Chapter Text
It was dark when she woke up, probably still the middle of the night. She propped herself up, blinked twice to focus her eyes. The clock on the nightstand proved her right - 3:33 in the morning, far too early to get up. She moaned and sagged back onto the ruffled sheets.
But she couldn’t go back to sleep again. Something was wrong. A second time she opened her eyes. The room was a pattern of shadows and shades of grey. It was her bedroom, unmistakably, but something felt odd. The dream she had had still ghosted through her mind; reality and dream seemed to overlap.
No, that wasn’t the point, there was ... she rubbed her eyes, but the image wouldn’t disappear. There was a cowboy standing at the side of her bed - dark hat and shirt, light pants, his slender figure surrounded by a scent of horse, sweat and leather. It was the scent that made her suspicious. She never had had an olfactory dream before.
The presence of a strange man in her bedroom was supposed to frighten her, yet she felt safe. Maybe she was still dreaming after all?
“Am I dreaming?” she asked the stranger, just to be sure.
“How would I know?” he answered in a soft, low voice.
“I mean, are you really here?”
“I guess, I am.”
“Is this cowboy times?”
“Nope, it doesn’t look like that to me,” he said, panning the room. “It’s mighty fancy round here, miss.”
“So, why are you here?”
“I just wish I knew,” he said, taking off his hat and running his long fingers through his thick, dark hair. “Have you seen my partner?”
“Partner? There’s more than one of you?” she asked, pulling the blanket a little higher up her chest.
“Well, I sure hope so. If he’s got lost anywhere else then we’re in big trouble,” he answered with a brief smile that revealed a dimple in his left cheek, but he sobered again instantly. “Bad things happen when we separate. I need to find him.”
She rubbed the palms of her hands over her face, trying to clear her mind. “So, what are you doing here? Besides looking for your partner, that is.”
He pushed the hat back on his head and shrugged. “I don’t know. One moment I’m trailing my partner out the back door of Miss Purdy’s B... uhm ... out of a house of entertainment and the next moment I’m standing here. I guess he's around here too, as we took the same door and I was close behind him.”
It was only now that she noticed his clothes appeared somewhat disheveled and his shirt tail was hanging over his pants, both telling tales of a hasty departure from ... a sudden blush flushed her face.
His dark eyes followed her look. Immediately, he tucked his shirt back where it belonged and smoothed his clothes. “I’m sorry, miss, we left in a kind of hurry.”
When he had finished his task, his dark eyes panned the small room again, wandering over bookshelves, a desk - not overly tidy – and walls decorated with posters in bright colors, noticeable even in the faint light of the moon. His sharp and wary eyes took in every detail. The strange surroundings obviously confused him, but didn’t scare him, rather he appeared curious.
Studying his remarkable profile, she squinted her eyes. “Hey, wait a minute ... I know you! You are Hannibal Heyes!”
The dark-haired man twirled around, drew a step back and shook his head. “Oh, no, miss, you are mistaken. The name’s Smith, Joshua Smith.”
“Yeah, that’s what you always say...” she replied, popping up and combing her hair with her fingers. Heavens! Why do dreams come true in the middle of the night when you’re all messed up, and never when you are perfectly styled and well-dressed?! A thought struck her and she froze. “Your partner...? You mean, Kid Curry is somewhere round here, too?” Her voice rose a full octave. Frantically she increased her efforts to make herself more presentable.
“No, he’s not. I mean, my partner. My partner’s name’s Jones, Thaddeus Jones and...” the cowboy replied, but she cut him off.
“Yes, yes, and he’s tall and strong and handsome and has the bluest eyes ever seen in a man’s face. He’s the fastest gun in the West, but he never killed anyone! He’s gentle and kind and always nice to the ladies.”
Her visitor, who’s name ostensibly wasn’t Heyes and definitely wasn’t Smith, rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air. “I can’t believe it! I don’t even know where we are – when we are - and his reputation was here even before us?”
Swiftly he spun around, noticed the door to the hallway and stopped his turn. His hand on the doorknob he hesitated just a moment before he opened it.
A blink later she was alone again, her room a pattern of shadows and shades of grey.
She stared at the door, unsure what had happened. Had anything happened at all? Should she just lay down again and try to sleep? Maybe she was still sleeping safe and sound but just not knowing it?
But one thing she knew for sure: if she wouldn’t try to find out and follow him, she would regret it for eternity.