Disclaimer: I don't own them and that's that.
A/N: I wrote this back in May of this year but never took the time out to do a little editing and to post it. It's the first ASJ story that I've created so I don't think it's as good as it really should be since I'm still trying to get a grasp of how to write their characters. I'm pretty sure I also wrote it in the wee hours of the morning so maybe that has something to do with it too. I'll probably come back and do a little work on it someday when I'm a little better at writing those two but for now this will have to do. I'm probably going to do more ASJ stories in the future since I have a whole list of ideas for stories and have already started in on one. I just haven't been able to finish it yet. Anyway, enjoy!
Two Men Named Smith & Jones
"You think that he recognized us, Heyes?" Kid Curry asked as his partner as the pianoman in a nearby saloon plunked slowly away on his ivory keys.
"Maybe. He didn't seem to really be interested in anything except his newspaper," Hannibal Heyes replied with a frown.
The two outlaws both went silent again, deep in their thoughts. It had been only half a week since they had lost a posse in the hills of Nevada but now they weren't sure if they were still being trailed. Just the same, they were cautious about their step. They were known to everyone around them in town as Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones but if anyone found out their real identity, they might be on their way to prison for the next twenty years.
Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry were two of the most wanted outlaws, according to the banks and trains that they had robbed. They had gone straight a while back but no one knew they were working for their amnesty except for Sheriff Lom Trevor and the Governor -- whoever that was at the moment. With Governors coming and going who knew when the amnesty would ever come through.
For now, they had to stay out of trouble and at the moment it was getting pretty hard. There was a man in the saloon that didn't trust Heyes' card playing, a woman who owned the livery stable and wouldn't give back their horses until they paid her for a shoeing they didn't even ask for and a sheriff that didn't seem interested in any one's problems except those in the paper. That wouldn't have been so bad if there wasn't news about the famous outlaws Heyes and Curry that the posse had lost about 50 miles from town. Everyone would be on the lookout for two men who would fit that description and with names like Smith and Jones, who would believe you? They knew if someone started putting two and two together about them, they wouldn't be able to go anywhere except back to Kansas in chains with an armed escort leading the way.
"Least we can pay that bill and get out of here," Heyes said as he patted his shirt pocket with the money he had won. He hadn't started with much but it was enough to get him into the game and win enough for the two to pay their bill -- with a little left to spare.
"Old Reinbeck wasn't too pleased with that."
The dark haired outlaw grinned as they walked towards the stable. "I think he was relieved when I left the table. I bet I could have taken him for more."
"Well I'm just glad you stopped when you did. All we need is for someone to put together your card-playing skills and our profiles next to the description in the newspaper and we'd have a hard time explaining that one," Kid replied, feeling pretty good about getting away from the saloon without a hitch.
"They won't, Kid," Heyes replied confidently. "We're going to pay our bill and get out of here just as soon as we find Sam."
He stopped suddenly before entering the stable, a strangely curious look on his face. His partner stopped a few steps ahead of him when he realized his friend wasn't with him. Curry felt nervous when he noticed the look on his partner's face. He didn't like the look of it.
"What's the matter?"
"I'm listening," Heyes replied thoughtfully as he eyes glanced upon every area of the empty stable.
Curry furrowed his eyebrows. "Listening for what?"
"Sam," he replied as he looked up at his partner. "I've found you can usually tell where she is just by listening for her."
Kid Curry was silent for a moment as tried his partner's approach to finding the livery owner. It didn't take long to hear her shout a few choice words from behind the stable. Hannibal Heyes smiled at his friend in satisfaction.
As they made their way through the stable, they could already see Samantha Brownell talking to herself and shaking her head as she made her way back inside the stable. Riding away from her was a dark horse and rider that was riding off towards the north. She threw her arms up in exasperation as she mumbled to herself about sheriffs and her abundance of work.
From what they could tell, Sam was in her late thirties and was quite plain in face with graying hair which she held back in a tight bun behind her head. She wore a tan set of men's pants, blue buttoned shirt and gray vest with a pair of old boots tucked under her worn slacks. Samantha had a round figure and was built more like a man from the work she did than some of the petite, pretty females that were found in town.
She smiled when she noticed them approaching and stopped her grumbling. "Ah, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones are you coming to pay your bill?"
Curry nodded as his partner fished the money out of his pocket. "That's right. We made enough in a card game to pay you for the job you did."
Sam eyed the money Heyes was counting with a glint of greed in her eye. "It's three dollars, Mr. Smith," she said, overcharging them slightly.
Hannibal Heyes was uncertain of paying her that much but handed the money over to her without argument. Sam was a little greedy but she was someone that had been nice enough to them in the town anyway.
"Who was that you were talking to?" Heyes asked curiously as he put the rest of the money back into his pocket.
She waved off the question with a flip of her wrist. "Oh, just some man who was looking for these outlaws," Sam said as she put the money into her pocket. The two men exchanged a worried glance before she continued. "He was part of some posse and was covering this part of the territory. Said they were looking for two men by the names of Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry."
