Running on Empty

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Kid Curry sat wearily in the saddle and watched Heyes gallop to the top of the hill to determine the distance and time between them and the ensuing posse. He kept a loose hold on the reins, enabling the chestnut to grass graze while he waited, never taking his eyes off his partner. He lifted his canteen from the saddle horn and, after pulling the cork, took a long swig of the tepid water that wet his lips and mouth, but did nothing to quench the thirst. Slipping the canteen back in place, Kid rested his forearm on the saddle horn and leaned slightly forward to stretch sore back muscles.

Kid suddenly sat up straight and tightened his hold on the reins when he saw Heyes pause for only a moment at the top of the hill, then pulled his sorrel hard to the left and came galloping back down the hill at full speed. Needing no explanation, Kid gave his reins a hard pull and slammed his spurs into his horse, taking the lead well ahead of his partner. He skillfully angled his path toward Heyes and moments later they were side by side, their horses racing full speed.

Kid turned his head to the left and looked back toward the hill that the posse was now cresting, giving them no more than an hour lead across an open prairie.

"Don't they ever sleep or eat?" Kid shouted

"How do their horses hold up so well? It's been four days without a break!" Heyes shouted in return.

"And we crossed two rivers and brushed over our tracks. How do they do it?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say they got an..."

"Don't say it, Heyes, cause every time you do, it turns out to be true."

In unplanned synchronized coordination, they slammed their spurs into the sides of their horses once again, urging the exhausted animals to the limits of their endurance. In the distance a train whistle blew and Heyes spied and pointed to a billow of black smoke rising from the smokestack.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Kid shouted.

Heyes pointed off to the left and he and Kid again kicked their horses, both of which were beginning to lather and could drop from sheer exhaustion at any time.

"Heyes!" Kid shouted after glancing off to the right and seeing a water tower about two miles in the distance. "Over there!"

Knowing the train would be stopping for water, both men pulled their reins hard to the right and again dug their spurs into their horses sides, not knowing if the animals had enough strength to reach the tower before collapsing,and wondering the same about themselves.

Both men had grabbed their saddle bags and jumped from their horses before the animals had come to a complete halt. Slapping the horse's rumps, they watched the animals run off and gave little thought to how far the animals would go before realizing they were no longer being controlled.

Heyes and Kid crouched behind some bushes and watched the train roll to a stop to take on water. They saw four empty box cars with their side doors open and settled on the second one in line to race toward the moment the train began roll.

"You call it, Heyes," Kid said as he tightened the stampede straps of his hat, then pushed the hat to fall against his back, then shifted his feet to prepare for a running start toward the train.

"Now!" Heyes shouted and both men were on their feet running toward, then alongside the train, each struggling to grasp hold of the iron handle of the sliding door.

It was Kid who was running the lead and the first to secure a firm grasp on the handle which enabled him to hoist himself up and swing his legs into the boxcar. Tossing his saddlebags aside, Kid scrambled to his feet and stood in the open doorway with one hand clutching the handle and the other arm and hand extended, ready to lock his grip around Heyes' hand or arm.

But Heyes was loosing momentum, or the train was gaining speed, and the car Kid was in soon passed his still running partner. Kid leaned out of the car and watched anxiously, ready to jump off the train if Heyes failed to grasp the handle of one of the remaining two empty boxcars. Finally, as the train slowed to round a bend, Kid saw Heyes grasp the hand rail with both hands, then shove off with his feet as he swung his legs into the fourth and final boxcar.

Kid uttered a sigh of relief, then slid the door nearly closed, leaving just enough space to allow some light into the boxcar. He leaned over and picked up his saddlebags and took exhausted, dragging steps to the far end of the car where he sat down in a pile of straw. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes and decided with the next water stop, he would try to reunite with his partner. But for now there was nothing to be done but to get some much needed sleep.

Heyes landed on his belly and quickly rolled to the center of the empty boxcar, his saddlebags flung halfway across the car in the process. He lay there panting for several minutes, then raised himself first to his knees before testing his muscle sore legs by standing. Once sure of the steadiness of his sea legs, he took carefully balanced steps toward the door and partially closed it. Then, like Kid had done, Heyes made his way to the back of the car and sat down heavily in the straw. He closed his eyes and pulled off his hat and let his head sink into the straw as he too, quickly drifted off to sleep.

