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It always came down to obstacles for Heyes, the biggest, his conscience. But as long as he could remember, and there wasn't a time he could remember without his cousin, he had the responsibility of his welfare. "Ye are the elder, Hannie." As a boy in Kansas, he heard it from his folks and Curry's folks time and again, and he never had an argument for that, their words were true.
But they left. And the decisions were his ever since.
Curry hadn't really committed to a decision. He was weary of working alone toward a dream to share with Heyes only to lose it to unscrupulous men never held accountable. He had come to the point where he no longer disparaged his cousin's line of work. In fact, he now looked on it as another kind of business available to him, if he chose it, in a world where the rich and powerful had all the advantages and the common man, his hands and his back. He now preferred the third way, the frontier way they'd recently toasted, with all it's dangers threatening a long life, which was no different than the way he'd lived since leaving Valparaiso. And with that realization, the world became a bigger place, opportunities increased, new dreams replaced the old. He and Heyes always did best when they worked together.
He's always been right.
Still, like Heyes, Curry didn't like false charges brought against him. His reputation was his to be made. And there was the self pride in doing the right thing, in living as he was brought up. Credit Valparaiso where due, but it was his cousin who reared him.
He's always been right.
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"His court date's coming up in a couple weeks or more, isn't it?" Jenny nodded toward Curry leaving through the kitchen door. He and Jasper were making a supply run through town for the afternoon.
"Yep." Heyes pivoted at the bar and watched his cousin leaving with his arm on Jasper's shoulder.
"You worked it out yet?"
The ham sandwich being raised to his mouth stopped in mid-air. Heyes looked at Jenny quizzically.
"You talk as discombobulated as he does. Worked out what?"
Jenny filled a beer glass.. "How you're going to handle it if he goes with you?"
"Oh, that." He bit into the sandwich with more force than necessary.
She'd noticed Heyes with an eye on his cousin the past few days, as if wanting to broach a subject but unwilling to, just yet. Several times Jenny saw him appear to make up his mind and saunter over to Curry, but once at his side, didn't engage in deep conversation.
"Been thinkin' about our talk the other night, Jenny, and you're right, Jeddie is his own man. He makes his own decisions. But Jenny, I got obligations to him, for lots of reasons, and each one has to be put to rest first."
"You made one decision already, haven't you?"
Brown eyes stared straight at her. How does she know me so well?
He looked down at the mug and nodded in silent answer. Yes, he had already decided that Jeddie was better off with him under Santana than on his own. But not without his full understanding of what lay ahead for him and what he would leave behind, forever.
"He's been your one link to your past life all these years. You sure you want to cut those ties?"
She done it again!
"Well, that's something we'll have to make up our minds on together, after the rest is sorted out." He gulped down the beer.
"There's one thing I can get settled today. I'll be in the parlor." His dimples danced. "Got some explosive readin' to do."
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"What's that you got there? Looks like my Fort Mifflin text book." Curry was savoring a biscuit with butter and jam he'd put together after returning with Jasper. He tipped the book Heyes was reading to see the cover, eliciting a glare of annoyance from his cousin seated on the parlor sofa.
"It IS my text book! What 're you doin' with that?"
"Readin' it." Heyes pulled the book from Curry's hand and resettled in the sofa. "This happens to be somethin' I could use in my line of work." He brushed biscuit crumbs from his lap and the book.
"Where'd you get it?"
Heyes pointed to the corner of the parlor where the trunk sat with an embroidered and tatted table scarf lying across the flat top, one end tucked into the closed lid.
Licking his fingers, Curry followed his direction to spot the trunk and turned back to Heyes.
""Line of work'', very funny. What chapter you on, three?" Heyes nodded. "Well, you are due for the test, then, Mister Brilliant, if only I had my..."
Heyes watched with anticipation as Curry stepped to the trunk, moved Jenny's dainty linen aside and read the carving on the lid.
THIS TRUNK and ALL INSIDE
property of
JEDEDIA CURRY and HANNIBAL HEYES
May 22, 1874
Curry looked back at Heyes in wonderment and received a Heyes wink.
"Go on." Heyes prompted quietly with his fatherly voice.
