Lawyers, Guns & Money

The next morning, the party again gathered at the wagon. Clem was still drunk, Vic was hung over, and Heyes and Curry were entertained. Mr. Nightlinger just kept pouring coffee and laughing. They were all squinting at the emerging sunlight; they hadn’t seen it in weeks and their eyes were reminding them of that.
“ Hows about sum flapjacks? I cun fry ‘em up in sum nice bacun grease.”
Vic put her hand to her mouth, looking pale.
“ That’s sounds real good, I’ll take a tall stack,” Ox informed him.
Heyes held up his hand, “ Short stack.”
“ Same here,” Curry agreed.
Vic made a dash for the trees. Clem giggled.


After breakfast, Vic sent Ox and Nightlinger off to collect more firewood.
“ Listen, this is how I figure it.” Heyes started. “ We go back to Black Cove, send for that diver to come up here. But that might take a month or so if he’s in France. Vic and Clem will stay there and wait until he arrives. You two, Ox and Nightlinger escort him back here and just keep going until we have what we need. Vic, you make the financial arrangements and we send McTavish to cut the deals for the Kid and me.”
“ I am not traveling with her again!” Clem protested.
Vic just looked up Jed and stared, “ And just where are you and Heyes in all of this?”
He didn’t look up from his coffee cup.
“ I’m coming with you.” Vic demanded.
“ Now Vic, just listen. The Kid and I can’t hang around much longer, if we don’t get moving; we could be putting you two in a lot of trouble. You said yourself, there’s a bounty Hunter on our trail; and if that’s true, we gotta move. It’s going to take a lot of time to dig this money out and make the arrangements. You have to stay here and do all of that, no one else can.”
Vic was on her feet in an instant. “ You said you wouldn’t leave me behind.” She hissed, “ I’ll find someone else that can…”
“ No, you can’t” The Kid said without looking up from his cup. “ Heyes and I have talked it over, and we can’t stay and you can’t leave; and that’s just how it’s going to be.”
“ You swore you wouldn’t leave me behind…”
“ No!” Curry shouted, “ I said I didn’t want to; but I have to and you have to see that.”
Vic slapped his face and walked away. The Kid looked as if she were a man, she’d be dead right now; but all he said was, “ Well, that went better than expected.”
“ Well, I’m fine with that plan; but you two have to put me up at the hotel in Emerald City.” Clem ordered. “ I will not stay with her at Black Cove. Now, shouldn’t we be talking about my cut?”
Heyes put his head in his hand and felt it starting to throb.
Curry went off to find Ox and Nightlinger; it was time to break camp and head back to Black Cove. The treasures were carefully hidden in the wagon and the horses being saddled; Vic was nowhere to be found. Heyes ducked under his horse to confront the Kid. “ You have to go find her.”
“ No I don’t.”
“ You just going to leave her here?” Heyes asked incredulously.
The Kid finished adjusting his stirrup. “ She knows her way home.”
“ Well, what fresh hell is this? One stubborn mule was bad enough and now I have two.” He dropped the reins to his horse and calling to Ox and Nightlinger, went off in search of Vic. Heyes finally spotted her in the branches of an oak tree. He stood underneath, looking up. “ What are you doing up there?”
“ Waiting to ambush the first bastard stupid enough to stand there.” She hit him in the head with a pinecone.
“ Charming.” Heyes said sourly. Well, it could have been a rock.
“ I was saving the rock for Jed.”
“ Will you stop that and get down here.”
“ Why? All you’re going to do is tell me a whole lot of what I want to hear and none of it will be true. You know, Mr. Heyes, there’s a real fine line between having a silver tongue and just plain old being full of bullshit. And right now, I see enough manure coming on to cover the whole south forty.”
Heyes sighed; this wasn’t going to be easy. “ You’re right Vic, I talked him into leaving you behind.”
“Gosh, I did not see that coming.” Vic snipped as she swung down from the branches.
“ It’s not for the reasons you think…”
“ You have no idea what I think, Mr. Heyes.”
“ As much as we want to, we just can’t stay long enough for the money to be collected and the deal done. Someone’s going to find us, they always do; and what you keep forgetting is that you married a wanted man. He’s wanted dead or alive; and if they take him alive, it’s twenty years in prison.” Heyes was shuffling his hat in his hand nervously. “ When’s the last time you were chased by a posse for days? When the last time you were in a shoot out? For that matter, when’s the last time you were shot?”
Vic crossed her arms, “ What are you talking about?”
“ Those things happen in our world with alarming frequency.”
“ That’s why I’m…”
“ I know,” Heyes was speaking more softly now. “ You have to believe me, as bad as the Kid feels leaving you behind…just temporarily…he couldn’t live with himself if anything happened to you.”
Vic jumped as arms grabbed her around the waist. “No, that’s not right. I couldn’t live without you.” The Kid whispered in her ear. She turned around and put her arms around his neck. Neither one saw Heyes back out slowly, watching them as he left.
“ Now, tell me what it is.” Curry asked.
“ You’ll go and you won’t come back.”
“ Your heart knows different. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Vic started to cry, “ Ever since I touched that gold I’ve had the feeling that something is wrong. Something bad is going to happen, and I don’t know what it is. And I don’t know what to do about it.”
Jed kissed her on the cheek, tasting her tears, “ Just believe that whatever happens, I’ll make sure that in the end, we’ll be together.”

