Part 2

"Stand and Deliver!" The shout was almost deafening. Heyes jumped up, grabbed his gun out of his holster and looked around. No one was in sight, but the train had come to a complete stop. His breathing was quick and his chest hurt, he wasn't accustomed to being woken up this way but he mentally calmed himself, willed his heart to stop pounding, and took a deep steadying breath. Was it a train robbery? He had heard of them but had never experienced one of them for himself.

He inched towards the door, every step seeming to echo loudly in the empty cattle car. He reached out to open the door of the car when it was thrown open and six revolvers were aimed directly at his heart. The heart he had willed to stop pounding so hard just moment ago, complied with his wishes and stopped completely. He dropped his gun and threw his hands up, his heart still refusing to beat. Somewhere from beyond his vantage point he heard someone curse.

"Wrong train, Big Jim! It's these stupid asterisks, fool me every time." Someone swore.

"Ah heck, Kid, can't you get anything right?" One of his captors asked.

"You want to try reading this here train schedule, Kyle." The voice answered back, getting ever closer to the group still pointing their guns at him.

"He probably can't even pronounce schedule let alone make it out on the page." Another of the gunmen quipped. If he wasn't in his current predicament, Heyes might have found all this rather comical.

"Leave Kyle alone, Wheat, you don't read any more than he does." The voice from before championed. He heard the sound of two more horses pulling to a stop nearby and he heard the one of the riders dismount.

"You fella's gonna' tell me what you got in there or you just stand there all day pointin' your guns." The voice said again in dismay.

"We got us a scared rabbit, Kid; although he looks more like a rabid dog with the grin he's got plastered on his face." Kyle said displeased with his captive.

Heyes couldn't hold back any longer, despite his current predicament he couldn't help but laugh at this almost comedic gang of train robbers. He hadn't noticed when it had happened but his heart had started beating again. He drew in a deep breath and wiped the smile off his face, before one of them could shoot it off. He plastered his well practiced poker face on and shifted his weight off his sore foot.

"Well Kyle, y'all do look pretty funny sittin' there, looking like your robbing an empty train. Put your guns away, all of ya." The one they called Kid said. He heard footsteps near the door of the car.

"Ah Kid, he drew first. " Kyle said, reluctantly putting his gun away. The door opened wider and the early morning light flooded the car almost blinding him. A halo of curly light brown hair popped into view, the man had his back to him. He made a split second decision and jumped for his gun. Too late, he heard the other man's gun whip out of the holster and heard the audible click of the hammer being drawn back, too fast.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you mister," The voice said, more ominously than before. He cursed silently, he had misjudged the newcomer.

"Push the gun away with the back of your hand and stand up, if you don't you're as good as dead." The voice said again. He believed him; he hadn't seen it but rather had heard that the Kid was fast, he didn't doubt he was good either. He obeyed and rolled over landing on his feet in one swift movement.

He came face to face with his opponent and his world slammed in on him. The fact that he hadn't eaten in days combined with the morning's events and the excess use of energy sent his mind reeling. He swayed, his vision blurred, and in one brief moment he thought he was staring at his miracle, then the floor of the cattle car came up and hit him full force. He tried to move but his body wouldn't obey him.

"Heyes!" A voice from his past exclaimed from the darkness that enclosed around him suddenly.

"Just hang on, Cuz, just hang on, you're with friends now." Heyes heard the calm familiar voice of long ago as he faded into oblivion.

Alias: *** Smith *** and *** Jones

Kid Curry cursed under his breath, for the last three minutes he had been trying to figure what had gone wrong with the plans to rob the right train. He sighed as he caught sight of a little black asterisk beside the date and time. Right time wrong train or vice versa.

"Shoot," Kid cursed aloud. He heard the chuckle of his older companion; he shook his head in defeat and looked up at his leader.

"Wrong train, Big Jim! It's these stupid asterisks, fool me every time." Kid swore again.

"Ah heck, Kid, can't you get anything right?" One of his fellow train robbers commented. Kid frowned at him.

"You want to try reading this here train schedule, Kyle." Kid quipped, pulling his horse up along the rest of the men who seemed not to notice they weren't robbing a train with cargo; they were more interested in what they had found inside one of the empty cars.

