Winter's Refuge

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Eight

HEYES' LETTER

I took my time getting my horse from the stable, but the Kid stayed inside Frank's house. Said he was going to feed Rafferty before leaving, but he'd be back at the doctor's place watching Shaw's Star by the time I got there. I stretched my back and walked around the stable to get my thoughts straight after seeing the cell in Frank's basement. How did the Kid know it was there? That darkness threatened to engulf my thoughts, but I refused to let it. I thought of Angie and Nettie, and Sam and the Kid. By the time I was riding down the main street towards Shaw's Star, my mind was focused on the job ahead.

I didn't hesitate outside the batwing doors but pushed them in with authority. I can't let Shaw see any weakness. Still, I stepped aside and surveyed the saloon for threats. I admired the refinished mahogany bar with the long-polished top, with the burn scars still visible.

"Whiskey." I threw some coins on the bar and turned around and watched the room. And saw Shaw heading for me. I held out my hand and he shook it.

"Poker tables are full. That's a good sign. Your games honest now?" I gave him a very serious look.

"Yes, sir…Heyes," he said, looking around to see if anyone heard him call me 'sir'. That would be a bad thing for someone trying to run a town. Inwardly, I smiled. This means he had taken the bait.

"Let's talk in my office." He lowered his voice and corrected himself. "Our office."

I lifted my drink toward the rear door. He led and I took another good look around as I followed him. No one was watching us. The tent had been replaced by a small square building with no windows. The floor was still dirt. There were now two table desks. His had paperwork all over it and the one I assume is mine was clear.

"Well, Heyes, how do you like the changes?" he asked expectantly.

"I asked if your poker games are honest?"

"Mostly?" He looked away. "Well, usually."

"We'll weed out the cheaters later tonight." Then I let him off the hook. "Where's Dusty Dave?" I asked.

"His night to guard our farm. He just left. He's relieving Rafferty. You'll get to meet him. He should be here within the hour."

I nodded, sat down at my desk, and crossed my ankles on the top. "These men - Dusty Dave and Rafferty - aren't partners also, are they? Thought it was just me and you."

I'd made him nervous. "Oh, it is. It is. They are just friends of mine that help me."

"They coming to the new place with us?" I tried to put a growl in my voice.

"No, no, maybe we can arrange for the new owner to keep them on here."

He was saying whatever came to his mind first. Good. I had him off balance. "I expect the prospective buyer to be here some time tomorrow. Now there's a few small things we can improve tonight and then I want to sit in on that poker game."

I knew that Dusty Dave would be at the Pokora Farm soon. Wasn't sure if he'd stay there guarding it or come tell Shaw that Rafferty was gone. I would bet on the second one.

LOM

With Heyes in Shaw's Star and his plan well underway, I hoped he knew what he was doing. I kept reminding myself that he was well enough to write this letter. But the last time I saw him, he was still recovering. His mind was slow to react in conversation and his memory was spotty and he couldn't hide it. But from reading his letter, he seemed to be doing fine. If his memory had holes, they had not affected his masquerade with Shaw. Remembering my time with the Devil's Hole Gang, I thought of how persuasive Heyes could be with his words. I hope he had recovered that…and I wished the Kid were watching his back somewhere closer.

HEYES' LETTER

An hour later, Dusty Dave hurried into the saloon visibly upset. Shaw pulled him into the new office. I followed and put a drink in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Shaw demanded.

"Rafferty ain't there. His horse is gone, too."

"You pass him on the road? Maybe he just left early?" Shaw asked.

It was time for me to up the tension here. "And you left Mr. Shaw's home unguarded while you rode here?" I asked, trying to push guilt at him with my words.

I had planted the thought in Shaw's mind. Soon he will think it was his original thought.

"No one's guarding the house? You left it unguarded?"

Dave was rattled. I had figured him right. He was like so many outlaws we knew, running from something and not too bright. He'd make a good member of a gang, following every order the leader gave without thinking.

"Thought you'd want to know he was gone," Dave tried to explain.

Shaw looked at me. But I kept my face emotionless. It takes a lot of effort for me to do that, so I turned away and picked up an invoice from Shaw's desk.

Shaw's face was red with anger. "I don't want my house unguarded! Get back there!"

Dusty Dave ran out the door. I didn't know if he was running from Shaw or hurrying back to the farm. But I wanted to change the subject.

"Get!" he yelled again. He turned to me saying, "Rafferty is nothing but a dumb outlaw. Probably thought he'd go find another gang to join."

I just nodded. But I had read the invoice from Shaw's desk. "Where you buying your whiskey from? This name ain't familiar."

He smiled. "We saved a bit from the ruins of that old place. We buy from local hill folks that make their own. Thought if someone was buying the place, he'd want to see invoices, so I made up some:"

"Good thinking," I answered. "Going to go play some honest poker."

And that's what I did. It was only Herc Lowry cheating and he was doing a poor job of it. I got Shaw to talk to him, saying cheating would mess up our plans.

