Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes lounged on a bench, waiting for the train to Denver. They both felt plumb worn out by the events of the last few days and had decided to go visit their good friend Clementine for a week or so to recover.

It suddenly occurred to the Kid that this was the same bench he had sat on while awaiting Amanda Grady's arrival. And when he'd first spotted her, she'd been right over there, he recalled, picturing her scurrying along behind the porter. He smiled to himself, remembering how she had tried to help him with the luggage. And then she had asked to sit on top with the driver…

"Penny for your thoughts," Heyes said, bringing the Kid back to the present time.

"Aw, I was just thinkin'," answered the Kid. " - and don't say what you always say!"

"Thinking about Amanda Grady?" asked his partner gently, yet knowingly, avoiding his usual snarky comments about the proper division of labor in their partnership.

Curry dodged the question, instead replying, "Bridgerton was a real nice town, wasn't it?"

"Sure was," agreed Heyes, thinking ruefully of having $12,000 in his pocket, at least for a little while.

"Bridger was kind of a jerk, but his town sure was nice," added Kid.

They sat in silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts.

"Maybe someday we'll get back that way," mused the Kid after a bit.

"Maybe," agreed Heyes, noncommittally.

After another period of silence, Curry asked, "How much money we got, Heyes?"

"Kid, you know how much. The thousand bucks left from my poker winnings and the hundred bucks we got for the horses and saddles. That's it. Unless you have some."

Funny how $1100, much more than they'd had between them for months, seemed positively scanty to Heyes after having possessed ten times that amount so recently. Fortunately, his partner didn't share that feeling of loss, having never even known about the money until after it was spent - and he certainly did appreciate quite deeply what Heyes had spent it on.

"Don't believe so," answered the Kid, patting his vest pockets. "Wait! I feel a bill." But when he pulled it from his pocket, it turned out to be a folded piece of paper. "Never mind. It ain't money," he said, unfolding the paper curiously.

"What is it?" asked his partner, looking over Curry's shoulder to peer at the piece of paper. "That's a real pretty drawing of a columbine. Where'd ya get it, Kid?"

There was no answer.

~END~

Author's notes:

1 - The Illinois State Normal University was founded in 1857 for the purpose of training teachers. In those days, such schools were called "normal" because the students therein were learning the "norms" of pedagogy. In 1873, it was "the largest such institution in the country" and the "only public school in Illinois in which students, especially women, could obtain a free liberal arts education." The intent of the university was to train teachers for placement in Illinois schools, but who is to say that a few of those teachers might not have answered the siren song to teach in the growing communities of the West…? Today, more than 150 years later, ISU, as the university is now called, is recognized as "one of the top ten producers of teachers in the United States." One of the twin towns where ISU is located is now called Normal, Illinois (which reminds me, did you ever hear the one about the Normal woman who married the Oblong boy…? I guess to get that joke, you need to know there is also a town in Illinois called Oblong...).

The second president of the University, Richard Evans, is famously quoted that the preparation of teachers is "the grandest of enterprises."

Source: historyDOTillinoisstateDOTedu

2 - The Rocky Mountain Columbine, with its delicate shades of pale blue-ish lavender and white, was named the state flower of Colorado in 1899 after winning the vote of Colorado's school children, perhaps including some of Miss Amanda Grady's pupils…

Source: wwwDOTstatesymbolsusaDOTorg/symbol/colorado/state-flower/rocky-mountain-columbine