Thief of My Heart (Watty Awards Finalist 2012)

Chapter 5

Now this was the life, Kid Curry thought to himself.  It was a hot day here in Red Rock, but he didn't mind.  He was nice and comfy here in the rocker on the shaded front porch of Big Mac's ranch house. He had arrived on the train last night  and had delivered Mac's art pieces here by wagon.  Now with his feet propped on the railing, a cigar in one hand, a tall glass of cold lemonade in the other,  he couldn't ask for anything better.  Well, not unless Heyes could be here with him.  He'd felt kind of bad about riding in luxury on that train, knowing that Heyes would be riding through the hot West Texas mountains.  In fact he'd almost offered to trade places with him at the last minute, but Heyes had insisted that he was kind of looking forward to some time alone, out in the middle of nowhere.

Heyes had always been like that,   drawing inside of himself sometimes and needing to be alone with his thoughts.   Kid never really knew what was going on in that nimble brain of his when he got that way.  And Kid had never asked, sensing and respecting Heyes' need for privacy.  But he was always soon after,  the same old Heyes again.  Smart, funny, charming, outgoing and above all the only person in the world the Kid could trust.  It bothered Kid sometimes that Heyes felt so responsible for him.  He recalled the first few days after their folks had been killed,  a young Hannibal putting his arm around a younger and smaller Jed's shoulder everywhere they went.  "Stay close to me, Jed.  I'll take care of you."  And he always had. Jed had always relied on Hannibal for the answers.  And Hannibal had always provided them.   Until they had become teenagers, Hannibal had almost been like a father to him even though he had  only been a child himself.    He supposed that's why he'd been so determined as a kid to be the best he could with his gun.  So he could protect the only person he truly had left in this world.  The only person he really loved and who loved him back. Each would be lost without the other and they knew it.  "Nothing bad can happen to us as long as we're together."   That's what they used to say to each other when they were kids.  Only now they weren't together.   

Kid took his shiny,  silver Colt .45 out it's holster and checked the ammo inside the chamber.  Full.  Like it always was.  He cocked the hammer and then released it.  It was clean and in perfect working order.  Like it always was.  "You better make it back in one piece, Heyes.  Or else I'll have to kill ya," he said out loud to himself as he pushed the revolver that was more like an extention of his right hip back into its leather resting place.   He wasn't really worried though.  He had never met a human being who could navigate tricky terrain on horseback like Hannibal Heyes.  In fact there was nobody in the world better on horseback period.  That was another reason they'd decided it was better for Heyes to make the trip on horseback.  He could make much better time than Kid.  And it wasn't likely that he'd run into any body to give him any trouble. Supposedly, very few people if any traveled along that trail.  And though Heyes was never the fast draw and perfect aim he himself was,  he knew Heyes could handle a gun and shoot better than most men.  In fact there wasn't anybody else he'd want defending him if he couldn't defend himself.    He expected to receive a telegraph from Heyes in a couple of days saying he'd arrived safely in Alpine.  Until then he'd just enjoy being the welcome house guest of Mr. Pat McCreedy.   "I wonder what's for supper?" he thought to himself.  Then he covered his eyes with his hat and drifted off to sleep.