Chapter Three
As per his habit, Heyes was up as the first hint of sun lit the horizon, but he wasn't early enough to beat Mary, who was already in the kitchen, up to her elbows in bread dough that she was busily kneading.
"Good morning, Joshua," she greeted brightly.
"Mornin', Mary, I didn't expect anyone else to be awake yet," the former outlaw replied.
"I'm used to getting up to feed the chickens and the early quiet hours are the perfect time to get the baking started before I need to cook breakfast. I thought you might sleep longer, though, after your long journey."
"No, I've never been one t'sleep late, to Kid's great unhappiness since then he hasta drink my coffee. Speakin' of coffee," he hinted hopefully.
The girl smiled and said, "There's a pot all ready there on the stove."
"I though you weren't a mind reader," Heyes said with a grin while picking up the pot and pouring himself a cup of the steaming brew. He took a sip, savoring the rich flavor, and sighed. "So maybe Kid has something about my coffee, cuz this tastes like heaven t'me, made by the hand of an angel!"
Mary laughed. "Brigitte's right, you have kissed the blarney stone!"
Heyes pretended to be offended. "I'll have you know that I would never lie about anything as important as coffee! Now I'll just take this nectar of the gods out onto the porch where I can watch the sun rise - - Kid would never forgive me if I somehow delayed breakfast."
"Go on with you then, I'll call you when it's ready!"
Heyes raised his cup in salute and wandered through the living room and out onto the front porch. He leaned against the roof support post and watched the sun chase the shadows across the valley. The air was brisk, but the hot liquid helped chase the chill away and he was quite comfortable.
He was contemplating returning to the kitchen for a refill, having drained the cup to its dregs, but a pert rehead forestalled him by poking her head out the door and announcing, "Breakfast is on, Joshua."
"Is Kid up?"
"Yes, so's Sam, and they're waiting for you to come so Mary will serve breakfast!"
"Oh, well, I certainly don't wanna get on Kid's bad side by holdin' up breakfast!" Heyes snorted.
Mary had prepared a veritable feast for breakfast - - scrambled eggs, bacon, flapjacks, fried potatoes, biscuits, and plenty of hot coffee.
"You expectin' t'feed the whole Devil's Hole Gang, Mary?" Heyes queried.
Before the girl could answer, Curry intervened on her behalf. "I, for one," he said. "Plan on doin' this meal justice! So I'll thank you t'hurry up, Heyes, cuz Mary won't let us start until everyone's sittin'!"
"Sorry, Kid, thought you were still gettin' your beauty sleep," the former outlaw leader grinned as he took his seat.
"You may not need sleep, or food, Heyes, but us normal folk do," Curry retorted as he spooned eggs onto his plate. He handed the plate to Sam and picked up the potatoes as he asked the two women, "Seen much of the mustangs lately? Only reason we could convince Sam here to come along was the promise of wild horses!"
"We've seen them quite a bit lately actually," Brigitte replied. "While the building was going on they pretty much kept their distance, but a couple of times I've seen Bandit at the far end of the paddock."
"Bandit?" Heyes' eyebrows lifted in inquiry.
"That's what we've been calling the stallion because he looks like such an outlaw with that black mask," Mary put in.
"I thought about calling him Hannibal Heyes, since he's the leader, but decided that would cause too much confusion when you got back?" the redhead teased.
"It doesn't really fit anyway," the former leader said. "I never wore a mask - - Kid neither!"
"Why not? Don't most robbers wear masks?"
"Yeah, but we weren't ashamed so why hide our faces?"
"So people couldn't identify you! I thought that would be obvious!"
"Well, the law still don't have our pictures so it hasn't hurt us none."
"That ain't exactly true, Heyes," Curry interjected. "We've run into trouble more than once with people recognizin' us since we started tryin' for amnesty!"
"You got a point there, Kid," Heyes agreed. "When we were outlawin' we didn't spend as much time with law abidin' fold so as t'get recognized."
"How 'bout takin' a ride out t'look at 'em, Sam?" the gunslinger suggested.
