Long before the idea of amnesty had ever invaded their thoughts, Hannibal Heyes and Jed "Kid" Curry served as the backbone to a group of unscrupulous men known throughout the west as The Devil's Hole Gang. While this lawless gang was comprised of notorious outlaws who robbed from the rich and, by keeping the money all for themselves, "gave to the poor," this group held the unique notion that common folk were hard working people who simply struggled through life within the confines of the law rather than outside the law, and the gang made it a practice of never robbing from the passengers of the trains, stages, and banks from which they liberated thousands of dollars. This earned the Devil's Hole gang a certain level of respect from the common, everyday, law-abiding citizens.

Hannibal Heyes was a thinker and a planner, with a keen eye for detail. This made Heyes the natural choice to lead the Devil's Hole gang when the previous leader, Jim Santana was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to a lengthy respite at the Wyoming Territorial Prison.

Kid "Jed" Curry was Heyes' second in command. Having long ago earned the title of the "fastest gun in the west," Kid's role it was to protect and guard the leader. Being cousins, as well as life-long friends, Curry and Heyes possessed an uncanny ability to anticipate each other's thoughts and actions, thus enabling them to work together like the parts of a finely balanced watch, each gear intricately interconnected to produce a perfectly functioning mechanism.

The role of protecting the leader garnered Curry the privileged of living in the leader's cabin, well away from the bunkhouse rowdies. In his role as protector, Curry had trained himself to be a light sleeper, always attuned and able to differentiate the sounds of his surroundings. So this night, Kid had been easily awakened and was alerted to the sound of foot steps just outside his door and had pulled his gun from its holster that hung from the bedpost. With iron clad stealth, Kid cocked the gun... and waited.

The door opened just a few inches, not enough to see who was on the other side, but Kid set his bead, ready to shoot without question any unwelcome intruder.

"Kid, you awake?"

Recognizing the voice, Kid sighed and holstered his gun. "Come in, Heyes." he wearily.

Hannibal Heyes opened the door wide and stepped into the room while Kid pulled himself up in his bed and sat, leaning against the headboard.

"Something on your mind, Heyes?"

"You mind if I light a lamp?"

Kid sighed a second time, knowing by the question that this was not going to be a quick conversation.

"Suit yourself.

Heyes struck a match and lit the oil lamp sitting on the dresser next to the door, illuminating the room with a soft, golden glow.

"I'm sorry if I woke you," Heyes said and sat down at the foot of Kid's bed.

"Part of the job, Heyes. This a social visit or is something on your mind?"

"Something on my mind."

Kid waited but no further explanation was forthcoming.

"And that something is?"

"This job we got coming up."

"That's a week away, Heyes. What's so urgent it can't wait till morning?"

Heyes reached into his pocket and withdrew a folded piece of paper that he handed to Kid.

"What's this?" Kid asked as he unfolded the paper and saw that it was a newspaper article. Kid read the article which was all about the Pinkerton Detective Agency placing posses equipped with horses on freight cars for trains carrying company payrolls and other large quantities of money.

"Heyes, that happened to the Hole in the Wall Gang over a year ago, in Kansas for crying out loud. Pinkerton hasn't done that in Wyoming."

"But we're hitting another Union Pacific train. This will be the fourth Union Pacific train we've hit in three years. Even if Pinkerton don't expect us to hit this one, it won't come as a surprise to them when when do."

Kid could see Heyes' point. "So are you thinking we should just call this off?" he asked.

"No, but I think we should be better prepared."

"How?"

"Like having fresh horses saddled and ready fifteen miles from where we hit the train. When the posse's horses are getting tired, we'll all have fresh mounts. It is a good thirty miles back to Devil's Hole."

"That's good, Heyes. Maybe an ammunition supply, too."

"And water, food, maybe some bandages in case anyone gets hurt. We'll scout out a good location and I'll assign two or three men to be in charge of having all the supplies ready for us when we get there."

"Be careful who you put in charge of that. We don't want to lose good guns at the robbery," Kid advised.

"You're right, but we need somebody good at organizing, too."

"Think we should take a few extra men with us to guard the freight cars?" Kid asked.

"That's a hard call, Kid. If Pinkerton were to put a posse in the freight cars, we'd be glad we brung extra men, but if they don't, that's just all the more to keep track of. I'll have to think on that one awhile."

Kid uttered a heavy yawn. "You should make a list, Heyes, of all the things we should be considering."

Heyes nodded. "Kid..."

"Uh?"

"I'm nervous about this job."

"I can tell that, Heyes. But you're nervous about every job. That's why you can think of all these details. It's just part of what makes you such a good planner."

Heyes looked at Kid and smiled.

"You're just saying that so I'll go back to bed and let you get some sleep, aren't you?"

"In part," Kid said honestly. "But what I said is all true."

Heyes smiled a second time. "Call a morning meeting tomorrow."

"Here or the bunkhouse?"

"The bunkhouse."

Kid was always pleased when Heyes deferred meetings to the bunkhouse. As meager as it was, Kid thought of the cabin as home and was not found of it being intruded upon by anyone.

Heyes got up and walked to the door, stopping briefly to oust the oil lamp.

"Good night, Kid," Heyes said, shutting the door behind him.

"Heyes," Kid called and the door again opened.

"You want something, Kid?"

"Turn the light out."

"Oh, sorry," Heyes replied and turned down the wick before closing the door behind him a second time.