Tommy Tapscott (From the Men Who Corrupted Hadleyburg)
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I had heard of Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, but their names was pretty much all I knew about them. Pa being a prospector keeps us up in the hills most of the time. But when we get to Hadleyburg a few times a year, Pa always buys a newspaper and Ma always makes me read every word, on account of it being good practice. So I recognized the names when I heard em.
We was real quiet, hiding behind some trees while them two was fishing in that pond and we heard every word they said. I've never had no proper schooling, but Ma makes sure I learn all the necessary subjects like reading and writing, and arithmetic, and history. I was born just after the war ended, so I don't know none of that first hand, but Ma and Pa were around and Pa was even a soldier, but he don't talk about it, ever.
Well, hearing Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry talk about growing up during the war was real interesting and I wish I couldda asked em a few things, but Ma told me a long time ago that ain't a subject you ask somebody about, because there ain't nobody on either side that's got a good story to tell.
So for three days, Ma and me rode inside the wagon with them two tied up, and us pointing a loaded rifle at em. That don't exactly invite a lot of conversation, so when we did talk, it was mostly about the weather and fishing, and the subjects Ma was teaching me. Once I started to ask em what it was like being outlaws, but Ma just said 'hush, Tommy. That ain't polite,' and that ended that conversation before it ever got started.
But I think it's what they done when Pa hit a pot hole in the road and the rifle I was holding flew outta my hands, that made me realize them two weren't bad people. They couldda kicked that rifle out of the wagon and jumped out after it. But they didn't. Oh, I could see they thought about it, but in the end Mr. Curry just kicked the rifle back to me, before Ma ever seen what happened.
So even though we was suddenly gonna be rich after Pa collected the reward money, Ma said it weren't the kind of rich that offered any satisfaction knowing it come from the sweat of your brow or the ache in your back. Even Pa eventually come around to that way of thinking.
Well after Ma baked them that blueberry pie with Pa's gun inside, things changed a lot. The Sheriff and his deputies came banging on our hotel room door before the sun was even up and Ma and Pa was carted off to jail, while I was carted off to the Preacher's house and was told if I ran off, it would just make things worse for Ma and Pa. So I stayed put and even started going to a real school for a spell.
Then after a couple of weeks, Mr. Brubaker shows up and says he's a lawyer from Junction City and was retained to represent the Tapscotts. The Reverend Miller explained to me what that meant and that took a weight of worry off my shoulders. After that, there was a flurry of repairs and construction going on in town, and signs started popping up saying all the work being done was due to donations from Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry.
Reverend Miller insisted I go to church every Sunday and for three weeks straight, he preached about how the way of the righteous can't be bought, and all this building was an act of the Devil. But that preaching stopped right quick when the church got a new coat of paint and a shiny new brass church bell.
When I told Ma about that during my weekly visit to the jail, she said not to make too much of that cause the Reverend is only human and therefor prone to mistakes. She said money can be very persuasive and reminded me that we were an example of that fact. She said the only difference is the fact that we learned from our mistake and that we won't ever let greed guide us ever again.
Well, I was allowed to miss school and attend the trial. There was a lot of legal jargon that I didn't understand, but thanks to a witness by the name of Harry Briscoe, Ma and Pa were let go. Ma told me later the right word was acquitted, and it meant we was free to go our own way and be a family of prospectors once again.
We never again come across Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, and we go to Gila City now when we do go to a town, but I read the newspaper real careful every chance I get to see if their names appear anywhere. I haven't seen nothing yet, but I'd sure like to meet up with them once again, just to thank em for all they done for us.
A couple of years have passed now since all that happened. Ma and Pa don't do prospecting no more. They bought a cabin outside of Wickenburg and I go to a regular school now. I got a part time job at the General Store and when I graduate, I want to go to college and become a lawyer.
The man that owns the General Store is a man by the name of Willard Sloane. He don't work in the store but he comes in regular and one day he asked me what my plans were after I graduated. I told him I wanted to be a lawyer, and then I told him why. He patted me on the shoulder and then he told me he once met Heyes and Curry.
And then he made me a promise that was both strange and wonderful. He told me if I went to college, he'd match my savings dollar for dollar to help pay my tuition. And then he said something really odd...
"Cause nobody's ever going to say I was outdone by Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry."