It’s early June and Ashley Tucker is having a bad day after failing to place in a Michigan rodeo. While driving home to Fort Worth—in search of some new boots—she gets sidetracked on a rural road in central Ohio. She soon finds herself in a dilapidated western apparel store in the middle of nowhere. With no one around, she decides to walk out with the boots, intending to send a check when she gets home. Just before she gets to the door, a teen girl confronts her and locks the door to the store.

Ashley is escorted to the backroom, assuming she’ll be arrested. She suddenly finds herself face-to-face with an immense girl bully named Andrea. Andrea dismisses the girl, along with another female worker, leaving her alone with Ashley. When Ashley realizes the girl has no intention of having her arrested, she tries to escape.

It’s truly rodeo cowgirl against girl bully in a brutal fight to the finish. “Cowgirl Down” is the first in a series of novelettes about tough girls who must fight for survival. Other stories in the works include “Ladies Night Out” and “The Initiation,” although the titles are subject to change.