Muddy Gap
Heyes shook his head to dislodge some of the rain pooling on the crown of his hat. "Muddy Gap, huh, sure lives up to its name." The wind picked up, sending icy tendrils of water cascading down his neck.
Muddy Gap was a sorry little town - one street, or rather one mud-slick, and the few buildings standing seemed to be trying to melt in to join the general muck. Once it had been a thriving boom town – once. Now the mine was played out and so was the town. Heyes and the Kid had just finished two weeks clearing a ranch of mountain lions and wolves and were heading south to enjoy themselves when it began raining. Muddy Gap was the first town they'd come to in these mountains in two days.
The Kid shrugged his slicker higher around his neck and shoulders trying to keep out some of the rain as he urged his horse through the ankle-deep mud that formed the main street of the dilapidated town. "Barn's next to the hotel over there. Let's leave the horses and get out of this rain."
~~~000~~~
"We'd like a room, in the front overlooking the street," Heyes informed the desk clerk.
"Such as it is," the Kid muttered. He waited while Heyes signed the register. "Any chance of a hot bath?"
"Not tonight."
"A laundry for our clothes?"
"Not till Monday."
"Dinner?"
"Clancy's."
"A drink?"
"Clancy's"
"Any poker?"
"Clancy's… Tomorrow."
"Well, Joshua, I guess we're going to Clancy's once we unpack but not playin' poker."
"I guess so." Heyes looked at the storm outside then back at the desk clerk. "Just how far away is Clancy's?"
The desk clerk smiled briefly. "You don't need to go outside; it's through there." He pointed towards a door. On the wall between the doorway and the front desk was a poorly painted portrait of a dour looking woman – with a hawk-billed nose, too many teeth, and no chin – holding a beautiful little blonde child.
Intrigued, Heyes asked, "Who's that?"
"That's Mabel and her daughter Harriet."
"This hotel's named Mabel's isn't it?" asked the Kid.
"Yeah."
"She own it?"
"Used to. Here's your key." The desk clerk shut the register and turned his back on the men.
Heyes and the Kid raised their eyebrows as they looked at each other but picked up their things and headed up to their room.
The room was in keeping with the town; grey and worn, it had seen better days. The mattress sagged in the middle almost to the floor, and the dresser didn't sit steady on its legs. The wall paper was peeling in the corner, and it was clear the window leaked. The carpet was stretched and worn, creating bumps and crevices to trip the unwary foot in the night.
"Cheerful place isn't it?" the Kid commented, looking around.
Heyes laughed. "Come on let's change and go to Clancy's; bet this will look better after food and a couple drinks."
"Might take more than a couple drinks," the Kid grinned, "but I'm willin' to try. At least it's dry." The wind rattled the window and the damp stain under the sill grew as he watched. "Mostly," he muttered.
~~~000~~~
The partners entered Clancy's and looked around. It looked like many of the bars that they had been in in small towns, but without the liveliness. The only inhabitant was a bartender who was rearranging the dusty bottles on the shelf behind the bar. The rest of the room sat empty and in shadows. They walked up to the bar, ordered the stew and biscuits and a bottle of whiskey, and retired to a table. As they lit the lantern on the table, the bartender came over with the bottle and two glasses.
Heyes smiled at him. "It always this busy on a Friday night?" he asked, looking around.
"Not many likely to come out tonight," the bartender commented and walked back to the bar.
"Real friendly around here," the Kid grunted as he poured them each a shot.
"Yeah, kinda quiet here alright."
The bartender brought them their stew and returned to his task of staring mindlessly at nothing.
The partners turned their attention to the food, realizing that they were ravenous. After a few bites they sat back and looked around.
"You know, Kid, I could get to like a place that makes stew this good."
"Yeah, almost seems like home. Don't the name Clancy sound real familiar? Somethin' about stew, too."
Heyes frowned in thought then grinned, "Yeah, remember Clancy Dwyer, rode with us back with Big Jim – made the best stew in the Hole?"
"Oh yeah." The Kid took another drink. "Here's to Clancy and good food."
"HEYES! KID! Great to see you!" An old man shouted at them.
The looked up quickly.
"Clancy! Sit down, sit down. Great to see you, but can you keep it down?" Heyes hushed him as the Kid pushed out a chair.
"For the moment, I'm Joshua Smith and he's Thaddeus Jones," Heyes hissed at the man. Clancy Dwyer looked much older than when they had last seen him, riding out of the Hole to take up a new life. His clothing sagged and was full of holes. Clancy himself was greyer and careworn.
Clancy looked at them. "Smith and Jones, huh. And here I've been hearing such things about you two since you took over from Big Jim."
"Well we're kinda retired, you might say," the Kid explained, "but we're still wanted so we don't need you spreadin' our names."
"Don't worry about that, boys. I won't, and nobody listens to me anyways." Clancy grinned, happy to see them.
"How long's it been, Clancy?" Heyes asked.
Clancy pursed his lips and looked at the ceiling. "Must be eight, nine years."
"Want a drink? We can get another glass."
"No. I don't drink anymore," Clancy replied, then sat silently staring morosely at nothing.
Heyes and the Kid exchanged glances.
"What have you been up to Clancy? You own this bar, do you?"
"Not anymore, not anymore. You remember, when I left Big Jim and the gang it was to marry Mabel – the sweetest, most beautiful girl you'd ever see inside of a saloon."
