Paco Valdez
The sun awakens you as it rises, but you lay there trying to stay asleep a little longer. Sleep is so comforting.
A sudden kick to your ribs shatters your hopes of rest. You roll over onto your back where Annie stares down at you from above. "Get the hell up. If you don' think them fucking Vigilantes ain't gonna come after us, then you gotta be the stupidest piece of shit you momma ever crapped out."
She's never been much of a lady. She has dirtiest mouth of any woman you've ever encountered, worse than most men.
But she's also has one of the keenest gut instincts of anyone you've ever met. "Ain't instinct,"she told you once, "I just pay attention to what's goin' on." Whatever the case , the girl was probably right. One of them did get away last night.
"Come on," She says with a slight edge of gentleness in her voice, "Gus is gettin' the horses ready."
You rise to your feet clumsily, sleep still affecting your limbs. You stretch your self out, your joints cracking and popping. Sleeping on the ground isn't always the best thing for your body.
You hear Gus complaining loudly from the horses. "The boy's actually over there stretching?! We oughtta just leave him in the damn desert!"
You jog over to the horses where Gus is just mounting up. Annie is just putting away her canteen after giving your horse, Betty, some water. You and Annie get on your horses almost simultaneously.
Annie shields her eyes from the sun and looks back in the direction of Fullton, scanning the horizon for any riders. Gus is looking in the opposite direction, scanning the horizon as though looking into the future.
"Where are we headed?" You ask Gus.
"I don't know." He says to you. He points in the direction he was staring originally. "There's a Kamani village to the northwest. I saved a few of their young braves a coupla years back when a small troupe of the Calvary had taken them captive for hunting off the territory. So they'll feed us and protect us for a night or two while we figure out what we can do. But that's only if we don't encounter some renegade Kamani that don't recognize me."
He points a little to the right; you've never been very good with directions. "And Kallow is that way. Real beds and saloons. But possibly teeming with Vigilantes."
He looks to you with a questioning gaze. "What do you think?"
Annie rides up beside to stand her horse beside you. "You better hurry up and decide. There's some dust clouds off a ways behind us."
You look to where she indicates, but can't make anything out. "Eyes like a damn hawk." You hear Gus say under his breath.
You better decide something quick.
A sudden kick to your ribs shatters your hopes of rest. You roll over onto your back where Annie stares down at you from above. "Get the hell up. If you don' think them fucking Vigilantes ain't gonna come after us, then you gotta be the stupidest piece of shit you momma ever crapped out."
She's never been much of a lady. She has dirtiest mouth of any woman you've ever encountered, worse than most men.
But she's also has one of the keenest gut instincts of anyone you've ever met. "Ain't instinct,"she told you once, "I just pay attention to what's goin' on." Whatever the case , the girl was probably right. One of them did get away last night.
"Come on," She says with a slight edge of gentleness in her voice, "Gus is gettin' the horses ready."
You rise to your feet clumsily, sleep still affecting your limbs. You stretch your self out, your joints cracking and popping. Sleeping on the ground isn't always the best thing for your body.
You hear Gus complaining loudly from the horses. "The boy's actually over there stretching?! We oughtta just leave him in the damn desert!"
You jog over to the horses where Gus is just mounting up. Annie is just putting away her canteen after giving your horse, Betty, some water. You and Annie get on your horses almost simultaneously.
Annie shields her eyes from the sun and looks back in the direction of Fullton, scanning the horizon for any riders. Gus is looking in the opposite direction, scanning the horizon as though looking into the future.
"Where are we headed?" You ask Gus.
"I don't know." He says to you. He points in the direction he was staring originally. "There's a Kamani village to the northwest. I saved a few of their young braves a coupla years back when a small troupe of the Calvary had taken them captive for hunting off the territory. So they'll feed us and protect us for a night or two while we figure out what we can do. But that's only if we don't encounter some renegade Kamani that don't recognize me."
He points a little to the right; you've never been very good with directions. "And Kallow is that way. Real beds and saloons. But possibly teeming with Vigilantes."
He looks to you with a questioning gaze. "What do you think?"
Annie rides up beside to stand her horse beside you. "You better hurry up and decide. There's some dust clouds off a ways behind us."
You look to where she indicates, but can't make anything out. "Eyes like a damn hawk." You hear Gus say under his breath.
You better decide something quick.