That's where I was again the next day when the batwing doors opened and the biggest man I've ever seen stepped through the doors and hesitated, looking over the room. He was dressed impeccably in a black suit and white shirt and vest. I saw men tremble when he looked at them. I know him but had never seen this stern side of him. I had also never seen him wear a gun before.

"Heyes," he finally said, walking toward me.

I held out my hand. Not knowing what name he was using I only said, "Been expecting you." I turned to the poker table and picked up my chips. I threw a few on the table. "Thanks for the game. Get a round of drinks on me."

As soon as I shook hands with the man, Shaw headed toward us. I panicked for a second not knowing how to introduce my friend. But he stepped forward, holding out his huge hand saying, "Frank Bucher. You must be Shaw." The greeting was neither friendly nor hostile.

Shaw was intimidated. That's the reaction when most people meet Mike Loveland, now using the name Frank Bucher.

"Err…Glad to meet you, sir," Shaw said as his hand was swallowed in the handshake.

"Need a tour of the place if I'm going to invest," Bucher said in a loud voice. "I'll need to see it all."

Shaw looked around nervously and found every man in the place was staring at him. These outlaws and drifters thought they had found an ideal place to lay low. They might fight to keep it that way. And this investor had a threatening, confident look about him.

"Show me your storeroom. Let's start there."

Shaw was happy to get out of the main saloon. The storeroom had been improved. Shelves had been built and appeared to be well stocked. But I saw some ash on some of the bottles and wondered how many of them were empty. I could tell Mike was enjoying playing his part. In the telegram, I had told him where to stop and see the Kid before he came here. He should have the money I took from Shaw's safe in his pocket, the money Shaw stole from the Bank of Three Birds. And that was also Kid's signal to let Rafferty go…after convincing him that Shaw was planning on keeping all the take from the train robbery for himself. It was easy to do. Rafferty already was thinking something along those lines. The Kid was to accidentally tell him where Shaw would be in three hours.

"Seen enough. You got an office?" Mike/Bucher asked abruptly.

"Yes, yes of course we do. We're a class place." Shaw was bragging. That means he was anxious to close the deal.

"You can sit at my desk, Bucher," I told him as we entered the office. It really was unimpressive but an improvement from the tent.

"Thanks, Heyes." He looked around the stark room as he spoke.

Shaw picked up a couple of the fake invoices. "Here's some of our invoices so you can…"

Bucher waved him off. My desk chair was too small for him. He leaned forward and grabbed Shaw's hand with the invoices firmly.

"Shaw, I ain't interested in your invoices. I have suppliers of my own. Want to know your daily cash intake, if your poker games are honest, and do your bartenders give an honest pour?" he snarled fiercely. "And I want your honest answers. Also, didn't see any men that looked like townspeople, mostly drifters and worse."

Shaw bent to Bucher's bullying and did his best to answer. "Strong cash flow every day. We are kind of a safe haven for outlaws and gangs, so cash intake is a lot higher after a robbery." He sounded proud of that. "Heyes has made sure that the poker games are honest. I…I…I'll have to check on the honest pour. I've left that up to my bartenders."

"You do that right now. I want to talk to Heyes alone."

Lom, you should have seen Shaw run out of there. Now that our buyer was here, he was so anxious to sell he wasn't thinking clearly. But his footsteps seemed to stop as he closed the door behind him.

I cupped my hand to my ear to tell Bucher/Mike that someone might be listening. He understood.

"Heyes, the place's not quite up to the way you described it but if the price is right, I'll buy it."

"Good."

"But if the price goes too high, I'm walking out of here. I'm not going to negotiate. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Bucher." I grinned at him and winked. And I heard Shaw's footsteps move away.

The one thing that hadn't changed from the tent was the bottles of whiskey and glasses waiting to be used. We helped ourselves. He picked up the invoices and mouthed 'fake' to me. I nodded with a smile. Shaw thought they looked real. I wonder if he's ever seen a real invoice in his life. He'd left that part of the business to his bartender and others. He was just happy he owned a bar and the town. He liked being in charge.

There was a knock on the door. I opened it and Hercules Lowry stood there. Hercules was a worse name than Hannibal. He was short and small framed. No wonder he went by Herc.

"Mr. Heyes, I'm…"

"I know who you are, Herc Lowry. You work for Mr. Shaw." I said that last part intentionally to get his response. He didn't disappoint.

"Don't work for him. We're partners," he insisted. "But I heard tell you're his partner now. I'm warning you. Don't try to cut me out of anything," he growled, but it didn't sound threatening like Bucher/Mike's.

Before I could answer, Shaw came back. "Lowry, get back to the saloon," he ordered.

"We're partners, Shaw. If you're discussing sellin', I got a say," Herc whined.

Shaw took two steps toward him. Herc backed up. Shaw stood up as straight as he could. "Herc, you have a say when I say you do. Get back to the saloon."

Herc's eyes darted around the room and decided not to fight it. He left without a look back.

Shaw turned to us. "Bartender was watering some of the drinks. Won't happen again."

