Fantasy Painted Sky (Sleipnir)

[Hawke.]

Salt Lake City, July 1875"
The streets just outside of the city were filled with wagons, tired families and overburdened livestock all milled around their little camp. Reid Atwater had been with the wagon train since they left the rocky mountains, they were in poor shape then but they certainly weren't doing any better. Only two days ago they'd run out of food and had been forced to leave behind a large chunk of their personal belongings. The herd of cattle they had been keeping had been stolen, even as hard as they had fought to keep them, most of these people weren't exactly gunman.
Reid had heard from some of the travelers that they'd started out with over a hundred wagons, now whittled down to a meager twelve, along the way people left or stopped, some families had suffered such great misfortune that they had no choice but to end their journey west.
Their leader was a young, ambitious man from New York who went by Samuel Harding. He seemed to mean well from what Reid had seen, but he wasn't prepared to handle the trials that the wilderness would put him through. He came from money, he was honest about that much, and he hadn't expected it to be this difficult, or for this many people to have such an interest in going west with him. He'd hired guns and cattleman, who eventually parted once things started to go awry or the money ran out.

The people were unhappy, sick and tired and beaten down. Some of them wondered what the hell they'd gotten themselves into, they'd seen nothing but prairie and desert for weeks after leaving the mountains behind. Not exactly the promised land they had heard stories of. And now they'd been thrown off course.
Reid had ridden into town earlier that day, picking up bacon, potatoes, eggs, flour, sugar, milk and honey, and oats for the remaining animals. Borrowing some cookware from one of the families to put together the first halfway decent meal that the group had had in a while.
Sam was sitting nearby, brow furrowed as he looked over a map.
"Why don't you come sit down? fix a plate and have a decent meal, Sam." Reid called over to him, he looked up.
He was weary, dark circles under his eyes betrayed his exhaustion. "Yeah- yeah, sounds like a good idea."
"Seem like you're pretty lost in thought over there."
He seemed a bit dejected as he settled heavily on the dusty ground near Reid, "Yeah, just... hasn't gone to plan, y'know?"
Reid was quiet a moment. "Well, th-that's the nature of it, isn't it? didn't think it was gonna be easy did you?"
"...I figured it would be a little easier than this." Sam admitted quietly, eyes downcast. "Now I don't know what we're gonna do."
"...Well, si-since we're here... could start by tryin' to find some he- some hired guns, cowhands. S-supplies."
"The only problem with that is I don't have any money to offer."
"Well... Best find somethin' else."
They both stopped as movement caught their eye, headed towards the stockyard with a herd of cattle were a band of cowboys. They both stared as the cowboys shouted and pushed the cattle further into the city.
"....Are those-" Sam started, but didn't have to finish.
"They are. Same guys. Same cows."

 

[Sleipnir]

It was a different sort of misfortune that had driven Kid Cloud into Salt Lake City.
Misfortune -- or perhaps good luck, in the long run. He wasn't one to call heads or tails before the coin landed, and to call it bad luck now seemed awfully premature and terribly presumptuous. All he knew for sure was that he wasn't sure where he was going -- just that he was leaving where he started. It was a big world, and all he knew for sure was that he planned to get out of Utah.

After growing up in St. George and the little town of Grafton, then running off to run rampant beyond that, he was ready for a change of scenery. And, frankly, that couldn't have been a surprise -- he wasn't exactly what you'd consider a good little wife, and he'd only gotten worse after his husband killed the lover Judas actually chose.
Well... What could you do? Run off to terrorize southern Deseret for the rest of your days? Yeah, Judas supposed, maybe. But eventually it wore on him, and he just simply gave up. He had to find something else. But then, he couldn't find it til he made sure those warrants didn't find him first. That was an important bit. Getting out of Utah would be a good first step. He glanced off into the city and into the desert beyond. If anyone would survive it out there, it was Judas. But that was a little bit of a hard sell if anyone out here knew where he came from. So he'd just have to keep the parts about Abigail Blackham quiet.

