Winter's Refuge
Chapter Ninety-Nine
LOM
The third telegram I sent to the Arizona Prison in Yuma got a reply. It was short, just a date and a time, nothing else. There was no explanation why my previous telegrams hadn't been answered. I've been sending a package to Preacher every few weeks, but I'll bring the next one in person. But I'm worried about him. From his letter, he is trying to regain his faith. I know that prison can break a man, destroy what faith he has. It's in a hot, dry desert and the cells are not stacked in buildings, they open to the merciless heat. Preacher doesn't have the Kid's mental strength. I know now that he was married and preached beside his father. But I also know he's a widower with no family left. Easy to get angry at a God that lets that happen. He's always had his own code of ethics. I've seen him separate from the gang for a while. Heyes and Curry told the story of how he was hired to kill someone and when he realized it was them, he saved their lives. But if it hadn't been them, he would have convinced himself that he was drunk and not responsible for his actions…and killed his targets.
This train goes to Yuma prison. I didn't know what to expect when I'm allowed entrance to visit my friend. I was surprised at what I found.
JED 'KID' CURRY
Governor Charles Sanderson was impressed with Phoenix durin' his short stay here. He and Miss Tina went ridin' and lavished praise on all our horses. But Miss Tina's favorite was little Callie, Calliope's Summer. She enjoyed sittin' at the table in back of our house with a hot cup of coffee and watchin' the filly follow her ma, Summer Solstice, around the small corral in front of the stable.
"Jed, do you think in a year or two, Charles and I might purchase little Callie from you? She reminds me so much of my first riding horse many years ago."
I smiled. I really like this lady and Chrissy was right, she enjoyed helpin' us out at the ranch. "Chrissy handles the transactions with the horses, but I'll put in a good word.
They've been gone for a month now and it's quieter. Oliver went to stay with the newlyweds in Three Birds for a week before goin' back to Cheyenne. Aiden was recoverin' slower than his brother liked. Juan and Hortense traveled to Winter's Refuge because his father, Jose, is feelin' poorly.
As soon as the governor was back in Cheyenne, he informed me by telegram of his decision to give two convicts early parole and I was to give them work at the ranch. The state of Wyoming would pay their salaries, but I had to be responsible for them. I understand why he didn't tell me when he was here. I would have said no, refused as I am not a warden. This is not a prison. I said I'd help men goin' for amnesty, not convicted parolees. But he told me there was no way I could give jobs to wanted men going for amnesty. That would be aidin' and abettIn'. But now he's demandin' I take these parolees.
I don't want this extra burden on my shoulders. I take care of my family and I don't always do a very good job of that.
But tellin' me his plan by telegram and that the two men were arrivin' in Bridgeport the next day left me no recourse. I have to do this. Anger at the governor's past behaviors filled my head. How many special jobs did me and Heyes do for him and his predecessors turned out to be for nothin'. And now he knows the timin' is bad. Chrissy is still recoverin' from her trauma in the Three Birds prison. Her pregnancy is advancin'. Auntie took me aside.
"Jed, I firmly believe that in her condition the child feels her emotions, her joy and her fears. And may be born with these emotions. We must do everything we can to make her happy."
"And protected," I added.
"I think she feels safe here." Auntie smiled. "I just want you to know that the baby feels what she feels."
So, now I am worried about what effect these two men might have on her feelin's of safety. Juan, as foreman, would be the one overseein' Declan Vance and Lionel 'Arizona' Isaac on a day-to-day basis. But they were my responsibility. And Chrissy was terrified when I told her they were comin'. She took Joy and retreated to our bedroom and refused to come out.
Juan wasn't happy, but he and Arnie and Glen hurriedly built a second room overnight upstairs in the barn. Arnie and Glen share Juan's old room. They set about writin' out their responsibilities.
Everythin' went wrong quickly. The next mornin', they arrived with Arnie at the ranch from Bridgeport just before I left for Three Birds to talk to the bank president Palmer Robinson.
I planned to demand to see Mr. Robinson to open an account. I had to have enough money to impress him. And I have that and more, but I don't feel safe with it in a bank. They can be robbed so easily. I have the rewards for capturin' Mark, Johnny, Bobby Bell, and Matt McWinters, as well as Tommy Camp in Brown River. Mark's bounty alone was ten thousand dollars. I received all of this in cash. It is hidden in the secret drawer in the floor of the back room of the smithy. The key is hidden in a drawer behind some books in a bookcase. Petty cash is also in there. Me, Heyes, and Chrissy have keys to the first drawer. I also have the bounties that I received for Mean Gene and the outlaws in Devil's Hole. I never opened that envelope. I gave Mr. Crenshaw, the man who was injured helpin' me at Brown River, a thousand dollars of the McWinters' bounties. He needed it to keep his farm.
