Heyes was awakened by the sudden jolt of an elbow to his ribs. He moaned and rolled over on his back and stretched his arms high above his head. He turned his head and saw that Kid was already up, dressed, and leaning against the nearby tree watching the foreman roust the other cowboys from their bedrolls.
"Morning," Heyes said sleepily.
"Seems to me it ain't morning till the sun's starting to rise."
"You wake up on the wrong side of the bed, Kid?"
"I didn't wake up. I ain't been asleep."
"Why not?"
"Too much noise in camp last night."
"I didn't hear anything."
Kid shook his head. "I noticed you snored right through all that moaning and groaning."
"What moaning and groaning?"
Kid nodded his head once in the direction of two cowboys on the other side of the camp. Heyes lifted his head and looked across the camp.
"You talking about Zeke and Henry?"
"Yep."
Heyes smiled. "Well, don't that beat all. I never would have guessed. Would you?"
"Not till last night."
Heyes pulled the blanket off and reached for his clothes and slipped an arm though his shift sleeve. "I don't much care what they're doing or who they're doing it with, but you'd think they'd be quiet about such things in a camp full of cowboys."
"You'd think," Kid said and started to walk away.
"Where you going?"
"Gotta pee."
By the time Kid returned, Heyes was dressed and standing in line for breakfast. Kid got in line for his plate of biscuits, bacon, and coffee.
"Don't the Bible say that kind of thing is a sin?" Kid asked Heyes
"Bible says stealing is a sin, too, Kid. Didn't stop us. Says a whole peck of things are sins. You know, Kid, who and why a person chooses to partner up with someone in life really ain't nobody else's business."
"You're right, Heyes. It's not like they're hurting anybody. Just keeping me awake all night."
Heyes smiled. "You'll get over it."
Jim Bonnick, the foreman of the drive walked up to Heyes and Curry. "Jones, I want you riding lead today. We'll be crossing into Chirokawa Country when we cross into Montana.. You keep your eyes on the higher elevations. You spot any Indians you high-tail it back to the heard and report to me. Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Kid's got a good eye for watching out for such things, Jim," Heyes assured the foreman.
Jim moved to the center of the camp. "Alright, everybody listen up. We're going to be in Indian country in a few hours. Now I've been driving herds through this territory for a dozen years. Only once did we run into any trouble with the Indians. You may see a few braves up in the higher elevations. Most likely they are just keeping an eye on us, nothing more. If we see them, we may leave a couple of cows behind as a good will gesture, but I'll be the one that decides if and when we do that. Understood?"
Jim waited for all the hands to nod or answer that they understood before continuing on." If there is any aggression, it will be started by the Indians. No one fires a shot until I give the word. Anyone that does may end up being shot by me. Understood?"
Again he waited till everyone indicated their understanding.
"Jones is riding lead till we get to Butte. He'll be reporting back to me every few hours. Smith, you ride drag. The rest of you keep the herd tight. Now pack your gear and get your horses saddled. We're heading out in ten minutes.
Kid untied his bandanna from around his neck and handed it to Heyes. "Stuff this in your pocket so you'll have one to change out this afternoon. The dust stirred up riding drag is miserable."
"Thanks, Kid," Heyes said, taking the bandanna.
Kid walked over and saddled his horse and secured his bedroll. Then he mounted his chestnut and galloped off ahead of the herd.
They made good time in the morning hours when the temperature had not yet reached its peak. Before noon, Kid returned to the herd and circled around until he located the foreman.
"There's half a dozen Indians along that eastern ridge about two miles up ahead. No sign of any aggression. Just watching."
"Ride back and tell Smith to leave two cows behind as a goodwill gesture once we've passed those Indians. "
"Will do," Kid replied and pulled his chestnut back before turning to find Heyes at the back of the herd.
"Jim said, once we've passed the ridge up ahead where there are six Indians scouting us out, you are to leave two cows behind as a goodwill gesture."
"You think that will satisfy them? Two cows for a whole tribe?"
"I'm guessing Jim knows what he's doing. Says he done this before."
"Alright, Kid."
"Looks like there might be some rain coming in from the northwest. Can't tell yet if it will head this way or move off to the south. If we get the rain, it'll help cut down on the dust for you."
"Rain or dust...Don't know which is the lesser of the two evils,"
Kid smiled and spurred his chestnut to resume his lead.
