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 story verse as Kid Plans, South By Southeast, and Trouble In Texas but should also stand alone.
Fine Upstanding Citizens
-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Aunt Katie," greeted Heyes.
The former outlaw's dark brown eyes lit up with pleasure to see the older woman enter Mrs. Henderson's dining room. Heyes quickly stood up and pulled a chair out for her.
"Good morning Joshua," smiled the gray haired woman as she sat down beside his vacant chair. She reached out and patted the slender hand still resting on the back of her chair. "I hate to be leaving so soon, but we will be departing to meet the Cheyenne train after breakfast. Will you and your partner be joining us for the ride back to Porterville?"
Heyes glanced at the other boarder sitting at the far end of the long dining table. If Doctor Neville Beauregard hadn't been in the room, Heyes and Aunt Katie could have spoken freely, but for now, the pair played their agreed upon roles. Yesterday the family had decided, Joshua Smith would be distant relative of Aunt Katie's husband. They attributed the variant spelling of Smythe versus Smith to a clerical error due to Joshua's branch of the family arriving in the United States by way of Virginia, while the Smythe branch arrived later from England via Philadelphia.
"My partner Thaddeus should be joining us for breakfast shortly," answered Heyes with a dimpled smile, "but he won't be able to make the ride…"
Beauregard's head jerked up at the mention of his patient. Heyes eyed the fussy little man with distaste. Kid, supporting Lom by acting as temporary deputy last week, had been seriously injured. While the doctor had adequately bandaged bullet wounds and wrapped cracked ribs, the doc hadn't done a thing for Kid's head injury. Beauregard seemed content to merely wait and see if Kid would regain consciousness.
"Oh no," agreed Beauregard. "Mr. Jones shouldn't go riding for at least a month."
"Why?" demanded Heyes. "I thought you said Thaddeus was getting better."
The former outlaw rose from his chair and faced the medical man. The partner's had agreed yesterday that they weren't going to ride into Porterville with the Curry family. It would be safer for all the Curry's if Henry and his family maintained a public distance from Thaddeus Jones, but Heyes wanted to know if there was a medical reason his partner shouldn't ride.
"I am better," insisted Kid. The tall blond man strode through the doorway into the dining room, stopping in front of Beauregard. Kid rocked back on his heels as he tucked his thumbs into his belt, almost as if he were readying for a gunfight. "What are you talking about Doc?"
"Bones take time to heal!" exclaimed the chubby gray haired man. The doctor gestured towards Kid's chest. "Don't tell me you feel fine. I know better!"
The doctor raised his hand and pointed to Kid's head. Curly blond hair covered the still tender spot where the fence post had thumped Kid's skull. The cracked ribs were a minor injury in comparison.
"Jones, if you fall off a horse, you could break one of those ribs or hit your head again…" began Beauregard.
"I don't usually fall off a horse…," huffed Kid.
"Thaddeus wasn't planning on riding anywhere today," interrupted Heyes smoothly. "We're both staying in Thunder Ridge to start work on the new school building. Right Thaddeus?"
The slender dark haired man clasped his partner on the shoulder. Heyes gestured towards the seat beside him. Kid sat down. Heyes tried his best to look like a fine, upstanding, tree planting, school building, civic minded citizen, as he resumed his seat. Last winter, Heyes had volunteered to teach Mrs. Henderson's two oldest grandchildren their letters, but the growing community had more school age children this year.
"Yeah Joshua," agreed Kid. A gentle smile spread across Kid face as he started naming the prospective students. "Walter and Louisa already know their letters. Emily Henderson, along with the Cole twins, Parker and Preston, will be starting first grade. Plus the five children from the new homesteaders on the other side of the ridge makes for at least ten students."
Heyes had successfully convinced the other adults in town to provide funding for the new construction. The brilliant man asserted that the town's bright children needed the guidance of a professional teacher, not just his meagre efforts. The former outlaw leader hoped he didn't look like a man who was totally terrified at the prospect of facing ten children between the ages of six and ten.
"Construction work is dangerous!" squawked Beauregard indignantly. "Framing and climbing on scaffolding…"
"Don't worry. We're just building a one room school house with sleeping quarters for the teacher in back," Kid cut him off with a sour tone. "We got lots of help. I ain't gonna fall or get bashed in the head again."
