Chapter 4 Soundtrack

Although sung by a woman about a man,  it's intended to be from Heyes' point of view.   Hope you like this, because I think Adele's voice is amazing.  

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

  If one picture could describe my experience of writing "Evangeline"  this would be it.   Me with precious Peter over my shoulder.   And the result was far more than one thousand words.  It was an entire novel.  Thank you, Peter Ellstrom Deuel for being my muse.   

My fantasy .....

Chapter 3 (revised)

Life-In-Love

Not in thy body is thy life at all

But in this lady’s lips and hands and eyes;

Through these she yields the life that vivifies

What else were sorrow’s servant and death’s thrall.

Look on thyself without her, and recall

The waste remembrance and forlorn surmise

That lived but in a dead-drawn breath of sighs

O’er vanished hours and hours eventual.

Even so much life hath the poor tress of hair

Which, stored apart, is all love hath to show

For heart-beats and for fire-heats long ago;

Even so much life endures unknown, even where,

‘Mid change the changeless night environeth,

Lies all that golden hair undimmed in death.

                             ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The streets of Cheyenne, Wyoming had changed a lot since the last time Heyes and Curry had ridden in them.    Cheyenne had been one of their favorite towns to frequent when they had first started out in the business.  Heyes remembered having a grand old time at the Big Horn saloon after robbing the bank near Fort Collins in Colorado.   He and Kid and the rest of the Devil's Hole gang had ridden in to Cheyenne like they had owned the place.   And with the young  cocky attitude they displayed, no one had reason to doubt that they did.   But that had been before they had solidified their reputations and had earned the ten thousand dollar price tags on their heads.   After they had been arrested and lodged in the Cheyenne jail a few times,  they started to avoid the city.   And when their wanted status was upgraded to dead or alive,  they had tried to avoid crossing through the territory of Wyoming altogether whenever possible.  But now they didn't have to worry about being recognized or arrested.  They could ride into town, walk into the saloon and order a beer like any other man.   Like a pair of Texas rangers.

 The boys had stayed on the ridge overlooking Cheyenne until dusk.   They wanted to wait until the streets were fairly empty before riding in,  just in case their reception was chilly, as it had been in Laramie.   Heyes had wanted to wait until the sun was completely gone, but Kid had grown sick of eating the apples they had taken from the apple grove yesterday.   He had complained and belly ached about needing some real food until Heyes couldn't stand it any longer and they started their descent down the hillside towards town.   Their first stop was the stately Dyer Hotel.    They figured they may as well start with the fanciest place in town.   If they didn't get turned away,  then they would spend the night in luxury.   To their surprise they were welcomed with open arms.    A bellman even carried their saddlebags upstairs for them.  The hotel dining room was just as hospitable.   After indulging on steak and potatoes and plum tarts for dessert,  Heyes and the Kid didn't know it they had the strength to climb the stairs to their room.    And since Heyes was anxious to find a copy of today's paper, the boys decided to take a stroll through town to see how it had changed and hopefully find a discarded newspaper lying on a bench.   They walked along the boardwalk, recalling places that had been there before and discovering places that were new.  They soon found themselves standing outside the swinging doors of a familiar place.   

The Long Horn Saloon still stood where it always had.  Several newer, fancier saloons has sprung up around town, but the boys doubted if they had the same atmosphere that their old haunt had.    The same sign still hung across the top of the building's front, only the paint was faded and weathered.    

"Wonder if old Gus is still keeping the bar?"  Kid asked as they stood on the street in front of the saloon looking up at the weather beaten sign.      

"Only one way to find out,"   Heyes said as he went in with confidence.   They stood and took in the sights and sounds of the old familiar place.   Heyes closed his eyes for a moment enjoying the sound of glassing tinkling, cards shuffling,   poker chips chinking and a player piano twanging softly in the background.     He inhaled the scent of beer and whiskey,  cigars and sweat.   Yep,  nothing here had changed.   

 The familiar, yet older face of Gus Nelson frowned in confusion at the two smiling men who approached his bar with such confidence,  not because he didn't recognize the two men, but because he hadn't seen their faces in years and they were supposed to be in prison.  The confused look on Gus's face slowly transformed into a  smile as the two former outlaws sauntered casually up to his bar.

"I ain't read about no prison breaks in the papers.   So either you gents is lost or things in your lives have changed drastically."

 "Hello, Gus.   We're not lost and we didn't bust out.   If you can believe this, we got pardoned,"  Heyes said with a broad smile.   "We just got released yesterday."

The older man's face lit up at the news.  He reached across the bar to slap both boys on the shoulder.   "That calls for a celebration.  Anything you want, on the house."    

He poured Kid a beer and Heyes a shot of whiskey.   "Pardoned.  Well, I'll be hanged.  How long has it been anyway?  Six years?   Kid you were still just a snot nosed,"  he struggled to find a better word, but failed, "......kid, the last time I saw you two.   And you,"  he looked into Heyes brown eyes,  "you were just starting to lead the gang.   I must say, you boys did me proud.   I kept up with you boys and everytime you pulled a job it would be in the papers and each job got a little bigger.   When I read about you blowing that safe in Denver,  the one that everybody said couldn't be blown,  I was so proud I framed the newspaper and hung it on the wall.  It's still there."   He pointed to the wall behind the far left end of the bar.  "We still talk about it to this day.  You boys know that I didn't take no offense when you stopped coming through here once you made the title of most wanted men in the west." 

"Wasn't no offfense meant, Gus,"  Kid said as he swigged his beer.   "We had to steer clear of these parts once Sheriff Lawler had it in for us.  Is he still sheriff by the way?" 

"Nope.   He retired and his son took over.   But don't worry.  I don't think he'll recognize the two of you." 

"Well, even if he does,"   Heyes patted his breast pocket, "I've got official papers signed by the governor himself declaring us free men." 

"That's wonderful, boys,  just wonderful.  Wonder why it wasn't in the papers about you two being pardoned?" 

The boys swapped glances.  "We're not too sure about that ourselves.  But the warden assured us that it's all on the up and up.   And speaking of newspapers,  is there a copy of today's issue lying around anywhere?" 

Gus handed Heyes  the latest issue of The Cheyenne Daily Sun from behind the bar.  "Hey, Gus,"  Kid said with a laugh, "remember that time Heyes pulled the old five pat hands trick on that city slicker from New York."    

Gus let out a hearty laugh.  "Yep, some of the old timers still talk about it to this day, too.  That slicker never did figure out that he'd been had.   But he sure did know that he was a hundred dollars poorer."   

"I tell ya, Gus, it sure is nice to see some friendly faces.   We didn't get a very warm reception from the folks in Laramie.   Seems they don't take too kindly to newly released prisoners hanging around their town for long.   We were hoping that the folks in Cheyenne would be a little friendlier to a man trying to get started again,"   Kid said over his mug of beer. 

"How are folks going to know you just got out of prison?" 

The boys exchanged wary looks before they both removed their hats and revealed their shaved heads.   

"Oh, I see.  Boys, I don't think you have anything to worry about.   Folks around here still talk about the old days when you two would ride through here after a big job.   The women wanted you and the men wanted to be you.   You've both gained legendary almost mythical status around here.  Once word gets out that you two are back in town and you're free men, your money won't be any good around here." 

The boys grins turned into full blow smiles.    

Before long the whole saloon knew that Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry were in town,  and that they were free men.   After reminiscing for another hour, the boys found themselves winning big at poker for the next three.  They weren't sure if they had really won because of their skill or if the other players had let them win when they found out they were Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes.  The boys didn't care either way.  It just felt good to be alive and free.   It was two a.m. when they finally crawled into their hotel room beds.   Only Heyes didn't sleep.  Instead he spent an hour sitting in bed combing through every word of the newspaper by the dim  lamplight.  But nothing seemed to be of any significance  where he and Kid were concerned.   He didn't even know what he was supposed to be looking for.   But he had a feeling he was going to know it when he saw it.  And he wasn't going to like it.    

He threw the paper on the floor, feeling a little disgusted.   He was happy to be free and he was so grateful that Livvy had them financially secure for the moment.  But this was certainly not the way he had thought he would be spending his nights when he was released.   When he was standing outside the gates of the Wyoming Territorial Prison waiting for Kid to be released, he had daydreamed of what his first day of freedom would be like.    He thought he would find Evie waiting for him outside the gates,  but when she wasn't there he thought for sure he would find her in Laramie.   He thought she would be waiting with a hotel room and a big celebration supper.   He even foolishly thought he would get to hold her in his arms and kiss her and perhaps even make love to her.   But instead he a had spent his first night as a free man sleeping on the hard ground outside of Cheyenne.   And now he was spending a restless second night alone,  listening to Kid snore.   He thought he had missed her in prison.   But being on the outside and not knowing where she was made him miss her even more.  His heart ached with the need to see her and touch her.   He wanted to inhale her scent and taste her honeyed kisses.  He just wanted her.   And he wanted answers.   What had she done to gain his freedom?   What price had she paid?  Starting tomorrow, he was going to do some digging.   He was going to ask around and see if anyone had seen anyone matching Evie and Livvy's descriptions.  They were here in Cheyenne somewhere.  He could just feel it.     

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

She awoke to a beautiful sunshine filled room.  The French doors leading to the balcony were open letting in the sunlight and the fresh spring air.  She raised her groggy head to look out upon the clear blue skies and heard the singing of birds nesting in the trees.   What a beautiful day to start her miserable existence she would now call her life.   

Waking up the morning  after her wedding night  should have found her feeling elated and bubbly. Instead she felt deflated and flat.   Martha had roused her far too early.  She had not fallen asleep until late and now she just wanted to keep sleeping.    

Evie groaned and threw her arm across her eyes to shield them from the brutal light.   "Remind me again, Martha, why I should even get out of this bed today." 

"Because you've signed your soul away to that sorry excuse for a man who will be expecting you to be at the festivities tonight playing the part of the blissful newlywed.   And you know what will happen if you welch on your end of that bargain." 

Evie sighed a heavy sigh, threw back the cover and sat on the edge of the huge four poster bed.  She didn't need anyone to actually remind her of why.   The reality of her life and her situation was with her constantly.   She woke with it, ate every meal with it, laid down with it at night and slept with it.   