Curry lifted the lid and stood gazing at the items on the top shelf. Neatly stored were all the things his cousin found valuable to them each; the photograph of Brigid, her letters to Heyes tied with her green ribbon, her wrist bangle he chose from her meager belongings, the leather binder Hannie gave him the day he enlisted in the cavalry, the text book on demolition, cavalry discharge papers. He knelt and opened a large tin to find all their letters from that time until... the very latest, even Hannie's letters to him in service that he'd saved during three years of enlistment not having the heart to discard them, all there. Eyes and mouth open wide, he looked back at his cousin.
"Bought it in Sargent, Kansas after we rode out of Fort Lyon. We stopped at the mercantile and got your civilian clothes, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember. Felt strange not bein' in uniform after three years, but I adjusted pretty quick! Wonder what happened to all my gear I left..." He noticed the leather straps on the sides of the shelf and raised it.
"Hannie!" It was a whisper.
Sparkling brown eyes gazed on Curry as he handled each item with respect and fondness.
Curry placed his wide-brimmed cavalry hat on his head and they both laughed at how small it was for him now. "Sure did 'preciate this style, better suited for long days in the sun an' bad weather." He stood with the greatcoat held against him but didn't put it on fearing a seam would split.
The sight of Curry holding the greatcoat before him brought to Heyes's mind the photograph of "Jeddie on the pier". He was sorry he missed out on so much of his cousin's youth.
"You've grown a mite since then, little cousin!" Heyes laughed.
Curry paused over the trunk, then picked up his cavalry sword from the bottom. He stood and drew the sword from its scabbard and inspected it. "This ought to be cleaned and oiled regular. And my pistol."
He was back down with his oiling kit in no time, happily rendering each weapon clean and shiny.
Heyes watched as Curry folded the clothing with precision and replaced each cavalry item in their place.
"That Schofield's a nice piece."
Curry pivoted to Heyes. "It's a fine army pistol. Think you might like havin' it Heyes? It's yours if you want." He removed the Schofield from its cavalry holster and held it before Heyes.
"Really? I'll take good care of it, Jeddie. I know what these things mean to you so I want you to think about this and..."
"Hannie, it's yours now."
Heyes nodded his thanks and accepted the pistol. Curry returned to the trunk and replaced the inner shelf.
"Hey, here it is, my binder of notes and tests!" He opened the expanding folder and removed the bundle of papers, flipping through to find the first test. "Let's see how well you learned from just a book, Mister Brilliant."
Failing the first test, Heyes knuckled down and let his younger cousin teach him. Curry was proud to have the job, and if Heyes did handle explosives in his "line of work", Curry would know his best friend had the same education he had.
Lanterns were lit around the parlor when Heyes closed the book after the second test as they sat on the long sofa. Heyes angled to his left to face Curry more directly.
"You miss it?"
Curry set the binder next to him and crossed his arms on his chest.
"Yeah. A lot of ways. The men, an' the camaraderie, my friends." He closed his eyes briefly. "All they taught me. Brazen. Things I don't miss? Some of the men, dusty Philadelphia." A sadness spread briefly across his face and he lowered his head, sucking in his lower lip. Heyes patiently waited for him to continue.
"There was the pride of bein' with others like-minded in protectin' people. But in the end, I couldn't take the commitment anymore. What I mean is, I wanted more to be free to ride 'stead of committed to riding with good men. Make sense?"
"Ye have the Irish Wanderlust, laddie, and ye have it bad." Sergeant Quinn's observation came to both minds.
"Yeah, does to me. Think that's the one thing kept me from signin' on with you. Just took you two years to come to the same idea I already had then."
"Well, you'll always be two years an' more ahead of me, cousin. An' remember, I had a bigger aim when I enlisted. To save my pay for our horse ranch. Between that an' what you wired me, did pretty well, too."
"Yeah, bankers. Got a game goin' not even Hilde can best 'em at."
Curry gave a sarcastic chuckle. "I can't get a loan for a few acres of land in all Wyoming Territory, but my boss the cattle baron? Tssh." He shook his head. "They bow to him handin' over greenbacks. Ain't fair for the common man."
"Yeah, the common man. We've known a few of 'em over our lives..."
Curry lifted his head to the aromas from the kitchen. I'll test ya tomorrow on nitro. Let's see what Jenny's got goin' for supper!"
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"What?" Heyes looked up at Curry who suddenly stood at the poker table after opening the telegraph handed him by the messenger, worry on his face. "What is it?"
