Judging by the moon's position, it was half past three. Kid reckoned he'd have plenty of time to find his partner, explain the situation at hand, and then they'd make their getaway. The only problem he anticipated was the possibility of running into Wade Thomas or Mike Smith - or any of the other townspeople who knew of his errand, for that matter. Returning before the stage and without the schoolteacher would look very suspicious. Well, he'd just have to deal with that when it happened. Kid entered the barn and went to work tacking up his horse. After so many hasty departures, he and Heyes had become quite efficient at this task. Even in the dark, Kid had his horse ready to go in record time.
He took hold of the mare's bridle and turned to lead her out of the barn, then stopped dead in his tracks. There, framed in the open doorway, was Amanda Grady. Her long, thick hair had been unpinned and it tumbled about her shoulders, limned in silvery moonlight. She was wearing what must have been her "Sunday Best" dress, no doubt hoping to make a favorable first impression on her new employers. It was trimmed with lace at the throat and wrists and sprigged all over in a delicate floral pattern. To his surprise, Kid felt as if a sharp little pin had stabbed right through his heart.
"So it's true," she breathed.
"What are you doin' up so early, Miss Grady?" he inquired, tipping his hat, as if it was the most perfectly normal thing in the world to be saddling his horse in the wee hours of the morning.
"I couldn't sleep," she answered. "Mrs. Pudlington's snoring is worse than a whole barn full of calving milk cows. I saw you come in here and I followed you."
"Listen, Miss Grady. Something's come up. I'm real sorry to tell you that I can't take you the rest of the way to Bridgerton. But Shecky's a good man and he's right fond of you. He'll make sure you get there safe and sound."
"You're leaving because that robber was right. You are Kid Curry! And Bridger has figured it out too. He's going to try to turn you in for the reward!" Amanda said softly.
"No, sweetheart, he only THINKS I'm Kid Curry and that my partner is Hannibal Heyes," Curry answered, speaking slowly and reasonably. "Curry and Heyes are wanted dead or alive, and the prospect of $20,000 makes most folks prefer the dead option. And then it won't matter much that they're wrong about who we are."
"Take me with you," she blurted hastily, barely believing she had spoken the words aloud.
"Now you know I can't do that, Miss Grady," replied Curry. "I've got to warn my partner and then we both have to disappear."
"Please!" begged the young woman eagerly. "I truly love teaching, but before I resign myself to spending the rest of my life in a schoolhouse, I want to have a little adventure."
"Gettin' stuck on a runaway stage and held up at gunpoint weren't enough adventure for you?" Kid asked teasingly.
"I was hoping for an adventure that's a little more…" she paused, swallowed audibly, then barely whispered the word, "romantic."
"Now, Miss Grady, don't you believe a word that banker said about you bein' an old maid! You're so pretty you'll have loads of suitors."
"But if I marry, I'll have to stop teaching."
"And if you come with me, you'll have to stop teachin' too - 'cuz your reputation will be ruined. The good folks of Bridgerton'll send you packin' straight back to Illinois."
"I could say you kidnapped me!" she suggested hopefully.
"What about my reputation?" he countered. "I don't want folks thinkin' I go around kidnappin' ladies!"
"But no one would think YOU kidnapped me; they'd think it was Kid Curry who did it!"
"Listen, Miss Grady, I don't want nobody thinkin' Kid Curry kidnaps ladies neither." Especially not the governor of Wyoming, he added silently to himself.
"He's already wanted for bank and train robbery, what's a little kidnapping on top of that? Besides, what do you care what people think about Kid Curry's reputation?"
"The answer is no, Amanda," Curry said firmly. "You can't come with me. That's just the way it is."
That was the first time he'd ever called her by her Christian name. Hearing him say it caused a tiny thrill to ripple through her body.
Kid looked down at the young woman gazing up at him, cheeks flushed, lips slightly parted. He didn't plan on it happening, but suddenly he was holding her in his arms and crushing his lips against hers, her soft body melting into his. She wrapped one arm tightly around him, the fingers of the other twining through his curls. The world seemed to spin around them as they both lost themselves in the kiss. For that moment, no one else existed – not Bridger nor Brock, not the governor of Wyoming, not even his partner.
That was when he heard a familiar sound – although usually he was the one making it.
Click.
Kid felt the cold steel of the cocked pistol pressed to the back of his neck. Immediately, the couple broke off the kiss. When Curry looked up, he met the slightly amused eyes of Blake Mason, the leader of the outlaw gang that had robbed them, also holding a sixgun, this one pointed straight at his chest. He pulled Amanda close, trying once again to protect her with his own body.
"Brother and sister my Aunt Fanny!" drawled Mason. "Guess you was right after all, Jude."
"I knew it! I knew he was Kid Curry!" Jude cried triumphantly, stepping from behind Curry, gun still drawn, but thankfully no longer pressing against his neck.
"Just because I ain't her brother don't make me Kid Curry. I only said that so you would leave her alone."
"If you ain't Kid Curry, then why are you high-tailin' it outta here in the middle of the night?" Mason asked cagily.
"I betcha that fat banker figured it out too and you're lightin' out before he can turn ya into the law and claim the ree-ward," said another one of the outlaws, stepping into the light.
"I'm so sorry! If I hadn't stopped you, you'd have gotten away," stammered the young woman. "You might be halfway to Granite Bluff by now." She quickly gasped and a guilty expression stole across her face, as if she had realized she said something she shouldn't have.
Kid glanced sharply at her. He caught on immediately to what she was trying to do and admired her quick thinking.
"Shut up!" he said to her harshly, playing along with her gambit.
"Oh no!" she replied, covering her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide with dismay. "I meant –"
"Granite Bluff, huh….?" interrupted Mason. "Now why would ya be tryin' ta git back to Granite Bluff? Could it be that's where your partner is waitin' for ya?"
Kid's face was a stoic mask. For a split second, he let the mask slip to reveal an expression of fear, which disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. It was just enough to confirm Mason's suspicions.
"Looks like we're about to double our payday, boys! Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes both! That's twenty thousand dollars!"
The rest of the gang members were practically drooling.
Kid started to protest, but before he could manage to get any words out of his mouth, one of the outlaws hastily gagged him with his own bandana while another wrestled his arms behind his back and wound a long strip of rawhide around his wrists, tying it tightly in a double knot.
Amanda felt tears falling down her face. She was responsible for this unfortunate reversal of fortune and was fiercely determined to do whatever was in her power to rescue the man who'd saved her twice over, Kid Curry or not.
Now the Kid was being pushed and pulled up onto his horse. He could have told the gang it was much easier to force a man onto a horse under his own power by holding a gun to him and THEN to tie his hands behind his back - but then again, they hadn't exactly asked for his advice.
Soon they were galloping away from the barn, Kid barely keeping his balance in his awkward position.
He felt a glimmer of hope as the outlaw leader turned his horse east, in the direction of Granite Bluff. At least his partner would be safe, he consoled himself. And Amanda would surely tell Heyes what had happened when she got to Bridgerton. And then Heyes'd come for him, he knew that for a fact.
But would Heyes get there in time…?
