Winter's Refuge
Chapter Two Hundred Eight
HEYES
Chrissy was brave watching the Kid ride off, but I knew something was wrong. She's jumpy, nervous. I tried to help her up the stairs to her room, but she pushed my arm aside and insisted she could make it herself. So, I left her alone but asked Angie to check in on her in a little while.
In less than an hour, Ruth Ann and my daughter came running into my office. Nettie spoke for them. "Papa, Mama says to come right now. Aunt Chrissy is trying to move the furniture around upstairs."
Hurrying into the house after the girls, I almost panicked. I don't know much about childbirth, but after all the babies that have been born to our family, I know that women start to rearrange furniture and clean everything when their time is near. Chrissy's time can't be near…it just can't be, not now with the Kid away with no way to contact him without blowing his cover and putting him in danger..
I found Chrissy pushing one of the twin's cradles. She'd let her hair down; she's worn it in a chignon for years now. When she looked at me, she smiled, and those green eyes sparkled.
"Heyes, good. Help Chrissy," she told me. "Only need one cradle for baby."
Looking around the room, I realized she had moved their heavy bed to the center of the room, and the drawers were out of their dresser in preparation for it being moved.
"Wait, Chrissy, what are you doing? Can't this wait until the Kid comes back?" I asked her, touching her arm.
"No, do now! Now where Josiah and Diane Frances sleep? Move Diane Frances into girl's room. Josiah in with Alexander? Heyes decide." she asked, no, she demanded.
"Chrissy, sit down. Let's talk," I told her, motioning for her to sit on the large, overstuffed rocking chair in the room. I've seen the Kid fall asleep in that chair many times.
She stopped. Her eyes were a determined darker green today and I knew this was going to be a delicate conversation. She did as I asked and practically fell back into the chair and closed her eyes.
"I need time to think about new sleeping arrangements for Josiah and Diane Frances. And why did you move your bed?" I asked.
I recognized the look I got in return. She was lost in her mind, away from me and the world.
"Chrissy?" I repeated louder and was relieved when she looked up at me. She didn't answer, though, so I repeated, "I need to think about the new bedrooms. Don't move anything else."
Tears streamed from her eyes, but she seemed unable to form words. I knelt next to her chair and hugged her. Crying into my shoulder, she managed to say, "Scared."
"I know you're scared and the Kid's not here, but I'll take care of you…we'll all take care of you," I told her.
She nodded. "Scared lose baby like Trinity Rose," she finally told me.
I couldn't let her know that the Kid had shared his fear of that with me, too. "The baby will be fine. Now can I move the bed back?"
Her mood instantly changed. "No! Mouse run there," she answered, pointing to the floorboard in back of where the bed used to be.
JED 'KID' CURRY
Lom paced nervously most of the night and was dressed just after dawn. "Kid, you want some coffee? Going to go get some for me," he told me pullin' on his boots.
"None for me or you, Lom," I growled. "Go back to bed. We have to be up and alert all night. Now lay down and, if you can't sleep, read or somethin'."
I managed to go back to sleep and found Lom two hours later sittin' up in bed snorin'. I picked up the book he had been readin' off the floor. I slipped his gun out of the holster on the headboard of his bed and sat at the round, wobbly table in the room, moved the lamp onto the table so I could see better, and cleaned his weapon. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, still it needed cleanin' and oilin'. When I was finished, I cleaned mine.
When Lom woke up for good around eleven, I had already gone down and brought a pot of coffee to the room. We ate a late lunch in the diner at the end of the street. I had some fun pretendin' to the pretty young waitress that my readin' was minimal. I smiled at her, and she leaned close over my shoulder and pointed to the words and read them to me.
When Charlotte - that was the waitress' name - left, Lom was holdin' back a grin. "If Chrissy asks how it went, you want me to tell her how you were flirting with the waitress?"
"Aww Lom, wasn't flirtin'. Just doin' what Heyes used to call buildin' my cover. I'm supposed to be dumb. You're the smart one, remember?" I whispered back.
"Still haven't a clue on how Black Brook's going to rob that bank. What was Heyes guess for the 3:00AM?"
"Third day? Third hour? Bring three men? Or maybe it really means 3:00AM? Heyes was so full of guesses it weren't no help and made my head spin," I answered.
When we finished, I put my hand over Lom's cup before Charlotte could fill it up again. "No more coffee now for him. We got a job to do tonight, and we'll need coffee to stay awake then," I told her.
LOM
Before we went back to our room to rest for the afternoon, we went over to the bank. Customers and clerks alike had wide eyes staring at the Kid. He didn't seem to notice. I'm sure he didn't think much about what he wore for this job except that it was comfortable and looked like a drifter. No matter what clothes he wears, the way he ties his gun to his thigh and puts his thumbs in the front of his gun belt, and the way he walks, he looks like a gunman. And he's playing the dumb gunman to perfection now.
JED 'KID' CURRY
"Sir, you want us to guard the inside or the outside of the bank?" I asked.
I observed that the bank president hid a bit of a grin by a deep sigh. Heyes has speculated that someone in the bank was the inside person for the robbery. I looked at Lom, but I don't think he picked up on the hidden grin.
