scurlock | [highways]

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[highways]

They're going to New Mexico.

It may not be in his time, or even his universe - he won't know until he gets there, and he checks a few details - but they're going to New Mexico.

He can hardly sleep, the night before. He feels...wired. It's almost like he's had a few cups of coffee and a few bowls of the chocolate cereal that Bar tends to tempt him with now and again. He's got his bags already packed (the duffel and a backpack that Kate probably stole from Bill's closet or something) and he's ready to go. He and Kate went to the store earlier to grab anything that they needed.

(Even if it feels a bit strange to be traveling back to New Mexico without a weapon on his person, he has to deal.)

He wants to be there, now. But they're not leaving until tomorrow. It'll come soon enough.

If only he could sleep.

But he can't. He glances over at the small bedside table and spots the iPod that Kate left on the table, earbuds coiled loosely beside it. After a moment's hesitation, he grabs it, settles the buds in his ears, and hits the 'MENU' part of the clickwheel.

She told him how to use it, and after a minute or two of fiddling with the technique (and the volume) he's listening to the music. Skipping what he doesn't like - but most everything gets a chance - he makes his way through the list on 'shuffle'.

(Blissfully unaware of anything going on down the hall.)

Before he falls asleep, he decides to ask Kate about two artists: Elton John and Billy Idol.

----

The next morning finally comes and after a shower (and a breakfast that doesn't involve the smoke detector) they're on their way to the airport in Columbia.

Of course, since Bill has a truck, it means that their bags are riding in the bed and the three of them are sitting up in the cab. Bill's driving, of course - which means that Kate is in the middle and Doc on the right side.

He's trying to focus on the other occupants of the truck.

But the road and all the other vehicles on it...they're just interesting.

"So how long 'till we're there?"

~~Are we there yet, Bill?~~

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Smirking, "It's bullying if the other person doesn't know the rules."

Giving Bill's knee a teasing squeeze, she turns to Doc.

"Yeah, I like those much better than the mirrored -- "

A pause.

"Did you ride with an ... actual shotgun?"

It's possible she's never stopped to think about the origins of this particular phrase.

"No, I've never been fond of shotguns, personally."

He shakes his head.

"The guards on the stagecoaches will ride with 'em, but when I went into town with John, I took this old Sharps rifle that I had. Helluva gun - fifty-four caliber, black powder - even if it did kick like a mule."

And weighed as much as one.

He raises an eyebrow in Bill's direction.

"You holdin' out on me, Sheriff?"

He just gives a short laugh and shrug to what Kate says in a 'I'm guilty but not repentant' sort of way.

He listens to Doc, quite interested to hear how things are in the Old West and again laughs when Doc questions him.

"Not at all. Just teachin' by example."

"A bad one."

She's mostly failing to hide her smirk as she leans her head against the back window of the cab and closes her eyes.

He can tell Bill's interested - he leans against the closed window of the truck, shifting his body slightly to face him as he speaks.

"I went into town a lot. Tunstall had a store in Lincoln. Richard was the foreman of the ranch, he'd stay on and watch the stock, keep an eye on things there, and I'd make sure nothin' happened to the boss while he was away from the property."

"Am not."

Watching the road Bill glances at Doc occasionally, nodding while he talks.

"What town was it? Was it big?"

Obviously there was some danger there if Doc went along as escort.

Richard.

She recognizes the name; Doc had told her about him -- about how he'd died.

Her eyebrows lift a little and she opens her eyes, turning her head toward Doc.

"Not really, no. The store was in Lincoln," he says. "The ranch itself was a good twenty miles outside of town. That's a long way 'cross a lot of open land for one man to be goin' on his lonesome, especially when y'got enemies in the territory."

To further explain:

"Tunstall was competing with another rancher, Lawrence Murphy, for the government beef contact. The Murphy-Dolan boys didn't like the Tunstall company, and we didn't like them either, so it was...mutual, at least. Richard was the leader of us Regulators, he oversaw things when Tunstall was away, and I was the second, so I usually went with John. Just how it worked."

Bill remembers the talk that he and Doc had once about the gang, and how it should have been him to take over when Richard was killed. Doc had said he'd been a Regulator before Billy, but Bill didn't know he had actually been the second under Richard.

It should have been his gang.