..._ _ ... _ _..._ _ ... _ _..._ _ ... _ _..._ _
Date: October 22, 1877
Sent From: Little Wolf Gorge, Wyoming Territory
Received At: Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory
To: J Curry, Blacky's Saloon
Court date moved to 9 AM October 25.
See me when you arrive town.
T. Paulson
..._ _ ... _ _..._ _ ... _ _..._ _ ... _ _..._ _
"I gotta leave on the afternoon train tomorrow." He handed the paper to Heyes and put on his hat while turning to leave. "Gotta buy a ticket and telegraph Paulson."
"Wait, now, hold on! You ain't goin' alone, I'm standin' with you in court." Heyes stood, smiling confidently, and slapped Curry's shoulder. "We need us a couple train tickets. C'mon!"
Next afternoon, they jumped off the cabriolet in front of the train depot and kissed Jenny goodbye.
"Will you be here for Christmas?"
"Jeddie for sure. I'll do all I can to make it back."
Jenny's gloved hand reached toward Curry, her wrist flicking. "You'll do fine in court, sweetie, I know it!"
Curry gave her a half smile. "Thanks," he said shyly.
"Bye now, boys!" She waved as Jasper clucked to the horse and they drove off.
"She's right, ya know. Don't look so downcast."
"Heyes, I got a bad feelin' about this."
Heyes rolled his eyes. "Don't start that again, alright?"
Curry was up half the night going on about his "bad feelin'" and Heyes was unable to convince him it was only the pre-court jitters.
"Let's just get to Little Wolf Gorge and hear what Paulson has to say about the change in date, alright? No sense makin' up things outa worry an' unknowns." He pushed Curry with his body and headed them toward the tracks.
The ride, mostly in the dark, was uneventful, not even a poker game to get in on, so they sat together talking intermittently, Curry mostly looking into the blackness of the window.
They grabbed a few hours sleep at the Acme upon arriving in Little Wolf Gorge, ate an early breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and headed straight to Paulson's office.
"Come in, gentlemen. You seem to be healed up well, Jedediah, your time in Cheyenne did you good."
Curry gave a weak smile. Heyes, wearing the wire spectacles he won off a shoemaker in a poker game at Blacky's, pushed them up as he nodded to Paulson.
"Sit, please." Paulson gestured to the chairs. "You're wondering why the change in date. Well, Judge Horas suffered a broken leg and arm after being thrown from his horse. So your case will be heard by Judge Fletcher from Albany County."
"You know him?" Blue eyes looked up with apprehension.
"I do, Jedediah. I wish you were going up against Judge Horas. Judge Fletcher is known to be harsh at times with penalties, but overall I'd say he's a fair judge."
"Fair as in middlin'? Or fair as in understandin' a case and the accused?" Heyes asked for clarification.
"Fair as in handing the guilty a just ruling."
Curry gave Heyes his "bad feelin'" face.
"So, let's review the case to be ready for Judge Fletcher in the morning."
Throughout the remainder of the day, Heyes was kept busy dashing Curry's specters and trying to boost his morale. At night, he sat on the edge of Curry's bed for three hours trying to get his cousin to see reason, but the feeling never abated. Curry fell into a fitful sleep.
Heyes didn't sleep any better. Despite all his reason and logic used on Curry, he knew his cousin well. His bad feelings were not to be dismissed out of hand. In fact, they were damn well prescient.
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Heyes was shaving early next morning when the hotel door opened and Curry entered with a newspaper in hand. Heyes nodded at him through the mirror.
"Last night's?"
"Uh-huh." The toothy grin was unexpected. "You might want to take a look at this, Heyes." He pointed to the third column on the first page. Heyes picked it up, his eyes opening wide and his mouth agape.
Curry slapped him on the back. "Congratulations on being the new leader of the infamous Devil's Hole Gang!"
Heyes read out loud. "Buffalo. October 23. Reports today of the capture of James "Big Jim" Santana, leader of the notorious Devil's Hole Gang by U.S. Marshals and a posse of twenty-four after a harrowing and jeopardous chase through three counties and over a span of eighteen days."
Heyes couldn't suppress the smile.
Curry laughed. "Don't show him too much sympathy, Heyes, you might not get the gang to break him out!"
"Yeah... break him out..."
"You are goin' to break him out, aren't ya?"