So there Judas sat in a bar near the stockyard, watching cowboys push new cattle in. He took a drink of his bourbon and watched them, looking for brands from the distance. He had a lot of suspicions about those boys -- never seemed like they brought the same man's cattle in twice. What was it Tino had once said to him--? If he doesn't have a steady business partner, he is not a steady man. Well, these men didn't look too steady, and Judas couldn't question the wisdom of the dead. He set his glass down and cocked his head, watching them out the window. Sure seemed like a decent number of cattle, he thought. Hard muscles on 'em. Hard worked beasts. He couldn't help but wonder where they'd come from this time.

 

[Hawke.]

Henry snorted and lifted his head as Reid and Samuel jogged up to where they'd hitched the horses and mules beneath the shade of a scraggly cottonwood tree. The big, brown mule stood still as Reid swung himself up into the saddle. "Might want to sit this one out, Sam." Reid didn't want to seem like he was doubting the man's skill with a weapon, but he'd seen him fight. "Just hang back, th-the others need you."
Sam was already pulling himself up onto his little red mare. "If I stay behind it'll make me look worse than I already do." He said, tugging at the reins to get turned around. "If things get dangerous I'll get out of the way, I know guns aren't exactly my area of expertise, but maybe they can be reasoned with."
The two men started off, a few of the other members of their party were whispering nervously, likely wondering what the hell those two were thinking.


Reid's voice was booming, it carried like thunder through the street as he shouted down the cowboys with their stolen stock. Their leader looked over his shoulder, pointing with his chin to the stockyard, a silent signal to his boys to keep moving. "Didn't we send you two running last night? You ain't had enough?" The cattle rustler was a lean man, with shaggy red hair and a permanent grimace.
"We just wanna talk, we aren't here to fight!" Sam started, riding in front of Reid, casting a smile his way. "You won fair and square last night, with your fancy gun work. We wanna strike a deal. Get some of our cattle back."
Sam stopped, suddenly staring down the barrel of a gun. "I'll show you more of that if you don't stop followin' us, hear?"

 

[Sleipnir]

Cloud’s feet dropped off the seat next to him in a flash and he sat up when he heard the commotion: it was Reid’s voice that got to him first, loud and rolling across the open space outside. He stood up and took his bourbon with him out to stand on the porch. Judas cocked his head. The two men chasing the cowboys seemed amicable enough when they approached. Something about getting some of their cattle back.

Well, that sounded as good as evidence to Judas. Why would they need ‘em back, unless they were taken? No one sold a whole herd without being sure about it. That, combined with those inconsistent brands, well… that meant one thing.
Then the man pulled out a gun.
Judas perked up again with a frown, then turned to the other men behind him to mutter to them as he watched. “That can’t fly, right?” There were a few mumbles of uncertainty from the men behind him. They weren’t exactly friends, sure, but they were other rough, salty men of similar mind. Watching a bandit blow some stranger away on the street sounded like a bad time. After a moment of hesitation, Judas sighed and stepped down onto the porch to jump on Sundial’s back.

He didn’t want to cause a scene, really. But one was already being made, so what was he to do, except steal the show? A few men followed him as he adjusted his gun belt and checked his chambers. Supposed he just needed to set an example. He climbed up onto his horse, eyeing the cattle and glancing off at the other men following him before muttering a few things to them. Then he jogged Sundial out onto the scene, coming up behind the aggressor with a gun fixed on his head in a flash.

He cocked his head to one side with a disappointed frown. In the back of his mind, he was unsure how to handle the situation. Bullying the man with the gun felt natural, but with no gang except the other men who had seemed put off by the tension? It didn’t seem wise. So instead he asked himself, How would the marshal have done this? “Now, c’mon,” Judas began, polite as could be. He kept his gun trained on the stranger and trotted around into view. “You don’t really think you can pull that shit here, do you? Right here around Salt Lake City? We’ve still got laws, you know. I’m gonna need you to put that gun away, unless you think this whole mess is worth my retaliation for shooting a man unprovoked?” The way the words came out of his mouth surprised Judas, though he didn’t show it.

