Rivercrest Herself!

This problem had to be nipped in the bud right away. And the only way to do that was to confront Rivercrest directly! Texas stomped back into the Sheriff's office, grabbed her gun, and called out to April, "c'mon. We're gonna go pay Miss Gildegarden a visit." April hadn’t been at one hundred percent since that day, but Texas needed all the help she could get right now.

Oddly enough though, the usually unfocused deputy practically jumped out of her seat at the mention of Rivercrest’s name. That...probably wasn’t a good sign, but Texas could trust April...right? “Sure thing, Texas! Been thinking about when we might see her again almost as much as you have!”

Texas would have corrected April...but honestly, she was right. Finding a way to stop whatever it was Rivercrest was doing had been one of the only things on her mind for ages now. She wouldn’t wait around any longer though! After doing a quick check to make sure her revolver was fully loaded, darn thing almost seemed to empty itself sometimes, Texas set out along the dirt roads of Gold Springs off towards the very out of place manor that now towered over every building other than the factory. The closer she got, the more she realized just how impossibly wealthy her newest foe was. Inside the iron fencing that surrounded her property, she had a full on living lawn and garden! Trees, vibrant flowers, hedges trimmed in Rivercrest’s likeness...how much water and dirt did she waste maintaining this thing? Or...rather, how much water and dirt did she waste in making these gardeners maintain this thing? She had basically built her own personal oasis out here! Texas was so astonished by what she was seeing, that she nearly bumped right into the guards at the front gate! However, she was brought out of her own thoughts by the barrel of a rifle that was poking right between her eyes!

At the other end of the rifle barrel was a hyena man in a uniform, and next to him stood a wolf lady who had her own gun trained on April! The hyena spoke in a low, gruff voice, “this is private property. Unless you want whatever passes for a doctor in this shithole to be picking bits of lead and brass out of your skull, fuck off.”

Well. He was a charming fella, wasn’t he? Luckily, before the situation escalated any further, the wolf lady’s eyes widened, and she put a hand on the hyena’s shoulder. “Hey, let them in. That’s the sheriff. Boss is expecting her.”

“What? You expect me to let this bumpkin bitch into the boss lady’s house?” The hyena snarled back.

“Yes. Unless YOU want to be the one to tell her why the guest she was expecting didn’t show up today. If she acts up, I’ll personally give her a whiff of my socks. How’s that sound?”

Texas saw a visible shudder from the hyena. Whether that was because of the thought of angering Rivercrest or the sock thing, she didn’t know. Either way, the two guards stood back and let Texas and April pass through the gate.

Now that she could see the yard up close, Texas was even more baffled by how much this whole thing probably cost. Though now Texas could better see the manor itself, and the structure was not to be outdone by the yard around it! Four stories tall, the manor dwarfed every other home in Gold Springs. Far as she could tell, half the darn thing probably went unused given that Rivercrest was just one woman. The outside was a gaudy pink with golden window and door frames. One would almost think that Rivercrest made the outside of the mansion this gaudy on purpose, just to flaunt how rich she was by saying, “I can build a mansion and not even care if it looks nice!”

Gardeners and other staff scattered as Texas and April walked down the cobblestone path that had been laid out. The ornately carved door at the end of said path had a knocker on it that also looked to be gold! As Texas knocked on the thing, the sound echoed through the mansion behind the door. Before long, the door was opened by a slender male raccoon in...a maid outfit? Even stranger though were the swirls in his eyes! Rivercrest’s doing, clearly.

“Oh! You must be the guests Mistress Gildegarden is expecting! She is in her room upstairs. I shall bring you to her. She is ever so eager to see you both again!” The Raccoon exclaimed excitedly with a curtsy. She stepped aside so the two law-ladies could enter, and Texas was treated to the sight of paintings, statues, ornate vases, plush furniture, golden chandeliers and candle holders, and lamps with a beautiful sort of golden vine pattern crawling up the glass. Thankfully, no weird light-up glass ball things. Texas’ jaw dropped at seeing this beacon of decadence, and also at the centerpiece statue in the sitting room which very brazenly depicted Rivercrest smothering two other people beneath that huge ass of hers! Maids dithered about, cleaning and straightening all the decorations, keeping the lamps fueled, and straightening anything even a hair out of place. They were pretty darn good at their jobs too, given that the house only slightly stunk of Rivercrest’s revolting butt. Texas didn’t get to see too much of Rivercrest’s home though as she and April were quickly led up to the third floor where the rich fox’s bedroom was. Unlike the rest of the house though, Texas could see a foul cloud around the base of the door. Guess as good as these maids were, they couldn’t decontaminate a room with Rivercrest still in it.

Even though she braced herself when the door to Rivercrest’s bedroom was opened, Texas still ended up doubling over in a coughing fit as the putrid odor trapped inside was let out. Even though it stunk like hell though, Texas could still tell that the bedroom was quite lovely. A bed big enough for four people with a beautifully carved headboard, at least five bookshelves packed to the brim with all sorts of novels, and a cushy red reading chair that had been custom made to be able to handle Rivercrest’s wide load. It was in this chair that Rivercrest was currently parked, reading some book Texas really didn’t care about right now.

“Ah, Texas!” Rivercrest exclaimed like she was speaking to an old friend she hadn’t seen in ages. “Please, do come in. To what do I owe the pleasure of entertaining the sheriff of this lovely little town?”

Ugh, even now Rivercrest was layering on the sweet talk and flowery language. And while April seemed happy that Rivercrest was being so outwardly amicable, Texas knew better than to trust her. Pulling herself back up, and covering her nose with her hat to at least filter out SOME smell, Texas responded. “Ah think you know exactly why I’m here, Miss Gildegarden. I’m sure ya already know about my little chat with Mayor Vivian. Thing is, while ah could just bring ya in now foe manipulation’ a town official like that, I’ve got a lot more blanks that need fillin’ in first.”

Rivercrest’s smile never wavered. It was impossible to tell if the fox was intimidated, or if she was planning something, or if this had been expected all along. She merely replied with a courteous, “well of course, I could tell you what you’d like to know, Sheriff. Though I imagine your questions may reach beyond what I can share right now.”

The politeness was really throwing Texas off her game. Still, she pressed on with her questions all at once to avoid breathing in too much fox stench, “right. So, what in tarnation does that factory of yer’s do? Why’d all the townsfolk start actin’ all funny after ya came around? Why ain’t ah heard a peep from most of the criminals ‘round here? What’re ya plannin’ for our town anyways? Why’s April not been actin’ right since last time we-HHRK!” Texas eventually had to breathe, and her hat didn’t provide all that much protection from the haze of butt stench. Still, she’d gotten out most of what she wanted to say.

Rivercrest gave Texas a slight grin when she saw the weasel coughing on her brand once more. The sight was exhilarating to say the least. And she was more than happy to comply with Texas...sort of. “Ah, my dear Sheriff. All of those questions will require a trip to my factory to answer. Alas, I’m a bit tired today after such a long train ride, and that carriage ride in the heat! My goodness it was exhausting. So, I will let the staff know to let you in tomorrow if it pleases you. Today, I really should just rest. Alex can show you both back out.”

Texas blinked. Wait, Rivercrest was just going to let her into the factory? Was it a trap? Was there nothing there that would help Texas against her? Did Tex really need answers that badly? And if there was something important there, could Texas really wait another day for her answers? She had Rivercrest dead to rights here, and had cause to arrest her already. Did she really need to keep playing this gross fox’s game?