It was a fine Spring afternoon when Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry rode into Porterville. Not much had changed since their last visit except that the bank had been rebuilt and the front of the saloon had been repaired.
Kid sighed. "Well, there ain't many towns like this one that we can ride into...,"
"...like a pair of Texas Rangers," finished Heyes sarcastically. "Just wish I knew why Lom wants to see us. That telegram sounded real urgent so I'm thinking maybe it's about our amnesty".
"We'll soon find out," said Kid pointing towards the sheriff's office. "Looks like Lom has been waiting for us".
Lom Trevors was sitting in a chair on the porch outside the sheriff's office a cup of coffee in his hand. He put the cup down when he caught sight of the two cousins, stood up and walked over to meet them.
"You two took your time!" he barked. "Go settle your horses and we'll talk in my office." He turned on his heel and strode back to the porch.
"Now Lom, that's no way to greet old friends," said Heyes with a smile but trying his best to sound hurt.
Whether Lom heard him he was not sure. Heyes raised his eyebrows and looked at Kid who just shrugged his shoulders as they turned their horses in the direction of the livery stables.
Ten minutes later Heyes opened the door of the sheriff's office and, hoping to find Lom in a better mood, he and Kid walked inside. Their first instinct was to glance at the jail cells to see whether there were any prisoners they recognized. The last thing they wanted was someone shouting that Heyes and Curry were in town. All the cells were empty.
Lom fixed them with a solemn look before getting up from his desk and locking the door.
"Sit down boys, we have business to discuss". He indicated towards two chairs and they duly sat down. "I don't know if you heard about the bank bein' robbed a couple of weeks back," he began.
"No, we didn't hear about that, how much did they get away with?" asked Heyes, exchanging a look with Kid. He then had another thought. "Now Lom, you don't think it was us?!"
"I know it wasn't you two and the amount of money isn't important," replied Lom. "The manager was killed — shot in the back — and two clerks were wounded."
Kid gave a low whistle.
"Amos Parker and his twin brothers, Calib and Seth, they did the robbery. We caught Amos but the other two, well they somehow managed to get away from the posse and are still out there. We're sure it was Amos who did the shootin' though."
"You don't want us to join a posse do you Lom?" groaned Kid, "only we've been deputies before and the badges made us kinda nervous."
"No, the Judge is coming over from Dyersville for Parker's trial in a few days time and we are missin' the only person who witnessed the actual shootin'. I need you two to make sure that witness arrives here safely."
"Where is this Amos Parker? I don't see anyone in the jail here," asked Heyes looking towards the cells.
"He's in the jail over at Table Rock. Folks here are pretty sore about the killin' and we didn't want any trouble. You don't need to know any more details about how he's gettin' here...for your own safety, you understand."
"Our own safety!" exclaimed Heyes. "Now wait a minute Lom, I don't know if I like the sound of this."
"Look, I need two fellas I can trust and who can handle a gun. There are not many people around here who can handle a gun like Kid Curry," he added with a smirk as Kid shifted a little awkwardly in his chair. "It'll only take you a day or so to get to Byron's Crossing then you need to get the witness back here in time for the trial next week. I won't lie to you, the Parker brothers are dangerous and they would just love to get their brother off a murder charge by gettin' rid of our witness."
"How will they know at Byron's Crossing that we're the official escorts Lom? We could be anyone saying we are there to pick up this witness," queried Heyes.
The Sheriff opened his desk drawer, took out some documents and handed them to Heyes.
"These papers will confirm who you are and they also include descriptions of the two of you. Those descriptions on your wanted posters came in useful... for once," he added.
Heyes and Kid both forced a smile.
Heyes rubbed his chin. "How much is this paying, Lom?"
Lom levelled a look at him. "Let's just say the Governor could be mighty grateful." The cousins exchanged another look. "Now, there's a room for you at the hotel. You will need an early start so make it a quiet night, will you boys."
"What, no poker?" Heyes couldn't quite hide his disappointment.
"No, I don't want you two drawin' attention to yourselves," said Lom getting up and unlocking the door. "See you in a few days."
Realising they had been dismissed the cousins made their way across the street to the hotel with one or two lingering looks over at the saloon on the way.
