Chapter 5
Savory aromas of coffee and bacon frying filled the house, setting Kid Curry's sleeping stomach growling and prying open his blue eyes. His hunger overcame his desire for more sleep and he hauled himself out of bed and into his clothes.
Heyes was coming out of his room at the same time, still tucking in his shirttail. "Who's cookin'?" he asked.
"I dunno - - Sam?" Curry replied.
"Nope, not me," said Sam, joining them in the hallway.
"Well, that leaves Mick then, unless Brigitte and Mary left at the crack of dawn to get here."
"I don't care who it is," Curry stated. "It smells good an' I'm hungry."
The three men clattered downstairs and found that it was, indeed, Mick wielding the frying pan.
"Good morning," she greeted. "I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of snooping through the larder for breakfast makings."
"Feel free, Mick, although you didn't hafta get up early an' fix breakfast."
"I couldn't sleep anymore so I figured it was the least I could do. The coffee's ready so grab yourselves a cup - - the food'll be on the table in just a minute."
Sam reached the coffee pot first and poured for everyone.
"Anything wrong that kept you from sleepin', Mick?" Heyes asked in concern.
"No, just haven't slept in such a comfortable bed in so long, my body's not used to it," the girl replied.
"I'm sure you'll get over that pretty quick."
"You're probably right."
Sam watched the slim figure heft the cast iron frying pan and scrape scrambled eggs out onto a platter. He leaped to his feet when she suddenly set the pan down with a clatter and exclaimed, "Ouch!" "Here, let me help you," he said, picking up the platter as she sucked a burned finger.
"I can do it," she replied. "I just scorched my finger is all!"
"I can't help it if my mama raised me to be a gentleman," the wrangler retorted, placing the platter on the table, then doing the same with the plates of bacon and fried potatoes.
"Fine, just get out of the way so I can get the biscuits out of the oven!"
When she clanged the oven door shut and stood up with the sheet of hot biscuits, Sam stood holding a towel-lined bowl to receive them. She glared at him, but then silently put the breads one by one into the bowl, then took the bowl from him to place it on the table. He, in the meantime, pulled out a chair and held it for her. She frowned and looked like she was going to snap at him again, but all she said was, "Thank you," as she took the offered chair.
Heyes and Curry exchanged amused looks at this interchange and then immediately became busy with serving themselves food as the girl gunslinger turned her glare on them.
"So, Mick, can we show you around the ranch today?" Heyes asked.
"I'd like that, Heyes, but, if possible, I'd love to have a bath first and change into some clean clothes - - these I'm wearing could probably stand up on their own!"
"Of course you would. You're gonna love the bathroom - - I know I'd never seen anything like it."
"As long as it's got hot water, that's all I ask."
"That it definitely does have."
Between the four of them, they polished off every scrap of food and leaned back in their chairs, replete.
"That was delicious, Mick," Sam said. "Thank you."
"Yeah, thanks, Mick," the other two echoed.
"It was nothing - - breakfast is a snap," she replied modestly. "Now, I'll just take care of these dishes before my bath."
"You'll do nothing of the sort," disputed the former outlaw leader. "Take your bath and we'll take care of the dishes."
"Are you sure?"
"It's the least we can do in exchange for the meal."
"You're spoiling me."
"Only because it's your first day here - - after today you're just another one of us."
"Sounds like a deal. Let me run upstairs for my saddlebags and then you can show me this amazing bathroom."
"Your mama raised you to be a gentleman, eh, Sam?" Curry teased.
"Yes, she did, and just because Mick dresses like a man doesn't mean she shouldn't be treated like a lady," the wrangler retorted.
"Uh-huh. Just remember, this lady won't slap you if she takes offense, she'll shoot you!" the blond gunslinger laughed.
"I'll keep that in mind," Sam promised.
Cleaner than she'd been in a long time and quite refreshed, Mick abandoned the bathroom only to find the house completely empty. Assuming the three men had gone outside to care for the horses, she ran upstairs to collect her hat and gunbelt. She hesitated a moment, her hand paused above the gun, but then she tightened her lips, remembering a time when she had naively assumed she was safe and had been proven violently wrong - - she refused to be caught so unprepared again. She resolutely buckled on the silver-ornamented hardware around her hips.
Voices and knickers of horses from the barn instantly told her where everyone was. She stopped in the doorway, suddenly unsure of herself, when she saw that all the activity was centered around two strange horses being groomed, though she couldn't immediately see their riders. She thought about turning around and going back to the house before anyone saw her, but Heyes was too quick. "Mick!" he called. "Come over and meet Brigitte and Mary."
