“Hey, you three!” came the voice of Star just down the road, “Freeze!”

“Son of a bitch!” Kale shouted angrily, “When are they just gonna give up?!”

“This way! Quickly!” Balto called to the four, leading them down an alleyway, “Kale, you take Kira back to your horses and we’ll grab ours. Don’t worry about us, just go, and hurry up!”

Kale nodded and took Kira’s hand, leading her through the winding maze of alleys. Balto, Jenna, and Kaltag moved back out into the street, in plain view of Star. Star slowly took a few steps forward, about thirty feet between him and Balto. The two glared at one another and Jenna and Kaltag moved off to the side. The outlaw and deputy faced off against one another, hands ready to draw at any moment.

“Draw!” Star shouted and rapidly went for his revolver. However, Balto was faster and fired as Star was just pulling his pistol out. The dog cried out in pain and stumbled backward before falling face-first into the dust. Balto twirled his pistol a couple of times before re-holstering it and running over to his horse, mounting up and leading Jenna and Kaltag to the north gate of town.

Kale and Kira had just finished their arrival at Bill Inago’s house by the time Balto had taken Star down. The husky pulled the door open and ran upstairs to the guest bedroom. He and Kira quickly gathered up their stuff and ran downstairs, back outside, and to their horses, tied up just outside the house. As they finished packing up, Kale heard a voice behind them and the pulling back of a hammer on a gun.

“Don’t move, Kale McGovern…” Bill said. Kale turned around and stared at his friend, a gold star now pinned to the Shepherd’s shirt.

“Bill, you and I had a pact…” Kale said, giving his friend a neutral stare, “You get to hunt us down again once we leave town… We’re not out yet… So why are you holding a gun to me?”

“Because that other sheriff just got here, Steele I believe his name was…” Bill explained, “He’s here to arrest the lot of you… You and I had a deal, but you and Steele didn’t… I’m sorry, but I have to turn you two in…” Kale sighed and shook his head.

“Alright Bill, can I just give you something quickly?” Kale asked calmly, “I got a gift for you, for giving us such generous hospitality, I wanted to thank you…” Bill thought for a moment, then lowered his pistol slowly. Kale walked up to him and smiled warmly at his friend.

“Hold out your hand…” Kale said and watched as Bill held out his left hand. Kale then quickly smashed his bottle of beer over his friend’s head, dropping him like a ton of bricks. He grinned and chuckled.

“Sucker… That’s why you don’t double-cross Kale McGovern!” Kale shouted to the unconscious sheriff as he mounted up and rode north with Kira, toward the gate of River’s Edge. A moment later, they arrived and saw Balto, Jenna, and Kaltag.

“Great, you’re here!” Balto said, looking back at the town, “You ready to go, Kale?” Kale looked over the town of River’s Edge one last time before sighing heavily and nodding to the wolfdog.

“Yeah…” he answered softly, “Let’s get outta here… For good, this time…”

Balto nodded understandingly and spurred his horse. The five dogs then rode out of the town, northward bound for their home, or what was left of it. Steele knelt down beside the body of Star and growled angrily, staring up to the northern horizon with a bitter hatred.

“I will get you, wolfdog… I swear to God, I will get you…” Steele snarled, looking to Nikki, “Who’s the sheriff of this town and where does he live? I have a proposition for him…”

Chapter 5

            The sun was just finishing its fall behind the western horizon and the moon was beginning to rise by the time the five dogs arrived back at the derelict, annihilated house that had sheltered them during the fighting. Their home had literally been destroyed, torn apart in many various areas. The five tied their horses around the front this time and inspected the damage.

The whole front wall of the first floor had been destroyed. The windows were shattered and the wood that still remained intact was splintered and shot-up terribly. The furniture that had been at the front of the house was either badly damaged or destroyed entirely. The railing of the stairs was beginning to give-way from the attacks it had sustained. The back of the house remained in fairly good condition aside from the hole Kale had blown through the back wall, but the front was nearly non-existent.

