Now, when I said "the next town over," I hadn't realized that the next town would be further than a day's travel. I guess now that I'm the boss, nopony wanted to argue with me, but damn it would've been nice for either Spade or Pro to say "hey Con, we don't have camping supplies other than sleeping bags ya nimrod."

It was already well past noon once Spade had grabbed her rifle and packed a saddlebag for the road, so I probably should've had us stay in town for the night. Most of the smarts in the family went to Pro, so unfortunately I didn't think of that. We walked for about two more hours before it got almost fully dark.

"Hey Con," started Spade. "I know you're the one runnin' this whole shindig, but I don't think travelin' in the dark is a great idea."

"Seconded," Pro agreed.

I stopped walking when I realized the two of them had slowed down. I took off my saddlebag and sat down, looking around.

"Yeah, y'all are right. Did either of you bring a lamp or happen to snag some firewood?"

They both looked at me like an idiot.

Spade damn near slapped me. "No, Con, we didn't bring any fuckin' 'firewood.' Are you serious?"

"Hey, I dunno, I was hopin' one of us was prepared!" I looked around for some trees, momentarily forgetting that we weren't anywhere near trees. The area of plains we were in was near devoid of trees for miles in every direction.

"So, what're we gonna do?" asked Spade. Pro was silent, but he was looking around as well.

I took the bedroll off my saddlebag and laid it out. "I dunno, but we're gonna have to figure out who's gonna take first watch."

"Well it ain't gonna be me," said Spade. "Ain't no way I could hit anything in the dark, so I'm pretty useless right now."

I went to look at Pro, but he was already lying in his sleeping bag.

"I guess it's up to me then," I grumbled. I watched as Spade laughed and pulled a bedroll from her saddlebag. She unroll it, fluffs it up a bit, the crawls inside. Within 5 to 10 minutes, she's asleep and gently snoring. I sat for a moment in the night, seriously regretting not bringing a lantern or something.

I sat for what felt like an eternity, watching Luna's moon rise in the sky. It wasn't quite full, so the night was still extremely dark. I half hoped that something would happen, just to kill the boredom. Much to my disappointment, the moon reached its apex without incident.

It took me a moment to figure out who I wanted to take over my watch. I thought maybe Spade, make her pull some weight in these early stages, but I figured Pro was a bit older and wiser. I shook him in his sleeping bag.

He grumbled a bit, but after a minute or two he got up and took watch.

I was back at the farm, standing in the corn fields. It was windy, but in a warm, inviting way. It was my home, and it felt the same as it always had, but it carried a somewhat ominous feeling. As I watched the corn sway, I couldn't help but wonder why I'd left it all behind to chase these delusions of gradure.

The sky turned gray with clouds. After a moment, the overcast sky became dark and angry, cracking with thunder. The rain started coming down in sheets. I tried to run inside, but I couldn't move. Lighting flashed, and I heard a voice I didn't recognize.

"Careful, kid. Death is a preferable alternative to what could happen to you. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Lightning again, then black.

I woke to the smell of bacon and beans. Sitting up, I attempted to open my eyes but the sun told me otherwise. I grabbed my hat from next to my bedroll and put it on, shading myself. Wiping the grog from my eyes, I looked over to where the smell was coming from and saw Pro hunched over a fire, cooking breakfast.

"Where the hell did you find that wood?" I asked incredulously. "I don't see any trees around here..."

Pro, without looking, pointed North. I followed his hoof, and sure enough there was a patch of trees right over the closest hill.

"Ah, okay."

I looked over at Spade. She was still asleep, but somehow she managed to completely turn herself around in the sleeping bag, hindquarters sticking out instead of her head.

"Toss me that can, would ya?" I said to Pro. He tossed me the empty bean can.

"Don't miss," he said.

I clocked back for the throw, eyeing my target: Spade's flank. I took a second to really focus in, and let 'er loose. I must've thrown it a bit harder than I meant to, because Spade nearly jumped 10 feet in the air and yelped pretty loud. She wriggled out of her sleeping back and looked between Pro and I. She saw Pro cooking breakfast, so her gaze came to rest on me. Her eyes narrowed.

"Why, I oughtta..." she growled, reaching for her rifle.

I started laughing. "Whoah there, filly. Just tryna wake you up, is all." I looked to my brother. "How's breakfast comin'?"

He grabbed a couple bowls as I was asking and started serving the bacon and beans. He handed Spade a bowl first, quelling her anger. She scoffed in my direction before starting to dig in. Pro then handed me a bowl, and I gave him my gratitude before I started eating. The beans were baked in a thick, sweet, and savory broth, and it perfectly complimented the fatty and greasy nature of the bacon.

"This is one of the best damn breakfasts I've ever had," said Spade through a mouthful of beans. "I really hope you keep cookin', and not dimwit over there."

I rolled my eyes. "I cook too, thank you very much. No self-respecting stallion can't cook."

"I dunno about that one," mused Pro. "You're pretty liable to burning down the barn with your baking sometimes."

Spade laughed and nearly choked on her beans.

"Hey, that melon pie I made the other week was good!" I had to defend myself, I was pretty confident in my baking skills.

"That was like, the third attempt that day."

Beans came out of Spade's nose.

"Yeah, yeah, alright."

After finishing breakfast, I stood and started packing my stuff. Once Spade was cleaned up from her laughing fit, she started doing the same, all the while giggling to herself. Pro, after snuffing out the fire, grabbed our bowls and washed them out with his canteen. Once we were all packed up, we set off on the road once more.

We had only been walking for about an hour before we found a sign that pointed toward our next destination.

"Driftwood?" said Spade quizzically. "Maybe I've never been this way outta town, but I've never heard of Driftwood."

"Small trading town," my brother explained. "Known mostly for gunfights and robberies, since a lot of caravans have to go through there."

"Sounds like my kinda town," I joked. "Maybe we'll find some muscle 'round there."

"Ain't that what you're for?" said Spade.

I feigned offense. "I'm the leader! I couldn't put myself in harms way by bein' the muscle!"

Spade and my brother both rolled their eyes in tandem.

"In all seriousness," I said, "I'm pretty sure I've got the best way with words outta the three of us, so I think we'd be better off snaggin' some bigger guys at this next town."

Pro shrugged and nodded in agreement. Spade thought for a moment, then also agreed.

"Yeah I suppose my feminine charm only goes so far when I sound like a card swindler."

"Speaking of swindling," started Pro. "I think we should start our first job in Driftwood."

"Solid idea," I said. "Whaddya have in mind?"

"Well," he mused, looking at Spade. "I've got a plan."

Author's Note

Not too much going on in this chapter, mainly a transition/travel chapter. By the way, don't let the chapter titles fool you. This is all still "Chapter 1," I just title them all like that for ease of access. Hope you enjoyed!