The Curse of Billy the Kid: Untold Legends Volume One

by Tamsin L. Silver

  Her eyes stared me down, and I read something in them that caused me to step in such a way that blocked Susan as well as her sister from seeing the child. “Shake hands on it?” she asked.

  “Of course,” I replied, and reached out to shake her hand.

  I never saw the bit of paper, her sleight of hand better than most I’d met. However, I caught the tightness around her eyes, so when she loosened her grip, I paid attention. Feeling the piece of paper, I closed my fingers around it. “It’s a done deal then. If I fail, I’ll owe you one.”

  A sly smile slid over her face as she caught my second meaning and carefully took her hand back. “Deal. Goodnight then.” She curtsied to us and left the room in a hurry.

  I put my hands in my pockets casually and moseyed to my seat at the table. “Easy as pie.”

  “How you are so good with children, I will never understand,” Mrs. Shield said.

  “Because he still is one,” Susan replied.

  “Ouch,” Ben muttered in jest.

  “At heart, maybe, Mrs. McSween,” I said, depositing the note in my pocket before pulling my hand out. Sitting, I said, “But I’m also good with the ladies, so...”

  Susan rolled her eyes. “And with that, I’m goin’ to make sure Mary went to bed. If you’re so good with dishes, they’re yours. Goodnight, all.” She left, and I shooed her sister to follow along behind her.

  “Great, now we have dish duty,” Ben said.

  “It’s hardly nothin’ compared to the free food and hospitality.”

  I noticed then that Leverson hadn’t said anything. Looking toward him, I saw he was almost finished with his food, a strange smile on his face.

  “Entertained, Mr. Leverson?”

  “Oh, very.”

  I laughed and dug into my food. Finishing, I picked up my dishes. “Come on, Ben. I’ll teach you how to do dishes, too.”

  Ben picked up his plates. “Har har. I do plenty of dishes at home, thank you very much.” He headed for the smaller kitchen of the two in the U-shaped home, it being located at the tip of the west wing. Dishes in one hand, the oil lamp that’d lit the parlor in the other, he left.

  Used to carrying more than one or two, I collected the dishes of our visiting Brit as well. “I’ll take you to pay your respects to John in the mornin’, Mr. Leverson. Sleep well.”

  Once dishes were washed and dried, we headed to the east bedroom to retire. Being the one room without windows, it was the safest by far. Sitting on the bed, I took off my boots.

  Ben shut the door. “Okay. Spill it, Billy.”

  “Now?” I was exhausted and knew the next day would be busy. I just wanted some rest. “Tomorrow, I’ll explain tomorrow. I promise. Let’s just get some rest.”

  Ben sat on the other bed and took off his boots. “No, now.”

  I sighed. “Fine.”

  As I removed my cartridge belt, guns, and outer clothes, I told him as much as I dared. Mostly about me and my affliction and what Regulators really were.

  “Well, shit. That’s a lot to carry around, Billy,” he said, getting into bed.

  “The understatement of the year,” I said, reaching into the pocket of my pants.

  “What’s that?”

  I opened it. “A note from Roy.”

  “Well, what does it say?”

  I read it, and the food still in my stomach flipped about, attempting to come back up. Swallowing it down, I just said, “Nothin’. Just warnin’ me that the wolves are waitin’ for us and we should stay in for the night.” I reached over and shoved the note back into my pants pocket and got into bed.

  Ben turned the oil lamp down, and I positioned the pillow under my neck the way I liked. Weaving the fingers of my hands together, I rested them on my stomach and closed my eyes.

  “I want in on this, you know. I want to help.”

  “Jesus Christ,” I muttered. “No. I told you to keep you safe, not put you in harm’s way.”

  “But—”

  “No.”

  “You’re gonna need me, you’ll see.”

  I hoped he was wrong. But with what Roy’s note really said, I wasn’t so sure. It hadn’t warned of wolves at the door, but that Scáthach herself was in town looking for me.

