Wolf of the West

2.

The service wasn't as short as Will had hoped, but in taking Rudy's advice, he'd managed to get himself out of his anxious slump enough to stay awake by thinking about the day ahead of them. He was thankfully able to convince his dad to let him skip out on choir so he didn't have to go through the trouble of cleaning and hanging his robe up, and only had to sweep the chapel after. That being said, he was out of the church a mere ten minutes after the crowd had dispersed and was ready to meet up with his friend. "Rudy?" He called out, poking his head out of the doors to see if the red-haired boy had waited up or if he was going to have to catch up with him.
Rudy was outside waiting for his friend to be finished, his coat off and slung over his shoulder from the hot Arkansas sun. Sweat was visible on his face as he turned to look back at Will, "Fiiiinallly," He dramatically sighed out as he walked to join him. "It is too damn hot out here and these clothes are so damn stuffy." He complained. Rudy was very much a ginger and wasn't a fan of the boiling Arkansas sun, even if he was a farmer. Without his hat he'd grow sunburnt, and his freckled cheeks were already glowing pink.
"Well you very well could've waited inside or gone on without me! I didn't mean to get you all burnt again." Will put his hands on his hips, though he felt sympathetic towards his close friend. He had darker skin than Rudy, so he didn't burn half as easy, but he knew it hurt based on how feverish his pale skin got when he was burnt.
"It ain't your fault—my pa wanted to talk to me out here and he just left." Rudy clarified as he fanned himself with the collar of his shirt, squinting his blue eyes in the glowing sun.
"Do you wanna head home and change before we go out?" Will asked, not wanting him to be uncomfortable the entire time.
"It's alright, don't worry about it." The ginger shook his head as he walked over, "It'll be better when we get inside the cool, shady general store. Then when we get all our stuff, we can head back and eat out by the barn." He suggested, wiping his forehead with his freckled arm.
"If you say so. But I know you change pretty darn fast, so if you change your mind, just say the word." Will shrugged as he joined his friend and began their short walk over to the general store, already feeling a brighter mood come on thanks to Rudy's presence. "We could go out to the fields too if you wanna. So I can show ya all the bottles I got last time I went out. If you didn't hit the hay at nine, maybe I could teach ya how to shoot better, too." Will teased him a bit.
"Hell yeah—! Your aim keeps gettin' better and better. I gotta learn how to shoot soon. My pa isn't too happy about my lack of talent in that kinda field. If he wants me to be the next sheriff, I've gotta learn to fire a gun." He sighed as he ran a hand through his sweaty hair. "I'll have to take ya up on that shooting range offer. Some other time, though." He chuckled as he stepped up onto the wooden porch of the store.
"Well if our pa's weren't friends, I would teach ya a lot better. But if mine found out I've been takin' his gun and goin' out at night to shoot it, it'd be a one way ticket to the boot yard. Or maybe he'd exile me to the badlands. Or turn me into chili." Will over exaggerated playfully, though he was certain he'd get the beating of a lifetime if he were caught. "I don't get why he's so persnickety about that stuff. I know I'm small, but he doesn't even let me go outside past dark—as if I haven't known this town since birth." Will complained for a moment, but he quickly shut up before they entered the store. "But really, Rudy. I bet you'll be a great sharpshooter. It just takes practice. And I know your pa's proud of ya as can be. I dunno who wouldn't be."
Rudy let out a small sigh as he entered the store, "Yeah, you're right. I guess I just wanna work harder to impress him. But it's alright, there's just some things I know I'm not good at." He shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the new products. "Anyways. We're here for the sweets so let's get em while they're still here." He joked as he motioned with his head to a small group of children outside the store.
"Right." Will agreed, not wanting to miss out on their plans by bumming themselves out. "I'll get the sarsaparilla if you wanna see if there's cobbler!" He offered his partner, already scanning the aisles for their sweet fizzy drinks. The glum attitude he had when talking about their dads disappeared in a heartbeat when he thought about getting to picnic out with Rudy after all, as well as getting to show him the stuff he was good at. It wasn't in the way young boys show off and one-up each other to boost their ego or an attention-seeking ploy, seeing as he didn't want to be better than Rudy, and he sure as hell didn't like to show off for others. That being said, he didn't really know why he liked to show off for his friend sometimes, but he did.
