Courtesy of Miss Morgan
Chapter 1
“I think we lost them, Heyes,” Kid Curry said looking back.
Hannibal Heyes smiled and turned around to face Curry who was riding in back of him. “For the meantime. I think they’re still out there. We need somewhere to hide.”
“I hate to be a pest, Heyes, but how long will it take before we get to Leadville. We’ve got that appointment with Lom and all.”
Heyes shook his head. “Got at least two days ride ahead of us and we’re not going anywhere tonight, that’s for sure, not with that posse on our tail. Got to make the best of a bad situation. Get off the road tonight and start fresh in the morning. Give us time to change our route a bit, Kid. I’ve got a map and a place all picked out and if I’m not wrong, it’s not too far off.”
Curry smiled. Now how many times had he heard that before? It always meant that they would have to find somewhere other than a hotel to spend their nights. Best thing to do was listen. Besides, it didn’t seem like a bad idea.
“Another Hannibal Heyes Plan? Where to this time?”
Heyes smiled. “We’ve been there before, Kid, you just might not remember. It’s been a long time since we pulled our first bank job.”
“You ain’t talkin’ about that cave that we used to stash the money in, are you? The one near the abandoned mine?”
Heyes grinned and nodded his head. “The very same, Kid, the very same. You remembered after all.”
Curry laughed. “We hid out there a time or two when we were in trouble. Got a big lake full of fish if I remember right.” He thought for a moment. “I’m also remembering someone else you told me about Heyes, although I wasn’t there at the time. It lasted the year and half I was gone, didn’t it? Someone by the name of Morgan?”
Heyes lost his grin, remembering. “Morgana O’Hare. Yeah, Kid, the only woman that I ever fell head over heels for. She was my equal in everything. Never wore a dress in her life, but she was a woman in every way. I guess she just wanted a better life because one day, I woke up and she was gone. Never heard from her again.”
Heyes looked up and the dimpled smile returned. He straightened up in the saddle and pointed. “There’s the place, Kid.”
Curry followed the finger. Heyes was pointing to the mountains, but he could see a large blue lake directly in front. To the right was what looked like the ruins of an old abandoned mine. The cave had been right next to that. That’s when he noticed smoke rising from a tiny house a few feet down from the mine. The house looked fairly new, as if it had just been built overnight.
“Heyes, I’m not sure, but I don’t think…”
“No, Kid. I know exactly what you mean. I don’t remember that house either.”
“Well, we can figure it out later. Right now a nice fish dinner and a dip in the lake sound mighty good to me.”
“How about I race you there?” Heyes said. “Ready, Thaddeus?”
Curry smiled. “Anytime, Joshua.”
Chapter 2
“That trout is delicious,” Heyes said, as he took another piece. This was his third fish just tonight. They had set up camp close to the cave, but not in it, not yet.
“Can’t get any better than this,” Curry added, gobbling up the last of it. “So what about that old mine over there. When was it abandoned do you reckon?”
“Well, if I remember right, Patrick and Katie O’Hare settled in Colorado territory in ’56 and staked out a claim. While breaking ground, they came upon the gold that eventually made them rich. Morgan was 11 when she hid from four soldiers who robbed and killed her parents. They burned down the house and ransacked the mine, which had run dry years before. She ended up in a convent school, much like we did, Kid.”
“Except ours was more like a reform school.” Curry shook his head. “You sure there’s nothing in that mine?”
‘That’s what she told me years ago. Been a long time since I’ve seen her. All I know is that she ran away when she was 16 and began looking for the four men who killed her parents. She sought out Jim Plummer’s gang and robbed with the best of us. She was good at it, Kid, and a quick learner. I fell for her like a ton of bricks.”
“And she left you? Just like that?”
Heyes nodded. “I never saw her again. Right after that, we held up a train for a payroll of $30,000, but Jim disappeared with the whole thing. After that, the gang just fell apart and I went out in search of Morgan. I’d been the leader of the Devil’s Hole Gang for a year when I found you again, in that saloon playing poker.”
“Been together ever since,” Kid Curry said, smiling. He clapped Heyes on the back. Guess it’s too dark to have a look around?”
“Wait until morning, Kid. We’ll figure something out then. I’m exhausted.”
“Kinda tired myself, Heyes. I think I’ll join you, probably good to get an early start.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Galloping hooves awakened Kid Curry after a long uneasy night. He had woken a few times to the sound of voices but kept drifting off to sleep again. Now hearing the horses had forced him to awaken fully. Not realizing where he was for a moment, he sat up quickly, forgetting that he had fallen asleep on his bedroll. By the time he had gotten to his feet, the sound had disappeared. He looked around and noticed that their horses were gone. He glanced over at Heyes who was sound asleep. He could sleep through a thunderstorm complete with lightening. Speaking of weather, he smiled a little, and then glanced at the horizon. The sun was peeking its head over the mountains. It was going to be a beautiful day. What was it that Heyes always said?
“Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning. Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.”
He always remembered it because that weather prediction never failed. It always worked. And this time was no exception. He started toward the cave to see if anything else was missing, but everything was in the exact same place where they left them the night before. Curry smiled and walked out of the cave. He was about to walk back to wake up Heyes until he noticed three objects on the ground. He squatted down to have a closer look.
One had an HH engraved on it and the other was round with JKC imprinted on the face. The third object seemed to be a small drawstring bag. He opened it, glanced inside and pulled out a stone. He turned it over in his hand, smiled a bit, and then placed it back into the bag. He drew the strings tightly and pocketed it as quickly as possible to confirm his findings with Heyes later. The other two objects were theirs, respectively Heyes’ pocket watch and his money clip. It was obvious that they had been robbed, but the Kid didn’t know who did it or in what direction they had gone. His eyes were suddenly drawn to the mine. It was light enough now, he decided. He figured he could investigate their surroundings and report back to Heyes. He stood up and began to walk that way when he heard rustling in the bushes.
“Alright, hands above your head,” he heard a voice, a female one at that. He also felt the cold steel of a gun poking the middle of his back. “Don’t move a muscle. Now I’m just going to let out your pockets one side at a time.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Just put the gun down and we’ll be only too happy to oblige you.” That voice was Heyes, the Kid recognized it and smiled.
“You alright there, Thaddeus?”
“Never better, Joshua,” the Kid said, as he spun around quickly and tried to grab her gun, but she was faster than both of them. She had already turned and pointed the gun at Heyes. “Now you drop that gun and get out of here the same way you two….” She never finished the sentence.
“Heyes?” she asked, tentatively, staring into his face. “Hannibal Heyes?”
Heyes stared right back, his brown eyes wide with surprise and shock. “Morgan?” he asked, putting the gun down. “Is it really you?”
Morgana O’Hare nodded her head slowly and smiled. Heyes smile suddenly widened. She really hadn’t changed much since the last time he saw her when she was just shy of 18. Brown hair, which was still worn loose and over her shoulders, dark almost black wide eyes, still small and thin and unlike any woman he had ever come into contact with. Still wearing the trousers, he noticed. He was starting to wonder if she had ever owned a dress.
The two regarded each other for a moment before running into one another’s arms.
“I don’t believe this,” Curry said, rolling his eyes upward as he watched the two old lovers kiss each other.
Chapter 3
“What are you doing here?” Both of them asked one another when they finally came up for air. Curry had never seen Heyes like this. He was always so level headed. Right now he was acting like a little kid. No, wait, Heyes never acted like that, period. They only had eyes for each other, he noticed. If he were to walk out of here right now, Heyes and Morgan would never even realize he was gone.
“I looked for you all over, Morgan.” Heyes was saying. “Where did you go? What happened to you?”
Morgan laughed. “My father left this place to me, Heyes, the mine and cave included. The house I built myself Been here the better part of, oh I’d say 8 years.”
She got closer, the tips of their noses touched. “Now you could explain how you and Kid
Curry got here and why you showed up on my doorstep after all these many months. Oh and one more thing. Why he is he Thaddeus and you Joshua?”
“Miss Hayes, may I have a word with you?”
Morgan turned to discover an elderly gray haired gentleman calling for her. She turned back to find Hannibal Heyes staring at her wondering what to make of all this.
“Heyes?” he asked. “And if you don’t mind me asking but isn’t that….”
“He’s one of my borders. Now, if you boys will excuse me, I have something I must tend to. I’ll be right back.”
And she walked off leaving one very perplexed young man.
“Heyes? You with me?”
Hannibal Heyes turned to face his partner. “Sure, Kid, I’m here.” He clapped him on the back. “Just a little confused is all.” He turned back to where Morgan and the border were standing. “Does he look familiar to you?’
Kid Curry looked at him and smiled, then his eyes traveled to where the border and Morgan were talking. “Horace Fletcher, one of the first gang members to apply for amnesty.”
Heyes laughed. “Yep, Kid. Fletcher was one of the best safecrackers in the world. He taught me everything he knew before he left the bunch. What he’s doing here and with her is a mystery.”
Curry shrugged and shook his head. ‘He’s just one of her borders, Heyes. Nothing unusual. Everyone needs a place to stay.”
“What about Morgan taking my last name?”
“Well, the way I see it? Either she’s part of a gang or she went straight and had to change hers. She just picked yours, Heyes. You said the two of you had feelings for one another. I guess it was a little more serious than you thought.”
Heyes couldn’t think of a thing to say. He just kept staring at the two of them. “What if she’s got something else in mind, Kid?”
“You mean the $20,000?”
Heyes nodded. “She knows who we are. She could turn us over anytime she wanted.”
“I don’t think so, Heyes. She could be the leader of that gang who stole our horses and whatever else they could get their hands on.”
Heyes turned to face him. “I think I liked the second explanation better.”
“The one about going straight?”
Heyes nodded. “Anyway, what were you talking about stealing from us. We’ve got nothing worth anything to take.”
Curry held up the pocket watch. “Like this?” He dangled it over Heyes’ hand, and then dropped it in his palm. “My money clip too, although it was lying on ground, next to the watch. Oh, and one more thing.”
He reached in his pocket and pulled out the small drawstring back. He opened it up and handed Heyes a small gray dust covered stone.”
“What does that look like to you?”
Heyes turned it over in his hand, then held it up to the light. He pulled it back down and scratched a bit of the dust off. He looked up at the Kid and then turned his eyes in the direction of where Morgan and Horace were standing, but they were gone by now.
He picked the rock up once more and held it towards the sunlight, examining the scratch mark he made.
“Silver,” Heyes whispered, “Pure silver ore.”
“Well,” Horace said, watching Heyes and Curry. “We got them here. Now what?”
Morgan shook her head. “Not sure what to do yet, Horace. Plan A worked perfectly. Now we’ve got to utilize Plan B.” She turned her head to look at Heyes, but when their eyes met, she turned back toward Horace.
“It’s been two days and still no word from your cousin. I want you to go into town and make sure that they are still coming here directly. I’ll handle everything else. Just make sure that you get a message to bring back.” She smiled then. “Is your daughter still around? Curry will need a date.”
Horace nodded. “I’ll send Maddy over directly.”
“Good, now get going.”
“Did they recognize me? They haven’t seen me….”
Morgan nodded. “Yes, they did. Well, I shouldn’t say that, Heyes did.”
