In the Bleak Midwinter

By Dana Wagner

“Good morning, Joshua, Thaddeus.” Mrs. Lom Trevors, neé Caroline Porter, looked up from sweeping her husband’s jail house office. “Lom and Harker are both out right now, but you’re welcome to wait if you would like.”

Her friends, two handsome former outlaws, smiled politely as they returned her greeting and supplied themselves with chairs and coffee. The blond man chatted easily, but the darker one seemed ill at ease. Funny…he was usually the one with the silver tongue. Mrs. Trevors had news for them. “You two had a caller this morning, a lady was asking after you.” That definitely got the pair’s attention. “She didn’t want to wait, but she said she needed to speak with Joshua about a debt that was owing.”

The two looked at each other. “Joshua? You been borrowing money from women? I know we’ve been out of work a couple of weeks, but I would have thought—” Thaddeus dropped the subject at his partner’s withering look, but he still chuckled.

“No, there’s some mistake, that’s all. Come on, we got to get out of here.” And he was out the door. Thaddeus got a description of the caller from the sheriff’s wife, managed a combined farewell and apology for his partner’s manners, then followed the other man out.

“Hey, hold up!” Joshua was halfway down the boardwalk as Thaddeus hurried to catch him up. “What’s wrong with you? It’s just a mistake, like you said. You’ve been tighter than fence wire lately, ever since Lom got that telegram from the governor asking to see us. Lom thinks it’s good news.”

Joshua, also known as Hannibal Heyes, stood still and looked at his partner, Kid Curry. “I know what Lom said, Jed. But don’t forget, Lom also said Stevenson is retiring from politics next spring. Now that cuts two ways:  he might be ready to put us up for amnesty because he won’t have to worry about political consequences. But it also can mean, if he doesn’t put us up this time, we won’t ever have another chance.”

Thaddeus nodded. For over two years, their lives had been upended as they tried to go straight and wait on that chance for a clean slate. Both men automatically scanned the streets of Porterville, checking for people they might not want to see. There were damp patches in the dirt street from an early morning frost. But it looked like no white Christmas this year, he thought, with it only two days away. That made their appointment with the governor five days away, he mused, while his partner frowned and fidgeted. Still, a man had to eat.

“Let’s go get lunch,” Thaddeus suggested. Joshua sighed but didn’t start his usual harangue about Thaddeus’ never-ending appetite. They turned to cross the damp street. The restaurant was fancy but not too fussy, and the young female servers really dressed up the place. Joshua picked out a table where he could sit with his back to the wall and scanned the room. Thaddeus sat beside him and scanned the young woman approaching their table. But before she even got to them, Joshua was up and headed out. Thaddeus again fled with an apology over his shoulder and chased after his partner. “What now?”

Dark eyes flashed. “People were looking at us. And there was a woman I’ve never seen before in there. We needed to leave.” He was striding past shops briskly, ignoring the stores’ attempts at Christmas decorating. Curry tried another tack. “Let’s get the horses and get out for a while. Mrs. Parkwell will pack us up some food to take with us.”

Their landlady agreed willingly; she also had news. “Have you met our new boarder, Mrs. Willoughby, boys?” Joshua went on full alert. “No, ma’am, we haven’t. What’s she like?” It turned out Mrs. Willoughby was the sister-in-law of the Baptist minister and was closer to sixty then forty years of age – not the mystery woman who wanted her money repaid.

The ride out did Joshua some good. The food did Thaddeus some good. Between the two, they managed to have some conversation while no one was around to hear. “Heyes? You think it could be Clementine trying to track us down, playing one of her tricks?”

“Oh, it better not be Clem. If she’s behind this, I’ll pound on her so hard she’ll have to roll down her stockings to say Howdy.” Heyes really didn’t think it was their old sort-of friend, though. And the stranger was too young to be Jenny; she hadn’t left Texas in years, anyway. In any case, Caroline Trevors had said this woman was rather plain except for her eyes, a bright blue, almost turquoise. Neither man could think of anyone they knew who fit that description.

They crossed paths with Deputy Harker, who was admiring the goods displayed in the general store’s window. “Say, boys, did you know there’s a lady looking for you?”

