Disclaimer: Alias Smith and Jones does not belong to me. This is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses, etc. are entirely fictitious.
A/N – story presumes the details on the wanted posters are not entirely accurate. Story exists in the same story verse as Kid Plans, South By Southeast, and Trouble In Texas but should also stand alone.
A Home For Wayward Men?
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"Did you get any rest last night?" asked Kid. "You were still pacing when I fell asleep."
Heyes stopped in midstride and glanced over his shoulder. Early morning sunlight streamed through the window highlighting the dark gold of his partner's hair. Kid stretched, then sat up and swung his long legs over the side of the double bed. The younger Kansan rolled his shoulders, then leaned forward resting elbows on bent knees.
"I'm an early riser, Thaddeus," answered Heyes with a dimpled smile. The dark haired former outlaw turned around to face his partner directly. Kid wasn't smiling. His lips were pressed together in a tense line. "What's wrong?"
"I've been thinkin'," answered Kid with a sigh.
"You've been sleepin'," objected Heyes.
"Unlike some people, I don't stay up all night worrying and pacing. Sleeping is when I do my best thinkin'," replied Kid. With a mild blue eyed glare at Heyes, Kid added, "No interruptions."
The blond stood up and stretched his arms high overhead, then Kid reached for the blue jeans hanging beside his gun belt. Kid continued speaking as he pulled his pants on over his longjohns.
"Yesterday. All that talk with Aunt Katie and Henry about us being Smith and Jones forever, sure was nice," said Kid softly, "but we both know that was nothing but a pipe dream."
"Now Thaddeus…," began Heyes.
"Heyes, we can't be Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones for the rest of our lives," interrupted Kid. "Maybe, before all this attention, when no one knew Smith and Jones, but now? After the newspaper articles about Kid Curry and Deputy Jones?"
Heyes inhaled sharply and narrowed his dark brown eyes as he regarded his cousin. Yesterday's inquest had cleared up the misidentification of the man who died at Thunder Ridge last week. Reporter Wilkins had assured Joshua Smith that a correction would be printed clarifying the dead man was not Kid Curry, but instead a crooked bank auditor and thief named McIntyre. The reporter was also going to do a full article on the arrest of McIntyre's partner, Lloyd Eugene Carstairs.
"Our lives aren't like those stories your Pa used to read to Cleo. We don't get to end with happily ever after," continued Kid as he pulled on his blue shirt and began buttoning it.
"Our lives aren't that simple," muttered Heyes. The avid reader had recently finished Thoreau's book for the third time. "Like most people, we lead lives of quiet desperation, but we have to keep trying."
"What are you yammering about now Heyes?" demanded Kid.
Heyes shook his head, now was not the time to explain Walden or trancendentalism. More practical matters needed to be addressed. Heyes had never been one to fantasize, unless you counted hoping for a governor to come through on a long overdue promise of amnesty.
"Did you listen to the judge quizzing Sheriff Coltrane about Carstairs' trial in Clarendon and Leroy Johnson's statement?" asked Heyes.
Kid gave Heyes a baleful glance as he tucked the blue shirt into his pants. The muscular blond reached for his gun belt and strapped it on.
"From where I was sitting," reminded Kid, "I could probably hear the judge and Coltrane better than you."
Heyes smiled. The tiny town of Thunder Ridge boasted only a few buildings. Upon the circuit court judge's arrival, the stable was hurriedly set up for the inquest into McIntyre's death. The strategist had been standing at the rear of the stable during the proceedings. In his role as Deputy Jones, Kid had been called to the judge's table at the front of the stable to sign some documents. Carstairs arrived near the end of the inquest and loudly denounced Thaddeus Jones as Kid Curry. In the ensuing uproar, Jenny Black claimed Thaddeus Jones as her oldest son, Patrick J. McCreedy claimed Jones as his nephew, and the townsfolk of Thunder Ridge all identified Thaddeus as their long time neighbor.
"Coltrane's testimony, along with Henry's statement, changes everything," said Heyes.
