LEADER OF THE PACK

Drena Hills

The greatness and success of a leader often has more to do

with who he has to talk to in the middle of the night than

any natural inborn trait.

-

John Adams

He never sleeps the night before, which I wouldn't so much mind, but he does his level headed best to make sure I don't either.

Same thing every time. He decides he's hungry and starts banging around the kitchen till I finally give up and pull on my trousers and stumble out to find him smiling wide eyed surprised to see me up.

"You couldn't sleep either?"

"Heyes go to bed," I say and pick up the frying pan he has dropped. It's always the frying pan even though he never cooks anything in the middle of the night. I guess he just presumes that's the loudest thing in the cabin to drop to wake me up.

"I'm hungry, you want a sandwich?"

Hannibal Heyes has never made a sandwich in his life. Oh he's started dozens, he just never finishes them. It always begins well enough, in fact he approaches the thing like a bank job. Has to have all the items he wants on the table where he arranges them just so, but then somewhere between starting and finishing he gets to thinking and waving the knife around and never does remember he was hungry.

Body could starve around him.

"Heyes, it’s a good plan," I said taking the knife and finished buttering the bread.

"I don't know I'm still worried about that sheriff office next door."

"You chose it because the sheriff office was next door."

Heyes grinned, "Yea I did didn't I. Well it don't do to go around saying nobody can rob your bank, just makes a man curious."

I finish the sandwiches and push his in front of him. He looked down at it surprised, not quite sure remembering making it, but agreeable and took a bite.

"You think Wheat and the boys can handle their end?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. This was the very question I had voiced to him when the entire plan had been born a month earlier.

I can always tell when he's got an idea, he hums… badly, same annoying song. He won't tell me the name of and if I ever find out I will hunt the writer down and flatten him.

He smiles a lot too, somehow he thinks this makes it less obvious he is thinking up some new way to try and get us killed. Been like that ever since we were kids. Even his Ma used to pause in fear when she heard him humming. Only our grandfather thought it was funny, but then he’s the one who taught him to hum.

Next he usually takes a seat by the fire and just stares. For the life of me I don't know what he's seeing, but if you watch his eyes you can tell its darn near amazing.

This usually goes on for about two days and then we reach the drawing stage. Heyes is never happier than when he has a pencil and a blank piece of paper in his hands. Most of the time you can't tell for money what he's drawing, but it makes him happy seeing it come to life on the paper. Unfortunately it also makes him hum louder.

This goes on till I finally snap. I have several fairly reliable ways of getting his attention, though we do have a few bullet holes patched in our ceiling where extreme measures were necessary.

He then will look up with this innocent smile, the one that made Addy Mae Price kiss him in the 6^th grade behind the ice house and look slightly hurt and confused at why I’m so upset. I just wait until he realizes it won't work and then he smiles almost shyly and admits, 'I have an idea for a job'.

That's how it starts. But that's nothing compared to getting ready for it. Even robbing the bank or train isn't as much work as preparing for it. Heyes hates surprises. I swear he probably has a back up plan for a stampede coming in the middle of a job, he spends so much time fussing over the details.

Still no one ever gets hurt because of how he thinks it out, so nobody really complains. Well I do, but I have to put up with him pointing out how brilliant he is.

Course I'm the one who usually does most of the advance work, mostly cause I know how he thinks and usually have a handle on what he’s looking for. Trouble is I’m also acting as go between for him and the boys. Gang always goes all funny when he's planning like if they disturb him the idea will slip clean out of his head. I once even caught Kyle taking his boots off to bring in his supper dish so he wouldn’t disturb him.

I, on the other hand, get all their complaints, concerns and out right worrying. Wheat is the worse, he'd predict a drought while the ark was still at sea. Kyle just gets nervous he won't hold up his end and Lobo and the others just like to talk and worry out loud, but it’s a bad way to start a job so I try and head it off.

Most times I just sit with them and talk, sometimes we play poker, and I'll slip in a story about Heyes, most are true, or they should be.

Seems to calm them seeing me unconcerned and when I go back to the leader's cabin they never realize I'm as scared as they are.

Heyes usually doesn't even know I've been gone, and if he's really working I don't get more than a grunt for hours on end.

If he’s been lost in himself too long I'll walk over, pour some coffee, notice he didn't eat either lunch or dinner and shaking my head I sit down across from him and annoy him into eating.

It's not easy when he's distracted like that, but I can usually bother him into an argument by pointing out things in his plan that look like something out of those Jules Verne books he likes to read.

He once had this, this ‘sub-marine’ plan for St Louis after reading one of those books that took me three days to talk him out of and then I had to hit him with the dang book.

“Heyes the wall isn’t the way to go.”

"It would work."

"Heyes take us 12 hours to get through that wall, what about the roof?"

"We can get through the wall."

"People always forget about the roof."

"I've seen the wall."

"Put what we need up there night before…"

"I even measured that wall."

He’s real protective of a plan, like its his first born, but somebody has to be practical. Like our grandpa always said, “All fine building castles in the sky, as long as the ladder is long enough.”

I’m in charge of the ladder.

It usually ends with us both yelling and him jumping up. I usually calmly then ask if he’s gonna eat that and in defiance he grabs his plate and storming off to his room, slams the door after informing me, "If your so smart, you lead the gang!"

*************************

I'm usually first up in the morning. No matter how late I get in I just can't lay abed much after the sun comes up. Always like that as a boy too. My mother was the same way and I think some of my finest memories are of her and me alone talking as she started the morning chores.

