"Great Hera!" Diana gasped in a hushed tone.
She was startled, but more importantly, angry at herself for becoming so absorbed in what was going on around her to realize that someone had approached her car. That someone was a slim police officer wearing reflective, aviator-type sunglasses and a cowboy hat. He had an arrogant sneer on his face and a tooth pick in his mouth. He tapped on her window once again and said something that she couldn't quite make out. Trying frantically to compose herself, Diana rolled down her window.
"I'm sorry, officer," Diana said, flashing a bright smile, "I couldn't hear what you were saying."
"Ah wuz saying' ta roll down yer window, missy," the officer snapped in his thick Southern drawl, "Thank ya'll fer obligin' mah direct order. As ya'll can tell from mah Deputy's badge, I'm part of the law in this here town. Now, seein' as I know jus' about everyone in Cuttah Creek and Ah don't know ya'll that leaves me to ponder that ya'll ain't from around here, ain't ya'll, missy?"
"No I'm not, Deputy," Diana said, fighting back the urge to roll her eyes at how the man drew out the words 'around here', as if it was the worst crime a person could commit, "I was just passing through on business," Diana reached out of the car and presented her hand for the police officer to shake, "I didn't catch your name."
"Never gave it," the Deputy said, his thumbs tucked into the front of his pants in an over-causal manner. He paused for a moment and looked long and hard at Diana's outstretched hand. It was hard for the Amazon woman in her civilian disguise to judge what was going on behind the reflective lenses, but she could feel the chauvinistic attitude emanating off of him in waves. Finally, the man sighed and continued, shaking her hand briefly, "Name's Deputy Gunn. Judgin' by the tone of yer voice, I can tell ya'll from the big city. Just a word of warning, cuz I'm such a nice guy an' all, ya'll might have a hard time findin' business partners 'round here. Folks like doin' business with their own. An' not big city gals that like to spy on the locals, as I done caught ya'll doin' jus' now."
"Now just you see here..." Diana exclaimed, before quieting her voice to not draw any unwanted attention. She had already blown any chance of anonymity by talking to this police man, and judging by how other smaller towns worked, based on her previous visits, it would still be known that Diana Prince, 'big city business woman' had arrived in town. It would make looking for Donna in secret all the harder, while trying to blend in as best she could.
Before she could respond Deputy Gunn held his hands up in a defensive gesture, "Dang, missy. Now jus' ya'll settle down, now. Don't git yer panties in a wad. Here's what I'm gonna do fer ya. Seein' as I'm such a great guy an' all, I'm gonna let ya off with a warnin'. Seein' as yer from the big city an such," he added with a big, toothy grin. His tongue moved the toothpick from the left side of his mouth over to the right side. He then added, "We have different customs than them big, fancy cities yer used to. Don't spy on perspective mothers. Maybe some of our manners'll rub off on ya in yer time here."
Diana was dumbstruck by his ultra-superior attitude. She was also accusing her of being some sort of a peeping Tom! It was the scantily-dressed women that should have been given the strict talking to by the local authorities, not her. Her face was getting redder and redder and she wanted nothing more than to really lay into this absolute idiot dressed up as a Police Deputy, but Oracle's words echoes in her mind. She needed to get in, look for Donna and then get out. She gripped the steering wheel tightly and glared up at him.
"Don't ya'll go lookin' at me like that," Deputy Gunn admonished, lowering his sunglasses and frowning down at her, "Good Lord, woman, I'm doin' ya'll a favor. I got ya'll pegged with loitering, an' I'm lettin' ya'll off with a ticket. Ya'll should be thankin' me, an' not puttin' on some big city airs." To make a point, the Deputy fished his ticket book out of his pocket and shook it in front of Diana for effect.
"Thank you, Deputy, for being so courteous," Diana smiled sweetly. In reality, she wanted nothing more than to beat this man into a bloody pulp.
Deputy Gunn slipped his sunglasses back into position over his eyes and guffawed a loud laugh, "See, missy! Ya'll are already learnin' some manners. Cuttah Creek is already doing ya'll some good. Now ya'll have a good day now. Maybe if you can somehow git that stick out of yer ass, ya'll can join me and some of the boys at Joe Bob's Tavern tonight fer some cold refreshments."
"Maybe if I have some time," Diana smiled again, but inwardly she wanted to tell him that there wasn't a chance in hell she'd ever be caught in such a place.
"Suits yerself, missy," the Deputy spoke, before he turned around to head back on his beat, when Diana realized she needed to ask him one more question, as long as she had his attention.
"Deputy Gunn?" Diana called out, "Do you know of a hotel in town that I can stay at?"
Deputy Gunn turned around and laughed loudly, "Hooooo doggies, missy! A hotel? Jus' where ya'll think ya'll are? Cuttah Creek don't have any fancy big city hotels, but we done got the Howard's Bed an' Breakfast. The Howards done dealt with uppity, big city types like you before. They'll done treat ya'll right, missy."
"Thank you, Deputy Gunn. You've been a lot of help," Diana spoke. The Deputy then gave her directions on how to get to the Bed and Breakfast he described. She then rolled up her window and rolled her eyes at what an incredibly jerk the police man was. Wonder Woman had an inkling to report the man's behavior to his superior officer, but she hated to see what kind of police department produced such a man. She couldn't stand encountering others just like him.
Diana starting to make her way to the Howard's Bed and Breakfast. As she passed him, Deputy Gunn doffed his cowboy hat and grinned a cocky smile that made Diana frown in disgust. As Diana drove off hopefully to the hotel, she took the chance to regain her bearings after such an unpleasant experience just making her way into Cutter Creek. She looked back in the rearview mirror and saw a tall, shapely woman mince her way past the Deputy and he playfully slapped her on her ample backside as if it were perfectly acceptable public behavior! Diana concentrated her gaze on the road in front of her and not the lewd scene behind her, gripping the wheel tighter and tighter. She groaned in disgust at just how strange this town was, and how her distaste for the town grew more and more by each passing second. Diana knew she was going to have to have a long talk with Barbara on the special satellite phone the Oracle had supplied her with just to calm her nerves.
Just then, a calming, reassuring thought crossed her mind suddenly and Diana smiled. There was no chance her sister, Donna, could be caught dead in this town with these kinds of people. Her stay in Cutter Creek would assuredly be a short one.
Little did Diana know that...