Heyes woke with a start, an idea full grown in his head, and leaned over to the other bed, and nudged his fast asleep partner hard, before lighting the lamp by his own and sitting back on his quilt. The Kid sat up, gun in hand, instantly alert, before flopping back down onto his pillow, with a heavy sigh, re-holstering his weapon as he did so. Still reclined he looked over at his overly awake, overly cheerful partner, who was practically bouncing up and down on the mattress, making the tired springs squeak a bit. "This can't wait till mornin' Heyes?"
Heyes gave him a broad smile. "It could, Kid, but its such a good plan, I wanted to share it soon as possible."
The Kid stared at him, gave a small snort, then shrugged as he realised there'd be no sleep until he listened. "Go on then, Heyes."
Heyes' smile broadened and he practically rubbed his hands with glee. "I got a question for ya, Kid. What are we really good at?" The Kid trying to think of an answer other than finding trouble, didn't reply quick enough for his partner, who threw his hands up. "Aww C'mon Kid, it ain't that hard a question."
"Well, we were really good at robbing, Heyes..."
Before he could add anything else, Heyes nodded vigorously. "Exactly Kid, and like you said to Lom it don't seem fair we're being penalised for excellence. I'm pretty sure that's why the idiots in Cheyenne are stalling, because damn it, Kid, we were good."
The Kid still dozy, and eager to return to his pleasant dream of eating dessert, naked with an incredibly pretty, and very willing gal, who was promising more delights once they were finished eating the perfectly baked pie, said. "Just spell it out, Heyes, I got a real nice dream waiting for me."
Heyes looked offended. "You'd take a dream over a Hannibal Heyes plan of the finest vintage?"
The Kid sighed as the dream slipped away, and hoping he could recapture it another night, he resigned himself to staying awake to listen as he said. "All right, Heyes, we were real good at outlawing, but not getting caught isn't any easier now then it was when we started going straight, even harder most likely, and even you gotta admit that last job before we left, wasn't exactly one of your best."
Heyes' excitement only seemed to increase as he dismissed the criticism with an expansive wave of his hands. "Well, that was our old way. I got a new plan. Subtlety, Kid, that's what we need."
The Kid frowned and shook his head. "Subtlety?"
"Yeah, subtlety, it means..."
The Kid sighed and cut Heyes off. "I know what it means, Heyes, but it ain't nothing I ever thought of us using before."
Heyes' face fell for a minute, then lit back up. "And that was a mistake, Kid, and one we won't make again."
The Kid wondering if Heyes had banged his head, or was getting sick, looked at him in concern. "You wanna go back to it?"
Heyes' expression sobered as he said. "Well, I'm getting real sick of being broke, and always on the run. I know you are too. So, we gotta change something." Then his face broke into a smile. "And I got it, Kid. We ain't going back to robbing trains and banks."
"We're not?" The Kid stifled a yawn, as his head spun a little trying to keep up with his partner's logic."
"House robbing, Kid, that's the next big thing."
"We tried that, Heyes, I can still feel my ribs twinge, if I twist wrong, with the beating we got from Armendariz's men. Not to mention I've lost at least five years of my life each time we've tried it since."
Heyes sighed. "You're just not thinking broad enough, 's where subtlety comes in."
The Kid eyed his partner, and said with a slightly wicked expression,"Like choosing the right window you mean, and not falling down the steps with the things we stole?"
Heyes gave him a hard stare, but only said. "Yeah, and not intimidating the help without a bandana over our faces, so they can identify us, that kinda thing. And we won't steal nothing heavy, just what we can put in our pockets."
The Kid felt a small smile breaking out on his face. "Ya know Heyes, that's pretty damn good."
"See, I still got it, Kid, aren't you glad I shared? We'll just steal from folk that can afford it. Use the money from the first job to settle somewhere where Heyes and the other fella ain't well known, and pick a couple of new names we can get used to. Then just plan our jobs so people don't suspect us, donate some of it to build a school and a church or something, so even if people do start to wonder, they won't much care, as long as we don't steal from our neighbours."
The Kid felt his enthusiasm for the idea growing, but then a thought struck him. "How we gonna explain the money, Heyes?"
"Now that's the easy part, we'll just say we're gold prospectors, or diamond miners who struck it rich." He paused and added. "You're gonna have to be careful, and not draw on too many asshats who annoy ya, we'll just threaten them with lawyers instead."
The Kid felt hopeful for maybe the first time in months, and smiled over at his partner.
"When do you think we oughta start?"
"When the nights get longer, Kid, easier not to be seen." He paused then added. "And after we check in with Lom, just to make sure we aren't gong to get what we were promised anytime soon."
ASJ
From: Joshua Smith. Blast Town
To: Lom Trevors. Porterville
Any news from our mutual friend?