She was from Philadelphia, good Quaker folk, abolitionist family. I never heard her say a bad word about anyone or an unkind one. Looking back its strange her and my Pa hooking up. He was so loud and colorful and she was this quiet little golden ray of sunlight you’d miss less you were looking. But he loved her, told me once he was sure winning her was a mistake, but he wasn’t gonna let her know in case she realized she’d been gypped. Must be an incredible thing to love someone like that, have them be your whole world, because she was his. I think sometimes them dying together, as bad as it was, in a way was how they would have wanted. They would have wasted away without the other.

Anyway where was, oh mornings. Heyes is pretty incoherent when he gets up and I've learned to just slide him coffee and wait for it to seep down. Fortunately mine isn't as lethal as his and he's usually his talkative self by the second cup.

There are days I question helping that to kick in.

"How can you eat all that?"

I looked down at my breakfast. I like breakfast and when I get a chance to eat something other than hard tack and trail jerky I do. Otherwise I'm hungry by mid morning and getting to lunch gnaws at me something fierce.

"Eat what?"

We've had this conversation for probably as long as we've been around each other. He always says he's never hungry and then takes mine. That's why I always take so much, so he can eat off my plate, though he'd deny he does it.

"You always forget the jam," he says rolling his eyes, getting up and going in search of the preserves.

"That's because I don't eat it with MY breakfast," I said with emphasis, spooning in a forkful of eggs.

"Boy your grumpy this morning," he says sliding back into the table and taking my other piece of toast.

"Heyes will you just make yourself some breakfast, or have the cook do it."

"I'm not hungry, you want that bacon?"

Like I said he does annoying real well in the morning.

"So what you think of my plan?"

When we've reached this point I'm always tempted to get my own back. He's the most vulnerable when he offers up an idea and rejection nearly kills him. That's why I always hear it first before the gang.

"What plan?" I ask innocently. I wanted that bacon.

"The one to rob the bank of Fort Worth."

"You didn't show it to me."

"Yea I did, well I mean I left it out for you to look at," he's pacing now, uncomfortable and worried and I'm enjoying it.

"The one where you wanna go through the 3 foot thick wall?"

"It isn't that thick."

"Yes it is, building next to it used to be explosive factory, walls are built like a fortress.

He stares at me impressed, "How did you know that?"

"You sent me into town to check it out remember? But that's right you had to go after me and have a look yourself."

For the first time he lets his guard down and looks genuinely worried he's hurt my feelings. "I didn't mean to say I didn't trust you, I always trust your opinion, I just had this idea and I needed to see for myself."

"Ah huh." I lean back. I can out stare him and he knows it.

He finally looks away frowning, the thought that he has made me think he doesn’t trust me really bothers him. . He's harder on himself than anyone else could ever be.

"I'm sorry Kid,” he says finally and sincerely. “I didn't think of it looking like I didn't trust you, I was just trying to get the feel of the place cause I was stuck." He swallows, "I do trust you, you know that."

His being leader bothers him sometimes, more than it ever bothered me. Oh at first it chafed a bit, he does have this gift for strutting when he's clever, and I guess I’ve spent my whole life knowing I’ll never have his way with a problem. At first I kinda worried I’d be of any use to him specially in the beginning with Jim, but we finally found our way around it.

I’ll tell you this, my cousin or not I’d serve under him. Not a man alive who can see past the impossible the way he can. And he’s fair, gives a man every chance to prove himself, seeing things in him that he didn’t know he had. That’s why I know all I do is keep thing running smoothly when he’s occupied with a plan, in truth there isn’t a man in that gang that wouldn’t follow him into the fire. I once heard someone say Heyes is the only man who could have both the posse and his men rooting for him.

He stops as if something has just occurred to him. "What about the roof? They never reinforce that? You check the roof?"

I grin and give up shaking my head, "Yea Heyes, I checked the roof, good idea, that will work."

I should write a book about the care and handling of genius's.

*************************

Morning of the job I get up early, before everyone else. I check the gear, supplies and roust the men. I know who to encourage, who to glare at and who to go over it again with. Heyes usually makes an appearance then and I just sit back and watch him work the room. I tell you the way he builds up the gang before a job almost makes me run out of the bunkhouse yelling lets go get them. Its like the time for doubts and concerns are over, he is all confidence in them and himself and at that moment Hannibal Heyes is worth every dollar and more of that reward on him.

The biggest compliment he pays me is never bothering to check the supplies and equipment. He just walks out the door gets on his horse and heads out, but this time he paused for a moment and caught my arm as the other hurried out excited.

“Kid?”

“Yea?” I said worried, like I said he’s pretty predictable at this point.

“Just wanted to give you this.”

I stare down at the small package he almost pushes at me. His face is an embarrassed smile, but he’s pleased with himself. Like the time he figured out how to get me that sling shot I wanted for my 6^th birthday.

“What’s this?” I said confused starting to open it.

“This job needs exact timing,” he said as I stare amazed at the solid gold watch now revealed.

“We always use yours.”

“Yea, well, I just wanted you to have one, read the back.”

I turn the watch over and there engraved is my name, the date and under it the word partner.

I run my thumb over the word not sure what to say.

“Look you might not think I’m noticing, all you do, how you keep this place together, but I’m really not that dense, I notice, I just never get chance to mention…”

“It’s okay Heyes.”

“Just wanted you to know I’m grateful.”

We both stand there uncomfortable. I finally take matters in hand.

“We gonna rob this bank or not?”

He looked up sharply and I grinned.

He grins back and can’t resist adding, “Told you I was right about that roof.”

I slide the watch into my pocket and then turning follow him out at his back, where I’ll always be as long as he needs me.

“That you did Heyes.”