Just as Lom had requested they had dinner and passed the rest of the evening in their hotel room. After spending a good while pacing and complaining that maybe Lom didn't appreciate that they spent most of their waking hours trying not to draw attention to themselves, Heyes settled down to read his book. Kid cleaned both their guns and checked their ammunition just in case they did encounter any trouble over the next few days.
Bright and early next morning the two cousins were back on the road again heading in the direction of Byron's Crossing.
They rode along in companionable silence for a time before Kid said, "Y' know Heyes, I bin thinkin'."
"Aaw Kid, the arrangement we've got has been working just fine 'til now."
Kid ignored him and continued. "This might be the easiest job we have ever done for Lom."
"How do you figure that? Lom said these Parker brothers are dangerous and especially as they'll be desperate to stop their brother from hanging."
"I know that, but they can't be watching every road out of town and they don't know who we are. So, I figure we can just relax and enjoy the ride."
"I just have a feeling that Lom hasn't told us the whole story."
"You always worry. Relax!"
Heyes just added a thoughtful "Hmm" and they rode on in silence.
The countryside was mainly open pasture in a wide flat river valley and it made for pleasant riding, although the lack of recent rain did make it extremely dry and dusty. At dusk they made camp, cooked a meal and as usual, took it in turns to keep watch. While saddling their horses the next morning Heyes squinted up at the sky.
"This fine weather may be breaking at last. Looks like storm clouds over yonder." He pointed in the direction of the hills in the distance.
"We should make it to Byron's Crossing in a few hours, maybe we'll miss the worst of it," Kid replied as they mounted up and set off at an easy lope.
By late afternoon the wind was starting to gust and the sky was dark with storm clouds so they were relieved to finally see a signpost for Byron's Crossing. Much to their surprise it was the name of a ranch, not a town. The spread was huge and it took another hour before a very large house came into view. As they approached, several men appeared from various outhouses together with a tall grey-haired man from the house.
They all carried rifles aimed at the two riders.
"Hold it right there," demanded the tall man as Heyes and Curry raised their hands in the air and two men took hold of their horses' reins.
"We're from Porterville, Sheriff Lom Trevors sent us. My name's Joshua Smith and this is my partner, Thaddeus Jones. We've papers to prove it," said Heyes trying not to sound as nervous as he felt with several rifles aimed in their direction.
"Let me see them," the man said as he lowered his rifle. None of the other rifles moved.
Heyes glanced sideways at his partner. "Bet you don't feel so relaxed now, huh?," he said between his teeth.
The tall man quickly looked at the documents and back at Heyes and Curry.
"Lower your rifles boys. Please come inside gentlemen, we've been expecting you." He led the way in the direction of the house calling for a couple of the men to take the horses to the barn.
They found themselves in a large entrance hall with a polished oak floor and a huge oak staircase. Heyes removed his hat and was about to brush the dust off when he thought better of it. He didn't think they would appreciate trail dust all over the floor.
"Sorry about the welcome. We've been pretty nervous about this whole witness business. I'm Matt Dreyfuss by the way." He shook their hands. "You've come to collect my niece Hannah, I believe." Kid and Heyes exchanged a quizzical look.
"Uh, Sheriff Trevors just told us we were collecting a witness. Didn't give us too many details," said Heyes. "Your niece, you say?"
"That's correct. Now, let's get you fellas settled and you can freshen up. We can talk more over dinner."
Suddenly a door opened at the top of the stairs and they heard a young girl's voice shout, "I told you, I won't!" A flustered looking maid came out of the room and down the staircase.
Matt Dreyfuss sighed. "Marta here will show you to your room." He indicated that they should follow the maid back upstairs.
Heyes and Curry were shown to a large bedroom with two brass beds. Kid quickly closed the door and crossed the room to check out a door in the opposite wall, which turned out to be an adjoining bathroom. Heyes looked around noting the heavy red drapes and the expensive looking rug on the floor. He thought it looked like one of the plush hotels in Denver. However, the outlaw in him just couldn't help wondering whether Mr Dreyfuss had a study — and a safe.
"Sheesh, Heyes, looks like you were right. Lom didn't tell us the whole story?" Kid said as he threw his hat on the bedpost and flopped down onto one of the beds. Heyes watched a small cloud of dust rise from his partner.
