THE DAY THEY HANGED HANNIBAL HEYES - Chapter Six

Marshal Bliss dragged a chair into the cell with one hand, the other clutched a handful of wanted posters. He set them on Heyes' cot, not bothering to close the cell door.

"Take a look. Ya recognize any of these men? Kind of hard to tell what they looked like by the time we got to them." He spun the chair around and crossed his arms across the back of the chair watching as Heyes slowly leaned forward and pulled the stack into his lap.

He looked at each carefully, separating them into two piles. He fingered through one stack and held up a poster. Heyes closed his eyes and swallowed with difficulty before he managed to say weakly, "Ss..said his…name was Love…Lovett."

Bliss strained to hear Heyes.

"Ya say Lovett?"

Heyes nodded.

Bliss shook his head, "That's Jack Sully. Been rustlin' for years in the Dakotas. Usually north all the way to Canada. Never seen him this far south. Might have worn out his welcome and decided to try south for a while. Looks like he was trying to push those cattle to Mexico."

"Where did ya meet up with them? And when?"

"Big Ben…saloon."

"Remember which one?"

Heyes thought for a long moment, "Some…Something with…a…flower."

"Might it be the Ruby Rose?"

Heyes remembered the red rose painted on the sign. He nodded.

"Now this is real important…When?"

"Don't…know," he said softly as his throat screamed for him to stop talking.."I…I…don't know…" He swallowed, the pain registering across his face. "...what…day it is."

"Tuesday."

Heyes struggled to continue. He held both hands up; one hand indicating five days, then the other hand he flipped one finger up.

"About a week ago?"

Heyes nodded.

Heyes lowered his legs off the bed, and reached down for the cup beside the bed. He closed his eyes as he let the tea and honey move down his throat.

The night before, Heyes had pulled the last of the bandage off. The air stung the wound, but the rubbing from the tattered cloth was worse.

Bliss tried to keep his face neutral, as he couldn't avoid looking at the ugly wound.

He stood up and dug out a square tin out of his pocket.

"Here," he said, flipping it to Heyes, before retaking a seat.

Heyes caught it midair, and turned it over in his hand. It was Brook's Bear-Foot Ointment in a yellow tin with a black lettering and a bear.

"I think I got most of the horse hair out of it." Bliss said with a half smile. "But I ain't promising anything."

Heyes gave him a grateful nod.

"Sheriff said you had some trouble with Doc last night," Bliss gave a sleeping Kid a quick glance, before turning his attention back to Heyes. He didn't miss the tightening of his jaw as his eyes darkened. "Figured you'd be more comfortable doing the doctoring. Can't say I blame ya. I'll make sure you get what you need to take care of your friend. I'll be heading to Big Ben to check out your story. Make sure you're not telling me a tall tale…"

Their eyes meet,"...but I'm not thinkin' ya aint." Bliss thought for a moment, "Out of curiosity…how long it take for you two to get your amnesty?"

Heyes held up three fingers.

Bliss gave Heyes a half smile, "Ain't what you were promised I bet."

Looking at Heyes' face he knew he had guessed correctly.

Heyes held up one finger.

Bliss cocked an eyebrow, "Well this is the way I figure it…Why in the hell would you two, after three years of being law abiding citizens and getting your amnesty, up and become killers. I like things that make sense and that don't make no sense."

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"Thought ya might feel more comfortable getting cleaned up a bit. Heard a storm is headed our way. Hopefully it will help lessen this God awful heat." He opened the cell door and set the two buckets by the door. Ain't much air, but the jail weren't built for comfort for anyone including the law."

Bliss drew a bandana out of his hip pocket and wiped it across his sweaty face, as if to emphasize how hot it was inside the jail.

He reappeared later with a saddle bag draped over each arm.

"Here's some fresh clothes and the books I found in them, to help you pass the time." He had noticed the initials H.H. carefully printed in each one. He opened the door and set them beside the two buckets.

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"Heyes?" Kid asked as his eyes wandered around the cell without moving his head.

"I'm…here," Heyes said softly as he quickly moved to his partner's side. He reached for the water beside the cot.

Kid started to shake his head.

"You…got…to…to…drink." Heyes said as he slid his hand under his partner's head and gently elevated enough for him to get a drink. "Food?"

"No," Kid said. His voice was tight with pain. It was impossible to get comfortable or escape the relentless pain that left him exhausted. He moaned as he tried to adjust his body on the cot.

Heyes reached for the laudanum, and mixed some of the bitter medicine in the water. He wished he had something to help kill the taste. Kid's face wrinkled as he choked it down, gagging.

"Where?" Kid asked weakly.

He didn't need to explain; Heyes knew what he was asking, but he could have sworn they had had this conversation earlier.

"S…s..safe." Heyes managed to say.

