Winter's Refuge

Chapter One Hundred Fifteen

JED 'KID' CURRY

Ken was right. The foreman comin' to pick up his mare wanted to shake Kid Curry's hand. He also wanted to talk about the gunfight he saw me win in Texas. Thank goodness Ken called me away and said goodbye to the man. I tried to help muck out the stalls, but I feel too weak to push the broom. But I need to do somethin', so I walk slowly down to the stream. After bein' sick, I feel dirty with dried sweat on my body. Gramma Curry always said a good wash when you was recoverin' from illness, washed away the last of the illness. I put my foot in the water. It's cold. I jump at a voice behind me.

"Good, Jed wash." Chrissy smiled, handin' me soap and a rag. "Down here." She motioned me higher up the stream where no one could see. Slippin' her dress over her head, she stepped into the water. With a laugh she turned and held out her hand to me. I left my shirt and pants with my long johns on the shore and joined her. Gettin' clean felt good; makin' love to my wife felt better. And was healin' for both of us.

ASJ*****ASJ

I waited in the rockin' chair on the porch the next mornin' for the new arrivals. The first to come were two from the Rocky River Farm. Last year they had sent a gray mare named Stone Music. This year it was two matched white horses named Valerie's Song and Whisper of the Trees. Their foreman marched into the stables and inspected the corrals thoroughly. Sayin' nothin', his eyes searched every corner of our facility.

"Heard there were some deficiencies in your breeding program," he announced loudly. His hands were on his hips; his words were a challenge.

I stepped forward and offered him my hand. "You heard right. The flu swept through here and we were unable to maintain our quality. That's changed now. Hi, I'm Jed Curry and I'm one of the owners." I gave him my best smile.

I saw the pleased look of recognition in his face. "Nice to meet you, Kid. Everything looks in tiptop shape to me. Stone Music produced an astonishing colt out of Fall's Legend last year. I trust he is available again?"

I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder, leadin' him into the stables. "Yes, he is but he's only one of four extraordinary studs for you to choose from. Let me show them to you."

After our tour, he requested Fall's Legend for Valerie's Song and Fall's Destiny for Whisper…and left smilin' and happy.

I rested in my rockin' chair on the porch and fell asleep until Auntie brought me out some soup and a sandwich for lunch. It felt good to be out of my bed and useful. Chrissy came out and Joy proudly showed me her big pink hair bow before playin' on the porch with Martha's old doll. Ruth Ann slept on my shoulder. They both remind me of Chrissy, but she said they have my wild blond hair. I just know I adore Chrissy and all my children and would do anythin' to support them and keep them safe.

Calvin Yankoff, Senior and Junior arrived in the afternoon with their brown mare, Denise. So, we have a full house now.

Everything seems to be back on track with the ranch. We're lookin' forward for Heyes to bring his family back here. I haven't heard from him yet and I'm starting to worry. But then he'd send a telegram if anything were wrong…still I'm worried.

HEYES

Mike read the telegram to himself while I stood up and paced. Pacing helped me keep my panic at bay. I'd told Mike last night how sick the Kid had been. I didn't want him to know about this. He'll try to come and help if he knew. I need to do this on my own. Mike keeps insisting he's coming with me.

"Appreciate your help, Mike, but don't want to put you in danger. You got a young son depending on you."

"I'm going, no argument. Heyes, don't mean to be nosey but are you a fast draw like Jed? An accurate shot?" he asked.

We were sitting around the small table in his back room eating lunch. Well, Mikey and Mike were eating. I was ignoring my food. I have no appetite. "I was never as fast as the Kid, but I was accurate. Now, my gun is more threatening as a suggestion of violence."

"No one's as fast as Jed but I'm decent with a handgun. I reread that telegram. He only mentions your wife and the boy, not the old man."

Why hadn't I picked up on that? I've been lost in worrying, not thinking, not planning. I was embarrassed that he had to point out the obvious. My words left me.

Mikey chose that moment to joyously yell out his new word, "Maps. Maps!"

Mike's laughter gave me time to recover and think about what he had said. "Well, Cougar's been in prison a long time, he was probably twenty years older than me. And he didn't practice shooting while he was locked up. The Kid was easily faster than him then. How fast can he be now?"

Mike looked at me seriously. "We can't take the chance that he's regained his speed."

"Of course, we won't. I want to free them without any violence. I'm working on a plan."

ASJ*****ASJ

My mind was busy on our ride to Big Oak. I planned not to ride down the main street. Instead, we rode down the alley at dusk. I prepared to enter the back door of the sheriff's office as Mike entered the front. Cougar might recognize me on the street. I picked the lock and waited to turn the handle until I heard Mike's voice.

I heard the front door open. "Hi Sheriff, may I speak to you?"

That was my cue. I turned the handle quietly and entered. The Kid would have drawn his gun, but I kept mine holstered.