Mary Moira skipped into the room at that moment, followed by her mother carrying little Owen. Henry Curry limped into the dining room after his family.
"Pshaw, nobody ever listens to medical advice," muttered Beauregard. "You should at least take a hot soak bath for those ribs."
"A hot soak bath?" asked Kid. Bright blue eyes sparkled at that idea. "Before or after working on the building?"
"Suit yourself about the bath," grumped the doctor. The gray haired man pushed back his chair and stood up to leave the dining room, "but no horse riding for a month! That's an order!"
The medical man stopped at the doorway and backed up. Jenny Black, self-proclaimed mother to Thaddeus Jones, sauntered into the room followed by Matt Markham. Jenny ruffled Kid's curly hair affectionately before sitting down beside him. Matt flashed a bright smile before seating herself in the chair opposite Kid. Heyes called out to Beauregard as the plump man moved away once more.
"Hey Doc, there's something I've been wondering. Are you related to a doctor named Chauncey Beauregard?" called Heyes.
"Never heard of anybody named Chauncey Beauregard. There aren't many doctors in the territory, I would remember one with my surname," groused the medical man. "Are you sure he's a doctor?"
"No," murmured Heyes under his breath as the man disappeared down the corridor. "I'm pretty sure Chauncey Beauregard wasn't a real doctor. What about Neville Beauregard? Are you a real doctor?"
-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Jenny's son Billy was murdered a few years ago," answered Heyes. "We've known her for years, and she's always had a soft spot for Kid. I guess that's why she's staying to help. Billy sorta looked a bit like Kid."
The dark haired man held Aunt Katie's elbow as he helped her up into the buggy. After breakfast at Mrs. Henderson's boarding house, the partners had taken their new found relatives up the ridge to see the one room cabin in which they lived. The sheltered older woman was still asking questions about their lives and their friends.
"Jed," corrected Aunt Katie. Her green eyes crinkled as she looked up the slope to see Kid riding Mary Moira on his shoulders as the pair made their way down towards the buggy. "But you should get in the habit of using Thaddeus."
"Aunt Katie, don't make any mistake about us. We ain't been those innocent little boys Ma used to write to you about," reminded Heyes. "We did a lot of wrong doing. We are Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes, and Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes are bad men."
"You were, but you stopped thieving, and tried for amnesty. Now you are Thaddeus Jones and Joshua Smith," reminded Aunt Katie. The gray haired woman tilted her head quizzically and asked, "Why? Why did you stop outlawing?"
Dark brown eyes looked up at his mother's younger sister. A better question might be why they had started outlawing. Heyes remembered telling his partner once that after seeing what the marauding soldiers had done, it didn't seem as if what they were doing to survive was all that bad. At the time, there seemed no hope for any better way to survive. Why the partners stopped outlawing was a much easier question to answer. Hope.
"Kid said we needed to get out of the outlaw business," replied Heyes with a tight smile. "When we ran the Devil's Hole Gang, he was in charge of security. When Kid says it's time to get out, we go."
Amnesty was once a hope thought Heyes, but now, their survival depended upon taking the identities of Thaddeus Jones and Joshua Smith permanently. The older woman settled herself into the back seat of the buggy. then Aunt Katie leaned forward and reached for the front chest pocket of his black shirt. The woman's trembling fingers slid a treasured photograph into Heyes' pocket. Aunt Katie looked into Heyes startled brown eyes.
"Remember, God forgives," reminded Aunt Katie in a soft voice. "Even if the governor doesn't."
The front door of Mrs. Henderson's boarding house swung open and slammed shut behind Doc Beauregard. The plump, gray haired man settled himself on the porch rocker within hearing distance. Beyond the big building, Heyes could see a rider approaching down the trail from Thunder pass. The time for private conversations was over. At about the same time, Kid arrived at the buggy with Mary Moira.
"Whoa Thaddeus," giggled the child.
"Here you are," chuckled Kid. The muscular blond turned to swing the laughing child up onto the seat beside her grandmother. "Next time you visit, we'll see if we can get you on a real horse."
Heyes glanced up the slope. Red haired cousin Eileen carried baby Owen past the evergreen growing in the town's central garden square. Her voluminous skirt snagged on the bright red Indian Paintbrush growing wild that surrounded the tree the partners had planted long ago. Mrs. Henderson's carefully tended white daisies drooped nearby in the late summer heat. Kid's older brother Henry, further behind Eileen, limped slowly down the steep trail.
