As they sat waiting for the stage to take them to Lexington and Mrs Hanley's ranch, the Kid had his hat pulled over his eyes. He wasn't sleeping, but was easier to pretend he was then have Heyes wittering at him. But his efforts to convince his friend he wasn't awake were ruined when as his ears picked out his name he couldn't help but shift a little to hear what was being said more clearly, "I was kinda interested when I heard Kid Curry was living here, I'd always wanted to see him in action."
But then he wished he hadn't as one of the well dressed man sat two benches down continued. "But I heard he was a real disappointment! My son got it from Billy who works over at livery, who heard from his friend David, that about six weeks ago a loud mouth no name shot him good and easy. "
His companion equally as expensively dressed replied with a sneer to his tone. "Curry sure can't be the fastest gun in the west. He's just another loser with a big reputation."
The Kid tensed, let out a small huff of breath his cheeks burning with embarrassment. Heyes had heard them too and the Kid wasn't surprised when he rested a hand on his knee, obviously half in comfort and half in a warning to stay where he was. The Kid however had no intention of going over to the two men, just wishing he hadn't overheard what was being said. He merely slumped lower on the bench, wanting nothing more than to be invisible, as he said quietly and likely unconvincingly. "It don't matter, Heyes."
"Kinda makes them rumors about him killing that girl sound true don't it? He didn't have the skill not to."
At the words the Kid closed his eyes and slumped even further, willing the coach to appear before he had to listen to anymore. He felt Heyes shift and knew from the look on his face that he was going to walk over and give them a piece of his mind. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he put his own hand on Heyes' knee as he said. "Heyes, just leave 'em be. The coach will be here soon."
"But they got it all wrong, Kid! It ain't fair. Bet they couldn't shoot their way out of a paper bag!"
The Kid sighed, knowing anything he would say would be pointless, because though Heyes was more than capable of giving him a hard time, he sometimes got riled when other people did the same. And this was obviously one of those times, because he'd quickly but gently pushed the Kid's hand off his knee and was already half on his feet.
They both saw Sheriff Baxter striding over to the men, so Heyes stopped and sat back down with a shake of his head, obviously wondering as much as the Kid about what the lawman was going to do.
The Kid heard Heyes chuckle softly and felt some of his embarrassment ease as Baxter said loudly enough for it to carry round the stage station to reach anyone caring to listen.
"You don't know what you're talking about. Jed outdrew that loser Barley real easy, but he chose to get shot rather than allow a woman and her son to get injured. I doubt either of you would have been so noble in the same circumstances. "
One of the men scoffed. "That what he told you eh? I heard you and your family had been visiting him. It's not like you to be hoodwinked so easy Baxter. Though maybe Hannibal Heyes talked rings round you or that daughter of yours..."
The Sheriff cleared his throat and shook his head, letting out a loud huff of breath that easily carried over to them, as he said. "Don't be dumber than you need to be! I saw it go down, unlike you or any of the rest of the jackasses you mentioned. So you and your friends oughta keep your nose outta things that you know nothing about, and that don't involve you." He paused then added. "Especially where my daughter is concerned!"
The Kid had pushed his hat back and was sitting up straight. He smiled when Heyes turned to look at him, his own expression amused enjoying the spectacle as much as the Kid was.
Baxter obviously hadn't finished, because as they watched, he tipped his hat, but instead of turning away he added. "And there was no way Curry coulda avoided that child in Longplains, so keep your nasty uninformed opinions to yourself. Or maybe I'll start looking into whether that business of yours is as honest as it could be." With that he turned on his heel and walked away without another word, leaving the two men speechless and as red faced as the Kid had been.
The Kid snorted, amused, surprised and more than a a little grateful for the sheriff's endorsement, but before he could say anything, Heyes looked at him with a broad grin.
"Well, Kid, if that just don't beat all. Less than a year after amnesty we got a lawmen rooting for us! I think he can count on our votes come election time."
The Kid grinned at his friend before glancing at the two men who were still looking a little chastened as he said. "Shame we can't vote more than once, Heyes!"
ASJ
Sarah Hanley met them herself, greeting them warmly, as they arrived a bit dusty and tired from the stage journey. She turned to the Kid with a smile as she said. "I do hope the stage hasn't caused your arm too much trouble."
While the Kid's arm was throbbing slightly with the jolting over some of the rougher ground they'd travelled, the pain was easily ignored and far better than he'd expected, so he was able to answer quite honestly. "No Ma'am ain't botherin' me much at all."
