Lawyers, Guns & Money

Victoria opened her eyes and tried to focus them on what was in front of her eyes. It was dark and she could hardly see; she tried to sit up and felt the smoothness of what appeared to be an altar of some type. She tried to roll to the side and push herself up, but promptly fell to the floor.

“ Christ on a crutch!” She struggled to her feet and started feeling her way around. Chair back, chair, table, felt, Lucky Strike! I’m at the Lucky Strike! She felt her way back to the bar and reached underneath for the door keys in the wood box. They weren’t there. She made her way to the front door and tried to no avail to open it. She started shaking the door violently.

“ Why are you doing this to me, Lord? Haven’t I been respectable and generous and self-sacrificing? Non to mention patient?” On that note, she picked up the nearest chair and smashed it through the front window and crawled outside. Into the downpour.
She turned her head skyward; “ You’re fucking kidding me, right?” In mere minutes, her hair and wedding dress were soaked completely through; she was cursing and sloshing through the mud, on her way to break into the livery.

Trigger stampeded through the rain and the mud into town, Kid was sliding out of the saddle before he came to a halt. He tried the door and then noticed the broken glass in the front window. He turned and screamed out into the street, “ Victoria!” He stood for a moment with his hands on his hips. Why couldn’t you just stay put?

Victoria busted through the wood door on the bay she had saddled and drove him hard down Dead Plank road, back to Black Cove. The rain felt like needles on her skin and she could see nothing before her; she was relying on the bay to pick his way down the muddy road. He lost his footing on a bend slick with mud and Victoria hit the ground hard; the horse hit inside of her right thigh harder, and she screamed out in pain. The bay was up and gone in a flash. She lay there stunned, in the middle of the road, for a long while. Trying to figure out whom she had pissed off. Then she tried to remember anything in Wanda’s book to either stop the rain or the pain.

The Kid had been searching the main streets of Emerald City, looking for any sign of Victoria when he spotted a broken door on the livery stable. He thought for a moment and the wheeled Trigger around hard and headed back to the cottage. He was heading hell bent down the road in the driving rain when he passed Victoria, muddy and limping off to the side. He reined Trigger hard and the horse came to a skidding halt in the mud.

“ Jed!” she screamed as she saw him head back toward her with his hand out to pull her up behind him. She couldn’t push off with her right leg when he bent to pull her up, so she ended up pulling him off. They both lay stunned in the road as Trigger shook his head and looked down at them.
Curry helped her up to her feet, “ Are you okay?”
“ Just my leg. You?”
“ Just my pride.” He stepped over to grab Trigger’s reins and the palomino took off across the field, into the trees with his tail held high. Curry ran to the edge of the grass yelling. “ Get back here! I know you understand me, now get back here!” He waited, anticipating a flash of Trigger’s buckskin coat to break through the trees. “ I’d better hear hooves hitting the ground in my direction right now!” Again he waited and watched for his animal to return to no avail. “ You know that molasses in your grain? Gone! That’s right gone! And the big stall, gone! Comfy blue warmer, not anymore, you’re getting a grain sack! ” He stood with his hands on his hips and then turned around to face Victoria.
She just shrugged and looked at him, “ Well, it sure ain’t page 123.”

He looked at her. “ Can you walk?”
“ I was before…”
“ We can walk back to the cottage or go get Trigger.”
She just put her hands on her hips, “ Let’s go kick his ass.” They started off into the woods, occasionally calling his name; looking for a glimpse of him through the pouring rain.
Eventually, Kid turned to Vic. “ Is there anyplace around here to get out of the rain?”
“ I would have told you right off if there was!” she snipped.
He turned around put his hands on his hips. “Any suggestions at all?”

She took a moment, standing in the rain, to look around. She started to shake her head and then she looked at him. Standing there with his shirt wet and clinging to every muscle on his chest. Broad shoulders, well sculpted arms. Standing tall with the rain pouring down on him, running down his face. It reminded her of the first time she saw him standing in the street in Hidalgo. She looked around and they were in the middle of the trees in the rain. This is what she had dreamed the first night she met him. She walked over to him and looked up at his face with the rain pouring in her eyes. She stood on her toes and pulled him down for a kiss.

