“Heard you shooting! How many did you get?” Mister Lemar asked as Will walked up to him next to the barn, “Get that big bastard?”

  “Ahh… yeah, he’s dead. Got nine of the little ones,” Will said pulling the pelt-wrapped parcel full of ears, “The rest ran north.”

  “Ahhh! Good! Teach them to come around here. Maybe they’ll even warn some of their cousins,” Lemar said and opened the parcel on the ground. In it were nine sets of small pointy green ears and one larger set, “Got your pay inside.”

  Will watched as the rancher picked up the ears and walked over to a fence before dumping it into a trough, the pigs in the pen immediately going to enjoy their treat. Will had to look away at the sight. He also made a note not to eat pork for a little while.

  They walked up to the house and Will waited outside for a moment. His bag was across his back, rifle slung, revolver on his hip, a keg of gunpowder under one arm with a blunderbuss and broken shotgun under the other. It hadn’t been easy getting back to the ranch, to say the least.

  “You gonna be able to get back to town like that?” a woman’s voice came from behind him. He turned to see a pretty, curly haired blonde on a silver Bakarna riding up, “You must be that stranger my grandmother wanted to shoot.”

  “Huh?” Will said dumbly. The dots not connecting.

  “Kate Landry. Pleasure to meet you, knowing you didn’t steal from us,” She said with a smirk.

  “Oh, umm.. yeah, glad you got the revolver back,” Will caught up on who he was talking to, “William Tempest. Nice to meet you too.”

  She gave him a nod and sat up in her saddle to look around.

  “Ah, he’s inside,” Will informed her. She nodded thanks and relaxed on top of her Bakarna. He took in her tight-fitting vest and long sleeve blouse but looked away when he realized what he was doing.

  “Ah, Miss Kate! What do I owe the pleasure?” Lemar walked back outside.

  “You can finish with him first, Lemar,” Kate answered back and waved a hand at Will.

  “Oh, of course, of course,” Lemar seemed a little nervous all of a sudden as he counted out five bills into Will's hand, “There you are but why don’t you stick around. Go grab an egg or two and I’ll see about digging out my old pack. The bounty was for regular goblins and you did kill a hob. The pack was a bit musty but it’s better than that thing.”

  “Ah thanks?” Will said, pointing to what looked like a chicken coop. Lemar nodded and Will set down the blunderbuss, shotgun, and keg before he walked off. He wasn’t an idiot, he could tell Lemar was scared and only offered because he didn’t want to be alone with Kate Landry. Though Will didn't exactly know why, she didn't seem threatening.

  He walked around the chicken coop and glanced up to see Lemar holding his hands defensively while Kate looked down at him. He seemed to be trying to explain something quiet and fast but she didn’t appear to be angry. Will decided it was her family’s reputation and not hers. Either that or she was a calm killer in disguise.

  He opened the side of the coop and pushed a chicken out of the way and snatched two eggs with only getting pecked once. The feathered mother freaked out so he let go of the lid it shutting quickly and keeping the angry bird at bay.

  "Too slow," He held each up towards the two suns. One glowed but the other had a shadow in it. He opened the lid and put it back, the bird setting down as it nudged its remaining egg under it. It was a trick he’d learned after buying a straight from the farm, organic, grass-fed duck egg from a farmers market. That normally wasn’t his thing... a woman was involved and he got home and cracked it open to find a dead, half-developed duckling.

  Certain that he had gotten an unfertilized egg, Will looked over and saw Mister Lemar wave at him and go back into his house. He took note of where the egg was and closed the coop before walking over. He didn’t want to take advantage of the guy by going for another, one was enough and he could buy more if he wanted. He still wasn’t going to turn down a single free egg or ratty old bag.

  "Two rare classes?” Kate more stated than asked as he walked back up, “Low level… you must have gotten your hands on a reset token.”

  “Ah something like that,” Will had no idea what a reset token was but the voice in his head did say something about resetting classes.

  “Not bad attributes or stats either… you must be an educated man for an intelligence stat that high,” she looked down at him and smiled brightly.

  “I did a few years in college, dropped out a semester before I graduated, and joined the ah.. the military,” Will said without even thinking. Did she just use a skill on him?

  “College? …Oh, University! That’s quite impressive Mister Tempest, especially in these parts and a young military man to boot! Can I ask what you studied?” she continued looking at him, blinking her blue eyes with long eyelashes sweetly, the same perfect smile below.

  “Ahh… Engineering… I was going to be an engineer,” he answered, “Wanted to go into weapon design. Joined up when tuition ran out.”