A knock on the door woke Kid with a start. He immediately reached for his revolver from the gun belt hanging on the bedstead. Heyes, who had been sitting by the window watching the rain, was already on his feet and on his way to the door. It was the maid with their saddle bags. She also informed him that dinner would be served shortly.
"Great, I'm starving," smiled Kid, always pleased at the mention of food.
They quickly used the wash stand in the bathroom and having changed their shirts to making themselves look more respectable, made their way down the stairs to the hallway where a door was open to a rather grand dining room.
Matt Dreyfuss was standing by the fireplace with a drink in his hand. He smiled as he saw them.
"Oh, there you are. Please come and sit down," he said indicating which seats they should take at the large dining table.
"I suppose you are wondering how my niece came to be involved in all this", he said once they were seated and he had poured them each a drink.
"That question had crossed our minds, sir," said Heyes.
"Won't your niece be joining us for dinner?" asked Kid, noting that the table was only laid for three.
"No, she would not make a pleasant dinner companion right now, so will dine in her room," he replied a little stiffly.
The food arrived and was hot and plentiful, much to Kid's delight.
Matt Dreyfuss continued, "Hannah is taking some convincing that she should return to Porterville. The robbery and, more to the point, the murder of Mr Fellowes, the manager, has left her somewhat reluctant."
"How did she come to see the shooting?" asked Heyes, between mouthfuls.
Matt Dreyfuss chewed thoughtfully for a moment before he replied.
"Hannah and I were in town for a few days — I have a small townhouse there which I use when I have business to attend to. I was walking down the boardwalk towards the bank. I had an appointment with Mr Fellowes, you see. Hannah had run on ahead; she arrived at the bank just as the shooting started and happened to look through the window at the exact time that murdering outlaw shot Mr Fellowes in the back. The three of them then burst through the door, leapt on their horses, and high-tailed it out of town. Sheriff Trevors organised a posse real quick which caught up with Amos Parker as his horse had come up lame. Hannah identified him that evening in the jail. As you probably know, the other two are still at large."
"The Sheriff did mention that," said Heyes. "But I still don't really understand why you need us, Mr Dreyfuss. You seem to have quite a number of people here who are handy with a rifle, couldn't they escort your niece into town?"
"Sheriff Trevors thought a large number of armed men might attract attention but that two men and a boy could pass relatively un-noticed."
This last remark even made Kid Curry look up from his food. "Just a minute, I thought it was your niece we were taking to Porterville."
"It is, but we thought that it would be safer to dress Hannah up as a boy. That's what is posing more of a problem than we had anticipated. She's eleven years old and doesn't want to wear boys clothes. Her maid was trying to get her to try them on yesterday when you arrived. You heard her feelings on the matter. Hopefully she will be in a better frame of mind in the morning and you can meet her at breakfast," he added with a half-hearted smile.
Heyes thought it better at that point to change the subject to ranching and cattle prices, with the two cousins managing to keep the conversation away from anything to do with themselves. At the conclusion of the meal and after what seemed an appropriate period of time, they excused themselves and headed back to their room. As they opened the door lightning lit up the room followed by an enormous clap of thunder.
"Guess you were right about the storm, Heyes," yawned Kid, feeling sleepy after so much food. "I hope it blows itself out or we are going to have a very wet ride tomorrow; if they can persuade Hannah to go with us, that is."
"Well, we can't go back without her Kid, so we'll just have to hope that she does change her mind overnight."
Thunder and lightning raged on through the night but by the time the two cousins went downstairs to breakfast the storm had passed and the heavy rain had reduced to a steady drizzle.
Matt Dreyfuss was already in the dining room. "Good morning, gentlemen. I trust you slept well despite the storm. Please help yourselves." He indicated a long side table with a selection of covered dishes on it.
They filled their plates and sat down at the table where a maid poured them steaming cups of coffee. Halfway through their meal the door opened and a pretty young girl entered looking sulkily at the floor. She had long blonde hair and was wearing a cream floral dress with a lace collar and cuffs. Matt Dreyfuss immediately got up and went over to greet her.
"Gentlemen, I would like you to meet my niece, Hannah."
Heyes stood up, indicating to Kid that he should do the same. Might as well try and get off on the right foot by treating her like a lady, he thought.
