Will hard work, honesty, and clean living win out over con games, pick-pocketing, and snake oil hawkin’? Find out in InsideOutlaw’s – Medicine Show.








"Step right up, folks.  Witness the miracle of the Far East!  Dr. Clark's Elixir of Good Life straight to you from the finest emporiums of London, Paris, and Vienna," said the man with greased-back hair who was wearing a loud, checkered suit.  His eyes were moving constantly, sweeping across the spectators crowded around him.  He stood on the front seat of a brightly-painted, covered wagon.  His elevated perch forced the people surrounding him to crane their heads up.

Hannibal Heyes spotted the set up by the Billings stockyards as he and his partner left the local saloon.  He paused on the boardwalk, pulled off his filthy black hat, and slapped it against his equally dirty pants, raising a cloud of trail dust while he watched the commotion.  The hooped, canvas covering on the wagon announced it belonged to the world-renowned Dr. Clark’s Traveling Medicine Show.  "C'mon, Kid, our baths can wait.  Let's see the show."  With a broad smile creasing his face, he stepped off the boardwalk and crossed the dusty street heading towards the hubbub.

The Kid fingered a hole in his tattered shirt, mumbled, “Guess I can wait,” and followed him down the street to the edge of the crowd.

"You there," said the slick man, pointing to an elderly man leaning crookedly over the handle of his cane.  "I'm offering you a free sample of the magic of Dr. Clark's Elixir of Good Life.  Yes, step over here, good sir.  Drink this and I personally guarantee it will cure all ailments."  He held out a glass containing a sickly green liquid.

The elderly man eagerly took the offered cup and downed its content in one gulp.  It only took a moment before he slowly straightened up, tossed his cane away, and cried, "I'm cured, I'm cured!" before quickly disappearing into the crowd as it excitedly surged forward.

Heyes and the Kid watched, smiling with amusement.  Curry leaned towards his partner and whispered, “Kinda reminds me of the time you almost got popped runnin’ Soapy’s game.  The sheriff would’ve thrown you in jail for sure if it hadn’t been for Soapy sweet-talkin’ him into releasin’ you into his custody.”

“Yeah, it reminds me, too.  It reminds me the law was called ‘cause someone had recognized a certain miraculously cured blond-haired crippled boy who’d been seen walking just fine through the local candy shop the day before.”

Chuckling together, the partners worked their way to the front of the mob for a better view and focused their attention on the show.

While they were enjoying the spectacle, a small hand snaked its way out of the throng and reached for Heyes' pocket.  The dark-haired ex-outlaw seized the slim wrist without even turning his head as the filthy youth attached to the grubby hand started to kick and squirm.  Heyes lifted him clear off the ground and stared into eyes the mirror of his own.  "Quit it, boy, or you'll blow the whole game," Heyes hissed.  The boy instantly stopped fighting and warily watched his captor.  Heyes set him back on his feet, but kept a tight hold of his collar.

The salesman had seen the brief struggle and quickly concluded his business while keeping an eye on the boy and the two men.  His sales completed, he hurried over.  "Now see here, you unhand my son this minute," he demanded.  Heyes looked at the blue-eyed, sharply-dressed conman and back at the brown-eyed, raggedy lad and smiled, "Your son?  You mean your dip, don't you?"  He let go of the boy and watched as the child ran off, vanishing behind the cattle pens.

The charlatan flashed a placating smile and said, "My impecunious friends, you must understand boys will be boys.  You surely don’t mean to imply this was anything other than a childish prank."

“Hey, there’s no need for name-callin’,” bristled the Kid.

"It means poor, Thaddeus.  It's a fair enough assessment," said Heyes.  “We aren’t planning on causing any trouble for the boy.”

"Are you in need of funds?  Well, perhaps we can come to an agreement since you are willing to overlook this, ahem, unfortunate incident.  I could use two strong men like you to provide safe passage through this lawless land," said the doctor, eyeing the two tied-down guns on the hips of the men in front of him.  “We are on our way to Deadwood by way of Miles City.  Although we will be travelling uncomfortably close to the reservation, I have had no word of any troubles with the Crows, nor the Cheyenne, but I understand there is still resentment amongst the tribes.  I am sure we would all sleep better if we knew we were protected by a pair of competent gunmen.”

