"Do you see them?" panted Allie. They had pulled up behind a large apartment building and the Kid was leaning around the corner looking for pursuers. There weren't any. All was quiet on the small side street. They had ridden a twisted route away from the bank; randomly cutting a zigzag course through Denver's backstreets. Allie had hold of the reins to the big bay and also gripped Heyes by his belt as he slouched over the animal's neck. He stirred slightly and she tightened her grip. Her own horse stood still and blew white puffs of breath into the cold air of the very early morning.
"Naw, no one's on our tail, but that don't mean a posse's not forming." The Kid walked back to the horses. "You can bet there'll be one, but at this hour it may take a while to round up enough men. That'll work in our favor."
Heyes shifted again and the bay moved away from Allie. She had to let go or she was going to pull Heyes from the gelding's back. The Kid ran the last few feet and caught his partner before he started a long, slow slide to the ground. Hanging onto Heyes with one hand, he took the reins from Allie.
Heyes groaned loudly and sat up blinking dazedly. "Where are we? "
"We're on Toll Street about twenty or thirty blocks from the bank," the Kid roughly pulled his partner up straight in the saddle.
"Hey, take it easy," snapped Heyes.
"You're lucky I don't shove you off and leave you here." The Kid took a stirrup and mounted behind Heyes.
"What's she doing here?" Heyes glared at Allie, who was glaring right back at him.
"She's saving your ass, Heyes; that's what she's doing. Although, for the life of me, I don't know why she'd want to."
Allie dismounted and untied the canvas sack that was wrapped around her saddlehorn. Heyes watched as she pulled out the money from the robbery and stuffed it into her and the Kid's saddlebags. She took the empty sack and tied it inside her bedroll hiding it from the view of any onlookers. Heyes chuckled; she had good instincts. Allie turned at the sound and looked him square in the eye. "What on earth were you thinking; robbing a bank?"
"Lady, I don't answer to you." Heyes held his side protectively. He felt bruised from head to toe and he wasn't thinking too clearly.
"No you don't, but you do answer to me and you will. Right now, we need to find a place to hole up," said the Kid angrily.
"I've got a plan. We're going back to the warehouse," Heyes reached for the reins, but the Kid slapped his hands away.
"You have a plan? Why am I not surprised?" growled Allie. Her horse started to dance around from the tension he felt seeping out of his rider.
"Are you sure, Heyes?" asked the Kid. He was angry with his partner, but experience had taught him a long time ago to hear him out. If Heyes had a plan, maybe the rest of this would make sense; it'd better.
"Yeah, it's part of how we're going to get to Slade," Heyes grabbed the horn to steady himself and the Kid tightened his grip on his cousin. "Loosen up, will you? I think I might've busted a rib."
"Why are you still listening to him? He's crazy!" She reined her horse up roughly and looked at the Kid in shock. He was actually going to do what that moron said. She wanted nothing more than to ride off and leave these two idiots to themselves, but now she was an accessory to a bank robbery. Too angry to argue any further, she spurred her horse and rode out onto the street.
"I ain't arguing with that," the Kid jogged after her, hoping that the bouncing was paining Heyes with every stride.
"Hey, I'm right here, you know," Heyes hung on to the horn with a tight grip.
"WE KNOW!"
OOOOOOOOOO
Monty sat at the desk whittling on a piece of two by four he'd found out by the crates. He'd been up for hours and there was now a small splinter of wood in his hand and a large pile of chips on the desk. Carlson's bedroll moved slightly and he looked up as the outlaw opened his eyes and sat up. "Mornin'," drawled Monty.
Wheat grinned at him. "Mornin'." Kyle was still asleep.
The three of them had sat up until nearly dawn playing cards. The Texan was a fair hand at poker and was good enough that he managed to lose a few pots to Carlson without the big man getting onto him. That helped put him on Wheat's good side; that and the fact that he'd had a good bottle of whiskey stowed in his saddlebags. He had gone and pulled it out, setting it on the desk and nodding to his erstwhile partners to have some. A few drinks later and the ice had been broken; Monty had regaled them with stories of being a deputy in Leadville, one of the roughest, toughest mining towns. Wheat and Kyle, in turn, had told tales of the outlaw trail. Monty had admitted to them that he, too, had tried his hand at outlawing back in the days before he had met his Martha. After a few drinks and a lot of stories, the three men had decided that they quite liked each other, law or no law.
Throughout the night, Stafford had watched as that insufferable Texan cozied up to the outlaws. He had never been able to stand the man to begin with, but now he hated him. He'd make him pay for turning on him. Slade would make him pay, too. He watched Carlson kick the bedroll next to him and the smaller man, Murtry, rolled over and sat up.
"I'm gonna get a couple of canteens of water. I feel like my mouth's stuffed with cotton balls," complained Wheat.
He put on his hat and walked for the door only to notice Stafford's scowling face; he paused to take a light swipe at Stafford, who ducked back, "What was that for?" he whined.
