The noonday sun beat down on the two men sitting astride their horses, staring thoughtfully at the rushing river in front of them.

"I dunno about this Heyes," Kid muttered doubtfully.

"I'm sure it'll be fine Kid, there's not that much of a current," he watched a large tree limb float quickly by, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.

Kid watched the same tree limb before turning to eye his partner skeptically. "Well, if you're sure Heyes…after you," he said waving his arm toward the river.

Heyes swung his gaze from his study of the water to look at his partner with a slightly hurt look. "Kid I get the feelin' you're losin' faith in me."

His partner merely grunted in response.

Heyes looked back at the river, pausing just a moment, then, taking a deep steadying breath, urged his horse to the water's edge. The animal tossed its' head, snorting and prancing nervously before making its' way into the water. Kid watched him before shaking his head. "I got a bad feelin' about this Buck," he mumbled as he reluctantly dug his heels into his horse, making it follow a minute later.

The water was deeper than Heyes thought as he slid out of the saddle when the horse began to swim. Hanging onto the saddle horn, he stayed beside the animal, pulling himself back on when he felt it find its' footing again. Once safely on the bank he turned, looking back to check on his partner, just in time to see an even bigger tree limb heading straight for him. He opened his mouth, but didn't have a chance to shout a warning, and watched helplessly as he saw the Kid disappear just before the tree slammed into the horse, pulling it under as well.

Kid was more than halfway across when he saw the tree heading for them, but it was moving too quickly and the water too deep for the horse to move any faster. Knowing he had only one chance, he took a deep breath, diving down trying to get out of the way, but pain exploded in his head and then darkness enveloped him.

Seeing Buck surface a few feet downstream, and pull himself toward the bank, Heyes held his breath waiting anxiously for his friend to reappear. He had dismounted and was frantically scanning the surface of the water looking for his partner. Catching a brief glimpse of a blue shirt, he dove in, swimming strongly toward where he had seen him, but there was no sign of him as he had disappeared below the surface again. Heyes looked around before taking a deep breath and diving down, surfacing a moment later, pulling Kid up with him. He turned him onto his back struggling to hang onto him, the river trying its' best to pull them apart, as Heyes fought against the current to get them both to the bank. Gasping for breath, he was finally able to stagger to his feet and drag Kid out of the water. Quickly he rolled him onto his side, holding him steady as he began coughing up water, trying to catch his breath at the same time.

Kid moaned as he coughed. Lifting a hand toward his head, he struggled in a panic to sit up, trying desperately to fill his lungs with air, as he slowly began regaining his senses. Heyes caught his hand to stop him from touching his bleeding head, and tried to reassure his friend.

"Hey…hey, calm down. Look at me, you're all right," Heyes said softly as he put a hand under Kid's chin forcing him to look at him. Kid said nothing but blinked wildly at his partner as he gasped convulsively for each breath, blood running down the side of his face. Heyes released his chin, knowing that he wasn't quite with him yet.

"Just take it easy a minute will ya? That's a nasty gash you got there Kid, let me clean it up," he placed one hand firmly on his shoulder to keep him still. Kid didn't respond as Heyes cleaned him up, but continued coughing occasionally. Heyes sat back on his heels once he'd bandaged the wound on Kids' head and eyed him critically. Kid had calmed down and his eyes were focusing once again, but he winced and put a hand to his chest whenever he coughed.

"All right, you sit there and finish catching your breath while I grab your horse and check him out. Then, we'll head over to those trees and try to get our gear dried out," he said as he got to his feet.

Kid stayed sitting, closing his eyes once Heyes had turned away from him, trying to take a couple of deep calming breaths. 'That had been too close' he thought as he saw Heyes reach out to grab his horse, patting him gently. He watched as he checked the animal over thoroughly, slowly walking back toward him with the horse in tow once he was satisfied that the animal wasn't injured.

"He's got a couple cuts but he's all right. You feelin' a bit better?"

Kid answered with a slight nod and started attempting to stand with Heyes immediately reaching down to help him. He was rather surprised to feel Kid still trembling in shock, and kept a steadying hand on his arm until he was confident that he was standing solidly on his feet.

XXXXX

They had spread their wet clothes out in the sun to dry, along with most of the clothes in their saddlebags. The horses were unsaddled as well and Heyes, rubbing them down as best he could, was thankful that neither animal seemed the worse for wear after their unexpected swim. Soon they were sitting having coffee, hoping their gear would dry quickly so they could get to town. Heyes sat drinking his coffee, quietly watching his partner check each and every bullet in his gunbelt as well as those in his gun. Kid coughed once and Heyes narrowed his eyes in concern.

"We should be in Centennial this afternoon Kid. Maybe you ought to see a doctor when we get there."

