Clutch

Admin Posts : 8858 Join date : 2013-08-24

You have a new prompt for October, and it's another of those words which can have a number of different meanings, depending on context. Your prompt is;

Clutch

That can mean a collection of eggs, a type of back, a grab or grasp, or any other spin your ingenious minds can bring to the prompt.

Don't forget to comment on last month's stories before playing.

Subject: Re: Clutch Mon Oct 18, 2021 1:10 pm

I should probably apologise for this! I posted it on ff, but it sort of fits the challenge too. Very silly, very short. Kid over indulges and pays the price with a bad dream-Heyes is not helpful. Just dialogue basically.

Revenge of the Chicken Dinner(s)

“You'll make yourself sick, Kid! Even you can't still be hungry with everything you've just stuffed yourself with.”

Kid Curry gave his partner a disgusted look, and said indistinctly with a fork halfway to his mouth while still chewing. “We ain't eaten nothin' 'cept beans, jerky and your lousy coffee for nearly two weeks. And anyways this chicken is the best I've tasted in months.”

Heyes shaking his head, his gaze unimpressed said with sarcasm dripping in his voice. “I figured you was enjoyin' it, when you ate all yours, half mine and still ordered a second helping.”

“I'm just makin' the most of it, I mean with the way our luck's goin', might be weeks before we eat this well again.”

XXX

Two Am

Heyes woke when he was smacked hard on the chin with a flailing hand. He turned to complain at his partner, the owner of said hand, just as he too came awake with a groan and sat bolt upright, before carefully swinging his legs over the side of the bed to sit on the edge. Slightly bent over, with his back to Heyes, clutching his stomach he said quietly. “If you want a whack over the head from my gun, Heyes, just say what you're thinkin', otherwise..”

Heyes unsuccessfully attempted to smother a laugh and the Kid still holding his stomach turned to glare at him. “I just had the worst dream!”

“Yeah, my chin and me figured that out already.”

Kid ignored him and continued. “Got attacked by some giant chickens and one of 'em flapped his wings and took my gun.”

Heyes sighed unable to resist correcting him, annoyed at being awakened from his own more pleasant dream. “Gotta be an ostrich, Kid, ain't no such thing as giant chickens and besides if it were chickens, they're female.”

“Heyes, I can shoot one handed real easy.”

“So, you was attacked by a herd of angry females one of which stole your gun.”

Kid's glare would have intimidated most men, but all it made Heyes do was smirk in amusement, which simply caused his friend even more irritation. But as the Kid started to move, his face twitched in discomfort and so he stilled, merely adding grumpily. “ She didn't steal it exactly, just flapped her wings and somehow swiped it outta my hand.”

“Why didn't you just shoot her while she was coming towards you- ostr-giant chickens are kinda hard to miss.”

“You ever been attacked by a giant chicken Heyes? Besides this is my dream!”

“All right, Kid, I apologise...go on..” Heyes held up his hands to ward off the evil glance Kid was throwing him. Another thought struck him and he opened his mouth to point out that a dream didn't count as actually being attacked either. But as he saw the hand, not clutching his friend's stomach, clench into a fist, he decided he was better off not voicing that thought. He still hadn't forgotten just how much his cheek had hurt the last time Kid landed a punch.

“Well, after I lost my gun, they started to get real mean...”

“Probably weren't too happy that you ate so many of their friends.”

The Kid went pale and Heyes saw his arm tighten over his stomach. He felt a twinge of sympathy but still couldn't resist adding. “Can you imagine the size of them eggs, Kid?”

The Kid lost what little colour he had remaining in his face and grabbed the chamber pot from under the bed. He retched into it, but brought nothing up, before flopping back onto the bed, still nursing his stomach and holding the pot tightly with his free hand. “I ain't never eatin' again, Heyes...”

Heyes snorted. “The next time you refuse one of them blue plate specials, will be the first, and then I'll know you're sick.”

“Sometimes, Heyes, you ain't real nice.”