By mid afternoon the rain arrived and everyone pulled their dusters from their packed gear and put them on, draping the back of the duster over their bedrolls to keep them dry. It was a steady rain but not pelting and there was no thunder or lightening so they were able to keep the cattle moving until late afternoon.
Around four in the afternoon, they bedded the cattle and made camp. The cook maintained a stack of tinder in the chuck wagon so he was able to get a cooking fire started for supper.
Heyes found a spot under a tree where the ground was damp but not saturated and he staked claim of the area for Kid and himself. When Kid arrived back at the camp, he reported first to the foreman and then unsaddled his horse and carried the saddle to the spot where he and Heyes would be sleeping.
"Any more Indians?"
"A few. Twice I saw them signaling with mirrors. I think Jim might be willing to let go of a couple of more head tomorrow."
"Think there's anything to be worried about?"
"Hard to tell. The fact that they're sending signals means there's more of them around that I ain't seen yet."
Because of the rain, the men all took their supper back to the places they had chosen for for the night rather than sitting around in close proximity near a fire. So, Jim waited until everyone had eaten before calling everyone up into a circle.
"Jones thinks there are more Indians than we are actually seeing. He's seen them sending mirror signals. So, I'm putting two men on two hour watches throughout the night starting as soon as it's dark.. Jones, you and Smith take the first watch. Zeke and Hank the second, Frank and I will take the third, Bill and Jesse will take the last one."
"How do you want us to alert everyone if there's trouble?" Zeke asked.
"You can fire a shot. If they are stealing cattle or planning on a raid, then they are too close to camp."
"Shots will likely startle the herd, maybe stampede them," Jesse pointed out.
"That's true, but if the Indians are that close, our first concern is our own safety, then the cattle."
Everyone nodded their understanding.
"If we can make good time tomorrow, we should be in Butte late afternoon the day after. Breakfast will be before sunrise so we can get an early start."
"Well," Kid said as he turned toward Heyes. "Might as well go find a good spot to hunker down for the watch."
"Right behind you, Kid."
The rain stopped shortly after Kid and Heyes began their watch, and both shed their dusters. It was nearing the end of their watch when Kid heard a twig snap, followed by nervous sounds of some cattle. He listened carefully, judging the location. Kid motioned to Heyes to stay put and indicated that he was going to circle around the herd to see what the commotion was. Heyes nodded and both men drew their guns. Heyes watched Kid slowly slip into the darkness of the night.
Kid spied one lone Indian brave moving about in the herd. Kid moved into the herd and, carefully eyeing the Indian's path, skulked low between the cattle until he was able to move to a point ahead of the Indian. When the Indian was less that ten feet away, Kid stood and the Indian heard Kid cock his gun. The Indian froze, Kid's gun pointed at his heart.
"Heyes?" Kid called as quietly as he dared.
"Right here, Kid," Heyes said as he too stood up just feet from both Kid and the Indian.
"I thought I told you to stay put,"
"I thought two guns might be more useful than one."
Kid smiled."You got something to tie his hands?"
Heyes reached into his pocket and pulled out Kid's bandanna. "This should work till we get him into camp."
Heyes bound the Indian's hands behind his back and pulled the Indian's knife from the waist sheath. "Doesn't seem to have any other weapons," Heyes said.
Kid gave the Indian a forward nudge and the two led him into the camp.
"Jim," Heyes called loudly, waking up everyone in the camp.
Jim got up and walked over to Heyes and Curry.
"Caught this fellow meandering though the herd," Kid said. "He needs tied up better."
"Zeke, get me a couple of tethers," Jim ordered.
Moments later Zeke appeared with two tethers and retied the Indian's hands with one of them. Kid led the Indian to a nearby tree and pressed on the Indian's shoulder, forcing him to sit down. Zeke the bound the Indian to the tree.
"We're adding someone to watch this man tonight. Hank, you're on watch for an hour, I'll relieve you in an hour. Bill, you'll start an hour early and Jesse, you'll go an hour longer. Taylor can watch him for an hour before he starts breakfast, Jones, you've got watch at five, and Smith, you're on at six.'
"What are we going to do with him tomorrow?" Zeke asked.
"After we've got the herd moving, we'll let him go. Don't need to bring the whole tribe down on us."
