Leave

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

It's November, and time to find a new prompt. And as all the leaves are leaving us for the winter, I thought that:

Leave

might get your imaginations going. It can be any kind of leaving, and anyone can do it, but I'm sure you can come up with a great adventure for the boys, or one of them, based on the prompt.

What are you waiting for? Get writing.

Subject: Re: Leave Sun Nov 06, 2022 5:28 am

“I can't do this no more Heyes, I just can't. It feels like I'm drownin' most days lately."

They were sat huddled close to the fire in the chilled air. They had no money for a hotel room, so were forced to sleep outside, even though the weather was becoming wintry.

They'd just found out another year had been added to their 'year' of keeping out of trouble, which meant they were heading towards three.

Kid stayed staring into the fire, not looking at him as he spoke and Heyes felt a chill down his back that had nothing to with the weather. His partner had been quieter than even his usual for weeks and there had obviously been something wrong. However Heyes, pretty sure what the problem was, had been afraid to ask, aware that he wouldn't like the answer. But now with it out in the open, he knew he could no longer pretend, and had to face the reality of what was bothering his friend. Maybe if he addressed the issue head on, he might be able to find some way round it. But he wasn't sure of that at all, knowing his partner too well, so he asked almost hesitantly. “This? Us being partners? The amnesty? Whatcha mean by this?”

The Kid drew his gaze to look at Heyes, though it was obvious that he was doing so with some effort. “Amnesty, and I guess seein' as you don't seem to want to give up on it, bein' partners too.”

Heyes despite expecting exactly that reply, still felt like he'd been dumped head first into a freezing horse trough. But with the skill of long practice he only said calmly. “Don't seem real sensible, Kid. We've been at this long enough, that another twelve months should be easy.”

The Kid stood angrily, throwing his hands up as he swirled to meet Heyes' gaze. “That's just it! I don't think we're ever gonna get it! They're just stringin us along, hoping we get caught or die or somethin'.”

Heyes of course had exactly the same fears, but a streak of stubborn optimism, meant he rarely allowed himself to think them, never mind say them out loud. “So what? You'll just up and leave me? And then what? You figured out how you're gonna get money to live? You gonna rob a bank? There's a reason we agree that most times I do the thinking."

Kid glared at him. “I ain't stupid! Don't worry Heyes, I won't do nothin' that'll affect your chances. I'll just head up to Canada or better yet down to South America. Build me a life out there. I can think for myself whatever you like to believe! Though I was dumb enough to listen to ya in Porterville."

Heyes stood himself as his own anger peaked. “There ain't no call for that, Kid. We agreed to do this together, I didn't hold no gun to your head. And now you're talking about leaving me in the lurch and finding yourself some señorita to bed? That don't sound like you take this partnership real serious.”

The Kid opened his mouth to argue, then with a heavy sigh, instead slumped at the words and sat back down by the fire. After a few moments of charged silence, Heyes joined him as he looked up to meet his gaze and said quietly. “It ain't like that Heyes! I just...” He trailed off and in the gathering gloom, Heyes could see the misery in his hunched shoulders. Then he took a deep breath and said softly. “All right Heyes, twelve more months, then we talk again and if we ain't no closer, then I'm done. Ain't gonna be able to talk me out of my plan ya hear?”

Heyes swallowed, faced the fact that he had merely been given a year's reprieve and realising that if they had this conversation again, he'd be quickly saying goodbye to his partner. So, he rapidly came to the only decision that made sense for them and nodded, patting Kid's knee firmly as he did so. “In twelve months, if we ain't no closer, then I'll be coming with you. Who knows what kinda trouble you'll get into on your own?” Kid didn't rise to the bait, but his expression lightened, so after a pause Heyes added more seriously. “I think we better start learnin' us some South American.”

Kid glanced over at him, his eyes bright in the light of the fire, as he managed a small but genuine smile. “Sounds like a good deal, Heyes.”

Heyes let out a quiet huff of breath, relieved that the crisis had passed for now. But he knew in twelve months, it was highly possible nothing would have changed in their precarious situation. His partner's unhappiness had made it clear, that he had to stop pretending that he believed everything would work out as they'd hoped it would way back in Porterville. So with a sneaky glance at his friend, who was studying the dancing flames, he started to make some plans for what their future would hold, if they were to give up on amnesty, and leave their home country once and for all. However he looked at it though, that choice was far less scary than the thought of his partner leaving.

Subject: Re: Leave Sun Nov 13, 2022 3:52 pm

November 2022 Challenge

By Kattayl

“Wheat, tell me again, what the sneaky signal means.” With a befuddled look on his face, Kyle Murtry looked at his partner riding next to him.

“Nothing sneaky about it. The beauty of my plan is that it is obvious.” Wheat held his head high, proud of himself.

“Thought this were Heyes’ plan.”

“Ahrump. This part of it is mine. Heyes said to watch for cheating and, when I saw it, send you out the front door. The sign is my idea.”

“What if you’re just touchin’ your nose ‘cause it itches?”

“I’ll only touch my nose when it’s the sign.”

