UNITED
"Don't be dismayed at good-byes.
A
farewell is necessary before you can meet again.
And
meeting again moments or a lifetime after is certain
for
friends."
-
Richard
Bach
What
is a friend?
A
single soul dwelling in two bodies.
-
Aristotle
GARDINER,
MONTANA
1881
"You had to do it didn’t
you? I mean after all we've been
through, what do you do the first peaceable town we hit, get into another
fight!" Hannibal Heyes yelled slamming
his bag down on the bed in the small hotel room and stuffing his clothes in
with careless fury.
"I didn’t have a whole lot
of choice Heyes!" Kid Curry said slamming the door behind him. They had
arrived in town just the night before and both had high hopes that the small
community on the Wyoming/Montana border might give them a quiet respite from
the past few weeks that had included both jigs and seeing Armanderez take the
bust away from Big Mac.
"You saw what was happening, you expect me to sit
back and just let that animal hurt her like that?"
Heyes turned eyes on fire,
"I expect you to mind your own business.
She was his wife."
"She was ONE of his wives
and couldn't have been more than 12!"
Kid yelled going across the bed so he could face him. "You saying we shouldn't have done
something? That letting him beat her to
death was the right thing to do?"
Heyes glared at him, now if
possible more angry. He knew how it
looked, like he didn't care or hadn't been raged by the scene in the street
moments earlier and it infuriated him to have his cousin infer apathy on his
part.
"I'm saying we don't have
the luxury of you playing white knight and drawing attention to us every town
we hit. Remember West Bend? Remember Briggs? All I asked of you was take your gun off for a couple of days,
but no it had to turn into a shooting match so you could prove your man
hood."
If there hadn't been a bed
between them Kid would have swung.
"Heyes like I told you when
we started this thing, maybe we should split up, cause I sure as heck am not
gonna turn my back on a little girl in trouble. A girl that was the same age as
my sister!"
"Oh and your saying I
would?"
"Well it sure looked like
it."
"Ya know maybe your right,
maybe this partnership has gone on long enough if you think that way."
"Fine!"
"Fine."
They both stood there neither
one now not sure what to do. The
accusations and hurtful words hanging in the air over them made them both
shuffle uncomfortable.
"I'll be at the livery
stable if you want to apologize," Heyes said finally with ice in his
voice.
"For what!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
And the door slammed one more
time.
**********************************
The
old livery stable owner scratched his head watching the dark haired man mutter
as he saddled his horse. He had stormed
in, paid the bill and then proceeded to ready the animal all the while mumbling
about stubborn Irishmen and thank God he had escaped that family trait.
"What about your partner's horse?" he asked
as the man finished and turned to pull his horse from the stall.
"I don't have a partner!" Heyes yelled back and then paused and after
waiting for a moment tied his horse to the fence and sat down on a barrel
beside it.
"Whatcha doing now?" the old man asked
interested.
"Waiting for my partner," Heyes replied
through gritted teeth.
***********************************
Kid Curry sighed.
He never could stay angry for long with his cousin and all ready the
words he had said were weighing down on him as he picked up his now packed bag
and headed down the stairs.
He knew full well his partner would have done
something about the scene they had walked into if he hadn't of. Heyes just took a moment to think, figure
out the best way to do it, while he just reacted first and thought second. How many times had he heard Heyes complain
about his 'rescues' only to overhear someone talking about some act of kindness
or bravery his cousin had performed on the sly hoping no one would ever find
out?
Heyes was only trying to protect them and he was
right, every time he drew his gun he heightened the possibility of them being
recognized. Why how many times did his
fast draw alert the sheriff and send them running? Not to mention them being together, people expected that, alone
Heyes would blend into the crowd, dark hair, eyes, it was more common than his
blue and blond.
He slumped against the wall the full weight of this
finally hitting him. All their lives
Heyes had been there looking after him, now maybe it was time he returned the
favor.
Another time, another place he might have shook it
off and just gone looking for his partner and that would have been it. But he was tired and angry and a little hurt
and it all caught up to him dissolving reason and memories.
Reaching the front desk he asked for a paper and ink
and penned the most difficult note he had ever written in his life. Signing it he paid for an envelope and
putting J. Smith on the front gave it to the clerk and hurried out the back
door before he could change his mind.
He didn't he even see the men until they jumped him
and then everything went black.
****************************************
"I swear I'm gonna flatten him into next
Sunday…" Heyes growled storming into the hotel lobby and bounding for the
stairs.
