Winter's Refuge
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Nine
LOM
I finished the page and set it aside. Then I stood and stretched. Walking around the house, I checked that every window was closed and locked. I thought about the Kid telling Frank about the people who had died - the farmer Pokora's ma; Anthony, their long-time bartender; and Glen Chinelli. Glen had been rescued from Mark McWinters' Devil's Hole and I heard he was good with the telegraph. He was so young. And then, of course, the Kid had to tell Frank about his nephew, Jeff Birde. So far along in Heyes' letter Jeff was still holding on. I said a silent prayer that he was still alive.
For a brief moment, I felt like I needed a drink. But I stopped that thought and put the coffee pot on the stove to heat up. I know alcohol is not for me. I checked on Wayne again. When the coffee was ready, I poured myself two cups and went back to the letter.
HEYES' LETTER
It was hard on the Kid telling his friend what had happened. He felt responsible that we'd been secluded at Phoenix. You know the Kid, Lom, he truly feels almost everything is his fault. Right now, his depression is eating him up and this didn't help. He has it in his mind that he ain't worthy to live around here and any moment people will realize that. The thing is none of this was his fault…and he helped fix it. He's really good at helping others fix their problems but sees his help as a debt owed. I try to tell him he's a positive fixture in Three Birds now, but he doesn't see it that way. Usually, he's good at reading people but he was focused on the job ahead and didn't see Sheriff Birde's growing anger.
Back to what happened, and I heard this part from others as I was busy playing poker at Shaw's Star.
The smaller bag of money that Shaw had thrown at Frank was the money from the Three Birds Bank. It matched the bills I had taken to pay for his saloon that were found in his wallet. He had the take from the train robbery. Which was what I wanted him to end up with, but not a thing we could plan.
The Kid was right, Sheriff Holahan, following Shaw, left a wide obvious trail. They made good time and knew they were closing the distance between them. Hearing two shots just ahead, they pulled up their horses.
The Kid cocked his head to listen. "Hard to tell just where those shots came from. Sounds like they were in a walled valley the way the echoes jumped around."
"Yeah, a walled valley in the mountains." Sheriff Frank smiled. "Know just where they are. My brothers and I rode there when we first got here. It's got a tight entrance. Nice grass for the horses and an old rundown line shack inside. Can't find it unless you know it's there and still might miss it."
"Think you can find it?" asked the Kid.
Frank nodded with a half-smile.
"Then lead the way."
They rode for ten minutes until Frank said, "We'll leave the horses here. Quieter to go in on foot."
The bushes rustled to their left. "Nothing but the wind," Frank said. "It twirls around here."
But the Kid drew his gun and retreated a few feet, then disappeared into the trees. Frank wasn't sure what was happening, but even though he was angry at the Kid, he trusted him…and believed what had happened was because the Kid wasn't in charge of the City Council. So, he just stood where he was, without making a sound.
From the bushes not thirty yards away he heard the Kid's voice. "Stand up, mister, with your hands in the air. My gun's pointed at the back of your head and I ain't been known to miss."
Frank told me later that his heart jumped thinking there was a sniper that close and he didn't even suspect it. Said his life had gotten too comfortable.
"Turn around and keep those hands high." Frank still couldn't see the Kid.
"Karl Josephs? What are you doin' here?" Frank heard the Kid say and then saw two figures appear to his left.
"Got a cryptic telegram from Heyes. Knew I was coming later than he wanted, but then I heard gunshots and headed toward where I thought they came from," Karl Josephs answered. Don't know if you've met the Josephs brothers, Lom, they don't look anything alike.
LOM
I stopped reading and thought just how different the brothers looked. Ken was tall, blond, almost red hair, and hazel eyes. Karl was shorter, stockier with dark hair and eyes. When anyone questioned them, they both gave the same stock answer, "Same pa, different ma."
Heyes certainly had telegraphed the right people. Of course, the friendships with Frank Birde, Mike Loveland, Sheriff Damon Holahan, and the US Marshal brothers, Ken and Karl Josephs, had all started with the Kid. He has the knack of making friends easily.
HEYES' LETTER
The Kid quickly told Karl what he needed to know and what he thought they should do. There were no objections to him leading this party of three. With Frank walking first, they slipped into the hidden valley easily…and found Holahan tied to a tree in the middle of the yard. They didn't see the four men they were looking for - Shaw, Dusty Dave, Rafferty, and Herc Lowry - but there were five horses grazing on the grass, so they figured they were all there.
"Don't look like that man's hurt. He the one on our side?" asked Karl in a whisper.
"Sheriff Holahan from Bridgeport," the Kid answered. "He owed me a favor. We'll untie him when we're finished. Don't want to alert the men in the cabin."
