Winter's Refuge
Chapter Ninety-Seven
HEYES
I watched the Kid practice shooting this morning. He's as fast as before he went to prison but there's one thing different now. He's more determined. That makes him more dangerous in a gunfight. Turned out he needed every bit of speed and every ounce of determination this afternoon.
When we returned to the house, there was breakfast food on the table but nobody was sitting down eating. Even the governor made himself a plate and ate quickly standing up. Everyone had something to do for the wedding.
"Heyes, want to show you something," the governor said, walking to his room without waiting for my response.
"Yes, sir," I said to his back.
When we got there, he handed me back my amnesty papers with a handwritten paper on top. "I did read these last night and, as a lawyer representing Jed, Chrissy and you, I have some changes that I want to make."
"Our l...l..lawyer?" I asked.
"Well, for this document, yes. I doubt a lawyer ever reviewed this and I really did not think about what went into it. That paper on the top makes some changes effective today for the three of you and is legal until the state of Wyoming can revise your original amnesty documents. I will suggest that others we have granted amnesty, like Luke McWinters, have the same revisions."
T…th...thank you," was all I could think to say.
Outside the room, everyone was concerned about something. Took me a minute to figure out that Dr. Arden was late. The minister was coming with him. Both the governor's marshals and Ken arrived and helped themselves to breakfast. Juan, Arnie, and Glen wandered in and out all morning. So many people and everyone seemed to have a purpose but me.
"Maybe he's got cold feet," I heard the governor say.
"Good thing Miss Denise isn't here to hear you say that, Charles," Miss Tina chided him. Those around laughed.
"Could be a patient needed doctorin',"the Kid said. Leave it to him to stay calm and find a reasonable excuse.
"Still, Charles, do you think maybe you could send one of the marshals into Three Birds and find what's keeping the good doctor?" asked Miss Tina.
ASJ*****ASJ
The marshal was gone a long time and by now Miss Denise knew her intended was delayed. That was the word Auntie used, 'delayed.' But Miss Denise was sure he wasn't coming.
"I just know he's decided marrying me was all a mistake," she said sadly, but not crying. "I would be a disgrace to him as a wife."
"Now, now child," Miss Tina tried to comfort her. "I've known the man for a long time. He's known your background from the start. Aiden knows his mind and his heart and he's very much in love with you. Whatever delayed him, can't be helped."
Martha and Michael were allowed to stay home from school for the occasion and stationed themselves as lookouts on the front porch. When I walked out there, my heart jumped. Martha was balancing on the porch railing, not holding on, trying to see farther down the road. As she wobbled, I ran forward and caught her. I held her close before saying, "Just what do you think you were doing?" in my dominant outlaw voice…and was instantly sorry.
The fear on her face was mirrored in her eyes. I didn't know how to calm her.
Michael spoke for his sister. "You can put Martha down now, Uncle Heyes. Don't be mad at her; it was my idea for her to climb up there. We wanted to see when Dr. Arden was coming."
"You both know better than to stand up there. And Martha, your leg is still weak from the dog bite." I chided them but concentrated on making my tone calmer, even if my heart was banging in my chest.
"Yes, Uncle Heyes," they said in unison. "Don't tell Ma and Pa, please."
JED 'KID' CURRY
This next part we learned afterwards, some from the marshals who looked into it in Bridgeport and the bartender there, some from the barkeep and patrons of the saloon in Three Birds, and some from Aiden when he recovered enough to talk.
Seems Mrs. Denise Roberts' ex-husband, Harrison Roberts, who claims to be the fastest gun in the West since I went to prison, had been searchin' for me. I'd outdrawn and embarrassed him back in the barn at the cabin outside of Devils Hole. And he took umbrage at that. (Have to tell Heyes I know that word.) Tellin' everyone he could find I cheated in a gunfight to steal his wife, he finally found someone who would listen to him in a saloon in Bridgeport…Brandon Wyatt. Best I can tell, here's what happened.