Both knew they were safe for the time being, but neither knew just how long that would last. Knowing they were at a great disadvantage being separated even by the short distance of two train cars, both were determined to join the other as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

That opportunity came about two hours later when both were jolted from their sleep by the slowing of the train once again. Both made their way to the doors of the boxcars and slid them open enough to get a view of the engine and the water tower beyond. Kid then turned to look down the back end of the train and saw Heyes looking out at him. Knowing the difficulty Heyes had getting into the boxcar, Kid motioned him to stay where he was. Then, picking up his saddlebags once again, Kid returned to the door and waited for a safe opportunity to jump off the train without being seen. He knew there would be the sound of a shack (brakeman) walking along the top of the cars, checking the connections and stability as the train slowed, and he waited just inside the door, hidden from view, to hear the footsteps overhead. As the footsteps faded and finally disappeared, Kid carefully poked his head out once again to be sure no one was walking along the tracks to check the connections or to check the boxcars for transient riders.

Kid quickly jumped out of the car and crouched down low to see the underside of the cars as he passed. Reaching the boxcar where Heyes was anxiously waiting for him, Kid tossed his saddlebags into the car, then stretched out his arm to grasp Heyes' hand to help him quickly enter the car. Once safely inside, they slid the door nearly closed and moved to the back of the car where they stood with their backs against the wall on the same side as the doors to make themselves as obscure as possible until the train again began to move.

"Wasn't sure you was gonna make it on the train back there," Kid said and sat down in the straw next to Heyes.

"I had a few doubt's there myself," Heyes replied as the train gave a jolt as it started to move.

"You think the posse gave up on us?"

Heyes nodded. "But I also think they likely wired the next town to let em know we're on this train."

"You know what the next town is?"

Heyes shook his head. "We're headed north, so the next big town is likely Cody, but there could be stops at one or two small towns along the way."

Kid got to his feet and walked over to the door to slide it open a bit more.

"What are you doing?"

"Watching for a farm or a ranch where we could jump off and maybe buy fresh horses."

"This train is traveling at least forty miles an hour. We can't jump off and expect to be able to get up and walk any distance as we'd likely both have broken legs or necks. No sense looking till the train slows down some."

Kid nodded and returned to the stack of straw. "You hungry?" he asked and reached for his saddle bags,

"What do you got?"

Kid examined the contents of his bags. "A little jerky and three cans of beans."

"Let's eat the jerky, Kid. I hate cold beans."

Kid pulled a small brown paper package from his saddlebags and removed a long slice of the cured, dried beef. Pulling the piece until it broke into two halves, Kid then handed a piece to his partner and sat down.

"You know, there's likely a train going in the other direction sometime today," Kid said as he clamped his teeth into the jerky and pulled and bit until a chunk broke off into his mouth.

"You want to head right back into that posse?' Heyes asked.

Kid shot Heyes a look that told his partner that was exactly what he was thinking. "They'd never expect us to do that. They do expect us to do exactly what we are doing."

"You know Kid, you may have a point there. If we was to get off at the next water tower and wait there long enough, there would be a south bound train eventually. Might even get us close enough for us to head to Devil's Hole, and even a passenger train will likely be carrying a few cattle cars which, if we're lucky, might even be empty."

"So we should do it?" Kid asked.

"If there's a southbound train passing this way by midnight, we could be at Devil's Hole sometime tomorrow. We could hold up there for a couple of days till things settled down again. Yeah, I think maybe we should do it."

Kid tore off another bite of his jerky. "Well, that gives us just about two hours before jumping off this train, in the dark I might add."

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Both were relieved to see the water tower was on the opposite side of the tracks from the sliding door of the car in which they sat. That meant an easy exit once the shack had passed the top of the car they were riding in, and once those footsteps faded, they hopped out of the boxcar and scrambled down the slight embankment to some bushes that would keep them out of sight of any of the train crew.

"What time do you think it is?" Kid whispered as they waited for the train to be on its way.

"Hard to tell in the dark, but I'd say nine, maybe ten."

"Gonna be hard to see if any of the cars is empty. Just gonna hafta to take our chances with the first car with the door open."

"That's assuming there will be a southbound rolling through."

Kid nodded. "When it's stopped for water it shouldn't be too hard to climb on board without being seen in the dark, though. "

Staying behind the bushes, they watched the wheels of this train they had just exited slowly begin to move, and they stayed hidden until the train whistle could no longer be heard.

"If we get separated again, get off outside of Rock Springs. One of us should be able to slip into town and buy a couple of horses. It should only take us a couple of hours to reach Lyman and from there we can head up into the hills."

Kid nodded. "Wish there was a way to get word to Wheat and the others. They could be waiting for us with horses."

"We'll apply for a telegraph line to be installed at Devil's Hole," Heyes said with a straight face.

