came back around with three polished wood boxed and placed them on the counter. He handed one to Steele and the sheriff looked inside, smiling at the revolver inside. He motioned to the other two boxes.

“Who’re they for?” he inquired, staring down at the boxes on the counter. The Shepherd pointed to Kale and Steele cocked a brow in interest.

“Huh… Well, not only do you have some good looks boy, but you’ve got good taste in guns…” he said, “I still don’t see why you protected that half-breed… Ah, maybe you’ll learn…”

Steele took his box and walked toward the door. As he passed Kale, Kale gave the sheriff a fake friendly smile. Once the husky had left the store, Kale groaned in disgust and turned back to Balto.

“Bastard…” he muttered, “Not only is he full of himself, but he took the third gun…”

Balto and Kaltag laughed as Kale walked to the counter and picked up his new guns. He pulled two out of their holsters and tucked one in the waistband of his jeans. He then grinned at Kaltag and tossed him one of his old ones. Kaltag gave his friend a look of confusion.

“It’s all yours, Kal,” Kale said, placing his new revolvers in their holsters, “You were the only one of us with less than two pistols, so now you’ve got two!”

“Thanks Kale…” Kaltag replied, smiling at him with gratification, “This’ll help me in gunfights!”

Kale gave his friend a thumbs-up sign before walking outside again with Balto and Kaltag, back into the bright sunlight.

          The three outlaws and friends spent the rest of the day loitering and milling about the town, just to see what Silent Spring had to offer them. They laughed at jokes one another told and stories they all suspected were fakes- and they all turned out to be fake. Time seemed to fly and before they knew it, it was night and they were back in the saloon, sitting at the bar.

“Thank you,” Balto said to the barkeeper who’d just handed them three keys for rental rooms above the saloon, paying the dog before turning back and looking at the crowd who’d just gathered in the saloon.

“So many people come at night…” Kaltag stated, taking a drink of his beer, “It’s simply incredible, it’s unbelievable, it’s stunning, it’s-”

“Kal, do we need to hit you?” Balto asked, looking at the tan husky. Kaltag shook his head and the two took a long drink of their drinks.

Meanwhile, Kale sat in silence, his knife out and holding a single bullet in his hand. His eyes were narrowed to a steel-like gaze that hardly blinked and stayed locked on the sole bullet in his hand. Using his knife, he scratched a target’s name into the side of the bullet:

Steele.

“Whatcha doin’ Kale?” Balto asked, snatching the bullet and looking at the engraving and chuckling, “You’re not seriously planning on killing the sheriff, are you?”

“Wouldn’t you want to, ‘half-breed’?” Kale asked, taking the bullet back while quoting Steele as he continued to perfect his engraving, “He seriously pisses me off… Jerk… I’d so love to put this round through him, but I can wait…”

“True… True…” Balto replied, taking another swig of alcohol.

“He’s the most malicious, the most self-centered, the most undignified-” Kaltag stated, beginning to ramble on until Balto hit him in his arm.

“We get the point, Kaltag…” the wolfdog replied.

“But I was just-”

“We get the point, Kaltag,” Balto repeated, giving him a look that told him to stop. Kaltag went back to surveying the crowd and drinking his beer.

A minute later, Kale grinned and stowed his knife. He held up the bronze bullet and stared at it with satisfaction. Steele’s name carved into the side made his grin widen as he replaced it in a special pouch on his bandolier, downing the rest of his drink before pulling out a rag and wiping off his revolvers.

Just then, the front doors opened and a female husky walked into the saloon and took a seat at the bar. She wore jeans and a white short-sleeved shirt. She had a radiant coat of a red back and white front. Her arms and hands were white and Balto reasoned that her legs were white as well. Her red hair fell down to her shoulders and she had a red bandana tied around her neck. Balto’s mouth dropped open and Kale looked at him in confusion.

“Hey, Balto. You alright? Hello? Hey, Balt, you still with us?” he asked, pointing into the wolfdog’s eyes and pointing in the direction he was staring, spotting the husky as well, “OH!!! Now I see!”

“What is it?” Kaltag asked Kale, turning to look at the dog his friend motioned to, “Whoa! She’s a real beauty! Nice spotting Balto!”

Balto remained silent, completely transfixed by the female. As the barkeeper walked by, Balto grabbed the dog’s arm and motioned to the girl.

“Hey, who is that over at the bar? The red and white husky?” asked Balto, unable to take his eyes off of her. The Great Dane followed Balto’s directions to the female and nodded as he recognized her.

