Kid walked away from the hotel, making his way to the livery for his horse. The animal was tired and he knew they wouldn't get far tonight, but he had to put some distance between himself and Heyes.
Arriving at the livery he rousted the hostler.
"Hey old timer can I get my horse?"
"What? At this time o' night?"
"Yeah, gotta leave sooner than I expected."
"I don't care, I still ain't doin' it."
"Mind if I get 'im myself."
"Well, if ya want 'im tonight, you're gonna hafta."
Kid saddled his horse resignedly, cussing softly, his hand causing some discomfort as he tightened the cinch. Climbing up, he turned and headed out of town, disappearing into the darkness.
He rode for about an hour before stopping. His horse needed rest or he'd be travelling on foot. Pulling the saddle from the animal, he settled himself down to try to get some much needed sleep. Despite being exhausted, sleep eluded him and he lay there thinking over the past few days, and what had brought him to this point.
Heyes was right, he had been in a lot of gunfights lately, but he seemed to forget that two of those last three were from backing him up when someone had accused him of cheating at the poker table. He would get so focused on the game that he wouldn't realize that folks were getting riled up until it was too late. That's when Kid would step in and outdraw the aggressor, which would lead to them having to leave town in a hurry. He didn't tell his partner how much the increasing frequency of these gunfights had been bothering him. Bothering him so much that he hadn't had a decent nights' sleep in several days…something he rarely had a problem with. Heyes had often teased him in the past, saying he could fall asleep anywhere at any time. But his partner had been complaining almost nonstop lately about him using his gun so often. That along with his self recrimination and lack of sleep had left him feeling depressed and irritable. When Heyes had laid a hand on his arm in the saloon, he'd come real close to hitting him then. He was usually so aware of Kids' moods and had a way of diffusing his anger before it got away from him, but lately he seemed to go out of his way to criticize him. He was tired of being told he was actin' stupid, or sayin' something stupid, not thinkin' things through or bein' troublesome. Deep down he knew Heyes was feeling the stress too and hadn't really meant it, but it had still been eating at him.
He flexed his right hand thoughtfully. He was sorry that he'd hit Heyes, and it scared him that he'd done it without any conscious thought. It had been a long time since he had felt anger like that, and if his hand was any indication, Heyes was gonna have one real sore jaw. He shook his head and sighed. He had walked out of that hotel room afraid that if he stayed, he'd end up seriously hurting him, or worse. Yep, getting away from him was the right thing to do, the only thing to do. Without him around, Lom could go to the governor and get Heyes that amnesty. And with that thought, he got up and built a campfire. He needed coffee before heading out at sunrise and what he knew he had to do.
Heyes was rarely surprised by his partner, but he had been blindsided this time. He knew him well enough to know he needed some space, so he didn't chase after him…yet. Laying on the bed he went over the past few days in his mind, trying to figure out what had happened. Kid hadn't been himself lately. He'd faced down three people in four days, and although Heyes knew how fast Kid was, it always made him a bit nervous. Kid was looking exhausted, so he knew he wasn't sleeping, and things had been so tense between them the last couple of days. Heyes had tried to start up conversations with him several times but had only received grunts or one word responses, their usual bantering absent. He'd been caught completely off guard when Kid had flattened him. He rubbed his jaw again, thinking that although they'd had their dust ups before, Kid had never turned on him like that. Yup, tomorrow he would get to the bottom of what was bothering his partner.