JOHN AND DOC HAD BEEN GONE for around 3 hours, and Belle had finally finished all of her housework. Now she was sat at the kitchen table, reading one of her favourite books, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. She believed it was a beautiful love story between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy.

But, unfortunately for Belle, her reading session was cut off by a loud ruckus from the front yard. Belle huffed and slammed her book on the table, and stormed outside to see Chevez and Steve shouting at each other. Belle watched in annoyance from the porch, thinking it was just a petty argument until Chevez reached for his knife. 

Belle's eyes widened and ran off from her post towards the two disputing men. Belle grabbed Chevez's arm, pulling the knife away from Steve. "Chevez! What in God's name do you think you're doing?!"

Chevez ignored her and pulled his arm away from her grasp. 

"You want to play games, pendejo?" Chevez mocked Steve, twirling his knife between his fingers.

"You red-assed Mexican greaser. You do it with your horse! Mexican greaser!" Steve didn't back down, shouting over Belle's protests.

"Come here you little white chicken shit!" Chevez shot back. But before anything drastic could happen, Dick pushed between them with his horse, separating the two hot-headed males. 

"Hey! Hey! Knock it off!" Dick roared over the two's bickering, but they just grew louder. Dick grew anxious at Belle's presence behind Chevez, so outstretched his hand out to her to jump up on to his horse. Belle hopped up behind Dick, clutching at his shoulders while wincing at the argument occurring below her. 

"Enough!" Dick shouted at the Chevez and Steve. "Are you alright, Miss Belle?" Dick asked over his shoulder.

"Yes, thank you, Dick," Belle began to jump down from Dick's horse, but stopped when she heard the familiar clicks and clatters of her father's wagon.

"John's back," Dick announced as he saw John, Josiah and a new face rounding the corner.

"You two! Get washed up and in your supper clothes, now! Get Steve on your way!" Belle ordered as she stared down at the two men. They both nodded but decided to stay behind to see who the new man was. Dick jumped down from his horse, leaving Belle to stay sat on it. 

"Who are them?" Belle heard the man ask her father.

"They, William. 'Who are they?'," John corrected before answering. "They are the boys of the dregs. The flotsam and jetsam of frontier society, if you will."

"What about the girl?" 

"That would be my daughter. The queen of our little society. She keeps us all in check," John replied, causing a grin to spread across Belle's face. Belle watched as Doc jumped from the wagon and jog his way over to the group, slinging his gun over his shoulder. 

"Glad you're back, Doc," Dick greeted. Doc nodded with a small smile, heading over to Belle and Dick's horse. 

"Hello, Miss Belle," Doc grinned up at the ginger-haired girl. "You are looking stunning on this fine afternoon."

Belle smiled down at the golden-tressed man, not noticing the groans and eye-rolls of the four men behind Josiah. 

"Well, Doc, I didn't know I changed from this morning," Belle teased, with raised eyebrows.

"You haven't, Miss, I was just foolish enough to not let you be aware of the fact," Josiah replied with a simple grin.

"Always the charmer, Mr Scurlock, now if you'd be so kind, would you help me down?" Belle asked Josiah. Josiah nodded kindly, placing his hands on Belle's waist, lifting her down from the bronco. Belle planted her palms against Doc's shoulders, smiling up at him. "Thank you, dear."

"Doc. John bring another hard case in?" Dick asked, grabbing Doc's attention once again. Doc removed his hands from Belle's waist, turning the dark-haired man and nodded as a reply, switching his gaze towards the newcomer and John. 

"Hope he ain't another Mexican," Steve muttered, loud enough for Chevez and Belle to hear. Belle slapped the side of his head, while Chevez swore at him with irritation.

John ushered Belle over to him and the newcomer. Belle walked gracefully over to the two men, leaving the other five to their own devices.

"Belle, my dear, could you please show William here to one of our rooms and then show him to our girls?" John asked with a grateful smile. Belle sniggered at William's excited face once he heard the word 'girls', and nodded.

"Follow me, William," Belle instructed as she walked towards the house. William eagerly followed after the woman. "Do you have a nickname, William?"

"Why'd you ask?" 

"Just thought I'd ask, the majority of my boys have nicknames, they like them more compared to their birth names," Belle reasoned, walking up the stairs to the bedrooms. "Like Josiah likes to be called Doc, and Richard likes to be called Dick, Steven's is Dirty Steve. So, I'll ask again, do you have a nickname?" 

"Billy," William answered.

"Billy. I like it, it suits you," Belle complimented. "Right, this is your room. Each resident at the ranch has their own room. If you ever forget which is yours, yours is next to Charley's," Belle swung open the door, allowing Billy to enter the room. Billy looked around for a moment while nodding his head. "Are you ready to see our girls?" 

"Oh yes," Billy grinned, rushing after Belle as she walked back out of the house.

-----

Belle was in glee as she watched Billy trying to feed 'our girls'. Our girls being the ranch's pigs. Belle laughed heartedly as Billy fall back from an oncoming hog. Billy threw the bucket of food at the hungry animal. Billy jumped up on the fence, sitting beside Belle, as she leaned against the other side of the pig fence. 

"You're doing mighty awful, Billy," Belle giggled at Billy's mortified expression. Billy huffed up at the girl, as he went to pull out his gun, pointing it towards the pig. But before he could pull the trigger, three knives were thrown into the wooden post by Billy's side. Chevez walked up the couple, snatching the blades from the wooden. Belle suppressed a laugh at Chevez's expression as Billy slowly lifted his gun towards his face. Chevez walked away, only for Charley to throw his lasso at the same post. Charley laughed at Billy's shocked expression. 

Hey, did you know pigs are as smart as dogs?" Charley asked, gesturing towards the pink, muddy creatures that were munching on their food. 

"It's true," Belle clarified.

"What you doing here, boy? We work for Mr Tunstall and Miss Belle as regulators. We regulate any stealing of their property. We're damn good too. The Tunstall's got a soft spot for runaways, derelicts, vagrant types. But you can't be any geek off the street, you gotta be handy with the steel, if you know what I mean, earn your keep," Charley began to explain, making his distaste in the boy as clear as day.

"Charley," Belle said in a warning tone. But Charley chose to ignore the young girl.

"Not that I'm a pistoleer ora knife smith like that greaser Chavez-Chavez, over there. I'm a pugilist. But then I ain't expecting you to know the explanation of that word, hog boy!" Charley continued. 

"Shit, you don't even know why I'm here," Billy argued while turning his gaze back to the pigs.

"Sure I do. You're a runaway derelict, scud bottom vagrant, ain't you, like the rest of us. Footpad, maybe? Petty thief? Rob a bank? Kill somebody?" Charley listed, but stopped once he saw the smug smile of Billy's face at the last guess.

"Kill somebody, huh?" Charley paled slightly once Billy nodded with a calm smile. Belle back away from Billy a tad. A gunshot alerted the regulators of a potential threat, causing Charley and Chevez to begin running off to Dick's direction. "Hey, you ain't no regulator boy, you gotta stay here with the pork. They're smarter than you anyway. You might learn something! Miss Belle, I would head inside if I were you," Charley shouted before running off.

Belle placed her hand on Billy's shoulder, pushing him back on the fence. "Hey, don't you listen to him. They're only teasing. Jeez, I remember the day that Doc and Dick gave Charley the same exact speech a few years ago. don't take it to heart, Charley just prides his job, and doesn't take to newcomers too well," Belle patted his arm twice before walking towards the kitchen dutch doors. "I'm sure you'll be a great asset to our little society here, Billy."

Billy smiled at Belle's words and jumped back into the pig's den.