"Hannah, these two men are to escort you to Porterville. This is Mister Smith and Mister Jones," explained her uncle.
"Nice to meet you, Miss."
"Pleasure, Miss."
Hannah barely glanced at the two young men. "Hello," she murmured still looking at the floor.
"Come and have some breakfast, Hannah," said her uncle, returning to his seat. "You need some food inside you for your journey."
Hannah shot him an angry look but made her way to the side table and proceeded to put a few morsels of food on a plate. She took a seat alongside her uncle and, as the conversation once again turned to the storm, she shuffled the food round her plate with her fork.
"You not going to eat that?" enquired Kid, indicating her plate with his fork.
Hannah opened her mouth to reply with a sulky "No!" when she looked up and took a closer look at the man who had spoken. "Maybe," she said, blushing slightly as a pair of blue eyes met hers.
Kid smiled gently. "Well, you'd better eat quick. We need to move out real soon," he added between mouthfuls.
Matt Dreyfuss and Heyes exchanged glances.
"Mister Dreyfuss, you were telling me about that new strain of cattle," Heyes began quickly, glancing at Hannah. "You don't happen to have some more information do you?"
"Er... I have just what you need in my study. This way please, Mister Smith".
As Heyes followed him from the room he signalled to a slightly bemused-looking Kid to stay at the table. Hannah didn't indicate that she had even noticed them leave.
Kid finished his cup of coffee, sat back in his seat and sighed contentedly. The food on the trail back to Porterville certainly wouldn't be anything like this.
"You done much ridin'?" he asked.
"Only when I'm here visiting my uncle." Hannah risked a furtive glance at him from under long blonde eyelashes.
"I hear they want you to dress like a boy," he ventured. "It's a good idea y' know."
"But...!"
Kid gave her one of the steady stares he usually reserved for a showdown but the effect was the same and Hannah's impending tantrum was avoided.
"I'll go and change my clothes," she said meekly.
Kid followed her out of the dining room and watched her climb the stairs. "Sheesh, little girls," he muttered to himself as Heyes and Matt Dreyfuss emerged from a nearby room.
Heyes grinned and slapped him on the back. "Well, Thaddeus I think you've gone and got yourself an admirer!"
Kid shrugged his shoulders. "She's gone upstairs to change her clothes so I guess we can be on our way."
Within half an hour the horses were ready and loaded up with saddle bags full of provisions. The two cousins were busy checking over their saddles and were so focussed on what they were doing they didn't notice Hannah emerge from the front door with her Uncle carrying a small carpetbag. She was dressed in long brown pants and boots, a cream shirt under a light brown jacket and her hair was tucked up under a scruffy brown hat. She still did not look very pleased about being dressed this way and shuffled forward somewhat reluctantly.
"Okay, well it looks like we're ready," said Heyes. "Let's mount up." He gave Kid a nod of encouragement in Hannah's direction.
"Say goodbye to your uncle, Hannah." Hannah hugged her uncle and Kid held her horse while she mounted. He smiled at her again as she settled and hooked the carpetbag over her saddle horn.
Heyes leaned down and shook Matt Dreyfuss by the hand. "We'll take good care of her, sir," he said, and giving Hannah no chance to change her mind they quickly turned their horses and trotted off down the track.
The air smelled fresh and clean after the previous night's storm and the light rain from earlier that morning had ceased leaving a few blue patches starting to appear in the sky.
The three rode on in silence for some while and despite Hannah's sulky demeanour earlier that morning she appeared to be starting to enjoying herself. After a couple of hours they began to hear a rumble in the distance which was getting louder all the time.
Heyes pulled his horse to a halt. "You know Thaddeus, I don't much like the sound of that. It's the river and, according to Mister Dreyfuss, it's likely to have burst its banks after that storm. We'll hafta try that way," he said pointing to the hills in the distance. "It's not the way we figured on taking but it'll be drier and I don't like the idea of wading through water...under the circumstances," he added looking sideways at Hannah.
"I don't think we have much of a choice either," agreed his partner, "but I know I'd like to get away from those hills by nightfall."
It was well past noon before they reached the hills and slowed their horses to a walk as they began to climb. Hannah, who had barely said a word since they left Byron's Crossing almost startled them. "I'm really hungry!" she whined.
