Sins of the Father (14 page)

ESS HAD WAITED FOR FIVE
hours before he spotted a rider off in a distance. He put his small fire out, swung up into the saddle, walked Gray out to the trail, and just waited. He took the scattergun out of its sling and laid it across his lap. He turned Gray at a ninety-degree angle across the trail so that the barrels of the scattergun faced the trail in the direction of the rider who was still about a mile off. As the rider came closer, Jess cocked both barrels. The man, Clint Underwood, finally spotted Jess blocking the trail. Underwood was a hired gun and he had heard that a man by the name of Rance Madden was paying well, so he decided to quit cattle rustling and go and work for Madden. He wondered if the man sitting in the middle of the trail was there to greet him or if the man was trouble. As Underwood got closer, he saw the scattergun and he removed the hammer strap from his pistol. He stopped about twenty feet or so from Jess.

“Mister, unless you own this trail, I expect you to move and let me pass on through,” said Underwood.
“What’s your name?” Jess asked.
“Clint Underwood, not that it’s any of your business.”
“I’m making it my business.”
Underwood looked Jess over trying to pick his memory to see if he knew this bold young man blocking the trail. He didn’t know who it was, but that mattered little to Underwood. Underwood had a bad temper with a disposition to match. “And just what business is that?”
“Rance Madden’s business.”
“Are you one of Madden’s men?”
“No. Are you?”
“What the hell business is it of yours if I am? Didn’t you hear my name the first time, boy? The name is Clint Underwood, and if you haven’t heard of me before, you should have.”
“I don’t know your name and I don’t really care. I’m only going to tell you one more time. Like I said, I’m making it my business. Now answer the question.”
Underwood’s temper was starting to show now. “You might have that scattergun pointed at me but you can still kiss my ass, boy. I ain’t telling you shit. What the hell do you think you’re going to do? Are you just going to open up with that scattergun without even giving a man a fair chance?”
Jess’ face hardened and Underwood could see the change. “Mister, I’m only going to ask you one more time and if you don’t answer, I’m going to assume that you are a hired gun and heading for the Madden ranch to join up with the rest of them. Now, for the last time, are you working for Rance Madden?”
“Like I said, I ain’t telling you shit.”
“Actually, you just did.”
Underwood seen it in Jess’ eyes but it was too late now. Jess fired both barrels of the scattergun at the same time and Underwood’s head disappeared. The headless corpse fell to the right side of his horse and Underwood’s right boot got caught in the stirrup. Underwood’s horse began walking down the trail and Jess moved to let the horse pass. He watched as Underwood’s body dragged on the ground, leaving a streak of blood in the dirt. Jess watched as the horse rounded a bend in the trail and was out of sight.
One more down,
Jess thought to himself.
Jess rode back to the spot where he had shot Galt Dixon and the other four men. He tied Gray up about two hundred feet into the woods, took his Sharps and his Winchester, and walked to the covered hole. He lifted the thatched cover that he had made, removed his hat, and dropped down into the hole. He didn’t have to wait very long. Only about two hours passed when Jess spotted two men coming from the direction of town. They were quite a ways off, probably about a thousand yards. Jess lifted the cover of his hole just enough to peek out with his telescope. He could see their faces enough to know that they were Madden’s men. He remembered seeing these two in the group of men who were standing around the body of the man Jess had shot with the Sharps from his hiding spot in the cave.
Jess put the telescope away, brought the Sharps up, and laid it on the ground, still keeping the thatched cover resting on his head. He waited until the two men were about one hundred yards off. Jess fired the Sharps and the man on the left flew back off his saddle. The other man, surprised at the loud boom of the Sharps and remembering the ambush that took place here the other day, turned his horse back toward town at a full gallop. Jess quickly put another round in and took careful aim at the man. The man was about two hundred yards off now and Jess knew that he would probably only have one good shot. He gently squeezed the trigger until the Sharps boomed again. The man flew forward towards the horse’s neck and then he fell off his horse and rolled a few times before he finally came to a halt. Jess retrieved Gray and rode over to the first man. He was dead. Then, he rode over to the second man who was lying face down but still breathing. Jess’ shot had hit him in the right side of his back. Jess rolled him over but not before making sure that the man’s pistol was still in its holster.