He stood there briefly and then let his arms encircle her waist. They kissed as the rain poured down on them. She started slowly but he quickly turned them intense and passionate. The chase had fired him up and he was quick to burn. He let his hands run down the dress firmly fixed to her body by the rain; and then he took a leg in each hand, pulling them up for her to wrap around his waist.

She held on tightly to him, searching for the buttons to his shirt. She felt him running his hands up and down her back; working his fingers into the back of her dress and then splitting it apart. Then he was walking and she didn’t care where.

Kid was running his hands over her bare back, feeling how hot her skin was even with the rain falling on it. He could see an oak tree with plenty of leaves and a couple of branches the right height. He walked to it, never breaking the kiss and sat her down on the branch, hoping it wouldn’t break. His hands went up to cradle her face as he continued the kiss; he didn’t want to stop it. He let his hands run down her slick throat and across her shoulders. Grabbing the fabric, he pulled the front of the dress down; he was right, there wasn’t any corset under the dress, nothing at all but her beautiful body. I t drove him mad to know that this is how she walked down the aisle to him, as naked and unabashed as she could. He ran his hands up to her breasts; they were so warm in the cool rain; firm and large. He squeezed and kneaded them until he could hear her moans above the rain.

Vic reached down at his waist and started to pull the fabric of the dress up, trying to gather it at her waist. She wanted to invite him in. Her fingers found the wet leather of his gun belt and she worked the buckle until it fell in a heap at his feet. Her hand was on his trousers, feeling the wet outline of his cock running down the length of his thigh. He groaned into her mouth, but didn’t break the kiss. The rain was running down their faces, into their eyes, into their mouths as their tongues were intertwined. She reached the rain slick buttons on his trousers and managed to unfasten them. It felt like they were running out of time; she needed him inside of her and waiting was utter torture. She reached inside and persuaded his cock out of his trousers; then reached around to his taut ass and coaxed him forward. Then Vic reached backward to either side and grabbed the branch for support. She broke the kiss unexpectedly, and sat there looking at Curry; both breathing heavily. Then she threw her head back and surrendered to him.

The Kid knew she had never wanted him more than she did right now; she was acting as lustful as any saloon girl he had taken. She had her head leaned back with her eyes closed against the rain, just feeling it run from her face. He leaned forward to nip at her neck and trial kisses down to her breasts. He knew she was on fire, but he wasn’t going to let it end that quickly. They were in the woods in the middle of the night and he knew he could afford to make her scream with delight. He kept his hands on her as he bent down to kiss the inside of her thighs. He ran his hands up her legs to just brush past her hair; he let his thumbs brush over her button and was pleased with the cries it elicited from her. He kissed his way up her leg until he was at her very center; flicking his tongue out to run down the middle of her lips.

Vic didn’t know what was happening, but knew she want to keep her eyes shut. Just to concentrate and let herself be free to enjoy whatever Kid was doing to her. She felt his hands on her legs, up her legs; he finally put them over his shoulders for them to rest there. She felt something so warm and moist at her lips; she was too far-gone to know what it was, but she was sure it wasn’t the rain. It caressed her with long strokes and she grabbed the branch harder, her fingernails digging into the bark. When she would scream, the rainwater that fell into her open mouth would feel so cool going down her throat; but it wasn’t touching the fire she felt between her legs. The stroking continued but was now interlaced with soft nipping. She felt his finger slid into her; but she wanted so much more.

Curry thought she tasted like honey, like nothing he had ever tasted when he had done this with other women. He licked and tasted her, using his teeth lightly here and there. He inserted a finger and could feel the warmth engulf it; he wanted to bury his cock in it, but not yet. He was so hard and erect; the sensation of the rain beating upon him was stimulating. He let another finger slip in beside the first and felt her clamp down on them. God, he loved that feeling around his cock. Her muscles, her passage still so tight and firm; and only for him. He began to pump his fingers in and out slowly at first and then increased the pace as he increased the pressure with his tongue. He could hear her but he couldn’t understand her; he wasn’t sure but he thought it was French. Even in a foreign language, he knew she was begging for him. He kissed her clit and then gently sucked on it, he was pleased with the scream; so he sucked harder, continuing to fuck her with his fingers. The muscles in her thighs were tightening around his shoulders and he decided to take her all the way. It didn’t take long before her hips were undulating and she was screaming his name. Then he rose as quickly as he could and in one forceful plunge, buried himself to the hilt. Then he just stayed there for a moment, savoring her orgasmic contractions around his cock and her cries of pleasure. Kid placed his hands on the branch behind her for leverage and then leaned into her.

