Double Bind

The smoke stack sputtered its dying breath as the train sat idle on the track. The area was remote, flanked by rolling hills on each side and a stream just a few yards off. Using the trees for shade, several women rested on a set of downed logs. On one end a young mother placed a light blanket over her shoulder, creating a thin barrier between the men and the young child suckling at her breast.

Huddled together, the men stood speaking in hushed tones, their eyes darting back and forth from the train to the men guarding it. Underneath a shade tree a fair haired man rested, propped up on his elbow, several playing cards showing on the ground in front of him. Across from him, equally at ease, a dark hair man sat, legs crossed, the deck of cards held in his hands.

"Hit me."

Heyes gave his partner an exasperated glance, but with a slight shake of the head, dealt another card. It was a two of spades.

"Again."

A three of clubs. His blue eyes lit up as he overturned his hidden card, the six of hearts, and threw it down happily beside his seven of diamonds. "Twenty."

Heyes flipped over his hidden card, "Nineteen."

The blue eyes squinted up at the blazing sun overhead. "I sure wish these boys would hurry. That sun ain't getting any cooler."

Heyes picked up the cards and began to shuffle. He spoke softly, "Don't worry Kid, I saw one of them with a stick of dynamite, they'll get that safe open soon enough."

Kid again surveyed the situation. The gang was small, five men, mostly young, barely old enough to even hold a gun steady, let alone old enough to know how to shoot it. They had stopped the train just past its water stop. Deep in a valley, Kid knew the hills would keep their presence hidden from any passerby. With an hour till they would even be considered late, he knew that the bandits had plenty of time to do their work and go. That is, if they would just do their work and go. Over half an hour had already passed, even the few men set to guard the passengers were becoming restless, slowly shifting from one foot to the other, trying to shade themselves in the shadow of the engine, but unable to escape the blazing heat from the burning orb overhead.

"Are you playing or are you going to stare until one of 'em takes an unnatural interest in you?"

With a furrow of the brows, Kid bent up his hidden card, an ace. He started to smile, but quickly swallowed it; hiding the pleasure he knew Heyes spotted. "Hit me."

As they continued to play, and he continued on a string of success, Kid started to suspect his partner wasn't exactly playing with a fair deck. Between each hand, he would again survey the situation, and as soon as he would glance back at Heyes, he would smile, that smile, the one a lifetime by his partner's side taught him not to trust.

Heyes threw down the deck. "Your turn."

Kid picked up the deck, and slowly shuffled, subtly checking for any creases or marks on the cards.

"Would you just deal?"

Kid again stole another glance back at the gang. Neither he nor his partner was receiving any undue attention from any of the men, for that he was grateful. Looking behind Heyes, he spoke softly, "Now that worries me."

"What?"

Kid gestured to the group of men huddled just behind Heyes, "Never liked seeing a group of 'em womped up together, always made me nervous."

"Good point. You gonna deal?"

Kid looked up at Heyes, "Shouldn't we, uh, go see what that's all about?"

With a resigned sigh, Heyes took the cards from Kid's hand and started dealing. "Not our train, not our problem."

"Well, I don't know about you, but if there's going to be trouble, I'd like to know before it starts, not after."

Heyes audibly sighed. "Fine."

Placing the cards in his pocket, they stood and walked towards the group, all the while keeping a watchful gaze towards the bandits.

As they approached the men, the tallest of them, William Rush, stated, "I think we can take 'em."

"Sure if you want to get your head blowed off." Kid said with a smirk.

The group turned to face the two uninvited guests. "Oh, and you got a better idea?"

"Actually, yes. We all just sit back down and wait. We're due in Cheyenne in less than half an hour, which means a posse will be sent out in just about that time. These boys know that."

Rush took a step towards Kid, "Oh, and how do you know they won't kill us all before they leave?"

"If they were going to kill us, they would have robbed us first." He stated, matter-of-factly.

"You seem to know an awful lot about train robbin'."

"Well, I read a lot." Kid smiled.

Behind him, Heyes quickly hid his own smile. "Look, my partner is right; they haven't done anything to us yet. The best thing we can do is try not to give them a reason to."

"Look, if you two boys are yella…"

Kid instinctively placed his hands on his empty gun belt. "It ain't yella, it's smart. In case you haven't counted, there are five of them."

"And ten of us right here, by my count they're the ones outnumbered."

"Unless you count the five guns, plus the ten they took from us. We're the ones outnumbered." Heyes added.

"Look, why don't you two go back to playin' cards and leave this up to real men."

Kid smiled, "Glad to. Except my partner and I don't like the sight of bloodshed, and that's what will happen if you try to take these men on."