  “Ah, I see… Quite the impressive past for someone just my age,” she gave him a wink.

  “Oh, Miss Kate. Was-Was there something else?” Lemar asked, walking out with a large rucksack with a few external pockets and places to tie things.

  “Not at all, just getting to know Silverstead’s newest arrival. Now, Mister Lemar, don’t forget what I said. It’d be a tragedy if you did... I’ll see you around,” She said sweetly and turned her Bakarna to ride away. She stood up in the saddle as she sped up to a trot. Will was unable to look away from her ass in the tight-fitting riding pants. He could even make out her amazing toned legs… When she was fifty meters away, he blinked. He could look away now. She turned in her saddle and gave them a wave, which he politely returned.

  “Was that a skill?” Will asked as she made her way to the road. He had a skill that could make his enemies fear him within a certain distance, did she have one that made people attracted to her? Make her more charming or irresistible?

  “Honestly, Mister Tempest… No,” the tone of Lemar's voice made Will look at the man.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  He was still fairly certain something had just happened. Will had no problem looking at a pretty woman but he wasn’t a pig. He’d never stare like that at a woman’s ass. Lemar stared knowingly into Will’s eyes, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Miss Kate would never use a skill to get her way. Please don’t go spreading rumors about such a fine young lady. Her grandmother would be highly upset if someone were to gossip.”

  Will took the hint and filed them with the warnings he’d already received. It wasn’t a good idea to cross the girl or her family. Even in his altered state, he didn’t miss her veiled threat towards Mister Lemar.

  Will thought about asking what was going on with Mister Lemar but decided to stay out of it. He’d had two run-ins with the Landrys and so far one scared the shit out of him while he could tell the other was using what she had to get information out of him. Throw in how the deputies didn’t want to cross them and it was like a wild west mafia family.

  Instead, he moved everything over to his new pack. It fit everything fine and he was even able to fit the keg in the bottom and one of the pockets turned out to be a holster for a long gun, so he shoved the shotgun in there. He informed Mister Lemar about the fertilized egg and bid him farewell. Will wasn’t sure if he’d meet the man again, he looked ready to pack up and move.

  The trip back to town went a lot easier with him only having to carry the blunderbuss. He made it to town and nodded politely at the few people he met. When he rounded the corner by the jail to the main road he spotted Skunk and Jakob fighting with some man in handcuffs. They were trying to drag him towards the sheriff’s office.

  “You get drunk and fight and… and nothing happens! Why you lockin’ me up!”

  “Damn Marvin, just go already,” Skunk said as the man went limp, forcing them to drag him. While Will watched, it seemed to be faster that way.

  “Skunk sleeps it off in a cell when he fights and he doesn’t get drunk and punch the damn barber in the middle of the day!” Jakob said as they drug him up the steps.

  “He cut my beard too close!” the man yelled his justification for assault as they entered the building. The man's beard was lopsided as all hell. The assault must have happened mid-cut. Will reached up with his free hand and rubbed his own face and slightly shaggy hair. He wasn’t sure how it grew out so quickly.

  He walked to the gunsmith and walked in. The same bored-looking man was cleaning what looked like the same rifle. Will wondered if it was just a habit or if he had OCD or something. He looked up at Will as he walked up to the counter.

  “Ahhh… what’d ya need?” he said in the same annoyed tone. Like stopping him from cleaning a clean gun was borderline torture.

  “You buy guns?” Will asked. The man just looked at Will. He nodded to himself and sucked his lips. That was a dumb question.

  “As long as they aren’t stolen. I’ll get the sheriff if I ‘spect anything,” he said and stood up. Will passed the blunderbuss to him and pulled the shotgun out next, setting it on the counter and digging through his pack to get the keg of powder, powder horn, and roundshot. He glanced up to see the gunsmith sniffing the weapon?

  “Why does it smell like piss?” he asked.

  “Ah… those goblins that were out by Lemar Ranch had it,” Will explained and looked at his hands. He hadn’t noticed the smell.

  “Makes sense. The greenskins piss something fierce, even keeps the rust off,” the man said before setting it down and picking up the shotgun. He looked at it but after glancing at the keg he rolled his eyes, “They’re not too bright though.”

  Will agreed while the man finished the inspection of the firearms. He was curious about what the hell goblins drank if their urine was like gun oil. Pee should make it rust even a little faster.

  “Give ya two for all of it,” the man offered. Will had no idea if it was a fair price or not. “Most for the muzzleloader and the powder.”