  Sun rose just after six in the morning and so did we. Once washed up and dressed, Ben and I joined the rest of the household for a big breakfast before taking Leverson to the empty plot east of the Tunstall Store. At the back of the property, we’d started a little cemetery, and that’s where John was buried.

  “Why here?” Leverson asked.

  “Mr. McSween plans to build a church here on this property,” I explained.

  Leverson nodded in understanding.

  “I’ll leave you to say a few words.”

  March, 1949

  Standing over a cross that was marked as John’s grave now in 1949, I thought of the day I’d taken Leverson to pay his respects. However, it wasn’t where I currently stood.

  “You do know he’s not buried here, right?” I asked the ranger who’d been the man with the keys going into The House, which was now a museum, as was the Tunstall Store. The store had just opened recently and had marked the graves of John and Alex directly behind the store in what used to be the corral area.

  “We know, but that there’s private property now and they didn’t want trespassers stompin’ all over their backyard,” the ranger told me.

  I nodded. “In fact, I think we’re standin’ where a bunch of bottles of beer were durin’ that battle in July.”

  “And you’d know that how, stranger?”

  “Oh, I uh, I met a man who was here at the time. He drew me a map of things.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “If you say so, Mr. Kidwell.”

  “Oh, please call me William.”

  “All right then, William. I must be goin’ on back. Is there anythin’ else I can help you with?”

  “Just, where is the new sheriff’s office?”

  “Know someone there, too?” he prodded.

  “Nope. But I plan to. Have a scheduled meetin’ with Sheriff Sally Ortiz, and I’d rather get movin’. I’d hate to keep her waiting.”

  The ranger chuckled. “Yep, ya don’t wanna do that.”

  He gave me directions and the name of where to grab some lunch. With a thank you and a monetary donation to the museum, I got back in my car and headed east on Highway 380. I drove through Capitan to the new sheriff’s office located in the new county seat of Carrizozo. The sheriff had a much nicer building than in my days of living in New Mexico...of course, that wouldn’t take much, considering.

  Getting into my car, I headed down to the Ellis Store, just wanting to make sure it was still standing and all. I hated to admit it, but as much as I’d dreaded coming here because of the memories, it wasn’t those that were bothering me as much as how my beloved town had died. Now to find out if my co-worker had, too.

  11

  Colonel

  March, 1878

  After leaving Leverson and Mrs. McSween to their day, Ben and I headed back to the Ellis Store where his father quickly sent Ben off to do chores and took me out back.

  “John left you somethin’,” Isaac said. “Follow me.”

  Into the stable we went, and I watched with curiosity as the older man reached up and pulled on a piece of wood, tilting it like one would a book on a shelf. I heard a click, and Isaac pressed a section of the wall, causing it to move inward.

  “He’s back here.”

  “He?” I asked, stepping through the new doorway.

  “This was John’s special stall. Being a Regulator, he wanted a spot to hide things.” He shut the door and led me down a short hallway. “He told me the night of the sixteenth that if anythin’ should happen to him, you were who he wanted to be shown Colonel.”

  “Who is...” My words failed me as I stepped into a small room to find a black stallion, around fifteen hands high, standing in a corner stall. This was only the left side of a small r
oom, which held riding gear and other necessities. On the far side sat a four-foot long trunk nestled beside a desk with stool to one side and an armchair to the other, and in the corner, a cot.

  “Let him hear and smell you. He's blind, so he needs to meet you differently.”

  “Blind?”

  “He's special. John said he wouldn’t take one-hundred and fifty for him today. Here, he left you this.” Isaac handed me a wax-sealed envelope. “I'll leave you to get acquainted.” Isaac showed me how to open the door from this side and left.

  Standing there confused, I said, “Colonel, I'm Billy, and I have no idea what is goin’ on.”

  Carefully, I ran my hand down his neck, and then I inspected him. He was a specimen of equine perfection, without a doubt. Likely a Morgan horse and jet black as coal.

  “So why did John want me to have you?” I broke the seal with the JHT monogram pressed into it, pulled the tri-fold paper out to read.

