PART 10
"A NEW AMNESTY DEAL"
"Not only did I lie about lying, but I lied about lying about lying. And you'd better believe that's the truth."
~~Jarod Kintz~~
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"All aboard!" the conductor called out as they neared the platform and stepped up onto it, "All aboard!"
I don't want to go! Teddy swallowed, hoping to dislodge the lump in her throat and tried to breathe normally. What if the dream wasn't just a dream? What if it was a premonition? Or a bad omen? I don't want to leave you again, Jed! Teddy found herself in the position of having to force yet another fake smile to her face. In contrast, her hands were clenched, the fingernails digging into her palms as she turned to the man beside her. "Well, it looks like it's time..." she began, her words sounding hollow and stilted.
Jed fished around in his pockets. "Now where did I put that daggone ticket?" he muttered irritably and thrust her package at her. "Here, hold your - your whatever it is!" he groused and continued his search, patting first one pocket after another but still coming up empty-handed. His agitation increased as he began his search all over again starting back at the beginning. "It was right here jus' a minute ago!" Continuing his monologue, he snapped, "It doesn't have legs - so it couldn't have jus' walked off!"
"Um, Jed-"
"I swear I had it in my hand an' then I put it somewhere safe...where is it?" he muttered in exasperation as he turned another pocket inside out and came up with only lint.
Teddy waved a piece of paper in front of him. "Jed-"
"What!?" the distracted man snapped and then he took notice of what she held in her hand. "Where'd you get that?" he demanded.
"You handed it to me with my package," Teddy explained. She watched with an amused expression while Jed nodded and continued his search. She wondered what else he might have misplaced.
Then he smiled as his fingers slipped into his breast pocket. He patted it and released a deep sigh of relief.
"Good, that's one less thing to worry about," Curry murmured with a quick glance around the depot. Since most of the other passengers had already boarded, the place was pretty well deserted. Jed touched his breast pocket again nervously and cleared his throat. He took hold of Teddy's hands and began, "Uh, Teddy, there's somethin' I wanna ask you -"
"ALL ABOARD!" The porter stood by the steps giving them a glacial look of disapproval. He pulled out a watch and made a great show of looking at it before he pinned the couple with a pointed look.
"Dammit - there's not enough time!" Jed ran a frustrated hand through his hair, "I have somethin' I wanna give you, but it'll have to wait 'til you get back. I wanna do this right -"
"LAST CALL...ALL ABOARD!" the porter announced with finality and snapped his watch shut. The train whistle blew again, adding emphasis to his words. He stepped up on the bottom stair and waited.
"It'll be okay," Jed muttered, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself as well, "Like you said, it's only four weeks -"
"Three!" Teddy was quick to correct him, "I'll work as fast as I can!"
"Three weeks is even better. We can do this...can't we?" His curry blue eyes searched for assurance, but found only the top of the woman's head.
Although Teddy had steeled herself for this moment, she found she couldn't look Jed in the eyes and settled for the center of his chest instead. Knowing he was waiting for her answer, she nodded. I will NOT break down; I will NOT cry...
Sensitive to her moodiness, Jed kept his tone light. "Well, then, c'mon, let's get you on that train. The sooner you go, the sooner you can get back, right?"
Again, a nod was all Teddy could manage.
While they traversed the short distance to the train, Jed kept up a running monologue. "Three weeks really isn't a long time; it's only twenty one days. You'll be busy with your story, I'll be busy with things here at the ranch; the time will pass before we know it. I mean, what could possibly happen between now and then? I'll be right here waiting for you."
Having reached the train, Jed turned to face Teddy so that the porter was behind him, hidden from view. He ignored the man's loud cough and gathered the woman in his arms. "I mean it, Teddy," he whispered fiercely, "the minute you know you can come back, you send me a message, you hear?"
Teddy nodded.