Now I went into the back room and opened both drawers. I just slid the one under the floor closed but left the other open. I was countin' the money out on the table, so I took exactly the ten thousand of Mark's bounty when the door opened, and Arnie led Declan Vance and Arizona Isaac in. They didn't hear my introduction or anything else that was said in that room. They couldn't take their eyes off the money and the drawer where they thought it had come from.
Arnie knew he'd made a mistake and hurried the men out of there. But they'd seen enough.
ASJ*****ASJ
I put the money I was takin' in my jacket pocket and started to return the rest to the secret drawer in the floor but then had a bad feeling. Instead, I hid an envelope with some receipts in there and a twenty-dollar gold piece. I left one hundred dollars in ones and fives in the drawer they saw open and moved the rest of the bounty money behind a brick that made my forge. No one knows about that one…not even Heyes.
Then I felt guilty for not trustin' these parolees. I don't know anything about them. Maybe they are tryin' for a reformed life.
HEYES
I don't like knowing there are parolees here on the ranch. The idea is something that should have been considered but not jammed in the Kid's face. Chrissy is scared and hiding. He does not need two more people to worry about. Especially when he's trying to stop a bank robbery. If he tells the bank president that he is making a bar splitter for the robbers, it could have a very bad outcome. So, he left for Three Birds today with my new lock in the back of the wagon and was going to get Mark McWinter's bounty from its hiding place. Before this, he's treated all the bounty reward money as if it were poison. I agree with him; there were so many bounty hunters after us that believed in dead rather than alive…and there's still someone out there after the Kid that's already been paid to kill him. That money seems dirty.
I walked down to the blacksmith shop about an hour after he left for Three Birds. The Kid usually wears his gun, but mine is in my bedroom on a high shelf and unloaded. There are small people in our house that might want to touch them. The Kid bought Chrissy a Colt, so she won't have to borrow my gun. My gun gets people in trouble. I don't know where she hides hers. I haven't seen it since the day he gave it to her.
Sitting at the table, I opened the books for the ranch and the blacksmith shop and started a new one for this year's breeding and horse sales. I was going through all the little pieces of paper the Kid leaves in a basket for me, when he remembers. Each one is an order, a sale, or something he left for sale at the mercantile. I'd left the backdoor open for air, when a deep voice said, "Hands up, mister. Turn around slowly."
I did as asked but didn't know the two men standing there. One had a gun pointed right at me. "Declan, the drawer should be right about there." He pointed right at the secret door.
"Open it!" the other man ordered. I didn't know what to do. I should know what to do. Why am I scared? I realized I was starting to go inside my mind.
"I said open the drawer, mister!" The man yelled and the other man he called Declan hit me across the face.
I need to think clearly. What would the Kid do? Well, he'd somehow outdraw them or overpower them. That's not an option for me. The twins are at school, but what if one of the ladies walked in here. I can't let them be hurt. I fumble for the keys on the table. The drawer they're talking about just has petty cash…and the key to another hidden drawer where the Kid keeps the reward money. How did they know about the first secret drawer?
I found the right key, but the second man grabbed my keys and tried each one until the drawer opened. He pulled the money from the drawer. It's a lot of ones and fives. That's odd. We usually have less than twenty dollars, mostly in coins in there to make change.
"A hundred dollars!" The man with the gun threw the money on the table in front of me. "Where's the rest of the money?"
"Don't try and fool us. When we were introduced to the man who owns this ranch this morning, he was counting thousands of dollars in here!" the one called Declan yelled at me.
And my mind starts piecing it together.
"There's a key in here. What does it open? Is there a strongbox in here?"
The gun is right in front of my nose now and I start to shake. I shouldn't shake. I should do something. And think. The Kid knows they saw him. These must be the parolees. The Kid left the hundred dollars there on purpose and the key. He was setting a trap.
"He took the money to town to put it in the bank," I said. Where was Juan? He was supposed to watch them. Or Arnie. I knew Glen was mending fences today. Would they hear if I called out or would one of the ladies respond. I don't want that.
They weren't believing my explanation. I wish I could think fast and find my silver tongue.
"What's this key open, mister? I'll use this gun. I belong to the Iron River Gang. We're not shy about shooting to get what we want."
Declan gave the first man a look I didn't understand. "Arizona, you're Iron River?"
"Proud of it. Going to find them when I leave here. You're welcome to join me. Never like traveling alone."
Their conversation gave me time to think. I slid the first set of keys in my pocket and took the key from the drawer. On my hands and knees, I pretended I wasn't sure where the hidden drawer in the floor was. A man knelt on either side of me. When I found the spot and took the key out of my pocket, I pretended it wouldn't turn. I tried to block Declan with my body.
Arizona grabbed the key with his left hand. As he tried to turn it wrong handed, I made my move. I hit his wrist and grabbed the gun. I used to be able to do that so quickly. Now it felt painfully slow. But I surprised him and won. Pointing the gun at first one and then the other, I backed toward the door.
