Chapter 10
"Hit me," Heyes said.
Ridley was dealing and Heyes was seated across from his partner, with Shorty and two other young gang members between them. The men had ridden into the small town, if you could call it a town, late that afternoon. Their horses were boarded at the only livery stable in town and the six men had been playing blackjack in the saloon that doubled as the town's only hotel since early evening.
A small blond boy named Cole, shifted in his seat when Ridley dealt Heyes a five of clubs. Added to the six of diamonds already in front of him, the hand looked promising. Heyes gently laid the two cards he held in his hand onto the table and slid them under his bet. What Cole lacked in stature, he made up for in grit; he could ride, shoot, and drink with the toughest of the men. "Hit me too," he said steadily.
Ridley tossed a queen of spades onto the table and Cole swore softly as he threw his cards down on the table.
The boy seated on Coles left, laughed, and slapped his knee. "Cole, that's the third time in a row you busted," he said loudly.
"Didn't know you could count that high, Buck," Cole said threateningly, and started to rise.
"Settle down," Curry said sharply, and the boys, reluctantly, backed down. "Why don't you two go relieve Cooper and Jackson, you both look like you could use a little fresh air." Both boys had been drinking heavily and he was beginning to wonder if they would be a liability on the raid the next night. Neither boy had ridden with the gang before, but had been anxious to go, when White picked them from the group back at the Hole.
Buck stumbled toward the door and Cole followed, bumping into the other boy, which resulted in Buck taking a swing at him. The two began to exchange blows, eliciting hoots and hollers from the men in the room. When the boys fell over and began wrestling on the floor, Heyes rolled his eyes and stood. Lifting the pitcher of beer from the table, he took a few steps toward the brawling youths and emptied the pitcher over their heads.
The boys looked up in shocked surprise while Heyes glared down at them. "You were told to go outside, now get," he said sternly.
"Do like the man says, boys," Ridley called out.
The young men complied, and Heyes returned to the table.
"Next time, you let me give the orders," Ridley warned, giving Heyes a hard look.
The former leader of the Devil's Hole gang stared back, his expression darkening.
"How about switching to poker, I've had just about enough of blackjack," Shorty announced loudly.
"Sure," Heyes said, a smile slowly returning to his face.
Curry let out the breath he'd been holding and signaled to the young saloon girl who'd been hovering close to the table. "Honey, bring us another pitcher?" he asked, flashing a smile.
The girl returned with the pitcher and set it on the table, smiling at Curry as she brushed against his leg. "Anything else?" she asked, laying her hand on his shoulder.
"Maybe later," he replied, giving her a wink.
The other men chuckled and began filling their mugs.
The girl smiled and returned to the bar.
"I think I'll make sure those two relieve Cooper and Jackson and don't start brawling again," Kid said, standing and glancing around the room. Things were quiet, and the men would probably be playing cards for several hours, before most of them would find a bed, either alone or with company, in the upstairs rooms of the establishment. "Deal me out for a hand or two," he added, stepping away from the table.
"Let me know if anything looks suspicious?" Ridley asked, and Curry nodded.
Heyes watched his partner walk through the batwing doors of the saloon. He was limping, Heyes observed with dismay. Except after long days in the saddle or unusually hard work at the ranch, Curry rarely showed any evidence of his leg injury from two years ago. Why is he limping now? Heyes wondered. They hadn't been doing anything strenuous for several weeks. The heavy burden on his mind taking a toll on his body perhaps? Heyes glanced at the other men at the table. None of them seemed to have noticed anything, as all were focused on the cards and the money on the table.
Curry met the two young gang members walking down the street. Both boys looked cold and hungry.
"Did you see anything out there?" Curry asked, glancing toward the edge of town.
"Naw, heard a few coyotes though," Cooper answered.
