>>6067476>>6067483>>6067524You readjust yourself. You're missing something. A hat, maybe? You're... not sure...
"Sir? Have you got any business to attend to here?"
Crap.
You tilt your head up, towards the voice, briefly wincing as the sun is eclipsed by the large brim of a man's hat.
"I'm just makin' sure. We don't want no loiterers 'round these parts. I'm not sure how you cityfolk did it back in New York-" -your brow furrowed at the rude implication- "-but we don't take kindly to strangers lingering 'round bars."
"I don't want trouble, sir." You got to your feet and brushed sand off your legs. It took some mighty willpower to fight off the headache that followed. Good thing you already had plenty to spare. "I just... didn't have anyplace else to sleep last night."
The sheriff raised a brow. "I thought you said you had a room booked down at Bessie's place. Somethin' about having a reservation, I remember?" The stocky man's eyes narrowed as he went on. You distracted yourself with how much shorter he seemed now that you were both standing across from each other.
"We've got enough cheats in this town as-is, boy, so you best not be tryin' to bolster their numb'rs."
"I can assure you that I'll be doing no such thing, sheriff. In fact," you made an exaggerated stride towards his left, only to be caught and brought to your interrogator's eye level.
"You ain't goin' nowhere 'til you promise to do no harm."
It was hard to suppress the snigger that prospect prompted. The sheriff growled and continued. "No matter how funny you might find that, boy, I think it's actually quite the light sentence given the circumstances. Now, <span class="mu-i">say it.</span>"
You put some distance between the two of you and cleared your throat. Your expression soured as you began to speak. "I, Walter Buchanan, stranger to Shenanigan's Gulch, promise to do no harm to..."
The remainder of the sentence was drowned out by a massive <span class="mu-s">BOOM</span>.
A man went flying out of the window to your left. Another object followed on the right-- was that a <span class="mu-i">table</span>?-- and the entire bar was soon alight.
"What in tarnation- ?!"
The sheriff said something else, but you couldn't hear it. He was too busy running to the fire department and you were too busy getting the hell away from the flaming wooden column you'd once called a place to sleep.
A teenage boy burst through the door with a little girl holding onto his back. Meeting his eyes struck you with a panic you'd not yet been consumed by. "There- it- I-"