Sure, he’d put on his best Kit Chandler impression, but he hadn’t expected to sound quite so authoritative when he did it. He didn’t think he’d actually sound like a lawman. He leered at the man with the gun all the same. “Put it down; someone tell me what’s goin’ on here.”

 

[Hawke.]

Reid had a hand on his gun, pulling Henry alongside Sam's horse, the cattle rustler froze when he felt the muzzle of Cloud's gun against his head. He was quick to lower his gun, and even quicker to start throwing out accusations. "These bastards stole my boss' cattle, now they think they can bully me into giving them back!" He said, trying to reel his horse backwards to get Cloud in his sights. Behind them two of the other cowboys had stopped to watch, Reid noted that they were ready to draw if given the opportunity.
They'd already seen how they fight, they hadn't shown any aversion to fighting dirty.
"That ain't even close to the truth and you know it." Reid said, scowling at the man. "You attacked our wagons and rounded up all our cattle!"
"If anything he's the one that wants to cause trouble, see? making up false accusations, you know his kind ain't trustworthy!"

 

[Sleipnir]

Judas raised an eyebrow and glanced between the two, then looked over his shoulder at the men watching. He met the eye of each of them. From the look of it, he clearly knew the others might be trouble.

So he dropped the hammer with his finger hovering at the trigger guard. Whoever Judas was, he made no secret at all that he could be dangerous if he wanted to be, and wanted to be very clear he’d pull the trigger if he needed to. He kept it trained firmly on the man as he backed up. A gunfight wouldn’t be ideal of course. Not if he wanted out of Deseret. All the same, he wasn’t about to stand back while these men shot someone.

“His kind?” Judas echoed, leaning forward a little and raising his eyebrows. He tossed a short glance over his shoulder at Reid. His cheek bones, nose, and brow were all strikingly native. He couldn’t help but assume that was what the man was referring to, and part of him felt ready to shoot for that alone— even so, he reminded himself that he was trying not to escalate the situation. “The way I see it, none of this has shit to do with whose cattle they are. You got documentation for ‘em? I run cattle out here all the time. Let’s see, tell me whose brand they’ve got and I’ll take a look myself.”

 

[Hawke.]

Reid was silent, the insult bothered him but what was he supposed to do? fighting back would only make him seem worse, instead he kept his eyes trained on the two men further down the street, watching as they loaded their revolvers. He tensed.
Sam spoke up then, cutting off the cowboy before he could keep going. "They aren't branded, ma'am- I.... I don't have a brand, I admittedly don't know all that much about cattle handling myself I just-" Reid nudged him, and he swallowed his words. He talked too much sometimes, he knew. But that wasn't why Reid had nudged him.
The other man glared down the barrel of the gun, knowing he was backed into a corner here. "He can't even prove who owns 'em, who knows where he got them from?"

 

[Sleipnir]

Judas glanced again at the men down the street. He didn’t much care for the situation. He didn’t like any part of it: not the fact that the dumbass hadn’t even branded his cattle, not the fact that he knew his hostage was a thief but he couldn’t prove it, not the men loading their guns.

He couldn’t have possibly stood by, though, and he couldn’t help that his first instinct was to draw. He’d have to work on that.

“Well, no. Reckon if he ain’t the hottest brand if he don’t use one. But if they aren’t branded, well… you can’t exactly prove your own claim, either, can you? I suppose that’d be a matter for the city sheriff to come sort out. Surely if you’re good, honest cowboys who don’t ever bring stolen cattle in, he won’t recognize you as rustlers, right?” There may have been a threat there. A challenge, even, for the man to stick around and face the law that would no doubt be along shortly, seeing as a standoff was in progress.

