Chapter 11

Heyes didn't move until Kid turned to walk back into the ranch house, taking a quick glance over his shoulder in Heyes' direction. The ex-leader of outlaws was ashamed to be caught spying on his best friend. Even from where he stood, he imagined he could see the reproach in Kid's eyes, the anger in the set of his jaw. He wondered how much of that anger was directed at him.

Heyes sighed heavily at the sound of the screen door slamming shut after Kid. Prometheus seemed to read the change in his master's mood, and responded by nudging his shoulder with his large, velvety muzzle. When Heyes didn't respond, the big beast nudged him again, harder. Heyes stumbled forward from the force of the horse's push. Satisfied that he had the man's attention, Prometheus blew a wet, noisy blast of air out his nostrils. "Sorry, fella," Heyes said, smiling. "Didn't mean to ignore you. But I've just got a few things to work out, you know?" Heyes looked back at the ranch house, staring into the doorway where his life-long friend and partner had disappeared. He rubbed Prometheus' long neck absently. "I gotta figure out how to fix this." He stared into the horses eyes. "Got any suggestions?"

Prometheus shook his massive head vigorously, chuffing at the air, as if in answer to Heyes' question. Heyes laughed. "Well, if you think of something, would you let me know? I think I might need your wisdom on this one."

The sound of carriage wheels churning over the dusty road into their yard made Heyes turn away from the horse. The sight of Charlotte in that carriage made Heyes forget about Kid, at least for a while. The smile on his face let her know without a doubt that he was happy, thrilled even, to see her. Tying Prometheus' lead rope to the fence post, he walked towards her, pushing his hat up off his forehead so he could see her more clearly. His smile broadened at the sight of her, fresh and pretty on the carriage bench, unaffected by the dust and the heat.

But then his smile faded. He realized that she was not smiling at all; was looking rather somber and serious in fact. His dark eyes clouded over and his smile disappeared entirely, overshadowed by a worried frown.

"Hello, Charlotte," he said, his worry evident in his cautious voice.

"Heyes," she replied, somewhat nervously.

"I didn't expect you," he continued, trying to read her mood.

"I wasn't planning on coming," she countered.

"Oh." He paused thoughtfully, and said, "So…"

"Would you help me down, please?" she said, looping the reins around the carriage brake.

"Oh—sure, of course. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." He reached up as she turned toward him in her seat. She reached down, placing her hands on his strong, muscular shoulders as his fingers wrapped around her waist. Trusting him to support her, she slid off the seat, letting her feet dangle in mid-air as he lowered her carefully to the ground. Her body brushed against his and his mind flashed back to the night just past, remembering how good it felt to hold her close on the dance floor. Finally, he took his hands away from her waist and stepped back, watching her adjust her skirts around her.

She avoided looking at him, preferring instead to fuss with her dress a little longer, then reaching up to make sure her hair was arranged just so beneath her straw bonnet. He grew increasingly uncomfortable, wondering what had brought her to the ranch; but he waited for her to speak first. Finally, he cleared his throat noisily, drawing her attention.

"How are you, Heyes?" she asked.

"Fine, Charlotte. You?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you."

The conversation stalled. He waited, expectantly. She didn't seem to notice. His eyebrows rose in an unasked question. She ignored it.

"You are the most confounding woman sometimes, have I ever mentioned that?" he finally blurted.

She looked surprised. Then she laughed out loud; his outburst had startled her but she didn't blame him for it. Taking his hand in hers, she said, "I'm sorry, Heyes. I don't mean to be difficult. I'm just not used to this."

"Used to what?" he tried again. "Why are you here? What do you want? Not that I'm not pleased that you're here, because I am, I truly am; but it would be so much easier if I just knew what you wanted."

"I want you, Heyes. Don't you know that by now?"

