AUTHOR: towerofart

25th of November, 2014 - Stranger in Town

The Old Wild West was home to outlaws and sheriffs, cowboys and Indians. You only went out West if you were lookin' for gold, a new start, or trouble. Most found trouble, and few found gold, and almost everyone got a new start. But there was one thing that was true all across the Wild West; we were all guilty of something.

"Sheriff! Sheriff Jones!" A little freckled girl with brown braids ran up the front steps to the town police house. Her boots clanked on the warm wooden floor.

"What is it, Miss Becca?" asked the sheriff. He was a tall blond man who sat behind the desk at the other end of the room. Pinned to his breast pocket was a gold star that would every now and then catch the light.

The little girl pointed out toward the town's main road. "Someone new's come ta town!"

The sheriff's eyebrows came together and he walked outside of the building onto the shade of the porch with Becca trailing behind him. Coming up the road from the east was a lone rider. He sat on a brown horse with a well-loaded mule trailing behind on a rope.

Becca stared at the traveller from the porch railing. The man had stopped to read the town's sign. "He looks funny."

The man did look just that. He wore a black elegant tail coat and he sat in the saddle strange. Atop his head was a top hat that barely provided him adequate shading and the poor mule behind him suffered under expensive looking bags and boxes.

"That he does, Miss Becca... That he does." The sheriff stepped down onto the dust road. He walked over to the strange man with a long, bow-legged gait. "Howdy, sir."

The stranger looked up quickly, noticing the sheriff's badge. "Oh, hello there. Are you the authority for this... town?"

Sheriff Jones's noes scrunched up. The fellow had a weird way of speaking. "Yea, I guess you could say that. I'm Sheriff Alfred Jones. What brings you 'round here?"

It was the man's turn to scrunch up his nose. "My name Arthur Kirkland. I come from England, across the Pacific. I was told there is quite a booming business starting in Western America, so I thought I'd come and try my hand." The man paused and looked around at the collection of wooden buildings. "But, it would seem I have been miss-informed."

"It'd seem that way," Jones chuckled, "Well, yer welcome to stay here as long as ya like."

"Thank you. Would you mind pointing me in the direction of your town's inn?"

Alfred chuckled again and started to walk along the town's main road. "We don't have an inn, Mr Kirkland. No one ever bothers comin' out to a place like this. Yer welcome to stay at my place though. I'm sure I could find you a place to bunker down."

"Ah, thank you." Arthur said, tipping his hat from atop his horse. The mule trailing behind him flicked its ears and brayed.

Alfred grinned up at the Englishman. "No problem. Now, let's get these two poor creatures some water and you some proper clothes."

Arthur dismounted with a frown, straightening his overcoat. "What's wrong with my current attire?"

The sheriff's grin widened. "Oh, nothing..."