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Hot wind hit the cowboy’s face as he braced himself against the morning sunshine. It wasn’t yet noon, but the sun was already sending heat waves from the dust. He pulled his white bandana tighter over his mouth and nose. At the same time, he tipped the brim of his hat low. The wind and dust would not grime up his face, nor would anyone see it.
“Are you hot, princess?” He muttered to his horse, rubbing the mare’s neck. Her coat was dusty and coated with grime, despite the cowboy’s most earnest attempts to keep her clean on the journey. He squinted his eyes against the sun, making out the silhouettes of the buildings of Adderville, his destination, at long last.
He listened to the steady clop clop of his horse’s footsteps as they approached, his eyes peeled to take in the town. He passed a few houses where women were exchanging greetings and gossip. A few hushed whispers passed as they saw him, no doubt wondering who the newcomer was. he was soon riding into the center of the town, passing a saloon and some stores. A young boy who was handling a horse gave a nod to him, and he nodded back, riding up to him.
“Say son, where’s the sheriff’s office? I have some business with him.”
“Oh yes, sir. He’s right up that way,” he gestured past a tall tower to a low building with a swinging sign saying “Sheriff”.
“Thanks son,” the cowboy said, already riding on.
“Wait sir, what’s your name?” The young man called back, curiosity twinkling in his eye at the newcomer.
“Folks like to call me the White Knight, but I don’t care much for proper names.” Before the boy could say anything he swung himself off his horse and strutted proudly to the Sheriff’s office, tying his mare outside while he stepped into the cool shelter of the building.
“Sir Sheriff, I’ve arrived in town just now.”
The sheriff, a plump man, about middle aged, rose to his feet. He was taller than the White Knight, but the cowboy didn’t let himself seem small.
“Yes, I’m Sheriff Grimm. I’m told you’re known where you come from for dealing with… odd and unusual terrors.”
The White Knight nodded, “I may be a simple cowboy, but I can deal with a man as well as a bull.”
“So you’ll help?” The sheriff reached to his desk, pulling out a small tin box. “I promised a reward.”
The cowboy dipped his head, “I don’t do it for the reward, but I do appreciate all the good fortune that it brings me.”
“Well then what do you do it for?” Sheriff Grimm went back to his desk, sorting papers as he listened.
“I love to see the world, and to help others. I know my place as a daring White Knight, it is simply what I feel I am meant to do.”
“Why don’t you have a seat? I can have my assistant make us some coffee if you like, while I tell you all about our little issue.”
The White Knight nodded, sitting in a wooden chair across the desk from where the Sheriff took his seat. A young woman leaned into the room from furthur into the office, and he gestured to an empty mug on his desk. “Get a coffee for him, won’t you please?” She nodded, taking the mug and disappearing through that same door.
Once she was gone, Sheriff Grimm leaned over the desk, his expression grave. “I don’t know how much you remember from my letter, but it all started a few months ago… almost a year by now.
“She was spotted one night, a red hood hiding her quite well, and one of the residents thought it was quite odd. They planned to tell me in the morning, but when the town awoke, we were missing a few horses.
“That, in itself wasn’t so odd. We’ve had bandits before and we will have bandits again. I sent out a few men to look for her and the stolen horses, but they didn’t find anything. Except that… Well a few weeks after that farmers noticed their cattle disappearing, much more than they were used to. It’s not all the time mind you, every few weeks about. Once a month says one of the cowboys. We have coyotes and nuisances like that often enough but well… it wasn’t long before we realized this was a wolf pack.
“We had people set watches, but they went to a different farm every time. The strangest thing was that alongside the wolf tracks were horse tracks. Just one single horse, it seemed. Eventually we spotted them on their hunt and—the girl in the red hood was leading them!”
The White Knight’s eyes widened in shock, “Really?”
The Sheriff nodded grimly. “We tried to send someone to shoot them out but in the morning—oh it’s awful just to think about—we only found his mangled body, attacked by the wolves. But wolves on their own don’t do this, we know that she was leading them, there’s no other way. I’m a fairly reasonable man but that is a witch if I ever saw one.”
The White Knight thought, turning over the mans words in his mind. “Well sir, if it’s a witch, I know what to do. If it’s something else… well, you can count on me to deal with this. We should move the cattle all together, so I can catch her. I’ll chase her out, don’t worry.”
The Sheriff dipped his head, “I’ve heard plenty to know you’ll deliver. Would you like to stay for coffee? I can tell you about anything else I remember.”
The cowboy blinked, already rising from his seat. “That’s a nice offer, but I want to start work as soon as possible.”