"Let me help you," said Heyes.
The former outlaw extended his arm to the beautiful red head. Eileen passed the squirming little boy to Kid before Heyes assisted her into the buggy.
"We will be coming to Cheyenne when my partner is able to travel," continued Heyes. "I have to purchase the books for the school and Thaddeus has business with your husband."
Kid already had a professional relationship with Henry Curry. Unbeknownst to both brothers, Thaddeus Jones had been ordering gun repair and reloading supplies from Henry's Cheyenne business Finest Firearms, for quite some time now, but Henry's clerk had always signed off on the invoices. Eileen Smythe Curry flashed a dimpled smile at her cousins as Kid handed Owen up to her.
"Mr. Jones," urged Eileen, with a cautious glance at the man seated on the porch, "I hope you do accept Henry's offer to become a distributor for Colt products."
"Mrs. Curry I might do that," nodded Kid. With a gesture towards the corner of Uriah Cole's stable where Kid's workbench sat, Kid added, "Right now though, I only have a bit of room to work on gun repair. If there is a need for a firearms distributor in Thunder Ridge, I'll have to get some more space, set up a real shop."
"Cheyenne is a much larger town," acknowledged Eileen. The redhead smiled at Kid and Matt. "Thunder Ridge appears to be growing, and you might find your services needed beyond town lines."
Heyes nodded in agreement. The addition of Doc Beauregard, Matt, Jenny, and their old gang members nearly doubled the adult population of the tiny town. And Thaddeus Jones was known to be able to repair any type of gun, no matter how old.
"People already know to bring their weapons to Thaddeus," smiled Heyes.
Henry finally reached the buggy. The former Union cavalry messenger turned to shake hands first with his brother. No hugs in public. Henry's blue eyes watched his brother depart, before he turned to Heyes. The tall blond man extended his hand in farewell.
"I hate to leave so soon," murmured Henry in a low voice. "I've only just now got you both back."
"Business as usual," reminded Heyes in an even lower whisper as he glanced back to the porch. Doc Beauregard appeared to be nodding his head in the late morning sunshine, but Heyes wouldn't take a chance on the man being asleep. "Remember, you're no relation to Thaddeus Jones. When Kid's ready to travel, we'll both come to Cheyenne. We'll stay at the hotel on Seventeenth Street."
"You could stay with us," urged Henry. "Do we really have to be so cautious?"
"The Bannerman detective agency is more active in this part of Wyoming," explained Heyes, "but the Pinkerton's have an office in Cheyenne. We don't want to take a chance on anything like what happened to the James family..."
Heyes voice trailed off as he remembered the horrific newspaper reports. The Pinkerton raid on the James family home years ago had been an assault by supposedly good, law abiding citizens. The explosion and fire resulted in killing Jesse's nine year old half-brother and permanently maiming the outlaw's mother.
"That happened over twelve years ago and the Pinkerton's used extreme measures because the James-Younger gang were murderers," hissed Henry. "You and Jed never did anything violent. And didn't you say no one's looking for you these days?"
Heyes ran a hand through his dark brown hair and gazed at his older cousin in exasperation. The former outlaw certainly hoped no one was looking for Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes, but he couldn't really be sure. Didn't Henry understand that?
"Looking or not, we won't take a chance of endangering all of you," replied Heyes. "Pinkerton's are dangerous. Bannerman detectives… not so much."
"Do you have much experience with Bannerman detectives?" asked Henry.
"A bit," replied Heyes with a shrug. Harry Briscoe might be the most inept Bannerman detective agent in the state of Wyoming, but he was also a friend. Sort of. "The one we've met isn't dangerous."
"Speaking of dangerous," responded Henry with a glance towards the men gathering at the site of the planned schoolhouse, "what about those men? Jesse James was killed by a member of his own gang."
Heyes followed his older cousin's blue eyed gaze. Wheat, Kyle, Lobo and Preacher stood contemplating the logs, posts and boards readied for the school. Although the boys had done a passable job shingling the partner's cabin, it looked as if they might need more direction on school building.
"Them?" laughed Heyes. "No way. We never let anyone stay in the gang that we couldn't trust. They would never deliberately do anything to harm us."