Her eyes were back upon them as she studied their response to what she had just said. Sam had her doubts that these men weren't exactly who she said they were but if they were actually Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones, she really didn't want to be responsible for getting two innocent civilians mixed up in something that didn't concern them.
"Oh, you mean those two outlaws who rob trains?" Heyes asked innocently.
Sam nodded. "That's the ones. Apparently, the posse was chasing them this way a while back but lost their trail. They've all split up to see if anyone has seen or knew anything about them. I wish I couldn't have helped the poor guy but it isn't as if I'd know them if I saw them. Who knows where they are by now but I was them, I'd head west," she said with a pointed look. "They don't have any men searching there anymore and there's a town that gets the news about two months after everyone else does. I'd say it'd be a good place to stay for a while if I was them. Say, which reminds me, where are you fellas heading anyway?"
Curry smiled. "We were thinking of heading west, actually. We've got a friend in San Francisco who might have a job lined up for us when we get there," he said.
Inwardly Sam thought she was right but doubt made her think otherwise. "Well, ain't that something. I guess I better let you two get saddled up then. That fella from the posse said that the newspaper might have something on those two outlaws so I was figuring on going on down to the office to see what they got. Maybe they already caught those two."
Kid Curry nodded. "Might have," he replied with a glance towards his dark haired companion.
"Thank you for everything, Sam," Heyes told her with a smile as she started for the door.
She waved it off with her hand without even looking back. Sam Brownell took her time walking to the newspaper office. She had a pretty good idea of who they were but they did her no wrong. Twenty thousand dollars was a lot of money though. If Sam did turn them in, she would be a rich woman. She really didn't want to be a rich woman. It would mean she wouldn't have to work but then, what else would she do? She overcharged slightly to make a nice padding for herself in her old age but that was all she would take from them. Who could blame her for the prices she made up? When she became an old maid, Sam Brownell would need something to rely on when she couldn't work. She just didn't want Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry to support her. Who cared if they were outlaws? Sam would never have a use for all that money. Besides, she still wasn't sure if it was really them or not.
On the way to the newspaper office, Sam met Will Reinbeck, the man that Heyes had been playing at the poker table. He was wide-eyed and looked slightly frantic with the front page of the newspaper clasped tightly in his fist.
"Will, where are you going in such a rush?" Sam asked calmly.
"That man I was playing cards with. He's Hannibal Heyes," he exclaimed thrusting the crumbled newspaper in her face.
Sam took the newspaper from him and read as slowly as she could all the details in the article. She frowned at a great deal of it as Will Reinbeck stood there nervously awaiting her verdict.
"Well," she began. "That's very interesting. What makes you think he's Hannibal Heyes?"
He pointed with frustration at the newspaper in her hands. "It says he's good at cards."
She frowned. "Will, I'm good at cards but that doesn't mean I'm Hannibal Heyes."
Sam watched as Will Reinbeck's face began to turn red with anger. "Didn't you read the article?"
"Sure, sure," Sam said with a nod.
He pointed to the paper again. "Don't you see the descriptions it put out? Smith and Jones fit those descriptions, don't they?"
She frowned again. "Well, I guess they do but so do a lot of other men I've seen. Come to think of it, if I didn't know you so well, I'd say you could almost pass for an older version of Heyes."
Will Reinbeck stuttered on his words as his face turned beet red. "Sam Brownell, you know darned well that I look nothing like that description!" he exclaimed. She raised her eyebrows in interest, realizing that he obviously didn't see himself the same way she did.
"Well, alright then. You don't look like him," she replied handing back the newspaper before starting to walk away. "If anybody stops you though and asks, don't blame me."
"Have you seen them?" Will asked and she turned back to face him. Looking past him, she noticed two riders just slipping out of the livery stable and down the road. She tried not to smile.
"I just came from stable and they aren't there. I thought I heard Mr. Smith tell his friend that they were going to go down fishing in the pond later today. Maybe that's where they are now. You think two outlaws would go fishing, William?"
Reinbeck grunted at her before pushed past her towards the opposite side of town in which the two outlaws were heading. The fishing pond was about a mile or so out of town and by the time he got there and back, Heyes and Curry would already have enough of a head start. Sam knew she could claim her innocence by saying she didn't know where they went and she knew everyone in town would believe her. Nobody thought she could lie.
The older woman silently wished them the best as she made her way to the sheriff's office with a smile upon her face. It wouldn't take much to occupy Sheriff Reeves, a game or two of checkers might just be enough to keep him occupied and away from Will Reinbeck long enough to delay a posse - if there was going to be one. Knowing Reeves, he wouldn't be interested in a chase - let alone gathering a posse together. Plus, with Sam's disbelief in Will's story, the sheriff would probably hardly take notice of the man. She smiled as she looked back at the disappearing figures heading out of town. Maybe she really had met the two famous outlaws or maybe it was just two men named Smith and Jones.