Each night they spent on their return trip, Vic grew more restless. At night, she would stay awake, just so she could watch the Kid sleep. Wanting to make sure she memorized every inch, every laugh line, every scar. Clem grew more wanton, and she and Heyes were once again sleeping together. Vic could hear whispered snippets of their plans together. She knew how that would end; but she knew no one would believe her. It was best to be silent.
Nightlinger and Ox grew more cautious and were taking turns guarding the couples as they slept each night. Back through the hills and forests and meadows, each a mile closer to Black Cove and the departure of Heyes and the Kid. Through the range of Indian Hills, the Kid saw the string of braves, watching them; but Vic attempted no contact. They eventually lost interest and moved on. They made it back to the White Ridge, where they had stayed at the first night out. Only one more day to go and they would be home.

Wanda sat on the front porch, rocking, smoking her corncob pipe. Watching, listening. She knew they were close and so was he. It would be an explosion when they met. She carefully packed her herbs and candles and oils and rope into her pouch. That afternoon, she took off for mother rock.

Ox and Nightlinger went about setting up the camp for the night. Heyes and Curry unsaddled and brushed the horses. Clem went merrily about cooking dinner, and Vic just sat up on the rock, looking at the sunset. The more the sun disappeared, the more she felt her heart sinking as well.
Ox startled her out of her thoughts when he popped up over the edge of the rock. “ I’ve got a surprise for you, Miss Vic.” He placed next to her a sword. “ I’ve been cleaning it up for you. It cleaned up real nice. Do you remember it? That was the last thing you pulled outta the water.”
She couldn’t help but smile as she ran her fingers over the cool metal. “ Yes, I remember. That was so kind of you, Ox.” The crossbar of the hilt was encrusted with diamonds and the ends formed spikes. There seemed to be engraving on the metal near the hilt, but it was so faded and worn. She studied it for awhile and decided it was a black helmet upon a gray chevron; it seemed like it should be familiar to her but she couldn’t recall. So much was running through her mind that it was wearing her out. What if the dive suit was sitting in the inventor’s basement because no one had funded the research? Maybe blowing a hole in the side of the mountain wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Surely they could dig out enough to buy freedom for the boys and to hell with the rest.
Kid poked his head up over the side of he rock, “ Hungry? Dinner’s ready.”
Vic shook her head.
“ I’ll bring up the bedroll. Why don’t you jump down and toss your dust, and then try to get some sleep.”
“ No, I can’t. I can’t miss it.”
“ Miss what?”
She just looked at him, “ Anything.”


Heyes was polishing off a ham biscuit when the Kid came back to the wagon. “ No luck?”
The Kid just shook his head.
“ She’ll fall over pretty soon all by herself.” Heyes pointed out, “then she’ll get some sleep. Hey, guess what I still have in my saddlebags?”
The Kid looked confused.
“ Laudanum.” Heyes chuckled.
“ Ya’ll ain’t gonna drug tha child.” Mr. Nightlinger shook his head. “ It ain’t fittin’”.

