Author's note: This is part of a series of stories with the same beginning, but varying story lines.
If you have read one of the previous story you might already know the italic formatted paragraphs. Feel free to go over them faster.
Thanks to avoca for proofreading and to the members of our Facebook group for the inspiration.
Duel - Version Eight: Overdue Reunion
Well, there they stood - in the middle of the main street facing each other down. It would have been a big joke, if it wasn't so serious: Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry - prepared to kill or be killed.
His heart sank; no way out remained. He couldn't even think of one anymore, he had tried everything. One of them was going to die today. Who? The devil might know...
Would he be able to pull the trigger, he asked himself, or might he not even hesitate 'cause his well-trained reflexes would take over?
He knew he would die today - one way or the other...
The evening sun already cast long shadows and gilded the sky.
-o-o-o-
The eyes of Jedediah Curry and Hannibal Heyes were locked. They stared at each other in silence. Time seemed to stretch as if the whole world would hold its breath.
"Hannibal Heyes, you're under arrest, in the name of the law! Drop your weapon and nothing worse will happen." U. S. Marshal Curry ordered but the only response he got from his opponent was silence.
"C'mon Heyes, you know you can't outdraw me," he called after a while.
"That's right. The question is: will you outdraw me, Marshal?" Heyes replied seriously.
"Will you, Heyes?" Jedediah Curry asked softly.
"I won't return to jail!" Heyes choked hard. "I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Then we're damned, Heyes," Curry stated sadly. "I can't let you go. You know that."
Heyes knew it indeed; too many spectators here. Marshal Curry's reputation would be destroyed and maybe he would have to face a trial, too. Heyes had no intention of drawing his younger cousin to the wrong side of the law. It wasn't his fault, that Heyes had made bad decisions in his past that spiraled him deeper and deeper into this mess.
They had been friends throughout their childhood, best friends. Heyes couldn't remember one single day without him. Even when their families had been murdered and they spent their early teenage years in an orphanage they had been the only comfort for each other. They had shared both – the good times and the bad times.
Maybe they still would be friends and maybe partners, if they hadn't split up some time after they ran away from the orphanage.
Jed had been a good boy. His kindness, good manners and handsome face opened doors for him, that would always be closed to his rebellious cousin.
Already in his youth, Heyes tended to get into trouble, sometimes without it being his fault, he always appeared to be at the wrong time in the wrong place. He questioned everything, challenged everyone and accepted no authority.
Usually his cousin backed him up or talked him out of his less brilliant plans. Jed's calmness, his different point of view and his distinct sense of justness had always been a good complement to his own passionate nature. But when Heyes was suspected of aiding and abetting a bank robbery…he was on the run before he even knew what else he could have done.
Heyes breathed in deeply. He squared his shoulders.
"Then do, what you have to do." Heyes wetted his lips and added in his mind. 'At least it will happen by the hand of a friend.'
He braced himself for the final bullet. But nothing happened.
'He can't do it,' Heyes realized. 'And I don't want to die. But I can't live in that hell again either.'
He knew it had been a stupid idea trying to cross the territory, knowing his cousin was around here, but the posse behind him left him no other choice. It played out the way it had to do. U. S. Marshal Jedediah Curry simply knew him too well, to leave Heyes the slightest chance of escaping him.
They had met each other several times during the last few weeks. Always trying to find a way out of their dilemma … always without success.
A Couple of Weeks Earlier
Hannibal Heyes knew it was a risk to take a rest, but his horse wouldn't last much longer. If it collapsed as he was being pursued he might end up with a broken neck. That damned posse was fast and smart, but his last delaying tactic should have bought him a least an hour head start.
He hunched down at the bank of the small creek to wash sweat and dust off his face.
"Hold it right there!" a strong voice ordered him from behind.
Heyes raised his arms and turned slowly.
Not far away stood a man of about his height and age. His head was covered with blonde curls and an U. S. Marshal's badge was pinned to his tan vest. Sky-blue eyes fixed on him. The face seemed strange and familiar at the same time to him.
"Jed?" Heyes asked cautiously.