Horace smiled. “Always the smart one, always thinking. That’s why Big Jim made Heyes the leader. You think he picked up on your plan?” When he didn’t get an answer, he turned to look at her. “Miss Morgan?”
“Hannibal’s keeping an eye on us.” She looked up at him. “Better get a move on, Horace. We don’t have much time left. Oh, and invite them over for supper tonight. Don’t forget.”
Horace bent to kiss her on the cheek. “Anything for you, Miss Morgan. You saved my life and I repay my debts.”
Morgan nodded. “So do Heyes and Curry. Go on, Pop. You saved my life as well. You and your wife took me in fresh from the Miller gang and you straightened me out. I don’t know w here I would be without the three of you.”
“You’ve got to thank Lom Trevors, too. He was the one who brought you to us. And I think you’re leaving someone else out.”
“If you mean Winston, Horace, then he deserves to be left out. I know that he is your son…”
Horace shook his head. “And a disgrace to the family name. You are well rid of him. No, you’re right. The two of you weren’t meant to be married.”
“Somehow, Horace, I don’t think I’m meant to be married at all.”
Horace Fletcher smiled. “Knowing you, Miss Morgan, you’ll be fine, even without a husband.” He kissed her cheek, and then searched for Heyes and Curry.
“Whacha see, Winston? Zeb Miller called to him. The Miller gang, all four of them, were huddled in the bushes, waiting for one of the newer members, Winston Fletcher, to let them know what would happen next.
“My father’s talkin’ to somebody, but I don’t rightly know who.”
“Do ya see Heyes and Curry?” Hank Miller yelled out.
“Not so loud, Hank,” Drew Miller said, facing him. “Want someone to hear ya?”
“Quiet, all of you.” Winston said. He had turned toward the gang, and that had been his first mistake. Had he kept watching, he might have recognized the two most successful outlaws in the history of the West, as they headed for the cave and their saddlebags.
”I don’t know if I’m interested in Curry and Heyes so much,” he answered. “All I want is Morgana. And I’m gonna get her, boys, if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Well, it just might be the last thing that you do if we don’t get that reward money,” Hank said, looking over at his brothers.
“Maybe we could split up, we’ll go after Heyes and Curry and you go after Miss Morgan.”
“No one’s goin’ after anyone, fellas,” a new voice called out. Morgana pointed her rifle at Winston, then at the group. “And there’s no Heyes and Curry within miles of here. And if there is a reward to be gotten, it’s mine. Now get out of here, all of you. And don’t come back,” she yelled after them.
“I’m not giving up as easy as that,” Winston swore, watching Morgan turn her horse and head back toward her house. “I’ll be back.” And he galloped away after the rest of the Miller gang.
Chapter 4
“Joshua? Thaddeus?” She walked a little further into the cave. She called out so loud that it echoed on the walls. “It’s me, Morgan.”
She looked around “Anyone here?”
“Yes, there is,” Heyes came out of the shadows, gun in hand. Kid Curry stood in back of Heyes, gun drawn as usual to cover him if it was warranted. “Tell me, Miss Heyes; what’s going on? We have a small wager going. Jed here,” he said, gesturing toward Curry with his gun, “says that you’re after the reward money and you’re just waiting around to double cross us and turn us in. You and that gang of yours. I told him he was wrong, that you’re a reformed criminal, had to change your name, and that you wouldn’t even consider turning us in. Now which one of us is correct?”
Morgan frowned. “You boys disappoint me. I actually thought that you trusted me, Heyes. I know that we haven’t seen each other in some time, but this reception? Why, it’s more than I bargained for. All I really wanted to do was ask a favor you and a few questions.”
Heyes looked at Curry’s gun, then down at his own. He was feeling ashamed of himself all of a sudden. He looked at Morgan, than at the Kid, and then threw the gun down. The Kid did likewise. Heyes looked back at Morgan. “Come on, you do the same or we won’t tell you a thing.”
Morgan smiled. She threw her gun to the floor where Heyes retrieved it along with his own and Curry’s. He handed them to the Kid.
“Alright, we’ll level with you. You deserve that much. He’s Thaddeus Jones and I’m Joshua Smith. We’ve been trying to go straight so we can get that amnesty deal from the governor, for what I would guess has been, uh…
He looked over at Curry. “How long you reckon it’s been, Kid?”
The Kid looked up to the sky and began to count on his fingers. When he stopped, he looked at Heyes.
“Give or take 10 years,” came the reply.
Heyes smiled as he turned back towards Morgan. “Sounds about right to me. Anyway, Lom Trevors, you remember him, don’t you?”
He looked at Morgan, expecting to hear something, anything. When he didn’t hear anything, he continued.
“Lom was the one who set the deal up, Morgan. He went to the governor to finalize it, but it hasn’t worked out yet. It was to be a secret between the four of us. Well, about four days ago, we got a telegram from Lom that we should meet him in Porterville unless we heard something different. About two days ago, we got another wire that said Lom was to meet us in Leadville, not too far from here. It was something important because he was comin’ with the governor. That’s where we were headed when we met up with this posse. We needed somewhere to hide out for a day or two and I remembered about this place. I had no idea you were here, let alone everyone else. You know that I would never…”
Morgan walked over and placed her fingers over Heyes’ lips. “Don’t worry about it, I forgive you. I know a little bit about posses, remember? I just came by to make sure that you’re coming for supper and to ask if you’ll stay for a few days. It would be a big help to me. I have a place for you two to stay and it would look good on your records. Something to show the governor, I’d expect. Besides, most of my boarders are reformed criminals with nowhere to go. So I help them out until they find their way.”
She looked at Heyes first, then at Curry and began to giggle.
Heyes looked uneasily at Curry, then back to Morgan. “What’s funny?” he asked her.
“Amnesty, for you two? And a secret one at that. You boys call that a good deal?”
Heyes turned to look at Curry. “See? What did I tell you?”
The Kid looked over at her, then at Heyes. “Why does everyone say the same thing to us?”
“Do they?” she asked.
Heyes looked at her and nodded his head “We really haven’t told a lot of people.”
“I guess,” Morgan answered. “That some people would find it hard to believe if two famous bank and train robbers were to suddenly change their ways. And besides, how many people realize that you are Hannibal Heyes and the Kid ”
“You’d be surprised at how many people know who we are,” Curry said, “More often than not, Heyes has been called upon to use that silver tongue of his to get us out of trouble.”
Morgan smiled and turned to Heyes. “Silver tongue, huh?” She turned back to Curry. “But why all of a sudden? What made you want to give up banking and the railroad?”
Heyes grinned. “The world is changing, Morgan. It’s not as simple as it was. The safes are harder to break into and it’s not as easy to hide from the law anymore, not with them new modern methods.. Besides, I’m getting tired of running from everyone who wants our reward money. Maybe it’s about time we settled down and stopped running for a while.”
He looked at her. “Why did you get out? Why did you leave? And how did you come to take my name?”
Morgan looked back at him. “No, Heyes, it’s not your name. Well, maybe it is, but it’s not spelt the same way. Mine is H-A-Y-E-S, not H-E-Y-E-S. Julia Hayes.”
Heyes smiled. “Not a good enough explanation.”
Morgan was getting upset. “Well, it’s good enough for me. I will tell you, Heyes. I promise. Just not right now.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Heyes,” Curry called out, “That’s enough. Can’t you see she’s crying?”
“No, Kid,” Morgan answered, looking over at him, “It’s nothing.” She turned her gaze back to Heyes. She wiped a stray tear with the back of her hand. “You want to know why? I’ll tell you why. At the time, I wanted something, Hannibal, no wait; I needed something of yours, to have with me for the rest of my life. That I could hold onto and that I could remember you by, even if it was a different spelling.” She looked into his eyes.
“And why did I leave? Your whole career was robbing banks and trains. Big Jim made you the leader and that consumed your life. You had no time for me. I felt as if I were the third wheel. You would never settle down and I didn’t want to force it on you. And if I couldn’t have all of your attention, I didn’t want any of it. So I went my separate way and left you to yours.”
“Happy now?” She asked, as the tears started coming faster. She turned and ran toward the cave entrance.
“Morgan, wait,” Heyes called, but she was gone.
“Good going, Heyes.” Curry said, shaking his head.
“I don’t need any help from you,” Heyes said as he started towards the cave entrance. “I feel bad enough already.” He stopped and turned toward his partner. “We’re getting our stuff together, Kid, and going to stay there, until we can figure something else out. Unless you have any objections?”
Chapter 5
Morgana O’Hare was back in the house, standing at the dining room window watching as Heyes walked out, calling her name. Well, Julia’s name, anyway. She shook her head. He wouldn’t know that the alias wasn’t needed in this neck of the woods and had not been needed, not for a long time. The names were used only when strangers showed up. He would learn that if he decided to stay, but right now she wasn’t sure.
She would have to wait and see.
“Miss Morgan, you alright?”
“I’m fine, Horace,” she answered, wiping another tear away. “Did you get an answer?”
“But you’re ..” He didn’t finish the sentence. “They will be here tomorrow, Miss Morgan. Right about 1 in the afternoon. The stage will drop them off here.” He looked around, but didn’t see anyone. “Are they both here? Did Plan B work out?”
Morgan smiled in spite of the tears. She nodded her head. “They’ll stay, Horace, even for a little while. Plan C is next, unless I scared him off.”
Horace Fletcher frowned. “Scared? Heyes? What happened? What did you say?”
Morgan looked at him, then looked away again. “Sit down, Horace,” she said, pulling a chair out from under the dining room table. “This is going to be a long story.”
“You really meant what you said to her? That you’re tired of running and want to settle down?”
“I don’t know what I want, Kid. I’m not sure anymore. I do know that I don’t want to lose Morgan again.” He looked up at him. “Do you really think that we shouldn’t trust her?”
“Excuse me, but are you Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith?”
They both turned towards the entrance of the cave.
“I’m Joshua Smith,” Heyes said to the beautiful blonde haired young woman standing at the cave’s entrance. “He’s….”
“I’m Thaddeus Jones,” Curry said walking over to her. “And who might you be?”
“My name is Madeline Fletcher, Mr. Jones, but everyone calls me Maddy.”
“You can call me Thaddeus, Maddy.” He turned to look at Heyes. “You know Joshua? Maybe I was a bit hasty. We can stick around for a few days, maybe even months, who knows?”
He turned back to her. “Care to take a walk, Miss Maddy?”
And with that, the Kid put her arm through his and escorted her out.
Heyes watched the two of them. So this was Horace Fletcher’s daughter. She was extraordinarily pretty, blue eyes, blonde hair, and more the Kid’s type than his. It was great that she didn’t remember who he was; he hadn’t seen her in 8 years, since she was 16. All grown up, he thought, just like…
He only knew the two reasons why he really wanted to stay; one was Morgana. He didn’t want to lose her, not again, this he was sure about. The other reason was that silver ore and if he married her, all of it would be his.
Heyes smiled. He would go over there now and tell her that they’d stay and that included supper. They could always move their stuff in later on, maybe even tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~
Nate and Ben Miller had been outlaws for five years, long enough to know their way around, who was who and what was what. And they knew Heyes and Curry when they saw them. They also knew Morgana. What they hadn’t known was that she loved Heyes and would probably do anything to keep him there, despite that he was in over his head.
