Disclaimer: Only Marie is mine, everything else isn't. Also, I've finally got a reason why my criminal stole the cows. He/She wasn't alone. *hint-hint*

Ch. 4: Back Home, For Now

The bright blue waters were calm as our little group headed back to Capital Island. Buddy, Lyndsay, and Roxie were below in the cabins talking about who knows what while Ginny and I were on deck. For a western sheriff, she knew a lot about sailing. We reached the island very quickly, and we found out that we weren't the only ones here. Two other boats were docked, a small one made of rotting wood and a pirate ship. "Huh, must be a busy day here on the mainland." I mused. "Come on, guys, we're here!" The three walked up slowly, and Roxie didn't look right. "Are you okay, Roxie? You don't look so hot." Buddy stated. "Oh, I'm j-just a lit-little queasy." Roxie gulped out. Soon after, she ran over to the side of the boat and threw up. "Oh boy, let's see Barney first. He can help her with her seasickness." Lyndsay said, helping Roxie off the boat.

It was a very good thing that Barney lives right behind the docks. Ginny pounded on his front door. "Is anyone here? We've gots a sick girl here!" He muttered something to himself before opening the door. He was in the same outfit he was in when we left, except it had been washed. His small, ocean-blue eyes looked happy to see us, and his sideburns have grown considerably longer. "Hey Marie. Who'd ya got here?" He asked, a wide smile across his face. "Introducing Ginny and Roxie, residents of Cowboy Junction. We're here to ask a favor out of King Roland." I explained. "Well, good luck with that. The king's real busy today." "Can you help our friend Roxie? She's feeling a little seasick." "No problem, you guys go and see the king."

Roxie stayed behind to get a cure. Buddy, Ginny, Lyndsay and I continued on our way until we were stopped by someone…someone wearing a blue nightgown. "Princess Butter. What're you doing outside the castle?" I asked. This had to be the first time I've seen her with her hair down…it was a frizzy pink mess…and her round sapphire eyes were glaring at all of us, but especially at me. "I'm going down to the docks to see the other boats that have arrived. What are you doing back here? Did you come to gloat about all your adventures so far?" She snarled. "No, we came to ask your father for help. The residents of Cowboy Junction have a situation that requires the king's assistance." Buddy told her. "I don't believe you. I'm not letting you through without proof." "Ugh, varmint, ain't I proof enough?!?" Ginny hollered. "Well…no." She was so difficult to reason with. "If you don't let us through, we can't give you your present…" Buddy smirked. "Ooh! You got me something? What is it?" "You gotta close your eyes, and hold out your hands." She did exactly what Buddy told her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a huge, hairy tarantula. (Gross!) He slowly put it in her hands and then whispered, "Run…"

We ran as fast as we could to King Roland's castle. "EEEEeeek! A SPIDER!" yelled her Royal Highness. We just burst out laughing. "Wow, Buddy, good plan!" I said, patting him on the back, "Who knew you had it in ya." "Yeah, now let's go before she catches up." He chuckled. Lyndsay opened the large castle doors.

Barney was right about King Roland. A group of three was discussing something with the king now, and another group of two was before us. The group right now consisted of two boys and a girl. The one boy was short and had platinum blonde hair, the other the exact opposite…black hair and pale skin. The girl kinda looked like the second boy, except she wasn't as pale. The boys seemed to be arguing about where the girl should live. "Now, Daniel…" King Roland said, looking at the blonde boy, "You won't like this but Violet needs to live in Spookane. My cousin Beverly has treated her cruelly for too long. She needs to stay with people she likes, not loathes. Also, Goth Boy (A.N.: *squeals*), send Grandma Ruthie to Cutopia. Her sales will do better on that island than they will ever do in Spookane." "Yes, your majesty", all three said in unison. Goth Boy and Violet walked out of the castle hand-in-hand, and Daniel sulked out. Poor guy.

Up next looked like two pirates. One was a boy, same height as Goth Boy, but with styled brown hair. He was wearing a velvet red jacket and white pants, boots covering the ends. The girl had the same color hair that Ginny did, and her hair was braided as well. On her head was a black hat, and she was wearing a blue velvet coat and white pants. "Welcome to Capital Island!" Roland boomed. "State your names and your request." "Well, my names Pablo!" the boy squeaked. "And mine's Cap'n Ginny…" the girl said, her voice very nasal. Our Ginny looked dumb-founded. Did these two Ginny's know each other? "We'd like to know if we could sail around your kingdom, and collect the various treasures we've researched…like the black pearl of Cutopia, or the crystal flowers on Rocket Reef?" Pablo explained. "Why of course you can! But, I'd like to see which treasures you've collected. Some might be needed on the island for preservation." "We can do that, your majesty." Cap'n Ginny confided. "Excellent, good luck on your voyage!"

The two pirates turned around. Pablo's eyes were small, but an interesting color…the color of dampened sand, while the Cap'n's (A.N.: ouch…hurts my eyes) were the color of fresh algae. (A.N.: If you haven't noticed yet, I like putting emphasis on eye color. I'm hoping I haven't repeated a color.) "Howdy!" the both waved. Our group slowly walked up to the throne. "Marie, how has the Wandolier-ing been going?" He asked, his sky-blue eyes sparkling. "It's been great, but I've come to a situation that I need some help on." I explained. "Go on…" "See, this is Sheriff Ginny. We brought her and Roxie, but she got seasick and Barney's helping her with that, and your daughter stopped us, and I tricked her and now we're here to tell you that Roxie's cows have been stolen!" Buddy told the king.

"Calm down, Buddy." Lyndsay told Buddy. "We've also found these…a brand-new doll and a pink ribbon. They were inside the empty cow pen." "Marie, go see Elmira. She can identify the doll, she knows a lot about that stuff…as you may know." He's right; my previous employer Elmira did have a lot of books lying around the barn. Maybe one of them was a antique doll collectors' book? "Thank you King Roland, I shall do that. But can you have Marlon announce this to the kingdom? These cows need to be found so Gino can keep making his pizza." "Sure. I'll have him start as soon as you leave the island." We left the castle, and starting walking to Elmira's barn. I was dreading the moment that I would see her face again.

Yay! I loved writing that chapter! Especially the Goth Boy part. Ch. 5 is in works, and might have another little surprise added in! :-D