Balto simply stared in amazement at the house that had taken him and his friends a week or two to build, now falling apart. He sighed softly and shook his head in disdain. Kale chuckled softly, obviously not realizing how much Hell the building had been through. Kaltag simply stared in amazement.

“Well, I guess we’d better get to rebuilding it…” Balto said, looking at Kale and Kaltag, “We’ve still got all that spare lumber and nails around back…”

“I’ll go get it…” Kale said, patting Kaltag’s arm, “C’mon pal, help me out, will ya?” Kaltag nodded and followed Kale around to the back of the house to gather the supplies. Balto looked at Jenna and Kira, nodding toward the battle-scarred house.

“You two should try to get some sleep…” the wolfdog said coolly, “We’ll be up all night fixing this place up…”

Balto watched Kira walk into the house and chuckled softly as Jenna kissed him on his cheek before walking inside as well. A minute later, Kale and Kaltag came back, arms loaded with boxes of nails and wooden planks, hammers in hand. Balto grinned and pulled up his sleeves.

“Alright guys… Let’s get to work…”

It took the three outlaws most of the night merely patching up the front of the house and cleaning up the inside of the building. After they had finished that, they went back for more wood- only to find that there was no more. They’d done all the repairs they could, and even that wasn’t much. There were still two holes where the front door and back door should be and there were no more windows at all. By the time they set their hammers down, the dawn sky was beginning to turn a bright orange as the sun started its ascension above the East sky.

“Morning already?” Kale asked, yawning sleepily, “I hadn’t noticed…”

“Yeah right Kale…” Balto said with a smirk, “And that yawn had absolutely nothing to do with the fact you stayed up, working all night?”

“You bet!” Kale replied, grinning playfully, “All I need is some coffee and I’ll be fine…” Kale had just begun to walk inside when the sounds of a massive amount of hoof-beats sounded around the valley. Balto looked up the north pass to the valley and slowly pulled out his two revolvers.

“Kaltag… Get the girls up…” Balto said, still staring north as the tan husky bolted into the newly refurnished house.

Kale had just gotten out the small sack of coffee beans when he glanced out the window in the kitchen. He saw something and glanced up again to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. His mouth slowly dropped open and he dropped the sack to the floor, stumbling backward as Kaltag ran upstairs.

“Baltooooo!” Kale shouted, dashing for the gun room.

All around the small house were dozens and dozens of armed dogs, from the north and the south.

            A malicious smirk slowly inched its way onto the face of Steele as his cold, ice-blue eyes locked onto the slightly repaired house. This was to be the end and he knew that today, on this morning, one of these forces was to die: his small army or the five outlaws.

Steele looked to Nikki, his last remaining deputy, and giving him the approving nod. With that sole signal, the twenty more armed dogs began to ride toward the outlaws’ house. The sheriff’s eyes burned with an evil fire, determined to get his vengeance on all those who inhabited that establishment.

Bill Inago sat upon his brown horse, his green eyes seemingly unable to move away from the small house at the bottom of the lush valley. Only yesterday, he’d woken up to find the sheriff of Silent Spring there. He offered an alliance to bring the nefarious outlaws to justice and Bill readily accepted. Now he sat on the verge of battle, the calm before the storm.

Closing his eyes for a few moments, Bill mentally prepared himself for the battle. Memories of his childhood flashed before him. He could see himself and Kale, both much younger, perusing the streets of River’s Edge. Kale had always been a good friend to him, but then everything changed when he’d had his heart broken and those two outlaws came to town. After that day, those two outlaws became a trio and now Bill had to execute his former best friend in the name of justice.

“I’m sorry Kale…” Bill whispered into the wind, opening his eyes once more, “But the law is the law… No exceptions… No matter what…”

Bill felt himself shake a little at the thought of pulling the trigger on one of his previously close friends. However, it had to be done. It was just one of those unavoidable things. He motioned to the house and his fifteen men followed Steele’s example and rode up toward the house, ready to destroy everything they could.

“Damn it, how did this