The two Curries and the two deputies were having their usual late breakfast in the back kitchen at Christy's Place before the day started in the saloon and the sheriff's office. They didn't eat until 9:00, since their working nights tended to last into the wee hours. "It's almost like havin' a gang again, having you boys here," said Jed Curry. "Just make sure you don't steal nothin'." The kitchen echoed with laugher.

Billy Healy looked offended but Al Kelly goosed him in the ribs and laughed again. "He just kidding us."

Now the sheriff pretended to be offended by this pun at his expense while his two young deputies laughed. Cat Curry added, "He's only Joshing, you know." Now everyone laughed freely at the Kid's absent partner.

One of the working girls came in, saying to Cat, but with more than a glance at the newest deputy, "Good morning, Ms. Curry. Is there anything you wanted done before we open?"

"Why Sophie Mae, I've never seen you here this hour of the day or looking for work standing up," answered Cat, sounded as catty as her husband had ever heard her. "Could you possibly be looking for someone other than me?" Cat winked at the bleached blonde girl, who blushed as her gaze strayed to the handsome blonde Al Kelly again.

"I don't know what you mean, Ms. Curry, I'm sure," said Sophie Mae, her brown eyes dancing with fun. "But if I can take some lunch down to the sheriff's office later, you just let me know."

"We will, when lunch time comes, Sophie Mae," said Jed Curry as seriously as he could. "In the meantime, why don't you go upstairs and get ready for work?"

Al watched the shapely working girl appreciatively as she left, but he gave her no encouragement. "She's a nice girl, if kinda' forward," said Cat.

"I've got a gal in Wyoming," said Al. "If I can get some money saved up, maybe I'll ask Lucy to come down."

"And marry you?" asked Jed with a sharp glance at his deputy.

"We ain't decided for sure yet. Maybe," said Kelly. "You don't mind, do you, boss?"

"That depends on a lot of stuff I don't know yet. I ain't even met the young lady," said Curry. "Well, if you want to get down to business, boys, I signed those papers for you and left 'em piled on my desk. I appreciate you keepin' the office books so nice, Billy. You take first patrol today and be sure to have a look in at the pawn shop to see if that stolen bugle shows up. The guys at Fort Carson are right upset to have it missin'."

"Yes, sir," said Billy.

"The officers might be upset, but the men are probably having a grand time sleepin' in," smiled Kelly.

"The officers probably have to go around and wake the men up by shouting, so maybe they have reason to be upset," said Cat. "Last I heard, they'd searched every inch of that camp about twenty times. But boys will be boys."

"It's probably at the bottom of a river someplace or flattened under a rock," said Billy. "But I'll have a look for it when I go by the pawn shop, boss. And for that lady's stolen corral necklace."

"Good. I'll ask the Doc when I can get up and join you guys in the office. I'm thinking next week," said the sheriff. "I'll come as soon as I can – drives me about up the wall to have to do everything second hand. Well, looks like we're all done here. Off you go, gentlemen. Have a good day and keep me up to date."

"We will, boss," said Billy. "You heard anything from your partner? Wasn't he supposed to be out West someplace interviewing?"

"He is, but I ain't heard no news yet," said the sheriff. "That kinda' stuff happens real slow, I guess."

"Might he come out and visit us, do you think?" asked Al Kelly. "I'd like to thank him in person."

"Not that I know of, Al," said Curry. "If I hear of Hannibal Heyes heading this way, I'll let you know."

The two deputies went to wash their hands and soon were off down the street to work. Curry looked after them jealously.

Curry picked up his crutches and limped next door to the back room where he and Cat were sleeping. He had jury-rigged an office in one corner. He sat in a rolling office chair pulled up to a small table serving as a desk. His Colt hung from the back of the chair, in easy reach. By the morning light streaming in a window, he was writing in the business account book, filling in categories originally outlined by his partner back in the days when he hadn't even been able to talk yet after getting shot in the head. This kind of bookkeeping had become almost automatic to Jed Curry by now, hard as it had been six years before.

"Geesh, the way those deputies of mine go through food. It's gonna put me in the poor house," muttered Curry. "And a baby on the way. I guess they eat, too, once they finish up with milk. And then they wear clothes and go to school. It all costs money . . ."

Cat looked in on her husband and heard his grumbles. "Now, Daddy, don't fret." She murmured, putting a hand under Curry's smooth chin and drawing his mouth up to her own for a kiss.

