Chapter Text
Wooden shops and hotels wall off the dusty streets of this small town in western Arizona named Sheffield. Sheffield is an odd name for a town in the west, but nevertheless, it is still a town. Only two buildings are made out of stone in the town. One is the sheriff’s office, but even then, it is just the jail section. Despite what many may think of the wealthy and egotistical Mayor, his home is not the second building made up of stone. And neither is city hall. The Mayor claims to be too modest for having such a “city slicker” type of home. With that being said, the second building that is made up of stone, or made up of a material stronger than wood, is the Mayor’s train station.
Mayor Kenmore is a railroad tycoon man. He is not the wealthiest railroad man. Far from it, actually. But he was successful nonetheless and made a lot of money. He has lived most of his life in the big cities, and has made a few enemies there because of his close ties with Southern loyalists despite him living in the north. Most of his money came from making trains in the South, so he didn’t want to lose them as customers. But, because of the tense times he was living in, he decided to, in his words, “go on a vacation out West.” And that vacation has lasted almost ten years. He has made far less enemies out in the West, and the enemies he has made are small gangs of outlaws. Nobody to really fear.
And speaking of one of those outlaws, a leader of a small gang is currently being dragged out to the gallows by the sheriff. The proud Mayor and the local pastor stand on the gallows, awaiting for this criminal to face his death. A good size crowd jeer the outlaw. This crowd is made up of people ranging from people living in the town to anyone living within a ten mile radius.
But with everyone’s eyes on the outlaw or Mayor Kenmore, no one notices the blonde lady in white laying on top of the saloon’s roof. She has a perfect view of Kenmore and the gallows. Next to her lies her rifle and her revolver. This is the White Widow, and her outfit consists of only white.
White boots, white spurs, white pants and chaps, a white belt with a shiny Russian diamond in the center, a white shirt and duster, and all topped off with a white cowboy hat that covers most of her short, blonde hair. A few tufts of blonde hair stick out all around her. This is a bounty hunter, but not a legal one. She does not have the license, and she has no interest in buying one either. Her targets do not have to be on the bounty boards in town. Oftentimes, her bounties are the men who hung up those posters in the first place. And oftentimes, her bounties are powerful and rich men. Which in turn, puts a target on her back. And she does not help herself in keeping a low profile because she does not wear a mask. She wants you to see her face when she kills you. She wants her pretty face to be the last thing you see before she sends you to hell. That’s the least she can do for you, right?
And this current job of hers stemmed a few days ago when the outlaw that is currently being dragged to the gallows was captured. His gang reached out to the White Widow to rescue him. At first, she declined. Why couldn’t they do it themselves? They would, but the Mayor and his sheriff and deputies would be looking out for them, not for the White Widow. Plus, they admitted she is better than them. She also could rob Mayor Kenmore if she wanted to. So, she agreed.
And on the night before the hanging, Mayor Kenmore celebrates in the saloon with the townspeople.
“Tonight, tonight is a good night. But tomorrow, oh but tomorrow will be an even better day, for a criminal will hang!” announces Kenmore to the cheers of the crowd. “Drink. Please. Have a nice time. Get drunk. I sure will.”
The Mayor lets out a chuckle that comes from his big belly as the crowd of already drunk men raise their glasses. And as the night continues, the drunker they become.
But then a pretty lady, a blonde lady in red and black, waltzes into the saloon. She looks like one of the female workers at the saloon, but no one has seen her there before. She must be new, the drunk men explain to themselves. They are too drunk to recognize her face as one of the faces on the bounty board outside the sheriff’s office before it was ripped down earlier in the night. The blonde grins and waves at the men who she had captured the attention of.
The Mayor turns and spots her. She has the prettiest face he has seen in some time.
“Miss, come sit by me. Let me buy you a drink!” exclaims the Mayor.
The blonde grins and takes a seat next to the Mayor who inspects her face.
“Have I seen you before?”
“No. I am new in town,” the blonde says with a Russian accent.
“What… Where are you from?”
“Russia. I came here to your county for fame and fortune. I haven’t found success yet. But you look like you have succeeded. Only a famous man can have the attention of this crowd, and only a man with fortune can afford an outfit like that. Can you tell me your secrets?”
“You flatter me, Miss…”
“Belova. Miss Belova.”
“Miss Belova. You flatter me. And honor me with your presence.”
Miss Belova puts her left hand out for Kenmore to kiss, which he does, but he notices the shiny diamond ring on her ring finger.
“Miss Belova? Not Missus?” asks Mayor Kenmore.
“My husband passed some time ago. Just a widow now.”
“My sincerest apologies.”
“Are you a married man?”
“Several times. But never the right woman.”
“I suspect it must get lonely then for you?”