The town was well situated, slightly higher than the surrounding area, and with a full view of the valley. Any riders or wagons approaching the town could be seen for quite a ways, even at night if the moon was bright enough. The little town was one of the few truly "lawless" towns in Wyoming. Too small for a local sheriff, a marshal visited the town once a month. Any man was welcome, as long as he laid a little money down, and no questions were asked. The shotgun behind the bar kept things from getting out of hand.
With the outlaw gang suspected of taking refuge in Devil's Hole, it was surprising that lawmen weren't sweeping all towns in the foot hills and surrounding area. That was one of the reasons Ridley had decided to post look-outs through the night—just in case.
"Go on inside, the men are just starting up a new poker game," Curry said to Jackson. The boy nodded gratefully and both boys headed for the bright light emanating from the saloon.
"I wanna talk to you," Curry said, holding out his arm to block Cooper's path. Surprised, and somewhat fearful, Cooper nodded and waited, as Jackson disappeared from view.
"You've been on a couple of train jobs with those boys?" Kid began, and Cooper nodded.
"Tell me how they behave."
"What do you mean?" Cooper asked, confused.
"Do they follow orders? Act like renegades? Do they act like they're afraid, or enjoying the power?
"Oh, well, different ways I guess. Ridley gives the orders and Shorty backs him up. Shorty don't do nothin' unless Ridley tells him to. Jackson and the others," his mind seemed to drift for a moment, "Foster, McGill, Dawkins, they're all dead now, but we all just followed orders. We made sure nobody came out of any of the other cars and watched to see that no riders were coming. Kinsey waited until we were all done, and then, well, he did his job. He didn't take orders from Ridley though; I think Ridley was afraid of him." The boy stopped and looked at Curry. "There won't be any passengers on this train, will there? Just a few railroad men?"
Kid nodded, "That's what White said."
"Good," Cooper said, looking down.
"Cole and Buck haven't been out on a job yet?" Kid asked, returning to his questions.
"No, just me and Jackson."
"What about the money, does Ridley hold it all?"
Cooper nodded again. "We're not allowed to have any of it, not 'till we get our share later."
"Humph," Curry snorted, "seems like Ridley runs a pretty tight ship."
"I figure you can do what you want though, like Kinsey did."
Kid smiled, "I suppose a little privilege comes with being fast with one of these," he said as he tapped the gun resting on his hip. "How good is Ridley? I haven't seen him shoot."
"He's okay, but he never tried anything with Kinsey, nobody did."
"Maybe he needs to know that Heyes is pretty good with his six-gun too." Curry observed. "Don't tell Ridley I was asking about all this," he added.
"No, sir," Cooper replied, giving the older man a serious look. "Mr. Curry, can I tell you something?"
"Sure," Kid said, wondering what the boy was going to say.
"I always really admired you, I mean, you were sort of my hero, so…it's a real honor to ride with you."
Kid turned away, troubled by the boys words.
Cooper continued, "You always made it look so easy, you and Heyes. You got all that money and then never got caught. I thought maybe I'd do that—make lots of money and then just go start a ranch or something."
Kid shifted uncomfortably. If he and Heyes did their jobs right, they'd be sending this boy and the others to the gallows for their part in the robberies. "Well, that doesn't always work out. Most men that rob trains end up dead or in jail. We still might," he added.
"Oh, I know it's dangerous, that's why I'm glad you and Heyes are with us now. I know you hardly ever lost a man when you were leading your gang."
Kid couldn't look the boy in the eye. "We did our best. Let's go back in there before they get too far into that game," he said quickly, changing the subject.
Cooper grinned and headed for the saloon. Slowly, Kid followed, limping a little more than he had before.
"Hey, where you been?" Shorty asked loudly, as the two men entered the saloon.
"Just checking the area," Kid lied smoothly, "don't want any unexpected guests tonight."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Ridley nodded his agreement.
The men settled into their game and ordered more beer and whiskey. As the night wore on, the voices grew louder, the jokes grew cruder, and the conversation turned to the few women that continued to serve drinks and display themselves in front of the men.