Rush parted the group and walk to stand directly in front of Kid. "I said, sit."

Undeterred, "Now I don't remember anyone putting you in charge."

With a nervous look towards the gang, Heyes put a calming hand on Kid's arm, "Whoa there. You two are attracting a bit of attention. Now Thaddeus, the man is right. If he wants to get his head blown off, who are we to stand in the way? I'd just like to remind you boys that it isn't just you at risk. It's everyone that boarded that train, including those little girls asleep in their mother's arms. I hope for their sakes you will rethink any plans you might have. C'mon." With a slight tug, they returned to the spot they recently vacated.

"Heyes, I don't like it."

"Neither do I, but your fast draw isn't any good without the gun to go along with it."

For another ten minutes, they sat and waited. Another ten minutes of watching between the unsuccessful gang and the agitated men.

Kid grabbed the watch from Heyes' pocket, opened it, closed it again, and handed it back. "3:45. You think they even know how to light a fuse?"

"You could always go back and show them how."

Kid just stared at his friend, "You're a riot Heyes."

As they stood to stretch their legs, they saw it. Two of the passengers had broken from the crowd and managed to get to the other side of the train without detection. Jumping on the men standing guard, they quickly disarmed them, pulling them to their chest, with the guns pressed firmly against their temples. Hearing the screams from the women, two bandits ran from the baggage car, their guns blazing. As soon as they saw the sight before them, they held up their hands, their weapons dangling from their fingers. The rest of the men quickly bound the bandits with rope from the train.

Heyes subtly leaned in to his partner, "We're missing one."

"Should we say anything?"

Heyes stared intently at the man, Rush. "Just get your gun and stay ready."

Rush stood by the passenger car, watching as the bandits were tied, obviously pleased at his accomplishment. Catching Kid's eye, his smile faded. Grabbing another passenger, he spoke to the man softly, who then turned, looked towards Kid, and nodded.

"Wonder what that's about?"

Heyes narrowed his eyes, "Don't know for sure, but I have a bad feeling we were better off with the gang in charge."

Kid and Heyes made their way to the back of the engine car, where two men were handing out the confiscated weapons. "Excuse me sir?"

The little man looked up at Kid and smiled, he was young, skinny. He wore round spectacles that made him look younger, not older. "Yes, Sammy, Sammy Harkness. From Memphis. Wow, can you believe this? A train robbery! And, and did you see what they did? Boy, my mom just isn't going to believe it. She was scared for me to come out here, said 'Sam,' she calls me Sam. 'Sam, the west is too dangerous, you'll get hurt.' But wow; now I can tell her how the good guys won."

"That's very nice, Sam, Sammy." Heyes ran his hand through his hair as he exchanged a glance at Kid. "We'd like our guns back, they're the ones right there." He pointed to the two weapons on the car behind him.

Sam glanced over to Rush and then back to the boys. "I'd love to, really I would, but Mr. Rush, see, he told me to hold on to those. See'n that he's the one that rescued us and all…"

Kid swallowed his frustration. "We'll take it up with him."

As he started to walk, Heyes pulled on his elbow. "Now Kid, let's not go lookin' for trouble."

Turning, Kid glanced to ensure there were no ears close by. "That's right Heyes, I always go lookin' for trouble, in fact I woke up this morning and asked myself just what kind of trouble could I find today?" Shaking him off, he resumed his walk to Rush.

On his heels, Heyes whispered, "Lookin' or not, you got a nasty habit of findin' it," again he pulled on his elbow. "Kid, I got a bad feeling about this one. Just let it be."

"Ok Heyes, I'll let it be." Heyes smiled. "After I get my gun."

Rush watched as they approached, a smile of arrogance greeting them. "Everything alright, boys?" His smile widened.

"It will be. It seems that young Sammy is under the impression that I shouldn't have my gun. I would, uh, appreciate it, if you would go ahead and tell him that he is mistaken."

"He's not mistaken. I think it would be best if you were to remain unarmed."

Kid's smile faded. "And why is that?"

"Well, Mr.?"

"Jones, Thaddeus Jones."

"Well, Mr. Jones. I raise cattle and in every herd there can only be one bull in the pasture. You and I sir, are just like my stock and just like on the ranch, there can only be one leader."

"I don't recall the need for a leader when travelling on a train."

"There is when that train is robbed. I just think it would be safest if only one of us were to be armed. As I recall, safety was your highest priority, for all involved, now wasn't it?" With a smirk, he returned to the conversation to the man to his side.

"Heyes, I don't like this." He quietly seethed.

"Neither do I."