"Go ahead. Open it. I told you he took all the money to the bank." I was standing in the doorway now. "Don't come forward. Stay where you are." I was proud my voice had a threatening edge to it.
I stepped outside still holding the weapon pointing at them.
"You boys go right ahead and open that hole while you wait for the sheriff. And Declan, from the look you gave your friend, I'm betting you're not thinking too much of the Iron River Gang.
As I slammed the door shut and locked it, I heard Declan say, "I'm from the Irish Boys Gang near Jackson Lake. Ain't got no love for those of the Iron River. Lost a brother and my pa to them in a bank robbery. Then sounds of a fistfight followed and I thought of the open accounting books and the receipts in the basket. That back room was going to need to be put right after all of this.
JED 'KID' CURRY
"I'd like to see the bank president," I told the teller in the nearest cage window. I'm nervous. I shouldn't have taken the order for the bar splitter. I don't want to go back to prison for bank robbery.
"What may I tell him you wish to see him about, Mr. Curry?"
I didn't tell him my name. And now I'm more uncomfortable that he knows me. But I stand tall and don't let it show. For a moment I rested my hand on my gunbelt, but quickly moved it to my side. I don't want him to get the wrong idea.
"I wish to open a bank account."
"I can help you with that."
"I wish to deposit a large sum of money and prefer to speak to the president." I pulled my jacket open so he could see the bundle of bills I had there.
"Of course. Please wait here a minute." He knocked on the office door in the corner, said something to the man inside, and turned to me. "Right this way, Mr. Curry." He closed the door behind me.
Mr. Palmer Robinson stood to greet me. "Mr. Curry."
"Mr. Robinson. Have we met?" I asked, as he gestured to take a seat.
He's in his forties. He looks comfortable in his three-piece suit.
"Everyone in Three Birds knows Jed Curry. You're a hero in this town. I was there that day you carried Jeff Birde and another young man from the burning mercantile. Very heroic, indeed."
I didn't know what to say so sat down and got to business. "Mr. Robinson, I would like to deposit ten thousand dollars in your bank, but I need to know that it's safe."
"This isn't ill-gotten money, is it?"
His question stopped me. People will never forget I robbed banks and railroads…and was very good at it. "No," I stopped myself from sayin' so. I was embarrassed by his accusation. "No," I repeated louder. "It's a bounty I earned at Brown River when I..."
He cut me off. "Of course, when you rid us all Mark McWinters and the Devil's Hole Gang."
"That weren't the Devil's Hole Gang. That was the McWinter's Gang." I don't know why I was so defensive of this. Well, I do. Our Devil's Hole Gang didn't kill people.
"Of course. Ah hem. How much do you plan to make on your first deposit?"
"Ten thousand." I put the money on his desk. Just like any other bank president, he was impressed by the amount. "Well, I do have a request first. Me and Heyes know a lot about safes, and I'd like to see yours to make sure our money is safe."
He looked taken aback but then remembered who he was talkin' to.
"If it will make you feel easier, Mr. Robinson, I'll take my gun out and leave it on your desk."
"Er...yes, please. That might be good."
I could tell he was bein' careful not to insult me. He wanted my deposit. So, I left my Colt on his desk and followed him out of the office. We stopped in front of the safe. It was an older model.
"Heyes could have opened that in less than three minutes. Might take me fifteen. That all the security you got?" I asked.
"Well, I could hire a security guard?"
"I expected this and would like to propose a solution. I need to get it from my wagon. Would you consider it?" I asked. This was a turnin' point in my plan. If he said no, my plan would fail. He studied me for a moment. I looked back and tried not to use my outlaw stare on him. I didn't want him to feel threatened.
"Let's see what you got."
HEYES
Thankfully, I could see Ken on the porch and waved to him. Then, I waved toward the back of Juan that I could just barely see at the far side of the stable. He understood and yelled to Juan, who called to Arnie and the three men made their way, at Ken's slower pace, to the blacksmith shop. As they got closer, I knew they heard the ruckus coming from the back room of the smithy.
"That door locked, Heyes?" asked Ken. "Who's in there?"
I looked at them.
"Oh no!" said Arnie. "It's those parolees, isn't it? They tried for the money?"
I nodded. Juan and Ken looked at him.
"What money?" demanded Ken.
"It's my fault," Arnie said. "When I brought them here this morning, I stopped at the smithy to introduce them to Jed. Smithy wasn't opened yet, but the back door was. And there was all this money on the table and in a small drawer."
"What money?" demanded Ken, looking at me.
Internally, I panicked. I didn't want them to know where the money came from. I concentrated on keeping my thoughts private. "The Kid's been keeping the profits here. He went to put it in the bank today," I explained.
