Disclaimer: Alias Smith and Jones does not belong to me. This is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses, etc. are entirely fictitious.
A/N – story presumes the details on the wanted posters are not entirely accurate. Story exists in the same No Amnesty - Smith and Jones story verse as previous stories.
Mutual Friends
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Good morning," greeted Clem the next morning.
The petite brunette looked over the spice jars and the big yellow earthenware bowl sitting on the square oak table in front of her. Clem only caught a brief glimpse of Heyes, snuffling, still dressed, and lying face down across the top of her big brass bed, before Kid softly shut the door.
"Morning," greeted Kid in a low tone. "Didn't know you were up already."
A dusky red shirt, drawstrings open at his throat, covered Kid's chest. His gun belt hung from his shoulder. With a swift, sure motion, Kid pulled the gun belt down, buckling it at his waist. The tall blond tied off the holster around his right thigh. Kid moved past her toward the back door off the pantry. A short path outside led to the outhouse and beyond that curved towards the barn.
"Coffee is already made," informed Clem.
"Clem," replied Kid with a flash of a smile as he grabbed his sheepskin coat off the hook by the door, "I'll be right back, just give me a minute first."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Heyes was still sleeping when breakfast and the dishes were done. Clem poured her carrot cake batter into a cake pan and settled it carefully in the black cast iron oven. She swatted Kid playfully with a kitchen towel as he dried the last of the coffee cups.
"Thanks for finishing up the dishes," chuckled Clem. "Now how about helping me peel some potatoes?"
"Told you I would help," replied Kid. He picked up the paring knife, and asked with seeming nonchalance, "Have you heard from Deanna recently?"
Clem blinked in surprise. Soft whispered morning conversation between the two old friends had mainly focused on the partner's impending departure. Her attempts at prying hadn't worked, but now Kid brought up Deanna on his own. While he began to peel away thin narrow strips of brown potato skin, the gentle outlaw stared determinedly at the vegetable, not meeting Clem's eyes.
"Recently, hmmm, let me think," dissembled Clem. She fluttered her hand in front of her face. "Why do you ask?"
"We had a bit of an argument the last time I saw her," answered Kid still looking at the potato. Blue eyes looked up at Clem. "She up and left Wildwood without even saying goodbye."
"An argument?" asked Clem in a surprised tone. "What on earth about?"
Deanna hadn't said anything about an argument. Clem listened as Kid explained, but her thoughts were on the first week of May.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"What are you doing here?" demanded Clem in surprise.
"Aren't you gonna ask me in?" the bedraggled woman asked without answering Clem's question. "It's pouring."
Clem opened the door wider and grabbed the taller woman by the wrist pulling her inside. Two summers ago, when Clem had travelled to Wildwood, she had met Jed's inamorata, in addition to the Devil's Hole Gang, and Lom. Thinking Clem might be jealous, the brash saloon gal had assured Clem that there was nothing serious to her relationship with the young fast draw. An appreciation for a certain young blond shootist, as well as a shared dislike for the new Comstock laws, seemed an unlikely foundation for friendship, but that was the best word Clem could find to describe her relationship with Deanna.
"Why aren't you in Wyoming?" continued Clem.
"I can't stay in Wildwood anymore," answered the sporting woman.
Clem's stomach plummeted. The twenty-two year old stopped dead still in the center of the room and looked up at Deanna. The normally vibrant thirty year old had blue shadows beneath her brown eyes.
"What happened?" quavered Clem. "Jed? Heyes? Are they captured? Injured? Not, not…"
"No!" replied Deanna. "Nothing like that."
"Then what?" demanded Clem.
The taller woman's dark brown eyes met Clem's. Deanna untied her thick wool cloak. The damp fabric of her travelling dress clung to her body, outlining the small bump on her lower abdomen. Clem gulped.
"I've saved some money, enough to keep me until afterwards, when I can find work again," answered Deanna. "I hope you will help me find a place in Colorado, and I don't want Kid to know where I've gone."