"I hope you know what you're doing with children, 'cause I don't got a clue, sweetie," moaned Jed when his lips were free.

"I have some idea, honey. I've spent a lot of time with children and my parents gave me a lot of good advice. We'll manage, Jed, like new parents always have. At least we aren't in our teens like some. And we've got good old Doc Grauer just next door."

"I know, I know. I'm sure you'll be good with kids."

"Seems like I'm pretty good with this one, anyhow," said Cat, reaching down for another kiss. As she stood up again, putting a protective hand across her growing belly, the expectant mother said, "Say, Jed, you know we talked about that land you bought for me and building a little house on it? Said we need a place for our baby to grow up away from the drinkers and gamblers and whoring guys."

"I know." Jed didn't sound as eager as his wife did. "We talked about all that. I want to build us a house. But I can't do it with a broken leg."

"There are plenty of guys around here who can swing a hammer and are looking for work. So, when can we get started building it and getting furniture and stuff?" asked Cat Curry impatiently.

Jed sounded concerned as he studied the Christy's Place account book. "I don't know, honey. Looking at our money situation, with the income problems lately, and all the train trips, it doesn't look as good as it did. If we put a bunch into a house and furniture and stuff, I just don't know how much we'd have left for, you know, emergencies."

"Like Heyes, if he doesn't get a position." Cat didn't sound overjoyed at the prospect.

Curry amended his wife's suggestion. "Like if you or the baby get sick, or a horse dies or something. So maybe we should wait a few months."

Mrs. Curry felt sure she knew what was first in her husband's mind. "Until we know if Heyes gets a position for the fall. That's what you're thinking about."

"Alright, so what if I am? He might need our help. We ought to have some funds ready just in case." Jed sounded unusually defensive.

Cat tried to be understanding, but the expectant mother knew where her priorities lay. "I care about Heyes as much as anyone. You know I do. But, Jed, we've been helping that man for six years. He's got Beth, and Charlie Homer and a bunch of other people to stand up for him. Why do we have set aside money like he was our son?"

"Cause he's my partner and he's saved my life more times than I could count." Curry struggled to his feet, leaning on his crutches as he loyally defended Heyes.

Cat tried to calm her husband. "And you've saved his life just as often, if not more. You're even. You've always said so."

"You don't stop helping. That's how you stay even. That's how you stay partners."

Mrs. Curry pleaded, "But what about our real child who's coming in the fall? He or she needs a good, safe, quiet nursery and a safe home right from the start. We don't have a long time to build that house and get it all furnished and ready. Remember, some babies come early. They can't read a calendar in there in the dark."

"Very funny. I'd like to wait until we know about Heyes."

"And I'd like to put our own son or daughter first. And me, while we're at it. I want a place to be a mother where I don't have to be cooking for dozens of guys and giving orders when I want to take care of our baby."

"But Heyes did up our books system and advised us on investments and . . ."

Cat flared up angrily, waving a finger in her husband's face. "Maybe you should have married him instead of me if you put him first!"

"I don't put him first. Cat, that's not what I mean and you know it." Curry was really hurt by his wife's attitude.

Catherine Curry sniped back. "Do I? You want me to give birth in a saloon and raise our son or daughter with harlots and drunks?"

"I don't want to, but isn't that how you grew up?" asked the Kid sheepishly. "You worked out well enough."

Cat had points to make here and she hammered them home. "Yeah, ever since I was twelve, when my mother died I've lived in this place. So I know our baby needs to have things better than I did in those years. It was tough for my pa to keep me on the right path in this place, even after I'd had spent years in a real house. I think you've been assuming it's gonna be a boy. What if it's a girl? Do you want your little girl to learn the kind of language they use in a bar? To have drunks giving her sips before she can walk? To think that prostitution is what all grown women do for a living? To have guys assuming she's up for a quick lay as soon as she's starts her cycles, if not before?"

The Kid sat back down suddenly. He was stunned. His mouth hung open for a long time.

Finally he swallowed hard and said, "I guess you're right. I did kind of count on a boy. But even a boy needs a safe place to grow up – a real home so he won't turn out like Heyes and I did. Let's start figuring out what we want. How big, how many rooms, what furniture and other stuff we need. Then we can figure out what it'll cost. Let's draw up a budget to make sure we don't spend more than we got. If Heyes needs money, he might have to wait. You're right – our own family has to come first."