"There was sure a lot of money there," Arnie commented.
I changed the topic from money. "Well, they got a gun from somewhere."
Juan looked at the stables. "Left my gun in my old room in the barn. I prefer my knives."
"We did walk by that room on our tour," Arnie said. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'll tell Jed…er, Mr. Curry it's my fault."
The noise of a body hitting the door…hard, broke into our conversation.
"They're fighting?" Ken asked, as we all looked at the building.
"Seems like the governor, or whoever, that chose them didn't ask about the gangs they rode with." A loud noise came from the back room. "I pointed that out and ended up with the gun." I handed the gun to Juan, who confirmed it was his. "But the question is, what do we do with them? Sheriff Birde is campaigning with his brothers. And after the disaster with his last temporary deputy, he didn't leave anyone in that capacity. We can send him a telegram and he will return, if we need him."
"Give me that gun," Ken said firmly.
He used it to bang on the door. When it got quiet inside, he said, "I am a US Marshal. You are both under arrest for attempted theft. I have Hannibal Heyes' testimony to what occurred. Do you wish to admit your guilt?"
There was silence.
"It was all Arizona's idea. He found the gun."
"Declan's idea to come here and steal the money…and for what, a hundred dollars and coins?"
We heard the coins hit the door.
Ken stepped back so the captured men could not hear. "Arnie, ride into Three Birds. Send a telegram to the US Marshals office in Bridgeport. I'll write it out for you. They can have men here tomorrow…maybe tonight to take these men."
Juan and I waited there. Arnie brought a chair for Ken to sit on before he rode to town. "What do we do now?" I asked Ken.
"We wait."
JED 'KID' CURRY
Thankfully, Mr. Robinson was curious about what I was gonna do to upgrade their security. When he saw the lock, he laughed. "How's something that little and simple going to stop a bank robbery?"
"Here's the keys. Try and open it. At Heyes suggestion, I had put three keys on the ring, the two real ones and a fake decoy.
And he did try. And tried again and again. I got bored watchin' him play with it like a new toy and explained how it fit in an inner door I'd made and could withstand dynamite.
Finally, he threw the keys on his desk. "I give up. Does it even open?" he said discouraged.
I took the keys and, not lettin' him see my first step, quickly did steps two and three and it popped open with a nice 'snap.'
He smiled. "Impressive. How much? How long do you need to install it?"
"Twenty-five dollars and I can install it right now, if you want. Just don't want your whole staff lookin' over my shoulder."
"Done."
An hour later, lock installed and money deposited, I ran into Arnie Weber leavin' the telegraph office as I left the bank. I listened in horror at what happened at the ranch. Hours, it had only taken them only hours to break their parole and attempt to rob us. Arnie got an answer to his telegram as we were talkin'. Three US Marshals would be at the ranch by six tonight.
Turnin' up Curry Road, I saw Heyes, Ken, and Juan all sittin' in a semi-circle outside the back of the smithy, each with their gunbelt and gun. It worried me that Heyes and Juan were armed. Neither had shot a gun in a long time. On the porch, Chrissy and Auntie were in the rockin' chairs and I could tell they each had a gun on their lap. While I was happy Chrissy was out of our room, her gun worried me.
HEYES
Breathing a sigh of relief to see my cousin, I stood to greet him, but didn't take my eyes off of the backdoor to the shop. The pounding had risen in volume as the two trapped parolees tried to break through the door. They were getting close.
With a nod, the Kid took his gunfighter's stance in line with the door. I knew what he wanted. Without a word, I unlocked the door and opened it quickly. One man fell through. The other jumped over him, prepared to run for freedom. And looked right into the gun of my partner.
"Both of you just stay right there," the Kid ordered. "Don't think you heard my name clearly when we were introduced earlier. It's Jed Curry, but my cousin there calls me Kid."
Both men looked at him and then at his gun. Declan gulped nervously. "KID Curry!"
"Get over there.. Arnie, get some rope and tie their ankles for now. Ken, keep your gun on them."
I stood next to my cousin as he stepped into the mess in the back room. The fighting had broken the table, both chairs and the small bed back in there. Both hidden drawers that I had opened were torn out and everything on the bookcase was thrown about. They must have been looking for more secret cavities.
"You have another hiding place I don't know about?" I nudged my cousin's shoulder.
"Yeah, didn't think I'd ever have to use it. Guess the money will have to stay in there until this gets rebuilt. Show you later." He looked at the splinters out of the back door and sighed before striding out of there with a purpose.
"You two get over here," he ordered Declan Vance and "Arizona" Isaac.
"Yes, sir," the two men answered. The Kid didn't object to the word.
"Marshals are comin' for you tonight. Right now, get in there and start pullin' everything out of there and onto the grass. When you finish that, you'll start buildin' some furniture…while these men hold guns on you."