Let's Fight

by ChickWalker2000

Heyes and the Kid are fighting - especially over a beautiful girl who's asked them to crack her rich uncle's safe to prove her brother innocent. Is she on the level? Or is Heyes right to be so suspicious?

Let's Fight...

Till Six and then have dinner - Tweedledum

Hannibal Heyes opened his eyes. The pain made him moan out loud - an electric storm roaring in his brain, bolts of lightning shooting temple to temple.

Closing his eyes again, he swallowed down against the nausea threatening to overwhelm him and tried to remember where he was and why he was hurting so...

He had a terrible crick in his neck - his arms and shoulders screaming for release - Discovered his arms were pinned; tied, tight and painful behind his back, hog tied to his knees and feet. His cheeks were wet with drool. Due to...? A gag - bandanna, cutting into his mouth. The darkness smelled sweetly of hay and horseshit. He was in a stable; heard the animals shifting and breathing nearby.

He tried to turn, groaned again. Every part of his body felt as if it had been ripped apart or broken. He fought down the agony, trying to focus his mind as fragmented memories broke in through a sickening headache.

He remembered... A saloon. Cheap saloon in a one horse town that stank of cigars and sweat, whisky and kerosene... A tinny piano playing Sweet Betsy From Pike. And a poker game - always a poker game! Was that why he was in this predicament? Poker often was the root of all his troubles, but not this time. Just a small pot and stupid, small-time players... There was a girl in a blue satin dress, red hair falling down, smudged lipstick. She was crying. She'd been in a fight with some cowboy... A fight!

Oh, it was all starting to come back now. He and Kid had been fighting...

It had all begun on the ride into Indian River. He'd heard there was a good rich poker game there Saturday night, lots of cowboys out on the town looking to blow their pay - bad players with big ambitions, ripe for the taking.

They passed a fork in the road; 26 more miles ahead to Indian River. To the left, a good easy trail and only five miles to a town called Sweetwater - it sounded good to Kid Curry. Surely one night in a soft bed wouldn't hurt?

"It's another day's ride from Sweetwater to Indian River," Heyes reasoned. "We're less than five hours ride away, don't make sense to stop off now."

"Heyes, I haven't eaten hot food in four days. I'm hungry! I'm tired, saddlesore, badly in need of a bath..."

"And you'll get one when we get to Indian River. Why get all cleaned up when we've only gotta get on our horses again next morning and ride for another whole day?"

"Heyes, if I have to eat one more piece of jerky before nightfall, I swear my temper's gonna be so bad I'm just going to have to take it out on something or someone and you know what, I don't see anyone else around here 'cept you."

Kid reigned his horse to a stop and glared at his partner.

Heyes looked back at him and realised he wasn't joking. He sighed in frustration, leaning down on his saddle horn. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why'd you always have to push for your own way? You know you're in the wrong here but you just gotta push it don't you?"

"Me? I gotta push it?" Kid yelled, blue eyes flashing and about as angry as he ever got with his partner and friend. "You're the one's always pushing me around, telling me what to do. And you're always right aren't you?"

"Can't help being the clever one, Kid." Heyes smiled, hoping to take the edge off Kid's temper, but Kid only got more mad.

"And always with the smart remark. Always got an answer for everything don't you Heyes? Well this time, I'm doing what I wanna. I'm going into Sweetwater. Gonna get me a bed and a bath and a steak dinner. Now you can come along with me, if you want to, or you can press on into Indian River and that poker game you're so all-fired set on. Either way suits me, but if you're coming my way, you keep your wise cracks to yourself."

"Flip a coin for it..." Heyes said softly, a sad smile on his dusty face - but Kid was already well back down the road. With a heavy sigh, Heyes turned his horse and followed his partner on the trail to Sweetwater.

The piano player was real loud. That was one thing you could say for him. Lacked finesse was another. Hit about one good note in three. The sound jarred on Heyes' already frayed nerves. He and Kid had bickered and fought all through dinner. Now the Kid was getting himself real drunk over at the bar, chatting up an even drunker bar girl. Kid could be rash, a little reckless sometimes, but It wasn't like him to let his guard down like that. What had gotten into him? He'd been acting weird all day...

"Call," Heyes said, automatically. He was bored. The poker was prudent and tame, no challenge at all. He'd deliberately thrown in two good hands trying to generate something a little more exciting , but the men around the table kept playing as cautious a game as ever. When he won a twenty dollar pot with a pair of jacks he decided to make it an early night...

...When the room suddenly went still, an angry voice calling out ;

"I'm asking if you're going to use that gun of yours, boy. If 'n you know how, that is?"

Heyes stomach coiled in well-suppressed terror - The Kid and some drunk were facing off across the rapidly clearing saloon.

"Oh I know how to use it," Kid's voice was steady, soft and calm as it always was in these situations. "What I'm wondering is, does a rank amateur like yourself really want to find out just how good I am?"

Heyes never could get used to it.

He knew that anyone looking at him wouldn't guess he was anything but a calm observer with total confidence in his Partner's skill - he wouldn't want the Kid to know how he felt everytime his friend pulled a gun - but inside, he was churning, sick with fear.

He knew the Kid was good, probably the best there was - but he knew there was always the chance he'd strike unlucky someday, come up against someone just that little bit quicker, or more ruthless. Danny Bilson had come close, and the Kid had had to kill him. Heyes dreaded the day he'd see his best and only friend gunned down, or up on a murder charge because of that gun. And tonight he'd been drinking. Heyes had been watching him all evening. He'd put away at least half of that empty bottle on the bar. Now he was fighting - over what?

"Sally, get over here where you belong!"

Kid lay a gentle hand on the girl's arm . "The lady likes it just fine where she is, thanking you kindly," he smiled.

Heyes groaned. A girl? No, God - please, not over a saloon girl! Kid, you've got more class...

"I'm only gonna say it one more time boy. You let go of that girl or I'm gonna geld you good so's you never have the trouble of wanting another man's woman again."

"And I'm telling you, the lady don't want anything more to do with a coward who beats on women. Now I'm gonna ask you real politely to leave this here bar before I have to make you."

"Make me?" The man roared with a raking cough of a laugh. "Who's gonna make me?" He glared around the room. Everyone moved away. Only Heyes noticed the sheriff step through the swing doors. He tried to catch Kid's eye, shaking his head 'No, no, Kid, please...'

But Curry's cold blue eyes were locked on his opponent as he went for the draw - and found himself staring down the barrel of the Kid's Colt before his fingers even brushed his belt. The man froze, shocked by what he hadn't even seen - how could anyone be that fast...

The room broke in a wave of whistles, hollers and hand slaps. Heyes breathed again, wiped his hand over his face and through his hair. He glanced at the sheriff - it looked OK, the man was smiling and shaking his head in wonder.

"Joe, think you better get yourself back to the Bar K, get your head down before you fall down," he told the cowboy as he clapped a hand on Kids shoulder, congratulating him.

The would-be gunfighter glared round the room in a fury, but picked up his hat from the table and turned to go.

"You ain't seen the last of me Sally. Nor you mister!" He yelled as he spun on his heel, and had to grab at the piano player to stop himself falling flat on his face. The room erupted in laughter and yelling; "Git on home boy!" - "Teach him a lesson, ain't nuthin' but a bully!" - "Took on moren' you could chew that time Joe!" - as Joe charged out of the room.

Heyes watched Kid lapping up the attention, Sally, the red-headed bar girl draped all over him, showering him with kisses. Seemed Joe wasn't too popular, everyone in the place wanted to buy the Kid a drink. Just what we need, Heyes thought, sweeping his paltry winnings into his hat. Making ourselves the local celebrity, and with a fast draw no less. Why don't we just put up a sign; 'The Kid Curry Circus, come one come all. Take on the Kid! First prize of ten thousand dollars for the lucky winner!'

Heyes marched out of the saloon in a fury, headed down the boardwalk, back to the hotel.

Kid turned to take a glass of whisky from another admirer - turned just in time to see his partner leave.

He gently unwound himself from Sally's arms, put down the drink and tried to get to the door. She grabbed at him - "Where you goin' sugar? I thought we was gonna have us a real good time."

Kid lifted her hand from his shirt with a smile, "Don't worry Sally, just got a little business to attend to. I'll be back. Sheriff," - Kid tipped his hat to the lawman who seemed to have taken such a shine to him - and rushed out into the dark street. He spotted Heyes heading towards the hotel.

"Heye... Josh! Joshua!" He yelled. Heyes turned, stopped and let Kid catch up to him.

"Heyes!"

"Don't call me that out here, or wasn't pulling that fast draw enough fanfare for you?"

Kid flinched as if he'd been slapped in the face. He looked down at the muddy boardwalk, swaying more than a little - Heyes grabbed at his arm to keep him steady.

"Don't go back in that saloon," Heyes chided gently. "You've had a little too much to drink is all. Come back to the room, get some sleep. We've been on the road so long, we're both tired and a little snappy..."

Kid looked up at him, sheepish and ashamed. "I'm sorry Hey.. Joshua. I'm... I..."

Heyes held tight to the Kid, manoeuvring his friend around so he could look him in the eye, so Kid could see him smiling.

"Hey, chances are we'd be gettin' into even deeper trouble right now if we were in Indian River. Whole lot more drunken cowboys there than here, now that big drive's over." He grinned, gripped Kid's shoulder in a friendly squeeze. "You'd probably'd've had to draw anyhow, help me out of some crooked poker game."

Kid smiled. Sure was good to see him smile, Heyes thought.

"Yeah. Cept it's you that usually gets accused of cheating, Joshua," Kid said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Kid folded his arms with a smile that glowed, reaching right up into his eyes and bouncing back at his friend.

"Cheat! Me?" Heyes flashed his brightest smile, happy things seemed to be easy between them once more. "Like I need to cheat! Do I look like a cheat to you?"

Kid shook his head in mock horror. "Got the honestest face I ever did see."

Heyes slapped his hand on Kid's back and led him up the steps to the hotel. "Let's go get a good night's sleep, then a real big breakfast, set us up for the day, head off early, be in Indian River by sundown."

"Excuse me! Gentlemen!" A girl, fair and small, about nineteen years old with rosy cheeks like a porcelain doll was rushing along the street towards them.

"Oh!" she breathed, smiling. "Oh I am so glad I caught up to you!"

"Ma'am?" Heyes lifted his hat, nudging Curry who, with a start, remembered to do the same.

"What can we do for you Ma'am?" Curry asked.

"Well, it's rather awkward..." she glanced up and down the dirty main street. A crowd of drunks had gathered to watch one of their number dance a jig to a tuneless song of his own hollering - then roar with loud, unfettered delight as he crashed down into the mud, still clutching his bottle of whisky. "Is there somewhere quieter we could go to talk?"

"Well, there's the hotel right here..." Heyes gestured behind him with his hat.

"Oh, no, no! Come with me." And she grabbed Curry, pulling him with her down the street, confused and frowning at Heyes who just followed on with an irritating smirk on his face.

They fetched up in a dank and muddy alley between the hotel and the jail. Heyes glanced around, his eyes probing every corner. He felt hemmed in by shadows. The situation reeked of ambush and he didn't like it one bit.

"So - what is it you need to talk to us about? What's so secret it needs us to stand around in a place like this?" He asked.

The girl began to cry.

"Hey!" Curry soothed, "hey, what's this?"

Heyes sighed to himself, his inner alarm bells ringing. He was getting more nervous by the minute.

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed. "I'm so sorry, it's just that I've been so tense and scared, and now... And now..."

The Kid put his arm around her. "You need help?"

"Yes. I saw you, tonight, in the saloon. Saw you draw on that cowboy..."

Kid glanced nervously at Heyes who folded his arms and rolled his eyes in a 'told you so' way.

"...and I thought, maybe you're the man I need to get my brother out of jail."

Heyes gave a sharp, nervous laugh. "You want us to break your brother out of jail? Ma'am, just because my partner here's good with a gun, don't mean..."

"No! Oh no, no! You don't understand," she gasped, clutching her handkerchief to her breast. "I don't want you to do anything illegal!"

"Oh, well, that's alright then," Kid grinned at Heyes, relieved. Heyes folded his arms even tighter 'cross his chest, nodding cautiously.