She was flying with him and she wasn’t sure they were still in this world; in fact, she was sure they had left it behind. She reveled in the heat of his shaft in her and then he finally started to move. Tiny thrusts at first, slow, painfully slow; accentuated by a random forceful one. She was still flying with him, feeling on the edge of the earth and the edge of reason. She felt his lips at her cheek and she leaned forward to capture his mouth and convey her lust into it. Finally, his shaft was pulling farther out and driving itself in more ferociously. Her mouth was seizing his words between kisses and they went directly to her heart; it only served to fuel her want. Vic knew she and Jed were suspended from time and all reality and this was a place only for them to go. Nothing else existed here except for them and how they could make each other feel. It was rapture to her when he was merciless with his cock.

Jed wasn’t sure how long he had been on the edge, fighting down the climax. He wasn’t even sure how long they had been here. Joined together. His whole body was shaking, trying to keep on the edge, but he was losing the battle. Soon, he was sure it wasn’t his body shaking, but the world around him. His appetite for her was ravenous and he wanted his fill, brutal or not, somehow he just knew it was okay with her. That she was drawing as much pleasure from him as he from her. He felt such an unquenchable fire inside of himself for her and a sudden need for unrestrained release. He broke the kiss and touched his forehead to hers as his seed, his heart and his soul erupted in to her.

They had stayed joined, just leaning against the tree, embracing. She was crying with joy and he was kissing the tears away. They didn’t notice when the rain had stopped. They didn’t notice Trigger grazing on the grass nearby until much later.

It was sunrise when the pair came riding back to the ranch. With her dress in shreds, she was wearing his shirt and riding behind him on Trigger. At least the ranch hands were still in their beds because of last night’s festivities. She tapped him on the shoulder as they neared Wanda’s cabin.

“ Stop here a minute, I need some tea.” She whispered.
Kid nodded in understanding and helped her down, leaning on the saddle horn to wait. “ Get the big tin. “ he called after her. “ Enormous.”
She threw him a smile over her shoulder as she climbed the steps and knocked on the door and waited. After just a few moments the door opened part way and a large tin was thrust in her direction.
“ Ya’ll kids gonna be tha death of me. Now git yer own brekfas and I’ll be by directly to get that thang outta yer hair.” Then the door slammed closed.


After a considerable amount of coffee for the Kid and a considerable amount of lard to loosen her hair from the tiara, they went upstairs to get dressed to get to the depot. Kid had wanted to see Heyes and Clem off this morning on their honeymoon.
They were running late, so they raced each other to town arriving just in time to see them boarding the train.
“ Hey!” Heyes called. “ See you found her.”
“ I was bound to sooner or later.” The Kid shot back. They both dismounted and walked to the platform. Heyes and the Kid shook hands and looked a little lost about how to say good-bye.
“ Know where you’re going on your honeymoon?” Heyes asked.
“ Nowhere until our train comes back.” Vic fired the salvo at Clem as she came over to say good-bye to the Kid.
“ We’ll be back in a couple of months.” Heyes said as he watched Clem kiss the Kid good-bye and brush cheeks with Vic.
Get that close to me again, you ravenous snake, and I’ll bite your ear off. “ Have a wonderful time and we’ll see you when you get back.” On our train.
“ Well, I’m sure you’ll read all about it in the papers.” Clem said excitedly.
Well, I’m not reading it unless your name and the word drowned are in the same sentence.
Jed and Vic stood on the platform, waving to the departing train as Heyes stood at the back watching. They stood there until the train was out of sight and rode slowly back to the ranch.