The bank president laughed at my stupid questions. "I want you to guard what is inside the bank. You any good with that gun?" he asked.
I gave him a big fake smile and shuffled from foot to foot. "Yes, sir, I usually hit what I'm aimin' at, if it ain't movin'," I bragged in character.
"Good, good. Be here by seven tonight and I'll lock you inside the bank," the bank president told us.
"Well, I guess that answers my question," I answered, as Lom hurried me out the door without lookin' at me.
When we were far enough away, he pushed me into an alley and started laughin'. "You're pretending you're Kyle Murtry, aren't you. Long ago I remember him askin' Heyes that same question."
"Well, I AM supposed to be dumb and what better role model." Then I got serious. "Not sure I like the idea of bein' locked in anywhere."
"Didn't Heyes teach you anything about locks?" Lom asked. "I brought a set of lock picks that I confiscated off a prisoner, oh, it must be four or five years ago. They're not as nice as the ones Heyes still carried but they'll do the job. We can practice on the back door."
LOM
I wasn't all that thrilled being locked in the bank either. We both wore our guns, but we'd been warned not to bring anything in with us and not light the lanterns inside the bank. That would give away our presence to the outlaws that might want to rob the safe. But I bought some sandwiches at the diner and put them in a brown bag on top of some candles. The Kid had matches in his pocket and I had the lockpicks in my boot.
"I had the clerk leave out some pillows and blankets for you. It's going to be a cold night," the bank president said, making his words sound magnanimous. "I'll be back a little after three to let you out as the ad said."
"Sir, I was wondering why three AM?" I asked.
The bank president came back quickly with what sounded like a prepared answer. "Town can only afford to pay you for eight hours a night."
"Of course," I answered, making it sound like the lame answer appeased me
"There's two lamps lit in here. Familiarize yourself with the setup in here then turn them out in no more than fifteen minutes."
The Kid was shuffling from foot to foot. "Sir, what happens if I need to use the outhouse?"
"You will find a private water closet off my office, but don't flush the water until I come and let you out," he replied.
"You mean we have to use the latrine in the dark?" The Kid hit my elbow with his and grinned a grin like Kyle's, but without the tobacco-stained teeth. "Hard to aim in the dark but I'll do my best."
As soon as the door locked, the Kid took one of the lamps and tried the back door. "Locked. But you're right I can open it quickly with lock picks. Still, put a chair back under the doorknob," he instructed and headed for the office. "Water closet's there just like he said…it's very clean and has a window that was wide open. I closed and locked it, but we need to listen for someone enterin' from there.
Pulling two of the comfortable customer chairs in front of the main entrance, I watched as Kid turned the lamps down low, slanted the shades, and put them behind the clerk's heavy wooden counter. "Safe's back here," he told me. I watched him push the fake wood wall to the right. He tried to hand me a piece of paper. "Want to give it a try?"
"The safe's combination? Where did you get this?" I asked.
"Third drawer in the president's desk. That was one of Heyes' guesses," he told me.
I didn't take the paper but followed him to the safe. In the dim light from the lamps on the floor, he opened the safe. "Well, here's the payroll," he said, picking up a burlap sack. He opened it and started counting it. "Seems to be all here."
Closing the safe, he set the dial to the same number he'd found it on. Leaving only one lamp lit, we settled in the chairs.
"Guess it's about the little kids' bedtimes," the Kid whispered. "Guessin' Wayne will use Josiah's big boy bed."
"Big boy bed?" I asked.
"Yeah, with the new baby and all, we bought new beds for the little twins and called them the big boy and girl beds. Neither are sleepin' in them right now, but maybe havin' your son there will give them a push to get out of sleepin' in the cribs," the Kid explained.
"Big boy bed… I like that. I would sure like one of those right now." I didn't mean to fall asleep, but I was soon dreaming.
JED 'KID' CURRY
While Lom slept, I paced, checkin' the front and back doors and the water closet window. The windows in the main part of the bank had bars on them. I figured I'd hear if someone used a bar splitter. Heyes had lent me his watch and I checked it often. The night seemed to last forever, but at two thirty I woke Lom and started to put everything back where it had been. Last, I replaced the lamps on the counter and blew them out. A little after three, we heard the door lock click. I stood up and pointed my gun at the openin' door.
"Very good, very alert!" The bank president entered, accompanied by another man who stayed backin the shadows. The banker carried a lantern low so I could not see faces. I stepped back so they could not see mine either. "Thank you, both. Any problems?"
"None, sir," Lom answered. I could tell he was movin' around to see the other man's face.
"Glad of that. See you tomorrow night at seven."
"Sir, any problems with us bringing our canteens in here with us?" Lom asked. He must have gotten to see the man's face because he came and stood next to me now.
"Guess that's alright. Now I want to get back home to my wife and bed, so I'll see you tomorrow." With that, the bank president practically pushed us out the front door. He and his companion followed us out right behind.
Neither me nor Lom talked until we were in our room. He went right to his folder and started lookin' at the wanted posters for the Black Brook Gang.
"Lom, did you get a look at the bank president's companion?"
"I sure did. Believe his name is Toothless because he's missing those three top teeth," Lom answered. "He rides with the Black Brook Gang. And he was pointing a gun at the banker's back."