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((I HAS THINGS TO POST TOO, WTFFFF.... I was beginning to think my rps were all apart of my iiiimaaaaaginatioooon.))


"Brave?" Chetan asked when Jack had caught up with him. "Of course. I'm of the People." He flashed him a joking smile. "I have no choice but to be brave."

The stares and looks that Chetan got were either ignored, or completely unnoticed. The Indian merely sat up in his saddle relaxed as he could be. George may have been the wiser of two, and seemed alert. His ears were moving back and forth and his eyes were large and watching.

"A couple of beds?" He asked suddenly. "Does this mean we are companions now?" He smiled the smile of a boy, his black eyes shining.

As they continued on through the town it was to be expected that they would eventually be stopped and stopped they eventually were. A larger man a few had chosen from their ranks stepped into Chetan's path with a fierce look in his mouth and eyes and a gun to match his vicious intentions. George halted and blew his hot breath hard through his nostrils and into his face.The man wheeled back and glared. He thew an accusing finger at the red man on his horse.

"We don't want none of YER kind here." He through a filthy look at Jack. "Especially yer kind that drags along THAT kind at his heels." The filthy man stopped and spat. "Or maybe I should say this in a language you can UNDERSTAND, red man." His face twisted with gnarled smirk. He proceeded to leap around and yell wildly and then gestured crudely and rather offensively to get his a** out of his town.

Chetan looked at him peaceably. "There wasn't enough," He held a note and clapped his hand on and off of his mouth, "In your war cry, white man. Maybe that is why you always lose." Chetan smiled a white toothed smile.

The white man reddened and his eyes popped. "We don't want you here!" He shouted and leveled his gun. "DON'T THINK I'LL ASK AGAIN!"

Chetan stared right down the barrel. George shifted beneath him. The young man furrowed his eyebrows and with a half shrug guided George with his knees around the fuming man. "There is no fight here." Is what he said.

The man gave a wild shout and cocked his gun, his body shaking with rage, but there was no shot.

"Get AHOLD of yerself you great ugly b*****d!" A woman shouted. "Have you no MANNERS?" She beat him over the head with a tankard she had been carting underneath her arm. "If he's not here to scalp us then let him BE. The red man is a rare thing and it's dying with this GOD FORSAKEN DESERT. You leave that BOY ALONE." And she proceeded to hit him a few more times. "You great STINKIN' DRUNKARD. HE'S JUST A BOY! I don't GIVE a damn if he's red! Or BLUE or GREEN, or you're ugly shade of hate, you great-" And then she started shouting off strings of profanities no woman should ever utter.

Finally feeling that the situation was under control and the man who had confronted Chetan was thoroughly humiliated, the woman bustled over to the two men. She flashed them a slightly crooked smile and fiddled with her skirts. She was older, mid twenties, and it showed a little in her face. She was stocky, a sturdier woman than most. Her sleeves were rolled up to show off brawny arms and she was thick from head to toe. She had an expansive bust size to match and an abundance of brown hair. Her eyes were grey.

"So." She said roughly. "I hear you boys will be needin' a room." She winked at Chetan. "He'll be back, but I got that old p***y cat in his place for now."

Chetan smiled hugely and slid from his mount to hug this woman around her shoulders. "YOU'RE A FINE WOMAN!" He exclaimed, his eyes over bright.

The woman laughed, surprised, and patted Chetan on his bare back. "I don't hear that often enough." She looked to Jack. "He's a right affectionate fella, ain't he?"

((OKAY. READY. GO.))

The woman smiled and Chetan released her from his dark arms. "Nice to meet ya, Jack. Chetan." She gripped the cowboy's hand firmly and shook ((SHAKED)) it. She nodded her head at Chetan. "I'd shake yer hand, but I'd say me n' you were past that already." And she laughed.

Chetan flashed her a grin.

"My names Rebecca Marie. You can call me Rebecca.... or ya know, Marie. Whatever gets your beans baked, alright? I ain't picky." She laughed a little and turned on a heel. "Let's get you boys into someplace warm. You hungry? I have some food made up."

And as simple as that the woman led them back to her home. Any looks she may have gotten she didn't seem to notice and any remarks she just shot off one twice as mean.

"Here we are!" She said of a little cabin set off from the others. The windows glowed golden and warm in the gathering dark of the desert. A smell of warm dinner wafted from the open door. "There's a stable if you two wanna put up your mounts."

Chetan shook his head. "George doesn't like being put up." He patted his horse affectionately.

"George?" Rebecca laughed and shook her head. "Alright." She said.

Chetan grinned and as he usually did, spoke to him in his own language. The horse tossed it's great head and galloped off.

Rebecca looked to Jack. "Your horse going to run off too?" And she shook her head. "What kind of men am I letting into my house?" And with that, she led them inside.

As soon as they were there they were greeted rather noisily by several voices... several small voices... with dark hair, skin, and wild eyes. No less than six children gathered in around the newcomers shouting in so many voices no one knew quite what was being said at all. Rebecca fixed that quickly.

"Ya'll shut yer mouths before I get cross with you!" She shouted in a commanding voice, but somehow she still seemed kind about it. She was grinning.

