Parent!England x Fem!Reader: The Park

Chapter 17: Cowboys

Captain-- er, Outlaw Jones was preparing for a special day in the small place called Ally Town. His partner in crime, Michelle, watched as Mayor Matthew came to speak on a stagein the Town Hall with his best friend, the Sheriff (L/n). In his hand was a bag marked '$'.

"Today, I'd like to present the Detective Kirkland with a gift of--"

"Hold on!" said Michelle, intruding. "This--" she held up a large stick-- "is a stick up! You better hand the money over or deal with me and my gang!"

Immediately, the mayor dropped his bag and put his hands in the air. The Sheriff followed suit as the young outlaw pointed her stick at them. While Michelle held her stick up threateningly, Alfred swooped in to grab the bag and took off.

As the female outlaw sprinted off behind her partner, the Mayor nearly fainted. The Sheriff helped him stay upright.

"I-I am so sorry, Mr. Mayor. I know that was important, but, but, she had a STICK!" The boy waved it off with a relieved sigh.

"I'm just glad we're both ok. We will eventually need to get the stuff back."

The next day, the two mounted their horses and headed for the saloon. They sat down at the bar counter.

"Two apple juices, please," said the Mayor to a waitress. She passed the glasses to them. Sheriff (L/n) took a sip of hers before looking down.

"So, how do you think I should go about getting the money back?" The Mayor looked her in the eyes.

"Maybe you shouldn't, Sheriff." She furrowed her brow.

"What do you mean?"

"I knew this would happen one day. Outlaw Jones had always talked about being the hero until we kicked him out. And now you're the hero."

"He was jealous. Alright. So why should I stand back then?"

"Because I want to keep you safe." He adjusted his glasses while pointing over to a darkened table. "And, I found some help just the other day." She followed his finger to the table, at which sat a man with remarkable eyebrows underneath a detective's hat.

"Who's that?" The Mayor waved the man over to the bar.

The man, wearing a plaid detective's cloak as well, swept over to the seat beside (Y/N). She looked at him, intrigued but wary.

"I am Sir Arthur Kirkland, the Great Detective. I've come to help recover a gift meant for me, correct?"

While the Sheriff was being introduced to the Detective, the little outlaws were going over their wins. Alfred opened the bag and dumped its contents onto the ground in their little tent.

"Are you kidding me? There isn't even real money in here." Michelle looked down, distraught. "What do I want with all of these...books?" Alfred sat off to the side. "Maybe we got the wrong bag?"

"Maybe."

"Well then where's the real bag?"

"I wonder..." said Alfred, though his tone suggested that he did know.

Back in the saloon, the Sheriff and the Detective were about to head out on a search.

"So you just got here on the midnight train?" Detective Kirkland nodded.

"Your mayor told me to be here to receive something from him, but it was stolen before I even had a chance to open my bags at the tavern." She shook her head.

"It's such a shame that Alfred became an outlaw. We were good friends, too."

"A shame indeed. So many things have changed since I was here last." They walked to the police station, where an officer had gathered as many details as he could on the theft. The criminals were clearly dangerous and knew their way around town. This was likely a direct warning to the arriving Detective Kirkland, so the Mayor would be making arrangements to be sure of his safety during the investigation.

(Y/n) had agreed to letting Arthur stay in the guest room of her house until the mystery had been solved and the criminals were apprehended.

***

The Detective had yet to settle in, instead locking himself in an office to try and figure where the outlaws had gone. After staring at the town map for several minutes, he reached a conclusion. The Sheriff was just about to go out on patrol when he burst out of the room.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, and now I've found out where the thieves might be!" The Sheriff put on her hat and stretched.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get the Mayor and go to the edge of the place!"

The trio had all mounted horses and were following the map to the outskirts of town. According to the Detective, they would likely be hiding somewhere near the train station, since there weren't many patrols out there.

As they made their way to this spot, his suspicions were confirmed. The outlaws were just coming out of their tent for the morning. They were moving slowly until they caught sight of the authorities quickly approaching. Alfred grabbed the bag and made a break for it. Michelle nearly slipped, trying to keep up with him as they ran through the sandy dirt.

The Detective raced forward on his horse while the Sheriff quickly dismounted to continue the pursuit on foot. Michelle started throwing sticks at Arthur and the Sheriff, but they were able to either dodge or deflect the attack. They were no longer afraid.

The Sheriff made a grab for Michelle and managed to catch her. Alfred hesitated for a second before going to help his sister. As the outlaws struggled with the Sheriff, the Detective found an opening to grab Alfred by the collar of his shirt and lift him up onto the horse in front of him.

Michelle broke from the older female's grasp to try and snatch the bag from Alfred's hands. The Detective was pulling it away from her at the same time, and the bag ripped. Instead of money flying over the place, books tumbled out of the sack. The Mayor finally caught up to the scene and looked at them, dumbfounded.

"Those are my books." Some jackets and shoes fell out as well. "And my clothes!" The Mayor looked at the Detective.

"Well then if your stuff is in the money bag, then that means--"

"We have to check the Sheriff's house." With the criminals in tow, they headed back to the house in the town.

They found the Detective's suitcases in the Sheriff's room, oddly enough. She seemed overly cautious about the things in her room, especially those bags. When the Detective finally opened the bags, everything became clear in his mind.

"So you just got here on the midnight train?" How did she know that?

"We were good friends, too." A motive.

"To the edge of the place!" He never told her where the outlaws were hiding. That could only mean--

"Come on, go, go, go!" As the Detective came to his conclusion, the Sheriff was untying the outlaws and ushering them out of the house.

"She's a traitor, get her!" the Mayor yelled. He was too late. The three criminals had snatched the money and were getting away. Without a Sheriff to catch them, they really could escape town.

The Outlaw (Y/n) and her partners, Michelle and Alfred, laughed like hyenas as they took off into the sunset.

A few hours later, they were a safe distance from the town that they just robbed blind. (Y/n) set up the tent while Alfred got to heating up the can of beans. Michelle got the bread and some plates, and everyone sat down to have some beans and toast around the campfire.

"We've got money, we've got beans, what could be better?" asked Michelle.

"Well, we've got each other," said (Y/n) with a smile.

***

"That game was so fun!" shouted Alfred, turning on the lantern in the tent. Arthur and Matthew returned to the tent and sat down.

"That plot twist really got me," Arthur admitted.

"I didn't know cowboys ate beans on toast," said Michelle. You shrugged.

"I heard it on an episode of Peppa Pig." The others laughed and continued eating.

Little did you know, Arthur was planning something other than a game at the park tomorrow.