All You Wanted

A Jessie and Woody story

Chapter 2/6

She could have watched him all night. Eventually the Sheriff took him into the cabin when he finally got home. The colt had been placed safely in the stables before the front door was shut. Woody had hung around the door with that same smile she couldn't take her eyes off of, as the Sheriff made sure everything was secure. She had barely noticed anything else if she was being honest, but she didn't understand why she even went there in the first place. As she walked along her own path home, recalls of what she had been doing that evening were tugging at her heartstrings. When the door was closed, the warm light extending through the wooden openings of the cabin mocked her. It seemed all joys in life sparked within those walls, and the door closed on her cutting her off from it. She didn't understand why that hurt so much, especially when she followed him home almost every day just to see him smile, she thought she would have been used to it by now. Sometimes she considered not doing it anymore. But she couldn't stop, because she enjoyed it so much. Jessie wasn't aware that she was at her happiest whenever she did. She'd probably be even happier if she could actually join in the games he played with that baby horse. Instead she was left feeling confused by what it was that hurt inside her heart. She already knew no one would give her the answers she needed, and this day ended like all of the others.

The wrecked cabin of her father was now in her sights. Jessie's thoughts shut down and her head hung low when the inescapable events of which will happen when she goes through that door dawned on her. It was a dark building hidden in the midst of the night. It stood backed up against a colossal collection of rocks forming the greatness of a blackened canyon, missing its red radiance given by the sun. Gloom changed the light state of the day switching its magnificence to one of shadow. It suddenly seemed obscure, like a ravenous vulture perched above the building, taunting and watching. Jessie knew the light of the sun never really changed its appearance. Only because she knew what happens in this house, and it was something she felt no light from the burning sphere could change.

But now Jessie panicked. She wondered if she left it too late to return tonight. Truth be told, she got carried away watching her bullied classmate today and lost track of time. She would rather have stayed there in the loving growth of nature's crops, watching the only joy she gets out of life all night. But once he vanished, so did her happiness. Jessie was furious. Why did he have to take every ounce of contentment with him once he leaves? Why did he do this to her every time?

Approaching the door, she pressed her dinky ear against it and made no noise. She heard laughter inside made by hoarse male voices. Jessie felt the change, her gut sunk in terror. Intense fear brewed in her stomach as her whole body started to shake. This wasn't fair, but it was unavoidable. She was hungry and had nowhere else to go. Jessie took a deep breath and shakily turned the front door's knob.

Once the door exerted a loud creak to add to Jessie's anguish, the laughter faded and silence fell. Jessie closed her eyes in extravagant dread, quietly gulping. The door was angled so she couldn't see the large living room consisting of a large table with chairs beside a fireplace that Jessie could already see was lit by the orange glow off the stone wall. What were worse were the shadows crisply bedded on the rock. She could see three men with large hats upon their heads, two of which were sitting down. By the looks of it, they were holding drinks and facing in direction of the door. It came as no surprise because the tall standing man, being her father, drank all the time. It wasn't usually that bad, but he had haphazard bursts of rage or violence, all directed at her since he was a single parent. She used to have a good life before her mother died. Ever since then he had changed. Sometimes disappearing into the western wilderness to do all kinds of offences to the law, and all of these times he had his two cowboy pals to do the dirty work with him. Jessie knew that's who was here with him. But she was too young to remember anything back then, so Jessie struggled to distinguish good from bad.

Taking another deep breath, she opened the door wider and finally came face to face with the three large men. Both of the non-relations wore the typical stature of a wild man, their faces barely shaven giving them rough, rugged looks. They had no sense of personal hygiene Jessie concluded not too long ago as their faces were smothered in dirt and sand, not to mention the awful smell all three of them carry. If she looked hard enough, she could see small bits and chunks of food within their hairy faces, which concluded one thing: their noses are not the only things they like to pick and eat. Jessie didn't have to wait long until her predicaments fulfilled.

Her father, Wesley Pickett, approached her and towered over the secretly terrified redhead. His intensifying green eyes smoldered into her own, but she learned how to lock it all up and not reveal anything to him. He didn't look impressed as she felt backed up against the stone wall.

"Why are you late?" he hissed.

"I-I'm sorry daddy," she said. Her voice almost cracked, but she managed to save herself. She subconsciously wanted to appear strong, and refused to be submissive to anything. At least that's what she always picked up on off him.