"We ain’t gunnies and we might be broke, but we're honest.  C'mon Joshua, let's have those baths."  Curry began to walk away, but stopped and turned back to glare at his stationary partner.  “I said, come on, Joshua.”

“Let’s hear the man out.”

Curry stomped back to where Heyes stood and growled, “Are you crazy?  He’s a conman and he’s askin’ to hire our guns!”

“Please, sirs, think of it as simply taking precautions.  I, too, am an honest man earning an honest living which often takes me through desolate areas in order to service the needs of the scattered populace.  Unfortunately, I am also completely inept when it comes to firearms and it has caused some difficulties for our little troupe.  I can see you are not, so I am merely asking for your help in assuring our safety.  I am also willing to pay you quite well for your services, say fifteen dollars, apiece.  Allow me to formally introduce myself.  Dr. Andrew Clark, kind sirs.”

“If you can’t protect yourselves, what are you doin’ travelin’ the West?” scowled Curry.

“Like you, good sirs, I am simply trying to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads.  I had to fire our security man for excessive inebriation.  He was supposed to take us to Miles City, not Billings.  I’m afraid it was the last straw for me.  You do know this territory, don’t you?”

“Like the back of my hand,” said Heyes smugly.  “You did say fifteen each, right?”

“May I remind you, Joshua, we’ve promised our good friends we’d stay out of trouble?  I ain’t doin’ anything illegal.”

“Ain’t no law against quackery, Thaddeus,” noted Heyes.

“There’s one against pick-pocketin’!”

“Gentlemen, are we all without sin here?  Can you not remember a few transgressions from your own childhoods?”  Dr. Clark looked expectantly from one man to the other.

The Kid’s shoulders slumped in defeat.


OOOOOOOOOO

“Thirty dollars for a week’s work is great pay.”  Heyes led his horse out of the livery corral and held the gate for his partner.  Dawn was just breaking over the horizon and heavy shadows lingered everywhere.

“Not if it costs us our amnesty,” Curry walked past his partner and continued up the deserted street, “or our lives.”

Heyes shut and chained the gate before following him.  “Geez, you really look on the dark side of everything, don’t you?  This is easy money.”

The Kid rolled his eyes, “I’ve heard that before.”

“You don’t have to come.  I can do it myself.”

Curry stopped in his tracks.  “You really think I’d let you go traipsin’ off with a sham artist by your lonesome?”

“Good.  It’s settled.  We’ll see them to Deadwood and then we’ll head south again.”

“Have you forgotten the last time we were in Deadwood?  It didn’t go so well.”

“No, I haven’t.  I told the Doc we’d see them ‘to’ Deadwood.  I reckon we’ll get them close enough they can find their own way into town.  We won’t have to go in with them.”

“Good, ‘cause that sheriff was a hard case.  And, I’ll tell you somethin’ else, I ain’t goin’ through Wyoming to get there.  We’re takin’ the long way ‘round.”

“Anything you say, partner.”   Nearing the wagon, Heyes spotted the formerly crippled old man from yesterday’s show hefting a heavy box into the bed.  He nodded to him and tied his horse to a fence post.  “Let me give you a hand.”

“Don’t need a hand, Sonny, I can do this myself.”  The gray-haired man stooped and easily lifted another box up.  “You two must be the new guides.”

“We are.  I’m Joshua Smith and that’s Thaddeus Jones,” said Heyes, gesturing to the Kid who was loosening his horse’s cinch.

“Smith and Jones, huh?  No wonder the Doc took a liking to you,” cackled the man as he dropped the box into the wagon with a bang.  “Calvin Thorne.  Pleased to meet you.  Willie, come on out here and say hello to our new friends.”

A dark head poked out of the back and brown eyes widened.  “Them?”

“Hello, Willie.”  Heyes grinned at the boy with the freshly scrubbed face, the tidy clothing, and the neatly combed hair.  “Seems you’re not the man I thought you were.  You clean up well.”

The boy answered his smile with one of his own.  “You, too, Mr. Jones.”