The Sheriff smiled warmly and stood to meet the cowboy. “Thank you,” he said, “Go to the inn, it’s just across from here, and tell them who you are. I’ll gather the cowfolk and we’ll get ready to move the cattle, I know where we can put them for tonight.”
The sounds of the night rang through the air as the White Knight shifted in his hiding place. The past nine nights, all had been peaceful, but something about this night seemed different. Frosty, in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature. Moonlight bathed the field in silvery, shimmering light. According to the ranchers, the last attack was about a month ago, so if the White Knight’s hunch was correct, this would be the night they next come.
He almost wished he’d asked someone to come with him. Wild animals were dangerous, they don’t know when you want to hurt them and when you mean no harm. Still so, the thought of the girl sent shivers down his spine—if she was what the town talked her up to be, of course.
His whole body stiffened when he heard the distant, but unmistakable sound of a wolf howl. Only a moment later more howls rose, as if in harmony, and he could hear the sound growing louder. He grabbed his weapon, a silver chain, and braced himself.
As he expected, the pack came tearing from the distance, their teeth thrashing with excitement and hunger. He expected they ate well on these days, and they weren’t going to give that up without a fight.
The sight of the wolves tearing across the grass was terrifying, but they didn’t matter if the cowboy could get to the girl. He thanked the heavens for the silver light that illuminated everything, and he opened his eyes wide to search for the girl.
The thundering of hooves made it easy to find her. A red cape billowed behind her as she rode in on a rowan steed. He couldn’t make out the details of her face, but he guessed she was wearing a mask, like his own.
The wolves cleared the fence in one leap, but even as they were inside the pen, they held back from the cattle, and the cowboy could see why. All their eyes were trained on the girl as she followed quickly behind, clearing the fence on her steed. They were looking expectantly for orders.
The girl was ready, letting out a mighty howl, identical to the wolves. With a flash, the pack tore after the cattle, joining together to bring down a mighty cow. The White Knight knew he couldn’t hesitate. While the wolves were distracted, he narrowed his eyes to the girl, who was holding back with her horse.
With a deep breath, he leapt forward, ramming his body into the legs of the horse. With a great whinny, the beast felt to the ground, sending the girl into the dirt. He shoved his hand over her mouth and quickly chained her limbs to her side. He didn’t have much time, the wolves began to turn, snarling as they realized their leader was being controlled by an unfamiliar human.
The cowboy leaned forward, whispering gently, “Listen to me, please.”
With a gloved hand he reached for her hood, and stared into her wide, fearful eyes. He knew that expression, and tried to make his eyes seem kind, and understanding. He gripped the rim of her hood and gently pulled back, and pulled the mask off to reveal her face, bathed in brilliant moonlight.
“I just want to be very clear that if you did something unsavory to rid this town of our--”
The cowboy let out a hearty laugh, although it was muffled by his mask, his joy was intense, “Thank you Sheriff, but I promise you that I hurt no one, not the girl, not even a wolf.” He added with a more serious look, “Although, if they come back, I won’t show that mercy.”
The Sheriff nodded, “How’s your new herd coming along, are you excited to be moving to Adderville.”
“Yes but, I really should be going now, I’ve got something quite important to attend to at the ranch.”
“Of course, I’ll see you around, White Knight.”
The cowboy paused, “If you would like, Sheriff, you can call me Mr. Darling. It is my name, after all.” The sheriff opened his mouth to respond, but Darling wasted no time hopping onto his steed and galloping off, excited to welcome a special guest to his new house.
When they arrived, he could see the muddy tracks indicating that their guest had been the first to arrive. He ran up the steps, rushing in the door, anticipation rushing through him.
“Hi Mr. Darling,” said the girl, her red hood fallen to her shoulders as she sat in the living room, which had only just begun to become unpacked.
“Miss Little Red,” he pulled off the mask, and set his hat on the rack. With a tug, he let his long hair become free of it’s tight constraints, and he slung his jacket onto the rack.
“Call me Cerise, Mr. Darling.”
Mr. Darling chuckled, “And you can call me Miss Darling,” she sat on the couch beside Cerise, eyes brimming with wonder. “Just Darling, actually.”
“The pack will be missing me if I’m gone too long,” Cerise looked away shyly.
“Well you can remind them that I’m the one giving them their meals,” she slipped her hand into Cerise’s and the two locked eyes.
“Thank you,” said Cerise, burying her head into her companion’s shoulder. They stayed like that for awhile, reveling in the rest of their lives.