"Sure, mister. Do I know you?" answered the sheriff.

"Name's Mike Loveland from Bridgeport. Looking for some friends."

"Actually, my wife and her boy." I stepped forward. Watching the sheriff's face, I saw only surprise. I caught movement with a glance to the side, then heard a voice I recognized.

"Heyes, I'm relieved to see you." Winny entered from the small room on the left and held his hand out to me.

The sheriff walked over and locked the front door. "Thought I locked the back door."

"It was." I winked at Mike and turned to Winny. "Where are Angie and Sam?"

I saw tears come to the old man's eyes as he sat down and told us their story. "Angie started to get sick with a fever the day after you left so we stayed in the hotel another night. But she got worse, and the town didn't have a real doctor. The nearest doctor that the sheriff could direct us to was Appleton. He said it was about twenty miles away straight west, but we got lost and ended up forty miles north in Broken Bridge. Well, they had a doctor there. He knew what he was doing, and Angie's improved. Of course, she checked into the hotel as Angie Heyes. And that's where this Cougar found them."

"Just them, not you?" I asked.

"I had a separate room. Sam was still worried about his ma's health so was in the room with her. One morning I went to their room, and they were gone with the wagon. I didn't understand what had happened but found their trail and tracked them here to Big Oak. I was worried so I came to the sheriff's office first and told him what happened. Cougar's holding them at the Oak Hotel. I'm working at the diner. Had a quick chance to talk to Sam. He said Cougar is waiting for someone."

"Bet that someone was me," I answered solemnly.

The sheriff leaned forward onto his desk. "I went over to the hotel, and all seemed just fine to me. Would have thought nothing was wrong but I had talked to Winny er..Mr. Winston. I suggested the boy come over to my office and help me for a few hours but this man, Cougar, said no. He was needed there to take care of his ma. But Miss Angie seemed fine."

I had started to pace while he was talking. "You're sure my wife and the boy are well?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Heyes," the sheriff answered.

"It's just Heyes," I answered. This man was a sheriff and authority. I felt like I should say 'sir' when he spoke to me. But I fought to ignore that like the Kid does.

"Saw them when I went to their room. They were healthy but nervous, jumpy. Didn't see the man's, Cougar's, gun but he sure had control of that room."

"But he was wearing a gun?" I asked.

"He was but it stayed in his holster."

"Cougar spent a long time in prison. He look like he could still handle his sidearm?" Mike had been listening intently and asked the question I wasn't sure how to say.

"A long time in prison? He can't be much older than twenty," the sheriff answered.

I thought for a moment before asking, "Sheriff, can you telegram the Wyoming prison in Cheyenne and ask when Zachary Clark was released? I'll pay for the telegram."

"What you thinking, Heyes?" Mike asked when the sheriff had left.

I smiled at him and Winny. "Thinking that Zach Clark is still in prison…or died in there. This Cougar is a relative, a much younger brother or a son. This will change how we rescue Angie and Sam."

LOM

I worked late last night. Well, I sat at my desk until well after dark. I didn't get any work accomplished but I also didn't drink. I thought about the good times with Susan. I got up to do the night rounds, but my deputy assured me he had already done them. So, I went home. The house was quiet, dark. At first, Phyllis would leave my dinner out for me but stopped when I didn't come home every night. I wasn't hungry tonight anyway, so I stirred up the fire in the main room.

Instead of food, I found a letter from James Chadwick, Esq. waiting for me on the kitchen table. He's the lawyer I hired to try and get Matt's sentence reduced. It was full of flowery long words, but I understood the gist of it. There was to be a hearing in two weeks in Cheyenne and he wanted the Kid and Chrissy to be there. He also asked for his fee. I addressed an envelope to the Kid in Three Birds and put the lawyer's letter inside. I'll mail it tomorrow.

Sleeping in my room, the room I shared with Susan, is still too hard. So, I went and picked Wayne up from his cradle and took him out of his room. Wrapping him warmly, I watched him sleep in my arms as I cuddled him in the big chair near the fire. Aiden kept repeating that he was a gift from Susan. Tonight is the first time I feel that. Holding him tightly, we slept in the chair with my feet up on the ottoman until morning.

"Sheriff Trevors!" Phyliss' scolding voice woke me. "What were you thinking, falling asleep in the chair with Wayne in your arms? You could have dropped him! You're drunk again."

Her voice woke the boy, and he started crying. I put him to my shoulder. "Shhh, boy. It's okay, your pa's got you." Turning to Phyllis, I added, "Haven't had a drink since lunch yesterday. Just needed to cuddle my son."

HEYES

I stayed hidden away in the sheriff's office back room. I'm uncomfortable with any place with cells and bars but I don't want this young Cougar to know I'm here. Winny sleeps here, too. The answer to the sheriff's inquiry came the next morning.

"Zachary Clark, Sr. died in prison brawl seventeen months ago. Zachary Clark, Jr. released, sentence served, three months ago."