"So, what is it that you want us to do Ma'am?" Curry asked.

"My Uncle's a rancher, owns the Jericho spread three miles west of here. I need you to go over there, open his safe and..."

"Goodnight Lady!" Heyes laughed, turning to go.

"No! Wait! Joshua," Kid said, looking from Heyes to the girl.

Heyes turned and gave her his hardest stare, right into her eyes, trying to read what she was really all about. None of this rang true to him. What would a girl like her be doing in a wild, downtown saloon on a Friday night? What was she up to?

The girl met his gaze, didn't so much as flinch, looking right back at him with big grey doe eyes, sincere as she could be.

"I mean, there's gotta be more to it than that," Kid said. "You don't actually want us to break into your Uncle's house and steal from his safe. Do you?"

"That's exactly what I want you to do."

"You said nothing illegal," Heyes snapped.

"I'll leave the door unlocked and I'll give you the combination..."

"Won't that look a little suspicious?" Heyes asked with a smile that stopped short of his eyes. "Why, they'll have to assume a professional safebreaker did the job. What's your Uncle got that's so valuable a big-shot thief like that would break in there? More to the point, since you know the combination, why don't you just open the safe yourself?"

"It's a long story."

"Oh I bet it is," Heyes said. "I'm going back to the hotel," he said to the Kid. "We need to get some rest if we're riding out tomorrow. You coming?"

Kid hesitated, looking from his partner to the girl - just long enough to irritate Heyes. "Fine," he said. "Suit yourself."

"I don't want you to take any money, or anything of real value. It's evidence," the girl went on, desperate to hold the man's attention as he watched his friend striding off down the alley. "My brother really is innocent, but my Uncle's real mad at him... "

"Mad enough to have him put in jail?"

"Yes. My Uncle's deeply involved in some dreadful crimes. He's stealing huge sums of money from the government, selling sub standard beef and lumber, just greasing all the right palms to stay out of trouble..."

Kid tried to look shocked, though his larcenous side was secretly impressed.

"My brother found out, threatened to go to the Marshall. My Uncle threatened him and when that didn't work, he had him put in jail on trumped up charges. If I could just get the ledger from the safe! He doesn't know I know the combination you see, but he knows I'm planning something. I can tell, it's in his eyes. He's watching me every minute of the day. I haven't had a chance to do anything. I was just hoping... if I could just find someone brave enough, resourceful, a man with guts who could go into the safe while I'm at dinner with Uncle Roy..." She risked a glance into Kid's eyes. It was OK, he was buying every word.

"...I came to town tonight in the hope of finding a cowboy who might be up to the job. But then, I saw you..."

Kid sighed. "That's some job you want me to do. I mean, what if I get caught? I don't wanna go to jail..."

"I'll make sure you don't. Trust me. I'll make it worth your while. I'll pay you $2000 if you'll do it. That's how much it's worth to me."

Kid looked at her. She seemed on the level. A real nice girl. So innocent. Such big grey eyes...

"I'll have to talk it over with my partner."

She pouted. "He doesn't like me does he?"

"Oh, Joshua's just naturally cautious. I'll talk to him, he'll be OK. "

"How about if we meet tomorrow someplace, discuss the details? How about Mrs. Jones' restaurant, over the street there? It's a nice place. I'll buy you breakfast! Mrs Jones does the best ham and eggs," she grinned.

The Kid smiled back. "Mrs Jones huh? Well, if that ain't an omen, I don't know what is. Breakfast it is then... I don't know your name."

"April. April McShane." She held out her hand. Kid took it with the gentlest squeeze.

"Jones. Thaddeus Jones."

"Well then Mr Jones. I'll see you at eight o' clock sharp tomorrow. Don't be late now!"

Kid smiled as he watched her march off down the street, then took a deep breath and prepared for a showdown with Hannibal Heyes.

He found him back at the hotel, hurling his few belongings into his carpet bag.

"You're leaving?" Kid asked.

Heyes bit back a cutting remark, settling for a simple; "Yes. I'm leaving. And if you're smart, you'll be coming with me."

"I don't get it, this town loves us..."

"This town loves you - for now. They still gonna love you when they find out who you are?"

Heyes stopped for just a moment, staring down at a pair of socks he was holding, rolling them tighter and tighter.

"Kid. You ever stop and think moren' five minutes ahead? That cowboy will be more than halfway back to his bunk by now, the whisky wearing thinner with every cold and miserable hoofbeat home. I wouldn't mind betting he's pretty sore with you and when he starts sobering up, he's gonna get to thinkin and wonderin; how come some no good saddle tramp can draw like that...?"

Kid looked at his boots.

"...Not to mention the girl. In the name of GOD what were you thinking? Letting her lure you into a dark alley and sweet talk you into a little safe breaking!"

"The girl needs help."

"No Kid, it's you that needs help!"

"She came looking for someone to help her brother..."

"Oh Kid! She ain't looking for anything but a quick way to a small fortune. She recognised you! She knows who you are. Probably me too. It's a trap! We gotta get out of here now!"

"Heyes, if she knew who we were, we'd be in jail by now. You know, you are the worst pessimist I ever knew. I never knew a man like you to only ever see the worst side of every situation..."

"The worst...? Listen to yourself! We are a pair notorious outlaws, wanted, with ten thousand dollars on each of our heads. Wandering from town to town, always looking over our shoulders, never able to rest for a moment at a time. No gang to back us up. No hideout to bolt to. Kid, there is no good side to our situation. Seems to me, that knowing the sky's about to fall in on us is the only way to get through life without being disappointed."

"Yeah, well I'm sick of being pushed around like - like a Kid. And I'm sick of you, Heyes. You got no right always telling me what to do..."

"Well it sure seems like you need someone to do your thinking for you 'cos you sure as hell never ever do any for yourself."

"Oh that's right. Go ahead and say it."

"Say what?"

"Stupid. I'm stupid, right?"

"I never said you were stupid..."

"But it's what you think."

"I do not think you're stupid! But sometimes you act stupid. Pulling that fast draw in a saloon full of people. In front of the sheriff no less..."

"Sheriff Robbins likes me!"

"He'll like you a whole lot more when he finds out how much you're worth."

"He ain't recognised me so far."

"The man sits all day in a room full of wanted flyers. If he can read, it ain't gonna take much more time if you go on pulling stunts like you did tonight."

"Oh, and again with the damn fast draw! It never bothers you when I'm doing it to save your life!"

"Oh don't give me that! You were showing off to a saloon girl...!"

A frantic hammering at the door made them both stop dead. A woman's voice yelling; "quiet in there! You wanna fight, go do it in the street with the other drunks and no-goods. There's folks trying to sleep in here!"

"Sorry!" Heyes called.

"Yeah, urm, sorry. Ma'am..." Kid apologised.

Heyes and Curry found themselves standing three feet apart, glaring murder into each other's eyes. Kid's fists were clenched tight, fingernails cutting deep into palms soaked with sweat. Heyes was panting, his heart pounding and blood roaring in his head. He felt suddenly sick and faint and turned to sit down on the edge of the bed. He was still clutching the balled up sock.

"Go on," he said, glancing up at his partner. "Isn't this the bit where you generally tell me we should split up and go our own ways?"

Kid ran a hand through his curly hair. "Maybe it's not a bad idea at that."

"You don't mean that."

"I don't know, Joshua. Maybe we spend too much time together. Maybe a break would do us both good."

Heyes stood up, stuffed the sock into his saddle bag and buckled up. He couldn't look his friend in the eye. "You coming to Indian River with me?"

Kid shook his head. "I already told you, no." He tried a smile. "Josh, we already paid for the room."

Heyes face broke into a tight and humourless smile that never touched his eyes. The smile he used to give the clerks in the banks he was robbing.

"We paid two bucks for the room," he said quietly. "I hope, Thaddeus, that you won't be paying for it over, with twenty years of your life."

Without looking at his partner and friend, he swept up his bags and bedroll and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

It was bitterly cold out. A rising gale snapped at Heyes' coat, working icy fingers round his ears and under his collar and anyplace else it could find. He shivered hard, pulled his hat down and faced into the wind that had driven the drunks and cowboys back into warm bordellos and saloons.

The street, so dark now the moon had crept behind thick clouds, was lost in shadows. Heyes pulled his bandanna up against the wind that threw stinging dust against his face and howled through the timbers of the town like an army of banshees. It spooked him. He glanced around nervously, his well-honed sixth sense making the hairs on his neck stand, his skin jump and prickle. Shifting his bag to his left hand, he held the other over his gun, rebuked himself for too much imagination and began striding with a confidence he didn't feel, down to the livery, wishing with all his heart and soul that Kid was walking beside him.

He went down with the briefest gasp of shock and pain. The skull-cracking blow to the back of the head barely registered on his senses as consciousness left him in a blaze of fireworks and shooting stars. He hardly even felt the three hard kicks to his ribs and belly as he sunk down slowly into the dust - Was oblivious to anything at all by the time they hoisted him into the wagon, hog tied and gagged, and drove him far out beyond the rocky river that marked the end of the town of Sweetwater.

Kid's eyes followed a long crack in the ceiling. It started in the corner by the dresser, travelled straight as a die to the door, then doubled back in a frantic zigzag to the bed where someone had drilled three bullet holes through the wooden panels.

He lay on his back, his ears tuned close to the howling of the wind, the creaking of the hotels boards and beams, the occasional yell or cough, snort or dreamer's cry that filtered through the wafer thin walls - listening for the familiar tread on the stairs and the key in the lock that meant his best friend had returned.

That he would return, he never doubted. They had these spats every so often, usually ended with one or other storming out vowing never to return, but always came back sooner or later - usually sooner. Seemed they just couldn't get by without each other.

He held his watch to the lantern. Almost three AM, and still no Heyes.

He'd be in some saloon. Maybe he'd found himself a girl for the night? Kid sure hoped so, might improve his mood some. They'd done nothing but fight these past several weeks. Heyes, in particular had been so edgy, jumping on every little thing. He was a real tinder box lately. Sheesh! It'd got so's Kid just didn't open his mouth at all for fear of sparking him off. Not that he ever got a word in edgeways anyhow.

Trouble was, things had been going so bad for them. It made Heyes morose, always looking on the black side and, truth be told, that wasn't like him, but they'd had to high-tail it out of the last three towns they'd been in.

Back in Rock Ridge, they'd been lucky, spotted Sheriff Deke Wilson walking ahead of them into the saloon, been able to get to their horses and away without being spotted.

In Gantsville, there'd been no time to get back for the horses and they'd had to jump the train just outside the station. Arriving, tired and filthy in Amersham where - and here Kid raised his blue eyes to the heavens and offered a silent prayer to the god of reformed outlaws - they'd just bought themselves a pair of good strong horses and gear when they rounded the corner and ran straight into Sheriff Luke Fail.

Fail had been after them for years - one of the few Sheriffs in this part of the country who could identify them. Heyes was quick - decked him right on the spot. Kid was impressed, nodding with quiet pride at his partner - they checked the street. They were in a quiet back alley behind the Livery, no one had seen anything. They dragged the man behind some straw bales, tied and gagged him and got out of town fast as they could.

It was good country for shaking a posse, and they soon lost them. But now Heyes had Fail on the brain and seeing lawmen in every shadow. Bad case of fright on top of fatigue had made for a bad travelling companion.

But Kid knew, if he was honest, that he'd been just as hard to live with. Their situation was as bad as Heyes'd said. They were both exhausted with being always on the run and living on their nerves and Kid hadn't helped with that performance in the saloon. What if this sheriff had had a wire from Fail too? Heyes was right. It was a stupid thing to do. He'd better go find him and get out of town tonight.

There was a tap at the door. Kid grabbed his gun, standing to one side, so he could use the door for cover if there was any shooting.

"Who is it?"

"April. April McShane. Mr Jones, I really do need your help now. It's gotten much more serious. Please. Can I come in?"

Kid opened the door and the girl dodged inside. She was nervy - glancing around, wringing her hands. She'd obviously been crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..." she gasped, on the verge of tears.

"Hey, hey, that's OK. What is it, what happened? Look, come over here and sit down."

Kid took her by the shoulders and sat her down in a chair. He was about to offer her whiskey, but thought better of it.

