Winter's Refuge

Chapter 23

JED 'KID' CURRY

For the first time in forever, I fell asleep for a bit on the train. I hadn't really slept in the last two weeks worryin' about Heyes. Turns out Dr. Arden was on Heyes' side. At least mostly. I think the doctor is a loner, not by choice but by circumstance. I smiled 'cause Heyes would be impressed by my use of my new words.

Anyway, I think the doctor is interested in me and Heyes 'cause we're friends through everythin'. And I think he wants to fit in with us and be friends. Didn't start out too well. He's limited in what he can do for Heyes, but him comin' to Cheyenne and talkin' to me and Lom, well I don't know what trouble I might have gotten in if he hadn't talked to us. Slept less than an hour on the train then sleep eluded me. So, I took out one of the books Heyes had sent and started lookin' for 56. I didn't remember one of the books, Walden by Henry David Thoreau. It had the 54 of the publishing date of 1854 circled. Maybe Heyes miscounted. But when I got home and Chrissy found the books she showed me the puzzle. Heyes had circled the 54 AND the 2 from page two with a tiny light plus sign drawn under it. He knew it was fifty six. When I tell him about Chrissy, I'll tell him how she looked forward to his little puzzlers.

HEYES

I had a good visit with the Kid and Lom today and told Dr. Arden thank you for letting us use his office. I watched the Kid shake hands with the doctor earlier. I think the Kid has the right idea in that. The doctor responds to friendship.

JOURNAL ENTRY: It was good to show the Kid that I am recovering. He did not seem too impressed that I was a hero, just pleased my pardon deal with the governor is still valid. We have been friends all his life. I remember when he was born and I finally got a boy cousin. I used to know his every expression, but not anymore. He did know what I needed today. I need his strength. I have none of my own left. He leaned his head against mine and neither one of us spoke for a long time, but I felt stronger. I can cope with fifty-six more days. He believes in me. I can feel his strength helping me.

When I woke in the infirmary with a guard always by my bed, I thought I had lost everything. I would rather die than face another seventeen years in here because I know most of them would be in the dark cell. The dark cell has left me with nothing but fear. The dark cell and the fear has taken my words. Dr. Arden tried to be positive about it, but I don't think he believes I'll get them back. I don't have it in me to fight. But the Kid does. He fights for both of us. I need him to make it out of here and I'll need him to get me through probation. The outlaw leader in me is gone, but the Kid said he was proud I came up with an honest plan that saved the guards and my deal. I hadn't looked at it like that. I just remember being scared. And I saw a guard fall and I was worried about the two behind me, not that the younger one ever showed me a kindness or had patience. Still, that mob would have killed all three of us to get out that door. The Kid sees the good in me, wants to spend time with me. He respects that we are all the family we have. END

My journal entry today was honest. Don't know if Dr. Arden will read it or not, but this time it was true. After the riot I know how much I need the Kid. I can't make it without him.

LOM

The Kid and Juan went into Three Birds after breakfast this morning and left me with Chrissy. The Kid told me about her patterns and routines. At breakfast, he told her over and over that he and Juan were going into town and they'd be back after lunch. He assured her it was just a regular day. It was anything but.

About ten, Chrissy and I were cleaning the horse's stalls. Well, I was. She was reading them Black Beauty. I thought I'd ask her some things I'd wanted to for awhile but we had never been alone.

"Chrissy, do you remember my sister?"

She looked up from her book and stared at Summer's Solstice. "She guardian?"

"Yes, she writes that all is well."

Again silence but she rose and petted the mare's growing belly. "Good….good" She went back and sat on the bale of hay.

"Do you want to talk to Jed about it?"

She was staring at Summer's Solstice again. And she was silent. I let her have her silence. I wasn't sure if she was ready to be a mother yet but I wanted her to think about her choices.

"No tell Jed."

"Jed knows you were pregnant. It was in the papers during your trial."

In the quiet, she went to the mare again and laid her head against her side before she started to brush her. "No talk Jed." I thought she was done speaking. She was concentrating on brushing the horse and saw nothing else. I went to clean another stall when I heard her say quietly, "Yet."

A few minutes later we heard the latch on the lower gate being thrown. Jed had intentionally made it loud and scratchy. At the noise, Chrissy was on high alert. I knew about Dr Lewis. Her concern was well earned. She looked at me with fear in her eyes, silently asking me what to do.

"Stay here," I told her. It sounded like a wagon and not just a horse. I had left my gun hanging on a hook near the door. I felt Chrissy watching my every move as I strapped it on.

I walked over toward the porch as I watched the wagon approach. There was something familiar about the driver, yet I was sure he was a stranger.