“Only sometimes, Kid? I'm slipping then.” He paused and added, curious despite his teasing. “So what did these chickens do next, Kid?”

“I don't want to talk about it no more.”

“Aww, C'mon Kid when you smack me on the chin and wake me from a very nice dream, least you can do is finish the tale you woke me over.”

The Kid shut his eyes briefly then shrugged a little helplessly.“Well, then they got some company, cows armed with guns. Lucky they was an even worse shot than you are...”

Heyes looked at his friend. “Now that's just dumb, Kid...where are cows gonna get guns from?”

“How the hell do I know, Heyes? It's not like I hung around to ask 'em. I set off runnin' but ended up trippin' over my feet.”

He trailed off then and Heyes sighed, impatient to hear the rest asked sharply.“ And then what happened next?”

“I dunno, that's when I woke up...”

“You know, Kid, I think I've been wrong saying you ain't got much of an imagination. I can see that working in one of them cheap comic books for boys.”

“Go to sleep, Heyes...”

Subject: Re: Clutch Sun Oct 24, 2021 3:19 pm

CLUTCH

No matter how long I gazed at the newspaper, I couldn’t believe it. Me and the Kid’s faces practically leapt off the page, to our everlasting shame and regret. Clear and unmistakable, anyone who saw it could now identify us easily. We’d been played for fools, plain and simple. How could we have let her do it?

The Kid and me, you see, we’d trusted her. Loved her, even though she was so darn confusing. First, she’d spend some time with me, then turn around and go off with the Kid. She’d plant a kiss on Curry and then with a laugh plant one on me. She’d practically skip down the street between the two of us, the Kid on one arm and me on the other, chattering on about whatever caught her eye. Both of us would smile like schoolboys, just so dang happy to have her with us. It didn’t even matter we had to share. Not much, anyway. Not much.

If the Kid and me weren’t such good pals, well, she might’ve caused us to go our separate ways. But she never seemed to favor one of us over the other. If she ever did that might’ve been the deal-breaker; the end of the line for our partnership, the end of Heyes and Curry. Fortunately, we never had to choose. To our dismay, neither did she.

She was a petite little thing, so fair and sure of herself. Whether she piled her hair on that pretty head or had it flowing down her shoulders, we didn’t care. Whatever she did, she was witty, bright, and beautiful. To this trail weary outlaw, she was sweet relief from a lonely life on the run. She was a breath of fresh air blowing into town, brightening our lives. With her around life was full and joyful. I adored her, and so did he.

Oh sure, if anyone knows a con it’s me, and she was one of the best. I saw how she batted her eyes at any man she wanted something from and watched him stumble over himself to give it to her. I watched her sweet-talk and smile her way out of every tough spot a woman could find herself in. The Kid and me, we laughed at how gullible those men were. We would congratulate her on her wit and give her a wink. She would smile sweetly and assure us she could never match the two of us at that game. She had learned a lot from us, she said. Too much, I’m afraid.

The truth be told, she never had to twist our arms. She didn't need to beg or cajole us. After spending the best week of our lives with her, she simply dragged us over to the photographer and told us to sit. We laughed and joked, and were eager to do anything that would make her happy. I reckon it would be an understatement to say our guard was down. She loved us, would never do anything to hurt us. Our friendship was unflappable, like me and the Kid’s. We would’ve died for her, and she would’ve done the same for us.

Wouldn’t she?

Even though she sold us out, I still don't know how we would act if we saw her again. I know I should hate her for betraying us, but I can’t. Her smile, her laugh, the sound of her voice, everything about her was intoxicating. If she came running down the street right this moment and leapt into my arms, and then his, I think we might still kiss her, still clutch her to us.

How could we not? After all, she’s our gal, Clementine.

Subject: Re: Clutch Fri Oct 29, 2021 2:50 am

This has not been beta read. All errors are mine and mine alone. KT

Written for challenge “Clutch”

October 2021

“Heyes, stop grumblin’ to yourself.” Jedediah ‘Kid’ Curry mumbled to his partner Hannibal Heyes. “Everything about this robbery goin’ just fine.”