"Good. Good. Now Heyes told me the price you're asking. I'm willing to buy it for ninety-per-cent of that."

Starting to object, Shaw remembered what he heard earlier and didn't negotiate.

"Done. Heyes brought paperwork back with him."

We all signed the simple paper and Bucher/Mike handed over the money I had taken from Shaw's safe yesterday. I liked the irony of this.

"Shaw, that's a lot of money. You said you had a safe at home. You probably should put the money in there," I suggested, knowing he would now think that was his own idea.

"I need to get home and put this money in my safe," Shaw echoed my suggestion. "Nice doing business with you, Mr. Bucher. Heyes, I'll meet with you tomorrow."

When Shaw left, me and Mike went back into the saloon and found Herc Lowry.

I took my outlaw stance. What was so familiar before now required thinking. With a deep breath I found my outlaw voice. "Lowry, your services are no longer required. He's bought this place."

"You can't do that. Not even Shaw can. We're partners."

Mike placed his large hand on the short man's shoulders and squeezed. "I paid Shaw good money for this place. It's mine. Leave!"

I gave a mean laugh. "Shaw said he was taking what he got for this place and adding it to other money he had put away and then had a secret place to lay low. Good riddance."

Lowry panicked. "A secret place?" he asked with a stutter. He didn't say more but checked his gun and left. And I knew he was thinking exactly what I wanted him to think. Shaw hadn't said anything about it but now it was up to the Kid to push him in that direction. Now Shaw had both Rafferty and Lowry upset, feeling betrayed, and hunting for him.

Lom, when Mike came to Three Birds, I asked him not to come alone. The next part of my plan was up to the Kid and whoever else answered my telegrams. Although I had no doubt the Kid could manage alone if he had to. As much as me and Mike wanted to go to Shaw's house and see what happened, we stayed at Shaw's Star. We couldn't forget that the men drinking and playing cards here were rough drifters and wanted outlaws. Things could get rough here any minute.

I went and played poker while Mike ordered a beer and turned around to face the room. Me and everyone in the saloon was quiet listening to the barkeep talking to him. He tried to use a casual tone, but I heard worry.

"Heard you bought this place, Mr…?"

"Bucher. Frank Bucher. Yeah, the place is mine now."

"Er...which side of the law you on, Mr. Bucher?"

Mike gave him a look that froze him in place. "I'm on whichever side can make me money. Don't much care which."

It was a good answer, Mike has a way with words, and everyone went back to what they were doing.

Lom, this next part came from the Kid and Sheriff Frank, who had answered my telegram, telling me what happened. When Shaw got to his house, he told Dusty Dave, who was still guarding the place, to wait outside. Going straight to the safe in his bedroom, he opened it quickly. That's when the Kid stepped out from his hiding place with Sheriff Frank, his badge firmly on the front of his vest.

Shaw clutched the two bags tightly to his chest.

"Just what do you have there?" demanded the sheriff.

"My money. It's my money. I just got it out of my safe. If you were hiding there, you saw me." Shaw spoke fast but kept looking at my partner. "You're Kid Curry. Heyes said you were…wait, this was all a trap?" He moved toward the door and the Kid's Colt was out before he finished a step.

"Jed Curry. And this is Sheriff Frank Birde."

Birde held out his hand for the money sacks, but Shaw held them closer and the Kid let him edge toward the door.

"Give me those sacks and your wallet," Sheriff Birde demanded.

Awkwardly holding the sacks, Shaw took out his wallet and threw it on the bed. The sheriff picked it up and opened it. He took out the bills that Mike/Bucher had just given him. "This currency is part of the money stolen from the Bank of Three Birds. No other bank around here uses these specific bills. You're under arrest for robbery. What's your name?"

Shaw had moved closer to the door. "Skyler Shaw," he answered.

The Kid shook his head. "Actually, it's Savage Skunk Shawford and there's wanted posters out under both names."

"Guess I got back to town just in time. Now, one at a time, hand me those sacks," Sheriff Birde ordered.

Shaw threw the smaller sack at him and ran out the door. The Kid held the sheriff back from chasing him.

They heard first one horse gallop away and then another. "Good, Dusty Dave is following Shaw," the Kid said.

"Jed, Shaw's getting away!"

"No, he's not. Sheriff Damon Hollahan from Bridgeport is waiting out there in the trees to follow him. We want to catch him AND his three friends with the money. You got to town too late for me to do anything but say come on and get here in time. You got Heyes' telegram?"

"Yeah, it was cryptic but sounded urgent. Fred's saloon really burned down?"

"Shaw had one of his men burn it. But a Hannibal Heyes plan worked, and Shaw built another one."

"Guess I missed a lot while I was gone," Sheriff Birde said. The anger the sheriff felt at the Kid for not taking the Head of the City Council before started a slow burn But because of what they had to do right now, he pushed it aside.

The Kid nodded and said sadly, "You did."

"What else happened?" Frank asked, alarmed.

"I'll tell you about it as we follow Shaw. Hollahon said he'd leave a trail so wide a blind man could follow it."