Related to The 5th Victim; missing scenes near the beginning

I reserve the right to make changes, if needed...

Lions and Banks

by Allie

The floor plan to the Bank of Fort Worth flashing before Heyes' eyes? Uh-oh. Curry had to struggle to smile at him. Did Heyes want out of their amnesty plan? Of course if he did he'd be willing to stick with it for the Kid even if it killed him. But if he'd changed his mind…

Curry helped his friend up and they went back, the dead mountain lion that had almost killed Heyes slung over the back of Curry's horse. He thought maybe Heyes wouldn't want to be that close to it, even though it was dead.

It was just about suppertime when they got back to the Carlson ranch. You could smell the beans and ham cooking, like heaven must smell. It was just as good as it smelled, too, when they finally got to eat it: slow-cooked beans soft and tasting of ham and onions the whole way through, big chunks of meat, and a few taters throwed in for good measure. Curry could've eaten it all day long. He told Mrs. Carlson it was real good, and Heyes told her the same thing with better words. Made her smile and everything.

It must be nice to have a place to come home to each day and a real meal to eat each night. It got old sleeping rough, one jump ahead of the law and hunger, eating jerky and biscuits and wild game when they could find it, bar food when you could afford it.

Well, someday they'd have their amnesty and then they could find somewhere permanent-like to live. Maybe they'd work on a ranch somewhere like this, or get town jobs. Heyes was so smart, he could probably get a real good job, and maybe Curry could get a job as a deputy. It would be strange workin' on the other side of the law, but he was willing to give it a consideration. Staying on the right side of the law had to be easier if you were part of the law. He'd be glad to get these bounties off their heads. Get that tensed look off Heyes face (when he wasn't hiding it with a smile). Sure would be nice to stop having to run and hide like rabbits.

That is, if Heyes still wanted to. If he hadn't changed his mind.

Curry glanced at his pal sidelong at the table. Was that the face of somebody who wanted to go back to being an outlaw? It was hard to tell with Heyes sometimes. Right now, he had on his innocent, law-abiding look. Curry had been trying to practice one of them himself, but it was hard to tell how well he succeeded.

He started to reach for more cornbread, then saw it was the last piece and drew back away from it. Mrs. Carlson smiled at him. "Go ahead," she said, and her husband gave a nod. "There's no cause to keep it for, boy." Harvey didn't look interested in it either, and Heyes was obviously full, hadn't even quite scraped up the last few beans from his plate. (What a waste!)

So Curry took the cornbread and said thanks. "Sure is good eatin,' ma'am." He glanced at his pal while he chewed. Heyes gave him one of those smiling looks that seemed to say, "Aren't you full yet?"

After supper and evening chores, they headed out to the barn. They were sleeping in the loft. Harvey had the tack room. There was at least one spare room in the Carlson's house, as they'd had overnight visitors even in the short time Curry and Heyes had been here. But hired help didn't get to stay in the house; why should they? They were just exterminators, here to kill mountain lions and then move on. It was nice they even let them eat in the house. It was foolish to start thinking this place was like a home.

Curry and Heyes got bedded down not too far from each other in the straw with their bedrolls and some extra horse blankets. They were nice and warm, and only smelled a little bit like horses.

"Heyes," said Curry, rolling around in the hay a little bit to get it into a comfortable position. The hay rustled around him, friendly-like.

"What is it, Kid?" Heyes was already sort of scrunched on his side, and he sounded grumpy and half asleep. Probably tired from his scare with the lion today…

Curry hesitated a moment. "Nothin'." He could always ask in the morning….

"Hm," Heyes grunted. They were both still for awhile, and Curry was finally starting to get a sleepy too, when Heyes rolled over and said, "All right, what is it?" He yawned real big, covering it up with his hand. "Whatever it is, don't let it eat at you, Kid."

Curry smiled at him in the dark. "It's not eating at me. I just wondered if you wanted to quit, that's all. You know you can tell me if you do."

It was too hard to see Heyes' dark eyes in the dark. He couldn't even see his expression. But he laughed softly, and Curry could almost see his big grin in that laugh, even in the dark. It made him smile a little, too.

"What gave you that idea, Kid?" He rested his head on one hand, propping himself up a little.

"Bank plans," mumbled Curry. "Lions jumpin' you, and bank plans running through your head. You want out, Heyes?" he swallowed. "Cause I don't mind if you do."

Heyes laughed softly. "Takes more than one little lion to scare me off. Don't worry so much. Leave that to me. We're doing good here. You and me and amnesty. I think it's gonna work, Kid." He reached over in the dark and caught Curry's shoulder, gave it a little shake and a warm squeeze. Then the straw scrunched as he lay back down. He yawned again. "And about these lions, Kid. I been thinking we might be able to get out of this job earlier if we want. There's some kind of poker game in town. I think we can get in on it if we play our cards right…"

Curry yawned. "Just don't win too much, Heyes."

"I wasn't gonna cheat," said Heyes, sounding offended. "We're upright citizens now."

"Okay, Heyes." Curry scrunched back down. It was warm and comfortable under his horse blanket, on top of all that straw. It wouldn't be hard to get to sleep.

"Heyes…"

"Yeah, Kid?" Heyes was starting to sound really sleepy; Curry would have to be quiet now and let him sleep, but he had to say this one thing yet…

"If you did change your mind…I know we're doin' this partly for me, Heyes—this amnesty. If you did change your mind, it would be okay."

"Don't kid yourself, Kid. It's for the both of us. Now would you go to sleep?"

"You too," mumbled Curry, yawning. He hesitated a little bit. Then reached over, caught Heyes' shoulder too, and gave it a friendly little shake in return. "Glad you're okay. Glad the lion didn't get you." He could say this, while they were in this half asleep place; it was okay.

"Me too, Kid. Thanks to you." He yawned again, sounding like it just about made his jaw crack. "Even if that lion did leave old tracks…"

For a moment, Curry allowed himself to wonder—what if the lion had been faster? What if Curry had been slower? He pushed the thought away immediately, back onto the shelf. It was too awful to think about. He would always be fast enough. He had to be.

Heyes would always be here, and tomorrow, maybe they'd play poker instead of hunting lions. That would certainly be safer, especially since Heyes wouldn't cheat.