Chapter Three
In their hotel room, after seeing Jenny safely back to her place, Heyes paced in agitation. The right side of his face bore evidence of the violence he and his friends had endured. His cheekbone was bruised and his lip was swollen, but his injuries did nothing to camouflage the anger and frustration he felt.
Curry watched his friend with concern. Rarely did the emotions that Heyes carried within bubble to the surface with such intensity and when they did, there was no telling what his friend was capable of doing. He knew that Heyes was looking to get revenge on Jeremy. He wanted revenge too but he didn't want to see anyone hurt anymore and he didn't want Heyes to blow his chance for amnesty by acting rashly. This was one of those times when Kid knew he would have to keep the calmer head.
"Heyes, you need to forget about it. It's over."
"I can't, Kid. Jeremy was playing for keeps. I think he would have killed us all if you hadn't managed to get loose when you did. You saw him...he was crazed."
"I know…but there's nothing we can do about it. Even if we could go to the sheriff…which we can't…it wouldn't do any good. You heard what Jenny said. Beaumont has the law in his pocket. Besides, if he is really crazy, that's an even better reason to stay away from him."
"I know you're right, Kid, but I have to do something." He paced some more. When pacing did no good, he lay down on his bed, fully clothed, and lay there staring at the ceiling. His breathing was slow and even but this did not fool Kid, he knew that Heyes was anything but relaxed.
Curry watched silently. After a long while, he stood. "I need some air." He didn't expect a response from Heyes so he wasn't disappointed when he got none.
Kid walked out into afternoon sunshine. It looked like the rain was finally done. The air smelled fresh and clean. After wandering the streets for a few minutes, he made his way over to Jenny's hotel room. When she finally opened the door to him, she looked as nervous as a cat on a tin roof. She had deep shadows under her eyes that hadn't been there just yesterday. "Jenny, are you ok? Me and Joshua are worried about you." This was only a small lie because he knew that if Heyes wasn't so wrapped up in figuring out a plan to get back at Jeremy, Jenny would be first and foremost on his mind, too.
Jenny pulled Kid into the room and hastily shut the door. He noticed that she took a moment to turn the key. Turning to him, she tried to put on a brave face, "Oh, you know me, Kid. I've been through lots worse things than this. I'll be just fine. Just need to get a little rest, is all. The only thing that really bothers me is being dragged out of here wearing that awful nightdress. I been meaning to get rid of that old rag."
Kid smiled sadly at Jenny's attempt at humor. He knew that she was just trying to cover the pain and fear she was really feeling, but she was a tough cookie if there ever was one and he knew that she was telling the truth when she said she would be alright. It would just take a little time.
"Well, you know that Joshua and I will always be here for you if you need us."
"Heck, yeah, honey. You boys and me, we're almost like family, aren't we? Now git out of here so I can rest a spell."
"OK, you rest and we'll stop by in the morning and see you. And Jenny? Don't worry too much about Jeremy, I don't think he'll be bothering you again."
Kid walked around the town for a while longer with no particular destination in mind, avoiding the saloon and another possible encounter with Jeremy. When he finally returned to the room, he was surprised and a little bemused to see Heyes up and about, whistling a tuneless tune.
"You're in a better mood."
"Why shouldn't I be? Everything is going to work out just fine. Is it still raining?"
"No. What's going to be fine? Have you decided to forget what happened? After all, we still have over $2,000. We can go some—"
"Oh, we're gonna leave alright, but not right away. We have some unfinished business to take care of first."
"Unfinished business? Heyes, I hope you're not thinkin' what I think you're thinkin'."
"You don't have to worry, Kid. I don't plan on hurting anyone. I was just laying here thinking…"
"Here we go," Kid sighed.
Heyes shot him a warning glance. "Like I was saying…with that last hand, I won almost $25,000 today. I won it and now I aim to go back and get it. Tonight."
"Are you nuts? Did your brains get rattled around too hard? We can't go back there, especially not this soon. If we so much as set one foot on that place, every one of Beaumont's men will be on us like bees on honey."
