The Cowboys

Adriane

I smiled at the girl, Georgia. Lucky kid... Her and her sister both. But they were both in a bad fix; they knew nothing of the west, that was obvious. And Georgia was trying to be too much of a mother. That would end badly for Jude.

Oh well. Not my problem. My problems lay elsewhere.

"You know of any place I can stay a few nights, until I find a job?" I asked the man at the counter. "I'd rather not end up in a saloon or as a cook for ranch hands."

"Well, there's not much else 'round here. What'd you have in mind?"

I glanced at the others before continuing. "Training horses."

Tyrel:

Tyrel rocked back and forth on his heels. "Ever trained a horse before?" He asked.

"Yup." She replied.

"I had one of my two trainers quit, if your up for it. There's a seperate bunk house that just needs to be cleaned up if you want the job and the place to stay."


**Sorry, this way everyone is in the same place. **

***That works. I'm gonna be going to bed after this...unless you post in our story. ***

Adriane

I looked at him. Friendly much? Probably. He seemed like a nice guy, someone I could get along with. Him and his friend, too, the adventurer. Jake, wasn't it?

I considered the option. It'd mean getting close to those girls from back East and dealing with them every day, but hey, why the hell not? Maybe we'd become friends with time.

"Sounds good. When can I start?"

Georgia Lawson

"Would your sister mind?" I asked the man, smiling and holding Jude's hand.

"Not at all, like I said, she doens't have anyone to talk to most of the time" he told me approvingly. I smiled again.

"I accept then!".

Tyrel:

"Good, if y'all don't have horses I'll come back with the wagon to pick you up and your stuff." He smiled at Jude and Georgia. He then turned to the other girl. "You can ride out with us if you want if you have a horse."

"I do." She replied. He gathered his stuff up and the store keeper stopped him.

"You can use my wagon, wife has been wanting to come out and see your sister for a while. I'll send Billy with her so that he can bring her back." The man smiled.

"Alright, thanks." He smiled at the man.

Adriane

I nodded and followed him into the street. Ciraco nickered at the sight of us; that horse. He loved attention. Not as much as he loved running or riding down cliff faces... That horse was crazy, definately. But good. That was why I liked him.

I unbound his reins and mounted him, steering him toward where Tyrel now was, mounting his own horse. Now, we just had to wait for the wagon.

Jack

Maverick whinnied and stamped one foot as Jack guided him to the others, recognising Tyrel's horse straight away.

"So," Jack said as he reached Tyrel, "The ranch has got pretty big, I guess? 'Cause last time I was here, it was just you, your sister and one other guy running the whole place."

He wondered briefly if he actually intended to go straight and just work for Tyrel for a while, then fund another brief wandering spree, maybe continue that way for a few years. But no, that life wasn't for him. He wanted the excitement of holding up trains and the like.

Naturally, I need to lie low for a while, and there's no better place to do that that Ty's ranch. But I wonder if there's any way I could make some money on the side while I'm helping him out...maybe coordinating the rustlers to another ranch. Maybe I could even get Ty interested in a mildly illegal escapade. Part of him grinned at the thought - there was no way Tyrel Sackett would ever endanger his reputation for a bit of fun.

Tyrel:

"You've been gone for what, three years now?" Tyrel asked.

"Ya." Jake nodded in agreement. "Guess it's grown pretty big in that time."

"Lot of people have tried moving cattle this way and gave up on it here, I just bought the cattle for cheap cause they were in horrible shape and just kept buying more land. Bought a cafe in town that brings in money, and then I send out a couple different herds out a year." He shrugged. "I own most of the area around here, not that I'd tell most people that. I got a good bunch of hands so there is a lot of work to happen around the house. But I am still careful about how many are working with the horses. Without the horses, I don't have a ranch."

Billy Cook

As I neared the saloon, I noticed a group of people making their way out of what seemed to be the local store and over to a large wagon. There were all kinds of people in that gang: weather-beaten men, prim young girls and even some girl who it looked like really wished her mam had squeezed out a boy.It was a crazy bunch of misfits if I ever saw one, but those were just the kind of people I liked.
I jogged over and jumped on the back just as the wagin pulled away.
"Morning" I nodded to the pretty girl and tried to ignore the angered looks I was getting from the men.

*M'kay, time for me to jump in! I'll meet up with you all soon! ^_^*

Bethany rode up to the town, outlaw in tow tied to the horn of the saddle by her lasso.

"What the hell are you doing, ya wench?! This isn't civilized, and you know it!"

Bethany trotted up to the sheriffs' office and swung her leg over the saddle, unmounting. She untied the lasso from the horn, still keeping his hands tied. "Yeah, well, I don't think what you did to that family was very civilized, so you're paying the price for it. Suck it up and move on." She slung the outlaws' holster belt equipped with two .45 guns over her shoulder and yanked him towards the door. "Get goin'. I'm not gettin' any younger." She yanked the door open and threw him in the office, walking in after him and dropping the holster on the floor by the wall.