She saw the cup plop down first, followed by the Kid and the bedroll. “ Coffee, great.” She grabbed it and took a drink. “ It’s tea.”
“ Yep.” He went about rolling out the bedding.
“ I’m supposed to drink that afterwards, not before.”
The Kid chuckled, “ It not that kind of tea.”
“ Tastes like that kind of tea.”
“ I just thought it might make you relax a bit, and we’ll just lie up here and you can teach me some more constellations.” He explained.
She put the cup to her lips and drank deeply. It felt so warm going down. It felt so good. She looked up at the stars, just staring at the lights against the darkness. She thought she could see Orion, the Hunter; but it was in the wrong place. She felt Jed next to her, pushing her down on the blanket, kissing an enchanted kiss.
“ Heyes!” Kid yelled down.
“ What?”
“ How much of the stuff did you put in her drink?”
“ All of it. Why?”
“ Think that might have been a little too much?” Curry snapped. He jumped down from the rock. “ She didn’t go to sleep, she passed out.”
“ You know, Kid; there’s not that much physical difference between the two.”
Curry was rummaging through her saddlebags, looking for the familiar blue pouch. Once found, he went to the base of the rock and awkwardly began to toss dust at it.
“ Aren’t you supposed to be saying something while you’re doing that?” Heyes inquired.
“ I don’t know what she says, do you know what she says, do you want to do this instead?” Curry complained.


Wanda had her candles burning, her oils spilled, her powders spread, her Appalachian wisdom at the ready. She looked up into the sky and saw Gemini pointing the way to Orion. Good girl, that will help. Stay ready child, iz gonna happen fas an iz gonna happen hard.


Ox was taking the first watch. Sometimes he would go check the tethers on the horses, sometimes walk the perimeter of the camp, sometimes just sit there by the fire. Heyes and Clem were closest to the dying fire, Nightlinger out toward the edge, Mr. Jones and Miss Vic up on her rock. He didn’t know if he should peek up there and check on them or not. Mr. Jones might be takin’ his marital privileges, and he didn’t want to embarrass anyone. Nothing was going to climb that rock anyway. He got up to stretch and decided to go check the horses again and take another walk around the perimeter. He never saw the blade coming, he never uttered a sound, he never felt his head roll from his body before it hit the ground. It rolled just outside the reach of the embers’ light.

“ Kid, wake up.” Heyes whispered with his hand over Curry’s mouth. The Kid looked startled and tried to remove Heyes’ hand. Heyes put his finger to his lips,” Ssshh. We’re in trouble.” Came the whispered explanation. “ Get your gun belt and come with me. Quiet as you can.”
When the Kid came down from the rock, he looked in the direction of Heyes’ finger. Pointing to a round rock, with blood…and a face…and Oh My God, its Ox. They men looked around the camp briefly to see if everyone else was accounted for.
“Bounty Hunter?” Kid whispered. Heyes nodded and walked over to Nightlingers’ bed and bent down to rouse him as well. The Kid found Ox’s rifle and put it in Nightlinger’s hand then put his hand over Nightlinger’s mouth when he saw Ox’s head on the ground. They listened for any sound, looked for any movement.
“ You wake up the girls, we’re going to go check the path to the horses. If it’s clear, we ride.” Heyes instructed to Nightlinger. They crept off into the darkness as Nightlinger lovingly picked up Ox’s head and put it in his bedroll and covered it up.
I git Miss Vic firs’ an’ she cun help keep Miss Clem quiet. He scrambled up the rock to see Vic’s eyes open and staring. “ Dark man here, Miss Vic.” She nodded and followed him down.


Wanda knew when it started; she picked up her rope and tied three knots in it, just for extra kick. She started to swing it overhead in a circle. Faster and faster until she could hear the whistle of the wind. She called to the west wind, and it spun, faster and faster. Gathering clouds, gathering strength, gathering the very electricity of the air and the power of the earth. . It circled upward, spinning faster as her rope spun faster. The wind whipped at her face, but she kept calling it, coaxing it, making it build. She screamed above the wind for all of the earth to hear, “ In a time that is not a time, take me to a place that is not a place, on a day that is not a day, to stand on the threshold of the veil of mysteries, may the ancient ones protect me on my journey!” She could feel the west wind lift her, surround her, become her.

Curry and Heyes had made it to the tether lines, and luckily the horses didn’t startle at their approach. They hadn’t been able to pick up any trail, any sound, but they knew he was out there somewhere. Heyes tripped over a rock, a large rock, a soft rock, a rock that felt like a coat. “ Kid!” He squinted in the moonlight and was then able to make out forms, on the ground, wet with something. “ He’s killed the horses.”