"That doesn't answer my question Jessica. I always told you to come back before dark, why is that so much ask!" he yelled smashing his glass on the floor. Jessie trembled and her lip quivered. "You've been following that boy again haven't you? If you've been messing around with boys Jessica…"

"No!" Jessie yelped in protest. "I haven't I prom-"

Before she could finish, he had struck her across the cheek and she fell to the ground. Her sobs couldn't be prevented as she brought a hand to her hurting cheek.

"I worry about you, dear," he said to her. Jessie couldn't move; her body was too much in shock. It took every bit of courage she had to even look up to him. Once she did, his cold stare shamed steel. "Go to bed."

Jessie shot to her feet and ran away as the tears burned her eyes. She ran as quickly as she could, more determined to get away from him than ever. Once she was on the top stair, she went straight to her room, shut the door tight and hid under her covers on the floor. Her cover was only a large rag that didn't prevent the atmosphere from getting colder, but it was better than nothing. Jessie gripped it tight, cold and hungry, with eyes clenched shut. Her cheek still burned after the strike and once again her lonely pleading sobs was her only company as she cried herself to sleep.

...

Morning descended over the prairie allowing the grass strands to shimmer adding to the gleaming sparkles of the river. Tumbleweeds pranced across the fields in blissful hops and crossed the footpath leading to the school as Woody made his way. The stream connecting to the main river ran alongside him and the glitter over the surface always gave a merry impression. Woody smiled gently at the water. Even after the unpleasant experience with it the day before, he had nothing against the wet element. His knowledge caused him to sigh depressingly. Woody feared the next thing in store for him. Maybe Mrs. Barlow will let him stay inside today. He could still enjoy the sunshine within the school itself, couldn't he?

He made his way along the path and saw the simple building not too far away across the plain. Woody tried not to think about what's going to happen today. He never knew, and there was never any clue, so he couldn't even try to prepare himself. His thoughts were interrupted when a figure leaped out of the bush he was passing and blocked his way. To Woody's surprise, it was Jessie. She was in a stance, crouched down, with legs wide apart and arms ready at her sides. She looked like she was about to recoil and then lunge herself at him, and it wasn't the first time she's done it either. Woody's eyes widened at her and took a step back. When he did, she took a step forward.

"Where do you think you're going?" she snickered at him.

Woody continued to retreat in his steps, getting more and more worried by the second, and Jessie continued to mimic each step he took. He wasn't going to get a head start today, and he definitely wasn't expecting this to happen so early. Her gaze was once again fixed on him, no distraction was getting the better of her and Woody wondered why she was so dedicated to do this. As he continued to walk backwards, it was getting to the stage of him almost tripping over some fallen twigs now. He had to briefly turn his head a few times to see where he was going, and this slowed him down allowing Jessie to come that little bit closer. She giggled as he squirmed, enjoying every bit of this. At last she seized the opportunity to grab hold of him and jumped forward. However, Woody managed to catch on to what she was about to do and avoided her grip in time for him to manoeuvre his way around her. The opportunity opened, and Woody ran away as fast as he could. Jessie was tremendously irritated when she realised he managed to escape her trap and immediately ran after him.

"You think you can get away Woody!" she mockingly chuckled out to him.

Woody briefly looked back to see how close she was and picked up the pace as his heart beat in panic. He was determined to get to the school before she caught up to him. Conversely, Jessie's fixed purpose was to extract every bit of fun out of today as she could. Her need for his attention was awfully large today, and she needed it now. This realisation caused her inner frustration to double, and locking her eye on the target like a hungry hawk, she also ran faster.

As the pair sprinted downhill over the grass, they got closer and closer to the school itself. Unfortunately, Jessie cut the distance between them rapidly and finally leaped onto Woody's back. The sudden increase of weight caused him to stumble forward and the two rolled over the remaining hill before stopping within some bushes. Their fall hurt them both, but Jessie replenished quicker than Woody did. She scrambled on top of him to pin him down, then held her hand to his mouth to prevent any cries for help. Desperately he took hold of her upper arms to try and push her off. Jessie had actually done this attack without thinking and didn't have any plans for Woody at this point. So she instead went with the flow. To Woody's surprise, her grip on him didn't hurt. Usually she was very rough, like yesterday his wrists ached after he got thrown into the river. This time it remained strong but he felt no pain and this really confused him.

