The Journey to New Buckland (Part I)

Folks, Buckley’s had many adventures in his time, and we’ve already shared some of ‘em with you over the past couple of weeks. Last time we provided you with the history behind The Great Token Rush, the very same event that prompted ol’ Buckley to finally move from his family’s humble farm in order to earn his fortune and make the digital Wild West a safer, more civilized place (though that wasn’t necessarily his first thought as a young bear startin’ out in life).

Now Buckley wandered, and he wandered a lot. Yep, there’d be long stretches where he’d be out in the desert, walkin’ the searin’ sands all on his lonesome. The sun would bear down on him in the day, its scorchin’ heat causin’ him to work up a fearful sweat and seek some shade and rest a while. But the sun was the least of Buck’s worries. He knew the open plains were practically crawlin’ with all kinds of frightful critters that’d either take a bite outta you or poison you to death - that’s right partner, I’m talkin’ about sidewinders, spiders and scorpions!

But Buckley was used to fendin’ off coyotes and checkin’ his boots fer unwanted guests, and he knew where to sleep at night to avoid bein’ some hungry varmint’s next meal. The real danger was in gangs of bandits and outlaws who were more than happy to put a hole in someone just fer bein’ in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately for Buck, his luck ran out when he came across the Bo Diddley Brothers who had recently robbed a Centralized Exchange and were hidin’ out in the desert waitin’ fer the Long Arm of the Law to give up on tryin’ to bring ‘em to justice.

Lucky for Buck, he managed to spot the three brothers heatin’ up some beans ‘round a fire without any of ‘em actually noticin’ him first. He quickly took cover behind a big ol’ boulder and thought hard about what to do. Now Buck was no lawman, and he didn’t have any kind of piece on his ursine person to hold the oblivious brothers up - even then, he was outnumbered, and he knew the trio were infamous for their ruthlessness and quick tempers. Buck peeked around the boulder and saw that the brothers had two wagons, one carryin’ the stolen tokens, the other carryin’ a bunch of dynamite and high explosives.

Buckley knew exactly what he needed to do. First, he needed to distract the Bo Diddley Brothers. He picked up a nearby stone and decided to throw it close enough to the outlaws so that they’d be roused, but far enough away from ‘em that they’d be compelled to investigate. Buck hurled the stone with an almighty force, and it made one heck of a racket when it landed. One of the brothers immediately stood up and shouted out, trying their best to determine the cause of the sudden ruckus. Buckley waited patiently as the brothers briefly argued amongst themselves (as they were known to do). Eventually they each got up and slowly made their way over towards the source of the noise, each brother brandishin’ their revolver in case they happened to discover the culprit.

Buck took this opportunity to creep up to the wagon with the explosives and pull out a single stick of dynamite. He checked to make sure the brothers were still distracted and saw that the fire with the pot of beans over it was still burnin’. Buck took the stick of dynamite, lit the fuse and carefully placed the dynamite into the simmerin’ beans. He then quietly made his way back to the boulder and returned to his hidin’ place.

Just as Buck peeked around the boulder again, he saw the three irate brothers nearin’ the fire. They exchanged some unpleasantries and sat down to check on their beans. Everythin’ went quiet fer a second before one of the brothers let out a howl of pure anguish. At that moment, the dynamite exploded, sendin’ the beans and the Bo Diddley Brothers flyin’ in all directions! Fortunately the three outlaws didn’t wind up dead, but they were banged up real bad. The explosion was also loud enough that a nearby posse heard it and found Buckley keepin’ watch over the three incapacitated brothers, his trusty shovel in one paw and his father’s luck cactus in the other.

The Sheriff and his deputies were so delighted that they offered to deputize Buckley, which he respectfully declined. It also so happened that there was a bounty on the brothers, so Buckley received a handsome sum of tokens fer his bravery and ingenuity. After cuffin’ the three brothers and confiscatin’ their stolen goods, the posse bid Buckley farewell and wished him well on his travels.

Buckley was mighty happy that he’d been able to do some good and fell asleep under the stars that night, content in the knowledge that his quick thinkin’ had led to the apprehension of some of the most awful black hats in the digital Wild West and allowed many innocent folks to reclaim their hard-earned funds in good time.

Moral of this here story is: always think before you act, and make sure you use all the tools at yer disposal to achieve the best possible outcome. With some careful planning, patience and expert timin’, you can circumvent the worst possible disasters and make sure that those folks that need help the most actually get it.