The man tried to speak but couldn’t. His eyes rolled back and forth and his mouth was moving but no sound was coming out. It was as though the man was having a conversation with someone who wasn’t there. Then, his breathing stopped and so did the movement of his eyes. Jess closed the dead man’s eyes, swung himself back up on Gray, and rode off in the direction of town. He figured that this ambush spot was no longer a good one so he abandoned it. He headed back to where he had stashed Sharps and then he rode up the slope and back into the cave. He figured the cave was only good for one more ambush before Madden’s men figured it out, so for now, he used it to check out the town some more.
He watched the town for the remainder of the day. He watched the movements of the men watching the jail. He watched the movement of Madden’s men coming and going from Jed’s Saloon and coming and going in and out of town. Jess noticed that all of Madden’s men came and went from the east. Thornton’s ranch was to the west and none of Madden’s men went that way. He tried to pick out Madden, but he couldn’t figure it out yet. Several times a man who seemed to be in charge came out and gave orders to the other men, but Jess didn’t know if it was Rance Madden or not.
Then he spotted Pattie just before it was almost too dark to see. She came out from the doctor’s office, walked back to Jed’s Saloon, and walked up the stairs to her little room. He knew what he had to do. He went back down and rode back to his spot where Sharps was and he moved down along the little stream. That would give the horses some more fresh grass to eat. Jess figured he would go out to Thornton’s in the morning, give his horses a break, and get them some good feed. He ate some cold beans and some stale biscuits. He longed for a hot meal, but he couldn’t afford to shoot any meat or cook anything for fear that he might be spotted.
He waited until about two o’clock in the morning and rode Gray to within one hundred yards of the edge of the woods. He tied off Gray and walked to the edge of the woods. He propped his Winchester against a tree and pulled out his telescope. He watched for about fifteen minutes but he didn’t see much movement. There was a guard posted outside each end of town and one on top of a building, and once in a while a man would come out of Jed’s Saloon, walk around town, and then return to the saloon. Jess waited until the man repeated his walk, and as soon as the man went back into the saloon, Jess slowly and carefully made his way behind the saloon. He worked his way to the stairs and quickly went up them and stooped down below the window of Pattie Nate’s room and tapped gently on the window. He heard footsteps coming towards the door and when he heard the footsteps stop at the door, he slowly stood up, his pistol in his hand.
Pattie almost screamed but she put her hands over her mouth before anything could come out. She quickly opened the door to let Jess in, and Jess quietly closed and locked the door and peeked out for a moment to see if anyone had seen or heard anything. Once he was satisfied that no one had seen him, he turned to Pattie who rushed forward and hugged him as if she would never let him go. He held her and she was shivering badly, but not from being cold. She was shivering with absolute fear.
Jess finally got her to let go and he sat her down on the bed, pulled the chair over, and sat in front of her. She lifted both of her hands and gently placed one on each side of Jess’ face. “Jess, I prayed that it was you killing Madden’s men. I can’t tell you how good it is to know that you are here. For awhile, I thought all hope was lost and that we would all be murdered by Madden,” she sobbed quietly.
“I headed here as soon as I got your message. Things are really bad the way I see it.”
“It’s worse than bad. Mark hasn’t come out of a coma yet and the Doc doesn’t think he ever will. He’s so weak and his breathing is sometimes erratic. Marshal Reedy and his men, along with Mark’s deputies, are still locked up over at the jail. They won’t let me feed them anything but bread and water, and Tex is still pretty bad, even though Madden has let me feed Tex some soup. I heard Madden say that when this was all over he was going to murder them all and bury them way out of town. What are we going to do?” she asked, as she put her hands in her lap, clenching and wringing them nervously.
“Well, I’ve been knocking off Madden’s men at a pretty good pace. I’ve lost count but I think I took out a dozen men so far.”
“Are you the one who shot one of Madden’s men the other day, out in the street? Was that you?”
“Yes, and I’m glad to hear it was one of Madden’s men. I couldn’t be certain when I took the shot. I was hoping I didn’t take down one of the townsfolk by mistake.”
“No, it was one of his men. None of the townsfolk stay in the street. They run from one place to the other and only when absolutely necessary. If you see any armed men in the street, you can be sure it’s one of Madden’s men. He won’t let any of the men in town who’s not working for, him wear or carry guns.”
“That’s good information that I can use. I need some more information. How many men does Madden have in town right now?”
“I’m not sure, I think about ten. He always has at least two men at the jail and three or four posted around town. He usually keeps four or five men downstairs in the saloon. They are all armed and most of them are seasoned gunmen.”
“Can you tell me how to pick out Rance Madden?”
