Welcome one and all to the second chapter of Wild Wild Creek. Most of what I have to say will be saved for the end notes, so until then, enjoy!

As the gang heard all the scattered chattering of the kids around them, Kelsey decided on doing something about finding out the identity of this new kid and answer the children's questions.

"Craig, you should ask him who he is," She said in a whisper.

"What? Why me?" Craig whispered in slight panic, looking to the short, sword-wielding adventurer.

"Well someone has to do it, and you always seem to be the person to incite these kinds of things, so it makes sense," Kelsey shrugged.

"Yeah, I mean you are the main character," JP said.

"What?" Craig and Kelsey asked.

"Huh?" JP asked back, as if he was confused by his own words as they were.

"Just go ask him who he is already!" Kelsey whispered harshly, pushing her friend towards the cowboy at the counter.

Craig gulped and he walks forward slowly to the western-themed boy. Thoughts of what to say ran through his head, they, of course, are all normal questions, it was just a matter of how to ask them without being nervous or sounding stupid.

When he finally made it to the boy, he just quickly blurted out, "Howdy!" before internally face-palming at his own nervous stupidity.

The boy placed down his juice box before slowly turning around to look at the boy behind him, his steely gaze inspecting the nervous Craig as the young Williams boy felt as though he was about to pass out from fear due to how scary this kid before him was.

That all changed when the kid gave a warm smile and his eyes softened as he moved his right arm out from his poncho and presented his hand.

"Well hey howdy hey to you too, partner," He said in a welcoming tone, his voice holding a form of Southern accent that was a bit like JP's, but a bit more refined-sounding.

Seeing his hand out, Craig took the invitation and shook the boy's hand.

Upon seeing that the boy was actually quite friendly, the kids around the Trading Tree moved a bit closer to meet the new kid.

"It's nice to meet you. It's not often we get new kids at The Creek," Craig said with a small smile as the two boys took their hands back, "I'm Craig, by the way."

"Nice to meet ya, partner. Name's Marston. Clint Marston," The cowboy kid now known as Clint said as he removed his hat, revealing his chestnut brown, neck-length hair to the people around as he put his stetson to his chest and gave a small bow of greeting, some of the kids whispering small comments on his politeness.

"Nice to meet you, Clint," Craig said as his friends came up from behind him, "These two are my friends, Kelsey and JP," He introduced before Mortimer gave a small tweet from atop Kelsey's noggin.

"Oh, and this is Kelsey's trusty pet bird, Mortimer," Craig said, quickly correcting his introduction.

"Nice to meet ya," JP said, rolling up his sleeve to shake Clint's hand.

"Pleasure's all mine," Clint said before tipping his hat to Kelsey, "Nice to meet you too, madam."

'Madam? Kelsey was never referred to in such a way. True, she was female, but never had she been called something so formal. Her exploits always had her being referred to by her given and nicknames by her friends and less than savory names by her enemies…' Kelsey said within her mind novel, looking off into the distance as Clint simply stood there, wondering why she had yet to respond.

"... Is she okay?" He asked the others.

"Oh, she's just doing an inner monologue. You get used to it," Craig said, waving it off as if it were normal.

Seeming to accept the answer without much question, Clint nodded his head and returned his attention to Craig.

"You know, y'all are the first kids I've had the honor of properly introducing myself to. I guess the whole getup is a little off puttin', huh?" He said with a scratch on the back of his head and a nervous chuckle.

"Are you kidding? You look awesome! Like an actual cowboy straight out of the movies!" Craig exclaimed with stars in his eyes.

"Shucks, thanks partner. But whatcha mean 'like'? I am a cowboy! Born and raised out west all my life!" He said as he dramatically threw the front of his poncho over his left shoulder, revealing that underneath was a long, curled up rope and holster holding a silver-colored revolver pistol with a neon orange muzzle, signifying it was fake.

Quick as a flash, Clint drew his pistol from its holster and expertly twirled it around his index finger as he threw his now empty juice box into the air before aiming up and fired three rapid shots at the cardboard target, keeping it airborne for a couple extra seconds before it fell to the ground at Craig and the gang's feet. Hesitating a moment, Craig went to pick it up and found three still wet paint splotches across the front, back, and side of the juice box.

"Three shots," Clint said as he unwrapped a lollipop and popped into his mouth, "Three hits," he finished coolly.

The kids around the area were awestruck at his show of skill and marksmanship before an eruption of cheers exploded around them.

"I haven't seen marksmanship like that since before Corporal Jimmy moved away!" Paintball Mike exclaimed, fondly remembering the young sniper.

"He's just like Spike Spiegel!" One of Ninja Kids said.

"He has the build of a plow horse, but the charm of a race horse," Mackenzie whispered almost dreamily before shaking her head and snapping herself out of her stupor.

"There ain't much to it. All you gotta do is know where the target's gonna be at, keep a steady aim, and squeeze the trigger," Clint said, taking his lollipop out of his mouth.

Slowly, more and more kids began to praise and gather around the young cowboy. Much like how the miners of old would get excited by the appearance of gold or silver, the children of the Creek watched the young cowboy with excitement.

"Wow, he really got popular fast," JP said with a whistle.

"Yeah, I had no idea gunslingers were so popular. I always preferred the honor and fire of the life of the sword," Kelsey said, giving her sword a small twirl before planting it on the ground like a cane.

"Maybe Clint will be a good influence on the creek. He seems like a really nice," Craig said before glancing at his map of the creek.

All would think that the actions of the new kid in the creek would not bring about any problems. Sadly, like in any old cowboy film, trouble wasn't far behind for the heroes of the story.

I apologize deeply for the delay that this chapter took. Writer's block and life got in the way. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and hope to see you all again soon.