Vic crept to Clem’s bedroll. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up; her heart was racing. She put her hand over Clem’s mouth and was rewarded with a punch in the jaw. “ Don’t make a sound! The boys are in trouble.” Clem stopped struggling and looked up at her and nodded. “ Get up now and come with me.” She nodded to Nightlinger and guided Clem to a dense patch of bushes. “ It’s the bounty Hunter. You have to stay here and be quiet. I’ll be right back.”
Clem pulled at her arm, “ You are not going anywhere. You stay right here with me.”
“ Call the archangels,” Vic hissed as she tried to leave again. Clem pulled her back again.
“ What?”
“ Didn’t your mother teach you anything? For Christ’s sake. Repeat after me, Raphael before me, Michael to the right of me, Gabriel behind me, Ariel to the left of me, protect and defend me. The angels will protect you while I’m gone, just keep repeating it and stay in these bushes. Now, repeat it!”
Clem started slowly, “Raphael before me, Michael to the right of me, Gabriel behind me, Ariel to the left of me, protect and defend me.”
“ Good, just keep it up and I’ll be right back.” Vic disappeared into the darkness as Nightlinger hid in the shadows at the edge of the remnants of their fire.
She reached the horses without making a sound; she didn’t know where he was. She was afraid he already had Heyes and Curry. She tripped over a rock, a large rock, a soft rock, a rock that felt like a coat. She bit her lip so she wouldn’t scream. She crawled on them, in them, searching for her saddle. She kept crawling and biting her lip. A crack of thunder made her jump, a bolt of lightning lit the way briefly in the pile of dead horses. The sky opened up and a torrent of rain flooded the land. She found Prancer halfway down the line and turned right where her saddle should be resting. Her fingers found her whip and she got up and ran.
“ Son of a bitch.” Curry cursed as the downpour obscured his vision, “ where did this come from?”
“ It will work against him just as badly,” Heyes reminded him. “ We need to get back to the girls. We’ll have to stand and fight, there’s nowhere to go.”
“ What about if we can get to the stream across the road, we could swim downriver?”
“ Can Vic swim? I have no idea of Clem can.”
“ I have no idea. Let’s go ask them.” Curry suggested.