Jed pulled back, not surprised to find himself staring at the top of Teddy's head again. Cupping her chin in his hand, he tilted it up until he could look into her eyes. "I love you, Theodora Samantha Montgomery! I want you to remember that, an' when you come back, I'm gonna show you all over again jus' how much. Until then, I'll be countin' the minutes - no, the seconds - until you get back here, so you'd best get a move on!" Under the circumstances, knowing that several pairs of eyes were watching them from the train windows with avid curiosity, Jed gave Teddy a more chaste kiss than he desired and sent her up the steps before she could say a word.
Not that she could have said anything, but she wasn't given the chance. Free of Jed's scrutiny at last, a few of the tears she had held back made their escape to make a watery trail down her cheeks. She made her way blindly down the aisle and slid into the first unoccupied seat she came to that was on Jed's side of the train. Teddy tossed her valise, package and portfolio on the unoccupied seat opposite her and swiped at her eyes.
After taking a deep breath, she scooted over as near to the window as she could get and pressed her face close to it. There were only a handful of people remaining on the platform, so it wasn't difficult for her eyes to find Jed. Teddy stared at the man, committing his image to memory. You're wrong, Jed... three weeks is a lifetime!
Jed's eyes searched for and found Teddy and she realized that all traces of his smile were missing from his face.
Truth be told, the man looked even more miserable about her leaving than Teddy was about going. Her previous thoughts came charging back in full force to taunt her. What if something did happen? What if Jed wasn't here when she came back? What if her dream came true and he died? What if -
The train whistle sounded shrilly, signaling departure; there was a slight lurch as it began to move. Teddy tried to smile but found it impossible this time; instead, she gave a feeble wave of her fingers for Jed's sake. The train began to creep along at a sluggish pace.
Her anxiety mounting as the seconds ticked by, Teddy began to berate herself. "I never told you I love you, Jed," she whispered. "What happens if you have some kind of accident before I get back and you never know? I don't want to go - I want to stay here with you!" She turned away from the window and, without any further hesitation, grabbed her valise and portfolio.
Before anyone realized her intent or could stop her, she disappeared out the back of the train and stood outside the door watching the platform slowly disappear. When she turned to look down and saw the distance between herself and the ground she resumed talking to herself. "It's not going too fast, yet...so if I'm going to jump, it had better be soon...and there's all that nice, tall grass to break my fall, no trees or rocks to land on -"
"Teddy!"
Surprised at hearing her name, Teddy looked back to discover that Jed, who had been walking along the platform following the train, had descended the stairs and was now walking at a fast clip, following the train just a short distance back. She took a step down.
"Teddy - have you gone completely loco?" Curry yelled, waving his arms in the air, "Get back inside!"
Concentrating on ignoring both Jed's shouts and her own mind which was echoing exactly the same sentiments, Teddy bit down on her lip and put her foot on the bottom step.
Realizing that Teddy was courting disaster, Jed picked up his pace. "The hell you are!" he growled. "You stay put - I'll be right there to get you!"
The train began to pick up speed and Teddy watched the ground disappear at a slightly faster rate. She took a quick look back, calculating the distance between the train and Jed. There was no way he was going to be able to catch up now.
Curry had already arrived at the same conclusion and had stopped dead in his tracks.
It's now or never...
Jed made one last attempt. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled, "Stay on the train - get off at the next stop - I'll meet you there!" He groaned in frustration when the woman gave no indication that his words had reached her. I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt, but considerin' your track record so far, I'm gonna bet you're pretendin' you can't hear me!
Teddy took a deep breath, counted to three, closed her eyes...and jumped. Tucking herself into a ball, with the handle of her bag hooked on the arm wrapped tight around her portfolio, she landed on the grassy hill and rolled with the fall. Down the hill she rolled…and rolled...and rolled.
When she finally came to a stop, she lay motionless in the late afternoon sun right where she was and waited for the dazed, disoriented feeling to subside. While she waited, she mentally took stock of her body, checking for any possible injuries she might have sustained. She had just finished her examination, relieved not to find any that were life-threatening, when the sound of booted feet sliding to a halt sent a shower of rocks and debris flying in her direction and alerted Teddy to the fact that Jed had arrived.