"I'd like that," the wrangler replied.
"How 'bout you, Heyes?"
"Nah, I been ridin' so long I ain't in that much hurry t'saddle up again, Kid! Think I'll just wander around the ranch - - do some thinkin'."
"Suit yourself, Heyes," Curry shrugged. "How 'bout you, Mary? You wanna ride along?"
"I'd love to, Thaddeus!"
"Chances are you'll find them at the far end of the valley, Thaddeus," Brigitte informed him.
"Let's eat up then!" Curry exclaimed.
"I'll need to do the cleaning up before I can go, Thaddeus," the dark girls said, her face falling.
"Go on, Mary," Brigitte told her. "I'm sure I can handle the cleaning up without you."
Excitement brightened Mary's blue eyes. "Than you, Brigitte, I know how much you hate kitchen chores!"
"I'm sure it won't kill me this once," Brigitte replied wryly. She turned to Sam and asked, "Why are you so passionate about the mustangs, Sam?"
"They were one of the first things I fell in love with out here in the West, Brigitte," the wrangler explained. "To me, their wild beauty symbolizes the freedom that lured me here. When Mr. Cole began killing them I just couldn't work for him anymore, instead I worked against him, releasing the animals he'd trapped. That's why he wanted me arrested. Joshua and Thaddeus convinced me that the law was on Mr. Cole's side and that I was just going to end up dead or in prison if I kept it up."
"That's a bit ironic, isn't it - - Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry convincing someone he's breaking the law?"
"We were Coleville's sheriffs at the time, Brigitte, so it was our job," Heyes put in in self-defense while managing to look embarrassed at the same time.
"Not to mention the fact that we're upright, law-abidin' citizens, Brigitte," Curry managed to say with a poker face.
The redhead laughed outright while Mary hid a smile behind her hand.
"You know, the mustangs are descendents of the horses the Spanish Conquistadores brought with them," Sam went on. "There weren't any horses here before then."
"How did the Indians get around then?" Mary wanted to know.
"Walked. It's said that when they first saw a horse they thought it was a very big dog!"
"No!" Brigitte exclaimed.
"Yup, that's what they say. Hard to believe, isn't it? In my, opinion, the mustangs are a national treasure and should be protected rather than killed off by greedy ranchers!"
"Maybe those with the power to do that will agree with you someday, Sam," Mary told him gently.
"I just hope there are some left to protect by then!"
"In the meantime, you can protect Bandit and his herd – that way there will be some left."
"I hope you can spare some of that passion for building our herd, Sam," Heyes said wryly.
"Won't be a problem, Joshua," the wrangler assured the other man.
"Are we ready to go then?" Curry asked, settling his fork down on his empty plate.
"I'm ready!" Sam agreed.
"I'll need a few minutes to change into riding clothes, Thaddeus," Mary said.
"Take your time, Mary," the gunslinger replied. "Sam an' I'll go get the horses saddled while you change."
"If you wore trousers like me, Mary, you'd always be ready," Brigitte teased.
"No, thank you, Brigitte, one tomboy in the family is more than enough!" the other girl replied archly and swept out of the room.
"Once women find out how practical and comfortable trousers are I'll bet they'll never want to wear anything else!" the tomboy predicted.
"Even girls like Mary?" Heyes asked doubtfully.
"Well," the girl thought for a moment. "I guess there'll always be girlie girls who prefer dresses," she admitted.
"You sure you don't wanna come, Heyes?" Curry asked again.
"I'm sure, Kid, you go an' have fun. I gotta start plannin' what our next move should be in this ranch business of ours."
"All right, Heyes, I'll leave you t'your schemin' since that's what you do best! Come on, Sam."
Not much later, Heyes, having been shooed out of the kitchen, watched the three mustang hunters dwindle in the distance as he sauntered unhurriedly to the paddock to check their small herd.
The enclosure had been cleverly fenced to include a portion of the stream so the livestock would always have access to fresh water, and the mustangs were happily grazing on the still plentiful grass, but with their appetites he knew it would soon be depleted or buried under snow, and they'd have to put out hay. He made a mental note to check on the feed supply.