“You two, get them passengers off the train.” Tall, rough Wheat Carlson , the interim leader of the Devil’s Hole Gang commanded Heyes and Curry. “And do it quick, Kyle’s almost ready with the dynamite. Collect all their money and valuables too.”

With a grimace, Heyes caught the angry glint in Curry’s steel blue gaze. Addressing Carlson, Heyes argued, “We never rob the passengers, just the safe.”

“I'm the leader this time and it’s my rules. Go! We all agreed we would rob one train my way and one your way and the gang votes for the leader. This is my way!”

Sighing, Curry jumped up and went into the passenger car. “Ain’t goin’ hurt anybody if you do as we say. Go out the back door, down the steps and follow the instructions.” he told them, brandishing his Colt for all to see.

Gasps and screams filled the car but none dared to challenge the confident young train robber.

As the passengers walked down the steps, Heyes directed them away from the train to a grove of trees. “Hurry up! Move!” he yelled. All the frustration he felt at Carlson came through in his tone. “Stand in a line. I’m coming down. My partner’s starting at the other end. Put all your money and jewelry into our hats.”

Heyes removed his black hat with silver conchos and turned it upside down. Fighting with himself to follow Carlson’s orders, he started walking down the line.

A woman with her dark brown hair pulled severely back into a bun dropped her money into the hat with a sad look, then clutched at the locket around her waist. With tears starting to fall ,she looked into Heyes’ eyes with grey eyes filled with anguish. “It ain’t worth much, mister. It's not gold or silver but...it, it...the pictures are my children.” When she finished, the tears were flowing heavily.

When Heyes said nothing, she unhooked the locket and dropped it in the hat. With one more plea, she held his gaze saying, “The good Lord took them. Those pictures are all I have left of them.”

Turning to look where the rest of the gang was, Heyes used his perfected pickpocketing skills to remove the locket from his hat. “Sorry, ma’am, our leader said to take everything,” he announced loudly as he reached to touch her arm to comfort her. Without anyone knowing or her seeing, he dropped the locket into her dress pocket and moved on the line.

At the other end of the line of passengers, Curry was wrestling with his guilt. Most of these passengers were riding third class. These were not the ones he wanted to hurt. He wanted to steal the payrolls from the railroads and banks and mines, not nickels and dimes from families.

As he advanced down the line with his hat, a young towhead boy about seven years old reached out and dropped in a nickel. “That's all I got, sir. Please don’t hurt me.” His voice was weak; his eyes terrified.

Angry at Carlson for choosing to rob the passengers, Curry looked skyward and pledged to himself he would never rob train passengers again. Reaching into his own pocket, he took out a twenty dollar gold piece. Kneeling to look the boy in the eyes, he said, “Sorry, boy. I won’t hurt you and I don’t take nothin’ from children. Here’s your nickel back.” He took the boy’s hand and palm up wrapped the fingers around the gold piece. “You hold that tight until you're back on the train, you understand?”

Clutching his fingers tightly together, the boy nodded eyes wide in wonder.

“Down, everybody down!” yelled an outlaw on horseback riding up to the passengers.

“BANG! BOOM!” The first sound was the dynamite blowing open the safe. The second was the safe hitting the top of the baggage car.

Less than two minutes later, a mounted Carlson rode up to them. “Back on the train, everyone.” he thundered at the passengers.

“TIme to say goodbye. Let’s ride!” he finished, galloping off with a small smiling outlaw riding behind him. The gang members followed them quickly

Heyes and Curry dumped the contents of their hats into their saddlebags, jumped onto their horses and caught up with the others. The seven hour ride back to Devil’s Hole with only two preplanned stops to change horses was frantic but uneventful.

Gathering in the bunkhouse, the gang was exhausted but the thrill of a successful robbery and splitting the take kept their adrenaline flowing. Heyes and Curry dumped the money and things stolen from the passengers on the table.

“The Kid and I don’t want none of this. We don’t cotton to robbing passengers.” Heyes said with a low growl.

