Ghost Riders
By Rackuhn
Summary: Trying to outrun a sudden storm, Kid and Heyes take shelter and run into an unexpected visitor
NOTE: This was written after I heard the song "Ghost Riders In The Sky" by the Outlaws, and I thought of our boys and what might happen if they saw them.
Disclaimer: Don't own the boys or the rights to the song either. But this could have made for an interesting episode.
It seemed that the storm had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, which should have been Kid Curry's first clue that he and his cousin Hannibal Heyes should have stayed in the small town of Fairview, Montana. The sun that had been shining brightly earlier that morning was now hidden behind the dark, ominous clouds that brought with it the cold, biting wind. They only had fifteen more miles to go to reach their destination of Erie, Montana where a job waited for them. They still had two days to go before they had to actually show up for the job, but Heyes wanted to get there early so that they could relax at least a day before they headed out guarding the supply run to the nearby mining town.
The horses should have been Kid's second clue. They had been nervous and skittish ever since the wind picked up, jumping at any little thing that blew in front of their path. With the horses acting as they were, the trip was taking longer than normal. The horses' attitudes only darkened the mood that they both were in, plus add the fact that they were hungry, cold, and now very tired from fighting the horses all morning long.
Perhaps if they had been more alert than they were, Heyes' horse wouldn't have caught the man by surprise when it reared at the sudden movement of a small, dead plant rolling across the path. Kid watch in horror as he saw his cousin fall and land heavily onto the ground. Kid's own horse, spooked by the falling Heyes, also tried its best to rid its rider, but Kid held firm. Finally able to calm his horse down, Kid jumped off, tying it to a nearby rock, and ran over to where Heyes lay unmoving.
"Heyes? Are you okay?" Kid asked as he knelt beside his partner, carefully examining him. He sighed in relief when he saw that the unconscious man was breathing and started checking him over further. Kid cringed when found the large lump on the back of his partner's head. Looking around Kid noticed that Heyes horse was gone, along with it, his partner's bedroll and gear. He sighed knowing that the two of them trying to ride his skittish horse in this weather would not be a wise idea, especially with Heyes still unconscious.
Looking around some more, he spotted an overhang that was deep enough to protect them from some of the wind. Carefully picking up his partner under his shoulders, Kid dragged Heyes to the protected shelter and laid him down making him as comfortable as possible. Kid quickly ran out to his horse and brought it closer to the shelter and grabbed his own bedroll and saddlebags. Kid covered Heyes up with the blanket and placed his bedroll under the unconscious man' head. "Well Heyes," Kid muttered, "I know how much ya like to talk about our past jobs while your unconscious, so go ahead since I'll be the only one to hear ya." He sighed again, knowing there wasn't much he could do until Heyes actually woke up.
With Heyes still out of it an hour later, Kid tried building a fire to keep both of them warm. With the wind whipping around them, he had struggled to get it started and keep it going. He turned when he heard Heyes mumbling something but realized that he was still out. With the fire built up enough to keep it going without worrying about it being blown out, Kid sat back against the wall to keep watch.
The wind seemed to have picked up in intensity and Kid heard his horse loudly protesting the fact that it was outside in this weather. In fact, Kid felt for some reason that there was something different about this wind altogether. He felt that this wind had been following them all morning long and when they had been forced to stop, it only seemed to grow around them. Kid shook his head from that crazy thought, but something deep inside of him wouldn't let it go.
When Kid finally allowed himself be lulled to sleep by the wind, Heyes suddenly became agitated. He began to thrash around and call out for his cousin as if he was trying to find him. "Kid! Where are ya? Ya can't leave me! Stay away from him, you can't have him!"
Kid woke when he heard Heyes cry out and was quickly by the man's side. "Heyes? It's okay, I'm right here," Kid said as he grabbed onto one of Heyes' flailing hands but Heyes wouldn't be calmed. Suddenly, Heyes sat upright, staring around the shelter as if looking for something. His eyes held the most frightened expression Kid had ever seen, the same expression that he saw only once before, and that was when their families were killed.
