PART 4

"ALIAS SAM TWAIN"

"The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it."

~~Wendell Berry~~

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"Sam? Hey, c'mon...open your eyes!" Curry patted the journalist's cheeks harder than he had the first few times. "Aw, c'mon, Sam...wake up - please?" he coaxed as he reached over to grab a wet washcloth. Dabbing it gently on her forehead and cheeks he released a frustrated breath. "Sure wish we'd had that conversation already, Sam. You know, the one where you tell me your real name?" he groused. He leaned down to put his ear near her mouth and as he turned his head, he could see the rise and fall of her chest. Yep, she's breathin' alright...He submerged the cloth in the water again and dropped it across her face.

Almost immediately Sam bolted upright coughing and sputtering. "What are you trying to do - drown me?" she protested indignantly, her muffled voice coming from beneath the sopping wet cloth that still clung dripping from her face.

"Sorry," Jed said as he removed the washcloth. "Guess I forgot to wring it out."

"That's an understatement," Sam muttered wearily and fell backwards upon the cushion. "You don't sound sorry," she commented, her tone tinged with suspicion. Eyes still closed, she reached up with her hand to swipe at her wet face. "Where are my glasses?" she demanded.

"I amsorry," Curry said again as he handed her the eye-wear, "Here they are, I even cleaned -"

"Would you quit apologizing - please!" Sam cut him off mid-stream. "I asked you to tell me; it's not your fault – or mine - that my stomach can't handle the truth." She placed the spectacles on her face and opened her eyes slightly. "That was some ending...I can't tell you how glad I am that you never had to deal with men like that before. I won't be able to forget what Heyes went through for a long, long time..."

With a deep shudder she turned on her side and wrapped her arms around the pillow. "Until today," she continued in a reflective whisper, "I thoughtIhad the market cornered on hatred for another human being, but after listening to you, what I feel isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to what you must feel for Tony." She shivered.

When Curry maintained a stoic silence, Sam cocked her head to the side to look up at him. "I have one last question…strictly off the record. IF you choose to answer, what you say will stay just between us and no judgment on my part, I promise."

Curry weighed her proposition and then gave a curt nod. "Shoot."

Sam winced at his word choice. "Aren't you in the least bit afraid...that Tony will still come after you? You said that Part told Heyes that he would do worse things to you."

A lengthy silence permeated the room and a guarded look came over Jed's face before he answered. "No."

"But - "

"Part lied to Heyes; he only said those things to hurt him in his most vulnerable spot. What he really wanted to do was to use Heyes and Curry to set an example to any others who might want to interfere in his business. He wasn't afraid of me. He never expected me to come after him."

Sam pondered his reply for a moment. "Can Part...can he ever hurt anyone else?" she finally ventured.

The quietness that followed her question went undisturbed until Curry broke it. "Heyes was the only family I had left an' Part robbed me of him – he took away the time we had left together! I didn't get the chance to tell you earlier that I practically had to force Lom to deputize me. Told him that I was going to go one way or another to find Part an' that if he wanted things to be done legal, then he'd better listen. Part and his men were wanted for murder, so even though I was alone, now I had the law backing me up."

He blew out a breath. "It kinda reminded me of the days before we received amnesty, since Lom couldn't very well let it be known that he'd sent Deputy Kid Curry off to track down some mobsters." Jed's features hardened. "When I finally caught up to Part and told him who I was, I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn't gonna let me bring him in alive an' that it was gonna be him or me, so let's jus' say I decided to play the game his way." He hesitated before he added quietly, "I wanted justice for Heyes; I had to settle for revenge."

"Would...would you think me a horrible person if I said I'm glad?"

"No, because that's exactly how I felt, too."

Two pairs of eyes met and locked. A look of mutual understanding passed between them right before a faint smile lifted the corners of Curry's mouth. Having had the opportunity to share some of his grief and memories of Heyes with someone else and knowing that at last some of the truth of what Tony and his men had done to Heyes would become public knowledge, Jed's black mood lifted a bit; his tense muscles begin to relax one by one. With the interview over and behind him, and Sam seeming to be almost back to her old self, it was time to move on.