Carlson looked up from dividing the ample payroll from the safe. Rolling his eyes at the comments, he said nothing.

“You got the shares ready, Wheat?” asked Kyle, smiling in anticipation. “Want to get into town and do some celebrating.”

No one touched the money and jewelry on the table, no one even looked at it.

“Equal shares, Boys!” Wheat exclaimed to the group, sliding a stack of money to each.

“What about the take for the Hole?” Heyes demanded. “Big Jim always set aside a share to keep this place stocked up.”

“Er..we’ll take a bigger cut out of the next robbery for the Hole,” Wheat decided out loud.

Picking up their shares, Heyes and Curry stood up.

“Celebrate all you want but be back here, sober, by Monday afternoon. Meeting at three to go over the specifics of our next robbery.” His voice was authoritative, his manner commanding. Standing to Heyes’ side, half a step behind, Curry met the eyes of each gang member. Wheat Carlson tried to avoid Curry’s strong gaze, but after a moment he relented. Surprised not to see antagonism, Wheat instead just saw a strong request for compliance.

Turning on his heels, Heyes left without a look back. Curry followed closely.

Heading for the river, Heyes didn’t stop until he sat on a wide boulder to think. Curry stood nearby, expertly skipping rocks across the water, waiting patiently for the vocal explosion from Heyes.

When it came it went on for an hour. Detailing everything that was done wrong in the planning for the robbery, everything that could have gone wrong but didn’t this time but what about next time.. Why did Wheat refuse to let him open the safe instead of using too much dynamite? And over and over Heyes came back to the abhorrent reality of stealing from the passengers.

“Heyes,” Curry started softly when he’d had enough of the complaining. When he was ignored, his voice became insistent. “Heyes!”

Startled, Heyes looked at Curry. “Kid?”

Curry looked away as he spoke. “I couldn’t stand stealing from the kids. Little boy put a nickel in my hat. Broke my heart, so I slipped one of my twenty dollar gold pieces in his fist. Told him to clutch it there until he got on the train. Made my heart feel better. Like a small victory.”

Chuckling, Heyes said, “I had a small victory of my own. Woman put in a locket with pictures of her kids said she’d lost them and it was all she had left of them. I lifted it out of my hat and dropped it into her pocket.”

Smiling at each other, the two partners shared a silent look.

“Heyes, you better make your robbery so good that this gang elects you leader. If Wheat wins, I ain’t staying.”

“If Wheat wins, I’ll be right there beside you, partner.” Heyes answered, slapping Curry on the shoulder as they walked back..

Entering the bunkhouse, they saw the offending personal jewelry and money still on the table, still being ignored. The gang was sitting there, drinking, deep in a loud discussion which stopped when they approached.

Nervously looking from one to the other, Wheat finally spoke for the men. “Heyes, well we were talking.”

“We’re goin’ take this stuff and donate it to the Sisters of Charity.” he said.

Kyle eyed the pile sadly. “We don’t rightly know what else to do with it.“

Wheat coughed lowly to get everyone’s attention again. “Well we voted and we were wondering if you’d take over as leader, Heyes. There are so many things to coordinate. I ain’t willing to spend that much time.” Wheat finished speaking fast before he lost his confidence and courage. “Not that I couldn’t handle it, of course.”

Hands on his hips, Heyes let the silence settle before he smiled and spoke. “I accept, on a couple of conditions. My partner, Kid Curry, is a co-leader with me.”

He watched as heads nodded in acceptance before continuing. “And I’d like to ask Wheat to be the leader of the bunkhouse.”

“A toast to new Leaders of the Devil’s Hole Gang!” Preacher held his whiskey glass high.

Subject: Re: Clutch Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:53 pm

A/N - I finally managed a challenge story. Been a while

The crisp, orange tinted Halloween evening gave Sheriff Lom Trevors a slight chill as he headed into his barn to settle the horses for the night. Leaves swirled in the minimal breeze that tickled the ground as a sudden, ear-splitting yell pierced the quiet sending his few roosting chickens into a frenzy. The lawman stomped out of the barn, stopping momentarily at the doors. “HANNIBAL HEYES! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!”