His eyes shifted to the other men on that thought and he hummed. “You mind havin your boys there put their guns up?” Judas asked politely. Then his eyes jumped back to the man with a somewhat wicked grin. “I’m a little nervous that I might startle if they try to move too fast, and the trigger on this old thing is terribly sensitive. Wouldn’t want something to go awry.”

It wasn’t exactly subtle, no. He knew that. But drawing attention to the fact that he was certain to shoot the man should they draw on him seemed worthwhile. The question was buried right there in the threat: it’s not really worth dying for, is it?

 

[Hawke.]

The nameless cowboy's face twitched in annoyance. He could try and fight it, he could tell him to get the sheriff involved and try and fight them on it, he knew Cloud's words were not empty. He shoved his revolver back into its holster. "Ain't worth my time, you want your cows back? go get 'em. I got other things to do."
He whistled to his partners, calling them off the herd of cows, they seemed a bit confused. Maybe they'd hoped for a fight.
The head of the group shoved Reid as he passed, "Don't think we'll forget about this though."

Sam was already pulling his mare alongside Sundial when Reid looked back, the younger man seemed in far better spirits than he had the past few days. "Thank you so much, ma'am, you have no idea what we've been through these past few days- Suppose we could talk while we get these cows rounded up though, couldn't we?" He seemed to be putting on some sort of southern accent, though maybe it wasn't entirely intentional. He mostly just seemed excited to have his cows back.
Reid was already headed towards the herd, moving towards the front and whistling at them to get them turned around, which was a bit of a challenge in the middle of the street.
"I'm Samuel Harding, and that fine cowboy there is Reid Atwater, he joined us not terribly long ago and has been a great asset. Admittedly, though, we aren't in very good shape, and haven't been in a while- Those men attacked us only a couple of days ago."

 

[Sleipnir]

Judas kept his gun out as he watched the strangers go. Trouble, those types. He wondered if there was anything to that threat— the idea that they wouldn’t forget that he interrupted their rustling operation.

His thoughts were pulled away, though, when Samuel Harding approached and introduced himself. Ma’am again. Sure didn’t seem like Cloud could sneak by well enough for him to mistake him for a young man. Maybe it was the cut of his vest? His hair was getting long again? Could’ve just been his voice, too, though.

It didn’t matter too much. Cloud was a girl, too, after all, so she saw no point in arguing the point. No one really called her ma’am anyway— and she had to admit it was a strange new feeling to be addressed so politely. So she flicked the brim of her hat in greeting with another crooked grin. She didn’t know where these folks came from, but it sure seemed like it hadn’t been Utah. Not Harding, at least. Maybe they wouldn’t know who Judas Cloud was. It seemed a little risky to find out, though. “Cloud,” she replied. “That’s my name, as far as y’all need to know. I’ve got no qualms helpin’ you and Mr. Atwater over there out, rounding these girls back up, gettin’ ‘em back where they belong. I dunno what you’ve gotten yourselves into, and I’m sorry to hear you’ve had troubles, but you might do a little better if you keep a few more guns on you and mark your animals. You’re lucky I knew those boys were bad news— and that you’d make terrible cattle rustlers.” She shot them both an amused grin.

She kissed at Sundial and turned the horse to start herding the cows up. In turn Sundial started doing his job so readily that she barely had to do anything besides tell him what direction she wanted the cattle to go. The horse perked up as if he’d been asked a test question about his favorite subject. Cloud lifted her head again to look between the two men. “I’ll help you get these girls back to your herd, or ranch, or… whatever it is you’ve got goin’ on. But I intend to meet someone here this afternoon and start heading out of Deseret, so I won’t be able to stick around too long.”

 

[Hawke.]