"You're so very kind," she sniffed. "I can't apologise enough for waking you at this hour. What time is it?"

Kid checked his watch. "Just a little after three."

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

"You don't have to keep saying that and I wasn't asleep." Kid lifted the lace curtain and looked out at the street. Three AM. Where was Heyes?

"...Only it's an emergency, you see. A real big one this time. I was on my way home, after we met, but I never got there. There were these men, in town, outside the saloon. I had to hide."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down just a little. You saw some men?"

"The outlaw gang..."

"Outlaw gang?" Curry swallowed nervously, his hand straying to the gun he'd placed behind him on the dresser.

"Yes. Mr Jones. I have a confession to make. My brother, the one in jail..."

"I remember."

"Well, he's not exactly what you'd call pure as the driven snow. That is to say, he was sort of a wild one. Our mother tried so hard to bring us up right. She was from the east, Boston you know, a real lady. She'd been used to finer things than life out here could provide. But she did her best, and it really wasn't her fault my brother went the way he did after pa died..."

"Wait up there, you're losing me. You're saying your brother broke the law? So, what? Are you saying your brother's in jail for a good reason?"

"No! Oh no! he went straight a long time ago. Everything I told you tonight was true!"

Kid began to wonder. Maybe Heyes had been right about her after all. His fingers closed around his gun and he looked back out at the street, eyes probing every shadow for movement.

The girl went on, and all the while trying not to cry.

"No, he hasn't been outside the law for a long time now. But the gang, his old gang, they're right here in Sweetwater! I saw them outside the saloon! Mr Jones, whatever could they be doing here? My brother told me they were back in their old hideout, planing a big bank robbery - they wanted him back with them because of his skill with a gun. He refused, being honest now, but they started to pressure him. They... they threatened to hurt me, you see, if he wouldn't go along..."

Kid turned away from the window and looked at the girl. She was staring back at him with those liquid grey eyes. And he decided, a girl looks like that couldn't be involved in anything shady.

"...Well, as things worked out, he was saved by the sheriff because he got arrested and the gang couldn't pressure him anymore. But now - now that gang are here in town and... Mr Jones, the sheriff knows my brother used to run with those men. If they pull a job here, he's bound to think my brother was in on it..." She bean to cry again.

Kid knelt down in front of her, took her hands in his and gave her his softest smile. "Don't you see? His being in jail is the best thing that could have happened? It's the perfect alibi. Anything that gang gets up to in town, couldn't have anything to do with your brother."

"Unless they say he set the job up. What if they're planning to rob the bank? My Uncle's the biggest investor. Uncle and the sheriff are old buddies, they might get together and decide Charles arranged for the robbery to get back at him. He'll stand no chance of a fair trial. And what if this gang plan to bust him out of jail?"

"Well, that would look bad..."

"The Slade Gang being in town is as bad as bad can be..."

"What did you say?" Kid grabbed her wrist is sudden alarm.

"Ohhh! Stop, please! You're hurting me!"

Kid released her arm, glancing away to hide the look of horror on his face.

"With the Slade Gang in town, we have to get that ledger from my uncle's safe. It's the only way to prove Charlie didn't do the terrible things Uncle Roy said, and show it's Roy that's the crook, not Charlie... Mr Jones. Are you listening to me?"

The look in his eyes made her draw back; "Mr Jones?"

"April, we got us a problem."

"I know! that's what I'm telling you..."

"No. I know you got a problem. But now I got one too. My partner..."

"Well he'll be no help in this. He made it very plain from the start he didn't care to..."

"April!" Kid glared up at her with fire-ice eyes - a look that silenced her instantly. "There's more at stake here than your brother being in jail! If the Slade Gang's in town..." Kid felt sick. He got up and moved back to the window. All still and quiet out there - not a soul to be seen in the chill and empty street. He felt goose bumps rise on his bare arms.

"What is it?" April asked, genuinely troubled by this strange reaction. "Do you know the gang?"

"I know Wex Slade. And so does my partner."

Kid turned back into the room, moved to the dresser and poured himself a glass of whisky. He downed it in a gulp.

"My friend had a... disagreement with Wex. He blamed Josh for something that happened to his brother."

"I heard his brother died. He was in prison, got in a fight and was killed. How could that have anything to do with your partner?"

"It didn't. But Wex thinks it does. Or rather, he blames Josh for Tom Slade being in prison. So, to his way of thinking, Josh is to blame for Tom's dying like that."

"I don't understand. Is your friend a lawman, a detective..?"

Kid poured another whisky. "It don't matter what he is April. Fact is, Wex blames Josh for the death of his little brother." He looked back out of the window. "And Joshua hasn't come back. Why hasn't he come back?"

"He's probably in some saloon. They're open all night..." she sniffed.

Kid shook his head, scared to the pit of his belly. "I gotta find him."

"But what about Charlie? What about the ledger..?"

"Goddamn it April! This is my partner's life we're talking about. I can't help you till I know what's happened to him."

"You think the Slade Gang took him?"

"I don't know. I hope not." Kid dreaded to even think what could have happened to Heyes if Wex Slade had him. The man had wanted his partner - and himself - dead these past four years.

The Hanford job. One of Heyes' less successful plans.

They were to rob a bank, full - so Heyes had heard - of gold coins, deposited there by a local rancher afraid of being looted in the midst of the range war raging round Hanford back then. But the information was all wrong. The safe was almost empty. Job netted them a cool seventy three dollars. Heyes had been out on the level of security in town too - he figured, what with this fearsome range war on, most anyone good with a gun would have been hired by the ranchers. Which was good logic, except that the night they robbed the bank, one of the rancher's daughters was having a birthday in town - there might have been a good few men back guarding that ranch, but there were enough of them in town enjoying the festivities to give the Devil's Hole Gang a run for it's money.

Tom Slade had his horse shot right from under him. Kid had turned back to get him and got shot in the leg for it too - and he couldn't do anything for Tom. He was wedged tight under that dead horse, and the posse closing in fast. Kid'd had to get out of there or be taken himself.

Wex blamed Heyes for getting them into that mess, and Curry for not doing more to rescue his kid brother. He left the gang that fall, still brooding on it. Then when Tom got killed in a fight in the state penitentiary - well, word got back to them that Wex was after their necks. Course, back then, they were still at Devil's Hole and the weight of the whole gang around them - no one about to try to hurt them there. But they weren't with the gang any more. Heyes only had one gun guarding his back now. And that gun had been lying on it's back, brooding on his own hurts while Heyes...

Kid couldn't sit thinking about it a moment longer. He strapped on his gunbelt and pulled on his boots.

"What are you going to do?" April asked.

"Going after my partner. You can stay here. Go talk to your brother, it's just possible he knows where this gang hide out..."

"I know where they hide out."

"You do?"

"Of course. I told you my brother rode with Wex Slade. I know all the trails in too, including the secret ones. Mr Jones, he is my brother and I love him dearly. Just because a man becomes an outlaw, doesn't mean his sister just forgets about him. I used to meet with him up there, often. You have to take me with you..."

"No!"

April laughed. "Oh Mr Jones, please don't be gallant! If you're worried about my safely, let me assure you now, my brother isn't the only sharp shooter in the family. He might be better with a six gun but there ain't no one in three counties can match me with a rife. I can help you. Please let me."

Curry didn't know what to do. If the girl was telling the truth and she knew all the trails... "You got a horse?"

"Over at the livery."

"And your rifle?"

"Mr Jones, I always got my rifle."

April went down to wake up the livery man and get the horses - Though they were still an hour shy of dawn, she was a respectable citizen in this town and wouldn't risk anyone seeing them coming out of the room together. Kid gave her the ten minutes grace she'd requested, then he was running down the stairs, anxious to be off. He would check out the town first - no point in a wild goose chase if Heyes really were just cooling off in some saloon or bordello. But somehow, he didn't think so. There was a feeling growing in his chest - a tight, sick apprehension that...

"Mr Jones?" A pale, spotty, overgrown youth - the night clerk - was waving an envelope at him.

"Mr Jones, a gentleman, well, that is to say, a man left this for you earlier. I would have brought it to your room but he said not, said to give it to you when I saw you in the morning..." Kid snatched the letter from him, tearing it open.

"...I, I'm sorry if I did the wrong thing," the boy went on. "Not fetching it to you right away, only, he wasn't the sort of gentleman you'd disregard, if you know what I mean..."

Kid tried to read the letter. He couldn't clear his head - stunned by what he was reading, he had to stop twice, go back, read it over.

Jones -

I hear that's what you're calling yourself these days. We got your partner. We're gonna kill him unless you show yourself at the cabin before sundown tomorrow. Here's a map. We'll be waiting.

W. M. Slade.

- A sketchy but accurate map of the road out to Indian River was drawn on the other side of the letter, showing a trail leading off over the stream, and out, some ten miles or so into the foothills.

Kid was sure he hadn't drawn breath for at least five minutes. What the hell did he do now? It was clearly a trap, but they had Heyes.

His heart seemed to stop beating as the thought came to him - there was a more than even chance Heyes was already dead. Why bother to keep him alive? They knew Kid'd come after him. They'd shoot Heyes, and then bushwhack him coming in.

"Mr Jones?" The boy was looking at him funny. "Is everything alright? You look awful pale sir, should I get a doctor?"

"Huh? No. No. Thank you." His voice sounded funny, catchy and hoarse. He sat down heavily on the couch.

April walked in. "Horses are all saddled up and ready... you OK? You look like you've see a ghost." Kid took her by the arm and walked her outside, away from the ear-wigging boy. They stood under a lantern and he handed her the letter.

"Oh my!" she breathed. "Well, we better go get him."

"I better go get him. You better stay here."

"Are you crazy? Why, it's obviously a trap!"

"Exactly, which is why I don't want you along..."

"Oh, now I told you I know the trails..."

"Yup. You can draw them for me, right on that map you got in your hand there."

"You need another gun. Someone who knows the hideout and the country. You need me."

"April, my friend is in trouble, real bad trouble. I gotta keep my mind on him and him alone. I can't allow myself to be distracted having to look out for you on top..."

"Oh! you got a mighty big opinion of yourself don't you, Mr Jones? I hear that's what you're calling yourself these days?

"I've been shooting rifles, protecting me and my mother all my life. I know how to take care of myself, thank you kindly. I'm offering to help you rescue your friend, who, I might add, doesn't even like me. I'll level with you, I don't care about him. All I care about is getting my brother out of jail. I need your help for that, and I can see I'm not going to get it unless we bust your friend out of Slade's hideout first. So let's stop jawing and get moving shall we?"

She mounted up, unholstered her rifle, checked and loaded it. "You coming?"

Kid nodded and mounted up bedside her.

Heyes had struggled with his bonds for hours now, to no avail. He was trussed up tight as a bug in a spider's web. As he slumped, exhausted, trying to catch his breath through the tight, wet gag -cold air gusted in, frosting the sweat on his face. He heard the stable door creak, then slow footsteps followed by a voice; soft, amused and full of menace.

"You hurtin' Heyes?"

... Slade. A tremor shook him. He shut his eyes and tried to keep breathing. Slade was pulling at the ropes that bound him, checking he hadn't worked them loose.

"I sure hope so," the man laughed. "And gonna be hurtin a whole lot more 'fore this day's out and that's a promise. Specially when I kill that partner of yours right in front of you."

He cut the bonds holding Heyes' knees and ankles together and dragged him to his feet. Heyes found it hard to stand - the muscles in his legs weak and cramping from being tied so long.

"I want you to know how it feels to have your kin die and not be able to do a dang thing about it."

Slade gave up trying to keep Heyes upright, and pulled him close to him in a bear hug. He snickered at the mix of fear and defiance in the man's dark eyes.

"Curry's on his way right now, and my boys are waitin' for him. Gonna drill him a third eye, right between those baby blues of his," Slade smiled. "Curry's the lucky one. He's gonna die fast 'cos I don't really blame him for what happened. You're the guilty one, Heyes. That's why you're gonna die slow. Belly shot, I think. Take you two, maybe three, maybe more hours to die. I'm gonna enjoy that. I can't hardly wait."

