Their room looked bleaker and drearier than the last time they saw it, even though the rain had stopped and the sun had come out since. The gloom came more from within the two men than from their surroundings.
"Please sit, gentlemen..."
Heyes and Curry looked around the room. "Where?" Kid asked, seeing there were no chairs.
"The bed. Sit down."
"What?"
"Listen, you're going to be confined here for a couple of days. I just thought you'd be more comfortable chained to the bed. At least you can lie down and rest," Ott smiled.
"Mighty thoughty of ya, Ott."
Heyes and Curry sat down on opposite sides of the big bed. While Ott watched over them with his derringer, Fletcher pulled a pair of handcuffs out from within his suit coat.
"Where'd you get those?" Heyes asked.
"Never mind about that. Just give me your hand. No, not that one, the other one."
Fletcher placed one cuff around Heyes' left wrist, and then he slipped the chain around one of the iron bars in the headboard of the bed. "Now you, Mr. Curry, your right hand, please."
He fastened the other cuff around Kid's right hand, effectively locking both men to the heavy bed and to each other. They had enough mobility that they could either sit or lie down in relative comfort. On first consideration, the only way for them to get away would be to take the whole headboard with them.
"That should about do it. I don't think you'll be going any where. Now you boys just relax. Once the sheriff gets here, we'll check out Winnie's story and if he's wrong, we'll let you go on your way."
"Awful neighborly of you."
Ott chuckled, fully aware of the sarcasm dripping from Heyes' words. "You boys behave yourself and I'll send some supper up here for you later. Let's go Fletcher." Ott and Fletcher left. Heyes and Curry heard the soft clatter of the lock being engaged from outside.
"I am getting SO tired of people tying me up, Heyes!" Kid said, angrily. He tugged at the chain vigorously.
"Ouch, Kid! Don't do that, you're only bruising my knuckles! We aren't gonna get out of these cuffs that way."
"You gotta better idea?"
"I ain't sure yet. But I might if things work out the way I hope. We just gotta wait and see what supper brings."
"Supper? What difference is supper gonna make?"
"Wait and see, Kid. Supper could make ALL the difference."
The hours dragged by for Kid Curry with little to break up the monotony. He spent long minutes staring out the window watching the clouds, now white and fluffy where previously they had been dark and heavy, drift by. When he tired of that, he found himself peering over Heyes' shoulder, reading along with him out of the book that he had found, still in reach on the table next to the bed.
Normally, this would have set Heyes' teeth on edge, to have Kid leaning in, breathing on the side of his face, quietly moving his lips while he tried to follow the words on the page; but today he patiently allowed his friend to read with him, knowing that there was little else to occupy his attention.
He did this out of kindness and also because he was aware that if Kid became restless, he himself would be the one to suffer most. So the two of them passed the time in this fashion, reading from the same pages; Heyes allowing Kid time to catch up before turning the yellowed leaves of the book.
Once in a while, Kid's mind would wander back to their problem at hand and he would press Heyes for more information on how he planned to get them out of their current mess but Heyes refused to tell Kid any more than he already had. So Kid waited. Waited and trusted Heyes' instincts.
Presently, Heyes closed the book and looked out the window. "Must be getting nigh on supper time, wouldn't you say, Kid?"
"Yep, I'd say so. You wanna tell me yet?"
"Just a little longer Kid. Trust me. If this goes how I think it's gonna, we'll be outa here before you know it."
Just then, they heard the scrape of a key being shoved into the lock. Both men tensed slightly, sitting up straighter in the bed, waiting. The door opened slowly.
Molly and Miranda entered cautiously, each one carrying a bed tray covered by a cloth napkin. "We brought you your supper," Molly said, shyly.
Heyes' face lit up in a brilliant smile. Kid could tell he was genuinely happy about something. He wasn't sure yet what that was but he planned to watch and wait to see, just like Heyes wanted him to. He found himself smiling too, in anticipation.
"That's terrific, Molly! We're starved, aren't we, Thaddeus? Bring it right over here."
Suspicion narrowed her eyes. Heyes rushed to assure her, "It's ok. We aren't gonna try anything. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't get out of these cuffs."
Her expression softened but her voice became stronger, "Just so you know…we ain't got the keys for those handcuffs. So it won't do you any good to try anything with us. We can't help you…no matter how much we might like to," adding, "which we don't," when she realized what she had said.