"We appreciate it, it's mighty kind of you, miss Cloud." Sam said, following right alongside Judas. The name made Reid look up, he recognized it, and now that he had a better look, he sure fit the description. But he was alone, his posse didn't seem to be around.
He kept a close eye on them as he rode behind, making sure there weren't any stragglers. "We're actually headed out of salt lake ourselves, going up north to Oregon. I was planning on finding a few people, if you happen to know anybody looking for a job."
The wagons weren't too long of a walk, though it was a bit slower moving with the cattle. It must have seemed a miracle though as they drove the cattle back to their group. "I don't have much to offer you for payment, but mister Atwater here cooked us a meal, and I'm sure there's something left over if you'd like that, or- or maybe some coffee, or tea?"

 

[Sleipnir]

“North to Oregon?” Judas turned to Sam and raised an eyebrow. He missed the way Reid looked at him, as if he might recognize The Kid. He glanced past Samuel when he talked and nodded slowly. North to Oregon, huh? That sounded mighty promising. It sounded like a pretty easy way out as far was he was concerned.

He jumped down off Sundial’s back as they rode up to the caravan. He lay the horse on the shoulder and left the cattle to the others to care for. He’d done his promised share and truly, he had no obligations to these people. Even so, they were mighty polite and the idea of taking a caravan out was appealing. Especially when they clearly needed his expertise.

Judas turned and shook his head at the offer of tea or coffee. “Oh, no. Neither of those,” he insisted quickly. “The good, though— I’ll gladly take some food.”

 

[Hawke.]

"There's plenty to go around, just help yourself." Sam smiled at her, there were curious looks being thrown their way as the three rode back into camp together. Most of the people there seemed young, their wagons filled with everything they'd ever owned, Reid had tried to convince them to at least drop some of it to take the weight off their mules and oxen. But they weren't willing to part with their things in most cases.
At least some of them were well off, many were foreign. Some hardly spoke english.
A plate was promptly fixed for Judas and handed off to him by Sam, while Reid and a few others fed and watered the cattle. There was an air of unease, these people weren't confident in their leader, who held their collective fate in his hands.

Reid joined them after a while, sitting on a crate on the other side of their fire pit, "...If you know of anyone who's willing to come with us we'd appreciate it, these people need food and supplies too though." He turned to Sam, then, "Think I'll take a few of these men out and see if we can find some work. We shouldn't stay more than a couple more days, not with those rustlers around, they already know we've got far more than cattle to steal."
Sam nodded, "We could probably use a newer map too, maybe find out if there are any outposts on our way up."

 

[Sleipnir]

With all Reid had to say, it sure sounded like this little caravan of Sam’s really didn’t have the resources it needed to get where they were going. Looking around as he dug impolitely into his food, Judas could hear any number of languages— English, of course, but others too. Some Spanish, though the accent was different, and other languages Judas didn’t know. Several folks spoke a language that sounded familiar, perhaps from songs he’d heard and even sang himself in bars.

No evidence that any of them were very confident, though. Not in Sam, not in themselves. And to be so worried about those bandits… Judas turned his head to look at Reid, to actually look at him for the first time. He was handsome, Cloud thought, and certainly one of The People, though he couldn’t identify which group. His first thought was that perhaps Reid would be helping them when the caravan crossed parties of native folks— but he wasn’t Paiute, he wasn’t Apache, and he sure wasn’t Navajo. Aside from that, it seemed clear to him that no one here was ready for a fight.

They couldn’t protect themselves, and they were headed to Oregon, out of Deseret. That was promising, right there. “…You know,” he began slowly, cocking his head and glancing past Reid, “I said before I’m meeting a friend here in town. She and I planned to leave Deseret anyway. Didn’t really have a plan as to where we were headed. She and I can shoot pretty damn well, if you’re worried about needing help with bandits. And beyond that, I could take perfectly good care of these cows. Believe I even have some stock here locally I could sell off, unless you find yourselves in need of a few good horses and mules.”

