They say life isn’t fair and how true those words have ever been. Belka couldn’t believe she had been dumped out in the middle of the desert by people she considers her friends. She had gone to a party with some of the girls from school. Most of the people she went to school with knew she was transgender. Her foster parents were dealing with it the best way they could, but she knew they couldn’t accept the fact she was transgender. The last thing she remembers was drinking a coke she had gotten herself and kept it near her.

The sun was high overhead and she was dressed in a silly party dress. She had bought the dress for the party and slipped into it at her friend’s house. Her forehead was hurting her for some reason. She finds her purse laying nearby and walks over and picks it up. The shoes she wore to the party were silly to wear out here in the desert. She looks around till she spots some tracks and starts following them away from where
she woke up. She follows the tracks for most of the day avoiding any snakes or critters she comes across. She was getting thirsty and the dress she had on didn’t protect her exposed skin.

She was feeling so tired by the time night fell. She had no idea where she was. She finds a group of rocks she could sit, rest and spend the night. She had nothing on her that she could build a fire with. She was afraid to go asleep, but she was so tired. Slowly, she dozes off and slept.

Isa was out for her normal nighttime ride when she comes across the sleeping form of a young teenage girl. The girl looked like she was dressed for the prom or some High school function. She also could tell that she was severely sunburned. Isa swings down off her horse and
pick the unconscious girl up and put her on her horse. She heads back towards the saloon with the young girl.

As she approaches the stables, she notices Ben was outside leaning back against the stables wall reading his newspaper. They had installed a light bright enough for Ben to read his newspaper while he was working. She has come to care for the old cowboy.

Ben looks up from his newspaper when he hears a horse approaching. He knew Ms. Isa was out enjoying her night time ride. It was the only time she had for herself or could go out without being covered up from head to toe. He leans forward and stands up to help Ms. Isa down from her horse.

“Who’s your friend Ms. Isa?” Ben catches the girl as Isa slides her off her horse.

“I don’t know Ben. I found her out in the desert. Be careful with her. I think she has second-degree sunburns.” Isa couldn’t tell how red the girl's skin was, but she knew she had at least a second-degree burn.

“Do you want me to get Caron after we get her upstairs?” Ben helps Isa carry the unconscious up to the back stairs to the second floor and to one of the empty rooms.

Isa undresses the girl and cleans her up. She was right about her having a second-degree burn. The girl was as red as a lobster. While she was tending to the girl, she discovers that she was transgender.

Ben leaves the room and heads downstairs to the saloon to get Caron. Ben liked Caron and was happy that Isa had found a good friend. He had helped nurse Caron back to health. He even taught her how to ride a horse, so she could go horseback riding with Isa.

A few minutes later, a woman dress in an old fashion Victorian gothic saloon girl dress with long black hair comes walking into the room. She had a motherly look about her.

“What did you find out in the desert, Isa?” She looks down at the unconscious girl laying on the bed before her and Isa.

“Would you believe I found this young girl?” Isa looks at her friend.

Caron was a new addition to the Crystal Palace. She had been a trained paramedic that got hooked on drugs to keep her awake and alert.

She got into a car accident and lost her job because of her drug use. They tested her and found out that she had been high on drugs. She lost her job and turned to turning tricks on the streets before a john raped and beat her within an inch of her life. He dumped her body out in the desert to die. She had woken up and stumbled and crawl her way to the outskirts of the old town. A security officer found her and brought her to The Crystal Palace.

Isa and Ben nursed her back to health. Once she was healed, Isa gave her a chance to come and work at the Palace. That had been two years ago. Now, she was the Palace’s nighttime saloon manager and Isa’s good friend.

“If you found her, then that means someone left her out in the desert on purpose to die. Did you find anything to tell you who she is?”

“Yes, I found her clutch laying near her body. I haven’t looked through it yet.” Isa had found the girl’s clutch under her unconscious form.

“Let me go and get my black bag from my room.” Caron heads out of the spare room and goes to her own room.

Isa walks over and empty’s the girl’s clutch on the old fashion antique cherry roll top desk. All the rooms had the same roll top desk. Isa spots a State Issue Id card. She picks the card up and notices it had the girl’s picture on it. The name on the card was Belka Ann Karlen, 2154 Black Circle Drive, Mesquite, Nevada.

There wasn’t any cell phone in her purse. There was forty dollars, her lipstick, a condom, house keys and a small bottle of perfume. Isa looks over towards the girl as Caron applies Aloe Vera to the girl’s body.

“There, that should do it. She’s going to need some rest and be kept hydrated.” Caron had turned around to look at Isa.

Isa turns around to speak with Caron “I found her driver license. Her name is Belka Ann Karlen lives in Mesquite.”

“Is there a number or cell phone for her parents?” Caron walks over to stand next to Isa and looks at the items on the roll top desk.

