"Heyes, it's no good, you've got to go," said the Kid as he stood up from examining his horse's leg. "It's broken; he's finished." Curry started to draw his gun. His gelding stood with his head lowered to the ground, blowing softly, and trembling in pain.
"Kid, are you crazy? You can't put him down, that posse will hear the shot and be on us in no time. C'mon, we'll ride double," said Heyes holding out his hand to his partner.
"It won't work, Heyes. The trail's too rocky; your horse can't carry two of us over this ground. See if you can draw the posse off and get clear; then circle back for me when you can." said Kid handing up the heavy cash bag to his partner. Heyes hesitated, then took the sack and tied it off on his saddle horn. He reached out his hand again. The Kid shook it tightly. "Good luck to you, Heyes."
Heyes nodded, "You, too, Kid." He hated leaving the Kid behind, but it was their only hope. Heyes was headed back up the trail towards the posse when he heard the shot behind him. Damn Kid for doing the right thing. The ground soon leveled out and the trail opened up onto softer footing. Heyes spurred his horse into a gallop. The big bay broke free of the sheltering trees and pounded across the open meadow. Heyes stayed low to his neck as he crossed the path of the oncoming posse. There were only six of them, but the posse had been dogging their trail for days now.
That Wilford job was jinxed from the get go. Wheat had been shot and needed a doctor, so Heyes and the Kid had split from the rest of the gang hoping the posse would follow them and the money. It had worked. Now, he was hoping to do the same for his partner. The posse was still a distance away, but Heyes drew his gun and began shooting above their heads. He didn't want to hit anyone; he just wanted a little added incentive for the posse to follow him.
The riders reined up in confusion. Heyes and Curry had been heading up to the pass; why was one of them doubling back? The sheriff waved his arm in the air and charged after Heyes, urging his deputies to follow him. Two of the riders hung back and tightly reined up their mounts waiting for the posse to disappear over the slight rise the outlaw had just dropped behind.
"Milt, why'd you pull up?" asked the smaller, bald man.
"Didn't you hear that shot, Ben?" asked the larger man.
"Yeah, so?" said Ben.
"So, who was getting shot at?" said Milt. "My bet is that Heyes shot Curry and took the money. Why else wouldn't Curry be with him?"
"I don't know, Milt; but everyone knows Heyes and Curry are close. It don't really make sense," said Ben.
"Well, someone sure as hell was shooting at something and I plan to find out what. If I'm right, there's $10,000 lying around up that trail just waiting to be collected. Are you coming?" said Milt.
"Since you put it that way, I reckon I will," said Ben with a slow grin. Milt grinned back.
OOOOOOOOOO
The Kid slowly re-holstered his gun. It sickened him to destroy a fine animal, but he'd had no choice. The leg had been beyond repair and he couldn't allow his horse to suffer like that. He'd have to leave his gear behind, but he stooped and retrieved a sack of jerky from one of his saddlebags. Everything else could be left. Tucking the sack inside his shirt, he headed up the rocky path and melted into the woods. If he was followed, he wasn't about to make it easy on anyone.
OOOOOOOOOO
Heyes's horse was pulling away from the posse. Despite the riders' best efforts, they couldn't close ground with the fleeing outlaw. The Devil's Hole gang was extremely well-mounted and Heyes made sure that his men took excellent care of their horses. It had saved their lives a number of times. He risked a look back glancing over his shoulder. He saw that there were only four men in pursuit now. Damn it, the posse must've split up. That meant two men were going after the Kid. Heyes had to shake these guys fast and get back to his partner.
OOOOOOOOOO
Milt and Ben soon found Curry's dead horse lying off to the side of the trail. "So it was the horse who got shot. No sign of Curry; he must've set off on foot," said Ben stating the obvious.
"He can't have gotten far. Looky here, there's footprints heading out this way," said Milt pointing into the woods.
"Milt, I ain't too sure about this. Curry dead is one thing, but I don't want to come across Kid Curry alive and kicking," said Ben.
"I know what you're saying, but I can't walk away from $10,000, can you?" said Milt. His youngest son, Bert, had come down with tuberculosis last year, and the doctor's bills had taken their ranch. He could barely afford the small two-room cabin he was now renting from the local grocer. Kid Curry was an opportunity to put things right. He could capture a dangerous felon and the reward would put him right with his creditors. Nope, he had to go on.
Ben considered Milt's words. He, too, could certainly use the cash. He had his eye on a nice piece of land north of town and had been trying to scrape together the down payment before it was sold to someone with more means. He so wanted to ask Marla to marry him, but he had nothing to offer her. A good piece of land would make all the difference. He gulped at the thought of confronting such a fearsome gunman, but he nodded his agreement to Milt. They were lifelong friends. Ben couldn't very well ride off and let Milt face the outlaw alone. Together, they headed off into the forest looking for Curry's trail.