The two cousins looked at one another.
"Well, if you had eaten more at breakfast...," sighed Kid, "but I guess it would be alright to stop here for a rest and something to eat. What d'you think Joshua?"
Heyes pushed his hat to the back of his head, leaned on his saddle horn and pretended to be giving it a lot of consideration. "Guess I'm kinda hungry too," he said with a grin.
Kid tended to the horses while Heyes made camp and prepared some food.
"I hope you like beans Hannah, cos that's pretty much all we got," he said as he handed Hannah a plate together with a chunk of bread. "Ya kinda get used to them if you move around a lot like Thaddeus and me."
Kid nodded in agreement as he joined them and helped himself to a plateful.
Hannah found that the fresh air and horse riding had given her quite an appetite and she gave the food her complete attention. The two cousins watched her with some amusement.
When they had finished Heyes leaned back on his saddle and placed his battered black hat over his eyes. Kid settled back against a rock and put his hands behind his head; his partner had obviously decided it was his turn to keep watch. After a while he stood up, walked a few paces, stretched his arms above his head and yawned.
"Do you always wear your gun like that?"
He turned to see Hannah standing behind him. "Like what?"
"Tied to your leg. My uncle never wears his gun like that."
"That's in case I hafta use it in a hurry."
"Why would you need to do that?" Then she looked at him wide eyed. "Oh, are you a gunslinger?!"
"No," he smiled, "I wouldn't call myself that but I've had to draw once or twice."
"Are you fast?"
"Some say I am."
"Will you show me?"
"Not right now."
She thought for a moment and then asked, "Have you ever shot anyone?"
"Yep."
Her eyes opened wide again. "Have you ever killed anyone?"
Kid immediately pictured a tall blond-haired man lying in the dirt, a bright red stain spreading quickly over a white ruffled shirt.
"We should be movin' on, c'mon Joshua." Kid nudged Heyes with his foot although he didn't really believe that his cousin had been sleeping, and they began packing up.
"Didn't feel like showing off then?" Heyes enquired quietly.
"I don't show off!" replied Kid a little louder than he would have liked. "I knew you wasn't sleepin'," he hissed.
"Wasn't what it looked like when Belle Jordan's girls challenged you to that contest."
"I was just showing them how to skin someone with a bit of finesse, that's all."
"Oh." Heyes said with a chuckle.
The trail took them higher into the hills where the countryside was strewn with large boulders and Heyes and Curry were immediately on their guard. This was the kind of terrain they had been hoping to avoid. As they rounded a bend the valley lay below them and they were able to see just how far the river had flooded over the land.
Kid gave a low whistle. "Sure glad we headed this way, the trail down there would have been completely washed out."
"Looks like we need to get a bit farther before we can head down again though and it will be dark soon," observed Heyes. "We need to find a safe place to set up camp."
"We're not going to sleep out in the open are we?" asked Hannah with some trepidation.
"Yep, no boarding houses out here." Kid smiled as they turned their horses back towards the trail. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw something glint in the setting sun from the direction they had come. His smile quickly faded.
"Stay here a minute," he said taking his gun from its holster and setting his horse at a lope back down the trail. After a short time he reappeared shrugging his shoulders at the enquiring look from Heyes.
Eventually the rocky landscape gave way to forest and darkness started to close in quickly once they were among the trees. Heyes was just about to suggest that they made camp where they were when he glimpsed a cabin in a small clearing through the trees. No smoke was coming from the chimney and no light showed at the window.
He pointed. "Hey Thaddeus, do you see what I see?"
"Ha ha, looks like we may have found ourselves a boarding house," came the reply.
The cabin was more ramshackle than it appeared from a distance but its roof was intact and there was also a small barn to the rear. As they approached Kid quickly dismounted, threw his reins to Heyes and, with his gun drawn, made his way over to the door. The place looked deserted but he knocked anyway, then opened the door. In the deepening gloom he could just make out a table with a couple of chairs, a pot-belly stove, and some bunk beds. It was dirty and felt cold and damp.
"Don't look like anyone's been here in a while," he called as he emerged from the cabin. "May as well make ourselves at home."