"Mr. Smith?"
He barely heard the clerk's meek voice and turned
slightly.
"Mr. Jones checked out an hour ago, he left you
this."
Incredulous Heyes walked slowly down the steps and
stared at the envelope offered him like it was a snake sprung to bite him.
Taking it he sunk down into a chair near the stairs
and opened it.
H
Decided I can't do this any longer, you just plum got
on my nerves.
Best of luck with your amnesty, maybe I'll see you
around.
J
Heyes stared and re-read it again and then swallowed
trying to think. Kid leave? But they were partners, they were going for
their amnesty and then things, things would get better. Sure it was hard now, but eventually they'd
be free and then. Well he didn't know
what came after then, but it would be better and there would be no more running
and no more hotels. Kid hated hotels,
almost preferred the trail he had said once because then at least he could
pretend they had a home to head to.
Getting up he folded the letter carefully and went up
to the desk.
"Ah Mr. Jones which way did he go?"
"Out the back."
He hurried out not sure what he would say when he
caught up with him, but he'd find the right words. It was hard to imagine a time they hadn't been together. At first it had been obligation, look after
you younger cousin, then desperation with their parents death and finally
separation as they both spent a year apart finding out how hard the world could
be without a friend to watch your back.
Checking the stable he found his partner's horse
still there and then hurried over to the stagecoach office.
Annoyed with himself he replayed the scene in the
hotel room over and over. Of course Kid
had been right helping that little girl and what choice did he have drawing,
the man would have killed them all.
Sure it made it easier for people to figure out who they were, but he
wouldn't be Jed if he didn't jump in when he saw someone in need. If he was honest it was one of the things he
admired about his cousin. Kid didn't
stop to think about consequences, he only thought about the person
hurting.
The stagecoach not arriving until tomorrow led him to
the train station where he found the platform and office empty, the only train
that day having left before breakfast.
Perplexed he frowned and stopped to think. Where had he gone?
"You looking for your friend mister?"
He turned to see a little girl no more than 8 with
long brown braids watching him from the porch post she was hugging.
"Yes actually I am have you seen him?"
"He helped my sister Mary get away from that
man. He's nice."
` Heyes walked over and squatted down in front of her,
"Yes he is, I need to find him, do you know where he went?"
"You a good friend of his?" she said
thoughtfully.
"Very good friend, in fact he's my best friend,
what' s your name?"
"Daisy."
"That's a very pretty name Daisy. Mine is Joshua."
"I think Mr. Jones is in trouble," she said
finally. "I tried to tell the
sheriff and my ma, but they wouldn't listen to me."
Heyes's eyes darkened and involuntarily he caught her
arm, "In trouble how?"
She swallowed nervous, "You sure you’re his
friend? You'll help him?"
"Yea Daisy, but we had a fight and I feel bad
and I wanna tell him I'm sorry, you ever have fights with your sister?"
"All the time!
She's big and thinks she knows it all."
Heyes let a small smile escape, "Yea big
sisters…and brothers can be annoying some times, can you help me?"
"Those men took him. They hit him and he fell down.
I was in the alley hiding, we were playing seek and I saw them push him
into a wagon and cover him up."
"What men Daisy, which way did they go?"
"The ones that paid papa to take Mary, those
strange men that preach sometimes in town, Reverend Atkins says they don't have
any God he knows."
Heyes froze remembering the wide-eyed man Kid had
taken the girl away from. Evidently
there was more than one of him.
"Thank you Daisy, did you see which way they
went?"
"Headed out into yellow stone country," she
pointed. "That's what the Indians call it cause of the rock."
"Thank you sweetheart you've been a big
help."
"You'll get him back okay? Cause you’re his
friend right? Friends do stuff like that." She added desperate to convince him.
Heyes stood up murder in his eye. "Yea honey they sure do."
****************************
Kid woke up and blinked at the warm stuffy darkness
he seemed to be wrapped in. After a
moment he realized he was under a tarp and moved to push it away wondering what
on earth had happened.
The tarp moved back he blinked under the cloudless blue
sky he was staring up at, as he lay sprawled across the back of a buckboard.
"Elder he is awake."
He felt the wagon slow and then stop as he checked
and discovered his holster was missing.
"Give him water."
Kid sat up and stared at the four men staring at
him. They were all dressed in plain
black trousers and white shirts and he recognized the biggest of the men as the
one he had fought in town and groaned.