Thaddeus groaned and Joshua glowered. “Yeah,” Thaddeus replied, “we heard. But I don’t think we know the lady, let alone owe her anything.” Harker hoped they were right and the group split again, this time with Joshua switching paths toward the railroad depot. “What are you doing now?”

“We’re going to Cheyenne now, today if there’s another train.” Heyes’ whiskey baritone sounded strained, approaching frantic. “What if the weather gets bad between now and the day after Christmas? We can’t take that chance, we need to get there now.”

Curry caught his partner by the shoulder and turned him around. Heyes’ expression was more than troubled; he was either scared or wrought up to a high pitch. “You know we can’t do that, Joshua.” He backed up a pace as his partner’s frowning gaze darkened a bit more, but kept to his argument. “Lom explained this. We all see the governor together, on the 28th. Lom’s already got the tickets, remember? There’s no reason to think any blizzard’s coming – look at the sky. And even if it did, what good would it do for us to be in Cheyenne and Lom here? And he can’t leave town to babysit you for two extra days.”

At the word “babysit,” Heyes sort of growled. Both men clenched their fists but settled for a close-in staredown. Neither wanted to be the one to raise a hand. Twice people walking along the boardwalk stepped into the street to avoid the tense pair. Curry crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue to Heyes. Luckily, the former outlaw leader saw how ridiculous they both looked and the tension broke. “All right, Thaddeus, we’ll stick to Lom’s plan.” He sighed and tried to shake off some of the nerves. “Let’s go get a drink, though.”

Christmas Eve with Lom and Caroline. The former robbers thought about, but did not mention, Christmases past.  Long ago, when they still had families…the miserable ones at the Valpariso Home for Wayward Children…the years they did what they could at Devil’s Hole. Heyes had tried hard all day to stay calm, or at least to appear so. He even sat through the early evening church service without incident. Curry almost relaxed as they arrived back at the house and helped Caroline set out supper. Lom was generous with the drinks and all seemed well. He had particularly liked the parson’s sermon, tying modern Christmas traditions to their ancient pagan past so that Christmas and the new year were linked so closely. If he was reading the governor’s signals correctly, Heyes and Curry would have the newest new year anyone could imagine.

Of course, there came a sudden knock at the door. Joyous, comforting moments don’t go interrupted. All eyes were on the door as Lom opened it to reveal Deputy Harker and a woman. A 30-ish, well-dressed, pleasant-looking woman with disquietingly bright blue eyes. Caroline crossed the room immediately to greet her and introduced the newcomer as Mrs. Pellingham. Harker’s explanation of “the lady” returning to the sheriff’s office went unheard by the former outlaws. Curry was concerned Heyes would simply bolt out the kitchen door; he could feel the tension from his partner. But it seemed Heyes had decided to brazen this out, whatever the problem was.

He didn’t wait for small talk. “Mrs. Pellingham, I know you’ve been asking around for me. But I’m sure I don’t know you. And I’m very sure I don’t owe you anything.”  

Mrs. P. looked amused. “Is that why you’ve been so hard to locate? I would not expect you to recognize me. It was half our lives ago when we briefly met. And no, you don’t owe me anything. The debt is from me to you.” Heyes and Curry were more confused than ever. When would Heyes have loaned money to a young woman all those years ago? And then Curry remembered.

“Oh! You’re the girl who was hiding in the livery stable in…Dodge City?”

“Topeka.”

“Topeka. You remember, Joshua. We’d been hurrahing the town after…maybe it was our first job—” Suddenly he was silent. If he was right, then Mrs. P. should not know their aliases. And Caroline Trevors did not know their real names. Heyes obviously hadn/t remembered the incident yet, and Curry had no idea what was safe to say. Lom came to his rescue.

“Don’t worry about Caroline. I told her just last night who you two really are; she needed to know what I’d be doing with the governor. You can talk about it.”

That was only one issue. Curry asked Mrs. P., “How did you know our aliases, though? We were using our real names if you knew us fifteen years ago.” He glanced at Heyes, who was still frowning and raking through his memories.