"I've had two hours of sleep in four days, Heyes," Kid replied. "Somehow your humor escapes me."

Heyes shifted and settled into a comfortable position on the ground. "Well, it's gonna be another few hours till the southbound train comes through. Might as well try to add some numbers to those hours of sleep."

"Best plan you've had all day," Kid replied, lying down on his back and placing his hat over his face.

At five minutes after midnight, they were awakened by the distant sound of a train whistle approaching and both scrambled to their feet and looked to the north to see the engine's headlamp slowly growing larger and brighter as the train approached the water tower. They quickly moved into position, and were pleased to see a boxcar with the side door wide open. They waited anxiously for the train to take on water, then slowly begin to move.

Both jumped into action, racing toward, then alongside the train until they were parallel to the open boxcar. Kid reached for the iron handle and had no difficulty grasping it and pulling himself into the car. For a moment, Kid lay prone on the wooden floor of the car. He quickly pulled himself to his feet and wrapped the fingers of his left hand around the iron handle and leaned forward, his right arm extended out of the boxcar. Heyes tossed Kid his saddlebags which Kid grabbed and slung the bags further into the car. Heyes continued to run full speed alongside the boxcar, his own right arm extended upward in a futile effort to grab onto Kid's hand. Kid crouched down to offer Heyes a helping hand when something very hard slammed into Kid's chin and thrust him back into the boxcar, where he handed with a hard thud, unconscious and sprawled faced down on the floor of the car.

Hours later, Kid moaned heavily as he became acutely aware of the pain in his jaw and left cheek. Even before opening his eyes, Kid's gloved hand reached up to let the back of his fingers caress the swollen and painful jaw. He slowly brought his hand down and shifted his body to raise himself to his hands and knees as another moan escaped him.

"What hit me?' he asked, his speech thick and slow.

Kid got no response and assumed Heyes was sleeping. He shifted once again to prepare himself to stand when he felt the iron handle now lying on the floor beside him. "That's what hit me," groaned.

With still no response from his partner, Kid pulled himself to his feet and opened his eyes to scan the interior of the boxcar, expecting to find Heyes curled up in a pile of straw. He spied both his and Heyes' saddlebags near the center of the car, but, except for the presence of Kid himself, the boxcar was empty.

"Heyes?' Kid called out in a voice loud enough to be heard only within the boxcar. "Heyes?"

Kid moved to the door and peered outside just as the train was rounding a bend which gave him a full view of the entire train. None of the four other boxcar doors were open and there were no passenger cars hitched to this train. Kid moved back inside the car and sat down against one wall. Heyes being in one of the other boxcars was a remote possibility at best. He remembered Heyes' plan that if they got separated, they would meet up in Rock Springs which was the train's final destination.

The pain in his swollen jaw diverted Kid's attention and again he touched the area gingerly with the back of his hand as he settled in to await the train's arrival in Rock Springs. Though still exhausted, Kid forced himself to stay awake due to the danger of heading back to the point of the posse's origin, compounded by his fear for his partner's safety. He sat down in a corner of the car and cupped one hand along his injured jaw and was almost grateful for the pain and the bumpy ride to keep him awake.

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As the train neared Rock Springs it began to slow and Kid was able to jump off and roll down the shallow embankment. He was leery being within a few miles from where the posse originated, so he waited to slip into Rock Springs around suppertime when he hoped the sheriff would be dining. Walking on the other side of the street, Kid did check the name of the sheriff and was relieved to see it was a name he did not recognize. Knowing the posse likely contacted every town in a fifty mile area, Kid was nervous and unsettled about spending the night in Rock Springs. But the agreement with Heyes was to meet there, and meeting up with his partner outweighed the risks, especially if he was cautious and called no attention to himself.

"I was wondering, did a Joshua Smith check in yet?" Kid asked the desk clerk at the hotel.

"No sir, no one by that name."

"Well, I guess I'd like a room for the night; one with a view of the street." Kid told him.

After registering and receiving the room key, Kid headed to the stairs, but stopped and turned back to the clerk. If Mr. Smith arrives, would you tell him what room I'm in?' he asked.

"Of course, Mr. Jones."

Once in the room, Kid tossed the saddlebags on the bed and checked the street view from the window. He wasn't surprised that Heyes had not arrived as he had obviously missed the train, but he was curious as to what had happened to him. Suddenly realizing just how hungry he was having not eaten all day, Kid decided a beer in the saloon would take him past the dinner hour and he could then head to the cafe just before closing. Heading back down the stairs, Kid stopped at the desk and picked up a train schedule that he folded and slipped into his shirt pocket before heading off to the saloon.