“Well, as long as I have the right company, I’m never lonely,” explains Mayor Kenmore.
“Then what is the right company?” asks Miss Belova.
Mayor Kenmore snorts as Miss Belova shows him a sly and seductive smirk. The two leave the saloon together, passing a beautiful white horse who has been hitched to a post at the saloon. He takes Miss Belova to his home, unaware that by the morning, much of his expensive jewelry and a lot of the cash in his billfolds would be gone. And unfortunately for him, he cannot remember much of the night. Did he sleep with her? He didn’t. She was in and out of the house like that. What did she even look like? He cannot remember. All of last night was a blur. But despite forgetting a night he wished he could remember and losing some money, nothing can ruin a day like today where an outlaw gets hanged for his crimes.
And on the gallows, Mayor Kenmore stands proudly with the nervous pastor as the sheriff kicks the outlaw up the steps. Miss Belova, or the White Widow, still lies on the roof of the saloon with no one knowing she is there.
The sheriff wraps the noose around the outlaw’s neck as the crowd jeers him. The pastor silences the crowd with a wave and reads a verse, hoping for the outlaw’s sake that God will forgive him. But before the lever can be pulled, a gunshot rings out. All eyes turn towards the source of the shot. They turn towards the saloon and see a woman in white standing tall on top of it with a revolver aimed at the sky before she grabs her rifle. Mayor Kenmore sees her and recognizes her face. She smiles at him, and this is the last thing he will ever see since a bullet hits him right between his eyes, exploding his head open like a watermelon.
Mayor Kenmore falls to the ground as blood pours out of his head. Chaos ensues and the sheriff tries to wrangle a group of armed farmers and his deputies to chase after the White Widow, but a few perfectly timed explosions go off in the distance, buying her time. She climbs off the roof and mounts her white stallion, the same one from last night, and they speed off into the desert with no one tracking her due to the chaos within Sheffield.
A few days pass and a woman in a very similar outfit to the White Widow enters town on her horse. This woman, however, is covered in mostly all black and sits atop of a black horse. The only bit of color for her comes from her light purple shirt and the red vest on top of it, but her black jacket covers most of the color. Her black cowboy hat has a red hatband wrapped around it. As she rides, she spots the despair and loss of hope in the faces of the people. But some people recognize her, and that recognition fills them with hope.
“It’s the Hawkeye!” they exclaim.
People leave the shops and hotels to greet the hero as her horse continues to walk to the sheriff’s office. When she arrives, she hops off her horse and tips her cowboy hat to the large crowd that has amassed around her. She hitches her horse and enters the sheriff’s office, passing a brand new wanted poster of the White Widow.
Hawkeye steps inside the sheriff’s office and she spots a sleeping deputy.
“Is the sheriff here?” asks the woman.
The deputy jerks up, awake. He glances around, confused as to where he is at, but quickly finds himself. He turns and spots the woman in front him with her dark hair spilling from out of her black hat.
“Miss Hawkeye! I… I heard someone called for you. I uh… I don’t know where the sheriff is right now. Probably out being heroic like usual, but…” the deputy stammers out before Hawkeye raises a hand to shut him up.
“You have a problem. Tell me her name,” says Kate Bishop curtly.
“The White Widow. She blew into town a few days ago. Killed the Mayor, the sweet soul. Thankfully, she didn’t stop the hanging from happening the next day though. That was a good day. But the day before, oh was that dreadful.”
“The White Widow, describe her.”
“Well, she wore all white. White horse too. Fled north, I think. That’s that way, right?” asks the deputy as he points to the door.
“You’re pointing west,” corrects Hawkeye. “The way I came.”
“Then… She went the other way,” explains the deputy as he points the direction opposite of the door.
Hawkeye nods before she asks, “That poster out there. Is the bounty right?”
“Yes ma’am. Know it’s a lot, but… This White Widow has been causing problems for a whole lot of towns. ‘Parently the government fellers over east are after her too.”
Hawkeye nods again and begins to exit with her spurs jingling.
“Wait! Ain’t you used to ride with that Chinese feller? Ten Kings? No, rings! Ten Rings!”
“Sometimes. Sometimes not,” Hawkeye shrugs before she leaves.
As Hawkeye exits the sheriff’s office, she sees an even bigger crowd than before. It seems like everybody in town and around town are right in front of her.
“Is you gonna get that… What’s it called? Revenge? You’s gonna revenge the Mayor?” asks one of the people.
“If I find her, do you want her dead or alive?” asks Hawkeye.
“Dead! Dead! Dead!” the crowd chants.
Hawkeye nods to the sounds of cheers by the crowd. She unhitches her horse and mounts up. She trots away and out of Sheffield.