"Hi there!" the driver said as he dismounted. He looked at me with a question on his face. "I'm looking for Jed Curry?"

"He expecting you?"

"Yeah, I'm a couple of days early."

I looked closer and I knew that he must be related to Juan. The resemblance was strong, but this man was older, taller, more citified. His dress was more Denver than Three Birds. When I didn't say anything, he continued talking.

"I'm Rudy Ortiz. Do you know my brother?"

"Juan?"

"Yes, he around?"

I realized Chrissy was standing near me, slightly behind me.

"Miss Chrissy!" he said. When Rudy moved toward her, she stepped in back of me.

"I'm sorry," Rudy said, stepping back. "Juan wrote me about working with her."

"Hi, Miss Chrissy," he said without approaching her. "Do you remember me? I'm Rudy." He let her stand quiet.

Finally, she stepped up next to me and said, "Marina's Rudy?"

"Yes, Marina is my ma and Jose is my pa," Rudy answered. She walked inside the barn quickly, went to the stairway in the rear, and pointed up.

Rudy stopped a few feet from her. "Thank you, Miss Chrissy. Juan told me I'd be staying in the room over the barn."

She ignored him and went back to Summer Solstice's stall and continued to read Black Beauty.

JED 'KID' CURRY

Since Lom came a day early to the ranch, I left him with Chrissy while me and Juan rode into town. Mrs. Birde, the mayor's wife not the sheriff's wife, had ordered a three-bird crest to be added to her front gate. I'd cleared it with her brother-in-law, the sheriff. I didn't want no trouble or jealousy with the wives of any of the Birdes. Sheriff Frank Birde laughed, leaned back in his chair and answered, "Jed Curry, you're one sensible man when it comes to womenfolk. Smart of you to ask, but our wives ain't in competition with each other, only with the society ladies in Bridgeport. Go ahead and make the birds, just make them the same size as ours. My wife shows off the one Kid Curry fixed every opportunity she gets."

So, I made the birds and attached them to the gate in my shop. Juan was gonna reinstall the gates today. I need to walk the sheriff through how easy their bank was to rob. We was laughin' about the broken lock on the back door when we heard yellin'.

"FIRE!"

"Fire in the mercantile!"

"There's someone in there! I hear screamin'!"

"The fire's trapped them…I think it's Jeff Birde!"

As we ran the block to the mercantile, my eyes searched for Juan. He was gonna pick up supplies when he finished with the gate. As we passed the mayor's house, I saw that the gate was done. I ran faster, outpacin' the sheriff. Juan must already be in the mercantile. My heart jumped as I found our wagon stopped in front with some supplies already loaded.

"Somebody move this wagon out of the way," I yelled as I looked into the burnin' store. The fire had started in the back and was movin' toward the street. The smoke had filled everywhere the flames weren't.

"Get the doctor!" I knew my yell sounded like the order it was. I had seen someone movin' in the buildin', coughin', chokin'. I took a step into the smoke and Mayor Birde stumbled into me. "My son Jeff's in there. I couldn't get to him." He doubled over chokin' out his words. "That young man that works for you is in there, too. Tried to reach them…too hot." He leaned into the street and heaved black dust.

I felt the heat of the fire, but heat don't scare me. The quick movin' flames do. I dipped my bandana in the horse trough and tied it over my nose and mouth,

"You can't go in there, Jed." Sheriff Birde tried to stop me, his words soundin' like the order he meant it to be.

I heard the ceilin' creak and collapse in the rear of the buildin', just about where I figured Jeff and Juan would be if they were standin' at the counter. It's also where I would have gone to try and get out the back door. I brushed off the sheriff and tried to remember the distance, the number of steps, between the rows of merchandise. I stumbled into a table, knockin' the display on the floor. The leg of the table was burnin'. I swatted at my pants to swipe off a hot ember.

"Juan! Jeff! Where are you? Can you hear me?" Each word was more difficult. Even through the bandana when I opened my mouth to speak, hot smoke entered.

I thought I heard a noise and I moved toward it.

"Make a noise, anything so I know where you are." I was tryin' to scream the words, but knew my voice was just above a whisper.

The smoke was so thick and black I was movin' by instinct and feel. The heat was growin' more intense with each step closer to the flames.

"Jed, come out of there." I heard voices, led by Sheriff Birde, yellin' to me. I refused to go back, but I figured the voices were at the front door and gave me a sense of direction, helped me to know where I was goin'. Then I heard a crash as the ceiling and window near the front door gave way. I couldn't go back any more, only forward. I waved my hands in front of my eyes as if I could move the smoke away. Instead, it was gettin' thicker.

