Chapter 16

Surprises

Kid rode beside Caldwell, while one deputy led and another trailed behind. None of the men had spoken since leaving the ranch. The mountains along the ridge still had a rosy pink glow and the morning sun had not yet begun to warm the cool crisp air but Kid felt a chill in his bones that had little to do with air temperature.

"That's where they were keeping the horses," Kid said finally, breaking the silence and gesturing toward the ridge.

"Who?" Caldwell looked over with a start.

"Wilde and his partner," Curry explained simply.

Caldwell reined his horse to a sudden stop as all three lawmen turned toward Curry with expectant expressions. "I thought you didn't know anything about the stolen horses?"

"I said I didn't steal 'em, and I didn't put 'em in my corral. I didn't say I didn't know who did."

"Well why didn't you say so back there? If you know any more about this you'd better come clean with me or I'm not going to be able to help you."

"Help me?" Curry almost laughed. "I thought all you wanted to do was get rid of me—get me out of your town and locked up somewhere."

Caldwell narrowed his eyes and looked directly at Curry. "Look, I never made any bones about the fact that I wasn't exactly pleased that two such…"

"Successful outlaws?" Curry suggested.

"Infamous scoundrels," Caldwell continued, "got a clean slate and took up residence in my town, but, the fact remains—you've been law-abiding citizens ever since you've taken up residence here and if the governor of the territory says you're not outlaws anymore, well, who am I to say different. Now you better tell me what you know or I will lock you up for obstructing justice."

The former outlaw studied the lawman's face, letting what he had just heard sink in. "Okay," he replied finally. "I've had suspicions about Wilde ever since he first came to work for me. Something just wasn't quite right but I couldn't put my finger on it. Last night I…we had words and I fired him. I didn't trust him so I was keeping an eye on him. He rode out in the middle of the night and I followed him up there to the ridge. That's when I saw him meet another man down in a little gully where they had the horses."

"You saw the other man? Who was he?"

"It was too dark to make out the face, but from the way he moved, I'd say he was young, about Wilde's age."

"If it was so dark, how do you know the horses were Denton's?"

"I didn't. But do you know of any other missing horses around here?" Curry asked sarcastically.

Caldwell let out a sigh of impatience. "Well, can you take us there?" he asked.

Curry merely shrugged and nodded.

"Alright then, lead the way." Caldwell and the deputies fell into line and the four riders turned toward the foothills. As the group descended into the gully, the men rode slowly and cautiously, keeping watch for any signs of another man.

"There," Curry said finally, pointing to the remains of a campsite. There were no signs of life, human or animal.

"Looks like they cleared out," one of the deputies commented, looking around.

"You can tell they had horses here," the other noted, as he examined the make-shift corral and the trampled earth within its perimeter. "Hey, you better come over here," he shouted suddenly.

"What is it?" Caldwell asked, riding toward his deputy.

"Looks like a body," the man replied grimly, pointing to something partially concealed behind a clump of scrub brush.

Caldwell dismounted and leaned down to examine the body. After a minute or so, he stood up straight and declared, "He's dead alright. A gunshot straight through the chest."

"Billy," Curry declared as he joined the sheriff.

"You know him?" Caldwell asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he worked for us for a couple weeks—left right before we hired Wilde."

"Does Wilde carry a gun?"

"No, I've never seen him with one," Curry admitted with a resigned sigh.

"And you said you were here last night?" Caldwell asked.

"Yeah," Kid said, his face hardening.

Both deputies reached for their guns.

"Put 'em away, boys. Curry wouldn't have brought us here if he'd shot this man."

Kid gave the sheriff a skeptical look. "Are you saying you believe me?"

"Well…Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry might have been a lot of things, but they were never stupid. And working as hard as you two did to get your ranch going, then blowing it all by stealing a couple of your neighbor's horses, now, that'd be just plain stupid."

Kid's face relaxed and he managed a slight smile. "Well now, sheriff, I think that might just be the nicest thing you ever said to me."

