It was just over a week until Christmas and the members of the Devil's Hole Gang, except for their two leaders, were sitting around the table in the bunkhouse playing cards. Kyle looked at the hand he held grimacing before throwing the cards down and continuing with his argument.

"But we gotta have a tree Wheat."

"Dang it Kyle, will you quit goin' on about it. It's startin' to snow and it's too cold."

"But…"

"If yer wantin' a tree so damn bad go get one."

Kyle perked up and got to his feet, throwing his coat on before realizing that no-one else was moving. He stopped, eyeing his friends.

"You fellas are gonna help ain't ya?"

Most of the men simply shook their heads, Wheat glared up at his partner.

"Kyle nobody's goin' out in this weather ta get a stupid tree and if you were smart neither would you."

Kyle paused for a moment. Turning, he headed out the door, leaving the rest of the men shaking their heads.

XXX

Kyle had spent quite some time looking for the perfect tree and chopping it down. He struggled to pull it along and was exhausted when, just before noon, he arrived in front of the bunkhouse just as Lobo was coming out on his way to the privy. He stopped in his tracks, his mouth dropping open when he saw Kyle and the tree, the tree which had lost much of its original glory.

"What the hell…hey boys come see what Kyle brung," he hollered laughing.

Heyes got to his feet to look out the window, the Kid on his heels when the sound of the men's' laughter reached them.

"What are those damn fools up to now?" the Kid wondered out loud.

"Beats me Kid, but guess we better find out."

Heyes and Curry neared the group and hearing some of the taunts knew it was Kyle that was being laughed at…again.

"What's goin' on fellas?"

"Well Heyes, Kyle brung us a Christmas tree."

For a moment the two cousins silently eyed the tree lying on its side, a lot of its branches bent or broken from being dragged and almost a quarter of the needles missing. Heyes ran a hand over his mouth as he tried hard not to chuckle while the Kid quickly swallowed his grin frowning instead when he saw a crestfallen Kyle.

"Well Kyle…its…"

"Ya done this by yourself Kyle?" the Kid asked, cutting off whatever his partner was going to say. At Kyle's nod he crossed his arms. "Why didn't ya ask for help?"

"I did Kid, but weren't nobody wantin' ta help me."

"Kyle I swear that's gotta be the sorriest excuse for a tree I ever seen…"

"Wheat," the Kid warned.

Kyle scuffed at the snow with one boot, his shoulders drooping even more at his best friend's words, his trademark tobacco stained grin absent. "Just wanted ta have a tree fer Christmas. We always have a tree even if we ain't got nothin' else," he said despondently.

Heyes and the Kid watched as Kyle turned and silently walked away, disappearing around the side of the bunkhouse, the sounds of his friends teasing laughter following him. The two cousins shared a quick look before the Kid snagged Heyes' elbow leading him a short distance away. The rest of the gang couldn't hear the short conversation their leaders were having but did see Heyes nod in agreement with whatever his partner had said. The gunfighter headed in the direction Kyle had gone while his cousin walked back to the gang, a bright smile on his face and rubbing his hands together.

"All right fellas, here's what's gonna happen…"

While Heyes filled the gang in on what they were going to be busy doing, the Kid had found Kyle leaning miserably against a tree. His head jerked up, his hand dropping to his gun when he heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow, relaxing when he saw who it was.

"Those idiots didn't mean no harm Kyle, they're just teasin' ya."

He sighed when he got no response.

"C'mon Kyle."

"Huh?"

"I said c'mon, you and me are headin' into town for a bit. I wanna pick somethin' up for Heyes and I sure could use your help."

"Ya sure ya want my help Kid cos…"

"Kyle, if I didn't I wouldn't've said anything."

Kyle pushed himself away from the tree and followed the gunfighter back to the barn where they saddled their horses. Once he was mounted the Kid eyed the now silent gang members as he reined up beside his cousin.

"We'll be back by supper."

Heyes smiled and nodded. "We'll be ready."

"C'mon Kyle, we're burnin' daylight."

XXX

The snow was still falling in fat lazy flakes when three shots announced the return of the Kid and Kyle. Hurriedly the men all gathered outside to greet them as they made their way to the barn.

"'Bout time you fellas got back…"

"Wheat."

"Didn't mean no offence Kid."

"All right c'mon you two, put your horses up. There's supper and whiskey waitin' in the bunkhouse," Heyes said putting an immediate stop to any possible disagreements.

Wheat slapped Kyle on the back, putting an arm loosely over his shoulder holding him back to let the others enter the bunkhouse first. Once he stepped inside Kyle's eyes were drawn to the tree standing in the corner, covered in an odd assortment of decorations consisting of anything shiny along with whatever the gang of outlaws had thought would hide the bare spots. They were rewarded when Kyle stopped in his tracks, his mouth falling open in shock before a broad grin appeared.

"Well what d'ya think?" Heyes asked.

"It's…It's..." he couldn't say more merely nodding his head, sniffing once, his eyes beginning to glisten as he stared at the tree.

Heyes grinned and patted his shoulder. "You were right Kyle, we always have a tree and since you went and got it by yourself, we figured it was only right that we decorated it for ya…right Wheat?" Heyes looked at Wheat, his eyes narrowing in silent warning. Wheat glared back at him…he had argued the loudest when Heyes had told them they were all going to work together to decorate the tree, but seeing the happiness on his friends face when he'd seen it made it worth the effort.

"That's right."

They sat at the table finishing steaming bowls of stew and cornbread, chatting amiably as darkness fell. Sharing whiskey as they played a few hands of cards, they had to keep nudging Kyle to tear his attention away from the tree in order to play his hand…but no-one got upset.

XXX

Heyes and the Kid eventually returned to the leaders' cabin, Heyes pouring them a glass of the good stuff while his partner stoked up the fire. They sat quietly with their feet up sipping their whiskey as the cabin warmed up. The Kid had been blinking heavily and had just drifted into a light doze when Heyes' soft voice roused him.

"That was a nice idea ya had Kid. Lifted everybody's spirits decoratin' that tree…even Wheat stopped complainin…eventually."

His eyes opened and he chuckled, he could just imagine how Wheat would have reacted to being told what to do, but it was a couple minutes before he spoke.

"We both remember what it was like when we was on our own after…well, Christmas was always special even when we had nothin' but each other. And Kyle was right…we've always have a tree here. Pretty smart of ya not puttin' the presents under it…those boys would never bin able to wait until Christmas."

Heyes snorted a laugh. "Those boys wouldn't have lasted an hour if they'd seen presents."

XXX

In the bunkhouse the boys had all climbed into their bunks and soon a variety of grunts and snores could be heard as they all drifted off to sleep…all but one who lay in his bunk staring at the corner where the tree stood. He remembered the first Christmas he was here, the year he had confided in the Kid that Christmas always made him think of his family. He had listened when he told him they had always gathered around the tree, but his whole family was gone now and the Kid had said he understood because both his and Heyes' families were gone too. He was pretty sure it was because of that talk with the Kid that there had been a tree at Devil's Hole every year since. He smiled thinking of the men who made up the Gang, men that had become his friends, knowing that the Kid had dragged him off to town to get him away while Heyes supervised the decorating of the tree. He was still smiling when his eyes finally closed in sleep and he dreamt of his family.