"Which one do you choose, my lovely,"    Martha asked, holding up two gowns for her to choose from.   She didn't answer.   Martha laid the two gowns on the bed beside her.   "Perhaps you would like your aunt's opinion.   But if you want it you must be gettin' it soon, for she will be leaving for home shortly." 

Evie's head snapped up.  "What?   Why is she leaving?   She can't leave me here!  Not now!"  

"You forget, my love, that she was expected back home today.   She must return home at least for a while and take care of much needed business and I'm sure Libby is growing anxious for her sister.   And I think she said something about getting her lawyers to look at that odious contract you signed."   

Evie hung her head.   She didn't want Livvy to leave.   But if she had to go, she wanted  to go as well.  No,  what she really wanted was to find her beloved ex-outlaw and take him back home with her.  But she knew what would happen if she did.  He would be hunted again.  And this time for a crime he didn't commit.  The governor had made it clear that if she didn't live up to her end of the deal, then the boys would be wanted for crimes far worse that robbery.   "Be safe, my love.   And know that everything I've done,  I've done for you,"  she said aloud before placing another kiss on the silver ring she wore around her neck.   It would never come off.  Until her dying day she would wear it.  If she could not place it on her finger then she would wear it around her neck.   Only when she was cold and dead would it be removed.   

"I'm partial to the blue one, you know."   Livvy's voice brought a brief smile to her face.   She turned to find her petite blonde aunt admiring the deep blue silk gown that lay across Evie's bed. 

"I'll wear the blue one then.  Not that it matters.   I don't care how I look or what I wear or what I say or how I act.   I don't want to even go downstairs.   He's expecting dozens of people for a garden party.  He expects me to dance and play the piano and play yard games.  And all while I'm smiling and acting so very in love with his son.   Thank goodness they are all strangers who don't know me well.  I'm afraid anyone who knows me well would see right through me." 

"I'm afraid he will expect you to be on your most convincing behavior.   A woman who was truly in love with her husband would want to look her best for company.   How unfortunate that there is no capital building in Cheyenne.  All of the governor's offices are here in the mansion and all of his soiree's are here as well.   I'm afraid there's no avoiding it, dear.  You have to play the part.  Otherwise I fear for two former outlaws." 

"I know.   I'll be the devoted little wife when I'm in public, but can't I be discontented and grumpy in the privacy of my own room?" 

Livvy held her arms open and Evie stepped into the embrace of her most trusted friend and ally.    "Of course you can be grumpy all you want with Martha and me, but try to behave yourself around others.   You know we can't afford to mess this up.   If things go wrong,  we could loose everything." 

"I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders." 

"In a way it is.  Our world, anyway.   But you are a Sanders woman.   You have been through tougher times than this and done far braver things.   I have no doubt that you can do this as well.  We Sanders women are tough as nails." 

Evie smiled, feeling a little more light hearted.   "When do you leave?" 

"On the noon train.   I've already packed and one of the governor's carriages will take me to the depot.   Martha and James will stay here with you.   I would never leave you here alone.    And I want you to know that I will come back as soon as I can.  And if something horrible should happen I want you to send me a telegraph immediately and I can be here in two days." 

"Can't you stay just a little longer?   How am I going to do this by myself?  How will I survive without you?" 

Livvy touched a tender hand to her niece's beautiful face.  She had to remind herself sometimes that Evie was only twenty years old.  And although she was a woman who had been through more than most people endured in a lifetime,  there was still a young girl somewhere inside of her that needed to draw strength from someone else.  "You will survive because you have to.   Look at all you've been through in the past year and a half.   You survived when your mother, your father and your brother were all killed at the hands of a ruthless murderer.   You survived when he kidnapped you and tried to take you to Mexico and sell you into prostitution.  You traveled for hundreds of miles to save  the man you love from that evil Sherman McMaster.  You survived when he left you heartbroken for what he thought was your best interest.  And just when you get him back,  he gets arrested and sent to prison for twenty years.  And there have been times, when I've relied on you to get me through when I didn't have the strength of my own.    Compared to all of that, this should be a walk through the park.   Most women would have crumbled into a sobbing heap of hysteria.  But not you.   You have a strength that most women will never possess.  A strength that can even make those people tonight believe that you spent a glorious night in the arms of your new husband." 

Evie groaned in disgust.  "Please don't say things like that.  It puts images in my head that I do not want there." 

"Sorry, dear, but you have to make the public believe that you are in love with that young man.  No matter how you really feel.  That is part of the bargain.  Don't ever forget why you are doing this." 

"I won't forget,"  she said soberly, looking again to the west.    

"I certainly wouldn't leave at all if I didn't have to get back to Nashville.    This whole thing just fell into our laps all of a sudden and I hadn't made arrangements to be away for this long.   I should have been home yesterday." 

"I know.   I'm sorry.  But I couldn't pass up this opportunity to get them out of that wretched place.   No matter what the cost." 

"Don't be sorry.   You were right.  I would have done the same thing had I been in your shoes." 

"I know you would have.   We Sanders women will do just about anything for the men we love.  And you do love him, don't you?" 

Livvy's face became soft and delicate as she thought about the blond haired, blue eyed ex-outlaw she missed so much.   She had slept the most peaceful and sound sleep she had slept in over a year last night, knowing that he was no longer behind those prison walls.  "So what if I do?     He's too young for me.  And besides,  I'm sure he doesn't feel the same way about me.    I'm too stubborn and bossy and opinionated for any man to love me." 

"So you've given it some thought have you?   Another sign that you are definitely in love." 

"I think about many things, Evangeline, and some of them have nothing to do with Jedediah Curry." 

"What do you think he's going to do when he finds out?" 

"Who?   Hannibal or Jed?" 

"Both.   I know they are going to be hurt and then mad.  But how do you think they will handle it?" 

"All I can say is it's a good thing you left their guns back in Nashville.    And I hope that neither of them has one in his possession when they find out." 

"That's what I'm afraid of too.   When he finds out, and you know he will eventually,  I'm afraid he will come to Cheyenne looking for me.   And if I see him,  Livvy,  I don't know if I can keep my mouth shut.   I know I'm going to want to run into his arms and tell him everything and then we will all be in hot water once again." 

"Listen to me.    They are both miles from here.   They have plenty of money to see them through until they start earning money of their own.   And I can always have more money wired to them at the Gibbons' ranch.   They are not stupid.   We've told them that their freedom depends on having no contact with us,  so I don't think they will come here.  Besides,  how would they get in here with all the security measures.    And that man who always watches and never says anything,"    Livvy shivered as she thought about the watchman,  "he's not about to let anyone who looks suspicious get near you.   But just in case the worst case scenario plays out and Hannibal did show up here,   you have to be strong and resist the temptation to tell him anything.    Please,  I'm begging you don't tell him."   

"Do you promise me that we will find a way out of this mess and we can tell them both the truth?" 

 Livvy was silent for a few moments.  "Yes, I promise that if we aren't out of this mess in a few months,  we will just tell them the truth and let the chips fall where they may.    Why, didn't we all just stay together that day?   Instead of insisting that the two of you wait to be married I should have insisted that Hannibal and Jed come to Nashville with us.  They could easily  have sent that sheriff in Porterville a telegraph.   But like always,  I had to have my way and I just had to get back home."    Evie could see the regret in her aunt's eyes.  "But there's no sense dwelling on what cannot be changed."   She opened her mouth as though she wanted to say more, but quickly closed it again.  "I'll go see about breakfast,"  she said in an almost inaudible voice.     

Livvy left her alone on the balcony and went in search of the servants to tell them to bring breakfast.   Evie knew it made Livvy uncomfortable to talk about the day they had left Rock Springs.  When Livvy and Kid had arrived on the train that cold winter day in January of 1881, Evie and Heyes had been waiting for them at the hotel.  They had inquired about a minister and found that the only minister in town also pastored two other churches in neighboring communities and he wouldn't be back for two weeks.  And there was no justice of the peace at the moment, because the man who had held that position had died of pneumonia just days before.   That's when Livvy had insisted that they wait long enough for her to plan a big wedding with music, a cake and a fancy gown for Evie.   They reluctantly said yes to waiting.  It was the biggest regret of her life.    And she knew that Livvy carried a tremendous amount of guilt about the whole thing.  She felt it was her fault for insisting that they wait.  That's why she rarely brought up the subject.  It was as painful for her to think about as it was for Evie.  

 But Evie did not blame her aunt for what had happened.  Fate has stepped in once again and completely altered her world.  And Livvy had meant well.  Since the boys' incarceration, she had come to rely heavily on her aunt and she had grown closer to her than she had ever imagined.  She felt closer to her than she had to her own mother.   Perhaps because Livvy had been with her through the most trying and difficult times in her life.   She didn't want Livvy to leave.  Even though Martha would still be here, she still felt like Daniel being left in the lion's den.    

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Heyes, I mean it.   You ask me if I'm awake one more time,  I'm gonna brain ya!"   Kid yelled before closing his eyes once again, trying to regain sleep. 

"But, Kid, I don't want you to miss breakfast.  It's getting late.   And you know how cranky you get when you miss breakfast.  There's a new place I think you'll like.   I can see it from the window.  It's just down the street." 

One blue eye popped open.  "What kind of place?" 

"It's a restaurant.  It's called Mary Lou's Place and there were lots of people there so it must be good.   Mary Lou must be one heck of a cook." 

The blue eye closed.   Heyes knew Kid was putting sleep on one scale and food on the other.  

"And the sign on the window said it was home of the best pie in the west." 

Two blue eyes popped open.  "Did you say pie?" 

"Yep, pie." 

"What kind of pie?" 

"I don't know.  We'll have to go over and find out." 

Kid threw the covers off and sat on the edge of the bed.   "I'm only getting up because of the pie.  I hope you know that." 

Heyes just smiled as he watched his partner wash and dress.  He knew the pie would tip the scales in his favor.   He hated to wake Kid up when it wasn't really necessary.  He could have easily gone out to the street by himself to see if today's paper was off the press yet.  And he could easily have skipped breakfast himself and waited to have lunch with Kid.   But he had this ominous feeling that he couldn't shake.  Truth be told,  he simply didn't want to be alone when he read the paper.   He had a feeling it was going to tell him something he wasn't going to like.   