Heyes decided now was not the time to tell his cousin about some of the things the gang had done by accident.
"I just don't want all our meetings to be business related," whispered Henry. "We're family. We should be able to act like family."
Family. What a wonderful word. Kid and Heyes had decided long ago in Valparaiso that it was safer if no one knew they were related. Until yesterday, only Clem and Matt had known the partners were also cousins. Now Jenny knew as well. Heyes nodded in agreement with Henry's words. After such a long separation, they all needed to be a family again.
"We really do have business in Cheyenne and it would be great to see all of you then. There is also another option. You could meet us at the Bar T horse auction at the end of next month," suggested Heyes. "We've been going to those folks for years, and Mary Moira surely needs a horse."
"Been going there for years?" questioned Henry in a low hiss. "Do they call you Hannibal Heyes? Or Joshua Smith?"
The blue eyed man raised an eyebrow and glanced to the buggy's rear seat. Mary Moira played patty cake with Owen. The strawberry blonde couldn't have heard the whispered conversation between Heyes and her father. The child had been told yesterday her new found relatives were to be called Thaddeus and Joshua, no matter what other nicknames she might hear.
"Actually, the folks at the Bar T think I'm someone named Norton P. Terwilliger," grinned Heyes.
"I'm beginning to understand how you two managed to evade capture all these years," replied Henry as he rolled his blue eyes. "Are there any other alias names I should know about?"
"Do you want a list?" asked Heyes.
Henry shook his head with a rueful smile. The tall man leaned closer.
"We'll see Smith and Jones when you both come to Cheyenne," affirmed Henry. "And if I can figure out how to explain Norton to Mary Moira, we'll plan on going to the Bar T horse auction. Terwilliger can introduce us to his partner then."
Henry climbed laboriously up into the buggy. The man on the porch snorted and shook his head. Doc Beauregard slammed the boarding house door as he went back inside. The blond man picked up the reins and turned back to his younger cousin. A private moment now allowed Kid's older brother to say what he wanted.
"Thanks for taking care of my brother all these years," said Henry. Blue eyes blinked in the bright morning sun, or maybe it was from something else. "I just wish I had been able to take care of your brother as well."
"We take care of each other," responded Heyes. The dark haired man gulped as he remembered Ptol.
-x-x-x-x-x-x
In early spring 1863, a telegram arrived. Ptolemy had been wounded and sent to the army hospital at Keokuk, Iowa.
"Moira," called Uncle Owen's soft voice.
Han looked up as his mother's older brother entered the Heyes home. The slightly built woman's chaotic scrambling stopped. Boxes and baskets frantically stuffed with bedding, cooking utensils, food, everything necessary for the dangerous journey to Iowa lay scattered throughout the tiny home. The auburn haired man was followed by tiny Aunt Mary, Han's cousins and Grampa Curry.
"Arthur's finished hitching the horses," explained Uncle Owen. The tall man brushed back a loose red curl dangling down beside his sister's sweaty, tear streaked face before he picked up the largest of the boxes. "Let me take that."
As everyone else started carrying boxes and baskets outside to the wagon, Aunt Mary wrapped her arms around Moira's shoulders. Han's blonde Aunt squeezed her sister-in-law tight.
"We'll be glad to watch over Han and Cleo," offered the tiny blue eyed woman.
"No," Han's mother replied. Moira blinked her hazel eyes rapidly. Han had never heard his mother sound so incoherent. "Ptolemy will want… they should… see their brother…" Moira hesitated a moment, then stated firmly, "I want the children with us."
The wagon was loaded. After much calling, Cleopatra Heyes finally came out of the barn holding a ginger cat. For the first time since the message arrived, Han saw his mother's lips curl up in a faint, fleeting smile.
"But Ptol likes…" protested the nine year old girl as her dark haired father shook his head.
A pair of dark brown eyes met another pair of dark brown eyes just like Han's own. The unspoken battle of wills between father and daughter continued. For a moment, it looked like Cleo was going to burst into tears. Han was standing close enough to hear his youngest cousin's words.
"Cleo, can I please have Mister Whiskers to keep me company?" whispered eight year old Jed. The curly haired blond pleaded, "Else it will just be me, Grampa and Beulah here while you go to Iowa."