“But what if it does itch?”

“I’ll ignore it.”

“That’s hard to do, Wheat. And what do I do, again, when you touch your nose?”

“When you see me give you the signal, you leave.”

“Leave?”

“Yeah, you fold your cards, cash out your chips, and leave out the front door.”

“'Cause you’re gonna cheat?”

“No, I explained this to you. If I give you the sign, then the person Heyes has me watching in the game is cheating.”

“But it ain’t you or I that’s cheatin’, right? Heyes taught me to play without cheatin’. Said if I do it his way I don’t need to cheat.”

“Er…that’s right. Heyes learned not to cheat from me, Kyle.”

“And we don’t want to play in a game where there’s cheatin’. ‘Cause cheatin’ can lead to guns and guns can lead to sheriffs.”

“All we’re going to do is relax and play a fair game of poker. And I’ll watch for the cheatin’. Heyes’ plan starts when I see cheatin’ and you go out the front door.” Wheat nodded at his partner. Kyle was loyal but often missed the point.

They rode in silence until they could see the town up ahead.

“Wheat, what if you touch your nose with your bandana, like you are blowin’ it, does that count as your sneaky sign?”

“No, when I touch my nose with my finger.”

Kyle tried to remember what he was supposed to do when he got the signal. “I leave the table or leave the saloon?”

Wheat looked away to disguise his impatience. “The saloon. That’s the signal for Heyes to get Miss Jeannette to tell the sheriff and have him come to the saloon and arrest the man cheatin’.”

“Because the sheriff knows Heyes and the Kid? Another sneaky signal.”

“The signals ain’t sneaky. The sheriff don’t know the Kid and Heyes, they got other things to do. Heyes played with these men last night. Two of them are cheats. He told me which ones and I’m going watch them close. Then give you the sign.”

“The sign to leave out the front door.”

“Yes, and when the sheriff is over here, Heyes and the Kid are going into his jail and get Preacher and Hank out of there. So I got to be sure the man’s cheating to keep the sheriff here for at least four minutes. Understand?”

“No, but I understand what I needs to do. When you touch your nose, I cash out, and leave the saloon.”

“That’s all you need to do.”

ASJ*****ASJ

Hannibal Heyes was frustrated. “How? How could this happen? We’re back where we started.”

Hank passed him an open whiskey bottle. They were sitting around a campfire with the rescued members of the Devil’s Hole Gang, Preacher and Hank. Kyle was pacing in back of them.

“Sorry, Heyes. Was my fault Wheat ended up in jail.” Kyle was contrite.

“Tell me what happened, Kyle. All you needed to do was walk out of the saloon when Wheat saw one of the men cheating.” The whiskey had calmed Heyes’ anger some, but his frustration was still apparent.

Preacher took pity on Kyle. “It was a good plan, Heyes. Each step was simple and it worked. Hank and me is free.”

“But Wheat’s in jail,” Heyes said with finality.

“For cheatin’ at cards. Wheat don’t cheat.” Kyle was sure of that.

Kyle sat down around the campfire as far away from Heyes as he could. Heyes leaned forward to speak to him. “What happened, Kyle?” he demanded this time.

“Well, we was playin’ cards and Wheat he was watchin’ for them men cheatin’ and I was waitin’ for him to give me the sneaky signal.”

Heyes looked at Kyle. “The sneaky signal?

“Yeah, this.” Kyle put his finger to the side of his nose. “That means he sees someone cheatin’.”

Heyes looked at Preacher, who was stifling a laugh. “And?”

“Well, he said we wouldn’t touch his nose no matter what, even if it were itchin’. So, when he touched his nose, I thought it was the sneaky signal, so I folded my hand, cashed in my chips, and left the saloon.

“Wheat started yellin’, “It was a fly, just a fly.” I didn’t know what he meant, but a fly had landed on his nose, and he had brushed it off. It weren’t the signal. And you know the rest. The sheriff came. Wheat pointed out to him the two men who you had said were cheatin’. But he hadn’t seen them doin’ it so he couldn’t tell the sheriff how he knew. And those men, didn’t they say right back that Wheat was cheatin’ because he dropped his cards when he was a yellin’ about the fly. And they, both of them, said Wheat was the one cheatin’.

“So, you got Preacher and Hank out, but the sheriff he done locked Wheat up for cheatin’.”

Heyes sighed, took another drink from the bottle, then put his head in his hands.

All the others passed around another bottle and watched. Heyes did not move until they heard the sound of horses approaching. Hank drew his gun, but it wasn’t needed. Curry arrived with Wheat following.

“Paid his fine.” Curry took a bottle of his own out of his saddle bag. “Wheat owes me fifty dollars.”

Upset, Wheat walked over and pulled Kyle to his feet. “It was a fly, Kyle, not the signal. Just a fly.”

“Well, we didn’t talk about what if a fly landed on your nose, Wheat. You mad at me? We still partners?”

Kyle sounded so sincere and so downtrodden that Wheat just nodded. “Partners.”.

Kyle sighed in relief. “Wheat, please no more complicated sneaky signals.”

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