The road was long and hard and the night so cold. Kid pulled his sheepskin closer and took out his gun for the fifth time; checked it over. He had to be ready, and he needed to take his mind off the fear gnawing at his soul - that Heyes was already dead and that he might be killed himself before he made Wex Slade pay for it.

He began thinking about his partner and the past few days when they seemed to do nothing but scream and shout at each other. It'd been a tough week, continuously on the run.

Sure, they'd dodged Fail's posse. But not without a fight.

They were seven miles out of Amersham. Night had come, dark and moonless and, just as they were laughing and congratulating themselves on another skin-of-the-teeth escape, Fail and his men started shooting from above - a high road, short-cut they didn't even know existed.

In desperation, they'd made for the obsidian. Terrible country to ride, especially in the dark - black like ice and smooth as glass with razor edges like to cut a man and his horse in two if they stumbled. Great for hiding a trail, but no one but a fool - or a desperado running for his life - would cross it after sundown.

Most of the posse turned back when they saw where they were heading. Fail and two other men kept after them a while, but Heyes and the Kid had more to lose. They took more chances on the treacherous terrain, and eventually lost them in the forests above Sweetwater.

That terrible ride, when any moment they might slip and plunge down the mountain; that and the everyday terrors, exhaustion, thirst, hunger, despair - everything that went with being a fugitive - it all took it's toll on a man. And on Heyes more than most because he thought too much.

Kid could roll with the fear. He'd learned how to cope with the consequences on his mind and body. And when it was over, well - it was over. He'd take a bath, get a girl, get drunk, whatever it took to let go, and luxuriate in the satisfaction of having made it safe and still free.

But not Heyes. Heyes worried at it like a dog with a bone. He fretted. He thought too much and too often about what might happen. He let life eat at him, and that made him hard to be with sometimes.

April rode up beside him. "We're coming up to the main trail in now," she said. "This is where we part company. You go in here," she pointed to a stony deer path that hugged the rockside as it skirted the edge of the forest.

"I don't like it," Kid said. "There's rocks above me the whole way. Easy place to get shot."

"Well that's why they chose it for a hideout. You won't get shot."

"Well I appreciate your confidence, April, but I can't see why not."

"Because I know exactly where they're gonna be hiding and waiting to bushwhack you. I'm going to take this trail," she pointed up the mountainside. "So's I can get behind them and get the drop on 'em before you get anywhere near."

Kid looked at her wondering, could he trust her? Maybe she knew all this 'cause she was part of the gang. Was she leading him straight into a trap? Something was wrong. All his senses, honed from years on the outlaw trail, were warning him. Something just didn't smell right.

But one asphyxiating thought kept coming back to choke him; Heyes was a prisoner in there. If there was any chance at all he was still alive, he had to go in and try to get him, whatever it took. And if Heyes were dead, well... Kid really didn't care too much what happened to him.

"OK April, if you're sure you know what you're doing."

She grinned at him, took out her rifle, checked and cocked it.

"Be ready," she said. "When I start firing, they're gonna know it's going wrong for them. That's when they'll kill your partner, if they're gonna. So when the shooting starts, you better get to him sharp as you can if you're both to come out of this alive."

She turned and spurred her horse up into the rocks above. Kid turned and pushed his own horse on along the trail towards Slade's camp.

Heyes lay on the cabin floor where he'd been dropped.

Bill Farmer - one of Slade's most loyal compadres from the old days - walked in to announce 'the boys' had spotted Kid coming in alone along the trail they had marked for him, would be here in less than an hour.

A pang, first of hope, then fear struck Heyes' at the news. Why was Kid being so foolish? He must know it's a trap. He wasn't surprised he'd come after him - he knew he would, if he could. But to come down a trail Slade had told him about? Kid just wasn't that stupid. No, no - Heyes reasoned. He must have some kind of a plan. Heyes hoped to god he had some kind of a plan.

At least Farmer's arrival had saved him from a further beating. Now all he had to do was lay there listening to Slade and Farmer calmly discussing his fate.

"I need him hurt so's Curry can see," Slade said, considering the problem.

"Why don't we shoot him some then? In the shoulder or the leg..."

"No, he might bleed to death before Curry gets here. I need him alive a while yet. He's my blinded bird, ain't you Heyes?"

Slade reached down and gripped Heyes by the jaw, twisting his face around so he could look into his eyes.

"See, that's what the trappers do. All them pretty birds the ladies love to keep in little cages, that's how they git em. They catch one and put out it's eyes. Poor little critter sings his sad little song an' draws all th'other birds straight into the same trap. And that what Heyes is, Tom, he's my little blinded canary. And he's gonna bring his friend in close enough for me to kill."

"But Wex, Curry sees Heyes out there, all beat and trussed like a hog. He ain't stupid, he's gonna know it's a trap."

"Sure, but he'll come all the same. When he sees old Heyes here, he'll risk anything to come get him. He won't be able to help himself now, will he Heyes?" Slade laughed, as he smashed the back of his fist across Heyes' eyes.

Kid watched the line of amber light shining over the valley to the east. Dawn was coming up. He had to move fast.

He dismounted and tied his horse to a tree, then went on on foot, keeping close to the rocks, padding softly through the sandy earth that marked the trail into the hideout - just as Slade had drawn it on the map.

All Kid's senses were on alert. He was trying hard to keep his breathing soft. He felt like he'd hardly hear a rattlesnake over the sound of his pounding heart.

Why hadn't he been shot at? Slade surely had men out waiting for him? But then, Slade knew he was coming - knew he'd never walk away and leave Heyes. They'd be waiting to ambush him as he rounded the corner to the cabin...

Kid climbed quietly into the rocks above, finding a spot where he could see out across the cabin yard, yet wedge himself far enough back into a cleft so's he couldn't be seen or shot at from above or behind.

Then he saw him, and found he couldn't breathe - every bit of wind knocked clean out of him.

At first, he thought he'd been hanged - swinging there gently on the end of a rope suspended from a gnarled old half-dead walnut tree. Kid heaved a giant sigh of pure relief as he saw him move, lifting his head to look up into the branches above him.

The light was gaining rapidly now; the first crystal lights of a new day glinting on the horizon. Bright enough for Kid to see Heyes twist a little, try to grab at the ropes that held him dangling by his wrists. He was trying to manipulate his arms against his face, trying to loosen the bandanna that was gagging him.

"So's he can shout to warn me it's a trap," Kid thought. "Heyes! D'you think I'm stupid? I know it's a trap! Please God, don't let him get loose. If he gets to talking, they'll shoot him straight off. Hell, I've wanted to do it often enough myself."

The tree was right slap bang in the middle of that yard, no cover at all, nothing 'cept the well. There was no way to get within fifty yards of that tree without being gunned down.

And where was April?

The girl crept silently along the narrow fissure between two huge, flat slabs of stone. She'd left her horse and her boots near the start of the trail, the better to scale the sheer rock face. She stepped up on to the flat plateau on top and began creeping stealthily along towards the edge of the cliff, got down on her belly and peered out over the edge.

There they were; Jim Palmer and Harvey Croft - guns trained on the man hanging from the tree in the yard below. She grinned at the absurdity, the sheer predictability of Slade. Well, now she'd teach all four of them to run out on her and her man. She levelled her rifle and took aim.

Kid heard two shots ring out above him, the crack of rifle fire ricocheting off the rocks all around.

"Heyes!" He yelled hard as he was able. "Get ready to run!"

The rope snapped above him, plunging Heyes down hard just as Slade came out shooting.

Heyes got up, fell down again - 'must've wrenched my knee in the fall,' he thought.

Frantically floundering back to his feet, he dived down behind the well and prayed Kid would get Slade before he reached him.

He heard two rapid shots, a cry, a shot fired wild and the thud of something heavy hitting the ground.

Heyes peeked out from the well to see Slade pitched out in the dust just a few feet away. Then, grabbing at the gag, pulling it free, he yelled, loud as he could; "Kid! Be careful! There's another one in the cabin!" -

- Heard another rifle shot ring out and looked round to see Farmer lying face up in the morning sun, blood spilling around him, his gun still in his dead hand.

Slade was alive - Heyes heard him moan and curse. He heaved himself up and limped over to kick the man's gun away out of reach.

"You OK?" Kid shouted, as he leapt from the rocks with the grace and ease of a mountain lion.

Heyes was still trying to catch his breath.

"You shot at the rope?" He asked his friend as he bounded over.

Kid shrugged modestly. "Couldn't see any other way to go about it."

He went over to check out Slade.

"Caught it in the arm and leg," he told the stricken man. "You're gonna be sore a long while but you'll live." Then he walked over to where Farmer lay dead - just as April bounced in down the hillside, flushed and excited like she'd just got a gold star on her school report and couldn't wait to show it to her Daddy.

Kid stood looking down at the man. "You didn't have to kill him, April."

She frowned at him. "Well it was him or your friend. I figured you kinda liked your partner better than this lying, murdering scum."

Kid took a knife from his boot and went over to free Heyes, sitting on the well wall looking tired and sick. Kid took note of the bruises and lesions on his friend's face and the blood seeping from a wound above his knee as he cut the ropes still binding his wrists.

"Slade musta got off a lucky shot," Heyes said with a wince, seeing the bleeding wound above his knee for the first time.

"What do you wanna do about him?" Kid asked, nodding to Slade.

Heyes looked at the man, sprawled and bleeding in the dirt. "I don't know," he said softly. "I know what I'd like to do to him right now. We can't exactly take him in to the sheriff."

"I know, but April can. Unless you've got a better plan?"

Heyes shrugged. "I'll think about it. First I need a drink and some sleep."

Kid nodded. He took the rope that'd been used to tie Heyes and bound Slade's wrists tight behind him.

"Howdy Mr Smith," April beamed, hoisting her rifle over her shoulder like a wood axe.

Heyes nodded a greeting. "That was some shooting."

April rocked in proud pleasure. "I am good aren't I?"

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"

"Girl loses her father as young as I did has to be able to take care of herself."

Heyes looked her right in those big grey eyes of hers. She returned his gaze, clear and unafraid and Heyes got that same hollow feeling; this girl is not to be trusted.

"Thanks," Heyes grimaced, pulling his shirt back on as Kid finished cleaning him up and checking him over.

"No bones broken, far as I can tell. Leg wound's superficial but it might start bleeding again. You sure gotta lot of cuts and bruises. I don't think you're in any danger but I'd like to get you to a doctor soon as we can."

"Yeah, well it's gonna have to wait a day or too. I don't think I can ride with my leg like this."

"Yeah, it looks sore. You're lucky Slade ain't a better shot, Heyes."

"Just give me a day, maybe two. A little rest is probably all it needs. How is Slade?"

Kid glanced over at the cot where the outlaw was lying, feet and hands tied by a long rope to a beam above him, looking and moving for all the world like a child's marionette - and nursing a bottle of 'medicinal' whisky.

"Not too bad. Not bad enough. D' you care?"

"I'd like him to stay alive a while longer. I have a feeling he might be useful yet. You look tired," Heyes said.

"Yeah, well I didn't get much sleep last night and I still gotta heap of stuff to do before I can get my head down."

"Where's the girl?"

"She went to get the horses," April said, walking in through the door. "All fed and comfortable," she yawned.

Kid stood up, stretching. "I gotta go dig some graves. Can't leave those bodies lying around in the sun like that. Gonna attract wolves or coyotes and anyhow, it ain't decent." He put on his hat and coat and went out the door.

"April," Heyes said. "Will you go help him?"

The girl sighed dramatically. "Mr Smith, I had quite a time of it last night too. I'm very tired."

"Just keep him company. He shouldn't have to do a thing like that alone and I can't be with him with my leg this way. Please. I mean it was you that killed 'em all, reckon you oughta at least help clean up the mess."

April gave him a petulant stare. "I did it to save you. And your friend did his fair share of the shooting."

"Yeah, but he didn't kill anyone now, did he? Good gunman don't need to."

She turned on him. He was staring at her with eyes so hard, so angry and dangerous...

She picked up her coat and followed Kid outside.

"He's pretty sweet on her ain't he?"

Heyes looked round. Slade was watching him, leaning up on one arm, grinning. He took a swig of whisky.

"You know Kid; never could resist a damsel in distress..."