He fell silent, his mouth closing and then dropping open, and then closing again. Hannibal Heyes, the man with the silver tongue, was suddenly struck dumb. Tentatively, Charlotte smiled. "Is that alright, Hannibal? I mean, I thought it's what you wanted too; otherwise, I would never have come out here."

Heyes hadn't found his voice yet. He pulled his hat off his head and ran his fingers through his long brown hair. Then he put his hat back on his head, pulling it firmly down over his forehead and then pushing it back, far back on his head.

"Hannibal?"

"Uh, Charlotte…I'm sorry, I didn't expect this at all. I thought you said you didn't want a husband. You said—"

"I remember what I said. And I meant it…when I said it. I've meant it all my life. I meant it when I went home last night. But no matter how much I meant it, somehow, I don't feel it anymore."

"I don't understand."

"After you took me home last night, I couldn't sleep. I kept going back to what you said, what I said, how you looked at me, how I felt. And I realized one thing. I realized that for the first time in my life, I don't have everything I want."

"You want to get married?" Nervousness and some panic caused his voice to go up half an octave making her laugh again.

"Maybe someday, but that's not what I meant. I just want to spend some time getting to know each other better—for now."

Heyes laughed happily and grabbed Charlotte around her waist, lifting her into the air, spinning her around in a dizzying circle. Setting her down again, he kissed her, grinding his lips into hers. When he let her up for air, she pushed her hands against his chest so she could look up into his eyes. "There's only one thing, Hannibal."

"Anything."

"I haven't changed my mind about being a teacher. I won't give that up. Not for anything, not ever."

"That's all right, Charlotte. Don't you know that? I don't want to change you. I love you just the way you are."

He kissed her again, setting her mind spinning. But she wasn't sure if her head was spinning from the kiss or because he'd just told her he loved her.

"Ok, so what do we do now? Do you have to go back to town? No. We have to celebrate. Can you stay? You have to stay, alright?" Charlotte opened her mouth to speak, but he kept on talking, "I know, we can go for a ride; maybe a picnic in the meadow. I think we have some leftover chicken from last night's supper." He started walking toward the house, grabbing her hand and pulling her along behind. "And some wine. We'll need wine. I wish we had champagne but we don't keep that on—"

"Heyes?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you do something for me?"

"Anything, darling. Whatever you ask."

"Will you shut up?" She pulled on his arm, dragging him in close to her. Putting her hands on each side of his face, she placed her fingers over his lips, silencing him with the gesture. Then, sliding her fingers out of the way, she kissed him.

Parting, he repeated throatily, "Whatever you ask." They continued in silence into the house, walking hand in hand, pausing a time or two to kiss playfully. Suddenly, he stopped. "Oh wait. I almost forgot about Prometheus. I need to put him in his stall."

"Well, how would it be if I went inside and saw what I could scrounge up to put in a picnic basket while you do that? Do you think that would be all right?"

"Wonderful. I'll join you as soon as I can."

Reluctantly, Heyes released his grip on her hand, letting it slide away from his touch. Then he returned to where he had left Prometheus tied to the fence while she walked the rest of the distance to the house alone.

00000

Charlotte stood in the big kitchen, looking it over, trying to visualize where the two bachelors living there would things stored. She found the picnic basket just where she would have expected; on a shelf high up inside the walk-in pantry. Smiling with satisfaction, she took it down. Setting it on the counter top, she pulled open the door of the icebox, leaning inside to survey its contents. Spotting the leftover chicken Heyes promised would be there, she had it, along with two apples she'd also noticed, in her hands when she backed out of the icebox and bumped into Kid Curry who was standing in the middle of the kitchen watching her.

She jumped, "Oh, Mr. Curry. I didn't hear you come in."

"No, ma'am. I guess you didn't. I'm pretty quiet most times, I reckon. Comes from years of running and hiding from the law."

"Oh. Yes, I suppose that would make one a bit more cautious than most folks."

"Yes, ma'am. It does." He looked at the food she was holding as if he were noticing it for the first time. "You mind me asking you what you're doing, ma'am?"