"That depends on a few things. First is to get to him and see he's not been roughed up. And see if he's wantin' to break free. Then there's the men to talk it over with and see if breakin' him out ain't too much danger they'll go for it an' that's dependin' on where they got him locked up and then..." Heyes was thinking through the process out loud, his pointer finger on the job as he paced the room, shaving cream still covering half his face.
"Why wouldn't he want to be busted out?"
Heyes snapped out of his reverie and turned to Curry. "Huh? Oh, well, just a few things Jim said to me recently make me think he's wantin' a change."
"Prison's a change."
"That is is, my friend. And some changes have a bigger price than others."
"I 'spose. He'd really have to want it bad."
"Yeah. And it would depend on how long they give him, so nothin' might be done til after his trial..." He slapped the folded newspaper across his left hand.
"But first things first, see how he's doin'. And the gang might've done that already. I'll know more when I get back to Devil's Hole after you're exonerated today."
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"SIXTY DAYS!" The judge's gavel pounded on the wooden table.
"Your honor..."
"No more equivocation, Mister Paulson!"
"And you!" Judge Fletcher pointed the gavel at Curry.
"I've seen your kind come before me time and again. Vagabonds! Worthless drifters! With no regard for civil society and the proper manner of engaging with law abiding citizens. Self-aggrandizing men with regard for themselves alone and their greedy gains. Show boaters who use lethal weapons as frivolous play things wreaking havoc on the people and private property.
"And you are the worst kind, Mister Curry! Your wanton need for notoriety cost Midwest Railroad valuable time building a railway that will benefit the entire Territory of Wyoming and all her law-abiding citizens and bring civilization to this untamed land. I suggest you spend your time in Sheriff Nash's jail thinking how you can better yourself for the day you are released back into society, if you don't want to end up in the Wyoming Territorial Prison next time you come before me!"
"Your Honor, my nephew acted in self defense! And in defense of two innocent men, men of good standing in civil society. You ain't even heard about the beatin' them bulls did my nephew day after..."
Bam! Bam! Bam! The gavel sounded on the table.
"Silence, Mister Curry! Any more from you and I will charge you with contempt of court! You can join your nephew in his first night in jail." He pointed the gavel from Heyes to Sheriff Nash.
"Sheriff, take away the prisoner!"
Standing before the judge's bench, Curry looked back to Heyes and Paulson, his mouth open in shock. His arms were pulled behind him and he felt the cold metal of handcuffs clamp around his wrists. He looked again to Heyes and shaking his head, spoke to him quietly.
"I didn't do nothin' wrong."
"NINETY DAYS!" BAM! "One more word, Mister Curry, and it will be thirty more!"
"Sheriff, I expect the prisoner to be jailed under full security, meaning in a locked jail cell. I've heard enough about your lax methods of enforcement all the way to Carbon County!" Fletcher set the gavel on the table loudly with an air of finality.
Nash straightened before the judge and looked down on him. "I was elected by the citizens of this county to ensure their safety from any and all threats. My duty is to them and to the Constitution. Don't think to give me orders in doing my job." He took Curry's arm and turned him to leave, then glanced back adding defiantly, "Your Honor."
Heyes stood before his chair, head tilted slightly back and to one side, a look of recognition on his face as he studied the judge glaring back at him.
Fletcher broke eye contact. "Next case!"
Heyes donned his hat with slow and deliberate motion and turned to follow his cousin to the Little Wolf Gorge jail.
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"Sorry 'bout the other thirty days, Jeddie." Heyes held onto the cell bars in front of Curry who leaned his head against them.
"I ain't gonna fault you for defendin' me, Hannie. How could you know the judge was liable to go off like that?"
"Yeah, 'fair judge' my Black Irish ass."
Curry managed a wan smile. "Ninety days ain't so bad. Least I won't freeze to death chasin' down strays." He slapped the cross beam. "If I had a job to go back to."
Heyes leaned in close and spoke in a whisper. "You want to serve your time, I support ya. Want to get free..." Brown eyes searched blue.
Curry thought over the proposal just made, his eyes sparkling at the possibilities of revenge and freedom. Then, his shoulders slumped.
"Like I said, ninety days ain't so bad. An' the food's good."
Heyes showed his dimples for encouragement, but his eyes held concern, a look Curry understood well.