They were lying down together, completely hidden in the thick undergrowth, and Jessie didn't do anything else as her unsure eyes met his frightened ones. He was so close to her now, and this just stopped everything. Woody could see that she had relaxed and it seemed like she wasn't going to do anything else to him. They had been in this position many times before and each of them Woody remembered, none of them being very pleasant. He didn't know why this one was different. His thoughts muted by the way she was looking at him. There was something in them that said so much but he couldn't read. Her usual confident and reptilian glower changed into a light and leafy gaze, this seemed to have calmed him down slightly. But, even if it was just a glimpse, there was something he picked up on strongly. It was sadness he saw.

Jessie removed her hand from his mouth, and the lack of apprehension prevented Woody from calling for someone to help him. She wasn't lying to herself when she realised that she only felt happy when he was around, but she never knew how to express it. Except this one moment when Jessie and Woody felt no exasperation inside them and this caused both to just stare at each other. Woody was unbelievably confused as to what was going on in her head. She was still volatile and he didn't know what to expect. Somehow the breeze brushed through her hair towards him and Woody picked up a strong scent of cigarette smoke and booze. That was odd. He thought Jessie is insensitive enough to live as the rough and tumble type. But there was no trace in her eyes or skin that said she was growing up too quickly into a drunken hooligan. That was a type he knew she wasn't. One way or another that smell made him very curious and now he wanted to know why she smelt like that. The very painful looking bruise on her cheek was too clear to ignore too. He would love to know how that happened.

As he was pondering over this, Jessie didn't know what to do with herself. In honest truth, Jessie deeply wanted to rest her head on his chest and remain at peace. It was like the two of them were separate from the rest of the world for her and she didn't want that to end. But the sound of the bell from the school caught both of their attentions. The young redhead sighed in disappointment and turned her head back to observe Woody's detail as he kept his look on Mrs. Barlow; who could be seen at the entrance through the twigs. He was so interesting to her. He was two years older than she was but her height chucked that fact away quickly. Soft wavy hair with his sienna eyes. She was intensely reminded of how he could never possibly like her and she shut her eyes tight to prevent the ever-growing sadness from expressing itself outside. She did not want to do it in front of him, even if he was distracted by something else.

Woody looked back at her. A moment passed before she decided to get off him to walk out of the bush. Woody watched her, the twigs snapping gently when they were disturbed by the animated life, and the pure uncertainty he felt made him forget to get up himself. He was breathing heavily trying to calm himself down. After that unexpected attack he was sure he was going to get another round of torture like so many times before. But she did nothing. She had him, and she did absolutely nothing.

The final sound of the bell snapped Woody back to his senses and he scrambled to his feet before running up to join his classmates. Mrs. Barlow released the bells' rope with a soft smile on her face. The children of the class formed two short lines in front of her. Jessie was at the back of one and Woody ran to the back of the other. When he came in sight, Mrs. Barlow's smile went subtly wider.

"Good morning class," she said sweetly. "I'm really glad you all made it today because we have a new student I'd like you all to meet. Let's all go in shall we?"

As Mrs. Barlow beckoned everyone into the school, most of the class were chatting amongst themselves about the new student. This has happened before as everyone in the class is at different ages. Mrs. Barlow even has to teach some of the adults in town during the evenings; simple and basic lessons like reading and writing. The school itself didn't have anyone to teach in it until Mrs. Barlow offered her services, which the Sheriff gratefully accepted. Woody wondered if this was going to be someone he was going to get along with. A spark of hope of his loneliness ending came up and Woody wished for the best.

Inside, the school was a large room with long desks outstretching from the sides, all of them facing the large blackboard and teacher's desk at the front. Everyone sat down at his or her desks. Woody of course sat alone at the front while Jessie sat with Maggie and Katherine at the back. All the children got their books, ink and quill out ready for the lesson. During the preparation and quiet talking amongst the children, Woody turned his attention to the front. Mrs. Barlow was talking to a young girl at the front. The young girl must be the new student as he'd never seen her before, and somehow she made him freeze in wonder. She was so pretty. Her shiny golden hair and crystal blue eyes entranced him. Woody could only sit there with mouth and eyes stretched wide open. He didn't think it was even possible for someone to be that pretty. Except for Mrs. Barlow herself of course. Then he immediately made the connection. He only thought of one word to respond to this girl.