"What if they come after him during the night?" Taylor asked
"Then I guess all hell will break loose, won't it?" Jim replied.
The rest of the night was uneventful. The men were up early and packed and saddled before breakfast. Food and water were offered to the Indian but he refused both. Heyes and Jim stayed behind and half an hour after the drive had started for the day, Heyes walked out several hundred feet in front of the Indian and laid the knife on the ground, making sure the Indian saw it. Then he returned and Jim untied the Indian and he and Heyes galloped off to join the drive.
Around nine in the morning, Kid reported back to Jim that he had seen no Indians as yet. Both men agreed that this was not necessarily a good sign and Jim alerted everyone to be on high alert. Kid then headed back to his lead position.
Just before noon Jim spied Kid's chestnut standing about a mile ahead of the herd. Kid was not on the horse. Jim pulled around to find Heyes.
"I think we have some trouble," Jim said "Jones' horse is up ahead. Jones isn't on him."
"Come on," Heyes called to Jim and spurred his horse around to the front of the herd. Jim followed but stopped when they reached the front of the herd. Heyes rode on and reaching the chestnut, grabbed the reins and led the horse back to the Jim.
"There's blood up near the horn," Heyes said. "We've got to find Kid."
"Hold on there, Smith. I won't have you running off on your own. I'm not risking any more men getting hurt or captured by Indians." Jim stood up in his stirrups and looked for the nearest man. "Henry, come over here," he shouted.
"What's the matter?' Henry asked when he reached Heyes and Jim.
"We think the Indians got Jones. There's an army post about twenty miles just west of here. You ride out to it and let them know what's going on. Tell them we need help right away. Get back here with them as fast as you can.
Henry nodded and galloped away to the west.
They continued to move the heard slowly. Jim moved Heyes to the front of the herd and moved Zeke to the drag position. Jim stayed with Heyes, concerned that Heyes might take it upon himself to act without a solid plan.
Half a mile later Heyes drew his horse to a sudden stop and stared off at a very large boulder. Jim rode up beside him and and looked in the direction Heyes was staring.
Heyes gasped as he stared ahead.
"Stay where you are, Smith. We can't help him right now without getting every man on this drive killed. "
Kid's arms and legs were tethered with wet leather to the boulder in a spread eagle fashion. His shirt was gone and the shaft of an arrow protruded from his lower left abdomen. Another shaft protruded from his left shoulder. Kid's chin rested on his chest. Several large streaks of blood rolled down Kid's left torso.
"They're killing him," Heyes gasped.
Jim brought the herd to a halt. He pulled a pair of binoculars from his saddle bags and carefully scanned the rocks and hills for any sign of Indians.
"I gotta get him down from there," Heyes said.
"You make one move toward him and I swear I'll shoot you dead in your tracks. Do you understand me?"
Heyes looked at Jim with shear desperation in his eyes. We can't just leave him there, Jim." He's wounded, he's bleeding, the sun will bake his skin, he's got no water..."
Jesse and Bill brought their horses up to join Jim and Heyes.
"You two go get half a dozed cattle and bring them up here. Maybe we can barter for him."
"Who you gonna barter with? I don't see any Indians," Heyes said.
"They're there all the same," Jim replied.
"We should have kept that Indian we caught last night. Maybe could have traded."
"Maybe we just need to give him time to get back to the others. He's on foot. It will take him longer to get here than it did us."
Just then Jim saw a Indian reach the top of the boulder and he pointed him out to Heyes.
"What's he got in his hand?" Heyes asked.
"Looks like a canteen."
"Maybe he's going to give Kid some water," Heyes said hopefully.
They watched as the Indian reached down and grabbed hold of Kid's hair. He yanked the hair back, forcing Kid's face skyward. He poured some water on Kid's face, carefully avoiding Kid's mouth. Kid tried in vein to lick drops of water off his face. The brave released his hold and Kid's head drooped, his chin again resting on his chest. Next the brave poured water liberally on the wrist tethers before scooting himself back behind the boulder again.
By mid afternoon the temperature was near ninety. Kid's torso was red with sunburn and dried, cracked blood. The wrist tethers had dried in the sun and were embedded in Kid's skin. The Indian appeared a second time with the canteen and again tried to tease Kid with the water but Kid had long since passed out and the water was not cold enough to waken him. Again the Indian wet the wrist tethers..