"Help!" I heard a weak squeak to my left. As I turned toward it, I almost fell over somethin' low, not a foot off the floor. I realized it was a ceilin' support beam. Lookin' up, the second floor was gone, the flames dancin' on the roof tryin' to drop in on us.

"We're trapped." It was Jeff Birde's voice I had heard.

"Where? How?" I demanded.

"Ceilin' beam fell. My side and ankle. Juan's chest."

I struggled toward the voice.

"Jed, get out while you can. It's too heavy…can't be moved."

Ignorin' him, I felt along the beam until I found Juan's body crumbled beneath it. Flames were burnin' his chest and neck. I hit them with my hand until they were out. I found his arm. He still had a pulse. I tore the burnin' clothin' off his body. Jeff was less than two feet away from him. Runnin' my hands over the beam, I figured it was a good fourteen feet long and eight inches thick. It was burnin' from both ends, the flames racin' to meet in the middle.

"Save Juan," Jeff hacked, his voice dry. "He came back to try and save me."

I heard him as I felt the heat from the fire engulfin' the store growin' closer to my back. Small embers hit my back and quickly burned out. "I'm liftin' this up. Can you work your way out?"

"You can't lift," he choked out. "Too heavy." But he didn't know I'd grown strong movin' fourteen foot, two hundred pounds of metal rails by myself for two long hot years in a hot hell of my own.

"Get ready," I told him. "Now!"

I couldn't see him, but I raised the beam off the ground and heard scramblin', scratchin' noises. "It's off! I'm free!" he yelled hoarsely in amazement. "How?"

I ignored his question and shook my arm hard to dislodge a flame from my sleeve, ignorin' the pain as it bit into my arm. "Can you pull Juan out when I lift it higher?" If he couldn't, I was gonna have to figure another way to free him.

"Yeah, I can."

It was too dark to see through the smoke and ash, but I heard Jeff movin'. "Ready," he said.

I reached around the beam and lifted. "Got him?"

"Not yet. His leg is stuck under him, broke I think.."

I heard Jeff's moan of exertion and matched it with one of mine as I inched the beam higher.

"He's free."

I couldn't see either one of them so I inched the beam back down so it wouldn't hit them. My knee touched the flame, and I dropped the beam the last few inches.

Feelin' my way with my toes, I stepped over the beam. I could faintly hear people talkin' over the roar of the flames, that popped as they reached somethin' new to consume.

I felt Jeff standin' next to me and could just barely make him out. I saw he had Juan, sittin' on the floor, propped against his knee.

"Front way's blocked. Back door this way?" I asked.

"It was. Ceilin' collapsed between here and there."

I took off my now dry bandana and tied it around Juan's nose and mouth. Even unconscious, I could see him struggle for breath.

"BACK DOOR!" I screamed as loud as my throat would allow. Somewhere my pants had caught on somethin' and the fabric on my right leg flapped open. I tore off as much as I could and ripped it in half. I tied part over my face and motioned to Jeff to do the same.

Pickin' up Juan, I threw him over my left shoulder. He wasn't moving. "Follow me close. Keep your hands on my back or shoulders," I instructed Jeff. As soon as I felt his touch, I moved forward. With my free hand wavin' in front of me, I headed toward where I thought the back door had been. Each step was precarious through rockin' rubble and pockets of fire. I stepped into a dormant flame just waitin' to explode when it met my foot. I shook it vigorously and the flame flew to the ground. But it had burned through my boot and reached my foot. I ignored the pain and moved forward.

I could hear voices at the back door, orientin' me. I turned slightly to the left and followed them.

"We're comin'," Jeff choked out, but I doubted anyone heard him. I just barely heard him, and I was next to him.

I stopped. My foot felt a large object; had to be another beam, blockin' our path. The heat and flames were comin' from our right faster than I ever imagined fire could move. I stepped to the left and felt Jeff slip. In a heartbeat, his hand found my shoulder again and I moved forward. Breathin' was hard. Each breath was hard won. I wanted to tear the cloth from my face to get more air, but reason told me that wouldn't help. The voices were callin'. I adjusted my direction, again.

I stumbled then staggered around the now burnin' beam that had been blockin' our path. Each step was an effort. Each breath burnt my throat, but I would never give up. I pushed on. The soot and smoke made it impossible for my dry eyes to see. Something alive with flame hit my right temple hard, then my shoulder, and fell away.

And then it was over. Arms supported me. Juan was lifted from me. I fell forward but was caught. A wet towel was on my eyes and nose as I was gently lowered to the ground.