While Heyes and Hannah took their belongings inside, Kid led the horses to the barn which still had some straw on the floor and a half full bag of grain propped up against the back wall. "You three may eat better than us tonight," he told them grabbing a handful of feed from the sack and sniffing it for mould.
There was no firewood in the cabin and, as it was almost dark, Heyes and Hannah gathered what branches they could find close by, quite a lot of which had been brought down by the storm the night before. Heyes then lit the pot-belly stove to get some light and warmth in the cabin and hoped the wood would last through the night. By the light of the stove he noticed an oil lamp on the floor in the corner and discovered that it was full of oil; the wick looked just about useable too.
By the time Kid came back the lamp was lit and a pot of coffee was brewing on the stove. He carried with him an old wooden bucket with some water in it which proceeded to leak all over the floor.
"I was hoping there'd be water here," said Heyes. "Otherwise we would have been out of it by the morning."
"Filled it in a stream out back," replied Kid looking ruefully at his now half empty bucket. "Think I'll go fill the canteens."
Heyes had just got some beans and salt pork simmering when he heard one of the horses whinny and then realised that Kid had been quite a long time filling up the canteens.
Immediately he was on the alert and went to the tiny window at the rear of the cabin. He couldn't see anything untoward, but he couldn't see Kid either.
Another whinny from one of the horses and Heyes drew his Schofield. Thankfully, Hannah was busy feeding small twigs into the stove so she didn't seem to notice. He was just trying to decide whether he should go and check on Kid when a figure emerged from the barn and headed towards the cabin. Heyes swiftly flattened himself against the wall by the door.
"Hold it!" he said as the door creaked open and he pointed his revolver into the darkness.
"It's me, Joshua." Kid stood in the doorway wrapped in a horse blanket.
"What are you wearing that for?" Chuckled Heyes until he noticed the strained look on Kid's face. "Thaddeus?"
"Come outside," whispered his cousin.
Heyes looked round at Hannah. "Keep that fire going Hannah, just like I showed you." He pulled the door closed behind him.
"What?" he asked.
Kid leaned back against the cabin and removed the blanket from his left arm. Even in what little light there was outside Heyes could see a dark stain the length of his shirt sleeve.
"Didn't want to frighten Hannah, so I covered the blood with this blanket," replied Kid.
"Well, she's gonna hafta see it," Heyes said as he opened the door and helped Kid inside.
The return of Kid Curry drew Hannah's attention away from the stove and she turned around and stared as the wounded man sat down heavily on one of the chairs.
"Let's get a look at this," Heyes said, moving the lamp a little closer. As Kid took the pressure off the wound to remove his shirt and henley the blood began to flow freely again and Heyes quickly rolled up the discarded shirt and pressed it against the top of Kid's arm.
"Go get your bag, Hannah. I need to see if there is something we can use for bandages," Heyes snapped.
Hannah didn't move and remained staring at Kid.
"Don't be scared," said Kid a little more softly. "I just got cut a bit. Go get your bag and we can have a look."
Hannah passed her open carpetbag to Heyes who quickly rifled through it, finally pulling out a long white linen nightdress. "This'll do," he said. "I'll get it started then you can keep tearing it into long strips."
Hannah was soon ripping the nightdress apart and Heyes turned his attention once again to his partner. He cleaned and bound up the wound as best he could but it was deep and he guessed it really needed stitches. Meanwhile, Kid tried to keep his mind off the pain by telling his partner what had happened.
Kid Curry was making his way back to the cabin with the full canteens when he heard one of the horses in the barn whinny. His Colt was quickly in his hand as he put down the canteens and stepped silently inside the barn. but he failed to see the man hiding in the darkness.
In an instant the gun was knocked out of his hand and as he turned towards his assailant he felt a searing pain in his left arm. His right hand was now empty so he took a wild swing in the dark, felt his fist connect a mighty blow against someone's face, and heard them stagger backwards and fall against one of the stalls.
His eyes then began to adjust a little more to the darkness and he could just about make out a man lying in the straw. Ignoring the pain and the blood oozing down his arm he felt around the stall for some rope which caused one of the horses to whinny again in fright. Finding a decent sized piece he tied the man's hands together and looped the rope through a metal ring on the side of the stall. "That should hold ya," he muttered through clenched teeth.