After lingering over a cold beer, Kid headed to the cafe where he ordered a steak and baked potato. Waiting for his meal to arrive, he pulled the train schedule from his pocket to see what times the trains were due to arrive the following day.

"Hope you ain't planning on heading north tomorrow," the waitress said as she brought the plate of food to Kid's table.

"And why do you say that. Ma'am?" Kid asked.

"A man was killed on the tracks last night about forty miles north of here."

"Who was he, one of the railroad workers?" Kid asked, suddenly very concerned about his partner.

The waitress shook her head. "Some transient trying to climb on for a free ride. That track has been closed all day and they plan on keeping it closed tomorrow too while they look for anything that might tell them who the man was."

"Where did you hear all this?" Kid asked.

"My husband works at the train station. He came by here for lunch today and told me all about it."

"He tell you what the man looked like?"

Again the woman shook her head. "That's kind of hard to tell after a man's been run over by a train."

Kid nodded, then stood and reached into his pocket to pay the waitress for the meal.

"Ain't you gonna eat this?' she asked.

"I guess I ain't hungry after all," Kid said as he left the cafe and headed back to the hotel.

Kid took the hotel stairs two at a time. Reaching his room he gathered the two sets of saddlebags and headed back downstairs to check out.

"I gotta charge you for the whole night," the clerk explained.

Kid nodded and dropped a dollar on the counter. "If Mr. Smith were to arrive, tell him...tell him I headed back the way I came. He'll understand."

"Of course Mr. Jones."

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Kid took the back alleys to the livery and was relieved to find some bit of luck holding out when the livery was still open. He bought a horse and tack and dickered little with the owner as his only concern was to be on his way without drawing any attention to himself.

Traveling on horseback at night, especially off road always held an element of danger, but Kid stayed close to the railroad tracks heading north and backtracked the route he had taken by train the night before. Confident the posse had long since disbanded, the possibility that another posse had formed was not an unreasonable consideration and while Kid felt some safety in the darkness, he kept his eyes and ears very attuned to his surroundings.

It was not yet dawn when Kid reached the spot where he had hopped onto the cattle car headed for Rock Springs, and he was nearing exhaustion from a lack of sleep and traveling all night. He felt a glimmer of hope when he saw the tracks were not blocked off at this location, but until he was once again face to face with his partner, the fear and trepidation still lingered. He turned his chestnut off the road to an area with a small patch of trees and he climbed off the saddle and tethered the horse to a branch. Then he sat down with his back leaning against a tree trunk and closed his eyes, hoping to catch an hour or so of sleep before daylight.

Two hours later as the dawn was beginning to paint the sky, Kid was still awake, too worried about what might have happened to his partner to sleep. He wearily pulled himself up and raised his arms high above his head to stretch his tired muscles. Next he walked behind some bushes to relieve himself, then rummaged through his saddlebags for what was left of the jerky. He washed it down with a couple of swallows of water from his canteen, then slung the canteen back over the saddle horn before untying the reins and leading the horse back toward the train tracks.

By now the sun was up enough to give him a clear view of the tracks and the surrounding rocks and land, and he spent the better part of an hour looking for any telltale sign of Heyes. Finding none, the very real possibility of his partner's untimely fate just intensified. Reluctantly giving up the search, Kid climbed back into his saddle and continued on his way, still following the train tracks now headed toward Rawlings. He had traveled no more than ten or twelve miles when he saw two wagons and several horses all tied in a cluster of trees and, along the tracks were a dozen men scouring the tracks and adjacent land. Kid slowed his pace as he approached, cautiously deciding to risk some conversation.

"Is this where a man was killed the night before last?" Kid asked one of the men scanning the ground near the tracks.

The man looked up to see who he was speaking to. "News travels fast. Yeah, this is the spot. Who are you?"

"Me? I'm nobody. I was in Rock Springs yesterday. I was supposed to meet a friend there but he ah... He didn't show up. He was coming from Rawlins. Do they know who this fella was?"

The man shook his head. "A stranger to these parts as far as anybody knows at this point. This fella must have been a transient. He was trying to hop on the train in the dark. They took the body back to Rawlins yesterday."

"Did you see him? Do you know what he looks...what he looked like?" Kid asked.

"Hard to tell after an accident like this one but slim, dark hair. They found a beat up black hat in the grass yesterday."

Meager as the description was, the deceased man could be anyone Kid reminded himself, but in spite of that, he still he couldn't brush away the fact that anyone could also include his partner. He gave his horse a kick to urge him on and continued on his way to Rawlings.