Heyes had clearly broken the man's nose when he had helped him and he
stood there glowering at him. The other
two men were also in their early twenties and seemed uncomfortable at meeting
his eyes. They were all clearly in
deference to the old man who had ordered he be given a drink.
He seemed ancient and his eyes were wild and terrible
like some hellfire preacher on a roll at a revival. He was a large man, built like a barrel and wore a full-face
beard, his gray with age.
"What is this, what do you want," Kid asked
pretending to take a sip of water.
"Bind his hands and let him walk, he will be
less trouble weary," the old man said.
"Hey what is going on?" Kid said as he was
pulled from the wagon and winced as the action made his head throb harder.
"You have been chosen. Praise to Eli"
"Chosen?
Chosen for what?" Kid said
confused and annoyed and feeling slightly sick as his hands were tied behind
him.
"To stop the fires, you will our sacrifice to
Eli. Praise Eli"
"Sacrifice, what fire? What are you talking about?"
With a dour glance the man he had hit turned and
pointed out to the hot bubbling water rising up around them. Kid knew the area. It was littered with geysers and hot springs and a man had to be
careful where he walked less he fall in and get a bath or scalded.
"Hot springs, yea so what?"
"You struck down the sacrifice, now you must
become the sacrifice," the elder man said. "At full moon tonight, you have been chosen, praise to
Eli!"
*****************************
"What do you mean you can't do anything about
it! They kidnapped my
partner!" Heyes yelled over the
Sheriff's desk he was leaning on.
"Your partner should have thought twice before
getting involved with that bunch. The
Dires are a weird bunch and dangerous.
I lost a deputy I sent checking up on them, just disappeared off the
earth."
"And you didn't do anything?"
"Sure I did mister, I learned not to send no
more deputies after them. They come
into two twice a year for supplies, sell some fur and go back up into the
forest. I've learned I don’t' bother
them, they don't bother me."
"How many of them are there?"
"Nobody quite knows, only usually see the men,
they do occasionally find a woman to bring back, like they tried today before
your friend butted in."
"They were taking that little girl."
"That girl had been give legal to the Dires for
a wife."
"She was 12 years old!"
"Doesn't matter, out of my jurisdiction. Where you going?"
"To find my friend."
"Well if its any use they camp down by the hot
springs rumor has it. You know that
part of Wyoming? Bit dangerous if you
don't."
"I know it and thanks again for all your
help," Heyes said voice dripping with sarcasm. "If I see your deputy I'll give him your regards."
"Don't mention it," the man said unfazed,
going back to his paper work.
"Though I think it’s a wasted trip. First night of the full moon
tomorrow."
"What's that got to do with anything?"
Heyes said warily hand on the door.
"Full moon, that's when they sacrifice."
****************************
Kid blinked and tried to focus. He had spent a miserable night sleeping
standing up tied the wagon and his only food had been a sour apple that did
nothing to help his stomach. The hit on the head was still making him feel
miserable and walking along tied behind the wagon wasn't helping. Without his hands for balance he
occasionally miss-stepped forcing him to fall unable to catch himself and be
dragged until the wagon could be stopped and he helped to his feet.
A part of him secretly hoped Heyes was even at this
moment picking up his trail. But even
if he did get past his anger at the note he had no way of knowing what had
happened.
Hungry and hurting he sunk deeper into
melancholy. Heyes would have some
clever plan to get out of this, but he wasn’t Heyes. Annoyed he tried to shake off the gloom unnatural to his nature
and think. There had to be a way out,
he'd escaped bounty hunters and sheriffs and Bannermen, surely a group of
religious lunatics shouldn't be a problem.
He suddenly was jerked to a halt and moaned at the
sight before him.
He had hoped for a camp, a village. He didn't have much chance gaining sympathy
from the men, but the women, children; there he might find an ally.
But they had bypassed the village. The old man had led the wagon to a desolate
sight at the bottom of a small hill that rose out of the earth belching steam.
"Bet-hell," one of the men said.
"What?" Kid said worried as the other men
began picking up large round stones.
"Place of sacrifice."
******************************
Heyes entered the camp and simply stopped and stared.
He'd found their camp.
On one side a rag tag collection of shacks made from
animal skins and wood had been grouped together around the small springs
bubbling out of the ground. On the
other side in neat rows stood six wooden cabins carefully maintained and cared
for.
