Joe leaned against the bar, sipping his beer.

‘ What are you doing in town this early?’ asked Bruno.

‘ Pa sent me to collect the mail from the stage. It ought to be here any time now. ‘

‘Hey, stage is here,’ someone called.

‘ See,’ said Joe, heading for the door.

As he approached the stage two beautiful young women stepped onto the sidewalk.

‘Allow me,’ said Joe , as he picked up two bags laying nearby.

As the three entered the hotel Joe asked the ladies if they would care to join him for a meal.

‘Oh, we’d love to Mr…er…?’

‘ Cartwright. Joe Cartwright ma’am.’

Well what happened next was astonishing to say the least.

One of the woman recoiled as if struck, the other became totally incoherent. You almost expected her head to do 360s and start spewing vomit.

Joe stood , completely mystified. He took a step forward, hand outstretched.

‘Don’t touch me! Don’t let him touch me!’ the women screamed hysterically.

Doc Martin just happened to be in the hotel. ‘Um…Joe, I think it would be best if you waited outside. They seem to find your presence… upsetting.’

Some time later Doc walked outside.

‘Doc, how are they?’ asked Heath.

"They’re both huddled on the floor crying hysterically, chanting I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die.’

He shook his head, ‘Seems they’ve heard of the Cartwright curse and when Joe offered to buy them dinner…’

‘ ALRIGHT!!! That means I’m in with a chance!’ Heath whooped.

Two strangers stood nearby, watching with interest.

#1 ‘Did you hear that.’

#2 ‘No, I wasn’t listening.’

#1 ‘The curse, the Cartwright Curse. Maybe we can use it to our advantage.’

#2 ‘Yeah! Maybe WE can have dinner with the girls,’ he grinned.

#1 ‘No, you idiot! Maybe we can use it to help us get some money.’

#2 ‘Hmm…I don’t get it. What do you have in mind?’

He listened carefully as #1 outlined his plan.

Later that day the two men walked into the Virginia City Bank which, as luck would have it, was staffed completely by females.

Both men wore balaclavas, ( They were ahead of their time)

#1: ‘ Hand over all your money.’

Teller: ‘I‘ve only got a dollar. We don’t get paid until next week’

#1: ‘Not YOUR money, the BANK’S money.’

Teller: ‘Oh sorry, but I thought you meant…’

#1: ‘Yeah, yeah, just give me the money.’

#2 : "Hey go easy. It wasn’t her fault. You DID say YOUR money.’

#1: Shook his head. ‘ Just give me THE MONEY.’

Teller: ‘I can’t. You don’t have an account here.’

#1: ‘Look…If you don’t give me all the money RIGHT NOW … you’ll be sorry.’

Teller: ‘ Okay… Here’s a bag too. It might make it easier to carry.’

As the robbers left the bank the girls were upstairs in their room.

They reached for their bags to unpack their belongings.

‘Those aren’t our bags.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘ I mean those bags do not belong to us, they belong to someone else. They’re not ours.’

‘ How can you be so sure?’

‘ Well…these bags are small…brown…there is a latch on the top…’

‘ Hmmm…so?’

‘ We didn’t bring any bags.’

‘Should we open them…you know, to see if we can find who they belong to?’

Opening the bags they found them full of money, stolen from the bank earlier that day.

A gunshot brought people running into the street.

The two beautiful young women from the stage were among the first to arrive.

A dying man lay face down in the horse trough.

‘Oh my God! Quick, get a doctor. This man has been shot!’

A man standing nearby shook his head sadly, ‘That is the doctor.’ He indicated the dead

man.

Roy walked into the bank .

‘Alright, calm down folks. Now tell me what happened here.’

He addressed the teller,

‘Could you see their faces ?’

‘No, they wore balaclavas.’

‘What were they wearing?’

‘Black, they both wore black.’

‘Can you tell me what they said?’

‘Exactly?’

‘Yes. Anything you can remember that might help.’

The teller thought for a minute then repeated verbatim,

‘Hand over your money.

Not YOUR money, the Bank’s money.

Just give me the money!

Hey go easy. It wasn’t her fault. You DID say YOUR money.

Look…if you don’t give me all the money RIGHT NOW… you’ll be sorry.’