Mary Lou herself met them at as they entered the front door of the place with her name on it.  They both took a deep breath as they removed their hats as they stood in the doorway, while they watched the robust fifty year old woman walk determinedly toward them.  They braced themselves for an invitation to leave.     

"Aw, no,"   Kid mumbled under his breath, as the older lady stood scowling at them with her hands on her hips,  "here we go again." 

"I've just got one question.   What took you boys so long?"   the robust, mature blonde greeted them.   "I was hoping you two would be coming to see me." 

The boys looked at each other, confused, yet pleasantly surprised.   "Begging your pardon, ma'am, but do we know you?"   Heyes asked.    

"No, but I sure do know who you are.   Why everybody in town is just hoping to get a look at the notorious Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry,  now pardoned, free men." 

"Boy, word sure travels fast. So you don't mind if we sit here in your establishment and eat?"   Kid asked, surprised.   

"Mind?   Why, my business will probably triple once everybody hears you've been in here.  And if you like the food,  I sure would appreciate it if you recommended the place to others,"  she shamelessly solicited.    She showed them to a nearby table and told them what she had to offer and the boys ordered their food.   

"Say, ma'am,"  asked Kid, "why didn't you throw us out like the folks in Laramie did?" 

"I used to live in Laramie.  Tried to have a business there too.  Folks in Laramie don't take kindly to newly released prisoners.  They figure they're all no good and going to reek havoc in their town.  So folks there don't encourage former inmates to linger very long.   But you won't find that here in this town, boys,"  she said with a wink.  "Folks here are hoping you'll put Cheyenne on the map.  The home of  former outlaws Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes.  And don't even think about paying today.   Your first meal here at Lou's is on the house." 

"Well, Heyes, I think we found ourselves a home."  Kid said with blue eyes sparkling as he dug into his third piece of blackberry pie an hour later. 

"Don't get too comfortable just yet, Kid.   Not until we find what we're supposed to be looking for in the papers." 

"Yeah, you're right.   I need to buy myself a gun too, before I can get comfortable.   That's the first thing I'm going to do when we leave here.  And you need one too, Heyes.  

"The first thing we're going to do is get a paper.   I just hope we can find something in there today that will give us some clues.  I hope Martha wasn't sending us on a wild goose chase.  I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to be looking for news about Evie or about the governor?" 

"You two must  be talking about the wedding,"   Lou said as she approached the table to clear the dishes. 

"Wedding?  What wedding?"  Kid asked.  

"Didn't I hear you mention the governor?"  she asked. 

 "Did the governor get married?"  Heyes wondered out loud,  his curiosity piqued at the mention of the governor. 

"No.   His son.   Before you two showed up here yesterday,  it was the talk of the town.  His son was thought to be the unmarriable type, if you know what I mean.  But then that pretty little widow came into town to play the piano over in the ballroom of the Dyer hotel.   I reckon he must have fell head over heels.  They was married a week later.” 

The boys exchanged worried glances.  “When exactly did this wedding take place?”   Heyes asked. 

“Just yesterday.    There should be a big write up in today’s paper.” 

Heyes grew silent.  He had a far off look in his eyes that Kid did not like.   When Heyes began to rise from the table,  Kid stood quickly and pushed his partner back down into his chair.  “You’re staying right here.   I’ll get the paper.”   Kid wanted to see the newspaper before he let Heyes see it.  If it said what he thought it was going to say,  he might not let him see it at all.   

“You alright, sweetie.   You look pale.  Did you eat too much?”    Lou asked Heyes, who sat staring at the now empty table top. 

“No.  I’m fine,”  he answered without looking up.  But he wasn’t fine.   That ominous feeling had just turned into downright fear.   

Kid stood in stunned silence as he read the headline of today’s newspaper:   “GOVERNOR’S SON WEDS WIDOWED PIANIST.”   At first he thought perhaps it was  a coincidence.   But as he read the first few paragraphs of the story, he knew there was only one explanation.   It told how Clayton Ramsey III had met the recently widowed Mrs. Joshua Smith, whom hailed from Nashville and was studying music at the Boston conservatory.  He dreaded walking back in there and telling Heyes.    He didn’t want his friend to have to read about the woman he loved marrying another man. 

Kid decided to tell him himself rather than let him read it.   He left the newspaper on sidewalk.   He went back in empty handed and sat down across from his somber partner. 

"Where is it?"  Heyes asked as he raised his brown eyes to connect with the blue ones across from him,   the eyes of the person who knew him better than anyone.  The look on Kid's face told him that his ominous feeling had been right.  There had been something bad in the paper that Kid didn't want him to see.   "What did it say?" 

"I want you to keep in mind that it may not be true.  It could all be just a coincidence." 

"What might not be true?" 

Kid drew in a deep breath, then exhaled it slowly, preparing himself to tell his best friend and life long partner the news he did not want to tell and that he knew Heyes did not want to hear.  "The paper said the governor's son married a widowed piano player from Nashville,"   Kid paused before he continued.   "Her name was Mrs. Joshua Smith." 

Heyes was up and out of his chair so fast the chair turned over and he almost ran out the door of Mary Lou's.   He scanned the street until he saw the paper that Kid had thrown onto the wooden boardwalk.  

He scooped it up and read the headlines.   That could be a coincidence.   He read about the bride being from Nashville and studying music in Boston.    That too could be a coincidence.  He read that the recently widowed Mrs. Joshua Smith had given a concert recently in Cheyenne where the two had met.  Again, that could be a coincidence.  But then he read the last paragraph, the one that Kid had not read.   Mrs.  Ramsey had been traveling with her aunt, a wealthy bank and newspaper owner of the renowned Nashville Vanderbilts.  That was no coincidence. 

"You didn't read the last part, did you?" 

"No.  Why?" 

Heyes silently handed the paper to Kid.   Kid read the last paragraph which solidified the reality of the situation.   Evie had married the governor's son yesterday.     

"I'm sorry, Heyes.   I don't know what else to say." 

Every emotion that a human being could possibly feel  seemed to boil to the surface inside of Heyes in that moment.   He was confused.  He was hurt.  He was sad.  And he was angry.  He didn't know which one to feel the most or which one to feel first.    He wanted to cry.   Right here on the street in downtown Cheyenne, he wanted to cry.   He also wanted to slam his fist into something.   Preferably Clayton Ramsey the third.  He also wanted to ask, "why?"     But he knew why.   She had done it to gain his freedom.   She would never have married another man after knowing him only one week, unless she was being forced or there was an ulterior motive. 

The longer he stood there thinking about it,   the more a single emotion began to take over.   And it didn't matter if she had been forced or if she had done it willingly to set him free,  that emotion still was becoming the only one he was feeling.   It bubbled higher than the other emotions util it became a boiling mass inside of his chest.    He wasn't just angry.   He was infuriated.    

With his jaw firmly set, his nostrils flared and his dark eyes shooting daggers  he started marching down the street. 

Kid followed after his brisk walking friend.  "Heyes, where you going?" 

"You wanted to buy a gun, didn't you?    Well, I want to buy me a gun too." 

Kid ran to get in front of Heyes and stopped him in his tracks.   “You’re not buying a gun, Heyes,”  Kid said firmly as he shook his head.   

“You said so yourself, Kid,  we both need guns.   It ain’t safe for men like us to be walking around unprotected. "   

“No, it ain’t safe for the governor’s son to be walking around if you have a gun right now.” Kid could see the fury behind his partner’s brown eyes.   If he didn’t gain control of the situation right now,  Heyes would wind up at the end of a hangman’s noose for murdering Clayton Ramsey III.    “I know you’re hurting and you’re so mad right now you can’t see straight.   But I’m not letting you buy a gun so you can go and kill the man who married Evie.   I’ll buy a gun and you will let me worry about protecting us.   Then you are going to calm down and do what you do best.   You’re gonna think it out and come up with a plan and we’re going to go to that mansion and find out just what the heck is going on.” 

Heyes knew the Kid was right.  Killing the man would only get him hanged.   She had given him the gift of freedom at the expense of her own.   He wouldn't do anything to jeopardize such a costly gift.  And how did he know that she wasn’t being coerced or forced.  If that was the case she needed help.   He felt the boiling rage back down into a slow simmering anger.   He  took a deep breath and  exhaled it in a huff.   “Alright, Kid.   Have it your way.   But I am going to that mansion and I am going to see her, if it’s the last thing I ever do.   I’m not letting this go without finding out what she’s done or if she's in trouble." 

“Come on, Heyes, let’s go get a drink.  You need one.”    Kid put his arm around Heyes’ shoulder and turned to lead him towards the Long Horn.   Gus didn't even have to ask, he just poured two whiskeys the moment he saw the expressions on the faces of the two former outlaws.   

"Bad morning, gents?"   Gus asked as Kid sipped his whiskey, while Heyes downed his in one swallow,  and set the glass on the counter a little more firmly than was necessary.   Gus filled the glass again.   

"He just got some bad news, Gus." 

"Oh.  Sorry to hear that.  Anything I can do to help?" 

"Not unless you've got a key to the front door of the governor's mansion,"   Heyes said sarcastically.    Gus just shrugged and went back stacking the shelf beneath the bar with glasses.   

"What are you thinking, Heyes?"   Kid asked. 

"I'm thinking I want to go to the governor's mansion,  walk in there with a gun,  find Evie,  carry her out over my shoulder and dare anybody to do anything about it.   That's what I'm thinking." 

"You know we can't do that.   We would end up right back behind bars." 

"We've got to find a way in that mansion.   There's got to be some way to get in that place without breaking the law." 

Gus straightened up from his work beneath the counter.  "Am I hearing you boys right?  You got woman troubles and  that woman is staying with the governor?"    

The boys nodded. 

"That is too bad.  That place is surrounded by high brick walls and an iron gate with guards.   Too bad you don't have invites to that big party he's throwing this evening.  He's invited some of the territory's most influential people, so I hear.  I reckon he wants to make sure he gets all their votes this next election."  

Kid could see the dejected look on Heyes' face.   "Don't worry, Heyes, you'll think of something." 