A drunk Brandon Wyatt was at the bar bendin' the barkeep's ear
"That Kid Curry ruined my life. My chances of a career in politics are gone…zero. Twice he…he got me thrown out of Three Birds. And this last time…do you know what happened this last time?" Wyatt burped loudly in the bartender's face. The man tried to move away but found a strong hand on his apron pullin' him back. "This time it was because of that McWinters whore he married." Burp. "Worse, he got the Wyoming governor involved. No hope for my career now," he cried into the whiskey he was holdin'.
Harrison Roberts listened carefully to the drunk at the bar as soon as he heard the name Kid Curry. He placed a hand on his shoulder and fixed a smile on his face, sayin', "Sorry that happened to you friend. Come join me. I've got a bottle and you can tell me what happened. Sometimes it helps to tell a friend."
Wyatt looked at Roberts through bloodshot eyes, seein' the full bottle and not the man. "Yeah, yeah…thank you, friend."
The gunfighter was smart; he asked questions and listened and determined this was a man he could manipulate into helpin' him get what he wanted - a gunfight with Kid Curry with himself as the victor…and acknowledgement that he was indeed the fastest gun in the West.
By the end of the night, Roberts rented a room and let Wyatt fall into the bed under the window and sleep off his alcoholic stupor.
For the next two days, Roberts sobered up Wyatt, thought about what he had learned, and formed a plan to find Kid Curry. He now knew I have a family and a ranch somewhere outside a growin' town called Three Birds. And that was his next stop.
The night before the planned marriage between Aiden and Miss Denise Roberts, Brandon Wyatt and Harrison Roberts arrived in Three Birds. Harrison Roberts walked with the confidence of a gunfighter into the temporary saloon that had been set up in the church hall after the roof of the original saloon collapsed in the rain, takin' most of the buildin' with it.
Wyatt was uncomfortable. He'd been disgraced and thrown out of this town more than once. Roberts understood and his plan would work better if he wasn't seen with Wyatt, so he bought the man a bottle, got him a room, and went back to the saloon alone.
He bought a round for the house and started askin' questions. By the end of the night, many of the men drinkin' in the saloon considered the new man, who had never given his name, a friend. And Roberts had the information he needed. He was surprised to learn that his wife, well, his ex-wife Denise was marryin' the town doctor. He'd remarried but forgot he was divorced from Denise. He'd found her working in a saloon, and married her while teachin' her that bein' married to a bounty hunter meant - days, weeks, even months of being alone. That meddlesome Governor Sanderson had given her a divorce degree while he was still at the cabin and had the nerve to say that Roberts had 'deserted' his wife. Wasn't his fault that the McWinters Gang had kidnapped her thinkin' she was married to the telegraph operator. In his mind, she deserted him. Everyone was excited she and the doctor were getting' married tomorrow at the Curry ranch called Phoenix, a pretentious name for a ranch, Roberts thought. No one in the Three Birds bar was goin' to the wedding; the bride wanted it small and private. Tomorrow mornin' Roberts planned to have Wyatt beat the location of Phoenix outta someone and the ceremony would have two uninvited guests, him and Wyatt. The thought of killin' Curry on his own property in front of his family made Roberts smile. He'd have to make sure Curry drew first; he was good at getting' people riled up to draw first. Before he left, he told those in the saloon that his ex-wife would definitely remember her second weddin' day.
ASJ*****ASJ
Aiden told me he remembered someone bangin' on the closed front door of his office. He'd started to get dressed in a new white, long-sleeve shirt, but had yet to add the cufflinks. He wore his freshly pressed black slacks with white suspenders, which would be hidden when he slipped into his suit jacket. His memories were cloudy and had gaps, but here's what he told me, Heyes, Frank, and the governor two days later.
"I was annoyed someone needed my services on that special morning. But I am a doctor and took an oath to do no harm, which to me means treat everyone who comes to me. So, I opened the door…and immediately recognized Brandon Wyatt. But it was his partner who pushed me back into the office and slammed and locked the door."
"He's the one. That's the arrogant Dr. Arden," Wyatt said, slammin' his fist into my shoulder so hard I sat right down on the settee.
