Brother's Keeper (23 page)

ANLEY AND
J
ESS WOKE TO A
cool breeze and light rain. Jess had to work to get the fire going. He scrounged around some trees to get

Hanley.
“I agree. I think once this is all over; I’ll head south
until it gets warm enough.”
“Hell, you might have to go into Mexico to do that.” “If that’s where it’s warm, then that’s where I’m
going.”
Hanley laughed. “If I had a lick of sense, I’d join
you.”
Jess thought about that for a moment. He liked Hanley
okay but he liked to ride alone most of the time. He didn’t
want to start relying on someone else. He was in a very
dangerous business and the only person he could fully trust
was himself. He hoped Hanley wasn’t serious and didn’t
think he should say anything unless it came up again. He
threw what was left of his coffee into the fire. “I suppose
it’s time to break camp and head into town. No sense in
putting off what is going to happen eventually?”
Hanley nodded in agreement. “I guess not, not that I
want this to happen. I wish you would just ride on down to
Mexico and enjoy the weather and the women, but I know
you ain’t going to do that until this thing between you and
your brother is finished.”
“You are right about that, except for the women part,”
Jess replied.
“What, you don’t like women?”
Jess thought for a moment as he finished saddling
Gray. “I guess I probably would but there is no place in my
life or line of work for women. They will surely take your
mind off other matters and that’s when someone will put a
bullet in you. That’s not going to happen to me. I’ll leave
the women to you.”
“Hell, I like that idea even better.”
They mounted up and headed towards the town of
Black Creek, Kansas. Hanley was riding to the right side
of Jess. He kept looking at the pistol that was firmly held
in its holster by a leather strap. Hanley had noticed that the
hammer went straight up instead of curving back like most
pistols and the strap had to be tight. He had also noticed
that Jess, in what he believed to be a somewhat
unconscious move, was always testing the strap and
making sure it was firmly on the hammer. If not, it would
fall out of the holster too easily since the holster didn’t
hold the gun in like most holsters. Of course, what Hanley
had noticed most of all was when Jess would walk away
from camp every night and spend some time practicing
with the pistol.
“That sure is an unusual pistol and holster, that’s for
sure,” said Hanley.
Jess looked down and checked the leather strap again.
“It sure is, and I’m lucky that I have it. I can’t explain it,
but the gun almost forces you to draw it differently and because of the way it was put together, you can do things with it you couldn’t do with any other gun I’ve seen. I don’t know who made this thing but whoever it was sure
knew what he was doing.”
“I know one thing for sure,” said Hanley, “you can
snake that thing out of the holster quicker than anything
I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some fast gunmen.” Jess smiled. “So, you’ve been watching me practice,
huh?” asked Jess, knowing all along that Hanley would
watch Jess when he spent his practice time, usually right
after supper.
“It’s hard not to watch a master at his trade.” Jess actually laughed out loud at that. “I don’t think
anyone has ever called me a master yet. I’m not sure that’s
true but I am pretty good with it.”
“You can call it what you want young Mr. Williams, a
shootist, an expert, a gunslinger, or whatever description
you want to use to describe your ability with that thing.
Maybe unnatural would be the best description for it, but
you are most likely the fastest man alive on the draw. And
not just that either; that thing you do with thumbing that
first shot and then fanning the next few shots is—well,
unnatural. I saw it, but if I told someone about it, I believe
they would call me a liar right to my face.”
“Well, I did once have a preacher say something like
that to me. Maybe it is unnatural, but whatever it is, I’m
thankful for it. It will help me accomplish what I want to
do with my life.”
“And that is?”
“Kill as many bad men as I can.”
Hanley shook his head but not in a bad way. “Bounty
hunting is a dangerous business, but I think you’ve taken it
to a whole different level than most men.”
“You are most likely right about that.”
“You know what else I’m right about?” asked Hanley. “What?”
“I think your brother is in a whole heap of trouble.” Jess didn’t respond right away. Hanley could see that
he was thinking something through in his head. When he
did respond, his voice had a tone of determination in it. “I
do believe you are right, Mr. Hanley.” They rode the rest
of the way in silence.
