OOGABOOGARAAARRR. I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update, but to be completely honest I forgot this story existed. I remembered about four minutes ago, then swore rather loudly and rushed to post this chapter. When I was writing this I just dumped them in Cooper's Roost for no apparent reason, but then later on I realised it was the perfect place to dump them because it provided me with material you'll see in the next chapter after this one. I love it when random decisions turn out to actually be good ones. Anyway, I've rambled long enough. On with the story!
Disclaimer: ...This part hasn't changed since chapter 1, so I don't know why I have to keep doing it.
"Hey, Keelan! It's good to see you up and about. Feeling alright?" Keelan shrugged.
"No idea, but I'm sick of lying in that bed. Hey, Maya. How're you?" The girl dipped her head in greeting.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking. Do you know how Iridian is doing?"
"The doc said she was recovering surprisingly quickly. She still hasn't woken up yet, but her leg's doing remarkably well and her other injuries are almost impossible to see. He thinks she should be able to leave the bed by tomorrow." Maya nodded slowly.
"I'm glad." Keelan looked around, taking in the scenery. He'd never been to Cool Ranch before, and hadn't known what to expect. He certainly hadn't expected to see chickens walking around wearing top hats and waistcoats, though.
"So, what is there to do around here?" He asked. Alexi shrugged.
"I'm not really sure. I haven't explored very much, apart from the saloon."
"Saloon?" Keelan asked, and Alexi nodded.
"Yeah. It's over here. Coming, Maya?" She nodded and followed Alexi as he led them through the small, dusty town, stopping outside a large white building.
"Here we are. Maya and I have been staying here since we arrived. It's pretty comfortable, and the food is good, too." He led them inside, and Keelan's eyes widened. The first floor was dotted with tables and chairs, most of which were occupied. There was a bar on one side and a piano in the corner, and upstairs he could hear shouting from what he assumed was a rather heated game of cards. Alexi led them over to the bar, and the peacock who was serving grinned in delight.
"Alexi, my friend! Good to see you!"
"Always a pleasure, Bill. Maya, Keelan, this is Wild Bill Peacock. He owns and operates this saloon." Maya and Keelan shook his wing, and from somewhere they heard a small cough.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" A sweet voice chirped, and Alexi laughed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Oh, of course! Bill here runs this saloon with the help of lovely Jane Canary." The bird appeared from behind the bar, smiling sweetly.
"Pleasure to meet y'all. You must be Alexi's friend who was with the doctor, ain't ya?" Keelan nodded, and Jane and Bill smiled.
"Good to see you're on your feet, son. What about the other one, that girl you told us about?" Alexi sighed.
"She's doing good, but she still hasn't woken up yet. She should be out by tomorrow, if we're lucky." Jane nodded.
"Well, I do hope she'll be alright. Send her my love, won't you, sweetie?" Alexi nodded, smiling.
"Of course, Jane. What's on the menu for tonight?" Jane clapped her wings together and jumped up and down in excitement.
"Oh, you're going to love it! I'm cookin' up a treat tonight! A traditional smoked salmon with roast vegetables, ice-cold Yum and for dessert, ice cream, custard and apple pie! How does that sound?" Keelan's mouth was watering. He had hardly eaten anything since he'd been in bed, and Jane and Bill laughed at the hungry look on his face.
"Well, it's nice to know there's around here who appreciates my cooking!" Jane laughed. Alexi grinned and glanced at the large grandfather clock across the room.
"Well, I think we'd better get moving. These two want to see the sights, I think. I'll see you later, Jane. Take care, Bill."
"Goodbye, dears!" Cooed Jane as they left the saloon and continued looking around the town.
"They were...interesting." Maya commented, and Keelan laughed.
"They're good people." Alexi defended, and Maya was about to respond when she frowned, tilting her head to the side.
"What's going on over there?" The boys followed her gaze. A crowd of angry chickens had gathered outside a red brick building, and they were all talking at once. A chicken with an eye patch was standing on the steps, trying to be heard over the crowd.
"Be quiet!" He shouted, and the noise stopped. He sighed and rubbed circles on his temple.
"Right, thank you. Now, I know you're all angry and scared, and I promise you that I am doing my utmost best to capture this villain. He's gone unpunished for too long, but don't worry. When I catch him, he will face justice!" The crowd roared and cheered in excitement, and Alexi, Keelan and Maya exchanged a puzzled glance. The crowd dissipated and the eye patch chicken went back into the building, and Keelan, too curious for his own good, climbed the steps and went inside. It was incredibly dark, and Keelan had to squint to see a row of cells lining the wall opposite, all of which were empty.