Half a mile further along his way, something lying in the tangle of sticks and stems of a nearby bush caught Kid's eye. He drew his chestnut to a halt and dismounted just as a gentle breeze brushed across his face, stirred the horse's mane, and raised the edges of the object entangled near the roots. Kid approached the bush and crouched down, then reached out and picked up a now torn blue and white bandanna. Kid's breath caught when he recognized the patterned design as the same as the bandanna his partner was seldom seen without. Picking up the torn and tattered cloth, Kid folded it as neatly as he could and gently placed it in his shirt pocket. Then he returned to the chestnut and mounted. Giving the reins a tug to the left and kicking his heels against the horse, he moved away from the railroad tracks into slightly higher ground, thick with trees and other foliage to obscure his presence from the still very real possibility of a posse, and continued on toward Rawlins.

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Because Heyes and Kid had passed through Rawlins on more than one occasion, the name Les Barton was familiar to Kid as the local sheriff. Although he had never met the man, entering any town, Kid always assumed that if he knew the name of the sheriff, the sheriff might know the descriptions of Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry. While this didn't always hold to be true, both he and Heyes had found it to be a good practice to abide by. Still being in the general area of the posse that had been chasing them, Kid figured all the surrounding towns had been alerted to the fact that Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry were known to be in the general area. This made going into town a bit of a risk. But it was a risk Kid felt he had to take as he had to know if Heyes was dead or alive.

It was dusk when Kid pulled his horse to a stop outside the hotel and carried two sets of saddlebags inside.

"I'd like a room for the night, please," he told the clerk.

"That'll be one dollar, sir."

"Could you tell me if a man by the name of Joshua Smith is registered here?"

The clerk looked through the registration book. "There's no one by that name, sir."

"Well, if such a man should come in, would you give him my room number?"

"Of course Mr. Jones."

"Could someone see that my saddlebags are taken to my room?"

"Of course, sir."

"And one last thing. Could you tell me where the Undertaker's Parlor is?"

""Across the street and one block down, sir."

"Thank you," Kid replied as he picked up the room key and slipped it into his pocket. Then he turned and walked outside onto the boardwalk and looked up and down the street.

Seeing only a couple of cowboys heading toward the saloon, Kid took a deep breath and stepped down off the boardwalk and into the street as he headed down a block toward the Undertaker's establishment. He hesitated when he reached the front door, knowing that his life might be drastically altered in the next few minutes. Kid's hand raised to his shirt pocket and he pulled the bandanna from his pocket and clutched it in his hand, only then finding the courage to turn the knob and walk inside.

"May I help you?" asked a short, portly, balding man wearing a three piece suit that challenged the seams.

"I understand a man was brought in here yesterday that was struck by a train."

"Yes sir, that's right. Do you know him?"

"I'm hoping the answer to that is no," Kid replied. "But there is a possibility that I might."

"Would you like to see him?"

Kid looked at the man who seemed rather tactless and ill equipped for his job. He gave the man a single nod of his head.

"Right this way, sir," the man replied and drew back a curtain to usher Kid down a short hallway. "Room number four, sir."

Kid stopped in front of room number four and drew in a slow but deep breath that he let out slowly. He waited for the man to open the door and light a lamp before following him into the room. A pine box sat on a low lying table, and Kid came to a halted stop beside the plain coffin and waited for the mortician to open the lid. With very slow and deliberate movement, Kid lowered his eyes to look at the body lying inside...

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Kid sat at a small table inside the the saloon and took the final gulp from his fifth or sixth beer. Having had no sleep and nothing but a piece of jerky in the past two days, the beer was working well to fill his empty stomach and dull his worrisome thoughts. The body Kid had viewed was unrecognizable as both the head and the hips had borne the brunt of the train's wheels. The undertaker had done as much as he could, but a funeral would definitely include a closed casket as the damage was far too severe for public display. Straight dark hair and a silver band on the man's ring finger were the only two positive identifying marks, and both served to confirm Kid's worst fears.

"You want another?' the bartender asked.

Kid looked up to see the large, tall man in a white apron looming over the table.

Kid half smiled, then pushed his chair back away from the table and stood. With a shuffled gait and a prominent slur to his speech, Kid patted the bartender on the back. "I don't know where you got your medical degree, but you sure know how to treat what ails a man. Maybe I oughtta take a bottle of whiskey along with me," he said and dug deep into his pocket to pay for the bottle. Then, with the bottle of whiskey clutched in one hand, Kid made his way out of the saloon and across the street to the hotel.