“Oh, that there’s Miss Jenna McMahn,” he explained to the wolfdog, “She’s the most beautiful girl you’ll find for miles around. She’s got the eyes of most men ‘round here, even the sheriff!”

“Whoa, hold on. Sheriff Steele?” Kale asked seriously, growling softly as the barkeeper nodded and walked away.

“Jenna… Jenna McMahn…” Balto repeated, almost as if he was in a daze or trance.

“Hate to break it to ya Balto, but there’s a little red flag going up… She’s off-limits unless you wanna end up on the gallows…” Kale answered, replacing his revolvers.

“I’m gonna go talk to her,” Balto said, getting up and beginning his approach toward her.

“Good luck pal!” Kaltag shouted after him before looking to Kale, “He’s gonna get burned, isn’t he?”

“Oh ya…” Kale replied, placing his feet up on a nearby unoccupied chair, “Hope he comes back with his pride, at least…”

Balto took a deep breath to prepare himself as he reached Jenna and sat down beside her. He cleared his throat and tipped his hat to her.

“Evening, miss…” Balto said politely to Jenna, Jenna looked at him and smiled warmly to the newcomer.

“Good evening sir,” Jenna replied, turning to get a better look at him, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around town before. Did you just arrive at Silent Spring recently?”

“Uh, yeah, I just arrived with my friends…” Balto said, grinning inwardly at his cunning slip past the truth, “We’re travelers. We’ve been from many different towns… What about you?”

“I’ve lived here my whole life…” Jenna answered cheerfully, “I work for the gun store every other day… I had today off though, so I’ll be working again tomorrow. So, do you like it here, Mr.- er, I’m sorry…”

“Oh, the name’s Balto,” he answered, “And yes, I’m enjoying my time here, Miss…” Jenna smiled and held out her hand.

“Jenna McMahn,” Jenna replied, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Balto.” Balto smirked and shook her hand back.

“Call me Balto,” he said, “The locals seem very friendly… Except for that sheriff… something’s not right with him…”

“Oh, that’s Steele… Yeah, he got the position because he was the most experienced gunfighter in the town…” Jenna explained to Balto, “He’s not exactly the friendliest dog in town… and his friends are the deputies and they’re not much better…”

“Doesn’t sound too good…” Balto responded, glancing back at his friends to see worried looks on their faces. He followed their gaze to the door and closed his eyes in frustration.

Standing at the sliding doors at the entrance were three dogs. Leading them was none other than Sheriff Steele. He spotted Jenna and Balto and growled softly, motioning to his deputies and leading them over to Balto. He smirked at the wolfdog and chuckled darkly.

“You still hanging around, eh wolfdog?” Steele asked patronizingly, “Shouldn’t you be getting back to your friends?”

“Maybe,” Balto retorted, “Who’re your pals?”

“This is Star, and this is Nikki- and they’re the deputies of Silent Spring…” Steele corrected, glaring at Balto, “Now are you gonna get up or do I have to make you move?”

No sooner had Steele said those words than Kaltag and Kale rose to their feet and walked up to the small group by the bar. Each dog had a look of disdain on their face for the sheriff and his deputies as they came to their friend’s defense.

“What’s going on here?” Kale asked angrily, “Steele, can’t you leave ‘im alone for a single moment?” Steele scoffed and turned to face Kale.

“I thought you would’ve learned sooner, boy… Guess I was wrong…” Steele replied and grabbed Kale’s shirt, tossing him to the wooden floor.

Kale growled and got to his feet again. He exchanged glares with Steele and pulled out his marked bullet. He grinned slightly, his eyes still narrowed in anger as he held the bullet up.

“You seem like the type who enjoys a challenge Steele… Am I right?” Kale asked vindictively. Steele laughed slightly and nodded slowly.

“Sure, what challenge is this then?”

Kale pulled out one of his two new revolvers and loaded the single bullet into the chamber. He spun it and then pulled out his other revolver. He stared at the two completely identical matching pistols, then up at Steele.

“Do you know which gun has the bullet in it?” Kale asked the sheriff, receiving yet another scoff from the husky.

“Of course, I just saw you load it!” Steele replied in a matter-of-factly tone, pointing to the pistol in his right hand, “It’s in this one.”

Kale’s grin widened and Balto and Kaltag smirked, knowing this trick all too well. The husky then tossed both revolvers into the air, stunning Steele, Nikki, Star, Jenna, and all the