The Incident with the Virginians

Chapter 1

James tied his horse up outside the hotel. The barman at the saloon told him not to go to the hotel; something about a girl who needed someone to teach her something that no one else would in the small prairie town. Of course, James Drury couldn't resist. A pretty girl, adventure, and trouble, it all called his name.

"Is there a girl here, surname Jackson?"

"Yes, sir. Room 4."

James nodded and went up the stairs. In his head, he went over how to get a girl. He knocked on the door. He had only knocked twice when the door opened.

"Hello?" Her voice sent chills down his spine. It was eerily familiar to him, but he couldn't place where from.

"Are you Miss Jackson?" He asked her, shaking off his uneasiness.

"Yes. Won't you come in?" she said. James walked into her little room. "Would you like a drink?"

"Just water, ma'am," he said politely. He remembered what he was here for and resumed his plan. One; take off the hat. It draws eyes to your face. Miss Jackson's eyes darted to the hat and followed it down, then they went back up to his face where they lingered. She turned around and poured two glasses of water.

"Won't you sit?" She offered him a seat. James sat down, his hand sliding to his knee as he sat. That was the second move.

"Ma'am, I'm James Drury," he said as he began to introduce himself.

"Listen," she said, cutting him off. "I don't want-" a sigh escaped her. "Are you willing to teach me?"

"Teach you what?" James asked, putting on number three; a dashing debonair smile.

"To be a gunslinger."

The smile slid from his face as he registered what she was asking him.
"Gunslinger...." He said slowly.

"Yes. Can you teach me?" She said, slightly impatient. All plans of romancing her vanished from James' head.

"I could...But it would require dedication, for both of us."

"What do I need to do?"

"Miss Jackson, I dunno if it's smart for you to-"

"What do I need to do?" Her hand was on his arm, her voice soft and calming.

"Pack your things," he told her. Miss Jackson stood up. "Do you have a horse?"

"Yes," she called from the dressing room. "He's at the livery."

"I'll pick him up before I get you."

"May I have a little help, please?"

James was hesitant to enter her dressing room, but when he saw Miss Jackson struggling to get her trunk down, he rushed to stop her. "Miss Jackson-"

"Eliza." When James looked at her funny, she replied, "My name's Elizabeth. But you may call me Eliza."

"You don't need a trunk, Eliza," he said. "We're riding horses, not a stagecoach."

"Oh," she said, blushing.

"It's alright ma'am. I didn't tell you."

She pulled out some trousers and button up shirts. "Will these do?"

"Erm, yes," James said. 'How does a woman like that have trail clothes?' he asked himself. Mentally shaking his head, James told Eliza that he would get her at midnight.

"And then what?"

James was taken aback. This woman had asked him questions he hadn't thought a woman would ever ask.