Heyes was beside himself with worry and anxiety, and angry that there was no way to come to Kid's aide. He climbed off his horse and began pacing.
"Maybe we can get to him when it's dark," Heyes suggested.
"Henry has likely reached the fort by now. Soldiers should be arriving during the night. Might be able to overpower them then."
"He could be dead already," Heyes said .
"They likely wouldn't be pouring the water on his wrists if he was dead."
Just before sunset two Indians appeared on the top of the boulder, both with a knife in their hand.
"What are they doing?" Heyes asked
Jim raised the binoculars to his eyes. "I'll be damned," he said
"What?" Heyes demanded
"That second Indian is the one you and Jones captured last night. "
"What are they doing with the knives? If they're going to scalp Thaddeus, I'm killing them," Heyes said drawing his gun.
"Hold on," Jim said, still watching with the binoculars. "The one does appear to be cutting a lock of the boy's hair."
Heyes grabbed the binoculars. He saw both Indians retreat back behind the boulder. Heyes moved the binoculars to focus on Kid. He could tell Kid was either unconscious or dead as his eyes were closed, his face burned from the sun but expressionless. Through the binoculars Heyes looked at the Kid's chest and wounds but could not tell if the wounds were still bleeding. He moved his focus to Kid's wrists and saw that Kid's hands were gray.
"Jim, Look!" Zeke said, pointing off to the west where a cloud of dust was being kicked up from the ground. "You think that's more Indians?"
Jim took the binoculars and peered at the growing cloud of dust. "Or cavalry." Jim continued to watch the approaching riders. "It's the army," Jim finally said.
When the soldiers and Henry reached the camp, Heyes and Jim met them.
"Found these soldiers on maneuvers. Didn't have to ride all the way to the fort," Henry explained.
"You can see over yonder they got one of my men tied to that boulder. Been there all afternoon. He's wounded. We don't know how many Indians there are. We've only seen two."
The Captain nodded and then instructed half his troops to to swing wide and move to the higher elevations behind the area where Kid and the Indians were located. "If it's just two, I'd rather they were captured than killed. Sergeant Hower, that will be your call.."
"Yes, Sir," Hower responded and , with half of the troops following, galloped off to the east to swing around wide and gain the advantage of elevation.
Captain Booker positioned the remaining troops to guard against any forward attack.
They waited in nervous silence.
Almost an hour later they heard three shots, a pause, then two more shots.
"That's the signal. It's safe to go forward," Captain Booker said.
Heyes jumped on his horse, as did Jim. The two rode out with the troops to the boulder.
Two soldiers were on the top of the boulder, one with a rope tied securely about his waist. Several more soldiers were behind the boulder holding the other end of the rope. In the soldier's hand was a second rope. The soldier was slowly being lowered toward Kid. With effort, he managed to get the second rope tied around Kid's waist before the troops atop the boulder pulled the soldier back to the top of the boulder.
When the soldier was again on the top of the boulder, the troops behind him held tightly to the rope around Kid's waist, keeping Kid securely in place. They cut the thongs well above Kid's wrists, leaving the dried, embedded leather straps around Kid's wrists. Kid's arms fell limply to his sides but Kid cried out in pain.
Heyes uttered a sigh of relief at the sound of Kid's anguish, knowing Kid was alive.
Heyes spurred his horse and galloped toward the boulder. Jim followed in hot pursuit. When he reached the boulder, Heyes jumped off the saddle, pulled his knife from his boot sheath and cut the tethers from Kid's ankles.
Then the soldiers slowly lowered Kid from the the boulder while Jim and Heyes grabbed Kid's legs, and moved up Kid's body as he slowly neared them.
They laid the unconscious Kid on the ground and could hear the chuck wagon approaching. Taylor had cleared the floor of the chuck wagon so Kid could be laid down on the floor boards. Heyes climbed in beside Kid and rode slowly back to the camp where the Army medic was waiting.
Heyes wet his bandanna with water from a canteen and gently moistened Kid's face and cracked lips , but Kid didn't stir.
"Get a big fire going, I need a lot of light," the Medic ordered."And boil a lot of water."
