Chapter 3

A Little Help

ABBY'S POV.

It had been three days since what happened and things were calm. I hadn't seen Cooper anywhere. Maybe he had stopped his thieving days….yeah right. But still, it was nice to have a break. It was a beautiful Thursday morning and there were no other things happening, so I decided to spend the day with Sonia. Our parents wouldn't be back until Sunday.

We decided to go into town and look in some of the shops.

"Let's go to that one, Abby! I want to see all the dresses!" she exclaimed.

I chuckled and nodded. She was eleven, and as sweet as could be. At first when she was born I didn't think I would like her, but by the time he was three years old, we had become as thick as thieves. She looked up to me, so I always tried to make sure I set a good example for her.

"Alright Sonny. Let's go." I said, using her nickname.

We both tried on quite a few dresses, and settled on both of us getting three each. After that we headed to trader Marko's shop. He brought things in from all around and today just so happened to be the new shipment day.

We walked in and greeted him.

"Hello, trader Marko. It's nice to see you again!" Sonia said.

Trader Marko was a brown mere cat. He had been here for years, long before I came along, and he stayed here. Said he would for the rest of his life. He probably meant it to. Sunset Valley was a nice place to live, it was calm, despite the outlaws at times.

"Well, hello Sonia. Polite as always I see. And hello to you too Abigail." he said nicely.

"Hello Marko. We know today is your new shipment day, and we were just wondering what you had in stock." I stated.

"I got some new kinds of stones, from a tribe I stumbled upon, during my travels. Some new material for clothes, and some new spices. But besides that, I have my usual inventory. It's always nice to get something new, but still have what you've always made a living on." he said.

"Isn't that the truth?" I stated.

He smiled warmly and spoke up again.

"So what can I do for you girls?" he asked.

"Well, we thought we would come look around." I said simply.

"Ooh! Abby! Abby! Look at this!" Sonia stated excitedly.

I looked at what got her so excited, and saw that it was a necklace. It was silver with a ruby cut out to look like a rose on it, with stem being painted green. It was very pretty.

"Can I get that? Please Abby? Please!?" she begged.

"I don't see why not." I said, taking out a small satchel with gold coins in it.

"How much is it, Marko?" I asked.

"Well, it usually id twenty-five gold coins. But for you and your sister, it's free." he said.

"Oh, but Marko, we can't just take it." I said.

"Then consider it a gift. Besides, it's no problem, you girls always come in to see what I have, and have helped me a bit in the past. Like coming in to help me run the place or setting everything up. Or when you got those no good varmints out of here, who were about to wreck my place." he said.

"If you're sure…" I trailed off.

"It's really no problem. And here, this is for you Abigail. Your parents sent it." he said handing me a small box, while giving Sonia the necklace.

I opened it and saw a beautiful necklace. It was a piece of turquoise, held by a strong material type chain. It was so beautiful.

"We both got necklaces!" Sonia exclaimed.

I smiled down at her as I put on the necklace. We bought a few spices, materials and some ink from him as well, and were on our way. We headed to the baker's and picked up some treats and bread. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. They and their daughter were like extended family to me, my parents, and sister. Well, this whole community was a big family, everyone knew everyone. But still. While talking, we suddenly heard gun shots ring out. I ran outside and saw the local gang.

The One Eyed Badgers. They were always picking on and stealing from those who couldn't stand up to them. They were laughing and joking around loudly, shooting into the sky, making people duck on instinct. They headed into the bar, still being loud and rowdy.

"I'll be back in a bit Sonia. I promise." I said, kissing her head, and hugging her tight. I knew she worried whenever I had to do things like this, but I always promised to come back, and I did.

I had my rifle on me, as I headed into the bar.

They hadn't noticed me until one of them pointed me out. Their leader turned to me and smirked, eyeing my body, making me shiver slightly.

"Well, if it aint the ever so beautiful, sheriff Abigail. To what do I owe this visit?" he asked.

"It's the fact that you and your gang cam up in here, disrupting the peace. You and your gang need to get out. Now." I said sternly.

"Fine. We'll go. If you go on a date with me." their leader said.

"Never. Not get out!" I stated.

"Oh, come on. We could have so much fun." he said chuckling, making the others in his gang chuckle. As if I didn't know what he meant. He had been trying to get me for a year now.

"Do I look like a prostitute to you? No. I always have said and I always will. I don't have such low self worth that I would even consider sleeping with a sick bastard like you, that can't keep it in his pants. The answer is NO!" I exclaimed.

He looked angered by my answer, but I didn't care.

"Now Get out of here. Now! And don't make me tell you again." I said threateningly.

"Fine. Come on boys." he said. They all left.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked.

