all the on-lookers. He caught each one in the opposite hand, then continued juggling them back and forth between each hand, then began twirling them back and forth and tossing them over his shoulder and catching them. After several minutes, Kale held out both to Steele and chuckled.

“Now which one has the bullet in it?” he asked sinisterly. Steele’s brow became wet with his sweat as he looked at the two similar pistols. After a few minutes, he pointed to the gun in Kale’s left hand. Kale pulled the hammer back on the left pistol and aimed it at Steele’s head.

“W-what are you doing? Are you insane?!?!” Steele asked in a scared voice, backing up a bit.

“Let’s see if you were right, Sheriff!” Kale said and pulled the trigger.

The sound of the hammer hitting the empty chamber with a click sounded through the silent saloon. Steele sighed heavily with relief and returned to his relaxed posture. He glared at the trio before motioning to Nikki and Star and walking out of the saloon. After a few moments, activity resumed like it previously had.

“Heh, idiot…” Kale said, smirking at Balto, Kaltag, and Jenna as he opened both chambers to show they were both empty, “I took the bullet out during one of the twists. He had nothing to be afraid of!”

“Did you see the look on his face?” Balto asked, bursting into laughter, “Priceless!”

“It was the most amusing, the most entertaining, the most humorous-” Kaltag said, but stopped when Balto shot him a quick glance that told him to shut up.

“How did you do that?” Jenna asked Kale, “The twirling and juggling, I mean.” Kale grinned and put his twin revolvers back in their holsters, pulling out the tagged bullet from within his sleeve and replacing it in the pouch.

“I taught myself that… Ask Balto. I’ve been with him for years, from when I started just learning those tricks to now, when I’ve mastered them,” Kale answered. Balto nodded and smiled at Jenna.

“That’s really interesting! I have a friend in town you should meet!” Jenna said, smiling at the trio before getting up, “Well, I’d better be getting home before my Dad worries about me. Nice to meet you Balto and friends!”

Balto tipped his hat once more to Jenna and Kaltag and Kale nodded to her. Once she walked out, Balto sighed softly, a grin on his face. Kale saw this and smirked, chuckling to himself.

“Well, is the famous Balto McLane losing his mind or something else?” Kale asked, glancing at him.

“Damn… And I thought I was a thief, but she’s stolen-” Balto began.

“I swear, you say ‘She’s stolen my heart’ and I’ll shoot you through the leg… You’re an outlaw, not Shakespeare’s Romeo…” Kale stated suddenly. Balto chuckled and shook his head.

“Yeah, you’re probably right… C’mon, let’s get some rest… Tomorrow, we’ll scope out the bank…” Balto said in a hushed tone and walked toward the stairs, his partners following behind him.

However, all the way up to his room, all Balto could think about was the beautiful Jenna McMahn.

Chapter 2

          The very moment the dawn sun came over the eastern horizon, Balto was up and dressed. He was more than eager to go and see Jenna again and he’d be damned if he was stopped. As he silently snuck out of his room and walked down into the saloon and outside onto the porch, a very familiar voice stopped him.

“Where are you off to so quickly?”

Balto gasped and spun around, instinctively drawing and raising his revolver. He realized the dog that was leaning against the wall he was aiming at was Kale. The husky smirked and continued drawing something on his sketch pad.

“Kale, I almost shot you dead right there and then…” Balto said with a sigh of relief as he re-holstered his pistol, “What’re you doin’ up so early?”

“What’re you doin’ up so early?” he returned, giving the wolfdog a witty smile.

“I was… gonna go look around the town…” Balto lied, turning and walking down the steps of the porch.

“It’s not open yet…” Kale shouted after him. Balto stopped and turned back to face Kale.

“What’re you talking about?”

“The gun store; it’s not open yet,” Kale answered, walking down to him, “I know you were goin’ there to see Miss Jenna. Don’t even try to lie to me, Balt.”

Balto laughed weakly and smiled sheepishly at Kale. He shook his head slowly and sighed dejectedly.

“No, I wasn’t going to go see Jenna!” Balto replied, blatantly lying, “I need to pick up some more ammo for my pistols and our guns back at the house! Sheesh, I think I can handle myself around a girl!”

“Really? Because yesterday you were head-over-heels for her…” Kale responded suspiciously, “Well, if you say you have everything under control, I trust ya…”

Kale walked over to his horse and replaced his sketch pad and pencil in one of the large pouches on the side of the saddle. He turned back to Balto and smirked at him.