The men stayed close to the mountain wall which offered rocks and trees for cover. Only the center of the narrow valley had been cleared and they saw the small shack Frank had remembered. Not daring to draw attention to themselves by freeing Holahan, they inched closer to the cabin. There was a window with no glass, covered by a raggedy curtain in the front. The Kid made his way around the back and signaled the other two to the front door.
Sheriff Birde and Josephs weren't sure what he was planning, but when they heard the back door kicked in, they tried to do the same to the front. The door held.
'Must be secured from the inside," Josephs said.
Kid found three men sitting at a three-legged round table counting the money from the train robbery.
Immediately, the men outside heard two shots and the Kid's voice saying, "No one else move!" Josephs banged his shoulder against the door again. It didn't give.
The Kid's voice came from inside. "You, lift that board from the door and open it!"
Josephs and Hollahan had their guns drawn when a man with a bloody hand threw the door open. He raised his arms high.
Looking around they saw three men, two with bloody hands, holding their hands high…and a lot of money spread on the table. And two guns on the floor. Somehow the Kid had shot two of the guns out of the outlaws' hands before a shot was fired at him.
"Hold it right there. I'm US Marshal Karl Josephs and you're all under arrest." He looked at the Kid. "Thought there were four of them, who's missing?"
Herc Lowry laughed. "I shot Shaw dead. His body's out there. Man thought he could cheat us all out of this money. Keep it all for himself. I ended that."
LOM
Relieved that Heyes' plan worked, I put the letter aside and stood up. I could imagine the Kid taking on all three of the outlaws by himself. It sounds like he took charge and did what needed to be done. He's good at that. He has a strength about him that he doesn't realize. And from talking to Heyes, he's always tried to help people all his life.
HEYES' LETTER
Frank told me that the Kid thanked Sheriff Damon Holahan, who replied, "I owed you one, more than one. Would have come anyway."
"Don't owe me nothing," the Kid replied and went to help Josephs wrap Shaw's body in a blanket and secure it across his horse.
Then he thanked Karl Josephs for coming, too. "Jed, after all the help you've given my brother, I'm indebted to you. Anytime you ask, I'll help; you're family."
The Kid turned away while answering, "Ken got hurt guarding me. Probably saved my life. What else could I do?"
Josephs laughed loudly. "Jed, I've seen US Marshals get hurt saving a lot of lives. They usually say 'thank you' and forget about us. You're the only one that helped us heal."
The Kid's answer got lost as Hollahan brought the three handcuffed men toward the horses.
Holahan and Josephs took the prisoners, Shaw's body, and the recovered money to Wyoming, where the train robbery occurred. Frank took the time on the ride back to Three Birds to talk to the Kid. His anger was getting close to the surface, but the Kid still didn't notice.
"How's Jeff doing?"
"Aiden says he's gonna live." He looked past the trees to the sky. "He won't walk again."
They rode in silence for a few minutes. Frank spoke first and tried to keep his voice civil. "Jed, I need you to take over as the Head of the City Council."
The Kid still looked forward, not at his friend. "Frank, I told you before I'm not the man for that job. I'm an ex-convict, an outlaw who works hard so maybe people will not object to me livin' in their town. I've done unforgivable things. Monsignor Lance preached that for what I done, there ain't no forgiveness, only punishment. And he was right. The Lord took my baby daughter to punish me."
The Kid's words stirred up a memory that Birde had tried to bury. And he started to worry.
"Jed, your daughter didn't die because you used to rob trains and banks."
"I've killed, Frank. Tried to avoid it but that doesn't change anything; I've taken lives," the Kid answered. He spoke quietly, looking down as if he'd forgotten Frank was there.
Sheriff Birde told me that right then he knew he had to do something. After he told me why. There were four Birde brothers, not three. Floyd was the oldest boy, the first born and their pa's favorite…and he did everything right. He was strong and brave and always protected his three younger brothers. Their ma died when they were little and when their pa died suddenly, Floyd tried to be everything their pa was to the family. He married a sweet girl named Maryanne and they had a son. His life seemed perfect to everyone, including his younger brothers. But it wasn't. He compared himself to their pa and never felt he measured up.
The younger brothers ignored it when he always refused credit for anything, still idolizing him. Then Maryanne died when his buggy overturned just a mile from home. Floyd not only blamed himself for not going with her and driving the buggy, he said that God was punishing him by taking Maryanne because he was not good enough. The night after Maryanne's funeral, he shot himself in the head.
The brothers were devastated. Fritz adopted Floyd's baby, Jeff, and they moved west together to Nebraska.
And now the Kid's words were sounding familiar, especially about the Lord taking the baby as punishment.
"Jed told you before, you're the best man I know. Look what Heyes and you did for the town today." Anger replaced by concern, he tried to show the Kid what he had accomplished. But the Kid turned the words around.
"Heyes did real good, didn't he? I'm proud of him. And he don't need me no more. He's recovered."