Xx
From: Lom Trevors, Porterville
To: Joshua Smith, Blast Town
None yet, but don't give up.
Xx
From: Joshua Smith, Blast Town
To: Lom Trevors, Porterville
Sorry, Lom, we're done.
Xx
From: Lom Trevors, Porterville
To: Joshua Smith, Blast Town
Now boys, don't do anything rash.
Xx
From: Joshua Smith, Blast Town
To: Lom Trevors, Porterville
We know when we're beat, and its time to fold.
The Kid peering over Heyes' shoulder, nodded his agreement, and Heyes handed what he'd written to the telegrapher, paid him and together they left. "He'll come looking, Heyes, you know that."
"Well he won't find us. I'll be kind of sorry to say goodbye to Joshua Smith, he weren't such a bad fella."
The Kid laughed. "Well, that kinda depends on who you're asking, Heyes, he was kinda short on ideas sometimes."
"At least he wasn't a stubborn hothead like Thaddeus Jones."
The Kid glared, then shrugged in agreement. "Yeah, both them fellas were kind of losers, next time we'll do better."
ASJ
The Kid was mending one of his saddlebags, when Heyes looked up from reading his book. "I've thought of my new name. Joshua Hayes, with an a. I've kinda got used to Joshua."
The Kid met his eyes. "What about someone putting that together with Kid, and getting Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry?"
"Kid's easy to explain away, you're my younger cousin, and I ain't being rude or anything, but you weren't always good at remembering not to call me Heyes."
The Kid glared feeling a bit slighted, but he had to admit that his partner had a point, and managed a small smile as Heyes added. "Besides we'll be rich enough, that people likely won't ask too many questions anyways."
"I bin thinking too, Heyes. I'm gonna keep Thaddeus as I'm kinda used to it. Thaddeus Blake is a name I could get comfortable with."
Heyes nodded and then grinned Kid as he said. "I've found our first job, Kid. Big time rancher, owns a huge place just outta town Carlton Russell the third. His only daughter is getting wed next week to some lawyer outta Flagstaff. Russell's planning on giving her away, he's a widower, housekeeper lives out, and a lot of his hands are out driving cattle. So his place will be good and quiet for a couple of weeks."
"Won't people be real suspicious when he gets robbed after some stranger in town was asking questions?"
"Have some faith, Kid, I didn't need to ask a thing, some of the girl's school friends' are going, and its all they're talking about. Lady who runs the general store was real happy to talk too, as she's had a run on her best fabric, so she's got enough cash to shut up shop for a few days to visit her daughter and new grandbaby. Besides whose gonna look till he comes back? We'll be well away by then. Subtlety, Kid, subtlety."
The Kid frowned. "I sure wish you'd thought 'bout that when we was robbing banks and trains, would've meant we got recognised less."
Heyes humphed and returned to his reading as the Kid laughed, but added nothing else, happy he'd made his point.
ASJ
"There's gotta be fifty thousand dollars cash in here, Kid, and about the same in jewellery."
The Kid whistled as he peered into the safe. "What we gonna take?"
Heyes studied the treasures for a minute. "I'm thinking the cash, Kid, much harder to trace, especially as its in used bills. Not all of it mind, we don't want to be greedy. I'm thinking about fifteen thousand should do us as a starter."
The Kid's eyes widened, fifteen thousand dollars was more then they'd seen in years, and sounded plenty fair. He even wondered if Russell would even notice it was missing straight off.
Santa Isabel
Mexico
"Senor Hayes, Senor Blake. This meet with your approval?"
The land agent, waved over the beautiful Villa in front of them, just outside a growing town, nestled on the Gulf of Mexico and Heyes and the Kid stared in silent appreciation, before Heyes finally found his voice. "Gracias Senor Alvarez, it is just what we're looking for."
"Buena, Buena."
Later when it was officially theirs, they sat in the comfortable living room, and looked at each other in slightly stunned silence, before Heyes cleared his throat. "We got enough cash to last us for several months, so we don't have nowhere else we need to be till then."
The Kid smiled, though Heyes could see regret in his face as he said. "I kinda wish we could have done this a different way, Heyes, but we've done everything that was asked of us, and got nowhere, and it don't seem like that was ever gonna change, so it feels like we didn't have much choice, but I..." He trailed off, not quite sure what he was trying to say.
Heyes looked at him in some understanding, as his own feelings were also a little mixed. "I know, Kid, but waiting for amnesty was killing us, and this way, we get to live well, and do some good too. The Mayor here says they're wanting to hire a doctor full time, so I was thinking we donate some of the money from our next job to help them with that."
The Kid turned to him, his smile turning more genuine as he said. "So long as he ain't a quack like Doc Beauregard."
Heyes laughed and clapped him on the shoulder as he said. "Well, the Mayor seems a sensible sort, I'm sure he'll get the right man."