Cat nodded and sighed in relief. "Alright. I can draw up a plan and make sure you like it. Then we can get a builder to make sure it don't fall down. And we can get some furniture out of the hotel, so that'll save a lot of money. You know I love Heyes as much as you do. I'm glad to help him out, and Beth, all we can, if they need it. I believe in him. I think he won't need us. He'll be fine on his own. He'll get a job, if not teaching at a college yet, then doing something else. But Heyes or no Heyes, we have to have that house and he'd be the first to agree with that."

Jed glanced down at his leg in a big, white cast. "Yeah, he would. I'm sorry I can't do some of the building myself – it would save us money."

Cat tousled her husband's wavy hair and smiled at him. "I've seen you with a hammer, even when you didn't have a cast on your leg. Let a professional do it for us. We need it to be well built and we can do a bit of scrimping."

Jed asked anxiously, "And what else do we need for the baby? I know they need stuff – bottles and blankets and strollers and what all. And they grow up and need more. More than I, or Heyes, or you ever had. I want our boy or girl to have it better than we ever did."

Cat looked lovingly into her husband's eyes. "They need a lot of stuff, but mostly, Jed, they need love and care. The most expensive thing is going to be having me in that house instead of here."

He nodded. "I know. But that house is where you belong."

Cat leaned warmly against her husband. "After the baby comes, I'll be here at the hotel when I can. But my friends tell me it's hard to get a moment to even use the outhouse when you have a new baby. So I'll have to manage Christy's Place from a distance for a while – like you're doing with the sheriff's office right now. I'll need helpers – like you need deputies – for a while. A long while."

"As long as you need, sweetie," said Curry, before giving Cat a lingering kiss. "And you'll always have my help."

Deep bells sounded from a clock muffled by the fact that it hung in the kitchen next door. "Oh, it's getting late. Well, right now while I've got a few months with the baby still inside, I do need to cook lunch for the guests. So it's off to the kitchen with me. See you later, darling." Mrs. Curry hurried to do her duty by the folks staying at the Christy's Place hotel.

Cat Curry hadn't been out the door to the kitchen long when Jed Curry heard a knock on the door that led in from the front room of the saloon. "That Billy, or Al, or Joe? Come on in!" called Curry loudly from his desk so his voice would carry through the door. "It'll take me too long to get up and hobble over there."

"Alright, Kid," said a familiar voice as the door opened to admit a figure Jed hadn't seen in a long time. "Congratulations on the wedding and the baby coming and the amnesty, from all the boys at the Hole."

Kid Curry stared in dismay at the ragged, buck-toothed figure of Kyle Murtry, the only remaining man in the Devil's Hole Gang from the old days of the Kid and Heyes. Murtry grinned as he leaned against the door frame with a pitiful bouquet of wilting red flowers that looked like they had come from a pot on someone's front porch. "I said congratulations, Kid! Ain't you even gonna say 'thanks' or 'howdy' or invite me in?"

"Get in here and close the damned door before somebody sees you, Kyle!" hissed Curry under his breath.

"You ain't being real friendly, Kid," muttered Kyle, who nonetheless followed his former boss's directions. "I went a long way out of my way to come and be nice to you."

Curry turned his chair to face his former henchman. "Nice to me? That ain't funny."

"What do you mean? You think the gang and me could let you and Heyes get your amnesty, and married, and have a baby coming and not have somebody come to wish you well?"

"Yeah, I kinda' hoped that's exactly what you'd do. If you had the sense that God gave geese, that's just what you'd a done."

"Well, we ain't that rude. I came to give you my best. To tell you the truth, I was gonna bring you a present, but I, um, I lost it."

"Money? You were bringing me money? You were going to bribe a sheriff?" The Kid was beside himself, but quietly so no one would be likely to overhear.

"No, but I, well, I sold it and lost the money at blackjack. I was hoping to get you somethin' better than the little watch the boys had picked out for you. We ain't been doing real well on our jobs lately, Kid, I got to admit."

"They bought me a watch?" asked the Kid tentatively, touched in spite of himself.

"Well, no, not exactly bought . . ."

Curry snorted, "They stole it! They were gonna give me a watch from a take. I shoulda' known. What a bunch of winners you are! I'm glad you lost it, Kyle. I might finish my days a free man, which is better than you're gonna do."

"What do you mean, Kid?"