They finished their drinks and headed back to the hotel.   As they walked along the boardwalk , two women approached.  The young women passed by, their arms loaded with packages and parcels.  Their faces were completely hidden behind the mountain of boxes.  Before the boys could offer their assistance, one of the stacks toppled onto the ground.   Ever the gentlemen, the boys rushed to the aid of the young women.    

"Let me help you, ma'am,"  Kid said as he stooped down to help the woman who was bent over the packages, attempting to gather them back into her arms.

 "Why, thank you, sir,"   she said as she raised her head to take in the sight of the handsome man in the cowboy hat who had offered his assistance.    She stared in awe at this beautiful blue eyes and his trim physique. 

Kid also stared in awe.   The young woman he was looking at,  who was staring back at him like a starving man looks at a buffet,  was not exactly what he would have called pretty.   In fact she was down right ugly.  Her eyes disappeared and became tiny slits in her chubby face when she smiled, and she had more hair on her face than Kid did after not shaving for two days.  The fine dark hair grew in abundance giving her the appearance of having a goatee.   Her coal black hair hung from under her bonnet in natural, tight, kinky coils.  Kid realized he was staring so he quickly smiled down into the short round lady's pudgy face before he turned to see the look on Heyes' face.  His partner too was rudely staring.   "Don't just stand there.   Help the lady,  Joshua,"   Kid said with a forced smile. 

 Heyes, not wanting to be rude,   had to force himself not to stare at the unfortunate looking girl.   He turned his attention to the second of the two ladies.   "May I help you with your burden, ma'am?"  he asked in his deep, melodic voice.   As he lifted the top half of the stack of packages his only thought was,  "She can't look as bad as the other one."     He was wrong.   

She was the exact opposite of her companion.   She was tall and extremely thin.   Heyes had to look up to meet her eyes which were the color of green pond water.  Her dull colored hair hung in thin wisps to her shoulders.  When she smiled down at the adorable dimpled face of the man in front of her,  she revealed crooked, bucked teeth.   Her smile forced her large, hooked nose to crinckle.   Again, not wanting to be rude,  he had to force himself to stop staring.   "Where are you ladies headed?"   he asked.  

"To our suite at the Dyer Hotel,"   the tall one said.   

"We  had to do a little shopping to get ready for tonight,"   the short one said as they headed towards the hotel.     

"Yes, we had to have new gowns and new shoes.   And while we were at it we had to have new hats  as well.  Papa said we could spend as much as we wanted." 

"We're from Riverton.   Papa is one of he wealthiest land owners in the territory." 

"But Papa doesn't want us to be spoiled old maids.   He said we should try our best to find suitable husbands before he dies.   That's why he sent us to Cheyenne.   He's hoping we'll find suitors tonight." 

"We only just arrived this morning.    We're strangers here, so we are so thankful you gentlemen came along to help us." 

The boys just followed along behind the two ladies as they chattered on about the things they had purchased, their stage ride down from Riverton and their father's money.    When they arrived in the lobby of the hotel, they placed all the packages in the floor near the clerk's desk.    Several bell boys appeared to start carrying the packages up to the ladies' room.    

"Gertrude and I are ever so grateful for your help,  aren't we, sister,"   the short one said.   

"Yes, Myrtle,  we certainly are indebted to you,"  the tall one replied. 

"It was our pleasure,"   Heyes said with a tip of his hat. 

"Good day, ladies,"  Kid said with a smile.   

The ladies stood staring at the retreating backs of the two handsome cowboys.  They couldn't hide the disappointment on their faces  as they watched them open the door to leave..  "Come on, Gertie.   Let's go to our room and get ready for the party.  I do hope we're not the only ones there without escorts." 

"Alright, Myrtie.   I hope there are some eligible bachelors at the governor's party tonight." 

The boys stopped in their tracks and pivoted on their heels.   "Excuse us, ladies,  but it was awfully rude of us not to introduce ourselves.    I'm Joshua Smith and this is Thaddeus Jones." 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

Evie stood with Martha on the top step of the columned front porch of the governor's mansion and waved goodbye to her aunt.     She hated to see her go.   She wanted to run after the carriage and beg her not to go.   She wanted to beg her aunt to purchase a home somewhere in Cheyenne and move Libby here so both her aunts would be close to her.     She took a deep breath and looked heavenward.   Dear, Lord, what have I gotten myself into?    Just help me remember why I'm doing this.

"Don't fret, lovey.   We'll see her again soon.  And in the meantime I'll be here and I won't let anything happen to you.    And James is here as well.   He's been a faithful employee to the Sanders family almost as long as I." 

"How can I do this, Martha?   How can I stand in front of all those people tonight and pretend to be in love with a man I hardly know?   And what I do know of him, I don't even like." 

"Remember that tale you told me about going into that saloon and winning all that money at the poker table pretending to be Miss Savannah from Savannah?   Well, this is the same thing.  You just pretend to be someone else for a while.  Only this time you're not playing for money.  You're playing to keep the man you love out from behind those prison walls and to protect your family's future.  And I have a feeling that if you bide your time all things will fall into place and you won't have to keep up this grand charade for long." 

"What sort of feeling?  Do you know something you're not telling me?" 

"No.  I just have an intuition that's all.   When people are driven by either  great love or by great hate, then they can make it through most anything and nothing seems to last as long as it really does."    

"I suppose,"    Evie said as she watched Livvy's carriage exit through the tall iron gates at the front of the property.   Great love for Hannibal Heyes is what had driven her to  enter into a loveless marriage with a man she hardly knew.     She turned to head back inside when she caught sight of the silent watchman,  leaning against the front of the brick house.   She just hoped it wasn't great hate that would drive her to leave this place, rendering the agreement null and void, regardless of the consequences.   

Martha watched the young woman she loved like her own retreat back inside the house.   She would keep to herself the fact that she had practically told Mr. Heyes were he could find her and to be looking in the papers so he could read the news of her marriage.  If he had done as she expected him to,   tonight was going to be quite an evening.   

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

Governor Clayton Ramsey stood on the veranda that led to the gardens on the west side of the property.   He smiled with pride at the cobblestone pathways lined with exotic plants and flowering shrubs.  Many had been shipped here from overseas.  There were roses of every known color in bloom.   There were lilac, mimosa, and magnolia trees filling the air with their sweet perfume.  Arched trellises along the stone pathway were laden with hanging vines of wisteria and clematis blooms.   He had spent untold amounts of his own money to make this garden what it was in the past four years of his term as governor.   It was his pride and joy.   He breathed deeply and savored the scents of the many different flowers.   The servants were busy decorating tables that had been brought out onto the veranda.   Tonight they would be covered with the finest cakes, pastries, cheeses and wines that money could buy.   He sighed heavily.   How boring it had become,  being wealthy.   He had thought it was all he wanted when he was a young man.   He had dreamed of becoming the most successful lawyer in Riverton where he had grown up.   And he had accomplished that.  Then he had dreamed of being not only the most successful, but also the wealthiest.   That's when fortune had smiled on him and he had met Clarissa May Barnes.    

Clarissa had been a sweet, bright and pretty young woman.  She was the daughter of a wealthy cattle rancher in Casper.   When Abraham Barnes had run into some legal problems concerning land rights and property boundaries, he had sent for the best lawyer in the territory.    Clayton had been in awe of the magnificent estate with it's enormous mansion, and sprawling acres.   He had been particularly enthralled by the gardens that Mr.  Barnes had spent years nurturing.   And he envied him his power.  He had vowed in that moment that he would have those gardens and that power.  And when he spied the young woman sitting all alone in that garden,  he knew just how to make the entire estate his.    That too he had accomplished.     It had been  easy getting Clarissa to fall in love with him.   Even easier to get her to dispise him over the years.   Having a wife who couldn't stand to look at you or be in the same room with you made it far easier to deal with the slight twinges of guilt he felt when he was lying in the arms of one of the dozens of women he had had affairs with throughout their marriage.  His biggest regret however was that they had had children.  His daughter, like her mother had been easy enough to deal with.   It was his son that was going to cost him everything.   His indescretions had become less and less discreet.  And it seemed those indiscretions were always with the offspring of a well known constituent.   And they seemed to get younger every time.   The last had been fourteen.  He could not have the public discovering what kind of person his son had turned out to be.   There were already rumors and some of those rumors included his being impeached from office.  That he simply could not have.  The wealth, the women, the luxury all bored him.   It was the power he craved now.   If all went as he planned,  he would be elected to a second term as governor and then he would announce his plan to run for president of the United States.   

His plan to be president, though,  was completely dependent now on how well the public believed and received his son's marriage.  So far the public had been eating it up.  He smiled smuggly to himself as he thought of how brilliant he was.  Soon everyone would be entranced by the romantic notion that the beautiful young widow had come into town to be swept off of her feet by the dashing young heir.  He couldn't believe the good fortune he had had once again.   It was the perfect set up.   He knew their secret,  they knew his,   he had something they wanted,  they had something he wanted.   It was a simple trade agreement really.   And it would remain simple as long as his new daughter-in-law kept her end of the deal and kept her mouth shut.  He walked down the steps of the veranda and into the garden.   He turned to look up at the open French doors of her bedroom.   As if she had been summoned she stepped out of those doors and onto the balcony above the veranda.   She was unaware that he watched her from below.   My God, she was gorgeous.   She had the most beautiful hair he had ever seen on a woman.  It begged for a man's hands to run through it.  Had his need to use her as a means to an end not been so great,  he would have thoroughly enjoyed pursuing her himself.   She would have been a challenge no doubt, but he also had no doubt that she would have been worth the effort.    His body reacted  swiftly at the thought of having her round curves beneath him in his bed.   He hadn't felt such lust for a woman in a long time.   Still unaware of his eyes upon her,  she leaned against the balcony railing and stared towards the west.   There was a deep sadness in her enchanting blue eyes.   She was thinking about the outlaw for whom she had sacrificed herself.   

 He had not heard the last from the outlaw.   He wasn't stupid.  He knew the outlaw would not stay away.  He knew he would be coming for her.  But that really was part of the plan.   As soon as he made an attempt to see her,   all he had to do was claim that the scorned criminal had tried to kidnap his daughter-in-law out of jealousy and anger and he would be right back in the territorial prison.   And his partner would soon follow he was sure. 

