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Description

Jo had barely taken two steps into the house when the old wall phone began ringing. The morning had been packed to the brim with work already and it wasn't even lunchtime yet. She tossed her cowgirl hat on the counter as she lifted the phone off the receiver and greeted the caller with a sigh. Jed, who had a sixth sense for trouble, strolled in the kitchen right behind her and perched on a bar stool, fiddling with the discarded hat as he closely watched his sister's features change from skepticism to disbelief to excitement.

"Oh! Right now?" the middle Marshall child was saying to the other interlocutor.

"What's goin' on?" Jed hissed, unable to contain his curiosity anymore. He was only met with a wave of a hand as Jo turned her back to him for a tad bit more privacy.

"Yeah, we can come on out right now and look at her," Jo answered. "I'll take Jed with me," she added, looking over her shoulder to flash impatient Jed a quick smirk.

"Alrighty, see ya' in a bit. Goodbye."

Jo could feel her brother's eyes burning into her back as she hung up the phone. She took her sweet time, enjoying every second of it. Jo strutted over to the kitchen island, her work boots making a satisfying clack-thud with each step, and leaned on the counter so her and Jed were eye-to-eye.

"How'd you like to take a trip to Sally's?"

----

"So how long have you had her?"

"Someone had dumped her at the office Thursday with the note "didn't get along with husband". Isn't that just the shittiest thing? She has quite a bit of scarring and is thinner than she ought to be, but she checked out healthy otherwise, bless her heart," Sally Mendez, long-time vet of choice for Desperado Ranch, was saying as she led the two Marshall siblings across her property. "If we can get a little more weight on her and give her time for her scars to heal up, she'd be just as good as any other dog. I had to do some searching, but I got her records. She's pure-blood and has a good structure. Very sweet personality. Can't imagine why someone couldn't "get along" with her."

By this point the trio was standing before a small, outdoor kennel run. Inside it was a cattledog of ginger coloration. As the humans approached, the dog retreated to the far corner, attempting to make herself as small as possible. Jo and Jed exchanged a look of concern before Jo stepped forward to crouch by the fencing. The woman cooed to the small bitch, but she only wagged her tail slightly and whimpered softly in response. The red heeler's ears remained flat against her head and she licked her lips in fear, sticking to her chosen corner.

"She's not a fan of men," Sally explained gently. "Can't say I blame her," the woman finished, teasingly, shooting a look at Jed who raised his hands defensively. "She frightens pretty easily... certainly suffered some sort of abuse. Poor gal. I'd keep her if I could, but..."

"I'm gonna go in with her. Jed, step back," Jo stated as she carefully unlatched the gate. She moved slowly in order to appear non-threatening and crouched down again once inside. After a few moments of soft-spoken words of encouragement, the dog began to relax visibly. Jo produced a dog biscuit from her pocket and the deal was sealed. The heeler crawled, slowly at first and then all at once, towards Jo, who was resisting the urge to react excitedly in order to not frighten the animal. The dog looked over the lady with intelligent, kind eyes first before ever-so-gently sniffing and then accepting the treat. Jo couldn't help but smile at the tenderness and dared to place a soft hand on the dog's neck. Within minutes the red heeler was leaning against Jo, accepting all sorts of pats and scratches.

"Isn't she a sweetheart? Sally sung, having watched the whole ordeal take place from outside the enclosure.

Jed, too, was smiling.

----

Jo and Jed brought home the red heeler that very afternoon. She warmed up quickly to Jo, but was still quite suspicious of any men. The eldest Marshall sibling, Jackson, stopped and stared as he watched his two siblings carry a strange dog across their yard through the window, but decided not to waste his breath saying something. 'They do whatever they please anyways', he thought to himself with a snort. All the kids were eager to see the new "puppy", but Jo made herself quite clear that the cattle dog needed some time to settle in.

In the meanwhile, the Marshall siblings flipped through the records provided by their trusty veterinarian and found the dog to be registered under the name "Yellow Rose" and immediately took to calling the shy, little red-head, "Rosa". The staff made sure to give Rosa time to get use to her new surroundings before introducing her to the rest of the family. By the end of the second week, Rosa was getting more and more comfortable around Jed and the other male members of Desperado staff. Now it was time to introduce her to the rest of the pack.

