The Autograph

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"Kate, you got a soldier coming up your walk," Kid Curry said as he held the curtain pulled back just enough to peer out the corner of the window.

"A soldier?' Kate asked, looking up from her computer screen just in time to see the Kid draw his gun and hold it close to him with the barrel pointed toward the ceiling.

"Appears to be a Unionist. He's wearing a blue uniform and carrying the biggest saddlebag slung over his shoulder I've ever seen," Kid replied. "Heyes, come look at that bag. Why even our good suits wouldn't get wrinkled in a bag that size."

Kate's Australian Shepherd began barking wildly as he raced toward the closed front door.

"Dog, be quiet," Kid whispered harshly."We don't want him to know we're in here," he warned.

With the Shepherd still barking frantically, the Beagle and the Brittany quickly joined the chorus and inside the living room, all voices were now being drowned out completely.

"Quiet!" Kate demanded and surprisingly both the Beagle and the Brittany obeyed while the Shepherd just gave Kate a quick glace, then stood on his hind legs with his front legs pressed against the glass of the front door.

By now Heyes had come to stand behind his partner and looked over Kid's shoulder at the man now pulling envelopes of a variety of sizes from his oversize bag.

Kate got up from her desk and stood behind Heyes, peering over the shoulders of both former outlaws.

"That's not a soldier, Kid. That's the mailman," Kate explained. "And he's early for a change," she added.

"You don't hafta go to the Post Office to pick up your mail?' Kid asked as he holstered his gun and a look of disappointment crossed his face.

"No, it's delivered right to my house six days a week. Nothing stops the mail from being delivered."

The sound of the mailbox being opened sent all three dogs into another barking frenzy, but when they heard the mailman walking away, their exuberance soon waned and the two bigger dogs were once again focused on picking on the little fella. Kate then slipped out the door and gathered the mail from the box.

Once back inside, Kate began sorting through the envelopes and fliers. "Bill, bill, pointless ad, political ad..."

"Don't them last two belong in the same category?" Heyes asked and moved across the room to take a seat on the sofa.

"Uh-uh," Kate replied absently.

The last piece of mail was a large brown envelope addressed to Kate but containing no return address. It felt very lightweight in her hand.

Kate set the other mail on the coffee table and opened the large envelope. As she peered inside, her jaw dropped and a smile spread ear to ear. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed.

Alarmed by her reaction, Kid and Heyes rushed to her side. "What is it?' they both asked with some alarm.

Kate pulled the eight by ten photo gently from the envelope and read the inscription aloud. "Kate, Rachel sends her love. Enjoying it all." Kate's voice trailed off into silence as she read the signature to herself.

"Who the hell is that!" Kid demanded. "That looks like... Well I'd say that looks like me but I ain't never worn such old fashioned clothes in all my life!"

"It's not you," Kate explained. "It's another character belonging to your alter ego."

"Another character? I thought that alter ego fella just played me, and not nearly as well as I play me," Kid said defensively. "And what's he doing sending you tin... Well hell, that ain't even a tin type. What is it?"

"Photographs are done on photography paper but nowadays you can print pictures from a computer on regular paper too," Kate explained as she ogled the picture and read and reread the inscription. "I have to get a frame worthy of this," she muttered to herself, no longer the least bit aware of the outlaws in the room.

"So who is this character?' Kid demanded.

"This is Will Chisholm," Kate replied.

"As in Chisholm Trail Chisholm's?' Heyes asked, suddenly a tad impressed with the photograph he was viewing.

"Kate shook her head. "But he did travel from Virginia to California by Conestoga wagon with all his family," she explained.

"So this fella was born even before Heyes and me?"

Kate nodded. "A hundred and forty years before the two of you. The Chisholms migrated to California in 1730."

"Kate, this alter ego... did he discover the fountain of youth or something. This Chisholm fella don't look much older than me."

"Kid, it's all part of this actor thing. Your alter ego was actually born a hundred years after you. He's just playing roles, like parts in a play."

"Kate," Kid asked cautiously. "Should I be jealous of this Chisholm fella?"

Kate forced her attention back to the cowboys. "Kid, I feel about you and Will Chisholm the way Clem feels about you and Heyes. I love you both the same," she explained and gave Kid a warm smile and a flirtatious batting of her eyes.

Kid looked at her dubiously. "Ain't sure I believe you," he muttered. "You write about him like you do me?"

Kate carefully slid the picture back into the envelope for safe keeping. Then she slipped her hand into the Kid's hand. "No Kid. I've written about Will twice and you have been in both of those stories, remember?"

Kid looked genuinely surprised. "That's the same Will Chisholm?"

"Uh-uh," Kate replied.

"He's the fella with two wives?"

"Well, in the show, he didn't have the two wives at the same time, but yes, he's the fella with two wives."

"Yeah, I remember. We kinda got off to a wrong start, but things turned out alright in the end."

"So you see, there's no need to be jealous."

"Where you plan on hanging this picture?' Heyes asked.

"Above my bed," Kate said without thinking and immediately regretted the confession.

"Wait just a darn minute Kate," Kid protested, the jealousy beginning to stir again. "Just where do you hang my pictures, and don't lie cause we both know the answer to that!"

"But Kid, this one is personalized to me. Some of the other pictures are autographed, but not specifically to me," Kate tried to explain.

"Did you ask him for it?" Kid demanded.

"No, Rachel C wrote and asked him."

"So Rachel wrote him a letter and asked him to send you an autographed picture?"

"That's right."

"I don't believe you," Kid said. "You wanna know why I don't believe you?"

"Not particularly."

"Well I'm gonna tell you anyway. I happen to know for a fact that she lives way over in England and that's a whole other country in case you don't know. You know how long it would take a letter to get from England to...to...to wherever this alter ego lives! Months, Kate. It would take months!"

"It did take months, Kid," Kate replied.

"Kid, calm down," Heyes told his partner. "Now let's think this through and then decide if you need to be jealous. First of all, how many pictures of you does Kate have on her wall?"

"At least a dozen," Kid admitted.

"And how many pictures of me does Kate have on her wall?"

"Three."

"True, but two of them include you, so really only one. Now we both know how much Kate favors you over me, right?"

"Right."

Heyes smiled. "Now how many pictures of Will does Kate have on her wall?"

"One, once she puts this one up."

"One. Now, do you see my point?"

Kid nodded reluctantly.

"Now, it was very nice of Rachel to go to all that trouble to get Kate that autograph that obviously means a great deal to her."

"It does, it really does," Kate added.

"So the least you can do is be happy for her, don't you think?"

Kid sighed heavily. "Alright Kate, I'm sorry I overreacted. I am happy for you."

Kate smiled. "Thank you Kid. You know you'll always be number one in my heart, but I have to be honest, Will is a close second."

"As long as he stays in second place, I s'pect I can tolerate that."

"And to show you just how much you really do mean to me Kid, I promise not to hurt you in my next story."

Kid gave her a hurt puppy smile. "Will you promise to keep Will out of it, too?" he asked.

Kate squeezed Kid's hand. "It's a deal," she promised.

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Author's note: A very warm thank you to Rachel C for her wonderfully kind gesture, and a very warm thank you to Ben Murphy for talking the time to see that one of this lady's dreams really did come true. Boy, two connections in one month. This is the Best May ever!