She caught sight of him standing there staring up at her.   He smiled his most charming and seductive smile at her.     She gave him a look of shocked embarrassment and turned to disappear once more behind the French doors.    He would give her time.   It had after all only been one night since she had married his son.   But time was all it would take, to make her warm to his charms.   His son, Clay,  might be too foolish to take advantage of such a bounty of beauty under his own roof,  but Clayton was not.   Just as when he had seen the gardens at his late wife's family estate,   he decided right then and there,  he would become president and he would have his son's wife.  

Love's Last Gift ~ Chapter 2 (revised)

Severed Selves

Two separate divided silences,

Which, brought together, would find loving voice;

Two glances which together would rejoice

In love, now lost like stars beyond dark trees;

Two hands apart whose touch alone gives ease;

Two bosoms which, heart-shrined with mutual flame,

Would, meeting in one clasp, be made the same;

Two souls, the shores wave-mocked of sundering seas:—

Such are we now. Ah! may our hope forecast

Indeed one hour again, when on this stream

Of darkened love once more the light shall gleam?

An hour how slow to come, how quickly past,

Which blooms and fades, and only leaves at last,

Faint as shed flowers, the attenuated dream.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I still can't believe you've done this, Evangeline,"    Livvy scolded as she looked again at the contract her niece had signed just two days ago.    "Why would you do this without me being there?     You never sign a contract without having someone else look at it first.  And when he said,  'perhaps we can come up with some sort deal to keep all interested parties out of the throes of scandal'  I didn't think he meant this."

"There wasn't time for that, Livvy.   He made it very clear that he wanted it done that day and that I couldn't involve you  or he would withdraw the offer.   And if you had heard him describe the conditions in that place you would have done the same thing."

"He's very clever, I'll give him that.  He knew he could reel you in with stories about how deplorable it is in prison.  That's why he wanted to see you alone.  I never should have agreed to it."

"Do you really think the outcome would have been any different if you had been there?"

"Yes.    For one thing there would have been a time limit.   No where in this contract does it  say how long you have to stay here.    I'm not even sure if this is legal and binding.  I'm going to have my attorneys go over it with a fine toothed comb."

"He told me it was.    He is a lawyer after all.   He's worded it so that it seems I'm offering him  a service in exchange for room and board and anything else I might need or want."

"Well, doesn't that sound all lovely and innocent.     It's slavery is what it is!"

"You would have done the same thing if you  had been in my shoes.    I had no choice.   Not only did he offer to let them out of prison with  a full pardon but he also threatened to tell the truth about the baby."

Livvy covered her face with her ands and groaned towards the ceiling.  "That would be disastrous."

"Yes, I know.  As you remind me all the time." 

Evie rose from her seat and went to stare out the hotel window at the busy street of downtown Cheyenne.    She was beginning to know how Hannibal and Jed had felt all these years.   She just wanted to have a normal life.   And now having anything normal seemed so far out her reach. 

Livvy came up behind her and hugged her tightly.   "I'm sorry.   I know you were only doing what you felt was best for everyone.    I just wish you didn't have to make such an awful choice."

"Does it really matter?     If I agreed to his terms,  both of them would be in prison for the next eighteen years.   So if I have to live my life without him,  at least now I can live it knowing he's free.   I don't think God intended for me to be happy."

"Don't blame God for anything,  Evangeline.   It's men who make their secret deals and send other men to prison when they should have been given amnesty that you should blame.   Blame men like Clayton Ramsey.   And all to keep the public from believing that his son is what he really is.   Ooooo it makes me so angry."

"You should have seen him, Livvy.  He was thin and all his hair was gone.  All his beautiful hair.  I just hope he doesn't hate me."     She couldn't hold back her sorrow as the last word was released on a sob.    She turned into her aunt's waiting arms and cried until her head ached.

"He could never hate you.   Did you hate him when he left you standing heartbroken in the middle of a field as he rode off?     No, you didn't.    And even when he discovers what you've done,  he'll be angry no doubt,  but he will always love you.   Of that I am absolutely sure."

"I think we should just find Hannibal and Jed and tell them the truth,"  Evie sniffled.  

"What?  Are you crazy?    You said he had made it very clear that we are never to see either of them again.   In fact I believe he told you that you could never have any kind of contact.  You know he will have us watched around the clock.   He will have them arrested on some trumped up charges that will have them hanged.   You heard how callous and cold he was when it came to the death of his own wife.   And he couldn't have cared any less about his own daughter who is now insane after losing her mother.  I wouldn't be surprised if he killed her himself for her inheritance money."

"Please don't say things like that.    Don't even think things like that.   I'll start believing it and then I won't be able to tolerate living in that mansion with him."

"He may not be a killer but he's certainly not a good father.    He keeps his daughter locked away in a town three hundred miles  from here.    I'm surprised he doesn't send his son there as well.   But I  have the feeling he wants to keep him here so he can monitor his every move.   No wonder the poor thing has turned into such a ....a......mess."

"I hope Martha gets to see him and talk to him.  Did you give her the cash and did she make sure they got the horses?"

"Yes, and the clothes that you bought them.   And their hats.   It's a good thing you packed those dusty old things when we started this concert tour."

Evie just smiled wanly, thinking about Heyes' black, silver-studded hat and Jed's brown floppy brimmed one with it's turquoise trimmed conchos.    After the boys had been sent to prison and her attempt to visit had failed,   Lom had pulled in some favors and had gotten possession of Hannibal and Jed's belongings.   She had all of their clothes, boots, saddlebags and their horses.   She had kept their hats hanging from the bed posts of her bed back home in Nashville, and when they had moved to Boston,  she had taken them with her.   And she couldn't bare to leave them behind when they had left one month ago to begin this tour.   She had packed them and brought them along.   Sometimes she found herself talking to the hats as though the men who had once worn them were still beneath them.   It was times like those when she doubted her own sanity.   And after signing her life away, she was doubting it again.   But then she reminded herself that no price was too great for him to be free.  "You're sure about the horses?"     she asked.

"Yes, yes,"   Livvy answered impatiently, still scrutinizing the contract,   "She is going to get someone in town to meet them with the horses and another to meet them with the letter you wrote and the money you wanted them to have right away so Jed could eat."   Livvy looked away from the papers for a moment and smiled to herself as she thought about Jed Curry sitting down to a plate full of hot home cooked food.    But she quickly shoved her reverie aside and returned her thoughts to the matter at hand.     "I thought it would be safer to use several messengers.   That way the trail of communication won't be so easily followed.   He never said you couldn't send him one last letter, but we can't be too careful, because I have a feeling that he means business when he says he'll find some way to have them locked up again if you or I have any communication with them.    And Martha is going to give them the cash herself along with the letter that  I wrote.   The letter tells them where to find Odin and Rusty.     Are you sure you want to give Rusty away to Jedediah?" 

"Yes.   It's only right that the horses should stay together.  It's not likely that I'm going to be leaving the grounds of the governor's mansion for quite some time so I won't be able to ride him anyway.   I'm going to miss those two.   But I know they will be in good hands.   Hannibal is going to be so surprised at how tame Odin has become.   And how much wilder Rusty had gotten since being around Odin."   She sighed and fought the next onslaught of tears, thinking that she wouldn't be there to see him reunite with his horse.   Get used to it Evie.   This is your life now.

"Have you packed everything?"   Livvy asked.

"Yes.  Everything is packed."

"Well, then, I guess as soon as Martha and James return and Martha confirms that she has seen them and they are free,  we can be going to your new home,"    Livvy said with a snarl of her lip.

Evie just closed her eyes and fought the wave of nausea that hit her.   She couldn't stop the rise of bile in her throat at the thought of that place being her home.   "It's not my home.  It's my temporary place of residence. "

"And I want you to remember that.   It's temporary.   We will make the best of it for now, but we are going to find a way out of this.    After all, he only wants the public to believe that his son has stopped being a philandering whore monger and that he's settled down with a wife.    After a few months people will stop talking about it and they will stop watching you and if and when he's reelected,   we will quietly return to Nashville and nobody will be the wiser.   That's when we will get an annulment, find Jed and Hannibal and bring them home."

"And we will tell them the truth."

"Yes,  we can tell them the truth then.   I promise.   But until then you have to resist the temptation to see him.   I know you too well, Evangeline and you will sneak off and meet him somewhere if you think you can get away with it.   I'd hate to have to lock you in your room again."

"I'm not going to sneak off.   This is too important.   I don't want to do anything to risk them going back to prison.   I'd die first."

"I'm afraid you are going to have to become virtually a prisoner yourself in that mansion, to avoid any contact with him.  Because you know he is going to figure out what you've done and he's going to be hell bent on finding you.   And if he does,  I'm afraid he'll do something stupid that will land him back in prison, like kill the groom and the governor."

"And when Jed finds out what you've done,  he might kill you."

"That is another subject for another day.  Right now we have to worry about living up to your end of this deal."

Evie felt the dread cover her like a death shroud.   Tomorrow she would become a married woman.    She refused to say wife.    Because there was only one man who would ever be allowed to call her his wife,  the man she feared she would never see again. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The cafe was just beginning to take in the evening supper crowd when the boys rode into Laramie.   They had arrived just in time to see the messenger boy walking out of the cafe.   He didn't even notice Kid and Heyes, because he was too busy staring at the silver dollar in his hand.  The boys were just about to enter the door to the cafe when a couple exited the doors. 

"Beg pardon, ma'am,"   Heyes offered, removing his hat.   

The lady gasped and the gentleman took hold of her arm and hurried her away as though they had just seen a couple of lepers.  Heyes and Kid exchanged looks.   Did they look that bad, they both wondered?   They both gave an indifferent shrug and entered the cafe doors.   Kid also removed his hat and they stood for a moment and scanned the room hoping to find the red haired lady.   Their search ceased when a man, apparently the owner of the establishment, came to stand sternly before them.  

"I'm sorry, but we don't have any tables available," he said with a scowl.

Kid frowned at the man.   "I see two tables right over there that don't appear to be occupied."

"They are reserved for special guests who haven't arrived yet,"  the man said, nervously shuffling his feet, and obviously lying.  

"Now, look,"  Kid said with a forced smile, trying to be amiable and calm,  "we've got money to spend just like the rest of these folks.   And we're hungry and we want to eat.  So if you'll just show us to the closest table..."