The cow and Grampa were both known to go to bed early. With a tiny nod, Han's little sister handed the cat to Jed. Aunt Mary squeezed her sister-in-law's hand goodbye. Han watched as Uncle Owen, Aunt Mary, and Jed's sisters turned to go back to the Curry homestead. Jed, Grandpa Curry, and the cow Beulah stayed by the fence railing on the Heyes homestead until Han couldn't see them anymore. That image stayed with Han until the Heyes family finally arrived in Keokuk.
"Where is my son?" demanded Moira Curry Heyes once more.
The small town situated between the Mississippi and the Des Moines rivers was crowded with soldiers. Healthy men departed to go south, to fight for the union. Wounded, broken men returned. The corporal, at this third ramshackle building designated as a hospital shelter, looked at the roster on the table before him and then pointed down the long row of cots.
"Ma, Pa," croaked a gaunt dark haired young man. Han squinted in the lantern light. He barely recognized his older brother. "Han, Cleo… are you here to take me home? I want to go home."
The Heyes family stayed together in Keokuk for three days.
"Henry and I were together at first," said Ptol, his feverish eyes glittering brightly, "but in the army you have to do what you're told, go where you're told… and you know what a good rider Henry is… the captain got to sending him out for messenger work…"
Han dabbed the cloth gently across Ptolemy's forehead. The twelve year old listened, not telling that after Ptol and Henry ran away to join the army, he and Jed played at being soldiers for months. Back then, it all seemed so incredibly brave and heroic. Now…
"Henry got sent east," continued Ptol. The emaciated frame shuddered as the seventeen year old coughed. "Pennsylvania I think, maybe he'll get to see Aunt Katie and her family. Or go to Philadelphia."
The older boy exchanged a glance with Han. Matching dimpled grins acknowledged that their older cousin was a lucky man indeed. Both boys had heard their father tell stories of the wonderful city of Philadelphia. According to Arthur Heyes, the city was a magical place where a lonely history teacher met the most beautiful red haired woman in the entire world.
"Ptol," asked Han, "what happened? How did you get shot? What battle?"
"Twern't no battle," coughed Ptol. "Twas a deserter, a man from our own unit."
The third night, Ptolemy Heyes got his wish. The next morning, the Heyes family loaded up their wagon with a government provided pine box to bring Ptol's body back to Kansas.
-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Henry, don't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault," insisted Heyes. "Ptol didn't blame you."
"I blame myself," replied Henry as he snapped the reins. "Ptol never would have joined the army if I hadn't."
Heyes leaned against the newly fixed fence railing. Dark brown eyes watched the rental buggy Henry drove turn up the trail to Thunder Pass. Henry waved a hand at the rider coming down the trail. Lom stopped for a moment. The lawman spoke briefly with the Curry family before the horses resumed their trot.
"What are you doing back here Lom?" muttered Heyes under his breath.
The big lawman rode up to Uriah Cole's stable. Lom dismounted and tethered his horse at the hitching post before turning slowly to join Heyes.
"Wasn't expecting to see you so soon Lom," greeted Heyes. The former outlaw looked closely at Lom. The broad brim of the lawman's hat shaded Lom's eyes, but Heyes could see purple bruising below his friend's left eye. "What happened to you?"
"Carstairs escaped," growled Lom.
"What? How?" asked Heyed incredulously. The obnoxious, middle-aged man in a black suit hardly seemed the type to escape from Lom's custody. "You had him in handcuffs when you left here. How did he get the drop on you?"
"Carstairs didn't get the drop on me," clarified Lom. "I had him locked up safely in the Porterville jail last night, but since Harker Wilkins retired, I don't have a deputy. I slept at the jail last night too."
"And?" coaxed Heyes.
"I woke up around dawn to see a woman enter the jail carrying a tray," explained Lom as he took off his hat, "I thought she was a new waitress from the diner."
Heyes winced in sympathy. The dark bruising around his friend's left eye extended up and across Lom's forehead. Lom shook his head ruefully.
"Shoulda known better, the diner ain't open that early," continued Lom. "She bashed me up side of my head with a milk pitcher. Knocked me out cold."
"A woman?"
"Yeah. She took my keys and let Carstairs out," continued Lom. "Together they musta dragged me into the cell. I woke up later locked inside."
Having locked up a few sheriffs and deputies in his own efforts at evading imprisonment over the years, Heyes could understand why the escapees might do that. Heyes gave a worried glance after his departing relatives.
