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Late Autumn, 1874
"It ain't any different than what we were doin' three years ago, Jeddie. We each went our separate way by agreement, didn't we? An' we made plans to meet up regular an' we did."
Curry looked down at his boots while his cousin tried reasoning with him, but he didn't like the outcome Heyes was headed for. They stood in the backyard of Blacky's, leaning on the paddock fence.
Curry's face suddenly met his cousin's, blues eyes locked on brown. "Last time we split, you got in gangs, Hannie. And that's dangerous. You say I'm gonna be safer bein' a drover, livin' a life away from the world, and then you go to Devil's Hole!"
"I can't explain it, Jeddie, it's just somethin' I gotta do right now. I'm so good at it! Can I help it if I've found what I'm good at?"
"And I ain't any good at the fast draw? Why am I hidin' it an' you're flauntin' it?"
"Can't really make them equal, Jeddie. I won't get called out to crack a safe, will I? And if I did, well?"
"Is that all I am, a fast draw? I can do more, you know, Heyes."
"I know that, Jeddie. Of everyone in the world, I know just what you got to offer."
Curry walked to the big oak tree, leaning his back against the other side. "It ain't fair. That's all."
Heyes followed and put his hand against the tree. "No, it ain't fair. But we got choices, Jeddie. We can let the world know there's a fast gun in town and see how long you live, or watch your heart dry up from the notches on your Colt. Or you can be with regular folks an' earn a living, save some money, maybe we'll get that horse ranch some day. You still got that dream, don't you?"
Curry responded with that look he shared with his cousin, head back with one eye squinted shut and the other narrowed and directed at his target. "How'd this get turned around to just me an' not about you breakin' our agreement?"
Heyes set a smile and blinked both eyes at Curry. That earned him a scowl. Truth was, Heyes felt a little guilty for that, his cousin is a grown man and deserves a straight up answer.
"Alright. Alright." Heyes wiped his hand across his mouth. "Well, we could flip a coin."
"I win, we do what we planned. Sign back on with Mr. Jackson."
"And Christmas at Jenny's."
"And then the Chisholm Trail in spring like we planned."
Heyes fingered a coin in his shirt pocket, his dimples coming out to play. He held up the coin.
Skepticism was all over Curry's pouting face. He inspected the coin thoroughly and agreed.
Heyes set Hildy's dollar on his hand, his brown eyes sparkling and dimples dancing. "Call it."
"Heads."
Heyes snatched the coin and slapped it on the back of his left hand, confidence written all over his face.
Curry looked down his nose as Heyes revealed the coin. "Heads. We sign on with Mr. Jackson and work the Chisholm Trail in spring."
Eyes and mouth opened wide, Heyes looked with disbelief from his cousin to the coin, and then he shrugged. A pang of guilt ran through his chest for what he'd done, thinking he would trick his cousin into going along with his idea. And when he thought about it, he was glad of the outcome, really.
No, this isn't why Hildy taught him the trick.
Sorry, Da. Sorry, Uncle Dan. He'd remember the lesson from then on: the infallible coin toss is to be used for his cousin's welfare and to avoid hard feelings between them.
So the Boys said their good-byes to Jenny, Billy, Harry, and Hildy, Heyes kissed Brigid deeply, and they headed to Texas.
They were greeted warmly by the men who had enjoyed their company earlier that year. Wes Harken brought it up, but Heyes declined offers of a partnership with him. He could see that Leo would want in soon, and family always trumps partnerships.
Curry and Leo bonded naturally. Though Leo had two years on him, they had the big-brother relationship with Heyes and Wes that gave them much to empathize about. They took every chance to ride into Comanche and hit the saloons, drinking and poker playing the day and evening away, scuffling with drovers from other ranches, sharing a room at the cheapest hotel when even the mere thought of a ride back to the ranch sent excruciating pain throughout their alcohol saturated heads. The two did manage to stay out of jail, neither wanting to face the double wrath of Heyes and Wes.
Neither was inclined to take a 'lady' upstairs, both aware of the sort of life the poor women led and the thought of further degradation with currency for 'services' only reinforced their compassion. And having done three years in the cavalry, Curry was all too familiar with the incurable diseases rampant in prostitution. He'd been around seasoned soldiers mustered out, losing their minds and their sight after visits to the camp followers that surrounded every fort. It was frightening enough to trust everything the fort doctors had warned troopers about.