"Roberts drew his gun and held it inches, just inches from my eyes. "So, you're the one trying to marry that whore that used to be my wife until that damned governor gave her a divorce decree."
"I nodded, careful not to say anything to make him more upset. But my strategy was ineffective. He backhanded me across the face with his gun and I felt blood spurt out from my nose. The front of my once crisp, white shirt was red. I wasn't sure what he wanted, so I asked, "What is it you want, sir?"
Wyatt smiled but the other man grumbled, "Now that's the good doctor, just tell us two things, where is this ranch, Phoenix of Kid Curry's, and the quickest way to get there."
"Jed, I know you can take care of yourself and probably everyone there at Phoenix that morning, but Denise was there. And I didn't like the hate in his eyes when he talked about her. So, I said nothing."
"'Wyatt, he's yours. Don't kill him. Just work him over enough so he tells us where this ranch is." Harrison is smart. He made Wyatt do his dirty work.
"All I could think about was the stories I had heard about her ex-husband, the gunfighter, Harrison Roberts. You, Jed, had outdrawn him and won without firing a shot. I also remembered Heyes' description of how Roberts had hurt Denise. I refused to look either one in the eyes, but know I screamed and begged them to stop in Latin so they wouldn't understand. I lost consciousness, but not for long. A bowl of water hit me in the face and I was wide awake."
"Okay, Doctor, let's see how smart you are. Are you going to lead me to Kid Curry now?"
"My right eye refused to open and my head throbbed and jumbled my thoughts. 'I'm not telling you anything!"
Roberts opened the door and pulled in one of the young Birde boys, Curtis, I think. "Think hard, Doctor; if you don't tell me...no, take me to this Phoenix ranch, I'll have Wyatt here blow this young man's head off. Right here with you watching."
"I couldn't let them hurt the boy, so I mumbled my agreement. The livery had brought my buggy around to the front of my office for my journey to my wedding. My hands were bound behind my back…never knew how much that hurt all the times I saw it in prison. My wrist ached, my forearms ached, and my shoulders burned. I gave Roberts the directions and remembered the Birde boy running away."
"Boy, don't you get the law or anyone else after us or this man will be the first to die. You understand me?"
"Curtis yelled 'yes, sir,' but we just barely heard it and I saw him hesitate before going into the mercantile, which his older brother Jeff owned. I knew word would get to Sheriff Birde. Roberts and Wyatt tied their horses to the back of my buggy and dumped me on the back seat. Wyatt hit me again and again. I don't remember anything until we met one of the governor's marshals on the road. He took one look at me and went for his gun. Roberts was faster. We drove past the marshal's bleeding body in the grass on the side of the road."
"I'm a doctor. Need to help him," I said. Trying to sit up I forgot that my hands were tied and instead of getting my feet under me, rocked forward onto the floor of my buggy. Overwhelming vertigo claimed me. I had to close my eyes to dispel the spinning moving world. I struggled to get back onto the rear seat and heard the two men in front laughing.
HEYES
Still holding Martha tight, I continued to scold her until she squealed happily when she saw Dr. Arden's buggy turn up our drive. "Uncle Heyes, who are those men driving the doctor?"
From the house I heard Auntie call, "Heyes, watch the baby; she just crawled out onto the porch!"
With my attention divided, I knew I needed to act quickly. I put Martha down. "Get Joy and all of you get inside. Go to Auntie or your ma. If your pa is near, tell him to get out here. Stay in the kitchen no matter what you hear. Michael, you too. Go!"
When I was sure they were gone, I squinted at the approaching buggy. Martha didn't know the two men with Dr. Aiden, but I did - Brandon Wyatt and Harrison Roberts. As they neared, I could hear the doctor moaning in pain. And I felt the Kid standing next to me.
We could hear Arden groaning from pain. As the buggy pulled into the front yard, it stopped. Harrison Roberts and a gloating Brandon Wyatt got out. Harrison grabbed Dr. Arden by the collar of what must have been a clean white shirt this morning and tossed him into the mud. He hit hard and I saw the agony on his face before he passed out. The doctor grew up back East in a gentrified, refined home. He went to the best schools…and I'm sure he never even got into a fistfight.