The Kid and Vic were finishing breakfast in the dining car when the train came to a complete stop.
Vic looked out the window in anticipation. “ We must be here.”
“ We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Curry complained.
“ We ride from here on,” she said as she jumped up.
Mounted up with packs and bedrolls they galloped across the fields as the train pulled away. The land was flat with only few hills against the horizon. They rode in the hot sun for half a day and then stopped in the middle of nowhere for lunch. At least the chef had packed them sandwiches and they had cool water in the canteens.
“ You telling me where we’re going?”
Vic shook her head, “ Nope, but you’ll know it when you see it.”
“ Great! I’ll be on the lookout for that then.” Kid just shook his head.

By dusk, Vic was getting a little worried, she hadn’t been here before and if they didn’t find it soon, they probably wouldn’t in the dark. Might even ride right past it. The land had finally yielded its starkness to a few trees and shrubs and they had even passed a stream a few miles back. They topped a small hill and Curry reined Trigger sharply to a stop. He just sat there, and then he turned in the saddle until Vic caught up with him. He looked at her and she was a little worried because she couldn’t read his face.
“ That’s the old fishin’ hole where Heyes and I used to fish.”
“ So, show me more.” Vic asked and heeled her mount to catch up to Curry who had shot off like a bullet.

There was a tall scraggly oak tree leaning over the water with the weathered remnants of a rope hanging from one of the higher branches. “ We used to swing from that tree into the water when we were tired of fishing; but that couldn’t be the same rope, not after all these years. “ Curry was thinking out loud now. He turned Trigger east and looked over at Vic. It should be right over there about half a mile. They took off at a gallop, past overgrown and fallow fields, and broken down fences.
He could see it in the distance now. Home. It still stood; it still existed. “ There was a gate here,” he called. “ Look, the barn is in pretty good shape.”
Vic sat in the saddle, looking at the derelict farmhouse and tried to imagine it new, with flowers in the beds and a porch and whitewash on the wood. “ What color was it?” she asked.
“ What?”
“ The barn.”
“ Red with white cross timbers.” Kid slide from the saddle and just stood there looking at his past. “ This is the Tallgrass Prairie. And Coldwater is about half a day’s ride farther.”
He just stood there with his arms crossed against his chest. “ We had wheat mainly, in that field over there. I remember plowing it behind a mule. And corn in that far field, hay for the cattle and horses in the field out back.”
“ How many head?” Vic asked.
“ Only twenty or so, just enough for the family. Heyes’ farm was about an hour by foot west from here. They had almost a hundred head.” He was still just standing there looking, so Vic got off of her horse and started up the steps to go inside the house. Her foot fell through the second one and she started laughing. Curry did too. “ My Dad was constantly fixing that step.”
“ I’m going inside, you comin’?”
“ I’ll be along.”

Vic stepped around the remnants of broken furniture and glass. There was no stove or sink, but the fireplace and hearth were still there, and, she hoped, functional.
It was a large one-room house with a tiny loft off to one side. The windows were all broken out and there were some holes in the roof.
“ That’s where I slept.” Curry nodded up to the loft. “ I can’t believe this place is still standing.”
“ I wonder if anyone lived here after you?” Vic was more thinking out loud instead of asking a question. “ Well, I’ll get the bedrolls and start a fire, you go shoot something tasty because I’m hungry.”
“ You want to stay here tonight?”
“ I don’t want to ride to Coldwater in the dark, do you? Do you even remember the way to Coldwater in the dark?” Vic was standing with her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side. The Kid knew that look and he knew he’d be better off just going out and shooting something tasty.

By the time he got back with a rabbit, she had cleared a space for the bedrolls in front of the fireplace and was using the broken furniture for kindling. The saddlebags and canteens were in the corner. She looked up when he came in and smiled. “ Nice shootin’, I’ll skin him if you want to check out the barn and see if it’s safe for the horses.”