"I thought you," stuttered Clem, "I mean you… you… you know about womb veils, and male sheaths, and… and…"
"They don't always work."
"What did Jed say when you told him?"
"I didn't tell him, and you better not either," replied the woman firmly. "I don't want Kid, or anyone, thinking this baby is his. This child is mine."
Clem knew a con when she heard one. Deanna was a working girl, but her reputation as Kid Curry's favorite tended to discourage other men from seeking her favors. There was no doubt in Clem's mind as to the identity of the baby's father.
"You didn't tell Jed?" Clem's voice shrilled. "Why? You can't expect me to keep this a secret!"
"Not even if it will keep him from getting killed?"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"I told her it ain't exactly safe getting involved with an outlaw," concluded Kid in a soft voice.
"So let me get this straight," huffed Clem putting her hands against her hips. "First you told her she was getting fat. Then you told her she was getting old. And last you told her you would marry her if you had to but if she married you she would probably get shot!"
Silence. For a moment, the young man gaped at the angry woman.
"Not in them words," answered Kid.
He shifted his stance from one foot to the other as Clem continued to glare at Kid.
"I mean, not exactly."
Kid stared at Clem. His ears started to turn red. The quiet man set the last peeled potato in the pot of water atop the stove.
"I'm beginning to see why Deanna threw the bottle of rose water at me," conceded Kid finally.
Clem heard Kid mumble something about horses as he moved away from the stove. The tall blond hung up the dishtowel, grabbed his coat and stalked out the back door. Clem stood breathing hard, tiny hands balled into tight little fists. She turned to see Heyes leaning against the bedroom door frame with his arms folded across his chest.
"How long have you been standing there?" huffed Clem.
"Long enough," answered Heyes.
"You've been here a week, and it's just now that Jed tells me about Deanna leaving," steamed Clem. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"If Kid wants to talk about Deanna, that's his business," replied Heyes quietly. "Not mine."
"I can't believe Jed…" started Clem.
"The Pinkerton's raid on the James family farm last January had a lot of folks upset," interrupted Heyes in a tight, low voice. "Especially folks in our line of work."
Angry words died on Clem's lips. She remembered the newspaper accounts of the raid. Clem shivered. Unclenching her hands, she crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed, trying to warm herself against a sudden chill that had nothing to do with the late November temperature.
"Is that what Jed meant when he told Deanna it wasn't safe?" asked Clem in a softer tone.
"You'll have to ask him," answered Heyes. "I didn't hear everything that he said."
Heyes straightened up and strode across the room. He reached for the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. A tentative sip of the now tepid coffee was followed by a grimace.
"According to the papers, the explosion at the James place was an accident," reminded Clem. "The Pinkerton's plan was to capture the James boys, murderers, not…"
"I'm real glad to know they didn't plan to kill a nine year old boy and permanently maim a woman whose only crime was being an outlaw's mother," cut in Heyes. He gave a rueful smirk. "Makes it kinda hard to tell the good men from us bad men."
"You're not bad men!" objected Clem.
"I'm not quite sure the folks at the banks and railroads would agree," replied Heyes with a sardonic smile.
Clem had no love for either bankers or railway magnates, although in an indirect way she had to thank them for meeting Curry and Heyes. Expansion of the Peoria and Oquawka railway had ultimately led to the construction of the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railway and devoured the Hale family home in the process. The bank foreclosure on her childhood home led to Clem and her father moving to Valparaiso.
"You could be good at something else! Anything else!" exploded Clem. "Is this really what you planned to be when you grew up?"
"We didn't plan on being outlaws," answered Heyes with a mocking smile, "that just sorta happened."
Clem swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth. She understood. Clem hadn't planned on introducing Deanna to her cousin Charles either. The introduction, and everything else that followed, just sorta happened too.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Deanna was still staying at Clem's home two days later when a carriage appeared in Clem's front yard. At least it wasn't raining as Clem walked outside to meet her unexpected visitors, her cousin Attorney Charles Everett Hale and his assistant Malcolm Merriweather.
"Tell me you haven't been run out of Central Springs," greeted Clem trying for a light tone.