“He’s Smith, I’m Jones.  Nice to meet you,” said the Kid coming over to the wagon.  The three men went to work lifting the boxes into the wagon as Willie slid them into place.

“Ah, good, you’re both here,” said Dr. Clark as he came around the front of the wagon leading a team of matched bay horses.  “Willie, help me hitch up the team.”

“Yes, sir.”  The boy jumped agilely from the wagon and hurried to help.  Taking the reins from the doctor, he backed up the two placid animals while Clark lifted the yoke and held it out of the way.  Once the two beasts were in place, they quickly and expertly harnessed them.  Finished, the doctor turned and smiled at Heyes and the Kid.  “I’m hoping you won’t mind riding.  Mabel and Ethel have all they can handle with the gear and the three of us.”

“We prefer ridin’, Doc.  Saddles are softer’n buckboard seats,” said the Kid.

“Shall we be off then?  I’d like to get an early start to the day.”  Dr. Clark climbed up onto the wagon while Willie went around back and crawled inside with Calvin who was sitting on top of a sack of dried beans.

“What he’s really sayin’ is he wants to get outta town before the good folks he’s bilked realize they’ve been had.”  Curry untied his horse.

Heyes ignored him.


OOOOOOOOOO

The day progressed uneventfully and, by nightfall, the small group had settled into a companionable rhythm.  A camp was found and organized, dinner prepared and enjoyed, and eventually everyone settled around the dying fire contained by rocks stacked earlier in the evening.  Heyes held a cooling cup of coffee in his hands and stared into the flickering light.  The Kid was stretched out next to him, leaning on his elbows.  Doc, Willie, and Cal sat across from the two partners.  Willie had fallen asleep an hour or so ago, and was semi-curled on the Doc’s lap.  No one had spoken for quite a while when the Kid suddenly asked, “Willie’s not really your boy, is he?”  

Doc gave the boy a concerned glance, but ascertaining the child was asleep, he firmly answered, “He is in all ways that matter.”

“When’d you two hook up?” asked Heyes.

Pausing to review his memory, the doctor smiled.  “It must be almost six years now; Willie was just three when Cal and I found him in Columbus.”

“Mississippi?” asked Heyes.

“No, Ohio.  We had just finished a brief, but stellar, performance at the State Fair and had spent a long evening celebrating.  Needless to say, I was a little worse for the wear when I staggered down an alley alongside of the last saloon I had frequented.  That’s where I found Willie.  He was huddled in a pile of refuse, using an old, discarded curtain for warmth.  At first, I mistook him for trash, but he moved slightly and cried out as I passed.”

“What was he doing there?”  Heyes leaned forward with interest.

“I don’t really know.  He was too young to say.  I asked around town, but no one knew who he was.  Perhaps he had become separated from his parents when they were passing through town or he may have been orphaned.”  Doc’s arm slipped around the boy’s shoulder and he pulled the child closer to him.  “The proper authorities were notified, but we never located his people.”

“So you just took him with you?”  Curry’s eyes narrowed.

“What else could I do?  I wasn’t about to send him to an orphanage as the sheriff had suggested.  Those places are absolutely vile!”

The Kid nodded his agreement, but said nothing more.

“And he’s been working for you ever since?” asked Heyes.

Cal frowned, “Joshua, Doc’s already explained it wasn’t work, it was just a boyish shenanigan.”

“I’m sure it was, but how come you two had him dressed up in rags?  Seems to me, the only reason would be to make sure no one figured him to be with you if he got caught.”

Stiffening, Cal eyed the man across from him warily.  “What business is it of yours?”

“You’re looking pretty healthy, too, Cal,” Heyes smiled benignly.  “I’m just curious.  Don’t mean any harm by it.  The boy seems to be taken care of and he’s plainly fond of you.”

“As we are of him,” said the Doc flatly.  “I assure you, Willie’s well-being is of primary concern to both of us.  Are we going to have a problem, gentlemen?”

“No problem here.  You see, I’m an orphan myself.  Grew up in one of those homes and, you’re right, they’re no place for a boy.”  Heyes dumped out the rest of his coffee and stood.  “But I did learn a thing or two along my way.  Like how to lift a wallet and how to spot a con.”