Trying not to let his thoughts show he focuses on what else Doc is saying and tries to find the path in the conversation that won't lead it towards Tunstall's death.

"That is a pretty long ride. Y'all go into town a lot?"

"Few times a week, at most. To pick up the post, get supplies - though if it wasn't anything urgent, we'd just get what we needed on Sundays. We'd all ride in to town for church."

Or shindigs.

He doesn't go down that path either.

"Other than that we didn't really need to, we had most everything back on the ranch. Didn't want for much - had a bunkhouse with clean sheets, we took meals in the main house, made 'bout ten bucks a week."

"Ten dollars a week," Kate echoes, her mind already trying to convert that to an equivalent salary in her world in 2005.

"What kind of pay was that for the 1880s? If you don't mind me asking," she's quick to add. "You don't have to say if you don't want to."

Bill nods when his question is answered then waits for the reply to Kate's; curious himself about it.

He thinks a minute.

"Well...the only thing I can think to compare it to is the Pony Express. In the 1860's, they'd make twenty-five a week, but that was hard and dangerous work. You had to be young and skinny and they preferred you bein' an orphan so nobody would miss you if somethin' happened."

Then he shrugs a bit.

"It was fair pay, Tunstall was a good boss. Treated us like family, rather than just hired hands."

"And adding room and board to that makes it an even better arrangement."

She hooks a lock of hair behind one ear, her elbow brushing Bill's upper arm.

"The ranch must've been pretty big to handle a contract from the government."

"Not bad at all."

Bill nods in agreement with Kate, trying to adjust a bit to give her more room in the middle.

"How many were there workin' 'long with you?"

"There were originally five of us core boys. Myself, Richard," he shifts a little closer to the window, giving Kate as much space as he can. "Charlie, Steve, and Chavez."

A pause.

"John hired McKloskey right after we picked Billy up - literally, he drew on John and I while hidin' in a stock pen, he'd been runnin' from the Sheriff, rather'n have me shoot him we threw him in the back of the wagon and headed back t'the ranch. John had a thing for...hard cases, suppose you could say."

A smirk.

"Given that I tried to steal half his horse herd and he offered me a job, it wasn't surprising. There were others too, seasonal hands, but it was the core group'a seven that worked year round."

Bemused, "You guys, I don't need that much room."

A beat.

"Unless this is your way of telling me I'm fat."

As she listens to Doc, she quirks an eyebrow.

" -- how many horses is half a herd?"

"No, course not." Bill shakes his head, glancing at Doc.

"Just tryin' to make you comfortable is all. It's a bit of a tight fit. But, not 'cause you're fat. Just the truck is small... ish. That's all."

Realizing he's rambling like a fool he shifts his attention from her and focuses on passing a semi.

"Y'ain't," he adds, shaking his head. "Just makin' you comfortable."

He glances at Kate.

"Well, it depends on the size of the herd. I was tryin' to make off with twenty or so, at the time. He had horses on the side - cattle was his main business."

"I know," she says, dropping a quick kiss against Bill's shoulder and trying her best not to laugh outright at the twin reassurance.

~~Besides, Bill's hips are the widest in the cab~~.

Her eyes move to Doc again.

"Twenty? Were you trying to make off with all of them by yourself?"

He settles the truck back into the lane in front of the rig and gives a quick smile to Kate, glad to be reassured.

Glancing across at Doc he gives a look that says 'you didn't' but kind of has the feeling Doc actually did try and make off with that many horses on his own.

"I had one other fella helpin' me, he skinned out when we got caught. Never heard from him again, and I got myself a job outta the deal. Not a bad shake at all."

He gives a one shouldered shrug.

"Man'll git shot for bein' a horse thief in most parts. I was...I was fresh off ridin' with a gang outta Missoura, broke as hell and didn't really give a damn what happened. Tunstall gave me a second shot at things, I cleaned up my act..."

"And became the outlaw with a heart of gold," Kate finishes with a small smile, attempting brevity to keep the conversation (and Doc's memories) from slipping into talk of Tunstall's death.

"Too bad for him he lit out," Bill notes, wondering if what Doc says after happened to the other guy.

He smiles at Kate's words and nods.

"You sure did luck out, but you've come a long way since then, too."

"Yeah I have. I've been real lucky."

He reaches up and rubs the back of his neck lightly, smiling as he glances out the windshield and eyes the traffic - still not too heavy.

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