Cowgirl Thrillers

by Barbara Neville

Spud finds me a blue shirt to wear from his Captain’s wardrobe.

  “Hey, there’s some nice stuff here,” I say, putting it on. I am looking through the clothes and gears that we liberated from the guards. “Never seen pistols like this.”

  Spud wanders over to look.

  “Stun guns,” he says. “Work okay on regular folks. Gotta have electricity and docks to plug ‘em into for recharge.”

  “Stun? Where’s the kill button?” I ask.

  “Nope. Just stun.”

  “What’s the point?”

  Wolf says, “Annie too bloodthirsty. Stun not good enough. She all kill, kill, kill.”

  He and Spud both chuckle.

  “Yep, I was thinkin’ that. But, seriously, it’s a matter of security. Stun someone, they pass out, sure. But if you get distracted, they can wake up and kill ya from behind. Bad idea. No place on my horse to plug in docks, anyway. Need a current bush.”

  I set the stunners aside and start going through the other goodies on their belts.

  “What are these?’

  “Ask Sir Jacob,” says Wolf, “He is tech.”

  Wolf, being Zen and not much interested in things, leaves us to our treasures and heads up the gangway. Spud and I go through the rest of our booty.

  We fondle all kinds of good stuff. Much of it is high tech and goes in the ‘ask Jacob later’ pile.

  “Enough,” says Spud. “I’m thirsty. I believe we have some Jakey brewed beer over in the cooler.”

  After we pop the tops and have a deep draught, I decide to learn more about the hot and sexy brothers. Having talked to Wolf about it, I am curious about Spud’s view.

  I ask, "You talk about being brothers. How come he is a’ Injin and yore a cowboy?"

  “Well”, Spud replies, “It is more than skin deep, that part bein’ obvious. When we was kids, we played the roles. Me being the blue eyed blond cowboy and Wolf the brown-eyed black haired Injin. After all, we looked the parts. But we were also just that way, different but also the same. True brothers.

  “He is more of the mystical shaman mumbo jumbo. I am simpler more take it at face value. Sometimes even a skeptic. ‘Course, you know I don’t think it’s actual mumbo jumbo. I grew up seein’ it for real. We have had many an adventure based on Wolf’s feelin’s and visions.

  “But hell, we’re both half and half. Not sure how that works other’n I’m a Paleface like daddy and he looks like Ma’s people. But we damn sure have fun kiddin’ each other ‘bout it.”

  I nod. Smiling at the thought of how cute they are together.

  “Say, not to change the subject, but my beer is empty,” says Spud. “And my needs is beggin’ fer repletion.”

  “You read my mind,” I say agreeably.

  We get more beer out of the cooler and adjourn to the Captain’s quarters.