Heyes was sitting inside with Kid Curry and Lom’s shy, younger sister, Holly Trevors, who had come to visit for a couple of weeks and knew who Lom’s friends really were. At the sound of the screaming, the dark haired ex-outlaw leader looked up, smiled, and ran out the back door into the woods behind the house, snickering the whole time.

Kid watched his cousin flee out the door as he started laughing. “Well, he actually did it.”

Holly looked at the blond, confused and timidly asked, “Wh…Where’s he going? What's so funny, Kid? What’d he do?”

Another yell cut through the air, closer to the house this time. “HEYES! GET OUT HERE NOW!”

The expert schemer was long gone into the forest however.

Curry was still laughing as he finished a piece of pie. “If you want to know, Holly, go look at Lom’s horses. If you don't care, I'm going to have another piece of pie while you do.” He reached over to pull the pie pan over.

Holly smiled at Kid’s laughing and headed outside. She met her brother on the porch. “Lom, what’s wrong?”

The sheriff was too irritated to answer. “HEYES! WHERE IS HE?! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW YOU DANG OUTLAW!”

Holly, who had always laughed at her brother when he was annoyed, pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “Was it really that bad?”

Lom glared, knowing she was inwardly chuckling at him. “Get him out here right now, Holly! I know he’s hiding in there somewhere!”

Holly gave her own amused glare right back. “Don’t you yell at me you heathen. He’s long gone.”

“He’s WHAT! Where’d he go?! He is going to clean up what he did and then he’s spending the night in jail!” His eyes searched the vicinity for any sign of the mischievous Hannibal Heyes.

Curry heard the jail comment in the kitchen. ‘No he ain’t goin’ to spend the night in jail neither.’

“Oh, Lom. Be reasonable. It can’t be that horrible. Go sit down and have a piece of pie. I attempted to make your favorite.”

““I am being reasonable! He went too far this time! I knows it’s Halloween but dang it! He can spend it locked up!” Then to address the pie comment, “And you didn’t burn the house down?”

“Shut up you idiot!” At that, she left to go see what was in the barn that had instigated such rage in her stupid brother.

Lom pounded into the house. “WHERE IS HE, KID?! YOU ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!”

Curry sat calmly still eating pie, only half now left in the pan. “He ain't in the kitchen.”

“WHERE. IS. HE. KID?!”

“I said he ain’t here in the kitchen. Now calm yourself down. I'm tryin’ to eat. This pie is excellent!”

Lom frowned. “He ran out back didn’t he?!” He quickly ran out the back door to search the woods. Even though it had gotten a bit darker, he could still see enough to not need a light.

Kid watched Lom sprint out the door, shrugged, and kept eating.

The sheriff never stopped yelling. “I KNOW YOU’RE OUT HERE, HEYES! MIGHT AS WELL COME OUT!”

Heyes, hidden extremely well, smiled and stifled a laugh. After Lom passed by him, he silently sneaked up behind him. “BOO!”

If the lawman had ever been honest about that, he’d have to admit he almost peed his pants. He screamed loud enough that it was heard inside the house.

“What’s wrong, Lom? There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Holly had returned from the barn with a smile and made herself give the other ex-outlaw leader some reassurance. “Um…don’t worry, Kid. I won’t let Lom take him to jail. I …I think those horses look cute painted as skeletons.”

That’s when they both heard an unmistakable scream from a familiar voice. “You say that now...,” Kid said dryly.*

Lom could STILL be heard yelling as he reached the back door. “.....going to scrub every one of those horses clean you miscreant then I’m throwing you in jail for tonight!”

The door was slung open and the sheriff led Heyes in clutching the chain of the handcuffs he had slapped on him. Ignoring the other two, he led the laughing outlaw through the house, headed for the front door to take him to the barn. “And scaring me like that...I coulda shot you!”

Heyes was still laughing. He had a roguish expression. “You couldn’t have shot me. I got your gun!”