"Please, call me Charlotte. We're probably going to be seeing a lot more of each other now."

"We are, ma'am? Uh, I mean Charlotte?"

"Well, I mean…" Not really sure what to say, Charlotte decided to answer his original question instead. "We're going on a picnic."

Kid looked bewildered. "We are?"

Charlotte laughed. "No, not we. I'm sorry. I wasn't very clear, was I? Heyes and I are going on a picnic."

Relieved, Kid sighed, "Oh. That's nice." Looking around, he asked, "Where is Heyes?"

"He's out putting Prometheus back in his stall, I think. Do you know where the wine is?"

"Wine, ma'am?"

"Charlotte. Yes, for our picnic. Heyes said he thought you had some wine?"

"Oh. Oh, sure. Let me get that for you. There're some glasses up there in that cupboard, if you want to reach them." He reached up into a different cabinet and selected a bottle of wine. Wondering just how serious Heyes was about this woman, he finally settled on a mid-range bottle, not too expensive but as he recalled, quite tasty.

He handed it to her and she placed it in the basket along with the chicken and fruit and assorted picnic ware.

00000

Prometheus gazed at Heyes, disapprovingly. "I know. We haven't finished working yet." He untied the lead rope from the fence post. "But this is a one-time deal, ok? It won't happen again, I promise." The horse stomped his foreleg across the hard ground, stirring up the dust around his hoof. "Look, tomorrow we'll work twice as long. You have my word. How's that?"

The big animal shook his head vigorously, unconvinced. "Ok, well how about this?" Heyes reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two cubes of white sugar. "Does this help?" he said, offering them to the horse. Prometheus ignored them, letting his master stew for a few seconds, but finally lowered his velvety muzzle into Heyes' palm, accepting the sweet treat. "Good boy," Heyes cooed, rubbing the horse's head between his large wide-set eyes, before leading him into the barn.

Jeremiah was just coming in through the opposite door at the back of the barn when Heyes entered through the front door. "Jeremiah," he said in greeting. "How's the first day going? You finding everything all right?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Heyes. Everything is going just the way I thought it would. That Clay, he's a good guy."

"Yes, he is. Well, good. I'm glad things are going all right. You just let Clay or one of us know if you have any questions."

"Yes, sir, I will. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Well, if you'd excuse me, I was just going to get Prometheus back into the corral. I'll be taking the rest of the afternoon off. I'm taking Miss Charlotte on a picnic."

"Prometheus? Huh, that's some name; a bit of a mouthful though," Jeremiah said. "Would you like me to take care of him for you, sir? So you don't keep your lady friend waiting, I mean."

Heyes grinned, "Thanks, Wilde. I'd appreciate it." He handed the lead rope to the younger man but as he did, he felt a twinge of apprehension flutter through his belly and he almost pulled the rope back out of Jeremiah's hand, intending to tell him that he'd rather tend to his own horse. Instead, he smiled coolly, his eyes never wavering from Jeremiah's face.

"Take good care of him now, you hear?" he heard himself say.

"Don't you worry none, Mr. Heyes. I surely will."

Wilde led Prometheus through the barn while Heyes watched. "You'd better," he muttered. He felt uncomfortable around the man, that was sure; but he didn't know exactly why. So far, Jeremiah hadn't done anything to make him suspicious but for some reason, he still was. Maybe it was because he knew now that Kid didn't like the boy and didn't trust him. But Heyes thought there might be more to it than that. There was something about the young man that worried him; that set his outlaw intuition tingling. He wanted to talk to Kid about it, but he wasn't sure that Kid had the power to be impartial about the boy. He decided that he'd just keep his concerns to himself for a while; and at the same time, watch Wilde like a hawk.

Jeremiah led Prometheus back to the corral. Catherine had disappeared from her perch on the wooden fence, but he knew she probably hadn't gone too far.