"Sounds good to me!" The ginger smiled as he went around toward the back of the store where the casual vendors from their own little businesses would sit. Usually it would be elderly women or widows that would bake pies and cobblers and can their own jams. Luckily, the small group of women were there and had some fresh goods ready to be sold. As Rudy approached to buy his favorite cobbler, the women instantly cheered up and began talking to the boy. Being the sheriff's son, Rudy was well known in the town and was very much liked for his cheery behavior and positive attitude. This was shown when one elderly woman offered him the fresh cobbler for free, since the Shepherds delivered her eggs every Sunday, but Rudy vigorously declined through the sweet words and paid in full. Bidding them goodbye and a happy Sunday, he carried his dessert over to his friend with a blush still on his face from the women's comments like "Have you gotten taller?" and "You look just like your mother this morning with that hair!" It was extremely comforting to him, hearing positive words about his appearance and such when his own mother wasn't able to say such things. She had passed a few years ago from a horrid disease, but Rudy rarely let that get to him.
   "I got the cobbler! They had plenty." He smiled at Will as he momentarily lifted up the cobbler to show him.
Will only wished he had the same attitude as his closest friend. But he was at least happy he got to be around Rudy's happy-go-lucky gentlemanliness. When he saw the cobbler, he gave a happy thumbs up and turned back to the counter, where he continued bargaining with the shopkeeper. "C'mon Barney! Help a fella out?" He persuaded him. The two were pretty familiar with each other, seeing as Will had at one point had ten dollars worth of a tab going on at the general store once before he really knew how debt worked, and often went there to fetch things for his father, or even cleaned up for the elderly man for community service. Luckily Barney allowed him to work most of the debt off. The old man rubbed his nose underneath his small spectacles and slid the sodas to him. "Alright, but I still expect you to help me arrange my shelves for the new stock this week." The small, older man gave in, to which Will gave a nod. "Yessir. I'll free up time this Thursday." He told him, grabbing the drinks and turning back to meet up with Rudy. "Got em'."
Rudy couldn't help but roll his eyes playfully at the growing debt of his best friend and the poor shopkeeper that had to deal with it. Rudy motioned his head toward the door as he headed out, "Great. Now let's head back, go change, and have a picnic." He said with excitement, hopping off the porch with the sweet in hand as he turned back to wait on Will.
Will happily obliged, exiting the small store and stepping off the porch after him. "That ain't weird, is it? Callin' it a picnic?" He laughed a bit lightheartedly as he fought the urge to pop open his soda and take a sip. In fact, the smell of the hot cobbler made his stomach ache with hunger and made him realize he hadn't had time to eat breakfast. So no, at that point, he didn't really care if it was considered weird for them to go picnicking together.
Rudy gave him an exasperated look, "Gals have little picnics together all the time. What's somebody gonna do if they see us—? Complain that we're on my property eatin' a fresh cobbler and some sodas? Nah. If they do? It's my property and what the hell are they doin' there." The farmer boy chuckled as he gave Will a teasing nudge, walking back through the town and up toward his farm.
"Are you askin' me for a worst case scenario? Because I'm mighty fine at comin' up with those." Will snickered a bit as they walked past other people and places until they were walking through his yard to get to the barn. "But I'm just messin' around, we ain't doing anything wrong, so I don't care anyways. My pa's having a luncheon with a buncha other guys, so why's it weird if we have one?" He assured them further.
"Exactly. Now yer thinkin' positive!" He practically cheered teasingly at his friend's positive remark.  "All jokes. For real, this is gonna be fun. I'm gonna drop this off here and go change— can you please keep an eye on it? I don't wanna come out and see a chicken nestled in it." He joked pleadingly as he sat down the cobbler on a barrel beside the barn.
"I have a soft spot for Henrietta, so I can't make any promises. But for what it's worth, I'll watch it the best I can." Will joked once more as he leaned against the barrel, happy to be in a better mood thanks to Rudy's reassurance and attitude. "Better hurry, though. I'm timin' ya this time. Thousand-one, thousand-two...."
Rudy felt an instant rush as he bolted back toward the house, "Shuddup!" He hollered back at Will as he flew open the back door and ran inside. While in, he got changed back into the clothes he wore to do chores, attaching his suspenders and pulling his pants up. He slipped his boots back on and put on his hat to help shield his face from the sun. He even went as far as to put an ointment made of goats milk and crushed lavender on his pink, hot cheeks to cool the burn from standing outside that he had bought from a traveling apothecary that came through town. Rudy soon came jogging back outside, one hand holding the top of his hat so it wouldn't fly off. "Okay, I'm back." He breathed out as he dragged his feet back up the small hill.