“Take care, partner…” he replied before turning and walking back into the saloon.

Balto was about to walk down the road but wondered what Kale had been drawing. Walking up to his friend’s horse, he pulled out the sketch pad and opened it to the last page with drawings on it. It was a detailed map of the entire town of Silent Spring, including the fastest way to get out of the town from the bank and from the saloon. The wolfdog sighed and returned the pad to its home.

Walking down the dusty streets of Silent Spring, Balto eventually found himself standing in front of the gun store. He pulled out his pewter pocket watch and checked the time. It had just turned 7 AM. Not a minute had passed before Balto heard the latch on the front door open and the store opened.

Grinning to himself, Balto replaced his pocket watch and quickly trotted up the front steps of the porch and up to the door. He straightened out the collar on his blue cotton shirt and took a deep breath before placing his hand on the doorknob and pulling it open. Stepping into the familiar gun store, Balto looked around and saw no one. He took a few steps forward and grinned when he heard a voice from the back room.

“I’ll be with you in a moment!” came the sweet voice of Jenna.

Balto felt his heart flutter slightly as he walked over to the display shelf where the revolvers were kept. He grabbed three boxed the size of a matchbox, each one filled with pistol bullets and brought them up to the counter and waited, turning to look over the weapons. It wasn’t long before Jenna came around and smiled at the customer who was facing the guns.

“Hello sir! See any gun you fancy?” she asked, not realizing it was Balto until he turned around, “Oh hey, it’s you! Balto, right?” The gray-brown wolfdog smirked and chuckled softly.

“Yep, you got me Miss McMahn!” he replied, handing her the three boxes, “And no thanks. Just need these here bullets, is all.”

“Sure thing! They’re a dollar a box,” Jenna said and took the three bills held in Balto’s hand, “Thank you sir!” Balto laughed softly and smiled at Jenna.

“Please, call me Balto.”

“Then you call me Jenna, deal?” Jenna asked, getting another smirk from Balto.

“Deal…” Balto replied and picked up the boxes of ammo, “So, Jenna, how old are you?” Jenna gave Balto a strange, almost irritated look.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, my friends and I were debating this after you left last night and I’d say you were 22… Am I close?” Balto asked and Jenna smiled, pushing a lock of her long red hair out from in front of her eyes.

“You’re right on the mark, Balto. I’m 22 alright,” she answered and turned around, organizing some boxes in the cabinet behind the counter, “So, I take it you shoot often? Have you ever shot anyone before?”

“Yep, sure have,” Balto answered, “In self-defense though, of course… How ‘bout you? You shoot?” Jenna nodded quickly, surprising Balto.

“Yep! My Dad taught me how to shoot when I was 18. After a year of practice, I became really good at it!” Jenna said, smiling at herself.

“Ah… Well alright Jenna, how ‘bout a little challenge then?” Balto offered, grinning slyly, “How ‘bout you take me on in a shooting contest? First one to smash their bottles in the lowest amount of rounds wins… You up to it?”

“What, do you think I just started shooting yesterday? You’re on!” Jenna replied challengingly, “Meet me around the back of the store in fifteen minutes and I’ll show you what I can do!”

Balto smirked and walked out of the store, walking down the little alleyway at the side. He arrived at the shooting range where Kale had practiced before and pulled out one of his matching revolvers. He twirled it on his index finger as he waited for Jenna. After fifteen minutes passed, Jenna came walking out with a crate and set it down beside Balto. Inside were many empty glass bottles. She pulled two out and set them up on the stand roughly thirty feet away from them.

“You ready, Balto?” Jenna asked playfully, pulling out her revolver and loading six bullets into it, “Let’s see what you can do… You all loaded up?”

Balto smirked and answered by pointing his pistol up in the air and pulling the trigger. The gun fired and the shot echoed through the quiet town.

“Yep… Now, tell me when to go…” he said, replacing the single bullet he’d fired off. Jenna cocked her pistol and grinned.

“GO!!!” she called out and raised her gun. Balto did the exact same thing and both bottles exploded into shards in one shot simultaneously. Balto and Jenna exchanged impressed looks.

“Alright, let’s see how you do with two bottles…” Jenna said, setting up four bottles,