The Kid looked at Heyes and mouthed, "Mabel? Beautiful?"
Heyes shrugged. "It was a long time ago, Clancy."
"Well, Mabel was in the family way, and I wanted to take care of her, like a man should. So we took our savings and came here to Muddy Gap. Oh, you wouldn't believe how nice this place was back then. The mine was going strong; the place was booming. Anyways, we started this hotel and bar. Did real fine with it too…" He trailed off.
"That sounds real nice, Clancy," Heyes urged him on. "Why'd you sell out if you're still here?"
"Well soon enough, Mabel had herself a little girl – Harriet. That girl was the light of my life. So full of fun, and laughter, and love. We had a great life, and then I lost it all." He sighed again. "Life was good for a long time. Harriet grew. She learned to walk and talk. She had the most wonderful laugh, and her favorite thing in the world was to play hide and seek with me. She could play all day."
The Kid glanced up and noticed the bartender staring at them. When he saw the Kid looking, he turned away.
Clancy continued, "Mabel was just so beautiful; I couldn't believe she'd marry me. We had a wonderful life, but I got jealous, real jealous of the men hanging around her. Oh, I knew she loved me, but when I'd drink I'd forget."
He took a deep breath. "Yeah life was good, till the O'Leary brothers came to town. They had a stake and they thought they were something. Well one of them - Patrick, Paddy O'Leary… He took a real shine to Mabel. I'd always find him hanging around. Always there 'helping' Mabel; telling her jokes, making her laugh. Yeah that Paddy and his brother Michael, just thought they were everything."
Clancy scowled. "I told him to stay away from her, but he just laughed and came back, again and again. Finally, it came to a head."
He turned to the Kid. "Can you imagine it? Me, I got into a showdown, an honest to goodness showdown with him in the street right out there. I'd been drinking and getting madder and madder all day – pot valiant, I guess."
They all turned as if they could see through the walls of the saloon and the rain to the street and see the gunfight happening then.
"Let me guess, Clancy," the Kid said, "you both missed?"
"No. No I didn't miss. Shot him dead, right out there." Clancy stopped speaking for a moment.
"What happened then?" Heyes urged him on.
"There wasn't any law here and most folks agreed it was a fair fight. That should have been it. But Michael, Paddy's brother, swore he'd get his revenge. I didn't think about that, I was too busy thinking about my beautiful Mabel and playing hide and seek with my Harriet."
"It happened the next night, after I'd closed down the bar." He looked at the two of them. "Sometime that night, there was an explosion. Our house… we had a fine home right by the sign to Muddy Gap at the edge of town. Anyways, our home blew up. There were flames everywhere. The screaming…, the flames… the heat… In the morning, when the ashes had cooled enough, they found two bodies. Yeah, I lost them that night. I lost my beautiful Mabel and Harriet, the loves of my life." Clancy finished his voice dropping to a whisper at the end. "That's why I don't drink anymore. Drinking and jealousy cost me everything."
Heyes and the Kid were speechless. They turned away, looking anywhere other than at their old friend. As they stared out the window to the street beyond a brilliant flash of lightning blinded them, and a crash of thunder shook the room. When they glanced back at Clancy he was gone, his chair tucked neatly against the table.
They pushed their plates away, appetites gone, and poured themselves two more glasses.
"Poor Clancy," Heyes commented.
"Yeah."
The bartender came up to take the plates. "You two done? You want anything else?"
"No. Say, tell us, where does Clancy live now?"
"Clancy?"
"Yeah, Clancy the man who used to own this bar. Where does he live now?"
"Clancy ain't owned the bar for four years. Not since the fire. They sold out right after and left. Headed back east."
"They?" Heyes asked.
"Yeah, Mabel and her little girl."
"I thought they died in the fire." The Kid frowned.
"No. They made it out. But Clancy didn't. They found two bodies in the morning – Clancy and Michael O'Leary. With Clancy dead, Mabel and Harriet didn't want to stick around; they left right after the funeral." He shook his head.
"What are you talking about?" Heyes exclaimed. "Clancy was just here, talking to us. We're old friends, knew him years ago."
The bartender looked them up and down. "There ain't been a soul in here all night, but you two. Clancy died four years ago tonight. It was raining that night too." He looked at them again. "Come to think of it, it's rained this night every year since then. I remember the rain last year when we heard…" He hesitated, then muttered, "Heard Mabel and her girl… Going east didn't save them. They had an accident, now they're dead, too." He scowled. "I don't know what you two are about, but Clancy's dead and there was no else here. Now I want to close up so take that whiskey and get out of here!"
~~~000~~~
The partners checked out in the morning. It was grey and damp but not actually raining.
"You're not staying for the poker?" the desk clerk asked.
"No, we decided we need to get goin'. Folks expectin' us and all that," the Kid explained.
Heyes looked at the man. "When did the mine close?"
"Funny you should ask that," the desk clerk replied. "It was three years ago, yesterday. I remember it was raining hard that day too."
~~~000~~~
They paused by the sign on the edge of town, looking at the burned-out ruins of a house that they had missed in the rain and gloom the day before. As they looked, the clouds parted slightly and a watery beam of sunlight lit the overgrown bushes at the corner of the ruined home. Mist rose around them from the sodden ground.
The high-pitched happy trill of a little girl's laugh rang out. "Come and find me Daddy; find me. I love you."
The clouds closed in again. Heyes and the Kid turned and rode down the mountain without speaking.