"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," Curry told her. "Heyes here has read some of your books. It was like talking to a wall when he got to readin'."
Heyes blushed slightly. "Not quite, ma'am. But I did enjoy your books." He paused. "Oh, have a seat."
Michelle sat in a chair opposite the two. "I thought we'd just talk a bit. I want a feel for who the two of you are and what it was like for you those years."
Heyes chuckled. "Caught between a rock and a hard place." He turned to Curry. "Wouldn't you say, Kid?"
Curry just smiled and nodded.
"Do people still call you 'Kid'?" Michelle asked him referring to Heyes having done so.
"No. Just him." He smiled coyly. "Term of endearment I s'pose."
Michelle removed a notepad and pencil from her satchel. "And what would you like me to call you?"
"Jed."
She looked to Heyes. "And what about you?"
Heyes inhaled. "You know that was one thing about traveling with an alias... I didn't have to deal with the name Hannibal. The kid here always just called me 'Heyes'..."
"How about Mr. Heyes?"
He nodded. "Okay. What do you want to know?"
"Well, for starters, how did you get the idea to seek amnesty?"
"The little old lady from Boston," the pair answered together amused.
Curry continued. "We were badly bungling a train robbery..."
"Not THAT badly," Heyes said dejected.
"...BADLY," Curry repeated. "Well, there was this little lady from Boston, gave me a hand bill..."
"Lom thought we were out of our minds," Heyes added. "Lom was a friend of ours who had changed sides of the law."
"To the good side," Curry put in. "And there's some truth to it. We must have been out of our minds."
"Yeah, but there we were asking Lom to go to the governor on our behalf."
Michelle was making notes. "And the deal was for you two to stay out of trouble to prove that you could?"
Heyes' eyes lit. "That's the deal. Wasn't much of one but it was all we had."
"Did you ever think of separating for the duration? Maybe you would have been less recognizable?"
They shook their heads.
"The Kid here did get on my nerves a few times," Heyes said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Like no matter how dire the situation he could only think about one thing..."
"So I was hungry," Curry cut him off.
Heyes looked to Michelle. "See."
"Well, how about you," Curry said to his partner. "All those times of great moral support. Like on that cattle drive to Tenstrike and I got in that fight with the other hand. Not one word of encouragement from you. Or when you told that reverend in West Bend that I was stupid... yeah."
"And just whose brilliant idea was it for me to ride ahead into Junction City and make a deal with Curt Clitterhouse? Oh, that idea was just loaded with intelligence."
Curry leaned forward. "Well, who was the idiot who went along with it huh?"
"It all worked out fine didn't it?"
Michelle began to chuckle to herself causing the pair to stop and look at her.
"What's so funny?" Heyes asked her.
"It's just that the two of you sound very much like my cousins when they get to arguing." She explained. "No matter how bad it gets the affection they have for each other comes through."
"Affection?" Heyes asked through an embarrassed grin. He looked at Curry whose look mirrored his. "Yeah, I guess. He's put his life out there for me."
"Same here," Curry admitted. "I don't think I could trust anyone as much as I do him."
They paused to give each other a knowing glance. Michelle knew the answer about going their separate ways. It could never have been. They needed each other.
They spent the remainder of the afternoon reminiscing with the author. They'd thought of things they hadn't in what seemed ages. Little things like Heyes giving Curry some of his poker winnings before Curry departed to body guard a horse for Ralph Hanley. Or even the way Curry looked at Heyes as he played the guitar and sang Simple Gifts for the Jordan family. Michelle knew this story was more than about two outlaws attempting to go straight while still being wanted by the law. It was the relationship between two cousins who also happened to be the very best of friends. Two men who had to rely on each other in the best and worst of times, yet under a relatively unique circumstance. The title of this book would come from their own words- Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
THE END