He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the crisp mountain air, an elusive whiff of something teasing at his senses. He took another and it came to him - - freedom - - elusive because, he knew, as he stood here a free man, it could still be snatched away from him in a moment should the wrong person catch sight of him or the Kid.
It was funny, he mused, how his idea of freedom had changed over the years. First had been the need to get free of the oppressive hell hole that was the Home for Waywards and he and the Kid had been giddy with it for the first couple of weeks, maybe months, before the idealistic hope that they'd be able to find jobs and feed themselves faded. Then to find freedom from hunger they'd taken to stealing, first food and then other necessities of life until they'd finally graduated to riding with outlaws and stealing money from banks, trains, stagecoaches, whoever, whatever, and whenever. Those had been some good years, filled with a wild kind of freedom, but over their heads had hung the threat of a total loss of freedom with twenty years in prison. When the weight of that threat had become too much, the idea of another kind of freedom had taken root - - the freedom to live a normal life, raise a family, work a decent job, not looking over one's shoulder all the time. Accepting the chance for amnesty had put serious restrictions on their freedom - - true, they could go wherever they wanted, pick up honest jobs, but they could never stay in one place long for fear of being recognized and they still were constantly alert and looking over their shoulders - - but they had tolerated it, knowing that the end result would make it all worthwhile. The wandering hadn't been bad for the most part, though it was a hollow kind of freedom, and they'd found themselves hungry more often than they'd have liked, much like when they were kids, but they'd had no definite goal, just the nebulous hope for the governor's pardon which would free them from constantly being on the run. Theyn they'd met the O'Reilly's and the ranch idea had taken shape. Suddenly freedom had a place, had loving faces, had a goal, and then the wandering had become a kind of prison even though they'd been working to build their dream. Now they were back, their new home a solid reality before their eyes, and all Heyes wanted to do was lay aside his watchfulness and exult in this realization of a dream that, for years, they'd never dared dream, but he knew that was still impossible - - true freedom remained elusive still.
How many times over the past few months had he and the Kid both seen the culmination of this dream nearly jerked away from them by the cold clutches of death? Too many and too close, he decided. The achievement of amnesty would be meaningless to either of them if the other weren't there to share in it. He groaned and shook his head trying to rid himself of the memories, still raw in his mind, of the times he'd come close to losing his best friend - - no, his family.
"Are you all right, Joshua?" Brigitte's voice interrupted his gloomy reverie.
Startled, he quickly replied, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
Emerald eyes seemed to pierce through to his very soul. "Well, only you can tell me that, boyo, but I can see for myself what a lie that was! Now you are going to tell me what's bothering you," she said firmly, hands on hips. "I already know all your deepest darkest secrets, don't I?"
"No, you don't, because I didn't either! I learned something about myself these past months that wasn't pretty - - a facet of myself that scared and sickened me!"
"I can't imagine anything that could be so bad as that, Joshua - - why don't you enlighten me?"
Heyes was silent for a long moment, pondering what, if anything, he should say. What if what he told her so horrified her that she turned from him in disgust? His heart quailed at the thought, but this fear warred with a need to be completely honest with her. He laughed mentally at the irony of Hannibal Heyes, famous for his dishonesty, desiring to be honest with someone. Finally, he took a deep breath and plunged in. "You know that the Devil's Hole Gang was never physically violent, right?"
Brigitte nodded, but remained silent having seem something of his internal struggle reflected on his face and not wanting to interrupt now that he had chosen to speak.
"If you'd asked me why, before these last months, I'd've said that it was because posses were much more determined if people were killed, or injured in any way, an' hangin' was somethin' to avoid. Had I chosen to look deeper into my reasons, I'd probably have said that it was due to the violence don the Kid's an' my families, givin' me a strong dislike of violence of any kind. Both of those would be true, as far as they go, but neither go far enough."
Brigitte could see the muscle in his jaw working as he paused, his eyes staring into the distance without seeing as his sight was turned inward.