-Wow-

Once everyone had settled down Mrs. Barlow stood up in front of them with the young girl beside her. She was wearing a light pink dress with a book clutched in both of her dinky and delicate hands. Her posture told Woody she was quite nervous. Jessie looked up and when she saw the little girl, she wasn't sure how to react. Even Jessie would say that she is the prettiest girl she had ever seen; somehow the thought of this new student aroused mixed feelings of worry and envy. It was the gentle and soft look of her hairs' curl and the intelligence she spotted in those cerulean orbs; everything Jessie secretly wanted to be. Jessie always thought it was in fairy stories where a maid like her could exist and there she was, standing oh-so-gracefully at the front. Jessie looked around and noticed all of the boys she could see were left in awe at her beauty for one so young. Panic and horror-stricken, Jessie's gaze snapped to where Woody was and the look on his face topped all of them. That stare of admiration was purely warming and Jessie's small feeling of jealousy shot through the roof. Maggie looked at her and could have sworn she had turned red in anger, almost to the point where she wanted to sit a bit further away from her in fright.

"Class this is our new student. She's new to schooling after being home-tutored so be nice to her and show how much fun school is," Mrs. Barlow said.

-I'd use the word 'fun' mildly- thought Jessie.

Mrs. Barlow looked to Bo and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you introduce yourself, dear?"

She turned out to be more confident than she seemed as the young blonde took a step forward. "Hello everyone. My name's Bo and I'm very happy to meet you all."

Woody felt his knees go weak. Even her voice was perfect, silvery and mellow. The thought of having such a grace in the class brought a wide smile to his face. This day has turned out better than he thought. When she stopped her sentence, all of the boys in the class waved and yelled a series of howdys and hellos. Woody was a bit caught in the moment and forgot to join in. Mrs. Barlow grinned at the class for acting this way but didn't overlook Woody's face. She knew Bo is such a kind-hearted girl, Sheriff Dillin had met her a few times before and would say it was because she was "raised by an angel" so it came as no surprise. Woody thought of course Bo is Mrs. Barlow's daughter; it's obvious.

The teacher laughed slightly. She then directed Bo to the desk where Woody sat and he felt the nerves start to over-power him. Jessie watched in silence. A cold deadly silence as she was scrunching a piece of paper in her hands to keep her temper controlled.

"This is Woody, Bo. He'll look after you," Mrs. Barlow said. Bo happily sat beside him as he continued to shake a little bit. "Can I trust you with her, dear?" she asked Woody.

Woody knew he had to say something. He didn't want to appear unwilling. "Yes! Of course I will ma'am."

With that said, Mrs. Barlow smiled and went back to her desk, "Alright then class. Let's start the lesson."

Bo sat quite closely to his left and put the book down on the desk, all with soft concentration on her face. She didn't seem uncomfortable to sit beside him, which Woody felt happy about. The same can't be said for him though; he never knew he could be so shy.

Once they had a set of words to practice, soft discussions were heard as the class did their work. Mrs. Barlow was busy filling in paperwork on her desk. Woody had decided to concentrate on the writing to take his mind off Bo beside him. That was until he heard her speak up.

"You have very nice handwriting," she remarked with a smile. Woody saw in the corner of his eye that Bo had been watching him over his shoulder. The close proximity made him nervous again.

"Th-thank you," he stuttered. Bo giggled at his response. She wasn't expecting him to be that shy.

When there was a small pause, Woody realised Bo had said something very friendly to him. He wasn't too sure how to react but he didn't really want the conversation to end. That's the first time he's ever had an exchange of friendly dialogue with someone his age but he couldn't think of anything else to say without the fear of Bo turning out to be like all of the others. Woody was too afraid to risk it so he just carried on writing. But then he glimpsed slightly at Bo's work and was left gobsmacked.

"Wow. Your words look beautiful," he said without thinking.

Bo giggled again when he saw his face. He was so sweet it caused her to blush. "Aww thank you. That's nice of you to say so."

Bo finished slightly before Woody did. She waited for him to put the quill down, and then she asked, "Do you think you could show me around during break?" Woody looked at her slightly surprised.

"Y-you… w-want me to?" he asked nervously.

"Of course. You were very nice to me," she said happily.

"I was? Really?" Woody felt over the moon that she said that. "Y-yes I'd love to."

Jessie had kept an eye on them throughout the whole lesson. Seeing the two smiling at each other like that was adding insult to injury. Everything Jessie wanted, this new girl was getting. She'd only been in the show five minutes and the spotlight was on her, everyone in the class loved her already. Worst of all, it would seem that Woody was at her centre of interest. He may not know this, but while Woody was writing Jessie noticed Bo had taken several glimpses at him. Her eyes narrowed viciously at the thought. No one had the right to steal him from her, especially not someone new. Jessie would just have to show Bo that there is a balanced order of how things work around here, and nothing was going to change that.