This has not been beta read. All errors are mine and mine alone. KT
Written for challenge "Clutch"
October 2021
"Heyes, stop grumblin' to yourself." Jedediah 'Kid' Curry mumbled to his partner Hannibal Heyes. "Everything about this robbery goin' just fine."
"You two, get them passengers off the train." Tall, rough Wheat Carlson , the interim leader of the Devil's Hole Gang commanded Heyes and Curry. "And do it quick, Kyle's almost ready with the dynamite. Collect all their money and valuables too."
With a grimace, Heyes caught the angry glint in Curry's steel blue gaze. Addressing Carlson, Heyes argued, "We never rob the passengers, just the safe."
"I'm the leader this time and it's my rules. Go! We all agreed we would rob one train my way and one your way and the gang votes for the leader. This is my way!"
Sighing, Curry jumped up and went into the passenger car. "Ain't goin' hurt anybody if you do as we say. Go out the back door, down the steps and follow the instructions." he told them, brandishing his Colt for all to see.
Gasps and screams filled the car but none dared to challenge the confident young train robber.
As the passengers walked down the steps, Heyes directed them away from the train to a grove of trees. "Hurry up! Move!" he yelled. All the frustration he felt at Carlson came through in his tone. "Stand in a line. I'm coming down. My partner's starting at the other end. Put all your money and jewelry into our hats."
Heyes removed his black hat with silver conchos and turned it upside down. Fighting with himself to follow Carlson's orders, he started walking down the line.
A woman with her dark brown hair pulled severely back into a bun dropped her money into the hat with a sad look, then clutched at the locket around her waist. With tears starting to fall ,she looked into Heyes' eyes with grey eyes filled with anguish. "It ain't worth much, mister. It's not gold or silver but...it, it...the pictures are my children." When she finished, the tears were flowing heavily.
When Heyes said nothing, she unhooked the locket and dropped it in the hat. With one more plea, she held his gaze saying, "The good Lord took them. Those pictures are all I have left of them."
Turning to look where the rest of the gang was, Heyes used his perfected pickpocketing skills to remove the locket from his hat. "Sorry, ma'am, our leader said to take everything," he announced loudly as he reached to touch her arm to comfort her. Without anyone knowing or her seeing, he dropped the locket into her dress pocket and moved on the line.
At the other end of the line of passengers, Curry was wrestling with his guilt. Most of these passengers were riding third class. These were not the ones he wanted to hurt. He wanted to steal the payrolls from the railroads and banks and mines, not nickels and dimes from families.
As he advanced down the line with his hat, a young towhead boy about seven years old reached out and dropped in a nickel. "That's all I got, sir. Please don't hurt me." His voice was weak; his eyes terrified.
Angry at Carlson for choosing to rob the passengers, Curry looked skyward and pledged to himself he would never rob train passengers again. Reaching into his own pocket, he took out a twenty dollar gold piece. Kneeling to look the boy in the eyes, he said, "Sorry, boy. I won't hurt you and I don't take nothin' from children. Here's your nickel back." He took the boy's hand and palm up wrapped the fingers around the gold piece. "You hold that tight until you're back on the train, you understand?"
Clutching his fingers tightly together, the boy nodded eyes wide in wonder.
"Down, everybody down!" yelled an outlaw on horseback riding up to the passengers.
"BANG! BOOM!" The first sound was the dynamite blowing open the safe. The second was the safe hitting the top of the baggage car.
Less than two minutes later, a mounted Carlson rode up to them. "Back on the train, everyone." he thundered at the passengers.
"TIme to say goodbye. Let's ride!" he finished, galloping off with a small smiling outlaw riding behind him. The gang members followed them quickly
Heyes and Curry dumped the contents of their hats into their saddlebags, jumped onto their horses and caught up with the others. The seven hour ride back to Devil's Hole with only two preplanned stops to change horses was frantic but uneventful.
Gathering in the bunkhouse, the gang was exhausted but the thrill of a successful robbery and splitting the take kept their adrenaline flowing. Heyes and Curry dumped the money and things stolen from the passengers on the table.
"The Kid and I don't want none of this. We don't cotton to robbing passengers." Heyes said with a low growl.
Carlson looked up from dividing the ample payroll from the safe. Rolling his eyes at the comments, he said nothing.
"You got the shares ready, Wheat?" asked Kyle, smiling in anticipation. "Want to get into town and do some celebrating."
No one touched the money and jewelry on the table, no one even looked at it.
"Equal shares, Boys!" Wheat exclaimed to the group, sliding a stack of money to each.
"What about the take for the Hole?" Heyes demanded. "Big Jim always set aside a share to keep this place stocked up."
"Er..we'll take a bigger cut out of the next robbery for the Hole," Wheat decided out loud.
Picking up their shares, Heyes and Curry stood up.
"Celebrate all you want but be back here, sober, by Monday afternoon. Meeting at three to go over the specifics of our next robbery." His voice was authoritative, his manner commanding. Standing to Heyes' side, half a step behind, Curry met the eyes of each gang member. Wheat Carlson tried to avoid Curry's strong gaze, but after a moment he relented. Surprised not to see antagonism, Wheat instead just saw a strong request for compliance.
Turning on his heels, Heyes left without a look back. Curry followed closely.
Heading for the river, Heyes didn't stop until he sat on a wide boulder to think. Curry stood nearby, expertly skipping rocks across the water, waiting patiently for the vocal explosion from Heyes.
When it came it went on for an hour. Detailing everything that was done wrong in the planning for the robbery, everything that could have gone wrong but didn't this time but what about next time.. Why did Wheat refuse to let him open the safe instead of using too much dynamite? And over and over Heyes came back to the abhorrent reality of stealing from the passengers.
"Heyes," Curry started softly when he'd had enough of the complaining. When he was ignored, his voice became insistent. "Heyes!"
Startled, Heyes looked at Curry. "Kid?"
Curry looked away as he spoke. "I couldn't stand stealing from the kids. Little boy put a nickel in my hat. Broke my heart, so I slipped one of my twenty dollar gold pieces in his fist. Told him to clutch it there until he got on the train. Made my heart feel better. Like a small victory."
Chuckling, Heyes said, "I had a small victory of my own. Woman put in a locket with pictures of her kids said she'd lost them and it was all she had left of them. I lifted it out of my hat and dropped it into her pocket."
Smiling at each other, the two partners shared a silent look.
"Heyes, you better make your robbery so good that this gang elects you leader. If Wheat wins, I ain't staying."
"If Wheat wins, I'll be right there beside you, partner." Heyes answered, slapping Curry on the shoulder as they walked back..
Entering the bunkhouse, they saw the offending personal jewelry and money still on the table, still being ignored. The gang was sitting there, drinking, deep in a loud discussion which stopped when they approached.
Nervously looking from one to the other, Wheat finally spoke for the men. "Heyes, well we were talking."
"We're goin' take this stuff and donate it to the Sisters of Charity." he said.
Kyle eyed the pile sadly. "We don't rightly know what else to do with it."
Wheat coughed lowly to get everyone's attention again. "Well we voted and we were wondering if you'd take over as leader, Heyes. There are so many things to coordinate. I ain't willing to spend that much time." Wheat finished speaking fast before he lost his confidence and courage. "Not that I couldn't handle it, of course."
Hands on his hips, Heyes let the silence settle before he smiled and spoke. "I accept, on a couple of conditions. My partner, Kid Curry, is a co-leader with me."
He watched as heads nodded in acceptance before continuing. "And I'd like to ask Wheat to be the leader of the bunkhouse."
"A toast to new Leaders of the Devil's Hole Gang!" Preacher held his whiskey glass high.