Roy just shook his head, muttering under his breath.

‘What did you say?’ the teller asked.

‘Oh…um…I said it’s a shame you couldn’t recognise them.’

‘Oh, but I can. I saw them outside earlier today, when the stage was pulling out.’

Roy just stared in amazement.

‘Why didn’t you say something when I asked ?’

‘You asked if I saw their faces, which of course I couldn’t at the time. I mean, what with them wearing balaclavas and all. You didn’t ask me if I knew who they were.’

Toby, the stable boy, was mucking out the stables when he heard the gunshot.

Looking up he saw two men in black running towards the stable. Each man carried a small

brown bag with a latch near the top. Both bags were bulging.

‘What was that shot?’ asked Toby as the men entered the barn.

The two men exchanged glances.

‘ Some feller got himself shot.’

‘Is he hurt bad?’

‘I think he’s dead.’

With that, the men saddled their horses and rode out of town in such a hurry that they

left the bags behind.

Heath entered the jail where he found Roy and Doc engrossed in a game of chess.

When he saw Doc he froze, as if he’d seen a ghost.

‘Hey Heath,’ Roy greeted. ‘ What can I do for you?’

‘Doc…what…you’re DEAD!!! How can you be here?’

Doc shrugged, ‘ I got better.’

‘What do you mean. How…?’

‘I just followed the immortal words of…someone.’

‘What was that?’ asked Heath curiously.

He shrugged, ‘Physician, heal thy self. ‘

Curious, Toby picked up the two bags and moved them to a quiet, unoccupied

stall. Checking to see that no one was watching he opened the bags, finding

them full of money stolen from the bank earlier that day. Checking once more that he

hadn’t been seen, he quickly hid the bags under some straw in an empty stall.

Adam and Hoss were riding fence when they saw Heath riding towards them. He waved

to catch their attention then dismounted near a grove and waited for them to reach him.

‘Did you get the nails?’ asked Hoss.

‘Yeah,’ Heath pulled the package from his saddle bag.

Sitting under the shade of the tree Adam asked, ‘ Anything new in town?’

‘ Bank got robbed. A couple of strangers wearing balaclavas and dressed all in black just walked in there and took all the money.’

‘Has Roy got a posse together?’

‘ Nope he’s just playing cards with Doc.’

‘Who’s winning?’

‘Earlier Doc was dead in the water, but he had a new lease of life when I left town.’

The two girls stared at the money for several seconds.

‘Quick! Pack your bags and get everything together. We have to get out of here before anyone connects us with the robbery.’

Toby looked up as the beautiful young women entered the stable and hired a buggy.

Each women carried a small, brown bag with a latch near the top.

The two strangers rode quickly out of town. Following a pre-arranged plan they

headed for a small grove.

Slowing to a walk, #1 pointed. ‘ Look!’

Three horses were tied to a tree and three figures could be seen sitting in the

shade of the tree.

#2 ‘What are we gonna do?’

#1 ‘ We’ll leave the horses here. Let’s go the rest of the way on foot so they won’t

hear us.’

#2 ‘What about the bags? What’ll we do with them?’

Unsure who was in the grove, the men hid the bags in the brush where they left their

horses.

Dismounting, the two men advanced the rest of the way on foot.

Several concerned citizens burst into the sheriff’s office.

‘Damnit Roy! What are you going to do about them bank robbers?’

‘Yeah…They left the bank completely wiped out. The town can never survive

that kind of loss.’

Coming to his feet Roy raised his hands to calm them. ‘ No need for a posse.’

He grinned. ‘I’ve got the money right here.’ And with that he pulled two small brown

bags with a latch near the top from under his desk. Placing them on the desk for all to see he opened them. They were full of money stolen from the bank earlier that day.

The two beautiful young women sat in the shade of a tree in the grove. Between them lay

two small brown bags, each with a latch near the top. Both women looked up when they

heard someone approaching.

‘Did you get it ?’ they asked.

The strangers each held a small brown bag with a latch near the top. ‘ Got it right here,’

#1 smiled.

They rode off into the sunset and lived happily ever after.

Ben yawned, stretched and rubbed his eyes. It was all a dream.

THE END