"Like I said those tables are reserved.     I hear the Double Deuce Saloon offers a fine meal for men such as yourselves."    The man's eyes traveled up and down their thin figures and came to rest on their stubble covered heads,  then darted back and forth between two pair of questioning eyes.  

Kid turned to face Heyes but found his partner's eyes remained locked with the judgmental man's,  "Men such as ourselves, meaning ex convicts, right?"  Heyes asked with a smile that was not meant to be charming.

The man's eyes showed a nervousness that bordered on fear.  Heyes' eyes shifted to the left and then the right of the room.  Everyone in the cafe had stopped eating and was watching.  When he returned his gaze to the owner,  the man's was covered with a sheen of sweat and his protruding Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he gulped nervously before speaking in hushed tones, "We don't serve your kind here.   Now I'm asking you nicely to please leave my establishment, or I will have to get the sheriff."

Kid opened  his mouth to say something, but Heyes silenced  him with a gentle pat to the arm and with a jerk of his head  signaled him to leave.   They put their hats back  on their heads and left the cafe.  

"We're never going to get anything accomplished, Kid, if you don't keep your head covered.  Everybody will know we've just been released from prison.  I guess folks in this town have had some bad experiences with newly released prisoners.  And thanks to the prison barber, an ex con is easy to spot."    Heyes eyed his partner.  "You do look pretty ridiculous with that shaved head."  

"Me?  Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"You know I ain't seen a mirror in more than a year."

Kid tapped his partners shoulder and gave him a smug grim as he pointed to the large glass window of the cafe behind them.    Heyes turned to see the reflection of Kid Curry and a skinny, hollow eyed man he didn't even recognize standing beside him.   He removed his hat and rubbed his work-roughened hand over the stubble on his head.   No wonder Evie hadn't waited for him outside the prison.   He looked horrifying. 

"These bald heads of ours ain't gonna make it easy to hide the fact that we just got out of prison.    Here we are, free men, pardoned of all our crimes and still we get asked to leave the better establishments.  We're darned if we do and darned if we don't.  What do we do now?"  Kid pondered.  

"I guess we'll just have to wait out here for the lady to come out,"   Heyes said as he went to sit on the bench not far from the cafe doors.   

"Wait?  But Heyes,  I'm starving.  And it looks like the only place that serves our kind is the Double Deuce.    Come on let's go find it."

"And miss the red haired lady?  Kid she's the only link I've got to...."

A tall, thin woman with gray-streaked red hair burst through the cafe doors and stood staring at them on the boardwalk.   She had seen them enter and had also witnessed them being asked to leave.  

"Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones, I presume,"  she asked with a heavy Scottish brogue.

Heyes rose from the bench and he and Kid both removed their hats.  "Yes, ma'am.   We were hoping to talk to you."

"And I was hoping you would have come when the boy came.   That spectacle wouldn't have taken place if you had.   But at least you're here now.   I know you probably have many questions and I will try to answer the ones that I can, but you must understand that I do not have much time.   I'm expected back soon and if I'm late there will be a lot of explaining to do."

There were so many questions that Heyes wanted answered he didn't know which one to ask first.   And now she was pressuring him with time limits.    "Where did you get this letter?"  he pulled the folded letter from his breast pocket.    

"Miss Evangeline gave it to me to give to you.   I am in the employ of Mrs. Olivia Vanderbilt."

"Is she here?  Evie?  Is she here in Laramie?"   Heyes asked anxiously.

"No, she is not,"   Martha said solemnly, knowing it would bring disappointment to the young man who stood in front of her.  

"Well, where is she?   Why didn't she wait for me outside the prison?   And who was that man with her?  And what is this letter all about?   She wrote that this would be the last time I would ever hear from her.   Would you mind explaining that to me?"

"I can't explain it to you.   All you need to understand is that this is for real.  If you wish to remain free then you must never try to find her or seek her out.   She has sacrificed a great deal to make you a free man.  Don't let her sacrifice be in vain by doin' somethin' stupid and getting yourself arrested again.  If she ever has contact with you again,  there won't be any place the two of you can hide from the consequences of the false crimes they will say you've done just to get you back behind those prison walls.   And if I know the man who will make up those lies like I think I do, it won't be cracking a few safes you'll be accused of this time.  It'll be something far worse."    Another couple came out of the cafe and gave them all suspicious eyes  as they crossed the street.  "Perhaps we shouldn't speak on a public street.   Meet me two miles outside of town headed east,"  she whispered as she walked past them and headed down the boardwalk.   She entered a nearby private coach and the driver headed east out of town.   The boys followed.

The door to the private coach fell open but no one got out.   The boys took that as an invitation  to get inside.   They climbed in and sat side by side on the vacant seat opposite the red haired lady.   "My name is Martha Erskine.    I have been in the employ of the Sanders family since I was a teenager.  I lost me own family after just coming to America from Scotland.  I had nothing and no one, but Mr. Sanders, God rest him, gave me a job and a place to call home.   They became more than my employers.  They became  my family.  I raised all three of them girls and I love them all like they was me own daughters.   It broke me heart when Miss Lilly ran off and never came back,  God rest her.  But now her precious baby girl is here, all grown up,  and I love that one too like she was me own grand daughter.   And I won't see her hurt.  Do you understand?"

"I don't plan to hurt her, Ms. Erskine.   I love her, too.  I want to spend the rest of my life making her happy.   But I can't do that unless I know where she is.   Obviously she's made some sort of deal to get us out of prison and part of that deal means not seeing me.  I want to know why?"

"You misunderstand me, Mr. Heyes.  It's not you I fear will hurt her.  And I mean what I say when I tell you that it will mean the end of your freedom if you so much as breath in Miss Evangeline's direction.   She has made a pact."    Her green eyes grew narrow and a frown turned down her wide mouth.   "And a pact with the devil it is.  No one must know that I've spoken with you here today.    And I have been sworn to secrecy about the pact.   And I won't break me sworn oath.  But from all that I've heard about the two of you and all that Livvy and Evangeline have told me, the two of you are very smart and capable young men.    And you must use all of your capabilities now if you want to keep the woman that you love from ruining her life and yours as well.  So I'll be saying goodbye to you both then as I hand you this,"   she extended a large brown envelope to Heyes.   "Goodbye to you as I head southeast."   Heyes took note as she stressed the direction in which she was heading.   " And I'll ask you please, to not try and follow my coach.  And I do hope the two of you enjoy reading the local newspapers.  One can always learn much about the world from the newspapers."   That was the last thing she said as she opened the door, signaling to the boys that their conversation was over.  

As Heyes closed the door to the coach,  Martha stuck her head out of the curtained window and said loudly,  "Let us be on our way, James.  I want to make it back to Cheyenne before nightfall."    She looked Heyes dead in the eye as she revealed where she was heading.  Heyes stood and stared at the retreating coach.   His jaw working back and forth as he pondered all that the loyal servant had said,  and not said.

"That was strange.   She brought us all the way out here to tell us she wasn't going to tell us anything,"   Kid griped.

Heyes just rolled his eyes.   "She just told us where Evie and Livvy are."

"She did?"

"Didn't you hear her?  They're in Cheyenne.   She's obviously Livvy's maid or something, so you know she's going to where they are.  And that's Cheyenne.  And she wants us to follow her there and keep an eye on the local papers for something."

"I don't like all this, Heyes.   It all sounds fishy to me."

"I don't like it either, Kid.   Something just ain't right about this whole thing."

"I think we should follow that coach and see where she's heading."

"My thoughts exactly, Kid.    I guess time in prison helped you out more than we thought,  you're beginning to think just like me again."

KId just gave his partner a scathing look before he smiled and headed for his horse.  

Heyes was opening the large envelope as Kid was about to mount.    He peeked inside.  His eyes bugged out of his head.   

"Aw, no. What is it?"   Kid asked, curious as to what would cause Heyes reaction.   Heyes reached in and pulled out a stack of twenty dollar bills.  

Kid whistled low and long, and walked back to Heyes and took the stack of money from his hand.     There were several stacks of the crisp new bills inside the envelope.  "How much is in there Heyes?"

Heyes took a moment to estimate.  "There must be at least five thousand dollars here.   Wait here's another letter."   He handed the envelope of money to Kid before he unfolded the piece of paper and read aloud,  

Gentlemen,

Here is enough cash to keep you sheltered and fed for some time.   I am happy to hear of your release and I pray these funds will help you get started in a new life.  It is my intention to keep you both funded with enough money to keep you both from having to drift from town to town.  I have taken the liberty of finding you both positions at a ranch outside of Laramie.  It is owned by a man named Gibbons and he is expecting your arrival at any time.   You will be working with horses and there is a bunkhouse where you can stay.    I have assured him of your skill with horses and of your trustworthiness, despite who you are.  There, you will also find Odin.   He has traveled with us and now he is yours once more.  Evangeline has given Rusty as a gift to Jed.   He and Odin are both at the Gibbons ranch.   I deeply regret that things could not have turned out differently, but Evangeline and I have begun a new life and you should do the same.   This is the only way that you can be free.  Please don't try to contact either of us,   for it would mean disastrous results for everyone.  

With sincere affection and regret,

Olivia Vanderbilt

Heyes shrugged when he saw the perplexed look on Kid's face.  "Sincere affection?   Is that all she wrote?   She only mentioned my name once?"    Kid grumbled as he plucked the letter from Heyes's hand and read over the short note that Livvy had written for himself.  

Heyes gave him a sympathetic look and another shrug.   "Sorry, Kid."

"Does this mean we're headed to the Gibbons ranch?"  Kid asked with a sigh, sensing that his empty stomach was going to remain just that - empty.  

"Yep, that's what it means alright,"   Heyes mumbled, thinking.  "I know you're hungry, Kid,  I am too, but..."

"Now that I've read this letter,   I can wait for food and the horses can wait too.   Let's get to Cheyenne and find out what the heck is going on.   Sincere affection...pfft."   

Heyes was shocked that Kid would choose to follow after a woman rather than get a meal.  He was mounted up and ready to ride before Heyes.   

"Well, what are you waiting on, let's go,"    Kid prodded.