Suddenly the warmth of the sun was blocked by a shadow - a shadow that panted...and growled. "If you're...not dead...you're gonna wish...you were!" the gasping shadow thundered before he dropped to his knees to land on the ground beside her.
Teddy raised a hand and wiggled her fingers just enough in the growling one's general direction to let him know she was aware of his presence. Hearing the anxiety that took a slight precedence over the anger in his voice, Teddy decided it might be prudent if she added vocal recognition as well. "Thank you for your show of concern, Mister Curry. I'm not sure, but I think I survived...probably be sore tomorrow…maybe even think it might not have been one of my best plans..."
"I'm pretty sure...I can help you...with that last one!" Jed snapped in between gasps for breath.
Teddy paused long enough to take another fortifying breath and then plunged ahead, taking the growling tiger by the tail. "Please...don't be mad, Jed; I just couldn't do it. I tried, but in the end I was too scared that something would happen to you before I could tell you that I love you." There. Whatever else happened, she had finally told him; she felt much better.
"So, because you love me, an' because you thoughtsomethin' might happen to me before you returned, you decided to throw yourself off a SPEEDIN' TRAIN AN' KILL YOURSELF?" he yelled loudly enough to startle a nearby group of sage hens into taking flight.
Wonder if Jed ever spent any time living with grizzly bears? Teddy found herself pondering as she listened to his rant. "Yes - blame it on that stupid nightmare I had."
"Huh?" He pierced her with a look through eyes that had narrowed into slits at her admission, "I thought you said you didn't remember it?"
"I lied."
"That's becoming quite a habit with you," Curry eased himself down into a sitting position on the ground beside her and stretched his legs out, relieved to find them both still in one piece and functioning properly. "Should I even ask why?"
"It seemed so real! It was kinda strange in a way, since all of your old Devil's Hole Gang was there, too. Preacher, Lobo, Wheat and Kyle – he was in it the most. I should've known then it couldn't be true, since Kyle's the only one left, now that Heyes is gone…" Teddy heaved a deep sigh. "Well, in the nightmare, you died before I could come back. I don't know how or why - it didn't matter - but you were dead and I was left all alone. And - and I never got to tell you something; something real important."
"Uh, huh."
"And just to set the record straight, I wasn't trying to kill myself. The train wasn't going that fast."
"You came damn-near close enough!" Curry snapped. With his breathing gradually returning back to normal, Jed glanced over at the railroad tracks. "This kinda reminds me of the time me n' Heyes ran into Harry Brisco an' ended up helpin' him get his job back as a BDI man." He shook his head at the memory. "I couldn't get ON the train that time. Almost ripped my arm clean off an' I ended up lyin' flat on my back, the same way as you - 'cept I didn't have any soft hills to roll down.
"They're really not that soft," Teddy groaned.
"I never was any good at tryin' to catch or jumpin' trains, even way back then; scared Heyes half to death – bad enough he thought I was a goner." He expelled a weary sigh. "I'm gettin' too damn old to be chasin' those things anymore, so if you'll promise me you'll NEVER do somethin' like this ever again maybe - jus' maybe - I might be willin' to offer you amnesty - IF you promise to behave yourself for the next twenty years or so."
"Sounds like a good deal to me, as long as I can serve my sentence out on the ranch with you." Teddy turned to face him, an impish grin on her face. "Kinda like the idea of you as my warden."
"I have a few connections; I'll see what I can do." He reached over to move the portfolio out of the way and put it on his other side. His eyes searched the area surrounding Teddy and then he shrugged. "I give up, I don't see it."
"Don't see what?"
"Your whatchamacallit - you know, that thingamajig you bought at the general store today. I don't see it anywhere."
"Oh, that...it's taking a ride on the train."
"A ride? You mean you forgot it?"
"Nope, I left it."
"On purpose?"
"Yep."
"I thought it was going to help you with your writing?"
"Sorry, guess I lied about that, too," she admitted with another deep sigh, although she didn't sound in the least bit remorseful.