Curry was challenged to a fast draw at the poker table only once. That's all it took for his reputation to precede him after the one demonstration. The locals couldn't imagine anyone besting him, he was that fast!
But there was the odd outsider who thought he knew more than the locals. Curry developed a routine to deflate the few who did challenge him, offering to demonstrate his abilities so the man could save face backing down. He'd show him "the gun that shoots two bullets", a skill he invented and perfected in the long, lonely, and boring hours out on the range. Tossing one bullet into the air, drawing his pistol, and with his innate dead eye, shooting the bullet to explode above the challenger's head. The challenge was always withdrawn, drinks were ordered all around, backs slapped and friends made.
Heyes was glad their time in the Comanche region would be over come spring, not only to be leaving cattle behind forever, but to keep moving so as to avoid a notoriety attached to his cousin and Comanche.
Heyes noted the cockiness in his younger cousin since palling up with Leo and that could mean trouble down the line. Wasn't for his skill with a pistol that Curry walked the walk, it was just an attitude that developed as Curry was maturing into adulthood, coming out of the shell he'd lived in pretty much all his life. Heyes had to admit he had contributed to that attitude, himself being strong on the cocky side as a way of nature and wanting his cousin to be more assertive. Maybe too much was rubbing off on Curry. His paternal instincts kicked in. He'd have to keep a close watch on his little cousin.
He and Wes often accompanied their younger halves to the Comanche saloons, Heyes honing his poker skills learned from Hildy, enjoying the friendly company of Curry now they were both adults out in the world together. As much as Curry was fast on the draw, Heyes was fast on the mind, always steps ahead of the others in whatever game he chose. If he didn't have his cousin to mind, he might have ended up his life gambling across the land, facing fast draw challenges, fistfights, beatings, and an early death. For, like his cousin, he had the kind of sweet, vulnerable face that drew the ire of sore losers everywhere.
Evenings, Heyes would often take to himself, whether on the range or in the line shake, and pencil a few words to Brigid, telling of their work, the happenings in town, and how much he missed her. His heart seemed to be in two places at once.
He was there in the Comanche saloon the day Curry met the challenge and true to his word, he turned his face between the contestants and closed his eyes just before. Curry was not insulted, he knew his cousin was there for him, as he always would be.
Christmas at Jenny's was the best they'd had since they were boys at home in Kansas! Curry watched as Heyes and Brigid grew closer. There was no threat to him that he could sense, Brigid seemed to accept that he'd always be with Heyes, the man she loved.
"You love her, don't you?" They sat on their bed, Curry leaning against the headboard and Heyes against the footboard, a pile of cards between them.
"Don't know, honestly. I think about you an' Miss Katie..." A glance to see how that was received. "... an' try to put me in that situation. And when I do..."
Curry picked up the cards and dealt Heyes a hand of Black Jack, waiting for Heyes to gather his thoughts.
The cards were picked up automatically as Heyes continued. "I don't think I'm far along as you were, Jeddie, I don't. No plans to propose, anyway. Maybe I do love her, but maybe there's different kinds of love, or levels of love."
"You got to give it more time, be with her more to know your mind?"
Heyes's brown eyes raised from his cards to lock on his cousin's blue eyes. "Not fair you knowin' me so well." He's ahead of me in the game of love...
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1875
Once the holidays were over and the Chinook winds began to warm the land, the Boys left Wyoming for Texas and the Rocking J Ranch.
They had finished their day of tending to cows and new-born calves and were washing at the outdoor pump by the line shack. Curry knew it was coming. He'd seen the signs in Heyes, heard the sighs as he looked across to the horizon, the wrinkled nose as he gazed on cattle first thing in the morning, the forced smiles. He wasn't at all surprised when Heyes brought it up, but he wasn't pleased, either. He was sort of scared.
"Newspapers say there's a new leader in Devil's Hole."
"Oh?"
"Name's Santana. They say he runs a different kind of outfit, doesn't allow shooting except when it's needed."
"How does anyone know exactly when it's not needed?"
"Meaning, there's no plan to take out anyone and them with the reputation ain't wanted in the gang."