"I'm gonna have to take that chance, Kid. You can either come with me or stay here and wait for me." Heyes smiled calmly.
Curry knew there would be no talking his partner out of going back for the money now that his mind was made up. With an irritated sigh, he said, "Course I can't let you go out there by yourself. You'd end up getting yourself killed for sure."
Once darkness claimed the day, they made their way back to the Beaumont place. Supper hour had passed and the ranch was quiet. They left their horses tied to a stand of trees and, staying in the shadows, moved closer to the big house. The night was clear; no clouds remained in the evening sky. Lights shone from several rooms on the second floor but the main floor appeared dark. "Looks like everyone has gone to their rooms already. This is gonna be easier than I thought."
"Heyes, I wish you wouldn't say things like that. You're just askin' to run into trouble."
Heyes wasn't listening. "Shhh…let's go." Moving stealthily through the still-damp grass, they crouch-ran until they stood outside the window of the room where they had been held against their wills that very morning.
Curry stood watch, gun at the ready, as Heyes tested the window. As expected, it didn't budge. Undeterred, he reached inside his coat pocket and drew out a long, thin strip of metal. Within seconds, he had disengaged the latch. At the familiar click of a lock being rendered useless, he smiled at Curry, satisfaction lighting his face. Curry returned the smile with obvious admiration.
One after the other, they slipped through the now open window. Once inside they paused, listening. The house was silent. The room looked much the same as it did when they made their escape earlier in the day. Cards and chips still lay scattered across the floor and the two chairs where Kid and Jenny were tied still sat against the wall near the safe, the ropes that bound them lying discarded nearby. Undoubtedly, Jeremy and Grif had been discovered and released by someone hours ago.
Heyes' eyes found the picture that concealed the safe behind its painted surface. It was gently illuminated by the moonlight shining through the open window. The door from the parlor into the hallway was slightly ajar. Curry peeked through the opening and seeing no one, silently pulled the door shut, then moved back to stand next to Heyes.
"This shouldn't take long. I was able to catch a couple of the numbers when he got the money out of the safe earlier."
"Well, work fast. I wanna get out of here before someone catches us."
With a lover's touch, Heyes grazed his fingers across the surface of the safe. After removing his hat, he brought his head close and began manipulating the dial. The safe proved to be more difficult for him to crack than he had anticipated. Several minutes passed as his frustration grew. A thin film of sweat broke out on his forehead. Kid barely managed to contain his impatience as he stood watch. "Heyes. What's taking you so—?"
His sentence was cut short by the sound of angry footsteps approaching in the hall. They could hear raised voices from behind the closed door. "But, Dad…"
"No buts, Jeremy. Not this time! You've embarrassed me—and yourself—too many times already. I told you to let this drop now and I mean it. I'm an important man in this town and we have a certain reputation to maintain. So when I say no more gambling, you better believe I mean it!"
Heyes and Curry watched as the doorknob wobbled and started to turn. In a moment, the two Mr. Beaumonts were going to catch them. Wildly, they looked around for someplace to hide. Heyes returned the picture to its original position as quietly as possible and both men scurried to hide. At the last second, Kid grabbed Heyes' hat off the floor and tossed it to his partner. The door opened a couple of inches just as they found a dark corner behind a wall of cabinets.
Just then another voice joined in. "Mr. Beaumont, the foreman needs to see you right away. One of the horses has gone lame and he wants to know what you want him to do about it."
"Huh. What? All right. I guess this will have to wait, Jeremy, but as soon as I'm done outside, we need to discuss this some more." The door was pulled shut again. The men walked away, Mr. Beaumont talking as he left, "Land sakes, what would your dear sainted mother say if she could see what you've been up to here? I'm about at my wit's end with you, boy."
Heyes and Kid looked at each other. "That was too close," Kid hissed under his breath. "I'm gonna give you five more minutes. If you can't open the safe by then, we need to just forget the whole thing."
"OK. Don't worry. I just about had it before they showed up." Working the combination again he gently pulled the handle, and this time the door swung free. Heyes and Curry looked into the safe. "Apparently, Mr. Beaumont, the elder, doesn't believe in banks." They both reached in and drew out stacks and stacks of $100 bills, just like the ones Heyes had been forced to play with earlier.
