The sun beat down on the orange rocks and the two riders on the thin path through the mountains. Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry were silent as they guided their horses on the treacherous trail.
They'd celebrated the fourth of July in a nice little town that they'd ridden out of because they recognized a bounty hunter in the general store. For once, they'd avoided the man and been able to leave without being chased. They took the shortcut through the mountains their previous employer had recommended.
Unfortunately, halfway through their journey they'd discovered the trail through had been blocked by a rock slide. That left them with their current tiny trail. Their mounts were gamely navigating the cliffs but there was a long slide down to the right that ended in a sheer drop and a cliff face on the left.
"I'd like to find a different shortcut," Kid Curry muttered, taking off his hat to scratch his head. His dark blonde hair was pasted to his scalp from the heat and he put the hat back on for the shade it offered.
"If I see one, I'll let you know," Heyes replied, glancing back at his partner who rode behind him. His dark brown hair looked nearly black with sweat beneath his battered black hat.
Heyes' mount suddenly stumbled on a curve and then his front hooves were sliding down as the rocks slipped beneath them. The dark haired man let up on the reins so the horse could use his head and neck to recover his balance. Unfortunately just as he regained the trail, the gelding stepped on a loose rock and lunged sideways, throwing his rider.
"Heyes!" Kid yelled when his partner fell. He recklessly jumped off his own horse. "Heyes?"
Heyes skidded down the side of the cliff toward the drop off, hands scrabbling to grab something to stop his descent and missing. He finally slammed into a spindly pinyon pine, breath knocked clean out of him and black overtaking his vision.
Kid Curry looked over the edge and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Heyes hadn't fallen into the ridge hundreds of feet below. He grabbed rope from his saddle bag and tied one end to the sturdiest tree he found. Grabbing hold of the rope with his gloved hands, the Kid began to head down the slope.
"Heyes? Heyes?" Kid called as he slid down the cliff and dodged the chaparral and sagebrush. A battered black hat was lying on its side on the way down and he nabbed it with one hand, tying the stampede strings onto his belt.
A lizard scampered out of the way of his boot as he basically ran down. He stopped on a large flat boulder embedded in the hillside. The rest of the ground looked unstable. His partner had hit the very last tree before the drop off. Kid winced in sympathy but was glad Heyes had stopped.
Curry started to ease toward him but the sandy ground started sliding again and he stopped, getting back on the boulder. "Heyes! You need to wake up, partner!"
His voice was both demanding and worried and some part of it got through.
"K-kid?" Heyes stirred then started to sit up and the unusually puny pine he was up against tilted backward slightly. He froze. "What happened?"
"Horse tossed you down the cliff. I wanted a shortcut through the mountains, Heyes, not down them," Kid said, giving him a relieved smile. "You okay? Can you reach the rope?"
Kid tossed it toward his partner.
"Sure," Heyes groaned. He reached for the rope, glad his arm wasn't broken though his head and ribs ached. "Got it." He caught Kid's worried onceover and smiled at him reassuringly. "I'm fine. Just saw the bank of Fort Worth's floorplan again."
He started to get up and the pinyon pine lurched further back over the cliff and both men cursed.
"Tie the rope around your waist!" Kid said. "The other end's anchored to a tree and I'm afraid a slide will start if I walk to you or your tree will give and go over."
"Uh huh," Heyes said. "And while I'm tied to the rope just lying here, what are you tied to as you walk to me? What kind of plan is that, Kid?"
"The tree you're leanin' on ain't gonna stay there forever, Heyes! I'll pull you to me and stay where I'm at. Does that meet your approval? Or maybe I should go back up the cliff and let you figure it out," Kid said.
Heyes gave a short laugh. "Soundin' awful proddy there, Kid."
"I don't like hangin' around on the side of a cliff. You got the rope around you yet?"
Heyes finished the knot. "I do."
Kid slowly started to pull. Heyes tried to help him by pushing himself upward with his legs. They'd made good progress when one of the horses whinnied above them and there was the sound of falling rocks and sand.
"I think your horse is trying to kill us," Kid said to his partner through gritted teeth as he kept hauling him up until a chunk of stone hit him in the back and this time it was the Kid who fell onto his stomach, instantly starting to slide down.
Heyes saw his partner slide past and he reached for him, one brown gloved hand grasping a tan one. "Hold on!"