The sheriff jumped up as the outlaw landed on his face. "What in the world?"

"Here he is sheriff; Joe Holten. Worth four-thousand dollars. I got you your man; where's the reward?"

"Well, well, BJ. Awesome work. This the fifth time in a row."

"Thank you sir," she said as the sheriff took out her money. Grabbing the man by the collar, Bethany half-dragged him to an open cell, opened the door, and slammed it while the were both in there. She yanked him up off the floor and untied his hands. "Do you have any other jobs for me?" She gathered up the rope and opened the door back up. As Joe tried making a run for it, Bethany punched him right in the jaw. He slumped to the floor, unmoving. She shut the cell door and locked it, shaking out her hand.

"Yeah, I, uh, got a couple more jobs for you. Is he gonna be alright?"

Bethany nodded, walking over to get her money. "Yeah; just knocked out for a couple of hours. Let me see the flyers."

After looking at them, she walked outside just as someone jumped into the moving wagon that just passed by. She mounted Phantom, glad to be back in a town with money, a hotel and whiskey by the bottle.

**okay, Kobain72, I think you were talking to my character but I'm not sure... XD**

Georgia Lawson

My cheeks went hot as soon as I realized that this man who had just jumped onto the back of the wagon was talking to me. He was the first to really sound welcoming to me.

"Mornin' to you to, Sir" I said to him.

"The name is Billy Cook" he said and stuck his hand out to me to shake.

"Georgia Lawson" I told Billy and shook his hand, still blushing a bit. I heard Jude laughing behind me which only made matters worse.

*yeah thats right thanks *

Billy Cook

The girl's face was redder than a beetroot and it seemed to be the fault of some lanky young girl who obviously found my arrival hilarious. I tried to ignore it and turned back to Georgie.
"I'm sorry, I saw your dazzling beauty from across the street and just had to get a better look" not my best line I'll admit but it had the desired effect as the poor embarassed girl tried to hide her ever-reddening face even more.
"Oh dear Lord" the young, hysterical girl could not contain herself anymore, "What a tw**"
"Excuse me?" I gave Georgia a look of mock shock, "Such foul language from one so young"
"She's my sister actually" Georgia managed to squeak from behind her hands.
"Oh..." I expect I wouldn't have felt any more shocked if the rabbit I was still clutching in my hand had chosen that moment to re-animate and start talking to me.

Adriane

I waited patiently for them to finish milling about, talking and joking. Jokes were okay, but we had work to take care, of to start on. The sooner we left, the sooner we got to this Tyrel's ranch.

I pulled out my 30-30 and started polishing the mahogany butt, whistling a little tune I had learned back home.

Back home... Put it out of mind, Adriane. That's where it should stay; back home. You made it west. You're free.

Tyrel:

"Let's get to the ranch before I take the whole town home." He said as he started his horse walking. The wagon followed him as he rode. He noticed the 30-30 the girl was cleaning and he smiled, it was a good gun. It took a good hours ride to get to his ranch, but when he got there his little sister ran outside wiping her hand off. He dismounted and hugged her when she jumped in his arms.

"Bout time you got back!" She smiled at him. He hugged her and laughed.

"I'm back, and brought some help for you, and me." He smiled motioning towards the wagon. "Everyone, this is my sister Pippa, Pip, this Georgia and her little sister Jude, they'll be helping in the kitchen, you know Jake and then Billy will help a little and then Adriane will be helping break horses."

"Guess you filled those positions you wanted to fill real fast." Pippa smiled. "Come on in everyone, I made a big dinner." She smiled skipping back to the house. SHe was seventeen, but she still acted like a little girl. He didn't care though, she was sweeter even then.

**What state are we in?**

Jack

He jumped down off his horse with a grin, it had been a while since he'd had a good meal. Outlawry would do that to a person, not being able to eat across a whole state without some sheriff sniffing after them. "Well, that sounds damn fine! It's been a while since I've had anything approaching the quality of your meals, Pippa."

He waited for the others to follow Pippa into the house though, giving Tyrel a look that said he needed to talk before he let his hunger get the better of him. They waited until everyone was out of earshot, then Tyrel raised an eyebrow at him.

"So, what is it then?"

"I probably should've told you this earlier, but given the presence of the others, and more or less the whole town..." Jack paused, tipping his hat back a little. He seemed somewhat embarrassed by what he had to say, "I, uh, kinda got into some trouble in Little Rock 'bout a year and a half ago. Well, that's not quite right. I'm wanted in Little Rock, but the trouble was in Pine Bluff."

Tyrel sighed, "You're jabbering, Jake. What did you do?"

"I pulled a job on a train running through the area. A bank train. And one of the idiots I was workin' with was dumb enough to brag about it in Pine Bluff."