Frank was upset at the events of the day and hearing his town ravaged and his nephew sentenced to a life in a wheelchair. And he was afraid that his friend might try to do what his brother had done. Stopping his horse, he grabbed the reins of the Kid's horse, so he had to look at him.
"STOP feeling sorry for yourself, and minimizing what you did and think. Everyone around here needs you and wants you to be here. They need YOU and your friendship and your strength. Not just your physical strength, it's the strength that they can tap into to be better. The strength that makes you help even people you don't know."
He wasn't getting through to the Kid, Lom, and he didn't know what to do so he turned to his last option to protect the Kid. It was not one that he liked, but he couldn't think of anything else.
"Jed, Three Birds need you. If you won't see that and become the Head of our City Council, then I'm giving you a choice. LOOK AT ME, Jed!"
If I had been more alert to the Kid the last few months, I could have shaken him out of his depression. But my thoughts had been centered on Angie and Nettie and then on the loss of Trinity Rose. Thought I had helped him some with his grief, after this happened, I remembered that the Kid went into a deep depression at Valparaiso after our folks were killed. He kept thinking he could have stopped it. He refused to do his work. Told me he deserved the punishments he was given because he wasn't there to help them. I talked at him and then to him for months until he finally came out of it. I could have helped him now if I had noticed.
"Here's your choices, Mr. Curry," Frank growled. "You can accept the position of Head of the City Council and help us rebuild Three Birds and move ahead."
The Kid shook his head.
"Then I'm placing you under arrest for aiding and abetting known wanted men, Preacher and Johnny McWinters. I saw you with both. And the murder of Irving Price."
The Kid's head shot up. "I didn't kill Price."
"Only have your word that Johnny McWinters shot him…and why should I accept the word of an ex-convict?"
They rode the rest of the way in silence. The Kid didn't fight it…that's how depressed he was. Frank brought him back and locked him into one of them cells in his basement. And won't let any of us see him.
I was surprised when Sheriff Frank walked into the saloon and only Gabe was backing him up. "Shaw's Star is closed!" he announced. "Shaw and his friends are in the custody of the US Marshals department. Got a stack of wanted posters here and I'm going to start making arrests if any of these men are seen in this saloon or my town after fifteen minutes."
If I knew the Kid wasn't going to be here for this part, I would have strongly thought about wearing my gun. Mike Loveland had a gun in each hand and went to stand next to the sheriff.
I was surprised how quickly the saloon cleared. The safe haven for outlaws was gone and without Shaw there, they didn't hang around to see if they would be arrested.
Half an hour later, still no Kid in sight, I was sitting in the sheriff's office with Sheriff Frank, Gabe, and Mike. And he told us where the Kid was...and how it was for his protection because he was scared what his depression might lead to. I started shaking at the thought of him alone in that darkness. I lost my words as my thoughts were filled with ways I could break him out of there before he was sent to prison. We'd have to take a lot of people with us…we can't leave family behind. Finally, I managed to say, "See him?"
"Going to give him a couple of days down there to think about things. I'll keep a close watch on him. Then a few of you can talk to him one at a time."
So, Lom, the story of Shaw taking over Three Birds and his capture with the recovery of the money will be in the paper tomorrow morning. Mike rode home to Bridgeport on Spring's Joy that evening and he'll put out a special edition tomorrow. Of course, he won't mention what happened to the Kid. And I sat in Dr. Arden's office and wrote this letter to you. I need you to come to Three Birds and talk to the Kid. You've called him friend for a long time. The people back home don't know where he is yet. Hoping he breaks out of this soon. Bring Wayne, if you want; there are a lot of doting females to help you care for him. But please come. Come soon. The Kid needs you.
HH
Needed to add this so you'll hurry. I went by Frank's house on my way home to Phoenix. Frank had told me he was going to give the Kid some food and water and I wanted to try again to see him. Miss Beverly let me in with a worried look on her face. "You're here to see him, but Frank's not going to let you. I have not ever seen him like this before. Told me he's trying to prevent Jed from doing whatever someone named Floyd did. We don't know anyone with that name."
"Yes, Miss Beverly..." I started to say when I heard Sheriff Frank marching up the stairs. He was carrying the Kid's clothes. He was startled to see me.
"I'm not getting through to him. When I went down there, he had managed to fasten his belt over the top crosshatch bars of the cell. He didn't even know I was there. He was repeating, 'I can't do this to my kids. Vowed to protect my family.'"
Frank continued, "He didn't try to get out when I unlocked the cell and cut down the belt. He just watched. He obeyed without question when I told him to strip to his long johns and said, 'Yes, sir.' He was going to try and kill himself, just what I'm trying to prevent."
He put the clothes down and thought for a moment. "YOU can see him tomorrow, Heyes. No one else. See if you can talk some sense into him."
"You won't really send him back to prison, will you," I asked, and I knew there was a tremble in my voice.