Heyes surveyed the area. The women had begun to board the train, fanning themselves from the heat. Several paused at the bound men, offering a combination of glances, some sympathetic, some judgmental.

The conductor wiped the sweat from his balding head as he approached Rush, "We should be ready in about ten minutes. You get everyone on board and we can head on out. We'll probably meet the posse on our way in."

Without a word, Rush just nodded his approval as the old man walked back towards the engine car.

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the trees and a snapping of a whip.

The missing bandit made to run. Rush raised his arm and aimed. Knowing his target, Kid ran, determined to get to the man before the trigger was pulled. Before he could take a step, before he could intervene, the shot rang out and the bandit fell to the ground, gasping as he took his dying breath.

Before he could stop himself, Kid collided with the man; a rain of fists coming down as two others quickly pulled him off. "He was running away!"

Rush stood and wiped the blood from his lower lip. Standing in front of Kid, he let a fist fly that landed square on his jaw, knocking him back. "He was an outlaw. A good for nothin', piece of trash, outlaw."

"He didn't deserve to be shot in the back!"

"No, he deserved to hang. He deserved to go to the gallows knowing his fate; being shot was too good for him."

Kid struggled against the men holding him. "He didn't kill anyone. He could have, but he didn't."

"Men like that don't deserve the chance to kill. They should all be hung, every last one of them." He turned to the man to his left, "Jimmy, tie him. I don't want this outlaw sympathizer loose to let them go."

Answering the order, a short, stocky man grabbed Kid's arms, pinning them tightly behind him as he made quick work on his hands.

Staring intently at Heyes, Rush sneered. "You make one move to untie him and it'll be the same for you."

Sitting on the ground against a rock, Kid seethed. Kneeling down in front of him, Heyes kept a watchful eye on the men that were now pulling double duty, watching both the bandits and his friend.

"Heyes." Kid hissed.

"I know. Just don't think about it."

"Is that what they really think of us? No better than dogs to be cut down?"

"You know that answer as well as I do."

"Some water, sir." Looking up, Sammy stood with a cup of water.

Taking it from his hand, Heyes tipped it into his partner's mouth. Untying his bandana, he used it to wipe the blood from the cut beneath his right eye. "Thank you Sammy."

"Are they really going to hang them?" Sammy asked as he slowly sat in front of the two reformed outlaws.

"Well, that depends. If they've killed someone, then yes. Murder's a hangin' offense."

"If they haven't?"

"Armed robbery." Kid spoke. "It's worth twenty years, but that's it."

"Why'd you try to stop him? I mean, he could have gone back to his hideout, brought back reinforcements that could have killed us all."

"There isn't a gang hideout for thirty miles from here. By the time they would have gotten back, the posse would be here. Plus, most outlaws don't like killin' and only do it if'n they have to. Like Joshua said, it's a hangin' offense."

Sammy looked from Rush to the dead body to the ground in front of him. With the eyes of a child, he looked up at Kid, "I don't understand."

With a hand on his shoulder, Heyes tried to smile. "Let's hope you never do."

They watched as the young boy rose, and not taking his eyes off Rush, walked back towards the train. Leaning against the car, he stared out, sadly.

From the engine, the conductor returned. "Bad news. They must'a done somethin' to the engine. Can't get it goin'."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. You know how these young guns can be. They'll blow up the baggage car just for the thrill of it."

Brushing past him, Rush bore down on the tied up men. With his gun trained on them, he yelled. "What did you do to the engine?"

Each of the bandits breathed heavy, their eyes wide with fear. The oldest of the group shook his head. "We didn't do anything. I swear, we just wanted the money in the safe, we heard it was carrying a federal payload."

"Don't you lie to me boy!" Rush pulled back the hammer of his gun, pressing it against the boy's temple.

"I swear!"

"Mr. Rush, I think he's telling the truth." Sammy stood beside him, beads of sweat forming on his brow, licking his lips, and holding his hands close to his chest.

"This doesn't concern you, boy." With a shove, he pushed Sammy back a few steps.

The outlaw pleaded, "I swear, we didn't touch the engine; we wouldn't know how if we tried!"

Rush leaned down and placed the barrel of his gun to the pleading man's heart, "If we can't get the train moving, they'll be two bodies in the luggage car."

As he watched him proceed to the front of the train, Heyes breathed a sigh of relief. Leaning towards his friend, he whispered, "I hate to admit it Kid, but this has to be the first time that I will be glad when I see the sign of a posse."

