Winter's Refuge

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six

LOM

Rocking Wayne to sleep, I thought about what I read so far in Heyes' letter. I always thought of Three Birds as a small but growing town, where people go to bed feeling secure. Now that has changed. When my son was fully asleep, I laid him in his crib and watched his blissful sleep.

Getting a hot cup of coffee, I sat in my rocker in the warm living room and picked up the letter again.

Heyes' Letter

The Kid studied Mr. Dwyer and Gabe Birde. "You two can't be missin' in the mornin'. Who knows what this Shaw might do to the doctor and Miss Denise if you're not there."

I nodded. "Just what I was thinking. And the Kid and I are going with you. Can we hide our horses behind the mercantile?"

"Yeah, there's plenty of room back in the trees. We keep our wagons back there."

[

The Kid was nervous about both of us going. So, in the middle of the night we had a family meeting. Auntie and Arnie were finishing bandaging Delgado. I woke Angie, who was grumpy about getting up at one a.m. The Kid helped Chrissy downstairs; she looked tired but curious. She sat in a chair in a dimly lit corner and nursed Diane under her robe. Juan got Hortencia, leaving the back door open to maybe hear if their boys woke up. I even unshackled Rocky and watched his confused look.

Auntie had done what she could for Delgado and then gave him a dose of laudanum. He wouldn't hear any of this. Me and the Kid were furious about what was happening to our town and our friends and that this customer of ours had been drawn into this whole thing.

I gave everyone a quick version of what was happening. "And me and the Kid are going to ride back to town with Mr. Dwyer here and Gabe Birde. We're worried about you all though."

"You know I'll protect them and at daybreak I'll send Arnie for Ken," Juan said firmly.

"Chrissy know how to shoot," the Kid's brave wife spoke up. And she's a good accurate shot. Not a fast draw but always hits what she aims at.

"You say they burned the saloon down?" Auntie asked. "They might try that here. Maybe all the kids should go to Ken and Mary's house?"

I saw the looks on my Angie's and on Chrissy's faces. "Why don't they go to your house? That's far enough away from the main house."

"They can come to our house," Hortencia Birde Ortiz spoke up. "I want to help. Jeff and Gabe are my cousins. And Gabe can tell you, I'm a pretty fair shot with a rifle."

"That she is," Gabe answered. I had never pictured this younger daughter of Mayor Fred Birde shooting any kind of a firearm.

"That settles it. We'll move them before we leave. I want to get a real good look at Skylar Shaw. Me and Kid know a lot of members of other gangs and I met more in prison. Maybe we might know him."

Well, Lom, that's what we did. When we rode into town it was still dark. We hid the horses behind the mercantile and went back in through the storm cellar doors and to Dr. Arden's house.

Miss Denise had been sitting up with Jeff. She had all the blinds closed so no one could see in.

Gabe looked into the examination room where his brother was sleeping. "How's Jeff?"

Miss Denise looked nervous. "You'll have to ask the doctor," she answered firmly. I knew she would have told us if he was recovering, but that was her only answer. Looking into the second exam room I saw another sleeping body.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"No one. Just clothes under a blanket so if someone looks in there quickly, they'll think it was the injured man who went with you. Don't even know his name."

"Max Delgado."

"Jed, Heyes, you're going to have to stay out of sight. There's an extra bedroom upstairs in the front. You can get some rest…and have a good view of the street below. You'd be surprised how much you could learn by looking out the window," Miss Denise told us.

Upstairs, the Kid stood to the side and pulled back the curtain like he used to do when we robbed banks. And he was right to do that; any light could be seen from the street. Miss Denise didn't know it, but studying this street and getting a good look at Skylar Shaw was the first part of my plan.

"And one more thing," Miss Denise was saying. "This house was built by smugglers and outlaws well before the Birdes came to town. They built that escape route you took earlier and this one." She pushed on a wall panel, and it turned out to be a door.

Curious, I looked at the hidden hinges and admired them.

"Bet I could make a set of those," the Kid said almost in my ear.

We both looked into the darkness that was revealed. "Leads to the building next door. Comes out in an upstairs closet. Doubt they even know it is there. Or you can use it to hide." She showed us a pulley above the door that would allow you to close it from the inside and open it again "I'll leave you two to rest."

We spent the day resting and watching…and I saw just what I needed.

"Heyes, look over there. That sign on the livery. Am I readin' it right?"

"If you're thinking it says 'Shaw for Mayor', then you're right," I told him and it sent me thinking. We don't elect a mayor in Three Birds. He's appointed by the City Council. Sheriff Frank Birde was traveling with his brothers.

The Kid kept looking out the window. "Also don't see nobody from the town that I know, just strangers. Thought I knew most everybody.

Then I got a clear look at Skylar Shaw walking down the street toward his saloon and smiled. My plan was complete.

"Heyes, I see him, too. He ain't familiar. Don't know him. But you're sayin' you do?" asked the Kid.

"Remember when me, Hank, and Blue checked out that railroad stop in Colorado that we thought was going to have a big payroll coming in?"

"Yeah, turned out to be only a rumor. We pulled the bank robbery in Spotted Squirrel instead. Made enough to lay low for the winter from that job," the Kid answered.

"We did?" I asked. "I don't even remember the name Spotted Squirrel, but I do remember the outlaw I met in Colorado. He cheated Hank in a poker game. I bought him a few drinks and convinced him that a gunfight would make the sheriff look at him closer. Bought him many drinks until he was convinced I was his best friend. But his name wasn't exactly Skylar Shaw, it was Skunk Shawford."

"Savage Skunk Shawford? Heard he's fast and violent. Hank would have been blown away if he challenged him. I can take him."

I heard his words, but there was a trace of fear that only I would hear. "Hope you never have too. Has Gabe left yet?"

