An Early Christmas Gift

By Avoca

Kid Curry tossed his saddle bag onto the bed nearest the window as he entered the hotel room followed closely by his partner Hannibal Heyes.

“All right, Kid, what in hell’s name has you so proddy?”  Heyes asked as he closed the door of the room.

The young fair haired man turned towards his partner, eyes blazing. 

“You have to ask, Heyes? We were almost killed and for what?” He carried on, not waiting for his partner to answer. “ For nothing, Heyes! For an empty promise! “ His voice dropped and his anger dissipated. “ I don’t know how much longer I can do this but I do know that tonight in this godforsaken town I  am going to buy a bottle of rotgut whisky and get drunk so you can join me or not, I don’t care.”

“All right, Kid, I hear you and I’ll make a deal with you, You take off your gunbelt and your boots and I’ll go and get a bottle of decent whisky and you can drink it in this room while I watch you and maybe even join you in a glass or two?” 

Curry sat on the bed and began tugging off his boots. 

“You win, Heyes, just don’t be too long as my patience is a might short right now.”

Mindful of his partner’s dark mood, Heyes returned to their hotel room within twenty minutes with a bottle of pretty good whisky.

Curry was a cheerful good natured drunk and the two, would be, repentant outlaws, spent an evening drinking and reminiscing about their days in the Devil’s Hole but neither man mentioned times before that, 

Curry drank heavily while Heyes drank moderately and the whisky bottle wasn’t quite empty by the time Kid fell asleep. Heyes covered his partner with the chequered quilt and after making a quick trip to the  outside privy settled himself against his pillow and resumed reading the book he retrieved from his well worn saddlebag. 

Heyes stopped reading for a moment and closed his eyes; what would a giant white whale actually look like? Mobey Dick, had been a present from his partner, Kid had spotted the book in a mercantile a week ago in a small town they were passing through and ever since then Heyes had been consumed with the hunt for the whale.

Heyes woke early and smiled as he heard the deep snores coming from his partner’s bed. He shaved and dressed quietly unwilling to disturb Curry, preferring to let that particular hibernating bear sleep on.

Heyes stopped in at the telegraph office  to check if his telegram from the previous evening had earned a response and he was somewhat surprised to find it had. He read it once and twice more. He debated fortifying himself with coffee before heading back to the hotel room. His original plan, to read the paper on the verandah and wait for Curry to surface so they could breakfast together, now had to be abandoned. 

Heyes removed Curry’s gun from the bedside table and placed it on the dressing table on the other side of the room. Heyes had never spent time speculating if he was a brave man but he sure as hell wasn’t a stupid one. He had no intention of waking his partner, who just happened to be the fastest gun in the  west, from an alcohol induced sleep with a loaded gun in close proximity.

 He shook the sleeping man roughly, ‘Come on Kid, sorry about this but you need to wake up now”. 

Blue eyes blazed up at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Heyes?”

Heyes backed away from the bed. “Kid, we have a long ride ahead of us and if you get up now we can have breakfast before we leave.”

“Have you lost your goddamn mind ?”

“Now Kid, there ain’t no reason for you to get all proddy again. We got a telegram from Lom and… “

“You woke me because of a telegram from Lom.” Curry shook his head but stopped the action and winced. He closed his eyes in an effort to stop the room from spinning. His head hurt, his mouth felt dry and he was involved in a battle to keep the contents of his stomach from making a return appearance. 

“Kid, listen.” Heyes read the telegram. “Vital you get here by 18th. Early present expected.”Lom. “ Kid that can only mean one thing: the Governor  must be going to grant our amnesty.” He smiled at his partner.

Curry kept his eyes closed. “No Heyes , it doesn’t necessarily mean that. The way our luck is running lately it probably means Lom has joined forces with the latest Governor to hold office and is going to ambush us.” He sighed, the lure of sleep was strong but, and he sure as hell didn’t want to acknowledge any flicker of hope within his partner, still the telegram was interesting.

Heyes chuckled inwardly. Curry had bitten, Heyes knew his partner well.

“Well Kid, maybe you’re right. I tell you what, you go back to sleep and I’ll head for Lom’s. That way if it is a trap they will only catch one of us and if it goes okay I’ll find out what this is about and meet back up with you here.”  Heyes beamed his dimpled smile as he began to gather his belongings and put them into his saddlebags.

Curry rose unsteadily from his bed and muttering under his breath made his way to the pitcher of water which he found to be half full but it contained enough liquid to douse his head and face. 

“What are you doing?” He asked as he dried his face on the threadbare towel beside the ewer.

“I’m packing your saddlebag.”  Heyes answered as he folded Curry’s clothes and pushed them inside the bag.

“What happened to you going by yourself to Lom’s?” 

“We both know that was never going to happen.” Heyes chuckled in answer.

The day was getting colder as the two young men rode. Snow wasn’t far away and its arrival was sure to cause problems on the trail. The cryptic telegram that Lom had sent roused interest in both of them but neither man had referred to it since they had started their journey. 

Heyes watched the sky and in his mind  he redid the fastest route they could take to get to Porterville by the 18th. He was pretty sure his partner was doing the same thing. 

Curry’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Heyes, we’re going to have to move faster and travel later if we’re to make it in two days. There’s a full moon tonight but snow is  not  far away, what do you think?”

“I’ve been trying to think of a faster route but you’re right. I don’t like travelling at night but

I don’t think we have any choice. We’ll keep pushing ahead and hope the snow doesn’t show up for  a while.” Heyes looked at his partner. “How’s your head, Kid?”

Curry sighed. “Next time I tell you I want to get drunk, tie me to a hitching post and leave me there.”