Walking into the hotel, Kid glanced at the unattended registration desk. Seeing no one behind the counter, Kid gave the desk a two finger salute and headed for the stairs. Once on the second floor, he headed down the hall to his room and fumbled with the key. Stepping inside the room, Kid shut the door and set the bottle of whiskey on the dresser, then reached into the match holder on the wall and, after several unsuccessful tries, he struck the match and a small flame erupted. He fumbled with the globe of the lamp but finally managed to gain some light in the room.

Kid walked over to the bed and sat down and tossed his hat on the foot of the bed, then crossed his right leg over his left knee and leaned forward to pull off his boot. This motion only made him sway and after some fruitless effort, he gave up on the idea altogether and let his still booted foot drop to the floor.

"Here, let me help you," Heyes said as he crossed the room from the table where he had been sitting and crouched down on the floor in front of Kid to pull the Kid's boots from his feet. "Hope the party was worth it. I saw you swaying across the street. Reminded me of old Clarence with all his gold stuffed in his coat."

"And I just might ask you the same question," Kid mumbled. "You don't look like a ghost."

Heyes smiled at Kid's obviously poor clarity of thought. "Been waiting outside of town till it was dark. I figured you'd come back here looking for me when you heard the news."

"Here, I found your bandanna, Kid he pulled the bandanna from his pocket and thrust at Heyes' face. "You ain't at the undertakers," he then declared.

Heyes chuckled. "Nothing gets past you, does it Kid? You're right, whoever is at the undertaker's ain't me," Heyes replied before seeing the genuine look of devastation on Kid's face. "Kid, I'm not dead," Heyes reassured him. "But you're being drunk like this ain't making it easy for us to get outta town, and we need to get outta town."

In his drunken stupor, Kid was having a lot of difficulty absorbing the fact that his partner was not dead and Heyes suspected Kid was still entertaining the possibility that this was a dream or hallucination. He sat complacently as Heyes set the boots on the floor near the corner of the bed and stood and lifted Kid's feet into the bed.

"But a man got kilt, Heyes. That man was you! I saw the ring on your finger and I found your bandanna!"

"This ring?" Heyes asked, holding his hand up close to Kid's face. "And this bandanna?' he asked while sliding one finger under the bandanna around his neck.

Kid's own hand wavered but after some effort he was able to grasp Heyes' wrist and he eyed the ring carefully. "So... you ain't dead?"

"Maybe we'd be better put off talking about this till morning, after you've slept it off."

"No, we'll talk about it now! Cause if you're dead, you likely won't be here in the morning!" Kid said with some insistence. "Look, this is yours, ain't it?' he said, reaching into his pocket for the bandanna and finding his pocket empty. "I found your bandanna!"

Heyes untied his bandanna and held it out out for Kid to inspect. "I can see why you might have thought I was dead," he replied, somewhat humored by the situation.

Kid grew quiet and dropped his chin. "I still ain't convinced that man in the coffin ain't you, Heyes...and if it is...and I'm here talking to a ghost...and that means I ain't got nobody."

"Kid, scoot down into the bed and get some sleep. We've been through a lot the past few days and there's a good chance we may be in for some more. You ain't slept, you ain't ate much of anything, and you've had way too much to drink tonight. Besides all that, we hafta get outta town in the morning. I promise, if you wake up during the night, I'll be right here."

"Heyes, if you are a ghost," Kid said as the alcohol continued to dull his thinking and pulled him nearer and nearer to sleep, "then I don't want you here in the morning."

"Alright, whatever you want, Kid," Heyes told him in an almost whispered tone.

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Kid opened his eyes the next morning and immediately squinted against the rays of sunlight that streamed through the window. He moaned heavily and held a hand to his head. He looked about the empty room and sighed at the realization that he was alone, and had no choice but to leave town, thus committing the body at the undertaker's to a pauper's grave.

Kid pulled back the covers and dragged his legs off the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed for several minutes, his elbows resting on his thighs, his forehead resting in the palms of his hands. After several minutes he lifted his palms from his hands and reached for his boots on the floor at the foot of his bed.

Shoving his feet into his boots, Kid stood and waited for the fog in his head to clear, then pulled his gun belt from the bedpost and strapped it on, being careful to check his balance before bending to tie the leg strap. He needed coffee and his horse in that order and he stuffed a hand into his pocket to see how much money he had.

Eight dollars and thirty-seven cents.

Kid closed his eyes and sat back down on the edge of the bed. His head was throbbing, his stomach growling. His money was scant, his prospects were few, and his situation was desperate. But he knew he couldn't just sit there wallowing in self pity. Deciding his only choice was to once again hop a train for a quick escape, he stood and reached for his saddlebags, still lying at the foot of the bed.