And here they were, sneaking around in the mine every night, looking for that silver. There was a lot of it to be had, and all for the picking, but it wasn’t easy, not with the cave occupied. They would have to lay low for a few days and figure something else out. At least, they had that sample.
“We could sure use that money, Ben”, Nate was saying. “All we gotta do is get Heyes and Curry up to Wyoming territory. The law don’t care if they is dead or alive.”
“How do you figure we take them in, Nate?” Ben asked his brother.
“Simple, Ben,” Nate said, looking at him. “We tie ‘em up or we kill ’em. I reckon anyone of us could turn him in and get that reward.”
“But Nate, we don’t have that amnesty. We aren’t part of them.”
“That’s right, Ben. That’s why their reward money would come in very handy. $20,000 could buy us this whole place, including that old gold mine.”
“But don’t you see? We’re outlaws too. It wouldn’t work.”
”Maybe we could work out a deal, maybe not. Depends on a lot of things.”
“You reckon that we can get Winston to turn in Heyes and Curry? He ain’t wanted for nothin’ yet.”
Nate stopped walking and looked at Ben. “Good idea, save one thing. Who gets the reward?”
Ben thought about it. “It’s ours, Nate. We was the ones who recognized them two.”
“We’ll see, Ben. Got to talk to Hank first. You know, that silver ore we found?”
“Ain’t that ours? That mine’s been abandoned for years.”
Nate smiled. “Yep, that’s ours. Almost forgot all about it. No one was around when we saw it sittin’ there lookin’ real pretty. Didn’t even have to dig for it. Right there for the pickin’.” He turned to look at him. “By the way, what exactly did you do with that little pouch of mine anyway?”
“Gave it to Hank so that he can take the sample to assay it. They should be almost to Leadville by now.”
“Hope for your sake that you’re right, brother.” Nate grinned and clapped Ben on the back. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”
Heyes grabbed their saddlebags and left the cave. As he neared the house, he noticed that it was not so tiny; in fact, it was bigger than he thought at first. The house was two stories high with a bunkhouse and stables directly in back, hidden from view. Well, she did say that it was a guesthouse after all. Except he was almost surprised how many reformed outlaws he hadn’t recognized. All except Ben and Nate Miller who he spotted right off. Now what were they doing here? Their wanted posters were in every sheriff’s office from Wyoming to New Mexico. He knew, he had seen them himself, but then, if he had recognized them….
Well, he’d worry about that later. All he wanted was a nice warm bath and a nice home cooked meal. He’d talk to Morgan afterward. His brown eyes lit up just thinking about it. He knocked on the front door.
“We’d better get started for the house, Thaddeus,” Maddy said when she looked at him. “Supper isn’t too far off.” She smiled at him.
The Kid smiled back. She was playing it to the hilt. As soon as they got back to the house, he’d be Jed Curry, the partner of Hannibal Heyes, an outlaw wanted for $10,000 dead or alive.
That’s when he noticed the blonde haired woman in a beautiful white dress. Curry watched as she passed the two of them. “I know her,” he said to Maddy, “that’s…”
“Wilhelmina Simms, better known as Billie Simms.”
“Lom’s girlfriend? She’s no outlaw.”
“Lom’s wife,” Maddy corrected. “And no one knows why she’s here. I know that she’s been working for him, though.”
Curry kept his eye on her until they got to the front door of the house. She opened the door. “Go and find Joshua,” she said, “I’ll get things set up here.”
Chapter 6
Horace Fletcher heard the coach long before he saw it drive up to the door. When he saw the two men stepping out of it, he smiled as he recognized each one.
“Miss Morgan?” he called out to her, as he rushed to the door, “Our guests have just arrived.”
“They’re early, aren’t they? I’ll be down in a minute, Horace. Make our guests comfortable.”
“Will do, Miss Morgan,” Horace said as he swung open the door. He smiled. “Mr. Trevors and Governor Warren. Welcome to our humble home. Come in, gentlemen come on in.”
“Nice to see you again, Horace,” Sheriff Lom Trevors extended his arm and warmly pumped Horace’s hand. “This here,” he said, indicating the man standing next to his left, “is the new Governor of the Wyoming Territory, Francis E. Warren.”
“Soon to be the new State of Wyoming,” the Governor said, smiling, taking Horace’s hand in his own. “How are you, Mr. Fletcher? I’ve been looking forward to meeting your daughter Morgana.”
Horace smiled as he removed his hand from his grip. “She’s not exactly my daughter, Governor, we’ve only had her with our family the last 8 years.” He looked into the Governor’s face; the gray handlebar mustache wasn’t hard to miss. “We took care of her, and, since my wife passed away, she is now taking care of me.”
He looked back at Lom. “You’re here a day early, aren’t you?”
Lom smiled. “Our driver got us here in record time, Horace. I’ve never seen anyone take shortcuts like that in my life.”
“You might have, Mr. Trevors, back when the world was younger than it is now.”
Lom turned to see Morgan O’Hare smiling at him. Lom couldn’t stop staring. She was wearing a dress. It was too bad she carried that torch for Hannibal Heyes all these years.
“Hello, Morgana,” he said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. “You look lovely.” He indicated the Governor. “May I present….”
“Hello Governor Warren,” Morgan said, taking his hand. “How nice to meet you finally.”
“Now that those introductions are out of the way, I’m sure you’re tired and dusty from the trip. Madeline Fletcher will show you to your rooms where you gentlemen can clean off. By that time, our other guests will be happy to meet with you.”
Lom smiled. “Sounds peaceful. Right this way, Governor. I can’t wait to get into that bathtub.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What?” Nate shouted, grabbing Hank by the front of his shirt. “What do you mean it’s gone? Where’d you lose it?”
“I didn’t say I lost it, Nate, I said it was gone.”
“Oh, so it just disappeared into thin air, is that right? You learned a little magic when I wasn’t lookin’?” He threw Hank against the wall of their small cabin. “What have you got to say for yourself, Henry?”
“Leave him alone, Nathaniel.” Zeb spoke up. “Whacha’ call him that for?”
“Because I know’d that he don’t much care for it, Zebulon,” Nate said, his smile widening.
“Listen, boys,” Drew pleaded. “Does this have to happen every time somethin’ ain’t right? You know we always end up punchin’ each other out.” He stretched out his hand to help Hank up.
“Is it botherin’ ya that much, Andrew?” Nate said, laughing, pushing Hank and Drew on the floor again. He was laughing so hard that he didn’t see a hand come out and hit him square in the jaw.
“What’d you go and do that for, Benji?” Nate asked, making sure that his jaw was still intact.
“Call me Benji again, Nathaniel, and I’ll flatten you good this time,” Ben said, looking at his brother.
“Now is that anyway to talk to your own brother?” Nate said, getting to his feet. “I’ll show ya who’ll do the flattenin’” and tried to punch Ben, but hit Zeb instead.
That’s when it all fell apart.
Punches, glass and insults flew everywhere. Whatever wasn’t nailed down ended up all over the cabin. It lasted 20 minutes before a single gunshot split the air. Everything came to a sudden halt.
“Somethin’ botherin’ ya, Wini?” Nate said, looking in his direction.
“What’s goin’ on in here? Can’t a man have some peace and quiet?”
Winston shook his head, turned and pushed open the cabin door, leaving the rest of the boys standing there. He grabbed the door handle and pulled at the heavy wooden door tto close it. He sat down on the steps. If he found that silver first and married Morgana, things would be better. But if he brought in Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, found the silver, and married Morgana everything would be just dandy. Winston smiled as he thought about it. Now all he had to do was come up with a plan.
Heyes was shaving when Curry finally walked into their room. He had just finished his bath and was dressing for supper. The old water had already been pumped out and had been replaced with new boiling hot water.
“Don’t you look handsome?” the Kid commented as he stared at Heyes’ suit. He smiled and pointed to the freestanding claw foot tub. “Is that for me?”
“Just putting on the finishing touches now,” Heyes said, ignoring the bath comment. “I’m supposed to meet Morgan in a half hour. Says she has a surprise for the both of us.”
“Well,” Curry said, getting into the tub, “There’s a private carriage down there. Maddy let on that it was someone important.”
Heyes looked in the Kid’s direction. “Does she have any idea who you really are?”
“I haven’t told her yet,” the Kid said, “but I get the feeling that she knows.” He grabbed the soap from Heyes. “Not trying to switch subjects here, but why did you call me Jed back there? You haven’t called me that since we ran away from the Valparaiso School for Waywards. In fact, I don’t even remember you ever calling me that. It was always kid this or kid that, even though I was only two years younger.”
“I see that you got some use out of it.” Heyes said, looking in the mirror, straightening out his tie. “You took your name from that.”
“What was wrong with just plain Curry? After all, I had to call you Heyes instead of Hannibal. Made you feel important, part of a gang, you said. Like a grownup.”
“Your last name sounds too much like a meal, Kid, and I’m always hungry. And, as you know there was never enough money between us to have a proper meal. Hopefully with that bag of ore you found….”
His voice trailed off as he gave himself one last look in the swivel mirror. He turned toward the Kid. “How do I look?”
“I told you, Heyes, you look very handsome in that getup. Morgan will be pleased.” He lost the smile when he saw that Heyes was headed for the door. “You never answered my question, Heyes,” he called out after him. “HEYES?”
Chapter 7
“Alright, boys,” Nate said, “Here’s how it’s going to work. Ben and I are headed for the mine to look for that bag. Winston here will root out Heyes, Curry and Miss Morgan. The rest of you will wait for Winston’s signal which is what? Any of you remember?”
Drew, Hank and Zeb all stared at each other. All shook their heads no at the same time.
“I’ll whistle for the three of you. Winston shook his head and looked up to the sky. They must have gone over this part of plan a few times already. ‘Then we tie them up and take them to the woods where we shoot them. They are wanted dead or alive. Better for me if they’re dead, less competition. Then we split the reward money, you got that?”
All three nodded their heads in unison.
“What about Miss Morgan?” Zeb asked. “Do we shoot her, too?”
Winston shook his head. “Leave that to me. And no, we don’t shoot her.”
“What about that carriage out there?” Hank said, pointing. “You did say that Lom and some other fella got out of that?”
“We’ll all meet back at the house,” Nate said, nodding. “We’ll take care of that outlaw turned lawman. We’ll give him a send off he won’t soon forget.”
Ben nodded as well. “Payback for hangin’ cousin Zeke. Take him by surprise.”
Nate smiled. “Well, then let’s get a move on.”
All of them nodded their heads in unison. Not one of them moved a muscle.
“Whacha’ waitin’ for, boys. Let’s go.”
Hannibal Heyes was in his own little world as he walked down the hallway. He was thinking of all that money and how he was going to spend it. He didn’t hear the Kid calling after him at all. He would have missed Morgan as well if she hadn’t woken him up.
“Heyes? HEYES!”
He stopped and stared at her. “Morgan?” he asked as he looked at her. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
She was wearing a dress, the most beautiful gown he had ever seen on any woman.
“What are you staring at?” she asked playfully, trying not to smile. “You act as if you’ve never seen me before.”
“I haven’t,” Heyes whispered, “not like this.”
“Like this? And what exactly do you mean, like this?”
“You’re lovely, Morgan. The green suits you.”
“You mean this old thing? It was my mother’s. There was a trunk full of them.” She smiled. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Heyes.”
Heyes didn’t say anything. He just continued to stare.