Sheriff Curry stabbed his finger at his chest. "You see this silver thing on my vest? You know a sheriff's badge when you see one. I'm a sheriff now. You know that. You're wanted in Colorado, Kyle, and you know that, too. So I got to put you under arrest. If you hadn't come here I wouldn't have had to do that, but now I got to."

"You got to be having me on, Kid. You wouldn't arrest your old friend Kyle. When you and Heyes went to see Lom Trevors, he didn't lock you up."

"Yeah, he did. We didn't tell you guys, but he did. We let him do it. He let us out again when the governor said we might get amnesty if we went straight. You going straight, Kyle?"

"Um, no, I ain't. It's kinda' late for that now, ain't it?" The outlaw shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and avoided the eye of his old boss.

"Never too late to do the right thing, Kyle. Heyes and I tried to get you join us going straight."

"You know I couldn't ever make a straight living, Kid."

"Then I'm gonna have to arrest you for armed robbery, Kyle Murtry." The Kid reached for his gun, which was in its holster hanging from his chair. He reached more slowly than he'd ever reached for a weapon in his life. Kyle just stared for an instant, then he kicked the Kid's rolling office chair as hard as he could, sending his old boss flying toward the door to the kitchen while his Colt 45 fell hard to the floor. The chair cracked into the door and then rolled forward again, throwing Jed Curry and his heavy leg cast to the floor. Kyle was out the door into the saloon as fast as he could dash, and then he was out the front door of Christy's Place. The Kid could hear a horse galloping away.

"I'm sorry," muttered Sheriff Curry to himself as he lay on his back with his leg in a cast straight out front of him.

The Kid took a moment to catch his breath. Then he yelled as loud as he could "Cat! Send somebody to get one of my deputies! A wanted man just ran out of here!"

Cat struggled to open the door, but the chair and the fallen sheriff blocked it. Cat yelled through the door, "What happened, Jed?"

The sheriff shouted from where he lay, "A wanted man just ran out through the saloon – get a deputy on his tail."

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Cat inquired anxiously.

"I'll be fine. But you got to hurry. Send Bruce to get a deputy. Then you can come help me."

Since Jed blocked the way straight into the saloon and hotel, Cat dashed from the kitchen around the outside of the building to the front to get Bruce, the busboy. He ran down the street shouting for a deputy. By then, of course, Kyle was long gone. And it would take time for a deputy to get down the street to find out who had fled, what he looked like, and what he was wanted for.

Cat was soon back. She got Joe the bartender to help her husband up from the floor and into bed and fetched his precious pistol from the floor. When Joe was back to the saloon, she studied Curry's face.

"What's wrong, Jed? You look like somebody just killed your dog."

But they were interrupted by the arrival of Billy Healy, panting and excited. He asked, "Who was it, boss? Who's the wanted man? What's he look like?"

"It was Kyle Murtry, from Devil's Hole. He's got yellow hair, big front teeth, blue eyes . . ." Jed gave a dispassionate description of Kyle and his crimes. He sighed and went on, slowly. "Billy, if he goes out of our official territory, don't follow him. Call or wire the next district over and let them go after him. We can't afford to be down a man for a guy without a murder charge – not until I get back on my feet."

Billy grew impatient with the time his boss was taking, but he didn't interrupt. When Curry was done, he quickly said, "I see, boss. I'm on my way. I'll be in touch!" Billy dashed out to mount up and get on the man's trail, as well as he could with the fugitive so long gone. The young deputy gave no sign that he understood this was a special case; so far as he knew, he was just tracking a known armed robber.

When the eager deputy was gone, slamming the door behind him, Cat looked compassionately at her husband. "Oh, Jed, I remember Kyle from when he came here a few years back. He didn't come to threaten you, did he?"

"He came to wish us well on the amnesty, the marriage, and the baby. He brought us flowers." The sheriff gestured to where the trampled bouquet of red geraniums lay scattered on the floor.

Cat Curry ached for her husband. "He's your best friend left with Devil's Hole."

"He was." Jed Curry's voice was hoarse.

"You'll never see him ever again. Or you'd better not."

Cat put her arms around her husband. He sat up in bed, silent and unmoving, staring at the door to the saloon as if he could bore a hole through it with his icy blue eyes. No amount of kissing and stroking by his wife would induce him to move a muscle or say a word. Finally, Cat gave him a kiss on the forehead and went back to fixing lunch.