The children quickly obeyed and backed off a little, only a few lingering.

Chetan looked at them and slowly a grin grew broader and broader. "They are yours?"

Rebecca nodded her head wearily. "Yep. Every single one."

"Half and half." He said happily and then something in is native tongue. He translated: "They're beautiful." He looked to Jack grinning. "There are little red and white men."

A little girl scowled.

"And women." He corrected.

"Well, don't just stand in the door!" Rebecca said gently shoving them to the table. "Sit! Eat! Tell me what brings a couple of fellas like you up this way."

((I'll stop typing noooowsssss.... yes.))

((POSTIESSSS... Cos I was lame the passed two days... srsly. Wtf was up with that?))

Rebecca flashed Jack a smile as old and harsh as the landscape. "That's what I've been told... but maybe not in those kind of words." And she laughed carelessly. "I've been called lots of names for a woman." And she bustled around in the kitchen, hefting a child off her counter and scolding him gently. "But if it's a night's all you'll be needing the it's a night you'll have... Chetan will be going with you I expect."

When Jack sat down next to the sole daughter in the family she looked up at him with hard grey eyes. She tugged her lips into a slight frown. "My name's Ellie." She said. "I wanna be a cowboy." And she looked Jack up and down with a child's calculating gaze. "Are you gonna laugh?" She demanded. "Cos I'll kick your AS-"

"Ellie." Came Rebecca's warning tone.

Ellie sucked in her lips and narrowed her eyes.

Chetan glanced at Ellie once and laughed, but found himself mostly distracted by the other boys. They were excited to see someone as dark as their father had been. They were wrestling him a little and Chetan humored their little dog pile routine. He growled and howled like an animal, bucking and kicking gently to remove their little hands. They laughed gleefully and mimicked his howls.

The oldest watched, detached and wise, eyes warily on Jack. He helped his mother in the kitchen.

Rebecca, with her eldest son carrying another plate with her, came to the table and placed the two dinners heaping and full on the low wooden table. "Hey now, you little indians! Leave that boy alone and let him eat! He looks half about starved, anyway! What you been living on?"

"Nothing but tall grass and river water!" He shouted back playfully and emerged from a pile of little limbs. He quickly took a seat at the table. "Who was he?" Chetan wanted to know. "The father."

Rebecca took a seat with Ellie. She hefted her daughter from her seat, sat, and then placed her lightly in her lap. Her eldest took a seat close to Jack, eyes wary and sharp.

Rebecca smiled softly for a woman with such a harsh face. She said a beautiful word.

Chetan grinned. "I hope he was as strong as his name."

"Stronger." She said and then exhaled softly. "But enough of that. Eat."

And he ate.

((ALRIGHT. But only 'cos you asked me nice... then I go WALK MEH DOGGEH. OH. YAH.))

Ellie, from her mother's lap, might have spared Jack one of her rare smiles from her hard, scowling mouth. "You can bet your horse on it!" She said and her mother looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. Ellie smirked up at her.

Chetan laughed a little. "She's seems hard, like her mother." He remarked and laughed more at the expression he received from the young lady. She was jokingly looking terrible, gnashing her teeth and flexing her fingers like claws.

"Yeah." Rebecca said, adjusting her in her lap. "I swear she's more of a handful than her brothers most days." And she laughed. "I'm glad."

Chetan then returned to cleaning his plate (it had been gone with a few forkfuls) and then glanced once at the sharp eyed boy sitting next to Jack. He focused all of his attention on the young man when Jack addressed him.

The young man twisted his mouth. He had the same eyes as his sister, but softer and lighter so that they were bright against his mixed skin. His hair was dark and feathered like his father's for certain, and tumbled down his neck and stopped short. There was something about his face that made him look older than he was and there were softened features that would make him handsome in the future. He had a very serious and solemn face. Jack received a very serious and solemn answer.

"Jim." He said and then leaned forward. "And don't talk to me like a kid. I can shoot just as well as anyone in this town, and I'll be damned if some cut throat thief b*****d is going to talk to ME like I'm some sorta-"

"JIM." Rebecca said in the commanding voice of hers. "He's a guest... I expected better from YOU, at least."

Jim settled back in his chair, still hot around the collar. "When I grow up?" He asked quietly. "I'm gonna be the one hunting dirt like you."

"JAMES." Rebecca said at last, using his full name to exhort full authority on her son. "You best be gettin' to bed before I tan your hide."

Jim threw himself away from the table and stood angrily from his chair. "I can't understand why you let someone like HIM into our house. I swear if he-"

"JAMES." She said one more time.

He threw a hard and angry look at Jack once more and stormed from the room. His siblings watched him go deathly quiet.

"All of you." She said. "I want all of you to go with him." They hardly waited a minute to listen to her and trailed after their eldest brother.

((HE'S INTENSE. WOWOWOWOW. INTENSE. HE EAT YOU.))

((LAWLZ. OKAY. POST AGAIN.))