Now, Curry knew that information couldn't have come from a newspaper. He had seen his cousin talking with men in the Comanche saloons whose clothing and demeanor showed them to be outside the law. He didn't ask, and Heyes didn't offer. Curry knew his cousin was going to leave him again. He sat on the water trough, wiping the cold, wet bandanna over the back on his neck. He waited for Heyes to finish.
"Kid, I know we made a deal, but I'm telling ya, I can't take cattle anymore! I swear if I spend another week looking at those arses I'm going to ride into town and shoot all the windows out! I tell ya I can't do it no more."
Curry sighed. "I know. Been expecting this day would come before the trail drive." He looked up at his cousin. "What's your plan?"
That caught Heyes off guard. "Well, I thought... Thought you'd give me a hard time... Thought we'd... Really?"
A wry smile from the blue eyed cowboy. "Left the silver tongue out on the range today?"
"Very funny. No, I mean I thought we'd flip a coin. Seems the only fair way."
A pout. "Whose coin?"
"Your coin. Your toss."
Curry, his eyes narrowed in that skeptical look, held his gaze on his cousin's face while he withdrew a coin from his inside vest pocket. "I win, we stay with the Rocking J, you win, it's Devil's Hole."
"Now wait a minute, here." Heyes drew up straight and pointed at Curry's nose. "We gotta get this straight between us. You are not goin' to Devil's Hole with me. Not now. Not ever."
"Santana's leader, not Hannibal Heyes."
"I ain't takin' you to Devil's Hole, Jeddie. Not ever."
Curry saw the solid determination in his cousin's eyes and knew it was a losing battle, knew if he pretended to go along with Heyes and instead, followed him to Devil's Hole and offered his services, Heyes would saddle up and ride out. And this Santana leader, well, he could only hope the odds were better for Heyes with Santana than with other gangs whose violence was well known. Still, Curry was getting that feeling of loss that dogs an orphan throughout his life.
"You want us to separate? Again?"
"We'll keep in touch just like before, kid. And who says you gotta stay in Texas? Come to Wyoming and find work. We can be real close. And close to Jenny's. It's the best of both worlds, for us both."
Curry couldn't hide the sadness in his eyes as he tossed the coin in the air. "Call it."
"Tails." Heyes grinned at his good fortune, but let it drop seeing his cousin's face. He slapped Curry's shoulder. "It'll all work out, Jeddie, I promise." A few nods of the wavy haired head.
They settled with Mr. Jackson and shook hands with Wes and Leo, bidding them farewell with no set promises to return. Heyes vowed to Curry he'd followed his very last cow arse across the land!
The Boys headed to Jenny's for a respite, no need for a coin toss on that! They rode into Cheyenne on a late afternoon in a cold downpour, having been soaked for hours, anxious to get out of the saddle and into Jenny's warm, welcoming parlor. They came up the back way, stabled their horses and walked triumphantly through the back door, stomping boots, shaking off rain ponchos, and boisterously announcing their presence.
"Jenny! Brigid!" The entire building seemed to be empty. "Harry! Billy!" They looked at each other, wondering. Footsteps in the upstairs hallway, then coming down the stairs.
It was Jenny. Her pretty face was puffy from much crying and she seemed in a stupor.
"Jenny. Hey, Jenny, what's wrong?" Heyes reached out for her.
"Oh, Hannibal. Hannibal." She couldn't say more.
Heyes held his arms tightly around her shoulders until her shaking subsided. "Tell me, Jenny."
"Oh, Hannibal. Brigid... she's gone." Tears fell freely.
"Gone? Jenny, what are you saying?"
"Cholera, Hannibal. It went through town, first Harry then Billy. They made it through and we all thought it was over, over and gone! "But Brigid, she..." Jenny had to wipe her face before continuing. "We just buried her three hours ago. Oh, Hannibal, I am so sorry for you!"
"Buried her?" Heyes was fighting to retain sanity. "Where?" Jenny cried into her handkerchief. "WHERE?"
Curry watched as Heyes gripped Jenny's arms tighter and tighter until he worried she would be hurt.
"JENNY! WHERE?"
"The Catholic cemetery, north of town. Oh, Hannibal!"
Heyes tore away from Jenny, swaying as if he didn't know what to do or which way to turn. Suddenly, he straightened and bolted past Curry, grabbed his wet poncho and sped out the back door.