  “How about a cleaning kit for my weapons?” Will asked.

  The man looked at the weapons on his counter, he bobbed his head back and forth a bit, “Deal, two and an all-around cleaning kit.”

  Will had actually been wondering about the price but was happy that he managed to accidentally haggle in what he needed. The man grabbed the kit and the money and placed them on the counter.

  “Ah… Thanks,” Will said as he sat down and started carefully cleaning the blunderbuss. He put his rifle in the holster on the bag and packed away the cleaning kit after giving it a look. It wasn’t exactly top of the line but it’d work.

  “Find more bring ‘em here,” he nodded without taking his eyes off the weapon.

  Will walked outside feeling like a rich man. He’d walked into town with four dollars and fifty-two cents and now he had seven and two bits! Okay, it wasn’t much but he was excited he wouldn’t starve. Thinking of that, he made his way to the general store and bought some cheese and then went to the bakers and got a loaf of bread. It was a day old and a bit stale but peel the crust off and it was alright. He even poked his head into the butcher's shop, he bought a single smoked sausage and asked the man if he would buy fresh kills from hunting. He looked at Will like he was an idiot, same as the gunsmith.

  After devouring his meal, Will headed back to the sheriff’s office. He walked in to see the man from before sitting in a cell while the two deputies played cards and the sheriff sat with his feet up and a book in his hand.

  “How’d it go? Heard ya shootin’” Jakob asked.

  “Went well,” Will answered. Even if they attacked after he gave them the option to surrender, he wasn’t going to brag about it. He had some members of his unit that did it but it was always the new guys after their first engagement. Will hadn’t been green like that in years. The deputy just shrugged and went back to cards.

  Will walked over to the bounty board and looked through the three left that didn’t include the bandit leader. There was a $1 one looking to obtain some herb that Will had never heard of before and two for fugitives for $20 and $50 respectively. Their whereabouts were unknown and looked like generic wanted posters.

  “Making ya a bed again tonight?” Skunk asked him with a laugh when he turned away from the board.

  “This ain’t an inn, Skunk. The fact I let you sleep here is enough,” the Sheriff said from behind his book.

  “You live here?” Will asked a bit incredulous.

  “He’s got a place with his sister but he sleeps here when he’s drunk or she’ll tan his hide… so yeah, he lives here,” Jakob laughed.

  “You need a place? Get a room at the saloon or pick an abandoned house and set up shop. Ya stay there and in a year it’s yours,” The sheriff informed him before licking his thumb to turn the page. Will looked at the book, ‘A Heart’s Desire’. The sheriff was apparently reading a romance novel.

  “Don’t judge him too much. Boss is a softy but-”

  “The hell I am!” Sheriff Teddy cut him off, briefly lowering his book just enough to stare at his subordinate.

  Skunk didn’t seem to care and finished his thought anyways, “But there’s not much to read around here. General store has a couple of dime novels, a few sitting in the town hall.”

  “Not much to do around these parts at all… drink, flirt with the girls at the saloon, play cards,” Jakob said, “speaking of the saloon, going back tonight? The girls got more of a feel of you than you did of them.”

  “Betsy’s not giving you a discount again. Don’t think she’s forgotten how the new meat you brought her last time was just Marv with his beard shaved off,” Will started noticing a pattern as the sheriff spoke. It sounded like they were replaying a conversation they’d already had. As boring as they said the town was, it could actually be the case.

  “Hey! Wadn’t all bad!” the drunk in the cell yelled out, “Got my whistle wet.”

  “Shut up Marv!” Jakob yelled at the drunk.

  “Nah, I think I’ll pass on tonight… gonna go get a shave and see about finding a place to sleep,” Will said before he could get pulled into another night of drinking with hookers. “Probably gonna go hunting in the morning, so need to get some sleep.”

  “Like I said if it’s empty go ahead. See ya later, bounty hunter,” Sheriff Teddy gave him a wave before licking his thumb again.

  Will walked out of the jail and made his way towards the barbers. He walked in and spotted the man sitting in his chair with a shinner around his right eye. He looked up quickly but relaxed. Will guessed he was worried about Marv.

  “Shave or a cut?”

  “Ah… both,” Will answered.

  “Alright, head over to the saloon. Two bits for a bath. Then come back. I’m not dulling my scissors on hair as dirty as that.”

  “My hair?” Sure it was a little messed up from a few days in the wilderness but it couldn’t be that grimy. He walked over to the mirror. He froze when he saw a face that wasn’t his own staring back at him.

  “What the fuck?”