OOOOOOOOOOO
The Kid hadn't left much in the way of tracks. He had slipped off his boots when he left the trail and walked in his stocking feet for the first few hundred yards knowing that he'd leave less of a footprint. Coming to a rockier area, Kid slipped his boots on and hopped from rock to rock. After about 500 yards, he put his mind to covering ground and stopped worrying about leaving a trail.
OOOOOOOOOO
The broad meadow was narrowing alongside a riverbank. Heyes didn't want to be caught as the trail funneled its way back to Wilford through the next canyon. To his right was the river and to the left, a broad expanse of talus pouring off the peak above. Just above the field of broken shale was a rocky cut that crossed the left shoulder of the mountain. If he crossed the river, the posse could follow him easily. He hauled hard on his left rein, and savagely raked his right spur into his gelding's side. The horse pinned his ears back at the rough treatment but leapt off the trail onto the shifting, sliding rock; struggling, legs splaying wildly. Heyes brutally urged him on. He knew that only the horse's momentum was keeping them upright. With the last of his strength, the big bay gelding crossed the slope and hauled his rider onto the cut. Heyes jumped off the exhausted animal and took the reins pulling the horse behind him up and across the shoulder; out of sight of the trail below. The animal was covered with sweaty foam from his exertions and blowing hard. The outlaw took off his coat and wrapped it around the horse's nose to muffle his breathing. It was unlikely the posse would hear him over the noise of their own pursuit, but sound carried a long way at this altitude and Heyes wasn't taking any chances. It wasn't long before he heard the posse coming down the trail.
OOOOOOOOOO
The Kid was slowing down. His boots were rubbing blisters on his heels and he was tired. He'd been up 36 hours. He wanted to rest but he knew he'd have to make it to the pass first. There were places to hide at the top; craggy cliffs that could conceal a man easily; but it would be a hard climb on foot. Dropping back down to the trail; Kid plodded up the rocky path.
OOOOOOOOOO
"Where the hell did he go? The tracks stop here," said the puzzled deputy. He was looking around him. It was as though Heyes had vanished into thin air. The sheriff and the other deputies rode up and down the trail looking for tracks leading into the water.
"He must've jumped into the river. You, Doug and Marty, ride upstream and check the banks. George, follow me," said the sheriff as he rode down into the riverbed. He slowly rode downstream, his horse shuffling along with the current. No one had looked up. If they had, they would have seen tracks angling across the talus slope at the very top. The rest of the tracks below had been covered by the avalanche of small rocks Heyes had left in his wake.
OOOOOOOOOO
"Milt, look, there he is!" said Ben pointing to the trail above them.
Sure enough, Milt saw Curry limping his way up the trail. His stomach clenched into a knot; he was scared. It was one thing to follow a trail and quite another to face a notorious criminal. Milt wasn't sure about this at all.
"What'll we do, Milt? Should we try to wing him?" asked Ben. He didn't want to shoot a man in the back, but he didn't want to face down Curry either.
"Naw, I ain't shooting a man in the back. We'll get ahead and catch him around that next switchback," said Milt looking at the trail that climbed the cliff face. It wound in and out of boulders that had tumbled from the top. If they timed it right and went on foot, Curry wouldn't know they were there. It was real tempting to shoot first, but Milt had to give the man a sporting chance. He wasn't about to murder a man; outlaw or not. Ben agreed to the plan and the two set off on foot being extremely careful to stay out of sight and be quiet. Milt thought back to the dead horse. Curry must've known the shot would be heard. That's what Heyes was doing; he had drawn the posse away from his partner. But why had Curry given his location away like that? He'd put his horse out of misery at the risk of his own freedom.
OOOOOOOOOO
Heyes's horse shied at the smell of his dead friend and he had to steady him. He saw the hoof prints of the two deputies heading into the woods. They must've picked up the Kid's trail. Following the tracks, Heyes picked up his pace as much as he was able. The Kid was on foot and it wouldn't take long for the deputies to catch up with him. Heyes prayed that they weren't planning to shoot first.
OOOOOOOOOOO
Milt and Ben scrambled around the first boulder field and realized that they needed to leave the trail in order to get ahead of Curry. Silently, Ben gestured to Milt to split up. He was a better climber so he would circle wide and make his way up the rocky cliff. Milt gripped his arm tightly and smiled at his friend, before letting go and watching as Ben crept sideways to begin his climb.
OOOOOOOOOO
Kid knew the deputies were behind him. They were amateurs and he'd heard their noisy progress for the last mile. He was nearly to the outcropping of boulders he seen from below. It was a good, defensive position. From there he would have a clear view of the hill and trail below. He planned on holding them off until Heyes arrived or he ran out of bullets.
