Snippet #2004293

The town was getting closer and closer, slowly changing from a mass of brown into clearly defined buildings. It looked relatively quiet, not a lot going on on what looked to be the main street. Perfect. She'd pull up, ride in nice and quiet, hitch up Gunsmoke and go in for a drink. Kate certainly liked to drink, and was quite proud of her ability to hold copious amounts of liquor.

She wasn't paying much attention, not the way she should've been, anyway, and was surprised to hear the crack of a gun. Gunsmoke was just about bomb proof, but a gun going off ten feet away will scare any animal, and he threw up his head, snorting and stamping up a storm. "Easy, easy," she murmured, laying a hand on his sweaty neck. The big bay whinnied, prancing in place, and Kate squinted at the shadowy figure standing in the shade of the building.

Great. She'd ridden two feet into town and there was already a trigger-happy bozo here to greet her. Finally quieting Gunsmoke, Kate jerked down the kerchief serving as a dustrag and gave her biggest smile. "My, what a welcome! Don't I feel special- a personal greeting from..." she strained to make out the words on his badge, "the town marshal!" She faked offense, shaking her head. "What, suddenly Wildcat Kate ain't good enough to meet the sheriff himself?"

Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned her name. Maybe she should've played dumb, pretending to be Sally Mays from Oklahoma or something like that. Ah well, too late now. Just then, a woman emerged from the saloon, running to the marshal's side. Oh hell, now there were TWO of them, and the girl was armed to the teeth, two pistols already drawn and trained on her head. "Well, now that y'all know I'm here, I'd best be taking off. Pleasure to meet you, Marshal, and I'll be seeing y'all real soon." With a wink, Kate jerked up her kerchief and clapped her heels into the Gunsmoke's sides.

The animal leaped forward, galloping off as Kate hunched over his neck, drawing her pistol and firing a shot behind her. She sure as hell hoped Gunsmoke wasn't too tired to run, because she was a lousy shot on horseback, and that looked to be one determined town marshal. All she needed was to get out of sight, and she could stash Gunsmoke and head back into town, see what she could do to shake up the town. But first...first she had to get away.