"That was more than one more question, Miss Twain, which reminds me," Curry's smile transformed into one which resembled the cat who has found both the bowl of cream and the canary's cage unlocked, "Now it's my turn!"

Her face now buried deep into the crook of her arm, Sam's reply was somewhat muffled. "If Heyes were here, he'd be teasing you about not remembering anything you read, Curry." She rolled onto her back and crossed her arms across her stomach and cast a speculative look at him.

"Oh, would he really?" Jed gave her a curious look. "Why?"

"Sam Twain's a combination of two names I borrowed from a very famous author. In fact, I believe Heyes mentioned once that he was one of your favorites, too." Sam rose to her feet carefully and crossed over to the kitchen to stare out the window. She quickly averted her eyes and stared down into the sink instead when she realized she was staring at the tall oak tree that towered over Heyes' final resting place.

"Twain…hmm?" Curry said thoughtfully and mulled over her words. He cocked his head to the side, "As in Mark Twain?"

"Correct," Sam pivoted about and nodded, "and Sam is from Twain's counterpart, Samuel Clemens. I thought it only fair to borrow the monikers from someone who was such a success with his own alias; I hoped it might bring me good luck."

"But," still deep in thought, Curry's brow furrowed, "that would mean that neither of those names are really yours, so…you didlie to me after all!"

"Oh, no, no - wait a minute!" Sam held up a hand to protest her innocence, "Give me a chance to explain! Sam is also short for Samantha, as I told you at the door, but Samantha is my middlename, not my first."

Maybe it was the emotional stress of having to relive Heyes' death, or the fact that Sam didn't seem at all concerned with her duplicity, or possibly even a combination of both, but Curry's good mood deteriorated; it disappeared even faster than it had materialized. Unfortunately it took his patience along with it. With an agility that belied his age, Curry crossed the room and grabbed her by her upper arms. "Why all the secrecy - who in the hell are you?"he demanded.

It was a repeat performance of the previous storm that had brewed in the curry-blue eyes, but this time Sam was experiencing firsthand the full depth of his anger in the strength of the punishing grip he had on her arms. With an effort she pushed her fear down and strove to keep her tone neutral. "I had my reasons, but there isn't any big conspiracy to keep anything a secret. I honestly wanted to do this story – it was something that was important to me - and, as I explained to you earlier, I wasn't sure of the reception I'd get if I used my real name so -"

"I'm tired of hearin' that excuse – we're going to get down to the truth - take off that blasted bonnet right now!" Curry snapped.

Despite her outward show of bravado, Sam's heart was pounding so hard against her ribcage she thought it might explode. She glanced down at her arms with a grimace; the fingers digging into her flesh were going to leave bruises. "You're going to have to let go of my arms first," she pointed out.

Although the intensity of his searing glare increased, Curry released her non-too-gently and took a step back. "All part of the lie, huh? I wondered why you were wearin' somethin' as ugly as that, but I was too politeto say anythin'!" he growled.

Ignoring the jibe, Sam reached up to untie the strings with shaking hands and willed them to stay steady. You knew the risks you were taking when you decided to do this…she reminded herself sternly. Once she had pulled the hat off her head she stood on legs that had turned to jelly and waited.

Curry continued to stare at her with narrowed eyes and then he shook his head. "Not good enough!" he ground out. In the blink of an eye he reached out and removed several of the pins that had held her coiffured hair in place, releasing a mane of silver and gray hair to cascade down her back.

"Still not right..." Jed muttered with a frown and subjected her to a thorough perusal that went from her booted feet all the way up to the top of her head. "There's nothin' familiar 'bout you, lady, unless I'm missin' somethin'…" Curry's brow furrowed even further while his gaze travelled up and down again, this time with an even more critical eye. His examination complete, he found himself staring at the top of a head bent down to stare at the floor; his eyes narrowed. "Look at me!" he demanded curtly.