“He’s a large man with a scar over his right eye and he wears the nicest pair of boots I’ve ever seen. He wears a dark brown hat and a black leather necktie.”
“Who is the man who slapped you on the side of your face the other day on the boardwalk?”
“You saw that?”
Jess put his head down as if in shame. “Yes, but I couldn’t do anything about it at the time, Pattie. I’m sorry, but I didn’t want to give away my hiding spot.”
Pattie took her right hand and lifted Jess’ face up. “Don’t you ever feel ashamed of that. At least you are still alive to help. I can take a little roughing up if that means protecting you and saving Mark.”
“Thanks Pattie, but I still want to know who did it.”
“That was that bastard Vernon Foster. He’s a real piece of work. He beats on women because he’s a coward. Madden keeps him around because he will do whatever Madden asks him to do. He’d shoot a man in the back but I don’t think he would face one down fair.”
“Well, you have my guarantee that he will pay for what he did to you.”
“Jess, are you going to try to get Reedy out of jail?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why?”
“Because he would probably arrest me for what I’ve been doing and prevent me from what I plan to do. He’s a U.S. marshal and he’s taken an oath to uphold the law, and what I’ve done so far isn’t what you would call following the law.”
“Yes, but these are desperate circumstances that require desperate measures. Don’t you think he would understand that?”
“He might, and maybe he would let me walk away for what I’ve done so far, but the minute he is out of jail with a gun in his hand, he’ll want to handle the situation his way and if I don’t listen to him, he’ll have me arrested for sure.”
“You’re going to need help soon. Madden has a dozen more men coming to town to work for him as hired guns. You can’t kill them all. Eventually, they will find you and kill you.”
Jess thought about it for a minute. “Maybe you’re right. Listen, why don’t you get dressed and come with me. I don’t think you’re safe here in town. I can take you out to Thornton’s ranch. I think I can get a few of Thornton’s men to help me break Reedy out of jail. At least that way, the town will have a chance.”
“I hate to leave Mark here with that madman, Madden.”
“Pattie, what do you think you can do anyway? Whatever Madden decides to do about Sheriff Steele can’t be changed by you staying here. The sheriff would tell you to leave if you had the chance, and you know it.”
She thought about it for a moment. “You’re right. You turn around and I’ll get dressed.”

“Let them come on in,” yelled out Henry Thornton from the window on the second floor of his ranch house. “I think it’s that young fellow that was here the other day.”

Jess and Pattie walked their horses up to Dana Stevens. Stevens was carrying a scattergun across his lap, but when he saw it was Jess, he relaxed. “Welcome back, Mr. Williams. Pattie, I’m surprised to see you here. What’s the news on the sheriff and the marshal?”

“Let’s talk about that in the house, with Mr. Thornton,” replied Pattie. “No sense in telling the tale twice.”

“I suppose not. Come on, I’m sure the boss is itching to find out what is happening.”
Jess and Pattie followed Stevens up to the house. Stumpy Watson grabbed the reins of Jess’ two horses and started walking them to the barn when Jess spoke.
“Stumpy, will you do me a favor?”
“Anything for you Mr. Williams, you just ask.”
“Those horses have had saddles on them since I last seen you and they haven’t had a good bucket of grain, either. Could you give them some good feed and brush them down for me?”
“I’ll dig into the best feed we got and I’ll brush them down like they was my own.”
“I sure appreciate it and so will they,” Jess replied as he headed into the house.
Thornton stood up when they walked into the kitchen. “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Williams. Pattie, this is a most pleasant surprise, indeed. I didn’t expect to see you visit my humble abode, but it’s nice to have a woman around for a change.”
“I’d like to say it’s a pleasure to visit but under the circumstances, I can’t. For all we know, Rance Madden is right behind us with a dozen hired killers ready to shoot every one of us.”
“I can’t argue with you on that. He attacked again the other night and tried to burn us out, but we were ready for him that time. We got four of his men and he got two of ours.”
“I heard the shooting that night. I got three more of Madden’s men as they rode back to town,” said Jess.
“Really? Does that mean that you’ve decided to take sides, Mr. Williams?”
“No, I just don’t like people like Madden who think they own the world, and please, call me Jess.”
“All right, but thanks for your help anyway. We sure need it.”
“You’ll be happy to know that I took out a dozen of Madden’s men so far since I saw you last, Mr. Thornton.”