By the time Rudy had returned, Will had unbuttoned his overcoat and put it over his shoulder, leaving him in his dress shirt and neat vest. He was incredibly amused by how Rudy genuinely hurried, and couldn't help but chuckle. "Shoot, I think I lost count. Sorry 'bout that." He told him as he held out his chilled sarsaparilla to the tired boy. "But I'm glad to say that no chicken harmed the cobbler."
"Thank goodness." He sighed in relief as he trudged over to the barrel and picked up the cobbler. Having also grabbed some forks inside, he sat them on top of the cloth that covered the top of it. He sat down on the sandy, grassy floor and leaned his back up against the back of the barn. He sat down his beverage by his leg as he let out a relaxed sigh. "It feels so nice to finally sit down. I'm tired." He groaned out as he fanned himself with his hat.
Will sat with him and popped open his soda. He hadn't realized how achy his legs had gotten until Rudy had said something. "Yeah, you said it." He spoke in agreement, comforted by the shade provided by the barn, though he was still sweaty from the heat. "It's hotter than the devil out here, but this is real nice." He said, sipping his sarsaparilla.
"Very nice." Rudy sighed out as he picked out his fork and stabbed it into the side of the cobbler, taking a bite and dramatically rolling his head back against the barn. "Oh yeah, this is perfect." He mumbled with his mouth full. Grabbing his sarsaparilla, he cracked it open and took a drink.
Will took a big bite of the cobbler and gave a nod of his head. "Good lord that is some good cobbler." He admitted with his mouth full, understanding the fuss Rudy had been making. "Alright, apples might be the second best thing God's graced the world with." He took another bite and rested his head on Rudy's shoulder, closing his eyes as if he were in bliss.
"You can say that again. I wish the soil in this area was rich enough," He paused his sentence to get another bite in and chewed, "So we can plant apple trees. I'd love to have an apple tree." He rambled, feeling like he was living in luxury with the cinnamon apple dessert, the sweet fizzy soda, and his best friend. "Can't things just stay like this? I swear, when I'm sheriff, this is gonna be the norm. Tuesday events with sarsaparilla and fresh cobbler."
"Shoot, when I'm the pastor, we can have it in the church so it's cooler. And those ladies and the general store will have good business every week if it's an event." Will added onto their fantasy future, taking a big swig of his drink. "Sounds like a good thing for the whole town." He took some of the crust and ate it separately from the gooey, soft apple-cinnamon concoction.
"A little bondin' moment for everybody. Music too, we'd need music. Fiddles and harmonicas— even banjos. All of it playing outside," Rudy talked about the dream as he waved his fork around. "Maybe even some of the older folks could play horseshoes outside and the kids could get sarsaparillas and read or go out to the creek and catch frogs." He added as he took another bite from the cobbler.
"Yeah." Will smiled as he chewed, eyes still closed as he pictured their sweet future. "And the party would be on after dusk. We could light up some lanterns or catch some lightnin' bugs and stick em in jars or somethin'. And after the little'uns head off to bed, the adults could play poker and have a little of their own fun. I reckon I'll still be helpin' you with your chores, too."
Rudy was calm and quiet up until the ending sentence, where he burst into a small fit of laughter as he shook his head and put his hat on top of his head. "Dammit— bring up my damn chores again and I'll just make you do em." He cackled as he took a small swig from his fizzy drink.
"Oh whatever, Rudy. You can't 'make me' do nothin'!" Will chuckled on with him, sitting up and adjusting the hat on his head before taking another bite of the dessert. "I'll just excommunicate ya." He elbowed him, clearly joking. "But no seriously, I like helpin' you with your chores. You make work seem like fun."
He glanced back at him and cocked an eyebrow with a smile, "Seriously? Didn't know I had that kind of effect, I guess. Chores can just be fun in their own way. I just wish I could sleep in some days. You know that my pa only lets me sleep in and not do chores on holidays and my birthday." He reminded him as he took another sip of his drink.
"I wish I could skip service sometimes too. Sorry, God." He admitted sheepishly. "But if I didn't have to do services and other things in the mornings, I'd take over so you could sleep in sometimes. Maybe in the future, services can be a bit later." Will wondered if he was allowed to do that, but then realized that he could do what he wanted in the future because it'd be his church by then.
