Do you dream of me in the next life?

Chapter 19: The brightest star amongst stars

Josie and Alice trudged along the arid desert. They were panting as the heat smothered them without reason or concern.

"Water...I need water!" said Alice.

She took out her canteen from her magic. When she attempted a sip, nothing came out.

"Do you have any?"

Josie checked her canteen. "Mine is empty too. I don't think we can use water magic out here."

"No way! Wha...What are we-"

Josie caught Alice before she collapsed.

"That town has to be here somewhere. Hang on!"

Josie flapped her wings as fast as she could. At the distant horizon, she could see what resembled wooden buildings.

***

Josie landed near a building titled, "Saloon" and placed Alice back on her feet. They pushed open the batwing doors. Josie helped her over to the bar stool. No customers were present except for a woman with long, red wild hair. She was seated a few seats down. The bartender handed them cold drinks of water.

"Thank you." said Josie.

The bartender nodded and continued cleaning the glass cup. Alice took a big gulp of her water. Then Josie did the same with her drink. Sweet relief washed over them so much that they shared a smile. Suddenly, three bandana masked Nightmares entered from the back door.

"Put your hands up! This is a stick up." said one Nightmare who held a gun.

Alice, the bartender, and Josie raised their hands in the air. The woman didn't react.

"Hey," the Nightmare cocked his gun. "I said put your hands up!"

The woman slowly raised one of her hands. With her opposite hand, she turned around and threw her drink at the Nightmare's face. He toppled onto the table behind him. She whipped out her gun and shot the Nightmare on the left. She stood up. The remaining Nightmare charged forward. She dodged his swipe and grabbed his arm. He came crashing down into the floor. The woman walked over and turned him to lay on his stomach.

"You're under arrest!" said the woman.

She struggled to restrain him. The Nightmare who got shot earlier recovered. He ran for the back door. The woman fired again only to miss.

"Darn it," she turned her head. "Scuse me. Could y'all tie up that guy over there?"

"Uh-" said Josie.

"Thank you," she tossed her some rope.

Alice helped Josie restrain the Nightmare and said, "Ma'am, does your gun use dream energy for ammo?"

"Yep. Just like your swords, my gun uses my dream energy," she tied a knot. "By the way, y'all new round these parts?"

"Yeah. My name is Josie. This is Alice."

"Nice to meet ya! My name is Wendy. I'm the sheriff of this town. Willeyville ain't much, but it's a good place to live."

Wendy created some kind of powder in her hand and blew it on the Nightmare's face. After that, she picked up the Nightmare and slung it on her shoulder.

"Make sure to use sandman magic on your Nightmare. Don't wanna see em' bite or claw ya."

"Ok. I can do that when you're done." said Alice to Josie.

When Josie finished getting the knot just right, she observed Wendy while she was talking to the bartender. Wendy was wearing clothes typical of a cowgirl - a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, shorts, and a buttoned-up shirt. Except some of the top buttons were undone. Freckles adorned the cheeks of her tan skin.