Henry Thornton looked at Dana Stevens and Lemore Taft, who also walked into the kitchen and sat down. “That might explain why Madden hasn’t attacked again. He’s waiting for reinforcements for the men you killed. You say you killed
a dozen
of his men?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you’re still alive to talk about it?”
“I’m here, drinking your coffee and it doesn’t seem to be draining out anywhere.”
“I guess you
are
as good as they say.”
“One of the men I killed the day I left here was Galt Dixon.”
“Jesus Christ,” said Lemore Taft. “If Madden’s hiring the likes of Galt Dixon, we have a bigger problem than we thought. Dixon was one of the best. Did you face him down fair?”
“Nope, I just shot him along with four of Madden’s men who were riding with him,” replied Jess, as though it was nothing, which it was as far as Jess was concerned.
Lemore Taft was going to say something, but something inside him stopped him from saying it. He just stared at Jess with a puzzled look. Dana Stevens said nothing, but the look on his face was one of agreement in what Jess had done.
Thornton looked at Pattie Nate with a look of compassion. “Pattie, I never wanted any of this to happen. I did what the sheriff asked me to. I stayed on my land and let him handle it. I’m sorry that the sheriff was shot. How is he, by the way?”
Pattie hung her head. “For all I know, he might be dead. He hasn’t come out of the coma he’s been in for several days now and he’s getting weaker. Madden might have killed him by now because I left town. I don’t know but I’m scared.”
“How about the marshal and his deputies? What happened to them?”
“That’s why I came out here, Mr. Thornton,” interjected Jess. “Madden has them locked up in the jail. I’d like to borrow a few of your men and sneak into town and break them out.”
“How in the hell do you plan on doing that with Madden and his men being in town? You’ll just get yourself killed along with my men. I finally have a few more men to protect my property and I can’t afford to lose any of them.”
“Mr. Thornton, you can’t afford not to use them. If we don’t get the marshal and his deputies out, Madden will hire enough guns to finish you and everyone who stands in his way, and that will be the end of it. You can’t hire enough men to stop him, but with Marshal Reedy and his deputies, along with me and your men, maybe we’ll have a fighting chance but we have to act now. We can’t let Madden strengthen his forces and that is exactly what he’s doing. I found one of his hired guns heading for his ranch yesterday, so I know he’s got more men heading his way as we speak.”
“Are you talking about Galt Dixon?”
“No, it was another man who was riding alone.”
“Who was it?”
“He said his name was Clint Underwood.”
“So, where is he now?”
“I don’t know for sure. The last time I saw him, he was headless and being dragged by his horse.”
“How the hell did that happen?” asked Dana Stevens.
“It seems his face ran into a hail of buckshot from my scattergun.”
“I like your style, Mr. Williams,” replied Stevens.
“Well, you’re in the minority,” Jess replied. “Marshal Reedy would have probably arrested me by now.”
“Boss,” Stevens said, “I think we should help Jess here and go break the marshal out. I volunteer and I’m sure you’ll get a few more who will volunteer.”
“I’m in, too,” said Lemore Taft, “but on one condition.”
“What’s that?” asked Jess.
“That you don’t just plug me if you get pissed off.”
“Don’t worry about that. I won’t plug you unless you give me a reason to.”
“Well, that won’t happen, I can promise you that.”
“All right, let’s hear your plan,” said Thornton.
Jess and four of Thornton’s men headed out towards Timber at about midnight. They arrived at the wooded edge south of town in about two hours. The four men who went with Jess were Stumpy Watson, Lemore Taft, Dana Stevens and Lawrence Fields. Stumpy Watson and Lemore Taft circled around town to the east. Their job was to create a disturbance. Jess, Dana Stevens and Lawrence Fields stayed close to the jail waiting for the disturbance. They had four extra horses and four extra Winchesters with them. Jess had explained the plan to the men before they left the Thornton ranch. First, Stumpy and Lemore were to fire off a few rounds in the air. When they were done, they were to make their way back to the jail as quickly as they could. As soon as the shooting started, Jess figured that the men inside the jail would come out and Jess and Dana Stevens would be there. Dana was to cover the saloon and Jess would deal with the two men who would come out of the jail. If they didn’t come out, Jess would blow the door with his scattergun and go in. At the same instant as the shooting started, Lawrence Fields would hand the four Winchesters into the jail cell from the small barred window for Reedy and his men to use.