Time seemed to slow to a snail's pace for Hannibal Heyes. As each minute passed, Rush became more agitated. He would cock and then uncock his gun, staring with murderous glares at the bound men. Beside him, the Kid would shift, continuing to work his hands out of the binds that held him. Sammy stood silently, just staring at the still body that lay on the ground at the end of the train, not enough respect was shown to even cover it with a cloth. The women stayed in the passenger cars, out of the heat. Only occasionally would a face appear in a window, doing a quick check of their surroundings.

Every few minutes, someone would give Rush an update on the engine car. Tried as they may, they could not get it to start. His frustration hitting its peak, Rush fired a round just to the right of one of the men. "They better be able to fix what you broke, or so help me, I will start sending each of you on to your maker."

Checking his watch, Heyes sighed. "This train is due in Cheyenne right about now. How long do you think it will take to get a posse rounded up?"

Kid leaned his head back against the hard stone. "If we were the ones doin' the robbin' it would take them about a minute. Seein' as we aren't, I figure about thirty."

They both let out an audible sigh. Looking towards the bound men, a realization came to Heyes. The man on the end, the largest and least frightened, was making quick work on his own bindings, his guard's attention elsewhere. Nudging Kid's arm, they shared a look of concern.

"Should we say anything?" Kid whispered.

"And give Rush a reason to kill him?" Capturing the young man's eye, Heyes darkly and slowly shook his head, hoping against hope that he hadn't lost his touch. Hoping that he could still instill fear with just a look. As the outlaw relaxed his arms, Heyes breathed a sigh of relief. "Lom never said being on this side of law would be so dang difficult."

His stopwatch continued to tick on. Ten minutes had passed their estimated arrival time at the train depot. The posse should be formed, but travel from Cheyenne would take time. Tired of listening to his friend grumble, and sure that he had worked his way clear of the raw hide, Heyes stood to stretch his legs.

He had barely taken a step when Rush met him, "Where do you think you're goin'?"

He wanted to give a smile, knew that it might alleviate some of the tension in the air, but just couldn't muster it. "Thought I'd take a look at the engine car, see if I could help."

"What do you know about engines?"

"Not much really. But seein' that it's been over a half hour, don't figure my opinion would hurt much."

Rush begrudgingly stepped aside. As Heyes passed the bound outlaws he took a quick look at their hands, all remained behind their backs, but years of both being tied and seeing men tied, it wasn't hard for him to realize that two had loosed their hands from their entrapment. Now they sat with the rope still around their wrists, but were waiting for the right time.

At the engine, a group of men were huddled. They would pull a lever here, bang on the engine there. After making a few suggestions that he felt certain probably wouldn't work anyway, he gave up and made his way back to his partner and sat down.

"Well?" Kid whispered.

"Two are free."

"Should we do…"

"Get up, now!" Rush yelled at one of the men. The large man slowly stood, keeping his untied hands behind him. "What did you order your men to do to the engine?"

The outlaw held his head high. "We told you before; we just wanted the money in the safe."

In frustration, Rush turned, and in that moment, the outlaw took both fists across his back. Turning, the men struggled against each other, the other freed outlaw jumping into the fray. The other passengers had their guns trained on the men, nervous about pulling the trigger, unsure of whom they might hit.

A gun was fired into the air. "Stop it! Stop it now!" Just to the side, Sammy stood, Rush's gun tightly in his hands. "The, the posse should be here soon. Every, everybody is just going to sit still and wait."

The outlaws froze, their hands in the air. The guns of the rest of the passengers trained on them.

Wiping the blood from his chin, Rush walked to the frightened young man. "That was very brave of you son. You can give that back to me and can go on inside the car."

Nervously and unsure, he slowly handed the gun over. In an instant, he saw Rush raise the weapon once more, aiming at the rogue outlaw. As he pulled the trigger, Sammy yelled "No!" as he ran, a bullet hitting him in the back as he tried to push the outlaw out of the way.

Before Rush could lower his gun, Kid's fist landed square on his jaw, the weapon falling to the ground. Heyes picked it up and with a deadly stare, he ordered the men around him. "Tie him." No one moved, pulling back the hammer on the gun, he aimed it at one of the men, "Now!" Staring at the outlaws, he equally commanded, "If you don't want to give them reason to kill you all, I'd advise that you just sit."

Kneeling by the boy, Kid took the bandana Heyes handed him and pressed hard against the gaping hole in his chest, knowing that it was useless; knowing that recovery from a wound such as this was not possible. "Hey Sammy, it's going to be alright. We're gonna get you help." He lied.

Tears rolled down his cheeks, "Mamma told me not to come out here, said it wasn't safe. She was right."

As Kid watched him take his last breath and as he closed the young man's eyes, his anger became resolute. Storming back towards Rush, Heyes met him half way, placing himself between the two.