Heyes laughed at his friend’s obvious discomfort. “Kid there ain’t no way I’m going to try that with the fastest draw in the west.”  Heyes spurred his horse on as he finished speaking and took off.

Curry groaned but spurred his own mount and soon the two friends were riding side by side again.

They rode for hours only stopping for short breaks to water their horses and eat some jerky. The day gave way to night and the moon appeared whole and bright and still they rode on for a few more hours. Eventually when both riders were near to sleeping in their saddles they stopped and made camp. It was bitterly cold and the small fire they built gave off very little heat. They had met no other travellers on their journey so they settled into their bed rolls and were asleep instantly.

Heyes woke to the smell of coffee. Kid was hunkered down beside the campfire, his hands wrapped around his mug. Heyes struggled into his boots and joined his partner at the fire. 

“Coffee and biscuits, Kid, sometimes I think I have the best partner in the world.” he said as he poured coffee into his own mug.

“Ye! You sure do, Heyes.” Curry looked at the sky. “I reckon if we ride hard like yesterday and bed down late again we could make it to Portervill by noon on the 18th, providing the snow holds off.”

It was another day of hard riding, jerky  and little or no conversation. The promise of snow was becoming more evident as the temperature fell and the moon rose but still they urged their horses onward.. Both men seemed determined to answer  Lom’s summons and both felt it was a last throw of the dice. If the promised amnesty didn’t become a reality by the new year they would have to rethink their futures and make plans. Neither man wanted to voice his concerns and so they rode on in silence. Heyes working silently on  a strategy to keep Curry with him no matter what, as bad things happened when they split up.

  Curry’s mind was also active. He wanted his best friend by his side but he also believed  that the longer it took for the bounties on their heads to be removed the more dangerous it was becoming for them to travel together. Bad things happened  to him when they split up but he was willing to take that risk if it kept Heyes safe.

The snow began to fall just as they broke camp the next morning. They were a few hours from Porterville and with any luck and some care they could still make it to Lom’s  by late afternoon. It was  a miserable journey with snow blizzarding into their faces. Luckily they knew this route well and were able to keep going in the right direction.

Heyes spotted the lights in Porterville first. The lamps in the mercantile and saloon on main street gave an eerie but welcoming glow as they rode slowly out of the blizzard. The street was deserted. Heyes made for the livery but Curry hesitated.

Heyes pulled his bandana from his mouth and nose.“Kid, even if this is a trap we’re not going anywhere. These horses are exhausted and they deserve food and a warm stable.”

Curry had also pulled his bandanna down and it looked like he was about to say something but he remained silent and followed his partner to the livery.

Heyes pushed open the door of the Sheriff’s Office and was met by a wave of heat from a roaring fire in the fireplace situated behind the Sheriff’s sturdy desk. Lom was reading papers and looked up as the door opened.

A huge grin appeared on his face. 

“Heyes, thank god you made it, otherwise I would have had to tell the Governor you had got caught in the snowstorm. Where’s K..”

The sound of a handgun being cocked interrupted him.

“Ah! Kid, for the good lord’s sake this is getting mighty tiresome. Put away your damn gun, this is not an ambush.” Lom Trevers said as he stood up and shook hands with Heyes.

Curry gazed around the room from where he stood beside the back door of the office,  before he reholstered  his gun, and stretched his hands toward the warmth of the fire.

“Sorry, Lom, old habits die hard.” 

Lom dismissed the words with a wave of his hand. “ There’s whisky and glasses in the bottom drawer. You boys help yourselves, I have to send a telegram.” Lom grabbed his hat and struggled into his coat as he left the office.

Heyes and Curry stood at the open fire sipping whisky and waited for Lom to return.

“Well Kid, it isn’t a trap.” Heyes said as he lifted his glass.

Curry said nothing, just sipped his whisky and watched both the front and back door.

Lom returned within ten minutes. Entering the office and letting in a blast of cold  air. He removed his hat and shook his head. “Heyes pour me a measure of that whisky.”

Heyes did as he had been bid. “Lom, do you want to tell us what this is about?”

Lom removed a key from the pocket of his leather waistcoat  and opened a press beside the full gun rack.

“I’ll do better than that, Heyes, I’ll show you.”  With a flourish he removed a large envelope from a shelf, relocked the press, dropped the key into his pocket and pulled two thick official documents from the envelope.

“You did it, boys. The Governor  has just granted your amnesty” He handed a sheet of paper to each of the partners.

Heyes and Curry read the documents and reread them. Heyes was the first to holler.

“We did it, Kid, we actually did it.”

Curry broke into a huge grin but turned towards the Sheriff 

“Lom, this ain’t no trick, is it? Why had we to be here by the 18th of December?”

“Every year at Christmas as an act of Christian charity, the Governor pardons a few petty outlaws and sometimes offers an amnesty or two. The information is printed in the newspaper and is greeted positively. Now the Governor, thinking as a politician, reckoned no one could really object to such a Christian act at Christmas time and it might even reflect well on him. He reckons the Railway Owners and the Bankers can’t be seen to object to your amnesties at this time of year. He had to be sure of your whereabouts before he made the announcement, just in case you boys had been arrested or had got yourselves into trouble. I sent a telegram to confirm that you were with me.” Lom beamed at the partners.”The Governor had given me the amnesties last week on the understanding that I would not hand them over until you two were in my office  and not before or after the 18th December.” 

Kid Curry hollered . “We did it, Heyes, we actually did it.” He pulled his partner into a bear hug. 

 Hannibel Heyes said nothing, which was the only time in Kid Curry’s memory that his golden tongued partner was left speechless.

““Happy Christmas, Boys. dinner and drinks are on me.” Lom shouted to be heard over Kid Curry’s delighted cries.