Henry Curry, Kid's older brother long thought by the partners to be dead, arrived in the midst of the chaos. Henry swore to the judge that while Thaddeus Jones looked enough like him to be kin, Henry had never seen the man before. Heyes had to admire Henry Curry's fine line of prevarication. Technically, Kid's older brother hadn't lied. Henry had last seen Jedidiah Curry when his brother was an eight year old boy.
"How does the judge's questions about Clarendon and Danny make a difference to us?" asked Kid.
A broad dimpled grin spread across the slender dark haired man's face. Heyes raised a hand and began to tick off the points on each finger.
"The first difference is that Henry's testimony is now a matter of legal record. Thaddeus Jones looks like Kid Curry," answered Heyes with his index finger upright.
"Of course I look like Kid Curry," grumbled Kid.
"And secondly," stressed Heyes as he raised another finger, "Leroy's testimony in Texas at Carstairs first trial confirms Thaddeus Jones and Kid Curry are two separate individuals."
"Huh?"
"Johnson saw you in Clarendon and he swore you weren't the man who murdered his brother, Kid Curry," reminded Heyes. "Later, Leroy identified the Matherville undertaker's photograph of Danny as Kid Curry."
"We know that ain't true though," objected Kid.
"For once, we've got the law on our side," smirked Heyes. "There are court records in the state of Texas and Wyoming Territory that show Carstairs tried to claim Thaddeus Jones is the outlaw Kid Curry, but there are multiple witness statements that say otherwise. And Coltrane confirmed that Kid Curry is buried in Matherville."
"That I don't understand at all. How is Danny being labelled Kid Curry any different from Fred Philpotts using my name?" demanded Kid.
Danny had been responsible for the death of Seth and others, while Fred was an innocent young fool looking for glory. After the shooting in Matherville, Kid sent telegrams to both Johnson and the saloon gal Lurene. Sheriff Coltrane testified yesterday that Leroy Johnson went to Matherville after receiving word of Danny Bilson's death. The undertaker's photograph of Danny Bilson, or whatever the smiling gunslinger's real name had been, had convinced Johnson that his brother's killer was dead. Johnson identified the dead man as Kid Curry.
"The biggest difference," reminded Heyes softly as he raised his third finger, "is that no one has seen the outlaws Curry and Heyes for nearly eight years."
"People see us every day," objected Kid.
"People see Thaddeus Jones and Joshua Smith," clarified Heyes. "Memories fade over time. People forget. I don't know if anyone could identify us now beyond a reasonable doubt."
"We still look like ourselves," said Kid.
Kid still looked younger than his years. The blond man walked with an easy rangy grace, but eight years of living on the run had an impact. Tiny creases now showed around his blue eyes just as they did around Heyes dark brown eyes, lines that hadn't been there just a few years earlier. Neither man had ever been heavy set, but Kid was now leaner while Heyes' slender frame appeared downright skinny. Heyes ran a hand through his dark brown hair. The motion lifted the hair over his temples, hair that was starting to gray.
"We're no longer on the front of every sheriff's bulletin board," reminded Heyes.
"Being Smith and Jones for the rest of our lives still won't work," sighed Kid. "Carstairs won't keep his mouth shut and sooner or later someone is gonna believe him."
"Carstairs has his own problems with the law," reminded Heyes. "With the exception of Soapy and Silky, the only people that could really identify Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry were in the stable yesterday, and they all swore that you were Thaddeus Jones. No one's going to believe an embezzler and robber, over a long time resident and tax payer."
The judge closed the inquest proceedings yesterday by adding libel to the other charges against Carstairs. McIntyre's accomplice was remanded into Lom's custody. Sheriff Trevors rode out of Thunder Ridge with Carstairs in handcuffs. Lom took the former bank employee to the Porterville jail to await extradition on a variety of charges spanning nearly fifteen years.
"I always did wonder why the papers said we got so much money from robbing the Hanford Bank and Trust," mused Kid. "Do you reckon that was McIntyre and Carstairs then?"
"I'm wondering if McIntyre and Carstairs might have been thieving a whole lot longer," answered Heyes. "Do you remember the first train job we tried?"
"The one where Carstairs tried to shoot Kyle, but shot himself in the foot?"
"Yeah," nodded Heyes. "The papers said we took twenty thousand from that train, but we left before I opened the safe."