Morgan’s smile widened as she watched him. It seemed as if he was oblivious to everything except her.
“Wake up, Heyes,” she said, putting her arms on his shoulders, shaking him. “We have important guests waiting downstairs. Where’s the Kid?”
“Taking a bath,” he answered, still in a daze. “He’ll probably….”. He was wide-awake now. “Important guests? Who?”
“It’s a surprise,” Morgan answered as she grabbed his hand and started to pull. “Let’s just say that you and your partner won’t be sorry.”
“Look, Morgan,” Heyes said as she pulled him down the hallway, “I need to….”
Morgan shook her head, but didn’t turn around.
“Nothing to apologize for, Heyes. You know, I don’t believe you’ve changed one iota. I don’t know what I expected after all these years. I guess I should have known better.”
She stopped so short that Heyes almost tripped over her. She let go of his arm and pointed to the wooden double doors.
“In here,” she said, smiling up at him. “And here’s a kiss for good luck. She stood on her tiptoes to reach his forehead, but Heyes was quicker. He brought his face down to hers and he kissed her deeply.
“Marry me?” he asked as they pulled apart.
Morgan looked into his eyes and smiled. “Ah, Hannibal, you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say those words.” She ran the tips of her fingers over his lips. “I had my response all planned out.”
Heyes smiled. “Did you now?”
“Uh huh,” she nodded. “I’d say yes and jump into your arms. I dreamt about it for so long. But now I’m not so sure if it’s me you want or is it all that silver down in that old gold mine. So my answer will just have to wait a while longer.”
“I’m surprised at you, Morgana. You always knew what I was thinking. Why do you have doubts now?” He bent to kiss her again, but she pushed him away this time.
“In here, Heyes. Come on, you’ll be late. The Governor stopped here on official business and doesn’t have too much time. We can discuss all this later.”
“All what later?” His eyes widened. It was starting to sink in. “Wait a minute. What are you talking about? How do you know about that….”
Morgana smiled. “Get going, Hannibal,” she whispered as she kissed him again. Then she opened the one of the double doors and pushed him in.
Chapter 8
Winston Fletcher smiled as he entered the mine. He had to do this without anyone else seeing. Not only that, but it had to be done quickly and as quietly as possible exactly as he had done it the first time when he followed Morgana.
He made a beeline for the rock that Morgan placed over that spot and slowly bent to his knees as Morgan had done the night before. He tore up more of the rotting floorboards and gazed down into the pile of pure cut silver ore that Morgan and his father had placed there years before. He had heard about it, but had never seen it.
He knew nothing of silver ore; they were always rocks to him. It was like that with a lot of people; well, at least at the beginning. It seemed funny that more and more of them were staking claims to all the old gold mines and converting them to silver mines instead.
He had to be slow and careful, Morgan had told him a while ago that the mine was fragile and with one false move, it could collapse. There was something loose somewhere, but no one was sure where it was.
Winston bent to his knees and was about to rip up more of the rotting floorboards when he heard that rush of pebbles, dirt and stones right behind him. Faster, he told himself, as he grabbed handfuls of the ore as he shoved them in his pockets. When the creaking started, he jumped to his feet and ran out of there as quickly as he could. In doing so, some of the silver dropped from his pockets as he ran.
He had expected the collapse any second, but it never happened. Not yet, anyway.
“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in? Lom smiled as he held out his hand. “Hello, Heyes, nice to see you again.”
More like shoved in, Heyes thought. “Lom,” he said, extending his hand, “It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise,” Lom said, pumping Heyes’ hand. “Where’s the Kid? This concerns him too and both of you got to be here.”
“Right here, Lom,” the Kid yelled from the door. He extended his hand and Lom shook it.
“Right this way, boys. I’d like to introduce you to the Governor of Wyoming, Francis E. Warren. His had your pardons on his desk for five years now.”
“That’s right, gentlemen, but this time I intend to carry it out.” Governor Warren stood and walked from behind the desk. He extended his hand to first Heyes, then Curry and resumed his seat. “All it needs to finalize the deal is your signatures on these papers and then it’s all free and legal.”
Heyes and the Kid exchanged glances. “After all these years?” Heyes turned back to Lom. “This for real?”
“As soon as you sign these papers, it is. Courtesy of Miss Morgan, Horace Fletcher and me. The Governor’s been pretty pleased with your records, boys. Had to make sure that the two of you meant what you said. We won’t bring up those little adventures the two of you seem to get into, because as far as we’re concerned, your records are clean.”
”Wait, now what did the three of you have to do with our amnesty? As far as I understood it….”
“Character witnesses, Mr. Heyes,” the Governor said, “and so many others who’d vouch for you, although they wish to remain anonymous, at least for now anyway. I must say that I am very pleased with your progress and the steps you’ve taken to clean up your records. The fact that you’ve stayed with it all these years just shows me that you are willing to commit yourselves to an honest hard working life. Now if I can have those signatures as soon as possible, we’ll be able to discuss the terms of your amnesty deal.”
“Comin’ right up, Governor,” they said at the same time, as they signed their respective documents and handed it back to him.
Governor Warren reached out, grabbed both papers, looked them over and smiled. “Well, that’s it, boys, you are no longer wanted men.”
Heyes and Curry smiled and exchanged looks of joy. Then they turned back to face the Governor. “Thank you, sir,” Heyes said, pumping his hand. “Thank you kindly.”
“Now wait, Mr. Heyes, Mr. Curry. We have some terms to discuss.” The Governor cleared his throat. It is required that you stay here at Miss Morgan’s for a year. We want to keep an eye on you from here. No traveling and stay out of trouble. If something goes wrong or sounds even the least bit suspicious, the pardon will be rescinded and the deal null and void. Now gentlemen, I hope that you have understood what I have just told you and will comply.”
Heyes nodded. “Of course we understand, Governor, but how will anyone know?”
“Well, there’s Miss Morgan for one. She’s been keeping tabs on you boys for a long time now, thanks to Lom and Billie. She’s been working with them for years, not to mention that bet she won.”
Heyes felt a little puzzled, but the smile stayed on his face. “Bet?” he asked, “What bet?” Lom looked at the Governor a little uneasily, but he continued ignoring Lom’s stare.
“Why, the one between Lom and Miss Morgan.” He laughed and shook his head. “Brilliant woman, absolutely brilliant and smart as a whip. Lom’s been trying get you boys to come here for the longest time, but didn’t know how to do it. That’s when Miss Morgan offered up her plan, or should I say plans. Lom doubted that she could do it, but here you standing in front of me. I’d say she won, fellas, wouldn’t you agree?”
Lom nodded and smiled, all the time keeping his eyes on Heyes and Curry.
“Looks like,” Heyes said, turning towards the Kid. He was just a little stunned at the news that he had been set up. The silence grew until the Governor slapped his hand down on the desk. “Best be going. The schedule’s pretty tight. Make my goodbyes to everyone. Congratulations again, boys.”
Morgana walked outside to get a breath of that crisp, fresh fall air. She always loved late September in the Colorado Mountains. After all, this is where she grew up and where she had lived.
But it had also brought back those awful memories of what had happened so long ago.
Four deserters of the Union Army, they had looted several of mines in the area, searching for food and gold. By the time they got to the O’Hare mansion, they were cold and hungry.
Finding nothing in the mine, they had broken down the door to the house. Morgana and her mother had been in the kitchen with the cook preparing dinner. By the time, they entered the room, looking for food and gold; Morgana was safely hidden in the pantry. When the sound of gunshots brought her father downstairs, they turned their guns on him. When he told them that the gold wasn’t kept in the house, they went on a rampage, killing not only the cook, but her parents as well.
And her brown eyes had absorbed it all.
The soldiers, not wanting anyone to discover the dead bodies, set the house on fire and fled, leaving Morgana alone and scared. As soon as she smelled the smoke, she ran out the side door. She took her refuge in the cave and stayed there, afraid to come out.
When she finally did, the house she had grown up in was gone, burned to the ground. Some things were still salvageable though.
The rest was a blur. Most of it jumbled up in her mind. Bits and pieces of wandering for days, then fainting, then waking up in a convent, surrounded by nuns. At first, she had thought she had died.
When she had found that she was still alive, she had made up her mind to search for the four soldiers that had killed her family. Six years later, at seventeen, she ran away from the convent school and hopped a freight car. It was in that boxcar that she first met Horace Fletcher who filled her with stories of outlaws and revenge. She rode with him back to meet his bunch, as he called them, and introduced her around. She noticed a beautiful dark haired, dark eyed man who couldn’t keep his eyes off her. The attraction was mutual and from that day on, they became inseparable. She had fallen hard for this outlaw and natural born leader, the charming, witty, and forever smiling Hannibal Heyes.
She always liked to think that Hannibal loved her; at least that’s what he claimed.
But it never seemed to her that he really had, even though he insisted that he did. He seemed always preoccupied with the railroad and banking business.
Morgana had been with Jim Plummer’s gang for almost a year when Heyes told her about the four men who had been caught and taken to Fort Laramie to be hanged. It was in the paper and Heyes noticed the article. It had gone on in detail and she discovered that her family wasn’t the only ones who had fallen victim to these men.
She decided to go and make sure that they were the ones and she had asked him to go with her, but he said he couldn’t; that he had certain obligations and couldn’t leave the gang. Not yet anyway, but if she wanted to go…..
So she left to see for herself and sure enough, there they were, all four of them, at least the faces she remembered. She hadn’t seen them since she was eleven, but she recognized them instantly.
After the hanging, she returned to the hideout, but the bunch was gone, Heyes with them. Another gang had taken their place, the Miller boys. Morgana joined Ezekiel, Drew and Zeb, but it wasn’t the same and soon tired of it. The pamphlet that mentioned the amnesty deal was hanging outside the local sheriff’s office and she decided then and there to turn herself in. That sheriff, as it turned out, was Lom Trevors who brought her to his cousin, Horace Fletcher, not realizing that they had met two years earlier. As part of her deal, she had to remain with Horace for a year, until she was actually settled. Then she could go her own way. When she turned twenty and after the death of Horace’s wife, she became homesick for Colorado and the mountains. She had the deed that her father left her and built a small house on the land he left her.
Staying with the Fletchers had helped her immensely. They had not only given her a place to stay, but it had given her the confidence that she needed to go on. She wanted to start a place like that too, where reformed outlaws could prepare for an honest life.
And so, with Lom’s help, she started this place and managed to keep it going. This was the sixth year now. No money on this deal, just the satisfaction that she was helping other outlaws to go straight.
When Lom mentioned about Hannibal and the Kid, she jumped at the chance to get them here, even betting Lom that she would someday. And so she tried every plan and scheme she could think of to get both of them here. She smiled. She had won this round, now she had to win the next one.
She heard the front door to the house open and knew that the meeting was over and that she had missed it. Heyes’ voice was loud and unmistakable. She started in their direction when she heard someone behind her call out her name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So Lom,” Heyes asked as they watched the Governor’s carriage drive away, “I need to ask. What the heck took so darn long?”
Lom smiled. “Warren had your pardons all ready, Heyes, I thought I explained all that. But after President Cleveland pulled him out and replaced him with George Baxter…”
“Isn’t that the one we did that little thing for?” Heyes interrupted, shaking his head. “Got us nowhere and quickly, too.”