Kid spun around and tottered when the door to the room burst open and Heyes walked in with two large cups of steaming coffee.

"Good, you're up. We don't have much time," Heyes said.

Kid stood frozen, his mouth gaping and made no move the take the coffee cup being offered.

"Take this," Heyes told him. "Gee, you look like you seen a ghost."

"You're not dead?" Kid managed to mumble.

"I thought we covered all that last night. You were snoring so loud this morning I couldn't think. I figured I could slip out and be back before you woke. I've got our horses in the alley behind the hotel. Now drink this to clear your head. We gotta get moving" Heyes told him as he shoved the coffee cup into Kid's hand.

"But I seen you in the coffin," Kid said and again sat down on the bed.

"You seen somebody but it weren't me. I sure hope you feel better than you look, cause we gotta get some miles behind us. That posse had to have wired every town within fifty miles, so we can't hang around here or the sheriff is bound to match us to the wanted posters."

Kid nodded and sipped his coffee as he tried to muddle through what had happened since he had reached Rawlins. Slowly some clarity began to surface and the hint of a smile crossed his face. "I can ride whenever you're ready, Heyes."

"I think our best bet is to head to Colorado to some little no name town in the mountains. If we ride hard we can maybe get to Craig by nightfall. I don't know about you, but I'll feel a lot safer once we are out of Wyoming."

"Like I said, I can ride whenever you're ready," Kid told him.

0-0-0-0-0

Twenty minutes later they were galloping south toward Colorado, their only concerns were keeping the horses hydrated and not over worked, and making it across the border before nightfall, and they were fairly certain that one of those two tasks would not be accomplished. They stayed on the road as much as they could but both kept watchful eyes ahead and behind them, always on the look for that distant puff of dust kicked up by approaching riders.

They stopped more than their usual number of times, both to rest the horses and to give Kid a much needed break as the hard travel and lack of food and water was doing nothing to improve his hangover. But the breaks were short lived and the riding was hard throughout the day.

They neared the Laramie Mountains as dusk was encroaching upon them and their hearts sunk when off in the distance they saw a large cloud of dust approaching.

"Could it be a stage instead of a posse?" Kid asked.

"Could, but we both know it isn't."

Kid couldn't contain the groan that escaped him. "Which way now?"

"I guess east into Nebraska, then north into the South Dakota territory, then northwest and up into Montana," Heyes said seeing the pain and defeat in Kid's weary eyes. "On the bright side, we're far enough away that while we've seen them, they likely haven't seen us."

"Still means we'll be riding all night."

Heyes nodded. "Maybe we could swing wide and head for Porterville..."

"Why? Just so Lom can be the one to put us behind bars? If that posse follows us to Porterville, that's exactly where they better find us, in jail, or Lom's in a heap of trouble."

"You're right, but we're wasting time talking, Kid. You up to a night of riding?"

"Do I have a choice?"

With that they both spurred their horses and and headed east.

An hour later they slowed and turned in their saddles to see if the posse was still in pursuit, but the darkening night sky obscured their view.

"Heyes, we gotta give these horses a rest or find a place to trade em for new ones. They ain't gonna hold up much longer."

"Ogallala can't be too far. We can get new horses there."

"Livery owner's gonna wonder why we're in such a hurry for new horses this late at night," Kid reminded him.

"You want to risk making camp and going into town in the morning?"

"I doubt if that posse reached the spot where we turned east. I'm guessing we can take the risk, but I'm thinking maybe going on to Ogallala tonight, sleep in a bed, and be up and moving at the crack of dawn. That's still gonna give us nearly three hours head start."

"It's a risk, Kid."

"Uh-uh. But it's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Is that based on your headache or logical deduction?" Heyes asked with a knowing grin.

"Both," Kid replied.

0-0-0-0-0

Ogallala was literally a cattleman's town along the edge of the Nebraska Territory. The main street, Railroad Street, ran south of the railroad tracks and all the shops and saloons ran along that street. The town had a courthouse, a school, a hotel, two permanent dwelling houses and a grand total of twenty-five permanent residents.

Because of the railroad, Texas trail herds arrived in the summer months with herds as big as twenty-five hundred cattle, and camped south of town. Business boomed with several makeshift saloons, a second hotel, and and abundance of shops. In winter one hotel, one supply house, and one saloon remained opened for business.

"There's a trail just south of here that leads to the Platte River," Heyes told Kid as they rode down Railroad Street and brought their horses to a stop in front of the hotel that stood next to Tuck's Saloon. "If we head there in the morning and cross the river, we're certain to lose the posse."

