The Love and Treachery of Scrooge McDuck!

The Devil You Know?!

1891

He remembered lighting the dynamite and heading for the ladder. The rung must have snapped under his weight or he wouldn't have fallen. He remembered watching in slow motion the end of the wick burning and covering his ears, waiting for the boom.

Now he was coughing up sandy dirt. He tried to stand but a large rock was pinning his leg to the ground. As the dust cleared someone leaned over the hole. They lowered themselves with the spare rope he had.

He could see now that it was ____. She strained against the rocks wordlessly. It rolled off and he managed to maneuver his leg out from underneath it. It was definitely broken. She handed him the rope and climbed up the rest of the unbroken ladder. Then she pulled him up.

Embarrassing. He didn't like this one bit. Still, he should thank her. There's no telling how long he would've been stuck down there if she hadn't shown up.

"Thank you, las," he mumbled as she turned away. "What are you doing here?"

He stood and cringed at the pain in his leg. He dusted himself off to hide it.

"At the moment rescuing you," she said cheekily. "You're hurt. Here."

Without hesitation, she slid an arm under his and helped him to his cot. She dropped to her knees beside him, inspecting his foot. Her hands hovered over him. He noticed she didn't seem as comfortable with him as she had in the past.

"Howdy, friends! It's me, Sheriff Marshall Cabrera!" a man said, scaring her.

"Well, which is it? Sheriff or Marshall?" he snapped. Instantly he regretted asking.

"My name is Marshall, but I happen to be Gumption's town sheriff. Though my friends actually call me Deputy, which was my nickname before I got the promotion. Hard to shake a nickname. Anyway, need some help?"

____ also looked like she wasn't amused with the man's rambling.

"Not from you," he mumbled. ____ hit him, nearly knocking him off the cot.

"Don't be rude," she mumbled. She was worse than mother, he thought. "Nice to meet you, Sheriff Marshall."

"Haven't seen y'all at any of Gumption's town hall meetings," the man bounced.

"Prefer it that way. I work alone." He opened a can of beans and Marshall glanced at ____.  "She just got here."

"Well, there's a big towner from the big city coming through, promising big things for Gumption! I wanted to let all you prospectors know," the man beamed. He twitched at the word.

"Uh, pardon me. It may be a precaution, but I thought I heard you add an 's' to the very singular prospector. As in Scrooge McDuck, the only prospector in town." He nearly bent the spoon as he spoke.

"Gumption's picking up. We're a two prospector town now." Marshall pointed across the town. On the other edge, it was a second camp. ____ grumbled under her breath.

No! He yelped as he straightened his leg. He was going to confront him! This was his claim.

"Horder swaggling horder! I'll turn him inside out! What no good claim hopper miscreant would dare steal from Scrooge McDuck!?"