Lom stopped a second to look down at his holster then in Heyes’ belt. More than aggravated now, he snatched his gun from the reprobate’s gun belt. “DANG THIEVING OUTLAW!” He started pulling Heyes toward the door again.

“Calm down, Lom! It’ll wash off!”

“I DON’T CARE!”

After a nervous minute, Holly decided to chime in. “Lom, please don’t make him spend the night in jail. I..I wanted to spend some time with them. They seem fun. We…we were supposed to tell spooky stories and have cider before bed. Don't you remember Heyes planning it? Please just let him go after he cleans them off? They look awful cute and you have to admit, it's a good prank. And I really had my heart set on having a good time for Halloween this year and maybe playing some games and telling some scary stories tonight.”

Kid gave Lom a look. “You don't want to disappoint your little sister, do you?

Heyes was still laughing at everything, including his partner’s attempt to use his guilt trip skills on someone else for a change.

Lom stopped at the front door and looked back. “That is DIRTY. And you both know it! And Heyes, shut up!”

Of course, the older of the outlaw duo refused to do so.

“P…please, Lom?” His sister was giving him a pleading look which he almost always gave in to.

The sheriff sighed, let go of the handcuffs on Heyes’ wrists, turned around, and walked forward to her. “Fine. But he wears those cuffs all night long!” A thumb pointed behind him.

Right after that sentence was finished, Heyes walked by Trevors and laid the cuffs across his shoulder. “There you go, Lom. You could use some new ones.” He then headed into the kitchen to get some pie, if there were any left. His cousin ‘had’ been alone with it for most of the evening.

Sheriff Trevors just hung his head and gave a defeated sigh as he pulled the cuffs from his shoulder.

Curry looked up as his partner sat down at the table. “Maybe you oughta tell Lom sorry for stealin’ his gun and scarin’ the crap out of him so he don’t change his mind and lock you up tomorrow.”

“But it’s Halloween, Kid. He just got tricked. And now I’m having a treat. If there’s any left.”

Kid smirked but pushed the pie pan over.

“There’s just one piece left!”

“Well, then I didn’t eat it all did I?”

Lom and Holly joined them in the kitchen. Heyes looked at Curry as he sarcastically spoke.

“Sorry, Lom for showing you your gun can be stolen right under your nose.”

“Thanks so much, Heyes.” Trevors was just as sarcastic. “I bet you’re REAL sorry…”

Holly looked at the now empty pie pan. She spoke quietly to herself as she pulled another pie from the oven that she’d been keeping warm. ‘Good that I made more that one. Kid can really put the food away.’

As if reading her thoughts, Curry commented, “They were arguing. I was being good so I rewarded myself.”

Heyes looked astonished. “What’re you talking about?! You helped me!”

Curry looked up with a bit of betrayal and a lot of annoyance in his blue eyes. “No I didn’t!” He wasn’t about to admit that he did.

“What?! You helped me find the Indian type paint they put on their war horses! You even helped me paint them!”

“Shut up, Heyes! I did not!”

“Oh yeah?! Look at your hands! Guess you didn’t wash them real good!”

At that, everyone looked down at Curry’s hands, the back of one having evidence of white paint on it.

“Thanks for rattin’ me out! Some partner you are!”

A self satisfied grin appeared on Heyes’ face. “I’m not going down alone.”

“You jerk! Just like when we were little!”

All Kid got in reply was a bigger grin. Then said jerk reached into his pocket. “Here. I got some candy sticks for everybody.” They were laid on the table beside the fresh pie.

Kid’s eyebrows went up. “You did? Thanks.” He grinned himself. “I got us some chocolate and bought you a book by that weird guy Edgar Allen Poe. Thought you could read us some of his stories tonight.”

The sheriff and his sister smiled at the two thoughtful ex-outlaws. “Sometimes, they act civilized,” Lom whispered to Holly who quietly giggled.

Heyes took a piece of chocolate and a piece of pie. “Thanks, Kid! Sounds like a plan.”

» Clutch