When they had a large fire burning, Heyes and several of the hands carefully pulled Kid from the chuck wagon and carried him to the blankets that had been laid out by the fire. Using a bucket of cool water, the Medic cleaned the blood from Kid's chest so as to better examine the wounds. After his scalpel had been sterilized, he set to work removing the arrows. Kid remained unconscious and didn't so much as flinch during the process. The Medic heated a knife in the fire and cauterized both wounds. Then he set to work on removing the embedded tethers from Kid's wrists. The wrists bled as Kid's skin was peeled away, attached to the tethers. The medic then bandaged Kid's wrists and the two arrow wounds.
"He's in God's hands, now," the Medic said. "Lets get him off the ground and back in the wagon.
Using the blanket beneath Kid, soldiers and cowboys lifted Kid from the ground and placed him back in the wagon. Heyes climbed in beside him.
"Smith, Taylor, Hank, you three leave in the chuck wagon at first light to get him to a doctor in Butte. The rest of us will bring the herd in tomorrow," Jim said.
It was two days later that Kid finally woke and found himself lying in a soft, warm bed. Pillows had been used to prop the sheet up off Kid's injured and sunburned chest. His eyes fluttered several times before finally opening fully. He slowly and painfully turned his head to see Heyes sitting in a chair near the window, reading.
"Heyes," Kid whispered, his voice barely audible.
Heyes put his book down and walked to Kid's bed, smiling, "About time you woke up."
"What...happened?"
"Long story. But the doctor says you'll be fine when you heal up."
"Thirsty."
Heyes put pillows behind Kid's back and head to prop him up, then poured a glass of water and held it to Kid's mouth, carefully controlling the amount of water Kid took with each sip. When he had enough, Kid 's head lulled back and Heyes carefully lowered him back into the pillows.
"You hurtin?"
"Yea."
"Doc left medicine for you. I'll get it."
"Heyes... Didn't mean to cause... no trouble."
"You weren't the cause of any trouble, Kid. You were just the aftermath."
"Still... I'm sorry."
Heyes spooned some medicine into Kid's mouth. It burned going down his throat and he coughed.
"Want more water?"
"Yea."
Heyes lifted Kid's head up by sliding his hand under the pillow and raising the pillow. And brought the glass to Kid's mouth again. Kid took several sips and Heyes lowered his head back down.
"Hungry?"
"No,'
Heyes frowned, knowing Kid must be hurting to turn down food.
There was a knock on the door. Heyes answered the door and greeted Jim and the doctor. Heyes ushered them both inside.
"He's been awake for about ten minutes," Heyes told the doctor who moved to the side of the bed to examine Kid.
"I bought you're pay, and Kid's too," Jim said. "How is he?"
"He's doing alright. I'm sure I speak for Kid too when I say thank you for all you done," Heyes said.
"Boss is taking care of his medical expenses, too," Jim said.
"I'm sure Kid appreciates that."
"It seems Jones was taken hostage because he caught that Indian the other night."
"I figured as much, but how do you know that?"
"The two Indiana the soldiers caught explained it. Seems one of them speaks English. Says all they wanted was more cattle to feed their own."
"You give em to them?"
"Yep. They're on their way back to their tribe with five cows."
Heyes nodded.
"Jim?" Kid said weekly and Jim approached the bed.
"Sorry," Kid whispered
"Nothing to be sorry about. You just concentrate on feeling better."
Heyes answered another knock on the door and ushered Henry and Zeke into the room.
"Just came by to see how Jones is," Hank said.
"He's awake. Go see for yourself," Heyes said gesturing toward the bed.
Kid smiled weekly when he saw Henry and Zeke.
"Feeling alright?" Hank asked.
"Could be better," Kid replied. "Hank, I hear you went after the soldiers,"
"Yep,"
"You took a big risk.."
"Nothing I'm sure you wouldn't have done in my shoes."
Kid looked at Heyes who was smiling.
"Well, thank you all the same."
"Well, I don't mean to be proddy with everybody but Doc here needs to take a look at Kid and then Kid needs to get some sleep," Heyes said, ushering the others out the door.
"You know, you're right," Kid said to Heyes after the others had left the room.
"What do you mean?"
"I was thinking about Henry and Zeke, and then I was thinking about you and me. We ain't partners for all the same reasons as Zeke and Hank, but it's good to have a partner in life. Someone to look after you, take care of you, you know, worry about you."
Heyes smiled, "You mean it's good to have a partner that loves you?"
Kid smiled. "Yea. Exactly."
"You're getting pretty wise in your old age, Kid."