"Thaddeus told you about my gunfight in Coleville an' how I killed Mace Chandler - - the only many I've ever killed, never havin' thought I had killin' in me, but I was terribly wrong an' it was somethin' that'd happened before we ever got t'Coleville that forcefully drove that point home." He paused again. "Are you sure you wanna hear this?"
"Of course. I'm curious to know what you consider worse than killing a man - - although that was completely justified and an unfortunate part of your job at the time."
His lips pressed together and he replied, "That haunted me for a while, but I've come to terms with it. This other, though, still gives me nightmares sometimes."
"Maybe getting it out in the open will help ease those, Joshua," she said gently, laying a hand on his arm.
"It was after the business with the Silver Kid, Kid an' I headed of t'Yuma figurin' we'd catch up with a couple of old friends while we played poker, but there was a telegraph from Lom waitin' for us there, tellin' us there was serious trouble and t'get t'Porterville as fast as we could. We sold our horses and took the first train out. It turned out an ex-Army captain deserter with a thirst for vengeance on the Army had taken over the Devil's Hole Gang and was planning to rob the biggest payroll train of all time! This was a serious problem because who does everyone believe is still the leader of the Devil's Hole Gang?"
"Hannibal Heyes," Brigitte supplied.
"Right, an' if this job got pulled off the whole Army'd be scourin' the country lookin' for us, not to mention our shot at amnesty bein' buried! No way could the governor pardon us, even if we had an iron-clad alibi for our whereabouts at the time of the robbery! The one hitch in this crazy man's plan was that the safe where the money would be stored had only been successfully opened by . . ."
"Hannibal Heyes?"
"Right again. So he sent of the gang with a message asking for a meeting with me. Kid an' I had no intentions of going' until Lom gave us the rest of the message, from the gang itself, askin' for our help cuz they were worried this maniac was gonna get 'em all killed just like he'd already killed Lobo! We had t'go, Brigitte! Kid an' me'd ridden with those boys for years, saved each other's lives over an' over again, so we couldn't just abandon them!" Dark eyes appealed to her for understanding.
"Of course you had to! You wouldn't be the man I love if you abandoned your friends like that!"
"Kid was countin' on me t'come up with a genius plan, which I did, but it was missin' the genius part!" He laid out the bare bones of the plan to his avid listener.
"Sounds like a pretty good plan to me," she commented.
"Yeah, but there were too many variables, too many things that could go wrong, an' it was lackin' the most important ingredient of all - - a back up plan! Problem was there wasn't a feasible back up plan so we were stuck with just what we had. It seemed luck was on our side for once cuz the plan was goin' smooth, we had it made until Kid's horse stumbled and threw 'im so he was captured by the Devil's Hole Gang! I'd seen Captain Glover gun down a young guard on the train so I knew he was a cold-blooded killer an' the Kid didn't stand a chance especially when they discovered he didn't have the money!
"I was frantic when the Kid didn't show up on time! I knew something had gone wrong an' then Kyle came with the news, the details of just what Glover had done to the Kid to get him to tell where the money was an that's when I first felt it, the thing that scared me then an' scares me still - - rage! Oh, sure, I'd been angry before, but nothin' like this! I needed t'kill Glover! Only that act would quench the fire that burned inside me!"
"What had he done to Thaddeus?"
Heyes' face was bone white and his breaths came rapidly as he relived it all. "When they first caught him an' found the newspaper in his saddlebags, they near beat 'im t'death right there, but the Kid wouldn't tell 'im, so they took 'im up t'Devil's Hole, stripped his shirt off his back, an' whipped hi, right there in front of the whole gang! Fifteen times until his back looked like raw meat an' he was near dead! Stubborn fool that he is, he still wouldn't tell, makin' sure I had enough tie t'get the money back t'Lom!"
Brigitte's freckles stood out starkly on her pasty face as she stared horrified and speechless at the former outlaw leader. Heyes was too deep in his memories to notice.