Heyes gave his partner a puzzled look.   Maybe time in jail had altered Kid's state of mind.   He expected  a lot of fussing and complaining because they weren't going to get supper first.  Or maybe the pangs of unrequited love were stronger than the hunger pangs.  He knew that Kid had probably thought about Livvy while he was in prison almost as much as he had thought about Evie.  Heyes mounted and they headed southeast toward Cheyenne.  

They had hoped to make it to Cheyenne before nightfall, but the sun had set a couple of hours before they arrived.   They sat atop a high ridge  that overlooked the town.   They decided it was best to wait until daylight to ride into town.  They feared the same chilly reception they had received in Laramie.  

 Later that night, as Kid snored lightly in his bedroll,  on the other side of the small campfire, Heyes lay awake in his.  He had expected to sleep like a baby knowing he was now a free man.    But his restless mind would not let him find sleep.   He had Evie's binding cord wrapped around his fist.  He held it to his nostrils and inhaled sharply,  taking in the fresh musky scent of her that still clung to the fabric and to the soft swatch of hair.   He could tell that she had carried the cord with her wherever she went in the past year.  He wondered what had become of the ring.  He rose and moved to lean against the trunk of a big maple tree and stared at the half moon shining in the dark blue, starlit sky.   Everything had happened so fast he hadn't really had a chance to study on how he really felt.  But now, alone with his thoughts once more,  he knew exactly how he felt.   He felt cheated.   He had been given another miracle.  He was free.  And not just free from prison walls,  he was free from his past.  Pardoned of all the crimes he'd ever committed.  He could go anywhere he chose and shout from the rooftops  that he was Hannibal Heyes and there was nothing anybody could do about it.   But that freedom had come with a price.  The most handsome price he could have paid.   Only he had not paid it.  Evie had.   And he wasn't exactly sure what the price had been.   He only knew that whatever the price,  they were both going to suffer from paying it.   He wanted answers.   And he was going to have to figure them out for himself.   He wasn't going to be cheated out of a life with the woman he loved,  a woman he knew loved him,  a woman who had fought just as hard as he had to be together,  just because somebody told him that's the way it was going to be.   He didn't want to live without Evie.   If he was going to have to live without her, then it had better be for a damn good reason.  If the other person involved in this deal thought he was going to just accept it and slink off into the shadows and not question this whole thing,  then that person didn't know Hannibal Heyes very well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Please, come back to bed, me darling.   You don't want to have bags under your eyes tomorrow.  There's bound to be photographs taken.   That scheming bastard's going to want to plaster pictures of this farce all over the place, you know."

 "Martha,  I really don't care.  About the bags or the pictures."

"You're thinking of him again, aren't you me love."

"When do I not think about him?   Not a minute goes by that he's not on my mind.   It's like his image is burned into my brain and every time I close my eyes, I can see him.  It was bad enough before I saw him today.   And now......I just can't shake the image of him so thin in that prison uniform with his hair all gone.  Did you say he was wearing his hat and the clothes that I had bought for him this evening when you saw him?"

"Yes, he was wearing the clothes and the hat.  And I must say, that your description of him didn't do him justice.  He was quite the bonny lad.   Even though he could stand to eat a few potatoes and grow some hair."

"Oh, you should have seen him before.  His hair was so shiny and soft.  Brown with golden lights in it.  And he wasn't so skinny.   He was just right.  Perfect.   He was beautiful."

"Men aren't beautiful, Evangeline, they are handsome."

Evie shook her head as she wiped a wayward tear that escaped the corner of her eye.  "No.   Not Hannibal Heyes.  Handsome doesn't quite cover it.   He is beautiful."

Martha came out onto the balcony and hugged her from behind.  "Let's get you back to bed.   I'm an old woman and I need me rest.  And if you don't sleep I won't sleep.  So have pity on these tired old bones and come back to bed."

"Your bones could out work any man I know.  And even if I didn't sleep, you would be sawing logs in a matter of minutes and we both know it."  Evie smiled and hugged her back before conceding defeat and walking back inside from the balcony she had been standing on.   She had been granted the entire wing of rooms she had requested  and she was pleased to find that her bedroom had a large balcony that overlooked the gardens on the west side of the governor's mansion.  There were four adjoining rooms.  Livvy and Martha each had a smaller bedroom and there was a nice sized sitting room with shelves of books and a piano that Evie had requested.  James bunked down with the stable hands in the bunkhouse.  This was her first night here in her new bedroom.  The room like the rest of the house reminded her of a undertaker's parlor.  The walls were all highly varnished dark walnut wood.  There were ornate, cast iron light fixtures on the walls that reminded her of long, crooked fingers with sharp talon-like nails. When Martha had lit the candle in one of the black sconces on the sitting room wall, the fingers cast eerie shadows that looked like something evil  pointing in all directions.  The drapes throughout the house were all deep crimson or navy blue velvet.  To be honest the whole place gave her a sense of foreboding.  There was a heaviness that seemed to crush the breath out of your lungs when you entered the door. This room nor this house could ever compare to Heavenly Hills.  She was homesick for her home in Nashville and for her beloved.  She wondered what he was doing now that he was free. When she had first learned that Hannibal was going to be sent to prison for twenty years,  the pain in her heart had been unbearable  Over the past year that pain had subsided to a constant dull ache but the pain never really went completely away.  And she found that it still remained even knowing he was no longer a prisoner.   Evie climbed in under the covers and waited for Martha to leave the room, taking the lamp and the light with her.  

"Martha?"   Evie asked as the woman who was her servant and her friend as she stood with her hand on the door.  "Tell me again what he said."

"He said he would never hurt you, because he loved you.  And that he wanted to spend the rest of his life making you happy."

"And was he terribly upset with me?"

"Me darlin', he was heartbroken.   I could see it in the depths of his bonny brown eyes.  He's confused and hurt and he wants answers."

"But you didn't tell him what I've done did you?   If he knows the truth he'll try something stupid like coming here and kidnapping me and then everything will be ruined."

"No, dear, I did not tell him that you have exchanged your hand in marriage for the key to his cell."

"You didn't tell him where I am did you?   If he knows where I am he'll come here for sure and then the wrong person could see him and then..."

"Ssshhh.  Now you go to sleep and quit worrying your pretty head about it.   If the man is as smart and crafty as you tell me he is he won't do anything before he thinks it over long and good.  And besides,  your aunt Livvy has found them both jobs at a ranch that's  more than fifty  miles from here.  And they've enough money to keep them for a good long while."

Evie sighed.  “I suppose you’re right.   I don’t think he’ll be coming to Cheyenne."

"And try as you might you can't hide the disappointment in your voice.  I know you want him to remain free and the only way for that to happen is for him to stay away.  But I also know that you miss him and you love him and you'd give your right eye to see him again."

"You know me too well, Martha."

"Yes, I do.  And I know that if you don't get some rest you'll be as cranky as an old mama bear without her cubs.  Now off you go."  With that she left the room leaving Evie in the dark, alone with her thoughts.   Sleep would never find her tonight.  She had too many things on her mind.  Could she really go through with tomorrow?  Was she really going to do this?   She had to do this.  His freedom depended on it.  His freedom and our future depend on it, Evie.  This is the only way.  You must go through with it.   She had to keep telling herself that.   Because if she didn't,  she was afraid she would throw on some clothes, shimmy down the trellis and run until she couldn't run anymore.   

She tossed and turned, trying to sleep, but she lay wide awake envisioning the hurt look that Martha had described in his beautiful brown eyes.  Then she was haunted by visions of tomorrow. Finally she gave up trying and went back to the balcony and leaned against the thick stone railing to stare out on the beautiful spring night.  A cool breeze blew in lifting her hair and the hem of her ankle length nightgown.   She inhaled deeply and caught the scent of lilac and honeysuckle.   Was he enjoying the scents of spring where he was?   She hoped he was.  She wanted him to enjoy all the simple pleasures of life that she had sacrificed so much to make sure that he could have.  She ached with the need to see him, to touch him and hold him and to smell his scent.  Don't think about it.  Don't think about it.  But it was too late.  Already she was imagining him, climbing the balcony and coming in through the open French doors and hovering over her as she lay waiting for him.  Then he would cover her body with his own, staking his claim to what would always be his.   Her young body began to yearn for his touch.   She longed for the feel of his skin beneath her fingers, the smell of him to fill her nostrils,  the touch of his hands on her needy flesh.  She had to stop thinking of him like this.  An aching longing began deep inside of her and she knew the only man who could ever make that ache go away was lost to her.   He wouldn't be riding in and carrying her away on his black steed.  That was the way things went in fairy tales.  And her life now was no fairy tale.   The governor's mansion was surrounded by brick walls with an iron gate.  There were armed men posted at the gates and at the front and back entrances of the mansion.   And the watchman was always close by, watching her every move. There was no wicked witch that a magical spell could conquer in this story.  Only real men with real guns holding real bullets.   This was her reality now.  Get used to it Evie,  because this is your life now.   You'll never be alone, but you'll always be lonely.  She drew a shaky breath and looked once more at the star filled sky and wondered if he were looking at the same stars at this moment.   She hoped so.  But even if he weren't, whatever he was doing, he was doing it as a free man.  The part of her that wasn't drowning in grief for having exchanged her happiness for his freedom,  rejoiced in that thought.  She made her way back to her big lonesome bed and eventually  drifted off into a restless sleep filled with dreams of being rescued by her beloved. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a short, uncomplicated ceremony.  The groom wore a three piece suit of black.  The bride an ivory lace gown with matching veil.  Neither wore a smile.  Vows were exchanged, and a ring was placed on the bride's finger.  It was a heavy, cold ring of tungsten.  The couple stood side by side and posed unhappily for the photographer.  The governor insisted on being in almost every photograph.  Martha must have been right.  He wanted to make sure that everyone saw these photographs of him with his son and his new daughter-in-law.  

He had also made sure that the right people had been in attendance at the small private ceremony, held in the garden of the governor's mansion.   There had been whispers of disapproval that the wedding had not taken place in a church.   But Evie had been glad it had not.   The thought of standing in God's house, vowing to love and cherish a man she didn't even know,  who she had in fact only met once before today,  was both sacrilegious and hypocritical.   Why couldn't they have just pretended to have gotten married in some other state.  They could have pretended that they had eloped.  Evie had even suggested that idea to the governor.  But he had insisted that there be a real wedding with a real ceremony in front of important and influential people.  It was either a real wedding or no deal.  And so here she sat now posing for photographs on her wedding day, inside this mansion that would become her prison.   She was now Mrs. Clayton Ramsey III.   

