#prosper&vale

“Cattle deaths weren’t unheard of, but it was the state of the steer–both pieces of it–that made Clare suppress a shiver. The head had been ripped from the body and thrown aside, splatters of dried blood mapping its arc across the ground. The horns were still intact, long, curved boughs bearing deep grooves carved by canine teeth.”

“A month of peaceful nights passed without so much as a glimpse of any beast. But just when the posse had convinced themselves that the danger was long gone, it made its presence known by the light of the full moon.”

Yeehawgust day 2: Running With the Wolves!

Yeehawgust day 29: Pesky Varmints (some personal notes under the cut)

“By noon, news of the attack had reached cattle baron Amos Odell, who promptly hired an armed patrol to guard his herd at night. While Odell promised to ride among them and carry his own gun, Wyatt doubted the baron could draw with much speed or grace, given the rock candy clusters of gaudy rings adorning his fingers.”

“Rain always followed Wyatt wherever he went. He used to mind it, back when it was a cold, mocking reminder of the leaky roof over his family’s heads. Now, the desert rains were a refreshing reprieve from the sun’s oppressive heat. It was a sign; a promise of good things to come.”

“It had been three years since Wyatt Prosper had been pronounced dead, and after some time spent in hiding, he was on the road again. He’d become something of a tall tale in the towns he passed through—a mysterious drifter on a white horse, sporting a soldier’s scars, in desperate search of a lost love whose name he no longer knew.”

Yeehawgust day 1: On the Road Again 🤠

“Clare was looking at him with the alert gaze and rigid stillness of a spooked deer, so much so that Wyatt was afraid any sudden movement would send him bounding across the meadow. He gave a timid wave and said the only thing he could think to say after three long years of being apart: ‘Howdy, pardner.’

“Then Clare did run, but not away, and Wyatt nearly leaped into his arms.”