...Back at Marian! (End)

Forget rules of engagement! This mad cat started it! With a grunt, she threw the bundle back, returning to sender. It sailed through the air, before it landed in a wide-eyed Marian’s grasp.

“Whoa! Hot potato!” She grabbed it, bouncing it in her grasp a bit, before throwing it right back!

Tex gasped, and reached out, catching it again, those fuses looking shorter than ever! Panicking, she hastily threw it back. “You’ve gone off the deep end!”

Marian gasped and grabbed it in one hand, passing it behind her back to her other hand and throwing it back. “No no, you keep it! I made it for you, after all.”

Tex grunted and reached for it again. “You’re the madwoman it belongs to!” She caught it, and-

BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

The time had run out on their little game. And Tex had lost. Marian covered her eyes as a white-hot blast rocked the canyon, followed by a plume of smoke. Once it cleared, all that was left was a crater and a pitch-black sheriff, with only the whites of her blinking eyes contrasting the rest of her.

Marian laughed heartily at the sight. “Sorry, sheriff. But you can’t beat me at my own game. Better luck next time.”

Tex’s only response was a cough, before she crumbled to charcoal. With her pursuer thoroughly barbecued, the no-good scoundrel got back to work. She had a train to rob, after all.

When one plays with fire, they’ll likely get burned. And don’t even start on playing with explosives…