"Gosh— Will, you shouldn't have to do all my chores for me. I really don't mind 'em. But a later service does sound nice." He chuckled softly to himself at admitting it as he went to go stab his fork again but hit the bottom of the pan.
"Well I didn't say I'd do all of em everyday, Rudy, I'm not half as thoughtful as you. Just enough to get you an hour or two extra sleep. And we could take turns or somethin'." Will laughed a bit before frowning a bit when he realized he'd drank all of his sarsaparilla.
Rudy looked down to see that the gooey cobbler was gone, except for some of the crust on the rim. "Well, we really enjoyed that. More than I thought." He joked as he pulled off a piece of crust and ate it. "I'd say that was a successful brunch."
"Darn. Yeah, I didn't even realize we finished it." The other boy told his best friend as he stood up and held his hand out to help him up.
Rudy reached up his freckled arm and grabbed his hand, pulling himself up to his feet with the pan and fork in one hand. He reached back down to grab his glass bottle to add to his trash. "That was pretty damn fun. We gotta do this more often." Rudy smiled at him as he wiped off his own mouth, which was dotted with some crumbs.
"Every Tuesday?" Will asked, thinking about their little dream. "We gotta start somewhere." He said sheepishly, offering to take Rudy's bottle since he had the rest of the trash. "Plus it'll motivate me to pay off Barney." He added, giving his partner a nudge.
"Sounds like a plan!" Rudy gave a nod with a wide smile, giving his friend his trash and thanked him in doing so. "Let's head back to the house to throw all this away." He commented as he wiped his sticky hands off onto his pants.
Will nodded and headed towards the house at his word. "Yeah, so I can make you wash your hands off too." He told him, having held back on telling him to after touching all of the eggs that morning. "You probably got some of the nastiest fingers." He teased.
Rudy's  jaw gaped open in betrayal as he looked at him, "What? Nah, I don't have the nastiest fingers. I'll prove it to ya." A mischievous smirk crossed his face as he stuck out his tongue to go and lick his hand, going dramatically slow as he made eye contact with Will.
"N-no, Rudy, no, ew, why—?!" Will complained, cheeks growing pink, though his face scrunched up into a grimace. "It's gonna taste like yer licking a grimy salt lick from how much gunk and sweat's on there. And get that beef-headed look off your face."
Rudy found his squeamish nature amusing and honestly pretty funny. He snorted out a laugh as he dropped his hand, "Okay, okay I won't do it. For your sake. It looked like you were gonna puke." He chuckled as he put his hands into his pockets. On their way back to the house, Rudy was a bit surprised to see Chet opening the door and seeing them.
"Son. There you are." Chet sounded a little relieved but more-so stern, "Will, your father was lookin' for ya. Needs ya to do some chores around the church." He told him, which made Rudy frown a bit with a small groan.
"Does he gotta go? We just finished eatin'."
  "Not my choice, Rudy." Chet shook his head, "You still got some chores to do yourself, son. You'd best get those done before sundown too."
"Sorry, sir." Will gave a disappointed sigh, but his hands messed with the bottles in his hands nervously. "I thought I did everything I needed to today. Did—he seem mad? That I left." He asked Chet, praying he hadn't forgotten to do something before leaving. He was already having a conversation with his dad about responsibility later, and it'd been a great day so far.
Chet noticed his behavior to which his posture seemed to soften, "Nah, not at all. Your father is just a very tired man, Will. You've got some shoes to fill and he's just wantin' you to learn how to fit em right. If he seems mad when ya see him, just ignore it. Keep havin' a good day. If you want, you can even ask your dad if you can eat supper with us tomorrow night." He offered kindly, to which even Rudy's demeanor seemed to brighten as he looked at his friend hopefully.
Will sighed after a moment of hesitation and shuffled his weight. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Chet, I'll do that." He nodded, trying to take the reassurance for what it was, though he doubted that he'd be able to ignore it if his dad was angry. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rudy." He gave a lighthearted kick to the taller boy's ankle before turning around and heading home, only to call over his shoulder. "Oh yeah, and make him wash his hands, Chet. They're so gross, it'll make ya sick."
"I told'ja to shut up!" Rudy hollered back at him with his freckled face as red as a beet, though it was obvious he was holding back laughter. Chet even seemed to be rather amused by the two as he bit back a smile and shook his head in utter defeat, tipping his hat down as he walked back inside with the door shutting behind the two.