HELL HATH NO FURY (A Jess Williams western novel) (14 page)

             
“If I did decide to live here, which I haven’t decided yet, I’d have to find work first. That gold ain’t going to last forever, you know,” said Annie.

             
“Actually, I already have a job waiting for you if you want it,” replied Jess.

             
Annie shot Jess a glare. “Is there anything else haven’t you told me about yet?”

             
“That’s all of it, I promise,” retorted Jess.

             
“What job did you get me and where?”

             
“Jim and Sara need someone to manage their other store in town and I thought you’d be a perfect choice for the job and Jim already agreed to it.”

             
“If you keep any more secrets from me, I’ll shoot you in your behind instead of looking at it,” exclaimed Annie.

             
“I knew you were looking at it,” replied Jess, laughing a little.

             
Jess and Annie walked back to Jim and Sara’s house and found them already eating supper. “What in the hell took you so long, Jess?” asked Jim.

             
“Let them fix a plate of food first, Jim. Where are your manners?” asked Sara. Jess and Annie fixed themselves a plate of food and sat down at the big table. Annie poured a cup of coffee for the two of them and she refilled Jim’s cup, too.

             
“Why, thank you Annie,” said Jim.

             
“You’re welcome, Mr. Smythe,” replied Annie.

             
“Please call me Jim from now on.”

             
“Actually, he is the mayor of this town now,” said Jess.

             
“Really? Are you really the mayor?” Annie asked.

             
“Yes, but it ain’t all that important and no, you don’t have to call me mayor. I only use that title when doing official business and most of that is listening to a lot of whining about mostly nothing from citizens. Jess, are you going to tell me where you two went when you practically ran out of here and why you were gone so long?”

             
“We went out to the old abandoned mine that me and John Bodine used to attack that bunch of outlaws who were attacking the town a while back. I wanted to see what happened after we blew up the opening that overlooked their encampment. We found a whole lot of gold just lying around on the ground. We filled both of those saddlebags you gave me plus my regular saddlebag too. We already had Jameson put the gold in his safe over at the bank. We won’t know until tomorrow how much its worth, but it should be a lot. Me and Annie are going to split it up evenly,” replied Jess.

             
“Was there any gold left up there?” Jim asked.

             
“Yeah, there is still some in the ceiling and some embedded in the rocks that came down from the ceiling from the blast, but you’ll have to work at it with a pick and a hammer to get at it. If I were you, I’d go and file a claim for that old mine first thing in the morning, Jim,” replied Jess.

             
“Why don’t you file a claim for it and finish working it yourself? There might be a lot of gold left up there,” said Jim.

             
“We don’t have time for it and besides, we got enough gold out of there anyway. We still have to find Cliff Hunt and make him pay for what he did to Annie and her family and Ingrid Marsh, too,” replied Jess.

             
“That’s a relief, I thought finding all that gold would have changed your mind about finding Cliff Hunt,” said Annie.

             
“No amount of gold would keep me from finding him and making him pay for what he did to you ladies,” replied Jess.

             
Sara finally spoke. “Annie told us all about what this Cliff Hunt fellow did to your friend, Ingrid Marsh. I hope you make him pay dearly for what he did. You know how much I dislike violence, but any man who would do that to a woman deserves the most severe punishment someone can hand him.”

             
“Believe me Sara, it will surely be a bad day for him, I guarantee it,” said Jess.

             
“So are you two going to stay here tonight? I have two rooms upstairs and the two of you are always welcome to them,” said Sara.

             
“As a matter-of-fact, we might need them for two nights if that’s okay, we still need to wait for any information Sheriff Fowler might find out for us on the possible whereabouts of Cliff Hunt,” replied Jess.

             
“You two can stay as long as you want just as long as you stay in separate rooms,” said Sara, a tone of certainty in her voice.

             
“Well, don’t you worry about that,” interjected Annie.

             
Jess looked at her and she smiled a wide smile. “Don’t worry,” replied Jess, “I’d never get any sleep anyway. She’d just be yacking away all night.”

             
“Are you saying I talk too much?” asked Annie.

             
“Well, I’ll be damned, another mystery finally solved,” replied Jess, laughing. Annie started to respond, but Jim started laughing and then Sara and after that, even Annie was laughing.

             
All of a sudden, a young boy ran into the dining room. “Mr. Williams, Andy sent me to fetch you. He needs your help over at the saloon.”

             
Jess stood up and put his hat on. “I guess I’ll have to finish supper later. Annie, you stay here with Jim and Sara, you hear? Don’t you be coming into the saloon.”

             
“If you say so, but if it’s that scoundrel Cliff Hunt, you send that boy back here to get me, you promise me,” replied Annie.

             
“I promise,” replied Jess. On his way out the door he said quietly—“Damn, that was a little too easy.”

             
“I heard that!” Annie hollered back.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

              Jess walked past the sheriff’s office and noticed that it was locked up and empty. He glanced around the street and didn’t see Sheriff Fowler or either of his two deputies. He wanted the sheriff to go to Andy’s Saloon with him to see what was going on that would cause Andy to send for Jess instead of the sheriff or one of his deputies. Jess walked into the saloon and before he even went through the swinging doors, he heard a man hollering loudly and he sounded drunk because he was slurring his words very badly.