Hanley suggested that since the Hardin ranch was
right along their trail that they stop there to freshen up and
get any information on what was going on with Sloan. Jess
agreed. They rode up to the Hardin ranch and they were
greeted by a few of the ranch hands. Cal Hardin walked
out of the ranch house and motioned for them to come
inside. Both Jess and Hanley walked up on the large porch
that surrounded three sides of the house. They all
exchanged handshakes and went into the house and sat
down at a large wooden table.
Cal Hardin was the first to speak. “Woman, get some
coffee poured for these men!”
Cal’s wife got busy, not in any mood for another
argument with her husband. She kept staring at Jess
though, trying to figure out how to feel about this young
man. She still feared him and yet she still could not
understand why. Maybe it was simply because she knew
that he had killed so many men at such an early age or
maybe it was because he looked so similar to his brother,
Tim Sloan. She did not like Sloan one bit. She could sense
that he was an evil man and maybe she figured since they
were brothers, that they both had some evil in them. Yet,
she could sense no evil in this young man sitting at her
table. She could see hardness in Jess’ eyes but she also
sensed good in him at the same time. She placed some cornbread and some butter on the table and filled the cups
with coffee.
“That will do,” quipped Cal, “leave us alone for now
and if we need anything else, I’ll let you know.” She
walked out of the kitchen and went upstairs. Jess was the
first to speak.
“Mr. Hardin, is my brother in town right now?” Hardin hung his head a little, still somewhat ashamed
of his part in this whole thing, although he was trying to
make it as right as he could. “Yes. I’ve had men watching
him around the clock. I felt it was the least I could do since
I’m the one who agreed to hold the blood money on your
head. I hope you can accept my apology for it, but when a
man owes another man a favor, I believe in granting it.” “Yet you sent Mr. Hanley out to find me and warn me.
Doesn’t that kind of go against what you promised Carter
you would do?”
“I suppose so, to some degree. I’m trying to justify
that myself, but I simply could not stand by and let it
happen without trying to warn you. Maybe I was wrong to
agree to hold the money in the first place but that’s behind
us now. I think what’s important is what happens next.” “What happens next is I go into town and face my
brother. I have a few questions I want to ask him.” “Your brother ain’t here to answer any questions. He
just wants to kill you and come and collect the ten
thousand dollars I’m holding.”
“I know that, but first things first. Besides, it’s not him
who is going to control the event.”
“You think you’re that good with that pistol you
have?” Hardin asked, nodding at Jess’ pistol.
It was then that Hanley, who had been silent so far,
entered the conversation. “Oh yeah, he’s that good and a
whole lot more. I’ve had the pleasure of watching him work with that thing and I can tell you that he can draw faster than anyone I’ve ever seen and he doesn’t miss what he’s aiming at either. I watched Sloan draw on a man and he ain’t half as fast as Jess here is.” Hanley said it as if he
was proud to be the one to say it.
“Well, you’ll have to be good,” said Hardin. “One of
my men watched him kill a man in Andy’s Saloon. Your
brother is pretty good with a gun but the worst thing is that
he has no regard for another mans life. In my book, that
makes him a very dangerous man.”
“Mr. Hardin, I know one thing for sure. If my brother
is what I think he is, even if he gets me, he is going to die
doing it,” Jess replied. Hardin and Hanley both believed
him.
Hardin figured this was a good time to give Jess some
more bad news. “You have another problem facing you
when you get to town.”
“What is that?”
“There is a man by the name of Randolph Jackson in
town. He’s looking for you too.”
“He wouldn’t happen to be the brother of Nevada
Jackson, would he?”
“I don’t know.”
“I kind of figured that was going to happen sooner or
later, but I didn’t know when.”
“The way I heard it, Jackson is going to let you and
your brother go at it, and if your brother doesn’t take you,
Jackson will step in next.”
“Yes, and he ain’t forgot who shot his only brother.” “The timing sure could be better but I’ll just have to
deal with it,” said Jess, almost casually. “I do have a
question for you though. I’d like to ask you about those
two very fine horses you own out there. What is the chance
I could buy one of them from you?” asked Jess.
“Not a chance in hell,” replied Hardin. “But I will be
honored if you would accept them both as a peace offering
for my involvement in this matter.”
Jess’ frown quickly turned to a grin. “I guess that
makes us even then, but I only asked for one.”