Curry glared up at his partner.  “You’ll have to excuse Joshua.  He didn’t have the good, decent upbringin’ the rest of us did and it makes him a tad rude sometimes.”

“No offense taken,” said Cal.

“No, of course not.”  The doc shifted slightly and Willie stirred in his sleep.  “So you’ve lived the life, Joshua?  Well, that does change things, doesn’t it?  I can see now you are merely taking a professional interest in Willie.  Perhaps you can give him some instruction to improve his skills.”

“He could use some, but I have to admit I’m more interested in keeping our skins intact.  We’re heading into unsettled territory and it’ll be best if we all understand each other.”  Heyes stretched and yawned, “I think I’m going to call it a night.”

The three men watched as Heyes walked over and climbed into his bedroll then rolled over onto his side.

“Your partner appears to be a complicated man, Thaddeus.”  

“You have no idea, Doc.”


OOOOOOOOOO

“No, not like that; here, let me show you again.”  Heyes reached into Willie’s pocket with his index finger and his middle finger and retrieved the quarter he had slipped into it earlier.  “See?  You use these two fingers, not your thumb.  It makes the dip smoother.”

“Let me try it again!”  Willie’s tongue stuck out and a look of pure concentration crossed his face, but he managed to slip his fingers into Heyes’ pocket with a minimum of disturbance.  “I did it!  I did it!” he cried, clutching the coin and dancing happily about the ex-outlaw leader.

“Are you two done foolin’ around?  We’re ready to go.”  Curry stood behind them with his hands on his hips.

“I was just showing Willie a couple of things I know,” said Heyes.

“He showed me how to pick a lock!” Willie piped.  “He even gave me some picks to practice with!”

“Great, why don’t you show him how to deal five pat hands next?”

“You’re a card sharp, too?”  Willie gazed up at Heyes with unabashed adoration.  Heyes grinned at the Kid who rolled his eyes.

“Let’s just concentrate on picking locks and pockets for now, okay?”  Heyes put his arm on the boy’s shoulder and steered him towards the back of the wagon.  Willie climbed in and settled down as the two men walked over to retrieve their horses.

“Are you crazy?” snapped the Kid.

“I’m just trying to help the boy.”

“What?  Help him into a jail cell?”

Heyes grabbed his horse’s reins and pulled them loose from the low-hanging branch they were tied to.  “I’m trying to help him to stay out of trouble.”

“Teachin’ him thievin’ is helpin’ him?!”

“I’m just showing him a few things.  The kind of things he’ll need to know.”

“That’s just it.  He don’t need to know it.  What the boy needs is a family with a ma and a pa who’ll teach him right from wrong.  Not hangin’ out with the likes of you.  What’re you thinkin’?”

“All kinds of families, partner.  Willie’s already got a good one.”

“Workin’ for those hucksters?  Learnin’ to steal?  That ain’t right.”  

“No, it’s not, but there are worse places he could be.  You ought to know that.”  Heyes walked away.


OOOOOOOOOO

By mid-morning, the travelers were nearing the outskirts of Forsyth, Montana.  Willie rode in front of Heyes, happily chattering on and on about everything and anything.  The Kid rode next to them, his eyes scanning the rolling hillsides and the river.  The wagon trundled along a hundred yards behind the riders.

“You okay with Willie riding along with those two?” asked Cal in a tone suggesting he was not all right with it.

“Why not?  The boy is quite taken with them.”  Doc chirruped to the team urging them to pick up the pace.

“There’s something not quite right about them.”

“I suspect there are many who would say the same about us.  Besides, we’re right here.  Nothing’s going to happen to Willie with us keeping an eye on them.”


OOOOOOOOOO

“Train’s coming,” cried the boy, pointing towards the river.  The waterway disappeared around a bend a mile upstream and a parallel set of tracks ran alongside its banks.  A smoky plume floated into the air from behind a hill and a distant whistle drifted along with it.

“It’s not a train, it’s a steamship,” said Heyes.

“A steamship?  Out here?”  Willie wriggled, trying to lift up for a better view as the bow of the ship appeared.