“Ask Sheriff Markus to run her name through his systems in the morning. Since we don’t have a computer here.” Only Sheriff Markus had the only working computer in their restored town.

“Alright, I’ll do that before I deposit the money tomorrow morning.” Coran normally changes the till in the saloon before the morning shift began.

“Let me know if Sheriff Markus gets any results. I don’t care if you have to wake me.” Isa knew it was getting close to her bedtime.

“Are you sure you’re not a vampire?” Caron knew most of the night staff was like Isa.

They had a bad reaction to sunlight and was blinded by bright light. In a way, she wishes that she had their problem. She enjoyed playing the vampiric saloon girl. She enjoyed working nights, the moon and stars. She heads back downstairs to finish up her shift before shutting down for a while to clean and restock.

Twelve Hours Later:
Caron had delivered the message to Sheriff Markus and asked to be informed when the results came through. She also told him how Isa had found her out in the desert. Isa has said that she will remain a guest at the Palace till she could be moved or returned home.

Belka wakes-up and finds herself in an unfamiliar room. Her body ached, and she could smell Aloe vera covering her body. She had on an old fashion white nightgown. She looks around the room and notices it was kind of old fashion. Even the bed she was laying in was old style. The dresser was an antique like something you would find in the olden days in the wild west. The old roll style top desk and thick white curtains covering the only window in the room. The room had an old western feel to it with its paint job.

She tries to move, but it hurts when she does. Just as she is trying to get up. She hears a knocking sound on her door. The door opens and a dirty blonde hair woman dress in an old-style saloon girl dress walks in.

When Juli walks in to check on Belka, she wasn’t expecting Belka to be awake. The last few times she came in to check on her, she had been asleep.

“Ah, you’re awake. So, how do you feel?”

“Like I was left out in the sun too long.” Belka looks at the woman who came in.

“Well, I hope you are thirsty.” Juli figures she might be thirsty and hunger.

“Yes, I’m very thirsty.” Belka could drink a double gulp right now.

“Okay, let me go and get you something to drink and eat.” Juli leaves the room.

While the woman is gone, Belka looks around the room some more. She wonders where she was. She had noticed that the woman that had been in here, was dressed like an old fashion saloon girl.

Juli returns to the room with a tray in her hand. She had brought up some Gatorade and a nice chicken breast salad.

“Here you go, Belka. A nice chicken breast salad and lemon-lime Gatorade. Our local doctor said that the Gatorade would help replaces your electrolytes. There are also two aspirins on here for you to take to help with the pain.” Juli sets the tray on her lap.

“Ma’am, where am I?” Belka has been wondering where she was since she woke-up.

“You’re the guest of The Crystal Palace Saloon. We’re an old fashion Western saloon. There are no modern facilities here, except the bathroom and the kitchen area. My boss and friend found you while out on her night time ride. I’m Juli by the way.” Juli stood watching over Belka.

“Thank you.” Belka sips the Gatorade first.

She was extremely thirsty.

“Take it easy, when you drink the Gatorade.” Juli pulls the chair over from the roll top desk and sits down next to the bed.

“The Sheriff of our town is going to come over and talk to you. He needs to know what happened to you and how you ended up out in the desert.” Juli knew Sheriff Markus wanted to know how she ended up out in the desert.

He got in touch with the police department in Mesquite to send someone to Belka’s place to inform her foster parents. When they went to the address to inform her foster parents. There was no one there. When they spoke with the neighbors, they discovered that they had moved out and left town. Belka’s stuff was inside the house.

Sheriff Markus had informed Isa about the situation. The girl was in the foster care program. Markus thinks the parents might have had something to do with her being dumped out in the desert, but there was no way to prove it. She was only sixteen years old and her birthday was next week.

Once Belka was done, Juli takes the tray back down to the kitchen. She heads back upstairs and runs into Isa as she was walking towards Belka’s room.

“She’s awake and alright Isa, but she does have a problem. Markus tried to get in touch with Belka’s parents to let them know she had been found in the desert. He called the police department in Mesquite. They sent an officer to her foster parent’s house, and the place was empty. The officer spoke to the neighbors and they said that the family had moved out. I think they had something to do with what happened to Belka. They left all her stuff in her bedroom.” Juli couldn’t believe Belka’s foster parents would do that.

“See if Markus can get me her caseworker, please. Tomorrow, I’ll send Fredrick and Jesse over to the house and pack her stuff up. Have them bring it back here. She can stay with us till we figure out everything.” Isa was the owner of The Crystal Palace, so she could allow Belka to stay with them.

A few hours later, Sheriff Markus shows up to speak with Belka. He had spoken with Sergeant Jordyn Strickland. He had sent a patrol over to the street address on Belka’s driver license. According to Sergeant Strickland, her parents had skipped town.