She looked down at the ring on her finger.  It looked strange and it felt cold and heavy.   She looked around at all the people smiling at her,  hobnobbing around the governor,  offering their congratulations on his son's marriage.  She had listened to the women compliment her dress and her beauty until she couldn't stand it any longer.  If one more person told her how lucky she was to have snagged such an eligible bachelor and how lucky her husband was to have found such a beautiful young bride she thought she was going to gag.  She felt like the walls were closing in and she was going to be crushed.   She felt fragile and vulnerable and she didn't like it.  Where was Livvy?  Where was Martha?   They had both promised her that one of them would remain downstairs with her the entire time. They were her lifelines and now they were missing.  Her eyes searched the room while she tried to listen to the photographer telling her how to sit and where to look.   Then the bright light of the camera's flash blinded her for a moment making white spots appear before her eyes.  She wanted to run.  She wanted to run out the front doors and keep running and never look back. But if she did that,  everyone would just think it was an endearing case of bridal nerves.  She had to get a hold of herself.   She just needed strength to get through the rest of this mockery of marriage in which she was playing a part.   

Like an angel on her shoulder, a sweet Scottish brogue whispered in her ear.   "Just a wee bit more of this travesty of a sanctified ceremony and you can retire to our chambers and make the best of the rest of the day.... with your real family."

Feeling secure again with the presence of her protector, Martha,   Evangeline found the strength she needed to clasp the unfamiliar, cold hand of the stranger beside her who the world now thought of as her husband.  Evie wanted to laugh as she looked at their hands, his resting atop hers as they sat side by side in front of a painted backdrop of an Italian vineyard.   His hands were so different from Hannibal Heyes' hands.  These hands were pale and soft with manicured nails.  Not strong and tanned and roughened from hours of labor.    She cut her eyes sideways to catch the profile of the man she now shared a name with.   Although dark haired and dark eyed, he was everything that Hannibal Heyes was not.   He was spoiled and weak.   His clothes were expensive and immaculate.  He was about the same hieght and build as Hannibal, but Evie could tell without much inspection that under his costly finery he possessed none of the firm, toned muscles that her beloved's body so splendidly displayed.   He seemed slightly  feminine to her.  Unlike Hannibal who was so indisputably masculine.  And much to Evie's disappointment, he was also something else that Hannibal was not....he was the man she had married.

How many of these dreadful photographs were they supposed to sit through anyway?   She was growing weary of it.    Livvy had absolutely ruined her desire to sit for a photograph when they had first returned to Nashville.   She had insisted on photographs being taken every month.  Evie supposed she was making up for years of having no family to take photographs of.   But the novelty of it had worn off for Evie and now given the circumstance of this particular photograph she just wanted the whole thing to be over with.  And the last thing she needed was half a dozen reminders of this day, framed and staring at her for the rest of her life. She just wanted to go into the dining room, have dinner with the two dozen strangers who were guests at her wedding, make her excuses and retreat behind the sanctity of her bedroom door.  Just as Martha had said,  that was were her real family was.  Even if it was missing two members.  

Only a couple of hours later, though to her it seemed like days,  Evie was standing on the balcony outside her bedroom still wearing her wedding gown.  The balcony had become the only place where she could find peace and solitude in her new place of residence.  She refused to call it home.  When she stood on the balcony facing the west and overlooking the garden, she felt somehow closer to her beloved.  He was after all somewhere west of here,  in Laramie she supposed, starting a new life as a free man.  She inhaled the sweet aroma of lilac and mimosa.  From here she had a clear view of the entire western side of the grounds.  When she looked to her right she could see the back courtyard where the governor and his guests often played croquette and other yard games.  And to her left she could see the western end of the front lawn and the driveway that lead to the front gate.   She breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the rear of the last guest's carriage head toward the gates.  It was over.  

She had made it though.   She didn't know how but she had made it through.  By the grace of God, that was how and she knew it.  She had endured the governor's whispered threats when she didn't smile and play the part of the happy, blushing bride.  She had lived through his ludicrous toast to the bride and groom at dinner without so much as gagging, let alone vomiting.  She had made it through the nosy old women's questions as they tried to pry information from her about her past.  And she had survived the mortification of her new father-in-law's announcement that the newlyweds must be excused to begin their much awaited wedding night upstairs.   She shivered now even thinking about that man's hands touching her.  Thank the good Lord it was over.  Now all she had to do was get through the rest of her life as Mrs. Clayton Ramsey III.    Or at least until she and Livvy could come up with a plan for making her the former Mrs. Clayton Ramsey III.  

As if being cued to enter the stage of this dark farce,  his lilting voice came from the doorway of her bedroom.  She whirled quickly around to stare at him,  for she knew that he had been told to never enter her suite of rooms without permission.  It had been one of her conditions.  

"Just so you know,  I don't plan on exercising my marital rights tonight or any other night for that matter.  So you can rest easy, princess."   He held a white handkerchief in his left hand and pulled it continuously through the fist of his right while he leaned nonchalantly against the door jam.  He looked  her up and down with indifferent brown eyes.  "Besides, you're really not my type."

Evie's mother had always taught her never to judge someone from one meeting, so she had set aside any prejudgment she might have had about Clay based on what she had seen and heard on her first trip to Cheyenne two weeks ago.  And she had hoped that even though her marriage was to be in name only, that eventually she and her new husband could at least be friends.  But apparently he did not plan on even being friendly towards her.   That suited Evie just fine.  "If I had had the slightest indication that I were remotely your type, I would never have agreed to this asinine farce in the first place,"  she informed him as she came to stand in front of him.

"Good.  Then we understand each other.  You stay out of my life and I'll stay out of yours.   Deal?"

"Deal.   Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to spend the rest of the evening with my loved ones."

"Yes, you have quite the little family don't you?   So sad that my father was able to use it as leverage against you to get you to sign that contract."  The look that crossed Evie's face gave away her surprise, for she had no idea that the governor had told his son about her secret.  "Oh, yes, I know all about your little secret.  But even if Father hadn't told me,  it wouldn't have been very difficult to figure out.   I was at their trial so I've seen both of those outlaws,  and one only has to glance at it to see that child is his.  So there's no need to try and keep up with all that hogwash about your newly wedded husband being murdered along with your family in Texas and leaving you in the family way.   I know the truth.   That outlaw knocked you up before he was arrested and you had to go into hiding in Boston to keep people in Nashville from asking too many questions.  Going there to attend music school was a nice touch."    There was a smug smirk on his face. A face  that Evie might have described as handsome had his attitude not been so repugnant.   "So I guess we both have our secrets don't we.   And you don't have to worry about me spilling the beans.   Hell, you've made me look like the hero, honey.   I married a young widow and agreed to raise her fatherless child.  At least that's what everyone thinks, right?   What a grand deed on my part,  huh?   Now that's bound to take attention off of my dastardly deeds,"  he continued as her rolled his eyes and dramatically placed a hand to his heart,  "so daddy won't have to worry about getting run out of office on a rail.  Hell, he'll probably become president the way those old bitties downstairs were carrying on about how romantic the whole thing was.    How does it feel to be a pawn in my father's little game?"

"I am no one's pawn.   I stand to gain just as much as he does with this agreement.   I've kept my part of the bargain.  And I will continue to honor it by making the necessary public appearances so your father's constituency will believe that we are the happiest newlyweds in Cheyenne."

"And by doing so you will keep your lover out of prison.   Even more romantic.  Too bad all that romance will be wasted on our marriage.  Of course I have no objection if you want to follow my example and dally in extra curricular activities.  Father thinks that marrying you will not only make the public forget about my supposed debauchery but also make me want to be a family man.  Sorry, honey, but I'm not changing for anyone.  Not even you.  Although, I must admit,"  his dark eyes scanned her curves before coming to rest on her beautiful face,  "if I did ever get the itch to do the whole man and wife family thing,  you'd certainly be an excellent candidate, with those big eyes flashing lightning at me and all that hair hanging down to those curvy hips.   Um um.  No wonder my father was so anxious to keep you around."

"Please leave my room.  And do not come back unless you knock and you are invited.  And don't ever speak about my child, again.  I neither need nor want your opinions, so keep them to yourself,"   she said firmly with as much anger in her tone as she could impart.  

He dismissed her with a wave of his handkerchief and pushed himself away from the door jam.  The smirk never left his face as he turned to leave.   Evie slammed the door behind him and turned the key in the keyhole.  He had obviously missed the fact that Livvy had been the one nursing Gabby that day in his room and his father had not told him that part of their secret. He believed she had given birth to Kid Curry's baby.  She hugged her arms around herself and went back to the balcony.    The sun was dropping behind the line of trees that marked the west end of the mansion property.   She rested her hands on top of the stone railing and was arrested by the sight of the heavy thick tungsten ring on her left ring finger.  Governor Ramsey had provided the ring and she knew he had picked the largest, chunkiest ring he could find so that it was very visible for all to see.   She wanted to pull it off and hurl it over the edge of the balcony.     But wearing it was a small price to pay if it meant that her beloved Hannibal and Jed could be free.  Cold chills wracked her body when she thought of them in that place.  Even more cold chills followed when she thought of her "husband" exercising his marital rights.  She felt inside the collar of the ivory wedding gown she still wore and pulled out the silver chain from which hung the delicate silver ring that she considered her real wedding ring.  She put the silver circle to her lips and kissed it.   "I promise you one thing, Mr. Heyes.  No other man will ever put his hands on me.   No one except you.   Only you."

Livvy, Martha and the precious little gift of God that she loved so much were all waiting for her in the adjoining room.   She was supposed to change out of her wedding dress and join them for coffee.   And as much as she loved them all,  she just wanted to be alone.  Alone with her misery.   It was her wedding night.  It should have been the happiest day of her life.  And it would have been if the groom had been someone else.   If the groom had been the man that she loved.  Instead it had been a man she knew almost nothing about, but was developing a very healthy dislike for just the same.