He walked past where his Dad had taught him how to cut firewood and into the old barn where he used to hide when he was in trouble. There wasn’t any hay, but the stalls looked in good shape and he didn’t think the roof would fall in overnight; so, he decided to let the horses graze for a while and then stable them later. Walking back into the house, he saw that Vic had already dressed the rabbit was putting him in the fire to roast.
She turned at his entrance, “ Shouldn’t be too long.”
He just stood looking at her. “ Why are you doing this?”
“ Because I don’t want to eat it raw?”
“ No, I mean coming here. Especially for our honeymoon.”
“ I thought honeymoons were to get to know each other, and I want to know you, I wanted to see where you grew up. I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?” She just looked at him with those deep green eyes and he couldn’t be mad.
“ No, it’s just that I’ve never been back here since my folks were killed.”
She got up from the fireplace and walked over to him. “ But good things must have happened here too.”
“ I think the rabbit is burning.” Curry told her.
“ Yikes!”

They ate crispy rabbit in silence and then Kid went out to put the horses in the barn. When he returned, she had the bedrolls in front of the fireplace and had stripped down to her underwear. He took off his gun belt and boots, then stripped down to his long john bottoms. They lay down in front of the fire and before he knew it, he was telling her about what his mother smelled like, what the house looked like when it had furniture, how he carved his initials in the loft upstairs and his dad had been mad. The Christmas snow covered the front door and his dad had given him a wooden gun that he had whittled. He talked about the Union soldiers and the Valprisal School for Waywards that he ran away from when he was fifteen. He told her about his grandfather from Londonderry, Ireland and he told her about his first robbery. He talked until she was asleep and then he got up and crept up to the loft to see if his initials were still there.


They were in Coldwater just after lunch and he was taken aback at how much the sleepy little town had grown. It had a new schoolhouse, and it even had a café across from the general store now. The stockyard was bigger and there was a land office and a courthouse there now. They stopped at the saloon to stretch their legs and get a drink before lunch. As they were walking across the street to the café, Kid noticed Vic looking at a family with two small boys in a wagon parked outside the general store. Through lunch, she seemed distracted by them until she finally looked at him and said, “ I’ll be right back.”

Through the café window, he saw her cross the street and begin a conversation with the lady in the wagon. They talked until Curry was almost finished eating and then Vic returned inside. “ What’s going on? Do you know them?” he asked.

“ They lost their farm in Colorado and were trying to get to Independence, but their money has run out. Those boys are hungry, Kid; but their Father won’t let them come and eat with us.” Vic was visible upset and that upset the Kid.

“ I’ll be right back.” He tossed his napkin on the table was strode out of the door and over to the wagon. Vic saw him talking to the man in the wagon and then he gave the team the reins and the wagon started forward. Kid just walked back in and sat down.
“ What did you say to him? They’re leaving!”

Curry just looked at her dumbfounded. “ No, he’s parking the wagon; they’ll be right in.”
“ What did you say to him?” Vic was amazed.
“ I just asked him if he wanted to have lunch with Kid Curry or get shot by Kid Curry.” He smiled.
“ Oh, you scoundrel!”
“ You’re just mad that you didn’t think of it. How much do we have in the saddlebags?”
“ About five thousand.” Vic turned to look at them as they entered the café. “But I have the feeling we’re about to have a lot less.”
Kid just laughed.

Riding out of Coldwater, they passed the stockyards and the Kid suddenly noticed that Vic wasn’t by his side anymore. He turned in the saddle to see her on her horse just staring into the yard. He turned Trigger around and trotted back to see what had her interest now. She looked back at him and pointed in to the far corral.

“ Look at the black.” She pointed to a horse about fourteen hands high, black as night with no stockings. His mane was matted and so long that it almost reached the ground in some places. A cowboy was trying to get a saddle on him; but the horse wasn’t taking any of it. He lashed out with his hooves and tried to run the cowboy down. Two other cowboys lassoed him at the neck and held the ropes while they attempted to saddle the horse again. The black kicked at them furiously with his back hooves and managed to break free, racing around the corral trailing the two ropes.

Trigger was getting nervous for some reason and stared to snort and jump. The Kid had to rein him hard to get control back, but he was still clearly upset. He wanted to run, but the Kid held his head firmly. He looked back to see that Vic had disappeared again, but he headed to the far corral on a hunch. He was just in time to see her climbing the fence at the corral and sitting on the top. He lashed Trigger’s reins tightly to the nearby rail and walked up behind her.

