Thief of My Heart (Watty Awards Finalist 2012)

Chapter 42

Heyes sat atop the prancing steed waiting for Kid to catch up.   He was almost here.  But that posse was gaining.  Another shot was fired.  This one was closer.  It take all Heyes had to keep Odin from bolting.  He steadied the horse.  Another shot.  Heyes watched in horror as Kid's horse went down.  It landed hard on the ground.  The Kid leaped away just in time to keep the full weight of the animal from crushing his leg.  Heyes snapped the reins and sped back to Kid.  He stretched out his arm and pulled the Kid up behind him. 

Another shot was fired.  This one whizzed right over the top of Heyes' head.  Surely they could outrun the posse now that they were both on Odin's back.  But he was carrying double the weight now.  That would surely slow him down some. 

"Let's go, Heyes, come on!"

"H'yah,"  with a snap of the reins Odin shot forward carrying the partners north as fast as he could. 
More gun fire.  They were getting closer.  Kid looked behind.  They were gaining.  Carrying double the weight had slowed Odin down.  And the posse probably had fresh horses.

"Let's go, Heyes, there gaining..." 

Kid didn't finish the sentence and Heyes felt his partner's body lurch forward behind him.  Oh, no.  He was hit.

"Kid!   Are you hit?"

"Yeah.  But keep going.  It's not that bad,"    Kid said in a strained voice, obviously in pain.

More gunfire.  Kid sagged forward into Heyes' back.

Heyes knew that Kid had been hit again.  Then he felt a hot stinging pain in his left shoulder.  He looked down and saw the blood on his shirt.  That last shot had passed through Kid's shoulder and then grazed the top of his on its way out. 

"Hang on Kid!  I'm getting us out of here!"   He felt Kid's arms come around his waist to hang on.   Then Heyes took the reins and swatted Odin's flanks first the left then the right side.  Again the stallion could sense the urgency of  rider on his back and the sound of gunfire made him even more eager to run like the wind.  He raced forward, accelerating with each stride.  The partners bent low and let the animal run.  They didn't care where he took them as long as it was out of range of  any more bullets.

He carried them for at least three miles before he slowed his gait,  becoming winded.   Heyes brought the horse to a halt and swung him around.  They had lost the posse for now. 

"Kid, how bad is it?"

"I'm still alive, ain't I,"  Kid managed between grunts of extreme discomfort.  "One got me in the shoulder and the other one went through my side.   I'm bleeding pretty bad though.  I'll be fine, just get us to the Gulch."

Heyes took his bandanna from around his neck and handed it to the Kid.  "Here, press this hard on the wound to help stop the bleeding."  Heyes had almost forgotten his fleshwound.  He checked it.  The bleeding had already stopped.  But it burned like hell.  He could only imagine how the Kid must feel.

Heyes looked around.  Odin had ridden them to the edge of the mountains.  Not much longer and they'd be riding into the canyon that would be their salvation.  He knew these mountains and that canyon better than he knew the floor plans to the bank of Fort Worth.  He doubted if anybody in that posse had ever been to these mountains, let alone that canyon.  They were entering his territory now.  He sent up a silent prayer of thanks that it had been Kid's horse and not Odin that had been shot.  The speed of the powerful beast beneath him was going to be the only reason they were going to get to Rising Gulch in plenty of time time to be out of sight before that posse rode in.   This horse had called the canyons of south western Texas his home before Heyes had wrangled him.  He would be sure footed and comfortable riding in the canyons. 

Two hours later they crossed a plateau at the top of a small mountain they had slowly and carefully ascended.   On the other side of the plateau the mountains opened up and a large canyon about ten miles wide and five miles long spread out beneath them.  There was only one way in from this side of the canyon.   Heyes found the trail that lead into the canyon with ease.  He had committed every part of this place to memory.  He knew that someday they may have to come back here to save their lives.  The trail resembled a staircase carved out of the side of the mountain.   It took them down into the floor of the canyon.  The rode into the heart of what had once been a mining town.   Heyes recalled every shack and shanty that still stood here.  It looked much as it had the last time he'd been here.  Only a few changes that were obviously the result of changing weather conditions.   This canyon had been full of gold at one time.  Supposedly the town had sprung up over night in the summer of 1850.   Then for some unknown reason, it had been abandoned overnight a year later.  No one had lived here since.  Well, except for a few desperate outlaws who were on the run a few years back. 

"We made it, Kid.  Now all we gotta do is get ourselves settled in our hiding place and..."

Kid slumped forward against Heyes' back.   Heyes jumped from the saddle and caught Kid as he slid from the horse's back and collapsed into his arms.  Heyes felt the cold canyon air hit the wetness that had spread across his back.   He felt the back of his shirt.  It was soaked with blood.   Kid's blood. 
Heyes helped a weak and hurting Kid Curry to his feet.    He held onto his partner as he walked him towards safety.  "Come on, Kid.  Don't give up on me now.  We're almost there.  Just a few more feet and we'll be there.  Then you can rest and get some food.  I'll build a fire and we can get warm."

Kid struggled to stay on his feet.  He clung to Heyes, feeling weak and sleepy.  They came to an old well that was behind an old bath house.  Heyes kicked the pump out of the way, not wanting to lose his hold on his partner.  The pump and the square piece of wood it was attached to fell to the side.  Beneath was a crude wooden ladder leading to the empty well below.   Heyes helped Kid into the dark depths of the well that dropped down fifteen feet below the surface.   Using the light from the opening above he found the lantern and matches that had been left there still undisturbed.  He lit the lamp, sat it beside Kid and hurried back up the ladder.

Odin stood there, pawing the ground, expecting his owner to climb back astride him.  Instead, Heyes removed all the gear and tack from the horse and placed them near the mouth of the well.   He approached the big black stallion and stood facing him.  He rubbed the powerful jaws with his hands.  "Well, old friend, this is it.  Thanks for getting us here.  Without your speed we'd probably both be dead.  You're free now.  I don't have any place to hide you so I'm just going to let you go.  That's where you belong anyway.  Out in the canyons roaming free."   Odin nudged Heyes chin with his nose.    Heyes gave his nose a scratch.   "Maybe we'll meet again someday." 

Heyes walked behind the horse and swatted his rump hard with the palm of his hand.  The black took off,  his mane and tail flying in the wind.   Let him go Heyes.  Let him go back to where he belongs.   He doesn't belong in this world.   His mind went immediately to Evie.  She didn't belong in his world either.  But could he give her up as easily.  He couldn't think about it right now.  Right now he had to do what he'd been doing all of his life.  The one thing he did better than anything else.  Take care of his partner.    He threw the gear down into the well and climbed down inside.  He pulled the wooden platform with the well pump attached back into place,  sealing out the world above.