As he looked down at Billy's body, the smile faded. "If Wilde shot his partner, he's more dangerous than I thought. I've got to get back home."

"Now wait a minute, I still don't have any proof that Wilde is involved in this. I hate to remind you, but all of the evidence so far still points to you."

"I thought you said you believed me?"

"I do, but I have to enforce the law—and that's based on evidence, not my own gut instinct."

"Gut instinct has always worked pretty well for me," Kid grumbled. Right now he was wishing he'd acted on his own instinct a lot sooner. "Look, Sheriff, I'm not leaving my daughter alone out there with a killer." Curry stiffened and the two deputies drew their guns once again.

"Everybody just relax. I just need you to come into town with me until we get this figured out. Is there anyone your daughter could stay with?"

"Well," he pondered, "maybe Charlotte Gray, the school teacher."

"Alright. Bud, you ride over to Miss Gray's place and tell her what's happened, then take her over to the ranch and collect Miss Curry and her things. Make sure they both get back to town safely."

"Yes sir," Bud nodded as he returned to his horse.

"Tom, you take care of the body. Mr. Curry and I have to get back to town. I want to send a few telegrams and see if I can find out anything about Jeremiah Wilde."

The ride back into town was quiet, as both men had their minds on the events of the morning. "So how come, if I'm under arrest, you don't have me tied up or held at gunpoint?" Kid asked finally, as they neared the town.

"Would you prefer that?" Caldwell asked dryly.

"Well, no, I was just wondering," Kid said innocently, still trying to figure this sheriff out, and wondering just which instincts he should be listening to.

"The way I figure it," Caldwell began slowly, "any man who could outrun the best lawmen and bounty hunters in the territory for over ten years…well, he wouldn't let himself get taken in by me, if he was really guilty." Caldwell raised an eyebrow and looked at Curry.

"Maybe I'm just losing my touch," Kid replied with a humorless laugh.

"Hmph," Caldwell grunted, "we'll see."

Two hours later, Sheriff Caldwell and Kid Curry were seated across from each other at a small table in Caldwell's office. "How long do you think it'll be before you hear back from those other sheriff friends of yours?" Curry asked edgily, glancing up from the poker hand he was holding.

"It'll be a while I suppose. I asked them to check with local ranchers, look through their posters, do a little digging, so it could take a while before we hear anything."

"I still can't believe Billy was mixed up in this. I thought he was a nice kid."

"Well, sometimes it's hard to tell," Caldwell said with a shake of his head. "You say he worked for you for two weeks?"

"Yeah, about that, I gave him two weeks pay when he left."

"Why'd he leave?"

"I'm not sure; he didn't give a reason, just quit on us. I guess it was about the same time Denton fired Wilde."

"Hm, and two horses had already disappeared from Denton's place. Maybe they were just going to take those two and go." Caldwell studied his cards for a moment.

"Maybe, but Wilde changed his mind. At the social, he said he was looking for work." Kid glanced at the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't that deputy of yours be back by now? I want to make sure Catherine and Charlotte are safe."

"It might have taken them a while to get her things together. I'm sure everything is fine. Wilde doesn't know we're on to him yet. I don't think he'll try anything. Are you gonna bet or just sit there looking at your cards?" Caldwell looked back at Curry impatiently.

"I'm not very good at waiting," Kid admitted, tossing down his hand and pushing back in his chair.

Caldwell sighed, then stood and walked to the desk where Curry's gun belt lay draped over the back of the sheriff's chair. He picked the belt and gun up in his left hand and pulled his own gun out of his holster. "Okay, Curry, it's about time we got this over with. Let's go. Out back…now." He gestured toward the back door with six-shooter in his hand.

Curry only stared back. "What's this all about? What are you doing?"

"Something I've wanted to do ever since you first moved to this town. Now, let's go."

Kid's face registered his shock as he stood, and obeying the sheriff's order, walked toward the back door.