"When Glover ordered another five lashes, Wheat spoke up and gave 'im the information he wanted cuz he didn't think the Kid could survive any more. Glover sent Kyle with an ultimatum - - bring the money or the Kid would die! The money had already gone back to the Army so that was out of the questions - - I had to come up with another plan, a better one this time! Whether it was better, or not, it worked an' with Lom, Kyle, an' the gang's help, we got the drop on Glover an' his men. When I saw the Kid layin' there, his back in bloody shreds, his wrists torn open, his face near unrecognizable from the beating, I could've torn Glover apart with my bare hands, but I couldn't cuz I still needed proof that me, the Kid, an' the gang had nothin' t'do with the robbery or else it would've been for nothin' even though the money had been recovered! I needed t'make Glover write a confession absolving us of any part of the robbery - - nothin' less would be good enough for the Army an' the governor. I knew Glover wasn't gonna just smile an' write it cuz I asked 'im to, but I also knew he wasn't gonna leave that cabin alive without it!
"I've never hated a person so much, Brigitte, except for the men who killed our families, an' maybe not even them. All night long as I sat with the Kid, the rage burned, until by morning my will had been shaped an' hardened by that fire an' I knew just what revenge I was gonna mete out t'Glover!
"Of course he refused t'write the confession when I asked 'im an' I was glad, Brigitte, cuz if he had I wouldn't've had reason t'put my gun to his head, one bullet in the cylinder, an' offer 'im the chance again, or he could take his chances on the hammer not fallin' on the loaded chamber. Five times the hammer fell on an empty chamber before he broke an' agreed t'write the confession. When he was finished, I cocked the gun again, put it to his head again, and pulled the trigger!"
Brigitte gasped, "You killed him? No, no, that's not right because you said Mace Chandler is the only man you've ever killed!"
"No, I didn't kill him, but I broke him! When he heard the hammer fall on another empty chamber he broke down an' cried like a baby! Lom took 'em an' turned 'em over t'the Army - - last I heard they'd all been hanged." He fell silent, his story obviously finished.
"I don't see anything so horrible in that story to give you nightmares, Joshua," Brigitte commented finally.
"I didn't kill 'im, Brigitte, but I wanted to an' I didn't care that it would've been cold-blooded murder!"
"I guess it was pure luck you didn't seeing's how the gun could've gone off any one of those time."
"Not luck. You see, I couldn't take the chance that I'd shoot Glover before he'd written the confession, so there were no bullets in the gun at all!"
"Then why brook if you knew there was no chance of killing him?"
"But there was only one thing I wanted more than to see his blood splattered all over the room! Had that obstacle not been there I would have! In the end, though, what I did to him was much crueler."
"How so?"
"I took his manhood away. I left him a sniveling coward to be scorned by the men he had led since his second-in-command had been a witness to his breakdown. This is the darkness inside of me that scares me, that gives me nightmares - - this rage that knew no bounds, the cold-bloodedness that would've seen me commit murder, and last, but not least, the sheer cruelty that could devise a punishment worse than death! These are the qualities that make me question whether I'm fit t'be loved by a decent woman like you, Brigitte!"
"Heyes," the girl whispered, placing a hand on each of the man's cheeks and turning him to face her. "We all have dark sides - - it's only those who refuse to face them that we need to fear. There's nothing you could possibly do that could change the way I feel about you! I fell in love with an outlaw, not a knight in shining armor!"
"You deserve a knight in shining armor, though!"
"What, and be bored all my life? Thanks, but no thanks! Now shut up and kiss me!"
Hardly daring to believe his luck, Heyes obediently bent his head and reverently pressed his lips to her tender waiting mouth.
"Have you told Thaddeus all of this?" she asked when they reluctantly broke apart.
"Nah, he'd just tell me I'm thinkin' too much again, an' I guess he's right, but, Brigitte, I nearly lost the Kid twice in the short time we've been gone - - first at Glover's hand and then in the fire in Coleville - - an' that's been on my mind a lot, too! We've been each other's family for so many years, lookin' after each other, dependin' on each other, an' I just don't think I could go on if anything happened to 'im - - I sure couldn't've come back here!"
Brigitte pulled further away to search his eyes. "Why ever not?"