“Forsyth’s a railroad town now, but the steamers have been comin’ through here for years,” offered the Kid.

“You mean all the way up the Missouri?”

“Yep.  All the way from St. Louis, almost to Yellowstone,” concurred Heyes.

“I want to ride a steamship!”

Curry smiled, “Me, too.”

“Not this trip.  We’re not staying the night.”  Heyes shortened up on his reins as his horse began to jig nervously.  The ship was in full view and closing on them quickly.  “Thaddeus, take Willie, will you?”

Quickly, the Kid leaned over and scooped the lad off Heyes’ horse using one arm and swung him onto his own saddle.

“What’s wrong?” asked Willie.

The steamship let out another loud whistle and Heyes’ horse exploded in a spate of bucks and crow hops as the Kid’s calm gelding perked up slightly.  “Nothin’s wrong ‘cept Joshua likes jug-headed horses.”

Willie watched as the dark-haired man held on and rode out the excitement, expertly keeping the horse under a small measure of control.  “Gee, I want to be just like Mr. Smith when I grow up!”

“You ask me, you’re well on your way,” said the Kid, sarcastically.

Willie glowed with pleasure.


OOOOOOOOOO

Forsyth boasted substantial wooden buildings lining the docks along the riverfront.  Railroad tracks and a wide road separated the waterfront properties from the business district.  Wagons choked the streets as goods and passengers were being transported away from the depot building.  The little, brightly-painted wagon was dwarfed by its surroundings as it snaked its way into the heart of the bustling community.  Dr. Clark pulled the team up in front of a small, grassy area running alongside the riverbank and dismounted.  Willie slid off the Kid’s horse and ran to help while Heyes and the Kid sat in their saddles watching the townsfolk crowding in.  The population was predominately male.

“You see the sheriff’s office?” whispered Curry.

“Yep; didn’t recognize the name, did you?”

“Nope.”

Swinging his leg over, Heyes dismounted and rubbed his back.  “Let’s help the doc and then we can get a drink.”

The wagon was quickly set up and the show began as the two ex-outlaws wandered away towards the saloon across the street.  Entering the building, they stood and gazed around the room.  It was nearly empty, having lost its patrons to the traveling show.  Smiling, they bellied up to the long, wooden bar and soon had two glasses and a bottle of whiskey in front of them.  With satisfied smiles, they simultaneously drained their glasses and waited as the bartender refilled them before they let him take the bottle away.

Through the opened front doors, they could hear Doc warming up his spiel.  

“It won’t be long before old Cal is cured again,” commented Heyes.  He glanced out the front window and saw a huge crowd of men surrounding the wagon.  A couple of women watched from the wooden sidewalk out front, but neither of them crossed the street for a closer look.  As he watched, yelling broke out and a hole opened in the center of the multitude.  The Kid had already pushed away from the bar and was halfway to the door before Heyes made a move to follow him.

Cries of “Cheat!” and “Quack” filled the air as the two partners broke into a run, plunging into the mass of bodies.  With sharp elbows and sharper looks, they worked their way into the clearing in the middle of the crowd where they found Cal was being held around his neck by a huge, muscled man.  “Let me go!” screamed the old man.  Two other men grinned wolfishly.

“What’s going on?” asked Heyes, coming to a stop with his hands raised and well away from his gun.  He glanced at his partner, whose gun hand rested next to his holster, and forcibly pasted a friendly smile on his face.

“Ain’t none of your business, mister,” warned a thin, mustached man.

“I’m afraid that’s not true.  You see, we work for Dr. Clark.”  Heyes’ tone changed from friendly to frosty as the words escaped his lips.  His hand now also dangled next to his gun and he saw the big man staring at it.

The clearing expanded as men dropped away from the drama, leaving the instigators in the center of it.  Curry could see Doc by the wagon with his arms protectively restraining Willie, both of them bug-eyed with fear.  He shifted his eyes to Cal and the men around him.  