Vic ran as fast as she could, it didn’t make any difference if the Hunter could hear her now; she knew this was the stand. She came sliding into the bushes where Clem was and Clem let out a little scream. She looked over in time to see a fist come out of the darkness, breaking Nightlinger’s nose. The Hunter stepped forward as Nightlinger fell, hair matted, long coat flapping in the wind. She saw the flash of metal as the Hunter brought his machete down and cut his leg off at the knee. Nightlinger screamed and Vic clamped her hand over Clem’s mouth. “ Be quiet, no matter what happens. He’s trying to draw the boys back. At least that means he doesn’t know where they are.”
Heyes and the Kid had made it to the sleeping rock when they saw the machete fall on Nightlinger. Heyes had to hold the Kid down. They drew their Colts and took dead aim, he was right in front of them about a hundred yards out; the Kid knew Heyes would be able to make that shot. He wiped the rain from his eyes, “ You ready?” Heyes fired the first shot. The Kid emptied his Colt and was already grabbing wet bullets from his belt when he stopped to look. The Hunter turned and laughed, eyes wild and he could swear glowing red. They both opened up with a barrage directly to his chest. He laughed a throaty laugh and turned with his machete raised. He cut off Nightlinger’s other leg in one swift chop. Nightlinger screamed again.
Lightning flashed above and thunder rolled over the scene like evil applause. Vic could see the string of souls around his neck; they were shrunken heads, like she had seen in Africa. She knew then what protected him; he was protected by evil, born of evil. Their bullets wouldn’t hurt him; nothing on earth could hurt him. She heard Nightlinger’s cries and moans; before she knew what she was doing; she was already half the distance to him. He had his back turned, savoring the pain from the man on the ground. The rain was running in her eyes, but she could still see her target, she unfurled her whip with a crack the Hunter must have mistaken for thunder. The wind blew his hair wildly and in a flash she had taken his ear off with the next crack of the whip.
Curry and Heyes blotted the rain from their eyes with their sleeves in time to see a flash of lightning show Vic running in behind the Hunter. They heard a mighty roar and saw the coal red eyes aim in her direction. Time seemed to slow down as they tried to stand on the slippery rock. They saw the flash of a revolver as he aimed it at Vic and she unfurled the whip again to snap it from his hand. She managed to reach up and catch it; throwing it into the trees. She was trying to disarm him. They slipped down the rock and Curry’s hand landed on the sword Ox had cleaned up for Vic. Almost an afterthought, he grabbed it as they started running.
The Hunter brought his second Colt to bear and she lashed out again, hoping her aim was true in the dark. She saw the glint of metal sailing toward her and grabbed it. She threw it into the woods as he lunged toward her; she turned to run but slipped in the mud and fell to the ground. Once again the scene was lit from the sky and through the driving rain, she swore she could see Heyes and the Kid running toward them. She started to get up when she felt his hand on her foot. She kicked him with her other leg, and tried to turn and run again. The Hunter tackled her from behind and was instantly back on his feet with his arm around her throat. With all of her strength, she smashed her elbow into his gut and tried to run again. He turned her around and backhanded her with the might of a madman. She landed face down in the mud just as Heyes and Curry tackled him both at once.
Clem screamed when she saw the Hunter plunge his machete into Heyes’ shoulder. He fell to the ground next to Vic; instantly she was on her feet and dragging him toward the bushes on the slippery mud. With the next lightning pass, she could see the Hunter with his hands around the Kid’s throat, lifting him off of the ground. She grabbed the machete from Heye’s shoulder as he screamed in pain, and ran for the Hunter, She was at his back and had it buried it to the hilt before Heyes’ could finish his scream. Clem had her skirt up and was trying to hold it over Heyes’ wound.
The Hunter dropped Curry and turned around to laugh in her face. With those red eyes, when he hit her again she landed next to Nightlinger. He was still conscious. He looked at her and simply said, “nothin’ on earth.” pointing skyward. With the next bolt of lightning she could see her whip lying in the mud. Curry and the Hunter trading blows. She grabbed it and ran to the rock, slipping her way up to the top. Tying three knots in its length, she started to circle it over her head faster and faster.
A bolt of lightning struck a tree next to Clem and Heyes and started to burn. The thunder was deafening. Vic didn’t know if she would be heard or not, “ Hear me! In this place that was defiled by the one reviled, seek him, find him, catch him, bind him. Let the one sought by justice be caught and hold him fast in bonds that last, seek him, find him, catch him, bind him. “ She was screaming for all she was worth. She could see in the light of the burning tree that the Hunter had taken the sword from the Kid and threw him to the ground. “ Thou evil thing of darkness born, of wing and tail and snout and horn, burn like hell until the morn!” She saw the Hunter plunge the sword at the Kid just as he rolled out of the way; he then immediately rolled back over, ripping the sword from the Hunter’s hands before it could be pulled back from the mud. Rolling again the other way put the point of the sword aimed directly at the Hunter. Curry drove it into his chest, turning in time to see him laughing. With arms outstretched, the Hunter turned his face to the sky and roared with laughter. The world lit up and a mammoth bolt of lightning struck the metal of the sword in his chest and the machete in his back.
The Kid could remember a flash of light and it blinded him temporarily. He could hear the laugh turn to a scream and wondered what had happened. His eyes were burning as he tried to wipe the rain from them and he thought it the oddest combination. He thought he could see the bones in his hands and his skin was tingling. There was also a smell most foul in front of him. His sight started to return slowly and the first thing he saw was the Hunter’s eyes; glowing red, and laying on his cheeks still connected by red tissue. His tongue was purple and there was smoke and rain everywhere. There were boils under his skin that were erupting in fire, and fire was peeking out of the wounds the sword and machete had made. He reached out and pushed the Hunter over, watching him fall to the ground.“ You’re dead, you’re just to stupid to fall over.” The fire within him burst forth like dynamite. Kid Curry stumbled to pick up his hat and brushed it off before putting it back on.


