn't seem to stop shifting on top of the poor horse.
"Shut your bazoo boy," the sheriff ordered as Roy tried to explain, "Tell me why I shouldn't throw you kids in the calaboose now for being out after curfew." Roy blinked, confused why the sheriff just told him to shut up and explain. He could've just skipped the shut up part and save them all a lot of time.
"We were just fixin' to head back to town sir. But my kitten Whiskers ran off and now we can't find him!" Artemis pleaded with the sheriff. He didn't seem to buy into her act, "Hogwash. You kids are in a heap of trouble if you think you can kick up a row here in my town!"
The four of them knew it was no use to talk with the sheriff any longer. As the sheriff turned around to get some ropes to lead the horses and bring the kids to the county jail, Roy shouted, "Shin out!"
And they all turned their horses and forced them into a canter within a matter of seconds. Wally's horse was going the slowest, and Artemis turned around and yelled, "Pony up that crowbait!" Wally glared at her for insulting his horse and flicked the reins, getting it into a full speed gallop ahead of her. She would not be outdone and quickly sped her horse up to a gallop as well.
Behind them, the sheriff let out a warning shot and yelled, "You get back here!" But Roy and Dick knew the sheriff wasn't actually going to shoot a bunch of kids, and so they kept their horses running.
When the town was finally out of sight, they realized they were still in a quagmire. Some Native Americans on horses had surrounded the four of them and had muskets pointed towards their heads. Seeing no escape from the ambush, they were forced to return to camp with the natives.
Still, they didn't get to see much of the native camp since their horses were taken away from them and they were stuck inside where the tribe chief was to meet with them and question them.
He introduced himself as Kaldur'ahm, and demanded to know what they were doing there. Since no one was responding, Dick decided to answer, "We were ambushed and captured." Yet that proved to be an unsatisfactory answer, and so they remained stuck in the room for another thirty minutes before Kaldur'ahm returned, in a good mood this time. He seemed to admire Roy's cowboy hat. No one seemed to notice this except for Artemis, who bargained for their freedom in exchange for Roy's hat. It was a deal, surprisingly enough, and that's when Dick decided that these natives must capture people to see what profit they can get out of it. They couldn't expect much more than a hat from a group of kids though.
And so the four continued their journey to find the wagonmaster's daughter.
They stumbled upon a shack in the woods where a boy with dark hair was outside chopping wood. It wasn't odd for a boy who lived in the middle of nowhere with his family to chop wood, but Dick didn't understand why he was doing it in the middle of the night. Roy explained that many men worked long hours in the country, and that's when the boy heard them.
He picked up a rifle not far away from him and aimed towards the group. They all jumped out of the bushes shouting, "Don't shoot!" And the boy cautiously put his gun down, asking what they were doing traveling in the middle of the night.
"We're lookin' for some outlaws. You seen any passin' by with a girl with em?" Roy asked. The boy nodded, "They went towards the Ol' Fort yonder down by the stream."
Artemis seemed quite taken with the boy, as she acted more ladylike than she ever did around her brother. She adjusted her own hat (which she didn't give up to the chief of the native American tribe since he only needed one hat, and hers was too small) and asked, "What's your name?"
"Conner."
Then Roy pulled her away and back to the horses. They had a mission that they were going to complete. His sister would not get distracted by a boy.
When they got to the fort, they stayed hidden in the bushes and peered out at the palisade. Strong timbers were set in the ground to protect the place from infiltration, but they were stealthily circling around the fort to see if there were any places they could sneak in. There weren't. But that didn't mean they couldn't go from the top.
So Roy got a rope ladder out of one of the saddle pockets and swung it around his head, trying to get the loop on the very top to fall onto one of the timbers making up the palisade. He got it on the first time, and tested the ladder, yanking down on it. It seemed to hold.
Artemis climbed up first, then Wally, Dick, and finally, Roy. If this was where The Trigger Twins were hiding out, they'd have to be careful.
There were five different structures in the fort. The largest one was near the back, and Roy decided that must be where The Trigger Twins were hiding. After all, it would be in their narcissistic nature to choose the biggest place to reside.
Now they only needed to find out where Megan was hidden.
Each one of them entered a different cabin to see if she was hidden in any of them. The door Dick tried to open was locked, and the other three announced their cabins were clear. "She's in here then!" Dick announced.
They couldn't manage to open the door, and the twins had woken up to a lot of banging. It happened to be the guys trying to open the door while Artemis had sat to the side, waiting for them to realize nothing was being accomplished. They needed a key.
Roy turned and glared at the twins, "Give us the key or I'll shoot." His hand was on his holster, his jacket moved out of the way to reveal it as a warning. The twins also had their hands on their holsters, ready to draw any second.
Wally and Dick didn't actually have handguns of their own, although it probably would've been a good idea to bring them out with them. It wasn't exactly a safe idea not to.
And when the Trigger Twins realized they outnumbered the group in terms of being armed, they drew their weapons. But only one of them shot, and Roy had dodged the second he saw them take their weapons out. The other one had grabbed his sister.
"Don't touch her!" Roy shouted, angered by this turn of events.
"I'll kill her!" the man shouted back, preparing the squeeze the trigger.
But Artemis had anticipated this, elbowing him in the crotch then pulling two pistols from under her skirt. She pointed one at each twin, and she smiled, knowing she had the upper hand. "Give us the key and I'll give you thirty seconds to run."
The Trigger Twins gave panicked looks to one another before tossing a key on the ground and sprinting off as Artemis counted down. They were running at an unacceptable rate, so Artemis fire a shot to show that her guns actually were loaded and not just decoys. That made them pick up the pace.
Wally and Dick helped Megan out of the cabin and she climbed on the back of Dick's horse since he had the biggest horse out of everyone. Then they headed back for town.
The wagonmaster resumed the trip the following day, and everyone continued west. Along the way they met a traveling magician and his daughter, Zatara and Zatanna. The two performed a quick magic show for the passerbys, accepting whatever donations they provided.
Roy, Artemis, and their family eventually stopped to settle down in Oregon, while Dick continued to California. Wally and his family decided to stop in Oregon as well, and they studied the plants and animal specimens they collected. Roy started a ranch. Dick's dad made his fortune in the mine, which was a lucky thing since most men never found much gold. The town they'd lived in became a ghost town and they'd moved back east where they found a nice home to live in, and his father remarried.
Dick still kept in touch with Wally since they'd become best friends on the Oregon Trail. They sent letters to one another, but it would take months, sometimes a whole year before replies ever came. Sometimes it was because Kaldur'ahm's tribe intercepted the mail carriers.
THE END.
I'm mighty thankful to ya'll for readin' this here story! :P
Tell me what you thought in a review!
Love, Safirel
(Before I go...)
Rowanfall: Hah, well I think I'm going to leave it as a two-shot for now. I don't want to butcher the western genre! Heehee I think you'll like what I did with Kaldur :)
Toadflame: Wow I'm really flattered! I do happen to live in the south so I know a few cowboys :) I never thought I'd ever be using their vocabulary for my writing though! I'm really glad you liked it!
Dextra2: Thanks!