"Yes, we're fine. A little shaken up, but fine. Thank you, Abigail." Mr. Merymack stated. He owned the bar.

Just then I heard a little girl's scream. My eyes widened in horror as I whispered one thing.

"Sonny."

I ran outside as fast as I could and stopped suddenly, when I saw what was in front of me. Two of the leader's men had my sister, while he pointed a gun at her head himself.

"Let my sister go, you bastard!" I shouted, pulling out my riffle and cocking it. I had it aimed for his head.

"Well, it seems we're at a crossroad here. So how about this. You go out on a date with me, and I wont kill your kid sister. If you don't, then I have no problem ending her life right now, and you'll be the one to blame." he sneered.

I still had the gun pointed at his head, but looked at Sonny. Tears streamed down her face and her lip quivered.

"Abby…" she whimpered. It broke my heart.

"Well Abby? What's it going to be? Your sister's life, or a date with me?" he asked.

I could risk my sister's life… I had no choice.

I was about to answer, when suddenly, shots were heard, and the two men holding my sister fell dead. The leader looked away, giving me the opening I needed.

"Sonny get down!" I shout. She dropped to the ground, hand over her head, and curled up, just like I taught her.

I shot at the leader's hand. Making him curse and drop the gun. He clutched his hand, while Sonia got up quickly tried to run, but was caught by the leader once again. She screamed and I pointed my gun at him. He held her in front of him and pulled out a knife, putting it to her neck. One move and it would be over for Sonny.

"Let her go you yellow bellied little…" I trailed off.

"You just had to make this difficult, didn't you? Well, say goodbye to your sister." he said.

Just then there was a loud call.

"Yeehaw! The Calvary is coming!" I looked up and was shocked to see Tennessee Kid Cooper!

He swooped down and grabbed my sister, making her yelp, and kicking the leader in the face. Usually I wouldn't want to see Cooper, but I could make an exception this time.

TENNESSEE'S POV.

I had heard the gun shots come from town and decided to check it out. I was just in time to see Abby telling off the leader of the One Eye Badgers. After a minute of insults from Abby, they left and I smiled. She sure was something. I had started to walk away, when I heard a little girl scream.

I hurried back and saw Abby at a stand still with the leader as he held a gun to her sister's head. He threatened to kill her if she didn't go on a date with him. The sick bastard.

He asked her what it was going to be, when I decided to step in. I shot his two men holding onto her sister, and they fell dead. He turned back to see who shot them, giving Abby a chance. She almost managed to get away, when he grabbed her sister again.

He was about to slice her neck, when I stepped in again.

"Yeehaw! The Calvary's coming little lady!" I shouted.

I swooped down and grabbed her sister, making her yelp and kicked the leader in the face. Abby's sister was hyperventilating, so I tried calming her down.

"It's okay little lady. I wont let anything happen to you. Can you tell me your name?" I asked smiling warmly.

She calmed down and spoke.

"It's Sonia." she said.

"What a pretty name, Miss Sonia." I said.

"And your Tennessee Kid Cooper." she stated.

"That I am little missy." I said.

I landed us down by the bakery and set her down by the baker and his wife.

"Thank you for saving me." she said bowing her head.

"No problem little missy. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta help your big sister."

"Okay. Good luck." she said.

I jumped back into action and stood next to Abby.

"So, think you can resist the urge to throw me in jail long enough for us to run these guys out of town?" I asked.

"You save my kid sister's life. I owe you one. This is it." she said.

She was keeping her own riffle pointed at the leader, who had gotten up and was now by the rest of his gang, and from the look of it he was in a lot of pain. But if I had gotten shot in the hand, I would probably feel the same.

"Now you better get, before I decide to give you a few more bullets in your body." Abby said threateningly.

"You'll pay for this bitch, and you too Cooper!" he said, before he and his gang high-tailed it out of here.

After a minute Sonia came back over to us and hugged me, then hugged her sister. Abby turned to me and spoke.

"Thank you, Tennessee. If you hadn't come-"

"It's alright, all in a days work." I said. "So how long do I have before you start hunting me down?" I asked.

"I think today, I'll let you go, but you better watch your back tomorrow." she said, then hugged me tight.

"Thank you, again." she whispered, before letting me go.

"Well? I'm letting you go, don't make me change my mind." she said smirking.

"Thank you kindly, Miss Abby." I said, tipping my hat.

She smiled at me before bowing her own head a bit, then turned back to Sonia and took her hand.

"Come on Sonny. Let's get our things and head home. I think we could use a rest for the rest of the afternoon after what happened this morning." she said.

They got their things and began walking home. Just then Abby turned back to me and smiled a bit, before turning back and continuing home. I left just as Sheriff Fox made the scene and headed back to the hideout. This had certainly been someday indeed…

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