The
only sign of life were two half starved dogs that barked angrily at him and
then slowly as he moved further into the camp he saw them. Women, and little girls, hair wild and
matted, faces black with grime and dirt, they looked more like animals than
people emerging from the desolate side of the campsite.
"This is sacred ground," he looked down as
an older man emerged from one of the well kept cabins and moved into his
path. He wasn't dressed like the men in
town, but wore a burlap shift that fell just below his knees. He carried a staff and behind him six or
seven boys similarly dressed waited silently.
All clean and groomed like he was.
"Where is he?"
"This is sacred ground, praise to Eli."
Heyes got off his horse, eyes blazing. "I said where is he!"
He moved directly in front of the man and caught the
folds of his tunic.
"This is sacred ground!"
"Yea that's what your two guards said and may
say again if they get up from the bottom of that hill I tossed them down, now
where is my partner!"
The man just stared past him parroting the words over
and over.
Frustrated Heyes pushed him aside and turned on the
boys.
"Have you seen him? Blond, my height?"
The boys stood in amazement as if they had never see
anything like him.
Disgusted Heyes turned his attention to the other
side of the camp where the women watched clutching one another.
"Where is he?"
"Do not talk to the unclean!" the man snapped suddenly come to life. "They are the unclean necessary for
life, you may not go there until sacrifice!"
Heyes glanced back at the man angry. It was clear the women of the camp were kept
segregated away from the men until needed.
He stared at the scraps in bowls left for them and then over to the neat
tidy well constructed cabins where the men and boys lived.
"Where is the sacrifice?"
For an instant the man glanced away and Heyes
followed his eyes and grinned triumphant.
Swinging onto his horse he moved to leave, but the old man caught the
bridle.
"You cannot go there! Eli must have his sacrifice or the fires will grow and we will
die!"
But Heyes merely jerked the horse away. It was almost dark and the moon would be
rising soon.
***************************
This is not happening," Kid desperately told
himself. I'm in some bad dream and I'm
gonna wake up and Heyes will be there and we'll get breakfast and ride out and
the worse thing I'll have to face is his coffee.
They had finished the altar at the edge of the hill's
opening having collected the stones quickly.
They had obviously done this before, with previous altar's being
dismantled and the need for a new one created each time. As near as Kid could learn the sacrifice was
usually female, but since they had not had the required effect it had been
finally decided a male must be sacrificed.
Broken nose had gotten the job until Kid's stepping
in had made the Elder feel Eli had given him to them as a replacement pleased
with their faith.
Once more Kid tested the leather straps holding him
spread eagle across the flat gray stones on his back, but they didn't budge.
His shirt had been stripped from him along with his
boots and socks and he felt very vulnerable laying next to the steamy, molten
opening bubbling up from the hill.
He had no doubts that was his final destination
unless he did something and his wrists and ankles screamed out in agony as he
tried to free himself.
The moon had risen now and in the full light of it he
saw the men had changed into robes making the scene all the more surreal and
frightening.
I'm going to die, he thought suddenly calm and sick
at the same time. He laid his head back
knowing fighting was useless, he was bound too tight. Frustrated tears burned his eyes and he blinked them back
refusing to let them see him weak.
And Heyes would never know. Heyes would go his whole life thinking Kid had abandoned
him. The episode the day before seemed
so long ago now. A fight, a stupid
fight and it had cost him everything.
This never would have happened if Heyes had been there, Heyes watched
his back, Heyes no matter how angry he was, would never hesitate to come to his
aid. Heyes always found him, even when
they were kids. He flashed back to
another moment of fear remembering himself as a small boy climbing up the
church bell tower to hide only to discover he was too scared to get down when
no one found him for the game.
He looked up and saw the Elder had pulled a knife
from this robe. It was a huge
ceremonial dagger and Kid bit his lip as it was raised above him.
"Praise to Eli."
Kid willed himself to look away and closing his eyes
he let his mind drift and think of something, anything to help him take the
plunging of the knife in his chest.
And then his mind found it. And he smiled as he pictured his cousin accepting his amnesty,
finally free, maybe with a family, definitely with a home.
And he waited for death to strike.
But it never came.
The bullet was followed by four others and a shout
that sounded like a mad man running up the hill.
Once more Heyes had found him.
******************************
"Oh God please don't let me miss," Heyes
prayed as he leapt from his horse and saw the scene playing out in the
distance.
This can't be happening, this is insane, he swore as
he took aim and fired.