"Damsel in distress? Her!" Slade laughed - a harsh, grating sound like iron shod hooves on gravel. "The day that ones in distress, I'd like to be there to watch. Hell, I'd like to be the one doing the distressing!"

"Oh, I bet you would!" Heyes said, revolted by the man. He wished that Kid had killed him.

"You better tell that partner of yours to watch his back if he gets involved with that she-devil," Slade said.

"He wants to help get her brother out of jail is all..."

"Her brother? She ain't got a brother!" Slade choked back some more whisky. "Only man in Sweetwater jailhouse she'd wanna break is Charles Marshall and he ain't her brother, he's her lover, god help him!"

Heyes felt that hollow feeling growing, felt it tighten round his insides. "You're a liar!" he said.

"Yeah? You think?"

"Convince me. Why should I believe you?"

Slade laughed. "Cos you don't trust her and 'cos I got information that'll save you and Curry too. If I decide to give it ya."

Kid plunged the spade into the hard ground, hit another stone. The jarring pain rolled through the bones of his arms. He stopped, wiped his eyes streaking yellow mud across his face. It was cold and he was stripped to the waist, but still the sweat streamed down his body.

"When are we going to start back to town?" April asked. She was sitting, legs crossed, at the edge of the grave, twirling a flower between her fingers.

"Not for at least a couple of days."

"Couple of days!"

"April, Josh is hurt pretty bad. His leg's real messed up, a lot more than he's letting on. He can't ride like that."

"Well you don't need him to do that job. I told you, I'll give you the key to the door and the combination."

Kid threw down the spade and looked up at her. "April, I'm not going anywhere with my friend like he is. Someone's gotta be here to look after him."

"Well I can do that. I mean, I am a woman. Isn't nursing one of those things that's supposed to come natural to us?"

Kid smiled. "Oh, April. I can think of a lot of things that might be natural to you, but nursing ain't one of em."

He picked up the spade and started trying to dislodge the rock that was stopping him digging.

"Thaddeus. I really need you to help me now. I'm real afraid for Charlie. I think he might get lynched."

"I reckon if the town was fixing to lynch him they'da done it by now April."

"Please Thaddeus. I'm scared. You have to help me. You're my only hope."

Kid leaned down on the shovel, looked up into those huge, tear-filled grey eyes and sighed. He suddenly felt exhausted, tired fit to drop. He surely couldn't dig any more if his life depended on it.

"You reckon it's deep enough for three?" he asked.

April looked down. "Plenty deep enough for those three," she pouted. "I don't know why you think you have to do this. If it were down to me, I'd just drag them down the valley and dump em in the river."

Kid struggled out of the grave and went to drag the three bodies over. April had shrouded them in blankets, so at least he didn't have to look them in the eyes. He'd ridden many times with Bill Farmer. He didn't much care for the guy, but he didn't like having to bury him either. He didn't know the other two, but they were some mother's sons.

"Every man deserves a half decent burial away from the jackals and buzzards, whoever he is," he said, taking hold of Jim Palmer's feet and heaving him down into the deep, dark hole. He did the same for Harvey Croft, then Farmer as April sat twirling her flower, unmoved, unconcerned.

April tossed the crushed daisy she'd been playing with down on to the bodies of the three men she'd killed. Then sat down and watched as Kid wearily lifted the shovel and began to pile down the dirt.

"What makes you think I believe anything you say, Slade?" Heyes asked. "Why in hell should I trust you? You wanna save the two of us from her evil machinations? A couple of hours ago you were gonna belly shoot me and kill the Kid too."

"Because she's gonna kill me, Heyes. She's killed Jim and Harvey, Tom too. Now she's coming after me. She can't afford to have any of us around to tell tales on her. You promise to let me go and I'll tell you everything you need to know."

Heyes laughed. "Let you go? How do I know you won't just kill me?"

"You got my word."

"Oh! Your word!" Heyes laughed with a look of delight.

"Look Heyes, you're supposed to be so smart. You know that girl ain't told one word of truth to you or your partner. The stuff I got on her might just save Curry. Cos I'm tellin you straight, he's got his hands in a nest of scorpions with that one."

Heyes frowned. He hated to admit it, but Slade was making sense. He looked at the man.

"How you gonna get out of here? You're shot in the leg, how you gonna ride?"

"Curry only grazed me. I can ride. I'd ride a coyote out of here if it got me away from that harpy."

Heyes nodded. "O.K. Slade, you got a deal. I'll cut you loose and get you your gun. You tell me what you know."

"Cut me loose first."

Heyes shook his head. "Oh no. You talk first, then you go free."

"How do I know I can trust you Heyes?"

"Why Wex, you have my word," Heyes grinned.

April watched, enjoying the spectacle of Kid taking an impromptu shower under a bucket of well water. It was shame, she thought. He's kinda nice and very cute. A pity he's gotta die.

She wasn't the least bit bothered about killing the other one. She hated the way he looked at her - saw right through her like a mountain pool. No, she'd enjoy seeing him die right enough.

In the meantime... she watched Kid soaping up, then tipping another bucket of the icy water over his head. Nothing wrong with enjoying your work...

They were both startled by the sudden noise of galloping hoof beats - a horse and rider making off through the rocks behind them.

"Slade!" she screamed, racing to the stables.

Kid began running to the cabin.

"We have to go after him!" she screamed - Kid ignored her, bursting in through the cabin door, expecting to see Heyes with his throat slit, and instead, found him in bed, snoring lightly, a book lying open on his chest.

"Heyes! Heyes!" Kid shook him roughly by the shoulder making him cry out in pain.

"Hey, will you quit that!"

"What happened here?"

April walked in with a look of rage. "He's cut all the cinch's. We won't be going after him till we fix em. It'll take hours."

Heyes glared round in apparent confusion, saw the ropes, cut and dangling from the roof. "Where's Slade? What happened?"

"You tell me!"

"Well, I don't know. I was reading my book, he was still here then." He ran a hand through his hair. "Guess he musta had a knife hid somewhere on him."

"No. He didn't," April snapped. "I searched him very thoroughly." She glared at Heyes who, she thought, had far too innocent a look on his face.

"Well, you must have missed something, cos he's gone alright," Heyes said.

"Yeah. He's probably out there right now," Kid yelled. "He's probably already figuring out some new way to kill you, Heyes, not to mention me!"

Kid threw his hat down on the table and slumped into the rocker.

"I can't help feeling that you're both blaming me for this," Heyes said, defensively. "Way I see it, April's supposed to have searched him, you're supposed to have shot him. I'm the one he's out to kill, so I really don't see..."

Kid groaned. "What's done's done. There's no fixing it now. We'll just have to barricade ourselves in here and take turns on watch. And I'm volunteering you for the night shift, Heyes."

"Wouldn't it be fairer to toss for it?"

Kid flashed him a look of pure venom. "Heyes, I'm gonna make some coffee, heat up a can of beans, eat my dinner then I'm gonna sleep for about eighteen hours..."

"Oh how can you sit there chattering like this, like it's all some kind of joke?" April screamed hysterically. Both men turned to her, slightly stunned.

"What do you want us to do April?" Heyes asked.

"We have to repair those saddles and get out of here before Slade rounds up more men and comes back and kills us all."

"Why would he do that? He's home free now. Sensible thing would be to get out of the county quick as he can."

"And I'm telling you what he's gonna do. Are you going to help me work up a usable saddle to get back to town, or not?"

Heyes shook his head.

"April, Heyes is right. The sensible thing to do is..."

"Oh will you stop telling me what's sensible and what's not! I can't believe you! No one would if I told them that you, of all... that a pair of... that men like you would be so, so..."

"Cowardly?" Heyes suggested. "Craven?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of pathetic, pitiable and worthless. I'm going to ride bare back, back to town where I'm going to see the sheriff and try to raise a posse against Slade." She picked up her rifle and left, slamming the door.

"April...!" Kid got up to go after her.

"Kid. Siddown."

"But Heyes, we can't let her go like that. Slade might be lying in wait for her. Man like that, there's no telling what he might do if he gets a hold of her."

"Kid, Slade didn't escape. I let him loose. Now sit down, cos I've got something important to tell you."

April rode her horse hard over the rocky road, boiling with anger and disappointment. That crazy fool Heyes could have ruined everything letting Slade get away like that...

She reigned her screaming mount to a sudden halt.

'He couldn't have?" she thought in sudden horror. "No, it wasn't possible... Slade was out for Heyes' blood, Curry'd told her that. He wouldn't have let him loose. But then, why didn't Slade kill Heyes when he had the chance?'

April sat a while trying to figure it out. She was sure, after the treatment he'd had from Slade, Heyes would never have freed him - would he?

She'd have to tread real carefully from now on, just in case. Heyes was a tricky one. She couldn't read him, couldn't get behind those eyes of his - but she could tell he was clever. And he sure as hell could read her alright.

She spurred her heaving, foaming horse, galloping on to Sweetwater.

"The girl's a liar, a trickster, a thief and a murderer..."

"You've only got Slade's word on that! The man that tried to kill you, and me...!"

"Kid! Calm down and look at it logically. She wants us to break her brother outta jail? Her outlaw brother, a member of the Slade gang? And her uncle's the biggest, richest rancher in these parts? Does that make any sense to you? Why would a young man who's likely to inherit the biggest spread in south Wyoming go off and join up with a man like Slade? Think about it.

"No, Slade was surprised, laughed when I told him about April's 'brother'. I'm sure he's telling the truth 'bout that."

"OK, so she didn't want me to know the guy in jail's her lover. So she ain't as pure as the driven. Makes sense she wouldn't want me to know that, ifn' she wanted me to break him outta jail for her. Don't mean the rest of her story's a lie."

"Oh Kid. For once in your life try and see past a pair of big blue eyes..."

"Grey. Her eyes are grey."

Heyes looked at the floor to hide his grin and shook his head.

"What?" Kid asked, still angry.

"Nothin." Heyes looked up, eyes shining with laughter. "You're incorrigible is all."

"In - what?"

"What is it with you and a pretty girl? Turns you from the sanest, most level headed, smartest man west of Rawlins into a love-struck, gooey-eyed heap o..."

"How come I'm suddenly the smartest man in the west Heyes? I thought you were the smart one?"

"I said west of Rawlins, Kid. We're in Sweetwater, we're east of Rawlins. I wasn't including me."

Kid gave him a wary look, but couldn't help smiling.

"Kid, has she done anything at all to make you believe she's on the level? That cock n bull story she fed you outside the saloon? Its as full of holes as the Slade Gang. Look, I'll tell you what Slade told me and if you still think he's the liar and she's on the level..."

Kid pulled up a chair, and sat down, wrong-ways, his arms folded over the chair back and leaned his chin on his hands.

"OK Heyes, go ahead. I'm listening."

Slade thought about it. "OK Heyes," he said, "I'll trust you. I don't have much choice, mind, but I do trust you. I'll tell you everything I know if you promise to cut me free and gimme a gun."

"I told you Wex, you have my word. Just so long as you remember I got my gun here in my hand, and Kid Curry's out there with his gun too."

Slade nodded. "Girl's uncle's a rancher, 'bout the biggest and richest man in these parts..."

"That much I know."

"Well you don't know he's gotten a whole lot richer lately by fleecing the government out of about a quarter of a million dollars selling rotten beef and lumber to the government then selling the good stuff on again to foreign exporters over in San Francisco. Doing real well out of that he is, bribing all the big shots, he ain't never likely to get caught. 'Mazing how th' more money a man has, and the more dishonest he is, the richer and more respectable he's likely to be ain't it Heyes? And they wonder why guys like us turn to crime?" he laughed.

Heyes watched him with hate. He didn't much like being placed in the same category of men as Slade - even if it was mostly true. "Go on Slade."

"Course, the girl's his niece, and his bookkeeper. He trusts her moren' any man. Ain't that sweet?"

"Girl'l be back soon Slade, you wanna move it along some?"

Slade grinned. "Well, all's going along just fine for the old man till little April meets Charlie Marshall. He was workin' up at her uncle's lumber camp, casing the railhead there 'cos we was plannin' on hitting the sawmill's payroll. You know Marshall, Heyes? Used to ride with Clint Weaver few years back, then came in with our bunch 'bout six months ago? Real good lookin' fella. Strong and tall, well over six feet. Dark, like you Heyes but blue eyes, like the Kid."