"Exactly right," he agreed. "Now just bring those trays on over here, would you?" Heyes sat up even straighter, rubbing his right hand against his pant leg, seemingly eager to get his dinner.
The girls set the trays down where the men could reach them easily. With a final wistful glance at Heyes, Molly turned to leave; digging the key to the room out of her apron pocket as she went.
"Oh, Molly? One more thing?"
Turning to look at him, she waited to hear what he wanted. His eyes bored into her but he didn't speak right away. Finally, several seconds later, not being able to hold out against his stare any longer, she asked, "What is it?"
"I was just wondering…do you remember that kiss we shared earlier today?"
Miranda giggled, unable to stop herself. The only thing that her sister had been able to talk about all afternoon had been that kiss! Oh, yeah, she remembered it all right!
Molly didn't seem to notice her sister's laughter. All her attention was, again, focused on the smoldering, rugged cowboy sitting on the bed, one leg bent at the knee, the other one dangling over the side of the mattress, toes brushing the floor.
Heyes didn't wait for her to find her voice. Watching her carefully, he said, "I was hoping that you might consider letting me have another? Seein' as how I might be sent away for quite a while soon, I mean."
Color rose in her face and breath caught in her chest. Flustered, she suddenly didn't seem to know what to do with her hands. First they dangled nervously at her sides, then crossed over her stomach and finally settled back down near her sides. "No, I don't think so."
"Please Molly? You wouldn't deny a condemned man a last request, would you?"
"You aren't exactly condemned."
"Not yet, but if the sheriff decides we are Heyes and Curry and we can't convince him otherwise, then we'll be sent away for twenty years. That's a long time to be alone, Molly."
"I'm sorry, truly I am…but my daddy would kill me if—"
"How's he gonna find out? Right, Miranda? And besides, it's just a kiss. Isn't that what you said to me earlier?"
"Yes…I suppose I did say that. But I'm not—"
"Please?" Heyes gave her his most charming look, dimples blazing.
"Go on, Molly," Miranda encouraged.
Molly could almost feel her knees knocking against each other underneath her full skirts. The idea of kissing Hannibal Heyes, if that's who he really was, was even more exciting this time, now that it was his idea. Finally, when she felt steady enough to walk, she moved to where he sat on the edge of the bed. Bending down, she, deciding to play it safe at the last instant, planted a chaste kiss on his forehead and quickly straightened up. She would have spun away from him and left it at that if he hadn't reached out and caught her arm with his hand.
"A real kiss," he insisted, bringing her round to face him. After a brief hesitation, she bent forward again, bringing her face within inches of his. He reached up and cupped the back of her neck with his free hand, drawing her closer to himself.
Gently, he kissed her as his hand moved up into her hair, holding her in the kiss. Then it was over. "Thank you Molly. That was all I'd hoped it would be."
Slowly, she straightened and turned to leave. At the door, she stopped once more. "Mr. Heyes? I'm sorry my father is doing this to you. I wish there was some way we could help, but there just isn't."
"Don't worry, Molly. We know you'd help if you could."
The young women left. Heyes chuckled, immensely pleased with himself. "As a matter of fact, you already did," he said to the closed door. Kid was watching him speculatively.
"What just happened, Heyes? How could a kiss help us? Have you gone loco?"
"No, Kid. I'm completely sane. And incredibly brilliant. That worked just the way I hoped it would."
"What did? I don't see how we're any better off than—" Kid's words trailed off as Heyes opened his free hand. The one that he had used to retrieve a shiny gold hairpin from the upswept hair of Molly Howard.
With a subdued whoop of glee, Kid admired his friend's finesse. "Heyes, you are a genius."
"Without a doubt, Kid, without a doubt. With this little hairpin, our troubles are soon to be over. All I gotta do is pick the lock on these cuffs and we—are—outta—here!"
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's do it."
"Patience, Kid. I figure we should wait until dark when everyone is in bed. That way, there's less of a chance of anyone coming to check on us until morning. We'll have a bigger head start on them if we wait."
Kid laughed, "Genius, Heyes, pure genius!"
"Yeah. So now, let's just eat our dinner and then later, we'll make our escape."
"Good idea. Let's eat."