THE BEGUILEMENT OF KID CURRY - Chapter Nine
Kid returned to his room to quickly pack and start the trip back to Heyes. His horse was already saddled and tied to the hitching post out front of the hotel. Kid pulled some clean clothes out of his saddle bags and pushed the envelope with their wages deep into the pack. He paused and dug into his pockets to see if there was any more money he could add to the envelope. He hated riding with coins in his pockets. As he pulled the loose change from his pocket a single bill fell to the floor. He bent to pick it up and froze. He quickly straightened and frantically dug deep into all his pockets not finding what he was desperately looking for.
The letter.
Where was the damn letter?
He couldn't believe he hadn't destroyed it when he first found it. It had slipped his mind. He looked quickly around the hotel floor, not finding it he closed eyes and tried to think where it might have fallen. It could be anywhere, but hopefully not at the school. If he had dropped it at the school...and if Miss Martha had found it…
Heyes.
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Amy leaned close as Martha's eyes fluttered open. There was confusion mixed with pain and then suddenly her eyes darkened in anger. Amy was shocked at the transformation.
"Miss Martha?" Amy asked timidly. "Are you...Is everything alright? It appears as if you fell and hit your head."
Miss Martha glared at Amy until she finally spat out one word, "Thaddeus."
"Thaddeus? Miss...Miss Martha he isn't here. Don't you remember he left the other day? Joshua is here." Amy was confused. She quickly reached for the pitcher of water and poured a glass of water, bringing it close to Miss Martha's lips. Amy screamed and covered her mouth when Martha knocked it from her hand. She quickly looked from the glass that lay shattered on the floor to Martha's face, as she scrambled from the chair. Amy dropped her hand from her mouth, "Miss Martha?" She was terrified.
Martha pushed to one elbow and rolled up to a sitting position. She raised a hand and touched the cleaned gash on her head.
"Where are the girls?"
The girls?
"Sleeping. Miss Martha...it's early in the morning."
"I want the girls to dig a hole."
A hole?
"Ten by ten."
Amy was shaking her head confused.
"For what? Do you think you are dying? You only hit your head. You're not-."
With one hand Miss Martha pushed her hair away from her face. Her eyes were wild and filled with rage.
"Don't ask questions," she hissed. "Just dig the Goddamn hole!"
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After Amy had fled the room to awaken the other girls, Miss Martha pushed herself to the edge of the bed. She sat several moments with her head bowed; her unkempt hair covering her face. Her eyes were tightly closed. Her nostrils flared as her breathing increased with an uncontrollable rage.
Thaddeus and the townsfolk must have had a good laugh over what a pathetic excuse for a woman she was. Betrayed by her husband and sister. She knew Thaddeus talked to them; he had mentioned someone had told them about her husband being a doctor. Seemed like everyone was talking about her personal life. She had to put an end to it.
Permanently.
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Amy quickly woke all the girls up. Many moaned and tried to roll over to go back to sleep, when Amy said with urgency, "You all need to wake up and listen to me."
They slowly woke up, and tried to rub the sleep from the eyes. The ones that were aware of Martha's fall, looked at Amy with dread on their faces, "Is she…dead?" whispered Marie.
"No," Amy said sharply.
"She?" asked Grace " Are you talking about Miss Martha? She began to cry, which caused some of the other girls to cry.
"Miss Martha took a fall last night. She bumped her head. Physically she seems fine with a small cut on her forehead but ..."
"But what?" questioned Charlotte.
"She wants us to dig a hole."
"A hole? What kind of hole?" asked Emily.
"Ten by ten."
"That's a big hole."
Having all the girl's attention, Amy told the girls to do exactly what Miss Martha said to do no matter how illogical it seemed. She rationalized that Miss Martha had taken a bad fall but once she regained her senses all would be fine.
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Kid reluctantly pulled his winded horse to a stop. He dismounted and grabbed his canteen. Taking off his hat, he poured some water into it and allowed his horse a brief drink, before he drank deeply from the canteen. Kid pulled his bandana off and wet it. He rehung his canteen and wrapped the wet bandana around his neck, letting the excess water roll down his neck to his chest. He couldn't continue to push the lathered animal this hard in the increasing heat and humidity of the day. The next town he would buy another horse. And another and another until he got back to Heyes as quickly as he could. Why hadn't he waited until Heyes was ready to travel? He cursed himself for not following his instincts and prayed that his partner was okay, but it was getting more and more difficult to suppress the uneasiness that grew with each mile.
He laid a kind hand on his horse's neck and patted it.
"Just a few more miles. A few more miles."
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It had taken a while for Heyes to fall asleep. He worried about Kid riding by himself, a real concern considering how they had ended up at the school. Although still walking with a limp and with the aid of one of the crutches, the pain had lessened to the point where Heyes was confident he could sit a horse without too much discomfort for short periods of time. He knew Kid was anxious to leave and wanted to be ready to ride once he returned. He still hasn't lost his desire to ride that river boat and closed his eyes, falling asleep to the imagined sound of the boat churning up the Mississippi.
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Heyes was awakened by the bedroom door quickly opening. He blinked sleep away and was startled when his vision cleared and he saw Miss Martha in the doorway. He was shocked by Martha's appearance. Her hair was disheveled and a bandage covered an area of her forehead. Heyes started to throw the sheet back and get up, stopping when he realized he wasn't dressed.
"Miss Martha? Are you okay? What happened?"
What an actor thought Martha, if she didn't know better she would have thought his concern was genuine.
Miss Martha bit her bottom lip before she managed a strained smile.
"Clumsy Joshua. I hope you don't mind me bringing your meal to your room. Thaddeus said you would be leaving shortly after he returns. I thought maybe you would like to rest up before your journey home...or wherever you came from. I made you a special breakfast...I hope you like mushrooms."
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