"Yeah, someone knocked on the door and said curfew is off until tonight. Didn't hear anyone come in but could tell Gabe and Mr. Dwyer left."

I looked out the window again. "Want to check for wanted posters for Shawford or Shaw."

"I'll go."

"No, Kid, I don't want to take the chance of him seeing you until I need you," I told him. In the end, Gabe came to us to check on his brother's condition.

Dr. Arden didn't have much positive to say. "Jeff's resting now from the laudanum I gave him, I got the bullet in his knee out but that leg won't heal right, a lot of damage there. If he lives I might have to take it off to save his life. The other bullet is still in there, very near his heart. Letting him gain some strength and try to get it tomorrow." Looking Gabe in the eyes, he put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll do everything I can. I'm reading through my medical books for any additional help I can get. But it doesn't look good."

Gabe took a short breath and stepped away from him. "Should I go get his wife?"

"If I wasn't afraid for her life if she came here, I'd say yes. I'll do my best, but if we lose him, he won't regain consciousness," Dr. Arden spoke quietly. I knew he would do everything he could and more to save our friend.

"Jeff wouldn't like it if I put her in danger. Heyes, you said there was something I could do to help?" Gabe asked.

So, I set Gabe the job to find the wanted poster for Shaw or Shawford at the sheriff's office. I told him to hide it and the same for any others of Shaw's friends. "And grab any telegrams about recent big robberies within two, no, three hundred miles of here in the sheriff's records. Know you haven't gotten any recent telegrams."

Then I borrowed a razor from the doctor and cleaned up.

"Heyes, don't like you goin' down there without me to cover your back." The Kid was watching out the window while I got ready.

"Hoping that I can convince him we're not partners no more. And that I want to partner up with him."

Worry crossed the Kid's face. "Still don't like that you're goin' in alone."

"You'll be right here keeping watch."

"You feelin' up to this? What if you lose your words?" he argued.

Smiling, I answered, "Tell him that's what prison did to me."

LOM

I finished a page and set it aside and went to check on Wayne. He slept with that sweet, contented baby look that fills my heart with love. I knew that Heyes was doing what he was doing to protect his family, including his daughter, Nettie. I would do anything to protect Wayne. But I worried about this Hannibal Heyes plan. I stirred the fire and sat down to read again.

Heyes' Letter

About sundown, I rode my horse out of town and then back in right down the main street. I took my time. All the shops were closed, including the mercantile. Many looked like they had not been open for days. I stopped in front of the burned out Three Birds Saloon. It really was a total loss. Sadly, I remembered Anthony, the bartender, died in that fire.

"Stranger, we have a curfew in this town at sundown." The voice coming from the alley had a threatening growl.

I smiled. "Just looking for a drink and a soft bed, friend." I knew the Kid was watching from the upstairs window at Doctor Aiden's house.

A short, rough, skinny man came out of the alley. I figured this must be Herc Lowry. It was the same man that had delivered the rose bushes to Phoenix and had been so nosy. I was glad I had stayed inside when he came. "In that case, head on down to the end of the road to Shaw's Star. Ain't no curfew there."

"Thanks, friend. They got any poker games there?" I was out of practice with poker, but some things come back quickly. I hoped I had no memory holes around playing poker.

"You got money. They got poker."

I touched my finger to my hat and rode down the street, hoping my nerves weren't showing.

The Kid had ridden Winter's Glory into town and I was on one of our stable horses named Pepper. After what happened to Black Swan, I didn't want to take a chance losing Fall's Bells.

Tying Pepper outside the saloon, I stood up straight and walked in. Me and the Kid had talked about whether or not I should wear my gun. I wore it when we rode into the doctor's office. But I left it behind. I'm no gunfighter and I'm just getting my accuracy back after the years in prison. Wearing it might have invited something I couldn't finish.

I studied the building as I walked through the dirt street to the batwing doors. There were no wooden sidewalks down here. I pushed the right door open and took a step to the right, surveying the room like the Kid does. My eyes adjusted quickly to the dimly lit smoke-filled room. The place was crude. The bar was a long plank balanced on four tree trunks that were almost cut to the same height. The barstools, nothing but upside-down barrels. As I hoped, I didn't see anyone I recognized from Three Birds, but I did see a handful of outlaws I had known in our previous way of life and two men that had been in the Wyoming Territorial Prison with me. That would all work into my plan if they recognized me.

Why hadn't someone come and told me and the Kid before this got out of hand, I thought. But told myself I needed to concentrate on the job at hand. I can't let my mind wander.

"Whiskey," I said, throwing a few coins on the bar. The coins were swept up by the bartender, who looked familiar, and my drink appeared. We might have crossed paths someplace before but i didn't think he was trouble. I don't wear a wedding ring and I think that was a good thing for my plan. Not that I wanted to go upstairs with a girl, but I didn't mind flirting. And the girls might have answers that I needed.

I walked to an open chair in a promising poker game. "Mind if I sit down?" I asked, giving them my best smile.

"You got money to play?" a toothless old man asked without looking up.

"I do and I plan to win more. Name's Heyes by the way." I acted innocent of what had been happening but kept up a stream of general conversation while I played. I picked out the two cheaters that worked for Shaw right away. They might have the outlaws and criminals in here fooled, but not me. I let them win the smaller pots but managed to win all the larger ones. I felt that some of my moves, cheating right back at them, were rough and noticeable but I got away with them. My confidence grew and the large pots kept adding to the money in front of me. Everything was going according to plan.

I knew winning at poker and my name were the hooks to get Shaw to talk with me. When he did, the next part of my plan began.

One of Shaw's men tapped me on the shoulder. "Mr. Shaw would like to see you."

I threw some coins into the center of the table. "Drinks for all of you, my friends. I think I'd like to meet your Mr. Shaw."