Curry was immobilized with shock. He stared at Jenny sobbing into her handkerchief. He looked back to see Heyes running into the stable. He felt completely and utterly left alone.
He reached for the only person near him. "Jenny..."
She turned away crying harder, the sound of hoof beats competing with her sobs, Heyes galloping away on bareback.
His blue eyes confused and frightened, Curry's arm dropped as he leaned against the parlor door frame. He turned and ran to the stable to follow his cousin.
Heyes knelt at the grave site, the freshly over-turned soil saturated, his head hanging, hands in the mud and body shaking with sobs and shock. That is how Curry came on him.
"Hannie." He knelt in the mud beside his cousin, rain pelting them, running in rivers from their hat brims. Curry leaned into Heyes, his own body shaking with sobs and cold. He'd let his cousin decide when to leave.
Heyes felt the warmth on his side and knew his cousin was with him. The dark hat slowly raised and caring brown eyes looked on Curry shaking beside him, his clothing saturated. Muddy hands pulled from the grave, he wiped them on the wet grass.
"You better get out of this rain before you catch cold. Here, clean your hands."
Curry did as told, then looked up into his cousin's face. And he saw the strength in him that must have been there that night. He couldn't stop his lower lip from quivering. Kind, dark brown eyes looked down on him with understanding.
Heyes took a firm grip on Curry's upper arm and lifted.
"C'mon."
They rode double, both under Heyes's poncho and Curry leading his horse, Heyes feeling the uncontrollable shivers the entire way back to Jenny's.
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The pain on his cousin's face cut Curry to the bone. Since they'd returned, Heyes spent too much time at the dark corner table, picking at the meals Harry put before him, preferring the bottle of whiskey, seldom replying to anyone who attempted to reach him, letting the din of Jenny's busy gambling hall dull his senses, his silver tongue stymied by the death of a loving woman. Once, Curry thought he heard a stammer come from his cousin and a cold knife cut into him. He didn't want to go back to that time.
He didn't know how to pick up his elder cousin and carry him from the darkness he'd mired himself in. It was always himself who was picked up by his big cousin. And the more the grippe settled in his chest, the coughs interrupted his thoughtful words of encouragement, the sweat covered his entire body, the aches permeated every bone, the more he worried he'd never get his cousin back.
He turned his head away from Heyes and rose from the table. "I'll see to the horses and then we can have a bite together, huh?" Hoping any little hope given would be a life line grabbed. The black hat barely moved in a nod.
Curry walked, more stumbled out the back door and into the stable, calling the horses through the back doors, filling the mangers with oats, patting the horses and speaking soft words of comfort to settle them for the night. He leaned into Heyes's horse, deep hacking coughs shaking his entire body.
Clouds obscured the night sky as he crossed the yard toward the kitchen door. He raised his head to find a star and the cloudy sky began to spin and his strength was gone. He collapsed onto the wet grass, curling up like a baby.
It was almost an hour after Curry had left his side before the feeling hit Heyes. Where is he? The last words of his cousin sank in and he went looking for him. Should've been back by now...
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"That was some fright you gave us, sweetie!" Jenny burst in carrying a tray of breakfast for Curry sitting up in bed. "Didn't know if we'd pull you through or not!" She set the tray across his covered lap and ran her fingers affectionately through his wavy hair.
"Really?" Curry looked from Jenny to Heyes. "I was that sick?"
"We had to carry you down to the spring house to break your fever." Heyes sat on the edge of the bed facing Curry, thoughts of that night coming back.
Again and again, he wet the woolen blanket covering his cousin's body with cool water from the spring beneath the floorboards.
"Uncle Mike?" Heyes looked into the big blue eyes.
"I can't find Hannie an' I think the Badmen got him."
"Hush, Jeddie. We are all safe here, even Hannie."
"Oh... Will you tell Hannie I wanna play an' I'm sorry he got a bee in his britches 'cause what I said an' came home?"
He brushed curls from the damp forehead and wiped the baby face with a cool cloth.
"Ah, Hannie isn't sore, Jeddie. He's doin' chores an' he'll be here soon. You stay with me til he's done."
"I love you, Uncle Mike."
"Uncle Mike loves Baby Jeddie. Always and forever, mo mhac."
Heyes picked up a piece of bacon from the plate. "It was a long night."