OOOOOOOOOO
Wheat was walking back from the river when he saw the two horses coming down the long dirt road leading to the warehouse area. It looked like the Kid was riding double with Heyes, who was sagging in his partner's arms. Not that he was surprised to see Heyes injured; the Kid had been awfully pissed when he'd ridden out. He slung the two canteens he was carrying onto his shoulder and walked over to help as the riders pulled up. Miss Allie jumped out of her saddle, tied up her horse, and hurried over to the Kid's gelding.
"What happened to him?" Wheat was grinning, thinking he already knew.
"He blew himself up robbing the Merchant's Bank," snarled the Kid, shoving his semi-conscious partner into Wheat's arms and dismounting.
Wheat was thrown off balance and took a couple of steps back to right himself. He slipped Heyes' arm around his shoulder, holding his leader up on his feet. His jaw was still dropped when he looked back up at the Kid. "He robbed a bank without us; without you, alone? Is he loco?"
Allie pulled Heyes's other arm over her shoulder and he lifted his head, "Let go of me. I can do it myself!" She reached around his waist and squeezed. "Hey, that hurt!" Allie smiled sweetly at him, and he felt a small trickle of fear creep up his back.
"Hey, hold on a minute before we go in," Heyes pulled away from Wheat, but Allie tightened her grip on him and he let her hang on. "Wheat, I need you and Kyle to take half the loot. Take these two horses and lay down a trail the posse can find. Lead them down towards Littleton; then shake them and come on back."
"What about Stafford and Northrup?" asked Wheat.
"Monty's going to stay with Stafford. After you have a couple of hours lead, he'll just happen to let Stafford escape. Once that weasel knows we have Harrison's account books, he's going to go straight to Slade. Monty will follow him and make sure." Heyes was grinning now, he loved a good plan, but he looked over and saw Allie's deep frown; he stopped smiling. "I'm betting Slade's going to come after those books with everything he's got. They're the only thing keeping him safe from his brother."
Wheat nodded, "I'll tell Kyle we're riding out. He went past Heyes and Allie up the stairs into the warehouse.
"You got the books?" The Kid had stepped in front of his partner and he grabbed his grey jacket pulling him out of Allie's arms and pushing him down onto the steps of the warehouse before he fell down. He wanted to knock some sense into Heyes, but he couldn't do it while his partner was so banged up. It helped to know that Heyes was after the books, although the Kid would find out soon what the heck he'd done to that P & H.
"Sure, why do you think I broke into the bank?" laughed Heyes, looking up. A dark bruise had formed a knot on his forehead. "Corky found a key to a safety deposit box for the Merchant's bank at Stafford's apartment. I figured it must be where he'd stowed the books and it was."
"Why'd you blow the safe, Heyes?" the Kid leaned down. It was all he could do not to grab his partner and shake him.
"Because it was there," replied an unrepentant Heyes.
Curry reached down and hauled his partner to his feet. This time he did shake his cousin and Heyes's head wobbled from side to side. "That safe blew out the back wall of the bank. What the hell did you use to open that safe? It was nitro, wasn't it?"
Heyes grabbed the Kid's arms and tried to still the ringing in his head. "Yeah, it was nitro. That's why I went alone. I figured it out, Kid. The P & H. I did it." He was grinning now; a huge, delighted, dimpled grin.
"Yeah, and if Allie and me hadn't been outside, you'd be warming your backside down at the sheriff's office about now. Heyes, you nearly got killed!" the Kid shook him again.
"You plannin' on finishing the job, Kid?" Heyes wasn't smiling now.
The Kid growled and shoved him away. "Does it really mean so little to you, Heyes?"
"What?" asked Heyes stupidly.
"YOUR LIFE!"
"I wasn't trying to get killed. C'mon, Kid. Every time we pull a job, we know it might be the last one for any one of us. What's the difference? I would've liked you there to watch my back, but, it wasn't like I could tell you. I know how you feel about nitro and that was the only way. Look, you know you would've stopped me and I had it all worked out. I've spent months working out the volume and how long it would take to create a vacuum. How much nitro was just enough…"
"Well, from over here it looks like you didn't quite get it right," The Kid was still bristling with anger.
"Yeah, I guess I didn't allow for how much air that much money was going to take up," Heyes grinned again.
That was it; the Kid snapped and grabbed his partner screaming, "YOU GUESS?" He yanked Heyes forward away from the warehouse and nearly dragged him across the street out of earshot of the rest of the gang. Reaching the side of the building there, the Kid shoved Heyes up hard against the wall. Allie had followed the two and, when the Kid pulled his arm back as though to strike, she reached out and grabbed his arm, "Don't! Look at him; he can hardly stand. You might hurt him!"
"That's the whole idea!" The Kid yanked his arm away, but he lowered his hand and let go of Heyes's jacket. Heyes slid to the ground, fighting to stay conscious, the air had been knocked out of his already battered lungs and he couldn't breathe. Allie knelt beside him and gently lifted his head, touching his bruise tenderly, as the Kid walked a few yards away trying to get his temper in check.
Heyes jerked his head away from her, "I'm fine, leave me alone!"