The Kid nodded in agreement. “Never did get that amnesty, not ‘til now.”
Lom shook his head. “No other governor was willing to give you boys anything until now. I was able to convince Governor Warren though. I reminded him that your papers were sitting on his desk to begin with and he agreed with me. Morgana did her part as well as all the other witnesses. So he just bumped it up to the top and, well, here we are.”
He looked at the two of them. “But you’ve got to remember something boys, this amnesty is limited and can be taken away at any time should you decide to do somethin’ stupid.”
The Kid and Heyes exchanged looks. “So, Lom,” Heyes piped up. “What you're saying is…”
“What I’m sayin’ is that you boys better stay outta trouble and keep your heads low. I don’t think you’ll get another chance after this one. But I gotta good feeling about you two. You’ve managed to keep your noses clean for ten years. I think you’ll be good for another ten more.”
He looked at the two of them and smiled. “I’m sure Miss Morgana O’Hare will keep you two out of trouble.”
Heyes smiled and nodded. “I’ll bet you’re right.” He looked around. “Speaking of Morgan, where do you think she disappeared to?”
~~~~~~~~~
“Morgan?” She heard someone calling her name, but it sounded far away.
“Morgana?” the voice repeated, this time it seemed a little closer. It was louder this time and she turned in the direction of it.
“Maddy?” she asked with a smile. “What brings you here? I thought…
Her voice trailed off as she watched Maddy hand her back her father’s small suede tobacco pouch, the one she left for Heyes and Curry to find. The one with all that…
“Apparently, the boys never found it,” Maddy said. “It was in the exact same place where you left it.”
Morgan shook her head and frowned. “Can’t be. Heyes knew all about the silver. He told me about it before the meeting. It doesn’t make sense, unless….”
Morgan turned the small bag on its side and shook out some of its contents. She examined the silver ore closely, and then put them back in the bag, pulling the strings tight. She handed the bag to Maddy.
“Do me a favor? Bring this up to my room and put it in the usual place. Don’t tell anyone about this. I’ll handle it when I get back. Now get going, they are all waiting for you.”
“And what about you?” Maddy asked, “Heyes is going to come looking for you. Morgan, you have to tell him the truth.”
Morgan smiled. “Yes, I agree. It’s gone on much too long. I’ll be there directly, I promise.” she answered. “Now get.”
Maddy smiled and nodded. “You know that the meeting is over. Heyes and Curry are no longer wanted men.”
Morgan smiled. “Yes, I knew. Get going, shoo.”
Maddy kissed her cheek. “See you soon, sis.”
She watched as Maddy ran off, her gaze staying with her until she was well out of sight. She’d better stop all this daydreaming; it was getting her nowhere. Now that Hannibal Heyes didn’t have a reward attached to his name, there was so much that she wanted to tell him. So much they could share with each other. She had to tell him the truth. There were all these plans and, well, if he ever spoke to her again after she divulged her little secret…
Wait, she thought, that bag. There was something about that bag, something different. She had to find Maddy and tell her. She had to
“Hold it right there, Morgana, and don’t you move a muscle.”
“Find anything?” Nate asked his brother as he poked around the entrance to the mine. .
“Not a thing,” Ben answered from inside. “Could be we dropped it out here.”
Nate shook his head. “Who ya callin’ we?” he said, his eyes scanning the ground. It was when he turned in the direction of the cave when he caught a glimpse of something that shone brightly in the sun. Not knowing what it was, he walked over to it; then bent to get a closer look.
“Ben, get out here, quick!” he yelled, his eyes narrowing in anger. “How much of this stuff did you drop?”
“One minute, Nathaniel,” he whispered. “I think I found something.” He bent down as he noticed something glinting in the light of his torch. It looked as though someone had dug there a long time ago and covered up the spot with some wood planking with a stone on top of it as if to mark off the area. It looked as if someone had gotten there before him, though, someone very recently as well. Intrigued, he tore up what was left of the rotted wood when he heard a tiny creaking sound and something that sounded like pebbles falling. He waited until it stopped before he tore away the rest. There, under all that wood, lay the biggest bunch of silver he had ever seen in his life before.
“Well, what have we here,” he shouted. “We’re rich, Nate, we’re rich.” He ran out of the mine with a small stone in his hand. “Look, brother, there’s enough silver down there to last us for….”
He heard it before he saw it. The mine was starting to fill up with pebbles and rocks, putting pressure on the already stressed and rotted beams of the mine. It was only a matter of time before the whole thing came crashing down.
Chapter 11
She felt the cold steel of a gun press against the small of her back. She didn’t need to turn around; she recognized the voice. She raised her hands in the air to oblige.
“Hello, brother,” she said, hoping to soften him up. It always had in the past. “Kinda wondered where you’d gotten off to.”
“Don’t give me that brother line,” Winston said, angrily. “You know we ain’t related. You’ve always known how I felt about you.” The gun pressed deeper into her back. “Just shut your mouth and keep your hands where I can see them.”
Morgan smiled a little. “Why are you doing this, Winston? What’s your purpose? You already know about the mine, just the same as Maddy. You know that it’s dry. You know that…” She started to put her hands down, but the gun was only pressed harder.
“Don’t lie to me, Morgana. You’ve been tellin’ that story since we moved here. Well, I don’t believe it, never have. I followed you into the mine last night. I saw what you did.”
Morgan’s smile widened. She hoped that he wouldn’t see. “I don’t know what you mean?”
Winston’s gun burrowed deeper into her back. “You know darn well what I’m talkin’ about. It’s true that the gold in that mine dried up, but now there’s silver to take its place and you knew all about it, didn’t you? Keepin’ it all to yourself, ain’t you? So you can marry that fella Heyes. You already lied about that. Told me he wasn’t here. Now you’re gonna tell me that it wasn’t you in the mine two nights ago?”
Morgan’s smile faded. “What in the world are you talking about? You know that I wouldn’t lie to you. I should have told you about Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, but I had my reasons. As far as that mine goes, you’ve known all along that there’s nothing in there worth…”
The pressure against her back was gone. Morgan sighed. He was using his hands now, the gun forgotten. That’s exactly what she had counted on. She had been down this road before. She still had to be careful; she knew it was still in his hands, cocked and ready. All she had to do now was to catch him off guard.
“Not now there ain’t. I took most of it. It’s all in my pockets. I may have dropped some, but not enough to make any difference.”
Morgan closed her eyes and shook her head. “Listen, brother, you’ve got to believe me. There was never a reason to hide any of this from you. I’m telling you the truth. Now, if I could just see what it is that you…”
The gun was back, pressing harder than before. “You’re kiddin’ me, right? You really expect me to believe all that?”
“Come on now,” she said, trying a new tact. “You won’t pull that trigger. I know you won’t. We’ve played this game before. Lots and lots of times and you know that I…”
Morgan whirled around so fast that it took Winston by surprise. She always took a chance when she did this, the risk being that the gun could go off anytime. She had done it so many times that she could do it in her sleep, or so she thought. She had managed to grab it, but not the right way. Winston still held on to the trigger. It was still pointed at her when it went off.
~~~~~~
“Morgan?” Heyes called. It was beginning to get dark; he had missed being with her at sunset. It was something they had shared all the time they were together. He knew that she wouldn’t have missed it; it was ingrained in both of them. Maddy had told the Kid that much, anyway.
There were two sounds that he heard and they came from two different directions. One sounded like a gunshot and came from the back of the house and the other came from the direction of the mine. He wasn’t sure where to go first until he heard her voice calling his name.
“Look out,” Ben yelled, as he pushed his brother out of the way. They both fell to the ground.
“What the….” Nate said, as they both watched the beams splinter and crack. The mine collapsed upon itself, leaving no way to crawl in.
“Well,” Ben said, “there goes all that silver.” He turned his head in Nate’s direction. They were both facing the mine.
“Uh, brother,” Nate said, looking back at him. “About that silver…”
Chapter 12
“Well, Kid,” Lom said, clapping him on the shoulder, “What are you and your partner aimin’ to do now?”
Curry smiled and put his left arm around Maddy’s shoulders. “Not sure yet, Lom. Heyes is the one with the plans and he hasn’t thought one up yet. If he had, he didn’t tell me about it. But I do know one thing for sure; that we’ve gotta stay right here for another year and keep out of trouble. I have a funny feelin’ that it’s gonna pay off.” He looked at Maddy with a smile and gave her a squeeze.
“Don’t you realize that you’ve got to get permission from the father first?” Horace said, smiling at the Kid. He had joined the small circle to congratulate the boys on their good fortune. He cocked his head in the direction of the front door; the one that Heyes just walked out of. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear that there’s going to be one wedding for sure.”
The Kid smiled. “He’s been searching for Morgan for a little over ten years. I don’t think he’s going to let her get away this time. You never know; might just be a double wedding…” His voice trailed off as all eyes focused on the new arrival.
“Excuse me, everyone, I really hate to break up this little celebration…”
“Something wrong, Billie?” Lom asked his wife, walking toward her.
They retreated to a corner of the room where no one else could hear them.
Meanwhile, the Kid made his way to the window and couldn’t believe his eyes. His partner was in trouble. He had to do something. Heyes always looked out for him when they were boys and Curry never forgot that.
“Morgan?” Heyes called into the darkness. “Answer me, please.”
“Don’t you take another step,” a voice called out behind him. “Just raise them hands of yours.”
“Hank?” Heyes answered, recognizing the voice. “Hank Miller, isn’t it?”
“Now how did you ever guess?”
“I’m sure there’s a reason for all this,” Heyes said, as he heard the gun click.
~~~~~~~~
“We’re splitting up,” Lom said as he and Billie broke apart.
”Billie and I will go down to the mine. She’s says she’s heard something over there.”
“Lom,” the Kid said, “Hank Miller’s holdin’ a gun at Heyes’ back. I think I’d better see what it’s about.”
Lom nodded. He turned to Horace and handed him a small pistol. “Always carry an extra gun, Horace. Never know when you might need it. Go find Morgan.”
~~~~~~
“Heyes,” Morgan yelled, as she struggled with Winston’s gun. “Heyes, I’m at the back of the house.’
She watched as he turned his head toward her voice.
Winston shook his head. “Now don’t you be callin’ him now.”
“Let go of it, Winston,” she answered, still struggling with him. “It’s gone on for too long now. Give it up.”
She had misjudged him all along. She just hadn’t realized how strong he was or how much he had cared about her. She had taken him for granted, taken him for the fool that he…..
"Put the gun down, boy," a voice called from the door.
Winston looked up and saw his father standing there, Lom's small pistol in his hand, pointed straight at him.
Morgan lost control of the gun. It went off, grazing her arm and hitting Horace in the stomach.
Chapter 13
“Of course there’s a reason,” Hank replied, the gun still aimed at his back, “and you know exactly what it is, too.”
Heyes started to turn around, but Hank made sure that Heyes knew the gun was still there. “Don’t try nothing stupid, Heyes. Now you’ll come along nice and peaceful like. We got orders to shoot you and Curry, then collect that reward money for ourselves. Now, put your hands behind your back, so’s I can tie ‘em’ up.”
Heyes shook his head. “What reward money, Hank?” he insisted as Hank began to bind his hands. “You’re not going to believe this, but after 10 years, we finally got our amnesty.”
