It was past nine in the morning and the sun was almost at its peak. The long quiet streets gradually changed into a bustling edge as people, young and old, slowly crowded the placid spaces. Bakers opened the windows of their sweet-smelling pastry shops, dealers and merchants started displaying their goods, while the rest were customers who came for the morning rush with their children. Horses soon walked along the isles, pulling carriages where their masters sat in front, and passengers stayed inside the vehicle waiting to reach their destinations. The roads of Sendsand Town were later filled with a crowd—and when seen in aerial view they appeared like ants scattering in search of food.
Moving against the crowd was a blue-haired lady who stood differently among the rest of the women in town. She wore a sleeveless blouse and a pair of dark-colored jeans instead of a descent silk dress. She walked in leather boots that matched those of a wild horseman’s shoe in a rodeo competition. She appeared malicious with her way of dressing, but her charming green eyes and smile had invited people’s curious attention. Her tight clothing even revealed how slender her body was that she appeared like a stunning rose to the beholders—and little did they know that in some ways she was a very thorny blossom. Some townsmen knew her as Summers Shrewd.
Soon Summers Shrewd was found walking in at Good Mornin’ Saloon, a famous bar in Sendsand Town. As she pushed the swinging doors open, all the people inside the buvette turned their heads upon her—looking as if they’ve seen a naked woman. Ironically, the piano on the stage was continuously played by the musician, who knew nothing of what was going on. The music still filled the large room with a merry cowboy background.
Shortly, a spiky-haired lad followed. Despite his emerald eyes that equaled those of the strange Summers Shrewd, his eyes displayed a malignant look. His hair color almost matched his pale skin, and the excess was tied down like a tiny ponytail. From his appearance and height he seemed to be 14, and as though he was a younger brother of Summers Shrewd. But no, he was not really Summers’ sibling at all—he was in fact her only son.
As the two walked in, the people especially the men fixed their eyes on the woman’s face. Some of them stared at her buttocks and some—admittedly, ogled at her large fronts. Only then did they go back to their businesses when the light-blue haired lad next to the lady looked at them with hostile eyes.
Summers paused on a table next to the biggest window of the shop. From there, she could see the outside view of the busy and dusty town. She sat on that area, looking from afar as if she was waiting for someone. On the other hand the boy followed her to the table and called for a waiter.
“I’ll have a bottle of beer, please,” Summers ordered, staring at the menu while she bit her finger and her legs crossed.
“Make that two,” the boy added with a grin.
“No, the boy only gets coffee,” Summers favored the waiter and chuckled.
“What?” The teenager reacted.
“Tyler, you’ll just have coffee,” the woman told him.
The cerulean-haired just sighed. He couldn’t disobey his mother this time. After all—who pays the orders?
“That’s so unfair of you, mom,” he told her.
But he wasn’t mad—he was just a little frustrated. He often believed that whatever his mother does he should do, too—but as a result he was scolded for doing that, just like several years ago when he stole Summers’ handguns from her cabinet. The lady was and still, a good handler of guns, that’s why the child often imitated her. Tyler happily played with the weapons that day, shooting birds that chirped on a pine tree which stood next to their house. He was only seven back then and because he was careless, he dropped one of the guns that almost took his life. Luckily the guns had run out of bullets before it fell to the ground. And what was his reward after that? A loud heavy spank on the ass!
“Tyler, you can have beer as long as you want—when you’re old enough,”
“Well, you don’t look old enough to me, either.” The boy joked sarcastically.
The woman laughed and thought that he was flattering her. And the way the kid told that to her sounded like one of Accel’s sweet-talks. She then remembered those memories she and Accel had before. But that was a long time ago until the Great War began. And no, Accel didn’t die—he and Summers were only separated by that war—and the man was left with their daughter Shannen, Tyler’s only sister.
“You okay?” the youngster asked, seeing the lady with a blank face.
“Oh…nothing!” Summers answered, ceasing her daydreams. “You just reminded me of your father again…” she paused. “Aren’t you excited to meet him soon?”
The teenager only looked down.
“Well that’s what we came here for…after all those years…but I just don’t know what to tell him…” the boy said. “What does he look like, anyway?” he added softly.
Summers chuckled. “He looks exactly like you—except that his hair is blond…like your sister’s, Shannen.”
Tyler went to silence. For twelve long years he never imagined there would be another person living in his life other than his mother—not an idea how this blonde girl appeared to be, and what she sounds like. And thinking about it only gave him a headache.
Summers gently held the teenager’s hands and with a pat, she spoke, “Chill out, Hunter! I’m sure you’ll like them. I promise!”