"You are not fine, you're hurt and you're going to let me take a look or I swear I'll step back and let the Kid have you!" Allie pulled his head around with both her hands and held it as she gazed into his eyes, "You're concussed. What else hurts?"
"Nothing; I'm telling you I'm fine!" Heyes was pushing her away when she reached down and jabbed a finger in his chest. "So you don't hurt? What about here?"
"Ow, that hurt!"
She jabbed him again. "Or there?"
"Ow, stop it!"
"Or here?"
Heyes started to sidle away from her, but she kept poking at him. "Stop!"
"You stupid, mule-headed moron; what did you think you were doing? Were you trying to kill yourself? Is that it?" Allie's face had turned almost the same shade of purple as Heyes's bruises and he stared at her as though she might explode much like the P & H had. "Just because we had a fight you ride off and try to blow yourself sky-high? What is the matter with you?" She was yelling at him now.
"I didn't do it because of you. I've been planning this for a long time; now just happened to be convenient. It isn't all about you, Allie. The world doesn't revolve around you!"
"No, it doesn't. But it doesn't revolve around you either. Did you give one thought to how the rest of us were going to feel if you'd been killed?"
"The Kid knows the risks and you made it perfectly clear how you felt!" muttered Heyes, his emotional pain was fighting hard to overtake the physical pain and he looked away from her.
"No, I didn't. You jumped to a conclusion and flew off the handle. The next thing I knew you were doing some so stupid, so idiotic, so…so…" she was at a loss for words. She grabbed him and kissed him hard on his mouth and slowly pulled away, speaking softly, "What were you thinking?"
His brown eyes were filled with hurt, but he answered her honestly, "I was thinking you didn't love me anymore."
Allie started to cry and she punched him in the shoulder, "You idiot! Don't you know I'll always love you? You are the only man I've ever loved and you're the only one I ever will." She snuggled into his arms and he held her tightly.
"Allie, look at me," Heyes lifted her chin. "You don't know me. You were right about that. This is who I am; it's what I do and it's all I can do."
"No, it's not, you're an intelligent man; you don't need to steal for a living. We could go away somewhere. Europe or South America. You can do anything." Allie wiped her eyes and sat up.
Heyes smiled gently. She did want to be with him, she did love him. "Allie, I want to be with you more than anything. It's all I've been thinking about, where we could go, what I could do. I was so angry thinking you didn't want me, but I finally realized it was for the best. I can't do that to you. I can't take you away. Don't you see? The Kid and I are too famous. Even in South America someone will figure out who we are. We're going to spend our whole lives looking over our shoulders until the law finally catches up with us and it's not going to be long before they do."
"No," whispered Allie.
"Yes, they will. Heyes is right," the Kid walked back over and heard the last part of their conversation. "He's right, Allie, and we all know it. Neither of us is going to let you throw your life away on us. We ain't worth it."
"Yes, you are!" Allie sprang up.
The Kid helped Heyes to his feet and steadied him. Heyes took her hand, "No, we're not. I love you, too. Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to say that? I love you, and I want nothing more than to spend my life with you, but I won't do it at the risk of ruining yours," he let go of her and swiped at the dust on his pant leg. He hated this; his heart was tearing in two.
"But, I want to be with you. I don't care what it means," Allie hugged him and his arms closed about her.
"You don't right now, but you will. If we went on the run, I'd be afraid you'd end up hating me, us," he looked at the Kid. Curry had to turn from the naked pain in his partner's eyes. "If that happened, it would kill me," he finished softly.
"But you said you loved me; if you loved me you'd let me be with you," protested Allie, pushing away from him.
"I do love you and that's why I can't," Heyes limped painfully away from her and across the street into the warehouse.
The Kid watched him go. "He means it, you know."
"What?" Allie looked at him. Tears streaked her face, but she was calm. Heyes might think he was doing the noble thing, but she had a say in this, too, and she wasn't ready to give up on him.
"That he loves you. I've only ever heard him say that to one other girl and he was seventeen at the time."
"What was her name?" Allie wiped her face with a handkerchief.
"Sally."
"What happened to her?"
"Her pa caught wind of them and put an end to it. Heyes never saw her again. Don't you worry, he's over her. He wouldn't tell you he loved you unless he meant it. Heyes only loves with his whole heart. He ain't like me. I love all the ladies I'm with; I give each and every one of them a little piece of my heart, but no one gets the whole thing. When Heyes says he loves you, he means it." The Kid wrapped his arms around her and grinned, "You know, I love you, too."
Allie pushed at him, "And, you just told me how little it cost you to say that! Jed, what are we going to do?"
"I don't know, sweetheart, but you two will figure out what's right for you." He took her hand and tucked it under his arm, walking her back to the warehouse.
Wheat and Kyle passed the Kid and Allie on their way in and stepped aside for the lady. "Take it easy on the horses, boys, they've already had a hard morning. They could probably use a good watering."
"Don't worry, I got me a plan," said Wheat proudly as they walked by. Kyle smiled and followed him.
"Boy, am I sick of hearing those words," grumbled the Kid as he followed Allie inside.