"I'm hoping we've already done that last part," Kid replied.

"Let's get checked into the hotel, then get some food, and then stay outta sight the rest of the night."

"All I wanna do is get into a nice soft bed."

"Well, we'll get checked in and I'll go get us some food and bring it to the room," Heyes said, concerned about how little Kid had eaten over the past few days."

Once in the room, Kid immediately stretched out on the bed and eased his still aching head onto two soft, down pillows as a long, relief filled sigh escaped him. Closing his eyes, Kid was asleep before Heyes had even pulled off his own boots for a brief rest before buying a couple of sandwiches they could eat in their room.

At dawn, Kid's sandwich remained on the table, untouched and still wrapped in a wax coated paper, and within an hour both men were up, dressed, and astride fresh horses and headed south along the trail toward the Platte River.

"Don't suppose you thought of getting some supplies, like coffee, flour, bacon?" Kid asked as they maintained a rapid, steady pace."

"I did think about it," Heyes replied. "Last night when I went out to get the sandwiches that you didn't feel compelled to eat. But then I saw the sheriff doing his rounds and figured I was better off in the hotel room than the supply store."

Kid's face visibly hardened as some irritation began to fester. "So if we are lucky enough to have a warm fire tonight, we'll be eating warm beans and drinking hot water. Is that your plan, Heyes?"

"If we're lucky enough to afford a warm fire, maybe you'll be lucky enough to shoot us a rabbit."

"Well, I ain't seen no sign of anyone following us, so maybe luck is on our side for a change."

Reaching the South Platte River by mid afternoon it was not hard to find a crossing point as the river was neither wide nor deep. Once on the other side, they dismounted to rest their horses and, while the horses drank and grazed, they looked back across the river, their eyes sweeping the flat terrain they had just covered.

"Don't see no sign of anyone following us, Heyes."

Heyes shook his head as he came to the same conclusion.

In the distance ahead of them, they heard a faint train whistle and, sharing the same thought, each turned to look at the other.

"We can make better time on a train," Heyes said.

"And can sit, sleep, and eat on a train," Kid added.

"And since nobody's following us, we could sell the horses and actually buy tickets and ride in some real comfort."

"Still head north, you think?" Kid asked.

Heyes nodded. "Keep with the plan as far as Montana, then maybe west to San Francisco."

"The plan? You call what we've been doing for the past week a plan?" Kid asked in utter amazement.

"It got us this far, didn't it?" Heyes replied defensively.

Kid walked over to his horse and gathered the reins. "We're out in the middle of nowhere, Heyes! A plan's got a destination! A plan takes things into consideration, like food, and a place to spend the night!"

"We spent last night in a hotel. Why are you getting so proddy all of a sudden?"

"I'm tired, and I'm hungry, and I know we got nothing but a couple of cans of stinking beans! I ain't eaten in three days! That's what I'm getting so proddy about!" he shouted as he climbed into his saddle.

Heyes mounted his horse, feeling his own irritation growing. "If someone hadn't felt compelled to get drunk..."

"Cause I thought you was dead! Kid shouted.

"But we had a plan, Kid! And you up and decided that just because you thought I was dead, you had to up and change the plan!"

"What was I supposed to do, sit in Red Rock and hope they'd ship your corpse?"

"You were supposed to sit in Red Rock and wait for me to catch up to you!"

"Alright, that does it, Heyes! That really does it! The next time we get separated, you go your way and I'll go mine!" Kid shouted as he urged his horse to continue on their way.

"Fine!" Heyes shouted in reply and spurred his horse to follow behind Kid.

"And don't expect me to come looking for you, cause I've done that for the last time!"

"Wouldn't dream of it. In fact, I'd be obliged if you didn't!"

The arguing continued for miles as they made their way toward the railroad tracks that they would follow to the nearest town where they would sell their horses, then purchase train tickets to Butte. Neither realized they were arguing as a means of releasing the nervous tension that had been steadily building over the past several days, nor did either realize the the arguing had actually resulted in a new plan that would take them far from their current location. But, by the time the argument had run it's course, both were feeling much more relaxed and more calm then either had felt in the past week.

"Heyes, I'm hungry," Kid said in a quiet, almost reflective tone.

Heyes smiled when the call for a truce finally arrived. "Me too. How 'bout we make camp?"

0-0-0-0-0

Author's note: Ogallala was named after the Ogala Sioux who pronounced the word as Oklada, meaning to scatter. The spelling of the town has changed several times over the course of the town's existence.