  Billy,

  You are very likely discombobulated at the moment. I’m sorry for that. It seems I ran out of time to tell you the truth about who I believe you are and why I hired you. I say this because the only way you would receive this letter is in the case of my early passing. By now I would guess that Garrett has arrived to tell you the truth, so I won’t bore you with all those details.

  I will, however, tell you about this black beauty Isaac has shown you. I’ve named him Colonel, being that I got him for 27½ dollars at a sale of old condemned army stuff. I never saw a prettier horse or thrown my leg over a finer saddle horse in my life. He walks fast enough to keep my Long Tom horse in a slow jog trot, he can canter on a cabbage leaf, and gallop very finely.

  I think he’s likely a thoroughbred and not more than seven years old. Best road horse I ever came across, does an easy six miles to the hour if it’s just you in the saddle, and he won’t make a mistake unless you get careless. Unfortunately, he was run blind by the army, so I was unable to have his eyes repaired.

  You have great abilities, Billy. Things you’ve not even begun to tap into. The way you channel energy is something that could have no bounds. I’m very sad I have been taken from this world so soon, if for no other reason than to see what you are going to be capable of. Well, that and I’d have loved to have seen how my younger sisters grow into the magnificent women they are bound to be. I trust Alex and Rob are seeing to their financial stability with all I put in place. If they do not, I ask you to make sure my sisters are okay. With me gone, all my sisters are in danger of being without a penny or dowry if something were to happen to my parents. It’s up to you, Alex, and Rob to make sure they are okay.

  I should get to the point. I tend to expound on things too much sometimes, or so my elder sister says. The point being, all my Regulator things are in the safe here in this room. For fear of it being seen, it is under the floorboards in the far corner near the painting on the wall of the New Mexico landscape. Remove it from the wall, and you’ll see. Colonel has the combination. He’s a magnificent horse, Billy. Take good care of him.

  I hate tasking you with all these things. I should’ve been here to help you become a Regulator. When we learned about you, I was the closest to you (being as I was in California looking to get into the sheep business), and so I was given orders to come find you. I wrote to my family that I was told to head east for better land opportunities, but my father knows the truth.

  You’ll find more information inside the safe, of course, but most important of all is an envelope in there for my father and other members of my family, also sealed with my stamp, that explains my Regulator business. It has postage on it. I need you to mail it from somewhere Scáthach’s pawns aren’t prowling about. Only you can tell if they are a demon or not. If not now, in time. I beg you to find a safe spot and mail them.

  As Garrett has likely told you, Alex doesn’t know the truth about you or me, nor does Rob. Please keep it that way. Safer for you and them.

  Regulator Brothers, Even After Death,

  - John

  My world had changed, yet I’d not moved an inch. I looked up into the large, prominent eyes of the beautiful horse before me.

  “So, you hold the combination. How is that possible? And how am I to find someone to cure your eyes if John couldn’t?”

  Frustrated, I folded the letter and stuffed it into my pocket. With no other option, I stepped over to the painting on a thick box frame and took it down. Behind it was a lever.

  “Well, that’s easy enough.”

  I pulled the lever downward and it resisted. Yanking it harder, it slowly came down, and I felt the floor vibrate. Looking behind me, I noticed a line on the floor that hadn’t been there before. Squatting, I carefully slid my fingers into the separation and lifted the trap door.

  Settled snugly into a hole dug in the dirt under the wooden floor was a metal safe, door facing up at me with a combination lock.

  I looked back over my shoulder at Colonel. “You have the combination to this, do ya? Don’t suppose that Englishman taught you to speak the numbers, did he?”

  Colonel whinnied lightly and shook his mane.

  “Well now, I suppose I can forgive you this once.” I carefully shut the trap door until it clicked, causing the lever on the wall to raise back up.

  I hung the light painting on the lever and walked over to the black beauty. “You want to go for a ride? He bragged about you so hard I feel I need to see this miracle for myself.”

  Knowing the boys in San Pat weren’t waiting on me, I didn’t rush. I carefully fitted him with his riding gear, talking to him the whole time, sometimes singing.

  Hand on his face, reins in my hand, I stood there perplexed, for the door I’d come in through was way too small for Colonel to fit through. “Well, they got you in here somehow.”

