The Founder and The Strawberry (Curly Bill x OC: Art/Stories)

The Strawberry Blonde

     That is until he noticed someone in the crowd facing away from them. Normally, the thought wouldn't even occur to him, but that person, a woman, caught his sight from her long strawberry blonde hair. A slight breeze blew through the curls, emphasizing their wild wavy nature. She wore a denim blue jumpsuit with bell bottoms that hugged comfortably around her frame. The woman faced their direction, appearing to be lost from the constant turning of her head. Her front revealed that her jumpsuit was unbuttoned halfway to her midsection. Underneath, a blood red blouse complemented her large cherry amber eyes. The wind picked up and she held her cream colored hat with her matching leather gloves as she pulled along a platinum blonde stallion to her next destination.

     Curly Bill shifted his mustache to one side, curious about the peculiar woman. He wasn't the only one, as Billy then hollered, "Hey there, gingersnap! You lost or something?" The crowd of onlookers shifted their attention to the lone woman, and she sequentially turned towards the gang. The rest of the boys fell in the trend, and began to whistle and howl. Although the woman was looking in their direction, it seemed rather that she was looking past them before silently pulling her horse away and continuing on.

     Billy bared his teeth in a snarled smile, readying to catch up with the woman. Suddenly, Curly Bill wrapped his arm around Billy's chest, "Aw, let her go, son. There'll be plenty of birds at the theater who'd love to sing for ya."

     Content with their boss's optimism, The Cowboys pushed on their way without much further fuss. All the while Curly Bill looked back one more time, only to find the woman and her horse had escaped his view.

     As expected, Professor Gillman and his performance was less than stellar and was quickly made to dance out of terror of his feet being shot. Disappointingly, The Cowboys left the theater, soon after, out of disgust.

     "Way to go Barnes!" snipped Tom McLaury, shoving Barnes harshly into the others. Soon the rest joined in and pushed Barnes into a circle and batted him with their hats.

     "Hey, c'mon fellas! It was just a suggestion!" Barnes pleaded, trying to regain his balance.

     "Well, if I'm gonna waste some money, it's gonna be from gambling. You comin', Ike?" Billy asked, taking a few steps towards one of the many bars surrounding them.

     "Maybe in a bit, Bill and Ringo wanna stretch their legs and I reckon I'll join 'em."

     "Suit yourself, what about you, Stilwell?"

     "Nah, me and the McLaury's are fixin' to smoke for a bit with that geezer from Shanghai."

     Curly Bill stepped forward and suggested, "Why don't you just take Barnes and see if you two can win us all a refund? We'll all catch up with you in a little bit."

     With that, the boys went their separate ways while Curly Bill, Johnny Ringo, and Ike set off to see what kind of trouble they could get into. It didn't take long, however, when a loud pop erupted from one of the establishments.

     A man floundered out of the building's batwing doors, gulping for air as he clenched his crimson stained shirt. Another younger man followed, scrambling to the injured one's side. Last to emerge was the same strawberry blonde woman from earlier, with two pistols drawn. The folks who had been meandering in front of the bar scattered for cover.

     Curly Bill crossed his arms, waiting for the drama to unfold. He tilted his head to Johnny and whispered, "Who do ya got money on, Juanito?"

     Johnny rolled his eyes and replied, "The winner, I'd guess."

     Curly Bill tsked and nudged Johnny's elbow, all the while Ike watched somewhat crouched, eyes widened, and mouth slightly agape.

     The woman carefully kept her sights on both men as the younger of them hissed, "You filthy, cheating bitch!" Suddenly, he reached for his holster, but before he could even draw his gun, the woman blasted both of her pistols; sending him to his knees, then the ground.