"Noooo...?" Blue eyes wide and his mouth slack-jawed, Jed appeared the epitome of scandalized disbelief.
"Hogwash!" Teddy rolled her eyes, "You knew all along, Mister Curry -"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk - all that lyin'..." Jed shook his head with mock disapproval, "I don't know what I'm gonna do with you, Miss Montgomery! Why I jus' might have to pe-na-lize you; maybe add some extra conditions to your amnesty."
"Oh, no - not extra conditions!" Teddy cried in mock horror, playing along and looking appropriately appalled at the thought before she turned on her side to face him. An inquisitive look replaced the other expression on her face. "Like what?"
"Oh, really, really terrible ones," Jed edged closer and stretched out flat on the ground beside her. Propped up on one elbow, he shook his head and on his face there was an expression of deep regret. "Lyin' carries the stiffest penalty of all, you know. First off, your sentence gets changed from twenty years to life. There's no appealin' the decision an' there's no chance of parole - 'specially for someone with a history like yours. There might be a chanceof gettin' out early with good behavior..."
"Life, huh? That doessound serious. I'll take whatever time we've got and not argue with you about that condition. But, as for the 'good behavior' part, since you're my Warden, I feel compelled to warn you not to put any bets on that happening if I were you," Teddy winked at him.
"I can only hope," Jed whispered before he reached over and picked up her left hand to hold in his own. "The next condition is ten times as bad," he announced with another deep sigh. "Some people claim it's worse'n gettin' handcuffed," his expression became even more somber as he continued, "'Cos there isn't a key to unlock it. I've heard tell it requires the services of a preacher or a Justice of the Peace, an' then there's the little matter 'bout puttin' some kind of a metal band around the third finger of this hand right here…" Curry's lips twitched with his efforts to refrain from smiling at the transformation that was taking place on Teddy's face.
Teddy's lips parted, but he didn't allow her to speak.
"Accordin' to tradition, I should be down on one knee," Jed continued, "but takin' into consideration that so far nothin' else in this relationship has been done by the book, this will have to do." He reached into his inside breast pocket and pulled out a small leather pouch. "My little errand earlier today," he explained in response to the unspoken question on Teddy's face, "Had it in safe-keepin' at the bank.
"I really wanted to do this beforeyou left on the train today, but what with chasin' you all over town, time got away from me an' it didn't work out. So, I changed my plan to fit the circumstances - somethin' I learned from Heyes. He always said it was a good idea to have a backup plan - plan B. So then, I was gonna do it when you came back, butthatplan went south when you jumped off the train an' nearly killed yourself. So, this…well, this is plan C...an' I think I'd better take care of this right here an' now before somethin' else happens 'cos I sure don't have a plan D!"
Working one-handed, Jed loosened the cord around the neck of the pouch and dumped out what was inside. Picking it up and holding the object between his thumb and trigger-finger, a slow grin crossed his face. "Heyes didn't have much use for personal things, but this ring meant something special to him. Someday I'll share that story with you; I think you'd appreciate it an' I'd like to think Heyes would want to be a part of this."
He paused a moment to stare at the circle of metal. "He wore this ring a lot, but he didn't put it on that day. If he had, I'm sure they would've taken it an' nobody would've been any the wiser." He lifted his eyes to Teddy's. "Bein' as how it was such short notice it won't be the right size, but for right now I thought I'd see if you might be willin' to let it have a special place on your hand anyway - until we can make it right?"
Momentarily bereft of speech, Teddy could only nod; her heart was racing at a pace so fast she thought she might pass out. Good thing I'm already flat out on the ground...The thought of pinching herself to make sure it wasn't all another dream crossed her mind, but when she felt the warmth of Jed's hand clasped around hers she knew without a doubt it was very real this time. "A ring, Jed? This is what you thought you'd lost back at the train station, isn't it?" she whispered.
