The Argument

Being as there is some debate about just what triggered Danny Bilson to call Kid out in Smiler With A Gun, I speculate that the truth may well lie in the actions of one Hannibal Heyes. Just what was Heyes doing in Danny Bilson's saloon the morning Danny called Kid out?

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Heyes and Curry rode in silence for well over an hour after leaving Matherville. Danny Bilson was dead. Seth's death in the desert, the result of Bilson having left both Seth and Heyes and Curry to cross hundreds of miles in the desert with no food, no horses, and as far as Danny knew, no water, had been avenged. Heyes and Curry gained back none of the money Bilson had stolen from them, but they too felt justice had been served when Danny Bilson was felled by Kid's bullet and died, lying in the dirt and in full public view of many of the town's residents.

Kid Curry was always quiet, even sullen after a public gun fight. He had never lost, never been wounded during such an encounter, but Kid Curry was a rare breed among gunfighters. Though considered the best, the fastest by many, Kid never boasted or bragged about his ability and even went so far as to avoid notice whenever possible.

After making it through the desert alive, Kid and Heyes spent weeks traveling hundreds of miles in search of Danny Bilson, seeking both financial restitution for themselves, and an opportunity to avenge the old minor's death. But by the time they had decided to leave Matherville, they had achieve neither.

Heyes kept a nervous eye on his partner as they rode west along the dusty road. He was use to Kid's silence after a gunfight, but this time there was an aloofness that was not customary and added an irritable edge to Kid's demeanor.

"You alright, Kid?" Heyes asked, hoping for the usual reassuring brush off from his partner.

"Heyes, why did Danny suggest I might come back in the dark and shoot him in the back?"

"What?" Heyes asked with some trepidation.

"What did you say to him in the saloon this morning?"

"I cashed in my chips, Kid. He was the one that paid me. That's all there was to it."

"You told him I might come back in the dark and kill him."

"I might have... suggested you weren't done with him, but I didn't actually say you were planning to do that. No Kid."

"Why suggest anything, Heyes?"

"I just wanted to put a scare into him, a permanent scare."

Kid's face was fraught with turmoil as he turned and looked directly into Heyes eyes. It was very apparent that Kid knew Heyes was not being completely forthcoming with his answers, perhaps not even truthful. With a turn of his head, Kid cast his eyes on the road and spurred his horse well ahead of his partner.

Heyes sighed heavily. They both knew the truth. Now, they must put words to that truth if they expected their partnership to endure. Heyes watched his partner, nearly a quarter of a mile ahead of him. Kid's posture was rigid, this legs pressed tight against his mount. His hat, centered on his head, was cinched tight to keep it from sliding down his back. His arms pressed close against his torso.

Heyes chewed his lower lip, shook his head, and admitted the ugly truth to himself. Then he spurred his own horse to quicken his pace and catch up to his partner.

"Alright, Kid, I'll admit it. I tossed the rabbit to the hound. I made Danny think you you might be back...some night... I might have... hinted that it could be in the dark...when he wasn't expecting it. But I didn't say it outright. That was Danny's own fear that came bubbling up to the surface."

Kid pulled his chestnut to a stop and turned his upper body toward Heyes.

"Why? Why did you taunt him like that?"

"I wanted him to call you out, Kid. I wanted Bilson dead as much as you did," Heyes confessed.

"After I had just told you I didn't know if I could beat him?"

Heyes tried to smile reassuringly. "I knew you could beat him, Kid."

"No, you didn't, Heyes. You hoped I could beat him. You put my life at risk without even consulting me, without asking me if I was willing to take that chance... How, Heyes? How could you do that?"

"I'm sorry, I..."

"Sorry! What's being sorry got to do with it? You say you're sorry you put me at risk...You say that you'd have been sorry if I had died instead of Danny...But why would you really be sorry, Heyes? Is it because if I was gone, you wouldn't be able to get your revenge with someone like of Danny? Is that what you're sorry for, Heyes? You're sorry for your own damn inadequacies?"

"Inadequacies? You think I'm inadequate?"

Kid shook his head in disbelief. "Not this time, Heyes. That silver tongue won't work on me this time. You're not twisting this into something it ain't."

"What do you want from me, Kid? You want me to tell you I'm sorry I done what I did? Fine! I'm sorry!"

Again Kid shook his head in disbelief.

"Heyes. You and I both know that I had no reservations, no objections to shooting and even killing Danny Bilson. But he wouldn't have called me out if you hadn't put the bait out there for him. He had everything he wanted, Heyes. He won. We lost. That's what this was about for you. It wasn't justice. It wasn't to even a score. It was all about winning, and you didn't care who got hurt in the process. You didn't even care if I died, so long as you won."

Heyes was aghast nearly to the point of being speechless. His silver tongue abandoned him. But as Kid started to move his horse forward, Heyes moved ahead and blocked Kid's path.

"Is that really what you think, Kid?" the look of utter astonishment still on his face.

"Yeah, Heyes. That's really what I think."

"Well, you're wrong. In fact, you're dead wrong."

The muscles in Kid's face were tight and his eyes cold and hard. "I'm listening," he told Heyes.

"You're right that I did go to that saloon this morning with the intention of luring Danny into calling you out, but it wasn't so I could beat Danny at his game. It's because you were the only person... The only person in this whole damn world, that could make Danny pay for killing Seth... You made it clear from the very start that you intended to see justice done for Seth. In fact, you were very vocal about it... But I wanted that every bit as much as you did, Kid... I didn't think it through. I didn't think about the possible consequences to you. I should have... But I am so damn confident in you... I am so damn in awe of you and your fast gun...,that it didn't occur to me that you might not win... And if you hadn't... If you had died on that street...I would have died too, because I would have had two deaths to avenge...And Danny would have had to kill me, too."

A very long silence ensured as each absorbed and processed what the other had said.

"If Danny had killed me, you would have tried to kill Danny? Even being as poor of a shot as you are?"

"In a heartbeat, Kid."

"I'm sorry, Heyes. I didn't think about it like that. I didn't think what you might do after...well, after." Kid said quietly.

"I'm sorry too, Kid. I didn't see it the way you did, either."

"So what now?"

One side of Heyes' mouth twitched into a slight smile. "I guess now we make ourselves a promise."

"What kind of promise?"

"A promise that we will always talk these things through before the fact, rather than after."

Kid nodded and the muscles in his face relaxed, though a smile evaded him.

"Deal," Kid said

"Kid, I'm not sorry for what I done, but I am sorry for the way I went about it...the position I put you in."

Kid looked at his partner and knew this time, Heyes was telling him the truth.

"Alright, Heyes, I believe you...Now let's put Danny Bilson behind us and just move on."