"Hannie, listen. If the charge was bigger I might take you up on it. But doin' jail time 'cause of a miserable excuse for a judge, well, it don't change what I done into somethin' more. An' it sure don't change me into somethin' I ain't."
Heyes patted Curry's hand on the bar. "Jeddie, you're the most noble man I've ever known."
A surge of pride ran through Curry's chest. "I'll write ya at Jenny's if there's somethin' to say."
"You can expect mine here." He'd said all there was to say before parting, yet Heyes remained in place at the cell door.
Curry smiled knowing what his cousin was thinking and feeling. He extended his right arm between the bars. Heyes took his hand and warmly gave him the two-handed shake.
"See ya in three months, Hannie!"
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He marked the days on the calendar given him by Deputy Griggs. Their games of diversion were still played each day, though now through the bars of his locked cell. Even a miserable judge from a neighboring county can have a detrimental effect on the reputation of an elected sheriff. Curry didn't mind.
He also read the newspaper every day after Nash and Griggs were finished with it, not only the Cheyenne Daily Leader but papers from all over. The Midwest conductor, being a friend of Nash, gathered the newspapers discarded by passengers and put them in the US Mail bag for the town jail.
He'd written one letter to Heyes, not having anything worthy of writing but just for the connection it made with his cousin. Jail time made him realize he missed Heyes more than he missed freedom.
Winter of '77 blasted in with Arctic cold and snow that nearly brought the town to a standstill, so the letter from Heyes that Griggs handed him through the cell door that December day was very welcome. It wasn't the kind of letter he expected to read.
Dear Jeddie,
Out on patrol with the men and made some discoveries. Our friend from Albany County is now the owner of a fine piece of land just a section and a half east of the new line north, perfect for a horse ranch. He's bucking for the territorial supreme court and his fellow shareholders of Midwest Railroad are backing him in thanks for his legal help getting land for their line north.
He had help from his nephew, our favorite solicitor. Paid him a visit and he kindly refunded your fees in total, cash to me instead of hassling through the sheriff. He's left for St. Louis and his fiance but not before I relayed your wishes for his future. The black eye ought to be near gone before the wedding.
It is pretty likely I will not see you at Christmas, I am sorry to say. We have missed only a few over the years and it is never easy for us.
I am missing my nephew and plan to be in town before your release day. We will have our talks again.
Your uncle,
Eoin
That explained a lot, but not everything, he realized, as he paced the cell. I'm gettin' like Hannie, havin' to walk to think!
Just didn't add up, yet. Maybe Hannie will have more when he gets here.
One blistering cold January day in 1878, he made his own contribution to the mystery.
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Heyes opened the letter hand delivered by Lom Trevors in the Harristown saloon. Two pieces of newspaper that Curry had torn from the Denver Gazette were all the envelope contained. He read the larger scrap.
"Professor Hilliard of the Compton Institute, Undermanager of the Merchants Bank of Denver, highly regarded authority on time locks and the transformative processes of steelmaking, and formerly of some of the finer bank establishments in the east, confers high praise on the Pierce and Hamilton 1878 safe for its imperviousness to the machinations of the most diabolical mind in penetrating its inner sanctum. Says the eminent professor: "I personally guarantee the Pierce and Hamilton 1878 to be of the utmost sturdy construction in its protective steel shell, its internal reinforcements, and the time lock mechanism to make it the only safe a financier should consider. My technological and banking experience allows me to make this assurance to the good people of Denver who place their trust and money in the Merchants Bank that the Pierce and Hamilton 1878 safe is without doubt imperviable to thieves and bank robbers. I stake that claim with my high reputation in the Merchants Bank of Denver and a proffer of $5,000.00 to the ne'er-do-well who can circumvent the precautions and the robustness of the Pierce and Hamilton 1878.""
The second was an advertisement, a graphic showing a stuffy, pompous man identified as 'Professor Hilliard of the Merchants Bank' and beneath, a graphic of the Pierce and Hamilton 1878 safe captioned with 'Imperviable to Thieves'.
But it was Curry's own handwriting above the pompous man that explained it all.
"Herbert Wimbach".
Brown eyes darkened to black.
Lom spoke to Heyes's back. "I'll be headin' back to Porterville for the rest of winter. Got a reply?"
"Yeah, I got a reply. But I'll deliver it in person."
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