For Author's note and Disclaimer, see chapter 1

Chapter 19

"Heyes," they had barely left the town behind them when Curry spoke, not bothering to turn and look at his friend. "Do you really think they knew who we were?"

"Sure did," Heyes nodded with a small sigh. "Larry knew alright, that much I can promise. He's a pretty sharp one."

"Did you know he would be on your trail as well when you left them signs?" Curry eyed him.

"Yep."

"Weren't you worried he'd be able to figure it out?"

"Nope," Heyes shook his head. "I was counting on it, wasn't that sure about you, but I was counting on him."

"Oh, that's nice, that's the thanks I get for hauling your bacon out of the fire," Kid snorted. "That's real nice. Next time I might just leave you there."

"Who says it's gonna be a next time?" Heyes turned his head to look at him. "I'm not planning on a next time."

"Yeah, well, we didn't exactly plan on this time either," Kid pointed out dryly. "Come to think of it, we never even planned on a first time…"

"We kind of did," Heyes gave him a dimpled grin. "We did for that Johnstown job, remember?"

"I lost my hat on that job," Kid protested indignantly. "And it was a perfectly good Stetson, had it all broken in nice and good, gone. And you got shot."

"I didn't say it went the way I planned it," Heyes protested. "Only that we did kind of plan it that way. Anyway, how was I supposed to know that the bridge was out? Huh? You tell me."

"There was a notice in the paper…!"

"We didn't get the paper until after, anyway, they could've put a sign up," Heyes brushed it off.

"There was one," Kid was starting to sound more and more frustrated, and he knew it. Heyes could do that to him.

"On the other side, yeah… Now you tell me, who goes over a gone bridge to read a sign on the other side, says the bridge is gone?" Again Heyes grinned. "Anyway, I don't know what you're complaining about, you only lost a hat. I'm the one who went into the river. And let me tell you it was freezing cold."

"I know," Kid stated dryly. "I lost my hat dragging you out of that damned river."

"Now don't get proddy Kid," Heyes turned his head to look at him. At first looking annoyed, then the grin broke out again and Kid didn't know if he should laugh, or hit him. "The plan was good," Heyes insisted. "It's just a point of fact that you can't always know all the things until it's too late. That's the risk, and that's one reason we decided to get out, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," Kid sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if we weren't better of sticking with it, but I remember."

"Don't rightly know myself Kid," now Heyes was serious as he gazed across the land in front of them.

"We never got to get any grub."

"I know," Heyes pushed his hat back as he contemplated their situation. "We don't need any tonight though."

"What about tomorrow?" Kid turned blue eyes on him. "We're sure gonna need some then. I'll be hungry when I wake up."

"Looks like fairly good deer country, we might be able to get one and we could maybe take it to the next town, trade it for some good grub," it was the best solution he could think of. Though not all were as happy to trade as some others were. It was always a gamble, but usually you could get at least some beans and some coffee for a fair sized deer.

"Is that the best you can come up with," Kid sighed. "I was hoping for something better than that."

"We could wait till we get to whatever town it is, see if anyone will hire us on as ranch hands and then wait til they feed us," Heyes shrugged.

Kid sighed again, shoulders sagging just a mite before he shook himself out of it. "Let's go see if we can bag a deer. Maybe we could take it to town and trade it."

"Now wait a moment," Heyes objected indignantly. "I said we should get a deer and trade it."

"Yeah?" Kid turned to look at him. "I like my idea better."

"That was my idea!"

"You know Heyes," Kid was unable to bite back a smile. "Your silver tongue has done it again. Let's see if we can do a bit of hunting. Looks like a stream over there, maybe we can get some fish for breakfast. We'll have all of tomorrow to hunt."

"Sounds good Kid," Heyes nodded as the horses trudged on towards the stream in the distant.

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That night there were two campfires not too many miles from one another. By the first, two young men lay sleeping, next to the second one, two tall Texans were enjoying their last cigarettes for the day. Gazing at the smoke lazily drifting towards the stars Larry eyed his partner. "Been mighty quiet." The silence could usually stretch between them for many hours in comfort, but this time he felt his partner had something on his mind.

