Brother's Keeper (4 page)

“You leave Carter to me.”
“And how about his two dozen or so hired guns?” “I’ll deal with them also. Here’s all you need to worry

about. Have Tony from the livery come over and get my horse and tell him to take good care of him.” Jim nodded. “Good. Now, I need to buy some shotgun shells and I also want a couple boxes of .45 cartridges. I have a feeling that I’m going to need them before this is all over.”

“I got lots of ammo. I haven’t been selling much lately.”
“I’m going to take a little look around town and maybe pay a visit to the saloon.” Jess pulled the shotgun out of its back sling, checked it to make sure both barrels were loaded, checked his pa’s Colt .45 Peacemaker in the front of his belt along with his pistol and headed out the door.
“You watch your back, Jess,” said Jim, “they’ll be gunnin’ for you and before the day is through Carter will know you’re here, if he doesn’t already.” Jess looked back at Jim with a grin and replied in a very low voice, “I’m counting on it.”
Jess walked out and stayed on the boardwalk. He walked the entire length of the town on both sides of the street and behind every building in town. He checked for any ambush points including ones that he himself might be forced to use. He stopped in at Tony’s Livery. Tony was a big strapping hunk of a man. Some said he was so strong that he could bend the shoes for horses with his bare hands. Yet he was a gentle man and it was hard to rile him but once you did, you’d wish you had riled a grizzly bear watching over a new cub instead. Tony had been the one who had made the grave markers for Jess’ family and checked all the stock at the ranch the day his family was buried. Jess had worked for Tony before leaving Black Creek the last time and Tony had taught him some handto-hand fighting techniques, which Jess had not forgotten. Tony was a good man and Jess considered him a good friend and more importantly, a man you could count on when things got tough.
“Well, well, look who comes to visit me,” Tony said as he looked up and saw Jess standing in his doorway. Tony was in the middle of fitting a horse with some shoes and had been pounding out some metal and hadn’t heard Jess walk up. Jess shook his hand and Tony’s grip was like a vise.
“Hello, Tony. How have you been?”
“Just fine, but we sure have missed you, Jess. I know it’s been a while now but not a day goes by that I don’t think about…” Tony’s voice trailed off as he realized that it wasn’t all that long since that day. “I really miss your pa. He used to stop by and talk some with me whenever he came to town.”
“He told me you were the best smithy he’d ever met. He said you could do things with metal that most men couldn’t.”
“Well, I’ve heard that you can do things with that fancy pistol of yours that most men can’t,” Tony said, glancing down at Jess’ rig. “Sure is a pretty thing.”
“I’m not sure yet whether it’s a blessing or a curse though.”
“The way things are shaping up here in town, I’d call it a blessing.”
“I guess so. I trust you’ll take good care of Gray?”
“I’ll take care of him like he was my own. Jim brought him over about ten minutes ago. I already brushed him down and put him in a stall with some of my best feed. That’s one damn fine horse. I’m the one who sold him to your pa.”
Jess thanked Tony again and headed for the saloon. There had been several men who had been eyeing him up and down while he had strolled around town. He knew they were trouble and he knew that before the day ended he would be facing some of them and it wouldn’t be over a deck of cards in a friendly game of poker. He figured that he might as well get things started. He knew that most of these men wondered about his reputation and his plan was to capitalize on that. They wanted to test him and he was going to give them the chance to do exactly that. Afterwards, he would either be dead, or they would fear him more than the grim reaper himself. It might even cause some of Carter’s hired guns to just leave town rather than have to face him. It was one thing to walk away from a challenge and be labeled a coward forever. It was quite another to simply get on your horse for no particular reason and head out to the next town. Jess’ real problem though was that the best of the lot would stay. They were being paid the most and you get what you pay for. Jess figured that he would deal with that later. For now, it was time to thin out the herd.