Rosa was slowly made familiar with our two males, Tex and Tonka, with at first only being kenneled near them for short periods of time. Then the trio were brought into the same area, with the studs on leashes. The red heeler was shy at first in the presence of the two males, but the well-mannered boys, under close watch of the staff, welcomed her kindly and she warmed up to the point of being interested in the strange canines. Finally it was decided that they could be brought together without leashes. Tonka and Tex were lead to the area on leashes at first and Rosa trotted up to them on her own accord. Tonka, the more reliable of the two was unleashed first, who looked over Rosa with a serious expression, but otherwise did not make a move. Tex, impatient now seeing Tonka being freed, tugged at the leash to get closer to Rosa. The red heeler, startled by this sudden energetic outburst, begin to cower down, but surprisingly held her ground. Tex was commanded to sit as a correction and we waited until he had calmed before slipping the collar over his head. Rosa dared not look the boys in the eyes, licking her lips and tucking her tail so they would know she did not intend to be the boss. Easygoing, yet dominant Tonka, of course, had no concern about this. Being the boss was always his title.

Rosa gained courage once she realized the male cattledogs were not on the attack and within the hour all three were playing well with each other. The female remained a bit timid, but the progress that had been made in the past month was crystal clear. Not far from where the heelers played, the trio of Marshall siblings sat contently, carefully watching the scene. The ranch had expanded a lot in the past few months, but there was still a lot of work to be done and Desperado Ranch's expansion was far from over.

( 1229 words )

TKC Points earned for Tex AND Tonka: 24pts Total Each
- Socializing with Rosa (new dog from kennel) (+8xp)
- Socializing with Tonka (old dog from kennel) (+7xp)
- 1,229 words STORY XP (+9xp)

TKC Points earned for Rosa: 25pts Total
- Socializing with Tex (new dog from kennel) (+8xp)
- Socializing with Tonka (new dog from kennel) (+8xp)
- 1,229 words STORY XP (+9xp)

LARPG Points earned for Mariana, Astrid, Becca, Sin City, unnamed black calf: 8pts Total Each
- Fullbody (+5xp)
- BG Bonus (+3xp)

refs: {x} {x} {x}

Description

Jo had barely taken two steps into the house when the old wall phone began ringing. The morning had been packed to the brim with work already and it wasn't even lunchtime yet. She tossed her cowgirl hat on the counter as she lifted the phone off the receiver and greeted the caller with a sigh. Jed, who had a sixth sense for trouble, strolled in the kitchen right behind her and perched on a bar stool, fiddling with the discarded hat as he closely watched his sister's features change from skepticism to disbelief to excitement.

"Oh! Right now?" the middle Marshall child was saying to the other interlocutor.

"What's goin' on?" Jed hissed, unable to contain his curiosity anymore. He was only met with a wave of a hand as Jo turned her back to him for a tad bit more privacy.

"Yeah, we can come on out right now and look at her," Jo answered. "I'll take Jed with me," she added, looking over her shoulder to flash impatient Jed a quick smirk.

"Alrighty, see ya' in a bit. Goodbye."

Jo could feel her brother's eyes burning into her back as she hung up the phone. She took her sweet time, enjoying every second of it. Jo strutted over to the kitchen island, her work boots making a satisfying clack-thud with each step, and leaned on the counter so her and Jed were eye-to-eye.

"How'd you like to take a trip to Sally's?"

----

"So how long have you had her?"

"Someone had dumped her at the office Thursday with the note "didn't get along with husband". Isn't that just the shittiest thing? She has quite a bit of scarring and is thinner than she ought to be, but she checked out healthy otherwise, bless her heart," Sally Mendez, long-time vet of choice for Desperado Ranch, was saying as she led the two Marshall siblings across her property. "If we can get a little more weight on her and give her time for her scars to heal up, she'd be just as good as any other dog. I had to do some searching, but I got her records. She's pure-blood and has a good structure. Very sweet personality. Can't imagine why someone couldn't "get along" with her."

By this point the trio was standing before a small, outdoor kennel run. Inside it was a cattledog of ginger coloration. As the humans approached, the dog retreated to the far corner, attempting to make herself as small as possible. Jo and Jed exchanged a look of concern before Jo stepped forward to crouch by the fencing. The woman cooed to the small bitch, but she only wagged her tail slightly and whimpered softly in response. The red heeler's ears remained flat against her head and she licked her lips in fear, sticking to her chosen corner.