“Let me save that part for later; we have, or had, a mutual acquaintance. Mr. Curry’s right, you two found me hiding out in the livery stable when you came to get your horses. I was running away from a very bad situation, and you staked me not only with seventeen dollars and six bits, but some very valuable advice on running away, such as dressing like a boy to be safer and to disguise myself. Simply put, you gave me a new life that day.”

Heyes finally recalled the mental image. “I quoted our grandfather Curry about how it’s good luck to give away your last dime.” The blue eyes sparkled as Mrs. P. grinned and agreed. “But there’s no need to repay that grubstake. I didn’t even remember giving it to you, though I apologize for forgetting you.”

She waved away the apology. “I have reason to repay it now, Mr. Smith, or may I say Mr. Heyes? It has taken me some time to make contact with you. It really is hard to hit a moving target.” There was a general chuckle, and she continued, “I also have a message on behalf of someone else. It’s a bit of a long story.”

Lom and Caroline circulated with food and drink, everyone settled back, and Mrs. Pellingham began.

“First, your grubstake story. After some difficult times, I ended up as a practical nurse, hired out by an agency in San Francisco. No matter where I worked, I made it my business to learn something. Over the years, I picked up enough knowledge about investing to do well for myself and for you; I’m proud to tell you, your seventeen dollars and 75 cents grew to a shade over two hundred dollars.”

She sought her reticule, drew out a bank draft, and tried to hand it to Heyes, who refused. “Now, don’t get all chivalrous,” she chided. “It really is your own money.” Curry resolved the issue by taking the draft himself. At Heyes’ protest, Kid just grinned and said, “The owner doesn’t want it, does he? It’s found money. Thanks, Mrs. Pellingham.”

To forestall the scuffle she saw coming, Mrs. P. spoke up again. “May I tell you the other half of my mission to find you?” Lom answered for them by telling them to behave properly in his home and asked their guest to continue the story.

“My last patient in San Francisco was someone who knew you boys, Soapy Saunders.”

“Soapy? Really? How is he?” Two voices talked over each other but quieted when everyone recognized the sadness in Mrs. Pellingham’s expression.

“You haven’t heard. Mr. Saunders passed on in October. I’d been with him about three months then. He had a heart condition that just gradually weakened him. He was a delightful man and very fond of you fellows. He talked about you a good bit.”

For once, Heyes had no words, but Curry answered, “He was something of a father to us when we were young, taught us so much. Not just grafting, either. I’m sorry we didn’t get back to see him soon enough.”

“He was certainly generous, too. He even left me a legacy, and I had only known him for three months. There are quite a few individuals and charities who will benefit from his generosity. And…he left a bequest to each of you, too. That’s why I felt it urgent to search you out now.”

Caroline and Lom were quick to congratulate their friends, even while sympathizing with their loss. Lom recalled meeting Soapy once and had liked him. Caroline gently addressed the elephant in the room. “Do you know what he left the boys?”

“I only know it’s a cash bequest. Mr. Saunders told me about your going straight and said a curious thing:  that your virtue would be your own reward. Mr. Saunders seemed rather amused by it. He was a clever soul.”

She handed Curry a business card from Soapy’s attorney and made departing speeches. Heyes and Curry offered to walk her back to the hotel, after which they went back to the boarding house for a drink before bedding down. Heyes was pouring and splashed good whiskey when Curry suddenly shouted.

“Our own reward! Heyes, I think Soapy left us twenty thousand dollars!”

It clicked in Heyes brain. The amount offered on their old reward posters. “Our virtue, going straight – especially if the amnesty comes through – will get us that amount. That sounds like Soapy, all right. Kid, if we get a clean slate and that much to start out on…”

“It sounds like that full circle thing, Heyes. You gave that girl a grubstake and now it’s come back to us, plus a grubstake for our new life.”

The two contemplated the possibilities and sipped their whiskey. For the first time since Lom got that telegram, Heyes began to feel positive about their chances. He clinked his partner’s glass. “Merry Christmas, Kid.”

“Heyes, I think it’s going to be a happy new year.”