"Amnesty, this ranch, livin' a normal life has always been a package deal, Brigitte - - it's the both of us or neither of us. Kid's said a couple of time we shoulda split up cuz he thinks I've got a better chance without him, but I could never abandon 'im like that - - the last time I did is when he became a gunslinger, the very thing that makes 'im think he's just an obstacle to the amnesty! Besides that I couldn't come back here an' face Mary every day building' a happy life with you. I would've always loved you, Brigitte, nothin' could ever have change that. Do you understand what I'm trying' t'say?"
"Of course I do, but I know, too, that Mary would've understood and not blamed you for what happened to Thaddeus. She'd also have understood when I left to find you because there's no way I'm letting you go, Hannibal Heyes!" the girl replied adamantly.
"Livin' on the run ain't no life for a woman," Heyes told her firmly.
"Any kind of life with you is fine by me, Joshua," she retorted. "It's life without you that'd be no life at all. But this is all pointless to talk about, much less brood about, since it didn't happen! You're here, Thaddeus is here, the ranch is ready to get started and I'm betting your amnesties will be granted soon, too."
"There's a bet I won't take you up on, Brigitte, but you're right about the rest. Thaddeus complains I think too much, but he really gets frustrated when I brood over what he calls 'what ifs'. How 'bout walkin' with me an' we'll plot out the layout of the rest of the ranch?"
"I'd like that, Joshua."
A sharp rap on his leg as she turned to walk beside him caused Heyes to look down. "I see you took my advice to heart about wearin' your gun when you're outside."
"Of course, you don't need to tell me twice! I'd wear it all the time, but Mary would complain, and I promised Thaddeus I wouldn't wear it around town. Maybe I can show you how good I've gotten sometime?"
"Sure. Should Kid Curry start worryin' about his reputation as the fastest gun in the West?" he asked with an indulgent twinkle in his eyes.
"Nah, I'll never get that fast, but maybe as fast as the Silver Kid!"
The former outlaw leader laughed as he put his arm around her waist and they began walking. "There must be some irony here with both my partner and my girl bein' gunslingers!"
The mustang hunters returned at dinnertime to find a simple, yet delicious and filling meal awaiting them. They devoured ham sandwiches and smacked their lips over the dish of warm, spiced apples, chased down by the ever-present coffee.
"That was delicious, Brigitte," Curry sighed after two sandwiches and seconds of the apples.
"Thank you, Thaddeus. I'm not a cook like Mary, but I can keep a body from starving," the redhead girl replied modestly. "Joshua helped."
"Not with the coffee an' that's a fact," the gunslinger remarked, taking another sip of the brew.
"My coffee ain't that bad, Thaddeus," Heyes retorted.
"Hah! We could use it to escape jail just by pourin' it on the bars and lettin' it eat 'em away!" Curry shot back.
The former outlaw leader opened his mouth to respond, but then what his partner had just said hit home and he rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "Hmm, I wonder if you've got somethin' there, Thaddeus. I don't reckon the sheriff would appreciate us testin' the idea out on his jail, though - - he'd probably wonder why we wanted t'know and maybe get suspicious."
Brigitte ignored the wrangling partners and turned to Sam to ask, "So, Sam, did you see the mustang herd?"
"Sure did, Brigitte!" the wrangler exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "They're a beautiful bunch and that stallion is magnificent!"
"Then you aren't sorry you came?"
"Not at all. To tell the truth, I don't think I'd be sorry even without the mustangs."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Well, you see, my father's horse farm and Mr. Cole's ranch were both well-established when I came along so to be in at the beginning, to help build something from scratch, to see that the sweat I put in had a part to play in its success is an opportunity not to miss," Sam explained.
"That's very admirable of you, Sam."
"Speaking of sweat, I could sure do with a bath," Curry interjected. "Looks like you already had one, Heyes."
"Yes, I did, an' it feels great t'be clean. Wait'll you see the bathroom, Kid, it's a modern marvel!" Heyes exclaimed enthusiastically.
"As long as the water's hot an' there's a tub I can soak in I'll be happy," the gunslinger sighed.
