March Challenge 2022

(March and Plant prompts)

Abruptly, Heyes jerked backward from a strong push on his shoulder. Dropping the rock he was carrying, he whirled his arms to stop himself from falling. His efforts proved unsuccessful as he landed on his bottom. Looking up he saw the six-foot-four, grizzled face of Jimmy Joe Rigoli.

"Smith, you're lazy. Just like you're a liar and a cheat at poker." Rigoli's deep voice was dominant. He was accustomed to being the prisoner in charge and held that title by brutality and force.

Moving to stand, Heyes was forced down again by a strong kick to the chest. Rigoli continued, "You cheated at poker last night in the common room. Nobody wins that many hands in a row. You lied to the guard about how many rocks you moved yesterday, didn't you? Your partner moved a lot of those for you. Cheat! Liar!"

From his sitting position, Heyes raised his hands slowly. "You're right, Jimmy Joe. My partner and me, we work as a team so we both hit our quotas."

The thought of the beatings given to prisoners who did not hit their daily quota of rocks flashed through Heyes' thoughts. He had fallen short their first day. Dragged out of line, his hands were tied in front of him, around a pole. He refused to yell until the fourth lash caught part of the back of his newly shaved head. After the fifth lash, he was dragged to the cell he shared with his partner and thrown on the dirt floor. They had resolved that night to combine their efforts so that would never happen to either of them again.

Jimmy Joe took a threatening step forward. Heyes scooted backwards while still sitting. "And I don't believe your names are Smith and Jones."

"Lots of people named Smith and Jones." Heyes tried a small grin.

"Not you two. I recognize you two from somewhere, just ain't placed you yet."

Catching a movement behind Rigoli, Heyes yelled, "Thaddeus, NO!" He watched Curry march across the quarry, anger in his eyes.

With a protective glance at his sitting partner, Curry spun Rigoli around to face him. Without waiting, he landed his right fist to the larger man's jaw. He followed by planting his left fist to Rigoli's left eye. Rigoli swung back widely, only grazing Curry's cheek.

As Heyes struggled to his feet, he saw four guards encircle the combatants. "Thaddeus, enough."

Curry stepped back and nodded to Heyes. "You okay?"

"For now," he answered, knowing that the punishment for fighting was lashes and solitary.

Not struggling against the guards, Curry allowed one of them to herd him against the mountain of quarried rock. Rigoli felt differently. He punched the first guard that tried to restrain him. Whirling, he knocked out the second guard with a blow to his head.

"Don't move!" The guard holding Curry pushed him further into the rocks. Curry raised his hands. "Yes, sir. Not goin' anywhere."

The third guard moved from Curry and approached Rigoli from the back, billy club ready. Skillfully, he whacked the large prisoner just below the back of his knees. He crumbled forward onto the floor, growling.

Then all Heyes could see was guards swarming everywhere. He stood up gingerly, favoring an ankle that had twisted under him when he fell. Watching the guards subdue Rigoli, Heyes hopped to stand next to his partner.

Four guards roughly pulled Rigoli to his feet and supported him as his injured knees failed beneath him. Dragging him from the quarry, the rest of the guards turned their interest to Heyes and Curry. "You convicts, follow me," the older guard ordered.

With Curry supporting a limping Heyes, they quietly followed the guard. Heads down, eyes down, both dreaded the coming punishments. Lost in his thoughts of a whipping, it took a moment before Heyes realized what Rigoli was yelling. "They ain't no Smith and Jones!" His deep voice was pleading, "Just take me to the doctor and I'll tell you who they really are!"

Sharing a silent gaze with his partner, Heyes realized there was nothing they could do at this moment. Curry shrugged his shoulders in despair. If Rigoli named them, instead of serving six-months here in the small Idaho Territorial Prison as Smith and Jones, they would serve twenty-years in the larger and rougher Wyoming Territorial Prison.

Instead of outside to the whipping post, Heyes and Curry were led to the solitary cells deep into the prison. The only light here came through a rectangle hole in the roof. The guard unlocked the first cell and indicated both of them to enter. At their questioning looks, the guard smiled. "Warden figured Rigoli been pushing you two hard. Mostly, you been model prisoners, holding your tempers. You won't get the lash but solitary for ten days for fighting. Both of you," he added as Heyes was going to try and object. "We're short on cells so you will share a cell…and a honey pot," he finished, pointing to the bucket in the corner of the metal cell. "Reckon Rigoli will be in the infirmary for that long."

Slamming the door of the cell, he looked back. "One meal a day. A shower after seven days. Hope you two can stand being together, alone without killing each other." He flipped a deck of cards into the cell with a wink.

As the guards walked away from the cell, Heyes put his hand over Curry's mouth before he could talk and nodded down the hall. They were rewarded as they heard the guards talking.

"Imagine Rigoli thinking those two are members of the Blue Mountain Gang."

Their laughter floated down the dark hallway. "Yeah, he said the talkative one was Sure Shot Webster."

"He sure don't fit the description of a six-foot-two, left-handed gunfighter."

Their laughter died away as they left the building. With a relieved look, Curry turned to Heyes. But before he could utter a word, he saw Heyes had his finger to his lips for quiet.

"Thaddeus," Heyes emphasized the name with a nod of his head. "This is going to be a long ten days." Pointing to his ears, he indicated that their conversations could be overheard.

Nodding in understanding, Curry answered using Heyes' alias. "With one honey pot and one meal per day, I think you're right. We can play cards during the day. But look at it this way, when we get out of here, we'll only have two weeks left on our time."

*****ASJ*****ASJ

One month later, freemen Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones walked out the front door of the Idaho Territorial Prison. Dressed in the clothes they wore when arrested, every possession and dollar was returned to them. Curry kept drawing his gun, faster and faster each time. Heyes relished the feel of his battered black hat on his head. He looked back and smiled. "Good to be out of there."

Taking a deep breath of freedom, Curry answered, "Feels good. Never want to go back." He realized Heyes had stopped and was looking back at the prison.

"Thaddeus, it does give one a feeling of accomplishment to see the work we did building that prison though."

"Joshua, we quarried, moved and broke rocks that the builders used to build the new cell building. We didn't do nothing special to take credit for."

"Probably should check in with Lom."Heyes clapped Curry on the back as they walked to the nearest town.

Busy counting the money in his pocket, Curry nodded. "We ain't goin' tell him what we been doin' these last six months are we, Heyes?"

"Why Kid, Heyes and Curry were law abiding citizens working in construction away from Wyoming."

Smiling a wide grin, Curry said, "But Smith and Jones are now ex-cons."

"Better them than us."

FINE