The scene struck the Kid as unimaginable. Heyes wounded, Nightlinger dying, Clem in shock, Victoria missing; and then there was a human bonfire. He felt numb, he had no idea if he was hurt; he didn’t think he was bleeding, he didn’t care. He looked upward and noticed that it had quit raining, with a full moon shining down on the mud and the blood and the fire. No horses to pull the wagon, no horses to ride for help; the closest help was Squinting Weasel’s tribe, half a day’s ride back.
He couldn’t fathom where to start. He hopped into the wagon and started to throw things out of the back. Curry poked his head around and yelled to Clem,
“ Let’s get Heyes out of the mud.” After settling down his partner and leaving him to Clem’s ministrations; he took Heyes’ belt and a bottle of whiskey over to Nightlinger and sat down. Taking off his own belt, he started applying tourniquets to his legs.
“ How ya doing?” He propped him up against the tree and put the bottle in his hands.
Nightlinger took a long drink and looked at the Kid, “I reckon I be a bit sore in da mornin’. So, I’s hopin’ fer the day off, Mr. Jones.”
The Kid covered him with a blanket from the wagon to keep the cold out. “ You just take as long as you like.”
He looked around for Vic, but couldn’t remember seeing her after the Hunter had laid her out on the ground. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw her arm draped off of the side of the rock. Too tired to climb up, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side and down into his arms. He managed to get her back to the wagon and pulled inside. He took a look at her and suddenly laughed. She had another black eye.
Clem looked up from Heyes to report. “ I’ve make some bandages and have them as tight as I dare. I don’t have anything to sew him up with. Didn’t we have whiskey in here? I was sure we hadn’t drunk it all.” Heyes was conscious, lying in Clem’s lap as she stroked his head.
“ How ya doing?” Curry asked wearily.
“ How does it look like I’m doing?” Heyes snapped. “ Plunge the knife in, snatch the knife out; I’m going to have some strong words for that wife of yours, Kid.” He laid his head back down in Clem’s lap. “ How do things look?”
The Kid just smiled, Heyes was going to be okay. “ Fair to partly shabby; but, we’ll just take it one step at a time.”
“ I’m tired.” Clem stated.
“ I know, me too.” The Kid rested his head against the fabric shell of the wagon
“ I’m just going to get a little sleep and then I’ll walk back to Squinting Weasel for help.” He closed his eyes and his head immediately nodded down.

Kid Curry awoke with a start when his senses sent him an alarm. His hand went immediately to his Colt. Then he opened his eyes to see Squinting Weasel standing next to him with his arms crossed over his chest. The sun was just starting to make its appearance on the horizon. “Squinting Weasel? Where did you come from? ”
“ Lately or originally?”
“ Never mind, I’m sure glad to see you! “
“ You seem surprised to see us. Didn’t you send him to come get us?” He stuck a thumb back over his shoulder.
“ Who?” Kid looked around the Indian to see Trigger, tail held high, prancing back and forth; snorting and shaking his head. “ He told you to come here?” Kid asked in disbelief.
“ Did he get the message wrong? I thought he was pretty clear...”
“ Trigger?!” Curry yelled. It woke the rest of the wagon up. Trigger shook his head and then came to the wagon to nuzzle his shoulder.