Hardin looked at him with a grin. “Hell, that
packhorse would never survive the run either of those two
long horses would give him. He’d drop dead in his tracks
and either of those two horses would keep on running long
and hard. If you plan on staying with a packhorse, you’ll
need the both of them. I won’t change my mind and that’s
the end of it.”
Jess reached out and shook Cal Hardin’s hand. “I’ll
take good care of them, you can be sure of that.” Hardin
finally began to feel a little better about things.
“Well,” said Jess, “no sense putting off what’s going
to eventually happen anyway.” He stood up and shook
hands with Cal Hardin and thanked him for the horses
again. “I’ll come back and get them after this is all over.” “You won’t have to. I want Hanley to ride to town
with you. That way he can report back to me. He can leave
both horses at the livery for you.”
“That’s mighty nice of you, Mr. Hardin. Hanley was
right about you when he told me you were a fair man.” “One more thing,” said Hardin, as he handed Jess an
envelope filled with money. “Here is the ten thousand
dollars from Carter that I’ve been holding. My deal with
the devil is over with. I guess if your brother’s good
enough, he can take the money from you himself. If not, I
believe the money belongs to you.”
Jess took the envelope and looked at Hardin with a
new look of respect. “I don’t figure that I could ask
anything more of you, Mr. Hardin, and that’s a fact.” Jess and Hanley mounted up and headed into Black
Creek. Hanley could sense the change in Jess as they rode.
He could feel the impending doom that was about to
happen. Two brothers facing one another and one would
surely kill the other before it was over. Hanley was pretty
sure who was going to be lying in the dirt when it was
over.
Tony was working on the front hoof of a horse when
he noticed two riders coming into town. He stopped what
he was doing and was wiping his hands off when he
noticed who one of the riders was. It was Jess. He felt
good and bad all at the same time. Jess and Hanley rode up
to Tony and dismounted. Tony gave Jess a firm handshake. “I’m usually glad to see you come back to town, but
I’m not so sure this time.”
“Under the circumstances, I can understand why,”
replied Jess.
“So, you know your brother is here and looking to put
a bullet in you for money?”
“Yes, I know the whole story now, even the part about
Nevada Jackson’s brother being in town also.”
“You just seem to draw the worst of the lot, don’t
you?”
“I think it’s my wonderful personality that does it.” Tony laughed and looked at Jess’ pistol. “I think it’s
that thing you got strapped around your waist that does
most of it,” Tony said, as he looked at the two fine horses
that Hanley had brought to town. “Damn fine animals,”
exclaimed Tony as he looked them over, running his hands
up and down the two horses, checking their teeth and
hoofs. Must be long horses I suspect?”
“They belonged to Cal Hardin until today,” said
Hanley. “He gave the both of them to Jess here as a peace
offering.”
Tony frowned at the mention of Cal Hardin’s name
and looked over at Jess. “Is that his way of saying he’s
sorry?”
“Maybe,” Jess replied, “but he really didn’t cause this,
Carter did. I don’t have any problems with Hardin. My
problem is with my brother and I’m about to deal with that
shortly. Tony, I trust you will take care of my two new fine
horses?”
“I’ll be glad to. What are you going to do with Gray?
He’s still a good horse although he ain’t getting any
younger.”
“I was hoping that you would take him for me. Ride
him once in a while to work him but mostly just let him
relax. I trust you won’t sell him to anyone?”
“I’ll keep him right here. Anytime you come back to
town, he’ll be here waiting for a visit. What about the
packhorse?” Jess looked at the packhorse. He was a good
horse but nothing compared to the two that Hardin had
given him. “You can sell him and put it towards my livery
fees, which you seem to keep forgetting to collect from
me.”
Tony grinned. “I guess that’s fair enough.” Jess nodded as if they had an unwritten agreement.
Then Jess’ mood changed as he gave Tony the look that
Tony had seen all too often before. “Tony, I suppose my
brother is over at Andy’s?”
Tony frowned, knowing that something was about to
happen and he knew from experience that it would not be
something good. “Yep, and I’m going over there with you.
Andy and I will make sure things go fairly for you, I
promise you that.”
Jess checked both his pistol and his pa’s Peacemaker.
“How are Jim and Sara, Tony?”
“Fine, but scared clean out of their wits. They ain’t