[i]South's Valley, 
a nondescript town somewhere in western America,
Some time during the 1880's...[/i]

The nights were quiet around those parts of the American wild west, if you didn't count the lawless murders by bandits and outlaws, several robberies, skirmishes with the natives out on the plains and much more. Except that, few would guess that much happened in South's Valley, especially during the nights. Of course there were the casual brawls in the saloon and drunken duels out on the streets, but that very night, it was unusually quiet. Too quiet. 

Which probably explained why that night's events came as such a shock for the people of South's Valley. 

It was the stable-boy who first ran to the sherrif, telling the unthinkable crime; his family's horses had vanished. Through the morning, more and more people filed their loss to the sheriff's office, who by noon estimated that half the town's horses had been stolen. The speculation flew far and wide as to whom could have done this; the neighbouring town, bandits or free-roaming Confederates, even the Jews and Catholics were to blame. 

The short figure of the Kirkland family, however, had his own suspecions. One that he was determined to prove, and not just because some of his father's horses had been stolen as well. No, he had something to prove. And so the young man, known as "Jude Shorty" walked down the roofed porched of his family's home, made his way down the now crowded street of South's Valley and stopped a few people. When he asked for a specific description of another person, their response was "She's probably in the Store down there, though why would you want to speak with her?" He gave no answer back, and simply thanked them with a nod of his cowboy hat, before heading for one of the stores. 

Julian entered the General Store through the open door, taking off his hat as he walked in and giving way to a lady about to exit. It didn't take long for him to find the woman he was looking for. She was easily distinquishable from the rest of the townsfolk. "Dakota, I need a word."