Two men were standing across from the saloon when Jess walked through the doors. They stood there silently, watching him. Jess knew they were there and that they were watching every move that he made. He was watching them also although he wasn’t sure they knew it. He had already made a mental note of what they were carrying. Each of the two men wore a single six-shooter tied down tight and both had a full cartridge belt. The man on the left had a small knife tucked in his left boot. Jess had learned to notice such things quickly. The name of the saloon was Andy’s Saloon and there were at least a dozen men inside. Jess sized up the room quickly and calculated that there were about four men that he might have to deal with. Two of them were at the far right end of the bar, and two more sitting in a corner table with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses in front of them on the table. The place went silent for a moment when Jess walked in. He had already pulled the double-barrel 12-gauge out from its holster and had it in his left hand. He walked up to the left end of the bar, placed the shotgun on the bar, and ordered a beer. The chatter in the saloon slowly began to pick up again. He had the barrel of the shotgun pointed straight down the length of the bar towards the two men and he still had his left hand on it. He figured that if he needed to, he could use his left hand to trigger the double-barrel in their direction and still leave his right hand free to use his pistol on the two men at the table. The bartender, Andy, knew Jess and got him a glass of beer and placed it on the bar in front of Jess. Jess threw a dollar on the bar and Andy refused to take it.
“Beer’s on me, Jess. I used to serve your pa whenever he came in. He was a damn good man. He stood up for me one time when a couple of cowboys tried to give me a beatin’. I don’t forget things like that. I wasn’t here the day you shot Red, but I’m glad ya did it. I liked Sheriff Diggs. He was a fair man.”
“Thanks, Andy. I appreciate it, especially what you said about my pa. So, how much trouble do you think I’m really in here?”
Andy shook his head. “A whole lot more trouble than I’d care to be in. Old man Carter wants you dead real bad and the hired guns he’s got working for him want a piece of that reputation you seem to be building up so early in your life. I’d say that you’ve got at least six men in town right now who would plug you if they got the chance, and a couple of them are here right now, and at least eight or ten more out at Carter’s place that will eventually come for you. Hell, you give them half a chance and some of them would shoot you in the back when ya ain’t lookin’. If you’ve got a lick of sense in you, you’d get on your horse and ride out of town now while you’re still standing upright.”
“Can’t.”
“Why not?”
“My horse is tired.”
“Well, I’d shoot the damn horse and get me a new one,” replied Andy, a disgusted yet somewhat proud look on his face. “But since you’re stayin’, I’ll back ya with my double-barrel I keep down here under the bar. And if I can serve you a cup of coffee in the morning, I’ll consider you a lucky man.”
“Luck’s got nothing to do with it.” Jess leaned towards Andy and said in a real soft voice, “I’ll tell you what, Andy, I have the two at the end of the bar and the two over in the corner covered. If you need to use that double-barrel, cover anyone else in the place that has a mind to throw in, but I don’t think anyone else will.”
“You got it my friend.”
Jess sipped his beer and waited, knowing he wouldn’t have to wait very long. The two men at the bar were staring at him and they were talking quietly back and forth and laughing. Jess figured this was as good a time as any to get the show on the road and that’s exactly what this was going to be. He turned to the two men at the bar. They were both grungy looking men who looked like they had been on the trail for awhile, but neither of them looked to be real gunslingers. Jess still had the scattergun lying on the bar pointed in their direction and set for his left hand to grab it and trigger it, if needed. “You boy’s sure seem to be having a good time over there. Why don’t you let me in on the joke?” Both men turned to face Jess.
“Hell kid, you are the joke!” the larger of the two men said.
“Really? Me? Why, whatever do you mean?” Jess asked innocently.
“Hell,” the larger man spoke again, “Carter’s put up three thousand dollars on your head. Shit, my maggotriddled grandma would crawl her ugly ass out of her grave and back-shoot you to collect that kind of money. If that ain’t enough, there’s a few men in town who would shoot you just for your reputation and then there’s about a dozen more getting paid to shoot you and the first one to do it still gets the three thousand dollars of bounty on top of that. Now, I don’t know about you, Mister, but I find that funny. You’re going to be lucky to live till tomorrow.”
Jess took another sip of his beer and purposely took a minute before he replied, and when he did, he used his left hand to cock both barrels of the shotgun and looked straight into the eyes of the two men. “I have a question for the both of you. Do either of you want to try to collect that money?”
Everyone in the room stiffened. Jess figured that there was not a man alive that liked the sound of a 12-gauge scattergun being cocked and they liked it even less when it was being pointed in their direction. The two men certainly didn’t like it and the look on both of their faces told Jess everything he needed to know. They didn’t want any part of this. One of the two men who were sitting at the table slammed his glass down on the table. Not because he was done with it, and not because he wanted the bartender’s attention, he did it to attract Jess’ attention. Jess had been watching both of them out of the corner of his eyes. They didn’t want to be left out of this deal. After all, three thousand dollars was a whole lot of money just to kill one man.