OOOOOOOOOO
Milt had gone about a half mile up the winding trail when he heard Ben scream. A noisy clattering of rocks made the hair on the back of Milt's neck stand up. Ben must've fallen. Milt ran back down the trail to the bottom, but saw no sign of his friend. He began looking up the rocky cliff face for his partner and what he saw froze the blood in his veins. Ben had fallen and was lying unconscious on a ledge a good hundred feet above Milt.
"Ben!" yelled Milt. He no longer cared about Curry. All that mattered was Ben. "Ben, can you hear me?" he yelled again. Frantic, he ran back and forth beneath the overhang looking for a way up to his partner. There was no way up. Maybe he could get to him from the top. They had lariats on their saddles. Milt could use those. He turned back and ran to where they'd left their horses.
Milt was scrambling to untie Ben's rope when he heard a pistol cocking behind him. He stopped and slowly raised his hands before turning to face Hannibal Heyes holding him at gunpoint.
"Howdy. I sure hope you aren't planning on using that rope on my partner," Heyes said with the friendliest of smiles. He gestured at Milt's hand which still held the rope.
Milt looked at Heyes, and looked stupidly at the rope he was clutching. "No. No, this is for my partner. He fell and he's stuck on a ledge. I think maybe he's hurt real bad. I've got to get to him. Please don't shoot me, he needs me," said Milt. He crossed his arms in a defensive position, closed his eyes, and waited for Heyes to kill him.
Instead, Heyes reached out and disarmed him. Stuffing Milt's gun into his own gunbelt, he holstered his pistol. The man was so upset about his partner, that Heyes was sure he was relatively harmless. "C'mon, I've got a rope, too," said Heyes, walking back towards his horse.
"You're gonna help me?" said Milt, flabbergasted, "but, you're Hannibal Heyes."
"Yeah, so?" said Heyes. "Look, you aren't getting your friend off that ledge by yourself. Do you want help or don't you?" He had reached his gelding and was pulling his own lariat off his saddle.
"Yes, sir; I sure could use some help," said Milt.
"All right then. Let's see what we can do," said Heyes.
OOOOOOOOOO
Reaching the base of the cliff, Heyes looked up and saw the hapless deputy still lying unmoving on the ledge. He must be hurt pretty bad. "How'd he get up there?" said Heyes.
"He climbed. Ben's been a climber ever since we were boys. He'll climb anything just for the hell of it," said Milt fondly.
"You two have been partners a long time, huh?" said Heyes, thinking of his own lifelong partnership.
"All our lives," said Milt.
"Where's my partner?" said Heyes in a much less friendly tone.
Milt gulped and said, "He's up in those rocks above us. Ben was trying to climb up there so we could get the drop on him."
"Is he in one piece?" growled Heyes.
"Yes sir, he's just fine. We could've shot him a while back, but that wouldn't of been right. We ain't backshooters," said Milt. Maybe he'd said too much. Heyes was looking at him kind of funny.
"Kid! You okay?" roared Heyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What's going on down there?" yelled the Kid back down to his partner.
"Come on down. We could use another pair of hands," yelled Heyes.
Turning to Milt, Heyes said, "You wait down here. I'm going to head up the trail until I'm across from Ben. I'm pretty good at climbing, too, and I think I can get over to him from there. The Kid can anchor me and then I'll lower him down to you."
Speechless, Milt nodded his understanding.
Thirty minutes later, Ben was lowered safely to the ground. He was still unconscious, but otherwise he seemed in pretty good shape. Milt settled him comfortably with his head resting on his jacket. Standing up, he turned to the two outlaws.
"Mr. Heyes, Mr. Curry, I don't know how to thank you for what you done. Ben is like family and I owe you for helping him," said Milt.
"That's right, you do," said Heyes smoothly "and you can thank us by giving us one of your horses."
"What?" said Milt, shocked by the audacity of the man, "but, how are we going to get back?"
"Double up; Ben can't ride alone anyway. You aren't going to have to go very far before the rest of the posse finds you, now will you?" said Heyes reasonably. Kid Curry was smiling now, too, and threw an arm across his partner's shoulders.
"Gee, I guess not. Still, I'm a deputy, I'm not supposed to go around giving my horse to an outlaw; even if he helped me," said Milt.
"Milt, we aren't giving you a choice here," said Kid, tiring of the game and pulling his gun to make his point. He backed away from Milt and grabbed the reins to his horse. Holstering his gun, he swung up on the sorrel.
"Well, you did save Ben. Why did you help us?" said Milt, obviously still uncomfortable with the idea of helping them on their way. Heyes had walked over to his horse and was mounting.
Heyes laughed, "I guess you can just think of us as a couple of bad Samaritans."
"Yes sir, you sure were," said Milt, laughing, too.
He watched for a long time as the two partners rode up the trail and then disappeared from sight. Turning, he went back to his own partner and sat to wait for help.