"Guess I was really out. Don't remember anything from the time I fell in bed." Heyes and Jenny exchanged smiles. Curry picked up the fork and started in. "Feels like I haven't eaten in days!"
"You haven't, kid! Been out three days!" Heyes reached for a sausage pattie, this time getting a poke of Curry's fork.
"He's been right with you the entire time, sweetie, you should know. Never left your side." Jenny turned back from the door. "Leave him some, Hannibal. I'll be right back with yours."
Curry's cheeks filled as he stopped chewing and stared at Heyes, "Thanks" the unspoken sentiment.
Heyes flashed his dimples and shrugged. Blue eyes held their gaze.
After all he's been through this week... an' he still does for me.
"Hannie, you're the strongest man I'll ever know."
It was something Curry wanted his cousin and best friend to know and just seemed to flow out naturally. Seemed like Curry was often the recipient of his cousin's praise and though he often had difficulty expressing himself, being a natural introvert, he was learning from Heyes, probably more than Heyes realized. He was glad he'd let his cousin know his feelings.
Heyes set his eyes on Curry's, his smile unchanging, but his eyes... Curry saw the pride in them and he felt honored for that. He smiled back with equal pride.
"Here you are, sweetie." Jenny walked in and handed Heyes a kitchen towel to hold the hot plate filled with breakfast foods.
She leaned over, pulled Curry to her bosom and planted a kiss on his head. Curry blushed.
Heyes's grin lingered. I hope he never outgrows his country boy shyness!
Blue eyes narrowed. Something about Heyes's grin made Curry suspicious. "What?"
"What?" Heyes put on his innocent face.
"Now, don't prod him. He's got to rest at least another day!"
Curry pouted. Heyes's dimples deepened as he looked up from his plate at him.
"Yes, Jenny. And I'll bring the plates and tray down." He forked off a large bite of eggs and shouted to her at the door, "Thank you!" while giving Curry a sidelong glance.
"Thank you, Jenny!" came the light voice.
They sat for several minutes eating together and chatting about nothing in particular. Heyes had wiped his plate clean with the last bite of toast when he noticed Curry's hand coming to a halt, his breakfast still a third uneaten. He watched Curry's eyelashes fluttering and his head nodding.
Gently taking the fork from his cousin's hand and moving the tray and plate to the bed table, Heyes felt relief and gratitude for being allowed this favor after almost losing him. He reached for Curry's face, feeling forehead and cheeks.
"Well, you're running a bit of fever yet, kid."
He reached behind Curry's shoulders. "C'mon." He gently pulled him to sit upright and fluffed the pillows. "Now, lie down. You're still sick." He wrung out the cloth in the basin of cool water, wiped face and neck, and set the cloth on Curry's forehead.
The calm, comforting, baritone rambling from one thing to the next was fading into blackness when Curry heard another voice. He sat safely nestled on his mother's lap, enveloped in her loving arms, her kiss on his nose. "Baby Jeddie, who's that coming?" His da stood in the doorway and he ran to him.
"Never seen a more innocent sleeping face." Jenny caressed the baby face. "Not even my Billy." She picked up the plates and tray. "Touch of fever and he's weak yet. He'll be out for hours."
She ran her fingers through Heyes's hair and settled her hand on the back of his neck. "You could use some sleep, Hannibal. He's over the worst and I'll keep watch. Why don't you lie down on my bed and close your eyes for a bit?"
Heyes took her up on it. The comfort and quiet of Jenny's bedroom after his week-long ordeal soon had him drifting off. Jenny covered him with a woolen blanket and she closed the door softly behind her, footsteps heading down the hallway to Room Four.
He pulled the blanket to his chin and curled up tighter on his side, sounds of the day fading away as exhaustion and sleep overtook him. He felt a kiss on his cheek and another pressed down on his head just before he fell into a peaceful sleep.
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Heyes was paddling confidently through the steel tunnel. Been a long time, old friend! He looked back to see cattle arses fading in the distance behind him. He thumbed his nose and turned forward in anticipation of the valley paradise of diamonds, gems, and greenbacks awaiting them straight ahead, calling to Jeddie to be ready to fill his hat and pockets. But Jeddie wasn't paddling in front of him anymore.
"Oh, Jeddie, where did you get to now?"
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mo mhac, Irish, "my son".