He glanced at Samuel too. It was a bold thing. He wouldn’t blame them for being suspicious of the offer— trying to get out of town, and being so eager to join a bedraggled group like this one. “If she’s willing, too, I’ve no doubt the two of us could come in fairly handy. Could help keep this show together — and I do assure you, if you need a more impressive resume, I can list any number of things I can do to come in handy.”

 

[Hawke.]

Reid opened his mouth to respond, but was quickly cut off by Sam, who seemed far more delighted at the idea, “Oh, if you would that would be wonderful! We’ve got plenty of fine horses and mules, but you do what you will with your stock. We’d love to have you along for the journey!”
Reid was more skeptical, to say the least, he watched as Cloud dug into his food for a moment. Sam seemed happy with the arrangement, and Cloud had certainly been quick to jump in when there was trouble.
it seemed suspect to him that Judas and his friend were in such a hurry to leave that they’d pack up with the first wagon train they came across.

Almost seemed predatory to him. They saw that they were in trouble, they needed guns and supplies and here they were.
It seemed like either a blessing or some sort of scam that’d end up only hurting everyone else.
“…Maybe I’ll go with you to sell that stock too, if that’s what you do. Make sure everything goes smooth. Maybe come meet your friend too before you bring her in.”
He didn’t try to hide the suspicion in the look he gave Judas.
Sam spoke again, tone chiding, “I really don’t think you need to worry all that much about our new friend, here, Reid. She seems honest enough, without her we wouldn’t have gotten our cattle back!”
“I don’t need to be scolded, I’m just… bein’ cautious. Can’t blame me too much for it after everything that’s happened. I’m sure he aint gonna cause us any trouble, right?”

 

[Sleipnir]

Judas nodded along as Sam spoke. It was good to think he would be able to do what he wanted with the stock — he’d saved up quite a bit of money with skipping town in mind, so he wasn’t exactly hurting for cash. He’d had hauls tucked away in so many places that even if Cole had robbed him, he wouldn’t find it all — and, thank God, he hadn’t. He never really cared about that. So Judas didn’t have to worry. So there he sat, shoveling more food into his mouth, thinking. If he wasn’t so focused on the horses and mules, he might’ve even noticed that he was being impolite.

Pesdouro was in town. Such a good mule— the best pack animal Judas could hope for. If he brought three, he could carry his belongings and none would be overburdened or even have to carry things all the time… Pesdouro, Morning Glory, and Cou sounded like good choices, he thought. Those three, then Sundial, obviously, and perhaps Bolero… Though he had to question what that optic would be, him riding out with a little herd of his own.

He didn’t have to wonder long. He looked up when Reid spoke. He wanted to come along, did he? A faint grin tugged at his lips, but he offered no argument. How could he fight back in good faith, with every train heist, gunfight, and murder behind him? And if he got defensive, well… that would be worse. So when he tried to speak and Sam beat him to it, Judas only made a face and shrugged, his whole demeanor dripping with apathy.

He polished off the last of his meal and set his plate aside to listen to the back and forth, and shot Reid a radiant smile. He, that was the word he used. It always felt nice when Cloud had two people sitting in front of him, not quite sure enough to make a consensus. To be both in the same conversation… That felt like one hell of a compliment. “Looked more to me like you wouldn’t have kept your face if not for me,” Judas insisted, turning his head to look at Sam. “I think those men would’ve pulled the trigger. All that being said, though, we should take the presence of bad actors into consideration, don’t you think? I don’t blame your cowboy here for wanting to make sure I’m not one of ‘em. He can come along, I’ll introduce him to Elise. Just make sure your caravan here is good and safe, right?” He nodded, then glanced over at Reid again. “If you want, we can go soon. I’d hate to give those boys too much time to gather up a gang if they really mean it when they said they won’t forget about this.”

He leaned back on his hands and shot Reid another grin. “I appreciate you both for giving us the chance to ride out with y’all. I’ll do my best to make sure you don’t regret it.”