After checking that the man wasn't wearing a gun he went in search of his own, furious with himself that it had been knocked out of his hand. He then wrapped one of their horse blankets around his shoulders and clutching his arm ran back to the cabin.
"D'you think he'll hold 'til morning?" asked Heyes. "Only I don't think either of us should go out there again tonight."
"He was out cold and I tied him up pretty good," Kid replied with a shrug, immediately wishing he hadn't as a jolt of pain shot down his arm.
"Let's hope he stays that way. It might be one of the Parker brothers." Heyes started pacing. "Is that who you thought you saw on the trail earlier? I can't believe we missed someone following us."
"I just thought I saw something flash, may have been his knife. Hey, maybe he was using it to signal someone like the Apache do."
"Let's hope not," replied Heyes.
Just then there was a loud sniff and they looked over towards Hannah who was sitting on one of the bunks. There were trails of tears down her pale cheeks and she looked very frightened.
"Aw, don't cry Hannah," said Kid gently, holding out his good arm and indicating Hannah should come over to the table.
"Does it hurt a lot?" she asked.
"It hurts some, but nothin' I can't handle," he replied.
"You're going to be alright though?"
"Sure," he nodded. Then he took a deep breath. "Hey, that food smells good," he said. "Let's eat."
For once Kid Curry didn't really feel much like eating, his arm was throbbing so much, but he and Heyes both had a good helping in the hope that Hannah would eat something too.
After supper Heyes made Hannah comfortable on the upper bunk with the horse blanket and one of the bedrolls, which were cleaner and smelled much better than the straw-stuffed mattress, while Kid settled on the lower bunk in his sheepskin jacket.
Heyes sat as close to the stove as he could to keep warm and took the first watch. It was about four in the morning when Kid woke up and insisted his drowsy-looking partner get at least a couple of hours sleep. He put on his spare shirt and stoked up the fire with a little of the remaining wood while Heyes donned the sheepskin jacket and fell asleep the instant his head hit the mattress.
Kid roused the others at dawn and after a quick breakfast of biscuits and coffee Heyes replaced the bandage on his partner's arm, which had bled a little in the night, and leaving Kid and Hannah repacking the saddlebags, he made his way over to the barn.
The barn door was ajar and the canteens were still outside where Kid had left them.
Schofield already in his hand he peered inside where he could see a young, slightly-built youth with shaggy blond hair leaning against one of the stalls. Kid's rope had held and he still looked unconscious but Heyes wasn't going to take any chances and moved cautiously inside. Seeing the knife half buried in the straw he kicked it away out of reach and was heading back outside again when Kid and Hannah came walking toward him.
"Is this a good idea?" Heyes enquired, indicating Hannah.
"Couldn't leave her. Anyway figured you might need a hand."
"Need a hand! Have you seen the size of this fella?"
"It was dark, remember."
"Well, let's see what he's got to say for himself," said Heyes picking up one of the canteens. Undoing the cap he walked back into the barn and poured most of the contents over the young man's head.
"C'mon, c'mon!" he shouted in his best Bannerman detective voice.
As his eyes opened the young man squinted at the two men and the boy standing in front of him, then realised his hands were tied and started to struggle. Heyes noted the huge bruise on the side of his face and recalled the couple of times when he had been on the receiving end of Kid's fist.
"Who are you, and what're you doing here?" snapped Heyes. The young man didn't answer. "You one of those Parker boys?" Still no reply.
Curry sighed. "Hey, Joshua. While we're here we may as well saddle up."
"I'll do it," said Heyes. "You shouldn't lift a saddle with that arm." He beckoned to Hannah to follow him over to the other stall.
Now that she was no longer watching, Curry drew his Colt and crouching down he pointed it close to the young man's bruised face. "You gotta name now?" he asked menacingly.
The young man looked alarmed. "Calib. Calib Parker."
Kid kept him in his steely gaze. "How'd you get here?" he asked.
"I gotta horse...over yonder...through the trees," he stammered indicating the direction with a nod of his head.
Heyes peered round the side of the stall. "I'll go get it," he volunteered.
Following Calib's tracks in the wet dirt back through the trees Heyes soon located the horse. The poor thing was quite scrawny and had been tied up among the trees all night, so as he led it back to the barn he thought maybe he should give it some feed and water.