The mustached man smiled at him.  “We’ll be with you in a minute; you’re just gonna have to wait your turn.”  He lifted a wheel spoke up over his shoulder and began to swing at the old man with all his strength.  Before the wood could complete its downward arc, the spoke exploded in his hand and he spun helplessly in a circle, drawing laughter from the onlookers.  Angrily, he threw the small, remaining stub of the spoke to the ground.  His right hand started for the gun on his hip, but he stopped short as he saw the barrel of the Kid’s Colt aimed steadily at his heart.  Lifting his hands up, he changed tactics.  “Easy, mister, don’t shoot.”



“Let go of my friend and I won’t,” said the Kid, menacingly.

The muscled man loosened his grip and the old man slipped out of his reach.  Snatching up his discarded cane, Cal melted into the crowd, leaving the Kid and Heyes to face the three men on their own.

The mustached man smirked.  “Some friend.”

Curry elbowed Heyes and gestured at something behind him.  Glancing over his shoulder, Heyes saw a man hurrying in their direction, a tin star pinned to his chest.  Swinging back, he smiled at the men in front of them.  “No harm done.  We’ll just be on our way…”

“You better get your cheating hides outta town or we’ll be back and there’s gonna be more of us,” yelled one of the other men.

Heyes backed away slowly as the Kid covered them both.  By the time they’d reached the buckboard, Doc and Cal were loaded and ready to go.  The two partners mounted and followed the wagon as it jostled its way through the dispersing crowd.  They were all careful to keep their faces averted from the lawman.

“What in blue blazes happened back there?” asked Doc after they were out of town.

“I don’t know,” said Cal.  “I thought everything was going fine, but when I tossed away my cane that big oaf grabbed me; he said he’d straighten me out.”  The older man shivered.

Overhearing the conversation as he rode next to the wagon, Heyes interjected, “You picked the wrong crowd.”

“What?”  Two pairs of eyes turned towards him, but it was the doctor who spoke.  “We’d barely begun the show.  I hadn’t even sorted out who the marks were.”

“That’s just it.  They were all wrong.  Forsyth’s a railroad town.  Didn’t you notice the shortage of womenfolk?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” asked Cal.

“A whole lot.  I’ve seen it in every mining camp, railroad town, and military post I’ve been in.  You coop up a bunch of men without women and it isn’t long before trouble rears its ugly head.”

“So you’re saying this was our fault?”  Cal frowned at Heyes.

“You haven’t been out west long, huh?” questioned the Kid, having ridden up on the other side of the wagon.

Cal’s head swung around to him.  “What are you saying?”

“It ain’t like other places you been.  Men don’t wait for the law to do its job here.  They handle things in their own way.”

“If you hadn’t of come along…well, thank you, Thaddeus,” said Cal, “you, too, Joshua.”

“I can see Willie’s not the only one who could learn a few things from our new friends,” said Doc.  He turned to the Kid.  “Rest assured, I will be careful to remember your words in the future.”

“Is Miles City a railroad town, too?” asked a small, frightened voice from inside the wagon.

“Nope.  It started up around Fort Keogh, but it’s a fair-sized town in its own right.  Lots of men and women.”  Heyes glanced over at his partner.  “Just to be safe, though, I think Thaddeus and I will stick around during the next show.  How many more do you plan on before Deadwood?”

“This will be the last one until we reach Deadwood,” said Doc.  “We’ll head south after Miles City and cut north of the reservation.”

“Good.  I’d rather face maraudin’ Indians than another crowd of liquored-up railroad men,” said the Kid.

Willie crawled out from the back of the wagon and inserted himself between Doc and Cal.  “I never saw anyone shoot the way Thaddeus did.  Why, he’s the best shot in the whole world!”

The Kid shifted in his saddle and smiled down at the boy.  “I got lucky.  I was aimin’ for his leg.”  

Heyes laughed.  “That’s right, old Thaddeus couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.”

“Can you teach me to shoot like that?” asked Willie.

“No!” fell from four different mouths at nearly the same time.

Slumping, the boy sulked.

“However, I would be grateful if you could give me some pointers.”  Doc slapped the reins down on Mabel’s broad back and the mare picked up a slow jog.  “I can see we’ve been lucky in our travels so far and it would be wise for me to be better prepared for unforeseen circumstances.”  