Heyes shook his head.

"Well little April, she's lived a real sheltered life, she ain't never come across nothin'' like Charlie Marshall and she falls for him like fifty tons of bricks - and he starts to see possibilities in having an nice little affair with the rich man's only living relative. So he goes to work on her, though I don't think she needed much working on. That girl's got a cold and larcenous soul.

"Anyways, they cook up a scheme to blackmail the old man over them there contracts. Marshall goes over one night and confronts old McShane and gets him to agree to turn over five thousand dollars a month to keep Charlie quiet. Course, he keeps April out of it - don't wanna kill no golden goose, right?"

Heyes nodded.

"But Charlie, he ain't no fool. He knows a man as important and powerful as Old Man McShane ain't gonna take all this lying down and he's a gonna try to have Charlie killed. Charlie comes up here to the hideout to lay low a while and think what to do 'bout that. Course, he never told any of us about the five thousand dollars - we didn't know 'bout any of this at the time.

"Well, around six weeks after all of this started, little April gets called in to see her uncle. He's pacing the floor, real nervous and agitated. And he tells her that the business ain't doing too well, what with the depression and all. He needs to get some money fast to pay off a few creditors getting antsy 'bout their money. He tells her he's fixin' to rob his own safe for the insurance. He'll take all the money and jewels and stuff he's got in there first, hide it away someplace, then set it up like some thieves broke in and robbed him.

"Well, of course, April knows, cos she does the bookkeeping, that this is all a crock - you know? She knows it's the money he's paying out to old Charlie he's gotta cover up in his books. So April, smart as she is, spots her chance to get some real money together so's she can git outta Sweetwater for good and high tail it to Europe with her beau.

"So she tells her Uncle 'bout Charlie. Says there's a man just started working up at the lumber yard who recognised him as an outlaw - big-time train robber." Slade chuckled. "Big-time my ass! Petty penny picker like Charlie - well, I guess Charlie laid it on some when he was sweet talking the poor little girl.

"Anyhow, April's story is that this imaginary guy's too scared to go to the sheriff hisself 'case Charlie finds out who split on him. So he asks April to do it. Well, now, April was gonna go to the sheriff tomorrow, but now she knows her uncle's in trouble - well, she's got a plan.

"She tells McShane they kin kill two birds with one stone.

"McShane can get Marshall's old gang in to do that robbery. Take all the good stuff outta the safe first, leavin just enough to keep the gang happy - let em think they've got away with a nice haul. McShane'll say there was a whole lot more money'n there was, and his poor dead wife's jewels, sos he can make the insurance claim for that money he needs so bad. April suggests he put the extra cash and the jewels in another safe, hid behind a picture in his study - a safe little April knows the combination for of course.

"Well, April rides out here one evening, as she often did to meet old Charlie boy and gives us the lowdown for this here robbery. She also tells Charlie 'bout the other safe - he's not to tell us about that of course. April's gonna go into the other safe, and hand Charlie the loot while he's standing guard outside.

"The Uncle's plan - as put to him by April - is to have an old friend, a well bribed deputy waiting to bushwhack the boy as the gang rides out. He gets rid of his blackmailer, and he gets to tell the insurers the rest of the gang got away with all them jewels and money that he's still got safe at home. Neat huh?

"Cept of course, he didn't reckon on April. Well, you seen what a good shot she is ain't you? She's there too and she shoots that poor deputy down herself 'fore he gets near her boy.

"Trouble is, the best laid plans and all of that... There was a posse. Don't ask me how the sheriff got to hear about the robbery cos I don't know. Maybe that deputy was lookin to get hisself some glory. But they chased us hard into the mountains. Woulda caught up to us too, so we hid up in the rocks and had us a real shootout. Got a coupla theirs - killed one on' em too. And they got Charlie. Shot his horse right from under him and he ends up in jail awaiting a hanging for just about every crime in the book.

"So everybody's unhappy!" Slade laughed. "Old Uncle McShane needs Charlie dead. He can't afford to have him blabbing to the sheriff and a judge 'bout how he was set up so's McShane could swindle them big insurers over in New York. And he still wants that insurance money - can't get it now his jewels and cash (that he thought was safe and sound in that other safe) turned up in Charlie Marshall's saddlebags!

"April's either gonna lose her man on the end of a rope, else she's gonna wind up in jail alongside of him, cos if he turns evidence to save his neck, she's implicated in the swindle, cos she done all the bookkeeping," Slade laughed again. "Hell, I'm surprised she didn't try to get no lynch mob up agin him. Wouldn't put that past her at all! I guess she really must love the fella." He roared out the dirtiest, cracked and spittled laugh.

"Anyhow, she kept her head. She came out here that same night as we was sharing out the money, preparing to scoot. Offered us nine thousand dollars to break the boy out. Well, we just laughed, I mean, where was she gonna get all that money? But then she shows us a bank book - Bank of Laramie - far enough away from Sweetwater to keep it all a good secret from th' Old Man," he turned a hard stare on Heyes.

"She ain't no fool Heyes, don't you think it. She'd give your sneaking, double-dealing brain a run for it's money. Turns out she's been doing some hefty stealin of her own. Money from the company, from the railroads, from the government, a little blackmail on blackmail - All o' them men taking money from her uncle were passing half of it back to her to keep her quiet." He shook his head and smiled in frank admiration.

"She was offerin' us her all to git that boy outta there and fast, cos she was genuinely scared they was gonna lynch him for the killin of that deputy.

"So we went back into town with her... Hell don't look like that Heyes! No one in town knew us. We'd never set foot in Sweetwater till that night and knew none of that posse'd recognise us - it was a real dark night we opened that safe. Went in on a Sat'dy night lookin trail worn and dusty. Just a few cowboys out for a night on the town.

"Well, there we was, meeting with April behind the livery, fixin up a few last details and stuff. When - guess who came riding into town?" he grinned. "Bickerin' and a bitchin' at each other like an old married couple," he roared laughing. "You guys had a fallin out?" he pouted, and laughed some more.

"Well, seein' the pair of you riding in like that, I guess I lost my head. Farmer was all for turning you in there and then. April McShane's nine thousand for something as risky and potentially deadly as a jailbreak suddenly looked a pretty poor deal compared to twenty thousand for the two of you.

"But I really didn't care about the reward, Heyes. All I could see when I looked at you was poor little Tom getting the life beat out of him by a pair of prison guards. That money really didn't mean a dang thing to me right then."

"So you persuaded Bill and the others to take me and use me to lure the Kid out here so's you could have your revenge, and still claim the reward, right?"

"Dead or Alive, the money's the same, Heyes."

Heyes nodded. "And just forgot about bustin Charlie outta jail?"

Slade smiled. "Guess my mind was on other things."

"And April?"

"Didn't take it too good."

"Does she know who we are?"

"Would I tell her a thing like that Heyes?" He laughed. "I'd got moren' a few whiskeys in me by then. I guess I mighta let it slip. O' course she was there when me an Bill both saw you. Bill got real excited at the thought o' that reward. Who can say what he mighta told her?" he grinned.

Heyes nodded.

"April's after killin me, Heyes. She can't afford to have any witnesses around to tell on her. And she wants the loot - all of it. And I wouldn't mind bettin she 's plannin on gettin the reward on you and the Kid too. She's a greedy one and she's got a mind like a bear trap, so you be careful now.

"And, well, that's it, that's all I know. You gonna let me loose now before little miss congeniality gets back in here to finish the job?"

"Just tell me one other thing. What's in that safe she still wants so bad? She talks about a ledger..."

Slade shrugged. "Don't know nothin 'bout no ledger. Only thing I can think of is them jewels and the money. I believe, together they're worth around a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Plenty nuff to keep a girl and her man in luxury in Boston or Europe or anyplace else." Slade sighed. "And we almost had that, Heyes. Cos we knew Charlie was up to something. Harvey saw the girl hand him somethin when he was out mindin the horses. We woulda had that loot and been away off to South America. After Charlie went down, Bill went over to try to help..."

"Help Charlie? Or help himself to them jewels?" Heyes asked.

"Oh, Heyes! What kind of a question is that?" Slade grinned. "It's all the same. He couldn't do nothin. Lot of shooting coming his way, and Charlie was pinned tight under that horse..." Slade gave Heyes a piercing look. "Kinda reminds you of another robbery gone wrong, don't it Heyes?"

Heyes met his gaze. "That's just what it was, Wex, a robbery gone wrong. They do sometimes, it's a precarious profession or hadn't you noticed?"

Slade grinned, took the last swig of whiskey from the bottle.

"I didn't plan for things to go wrong like they did in Hanford, Wex. I wanted that gold as bad as any of you. I never planned on poor Tom getting caught. We did all we could. Hell, Kid got shot trying to help him. It was just misfortune..."

"You say!" Slade glared dangerously at Heyes. "That was my little brother. The only kin I had left in this world, Heyes."

"An I'm sorry, Wex. Right sorry for the way things went. But it wasn't my fault, or the Kid's or yours or even Tom's. It coulda been any one of us. It just happened."

It was going dark as Kid stirred the beans on the stove while Heyes sat in the rocker, wrapped in a blanket, his injured leg resting on an upturned hardtack box.

They'd spent the day making themselves safe and comfortable. Kid brought in a good pile of wood, found some sticks and kindling and left Heyes to light the stove while he went out to scout out all possible ways they might be attacked if Slade decided to come back.

Kid brought back the guns and rifles; cleaned and loaded them before lighting the fire and the lamps, while Heyes limped around the store room to see what he could find to eat.

Now the beans and bacon were almost ready; the savoury smell mingling with that of hot coffee and fresh baked biscuits, making two hungry mouths water in anticipation as they talked over what they should do about Slade and the girl.

"...What I can't understand is why you let him go?" Kid asked. "He wants to kill you, Heyes. Me too for that matter, but especially you."

"Well I told him I would if he told me what he knew about the girl..."

"You didn't have to keep your word, Heyes," Kid couldn't help smiling. "I mean, smart you are, devious you are. Honest you are not!"

"Letting him go sure did us a favour in getting rid of little April McShane. She sure was angry about him getting away like that now wasn't she? Why'd you think that was Kid?" Heyes asked innocently.

"I don't know Heyes, but I expect you're gonna tell me."

"Well she was gonna kill him now, wasn't she?"

"You don't know that..."

"Yes I do! She killed all the others. Didn't have to, she had the drop on em, and you were there to back her up. No, she killed them out of sheer cold bloodedness. And 'cause she don't want to split the reward she's out to get for the two of us."

Kid looked round sharply.

"I mean, she knows who we are, she has to Kid!"

Kid considered this a moment. "If she knows who we are, why not turn us in right away for the reward?"

"Ah! Why indeed?" Heyes nodded knowingly. "I reckon she still needs us around to do that job on her uncle's safe."

"Yeah. What's that all about Heyes?"

"I don't know. Slade reckoned he didn't either."

"It can't be just about the money? I mean, if it were, why not just steal it herself? She knows the combination...?"

Heyes shrugged. "Unless she needs a patsy?"

"Think she's planning an ambush for us too?"

"I just don't know. I surely would like to find out though."

"You don't think we should count our blessings and just get out of here quick as we can?"

"And have a posse on our tail, and me with my leg all shot up?"

"How'd you know she ain't on her way back here with a posse right now?"

"Because she needs us to do the job."

Kid nodded. "But why?"

"Still trying to figure it out Kid. Gotta be an answer. And I reckon we'll find it in that safe."

"You mean to go ahead and do the job for her?"

"Oh yeah!"

"When you know it's gotta be a trap? I mean, if you're right, she's gonna turn us in just as soon as she gets what she wants."

"Uh huh."

"So isn't it kind of risky?"

"Sure is," Heyes grinned.

"But we're gonna do it anyway?"

"Only way to find out what's going on, and maybe turn the situation to our advantage."

"Heyes, this wouldn't all be because you can't stand not knowing what she's up to, and what's in that safe?"

Heyes grinned. "Like I say, the answer's gotta be there. At the moment I can't think of a better way to find out. We just gotta second guess her is all, keep one step ahead."

"And how we gonna do that?"

"Well, I reckon we've got a day yet to sit tight and work something out. We put our heads together, we're sure to come up with something."