Hank laughed. “Now you really expect me to believe that? I know all about you and that silver tongue of yours. It’s slipperier’ than a fish outta water. Now you stop movin’ about and just let me tie….”
“I’m tellin’ you, Hank,” Heyes said, “We got our amnesty. Do ya no good to continue with this because you ain’t gonna get anything.”
“Ah ah,” Hank said, shaking his head. He pulled on the ropes to make sure it was tight enough. “No siree. There ain’t no way that you’re….”
“Ah, but there is a way,” a voice from behind him called out. “Now, if you just lower that gun, and untie his hands, my partner and I can start our rightful celebration.”
Hank turned and so did Heyes. It was the Kid as usual, his gun drawn to protect Heyes. He had Drew with him.
“Was waitin’ for me the minute I walked out the door,” Curry said, shrugging his shoulders. “Shot the gun right out of his hand. Didn’t even have a chance.”
“Now,” he said, taking the rope from Hank and motioning Drew with the gun. “You just tie up your brother after he drops his gun.”
He turned to Heyes. “Now I told you I felt naked without these. He watched as Heyes smiled and nodded. That’s when the screaming started. It was coming from the back of the house.
“Go,” the Kid said, as Maddy came out with a gun. “I’ve got it under control.”
~~~~~~~
“What about that silver, Nate,” Ben asked, “besides being gone.”
“Well, it’s like this,” Nate said. “You see…”
He tried to get up but he couldn’t move his leg. “Something’s wrong here, Benjamin. Somethin’s wrong with my leg.”
Ben tried to stand, but he found that it was hard. He was a little unsteady. He turned back to what was once the entrance to the mine. There was nothing left; the roof collapsed in on itself. Nothing left but dirt and dust. All that…
Wait a minute. Didn’t Nate say that something about…
“Ben, I can’t move.”
“What are you talkin’ about?” Ben said, trying to walk over to his brother, but was finding it difficult. “What’s goin’ on? All I did was push you out of the way.”
“I don’t know, all I know is that I can’t get up.”
It wasn’t dark yet, he could still see a bit, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. He could walk even if he was limping.
He stopped suddenly when he saw two figures headed toward the back of the mine. He figured it was Lom and Billie, but Zeb was waiting for them. It wouldn’t be long before they all got their share of that reward money.
~~~~~~
“Pop? POP?” Morgan screamed as she watched Horace tumble to the floor, the gun falling from his weakened grip. She rushed over and knelt down beside him, placing her head on his chest, listening for a sound, any sound. When she didn’t hear anything, she shook her head and picked up Lom’s pistol. She turned to face Winston, pointing the tiny gun at him.
“Haven’t you done enough damage for one night? You’ve just shot your own…” Morgan stopped and closed her eyes for a moment. She was feeling weak and very tired all of a sudden. She felt something warm and wet dripping from her shoulder. She looked up at Winston who was backing away from her.
“No, no,” he said, “You’re coming with me, that was the plan. It was always the plan. Heyes and Curry dead, the reward money ours. You’re supposed to marry me, Morgan. That’s how I planned it.”
Even as he said those words, he was backing away and looked as if he was going to run.
Zeb caught sight of Lom and Billie as they made their way toward him. The plan had been to hold Billie captive, then shoot Lom, but Zeb didn’t like the idea. He had been trying to figure out something different when he heard Nate calling for Ben. He turned his head in the direction of the voices. He had heard the mine fall, but his orders had been to stay right here and not to…
“Zebulon,” he heard Ben’s voice calling to him. “We need help. Get down here.”
Zeb shook his head and turned his attention back towards the two figures, but they had disappeared from view. Well, he reckoned there ain’t no reason why he should stand here any more, his targets were gone.
“Zeb, get down here, now,”
“Coming,” Zeb called, as he turned his back on the wide field of grass that separated the mine from the house. He started to run when he felt a gun burrow into his back.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” he heard a voice call from behind him. “Drop that gun and get your hands up, nice and slow.”
Chapter 14
Winston continued to back away. He kept looking at the two bodies on the ground. He smiled a little when he realized that he could get away with all that silver. He was thinking about his backup plan as he turned around only to come face to face with Hannibal Heyes and his gun.
“Well,” he said, grinning, “look at whom we have here. I hardly recognized you, so grown up and all.”
Winston stared him straight in the eye. “Get out of my way, Heyes, before I…”
“Before you what?” Kid Curry said, coming up behind Heyes. “Now you’d best drop that gun if you know what’s good for you. I might get really nasty and I really don’t think either of us wants that, now I do we?”
Heyes' eyebrows rose a bit as he pulled the gun out of Winston’s shaking hand. He smiled as he handed the gun to his partner.
“You alright there, Joshua?”
Heyes smiled. “Never better, Thaddeus,” he said, handing Curry’s gun back to him. “Now all I have to do is find Morgan.”
“Well, you won’t get that far without my gun,” Curry said, as Maddy joined him at his side, her father’s rifle drawn.
"Bind his hands,” the Kid said, taking the rifle from Maddy. He handed his gun back to Heyes who pointed it straight at Winston.
“Where is she? Tell me or I swear I’ll shoot.”
“She’s been shot,” Winston answered, as Maddy tied his hands. “I didn’t mean to, Heyes, she just turned around so quickly that I lost control of the gun.”
“Where is she, Winston?” Heyes demanded.
“Back of the house, she could be dead by now.”
“You’d better pray she isn’t,” Heyes said, still holding the gun. He turned to Maddy. “Go get Doc Harmon, if he’s still here and meet me at the back of the house.” He handed the gun to the Kid and ran.
~~~~~~~
Billie stood behind Zeb with her rifle aimed at the back of his head. “I need to keep your attention until your brothers get here.”
"My brothers?" Zeb repeated as he watched his brothers approach. He was a little surprised at what he saw.
“I’m here, Billie,” a deep voice called out as Nate held his gun on Ben. Nate had already tied his hands behind his back. “He fell for the entire plan, no ifs, ands or buts.”
Billie nodded. “Good work. Hold that gun on him while I bind Zeb's hands, then we’ll look for Lom.”
Winston continued to back away. He kept looking at the two bodies on the ground. He smiled a little when he realized that he could get away with all that silver. He was thinking about his backup plan as he turned around only to come face to face with Hannibal Heyes and his gun.
“Well,” he said, grinning, “look at whom we have here. I hardly recognized you, so grown up and all.”
Winston stared him straight in the eye. “Get out of my way, Heyes, before I…”
“Before you what?” Kid Curry said, coming up behind Heyes. “Now you’d best drop that gun if you know what’s good for you. I might get really nasty and I really don’t think either of us wants that, now I do we?”
Heyes' eyebrows rose a bit as he pulled the gun out of Winston’s shaking hand. He smiled as he handed the gun to his partner.
“You alright there, Joshua?”
Heyes smiled. “Never better, Thaddeus,” he said, handing Curry’s gun back to him. “Now all I have to do is find Morgan.”
“Well, you won’t get that far without my gun,” Curry said, as Maddy joined him at his side, her father’s rifle drawn.
"Bind his hands,” the Kid said, taking the rifle from Maddy. He handed his gun back to Heyes who pointed it straight at Winston.
“Where is she? Tell me or I swear I’ll shoot.”
“She’s been shot,” Winston answered, as Maddy tied his hands. “I didn’t mean to, Heyes, she just turned around so quickly that I lost control of the gun.”
“Where is she, Winston?” Heyes demanded.
“Back of the house, she could be dead by now.”
“You’d better pray she isn’t,” Heyes said, still holding the gun. He turned to Maddy. “Go get Doc Harmon, if he’s still here and meet me at the back of the house.” He handed the gun to the Kid and ran.
~~~~~~~
Billie stood behind Zeb with her rifle aimed at the back of his head. “I need to keep your attention until your brothers get here.”
"My brothers?" Zeb repeated as he watched his brothers approach. He was a little surprised at what he saw.
“I’m here, Billie,” a deep voice called out as Nate held his gun on Ben. Nate had already tied his hands behind his back. “He fell for the entire plan, no ifs, ands or buts.”
Billie nodded. “Good work. Hold that gun on him while I bind Zeb's hands, then we’ll look for Lom.”
~~~~~~~~~
Old Doc Harmon had received his amnesty six years ago. His addiction to gambling had caused him to cheat at poker and got into a shootout with another man. Unfortunately, he had been the son of a local politician who was well liked. The son was badly wounded and Harmon had been arrested for starting the fight. When it was discovered that Harmon was a doctor, an agreement was made. If he saved the son, Harmon would be granted a pardon. If the son died, Harmon would be hanged for murder.
With his ten-year experience as a rural doctor behind him, Harmon had saved the man’s life, was granted his pardon and sent to Morgan’s for a year. A month before it was up, Horace had asked him to stay because, as he so rightly put it, there was a need for his kind right on these premises. It would be ridiculous for him to go anywhere else, Horace continued, and he would make it well worth his while if he stayed. And so Doctor James Harmon set up his practice in a small room in the house until his new office had been added on. He was just beginning his fifth year there and was content. Horace had been right. He wouldn’t accept payment, saying that the free room and board he received was plenty. Then there was the satisfaction of helping others whenever it was needed.
And this was one of those cases. Morgana hadn’t forgotten her past and treated him as an equal. And Horace, well, he owed him his life. He had never forgotten that. He was closing up his black bag when he heard a knock at his door.
“Madeline,” he said, as he opened up the door. “What….”
Maddy shook her head. “No time to talk, Doc. You’ve got to come with me.” She walked over to the table and grabbed his black bag. “We need you now. Morgan and my father have been shot.”
Doc Harmon nodded his head. “I know, I heard the gunshots, so I packed up my bag.” He smiled. “I’ll need your help as usual.”
Chapter 15
“Heyes?” Morgan called out weakly as he knelt down beside her. “Is that you?”
“Of course, it’s me. Were you expecting anyone else?”
Morgan smiled at the answer. She should have expected it. “I need to talk to you, Hannibal. I have to …”
“Shhh, don’t talk,” Heyes said, putting his finger to her lips. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you, Morgan. I won’t lose you again. Besides, the Kid and I have no choice but to stay here.”
“You make it sound like it’s the worst thing…” She closed her eyes and drifted off.
“Morgan, wake up. Don’t you die on me; not now, not when I finally found you again.” He felt tears forming in his eyes. One of them fell, the wetness touching Morgan’s cheek, reviving her for the moment. Her eyes fluttered open and they focused on his.
“I’ve sent Maddy to get Doc Harmon, so I need you to hang on with me a little longer. Meanwhile, we’ll have to move you and Horace inside the house.”
“Heyes, I think that Horace….”
“He’s still hanging on, Morgana, he’s still breathing. Not sure for how much longer, he’s been hit, bad. Maddy tied one of my bandannas around the wound, but it’s bleeding right through. She tied the other one around your upper arm. The bullet went clean through there and hit Pop in the stomach.”
Morgan smiled faintly. She tried to keep her eyes open, but kept drifting off. She tried to talk, but Heyes put his finger to her lips. “No, love. Not another word. Save your strength.” He looked around and saw Doc Harmon and Maddy move in. Lom and Billie were close behind, while Curry and Nate kept a close watch on Ben, Zeb, Hank and Drew.
“Lom,” Heyes called out, “Can you help the Kid and Doc move Horace into the house? I’ve got Morgan.”
