Young Guns: Fire and Steel

Chapter 5: New Duds

An hour later, Kristal found herself heading into town with John and Billy. It was nice to get some fresh air, though she wasn't too thrilled to be riding in a wagon. She missed riding her horse. Midnight, was honestly her best and only friend, despite him being a horse. She doted on the ebony colored Mustang. Now, she sat beside Tunstall in the front seat, with Bonney sitting in the wagon bed. Kris couldn't help but grin remembering the look on the blond man's face when John told him to get into the back. He hadn't been happy that she got to ride shotgun. And now he was sitting in the back still pouting with his back to her. God, he could be such a child.

Thinking back on the last several days, Kristal was honestly surprised by how much she had found herself enjoying her time at the Tunstall Ranch, despite her recent tiff with Dick. John was a man of honor and held all of them, including her in such high esteem and respect. It was far different than what she was used to. Her childhood growing up had not been a good one, and when Belle had deemed her old enough, she had joined the gang. A gang full of crude, cold, and demeaning men, who thought they could tame her in more ways than one. They wanted to use her which meant she had to prove herself every day that she was tough and wouldn't allow any man to touch, talk, or even look at her like she was something that needed to be broken in. Being here with Tunstall and the Regulators was very different than the men she was used to.

They soon rode into town, Kristal taking in the sights. She had not yet been in the town of Lincoln. They rode passed a saloon, which had bawdy laughter and singing ringing out. Her eyes followed the building noticing a few men standing outside watching their entrance into town. Ducking her head, she pulled her hat a bit lower shadowing her face noticing that the men that watched them were some of the same that had come out to Tunstall's ranch with Murphy and Sheriff Brady.

Tunstall pulled up in front of his store where they all got out of the wagon. "I have a meeting with my lawyer, Alex McScween. I'll meet you at Ellis' Store. In the meantime why don't you go pick out some dinner clothes and, if needed, anything else you might need." The Englishman smiled at both of them before walking off, leaving Billy and Kristal alone.

"Why were you staring at those shitheads when we came in?" Billy accused turning to the blonde woman abruptly.

"I like ta be aware o' m' surroundin's. Ya should try it sometime, Bonney. Maybe it'll help ya." She clapped him on the shoulder and headed for the store keeping her head down so no one recognized her. She wasn't sure if her notoriety had come this far yet, but she didn't want to take any chances.

As she walked, a burly man walked towards her. Kris tried to move around him, but he purposely walked into her, shoving her into the street. Her hat went flying, long blonde hair blowing wild in the breeze. "Why don't ya watch where yer goin' ya asshole!" she growled picking herself and her hat up.

As she dusted her hat off, the man had stopped and turned toward her. "I don't take no lip from a boy not yet a real man," the burly man shouted lewdly. He came at the supposed boy before stopping, his mouth dropping open in apparent shock. "God! Yer a girl! Hard to tell with you dressed like that and speaking the way ya do."

Lifting burning eyes on the man, her hair still blowing in the breeze. "An' yer mouths droopin'. Gonna catch flies if'n ya don't shut it." Kris said moving back onto the boardwalk ignoring the man looking her up and down, a gleam forming in his dark eyes. Why did men feel they could look at a woman like they were a piece of meat?

"You know, you can be a right pretty thing if you just dressed appropriately -- like a young woman should," the man said still in surprise, yet his voice switched to disdain.

Placing her hat back on her head, the blonde paused."An' you can kiss m' ass," Kristal hissed. She hated when men told her that. She dressed how she liked and no one was going to tell her any different.