Squinting Weasel took a look at Heyes and Vic and the condition of the rest of the party. “ So, maybe we should just put you on the family plan, you white people seem to get into a lot of trouble. What exactly happened here?”
The Kid eased down from the wagon and pointed toward the smoldering form on the ground.“ Took out the bounty Hunter.”
“ Oh, you do a thorough job, don’t you?” The Indian walked over and kicked it with his foot. “ Why didn’t you just shoot him?”
“ We did, repeatedly.” Came the weary answer from Curry.
“ Didn’t work, did it?”
“ How’d you know?”
“ Well, son what you’ve got here is a wraith. A real nasty one too.”
“ A wraith?” the Kid asked incredulously. “ What in the hell is that?”
The old Indian just put his arm around Curry’s shoulder. “ You must have infuriated someone fiercely when you sent them to hell because when they got there, they struck a deal with the Devil himself to spend eternity in a lower circle of hell if the Devil would send a wraith to avenge his death. You do know about Dante’s circles of hell, don’t you? Well, son we can just discuss this over breakfast. How does roast ham with an apricot glaze, duck eggs, hash browns and a nice Colombian coffee sound?”
His braves were already hitching up a team of ponies to the wagon and loading the bodies of Ox and Nightlinger on sleds. It struck him then that Nightlinger had died in the night, alone propped up against that tree with a bottle of whiskey. I’m sorry.
His walked over the old tether line and picked up his saddle, taking a last look at Prancer’s body. He passed Grinning Gopher on the way to saddle Trigger and asked slowly, “ Will you get someone to bury the horses?”
Grinning Gopher seemed insulted, “ Well, of course we will, what do you think we are? Savages?”
The Kid watched as Twisted Oak used gunpowder to cauterize Heyes wound. He then spread a poultice on it and bound it tightly. Clem held his hand the entire time he was getting patched up. He looked down at Vic lying on the skin-covered table next to Heyes and squeezed her hand tighter. She had been so worn out before last night that she is just catching up on her sleep. He hoped it wouldn’t be too long.
Six days passed and Heyes was up and walking around. Clem wasn’t even complaining about the savage accommodations. The tribe was welcoming and homey; but the Kid was getting restless. He would spend an irrational amount of time next to his wife’s bedside, talking to her, trying to coax her back to him; but still she slept. Twisted Oak had fanned his smoke and chanted his chants, but still she slept. His patience was running out. The next night during the evening meal, he asked Twisted Oak if there was anything else that could be tried to bring Vic back to consciousness.
Squinting Weasel shook his head doubtfully, “ That child was playing with something she couldn’t handle, that isn’t easy to recover from.”
“ What do you mean?”
The Indian ignored his question as he turned to Twisted Oak. “ Perhaps you would like to consult with another shaman, get a second opinion?”
Twisted Oak finished his wine and looked squarely at the Kid. “ There might be another remedy, but the price is high.”
Heyes and Clem looked between the two men. The Kid spoke without hesitation. “ I’ll pay anything, just get her back.”
“ It is dangerous.” Twisted Oak warned. “ And I do not think you would pay the price.”
Kid Curry looked as though the man had spat on him. “ I find myself in a position to afford a great deal. Name your price.”
Twisted Oak looked him dead in the eye, “ The price is her. I bring her back and she is mine.”
“ I don’t think I heard you …” the Kid said through clenched teeth. Clem and Heyes looked between the two men. Heyes was worried about the Kid’s reaction.
“ If you want her to live, you must give her up. She will be my woman.” Twisted Oak said plainly. He barely had the last word out before the Kid upturned the table and attacked the Indian. Squinting Weasel saved his wine and stepped back to watch. The Kid was beating the hell out of the shaman until braves wrestled in between them, holding Curry back. Heyes was by his side in an instant, trying to calm him down.
Twisted Oak stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth. “ You must decide now, or I will do no more for her.”
“ We’ll take her into Emerald City, Heyes are you ready to ride?” Curry was heading for the door.
“ She will not survive the trip. You must decide now.” Twisted Oak warned. “ If you want her to live, you must give her to me.”
Kid Curry looked at Heyes with questioning eyes. Heyes just returned his stare. “ I don’t know if she would survive or not. It’s a big chance. Do you want to take it?”
“ Heyes, I can’t live without her and I don’t think she can live without me. But I know down to my soul that she would not want me to give her to another man like some prize filly.”
“ So you want her to die if you can’t have her?” Heyes asked plainly.
“ No, you’re twisting my words around, Heyes. Stop it!” The Kid threw up his hands and started to pace. “ She dies and I’ll eat a bullet, you know that? She knows that I would fight for her, I would die for her and I have killed for her; but this…” he shook his head, “ I can’t do.”
Squinting Weasel savored the last drink of his wine, “ Twisted Oak!” He bellowed, “ Quit fucking with the white folk.” He turned to the Kid and shook his head, “ Now you know where he gets his name; but you should have seen the expression on your face, it was priceless!”
Twisted Oak shrugged, “ Okay, a hundred bucks.” Curry exploded toward him again and the braves stepped in to keep them apart.
Heyes looked at Squinting Weasel, “ and now I know where you get your name.”