After he removed the lead rope, he swung the gate closed behind the horse and stood leaning against the fence for a while, admiring the massive beast. He knew horses. In his line of work he had to, and he knew that this was a valuable horse; a little unpredictable but valuable nonetheless. He'd looked over the whole stable of horses on the ranch and he'd come to the conclusion that this horse was the cream of the crop, sure to fetch a healthy price. All he needed was a little more breaking, he figured, and he'd be ready.

The clippity-clop of hooves drew his attention away from Prometheus. Looking down the road, he watched as Catherine cantered into the yard astride Belle. Her face was flushed, her hair a little wind-blown by her ride. He watched as she threw her leg over the horse's flank and slid down to the ground. He knew that she knew that he was watching her. Taking the reins, she walked Belle into the barn, presumably to take off her saddle and give her a good brushing before putting her back into her stall.

After waiting a few minutes, Jeremiah entered the barn from the corral. He spotted Catherine inside Belle's stall using the big curry brush on the horse's coat. She glanced up as he came closer. Jeremiah could tell that she'd been hoping he'd come seeking her out by the nervous little smile that played across her lips at the sight of him. He smiled; a slow smile, full of hidden meaning; one he'd used countless times before on women; women both younger and older than Catherine; a smile that never failed to produce the desired result.

"Catherine," he said, his voice low and personal. "I was hoping I'd run into you this morning."

She laughed, trying to quell her nervousness. "Oh? Well, I was out riding. I just got back." 'I just got back?' she screamed at herself. 'Of course, I just got back. He already knew that. He watched me ride in.'

"Right. Well, I'm glad you're back. I have a little free time right now and I was thinking we could talk a bit."

"What about?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just talk. I'd like to get to know you a little better; especially now that I'm working out here and we'll have lots of chances to see each other more." His eyes never left her. He could detect a slight tremor in her hands as she continued to brush Belle. He knew he was the cause of her trembling.

"I'd like that, I suppose," she said, while inwardly she was scolding herself for feeling so nervous. When he reached out and took the brush from her hands, the touch of his fingers on hers burned like fire. She almost gasped out loud at this simple contact.

"Come with me," he said, whispering even though they were alone. "Let's find someplace more private to talk." Before she had the chance to object, he'd taken her by the hand and began pulling her out of Belle's stall, closing the gate firmly behind her. He pulled her into the far corner of the barn, into the cool shadows and the smell of freshly laid straw and horses. She was scared and excited to be alone with him; more excited than scared.

"Umm, how is everything going? Are you learning your way around the ranch?" she asked when he didn't say anything else, choosing instead to just look at her.

"Sure. No problem. I've worked on plenty of ranches before. This one is just about the same as all the rest."

"Well, that's good…" After another empty pause, she said, "Clay is really nice, isn't he?"

"He's ok."

She fidgeted nervously under his intense gaze, aware in her discomfort that he was amused by her unease. Drawing a deep breath, she continued, forcing her emotions under control, "Jeremiah, you dragged me back here because you wanted to talk, you said. Now it seems like I'm the one doing all the talking. What did you want?"

"I'm sorry, Catherine. It's just that you make me so nervous; I forget what I want to say."

She laughed, not believing him but still amused. "You, nervous? I doubt much makes you nervous, Mr. Wilde."

"True," he said, looking away shyly. "Not much makes me nervous…but you do, Miss Curry."

She felt her heart jump within her chest and knew her face was reddening embarrassingly.

He faced her squarely, a slow smile spreading across his handsome face, and stared directly into her eyes. Her heart started pounding violently. He gripped her shoulders and stepped closer, so that there were only a few inches of empty space between their bodies. She thought she might faint as the thought that he was going to kiss her entered her mind.

But he didn't kiss her. Instead, he spoke. "Catherine. I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am to you for helping me get this job. It means a lot to me."

Stunned, all she could say was, "oh."

