Beyond Beyond A Shadow Of A Doubt

Beyond Beyond A Shadow of a Doubt

Kid Curry raised his face from the ground he was lying face down in, and opened his eyes. Dirt fell from his eyelashes blinding his vision so he shook his head, which turned out to be a mistake. It simply isn’t a good idea to shake your head if it’s been hit recently. He groaned, pulled himself up onto his knees and then rubbed the back of his head which had a substantial lump at the base of his skull. Great, he thought. It was just his and Heyes’ luck to be in a rockslide followed by a tumble down a mountainside. He felt his legs and arms. Amazingly nothing appeared to be broken. But he sure felt like one big bruise. He brushed some of the dirt off his shirt. Heyes walked up to him. “You OK, Kid?” “Yeah, OK but sore. Nothing I can’t handle.” He looked at his partner. “You look fine though. I mean you ain’t even covered in dirt.” “Uh huh. I feel alright, but you sure look a mess.” They were sitting on a large rock together. “I don’t see the horses, Heyes.” “Me neither. They must have walked off a ways.” “That don’t make much sense. You’d think at least they’d been hurt or even killed after a fall like that.” He paused and licked his lips to wet them. “Well, iffn’ we don’t find ‘em we’re gonna have to walk and it’s a long ways to the next town. I don’t feel much like walking.” “Ah Kid, look at me. I started moving right away. All you have to do is get up and move around awhile and you won’t be so sore.” “Maybe,” said the Kid warily, unconvinced by Heyes’ reasoning. They sat beside each other for some time. The Kid ran some thoughts through his head but they were jumbled. “What’s that over there?” “What Kid?” “That blue rag over there. About the color of your shirt. There.”

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“Dunno.” Heyes shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand. “Hmph.” He got up. “You coming?” “Suppose so. Ow,” growled the Kid rubbing his back as he stood. The two men walked halfway to the blue object. At this distance they could tell that the ‘object’ was a body lying on the ground. They ran up to it. The Kid looked down at the body. It was crumpled on its stomach, badly broken with one arm twisted unnaturally beneath it. It had on a dark blue shirt and light brown pants. He couldn’t see its face but he could see it was thin with straight brown, longish hair. The Kid realized he was holding his breathe and let it out. He was shaken. If his friend wasn’t standing right beside him, he’d swear that that body was Heyes’. Heyes was staring at the body. “Heyes. Heyes.” Heyes didn’t move. He stared straight ahead. The Kid went to the body, knelt by it and turned it over. He felt sick and dizzy, lightheaded. The face had blood on it and the eyes were open, frozen in death, but the visage was unmistakable. It was Heyes. He brushed the hair off Heyes’ forehead, then sat back and put his hands on his knees. He swallowed. He forced himself to turn his head, and looked at the man standing beside him. Heyes looked back at him. “Ah…” “Heyes this is you. You’re dead.” “Kid, I, well I don’t feel dead.” Heyes voice became quite high. “How can that be me?” He and the Kid looked at each other helplessly. “Well, maybe that explains why you ain’t covered in dirt and why you ain’t hurt.” “What!?” “Well, look at it this way Heyes. If this is you and you’re you then you, this you, is dead, and you’re, well you’re some kind of spirit or something.” “Kid, if I’m some kind of a spirit or something how come I’m still here? And anyway I don’t feel dead.” “Maybe you don’t feel dead, but how do you explain this? Are you saying this isn’t you?”

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“No I ain’t saying that. That’s me, Kid.” He stopped and held out his hands. “But what happens now?” “Well, don’t ask me, you’re the one who’s dead.” The Kid stopped and tried to think it through. “Don’t you feel any different?” Heyes shook his head. They both looked around. “You’d think someone would come around with directions or something on what I’m supposed to do. This isn’t very well managed, is it?” Heyes walked angrily back towards the rock. The Kid got up slowly in a pained manner and followed. They sat down on the rock again. Heyes was muttering to himself. “What, Heyes?” “I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on, and what I’m supposed to do.” “Heyes, maybe they’re busy and can’t come to get you yet.” Heyes looked at the Kid in disbelief. “No really, Heyes,” Kid continued, “think about it. I mean people die all the time and maybe a lot of people just died, and maybe they just can’t get to you yet.” “You could be right, Kid,” Heyes responded slowly. “I suppose that could be it. It must have been something big though, after all I am Hannibal Heyes.” “Well, yeah, of course that could be it or maybe they get all the people who lived good lives first. You know Heyes, folks who didn’t rob other people.” “Thanks Kid, that’s a real kind thought from you, you being my best friend and all,” Heyes said sarcastically. “Just thought I’d mention that Heyes, after all you spent a lot of time robbing banks and trains, and gambling, and drinking and wh…” “I’ve also spent a lot of time trying to go straight, doesn’t that count for anything? And anyway, who are you to talk? Seems to me that you ain’t any better than me.” The Kid couldn’t keep a straight face any longer. The whole situation was too absurd. His shoulders shook and he almost started laughing when a voice from behind him broke in.

