Stormy Passage
"I swear, when we get back to the Hole, I'm gonna kill him."
"No you're not."
"I have to. How dare he take over – at least his idea was worse than mine."
"Heyes, if you don't stop yammerin' and get that horse saddled, you're not gonna have a chance to kill Wheat. That posse will catch us. Now get movin'." Kid Curry tightened the girth on his horse then turned to glare at Heyes.
Heyes opened his mouth, thought better, closed it, and finished saddling his new mount. As he swung up, the Kid opened the corral and slapped the two horses they'd ridden in on, chasing them away. That accomplished, he closed the corral gate, swung up on his horse, and nodded at Heyes. The two galloped away.
"Sure was good we stashed these horses, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, Heyes, sometimes you're almost the genius you think you are. Sure was better than your idea to drag that safe with us. Now keep movin', will you? Head for the river, we can go up the middle a ways before crossing and maybe lose them then."
~~~oOo~~~
They paused in the trees at the crest of the ridge and looked back. Far below them they could see the dust stirred by the posse chasing them.
"Sheesh, aren't these fellas ever goin' to give up?"
"Don't look like the river's going to stop them for long; we have to keep going."
"I'm gettin' real tired of bein' this popular. One good thing though."
"What's that? I could use something good about now," Heyes panted.
"Looks like the whole posse is followin' us. Wheat and the boys must have gotten away."
"That's your idea of good? Shut up and get moving."
The Kid grinned, pulled the collar of his coat up against the rapidly increasing cold, and followed Heyes down the far side of the ridge.
~~~oOo~~~
Once again, they quickly exchanged mounts. Heyes looked up at the sky as he chewed some jerky during the brief stop. "It's getting mighty dark. Good thing, maybe we can lose them then."
"Heyes, we can't see any better than they can in the dark." The Kid looked at the sky. "Look at those clouds. We're in for a real torrent. We need to find shelter."
"Can't, they're still back there." Heyes sighed and began to mount. Thunder rumbled and a large drop splashed onto his hand as he mounted. Suddenly, he looked around and grinned.
"Kid, we can make it to the hidden cave. This storm should wash out our tracks around here. I think we're gonna make it." He spurred his horse and hurried off, the Kid following.
~~~oOo~~~
Rain streaming down their faces, holding onto their hats only by tightening the stampede strings until they almost cut off the circulation in their chins, the two men struggled up the rocky slope, leading the horses. The horses balked – unhappy with the footing, unhappy with the wind and the lightning flashing too close, and unhappy with the men leading them – they sought to break free. The men tightened their hold on the reins and struggled on, focused on the goal of reaching the cave, no longer concerned with the posse behind them.
They flinched as lightning struck a tree only yards to their right, then clung desperately to the reins of the rearing, bucking horses as the tree exploded, showering debris around them. They heard the rumble of rocks to their left as a rock slide showered past them.
"We have to take shelter, Heyes," the Kid shouted over the noise of the storm.
Squinting his eyes and blinking rapidly to adjust to the darkness after the lightning flash, Heyes looked up the hill. Suddenly, he let out a whoop and pointed. "Up there, Kid. It's right up there. Just a few more minutes." He led the way, hauling his horse behind him through sheer force of will.
The Kid took a deep breath and struggled after him.
~~~oOo~~~
They crept around a boulder into a narrow canyon, only slightly more than a crevice. Already the walls of the canyon reduced the wind and the lashing of the rain. Wary of further rock slides they made their way carefully until they came to the end of the ravine. Inching their way around what appeared to be a solid wall, they entered the cave they sought, still leading their horses.
Men and beasts stood in the dark, sides heaving, exhausted. Finally, the Kid slowed his breathing and reached into his saddlebags, extracting an oil-cloth wrapped bundle. He felt his way to the left of the cave entrance. With a grunt of satisfaction he bent down. Extracting the flint from the bundle, he quickly lit the candle that had been stored where he expected it. The light from the candle danced around the cave, revealing a large room that led back into darkness.
"Think the posse's still out there?"
"Nah, Kid, they couldn't have followed us in this storm. Still, don't light a fire."