"Heyes...?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do I always listen to you, even when you're not making any sense at all?"

"Well Kid, I reckon it's 'cause you know, deep down, I'm always right."

"Oh, is that it?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, I knew there had to be an explanation. It sure couldn't be anything to do with logic or good sense."

Heyes grinned. "Kid?"

"What?"

"Is dinner ready yet? I'm half dying of hunger here..."

Heyes leaned back in his chair with a contented sigh. he really had been very hungry - hadn't realised just how much till he started to eat. He and Kid sat by the fire, warming their feet till the whole cabin began to smell of scorched leather.

"That was good," Heyes said with a sigh. "You really are a great cook. Gonna make someone a fine wife one day."

Kid chose to ignore it. He was too warm, too contented, too sleepy to fight back tonight.

Heyes lifted his cup. "You make good coffee too."

"Not especially, Heyes. Though I appreciate after drinking that devil's brew of yours, any man's coffee would taste good."

"Better not get too comfortable Kid," Heyes said. "One of us has gotta stay alert in case the girl or Slade comes back."

"Uh huh. How about you, Heyes? I been up all night long saving your hide. I reckon the least you can do is keep watch an hour or two."

"Me? I've been trussed up, beaten, shot..."

"We gonna havta take turns, Heyes, I can't stay awake a whole 'nother night."

"Heyes smiled. "Course, we could always toss a coin..."

Kid grinned, pulling his hat down over his eyes. "Whose coin?" he laughed. "I don't think so Heyes." He pulled out his watch. "I make it five after ten. You keep watch till midnight, then I'll take over."

"Make it one..."

"Three hours? You can do that?"

"Sure, plenty of your excellent coffee keeping hot here, figure I can make three hours."

"OK, sounds good to me. If you're sure?"

"Go ahead an' lay down on the bed there, I'll be fine."

Kid did lie down and was sound asleep inside thirty seconds. Heyes hobbled over and covered him with a couple of blankets. The Kid looked worn out.

He'd see if he couldn't make it a little longer than three hours - was sure he could. Kid needed the rest. Heyes was expecting things to get exciting when the sun came up. He didn't know what time the girl'd get there, but they'd need Kid alert and his gun hand steady.

Heyes poured himself some more coffee and sat down on a hard chair in the coldest corner of the room, cradled his gun and prepared for a long, cold, uncomfortable night.

April's horse was all but dead under her when she handed him to the shocked liveryman back in Sweetwater, snatching her own horse from the stall and screaming for her saddle;

"C'mon old man, I ain't got time to waste!"

"Gonna cost you double," the appalled man yelled after her as she saddled up. "Don't you go treating that pony the way you done this un. And where's his saddle?'"

"Shut your mouth, Dan Newman," she spat as she mounted up, tossing three twenty dollar gold pieces at him as she headed for the street. "That'll take care of that mangy horse and that worn old saddle. You think I care about the money? This is my horse and I'll ride him just as hard as I please."

And she thundered off into the night, headed for her Uncle's ranch, leaving Newman carping about folks what don't know how to treat a horse should have 'hoss killa' branded on their foreheads so's livery men would know who to kick.

Roy McShane woke to a frenzied rapping on his bedroom door and his niece's insistent voice -

"Uncle! Uncle wake up!"

"OK April, OK, just you hold up a minute."

The old man lit a candle, pulled a heavy robe over his night-shirt and opened the door.

"What time is it? What's going on? Is the house on fire?"

April ducked inside, pulling the door shut behind her.

"I've just come from the outlaw's hideout. I think I've found a way to solve all our problems."

"You been out there? April! Why girl? You trying to get yourself killed?"

"I talked my way in there by pretending that me and that outlaw Marshall were in love and in on everything together."

"And they believed you? April, you shouldn't take such chances..."

"Uncle. It's OK. They bought it all and now I think I can see a way out of our troubles. We can get them to try again. They still want the jewels and all that money they lost when Marshall was taken."

"Ain't the sheriff going to get suspicious?"

"No, because this time, they've got a pair of big-shots with them. While I was there, Slade himself introduced me to Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry."

"You don't say! I've heard o' them! They're famous outlaws!"

"Famous safecrackers uncle!"

"Safecrackers?"

April smiled and nodded. "Now, they'll surely be able to open your safe without blowing it, or causing any kind of a disturbance likely to bring the sheriff out here. We just have to set the ambush up right this time, so's nothing can go wrong. The way to do that is for me to go alone. You know what a sure shot I am, I can take them out, no trouble at all.

"The rest of the gang can get away. It's Heyes and Curry who'll have the loot. When I've killed em, I'll get the jewels and the money back and hide it someplace. You tell the sheriff the rest of the gang must've had it. You get the insurance money, and the reward too."

"Reward?"

"Heyes and Curry are worth ten thousand dollars apiece Uncle."

"You don't say?"

"There's just one other thing though..."

"What's that honey?"

"We need to break Charles Marshall out of jail."

"Darling! I don't see how..."

"Oh Uncle! You do it by paying off whichever deputy's on guard that night. It's Slade's price for doing the job a second time."

"Well now, April, darling. That's a tall order! The man's on a murder charge, guarded day and night."

"The plan won't work unless Marshall goes free."

McShane nodded. "OK April. I'll have a word with Jim O'Brien. It'll cost plenty."

"Less than twenty thousand dollars though Uncle?" April grinned.

McShane laughed. "Oh, a whole lot less than that, April. My, but you're a brave, resourceful girl. So like your Pa, God rest his soul."

"Just like you too, Uncle. Chips off of the same block, hey?"

"Deed we are, darlin'. Deed we are."

Heyes saw the light glinting off the mountain - two flashes, three, then one more. Then watched as Kid repeated the signal again.

OK. So April was on her way but alone, no posse. He held his own piece of mirror into the sun and flashed back an acknowledgement - message received; before limping back onto the porch and sitting down on the rocking chair.

He didn't have too long to wait. Less than an hour later, April rode in fast, threw herself off her horse and strode towards him with fire in her eyes.

"OK, Smith. This is the plan..."

"Mornin' April. Beautiful day ain't it?" Heyes smiled pleasantly.

"...You're to go into my Uncle's study tonight. No arguments. I want the job done tonight or the deal's off."

Heyes nodded. "Care to fill in some of the gaps?"

"What gaps? You already know the plan. You go into the house - I'll leave the window open, you won't have to break in. You open the safe - I'll give you the combination. You take the ledger - you shouldn't have any problem recognising it, it's a regular ledger, thick green leather bound book, gilded decoration, gold page edgings. You take that book and you skidaddle."

"And...?"

"And I'll pay you two thousand apiece..."

"Four thousand? It was just two when you discussed it with Thaddeus."

"The pay's gone up 'cause the job got harder. And because I sense your reluctance, Mr Smith and I want you both to do this job."

Heyes grin turned to laughter.

"You got that much money, April?"

"Yes I do Mr Smith. I got it right here." And she pulled a thick wad of cash from the inside pocket of her coat. "Four thousand dollars, if you do the job - and pull it off successfully of course."

"Of course." Heyes reached out for the money, but April pulled it back and pulled out a gun, holding it at his heart.

"Oh no, not yet. Not till you do the job."

Heyes smile faded some when she pulled out the Colt, but his heartbeat calmed a little when she put it back in her shoulder holster.

"How do we know we'll ever get paid? Ever see you again?" He asked.

"Because I want the ledger, Mr Smith."

"You'll have the ledger."

"I hope so. Everything depends on it," she said, taking out a map. "Here's where we'll meet up after you get it. It's a little meadow by a stream, near Dawson's Canyon..."

"No April, we'll meet up outside the house. You're coming with us."

"What?"

"I don't trust you April. I want you on hand. I wanna know we ain't gonna get bushwhacked."

"How dare you! I can't, my uncle watches me all the time, he doesn't trust me..."

"Oh April! He wasn't watching you the night you rode in here with Thaddeus. He ain't watching you now. I reckon you can get away most any time you please. That's the deal. Take it or leave it."

April sat down hard on the porch step and fumed silently for a moment. Heyes could almost hear her mind working.

"OK," she said at last. "But I have to break Marshall out. I got it all planned. When Uncle raises the alarm over the robbery, the posse will be out after you..."

"Kinda figured they would," Heyes smiled, without humour.

"Oh don't worry yourself, Smith. I can't have them catch you now, can I? I want what you'll have. And I don't need you talking to the sheriff. I don't trust you either.

"The posse'll be following a false trail I'm gonna lay today. I'm gonna get Marshall myself while they're all out chasing you..."

"On your own?"

"No. I'll have my gun," she smiled.

Heyes nodded. "But you ain't exactly unknown in these parts, April. How you gonna do the job without getting recognised?"

"It's all been taken care of, Joshua. There's no need for you to worry your pretty little head over any of this. You just concentrate on getting hold of that book without getting caught."

"April, if you need the ledger to get him off, why break him out?

"Cause' I'm scared of a lynching is why! I know, what with that deputy being shot like that, even though Charlie didn't kill him, there ain't no chance of him getting a fair trial in this town. No, they'll hang him sure as shooting. I've gotta break him out but I still need that ledger. Whatever else happens, I wanna prove Charlie's innocent and how Uncle framed him. I'll go with you as far as the canyon. You'll have to wait there until I've done the jailbreak. Then I'll come back..."

"With Charlie?"

"Uh huh. And..."

"The two of you'll bushwhack us?" Heyes folded his arms over his chest and smiled at her ingratiatingly.

"You are so untrusting, Mr Smith."

"You bet I am. You'll pay us what you owe before you go after Charlie. I'll hand you the damn ledger at the same time. Then you'll go your way and we'll go ours. 'Cos I don't ever want to see your pretty face ever again April..."

"That's the deal huh?"

"That's the deal. Take it or leave it."

After April had ridden off, Kid emerged from the cabin.

"You hear it all?"

"Yeah," Kid replied, dusting himself off and sitting on the porch rail.

"What do you think?" Heyes asked.

"I think she's gonna hang back, follow us and then kill us for the reward."

"My thoughts exactly."

"So we ship outta here tonight, right?"

"Wrong."

"I had a feeling you were gonna say that."

"We go up there and do the job."

"Even though we know it's a trap?"

"Uh huh."

"Why?"

"Because if we don't get to the bottom of this, April'll tell the world that it was Heyes and Curry that robbed her uncle. Too many people round here seen us Kid. Plenty of people who can give nice, detailed descriptions."

"And bang goes our amnesty."

"You got it."

"So what'll we do? What if she's really got a posse all ready and waiting?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure she won't. She's too greedy, she wants that twenty thousand all for herself. I do think she's gonna jump us. We'll just have to be ready is all. And telegraph that friendly sheriff in Sweetwater that the robberies a fake to cover a jailbreak tonight."

"Oh Heyes, I love it when you say things like that!" Kid laughed. "You really think she's gonna break Charlie Marshall outta jail?"

"No, I think her uncle's probably gonna buy him outta jail then have him killed attempting to escape. Probably bribed one of them deputies he seems to have a hold over," Heyes mused. "But not the sheriff. Don't ask me why, I just gotta feeling. I mean, Sheriff Robbins likes you, right? He can't be all bad. Thing is, is April in on it? or is she gonna double cross her rich old uncle for the sake of love? And money, of course."

"Of course. Heyes, you oughta be writing dime novels. Or ladies romances. You obviously got the talent."

Heyes grinned, "Well Kid, I surely have spent a lot of time studying human nature. Couldn't play poker without being able to read a man, or a girl.

"Well, I'm gonna try and get some sleep..." Heyes got up with difficulty, tried to stretch, but had to cling to the porch rail to keep from toppling.

"You sure you're gonna be able to ride tonight, Heyes? Your leg still looks bad."

"I'll be OK. It ain't too far to ride. Still, better rest some, Kid. I've a feeling we've gotta tough night ahead of us."

It was awful quiet, Kid thought, as he roped the horses up to the rail at the side of the house. Half a moon filtered through broken clouds, throwing sharp shadows off the oaks and pines that seemed to press in on them with gibbet fingers.

April stood at his side, smiling up at him - did she still think he liked her? Probably not.