Kid's brow furrowed.

"In a jail cell?"

Heyes nodded his head.

Kid still looked confused.

"Why?"

Kid stopped asking questions, as Heyes struggled to get the words out, making it increasingly difficult to understand him. His voice was becoming hoarser even with breaks between the words.

Heyes' head dropped. He was exhausted but distinctly remember telling Kid where they were, why and the men that were responsible. He looked concerned, as he removed the rag and laid an open hand on Kid's forehead checking for fever. He touched the back of his hand to his forehead, then rechecked Kid's. He was hot.

Heyes squeezed out the extra water from the rag, before he carefully wiped Kid's face and placed it across his brow.

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Bliss felt bad having to wake him. The position of his body looked more like he had passed out, instead of having fallen into a restful sleep. An open book looked like it had fallen from the bed and lay open on the floor. Heyes had taken off his blood stained shirt and now wore a clean henley, freeing himself from a collared shirt.

"Mr Heyes?...Mr Heyes?"

Heyes jerked awake. It took a moment before his breathing settled. Bliss gave him an apologetic look. Heyes ran a quick hand through his hair and across his face, turning still tired eyes to the Marshal, as he swung his legs off the bed, bending to retrieve the fallen book.

"I'm headed for Big Ben to check out your story. Maybe we can get this settled sooner rather than later. I should be back in a couple days. Sheriff will get you what ya need. If you need Doc…I told Pryor to put a gun to the son of bitch's head. I've added some more deputies so…and I'm not sure if this is reassuring or not, but the number of folks outside wanting you boys dead is whittling down. Hope they finally come to their senses and decide to let the law handle this. I reminded them if they wanted statehood, they needed to show that they are law abiding folks and deserving of becoming a state. No more of this vigilantism."

He watched as Heyes poured some powdered laudanum in his drink.

Bliss pulled his flask out, offering it to Heyes.

"Might want to add something to kill the bitterness of the laudanum for you and help ease a bit of the pain."

Heyes pushed the cup past the bars, as Bliss poured a generous amount into it.

He gave Bliss a nod of thanks. The marshal held the flask out for him to take.

"I'm sure your partner would appreciate some too. Keep it. Two days Mr Heyes. I hope you're telling me the truth." He said as he adjusted his hat and with a nod headed through the door. "And if you are, I hope you got a place to go, far away from here to heal up."

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Heyes had given Kid some laudanum mixed with a shot of whiskey earlier to make his cousin more comfortable before he started the painful process of changing his leg bandages.

Heyes lifted the blanket and began carefully inspecting Kid's leg wound. He would periodically stop and check to make sure his partner was handling the discomfort.

He stopped when he heard the sound of a breath quickly being sucked in. He felt Kid tense in pain, as he tried to check his wounds for infection. Heyes raised concerned eyes to Kid, as he carefully soaked the cotton backing of the wrap with carbolic acid, and reapplied the bandages.

"Sorry." He said softly. There were so many things he was sorry for, especially almost getting his partner killed and having to go through this needless suffering. He knew their ordeal was far from over.

If he had only listened...

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The crowd began to slowly lessen as days turned to a full week.

"Mr. Adams, I got to git back to my family," the man said apologetically to an older man who appeared to be the force driving the vigilantes . More than a few men nodded their heads in agreement.

They had tracked the murders/rustlers miles away from their families. Clinton Adams had enough money that a week…a month…would not impact him. Few of the men shared that luxury.

Clinton's eyes blazed in a rage, "Weren't your daughter and family killed so I guess it's okay to…"

The men shook their heads, "Not what we meant. We can't wait."

"So why are we?" Clinton snarled.

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Heyes was jolted awake by the gunfire and shouting that was quickly escalating into screams of anger and terror. He caught the first whiff of smoke that was rapidly building as it started to sweep through the jail. He threw himself to Kid, urgently trying to pull him upright.

Kid sucked in a quick breath, before his eyes squeezed shut with pain. He gasp, as he slowly tried to rise, he grabbed Heyes' arm hard and quickly shook his head.

"Ain't going to work." He gasped, as he sunk back onto the bed. His breathing was ragged. His face pale with pain. He cried out as the smoke began filling the cell causing him excruciating pain as he began to cough.

His left arm grabbed his right side and tried to use it as extra support for his broken ribs.

Kid met Heyes' eyes.

"Save yourself," Kid whispered.

Heyes vehemently shook his head. His panicked look quickly evaporated to sadness.

"Sorry," he said.

Kid looked relieved that Heyes was going to try and save himself.

Heyes' fist caught Kid on the jaw, instantly knocking him

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Author's Note: Apologies for the delay between chapters…even short chapters can be delayed by that pesky thing called "real life." Special thanks to Rachel C. - exactly the pep talk I needed today to finish this chapter.