"Heyes, wake up!" Kid cried out, grabbing and shaking Heyes by the shoulders. As he watched Heyes, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and the air around them became colder as if death was surrounding them. He then heard the sound of the wind change. It no longer sounded like the blowing storm that he had been listening to for the last few hours, but more like the sound of hooves pounding the ground, hundreds of hooves. Even though it was around noon, the sky seemed to darken more as the sound of the hooves drew closer. Kid, still anxious over his cousin's condition, couldn't help but stare out at the darkness that surrounded them. He heard his horse screaming out in panic but unable to go anywhere being tied up. He felt his own heart pounding in his chest at the approaching noise and found that the air seemed almost too heavy to breathe.
Finally he saw it, a herd of steer moving along the trail that he and Heyes had been riding on earlier, just yards away from where they were sheltered. Kid swallowed hard and closed his eyes trying to block out the scene in front of him, only to feel the vibration of the ground under him as the herd continued to go past. Opening his eyes, he realized that as the cattle went by no dust was being kicked up even though the ground was still dry. He saw that their hooves were different than a normal cow; they almost seemed to be made out of steel. Their horns were shiny and black, like someone had polished each one individually for hours. He could see the brands, each one on fire as if it had just been applied. But what frightened Kid the most was the fact that their eyes were red, fire red, and he could feel the heat coming from their breath. Kid wanted desperately to run but found that he was frozen in place.
Then his eyes focused on something else…the riders that were moving the herd. Kid could see their gaunt, lifeless faces, heard them crying out to move the herd along. He could see their tired expressions and their sweat soaked shirts. Their horses were pitch black, flanks heaving and frothing in sweat. What scared Kid the most about the strange horses was, unlike the cattle, the horses were breathing fire. Kid swallowed hard again.
As Kid watched the herd and drovers go past, he suddenly realized that one of the riders broke off from the rest and stopped right in front of the two of them, staring directly at him. He was just like the others, a gaunt face, lifeless eyes, and a look of total despair. Kid watched him with a mixture of fascination and fear not knowing what the man or thing wanted. The rider then lifted his hand and pointed his finger directly at Kid.
"It's time."
Kid tried to speak but found that his mouth was dry and it took him few more moments to find his voice. "T…time for what?"
"Time for you to come with us," the rider said. His voice was cold, monotone, and lifeless just like the rider himself.
"Who are you?"
"It's time Mr. Curry. Come along." Kid felt himself being pulled toward the mysterious rider and got up to follow the thing.
It wasn't until Kid's grip broke from his shoulders that Heyes suddenly found himself awake and staring at the strange man in front of them. "It can't be…it's just like my nightmare," he thought to himself as the dream he had flitted through his memory. He noticed the man's strange appearance and felt the flow of death coming from him. But what scared him the most was that Kid was walking directly towards the man who had his hand held out to help Kid mount the unnatural beast. Heyes was on his feet before he even thought about it and stumbled over to his partner, fighting the vertigo that was plaguing him. "Kid?" Heyes said as he grabbed onto his friend's arm.
Kid stopped and blinked, shaking his head as if he was trying to clear the fog from it. "Heyes?" Kid asked not quite sure what just happened.
"What's going on? Who's he?" Heyes asked keeping a firm grip on his cousin.
"Come along, Mr. Curry. It's time."
"Time for what?" Heyes asked stepping in front of Kid. "How do you know him?"
"It's time for him to join us, to ride the eternal roundup."
"He's not going anywhere," Heyes replied taking a more defensive stand.
"Do you wish to take his place instead?" the rider asked as he turned his lifeless gaze upon Heyes.
Heyes turned and looked at Kid who was still staring at the scene in front of him. "I will."
Kid's full attention shifted back to Heyes. "No way, Heyes, I won't let you."
"Stay out of this, Kid. This ain't your decision to make."
"The hell it ain't," Kid returned. "They came for me not you."
"But they're willin' to take me instead, so I'm going."
"You are not going!"
"I'm the leader, I say I'm going."