Kid began to think this was all a very bad idea - to come out ahead of a posse on a moonlit night with the scent of snow on the air. Heyes would never have even contemplated it back in their outlaw days. He hoped he knew what he was doing, and hadn't lost his touch.

Heyes was over by the house, crouched in some shrubs, half hidden by shadows. April said she'd left the study window open but the changes in the atmosphere as winter threatened had caused it to stick. At last, a tearing creak rent the still night - everyone held their breath a second, before Heyes gestured Kid over and the two of them stepped into McShane's house.

Kid pulled the blind and Heyes lit the lamp, shading it with his hat till he was sure no light would be seen outside.

"I sure hope you're right about that sheriff, Heyes," Kid whispered. "Nothing feels right. I'm jumpy as a wild cat on the forth of July. All my instincts are tellin me to get outta here now."

Heyes smiled. "Me too. Let's get this over with quick as we can."

He walked over to the picture - a nasty brown landscape of some cattle fording a river in a heavy gilt frame. There was a catch to the side of it, Heyes clicked it back from the wall and revealed the safe; nice little job, early Brooker, nothing much to it. He coulda opened it himself inside twenty minutes, but he didn't need to, since he had the combination.

Two minutes later, he was going through the contents. The ledger was there alright - he held it to the lamp and had a quick look. Ordinary payroll, names of men arriving at the mill, leaving, details of pay and bonuses. He couldn't see anything extraordinary about it, but then he didn't expect to. He slipped it inside the big canvas bag and they both began to search the room.

"What exactly are we looking for Heyes?" Kid asked, carefully opening drawers, feeling around behind and underneath.

"I don't know. I'll know when we find it." Kid saw Heyes' white smile glint at him through the gloom.

"Keep lookin, Kid. We can't be moren' another five minutes or April will start to get nervous... What's this?"

Kid moved over to take a closer look as Heyes manipulated a small brass catch he'd found under one of the drawers. There was a satisfying click - and a small hidden draw popped out of the front of the desk. Heyes grinned, taking a slim brown leather book from the secret drawer and tucked it away inside his coat. "Does it show?" he asked Kid. "Can you see I've got it?"

"Nope, not a sign."

Heyes nodded and, making sure everything was as they'd found it, they both slipped back out of the window.

"Did you get it?" April hissed. "What kept you? I was worried."

"Aw April, you shouldn'ta worried about us. We can take care of ourselves," Heyes said, smiling.

"Well, let's have it."

"Urmmm?" Heyes gestured with his fingers. "The money?"

April stood, clenching and unclenching her fists. I guess the thought of parting with so much cash is making her kinda sick, Heyes thought. He held up the canvas bag, opened it to show her the book inside, held it out to her in his left hand, held out his right for the money. April slapped the wad of cash into his palm and snatched at the bag. Heyes chuckled.

"Oh, April. It's good to see such simple trust and honesty in a young girl."

"OK, lets git outta here," Kid said. "April. Been nice knowing you, but I hope you won't mind if I tell you I hope we don't ever meet again. I need a girl with a little less excitement about her." And Kid touched his hat to her, mounted up and turned his horse off down the path.

"Like he said," Heyes grinned, mounting up and following his partner down the road.

An hour and a half later, Heyes and Kid reigned in. The moon was gone now behind thick grey clouds, progress was slow and treacherous on the dark, rocky road with it's steep cliffs and hairpin bends.

They both dismounted and got on their bellies at the edge of the drop. Heyes couldn't see a thing but Kid had the eyes of a cat and his instincts were better still. If there was someone there, Kid would know.

"She still with us?" Heyes asked.

Kid nodded. "Some ways back, but she's there."

"Alone?"

"I think so. I mean, I don't think she's got anyone with her, but..." His eyes scanned the horizon, then flittered up into the rocks around them.

"But what?"

"I don't know. I can't help feeling we're being watched... You don't think she somehow broke Marshall out after all?"

"Don't see how."

Kid nodded. " April's lived here all her life. Doubt if anyone knows these trails bettern' her. We're gonna have to have eyes in the back of our heads, Heyes."

"Think it's time to start doubling back? Try and get behind her and back to town?"

Kid thought a while, then nodded.

"OK. Lets go," Heyes said, limping back to his horse.

"You OK? We've been riding a long time Heyes, make sure that leg don't start bleeding again."

"The leg's fine. I can start worrying about that when I've stopped worrying about that girl."

Another half hour and it was apparent that Heyes was not OK.

"Look, Heyes, we're gonna have to find somewhere to stop awhile or you're gonna fall off your horse."

"Kid, we can't afford the time..."

"You need to take a look at that book right? And we need to get back to town ahead of April?"

Heyes nodded.

"Well then, you need to stop a while and rest or you're not gonna make it. We'll wait over by the river, just before the canyon. No one can get a drop on us there unless I see them first, and April won't see us from the road if we stay close under the rocks. Give you a chance to rest your leg."

Heyes nodded his agreement and they pointed their reluctant horses back down the steep and slippery path, made more dangerous still by the moonless night.

Heyes lay with his back against the rocks. He wanted to have another good look at that book, but that would have meant lighting up a match or a candle stub and that 'd be sure to attract attention on such a dark night. While they rode, the moon had briefly re-appeared through a gap in the clouds, giving him the chance to leaf through it's gilded pages. He'd already read enough to know it was dynamite, enough to put old man McShane and his niece away for a very long time.

He sighed, shifted his back against the cold, hard cliff and pulled his blanket a little closer around him. His leg hurt, the chill making the dull ache that throbbed through his bones all the harder to bear. Boy it was cold tonight with the bitter tang of ice in the air. Soon be winter. If he and Kid were going to get out of Wyoming, they'd have to be moving pretty soon, else...

He heard a twig snap.

Alert, every nerve taught, hardly breathing, he cocked his gun and stared wide eyed into the gloom.

A faint gust of wind raised the branches and rustled the leaves - made the hairs all over his body rise in goose bumps. He swallowed, licked his lips - waited for whoever was out there to make their move.

"Good evening, Mr Heyes."

April stepped out of the trees, her rifle cocked and steady over one arm.

"You alone?" she asked, eyes flickering over the rocks and through the trees, but never really leaving Heyes. "Where's the other one? He hiding in them rocks? Using you for bait again Heyes?" she tutted. "Kinda becoming your speciality ain't it?"

"Put the gun down, April," Heyes said, his gun steady on her.

She laughed. "No, I think you're the one who should put your gun down, Hannibal."

Heyes laughed. "I really don't see any reason why I should, and only my mother calls me Hannibal."

"My Charlie's up in them rocks with a big old Peacemaker pointed right at your head. He'll shoot down Curry too if you try anything with me."

Heyes laughed again. "No he isn't, April. Charlie's still in Sweetwater jail. I know that for a fact. I know because I wired Sheriff Robbins this evening to tell him about your little plan to pay off the deputy on guard; how your Uncle was planning on busting him out tonight... I see from your face I was right about that. I expect old Uncle Roy's right there in the cell next to Charlie by now. Same place you're gonna be unless you get outta here now."

"You're a liar!"

"You think? See, I also know that if Charlie were here and had the drop on me, you'da shot me dead by now, cos you're not the kind of girl to worry your conscience over killing now, are you?"

"You're worth the same dead or alive, Heyes."

"Oh I know, April. That's why you're aiming to kill me right? You've no intention at all of taking me or the Kid in alive."

April smiled. "You know me so well Joshua! You read me like a book. I knew that right off."

She sat down on the ground in front of Heyes, cross legged, rifle still pointed right at him. Heyes kept his gun steady on her too, but he was getting tired. Aching and stiff all over. The gun was getting awful heavy.

April smiled at him. "So, I guess it just comes down to which one of us is fastest on the trigger then, Heyes? Which one's the most ruthless? You ready to shoot an innocent young girl, or you gonna be the one to..."

A single shot rang out, loud as a canon, seeming to ring a thousand times more as it's echoes ricocheted off the rocks and cliffs in the dead mountain night. Heyes watched in stunned horror as April, eyes and mouth wide open in shock, crumpled slowly down, blood spilling across her chest and back.

Heyes fought to get his breath back. "Kid?" he whispered into the night - as Slade limped down from the rocks behind him, looked the body over and swore.

"Thought it was Curry!" he muttered. "God damn it, I could'a sworn it were him."

He looked down at April with contempt. "Well, don't matter no never mind," he said, turning to stand over Heyes, checking his gun. "She got what was comin to her. And now, Heyes, so have you." He raised his gun.

Two shots rang out from the forest and Slade fell to his knees, gripping his right arm, his gun lying buckled and useless in the grass.

"You took your time didn't you?" Heyes yelled. "I thought you'd gone to sleep in there."

Kid went over to look at Slade, who lay moaning in pain on the ground, taking April's rifle from her dead hand, he brought it over to Heyes, hunching down in front of him, gripping his shoulder - his partner still looked kinda shaken.

"I was waiting, hoping April'd say a little more," Kid said. "Explain a little, you know. She just seemed like the kind of girl who'd give you chapter and verse on her evil little scheme and why you had to die and all that 'fore she actually pulled the trigger..."

"Now who's been reading too many Dime novels?"

"Never expected Slade to come in and take her out like that," Kid said, walking to his horse for a rope to tie Slade hand and foot. "Wex, quit whinin' will ya? You ain't hurt that bad," Kid said, gagging him with his own bandanna.

"Quit whinin?" Heyes said. "That's the third time you shot the fella inside forty eight hours. Figure he's got a right to complain a little."

"And what are we gonna do about this Heyes?" Kid asked, looking down at April, eyes wide and staring and soaked in blood. "Local big shot rancher's beloved niece shot dead?"

"Well, this book's everything I think it is and more. Figure it'll explain things better'n I ever could."

"What about Slade? He's gonna tell who we are soon as he can open his mouth."

Heyes nodded, he'd lit a little candle, holding it in one hand while he scribbled in the back of the ledger with the other.

"Well, I reckon the best thing we can do is tie him up tight to one of them trees there, go into town and introduce ourselves to the sheriff..." Heyes smiled at Kid's reaction. "I already wired him we was deputies sent in by Lom to track down Slade here."

"Not very original Heyes," Kid grinned. "How many times we used that one? Lom's gonna start gettin' awful irate with us, keep embroiling' him in stuff like this."

Heyes shrugged. "Well, a winning hand's a winning hand Kid. It's always worked for us before."

Kid nodded, smiling as he hauled Wex Slade back into the trees, tying him to the trunk of a tall pine.

"We say, we got Slade a prisoner out here," Heyes said. "Need the sheriff to bring him in for the murder of April McShane. And here's a little reading matter he might find interesting."

"Just give him the book?"

"Give him the book then high tail it outta there fast as we can."

"You don't think the sheriff's gonna want us to stick around to give evidence or anything? What with the richest, most powerful man around here about to be charged with embezzlement, bribing an officer of the law, theft, attempted murder and god knows what else. Not to mention his niece lying shot to death in the mountains outta town."

"Yeah, I expect him to want us to stick around Kid, but I figure we might just turn off the trail and lose ourselves in these mountains a long time before we hit this here canyon."

"And find ourselves on a murder charge? I mean Slade's sure to say it was us that killed her."

"I know, I know. We just gotta pray the sheriff realises we had nothing to do with it. It's clearly Slade's gun that killed her. And he should soon work out it was April's rifle that killed the deputy and the Slade gang." He held up the little book. "Drawn 'em a pretty good little map of how to get out there and where the bodies are buried. I figure all of that, plus this book, plus her Uncle's jewels and money I'm pretty sure we'll find stashed in her saddlebags, all o' that should paint a pretty clear picture for him."

"Well I sure hope so, Heyes."

"So do I Kid," Heyes muttered to himself. "So do I."

Kid came over to help him to his feet. "Gonna be a hard night's ride. How's your leg?"

"Oh, it's OK. Little sore is all. How'd you do that Kid? Get off a pair of shots like that on a dark night like this?"

"Well Heyes, there's more to being a genius than just sitting around staring at the moon and yapping the hind leg off a mule. Folks just have different kinds of genius is all."

"Yeah Kid, reckon they do," Heyes smiled. "You oughta remind me of that a little more often."

"Yeah, Heyes, I just might do that."

The End.