"She's not a fan of men," Sally explained gently. "Can't say I blame her," the woman finished, teasingly, shooting a look at Jed who raised his hands defensively. "She frightens pretty easily... certainly suffered some sort of abuse. Poor gal. I'd keep her if I could, but..."

"I'm gonna go in with her. Jed, step back," Jo stated as she carefully unlatched the gate. She moved slowly in order to appear non-threatening and crouched down again once inside. After a few moments of soft-spoken words of encouragement, the dog began to relax visibly. Jo produced a dog biscuit from her pocket and the deal was sealed. The heeler crawled, slowly at first and then all at once, towards Jo, who was resisting the urge to react excitedly in order to not frighten the animal. The dog looked over the lady with intelligent, kind eyes first before ever-so-gently sniffing and then accepting the treat. Jo couldn't help but smile at the tenderness and dared to place a soft hand on the dog's neck. Within minutes the red heeler was leaning against Jo, accepting all sorts of pats and scratches.

"Isn't she a sweetheart? Sally sung, having watched the whole ordeal take place from outside the enclosure.

Jed, too, was smiling.

----

Jo and Jed brought home the red heeler that very afternoon. She warmed up quickly to Jo, but was still quite suspicious of any men. The eldest Marshall sibling, Jackson, stopped and stared as he watched his two siblings carry a strange dog across their yard through the window, but decided not to waste his breath saying something. 'They do whatever they please anyways', he thought to himself with a snort. All the kids were eager to see the new "puppy", but Jo made herself quite clear that the cattle dog needed some time to settle in.

In the meanwhile, the Marshall siblings flipped through the records provided by their trusty veterinarian and found the dog to be registered under the name "Yellow Rose" and immediately took to calling the shy, little red-head, "Rosa". The staff made sure to give Rosa time to get use to her new surroundings before introducing her to the rest of the family. By the end of the second week, Rosa was getting more and more comfortable around Jed and the other male members of Desperado staff. Now it was time to introduce her to the rest of the pack.

Rosa was slowly made familiar with our two males, Tex and Tonka, with at first only being kenneled near them for short periods of time. Then the trio were brought into the same area, with the studs on leashes. The red heeler was shy at first in the presence of the two males, but the well-mannered boys, under close watch of the staff, welcomed her kindly and she warmed up to the point of being interested in the strange canines. Finally it was decided that they could be brought together without leashes. Tonka and Tex were lead to the area on leashes at first and Rosa trotted up to them on her own accord. Tonka, the more reliable of the two was unleashed first, who looked over Rosa with a serious expression, but otherwise did not make a move. Tex, impatient now seeing Tonka being freed, tugged at the leash to get closer to Rosa. The red heeler, startled by this sudden energetic outburst, begin to cower down, but surprisingly held her ground. Tex was commanded to sit as a correction and we waited until he had calmed before slipping the collar over his head. Rosa dared not look the boys in the eyes, licking her lips and tucking her tail so they would know she did not intend to be the boss. Easygoing, yet dominant Tonka, of course, had no concern about this. Being the boss was always his title.

Rosa gained courage once she realized the male cattledogs were not on the attack and within the hour all three were playing well with each other. The female remained a bit timid, but the progress that had been made in the past month was crystal clear. Not far from where the heelers played, the trio of Marshall siblings sat contently, carefully watching the scene. The ranch had expanded a lot in the past few months, but there was still a lot of work to be done and Desperado Ranch's expansion was far from over.

( 1229 words )

TKC Points earned for Tex AND Tonka: 24pts Total Each
- Socializing with Rosa (new dog from kennel) (+8xp)
- Socializing with Tonka (old dog from kennel) (+7xp)
- 1,229 words STORY XP (+9xp)

TKC Points earned for Rosa: 25pts Total
- Socializing with Tex (new dog from kennel) (+8xp)
- Socializing with Tonka (new dog from kennel) (+8xp)
- 1,229 words STORY XP (+9xp)

LARPG Points earned for Mariana, Astrid, Becca, Sin City, unnamed black calf: 8pts Total Each
- Fullbody (+5xp)
- BG Bonus (+3xp)

refs: {x} {x} {x}