“Hey Sheriff, what brings you up here this afternoon?” Betty was curious.

“Just coming up to see Isa.”

“She’s upstairs checking on our guest.” Betty now knew why he was here.

Sheriff Markus walks upstairs and sees Isa and Juli talking in the hallway near a door.

“So, this is where you are hiding.” He walks towards them.

“Hey Markus, we ’re about to go in and talk with Belka.” Isa had a pleasant smile on her face.

Her and Markus have become close friends since she renovated the old saloon. It had been her suggestion that they have an actual Sheriff, but that he carries on the tradition of the old west theme they had going in the restored town.

At first, Markus hated it, but he saw how well the tourist liked what was going on and got into it. Now he was enjoying the fake shoot-outs and reenactments of fake bank robberies.

“Would you mind if I speak with Belka by myself. Then when I come out, you can come in?” Markus wanted to talk with Belka without Isa and
Juli.” Markus looks at both women.

“Okay, just remember Markus. The poor girl was out in the sun all day long. When you're done, I was going to escort her down to the baths to soak for a while.” Juli knew that a nice soak would feel nice on Belka’s poor skin.

“I won’t be with her too long.” Markus knocks on the door.

“Come in.” Belka had been surprised that someone had knocked before entering.

The way the bed was sitting, she could see the person who walked it. The person was dressed like a Wild West sheriff. He looked like Wyatt Earp from Tombstone. Dressed all in black with a white shirt and black vest. His badge was on the left side of his vest.

He looked like a guy that spent a lot of time out in the sun. He was wearing a black hat and had short black hair.

“You must be the sheriff around these parts.” Belka just watches as he got closer to her bed.

Markus notices that Belka was as red as a lobster. Her long brown hair was limp and just laying on her shoulder.

“I’m Sheriff Markus, and you must be Belka Ann Karlen, from Mesquite, Nevada.” Markus had memorized her information.

“Yes, sir. Have you contacted my parents yet?” Belka was wondering why her foster parents weren’t here.

Markus looks at Belka and didn’t know how to tell her, that her parents had abandoned her. He looks into her gray eyes and takes a deep breath.

“I have some bad news for you. Your foster parents have skipped town. They packed up everything that belongs to them and left. However, they left your room alone.” Markus still couldn’t believe they did what they did.

Tears stream down her cheek. She thought her foster parents care for her. Even though they were having a hard time dealing with the fact she was transgender, they didn't treat her badly. She just cries as she feels her heart breaking. She thought for once she had parents that love her.
Markus hands her the handkerchief he carries around in his pocket.

Once Belka has calmed down some. He sits down in the chair next to the bed and pulls out his notebook.

“Belka, can you tell me how you ended up out in the desert?” Markus pulls his pen out to start writing.

“I went out partying with some friends to a club. I had permission from my foster parents. In fact, they encouraged me to go out with my friends. We went to a club and I kept my eyes on my drink. I don’t know when I blacked out, but I woke up out in the desert. I followed the tire tracks until I started getting tired. It was getting dark outside and I decided to lay down from exhaustion. When I woke up, I found myself here in this bed and Juli has been taking care of me.” The aspirin was helping with the pain from the sunburn.

“Do you recall everyone that was with you and what club you guys went too?”

“The people I had gone with, were supposed friends of mine in school. There was Robert, Sammy, Frank, Sera, Cindy, Kelly and Brittney. We went to a place called the Desert Rose. It’s a club for teenagers between sixteen and twenty-one. A place we could feel safe at and enjoy the company of other teenagers.” Belka had been looking forward to her first time there.

“You said that you kept an eye on your drink the whole time you were there and didn’t accept drinks from anyone, other than your server?”
Markus had a sneaking suspicion who might have spiked her drink.

"Yes sir. The only person who touched my drink was the server and bartender." Belka remembered watching the bartender, because he was cute.

“Do you know in which direction you came from?” Markus wonders if she could recall the tracks she had been following.

“No, sir. I can’t recall in which direction I came.” Belka was never any good with directions.

“Well, that’s all the questions I have for you now. I’ll see what I can find out about whoever dumped you out in the desert.” Markus stands up and puts his notebook away.

“Sir, what is going to happen to me, since my foster parents have abandoned me?” Belka was worried.

“You don’t have anything to worry about right now, except getting better. The manager of this place is Isa Darkrose will be taking care of you, until we figure everything out.” Markus already knew Isa had a soft spot for hard luck cases.

Most of her employees at one time or another had needed help with their lives. She had given them a second chance. Sometimes, their only chance as well.

“I hope you feel better, Ms. Karlen.” He gives her a friendly smile before leaving.

When he steps out into the hall, he notices Isa and Juli waiting for him.

“Ladies, I’ll see you later.” Markus heads down the hallway towards the stairs.

“I’ll go and check on her Isa.” Juli heads into the room.