"I'll have Carlton show you to your rooms so you can clean up some. A late lunch is being prepared as we speak. Boadicea is looking forward to meeting you both."
"Ma'am?"
Mrs Hanley smiled at the puzzlement in Heyes' voice and she waved over to the stables. "The lady you're here to protect Mr Heyes."
ASJ
"Hello there Beauty."
Heyes smiled as he came into the end stall of the spacious, well kept stable block. He watched the Kid for a moment as he petted a beautiful chestnut, who snuffled happily at him, before he walked over to the left side of the horse, and began gently stroking her as he said softly. "Kid, if ya gonna be sweet talking her, you should be calling her Victory, seeing as her name is Boadicea."
The Kid continued stroking the horse's back as he fed her an apple. "Now, Heyes, we don't want to be putting any pressure on her. Ain't that right girl?" He addressed this to the horse, who enjoying the attention from the two of them looked content as she munched away at the treat.
They turned at footsteps and a weather beaten man, only a couple of years older than them entered, standing at the door, obviously not wishing to startle the horse by having too many people near her. Seeing the Kid was a little reluctant to stop petting Boadicea, Heyes walked over to the man, who stuck out his hand in greeting, As Heyes took it he was struck by the strength of the grip, but the man's smile was gentle as he said. "I'm Jacob, I'm the lucky fella who looks after Beauty over there. I would've gone with her to the races, but Lily my wife is about to have our second and she didn't have it easy first time round, and Mrs Hanley wouldn't hear of me leaving her."
The Kid snorted softly and looked over at Heyes at the name the man used. Heyes merely shrugged as he said. "We'll look after them both Jacob."
"Oh, I'm more than certain of it. Mrs Hanley is a real decent judge of character, along with being a real good boss." He paused for a minute then added. "She was saying you might have some questions for me. Gimme a couple of hours and I'm all yours." He turned to leave then said. "She ain't just a pretty lady, she's real fast too. I think she's a real good chance in the Derby."
ASJ
Next morning, after a breakfast that even the Kid hadn't been able to finish, they'd been invited to watch Boadicea as she was taken through her paces and had accepted happily.
Her rider was an older man who'd been introduced to them as Bill, a jockey who'd raced for several years under the Hanley colours, but was no longer quite fit enough to compete safely. Both Heyes and the Kid were very impressed with how well Mrs Hanley treated all her staff and their loyalty to her was obvious. They were sure that her late husband would have been more than pleased with how she was handling things.
"After watching her for several minutes. Heyes couldn't help but agree with Jacob that she'd do well, even against the colts in the Derby, and commented as such to his partner. "She looks good, Kid, think she's gonna do real well. We oughta bet on her, be a nice bonus for us."
The Kid nodded but when he didn't take his attention away from the horse, Heyes' mind drifted to the previous night. They'd visited with Hyperia just before they'd turned in. She was happily retired and was being treated like a queen, which obviously suited her.
She had happily taken both the attention and the treats from them as if they were her due. The Kid after petting her enthusiastically for several minutes, had brushed her gently for quite sometime while an amused Heyes had looked on. As she contently took the attention, he'd turned to Heyes and said with some awe. "She recognises us, Heyes I'm sure of it. I'm certain she's smiling at me."
Heyes had snorted at him, though he was fairly sure the horse had retained some memory of them, but damned if he'd admit it to the Kid, so he'd only said. "You know, Kid sometimes you worry me!"
Though despite his amusement, Heyes was very pleased to notice how much of the tension he'd observed even from before the shooting was easing out of the Kid. It'd been very obvious from just the first hour of their arrival.
As he watched his friend enjoying being around horses, he mentally patted himself on the back for pushing him into agreeing to them taking the job.
The Kid's voice brought him back from his musings as he said with amusement in his tone.
"You know, Heyes, your brain sure can be noisy when ya feelin' smug."
"I never said a word, Kid!" Heyes defended himself vigorously, although he knew he'd been caught out.
"You don't have to Heyes, I know exactly what's going on in your head!"
But there was no annoyance in his voice and he was smiling as he turned back to watch Boadicea again. Heyes too let his attention be taken by the sight of the horse's graceful but impressive progress around the well maintained training track as his mind filled with ideas of just what they would do with the extra money they'd win from betting on her.
ASJ
The Kid woke suddenly, unsure of what exactly had disturbed him. Everything was quiet, and the pain in his arm was minimal. But when after several minutes of trying, he was unable to get back to sleep, he got out of bed, deciding that as he was awake, he might as well check on how Heyes was doing. Though his partner was more than capable of looking after Beauty, the Kid still wasn't entirely comfortable with what he saw as the reversal of their usual roles, so knew he'd settle easier after seeing his partner, and besides he was fairly certain that Heyes would appreciate some company.