Stumpy Watson and Lemore Taft got to their position and began firing off a few rounds. A second later, Jess ran towards the front of the jail and Dana Stevens propped himself against the side of the jail wall, his Winchester aimed at the front door of Jed’s Saloon. Dana Stevens picked off one of Madden’s men as he ran up the street towards the saloon. The door of the jail flew open and Jess plugged the first man as he ran out to the porch. The man fell forward off the porch, and that’s when Jess saw another man going for the door to slam it shut. Jess heard a rifle shot ring out from inside the jail and the man fell forward hitting his head on the door.
Jess hollered to the inside of the jail as Dana Stevens and Lawrence Fields started firing off rounds in the direction of Jed’s Saloon. “Marshal Reedy, it’s Jess Williams! I’m coming in to unlock the cell, don’t fire!”
“Come on in. We won’t shoot,” a voice bellowed back.
Jess ran inside the door and found the keys to the cell hanging up behind the small desk. He threw the keys to Marshal Reedy, who quickly unlocked the cell he and the three deputies were in, and Buck unlocked the cell that Tex was in. As they were doing that, Jess was firing off his Winchester through one of the windows at the men in Jed’s Saloon. Within seconds, Frank Reedy and his three deputies were firing from the windows and the door of the jail. Dana Stevens had hit the guard on the top of the saloon and Jess had killed the man who had been on top of a building to his left.
“Marshal, we have horses for your men out back. As soon as our other two men get back, we plan to open up with scatterguns while they lay down rifle fire. That should hold them back until you get a start out of town. Me and Steven’s here will leave last and that will give you at least a two minute head start. Just make sure you don’t take the two horses that are tied to the small tree. Those are long horses and they will outrun any of the horses any of Madden’s men have.”
“Sounds like you planned this right down to every little detail,” replied Reedy, as he stopped to reload the Winchester.
“I’m kind of like that.”
“So I’ve learned.”
Reedy finished reloading and started firing again. Stumpy Watson and Lemore Taft returned from the other end of town, came from the back of the jail cell, and started firing as fast as they could. They had Madden and his men pinned down pretty good in the saloon. At the peak of the firing, Jess told them to get on their horses and ride out to the Thornton ranch. They did and that left Jess and Dana Stevens alone. They emptied their Winchesters and grabbed their scatterguns. They fired off one barrel at a time three times, taking turns, one shooting while the other man reloaded and then they ran behind the jail. Jess mounted Gray and Stevens jumped on Sharps and they spurred the horses into a dead run. It was silent for the first five minutes or so. Madden and his men were waiting to see if the shooting was over yet. They had taken over a hundred rounds in less than five minutes and lost two men in the saloon to the gunfire.
“Vernon, take a look outside,” hollered Madden.
Vernon Foster carefully worked his way towards the door of the saloon and peeked out. He saw the jail door wide open and a dead man on the porch of the jail. “They broke the marshal out of jail, boss. One of our men is lying dead on the boardwalk.”
“Jesus Christ! How in the hell could that happen? Get some men and go after them.”
“Boss, we already lost two men in here and probably three out there. We ain’t got enough men to go chasing after them in the night. Besides, they might have an ambush planned for us along the trail. I think we should wait until morning to decide what to do. Maybe some more men will show up tomorrow. We are getting a little short on men.”
Madden was so pissed he threw his rifle clear across the room. “When I find out who the hell did this, I’ll have him skinned in the middle of town and let him bake in the sun for all to see!”
Madden was mad as hell but he knew that Vernon Foster was right. He grabbed a bottle from behind the bar, sat down at his table, and poured himself a drink. After he had had several shots, he finally cooled down a little. “Vernon, get these bodies out of here and go assess the rest of the damage. Gilroy, ride out to the ranch and bring every available man back here. Leave two men there to feed the stock.” Foster went out to check the dead and Gilroy ran to the livery and saddled up and rode out of town.
Jess and Stevens rode like the wind. Gray had to jump over the dead guard that Madden had posted at the west end of town. Jess had snuck up and slit his throat with his bowie knife earlier.
“Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever ridden a horse that could run so damn fast,” exclaimed Stevens.
“Hang on to your hat because they don’t slow down none for a long time,” replied Jess.
It didn’t take them long to catch up with the other six men. They rode fast all the way to the Thornton ranch where Thornton’s men were waiting for them. They rode their horses straight into the barn and ran into the ranch house and took up positions at the windows waiting for any attack which might or might not happen. By now, it was past three o’clock and they waited until four in the morning before coming to the conclusion that Madden would not attack, at least, not tonight. They posted guards around the ranch property and finally relaxed…a little.