Heyes lead the bay into the barn and stripped her of the gear, then he gave her a ransom of oats before turning her in for the night.
Some distant away an owl howled, predicting the night to come, and Heyes looked up in the darkened sky as he walked back to the boardinghouse. Just above the horizon he saw the hint of a half moon and some of the stars to show that night.
When he walked through the door and into the kitchen, Curry greeted him with a glass of whiskey.
Heyes put his saddle bag down and accepted the glass contently.
As they took their seats at the table, Curry glanced at him with his clearblue eyes.
"Tell me all about it, " he said with curiosity, "What's San Francisco like today? "
As the Kid had not been in San Francisco in almost five years he was curious to know.
Heyes leaned back in his chair and tilted his hat at his partner.
"Nahh, you would not like it at all. Too many fancy women...not the kind you like."
Curry sat up straight, noting the snide stare from Heyes.
"What ya mean..not the kind I like ? I like all kinds."
Heyes grinned slyly from ear to ear.
"I know, Kid," then he got all serious.
"Now...you better be tellin' me all about what your thinkin' right now, cause it looks pretty serious to me. Heyes !" Curry told him flatly, "Heyes !"
"Yeah..." he answered shortly, as he was far away in thoughts,"What is it ?"
"Tell me " he glared at Heyes, then it hit him " Aww, noo. Not Chyenne again ? Heyes ! You have to forget about her, this is not good for you."
"Don't you think I know that ? " Heyes hissed and threw his arms out, "This is driving me crazy..."
Curry smiled smugly at him and took a gulp of the whiskey.
"Naww, you can't become what you already are " he said teasingly.
Heyes leaned his elbows on the table and gave Kid a loopsided grin.
"You son of a ... " he hissed with a chuckle as his eyes glowed, Kid had a nasty habit of getting under his skin sometimes .
"Ah ah ah " Curry cut in, "leave my mother out of this will ya'." He was enjoying this. The smug grin he displayed showed the amount of malice he felt right now.
"You just can't help it, can you, huh ? " Heyes muttered, but the hint of a dimple revealed him, "okay, so I'm crazy. Satisfied ?"
"Very much so " Curry said and smiled.
Then Heyes stood up fast and shoved the chair back in under the table.
"Good. Now let's drop it ."
He had completely forgot about the whiskey in front of him as Kid had been bantering him, so he now reached down and grabbed the glass. He raised his wrist at Kid and took a mouth full, gulping it down.
"I thought you wanted to know about San Francisco ? " he then said putting the glass down on the table.
Curry looked at his friend as he also stood up, he too took a large swig from his glass, feeling the velvet liquid down his throat.
"Truthfully, a town is just a town. But ladies are something else, and that topic wins if compared " he said grinning, as he realized he had actually referred to Chyenne as a lady, and then he followed Heyes into the other room.
The other room was their bedchamber, simply furnished with just their two beds and a drawer. Neither of them had enough clothes to fill it up, so it was more than enough for them as it was.
Heyes slumped down on his bed and watched Kid do the same on his.
"Anytime ?" Heyes asked and took of his hat, putting it on the drawer between the beds.
Curry decided to have his on so he could tip it a bit as he smiled complacent.
"Anytime ," he said and stretched out on the bed. Especially this time."But I think I can manage to stay awake for a while, if ya' tell me about the town and " he yawned a bit, "Silky."
Outside an owl made a hoot, giving away that nightfall was closing in. The sky was a hive of colors all turning into diffrent darker tones as the minutes went by. It looked like it was gonna be a calm night, just a few clouds here and there but not enough to cover the stars that were beginning to show.
As the night turned darker and the crickets started their every night concert, Heyes was telling Kid all about San Francisco and Silky.
Every now and then Curry tried to squeez in teasers about him being a total goner regarding Chyenne, and her being the incurable spitfire that she was.
Heyes tried to be patient, he failed to see the humor in it, but after a while he had to surrender. He was plain out tired, he had to get himself some sleep, a sleep he knew would not come to him as he usually had a hard time sleeping. This night would be no exception, on the contrary he would probably be wide awake as his thoughts wandered off in a certain direction.