He saw the man with the knife tumble back dropping
the knife and clutching his arm in pain.
But then to Heyes's horror he began scrambling around on all fours
looking for it, shouting to the men with him to find it and kill the infidel.
"Oh no you don't!" Heyes yelled and charging up the hill leapt
onto the group in a tumble, decking one, then another and then finally pulling
out his gun froze the other two where they stood.
"Stop!
Or I swear I will shoot you till you do," he yelled voice cracking
with emotion.
The men froze and carefully Heyes walked over and
kicked the dagger into the fire hole.
Then pulling out his own knife bent down.
"You okay, did they hurt you?" he asked
voice dry, not sure he wanted the answer as he cut the bonds and checked his
cousin for any wounds.
"Heyes!"
Kid said first non-believing and then as the realization sunk in, it
changed to a shout of joy and he hugged his cousin. "Heyes!"
Laughing his friend let him, still trying to keep an
eye on the four men.
"How did you find me?"
"When have I ever not been able to find
you?"
"Yea even that time I hid in the church bell
tower."
"What?" his friend said starting to laugh
again.
"Never mind, thank you."
"Your welcome."
"I didn't think, after the note."
"What note?" Heyes said innocently.
"The one I left you at the hotel."
"Didn't go back to the hotel, little girl told
me what happened, Daisy? Why what was
in the note?" he said picking up what was left of Kid's shirt and writing
it off as useless, shrugged off his jacket and handed it to him.
Kid looked at him, wanting to believe him, but not
sure. "You never saw the
note?"
"No I never saw the note, now you wanna stay
here all night arguing about it or get these four back to town….HEY! Wait!"
To their horror Elder had crawled to the edge and
before anyone could stop him, pitched himself forward into the hole.
A gasp of steam, sparks and sizzling followed and Kid
turned away sick at the thought it could have been him.
"That crazy old man," Heyes stared.
"That could have been me," Kid said
quietly.
Heyes swallowed and then after a breath, shook his
head, "Nah, you got too good a partner.
See what kind of ground I tracked you over? Pure rock. No wonder I'm
the champion tracker in all Southern Utah…"
And it continued all the way to town.
And Kid wouldn't have had it any other way.
***********************************
"Sheriff's got them all locked up," Kid
said coming into the room to find Heyes once more packing, though this time a
little more calmly.
"Yea I talked to the preacher, told him about
the camp, the state of things, he's gonna get some of the women to go up there
and bring them down, see what they can do to help them. He said one of the women here was captured
by Apaches and spent some time with them.
He thinks it might be a similar thing so he's hoping she'll be able to
ease them back into civilization."
"He ever tell you who this Eli is?"
"No one really knows, rumor had it that a group
led by a trapper named Eli Dire settled there about 60 years ago escaping
religion persecution. No one saw them
for 50 years and then this. Sure feel
sorry for them women," Heyes said somberly.
"Yea the preacher told me you gave up your share
from Mac's payment on the bust to help get them settled," Kid said amused.
Heyes looked uncomfortable. "He told you that?"
"Yea right after I gave him mine."
"Can't even trust a preacher," Heyes said
disgusted. "What?" he said
uncomfortable as his partner stood grinning at him.
"Also talked to the desk clerk, says he gave you
my note."
"He did?
Oh I must have forgot to read it."
They looked at each other.
"I'm sorry Heyes I said some pretty rotten
things and well I started thinking maybe you might do better on your own. I'm still not sure you wouldn't."
Heyes looked at his friend's miserable
expression. He really did believe that,
he thought amazed thinking of all the times Kid had been there for him. Shuffling uncomfortable Heyes spoke to his
feet. "Kid I couldn’t do this
without you."
Kid's face broke into a smile, "You
couldn't?"
It was the same look from twenty summers past when a
friendship had been forged for all time.
"Yea," Heyes said looking very young..
"I guess were sort of united to see this thing through," he added
sincerely.
"United then," Kid said offering his hand.
Heyes grinned and took it.
"Just don't go writing any more notes, you get
into enough trouble with me there," Heyes said briskly picking up his bag
having had enough sentiment.
"Hurt your feelings did I?" Kid grinned
back.
"Hurt my…you don't think I actually believed
that bit about my getting on your nerves did you? I mean of all the unbelievable things to write…" he continued
as he descended the stairs.
Kid shook his head and finally laughed. Picking up his bag he shut the door shaking
his head. "No Heyes, you're right, I should have known that was too
unbelievable!"