"Han!" A wide infectious smile lit up the marshal's face.
Heyes could not help but return it. Nobody had called him that in years.
"It's 'Heyes' now, Jed," he told him softly, "but it's good to see you again. You look well."
"And you look awful!" Jed Curry replied seriously. "May I trust you?"
Heyes nodded and lowered his hands, while Jed slipped his gun back into its holster.
"Heyes, huh?" the voice was strange to him, but amiable and warm like a campfire in the night. The last time they had met Jed's voice was just beginning to break.
The outlaw shrugged sheepishly. "They have to call me something."
Jed Curry nodded slightly.
Slowly they stepped closer while they studied each other. There was no resemblance between them, there never had been. One as bright as the day, the other as dark as the night. One inside, one outside the law. Two sides of the same coin.
A few minutes went by before they simultaneously moved to hug each other.
It felt like coming home after a long journey. They had been separated for years, but there still was a distinctive connection. Slowly they stepped apart, turned and walked down towards the water.
"Heyes, what happened?" Jed asked after a while. "I heard the rumors, but never believed it."
His friend heaved a sigh before he started to explain.
"I was running an errand for Mr. Goldblum the day the bank was robbed by a gang of incompetent outlaws. They came running out of the bank and one of them stumbled right into me, leaving me blood smeared and with a bundle of dollar bills at my feet at the scene of crime."
Heyes shook his head. "That useless couple of drifters left me there as a suspect. What do you think would have happened to me? Who besides you would have believed me? The sheriff never liked me anyway."
"You gave him no reason to do so, if I recall it right." A short smile crossed Jed's face before he got serious again. "I missed you, Heyes. You should have taken the time to tell me what had happened. I would have followed you where ever you were going to."
Jed earned a warm glance from his cousin's dark brown eyes.
"How could I, Jed? You were safe there and my visit would have made you a suspect, too. You were better off without me." Heyes smiled regretfully at him. "I often wished to have you at my side. You've always been more trustworthy to me than my own conscience."
They fell into a companionable silence.
"You know, I have to turn you in," Jed Curry mentioned gently.
"Jed …" Heyes tried to object but wasn't able to find the right words for the first time in his life.
"Please, Han … Heyes …"
"Jed, no!" he begged him desperately.
"I can't!" Jed Curry stated firmly but with regret.
In the blink of an eye Heyes's gun cleared leather.
"Sorry, Kid…" his voice faded while he slowly moved back towards his horse.
"Heyes!" The concerned and desperate sound of Jed's voice broke his heart.
The dark-haired outlaw shook his head in regret. "You don't know what you're asking, Jed. Please, do us both a favor and forget me. Don't cross my path again."
Heyes swung up onto his horse's back and spurred it on.
Jed Curry lowered his hands following his friend with his eyes.
"How could I ever forget you?" he murmured under his breath.
Day of the Duel
Still they stood in the middle of the street. The spectators were getting tired and some of them had already left.
Several emotions flashed upon Heyes's expressive face but he was too far away for Jed to read them. Although he knew his friend had made a decision. His chest constricted.
Jed still hesitated when Heyes's hand reached out for his gun, but his colt cleared leather faster anyway.
One shot sounded.
Heyes was thrown back when Jed's bullet hit him. A dark spot spread where blood seeped into his shirt. The gun dropped to the ground. Unbelieving he lowered his eyes, just to face Marshal Jed Curry again with a questioning look.
"You've ever read a warrant that explicitly calls for 'turn in dead'?" Jed noted dryly while he strolled to his friend. "You really thought your clumsy trick with the back drawn shoulder would make me shoot my cousin?"
"No?" Heyes asked, each word dripping of sarcasm. "You prefer to send me back to hell instead?"
"I would - 'Where life is, is hope,' Grandpa Curry used to say -" Jed confirmed seriously, "but first I'll turn you in to the doctor. You're badly injured and not in any condition to travel."
Heyes followed him with questioning eyes and furrowed his brows. Jed patted his good shoulder.
"Don't ask! This will give us more time to come up with a plan," he murmured.