 

[Hawke.]

"Of course, we appreciate your services, I can already tell you'll make our lives so much easier!" Sam was beaming as he turned back to the caravan, heading towards some of the others to offer them the good news.
Reid watched him go, though he seemed less enthused, he wouldn't say it outright, not yet. Not when Cloud hadn't done anything *wrong* necessarily.
"We'll leave as soon as we can, soon as you're ready I suppose. I don't want to be gone too long, though. I'm not.... Entirely confident in these folks, if you get where I'm coming from. Surely you aren't dealing in stolen stock too, right?"

 

[Sleipnir]

Judas huffed and stood up, brushing his hands on his jeans with a shake of his head. "Am I dealing in stolen stock," he echoed ruefully. He took a moment to adjust his clothes, then stood up straight and turned to look at Reid. "Dealing in stolen stock? C'mon, now. Have a little faith in me. What kind of man steals someone's animals? I'd be in ruins if someone stole one of my horses from me. You can doubt me if you want, but I'm only tryin' to get out of Deseret. Me and my friend both. So I think I'd best go after her and my stock."

He brushed past Reid a little bit dismissively and turned to look back over his shoulder as he walked over to his horse. "If you're so worried, come on. You can meet Elise, and I'll introduce you to my stock. And I'll not cause one ounce of trouble. How's that?" He shot Reid a look. It bothered him just a bit. Kind of made him think perhaps Reid knew more than he was letting on -- and that made him somewhat nervous. But he couldn't exactly fight him on the matter or threaten him, so what was the point? If Judas Cloud was trying not to be an outlaw, after all, trying to harass and bully Reid would be an awful bad way to start.

 

[Hawke.]

"...I guess that's fair enough, can't blame me for being suspicious of a stranger." He said, shrugging and looking away towards where he had tied Henry. Cloud might not have been an entire stranger, no, but he wouldn't be shamed for being suspicious of him wanting to get away so quickly.
Henry stood quietly as Reid tightened his cinch again, checking his bridle before swinging himself up into his seat. Next to Sundial Henry seemed enormous, he was only a light draft, but tall and muscular, he had a number of scars across his shoulders and rump from years of mistreatment by his previous master. Reid would never even consider harming him an option. He was too good, and he'd worked too hard to earn his trust.

"So what do you trade in? cattle? sheep?" He asked, trying to ease the tension, which was not something he excelled at. He figured it was better than letting the silence persist, though.

 

[Sleipnir]

As Judas made his way over, he couldn’t help but note the scars across Henry’s speckled rump — and, admittedly, his gut reaction was a bad one. The flash of anger in him was a little hard to choke back, but he didn’t have a reason to believe any of it was Reid’s doing; especially not when there wasn’t a single fresh mark on the mule. He slowed as he passed the big beast, studying his face and marred knees as he went. Wherever it came from, it couldn’t have been an easy life. Part of him wanted to mention it. Maybe now wasn’t the time, though.

Instead, he resaddled Sundial and lifted himself back up onto the shining gold horse’s back. Judas gave him an affectionate pat on the shoulder and reined him back toward the road. He glanced over his shoulder when Reid spoke again. Something about his tone felt a little stiff, Judas thought. A little awkward. But then, it wasn’t his place to judge the man on his manner of socialization. So he just sighed and shrugged as they started down the road.

“Mostly, I handle horses,” Judas told him. “There’s some downright beautiful mustang herds southeast of the valley here. I like goin’ out and picking a few up to train. I’ll take Sundial out and go pick up some maverick cattle, too, when I come across ‘em on the range.” Judas leaned against the horse’s neck and reached up to rub his ears with a grin. Sundial didn’t even hesitate in his stride, as if Cloud’s harassing affection was normal as daylight to him. “He’s so good at herding ‘em. His last buddy was a cowboy, so… I figured it would be good not to let him get too out of practice, and the cattle make decent money.”