“I guess I could give you a few pointers,” said the Kid.


OOOOOOOOOO

“Hold up a minute,” yelled Heyes.  He waited until he saw the Doc’s gun had been lowered then he trotted over to the downed log and reset the tin cans on the top edge of it.  The shooting instruction was a roaring success.  The Kid had spent the last hour giving Doc a detailed lesson as Cal and Willie looked on.  He was finally getting the hang of it.  Heyes lined the cans up again and walked over to where the two men and the boy were watching the Kid closely.  His partner demonstrated a draw in slow motion and returned his gun to its holster with a flourish.  Willie had his eyes glued to his new hero.


“Last round; it’s time we got going,” said Heyes.  He ignored the groan of dismay from the boy and started for the wagon.  Gunfire echoed through the small valley they’d stopped in and a few minutes later he heard the crunch of footsteps.  He looked up from cinching his horse and saw Curry stowing his extra box of ammunition in his saddlebag.  “Looks like that went well.”

“Not too bad,” grinned the Kid.

“Now look who’s the bad influence,” chuckled Heyes.

“I’ve come ‘round to your way of thinkin’, partner.  I can’t do nothin’ about their line of work, but we’re leavin’ at the end of the week and I’ll sleep better knowin’ Doc can take care of them.”

“Yeah, me, too.  Makes you wonder how they got this far.  Blind luck, I guess.”


OOOOOOOOOOOO

“The show was an unmitigated success!” Doc declared.  “I’ve sold enough Elixir of Good Life to the fine people of Miles City to more than make up for our disappointing stop in Forsyth.  Dinner is on me.”  His helpers had loaded the last box into the wagon and they all smiled at his pronouncement.  Proudly, he led them down the street to a small restaurant tucked between two saloons.

After a fine meal, the little troupe headed south out of town.  They camped for the night along an empty stretch of land and started out for Deadwood early in the morning before the sun had risen in the sky.

By noon, they made a brief stop for a cold lunch of jerky and hardtack then continued on.  The Kid rode point keeping watch for trouble.  Heyes brought up the rear.

The sage-covered landscape stretched as far as the eye could see.  Hazy purple mountains rose to the east and the contours of rises and gullies gave definition to the vista.  By the evening of the second day, they had passed beyond the borders of the reservation.

The Kid selected a small box canyon cut into a bluff rising to the north as their camp for the night.  Once organized, he pulled Heyes aside.  “You take first watch; I’ll spell you at two.”

“Why post a watch?  Did you see something out there?”

“Someone’s behind us.  I couldn’t make out who or what, but I saw the dust stirred up once or twice.”

“How do you know it’s not antelope or deer?”

“I just know.”

“Well then, why didn’t you say something?”

“’Cause they’re keepin’ their distance.”

“Is it Indians?”

Curry shook his head.  “Doubt it.  They would have hit us by now if it was.”

“Any idea how many?”

“From the looks of it, maybe only a rider or two.”

“All right, I’ll climb up those rocks and keep an eye out.”  Heyes pointed out a jumble of large boulders resting at the base of the sheer cliff wall at the entrance to the canyon.  

“I’ll relieve you at two.  Try not to shoot me.”


OOOOOOOOOO

Curry cupped his hands around his mouth.  “Psst.”  No answer.  Again, he crept closer to the rocks.  “Pssst, Heyes.”  He nearly jumped out of his skin when a finger tapped his shoulder.  Spinning around, he could barely make out his partner’s smiling face in the meager moonlight, but he felt the firm grip on his gun arm.  “What the….I could’ve shot you!”

“No, you couldn’t.  You were facing the wrong way.”  Heyes released him.  “There’s a campfire to the northwest.  Whoever it is, they aren’t worried about giving away their location.”

Curry peered out from around the boulders and could see the small, flickering light far in the distance.  “That’s good.  Could just be someone headed in the same direction as we are, but I aim to be careful.”

“Kid, let’s wait them out.  They’ll have to pass this way in the morning; the arroyo’s too deep to cross over.  We can get a look at them as they go by.”

“Good idea.  Get some sleep, Heyes.  I’m wakin’ you in four hours.”