Thus caught she had no choice but to move forward and get the inevitable introductions over with.
A curious face topped by flaming red hair peered over the former outlaw's shoulder. A bright smile split her face as she stepped around Heyes, her hand extended. "Welcome, Mick, I'm Brigitte O'Reilly. Joshua and Thaddeus have told us so much about you, but we'd near given up on you coming around."
"I've heard a lot about you, too, Brigitte," Mick replied, giving the hand a firm squeeze, although she had to look up to meet the vivid green eyes. Then, with the unnerving stare she'd perfected as a gunslinger, she examined the woman. She marveled that Brigitte was dressed very similarly to herself - - black trousers, though hers were tucked into tall black boots, and her shirt was white under her winter coat, and she wore a six-gun strapped around her hips, too. A hat dangled from its strings down her back and Mick was willing to bet it was black, too. She noticed that the other girl was looking her up and down, too.
"That's some fancy rig you've got there, Mick," Brigitte said in admiration. She thought it rather incongruous that this small woman with the raggedly cut blond hair, smooth complexion, and fine features could ever be mistaken for a man, or even a boy, much less be a dangerous killer. However, she knew very well that looks could be deceiving.
"It does its job," was the other's reply. "Are you any good with that hardware you're wearing?"
"I'm a good shot, but I'm still not very fast. I've been practicing every day since Thaddeus showed me how."
"It took me a solid year of practicing hours and hours every day to get my speed and then Thaddeus showed me a trick, or two, also, that helped."
"Maybe we could go practice together sometime and you could give me your opinion?"
"I'd like that."
"I hate t'break up this lady gunslinger party, but Mary'd like t'meet Mick, too," Heyes interjected in amusement.
"How inconsiderate of me! Mick, this is my sister, Mary."
"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Mick," Mary said graciously. She took the offered hand and her warm smile slipped.
"Is anything wrong?" Mick asked.
"Oh, no, it's just I'm so sorry about your husband and baby! I don't think I could have survived it."
"Thank you." Mick's eyes clouded over. "For a long time I almost didn't survive."
"I hope you soon feel at home here so you can finally heal," Mary said softly and with feeling.
Mick's eyes widened in surprise as she exclaimed, "You have the Sight, don't you? My grandmother had it. My father used to tell me stories about her all the time."
"No, not the Sight, fortunately - - I wouldn't want that burden. I just feel people's pain," Mary explained.
"Oh." Mick looked down uncomfortably as a blush rose up her cheeks.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Mick - - you'll soon get used t'not havin' any emotional privacy!" Heyes teased.
"Joshua!" Mary protested.
"Not to break up this gabfest," Sam interrupted. "But, Mick, your mare is showing signs of being in foal."
"Yes, she is," the diminutive gunslinger agreed. "Beauty came into season right about the time I decided to come up here so I figured, why not? She'll foal in the spring."
"That's great, Mick - - it'll be the first foal born in our partnership," Heyes exclaimed with a joyful smile.
"Well, I'd like to see those vaunted mustangs of yours, Sam."
"I'd be pleased to show you my half-broke string out in the paddock and then maybe later we could take a ride out to look at the wild herd."
"I guess I could be persuaded."
"I'm willing to bet you won't regret it - - that, in fact, you'll be impressed by them," Sam told her confidently as they left the barn.
"Let's not leap to conclusions," was the last the others heard.
"How . . . when did she get here?" Brigitte blurted when the other two were out of earshot.
"We spotted her horses outside the saloon when we were loadin' our supplies. She was askin' George questions about us an' George wasn't too happy about it," Heyes explained.
"Why didn't she just come to our house like you'd told her to?"
"Mick's not much for bein' told what t'do," the outlaw leader replied with a grin. "A lot like a certain redhead I know, but it seems she's a little shy, too."
"Well, why didn't you bring her over instead of bringing her up here? She's got a reputation to look out for, too."
"That would be true if anyone but us knew the Silver Kid's a woman, but since they don't it probably would've raised more eyebrows if a known gunslinger was stayin' at your place - - you an' Mary helpless women an' all."
"Now who d'ye think ye're callin' helpless, boyo?" Brigitte demanded with her hands on her hips, green eyes flashing.
"I know you can shoot that gun, Brigitte, but . . . " the former outlaw began, suddenly serious.
"But shootin' at a target an' facin' an opponent who shoots back are two different things," Curry finished, equally somber.
"You don't think I could?"