             
“Come on, someone in here must be willing to fight me! I’ll pay twenty dollars to anyone who can even land one punch on me!”

             
“Hardtack, get yer drunken ass out of here before I shoot you in yer ass with this here double barrel,” exclaimed Andy.

             
Jess walked in and up to the bar and ordered a glass of good whiskey. “Andy, why don’t you just shoot him in the ass and get it over with.”

             
“I’m about ready to, but I don’t like to shoot an unarmed man—unlike someone else I know,” replied Andy, referring to the time when Jess shot, or more likely, executed Deke Moore in the middle of the street after the fight with Dick Carter and his hired guns.

             
“Now you know he deserved what he got. He and the rest of that bunch rode into town to kill me and that was their last mistake,” replied Jess.

             
“I didn’t exactly say it was wrong, I’m just saying I couldn’t have done it,” retorted Andy.

             
“So, who the hell is this man and why is he trying to start a fight with someone?”

             
“His name is Hardtack Hammer and he is one of those professional boxers out of Durango, Colorado. He stops by here once or twice a year and always starts a fight with someone and then his handler there passes a hat around and collects donations from everyone in the bar to pay for his expenses. He’s so drunk now his handler can’t get him out of here ‘cause Hardtack is too drunk to even hear him,” explained Andy.

             
“That’s quite an interesting story. I’ve never met a professional boxer before and I’ve never been in a fistfight either; although, I have witnessed two men go at one another several times. I’ve always wondered about the sense of two men beating each other senseless over a woman or for a few dollars lost in a poker game,” replied Jess. “By the way, why didn’t you call for the sheriff instead of sending that boy to fetch me?” asked Jess.

             
“Sheriff Fowler and his two deputies are out rounding up some cattle rustlers who’s been stealing cows by the dozens at a large ranch just east of here. They’re probably hiding in the hills trying to catch them in the act,” replied Andy. “That’s why I sent for you.”

             
“Well I’m sure as hell not going to get into any fistfight with him or anyone else for that matter,” replied Jess. “I don’t rightly know what you want me to do.”

             
“I don’t exactly know either, but I just figured you’d know how to handle it,” replied Andy.

             
“Come on, ain’t there just one man in here that has enough gonads to take a shot at me? You all look like a bunch of scaredy-cats!” Hardtack hollered in a slurred voice. Finally one of the men in the bar who had also been drinking a little too much had enough of Hardtack’s insults and he got up off his chair and removed his six-shooter. He looked to be about six-foot three and two hundred pounds of hardened muscle.

             
“That’s it! I’ve had enough of your boisterous insults you drunken fool. I’m going to shut that pie hole of yours for the rest of the night!” the man even took off his shirt exposing his chest and he did indeed have some huge muscles.

             
“It’s about damn time someone found some gonads in this here place,” replied Hardtack. “Come on over here in the center of the saloon and let’s see what you’ve got.”

             
The other man walked to the center of the saloon and Hardtack’s handler quickly got up and took off his hat, ready to pass it around after the fight for any donations he could get. Hardtack and the other man squared off and they were both staring at one another and clenching their fists over and over again.

             
“Well, this should be interesting,” Jess said to Andy.

             
“It might be interesting, but it won’t last but a minute,” replied Andy. “Hardtack is one hard case and he’ll knock that man out in the first thirty seconds.”

             
“Really, would you like to bet on it?” asked Jess.

             
“Sure, I’ll take your money,” replied Andy. “How about five dollars?”

             
“That sounds fine with me,” replied Jess. They both put their money on the bar.

             
Hardtack was circling the other man and the other man tried to punch Hardtack in the face with his left fist, but Hardtack stepped to the inside and blocked the punch with his right hand and threw a left hook that could have knocked out a horse. The other man’s eyes rolled upwards, and Hardtack hit him with a straight right hand, knocking the man backward and flat onto the floor unconscious. Everyone in the saloon was cheering and the handler was passing the hat around and when he got to Jess, Jess waved him away. Andy quickly took the ten dollars off the top of the bar.

             
“Nice doin’ business with ya,” exclaimed Andy, as he pocketed the money.

             
Hardtack downed another whiskey and his handler tried to get him to leave the saloon, but Hardtack was having nothing to do with it. The handler collected only about ten dollars so Hardtack figured he needed one more challenger for the night. He noticed that Jess was the only one in the saloon who didn’t put money into the hat so he turned his attention toward Jess.

             
“Hey Mister, why didn’t you put a little something in the hat for me? Didn’t you like the fight?” asked Hardtack.

             
“I don’t see much sense in men beating on one another for money,” replied Jess.

             
“You mean you’ve never been in a fistfight with another man before?”

             
“Nope, never had a reason to do so,” replied Jess.

             
“Well then, what do you do when another man challenges you to a duel?”

             
“I usually end up shooting the other man with this here pistol,” replied Jess, tapping his pistol on his hip and removing his hammer strap.

             
Hardtack slammed back another shot of whiskey. “I think it’s time you finally have your first fistfight and I think it should be with me.”

             
“That’s not going to happen,” replied Jess, taking a sip of his whiskey.