The direction it had wandered off in, the last six month, every freakin' night.
He made his excuse to the Kid and started to undress.
Curry knew it was time to let the topic rest, so he smiled at him and got up and out to the kitchen, leaving him alone.
This night, Heyes went to bed with a soft smile on his lips.
* * * *
Having been sent to California, six months ago, and the town of San Fransisco where her aunt lived, Chyenne had more or less been forced by her parents to get a job and so to speak, earn her living.
As old habits die hard, she had first cursed loudly at the obnoxious idea, giving her parents the shivers and then she had simply caved in to the inevitable.
Her aunt had kindly put in a good word for her among her circle of friends, and just two weeks later she had been offered a job, Chyenne had packed her bags, going west. All the way to the coast.
The job she had been offered was in one of them new fancy hotels in town. She had done fine, the job was great, the pay was okay and the workmates were bareable. Simply putting it, life was going in the right direction !
Trying the best she could to forget about the man that had turned her life upside down, she buried herself in work. But the effort was no use. Every single day he was present in her mind, and every single night he possessed her dreams.
But as the months went by, she started to feel right at home in the big city, forcing herself not feel anything , not to care.
Then one day recently, the owner had come by on a brief visit, to check on his precious hotel, and see how well his investment had gone. She had stayed away, remained in the background, out of sight for him to see, but close enough for her to watch. He was a big, intimidating man with a voice sounding like rumble. She had observed her workmates getting scolded by him for not working hard enough and in the next breath, for do working hard enough meaning to much.
As he had taken the tour sweeping through the hotel kitchen area, she had by accident knocked over a bowl of unpeeled potatoes, sending it crashing to the floor, causing ruckus, and he was eager to investigate in hope to find somebody new to scold.
As he had come around the corner of the bench, which she was hunkering down behind, he had stopped dead in his tracks as he had caught the sight of her.
She had made so many appologies she had lost count, during the minute that passed, before he found his voice and began to talk.
To hers and many other's surprise, he did not lunge out at her to scold her, instead he calmly introduced himself.
"Wern Davenport II 's the name." he had said, extending his hand to her, "I'm the owner of this here hotel."
She had reluctantly shaken his hand just to please him, looking down, avoiding eyecontact with him. Somehow feeling very uneased,
"Chyenne Murray, Sir " she had said and curtsied to him.
After that he hadn't left her alone for a second, suggesting she'd be better off working in his own house instead of the hotel. What harm could that do, had been her first thought, but later on she had to scold herself for being such a dork. The reason for him wanting her in his house, had soon became evident. Too evident !
At first the signs were small, a pat here, a pat there. Words whispered whenever she passed him, and whenever he passed her, he always managed to have his hands where they shouldn't be. And his eyes....always following her wherever she went, big, wide, hungry, lustful eyes.
Then some nights ago she had confronted him with her observations on that subject, and he had been furious.
He had backhanded her so hard, she flew across the livingroom, then he had grabbed her long, black hair and dragged her all the way up the stairs to his bedroom. With panic rising within her, she saw the real monster that was hiding behind fancy suits and fine maners.
Throwing her onto the big bed of his, he had started to fumble to unbutton his trousers. Still with the hard slap ringing in her ears, she had tried to crawl down from the bed. Laughing ugly, he had simply grabbed her ankles and drawn her back up again. She had watched with loathing at him as he with newfound eagerness went back to his trousers. His arousal quite obvious.
Her eyes had widened as he freed himself and looked at her. His stare made her cringe, and she decided then and there, that she rather die, than let him have his way with her.
Then as he had approached and almost climbed on top of her, she had, with all the force she could upbring, kicked her knee right up his crotch. With a growl like a wounded animal, he had crashed down beside her in bed, holding his pride and joy in a convulsively grip, panting for air. As she quickly had thrown herself off the bed and gotten to her feet, a threath was whispered.
"I'll get you, Chyenne, damned halfbreed...and when I do..!"
With no further hesitation, she had in brief words, told her aunt the exact circumstances, then she had packed her bags in a hurry and taken the next stages out of town.