Winny went to work in the diner as usual. He said either Sam or Cougar came in mid-morning to pick up food. Knowing that, Mike and the sheriff planted themselves at a window table in the diner. I watched from the window in the sheriff's office across the street. If Cougar came in, Mike would raise his glass high for a refill. If it was Sam, the sheriff would do it. Two separate plans were developed from there. Time passed slowly. I couldn't spare the time to find my watch in my pocket. I couldn't pace. I had to stare at the diner for the sign. I couldn't miss it.

But my mind keeps imagining the worst outcomes: Angie's been shot or Sam was belligerent and shot. But I have to focus on what's going on right here, right now. I used to be able to do this easily. Now I have to concentrate.

Had they been sitting there for minutes or an hour? I couldn't remember, but I didn't take my eyes off of them. Both of them were ready to go into action after giving me the signal.

Buzzing by me, a fly landed on the window diverting my attention for a second. No, I have to concentrate on the diner across the street. But the fly was annoying and made me concentrate harder.

And then I saw Mike lift his glass high for a refill. Cougar was in the diner and Angie and Sam were alone at the hotel. I sprinted faster than I thought I could run to the hotel and up the stairs to the room number the sheriff had given me. The door was locked. Of course, it was. I had put my lockpicks in my pocket envisioning this. The door was unlocked in a minute.

Angie was on the bed in front of me, her eyes full of fear. She said nothing but her eyes flicked to behind the door. Just in time, I followed her eyes and saw a gun barrel peek around the open door. Why didn't I figure that Cougar might have a partner? No time for blame now. I stepped back, slammed my shoulder into the door to force it into the man holding the gun. Grabbing the gun barrel, I pushed it up. It fired but hit the wood above the window. Suddenly, Sam was throwing his weight at the man's middle, then pounding him with his fists. As the man fell to his knees, I twisted the gun free.

"Don't move!" I growled and found when my family was in danger my commanding leadership voice returned. I closed the door. "Sam, check on your ma." I could see Angie. She appeared unharmed, just frightened, but I needed to get the boy's mind off of hitting the man…off of revenge.

Waving my gun, I told the bloody man, "Go sit in that chair. Sam, tie him up tight."

I heard someone running toward the room. Had Cougar gotten free of Mike and the sheriff? Mike's voice boomed from the hallway. "Heyes, heard a shot. You okay?" He didn't wait for an answer, just pushed the door open.

Looking around he knew what had happened…and smiled. "Cougar confessed he wasn't working alone. I was coming to help you with the partner…guess you did it without me."

"Found out my new son is quite a fighter. Mike Loveland, meet Sam."

ASJ*****ASJ

That night at dinner with Angie, Sam, Winny, and Mike, we put together a timeline of everything that had happened.

Mike looked up from his second helping of apple pie, saying, "Turns out those two men are Zack Clark Jr and his younger brother, Leo, the sons of the original Cougar that you knew. Leo was the one we caught in the diner. Heard them telling the sheriff, you and Jed are the reason their pa was sent to jail. He wrote them that you, Heyes, were afraid he was going to take over leadership of the gang and had Kid Curry sucker punch him and escort him out of Devil's Hole."

Shaking my head, I answered, "He was too violent for us. Tried to rape a bank clerk and I could see it leading to him killing someone. Our Devil's Hole Gang didn't do that, so I threw him out of the gang…and yes, the Kid did escort him out at gunpoint. He's in prison because three days later he tried to rob a bank, killed a bank manager, and got caught before he left the bank."

"Heyes, you were great…how did you know he was behind the door?" asked Sam and he turned to the others. "You should have seen him, he stepped back and slammed that door into Cougar, even held his gun barrel up so he wouldn't shoot nobody."

But before dinner was over, I had one last thing that was bothering me. "Why did Clark send me the telegram to Bridgeport?"

Angie looked at Sam, who answered, "He demanded to know where we were headed, where you were. He was getting ready to hit Ma, so I told him you was in Bridgeport."

"Why Bridgeport?"

"Kid Curry did it in one of his dime novels. Said his partner, you, was somewhere he knew you would look for him. So that's what I did. We was headed there and you'd look for us there. And didn't want them to know about Phoenix where we're going to live. And it worked just like it worked for the Kid."

I was embarrassed but proud my stepson was impressed with my actions. It was all instinct and fear for my family. If I had thought about it, or had to plan it, I couldn't have done it. Sam left with Mike to stay in his hotel room giving Angie and me privacy. We were alone. She rushed to my arms as soon as I closed the hotel door. Holding her tight, I started to shake. She understood I couldn't control it, which was good because my words had left me. I was afraid she would back away from me when she saw my weakness, my fear. But she didn't. We laid down on the bed and we held each other tight and ended up making love slowly and sweetly. Don't know what I ever did to deserve a woman like her but I'm glad she's mine.