Ruby's excitement quickly turned to dread when she realized she'd have to prove to the whole town of Holy Toledo that Prissy was innocent.

Perhaps there'd be others in the jury like Lonesome Cowboy Larry who didn't take kindly to a female defense attorney.

Panic set in, but she paused.

This was no time to have the vapors. Or to act like a 'headless chickadee' as that southern judge would say.

Her mentor always instructed her to "Get behind yourself for support before you get ahead of yourself."

And so, the attorney faced Priscilla.

It was vital she heard her friends' alibi straight from the proverbial horse's mouth.

"Prissy," Ruby asked. "What were you doing in that shady bar anyway? I assume you know the drinking age."

Priscilla shook her head, and her curly pigtails shuffled too. "Of course I bloody well know the drinking age, Rubes. That wasn't why I was there at all! I had to stop my dear daddy before he made an even bigger mistake than coming to this loathsome town! You see, I overheard a plot to murder him!"

Ruby held her hand to her mouth and gasped. "My lanta! And why didn't you go to the authorities?"

Priscilla gazed down at the dusty floor. "Like they'd believe me anyway. And I had to act quickly. They had already hired an assassin."

"My lanta!!!" Ruby squeaked. "The plot is so thick you can cut it with a knife! Who were these people?"

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Priscilla shook her head yet again. "I dunno. They were masked cowboys, and one of them was supposed to meet my daddy for some deal…but instead, he sent a murderess instead!"

"This murderess…" Ruby said, scratching her head. "Do you know what she looked like?"

"She was absolutely horrifying. Ghastly pale skin, long dark hair, and a mask, bikini and gloves made entirely out of snake skin!"

Ruby nodded. The woman would fit right in at a bordello called the Snakepit. It would be hard to pinpoint her identity. Even worse, she was wearing gloves so fingerprints on any weapons would be undetectable.

"And how did she kill him?" Ruby asked. She had just seen the police report, but felt that it was good to hear it from the defendant.

Priscilla turned pale imagining the thought of seeing her dad perish. "She…poisoned him. I even found the poison but it proved to be my own undoing!"

Ruby again nodded. This time with a sad smile on her face. The authorities found her with the vile vial in her hands. The very thing that poisoned Pritchard Prettipenni. It didn't look good from a legal standpoint at all.

Priscilla suddenly gave a loud sniff.

"I'd never in a million years do that to my daddy! I didn't like that he brought me here but I'd never go that far!"

Ruby placed a consoling hand on her shoulder and looked into her teary eyes. "That's why I'm here, Prissy. To restore law to this lawless town! And you are the first person I will fight for."

Priscilla wiped her tears. "Ruby, you're the best thing about this awful town and I…"

There was a loud bang from a gavel.

The judge had finally taken his seat. The battle for truth and justice had just begun.

The bailiff was a massive bald man resembling the bouncer of a saloon. He stood seven feet tall dressed in nothing but a leather vest and leather pants over his muscular body. "All rise for da *ahem*…honorable judge, Colonel Slanders."

The equally large Colonel slammed his wooden gavel again. "Now I say I say, do you say you'll say the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God lest he strike you down, I say?!"

Priscilla, Ruby and Larry all nodded. Ruby was the loudest. "Er…uhh…yes, I say?"

"Good!" Slanders said. "At least y'all are! I promise to be a respectable judge unless someone offers me a lil gold or a lil lady under the table! Just sayin!"

The judge laughed at his own joke. Or at least, Ruby hoped he was joking. That old judge already had an eye for her.

With one last slam of the gavel, the trial commenced.