Rebecca only nodded her head as Jack spoke. "I didn't think you seemed the type to turn on a good meal and a warm bed, Jack... and if you even thought about trying to rob MY family." She paused, smirked and tilted her head. "Let's just say you'd think twice about robbing a woman like me again. I've dealt with more yellow bellied bastards in my time than I can count... and some twice as mean as you." She laughed. "I've found you right damned polite."

She looked at Chetan as well. "And you seemed alright. I've dealt with red men too, but you're definitely something, Chetan." She smiled. "What a face you had on when you came riding into town!" She howled with laughter. "I nearly lost it if I hadn't had been so shocked!"

Chetan returned her smile. "Any friend of the People is a friend of mine... even if the People aren't always so wise."

She laughed. "Most clear headed thinker..." She shook her head. "Just like Jim..." She looked to Jack. "He's had his heart in the right place ever since he learnt right from wrong... doesn't care who you are, he knows a bad thing when he sees one." Rebecca smiled wistfully. "He's always know just what he was going to do ever since his father."

Chetan nodded his dark head wisely. "He's seen a lot." He just seemed to know and then flashed a smile at Jack. "I guess the more I spend time with you the more I'll HAVE to look out for the lawmen, won't I?" And he laughed.

Rebecca grinned at the pair of them. "Well, here I am keepin' you two up when I'm sure you've had a long day... why don't you two just get on to bed now?" She jerked her head down the hall. "I got a spare bed in the last room on the left... I'll let you two fight tooth and nail for it."

((okay... just to keep things moving. YAY. BED TIME.))

((OOOH YEEEAH D:<. LET'S DO THIS THING.))

Chetan didn't complain at all when he was banished to the floor. In fact, Chetan had really never slept in an actual bed, what with all that hay in the mattress and feathered blankets and pillows. Sounded bad on the back to him.

"White man has tender back... red man sleeps in the dirt." And he laughed.

He took to the floor with a blanket he often tossed over George when it rained and slept beneath the window. There, where he could still see starlight, made him feel more at ease and a few moments he was out.

Though he did a mumble a: "Goodnight, white man." Before he was completely out.


In the dim light before dawn, Chetan was already awake. His face was turned towards the window to catch the first light, and then there was the rough stumblings of Jack awake. Chetan turned his head to watch him. He nearly tripped over him. Chetan had to laugh a little at his clumsiness in the dark and squirmed a little when he found himself poked with a toe.

Chetan sat up wide awake and ready. His dark eyes shone brightly in the faded light. He rubbed at his face. "Not the kind to say goodbye?" He said and got lightly to his feet. His clothes were already mostly on, being that they consisted of pants and then his moccasins which he slid into.

He was rolling up George's blanket and slinging it across his back, over one shoulder, and tying it off across his chest when Jack first ran into trouble. He moved up behind him. "Sure doesn't look like you're going anywhere." Chetan said of his stopped position in the doorway. He met the serious face of Jim.

The young man had a pack strapped to his back and a stubbornly set face. "I'm coming." He said. He was looking at Jack at first, but now was looking intently at Chetan. "And you can't stop me."

Chetan smiled kindly as he could. "What would a boy like you want with a couple of strangers? Your mother needs you here, doesn't she? You're a man in this house."

Jim's face was still set. "I have to come."

Chetan exchanged a look with Jack. "Why?" Was his simple question.

"I need to know about my father's tribe. YOU can teach me... AND you can show me."

Chetan shook his head. "What makes you think I was in his tribe?" He pressed past the boy, waving for Jack to follow.

Jim stayed in Jack's path. "I'm coming." He repeated.

((WAAAANANANANAN. yay.))

((POSTIE TIME AGAIN. NOWAI.))

When Chetan left, Jim really rather wished he hadn't; he had left the wolf behind for Jim to deal with. Next thing he knew he was on the bad end of the gun, the hard metal pressed into the center of his chest. But did Jim seem put off? He didn't flinch, didn't blink, didn't twitch, he kept his light eyes on Jack's face.

Jim's frown deepened into an almost snarl at his words. When Jack pushed him out of the way he swung around glaring after him in the dark. "But he HAS to know." He said after him. "I KNOW he knows."

When he was threatened not to tail, Jim was left alone in the dark hall. He clenched his fists and glared hard long after they were gone.


Chetan looked up to Jack on his horse. "Did you take care of him?" He wanted to know. He grinned. The young Indian was walking alongside Jack's horse, a hand on the animal's flank. "He seems stubborn."

And just as the words were out of his mouth, Jim was back again. He was saddled up on a horse almost too big for him; a strong palomino. He trotted up to them with Chetan's horse in tow. The wild horse seemed peaceable about being led by the young man. Jim looked twice as stubborn as ever. His pack was with him, as well as his shot gun.

Chetan looked at him wide eyed for a moment and then laughed quietly his wild laugh. "Well, Jack. I'm sorry to say, but when a boy can tame a wild horse, I would say he's pretty determined." He clucked quietly and George gently trotted to butt Chetan's ear with his nose. He laughed again and looked to Jack simply.

Jim was looking to him as well. "I meant it when I said I was coming." He said in a voice too serious for such a young man.