The RECKONING: A Jess Williams Western (14 page)

             
“Why thank you, Martha. I think you’re a fairly nice woman too. But I can’t leave town until Randy Hastings is dead. I’m not looking for a fight with anyone else. I didn’t ask for one last night. It wasn’t my choice.”

             
“There are two men dead, just the same.”

             
“They made an error in judgment.”

             
“And you won’t?”

             
“No.”

             
“How can you be so sure?”

             
“A good man knows his abilities.”

             
“Oh, and they didn’t?”

             
“That’s kind of obvious now, isn’t it.”

             
“And you do?”

             
“Yes.”

             
“It must be nice to be so sure of yourself.”

             
“It does help,” he replied flatly.

             
Martha turned and walked back into the kitchen. Jess finished his breakfast and headed out to the porch to sit. He wasn’t there more than five minutes when Billy walked across the street and up to him.

             
“I got your note about the horses. What should I tell the old man?” Billy asked, referring to the owner of the livery.

             
“Tell him to sell the one horse and saddle or to buy it himself,” he replied. “And tell him to take ten percent and not to even think about cheating me.”

             
“Okay,” Billy said as he turned away. He stopped suddenly and turned back to Jess. “What about the other horse?”

             
“Oh, that one’s yours to keep, Billy,” he replied. “You pick out which one you want. Every young man needs a horse and now you’ve got one.”

             
“Thanks Mr. Williams!” exclaimed a very excited Billy. “I never had me a horse. I don’t know how to thank you. Can I pay you something for him? I don’t have much money, but what I got, you can have.”

             
“Tell you what, Billy,” he replied. “You can pay me one silver dollar when I leave town. How’s that?”

             
“That’s just fine,” he replied keenly. “Wait till my ma finds out I got me a horse. She won’t believe it. Thanks again Mr. Williams.”

             
“Just don’t forget about our little secret,” he reminded Billy.

             
“I won’t. You can be sure of that,” he replied.

             
Billy headed back to the livery and Jess sat on the porch outside the hotel for a while. Then he went up to his room and took a little nap. As he lay there, he thought about Randy Hastings and what he and the other two men had done to his family. Whenever he had any doubts about what he was doing, he thought of his little sister Samantha lying with a bullet hole in her head and pictured his ma hanging in the doorway in a pool of drying blood. Whenever he thought of those things, he knew what he was doing was not only right, it was justified.

CHAPTER TEN

              Jess woke before daylight and headed down to the café in the hotel. Jess sat down just as Sheriff Manley walked in. He noticed Jess and sat at a table on the other side of the room. Martha finally came out of the kitchen and stopped by the sheriff’s table and took his order. Another man came in and sat next to Manley. Jess recognized the man as one of the men who played poker with Manley at the saloon. Martha walked up to Jess’s table and the normal smile was replaced with a frown.

             
“I guess you didn’t take my advice about leaving town while you’re still alive,” she said dryly.

             
“Guess not. I just couldn’t pass up another helping of those biscuits.”

             
“Biscuits ain’t worth dying for, no matter how good they are.”

             
“Some men have died for less.”

             
“You’re probably right,” she said. “None of it makes any sense to me no matter how much I try to understand it. I suppose it must be something that men just think they have to do.”

             
“Maybe so,” he said.

              “You want the same as yesterday?”

             
“You bet. And don’t hold back on those biscuits. I could eat a dozen of them,” he answered as Martha headed back into the kitchen. Jess thought for a minute and then got up and walked over to Sheriff Manley’s table.

             
“Sheriff, I’d like to come over and talk to you at your office later today,” said Jess. The sheriff waited a minute to look up at Jess. When he did, he had an odd look of both fear and anger on his face.

             
“Well, I suppose that would be okay,” replied Manley. “Say about noon?”

             
“Noon it is,” he agreed.

             
“Can I ask what this is about?”

             
“I’ll let you know when I see you there.”

             
Jess went back to his table to eat his breakfast. After that, he took a stroll around town again, stopping in to visit Billy and check on Gray. Then he went to his room to take a short nap. His eyes opened before the first knock. He had unconsciously heard the noise of footsteps while he was dozing. He had the double barreled shotgun up and ready before the knock on his door was finished.

             
“Who is it?” he asked.

             
“It’s Billy,” said a quiet voice. “Please open the door before anyone sees me.” Jess got up and slowly opened the door to let Billy in.

             
“Hastings came back,” said Billy nervously.

             
“When?”

             
“About ten minutes ago, but he left already.”

             
“He left?” asked Jess. “Why and where?”

             
“Well, he saw the horse you gave me,” he explained. He noticed it right away and asked about it. The old man told him what had happened and he got really mad when he found out you had killed his two friends. He took off for the Last “C” ranch. He told me to tell the sheriff that he’ll be coming back to town later today and if you’re still here, he was going to shoot you down like a dog. I’m really scared.”

             
“Don’t be,” he replied calmly. “I plan on seeing the sheriff today at noon. You go find the sheriff and tell him everything you just told me and then go back to work like nothing else happened. As far as anyone else is concerned, we never talked, okay?”