"You're safe, boy." I heard Sheriff Birde's comfortin' voice. I felt many hands lift me onto a transport board. "Bravest thing I ever saw." The sheriff was still talkin'.

"Juan?" I managed to say although my dry throat was threatenin' to close on me.

"He's on his way to my office." I recognized Dr. Sexton's voice. "Same place you're goin'."

"Jeff?"

"Walkin' there himself. Hoarse as a toad and still tellin' everyone you're a hero; saved their lives!"

I didn't feel like no hero, just felt tired. The burns I had ignored were now demandin' my attention. I think I screamed from the pain. But Sheriff Birde was talkin' to me again. His tone sounded important, but I couldn't understand the words. I knew I must be in some kind of shock. The sheriff leaned close to my ear and asked, "Miss Chrissy alone or is her brother still there?"

I stared at the sheriff, and he repeated his question. This time I understood. "Not alone. Friend, Lom Trevors, is at the ranch."

"That the sheriff friend of yours?"

"Yeah." I couldn't say any more. My body felt like it was burnin' all over and my eyes refused to stay open. My head hurt so bad I almost couldn't stand the pain. But I can overcome any pain, I told myself. I'd done it in prison alone and here I had people helpin' me.

"Don't worry, boy. I'll ride out there and let them know what happened. They're probably worried. That smoke is blowin' all over the county."

I woke suddenly. I didn't know how long I'd slept. Dr. Sexton was forcin' some water down my throat with a metal tube.

"Good, Mr. Curry. Now that you're finally awake, you can drink this yourself."

I swallowed the water and tasted the bitter taste of laudanum

"Juan?" I looked around, but the beds next to me were empty.

"He's in the next room. That beam broke some ribs and both his legs. His shoulder's dislocated. Burns over fifty percent of his body. If he fights, he'll survive."

My brain was gettin' foggy, circlin' around thoughts, but not lettin' them form. "Jeff?"

"Some burns. Broken ankle, though he walked on it with you to get out and then over here. Swallowed lots of smoke, passed out just as he walked in here. If he listens to me, he'll recover."

"Eyes dry." I got the thought out.

Dr. Sexton rested a cool towel over my eyes. "Need you to drink more water before you fall asleep. As much as you can."

A flash of a memory of days desperate for water in the desert of Arizona hit me and I struggled to sit up to drink the precious liquid I would never take for granted again.

The towel fell off my eyes and I moved to catch it. The burnin', tearin' pain in my shoulder stopped me. "Oww!" I moaned softly, thinkin' no one could hear.

"Don't try to move that shoulder for now. Looks like a board or something burning fell on you. Hit your temple hard then grazed and burnt that shoulder as it fell. You got a mild concussion and some nasty burns."

I used my other hand and felt the bandage around my head.

The doctor pushed my hand down easily. "Don't touch any of the bandages. Let them heal."

I took the glass of water he offered and emptied it. It was cool but still it hurt to swallow.

"Noise?" I asked him. Through my soupy thoughts, I could hear people gatherin' outside. I heard them talkin' but not what they were sayin'. Felt like the crowds that gathered outside of jails when me and Heyes had been arrested and all the folks knew who we really were. Then it had been strangers gatherin' to see the famous outlaws Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry. "Noise?" I asked again.

Dr. Sexton smiled. "Practically the whole town is out there to see you, to thank you, Mr. Curry."

"Me?"

"Yes, you're a hero, and the way Jeff Birde is talkin' about you, you'll soon be a legend."

"Already was. Don't want to be a legend, anymore," I said before I had thought about my words. But even through my brain fog from the medicine, I knew this was wrong. "Need to talk to Sheriff Birde."

"When you wake up. Rest now," Doctor Sexton urged me.

I let my eyes close then forced them open. "No now. Right now. Important." I needed to tell the sheriff I didn't want to be a legend. Didn't want the publicity. It wasn't safe for Chrissy if people knew too much about us. I struggled to sit up.

"Lay down, Mr. Curry. The sheriff isn't here. He went to your place. Said he needed to tell your friend and that girl what happened, so they didn't worry." His hand on my good shoulder was all I needed to fall back, and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

LOM

Chrissy was the first one to see the cloud of black smoke coming from Three Birds. She was rocking on the front porch, watching for the Kid and Juan to come back from town. I know she needs time to process new things so I'm sure she stared at it for a while. I was in the house making my version of my sister's beef stew when she found me. Her brow was furled tight, and she finally said, "Fire."

"Where?"

"Sky."

I didn't understand and I could see her frustration. She was not used to talking to me.