Sam took her time obeying the command and lifted her head slowly until she made eye contact with him.

After another eye-squinting once-over, the corners of Curry's mouth turned up and the perplexed expression vanished. He strode forward to lift the tinted glasses away from the woman's face and then stepped back to stare at her .

Although she didn't flinch, Sam had been unable to prevent herself from closing her eyes when his hands brushed up against her cheeks.

It came as no surprise when Curry brusquely ordered, "Open 'em back up!"

Sam didn't need to ask what he meant. Slowly she lifted her lashes until she could look fully into his face.

When turquoise orbs met curry-blue, Jed sucked in his breath unable to accept the information his eyes were transmitting to his brain. "No...there's no way," he gasped hoarsely, "It can't be!" His eyes flicked to her hair. A different shade, but...He stared deep into her eyes again, needing more affirmation. "You can't be here," he whispered, "I read the article in the newspaper..." All the color receded from his face, leaving Jed pale and looking as if he had just seen a ghost. "Teddy?" he breathed.

"Guilty as charged -" The rest of her muffled words were lost as she was engulfed in a great big bear hug that threatened to crack her ribs when Curry embraced her as if he was never going to let her go.

"But how…?" he whispered into her hair, "They told me you were dead!"

Once again tears pricked her eyes but this time she didn't attempt to hold them at bay. As wave after wave of emotion ran through her, she felt her body begin to shake. In all the scenarios she had envisioned in her mind of this day, she had never gone as far as daring to hope to be received with this much pleasure. Wrapped up safe in the protection of Jed's arms, she felt as if she had come home and didn't care if she ever moved.

Please, Jed - please - don't ever let me go...she pleaded silently. Pressed up against his chest, she could hear his heart pounding at a furious pace, keeping tempo with the staccato beat of her own. She could feel the man's trembling as well and wondered what was going on in his mind right now. As if he had heard her thoughts, he began to speak.

"Oh, God, Teddy…I can't believe it - it really IS you!" Jed whispered, "I never thought I'd ever see you again! There was a newspaper article – it said you had been killed! I don't care how or why it's not true, but please...don't let this jus' be another one of my loco dreams…tell me you're really here?"

Teddy pulled back just enough to cup the man's face between her hands and looked deep into curry-blue eyes. What she saw in his face tugged at her heartstrings and assuaged her guilty conscious a bit for what she had put Curry through. "I promise you that I am here and I'm very, veryreal, Jed..." Too caught up in her emotions to say another word, she settled for putting her arms around Jed and pressing her body closer to his. She released a deep sigh of contentment when he reciprocated the move.

They stood like that, wrapped in an embrace, for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only minutes, content with being in each others arms, able to feel the contact of the other person's body against theirs. It was only when Teddy became aware of the fact that if Jed squeezed her any tighter she would be in danger of passing out that she spoke.

"Jed, as thrilled as I am to be in your arms right now, I do need to breathe!" she teased. When she pulled back against his arms, he loosened his hold just enough to allow her to tilt her head back to look into his face. A heartbeat later he had claimed her mouth in a searing kiss that soon had her in greater danger of fainting than before.

With great reluctance Teddy broke the kiss to rest her head against his chest. "Jedediah Curry...I am serious!" she gasped, "I am going to be a wilted puddle on your floor if I don't get a chance to put some oxygen into my lungs!"

Curry's answer was to scoop her up into his arms and carry her over to his chair, the one in the corner of the room. Sitting down, he positioned her on his lap, pulled her back against his chest and kept a tight hold on her. "Will this do, ma'am?"

Teddy picked up one of his hands to hold in hers and snuggled under his chin. "Umm, yes sir…this will do just fine," she whispered. Breathing in Jed's scent, there was a smile on her face as she exhaled slowly, ending with another deep sigh of blissful content. A manly smell, it consisted of an intoxicating mixture of coffee, scotch, leather...and sweat. Comforting as well as extremely pleasant, it conjured up other special memories of days gone by.

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