"This feed alright?" he enquired.
Kid nodded. "Ours ate it last night and they're still livin'."
Heyes thrust both his hands into the sack to get the fresher grain in the middle.
"Hey, what's this?" he said as he felt something other than grain deep down in the sack.
"Well, I guess now we know what you were doin' here last night, don't we," he grinned at Calib and held up two large money bags.
Kid chuckled. "Oh Lom's gonna love this!"
It was still early morning when they finally set off with Heyes leading Calib on his scrawny horse, his hands tied securely behind his back and it wasn't long before they cleared the forest, the trail ahead winding its way down to the valley floor.
Heyes was thinking to himself that the ride today wouldn't be easy but at least the sun was shining again and the ground was drying out. Kid would have to take it slow or that wound might open up again, and leading Calib on his horse would slow them down further. He would also have to keep a sharp eye open for trouble; Calib's brother was bound to come looking for him. He would have to keep a close eye on his partner too. Kid seemed alright now but Heyes knew from previous experience that you couldn't always tell how much pain he was in; he could hide it well.
Sometime after noon they stopped in a copse of trees to rest and for Heyes to take a look at the bandage on his cousin's arm. As they were tying up the horses Kid murmured, "Y' know we're being followed, don't ya?"
"Yep, spotted him a mile or so back," Heyes murmured back. "Must be the other one. Let's hope he makes his move soon. Will you be okay if he puts up a fight?"
His cousin nodded in reply.
They were drinking the water from their canteens and sharing some beef jerky, which was pretty much all the food they had left, when Kid spun round, his Colt in his hand.
"Come on out, nice and easy," he said to a tree a little way behind them.
Heyes looked round in time to see an identical blond-haired youth sidle out from behind the tree with his hands in the air. While Kid had him covered Heyes walked over to remove the young man's gun belt together with another vicious looking knife.
"You must be Seth," he said cheerfully while pulling the young man's hands behind his back and binding them securely before leading him over to join his brother. He grinned at his partner. "And Lom said these two might be dangerous!"
"This ain't exactly a scratch," Kid replied pointing to his wounded arm.
Heyes grinned again. "Your horse over there?" he asked, gesturing back in the direction they had come. Seth nodded miserably and Heyes jogged over towards some rocks to find yet another scrawny animal.
When he returned Kid shook his head and said with a chuckle. "How did you boys ever manage to rob a bank? Your brother Amos must be real smart, because you two sure ain't!"
"He ain't too smart either," remarked Heyes. "He killed someone, remember."
The sun was just setting when they reached the outskirts of Porterville which meant there were fewer people on the street to see the odd-looking group riding into town. However, word must have found its way to the sheriff's office because by the time they pulled their horses to a halt, Lom was standing outside accompanied by two deputies.
"Looks like you picked up some company," he observed.
Calib and Seth were roughly pulled from their horses and secured in a jail cell next to their brother Amos who had been brought in from Table Rock the previous day.
Heyes grabbed his saddle bag with the stolen money in it and they quickly took Hannah inside.
"Here's your precious cargo, Lom." Heyes indicated towards Hannah. "Oh, and the Governor may be interested to hear about this too," he grinned, holding up the saddle bag.
It was some time before the whole story was told and the cousins could make their way over to the hotel with Hannah, accompanied by Lom and the deputy who was to guard her until the trial tomorrow. The cousins had wanted to see her safely up to her room before Kid went to the doctor to get his arm tended to. Just as they stopped outside her room Kid took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.
"These men will look after you now Hannah and your uncle will be here tomorrow for the trial, then he'll take you home," he said. "Me and Joshua, well we've gotta head out real early in the morning." With that Hannah flung herself at Kid and clung round his waist.
"I don't want you to go and I don't want to be a witness," she whispered.
"Hey now," he said gently prising her away. "We got you here — that was our job. You've got a job to do tomorrow too, a very important one. Don't be scared. Just tell them what you saw, okay."
She looked up at him her eyes brimming with tears.
"You'll do just fine," he added bending down to kiss her gently on the cheek before the deputy ushered her into the room.
Kid turned to see Heyes and Lom looking at him.
"What?" he demanded.
"Nothin'," grinned Heyes, shaking his head. "It just don't seem to matter what age the ladies are..."