"I'll second that," Sam put in. "If you don't mind, I'll get in line behind you, Kid."
"As long as you don't mind waitin' while I soak 'til my skin wrinkles," Curry replied.
"Not at all."
"C'mon, I'll show you where it is," Heyes offered.
"Lead the way then."
He led them out of the kitchen and down the hall and swung the second door open with a flourish. The centerpiece of the room was a massive copper tub sitting on four claw feet, gleaming in the glow from the fire in the fireplace. Over the fire hung a kettle filled with water that was already steaming. Directly across from the door a mirror hung on the wall and just below it was a shelf that held all the equipment needed for a shave. A chair was located close to the tub, a bootjack tucked neatly beneath it so one could easily remove boots from tired feet, and then drape one's clothes over it while soaking away the day's aches and pains along with the dirt.
"Nice tub," Curry commented. "But what's so modern about it?"
"This," Heyes replied and stepped to the far side of the fireplace, placing his hand on a typical water pump. "The kettle swings out from the fireplace over to here where you can pump it full of cold water and then wing it back over the fire to heat - - no more haulin' in bucket after bucket from outside!"
"Huh, that is mighty convenient," the blond replied rubbing his stubbly chin.
"Unfortunately, you still have to dip the hot water out into the tub, but then when you're finished you pull out that plug in the bottom of the tub and the dirty water empties into that grove in the floor that takes it all the way outside the house! How's that for modern?"
"Well, it sounds good, but I think I oughta try it before passin' judgment."
"You do that, Kid."
"I think it's a marvel," Sam said. "Too bad, though, that there isn't a way to get the hot water directly into the tub."
"Hmmm," Heyes said, one hand on his hip, the other thoughtfully stroking his chin. "You know, if the kettle had some kind of long pipe with a spigot . . ."
"Will you get out an' let me shave an' get cleaned up?" Curry growled.
"Sure, Kid, no need t'get proddy! C'mon, Sam, let's put our heads together over this hot water idea."
"I'll bring you some clean towels, Thaddeus," Mary said when she was the last in the doorway. "I'll just be a moment."
"Thanks, Mary, I'll just shave while I wait," Kid replied already beginning to unbutton his shirt.
Several minutes later as Curry whipped up a lather in the shaving mug, a muffled scream startled him. He lifted his eyes to the mirror and saw Mary, eyes wide, hand covering her mouth, staring at his bare back. Called to remembrance of the sorry state of that part of his anatomy, he spun quickly, placing it against the wall, but it was far too late.
"Thaddeus!" she exclaimed, but her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper. "I knew there was more to what I felt than just that kick to your head! How could you not tell me? Who would do such a horrible thing to you?" Her words tumbled over themselves as she clung to the doorframe to keep herself from collapsing to the floor.
"Now, Mary, it's all right," Curry soothed, coming forward to put his arm around her waist and help her to the chair. "To be honest, I'd forgotten about it in all the excitement to be home, but then I wouldn't have wanted t'dump everything on you all at once. I figured bein' kicked in the head by a horse was enough for one day! Besides, they're all healed now anyway."
"How could you have forgotten?"
"Lots of other stuff has happened since then," he shrugged.
"You still haven't told me who did this to you? And why?"
"It was this crazy ex-Army captain who'd taken over the Devil's Hole gang and had a plan to rob a train that was going to get the gang killed and Heyes an' me hunted to the ground by the Army for somethin' we didn't do - - so we had t'go in an' stop 'im. Heyes had this plan an' it worked perfect 'cept I wasn't supposed t'get caught! They thought I had the money an' did this t'try an' get me t'tell 'em where it was." Curry explained shortly with as few details as necessary.
"But you didn't have the money?"
"No, Heyes did an' I was t'give 'im enough time t'get it back to Porterville to Lom, which he did, but when I didn't show up as planned he got worried. Him an' Lom an' Kyle came up t'rescue me an' nearly blew up Devil's Hole in the process!"
"Turn around and let me see, Thaddeus," she demanded quietly.