Patting her shoulders in a friendly manner, he kissed her cheek. "Anyway, I gotta get back to work. Your dad will be after me if I don't pull my weight around here. See ya."

And then he was gone, leaving her standing, frozen in place, wondering what had happened.

00000

Heyes found Kid in the closet. He was rummaging around among the linens looking for something. "Hey, K—Jed. Whatcha lookin' for?" he asked.

Kid poked his head out, favoring Heyes with a look that was less than cheerful. "Blanket."

"Blanket? You cold, Jed?"

"No, I'm not cold, you idiot. I'm trying to find that old cotton blanket for you and Charlotte to take on your picnic."

Heyes looked hurt. "Oh. Thanks. But there's no need to get proddy about it."

"Ah, here it is." Jed pulled out the blanket and handed it to Heyes. "I'm sorry, Heyes. You're right. I've been a mean son-of-a-gun lately and I apologize for that. I've just been under a lot of stress lately, you know?"

"Come on, Jed. It's ok. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not so sure, Heyes. About it being ok, I mean. I—Well, never mind. You have a beautiful lady waiting for you in the kitchen. So take that blanket and get out of here. We can talk about this later, ok?"

"Sure thing, Jed. Tonight. We'll talk tonight. And don't you worry none. Everything is going to be fine…just fine."

"Right," he said, forcing a smile, one that almost, but not quite, made it to his eyes. "Now go, would ya?"

Heyes grinned and left. Kid stayed out of the way until he heard the front door slam shut and heard Heyes and Charlotte outside, laughing and talking happily as they climbed into her buggy and rode off. Then he wandered through the house for a few minutes longer, feeling restless but not really knowing what to do with himself. A lot of the chores he was accustomed to handling on the ranch were still out of his capabilities so he had resigned himself months ago to letting other men do his work while he only watched.

Finally, unable to stand the confinement of the big ranch house any longer, he decided to go find Clay and see what he thought of their new employee. He had no sooner stepped outside when three riders came ambling up their drive.

His blood ran cold and then hot to see that the lead rider was none other than Theodore Denton, their neighbor; the same neighbor who had tried to buy their land and then implied that he and Heyes might be stealing his horses.

His eyes turned glassy cold watching them ride in. No matter what Heyes said, he didn't like Denton and he didn't trust him; but worse than that, he felt in his gut that Denton felt the same way about him.

Kid waited for the three riders to pull up, right in front of where he was standing before greeting his neighbor. "Denton," he said, hi voice cautious and cool.

"Curry," the other man answered, just as cautiously and coolly. Neither man smiled. The two men behind Denton smirked at one another behind their employer's back.

"Something I can do for you?" Kid asked, not so much a question as a warning.

"I think maybe you can. As I'm sure you are aware, I've had a couple of horses come up missing."

"I heard."

Denton's eyes wandered away from Curry. Kid realized his gaze was now turned toward the corral where his and Heyes' herd were held. Denton looked as though he were looking for something.

"What's that got to do with us?"

Denton stared down at Kid, his gaze hard and his jaw set, iron-like. "Why don't you tell me?"

Kid bristled under the man's scrutiny. "I don't think so. If you have something to say, you better just come out with it or be on your way."

"Oh, I'll be on my way alright. But you hear this—I won't just let this lie. I plan on making sure that whoever's been stealing my horses and causing trouble on my ranch is brought to justice." Denton's words held a poorly veiled threat, one that wasn't missed by Kid Curry.

"I think it's time you left now, Denton."

Denton smiled coldly, sarcastically tipping his hat to Kid. "Be seeing you, Curry." He pulled his horse around and rode off slowly, followed by his men. "Yep, I'll be seeing you real soon."

Kid watched the men ride off. They were several yards down the road before he took a breath. "Dammit! Could things get any worse?"

Inside the barn, hidden in the cobwebby shadows, Jeremiah Wilde smiled wickedly.