“ Tell them to get out of the corral, I want to get in.”
“ No ma’am. I will not. You are not going into the corral with that horse.”
“ I want him.” Was all she said.
“ Well, I don’t think he wants anybody.”
“ Well, if you won’t let me in there with him, then you go bust him for me.” She challenged.
“ I don’t think he wants me either.”
“ He reminds me of Prancer.” Was all she said before she slipped off the top rail and into the corral. The cowboys in the pen started to run toward Vic and scream at her; Kid was over the fence in an instant. With the added commotion, the black was going crazy, kicking and twisting, still trying to get the ropes off of his neck.
Curry grabbed her from behind and started pulling her back toward the rail. “ Alright!” he shouted. “Just get back to the other side.“
Two hours and what felt like twenty bruises later, Curry finally had the black saddle broke enough that he would let Vic in the corral with him. “ He’s still going to need more work; but he’ll be alright to lead back to the train with us.”

Victoria reached up to rub him on his muzzle and the horse snorted and shook his head. “ His name is Lightning.” She turned to proudly announce to the Kid.
The Kid wasn’t thinking about names, he just wanted a hot bath to soak in and a soft bed. “ Let’s put him in the stable and check into the hotel. We can head back to the train tomorrow.”

Vic led Trigger and her mount, while Curry wrangled with the black to get him into the livery. He turned his back to speak with the proprietor and when he turned back around, there was Vic at the stall with the black. She was on her tiptoes with her arms wrapped around him and his neck was around her back as though to hug her. She whispered something in his ear and the black snorted and backed away.
After his bath and dinner, Vic gave Curry a massage that threatened to put him to sleep. “ Is that better?” she asked.
“ Mmmm, much better. Where did you learn that?”
“ Sweden.” Then she bent over to kiss his ear and whispered, “ Thank you.”
He smiled, “ Oh no, thank you!”

The next morning, Curry woke up to a note that Vic was in the stable with Lightning. He dressed and shaved and wandered over to see what was so urgent that it had to be done before breakfast. He turned the corner to find the blacksmith filing his hooves and setting new shoes. Vic had bathed and brushed him and trimmed his mane and tail. She smiled when she saw Kid and came over to greet him with a kiss. “ Doesn’t he look great?”
“ Not from where I was sitting.” he still winced a bit at the bruises.
She tucked her arm in his and led him off. “ Let’s go get you some breakfast and then get the hell out of Dodge. I want to get back to the ranch.”
“ I just want to get back to the train.”

Return to the ranch surprised them with a telegraph from Heyes and Clem. They were on the Continent and headed for Paris. Clem didn’t take the crossing well and had been sick most of the time; but now that they were on land, she was better. Crowds had greeted them upon docking to see the real western outlaw. Heyes was sought after for all of the right parties and social occasions. He found the poker players completely unchallenging, so he was raking in large pots right and left. And of course, they missed the Kid and Vic and hoped their honeymoon was going as well.

Vic had taken to Lightning, or rather Lightning had taken to Vic, and so she and Kid went on daily rides around the ranch to see the lay of the land. The Kid had decided to give Wheat, Kyle and the boys a chance at honest work as ranch hands at Black Cove; so far, things were working out pretty well. Whenever they got too rambunctious, Wanda just gave them the evil eye and they’d settle right down. They weren’t too sure about Wanda and all of her mysterious goings-on.

Lying in bed one night after making love, Vic snuggled up to the Kid ands asked him what he wanted to see from her world. The next day, Trigger and Lightning were loaded on the train and they took off for the West Wind Mining Company. Looking out of the train window at the passing landscape, Vic’s thoughts turned to Heyes. The Kid was trying his best to settle into a new world, a new life; but she could tell how much he missed Heyes. She wondered if Heyes missed the Kid as much. They seemed to go together as night follows day and their worlds were shakier without that. She had secretly hoped that giving the Lucky Strike to him would be enough to keep Heyes around for the Kid. She knew they all had to be together, she just didn’t know how to make it happen.