"Do you know which way they went?" asked Heyes. "They could be coming back here."
"Don't worry," soothed the lawman. "According to Jason over at the livery, Carstairs and the woman hightailed it north. They're probably in Montana by now."
"Carstairs knows Kid by sight, and he knows where we live," fretted Heyes.
All Heyes' hopes and dreams for a somewhat normal life seemed to be going up in smoke. Had this idea of being Smith and Jones for the rest of their lives been what Kid had called it, a pipe dream?
"Don't worry," repeated Lom. The mustached face frowned. "This don't change anything, except add escape charges to the wanted poster I'm having printed up on Carstairs. That man ain't coming back here. He thinks Kid Curry has the law on his side."
"What do you mean?"
"Carstairs thinks I'm Hannibal Heyes," groused Lom. "He pulled out the old wanted poster and pinned it to my chest when he locked me inside my own cell."
Heyes burst out laughing.
"It ain't funny," protested Lom. "Just 'cause I got dark hair…"
-x-x-x-x-x-x
"No! You can't ask Kid. His ribs aren't healed yet," objected Heyes. "And Doc Beauregard said Kid shouldn't be riding for at least a month due to the head injury."
Lom and Heyes left the stable yard and walked towards the far end of the little town. Kid directed Wheat, Kyle, Lobo and Preacher as the men pulled ropes, lifting a section of framing upright. Uriah Cole and Lute Morrison began pounding nails as they braced the cross section. From the sounds of the hammering, the blacksmith was making better progress than the undertaker.
"Ow!" exclaimed Lute. The man looked at his battered thumb in dismay. "I ain't meant to be a carpenter!"
"You're doing fine," encouraged Kid as he tightened his grip on the rope, "better than I would do."
Lom stopped beneath the shade of the old oak tree beside Mrs. Henderson's boarding house. The big lawman crossed his arms over his chest as he assessed the scene before him.
"Kid looks alright," grumbled Lom. "It's just that I need a deputy, one that I can count on."
"I know you do, but not Kid," argued Heyes. At Lom's look, the slender man added, "and not me either. We're supposed to be laying low!"
"Yeah," agreed Lom as he nodded his head. "But laying low might not be so easy, Thaddeus Jones is getting a reputation."
"What do you mean?" asked Heyes.
Lom uncrossed his arms and reached inside his vest. The lawman handed Heyes a copy of the weekly Porterville Press. Reporter Wilkins had done as he promised. The newspaper had printed a full retraction of the erroneous account of Kid Curry being killed by Deputy Jones last week. Unfortunately, Harker Wilkin's nephew had also provided a very thorough report of yesterday's legal proceedings in Thunder Ridge, including the testimony that a man identified as Kid Curry was killed in Matherville a few years ago by Thaddeus Jones.
"The governor telegraphed me this morning," continued Lom. "Apparently the wire service reprinted parts of this article in Cheyenne."
"And what did the governor have to say?" Heyes groaned. He brushed his dark brown hair back from his eyes and gazed at Lom in concern. "Lom, we don't want you to get in trouble."
"If Governor Moonlight wants to think Kid Curry is dead and Hannibal Heyes has disappeared," replied Lom shaking his dark haired head. "I ain't in any hurry to tell him otherwise."
"Lom, what can we do to help?" asked Heyes.
"Ain't no trouble, don't need no help," insisted Lom. "Considering how long Governor Moonlight and all the previous governors have been stringing you boys along, I figure it's only fair if my reports take a while to get completed."
-x-x-x-x-x-x
Heyes stepped out on the porch of Mrs. Henderson's boarding house after supper. He glanced towards the site of the planned schoolhouse. A pair of western meadowlarks circled near the new school construction. This late in the season, if the new foundation had interfered with the birds old nesting site, it shouldn't do any major harm. Kid strode out onto the porch after him. The blond man leaned backwards arching his back.
"With everyone's help, we got the school house framing completed," stated Kid. "Wheat, Kyle, Lobo and Preacher plan to sleep at the school tonight to be up at first light."
"Just like a barn raising back in Kansas," smiled Heyes. Whether it was planning a robbery or building a school, the thrill of seeing a plan to completion was the same, and maybe even a little sweeter this time. "Tomorrow can finish up the walls and roof."