  As if understanding me, Colonel lifted his back leg and kicked lightly, his hoof hitting a metal plate at the back of his stall. Easily missed as it was close to the ground, it appeared to be a piece of junk used for repair.

  A moment later, the smell of a blooming apple orchard filled my senses, and Colonel whinnied, his feet dancing on the floor. I’d opened my mouth to ask him what was so exciting when I saw something peculiar. The section of wall between the painting and where the stall began started to shimmer like heat rising off a hot flat surface in the afternoon summer sun. As the haze vanished, a pair of large barn doors appeared.

  “Well I’ll be damned. Tunstall had a witchy friend.” Placing my hands on the doors, I pushed, and they swung open. “I suppose that’s our cue.”

  I led him out and swung up into the saddle as the doors closed on their own and vanished to the naked eye. Knowing what to look for now, I noted a metal plate way up high and knew I’d need to be riding Colonel to reach it.

  “Let’s see what you can do,” I said, then groaning at my wording. With a gentle hand on his neck, I rephrased. “I mean, let’s find out what you can do, and I’ll direct you. Sorry.”

  I felt a gentle pulse of energy pass between my hand and his neck with my heartfelt apology.

  Colonel shook his beautiful mane and, though they weren’t words specifically, I had the distinct feeling he’d told me it was all right. Scared yet fascinated, I slowly took my hand back, got ahold of the reins, and gave his sides a light tap with my heels.

  John wasn’t wrong. Colonel handled better than any horse I’d ever been on, and as someone who tends to steal them often, I’d ridden many. By the time we returned to the Ellis Store, it was twilight, and Colonel smelled something off, and before I understood why, he reared up, front legs kicking out defensively.

  “Gave you his champion, did he?” came a woman’s voice from somewhere in the dark.

  I pulled my gun. “Who’s there?”

  A woman with dark hair past her waist stepped from the shadows, her nightgown flowing effortlessly in the light breeze, its material thin and revealing. I might’ve gotten ideas, but then I recognized her features.

  “Scáthac
h,” I said, her name acid on my tongue.

  She snapped her fingers, and the wick inside the lantern in her hand lit, showing her features more clearly. “A bheil sibh fhathast a 'bruidhinn a' chànain ar dachaigh?”

  The answer was yes, I did still speak Gaelic, but I wasn’t stupid enough to let her know that. “It’s adorable how you think I still understand that archaic language. My mother spoke it, as you already know since you have Mary's memory, but I’ve had no use for it.”

  “Tuilleadh an truas. Bhon tha mi an dùil a mharbhadh thu an seo agus a-nis.”

  I didn’t flinch to her promise to kill me here and now. I just stared her down, breathing easy. After a good ten seconds passed, I replied, “I heard you were in town. Did you want somethin’?”

  She sashayed toward us, and Colonel backed away without my encouragement.

  I laid my hand on his neck, patting nonchalantly, this time intentionally attempting to move the meaning of my words to him. “It’s okay, Colonel, I’m aware.”

  Again, the vibration of heat transferred from my fingers into his body. He immediately stopped, stood tall and proud, and huffed out air through his nose, pounding his front hooves into the dirt while moving toward her by a foot or two. It stopped her advance immediately.

  “Smart horse,” I said, staring at her face, the only thing the lantern lit up fully. “State your peace and be gone. I have to rub him down for the night.”

  “I saw you ride by and followed you. I was not aware John had kept him. He’s magnificent.”

  “Too bad he’s blind.”

  “Ro dhona nach eil sibh a 'tuigsinn faodaidh sibh leigheas.”

  This time I fought the desperate need to reply. If I could really heal Colonel's eyes, I wanted to know how. Instead, I sighed heavily. “You did not just see me and decide to come say hello. You’ve been waitin’ for me.”

  She smiled, but for whatever reason, it reminded me of when my friend’s sheepdog quietly showed his front teeth. It had the appearance of a grin, but it was a silent warning. “You are correct. I thought maybe you might want to meet now that you know the truth.”