"Show me," I told her. She went back outside and pointed to the smoke in the sky. I was scared. The black cloud was forming right about where I figured Three Birds should be. But I didn't want to alarm Chrissy.

Before I could call him, Rudy came out from the barn, scrunching up his nose. "I smell smoke. Oh, look at that!"

They both looked to me, and I tried to be calm. The Kid and Juan should return any minute so surely they had escaped any injury from the fire.

"What should we do?" asked Rudy.

I looked at Chrissy and the beautiful horses on the ranch. "We wait and watch," I said firmly.

Rudy looked at me. "I'll go work with the horses. The smell of smoke spooks them."

"Read?" asked Chrissy.

"Yes, read," Rudy answered her, surprised when she headed to the stalls.

"She reads to the horses," I explained. "I'm hoping it keeps them and her calm."

ASJ*****ASJ

The Kid and Juan were late. I tried to hide my worry, but Rudy caught it. Chrissy just kept reading. I thought she was reading but when I looked in at her, she was reciting the words of Black Beauty by memory. She was staring at the barn entrance and not really looking at anything. I went to stand on the porch watching the road and the black smoke in the fire. I don't know how long I stood there or how long Rudy was standing next to me. Time was racing but also moving slowly.

Finally, the wagon turned up the road, but neither the Kid nor Juan was driving. Something was wrong. I started running down the road. Rudy was faster and reached them as they got to the gate. I had met Sheriff Birde before. The look on his face was grim.

"Where're the Kid and Juan?" I asked. "They okay?"

When he didn't answer right away, my heart sank.

"There's a fire in the mercantile." He took a deep breath as if gaining his confidence for the next few sentences. He studied Rudy for a second. "Jed and Juan are both alive. Juan and my nephew were trapped near the back of the store and a beam fell on them. Bravest thing I ever saw; Jed went in there after them. Don't know how he did it. Jeff said he lifted a huge beam off him and Juan. He never saw anyone near that strong. Jed carried Juan and led Jeff out of the back door. Jeff said they walked right through the flames."

"Where are they?" Rudy demanded.

"Both are at Dr. Sexton's. Thought me and the missus would come out here and watch Miss Chrissy so you could go to Three Birds."

I noticed his wife, who was sitting quietly in the wagon. She looked like she'd been crying.

"How bad they hurt?" I asked.

"Doc says burns are tricky. Juan's got some bad ones. Jed's got a concussion from a burning board or something. Hit his temple and his shoulder, too. Foot burned clear through the boot. Not sure what else."

I didn't know what to say. My thoughts were going in every direction – Jed, Juan, Chrissy, Heyes.

Chrissy was beside me now. She had been listening. "Bad fire."

"Yes, Chrissy. Jed and Juan were injured by the fire." I stood beside her as I had seen the Kid do.

She was quiet, but Mrs. Birde started talking, "Kid Curry is the bravest man I have ever seen."

Chrissy stared at her sitting in the wagon.

Sheriff Birde motioned me aside. "I know you are a friend of Jed's. Doc Sexton was treating some burns on his back. I've never seen anything like those scars from what that prison did to him."

"Seen it," I acknowledged, knowing the Kid would be embarrassed his back was the topic of our discussion. "How is he really?"

"The doctor gave him laudanum to sleep. Burns are painful."

Chrissy was still staring at Mrs. Birde and it made her nervous. I closed the gate behind the wagon and motioned the sheriff to drive it to the house following Rudy. I dropped back with Chrissy.

"Do you understand what happened?" I asked her.

"Jed, Juan not dead," she said firmly.

"Yes, that's right."

"You go there. Bring them here?"

The wagon had stopped at the porch and we had caught up with it. I looked at the sheriff knowing he had heard her question.

"Might be a good idea for Jed. A crowd was gathering outside the doctor's office. That fool nephew of mine kept bragging what a hero Kid Curry was. Don't think Jed wants any publicity about where he's living. Don't think Juan's up to travel, even just to here."

The sheriff was more perceptive than I thought.

Rudy had two horses saddled, but if I was to bring Jed back, I'd need the wagon.

Mrs. Birde was already climbing down. "Chrissy going to be alright with just us here?" she asked me, even though Chrissy was standing on the porch listening, still staring at Mrs. Birde.

I looked at Chrissy. She understood the question. "I stay room. Jed back soon." And she turned and went into the house.

"I guess that answers your question, dear," Sheriff Birde said, helping her down the last step. Then to me he said, "If anyone gives you any trouble, tell them I told you to bring Jed here…. And no newspaper stories about the fire are to be printed that I don't approve first."