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“Hey you, sonny, Who you talkin’ to?” The Kid whipped around quickly, started to see an old man behind him. “What do you mean who am I talking to? I’m talking to my friend here.” The man frowned, puzzled. “You OK sonny? You look kinda beat up.” While the man talked, Heyes got up from the rock and stood between him and the Kid. “And that other fella, over there,” he pointed to the body, “he’s in real bad shape, permanent like.” The man scratched his chin. “Oh I see, sonny, he was your friend. I get it he’s the friend you are talking to. I’m real sorry, sonny.” “Kid, he can’t see me.” “You know I still talk to my missus, sort of eases the pain of the loss.” “I know that,” Kid said to Heyes. “Weel, if you know that then I ain’t telling you anything new. C’mon, sonny, I’ll help ya bury your friend.”

The old man was gone. Kid and Heyes were standing beside the grave holding their hats in their hands respectfully. “Kinda thought it would be bigger than this. I always figured my funeral would attract a crowd. Does get you all choked up though, don’t it Kid?” The Kid gave Heyes a sideways glance, and rolled his eyes. After another moment of silence, Heyes mood changed. “Heya Kid, I’ve just had a thought.” “What?” “There could be some advantages to the situation. Think about it. The old man couldn’t see me, right?” “Right.” “You’re probably the only one who can see me, maybe because we’re cousins. Think what that means in a poker game. We’ll have it made. I can check out the other players’ hands. It’ll be like taking candy from a baby.” “Heyes, I thought you didn’t cheat in poker. Aren’t you the fella who’s too good a player

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to cheat?” “Sure Kid, I am, but you aren’t. You need all the help you can get.” “You know Heyes, I do well enough on my own. Who won that big Red Dog hand when we were stuck in that cabin?” “Kid that was a one time deal. And anyway we lost all that money, do you remember that? You’re gonna need me if you want a stable income.” “I could get a job you know,” “Kid Curry, workin’ a regular job, permanently?”

They were in a dimly lit saloon. The Kid was bored. He had one the last seven hands easy, too easy. It didn’t feel good either. It felt like stealin’. That made him feel bad, guilty like. Huh, Kid Curry feeling guilty about stealing. Boy going for that amnesty had sure changed him. Heyes was busy walking behind the other players memorizing their hands. He returned to the Kid and whispered the information in Kid’s ear. “It’s not like anyone can hear you, you know Heyes,” the Kid said loudly in disgust. The other players looked at the man talking to himself. The Kid threw his cards down, pushed his chair back and got up to leave. He groaned. His head really hurt bad. He opened his eyes. Heyes was sitting beside him looking down at him sort of concerned like. “You OK, Kid? You sure had me worried. You’ve been out a long time.” The Kid struggled to sit up, and Heyes assisted him gently. “Take it easy, Kid. There you go.” “I think I’m OK, Heyes. I don’t feel like anything is broken, but my head feels like it was kicked by a mule.” “I’m not surprised, that was some fall you had. The horses are dead. For a moment there I thought yours had crushed you but you must have fallen off and rolled away from it.” The Kid looked at his partner. His face was bruised, and he moved a little stiffly. “How come you ain’t dead?”

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Heyes smiled. “Well, thanks Kid, nice of you to think of me that way. Answer is I didn’t fall down the mountainside unlike you.” The Kid stared at him. “My horse threw me when the rock slide started. I fell into a bush and got stuck. You’re the one who had all the excitement. By the way Kid, when you were out you sure moaned a lot; you seemed real angry about something before you woke up too.” “I was having a really weird dream, I guess.” He paused and looked at his friend thoughtfully. “Heyes, how good a poker player do you think I am?” “You’re not as good as me, never will be, but you can hold your own.” “Heyes, do you ever cheat at cards?” “Kid that really must have been some weird dream. Course I don’t cheat at cards, don’t have to, and anyway it takes all the fun out of it.” The two men sat in silence. Finally the Kid resumed talking. “Heyes when you die do you want a large or small funeral?” “What kind of a question is that? OK Kid, we better get started back to town. It’s a long walk and you need to see a doctor.” “I don’t need a doctor, and it’s a fair question. Something could happen to you, and I wanna know what you want me to do.” “Kid do you really think in that event I’m gonna care?” “You might. You never know. Look let’s say something happens. Do you want me to wire the fellas, or maybe Clementine or Georgette?” Heyes started to walk towards the road. “What about Big Mac?” The Kid limped after Heyes and their voices became faint as they traveled further down the road.

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