"Nothing like that Clem," answered Charles as he hugged Clem. "We've got business in Denver and then heading back home. Perhaps you wouldn't mind having us as dinner guests?"
Clem felt her cousin stiffen in surprise and realized he was looking over her shoulder.
"And introducing us to your friend?" added Charles.
The next several days passed quickly. Charles and Malcolm spent their days in Denver and had supper every evening with Clem and Deanna before returning to their hotel. It wasn't until the men started discussing their departure Friday, that Clem realized something was up. Clem was surprised to see Charles reach across the dinner table and pat Deanna's hand. Malcolm smiled encouragingly.
"I know we can help each other," smiled Charles. "Think about it."
Charles and Malcolm both rose from the table with apologies for their early departure. And then Charles raised Deanna's hand to his lips and pressed a light kiss to the back of her hand.
"We'll be back in the morning before we leave for Central Springs," repeated Charles. "Only you, me and Malcolm will know."
"And Clem," reminded Deanna.
"What do I know?" asked Clem in confusion as the men departed. Clem turned to Deanna. "What is going on?"
"Charles asked me to marry him," answered Deanna.
"What?" exclaimed Clem. "Why? I know you don't love him!"
"It's not about love," responded Deanna. "Marrying Charles is about security. Charles offered me and my child a home."
"There are other options, better options," pleaded Clem. "Jed would…"
"No!" insisted Deanna. "I told you Kid can't…"
"He would!"
"I know, he would," replied Deanna softly, with a small shudder. "He would stay. And then someday, someone would come, with guns, and he would be gone forever."
Clem swallowed. Was this really what her best friend's lives were like? After the Midwest Railroad robbery last month, the reward on Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes had soared to an astronomical one thousand dollars each.
"I won't be the one that gets him killed," added Deanna in a firm voice.
"You could stay with me," offered Clem softly. "Usually no one comes around, it would be safe…"
"No. I don't want Kid to ever find out," interrupted Deanna.
"Charles never does anything out of the goodness of his heart!" exclaimed Clem. "Why is he offering to marry you? To take care of you and your child? "
"Your cousin needs the respectability a wife and child will bring. People gossip about a man his age living alone, and sometimes they gossip about Charles and Malcolm," explained Deanna. "Marrying him is a good deal, for both of us."
The next morning, Charles and Malcolm arrived to pick up Deanna. A brief stop at the magistrate's office in Denver was planned for a civil ceremony.
"Don't tell anyone," reminded Charles as he hugged Clem goodbye. "It will be our little secret."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"I keep telling Kid he oughta go to Montana," continued Heyes. "Change his name and settle down with some pretty little lady, start raising a passel of kids."
"And leave you in Wyoming? And me in Colorado?" asked Clem incredulously. "You know he'll never do that!"
Heyes arched an eyebrow up and didn't say anything for a moment.
"You could go to Montana too," suggested the dark haired Kansan.
Was it Clem's imagination, or was Heyes holding his breath?
"Only if you go as well," replied Clem.
"Now that sorta defeats the purpose," replied Heyes with a small smile.
The bangs on her forehead fluttered as Clem huffed in frustration. Maddening. The man was maddening. She wasn't even going to try and figure out what he meant by that. She glanced towards the back door. Jed still hadn't returned.
"Heyes, watch the cake for me please," asked Clem. "I've got to go find Jed."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Clem followed Kid's big boot prints across the frost covered yard. She opened the heavy barn door and allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness. In the rear of the building, Kid stood with his back turned to her. He brushed his big black gelding and didn't appear to have heard her enter.
"Jed," called Clem in a soft voice.
The brush stopped, hovering above the horse's withers. Kid didn't turn around.
"What do you want Clem?"
The tiny brunette crossed the barn until she stood directly behind Kid. She stepped closer, leaning into his shoulders, wrapping her arms around his waist. Turning her head sideways, she pressed her cheek against his sheepskin coat.
"I'm sorry Jed," said Clem. "I shouldn't have raised my voice, I wasn't angry with you."