"Which one you gonna take Heyes?" Ridley asked with a sly grin.
Heyes stared back at Ridley, but said nothing. He didn't know what Charlotte was doing right now, whether she was thinking about him, whether she would wait for him. They hadn't parted on good terms, and he wondered if his decision to track down this gang had ruined the best chance he'd had at happiness in a long time.
"Well?" Ridley prompted, "Which one Heyes?"
"Him? He never touches women the night before a job, thinks it's bad luck or something," Curry laughed and tossed back the shot of whiskey that had just been poured.
"Suit yourself," Ridley retorted, "that just leaves more for the rest of us to pick from."
Heyes glanced at his cousin, a slight smile on his lips, Thanks Kid.
"Well I don't think it's bad luck," Jackson spoke up, looking hungrily around the room.
"Me neither," Shorty said quickly.
The slender brunette who'd brought the drinks leaned closer to Kid. She rested her arm on his shoulder, and waited for a response.
Shorty looked at the girl, and then at Kid. "Well, if you ain't gonna take her I think I will," Shorty slurred. He'd been drinking heavily all evening and almost toppled his chair over as he pushed it away from the table to stand up.
Kid felt the girl's body stiffen but her face remained masked with a stiff smile. "Now Shorty, I didn't say I wasn't gonna, I was just finishing my whiskey," Curry said calmly.
"Fine, I'll get another one then." He staggered toward the center of the saloon, grabbing an older red head around the waist.
The men at the table snickered quietly. The woman wasn't the prettiest, or the youngest girl in the room, but with the amount of liquor the man had consumed, he didn't seem to notice.
Heyes watched his partner stand and then head toward the stairs, his arm around the shoulders of the brunette. He tried not to let his concern show in his face. He knew that Eliza's death was still weighing heavily in his partner's heart, and couldn't help but notice the resemblance between this girl and Eliza. She looked remarkably like Eliza had when Heyes had first met her ten years before.
"I think I'll take a walk outside," Heyes announced, noticing that most of the others were focused on the women now.
None of the men paid any attention to him as he exited the saloon. He walked slowly down the street, looking into the doorways and down the alleyways. Before he'd gone too far down the street, a man stepped out of the shadows.
"Over here, Heyes," Jennings' voice called out softly.
"You're pretty good," Heyes observed, after he'd followed Jennings into the alley. "There must be a dozen towns a day's ride from the Hole that we could have stopped in."
"Well, like you said, I'm good," Jennings replied coolly. "So what's your plan?"
"We stop a train tomorrow, tomorrow afternoon, outside of Westbrook. We open the safe and take a payroll. There won't be any killing."
Jennings looked impressed. "How are you going to stop the killing?"
"They had a gunman named Kinsey who did the shooting, he isn't with the gang anymore," Heyes said simply.
"Dead?" Jennings asked.
Heyes nodded.
The railroad detective smiled broadly. "Alright, I'll have men on the train, they'll be told to take everyone alive, if possible, but keep your heads down just in case."
"You can't do that," Heyes objected. "You won't get the leader. He's calls himself 'White' because of his white hair. He never goes along on the robberies. Ridley meets him afterward and gives him the money, and then they both meet up with the rest of the gang and give the men their cut."
"We'll have to arrest him when he meets his man then," Jennings reluctantly agreed.
"What about the rest of the gang?"
"With the two leaders out of the way, you can take over and bring them back here, we'll be waiting."
Heyes nodded, "Alright, you stay out of the way during the robbery then, and I'll find a way to follow Ridley and lead you to White.
"Thank you, Heyes," Jennings said, extending his hand. "Midwest Railroad and its passengers owe you a great deal. I will personally see that you are well rewarded for your heroic actions."
Heyes shook the other man's hand. "All I want is for this murderous gang to be brought to justice."
"I'll see you in a few days," Jennings added, as they parted.