"He probably can't even pronounce schedule let alone make it out on the page." Wheat Carlson said jabbing his friends with his elbow.

"Leave Kyle alone, Wheat, you don't read any more than he does." Kid exclaimed as Big Jim pulled up along side him. He looked at his boss who nodded the silent instruction to find out what was inside; he handed the reins to one of the other boys and dismounted his horse.

"You fella's gonna' tell me what you got in there or are you just gonna stand there all day pointin' your guns?" Kid asked in dismay.

"We got us a scared rabbit, Kid; although he looks more like a rabid dog with the grin he's got plastered on his face." Kyle said displeased with his captive. Apparently their captive found all of this amusing, and Kid might have too if it wasn't his mistake that had robbed them of their loot.

"Well Kyle y'all do look pretty funny sittin' there looking like your robbing an empty train. Put your guns away, all of ya." Kid said walking up to the car empty cattle.

"Ah Kid, he drew his first. " Kyle said, reluctantly putting his gun away. Kid heaved the huge door open and the early morning light flooded the car. Kid turned back to look at Big Jim, a huge mistake as he heard the man go for his gun. He whipped around and drew his gun before the man had hit the floor. The other man was too slow. Kid beat him to the draw.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you mister," Kid said more ominously than before. The other man cursed under his breath, he had misjudged him; a mistake he wouldn't repeat again.

"Push the gun away with the back of your hand and stand up, or you're as good as dead." Kid said. He meant every word, the man must have realized, because he obeyed. In one swift movement the man rolled over and landed on his feet, his gun now ten feet away.

They stood face to face; it only took seconds for recognition to set in, just as the man swayed. Kid couldn't tell if the man had recognized him or not. Maybe, for a brief second there was some recognition, mixed with confusion and something else. The man standing before him was both a boy and yet now a man, but Kid knew this was the cousin he had abandoned four years ago.

"Heyes!" Kid exclaimed as the man started to fall. He rushed forward to catch the man he once knew as a child and ease him to the floor, holding the older man firmly in his arms just as the boy had done years before. Kid clutched his cousin close, unwilling to let go, it had been too long. He cursed himself for ever convincing him to go their separate ways; he had been stupid, he realized now, for suggesting it.

"Hang on, Cuz, just hang on! You're with friends now." Heyes' confused brown eyes blinked up at him, fighting to see through the fog that had begun to settle over his face. Kid's heart lurched, panic setting in. He knew this look, had seen it too many times not to.

"Well looky thar, thet man was so scared of you, Kid; he plum fainted like a girl!" Kyle Murtry snickered. Before he opened his mouth to say any more Kid drew his gun and glared at Kyle.

"No one," Kid stressed the words, "talks about my cousin like that. No one!" Kid added angrily. Heyes looked pale and his eyes were sunken in, and when Kid had caught him to keep him from falling, he noticed that his cousin was lighter than a man of his size ought to be. Not to mention the slight pungent smell Kid recognized as a possible sign of infection. A lump formed in his throat; he was scared and for the first time in years worried that he might loose Heyes like he had lost his folks. Kid blinked through the tears forming, fighting them back, not wanting the others to see his pain.

Big Jim took his foot out of the stirrup and stepped onto the rail car. In that instant, the man Kid had come to know and trust stood between Kid and the open door, preventing the others from seeing the tear that fell anyway. Big Jim placed a firm hand on Kid's shoulder and Kid blinked up at him.

"Kyle didn't mean anything by it Kid, put your gun away, we're all friends here remember?" Big Jim spoke calmly, but his tone was firm and commanding, letting Kid know that it was going to be all right and that Kid better do what he was told. Kid nodded his thanks and holstered the gun he hadn't realized he was still holding.

"Heyes," Kid said looking down at his older cousin. "He's older than me, took care of me when our folks were gone, he's " His voice broke and Big Jim nodded his head in understanding. Big Jim was the only one that Kid had told about Heyes, had told him the whole story of how the boys had lost their parents and had run away from the orphanage, trying to make it in a harsh world on their own. Without Heyes, Kid wouldn't have made it as far as he had.