"Sure sounded like it," grumbled Kid, but Clem felt the tense muscles beneath the coat relax.
"No, I was just frustrated," explained Clem. She wasn't going to tell him most of her frustration was directed at Deanna. Jed knew about the baby! "I know you meant well, but that had to be the worst proposal I've ever heard."
Kid dropped the horse brush and twisted in her arms as he turned to face her.
"That's what you told me five years ago in Texas," reminded Kid.
Clem loosened her grip on his waist with a soft smile and gazed upwards into his blue eyes.
"Your proposal to me was pure poetry compared to what you said to Deanna," chuckled Clem as she remembered the skinny sixteen year old Jed, returning with a handful of flowers, stammering, "I guess it's only fittin' that we get married."
"And how many proposals have you heard?"
"A few," responded Clem lightly, "you don't think I just sit around here pining away for you boys when you and Heyes are gone. Do you?"
A soft chuckle rumbled from deep inside Kid. Clem traced one finger in a circle upon his chest.
"I don't want to be someone's wife or mother, not now, maybe not ever. I want to be me," she continued, "Jed, feeling as I do, I couldn't possibly marry anyone."
Kid's hands found their way to the small of her back. One hand stroked upwards, reaching her shoulder. Clem's lips parted as Kid lowered his lips to meet hers. The kiss, was long, slow, lingering and tasted of coffee and sweetness. When Kid pulled away, Clem was breathless. She licked her lips and opened her hazel eyes to meet his blue eyed gaze.
"Now what was that for?" asked Clem.
"To say thank you," answered Kid. "And maybe to see if you might change your mind."
Clem started to open her mouth, but Kid put a finger to her lips, shaking his head with a gentle smile. She realized that he already knew the answer hadn't changed. And Jed was still alright with it. They were friends first, lovers once upon a time, and still friends now.
"Thank you for what?"
"Thank you for being honest with me, and caring enough to tell me that it wasn't ever gonna work," added Kid. "Clem, you're the most honest person I know."
Clem sucked in a deep breath. She didn't miss the implication his words made about the past three years with Deanna and what it said about Clem's own silence in the matter now. She shivered.
"You're cold," murmured Kid. In an instant, his sheepskin jacket was off and draped over Clem's shoulders.
"Jed," started Clem, fully intending to blurt out everything.
"No. If there was a baby, Deanna has done something by now. Ain't nothing gonna change that," interrupted Kid as he tugged the sides of his coat closed over Clem's tiny frame. "Deanna was right about one thing, Kid Curry ain't gonna be anybody's husband or father. I shouldn't have let myself forget that."
The barn door opened. Heyes stood silhouetted in the sunlight, a shadow on his face. Clem couldn't make out his expression.
"Clem," called Heyes with a little hitch in his voice, "I think your cake is burning."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Clem stood by the front door, her heaviest woolen shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She stayed there in the cold watching as Curry and Heyes rode south. It wasn't until she couldn't see them anymore that she returned to the warmth of her front room. Clem seated herself at the tiny round table near the sofa. From the recessed drawer, she methodically withdrew an ink bottle, paper, and a pen shining with a new brass nub. She tried to control her shaking hands, tried not to blot the ink as she addressed the envelope… Mrs. Charles Everett Hale. She reached for the paper next and began to write.
Dear Deanna,
Clem stopped writing and rested her head against her hand for a moment. What to say? All Clem really wanted to do was scream at the woman. However, politeness was necessary if she wanted to maintain a relationship with her cousin and his wife, if she ever wanted to see Jed's child. Clem picked up the pen again.
Our mutual friends stopped by on their way south. You will be happy to know that both are well. I'm looking forward to seeing you and Charles at Christmas and getting the opportunity to hold little Riordan…
Clem stopped for a moment, closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Little Riordan Everett Hale needed parents and a safe home to grow up in. Like Charles said, this faux marriage would provide protection for all involved. It was a good deal.
"Jed," muttered Clem as she picked up the pen again, "I hope you and Heyes never find out about this little secret."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-