"Hey, who let you in here?" The eye patch chicken got up from his desk, his visible eye narrowed suspiciously. Keelan held up his hands.
"Woah, we're not here to cause trouble." The chicken tilted his head.
"Then what are you here for? Can't you see I've got work to do?"
"We just wanted to know what that mob was talking about." Alexi said. The chicken frowned before nodding slowly.
"Oh, I get it. You're those kids who came in on that burning boat, am I right?" Keelan nodded. The chicken snorted and sat back down.
"Well, consider yourselves lucky. Some of the people were calling for the lot of you to be arrested for causing such a stir. It's only thanks to your silver-tongued friend here that you got off scot-free." He gestured to Alexi, and Keelan raised an eyebrow at him. The taller male shrugged dismissively.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're alive and kicking. The name's Rooster Cogburn. I'm the Sheriff of Cooper's Roost." They shook the chicken's gloved hand.
"So, you want to know what all the fuss was about?" Keelan nodded again.
"Well, it started about a year ago, but none of us knew it. Things would go missing during the night, you see. Nothing major, just bottles of milk, clothes, food, that sort of stuff. Hardly anyone filed a complaint because they thought they'd just misplaced it see?" They all nodded, and Cogburn sighed and ran his hand through his crest.
"Well, then it got worse. Money went missing, taken right out of people's pockets. Jewellery taken from around ladies' necks. I was almost overwhelmed by all the complaints I got. And then, it suddenly stopped. Nothing stolen for over a month. Until last week, that is." Maya frowned.
"What happened last week?" Cogburn looked up at her with his one eye.
"The bank was robbed." Keelan's eyes widened.
"The little bastard took everything. Every last coin, gone. Heck, he even took the mayor's safe! Thankfully we managed to get money circulating again, but that was a hard blow to recover from. We're still suffering, and now the petty thefts have started again, even worse than before. Every night, the people live in fear that all their treasures will be stolen while they sleep. My deputy and I have been working hard to catch him, but he's a slippery little bugger, he is. We almost got him a couple nights back, but he slipped right through our fingers at the last possible second. I'm at my wits' end." He held his face in his hands and sighed deeply, and Keelan exchanged a glance with Alexi and Maya. He could tell from their faces that they were thinking what he was thinking.
"If you'd like, Sheriff, we could help you catch him." Cogburn stared at him.
"And what makes you think you lot will be of any help?" Keelan shrugged.
"I don't know, but I'm sure you could use some extra hands." The Sheriff looked from Keelan to Maya to Alexi and back, and he sighed.
"You make a good point there, son. Alright then, you're on the case. You're going to have to try and catch him on your own initiative, as I'm just too caught up in paperwork to give you any sort of direction. But for God's sake, be careful. Don't break anything. And if you can, bring him in alive." They nodded and the Sheriff dismissed them, and they regrouped outside to think.
"So, how do we go about doing this?" Asked Maya. She and Keelan both turned to Alexi, who frowned.
"What?"
"Have you got a plan?"
"Why does it have to be me?" Maya raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't you the one who gained your reputation as a genius from your plans?" Alexi frowned.
"...Shut up."
"Well, so you have a plan or not?" Alexi sighed.
"Yes, I do." Maya and Keelan smiled at each other.
"There, was that really so hard?" Maya teased, and Alexi muttered darkly under his breath, leading them back through town to Dr. Coop's office.
"What are we doing back here? I thought we were going to go and catch a thief?"
"We are, but my plan will work best if Iridian comes with us."
"But she's unconscious!" Keelan exclaimed as Alexi opened the door to Iridian's room, and their eyes all widened to see her sitting up, her arms crossed over her chest and staring at them intently.
"Speak for yourself, Keelan." She said, grinning.
"Now, what's this about a plan?"
Yep, they're all still alive. And this little diversion from the main plot does actually serve a purpose, which you'll find out either in the next chapter or the next one after that. Anyway, R&R if you like it, R&R if you don't like it, R&R to correct my spelling...what I'm saying is R&R no matter what you think of it. I do enjoy getting feedback from you wonderful people in the big wide world of the internet. See you in the next one :P