"You think that was McIntyre and Carstairs too?"
"Could be," shrugged Heyes. "With McIntyre being in charge of the banks bounty program, it sure explains why the bounty on us was raised so high. He kept everyone looking for us, and not looking at what he was doing."
The partner's exchanged a glance. The astronomically high rewards on their heads, especially the phrase "Dead or Alive" added after the Hanford job, had made their dangerous lives even more precarious.
"We've been trying for amnesty now almost as long as we were outlawing," said Kid. "It sure would be nice if the governor would let the trying for amnesty time cancel out the outlawing time."
Heyes tried to calculate the time spent outlawing. Kid might be almost even, but Heyes had been with the Plummer gang before Kid was released from Valparaiso. Did the time in the home for wayward boys count as punishment time? If so, they had both done more than their share of penance.
"Governor's haven't done anything for us," declared Heyes. "Lom was right about us needing to hedge our bets. I think it's time we do something for ourselves."
Kid sat down on the bed and began to pull on his boots. The blond huffed in disbelief at Heyes' next words.
"Thaddeus Jones and Joshua Smith are now legally recognized as fine upstanding citizens of Thunder Ridge," continued Heyes as he walked over to the window and looked out across the tiny town. "They even planted a tree in the town green."
"Do you mean the Christmas tree?" snorted Kid.
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Christmas 1880
"I thought you said no more good deeds," reminded Kid.
"It's Christmas Kid," grinned Heyes. "We can make an exception this once."
The partners trudged up the snow covered mountainside towards Clarence's cabin. Heyes finally stopped in front of a large evergreen.
"This one," said Heyes.
"This tree?" asked Kid in disbelief. "It's huge. Mrs. Henderson just asked for a Christmas tree. Why this particular one?"
"Yes, this tree," answered Heyes as he swung the axe. The sharp blade thunked into the side of the pine. "You can't see Thunder Pass from Clarence's front door because of this tree."
"Ahh," nodded Kid, "so it's not exactly a good deed then."
"It's a good deed," huffed Heyes. "It's just good for a lot of different reasons!"
A short while later, the strong blond took the axe from Heyes and Kid took his turn at chopping.
"Do you ever think we'll need to see the pass from Clarence's porch?" asked Kid.
"You never know Kid," answered Heyes, "but it doesn't hurt to be prepared."
The former outlaws dragged the evergreen down the snowy ridge to the center of town. The blacksmith and the undertaker came out to help them mount the huge tree on two boards nailed into the base in a crisscross pattern. With much heaving and pulling and stones placed around the base, the huge tree soon stood erect, ready for decorating. The other adults in the community came outside carrying garland, ornaments, and even more importantly, hot toddies.
"Oh, my grandchildren will be so excited to see this in the morning," gushed Mrs. Henderson in appreciation.
Kid huffed once more before he straightened up and accepted the proffered drink.
"Maybe you should plant an evergreen here in the spring," suggested Kid, "so you don't have to chop one down every Christmas."
"That's a wonderful idea!" exclaimed the owner of the boarding house. Mrs. Henderson continued, "Thank you so much for offering!"
"Huh?"
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"Yeah, the Christmas tree," nodded Heyes. "We planted it when the ground started thawing, just before we went to Buckton."
The former outlaw leader looked out the window. The large evergreen to the left stood in the center of a little garden square. While the little tree had shot up in the last several years, the small town of Thunder Ridge had grown slowly. A new home for Mrs. Henderson's son and his family made for five buildings in town. Framing for the new school was expected to begin before the new school teacher arrived at the end of the month. The graveyard now held four graves. Mrs. Henderson's last two husbands, their old friend Kid's pseudo-uncle Clarence Jones, and the new grave of Mr. Henry P. McIntyre, bank auditor, suspected embezzler and robber.
"You heard the judge," added Heyes. Funny to think how planting that little evergreen sprout weighed in the judge's opinion. The tree tipped the balance in their favor. Judge Rufus Bean had slammed the gavel down and ordered Carstairs to be quiet. "Planting a tree is something a person does when they plan on staying awhile. Not something an outlaw would do."