The hotel Mrs Hanley had booked them into was only about a mile away from Churchill Downs racecourse, where the Derby was run, so it would take him little more than twenty minutes to walk there. And the fresh night air would likely help clear his head.
The Kid enjoyed the walk, the night was warm and the moon bright. He was also enjoying stretching his legs after a long day of sitting in a carriage. But as he navigated his way towards the stables where the entrants were housed the night before the race, his sense of calm evaporated as he immediately knew something was wrong. His arm fell to his gun and he slipped into shadow determined not to be seen if there was anyone watching.
He practically ran over to the door, his heart thudding loud in his ears when he saw a prone form lying in front of it. Heyes! He was relieved when as he reached him, he was already beginning to stir, though there was an impressive looking bruise on his forehead and a lump on the back of his head. He said urgently. "I'm fine, Kid, its Beauty who's in danger!"
The Kid crept into the stable and pounced on a man, dragging him to the floor, and preventing him from advancing on Boadicea. He tussled with him, managing to grab hold of the handle of the knife that he had meant to use to harm the mare, and throw it out of reach at the opposite side of the stall where it landed with a slight thud against the wall.
He elbowed the man in the stomach with his left arm, winding him, which then allowed him to punch his face hard leaving him prone and dazed. But he soon found himself disabled, when a man he'd not seen, because he'd been hidden in the shadows jumped him from behind and pulled him into a tight hold. As he struggled against the grip, a grunt of pain escaped him as his right arm was twisted. But anger, experience and fierce determination gave him the advantage, so he was soon able to wriggle free and roll on top of his attacker, before bringing his gun down on the man's head with a satisfying thud.
By this point, Heyes had arrived in the stalls, and as the first man began to struggle back to his feet, he whacked him hard before he could get further than sitting up. With a muffled groan, he clutched his head and as he took in Heyes and the Kid, glaring at him and realising that his companion was only semi-conscious, he soon gave up and put his hands up in surrender without even bothering to stand. After glancing between Heyes and the Kid, he said with a slight whine to his voice. "Don't kill me! I'm only tryin to do what I was paid to."
The Kid shook his head in disgust and roughly searched him, then his still dazed companion, and after he'd tossed their guns to lie alongside the knife, tied them up tightly. Leaving Heyes to soothe the spooked mare, the Kid shoved their captives hard to sit against the wall. He was in no mood to be gentle: Heyes looked pale and shaky, his own arm was throbbing and he wasn't happy that the walk-offs had tried to damage a beautiful animal just for money.
As the Kid looked at the men closer, helped by the light of the flickering lamp Heyes had found somewhere and attached to the rafters now they had everything under control, he was shocked to realised that he recognised one of them. Not taking his eyes off their captives, unwilling to risk them making a break for it, despite them being in worse shape then him and Heyes, he said loudly. "You know Heyes the one on the left is Hook-nose Dowling, he used to run with the Clayton Gang, but when most of them was caught or killed when they screwed up on some bank job, he decided to hire himself out to rich folk who wanted something nasty doing but weren't keen on getting their hands dirty."
Heyes snorted as he replied. "Well I sure can see why he got his name, but I don't recognise him and I sure wouldn't forget that face in a hurry."
The Kid sighed then smiled a little as he remembered his last encounter with the weasel. Three weeks after he and Heyes had parted ways, he'd met him in a saloon down in Texas. Turning him down had cost him more than a few bruises and a two day headache, but it'd been more than worth it. "Nah you ain't never met him Heyes. I ran across him when we was separated. He tried to persuade me to join him, but murder ain't never been a career choice I wanted to pursue. We had what you might call a heated discussion and parted ways." He paused then added. "He don't get involved if the money ain't real good Heyes."
The man squinted at him and winced as he said grumpily. "I heard you was shot in a town in the butt end of nowhere. And weren't much of anything anymore."
The Kid snorted and winked at the man as he said. "Believing everythin' ya hear, ain't always good for your health. Figure a big shot criminal like you oughta know that!"
With Boadicea finally calm enough to be left, Heyes walked over and patted the Kid on the shoulder with a grin. He then walked over to the prisoners to peer at them, his voice betraying none of the pain or dizziness that the Kid knew he must be suffering from as he said firmly, with his hand at his gun. "Who hired ya?"