Then he grabbed him and guided him off the street. His stance left no question to the spectators as to who was master of the situation. U. S. Marshal Jed Curry deserved his outstanding reputation.
-o-o-o-
Dr. Martin, an experienced man in his mid-fifties, took care of Heyes's wound. The bullet had just grazed Heyes's upper arm and the bleeding was soon stopped. With a wink towards Jed he declared the patient mustn't be moved for at least a week, due to his injury. He patted his patients back and left the cousins alone.
Heyes endured the treatment in silence. His eyes took in every detail of the room and the exchange between the two men.
"He's someone you can really trust," he stated when they were eventually alone.
Jed nodded. "He owes me a favor." He studied his cousin in silence.
"Heyes, what happened to you after you left me?" he finally asked.
"That's a long story. I hope I've got time to tell you about it someday," he replied. "Let's just say I hooked up with the wrong crowd and made the wrong choices. One day I realized that there was no way left to repent. Now I run that little gang of mine. Certainly, you have heard about us…."
Jed smiled and nodded.
"What about you?" Heyes asked. "You just had to become a lawman, hadn't you?"
"Sure. I always wanted to protect good folks." Jed smiled again. "Just like I did today." He thought it over and added, "At least a pretty good bad fella."
"Strange kind of protection, you showed lately, Jed," Heyes complained. "Couldn't you have become a bank clerk instead?"
"You mean we would have met earlier then?" Jed grinned. "Obviously you threatening me?"
Heyes shrugged sheepishly and grimaced in pain.
"Will you give me your word, you'll stay here until we have made a decision how to go on?" Jed asked him seriously.
"Sure," Heyes smiled at him, looking like the personified innocence.
"Heyes, I know when you're lying…" Jed scolded him softly. "Do I really have to put handcuffs on you?"
Jed's sad and worried glance wasn't lost on his friend, but he still hesitated. He didn't always tell the truth – indeed he was an outstanding liar – but he never broke his word, once he gave it.
"Say it!" Jed ordered him strictly.
Heyes sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Well Jed, I give you my word, I won't leave until we find a solution together for our mutual problem."
Jed Curry gave him an acknowledging nod and smiled in relief.
"Thanks. I know, I can trust you - now."
A Few Days Later
They had argued about their situation for days. Still they hadn't got a plan that helped them out of their dilemma. Heyes refused to return to jail and Jed had no intention of letting him escape. Not even the silver tongue could make a change there.
It was about noon when Jed Curry entered the doctor's house again, bringing lunch and a folded paper.
"See what I received in the latest mail." Jed handed the paper to his friend.
Heyes scanned it rapidly. "Amnesty?"
Jed Curry nodded.
"It's not, that you're the greatest threat to the West, Heyes. Neither you nor one of your gang has ever hurt anyone seriously. It's all about the money. Is there any chance you could return some of it?"
"Nope, already spent it. But I could get us some…" he grinned deviously.
"Heyes you will have to change your habits, if you want to go straight."
"Will I?" Heyes asked dubiously.
Jed nodded.
"But where will be the fun then?" Heyes sounded a bit frustrated now.
"Gone with the danger of being shot or imprisoned!"
Heyes pursed his lips. "That's a good deal, huh?"
"Sure." Jed Curry grinned and nodded again. "C'mon Heyes, we'll find something else for you."
"What might that be?" Heyes asked sullen.
They thought it over in silence, finally broken by Heyes.
"That's it - security specialist!" hope flashed across Heyes face.
"What's that mean?" Jed Curry looked dubiously at his friend.
"I'll check the security of banks and trains."
"You mean …?"
"Yes, I try to bust it and get paid for it."
"And you think that's working legally?" Jed asked still not convinced.
"Why not?" Heyes shrugged but his eyes started to sparkle again. "And the best is, I already have the reputation to be a safe specialist! I could license a vault as 'Heyes safe'!"
Grinning they faced each other.
"Heyes, you're a genius sometimes!"
"Sure, I know that, but I'll keep quiet and enjoy it! I'm sure, I won't hear that often again."