"Sure am glad we stock these places around here with candles and such." The Kid busied himself laying out the bedrolls, grimacing when he realized that they were soaked. He made his way back to the small stash by the entrance and extracted two blankets, smiling as he found a bottle of whiskey rolled up in one.
"Too bad, we can't leave food, but that'd just attract varmints."
"Maybe next time some cans and an opener. Even canned tomatoes sound good about now. Oh, well."
The two settled onto the blankets leaning against their saddles. Heyes took a sip of the whiskey the Kid had passed to him. "I don't know, I just don't know," he murmured.
The Kid chewed on some jerky. "Don't know what, Heyes?"
"Where this job went so wrong."
"You know they can't all go smoothly."
They sat for several moments, content to be off the horses and out of the rain, knowing that the light of the candle was too weak to penetrate the entrance and give them away.
Eventually, "I planned and planned, but that was one tough safe, Kid. Since it didn't break on the rocks, I'm not sure the dynamite would have opened it, even if Kyle hadn't gotten the sticks wet. I guess Brooker finally did it, managed to make a safe even Hannibal Heyes can't open."
"You'll figure it out in time."
"I don't know, Kid, they're getting tougher all the time. That posse was harder to shake than many too."
"Yeah, it just keeps gettin' harder, and harder. And the way the telegraph's spreadin' they can wire ahead to towns up the line."
Heyes sighed heavily and passed the bottle to the Kid, who took a long pull.
Both sat in silence, absorbed in the flickering shadows sent around the cavern by the candle. They listened to the storm continuing to rage outside. After several moments, the Kid passed some jerky to Heyes, who nodded his thanks and chewed abstractedly.
"You know, Heyes, that amnesty sure sounds nice."
Heyes turned and looked at him. The Kid turned his face towards him, then turned away and sighed.
"I know, Kid. But I can't see us getting it. We're just too famous."
"Well that seems unfair, penalizin' us for excellence."
Heyes glanced at the Kid and gave a short laugh before lapsing into silent contemplation of the candle. Finally, he got up and walked over to stand by the entrance of the cave, staring out. "Storm's passing."
The Kid grunted and watched him stand there for several minutes. "You got an answer yet, Heyes?"
"No, but I know there's one out there."
The Kid left him to his thoughts and stared into the back of the cave.
~~~oOo~~~
Heyes came back and sat down. "We couldn't just walk into Cheyenne and ask the Governor."
"They'd clap us in chains immediately, if they didn't shoot us on the spot," the Kid agreed.
Heyes huffed in frustration. He lay down and faced the entrance.
The Kid observed him then silently walked to the entrance to watch for any signs of the posse while Heyes slept.
After a time, he woke Heyes and took his turn sleeping. Soon he was snoring softly, worn out from the activity of the past few days.
~~~oOo~~~
The Kid woke to see Heyes strolling back into the cave, holding feed for the horses. He reholstered his gun. "Any sign of the posse?"
"No, and all traces of our passage are washed away. Let's rest here for the day, just to be sure. The horses are in no shape to go on anyway."
So they rested, drying their things and taking turns leading the horses out to water and graze. They wandered, exploring surroundings much changed by the storm that had raged through the previous night.
Late in the afternoon, the Kid trapped a rabbit and they lit a fire in the cave to roast it. Heyes dug another bottle of whiskey out of the stores.
As they leaned back, rested, the Kid turned to Heyes. "So any thoughts?"
"About what, Kid?"
"Amnesty."
He sighed. "As I said, we couldn't just walk in and ask for one. We'd need an intermediary. So who do we know? Who could plead our case?"
Heyes passed the bottle to the Kid, who took a sip and passed it back. Suddenly, the Kid turned. "What about Lom? He kind of owes us; after all, we've left his town in peace."
"Lom? Hmm… You know that might just work. Who better to argue that an outlaw can reform than a reformed outlaw?" A big smile lit Heyes' face as he turned eagerly to the Kid.
The Kid's eyes lit in response. Excited they talked until the last of the firewood burned out, thrashing out all the pros and cons, examining the risks and the possible results. Then the two turned in, knowing that in the morning they would head to Porterville and, they hoped, a new life.