             
“Okay. But I’m still scared,” he said. “Are you sure you can take him? He’s pretty fast.”

             
“There’s not much I’m certain about in life Billy, but there is one thing I am sure of and that is before this day is over, Randy Hasting will be dead.” Billy nodded and headed out to find the sheriff like he was told.

             
Jess spent a few minutes getting his gear ready knowing he would probably leave town today after he killed Hastings. He walked down to the general store and picked up some supplies and packed his saddlebags. He noticed the townspeople staring at him and he knew it was because they knew what was about to happen. He headed over to the sheriff’s office to talk to Manley about the other two men he was hunting. Manley was sitting on the front porch in a chair when Jess arrived.

             
“Sheriff, do you have any information about Randy Hastings’s other two partners that he came to town with originally?” asked Jess.

             
“Not really,” replied Manley. “They didn’t stay long after they hit town. I heard Hastings say something about meeting them down in Red Rock, Texas, later.”

             
“You got any wanted posters on those two?” asked Jess.

             
“Don’t think so,” replied the sheriff.

             
“When is the last time you looked at any wanted posters?”

             
“Hell, I don’t know,” he answered agitatedly. It’s not like I keep a schedule to look at them,” retorted Sheriff Manley.

             
“Maybe you should.”

             
“Well maybe you outta…” the sheriff never finished what he was about to say after he saw the look in Jess’s eyes quickly change, a dark look coming forth.

             
“Here are some sketches of them I got from Sheriff Diggs over in Black Creek,” said Jess, as he reached into his front pocket and pulled out the two drawings. “Why don’t you take a look at any posters you have and see if any match up?”

             
“Ain’t you got something bigger to worry about?” the sheriff asked sarcastically.

             
“Like what?”

             
“Like getting shot dead this afternoon,” replied Manley. “You know, Hastings is just plain mean and he don’t fight fair. He’ll probably have some help with him. He didn’t ride out to the Last “C” ranch just to visit ‘cause he was lonely. He’ll most likely bring back a couple of toughs with him.”

             
“That’ll be his choice,” barked Jess. “They might even get me, but not before I get Hastings; you can bet on that.” The sheriff’s expression changed to more of a look of respect for Jess. It had been a long time since the sheriff had seen such confidence and tenacity; especially in someone so young.

             
“You sure got the gonads of a grown man, I’ll give you that,” admitted Manley. “You’d better hope that those gonads don’t get you killed.”

             
“You let me worry about that Sheriff.”

             
“Well, I’ll check my posters for you,” he replied. “You be on the lookout for trouble though, ‘cause it’s coming at you for sure.”

             
“I suppose so, but I’m ready,” he replied.

             
“I’ll just bet you are,” the sheriff replied, nodding his head.

             
Jess walked away and headed for the saloon. He figured that’s probably where Hastings would look for him when he returned to town. He took a seat at the table in the corner. He had a good view of the batwing doors and the street so he could see trouble coming early. Ray brought Jess a beer and sat it down on the table. Jess thanked him and took a long slow drink as Ray wiped up the table.

             
“What are you going to do when Hastings gets back in town later?” asked Ray.

             
“Kill him,” he replied candidly.

             
“I guess that’s one way of handling it.”

             
“I reckon it is.”

             
“He’ll probably have help with him.”

             
“I already figured as much. It’ll be their choice to throw in with him, not mine. Whoever does is going to die with him.”

             
“Well, good luck, Jess. I hope you get to ride out of here.”

             
“Me too, since I have two more men to hunt down after Hastings,” he said looking up at Ray with a determined look.

             
There were at least a dozen people in the bar. That was more than usual this early in the afternoon, but they knew that the show would soon begin. They heard about the gunfight between Jess and the other two men the other day and knew Jess was good enough to give Hastings a challenge. Jess had been sitting there for about two hours when all of a sudden a few more men rushed into the saloon. When they did, Jess could tell that trouble wasn’t far behind. He could tell by the way the men were looking at him. He stood up and walked over to the end of the bar by the wall so no one could get behind him. All of a sudden it got real quiet in the saloon. Jess removed his hammer strap from his pistol. He had a clear view of the swinging doors as well as the door at the other end of the bar going to the back of the saloon. He knew he would have to keep an eye on both doors.

             
Jess heard spurs jingling and footsteps coming up the stairs. A man wearing a six-shooter tied down low walked in and made his way to the opposite end of the bar. Jess noticed that the man had already removed his hammer strap. He was slightly heavyset and acted like he’d been drinking. He ordered a whiskey from the barkeep while keeping a close eye on Jess. Then, the moment Jess was waiting for finally happened. He heard footsteps this time, but no spurs. Jess stared at the man as he came through the door. He wanted to make sure who it was and he wanted it to be Randy Hastings. He wasn’t disappointed. He remembered the two pearl handled Colts that Hastings had been wearing on that fateful day he met him out on the road going into Black Creek, Kansas. He was still wearing the Colts, tied down tight and low on both legs. A flood of emotions hit Jess. He felt excitement, hatred, revenge and satisfaction all rolled up as one.