Big Jim wondered what had made the boys go their separate ways to begin with. There were many times Jim found Kid staring out beyond the hideout, out beyond the horizon searching for something that couldn't be seen, searching for what he had lost. Big Jim understood the thing that Kid had been searching for and hoped that with the discovery of the cousin Kid had been wishing to find, he would gain another member to his own diminishing family. Kid and Heyes weren't the first to loose kin folk and certainly not the last, but family was more than just blood relations.

"Get him some water!" Big Jim ordered without raising his voice. Kyle stepped onto the railcar as his boss had done a few minutes earlier and handed Kid the canteen.

"Sorry Kid, I didn't know he was kin." Kyle said softly, the unspoken rule of outlaws was that no one messed with kin. Kid looked up and nodded his acceptance, afraid his voice would betray his emotions.

Kid held Heyes' head back and poured the smallest amount of water onto the parched lips. Instinct took over and Heyes licked his lips, Kid poured a little more water into his cousin's open mouth and Heyes drank it greedily.

"Damn you Heyes, stop saving it for me," Kid muttered under his breath. There had been many times when Kid had found his older cousin saving him the food or water. Big Jim looked down at the two men and for the first time saw what it must have been like for the two boys on the run. It reminded him of his own youth.

"Let's get you two back to the hide out." Big Jim said taking charge of what he knew might just work out for all of them. Kid would be reunited with the only family member he had left and Big Jim would gain a new recruit he could possibly train into becoming the next leader of the Devil's Hole Gang. From the stories Kid had told him of their younger days, Big Jim knew that Kid's older cousin had been the one with all the ideas The Devil's Hole Gang needed some new blood and some fresh ideas, and Big Jim knew the right man for the job, if it wasn't already too late. He hoped not, for all of their sakes, he hoped not. Big Jim went to the edge of the car and ordered the horses to be brought up close. Kid tilted his cousin's head back and gave him some more water.

"Kid?" Heyes whispered weakly.

"Yeah, Heyes, it's me. I've got your back; you just leave the worryin' to me now." Kid whispered back. Heyes weakly nodded and settled down.

"Water?" Heyes asked. Kid nodded and gave him a little more, careful not to give him too much; cold water on an empty stomach could do more harm than good.

Kyle was gathering up what few things Heyes had on board the train and had found Heyes canteen. Kid looked up as Kyle shook the canteen and Kid cursed under his breath.

"Empty" Kyle said noticing the reaction but guessed Kid already knew that.

"How long, Heyes," Kid said in the most commanding voice he could muster. "How long has it been?" Heyes looked up at him in confusion trying to remember, Kid could see the fog covering his cousin's face.

"Two days, maybe three at the most." Heyes said wearily. Kid shook his head in dismay, a man could die without water in less than a week and he doubted the length of time Heyes had mentioned. He knew his cousin very well and, from experience, knew it had been longer since the man had had anything to eat or drink, a lot longer.

"All Right Boys!" Big Jim called, "Mount up and let's ride" Big Jim saw the pain in Kid's face and knew the urgency of the situation. He knew action was needed before too much time elapsed, not only for the cousin of the man he had come to care for as a son, but also because the train was past due and a posse would be out looking soon.

As always, Big Jim took over. He picked Heyes up off the floor and winced as he noticed how eerily light the young man was. There was a more than a weeks worth of starvation on the gaunt man's scrawny frame. A man could go a lot longer without food than he could go without water and the condition of the man's face around his eyes and mouth was a warning sign Big Jim didn't like, he prayed they weren't too late.

As he carried Heyes to the door and deposited him into Kid's waiting arms he noticed the sickly sweet smell of infection from somewhere on the man's already weak body, another warning sign of time quickly running out. Kid got on the horse first, riding behind the saddle and Big Jim handed Heyes down to him. Big Jim mounted his own horse and they headed back towards the hideout.

Kid and Heyes had ridden like this many times at the farm, only their roles were reversed. This time it was Kid's job to make sure Heyes stayed on the horse. Another lump threatened to take hold but he swallowed and set his face firm like the poker face he had seen Heyes use over and over again. Poker was a man's game and Heyes had been good at it from a very young age, a game Kid had never much cared for. Determination was something he knew and this time he was determined to be the man his cousin needed him to be. He followed the other horses, the horses following the trail back home. They were just far enough ahead they didn't need to rush but the pace was as quick as it could be with a sick man in their midst and a posse on their trail.