“I know you two are there,” said Jess not even looking directly at them, which was somewhat of an insult in itself, “and if you want in, that’s entirely up to you.”
One of the two men sitting at the table stood up. The other man stayed in his seat. He was quiet and never looked up at Jess. Jess knew that this man was the more dangerous of the two and the one he had to worry about if he threw in. The way a man acted spoke the loudest and always said more than mere words ever could. “Just because you’re Jess Williams you think you can take four men at once?”
“The only thing better than killing two assholes in a saloon, is killing four assholes in a saloon at the same time. And, by the way, it wouldn’t be the first time.”
Jess could see the nervousness heighten in the two men at the bar. They could see that Jess was as calm as ever and they didn’t want any part of this no matter how much money it paid. They had heard of Jess’ reputation and while they weren’t the smartest two men in town, they were smart enough to know that dead men couldn’t spend money. Andy had his double-barrel cocked under the bar. He would throw in with Jess if it came to that.
“We ain’t having anything to do with this, Mister. You can count us out. We’ll be leaving town soon as we finish our beers.” Two men out, Jess thought to himself.
That left the two men at the table. The one was still standing and the other one, who was still seated, was now looking up at Jess. He seemed a little agitated at Jess’ remarks. “Mister, did you just call me an asshole?” he asked.
Jess took a drink of his beer and turned to face them directly. He let go of the shotgun on the bar. “I guess I did. However, if you’re not trying to collect the blood money on my head, then maybe I’m wrong.”
The man slowly stood up. This man was a gunslinger for sure. He had a six-gun in a low cut holster and tied down tight. Jess could sense this man was a killer. He spoke real quiet and sounded sure of himself. He was a confident man and that made him a very dangerous man. “I guess that makes me an asshole then, but I’ll be one with half of three thousand dollars.”
“No, you’ll be one with half of nothing,” Jess replied.
“How do you figure that?”
“Because you’ll be dead.”
“You sound awfully sure of yourself for such a young punk.”
“You’re about to find out if you plan on pulling that pistol.”
“You planning on using that double-barrel you got there?” asked the man who had stood up first.
Jess glanced at the shotgun. He knew that Andy had cocked his double-barrel. He had heard him cock it while he was talking with the other two men who were still standing at the bar. “No, I only use that when I’m dealing with four assholes. For two assholes I only need this,” Jess replied as he motioned his head down towards his pistol. “So, which one of you want to be first?”
Jess hardly had gotten the words out of his mouth when both men went for their guns almost simultaneously. The one on Jess’s right, the second man to stand up, was faster and Jess hit him with the first shot, square in the middle of the chest. He dropped to the floor. Jess fanned the second shot, which found the other mans stomach not more than a fraction of a second later. He stumbled backward and sat himself down in a chair, his gun dropping to the floor.
“You son of a bitch!” he yelled, “you gut shot me! I swear I’m gonna kill you for that!” Jess cocked his head slightly and smiled at the man. Then he stepped forward and picked up the man’s gun. “You’re going to need this, aren’t you?”
Jess handed the gun back to him. The man was literally dumb founded by this. Jess walked a few steps backward from the man and slowly put his pistol back in its holster. Andy and the two men at the bar were watching this but they couldn’t believe what Jess was doing. Andy raised the shotgun up above the bar just in case.
“Well,” Jess said, “I guess all you have to do is cock that hammer back and shoot me. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?” The man’s eyes went wild.
“You son of a bitch!” The man yelled as he pulled the hammer back to shoot Jess. He never got to pull the trigger. He never even heard the gunshot that killed him. Jess fanned the shot and hit the man right between the eyes. The man’s brains sprayed over onto the next table behind him and then he fell backwards in the chair, dead as the floor he landed on.
“Holy shit!” One of the two men at the bar said. “It’s time to get the hell out of this town.” The two men hurried out of the bar and headed for the livery. They got their horses and rode out but not before they told a few men about what they had just witnessed. Jess walked back to the bar and Andy got him a fresh beer.
“Well, that ought to slow them down a bit, now that they know you won’t hesitate. Those two were pretty good gunslingers. It won’t be more than an hour and everyone in town will know what happened.”