That's What Friends Are For
The gentle breeze blowing from behind cooled the air; the chatter of birds in the trees and the warm scents of spring should have gladdened the two men. Instead, Heyes stopped and rubbed at his reddened eyes trying to remove the offending strands of hair that insisted on further irritating them. He pushed the hair back, yanked his hat on, and pulled it down low. This accomplished, he stalked down the trail, saddlebag flung over his shoulder, grumbling to himself and throwing occasional glares behind him.
His blond partner followed, sitting casually on his horse and chuckling to himself as he led both Heyes' mount and a packhorse.
"You know you could come a little closer, Kid," Heyes called over his shoulder.
"What's that? Couldn't hear you." Curry smiled at the look of frustration on his partner's face.
"I said this is ridiculous. Come closer," Heyes shouted.
"Can't," Curry replied. "Any closer and the horses start up. It's not much farther to that pond. There's a cave nearby. You can settle in there for the night, and I'll head on into town and get the supplies."
Heyes stopped short and swung around to face Curry, his hands on his hips, his face reddening to match his eyes. "You'd leave me behind?"
"I ain't walkin', and your horse ain't lettin' you near. You'll be safe enough there. If anyone comes you can retreat to the cave – no one's goin' to enter a dark cave to track such a proddy bear as you're bein'."
"But, but we were going to the Golden Spur after picking up the supplies. You'd go without me?"
"One night in town after three weeks at the Hole with nothin' but you and the boys for company – I wasn't plannin' on spendin' it with you anyways." Curry paused, his eyes raking Heyes. Finally, swallowing the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, he jerked his chin to the side of the trail. "Up there, Heyes, just jump on in when you get to the pond. I'll take care of the horses then come by."
Heyes huffed and stomped on, turning off the path where Curry indicated.
~~~oOo~~~
Heyes scrubbed his body with sand until it felt raw. He rubbed more into his tingling scalp then submerged his body, rinsing it. Coming up, he shook the water from his eyes and took an experimental sniff. He frowned and turned towards shore.
He noticed the Kid sitting on a rock, whittling. Curry looked at him. "It didn't work," Heyes called and grimaced.
Curry nodded. "Didn't think it would. Got you all set up in the cave. I've laid a fire and set up both our bed rolls for you." He bent down and, with a grimace, gathered the clothes Heyes had abandoned when he dove into the pond. He reached into the pockets and, with an expression of distaste, emptied the contents onto the rock he'd vacated. Holding the clothes well away from his body, his face averted, Curry turned back towards where he'd staked the horses.
"Wait!" Heyes called.
Curry paused and looked back.
"You can't take all my clothes!"
"You really want to put these back on?"
"Well, no. But, but get me some of my other stuff from the saddle bags."
"I tried – they're almost as bad." Curry stood and pondered Heyes as Heyes stood hip deep in the water, a pleading expression on his face, shivering in the afternoon chill. Shaking his head, Curry walked away.
"Kid…" Heyes sank back down into the mud under his feet. He contemplated the bushes around the pond and looked again towards where his partner had disappeared. A smile lit his face as the Kid came back into sight.
Curry tossed a decrepit pair of long-johns and a torn pair of trousers onto the rock he'd vacated. "I guess you can have these old ones of mine. I was just bringin' them to the rag picker, so you might as well have them."
He strode back towards the horses. "See you tomorrow."
Heyes opened his mouth but gave up without speaking. Grumbling to himself, he pulled on the old clothes, cinching his belt tight to keep the trousers from sliding down. Dressed, he sighed and headed toward the cave.
~~~oOo~~~
Wrapped in a blanket, hair dripping from another immersion in the pond, Heyes sat outside the cave alternately contemplating the coffee in his hand and staring at the path before him. He glanced at the sun, tracking its path across the sky, as he'd been doing for several hours. His expression lightened as he saw the Kid heading towards him, trailing two horses behind his own – one laden with supplies.
"About time you got here. I thought I'd have to go rescue you," he growled.
Curry glanced his way, grunted, and stopped to stake the horses. He pulled a saddle bag off the back of Heyes' horse and reached into the supplies born by the pack horse, extracting a package. With these offerings in hand he headed towards Heyes.
"See you managed just fine last night." He handed Heyes the package.
"No thanks to you." Heyes tore into the package and held up a set of long johns, pants, and a shirt – all new. Eyebrows raised, he looked up at the Kid. "What happened to my clothes?"
"Lin's laundry tried but couldn't save them, so I go you some new ones." Curry dropped the saddle-bags by Heyes. "Got you new bags, too."