“Will do, Heyes.” Lom said, tapping Curry lightly on the shoulder. ‘Billie can keep an eye on the prisoners.”
“Heyes,” Morgan whispered as he picked her up, “the mine; the silver. It’s important that you know….”
Heyes frowned. “What about the silver, Morgan?” he asked, but she had lost consciousness. Heyes smiled, as he picked her up. She was still as light as a feather. Some things just never change. “Later, love. Don’t you fret; it’s all under control. I just need you to get better.”
He looked around and saw Lom and his partner moving Horace inside. He nodded and followed them.
~~~~~~~
.
“Nate,” Ben asked his brother, who was still holding his gun on him. “How could you do a fool thing like this? “
“You shut your mouth, Benji,” Nate said glaring. “I didn’t have much of a choice, getting’ arrested and all. It was either I ended up behind bars or cooperated with the law. Ya’ll know what I went for. Turned myself in and got that amnesty, but had to prove myself first. I told you boys about it. All you wanted was that old silver mine.”
Ben shook his head. “We could’ve been rich, Nate, shared everything. Walked away with all that silver. You already had that sample. That mine… “
Nate closed his eyes. “That mine ain’t no good, Ben. Ain’t nothin’ in it.”
Ben smiled. “I know, Nate, it all collapsed. We all saw it.”
Nate shook his head. “There’s nothin’ in the mine, Ben,” he repeated.
Ben’s eye’s narrowed. “What you talkin’ about? What do ya mean, nothin’ in it?”
Chapter 16
Heyes walked down the narrow hallway toward Morgana’s room. He knocked first, but when no answer came, he opened the door a bit and peeked in. She was still unconscious, lying in bed with the covers pulled up around her neck, exactly as he’d left her last night. Heyes smiled in spite of the tears that had fallen earlier when Doc Harmon told them all that Horace was gone. Heyes wandered around in a daze by himself after Madeline broke down and ran off. The Kid followed her to make sure she was alright. No matter how hard they had tried, she wouldn’t stop crying.
Now, with nowhere to go, Heyes had come here to see how Miss Morgan was faring. He opened the door a bit wider and tiptoed into the room, closing the door softly behind him. He crept over to her bedside and watched her breath as it rose up and down in her chest. In all the time they were together, he never remembered seeing her this peaceful. Maybe she had rid herself of the demons that had kept her tossing, turning and talking in her sleep.
He reached out and touched her, remembering what it was like all those years ago. He caressed her cheek and whispered in her ear, “Morgan, get well please, come back to me. I love you so much.”
Heyes sighed and shook his head. This wasn’t at all like him. He would never allow himself to be this vulnerable in front of anyone, not even the Kid. Well, maybe the Kid sometimes, after all, he was like a brother and they knew each other for so many years. But Morgan did things to him that no woman ever did before. He never forgot her, couldn’t forget her no matter how hard he tried. He always knew that he would end up here at the end of all things.
They had managed to stop her bleeding. Doc Harmon, with Maddy’s help, had changed the bandages at least four times and she had been out all through it. Now he would have to tell her about Horace and he wasn’t sure how to do that. Doc said to let her ask first and then tell her; it wouldn’t upset her as much.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, love,” he whispered, “but I need you with me. I’m only half without you.” He lay down beside her, grasping her hand in his. That was the last thing that Heyes remembered before he drifted off to sleep.
He woke to the sound of her voice, calling out to her father as he had expected she would. He smiled in spite of himself. Same old Morgana O’Hare.
“Morgan,” he called out quietly. He sat up. “Morgana, please wake up.” So those demons hadn’t left after all. It was what he had done when they were together, when she was having those dreams of hers. He had never once talked about them with her; let alone telling her that she always talked in her sleep.
That’s when her hand moved in his. He looked down at it, not believing at first. He picked his head up to find her staring at him; those big brown eyes searching his face.
“Heyes?” she whispered hoarsely, “Is that you?”
Chapter 17
“Yeah, “ Heyes answered, touching her cheek. “It’s me.” He looked into her eyes. “My God, Morgan, I didn’t know if you ….”
“What happened?” she asked, “Where am I?”
Heyes shook his head. “Shh, love,” he answered, continuing to rub her cheek. “You really don’t remember?”
Morgan smiled a little. She shook her head. “I do remember Winston pulling a gun and I tried to prevent him from pulling the trigger, but it went off anyway. The bullet hit my right arm and I remember falling. That’s right, isn’t it?”
Heyes nodded his head. “Yes, that’s right. You remember quite a lot. You lost a lot of blood, lady. For a while we weren’t sure if you were going to…”
Morgan shook her head. “It wasn’t anything, Heyes. I thought that the bullet just grazed the outside.”
Heyes shook his head. “Went clean through your upper arm., Morgan. It was big enough to bleed through four bandages.”
Morgan looked at him. “And Horace? He was hit too, wasn’t he? Where is he, Heyes, how is he?”
He looked at her closely. He was waiting for this. “Morgan, about Horace, he…”
“He didn’t make it, did he?” Morgan’s eyes pleaded as she stared at him.
Heyes shook his head. “Morgan, please, Doc Harmon…”
“I know,” Morgan said, nodding, tears starting to fall.
Heyes took her hand. “We buried him early this morning in the small graveyard behind the house. Then I came to check on you.”
She nodded her head. “There’s something else, Heyes, something important. It’s something that I’ve kept hidden from you . I wanted to tell you about it, but never really had the nerve.”
Heyes frowned at her. “I’m listening.” He took her hand in his.
“It’s got to do with the old gold mine,” she said, trying to sit up, but was having a hard time doing so.
“Now you just take it easy and lay back down,” he said, “Give yourself some time, I’m not going anywhere.” He smiled at her. “The only important thing to me is that you are alive right now, that’s all that matters now.”
Morgan’s eyes widened. “You don’t understand, Hannibal. All that silver, it’s…”
Heyes frowned. “The mine collapsed. We all know that, but you still have all that silver…”
Morgan shook her head. “Wrong, Heyes. There isn’t any silver.”
Chapter 18
Heyes stared at her, narrowing his eyes. “What in the world are you talking about? Of course there is. What did the Kid and I pull out of your father’s old tobacco pouch?”
“What?” she asked. She looked into his eyes. “Heyes, how…”
“The birthday silver, Morgan. You left it by the cave for us to find the first day we got here. The silver you promised your father that you wouldn’t touch until you came of age? He hid it from you and wouldn’t tell you where it was, no matter how much you begged him.”
Morgan stared at him, speechless. A small smile started to curl up around her lips.
“How did you know that that pouch belonged to my father? How do you know that I left it there for you two to find?”
Heyes smiled. “You used to talk in your sleep, Miss Morgan. You fought with your father about everything, including that pouch of pure silver.”
“In my sleep?” Morgan repeated. “How does anyone fight in their sleep?”
Heyes shrugged. “I don’t know, but you managed to. And that wasn’t the only thing that you mentioned either. There was the deed, the inheritance and the mine with all that fool’s gold that you and your father placed under the floorboards when it was still a gold mine. I’m sure you left the stuff there because raw silver nuggets look exactly like iron pyrite to the untrained eye. Am I right?”
He watched her face as she continued to stare. “He topped it with a small boulder that he had found on the outside to mark off the spot so he would always remember where it was, didn’t he?”
Morgan nodded. “That’s what those soldiers were after when they killed my parents. Did I bring that up too?”
Heyes nodded. “All the silver that the mine produced was contained in that little bag. There was no silver, there was just the rumor of it.” He took her hand in his. “Horace told me the rest. He said that you had this plan to marry me, believing that the only thing that would keep me here was that the mine was loaded with silver and that you were rich. Should I keep going?”
“How much do you know?” Morgan asked, searching his face.
Heyes was about to answer when he heard a soft knock on the bedroom door. “Heyes?”
“Come on in, Doc. Everything’s just fine. You couldn’t have timed it better.”
“Well, well, look who’s finally awake.” Doc peeked his head in the doorway. He looked at Morgan. “And how are we feeling? We weren’t sure if you were going to pull through. We were all worried about you, especially Heyes here. Couldn’t keep his mind off of you. Watched you like a hawk, he did.”
“Did you?” Morgan said, still watching Heyes. “And you knew all that and you still…”
Heyes looked at her. “I wouldn’t leave you, Morgan. I already told you that. All the silver in the world and then some wouldn’t be the only thing keeping me here. It’s you that I want, you know, just you. You’d better get that through that pretty little head of yours. Now you answer the Doc’s question and then we can get started on something that I had planned, if that’s alright with you.”
Chapter 19
“Fool’s gold?” Ben asked staring at Nate.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Nate repeated, “Fool’s gold. That’s what I was told when I brought the pouch into town.”
Hank frowned. “What do you mean when you took it into town?” He turned to Ben. “I told you I didn’t lose it.”
“So that’s how it disappeared,” Ben said, watching his brother closely.
“Yeah, so what?” Nate answered. “So I took it. Wanna start something?”
“Calm down, boys,” Lom answered, cocking his gun. “I want peace and quiet until that stage gets here. Nate, you get over here and keep an eye on your brothers. Kid, you keep an eye on Nate. I’m gonna go over and see how Morgana is faring. But first I’m gonna check on my wife.”
He walked over to where she was, standing next to Maddy, her gun drawn and pointed at Winston. Maddy held Horace’s tiny pistol in both hands.
How could you do this, Winston?” Maddy asked. “How could you shoot your own father and your sister…”
“She ain’t my sister or yours neither. When you gonna figure that out, Maddy? She’s been lyin’ to us all these years about what’s been in that mine?”
He watched as Lom came to lead Billie off to the side. Winston saw the opportunity and began working to free his hands from the ropes that Maddy had tied.
“Morgan told the both of us, Winston. You know that as well as I. She thought of you as a brother.”
Winston shook his head, frowning at her. “And you believed everything she told you, didn’t you? And I thought you were smarter than that, Maddy.
Maddy nodded. “Turned out to be true, didn’t it? I just don’t understand you, Winston. How could you do this to someone that you say you loved.”
Winston frowned and stared. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. All I ever wanted was Morgan. All I wanted was to marry her and be with her the rest of my life. I…I..” Winston looked away, then down at his feet, afraid to look in her eyes. “I fell in love with her, Maddy; ever since she came to live with us.” He looked up and stared into her eyes. She could see that he was crying. “All she ever talked about was Hannibal Heyes. It was Heyes this and Heyes that. She never wanted me.” He shook his head and looked down again, his voice breaking. “Alright, I knew about those pieces of iron pyrite. I knew they weren’t real. I don’t know why I did what I did. I don’t even know why I pulled the gun.” He looked up, the tear flowing faster. “I didn’t want to shoot her, Maddy. I didn’t want to shoot anyone; it just got out of control. I’m sorry for what I did, Sis, I’m so sorry.”
Meanwhile, he had managed to free one hand from his tightly bound ropes and was working on the other. He waited until she came closer.
Maddy watched him crying. He always cried whenever he got in trouble and she would always come over to hold him until he stopped. It was no different now. Without dropping her gun, she walked toward him and placed her arms around him.
“No, Maddy, don’t,” Billie cried, but it was too late.