"No foolin'!" Kid yelled back.
Dust shot up into the air and stones, sand, and pebbles rolled past. Heyes prayed the rope would hold as rocks fell past him and occasionally over him. The ground under him was moving and part of the drop off fell away. Heyes kept his grip on his younger cousin desperately.
At the end of the rock slide, the pinyon pine was gone as was a good portion of the edge of the cliff. Heyes was still holding on to his partner's wrist which was good since Kid was over the edge, his hand gripping his wrist and none of the rest of him visible.
Kid dangled in the air, his brown hat off his head and hanging on his back and Heyes' hat still tied to his belt. He made the mistake of looking down. Below him stones slammed into the ravine.
"Grab my other hand!" Hannibal Heyes grimaced with strain as he reached for his partner.
Kid managed to grab on to his other wrist and Heyes slowly hauled him up over the edge.
"I thought you didn't like hanging around on the side of the cliff?" Heyes asked as he gave him the last tug onto solid ground.
"Hah hah." Curry flopped down on the opposite side of the rope, one hand holding on to it. For a minute, the partners stayed where they were on the slope catching their breath.
"That rope around my waist? Good plan, Kid," Heyes said finally. Without it, they both would've been over the edge.
Kid Curry laughed. "I got a better one. Let's get off this dang cliff."
"We almost were."
"Not what I meant." Kid glanced at his partner. "Thanks."
"You too."
Heyes and Curry gingerly stood, both grasping the rope until they made their way back up to the top. They emerged onto the small trail covered in dirt, exhausted, and bruised. Their horses looked at them, still waiting in single file.
Heyes took a seat against the cliff wall.
Kid grabbed a canteen and sat next to his partner. "You okay? I fell down the cliff before I could look you over."
"Yeah, you always were the competitive type," Heyes said. "I fall down; you want to do it better."
Kid laughed and pulled out a bandanna, wet it and dabbed at Heyes' forehead. "I did make it further down than you, so I guess I win. Worst contest I was ever in." He frowned, looking over the bleeding cut on his best friend's forehead. "You didn't answer how you were. That mean it's bad?"
Heyes sighed. "Remember those firecrackers we saw in town?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I feel like someone set some off in my head. Whole bunch of fireworks right behind my eyes."
Kid winced. "Can you ride?"
"Don't have much of a choice, Kid."
"Not what I asked." A hint of annoyance was in Curry's voice. Dealing with a hurt Heyes was about as fun as falling off the cliff had been.
"I'm all right, just a headache and bruised ribs." Heyes closed his eyes and allowed his partner to clean him up until a thought occurred to him and he opened his eyes. "What about your back? How does it feel?"
"Like a rock hit it," Kid replied, figuring he could be just as mulish as Heyes. He handed his partner the canteen. "I am sick of this mountain."
"Me too," Heyes said as he took a drink.
"What was the next town called again?" Kid asked.
"Rockville."
"Like we need more rocks," Kid said.
The partners laughed. Nothing was really that funny but they were just glad to be alive and more or less in one piece.
"Oh, here's your hat," Kid said as he put his own back on, slapping Heyes' hat a few times and handing it over. "I may have rolled on it a few times but I don't think it looks much worse than it did before."
"Thanks," Heyes said wryly, taking the hat and working it back into shape before replacing it on his head.
"Maybe it's time to get a new one?" Kid asked hopefully.
"I can't do that, Kid, it's my lucky hat."
Kid stared at his partner. "Heyes you just nearly fell off a cliff!"
"The key word is nearly," Heyes replied.
Shaking his head, Kid stood and helped Heyes to his feet then the duo went carefully in single file to their horses.
Kid checked his horse's legs and hooves and Heyes did the same. Heyes didn't see any evidence that the stumbling had caused damage to the equine.
"He's all right."
"Aside from his wish to kill us, you mean."
Heyes laughed. "Aside from that."
"You ready to ride on?" Kid asked, untying the rope and replacing it in his saddlebag.
"As ready as I'm gonna be." Hannibal Heyes climbed on his mount and Kid Curry soon did the same.
The two continued down the trail.
"Hey Kid?"
"Yeah, Heyes?"
"How about you find the next shortcut?"
Kid snorted. "No thanks."