A sheepish look upon his face, Jed nodded. The circle of metal between his trigger finger and thumb glinted as it caught a ray of sun and he smiled. "It's not just a ring; this as a band of trust between us." Still holding her hand wrapped inside his, curry-blue eyes looked deep into Teddy's as Jed brought the ring close to her finger. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, "Miss Theodora Samantha Twain Montgomery, will you do me the honor of acceptin' this ring an' sayin' yes to becomin' my wife?"
Overcome with emotion, Teddy nodded again; her eyes filled with tears of happiness as she watched Jed slide the band of silver onto her finger. It was perfect; she couldn't care less if it didn't fit. We owe you so much, Heyes, you'll always have a place in our lives as well as in our hearts…
"YES…Jed Curry – YES – a thousand times, yes!" A laugh of pure joy rang out as Teddy wrapped her arms around Kid's neck in her exuberance. "And just in case there's still any doubt about how I feel…I DO love you Jedediah Curry!"
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** The poem "The Spider and the Fly"
Written by Mary Howitt (1799-1888), it can be found at: .
It was originally published in 1829. When Lewis Carroll was readying "Alice's Adventures Under Ground" for publication, he replaced a parody he had made of a negro minstrel song with a parody of Mary's poem. "The Lobster Quadrille", which is an important part of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, is a parody of Mary's poem concerning a spider and a fly.
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*** GANG REFERENCES:
Here is one of the links I used to support my use of violence in this story:
news/history-lists/7-infamous-gangs-of-new-york
"The Five Points Gang" and the "Dead Rabbits Gang" still had members as late as the 1920's. I found the legend of "Hellcat Maggie" to be of particular interest since I had never thought of women as gang members back then.
"Dandy" Johnny Dolan of the "Whyos Gang" was my inspiration for Anthony Part, aka Pokerface Tony, aka Anthony Cardone.
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**** TENNIS NOTES: Although the origins of tennis are not clear, many experts believe tennis, then called LAWN TENNIS, was invented in 1873 by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, a British army officer. Although Wingfield claimed that he modeled the game, which he called Sphairistiké (Greek for "playing at ball") after an ancient Greek game, many authorities believe that he adapted the principles of the popular
English games of court tennis, squash rackets, and badminton for outdoor play.
Early players preferred to call Wingfield's game TENNIS-ON-THE-LAWN, or LAWN TENNIS. The game was introduced to Bermuda in 1873, and from Bermuda it was brought to the United States by Mary Ewing Outerbridge of Staten Island, New York.
The first game of lawn tennis in the United States was probably played in 1874 on the grounds of the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club.
***** TENNIS WEAR FOR MEN*****
In the early twenties, a budding tennis ace might be turned out in gray rather than white, in flannel trousers or "ducks," slightly baggy pleat-waisted pants that usually featured turn-ups despite the tendency of players to catch their heels in the flap. A cotton shirt would be teamed with a brightly colored blazer, typically badged and braided with "Club colors" and two-tone shoes were worn in soft leather, treated daily to keep them fresh and clean.
"Whites" had been temporarily abandoned, viewed as impractical due to frequent staining with grass and mud.
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****** WHAT WAS TENNIS LIKE IN THE 1920'S?*****
Well, they were the same rules but the rackets were much different. They were wooden, which changed the game a little more like what it is now, because today it is all power hitting, meaning you have to hit hard, but back then it was all placement.
Not only have the frame materials changed but, even more importantly, the allowable size of the racquet head is much greater now than it was only about 30 years ago. This has also added power and allowed greater range in string tension, which have both contributed to the modern "brush" stroke in tennis and more back court play.
Also, all Majors prior to 1968 were only open to amateur players - which, believe it or not, was where the Prestige lay - not in the 'professional' circuit. Because of this, the greater number of players did not turn professional.
So, back in 1920, nearly all players were amateur, the grass court tournaments held the most prestige, and tennis was mainly run by 'lawn tennis associations'. As tennis developed beyond the 1920's, the better grass court players soon learned that the better technique on grass was to be the serve and volley game.
Read more: Q/What_was_Tennis_like_in_the_1920%27s#ixzz1dg6pWTTs