"Slow down, there is nothing you can do." He quietly stressed.

"He shot him in the back!" Kid yelled.

Heyes pushed him out of earshot of anyone else. "You're right, and there is a train full of witnesses that saw it. You getting us arrested along with him won't bring that kid back. Rush will be hanged for killing Sammy, the other men won't be for killing us."

"Because you and I are just good-for-nuthin', piece of trash, outlaws, is that it?"

Not waiting for an answer, he turned and stormed towards the rear of the train.

It was almost an hour before the posse finally arrived. Heyes, now in charge, explained to the armed men what happened during the robbery, the engine stalling, and Sammy's death. Without anyone refuting his claims, Rush was promptly placed in the Sheriff's custody, right along with the remaining bandits. Sammy's body and that of the dead outlaw were both respectfully laid in the rear passenger car. With the train finally repaired and as it prepared to embark, Heyes found Kid in the baggage car, sitting in front of the safe, turning the dial.

"It took me a solid two months to figure out how to get into one of those. I don't see you picking up the skill that quick."

Kid gave a half-hearted smile. "It's never going to change is it? Even when," he stopped, "even if we get our amnesty, all they will ever see is a pair of thieves."

Heyes hopped in the car and sat beside him. "Probably. Just because they see us that way, doesn't mean we have to live like it. We're getting that amnesty for us, not them."

"I suppose."

"No matter what we've done, no matter how many banks or how many trains we've robbed, we've never killed anybody. That is what makes us different. That is what makes us different from all the other gangs and that is what makes us different from William Rush." Kid solemnly nodded in agreement. "Now can we move away from that safe before someone starts to take a second look at us?"

Kid half-heartedly smiled, "You mean before you start to take a second look at this safe?"

The following day, they sat in a restaurant in Cheyenne. After giving their statement to the deputy, drinking several whiskeys at the bar, followed by a fitful night of sleep, Kid's appetite finally returned. As he finished up his last bite of steak, he saw the Sheriff make his way across the room towards them. Taking a chair from another table, he sat between the two outlaws.

"Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones."

"Sheriff." They spoke simultaneously.

"I need to speak with you about your statements from yesterday."

"Certainly, Sheriff. My partner and I were just finishing up. Perhaps we can meet in your office in about an hour." Heyes spoke and shot a nervous glance towards Kid.

"I'd rather not wait that long. See, it seems several of the other passengers have decided to recant their initial statements against Mr. Rush. Seems they just remembered that their attention was elsewhere when Mr. Harkness was shot. They can't rightly attest one way or the other to Mr. Rush's assertion that the outlaw still posed a credible threat when he fired his gun."

The boys shared an irritated look.

"Boys, I've heard stories about William Rush. Those men are scared and rightly so." The sheriff leaned back in his chair. "You two, however, don't seem to be the type to frighten easily. Now, I know you told my deputy that you have an appointment tomorrow with Sheriff Trevors in Porterville, but I have to be straight with you, without your testimony Rush is going to walk." Both men took a deep breath. "If you would agree to stay, I'll be happy to send a telegram to Lom explaining your delay. He owes me a favor anyway."

Heyes looked down at his plate, pushing it towards the center of the table, "Sheriff, would you mind giving my partner and me a minute or two to talk it over? We'll give you our answer shortly."

Not bothering to hide his disappointment, he nodded affirmatively. "I'll be in my office."

As soon as the restaurant door closed, Kid leaned in. "What's there to discuss?"

Stunned he leaned forward, "Are you really considering it? You're going to get up on that stand, put your hand on the Good Book and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but?"

"I suppose I am."

"And what exactly are you going to say when they tell you to state your name?"

Taking a deep breath, he looked out toward the street, "Thaddeus Jones."

"You want them to add perjury to your wanted poster?"

"I've already got twenty years for armed robbery, what's a few more? You heard what the Sheriff said, if we don't testify, Rush will go free."

Heyes ran his hand through his hair, contemplating the risks, calculating the odds that someone would identify them, someone would tell the law. "We're gonna be in a courtroom, surrounded by law, surrounded by men trained to pick out a liar." He leaned in close, "All they need is one person to figure out who we are."

"You're right Heyes. It just takes one person. It also takes just one person to send him to the hangman's noose. If you want to head on to Porterville or to wherever else, you go right ahead. But I'm tired of being a good fer nothin' outlaw. Sammy deserved better, his ma deserves better." Kid stood, throwing down his towel on the table. "It's time to be one of the good guys."

Not waiting on an answer, he walked out and made his way to the Sheriff's office.

Heyes wasn't far behind.