Winston grabbed her and held the gun up to the side of her face. “Drop your gun, Sheriff. You too, Billie.” He watched as they dropped them on the ground. “Now I’m just gonna…”
“You’re just gonna do what?” Kid’s voice came from behind. “The only thing that you’re gonna do is drop that gun and join the rest of your gang. The stage will be here any minute and we don’t want no trouble. Got that?”
Chapter 20
“Winston, please,” Maddy begged. “Please don’t. Can’t we just talk about..”
“Shut up,” Winston said to his sister, pressing the gun harder against her cheek. “And as you for you Mr. Curry. What’s gonna happen it I don’t listen to you?” he asked, grinning.
“You don’t want to find out,” Curry answered, tapping him on the shoulder.
This wasn’t what Winston was expecting. He started to turn around, the gun still pressed to Maddy’s cheek. “You don’t shoot to kill, anyway. You’ve never shot a man in your life and I don’t reckon that you’re going to…”
The Kid brought his knee up and kicked Winston in the groin. He doubled over in pain, dropping the gun and losing his grip on Maddy. He almost crumbled to the ground had Curry not picked him up, pressing his gun tighter into Winston’s back.
“A long time ago, Winston, I did shoot a man, but it was in self defense. He challenged me first. Now, I would rather not repeat that, unless I had to and,” he smiled, “I guess I don’t.” He looked up as Lom and Billie flanked either side of Winston. “Now you just be a good boy and go with these two nice people and I’ll handle everything else.”
Curry watched as Billie bound Winston’s hands for the second time and the two escorted a very painful Winston Fletcher to the newly arrived stage. They would need his help in later, but right now he was more concerned about what Maddy. She didn’t deserve what she had just gone through.
He heard the sobs for the first time as he turned to face her. She couldn’t control her tears. He had to get her into that room somehow, Heyes had insisted upon it. He knew he was planning something, but he wasn’t sure what, although he had plenty of ideas.
“Come on,” he said, taking a sobbing Maddy into his arms and hugging her tightly, her head buried into his neck. “Let’s get inside the house. I want to look in on Heyes myself. We can sit alone first if you like and we can swap stories. I know what you’re going through, believe me.”
Maddy buried herself in his arms and let her tears flow.
“Let it all out, Miss Madeline. I know it hurts. I know.”
“I don’t want to lose you, too, Jed,” she whispered into his shoulder, “you know that I love you.” She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. She kept wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “You, Heyes and Morgana are the only ones I’ve got left.”
The Kid smiled and brushed her cheek with his fingers, wiping away the stray tears. “You won’t lose us, Maddy, believe me you won’t. We’ll be here for quite a while.” He took her hand in his. “And you must know that I love you, too.”
Chapter 21
“Heyes,” Morgan whispered, “I really need to speak to you alone.”
Heyes smiled, but paid no attention. He looked at Doc Harmon. “Why are you still at the door? I need you in here.”
“Heyes,” Morgan protested, but he put his finger to her lips.
Doc stepped in and looked around. “Are you ready? I thought that…”
Heyes shook his head. “Let’s get started, I can’t wait any longer. The others will show up.”
“Heyes, what’s going on?” Morgan asked, frowning. “What’s happening?”
“Shh,” Heyes answered, “just sit up and don’t ask questions. You’ll like it, I guarantee you.”
“Heyes,” Morgan answered as Doc Harmon pulled out a small black book. She looked from Heyes to the doctor, then back again, a puzzled look on her face.
“HEYES,” she whispered sternly, as the doctor cleared his throat.
“Now,” Doc Harmon said, looking at the two of them, “this will be short and right to the point. I still need to clean up, it’s been a difficult evening, but this was worth waiting for.” He smiled. “Do you, Hannibal Heyes, take Miss Morgana O’Hare to…”
“Sorry, we’re a little late, an emergency came up,” the Kid said as he and Maddy entered the room.
“Where’s Lom?” Heyes asked, but Curry shook his head.
“I need quiet in here, Kid,” the doctor said. He turned back to Heyes and Morgan and smiled.
“Let’s begin again, shall we? Do you, Hannibal Heyes, take Miss Morgana O’Hare to be…”
“Hold it,” Lom’s voice called from the hallway. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” He pulled Billie in after him.
“What about…” the Kid said, looking at Lom.
“QUIET,” Doc Harmon yelled, closing the black book. “There must be quiet.”
“There’s too many people in here,” Morgan said, “I need to…”
“I SAID QUIET!” Doc answered and waited until all eyes were on his small, unshaven face. “I would like to get this over with, please.” He looked up at Heyes. “Are we ready now?”
Heyes smiled, looking at Morgan, then back to the doctor. “We’re ready.”
“Good,” Doc said, opening the book again. “Now, Hannibal Heyes, do you take Miss Morgana O’Hare to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health till death do you part?”
Heyes smiled widely. “I do.”
“And do you, Morgana O’Hare, take Hannibal Heyes to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health till death do you part?”
“HEYES,” she said, staring up at him, a small smile on her face. “How did you keep this one a….”
“Just answer the good doctor,” Heyes said, looking at her. “We’re all waiting, Miss Morgan.”
She looked at him. “I’m not through with you yet, Heyes. Not by a long shot.” She turned back to Doc Harmon and smiled sweetly. “I do.”
The doctor smiled and closed his book. He looked at the both of them. “Well, then, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Heyes smiled. “Thanks, Doc. I owe you.” He turned to Morgan and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I told you that you’d like it, Mrs. Heyes.”
“And I told you that I’m not finished with you yet, Mr. Heyes” Morgan said, pulling him down and kissing him again, longer this time.
Chapter 22
“Curious to know why you left that bag of silver out for the Kid and me to find,” Heyes asked Morgan after everyone left “Did you really have some kind of deal going with Billie and Lom?”
Morgan nodded her head. “I already told you that Lom wanted to get the two of you over here. He was so sure that you wouldn’t come here if he asked you outright, so I told him not to worry, that I would get you here and keep you here.”
“So it’s true, you did make a bet with him.” Heyes eyed her curiously. “Next thing you’re going to tell me is that you weren’t surprised to see us at your front door.”
Morgan shook her head. “Uh, Heyes, that wasn’t a posse that was chasing you. That was a few of my ranch hands. They also roughed up your saddlebags to make it look like a robbery. They hid your horses so that you’d have nowhere to go. You already guessed about the silver and the mine which was Plan D.”
Heyes smiled. “Plan D, huh? Sounds familiar.” He shook his head. “So the grand scheme was to get me and the Kid to….”
Morgan nodded her head. She placed her tiny hand on his cheek. “Stay here,” she finished. “That’s what Horace and I wanted from the beginning.”
“And nothing else?” Heyes whispered, moving closer.
Morgan smiled. “No, she answered, inching closer to him. “Nothing else. Did you have something in mind?”
They kissed briefly and parted, staring into each other’s eyes. “You’re not angry?”
“Should I be?”
She shook her head as tears formed in her eyes. “It’s a shame that Horace had to miss this. He would have been so happy knowing that you were his son-in-law. You do realize that he loved you, Heyes, just as if you were his own son.”
~~~~~~~~~
“Let’s go,” Billie said, her gun drawn on the five remaining Miller boys as they entered the stagecoach. “I don’t have all day.” Winston was already inside, his hands bound behind his back, as was all the others.
“Just enough room for one more,” she said, smiling at her husband, placing her gun inside her holster. It wasn’t going to stay there for long. She turned to the small group waiting outside the stagecoach. “They’re all yours now, Lom. Take good care of them.
Lom Trevors smiled at his wife and gave her a light kiss on the lips. He looked up at Heyes, Curry, Morgan and Maddy.
“Well, he said, “I guess this is it for a short while. I’ll be back in a week to bring Billie back home with me.”
Morgan looked puzzled. Billie had been there keeping an eye on things since she started the place. “We need someone here, Lom. Billie’s done a good job of keeping the peace here for a long time.”
Lom turned to her and smiled. “Don’t you worry none, Miss Morgan. You got two bright young men here to keep the peace.” He looked over at Heyes and Curry and then turned back, kissing her on the forehead.
“Don’t you agree?”
Morgan looked at Lom, then at Heyes and Curry. “I’m not so sure what peace you’re talking about.”
Heyes looked at Morgan and smiled slightly. “Now just wait one minute here. I’ll decide what I think is best and right now and that is to agree with Lom. He made me and the Kid here promise to take care of you ladies. And we’re going to see to it that we keep that promise.” He put his arm around her. “Besides, old Jed is gettin’ married and I’m gonna be best man at his wedding. Might even be a double if you want a proper ceremony.”
“And don’t forget,” Curry said, placing his arm around Maddy. “We can’t go anywhere else for a year, not that I’m complaining.”
Morgan looked wide eyed at the Kid. “Sure,” she said. “You’re not complaining. Guess I’ll have to trust the two of you.”
Heyes nodded and pulled her close. “After all, it was you who made that bet with Lom, now, wasn’t it?”
He turned back to Lom and Billie. “Everything will be fine here, Lom. You just take care of yourself and your wife. We’ll be here when you get back.” Heyes motioned to the stage. “What’s going to happen with them?”
Lom shook his head. Nate will be back here in a week with me when I come get Billie. He’ll have to stay here for a year and earn that amnesty we gave him. Meanwhile, his brothers will do some jail time before coming back here for good. They are wanted in Porterville for kidnapping the teller of the bank and trying to rob it.”
Heyes smiled and shook his head. “I read about that. Botched that one up pretty good. The teller broke his bonds and ran off. You and that posse tailed them all the way back to Devil’s Hole. The Miller boys could never get anything right.”
Lom laughed. “They did manage to hide from us for a short time. We knew that they were down here because Morgan had sent me a telegram. So I sent Billie down here to keep an eye on them. When Nate turned himself over to Billie a year ago, we knew that it would be easy to get them. Just had to make sure they didn’t go anywhere.”
The smile disappeared from Heyes’ lips. “What’s gonna happen with Winston?”
“He’ll be tried for murder. We’ll have to await the outcome. It will sort itself out in the end.”
He turned back to Morgan. “Now you promise me that you’ll take care of these two, you got that?” He kissed her cheek. “I want a full progress report on the reformation of the two notorious outlaws, Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry.”
Lom turned to face the stage, grabbed the door and climbed in, taking his place next to Winston.
“See you in a week.” Lom called out as the stage began to roll.
The four of them watched as the stage disappeared into the distance. Heyes placed his arm protectively around Morgan and Kid Curry did the same with Maddy.
“Well, he’s gone,” Heyes said, looking at the Kid.
“Only for a week, Heyes. He’ll be back.”
Heyes turned to Billie who was standing behind him. “I don’t doubt it for a second, Billie. You know, the two of you are invited to the wedding.”
Billie smiled. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Heyes. In fact, I’m looking forward to it. Just remember to keep an eye on Morgan here.”
Heyes smiled. “Won’t let her out of my sight, Billie, not again. Besides, how many times do I have to promise?”
Morgan smiled. “Until you get it right, Heyes.”
“And how do you know that I haven’t?” Heyes answered, smiling.
“Can’t you two be quiet for at least two seconds?” Curry said, as they walked up the steps to the main house.
“Don’t worry, Kid. We’ve got a whole year to go. We should be all set by that time.” Heyes said as he opened the door. He waited until they were all inside before closing it behind him.
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