"Heyes, would you look at all this money? There must be at least a couple hundred thousand dollars here."
"I think so, Kid. And if there ever was a man who deserved robbing, it would be our friend, Jer, wouldn't it?" Heyes looked at Curry, begging to be convinced of the error of his thinking.
"We could live a very long time in South America with that money."
"Uh, huh. We could." Finally, Heyes' eyes cleared and reality reasserted itself. "No. We came here for the $20,000 and that's what we'll leave here with, right, Kid?"
"Heyes, I know you're right. But it would be so easy…"
"I know, but we've worked too hard and too long to get our amnesty to blow it all away now." With a final longing look, they put all the money back in the safe—all but $20,000, that is. Heyes carefully closed the door and gave the dial a final spin before returning the painting to its original position. With the money safely tucked in their pockets, they left the way they had come and rode back to town without any further problems.
The next morning, after the hearty and leisurely breakfast they had missed the day before, they went to see Jenny. She let them in, but not before she made sure who it was at her door. On her bed, sitting open and half filled, were three large suitcases.
"Going somewhere, Jenny?" Kid asked.
"Smart boy. How'd you figure that out so quick?"
"So you're leaving then? Why?"
"I just thought, after yesterday, maybe this town isn't so safe for me anymore."
"Awww, Jenny. I'm sure sorry we got you involved in all that," Heyes said apologetically. "Are you OK?"
"No permanent damage. My old grandpa could hit harder than that." She winced ever so slightly as her fingertips explored her cheekbone where Grif had slapped her. "Anyway, I've decided I'm through with dealing. I have a little money saved up. I think I'll head down to Yuma. Louise is there, you know. We stay in touch with letters and she's become almost like a daughter to me. She doesn't have any other family, either, except for that sister of hers. Anyway, she's been talking about opening up a little dress shop down there once she can afford it. Thought I might see if she'd like a partner. I do know quite a bit about fashion, after all. 'Bout time I turn legit."
"Jenny, that's just great." Curry looked thoughtful for a moment. "Heyes, what if—" he began.
"Uh, uh."
"C'mon Heyes. It's the right thing to do."
"How's that again?"
"Well, Jenny wouldn't be needing to get out of the business if we hadn't caused her all this trouble."
Heyes looked at Curry unhappily. "All of it?"
"I think so."
"Not the $2,000 I won the first day, too?"
"No, we can keep that."
"The rest?"
"Yep."
"All $20,000?"
Curry nodded. Jenny watched their conversation with interest and curiosity, her eyes shifting back and forth between the two former outlaws.
Slowly, Heyes extracted an envelope from his jacket pocket. As though wrestling with his inner demons, he extended the packet towards Jenny. "What's this?" she asked.
"Just a little gift…something to help you and Louise get that dress shop started proper," Curry answered.
Jenny reached to take it from Heyes' hand but couldn't quite wrench it from his rigid fingers until Kid gave it an extra hard tug and pulled it from his grasp. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Consider it a gift…we want you to have it. You deserve it."
Jenny peeked at the contents of the envelope. With an experienced eye, she figured, "Why, there must be $20,000 in here. Where'd you get it?"
"Now that doesn't matter. It was ours and now it's yours."
"Boys, you don't know what this means to me. No one has ever done anything like this for me before." Happy tears glistened in here eyes as she planted a kiss on each handsome face. "Now get out of here so I can finish my packing. But before you go, tell me that you will come see an old friend off this afternoon at the train depot."
"Wouldn't miss it for anything."
EPILOGUE:
The train whistle blew, signaling its readiness to depart. "I guess this is it. You boys take care of yourselves, you hear?"
"We will, Jenny. You too, and take care of Louise too. Tell her hello for us."
"I will. And I know she'd love to see you again if you ever get down to Yuma. I know I would too."
"Maybe someday, Jenny. You better get on the train now though. It's about to pull out." After one final embrace, Jenny got on the train. All three waved as it chugged away from the station.