Kid Curry lay on a skin-covered table next to his wife, glancing over at Squinting Weasel.
“ Don’t worry, I’ll be watching the whole time.” The Chief assured him. Oh, that makes all the difference.
Twisted Oak had taken a knife and made a bloody cut into each of their palms, hers the right, his the left; and tied their hands together with sweet grass. He held out a small cup to Curry, “Drink this and think of nothing except finding Victoria. And whatever you do, remember to wake up.”
The Kid looked over at Heyes who just shrugged. Thanks for the support, partner. He swallowed the contents and closed his eyes. It hit him almost immediately. Now I know what Vic meant by having a party in your head. He heard the birds and smelled the pine trees right away. Vic was sitting on the grass next to a stream with her pole in the water. She turned and smiled a heart-melting smile. She immediately leapt up and ran to him; jumping up with her legs around his waist, smothering him with kisses.
“ I’ve caught three already, are you hungry?” her deep green eyes sparkled as she looked at him. He pulled her closer and kissed her deeply; just taking in the smell of her long curls and feel of her legs locked around him.
“ I didn’t think you’d ever get here. I’ve been waiting for such a long time.” She cooed into his ear.
“ I didn’t know where to find you.” He confessed, “ and I was getting worried.”
“ Let’s eat and then go to town; I want you to take me dancing.” She begged, smothering him with kisses again.
“ I’d love to dance with you. But you have to come with me to do it.”
She jumped down and backed away. “ Where do you want me to go?”
He stepped toward her with his hands out to her, “ Dancing, with me. C’mon, let’s go just like we are. You’ll still be the prettiest girl in the place.”
She backed away again, “ No, you want me to go somewhere else and I don’t want to go.”
“ Why not? I thought you always wanted to go with me, no matter where I went.”
She started to shake her head. “ No, you’re going to take me there and then leave me behind. We need to stay right here.”
“ I can’t stay here, you have to come with me if you want us to be together.” He was remembering his purpose. “ It’s our destiny to be together, isn’t it?”
She was starting to fight back tears, “ I have waited for you all of my life and I can’t lose you. It isn’t fair!”
“ We have to trust that destiny is going to keep us together.” Jed didn’t know what else to say, he could just remember that they couldn’t stay here.
“ If you believe in that destiny, then why didn’t you wait for me?”
He threw up his hands, “ Why can’t you believe the things I tell you. It’s like you don’t hear them and I have to repeat them over and over again.”
“ Are these the same things you told the other girls?”
“ No, I told you, No!” He yelled. “ I swear, I am going to write everything down in a book, so that when you get like this, I can just turn to the right page and show you the answer!”
“ Do you want me to help you spell the big words?” She started to stamp off, but he reached out and grabbed her arm.
“ Victoria Curry, get your ass back home! Now, come on.” Kid roared.
She wrestled her arm from his grasp but just stood there. She was twisting a curl at her face and shaking her head.
“ There’s something else isn’t there?” Curry questioned.
“ Wanda is going to be made at me.”
“ Why?” he was confused.
She looked nervous and stuffed her hands in her pocket, avoiding his eyes.” I did something bad.”
“ Bad?” the Kid started nervously. “ What kind of bad?”
“ I didn’t know what else to do. I just couldn’t think of anything else, and Heyes was hurt and he was going to hurt you...and Mr. Nightlinger…” she was frantically trying to explain.
He was finally able to take her hand, “ Give me a hug and just whisper it to me. I promise I’ll help you fix it.”
He bent down so she could slip her arms around his neck. “ I called the lightning and I’m not supposed to.”
He couldn’t help but laugh, “ You called what?”
Vic was furious, “ Don’t mock me, Kid Curry.”
“ You...called…the…lightning?” The Kid was getting nervous. “ What, like you call a dog?”
“ You bet, it’s just that easy.” Victoria snipped.
“ And where did you learn this?”
“ Everyone on earth knows how to do it, we just all got together and decided not to tell you and Heyes!”
“ Tell me why Wanda is going to be mad at you.”
“ Because she doesn’t know that I looked in her book.”
“ What book?!” Curry’s head was starting to hurt. “ No wait, I’ve got it. The book that tells you how to call lightning.”
“ Yes! So now you understand, right?”
“ No!” Curry yelled, “ but that’s okay because I don’t think I want to. All I want is for you to get your ass home.”
She looked nervously at the ground, digging at the grass with her foot. “ She’ll do mean things.”
“ I won’t let her be mad at you, I promise. Just please, we have to go home now.” He held out his hand to her and didn’t stop until she took it.

Heyes saw it first, tears rolling down Vic’s face, the Kid’s hand grasping their bound hands tightly, her eyes opened and she stared at the ceiling. Curry’s eyes opened and he immediately turned his head to look at Vic. “ Mrs. Curry…”
She turned to look at him and burst into tears and he rolled to his side to gather her up in his arms. “ Why do these things always happen to me?”
“ I was just thinking the same thing.” He smiled.
“ Well then, since we got married does that mean these things will happen twice as much?”
“ I’m beginning to think so.” The Kid said wearily.