100 years ago...
His horse rode quickly through the forest. It was bright as the morning sun had risen. Soon he would be out of this place. Richer then he could have ever dreamed. The drill was simple. Just ride, keep riding, until sunset. The horse was old, but seemed quite used to the run.
All of a sudden the horse started to slow...
"Damn you mule move it!" he said smacking it.
It refused... For some reason, it didn't want to venture any further into the forest. Great... maybe the spirits of the natives spooked it. He tried to kick it, but the horse started bucking so hard it actually kicked him off.
The man fell clear several feet, as the horse galloped away. "Damn you!" He shouted trying to run after it... but no luck. He could feel the law trying to catch up with him... how much time did he have? Fine. He knew this neck of the woods, the loot was not far. This was where the stagecoach was hijacked... somewhere just north. It was a little guess work but there was not much choice.
He continued to walk, but still... the way his horse got spooked like that, was jarring. He had heard the stories of the new land... they all did. It was easy to dismiss them. Just ghost stories...
There were familiar rocks... valleys... he was definitely in the right area. If he was right there should be a brush of wild berries here and.. yes! He saw a tree, marked by a pen knife... This was the place. His shovel was on the blasted horse though! A bar of gold lay under him, if he could just... He started to dig with his bare hands. It was a slow process, the earth cutting into his rugged skin. He used cloth to cover them to increase his pace.
The gold was taken from the bank in a stage couch robbery. It was supposed to have been smuggled to the wild lands, where nobody question gold.
He hated this forest.. he was sure he was being watched.
"Keith Wolf,"
He turned sharply.
The new man was tall, with a rugged face. He bore the badge of authority on his chest, and piercing blue eyes. Strangely absent though, was the lack of a pistol... it was rumoured that the law here didn't use weapons... he was lucky. His own gun was on the horse or he would shoot the idiot dead.
Keith went for his knife. "You'll be a wise man to be steppin' aside sheriff," he said icily.
"You're under arrest," The man said calmly.
"For diggin'? It's a free country," He said annoyed.
"We knew not all the gold was recovered from your gang... and I knew you would hide one here. Come quietly now..."
"Yer' a fool if yer' think I'll do that sheriff,"
"Yer' a fool too, if yer' thinkin' I'm here alone," The man said gesturing to the trees.
Keith wolf paused, looking around.
It was all the sheriff needed. He closed in the distance knocking out the knife. The fight was brief. The law-man gave a punch along the stomach, then again to the head. It was brutal and efficient, enough to incapacitate Keith. He proceeded to handcuff him. "Once I dig this gold out, I'll have all the proof I need. You'll be doin' twenty years for this Keith."
Keith groaned passed out.
"I be lucky y'er horse wondered lost with all your kit. Maybe Lady Luck will stick around eh?" He chuckled. The sheriff did wonder what could have caused the horse to act like that... his own horse acted similarly. However it was a horse used to his rider. There was a trust between them... perhaps that is why whatever was here, he was allowed through.
Another man, younger this time. He had a dog on a leash, which sniffed the ground occasionally. "You okay Sheriff?"
"Sure am Samuel. I got our man. I'll take him back to town for lock up."
"What do I do?" He asked.
"Recover the gold he was diggin'. I need to take him back 'fore he wakes up. Don't you be worrin'. He's hog tied. He ain't goin' anywhere." The sheriff explained as if he had done this many times over. Town was only a thirty minutes hard ride.
Deputy Samuel couldn't help but be impressed. Sheriff Ironhand they sometimes called him. His hands were his guns... somehow, he kept law without shooting first. He nodded and eagerly set to his work to recover the lost gold.
Samuel continued to dig after the sheriff left. He wondered how deep it would go... Still... there was that feeling. Something watching him. He glanced around. They were confident it was only one man they were after... the rest of the gang was already in jail. What if though someone else was here? What if they wanted to take the gold...
He hit something hard in the ground. something draped inside a cloth.. it felt heavy in his hands. The young man had never seen a solid gold brick before... he opened it up, the yellow metal gleaming in the light. How much value did it have? The thoughts made him dizzy. He quickly covered it up in the cloth, as he felt eyes all over him again.
He had to get this back into town to its proper owners.
His dog started whining.. putting himself on all fours down. He whimpered, looking at the bush.
"Somethin' wrong Cutler?" He asked.
The dog just.. continued to whine.
"Is... someone there?" He asked in the bushes. He was sure he heard something. He nervously touched his gun. As a young deputy, he needed the extra iron. Was he just being paranoid? His nerves were telling him to fire, but the sheriff trained him to never attack an unseen target. That training held as he approached the bushes...
"I'm Deputy Samuels... If someone's there, you best come out..."
Anneza placed the holy item on her desk. She didn't really believe in any of this... but the woman seemed very kind to her. letters had come through. A gas bill reminded her of the need to find a new job.
She had taken out the newspaper out of habit. Even if she couldn't read it, the pictures were certainly helpful. She glanced at her two companions. Will, the wolf seemed to be resting. It was still strange that someone so young could be a real police officer.
That left the enigma, that was Ellen.. the living doll. She didn't actually need sleep, and was quite content to help Anneza. The space-girl was happy to have someone like her around. Their shared use of sign language helped a great deal.
Anneza still wanted to find a new job for herself... she started to write on a piece of paper a list, of the various jobs that didn't involve much talking. Unfortunately, a lot of them were very menial.
Street cleaning seemed to be at the top of the list, or indeed any kind of cleaning job. She knew she had to find something. Whatever she found might not be forever... still... she might not be able to live in this house any more, given how expensive it was. Part of her still wanted to just give in... that's why she went to the church. Things just... seemed so dark now. The worst question anyone can ask echoed in her mind...
If she had died now... would it really matter?
But she refused. Something inside her kept fighting. Even in the face of insurmountable odds as this, there had to be a way through.
"Kariah a oeirka!" she vowed.
The little doll looked up at her sadly. You okay? she asked signing it.
Yes Anneza replied back. looking she gestured to the newspapers. She sat cross legged, still floating in the air. Rocking gently back and forth, as if on a wire... yet there was nothing holding her. However she moved was a mystery. Maybe she could join the circus? Ha... that would be fitting.
Robert was tense. Some people had arrived in church... It was okay though, she knew a few of them from before. But still... maybe she should take the moment to leave. She knew what she appeared as, and did they really want to see something like her? Something that represented everything they hated...
She suddenly felt the splash of water on her face as she turned to see an angry transformed male. He appeared to be some kind of lizard, and his neck was all puffed out. It made Robert cringe in fear.
"Away devil! The holy water will burn you!"
Robert stared in shock and glanced at the other transformed people. They didn't seem to like what was happening, but neither did they want to get involved. They were afraid...
Robert... was afraid.
"Away with you! Your kind are not welcome here!"
She turned and ran out of her own church, her strange hooves clicking on the floor, while her lithe tail twitched nervously behind her.
Tiffany heard the whispers... and growled. She launched herself at the girls talking about her like she wasn't even there. How dare they! By the luck of her attack, her horn was placed under the neck of one of the girls. Glancing up she smirked.
"You want to see what this horn can do? Do you? It cut concrete like it was cardboard..." She very gently pressed forward, the point of it was piercing the outer skin of the girl's neck...
"Enough!" The teacher shouted.
Tiffany cringed... her body automatically just... went limp. She couldn't resist what happened. Was this hypnotism? She just didn't know... The teacher was too strong. She felt her body just wonder back to the desk...
"There will be no fighting in my class... understood?" She said very forcefully.
Everyone just nodded in agreement...