"I'll be fine Heyes, quit your fussin'," he mumbled as he continued drying and cleaning his gun.

Heyes shook his head and mumbled something incoherently about mules.

"And if you ain't gonna clean your gun hand it over."

"I never clean it good enough to please you anyway," he groused good naturedly as he handed his Schofield over. He settled back with his coffee in hand as Kid cleaned their guns, knowing this was the one thing guaranteed to calm his friend. He had to admit he found it almost hypnotic to watch as he methodically took the weapons apart, cleaned them and reassembled them.

XXXXX

They arrived in the town of Centennial later that afternoon. Checking the name in front of the sheriffs' office, they glanced at each other, both shaking their heads, not recognizing the name. Slowly they made their way down the street, pulling up in front of the saloon, having both agreed that after their rather intense river crossing they deserved a drink…or two, before anything else. The bartender watched them with blatant curiosity as they entered and strolled to the bar he was wiping down.

"Whiskey," Heyes held up two fingers, throwing a few coins down.

"You boys are lookin' a little rough," he placed the whiskey in front of them.

"The river was a little deeper than I figured," Heyes admitted, closing his eyes he downed his drink in one gulp, enjoying the burn the liquid left as he held his glass out for a refill.

"Yeah we had some heavy rain in these parts lately. Surprised you made it across in one piece," he eyed the bandage on Kid's forehead, as he filled both glasses again.

Kid snorted, "Yeah, one of us almost didn't," he finished his second shot and looked at his partner. Heyes put his empty glass back on the bar and reached over to pat Kid on the shoulder. "Okay partner, let's get the horses to the livery and get ourselves cleaned up."

XXXXX

A couple hours later, found them sitting in the café, freshly bathed and enjoying a hearty bowl of stew. Heyes hid a relieved smile when he noticed that Kids' appetite didn't seem to be affected by his near drowning and his cough had finally disappeared. Pushing themselves back in their chairs once they had finished eating, they took their time drinking a second cup of coffee. Heyes couldn't hide the yawn that had Kid looking at him questioningly.

"I don't know about you, but I think I'd like to head back to the hotel for a bit of a rest, go to the saloon a little later. Won't be many in playin' poker yet anyway."

Their perilous river crossing had taken a lot out of not just him, but Heyes as well, the thoughts of putting his feet up and catching some sleep sounded wonderful to Kid and after catching Heyes trying to hide yet another yawn, he readily agreed.

XXXXX

Back in their room at the hotel, Kid sat wearily on his bed removing his still damp boots as Heyes propped himself up against the headboard of the other bed with a book in his hand. He glanced over at Kid, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Got a new book at the mercantile Kid, want me to read to you?"

"What's it about?" Kid asked without looking up, pulling his socks off.

"Well, it's called 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." He laughed out loud when Kids' socks hit him in the side of the head.

"Funny Heyes…real funny."

XXXXX

Later that evening they could be found in the saloon, with Heyes at a poker table, keeping a watchful eye on his friend, who was drinking a little more than usual. Heyes grinned when he saw one of the saloon girls sidle up to Kid with a smile, running one hand across his chest, the other along his thigh. Kid smiled, putting an arm around her as she leaned against him, whispering an invitation in his ear before she straightened up. His smile widened as she took his hand, pulling him to his feet and leading him up the stairs.

Heyes found that these poker players were actually quite good and was enjoying the game. The men were friendly and he was slightly ahead in winnings, but not to the point where the others were getting upset. He caught sight of his partner when he came down the stairs about an hour later, looking much more relaxed as he made his way to the bar.

Heyes played for a while longer before excusing himself from the game with a smile, making sure to leave enough money to buy a round of drinks for the remaining players before he made his way to his partners' side. Kid was finishing another shot of whiskey, his left elbow on the bar and his head resting in his left hand.

"Ready to head back to the hotel?" Heyes asked as he put a hand on Kids' shoulder.

Kid looked up and nodding, pushed himself away from the bar a little unsteadily, Heyes staying at his side as they made their way through the batwing doors. Kid was fine until he stepped off the boardwalk to cross the street. He stumbled and would have fallen if Heyes hadn't been at his side. He chuckled as he caught and steadied his slightly drunken partner, throwing an arm around his shoulders as he steered him safely across the street to the hotel and up to their room.

Heyes was somewhat surprised that, although he staggered around a bit unsteadily, Kid managed, without help, to get himself undressed and into bed by himself, without falling on his face. Heyes finally relaxed once he heard the soft snores coming from his friend, glad that he'd had a good night and seemed to have recovered from his earlier mishap. Yawning, he blew out the lamp, reminding himself that he had to send a wire to Lom in the morning. Laying down he yawned and closing his eyes wearily, felt a cold chill of foreboding just as sleep claimed him.