Roberts took a gunfighter stance at the far side of our yard. "Kid Curry, I'm calling you out."
I heard the people behind us, Chrissy, Sanderson and Miss Tina, Juan, Arnie, and Glen speak in hushed whispers, but Miss Denise screamed.
"No, Harrison, no!" She started to run toward the doctor, but the Kid caught her around the waist. "Aiden!" She fought to get to the doctor but was held back.
"Miss Denise, get into the house right now." I recognized the tone that the Kid used. It was his quiet voice that demanded obedience. He used to maintain discipline in Devil's Hole. And she obeyed him now. He let go his arm from her waist and Auntie pulled her inside.
"NO one else comes out of that house," barked Roberts. "Front or back door or the doctor catches a final bullet. Except, I hear that the governor that signed my wife's divorce decree is here. Might like to show him what I think about that. Denise is mine, bought and paid for."
"Stay inside," Jed said firmly, never taking his eyes off of Harrison Roberts.
Miss Denise crept back onto the porch. Squaring his shoulders and spreading his legs preparing for a gunfight, the Kid growled, "Someone get her inside."
Brave, Auntie walked to Miss Denise, turned her around with an arm around the shoulder, and guided her across the porch and into the house.
"Everyone stays inside," the Kid ordered but I know where my place is, it's behind his right shoulder, the same place I often stand when he's practicing. It proves I trust that he's faster and will shoot his opponent before they shoot at him. He said once it gives him an extra boost of confidence that I believe in him.
The Kid stepped off the porch into the front yard. It was always welcoming, protecting, but now seems ominous, the air heavy with evil. I think the Kid is faster than ever, but since we met Harrison Roberts at the cabin near Devil's Hole, I've been reading up about him. He's fast. He's brutal. He's merciless. And he's determined to rile the Kid up to draw first.
"Draw, Curry," Roberts said, staring at the Kid's hands.
"Don't draw first," he answered, fixed on Roberts' eyes. He slowly took three steps to his right so his back was no longer facing our home. Roberts moved to stand opposite him.
The silence was broken by the moans from Dr. Arden as he tried to sit up in the dirt. Neither gunman looked at him, so fixed on their opponent that the world narrowed to the other and the space between them. But I was watching two others, Brandon Wyatt and the governor's other marshal. The marshal was heading for Roberts by approaching quietly across the pasture. Roberts was looking at the Kid, but Wyatt wasn't. If Wyatt looked around, the marshal hid behind a tree or dropped to the ground.
I could tell he was trying to come up behind Roberts, but the last ten yards he would have no cover except the small buggy. And I feared Wyatt. Roberts could be trusted to follow the unwritten rules of gunfighting…even to not drawing first. He wanted to defeat Kid Curry and he wanted witnesses. He wanted the Kid's fame.
But Wyatt was different. He tasted that his revenge on Kid Curry was approaching. He wanted Roberts to win and the Kid dead.
Roberts widened his vision to include Dr. Arden. "Curry, you don't draw first, I'll shoot him, first in the leg then the heart. Fitting, getting shot in the heart on his wedding day."
The Kid kept his concentration on Roberts. He'd tell me later he never heard Roberts' threat. But I looked at the doctor's huddled form on the ground. He'd fallen quiet and wasn't moving. I took this diversion to move away from the Kid and behind Wyatt. There was something I needed to do. I'm scared…very scared, but I won't let it show and I won't let it stop me. The Kid needs my help.
I came up behind Wyatt. I'd threatened Wyatt once to stay away from my family. I had an idea he wants Roberts to defeat the Kid. His vengeance is my cousin's death. So, I watched him closely without approaching. He stepped closer to the two men.
"Draw, Curry, or Mr. Wyatt here will shoot the doctor," he repeated. After a quick glance at Dr Arden, Roberts turned all his attention toward the Kid. Everything was quiet, no horse whinnies, no wind moving a single leaf or branch. And then I knew that the Kid would win. Roberts, like most gunfighters, stared at the Kid's hand resting about his gun belt, but the Kid focused on his opponent's eyes. He can tell the instant they commit to drawing. That's how he outdrew Roberts without firing a shot the last time.