"Best not count on Lute," grinned Kid. "He's the only man I've ever seen worse than me with a hammer."
"How many times did he hit his thumb?" asked Heyes shaking his head.
"Dunno," replied the muscular blond man. Kid rolled his shoulders and stretched again, before adding. "I'm going up to the cabin for a hot soak bath. Think I'll sleep up there tonight."
"Yeah," agreed Heyes. "We should probably start watching our budget."
Usually, they only stayed at Mrs. Henderson's boarding house during the depths of winter. The woman gave a discount to long term boarders and if they played whist too, there was another discount. If they were in Thunder Ridge during good weather, both partners stayed in the cabin but this past week had been anything but normal.
"If the boys, or anyone else, is planning on staying through the winter," said Heyes cautiously, "maybe we should think about adding on another room to the cabin, maybe two, before the snow starts."
Kid froze. The blond man stared up the mountain without taking his eyes off the cabin. It was a long moment before the younger man spoke.
"Heyes, I'm tired and gonna take a hot bath. Then I'm gonna go to bed," replied Kid. "Let's wait until the school is finished before we start making plans to build anything else."
The slender man leaned back and crossed his arms thoughtfully as he watched his cousin depart.
"We're supposed to be building a life Kid."
-x-x-x-x-x-x
Heyes watched on the front porch until he saw his partner enter the cabin. By then the western sky was pink tinged with purple. Lantern light flared briefly in the window before Kid moved towards the back of the cabin. Heyes could picture Kid stoking up the cast iron wood stove. It would take a while for water to heat. The mastermind turned to enter the boarding house. It was time Heyes had a little talk with a tall blonde Texan.
"Here you are," greeted Heyes.
Matt stood at the kitchen sink. She dabbed a wet lace handkerchief against the back of her neck. Wavy blonde tendrils curled up on either side of her face as she turned her blue eyes to face Heyes. The former outlaw leaned one arm against the door frame and placed a hand on his hip as he regarded the woman.
"Was that your foot rubbing up along my leg under the table this morning at breakfast?" demanded Heyes.
"What?" squawked Matt. "That was you?"
The woman's face turned cherry red as she realized her mistake. Heyes tried to imagine how it must have seemed from her viewpoint across the table. Heyes scooted his chair backwards away from the roaming foot, while Kid asked Jenny to pass the butter. Heyes had no idea what his cousin had said to Matt this morning, but perhaps Matt felt rejected. As far as Heyes could tell, Matt and Kid hadn't said two words to each other the rest of the day. Matt had made a point of sitting far away from Kid at dinner and supper.
"My partner thinks you don't like outlaws," responded Heyes. He lowered his voice, "but we're not all like Jake Tattersall."
"Neither one of you are like Jake," agreed Matt. The flustered woman ran a slim hand through her blonde hair, pushing the wavy tendrils away from her long lashed blue eyes. "I thought… maybe I misunderstood… Jed… Thaddeus…"
"If you're interested in my partner you ought to tell him," suggested Heyes. "He thinks you're easy to talk to. I bet he would listen."
Matt straightened up. Her angular face took on a determined look.
"I will," stated Matt firmly. "Just as soon as I find him."
"Thaddeus went up to the cabin to take a hot soak bath," informed Heyes. "Doc Beauregard said it would help with the sore ribs."
There was a momentary silence as Matt digested this new information. Then the tall blonde woman smiled.
"Thaddeus will probably need someone to help scrub his back," replied Matt.
A dimpled grin spread across Heyes' face as he nodded in agreement. The woman pushed past Heyes and disappeared down the hallway. The dark haired man figured he didn't need to tell Matt about the long handled scrub brush in the cabin. At the other end of the corridor, Jenny stepped through the door to Mrs. Henderson's parlor.
"Mary Sue said you know how to play whist. She and Neville both play. Would you be a fourth at cards tonight?" called Jenny.
Heyes straightened up and walked towards Jenny.
"Sure, I'll be glad to be your whist partner tonight," agreed Heyes, "but maybe we should see about teaching Mrs. Henderson and Doc Beauregard how to play poker."
The buxom blonde shook her head as Heyes reached her. She lowered her voice.
"I tried explaining the rules. Mary Sue doesn't really have a head for cards. Whist is the only game she knows," sighed Jenny. "So to balance things out, you're going to be Neville's whist partner."
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