"I see."
"Three bucks, Heyes."
"Huh?"
"You owe me three bucks."
"I didn't ask you to buy these. I liked my old things. You expect me to pay you for abandoning me, and going and having fun all by yourself? I don't think so."
"Three bucks or I'll flatten you."
Heyes snorted and grinned. He reached back towards the bed rolls stashed behind him. Handing the Kid money, he commented, "It's kind of fragrant."
"Yeah, well, so are you. Go take another dunk in that pond before we return to the Hole."
Curry returned to the horses while Heyes grabbed the new clothes and headed for the pond. Once immersed, Heyes turned to watch Curry. Curry sat on the rock, working a can opener. As he finished he handed the opened cans to Heyes. "Try this. Lin said it might help. Didn't work on the clothes though – just stained them and they still stank."
Heyes looked at the cans and back at his partner. "Are you crazy?"
"No rub it in and rinse it off after." He grinned. "Can't hurt, can it?"
Heyes shook his head and sighed. Grimacing he closed his eyes and emptied the cans over his head. Hearing a chuckle from the Kid, he opened his eyes to glare at his partner.
Curry met his glare with a bland expression. "I'll be by the horses when you're ready. Hurry up or the boys'll think somethin' happened to us."
~~~oOo~~~
". . . Call yourself a friend. And another thing…" Heyes turned in the saddle to glare at the Kid.
Curry glared back. "Enough. You've done nothin' but complain for the last five hours. Not one more word."
Heyes opened his mouth, encountered Curry's most intimidating gunfighter's stare, and turned back to the path without speaking. He pulled his horse up and waited for Curry. Once Curry was beside him, he pulled his gun and fired three shots in the air.
Hearing the answering shot, he glared once more at Curry and headed into the Hole, leaving the Kid to follow.
At the bunk house, Heyes swung off his horse, tied it to the rail, and announced. "You take care of the supplies; I need to talk to the men." He strode towards the bunkhouse without looking at the Kid.
Curry's eyes narrowed as he, too, dismounted and followed his partner inside. Entering, he brushed past Heyes to lean against the wall after closing the door more forcefully than necessary.
The men looked up and examined the pair standing before them radiating indignation.
"Something wrong?" Wheat ventured.
Heyes opened his mouth, but before he could speak Wheat frowned and sniffed. "What's that smell?" The gang stopped their activities and began to sniff with expressions of distaste on their faces. Wheat's eyes narrowed. "That you, Heyes? What did you do? Can't our 'leader' even make it to town without getting into trouble."
Heyes face reddened, his eyes narrowed, his mouth began to open then snapped shut.
Curry turned to Kyle who had just finished removing his boots and was laying back in his bunk with his feet up, half asleep. "Kyle, put your boots back on and go take a bath. How often do we need to tell you?" he barked.
Accusing eyes turned to Kyle, who looked bewildered and began to splutter. Heyes glanced sideways at the Kid. "Kyle, do what the Kid says. Wheat, help the Kid with the supplies." He turned and left the bunkhouse, walking quickly to the leader's cabin.
Curry glared around the room before exiting. He gathered the reins of the horses and led them to the barn. Wheat followed, grumbling.
~~~oOo~~~
Heyes looked up from tending the fire when Curry entered the cabin. He grunted in Curry's general direction and walked to the stove. Pouring a cup of coffee, he walked over and handed it to Curry, who had settled himself in the rocking chair, his feet up and his eyes closed. "Wait a second; I got some whiskey I can add to that."
Curry nodded.
Heyes settled in the chair opposite him. The two sipped silently, watching the curtains blow in the breeze from the open windows.
Finally, Curry spoke. "I got a couple more cans of tomatoes if you want to try that again. It helped some."
Heyes concentrated on the fire. "It should have worked, Kid. It works with cattle and the horses. Don't know why it didn't work this time." He frowned.
Curry's shook his head. "Heyes, next time you meet a skunk, just shut up why don't you? Don't think it's possible to hypnotize one. He sure wasn't interested in listenin' to you."
Heyes began to reply but stopped and looked up at the sounds coming from outside. Shouts, splashes, and curses filtered through the windows. "What's going on out there?"
"The boys are makin' sure Kyle gets real clean. They don't want to be smellin' that all night long."
The two men grinned at each other as they listened to Kyle's half-drowned pleas that he had just bathed the other day and wouldn't be needing one for at least another couple of weeks.
"You're a true friend, Kid."
"Back at you."