And that's what happened this time. Knowing Roberts was watching his hand, the Kid made the slightest movement, not even towards his gun. And Roberts went to the draw only to find the Kid's Colt already pointed at him. Angry, Roberts continued to draw but the Kid fired one shot and knocked the gun out of his hand.
"Hold it right there, Roberts, you're under arrest!" From behind, the marshal ran forward and kicked the gun further away from the defeated gunman.
And everyone was watching them except me. I was watching Wyatt; he took his time, drew his gun, and pointed it at the Kid's back. I knew he wouldn't give my cousin a warning. I rushed forward and tackled him to the ground, holding his hand with the gun pointing up with one of my hands as I socked him as hard as I could in the jaw with the other. Like most bullies, he crumbled when confronted. I held his own gun on him until help arrived.
The Kid was safe. I knew that my amnesty was safe because I'd hit someone before and the governor said I wouldn't go back to prison for that. So, I hit Wyatt, too. I thought about drawing my gun, but it has done nothing but get me and Chrissy in trouble.
Miss Denise led the people rushing from the house, running straight to her intended, just as two more buggies and two horses came up our drive. I'd never met either man driving the buggies but I knew who they were: the minister to perform the wedding and Dr. Oliver Arden, Aiden's big brother coming to his brother's nuptials. I could see someone lying in the back of the minister's buggy and as they got closer I saw the governor's marshal and a lot of blood.
Frank and Jeff Birde, both with shiny sheriff badges prominently displayed on their vests rode up behind them and took Harrison Roberts and Brandon Wyatt into custody and to jail in Three Birds. The unharmed marshal stayed to guard the governor and Miss Tina but he asked Sheriff Birde to send a telegram for more marshals.
Dr. Oliver Arden took charge and got the men into our living room. He barked orders at Auntie and Miss Denise. Both ladies were all business. But Dr. Oliver insisted everyone wash their hands and stay out of the main room. He had his traveling medical bag but needed more supplies.
"Where's Aiden's medical bag?" he asked.
Dr. Aiden Arden tried to sit up and talk through a swollen jaw and broken teeth. His eyes were swollen shut. "No bag," he got out before his brother let him fall back into his arms and held a glass to his mouth.
When he finished, sleep claimed him
JED 'KID' CURRY
Heyes saved my life…my partner figured out what Wyatt had planned and stopped him. It was over and I let out a deep breath as I watched Miss Denise run to Aiden. I felt the internal tremblin' that always followed a gunfight and I worked to control any outward sign of it. I looked behind me and was glad my kids were not among the people there. Auntie knew who I was lookin' for and why.
"Chrissy has all three of them in Heyes' room in the back. None of them saw or heard anything," she reassured me. "Jed, that was a magnificently controlled shot you took."
I need time to recover, break the concentration of the fight. I can't really process it and talk yet, so I nodded.
The governor was blockin' my path to the front door, smilin'. "Saw flashes of Kid Curry before but that was quite a show!" In what was meant to be a friendly manner, he slapped my back. My thoughts elsewhere, I flinched before I could master my reaction and a quiet moan escaped.
"I'm sorry, Kid, I didn't realize that slapping your…"
He's never called me Kid before. I don't want that to be how people think of me. I interrupted him. "It's Jed and don't worry about it." I hurried by him into the house. I'm not being rude; I don't have time to explain. I need to be alone and contain Kid Curry's reactions and his anger. Heyes caught up with me on the stairs and gently put his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him. He wasn't there for a thanks for saving my life. He is here to help me as he's helped me before. Saying nothing, he follows me into my bedroom and sits next to me as I sit on the bed. I close my eyes, blockin' out the world. He puts a hand on my knee so I'm grounded in reality.
My brain acknowledged the sounds from downstairs. And that Kid Curry, the fastest gun in the West, is a part of me but not all that I have become.
"Thanks, partner," I told Heyes and he didn't ask for what.
Stretchin' his arms above his head, he simply said, "We're probably needed downstairs."