Was it merely the symbolic putting down of roots? Or something more? Kid joined Heyes at the window. Blue eyes glanced from the evergreen at the left, to the gnarled old oak on the far right of the boarding house. A tall blonde woman from Texas sat on the swing in the early morning light. Matt held one of the fallen oak leaves in her hand and spun it over and over.
"It's like that story we read in Clem's book by that fellow Poe, the Purloined Letter," continued Heyes. "Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes hide in plain sight."
Heyes noted that his partner's eyes settled on Matt. The blonde woman was still something of a mystery to Heyes, but the genius knew his partner trusted and cared for the Texan. And while Heyes might not always trust Matt, he did trust Kid. His partner's instincts had seldom been wrong, Grace Turner being one of the few notable exceptions.
"Thaddeus Jones and Joshua Smith stay in Thunder Ridge," stated Heyes. "At least for now."
"Alright Joshua," agreed Kid somewhat distractedly. "For now."
Heyes nodded in the direction of the woman sitting on the swing. Hiding in plain sight, settling down, could also allow Thaddeus Jones and Joshua Smith to have a life, not just an existence. They could plan careful clandestine visits to family in Cheyenne and friends in Denver, and maybe something more. The mastermind decided now was the time to be blunt.
"What's going on between you and Matt?" asked Heyes.
"Nothin'," replied Kid.
Eyebrows raised above dark brown eyes. That was the same answer Kid had given yesterday, but the woman had traveled all the way from Texas when she thought Kid was killed. Matt Markham as she now called herself, stayed in Thunder Ridge to help tend the injured gunman. Heyes smiled a little at the remembrance of Matt's efforts to get his unconscious cousin to awaken.
"Did you know Matt's divorce came through?" asked Heyes.
The tall young blonde woman had hired Smith and Jones to take her across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It was only later that the partners found out that Matt was bent on killing Jake Tattersall, her outlaw husband, for the murder of her father. Tattersall was now serving a life sentence in Nevada.
"Where you been Heyes?" asked Kid in a sharp tone. "That happened last year."
"Hmmm, I musta missed that somehow," replied Heyes quietly. The former outlaw leader kept his eyes firmly looking forward as he added, "A woman travels all the way from Texas just to see you; it must mean something."
"It don't mean nothing," repeated Kid stubbornly. "She thought I was dead."
Kid had been unconscious when Matt arrived. Heyes knew Kid found the woman easy to talk to and had once tried to teach Matt to dance. When Kid regained consciousness, Matt and Kid had shared a kiss. Yesterday Kid wrapped his arms around Matt to comfort her during the onset of a frightening storm. Heyes' tall blond partner was always deferential to the ladies, but it wasn't like Kid to deny an interest in a woman. What was going on?
"Kissing usually means something," continued Heyes with a smirk. And calling a woman like Matt by a nickname Mattie as Kid had done yesterday, that might meant something more. "Some people might be asking you about your intentions towards the lady."
"Ain't got any intentions. Matt already married an outlaw once," stated Kid as he crossed his arms across his chest. "I don't reckon she's interested in repeating the mistake twice."
Brown eyebrows went up again. Oh. Kid's comment told Heyes something. His cousin's body language told Heyes more. Did Kid think Matt wasn't interested? Remembering the argument between Clem and Matt upon Matt's arrival, Heyes prodded once more.
"Do you know Matt told Mrs. Henderson she was your fiancé?" asked Heyes.
Kid's blue eyes blinked. Heyes lips curled up in a small smile. Kid didn't have many tells and he very seldom did anything as obvious as blink. Heyes knew his information had surprised his cousin.
"Excuse me Heyes... Joshua," corrected Kid, "I think I'm gonna have a little talk with Matt."
"Before breakfast?" teased Heyes. "We're supposed to eat with Aunt Katie, Henry and his family before they leave to go back to Cheyenne. And if Jenny and the boys are gonna stay in Thunder Ridge…"
But his partner was already out of the room, Heyes continued to stare out the window. It was a few moments before the front door of the boarding house swung open. Kid strode down the porch steps and marched across the open yard towards the tall woman. Heyes wasn't entirely sure what he hoped would come of Kid and Matt's encounter.
"Kid, this could be the start of something!"
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