"Just been thinking about what ya said," Stretch wasn't one for deep contemplation, but sometimes there would be something nagging on his mind. "Ya said ya done knew who them boys were, does that mean ya figured it out? That thing ya said ya were going to figure out."

"Reckon it does," Larry nodded.

"So who are they," Stretch urged.

"Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry."

Stretch looked at him in stunned silence, then shook his head. "It ain't nice saying things like that. Them boys were right decent. Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, now those names are bad medicine."

"Not so bad as some makes them out to be," Larry shook his head. "It was Hannibal Heyes ya had with ya, and he knew what he was doing leaving them tracks. The way I see it, a fella does that can't be all bad. Makes me figure they're right, they just wound up on the wrong side of the law after the war, and never knew to get out before now. The thing is, I remember some lawman said them two were never so bad even when they were at it. Didn't take with no wild shooting, didn't let anyone rob the passengers. Only went after the banks and railroads, and most of them would have themself an insurance. Not saying I like it, but I figure they were never so bad they don't deserve a chance to turn themselves good."

"Do ya think they can?" Stretch frowned, throwing his friend a worried look. "Dad burn it, I really liked that fella Joshua."

"He ain't no fool that's certain sure," Larry decided. "Should be able to figure it, though it seems them two have no better luck than we do staying out of trouble. That thing with the vacuum and the nitro is downright impressive though."

"Yeah, still ain't rightly sure what it all means, but I reckon that a feller that can savy that kind of things can do a lot of things," Stretch nodded. Reaching to the side he put a few more pieces of wood on the fire, his eyes drifting towards the night sky for a moment. "Ya sure them two boys were really them outlaws? They sure didn't seem the type."

"I'm sure," Larry nodded. "It's not so hard really, Stretch. Kids wind up in a spot like that, a youngun trying to take care of another one. They shouldn't have to do that, but we've seen it before, sometimes they get all the help they need and they turn out right. Other times, it just doesn't work out that way. The way I figure it, ya cain't blame a kid like that for stealing just trying to survive. Someone could've done took them in, instead they sent them off to that orphanage. Gather it weren't much better than a penitentiary. That ain't gonna do them no favors. But from what I heard, they were never all that bad in themselves. Heard that Sheriff said he missed them, on account that they never took to shooting anyone. Them two were after a train, nobody would be getting hurt. Ya heard what he said, the way he blew them safes. I'd say somebody taking a chance like that rather than going in daylight and waving their guns around really aren't that bad."

"No, they sure ain't," Stretch nodded firmly. "I liked him, he was a right nice boy. Do ya reckon we'll ever see them again?"

"Que sera, sera," Larry shrugged. "Who knows, we keep running into Doc, an them three Pinkerton fellers. The west ain't so big as ya might think sometimes. We just might."

"I'd like that," Stretch smiled softly as the silence once more stretched out between them as they laid out their bedrolls.

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"Heyes," the quiet voice cut through the darkness.

"What?" his friends sleepy voice came back softly.

"Are you sure they really knew who we were? Not just guessing, but really sure?"

"Yes," Heyes sighed. "I'm sure Larry knew, and he knew I knew he knew."

"Even though he knew we were worth twenty thousand dollars?"

"I don't think money matters to them at all, not a lot. If we had hurt people, then they would've taken us in, and it wouldn't have been for the money," he allowed his eyes to drift shut. "Reckon I'm glad we didn't run into them before we decided to go straight though. Because you might be the fastest one I know, but I wouldn't bet on you against them."

"Yeah?" Kid couldn't help but sound offended as he raised himself up to glare at his partner. Of course, Heyes, half asleep already was completely unaware of it. "I wouldn't bet on you neither, just so you know."

"I know, and I ain't worried," Heyes mumbled sleepily. "Cause they ain't likely to come after us, not as long as we stay out of trouble."

"Yeah, stay out of trouble," Kid snorted softly. "That's just what the governor said, and that's all we've been trying to do since then, and how is it going?" When only silence met him he turned his head. "Heyes?"

At the sound of a soft snore he chuckled quietly to himself before drifting off into sleep. They would continue to stay out of trouble, and like as not, trouble would hound them to the end of their days…

The End

Thank you so much to all of you who's read, reviewed, and liked this story. The support has been so much higher than I expected, and it has been a sheer thrill. The Cricket thanks you all... :D