"You must have hit your head harder than I thought to think of doing something that stupid," Kid replied getting directly into Heyes' face.
"I said I'm going. I'll flatten ya if I have ta, Kid," Heyes threatened.
"Just try it, Heyes," Kid warned. Before Kid could do anything, Heyes slammed his own body into his younger cousin and the two of them landed on the ground, wrestling for position.
The rider sat there on his horse stunned at the turn of events that was taking place in front of him. His dull, lifeless eyes seemed to shine briefly as he watched the two men roll around on the ground. Suddenly he sat up straight in his saddle as he realized the end of the herd was near. "Stop!" he yelled out to the two fighting men but neither of them paid any attention to him. "Stop!" he yelled louder as he turned slightly to see the end of the herd passing by him. The rider's face had a fearful look upon it as the last of the herd passed by the overhang. He looked back at the two men who were still wrestling on the ground, neither one gaining the upper hand, even with one of them being injured. "NOOO!" the rider yelled out as he started fading from view.
Both Heyes and Kid heard the rider cry out as if in pain and stopped to watch him disappear. Both men sat up as they noticed that the herd was also gone and that the storm that had been plaguing them all morning had stopped, the sun brightly shining once again.
"What happened to him?" Heyes asked looking around.
"He's gone," Kid simply stated. "So is the herd."
"Wh…what was all that anyhow?" Heyes asked standing up shakily as another bout of vertigo hit. Kid was on his feet instantly to steady him. "Why did he want you so bad?"
"I don't know, but whatever that thing was he didn't get either of us," Kid grinned. He then guided Heyes over to a large rock and had him sit down.
"Kid, what happened? Why are we here?" Heyes asked in confusion and as he suddenly felt the aching in his head.
"You fell off your horse," Kid smiled back.
"Fell off my horse?"
"Yep. She reared on ya after a leaf spooked her. You were unconscious for almost two hours."
"Remind me to trade her in," Heyes grumbled while rubbing his head.
"Don't think you'll have to worry about that. She ran off."
"Great. What about your horse?"
"Well she was outside when the wind was blowing, wasn't too happy about it either. I'll check on her as soon as I take care of you."
"Take care of me?" Heyes yelled back. "There's nothing wrong with me."
"Then why were you about to fall over when you stood up a moment ago?"
"I tripped."
The look of pain on his partner's face told him otherwise. "Uh huh. I've never seen anyone trip when they weren't moving," Kid smiled. His look suddenly became thoughtful. "Heyes?"
"Yeah?" Heyes asked as he continued to rub the back of his head.
"Uh, thanks for makin' the offer to take my place."
Heyes looked up, embarrassed. "Well, uh, you would have done the same thing."
"Maybe." Kid answered then a sly grin formed on his face. "Maybe not." Heyes couldn't help but laugh.
"Well either way, I guess you could say we beat him. Looks like he needed to take one of us before the end of the herd went by," Heyes said standing up and hiding the fact that he was still dizzy. It didn't work. Kid stood there ready to catch him. "What say we find your horse and get out of here?"
"You sure you're up to it?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just have a whopper of a headache…and a few new bruises thanks to you," he complained as he stretched.
"Well you started it," Kid complained, sounding like a ten year old as he picked up his blanket, bedroll, and saddlebags.
"And if I didn't have this headache, I would've finished it too," Heyes returned.
"In your dreams, Heyes," Kid replied as the two of them left the overhang to find Kid's horse.
"Hey Kid?"
"Yeah?"
"Next time we need to come to Erie, Montana, let's take a different route," Heyes suggested as Kid threw the saddlebags and bedroll onto the horse's neck.
"No argument from me!" he smiled back. Both men climbed onto Kid's horse. "And Heyes, hold on tight. Don't want you fallin' off again."
"You just worry about staying on your horse…"
"And you just worry about staying on my horse too," Kid laughed over his shoulder. Kid spurred his horse into action and they hurriedly went on their way, both of them keeping an eye to the sky for any strange cloud formations.
The End
October, 2005