"No, I ain't sayin' that, Brigitte, but I hope more'n anythin' you never hafta find out."
"But if it comes down to it - - don't hesitate," Heyes advised.
"I'm getting some mixed messages here," the girl said, looking back and forth between dark and blue eyes.
"Mixed is the only way it can be, Brigitte," Curry said sadly. "You wear that thing on your hip and people are gonna expect you're ready to use it, so you gotta be prepared t'defend yourself, your loved ones, to take another human being's life if you have to, while at the same time doin' the best you can to avoid needin' to."
"Don't worry, Thaddeus, Joshua, I can do whatever needs to be done."
"I know you can, Brigitte," Heyes assured her. "But what needs to be done now is finishin' these horses and then findin' good places t'stash those rifles and ammo we bought."
"Stash them? Aren't you just going to put them in a cabinet in the house?"
"And what if trouble comes when we're not in the house?" asked Curry.
"We have our handguns."
"Yes, and that's why the rifles are the same caliber, if you find yourself only in need of ammunition."
"Oh, that's good thinking."
"Do you really think all this is necessary?" Mary asked apprehensively.
"No, probably not, Mary," Heyes replied. "But when I ran the Devil's Hole gang I always made my plans based on what if the worst happens so we'd always be prepared."
"Heyes is real good with 'what ifs', Mary," Curry put in wryly while putting a comforting arm around the worried girl's shoulders. "But his plannin' ahead saved our hides more times than I can count so if he thinks it's a good idea, you can bet good money it is."
"An' I'm not just thinkin' of people trouble, Mary, but also the possibility of scavenging wildlife, especially if there's a hard winter," Heyes explained further.
"Oh, well, I can certainly see that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get busy or there'll be no dinner today."
"This kind of thing is hard on Mary," Brigitte commented once her sister was out of earshot. "She hates violence, even the thought of violence upsets her."
"Neither of us likes it either, Brigitte, and hopefully these preparations will be useful in preventing it. Let's get to it."
Brigitte noticed Curry still looking towards the house, concern reflected in his blue eyes. "She'll be all right, Thaddeus, just give her a little time to sort her feelings out."
With obvious reluctance, Curry turned back to the job at hand and they soon had Brigitte's and Mary's horses comfortably stabled and all of the rest of them fed and watered.
The rest of the morning, until dinnertime, was spent finding safe places for the rifles that were easily accessible in an emergency. Two were placed in the stable loft, four in the bunkhouse, and the last two behind the door behind the Indian blanket on the landing. The ammunition was divided between the locations.
Satisfied that they'd done as much as they could for now for future emergencies, the trio headed down the spiral staircase, following the delicious smells of dinner.
"you're right on time, dinner will be ready in just a moment," Mary said when they entered the kitchen.
"I'll set the table," Brigitte volunteered.
"Thank you, Brigitte."
Moments later Sam and Mick came in the kitchen door. "I'll grant you your mustangs are nice horses, but they'll never replace Thoroughbreds," Mick was saying.
"No, of course not," Sam agreed. "Not every horse is suited for the same uses, but with selective breeding, taking the best qualities of two or more breeds, just imagine what a great horse could be created!"
"Oh, so you want to play God now?"
"That's not what I'm trying to do and you know it! You're just being mulish!"
"Mulish?" Mick exclaimed.
"Yeah, stubborn, contrary just to be contrary - - you know, mulish!" Sam explained in exasperation.
"I am not stubborn or contrary!" the girl retorted.
As the exchange continued, Curry turned to Heyes, who was watching the whole thing with amusement, and asked, "Do you want to take back your prediction now, Heyes?"
"Are you kidding?" Heyes exclaimed in astonishment. "If we'd wagered, I'd go double or nothin'!"
"Well, I think you're crazy."
Heyes shook his dark head. "Kid, I'm beginnin' t'think all the luck you had with the ladies was just that - - luck - - cuz you sure don't understand women!"
Kid bristled. "I think I understand 'em just as well as you do, Heyes."
"What've I told you before about thinkin', Kid?"
Mary, poised to set a steaming platter of food on the table, interrupted the two sparring couples. "Do you think we can call a truce and all sit down to a pleasant dinner?"
Immediately distracted from any reply he might have made, Curry replied, "Fine by me, Mary, I'm starvin'."
Unable to resist a final jab, Heyes said, "That ain't news, Kid."
Curry refrained from comment since it was pretty much true.
All parties being in agreement, they sat to eat and turned the conversation to less controversial topics.
And so the days passed, settling into a comfortable routine, the weather remaining cold, clear, and dry.