"Mary . . ." he began but the look in her eyes stopped whatever he would have said and he turned his back to her.
The scars were still livid against his pale skin and the girl reached out her trembling fingers to slowly trace each lurid mark, her light touch raising goose bumps up and down Curry's arms. "Fifteen," she whispered. "To think a human being could be so cruel."
"He was goin' for twenty but Wheat spoke up an' told where the money was," the gunslinger said lightly.
"And that's supposed to make me feel better now? You could have died, Thaddeus!"
"Yeah, but I didn't. It's over - - it's done - - I'm home - - there's no need for you to fret yourself so!" He turned back to her, on his knees in front of the chair. "We're all gonna die someday, Mary, ain't no stoppin' that."
"Yes, but I'd prefer not to be a widow before I'm even a bride!" she retorted pertly, having recovered her equilibrium.
"No way that's gonna happen, cuz there's no way I'm leavin' again!" he stated adamantly. "Leastways not anytime soon." He leaned in and pressed his lips gently to hers. "Now can I take my bath? I don't want to sully your dress with my dirty body."
"Oh, of course! Your water is getting cold!" She rose flustered to her feet and hurried to the door where she retrieved the towels she had dropped. "Here are your towels," she said, holding them out to him.
"Why, thank you, ma'am," he said with twinkling eyes and a salacious grin. "We can pick up where we were later!"
The girl blushed profusely and shut the door firmly behind her.
Contrary to Mary's fear, the water wasn't cool at all and Curry sighed contentedly as the liquid caressed his skin. Now all he needed was a cigar and glass of whiskey.
As if in answer to that thought, Heyes burst into the room, one arm clutching a bundle of clothes, a glass of amber liquid in his other hand, and a cigar chomped between his teeth.
"Nice t'know a fella can get some privacy around here!" Curry snapped sarcastically.
"No, no, put 'em on the chair there, Heyes, an' thanks."
"Thought a whiskey'd go down nice, too."
Curry took the proffered glass and took a healthy swallow before saying, "What, no cigar?"
"Aren't you the demanding one?" laughed the former leader while pulling the desired object from his shirt pocket.
Curry put the cigar in his lips and puffed happily as his partner held a match to it.
"What's go you so het up about privacy all of a sudden?"
"Aw, Mary came in with towels while I was gettin' ready t'shave an' saw the scars on my back is all."
"Ah, so that's why she looked so upset when she passed me just now. I'm sure you can understand her feelings. You were gonna tell her sometime, weren't you? I think waitin' 'til your wedding night might not have gone over any better!"
"Of course I planned t'tell her, but in a gentler way than just flashin' a back full of scars at her!"
"Glad you'd put some thought into it, Kid."
"Fat lot of good it did, though." Curry tossed off the rest of the whiskey.
"Mary's tough, even though she doesn't look it, so she'll get over the shock."
"I know, I just never wanted t'hurt her."
"You've always been a soft touch for the ladies, Kid," Heyes said, shaking his head. "Well, I'll leave you to your bath. Enjoy."
"Thanks, Heyes," Curry replied wryly.
Later that evening as they sat by the fire, Heyes announced, "We need to go to town tomorrow. I've gotta telegraph Lom that we're here and I've made up a list of a few supplies we need - - so, Brigitte, I think you an' Mary oughta head down earlier so when we show up nobody'll put two an' two together - - we don't want any damage to your reputations."
Brigitte made a face and sighed. "I can see it's going to be a long winter."
"I'm sure it'll be proper enough to come up whenever you want in the daytime, wouldn't it, Mary?" Heyes appealed to the more conventional girl.
A blush suffused the darker girl's face as she so boldly declared, "Yes, but there would be no questions at all if our betrothals were public knowledge."
"How do we do that - - take out an ad in the paper?" Curry asked.
"No, nothing so formal as that when a word in the right ear will do the job just as well."
"Gossip is faster than the telegraph in Coldwater," Brigitte put in with a roll of her eyes.
"Well, let's give 'em somethin' t'talk about," Heyes said with a mischievous grin and twinkle in his eyes.
17