HELL HATH NO FURY (A Jess Williams western novel) (3 page)

             
“Lady, what in the hell are you doing roaming around out here at night,” asked Jess.

             
“My name is Annie McCracken, not
lady,
” retorted Annie, a smart tone in her voice.

             
“Well Annie, don’t forget I’m the one still holding my gun and it’s pointed straight at you so I would suggest that you stop getting smart with me. Why were you trying to sneak up on my camp? Are you trying to collect the blood bounty on my head because if you are, it has been cancelled so you’d be wasting your time and just end up getting shot,” replied Jess.

             
Annie McCracken had been looking Jess over while she was talking with him and she finally recognized him “Hey, I know who you are. You’re that Jess Williams fellow, the great and infamous bounty hunter I keep reading about. You’re pretty famous around these here parts and all the way down to the Texas area. I’ve been reading all about you in those dime novels lately.”

             
“Don’t believe everything you read in those dime novels,” replied Jess.

             
“So, what they say about you ain’t true?”

             
“Oh it’s true, they just left some things out,” replied Jess. “Now, before I holster this gun, I still want an answer as to why you were trying to sneak up on me.”

             
Annie calmed down now and looked at the coffee pot. “Mr. Williams, let me sit down and have a cup of coffee and I’ll tell you why I was sneaking into your camp.”

             
“Okay, but give me your pistol first,” replied Jess.

             
Annie hesitated, not wanting to be unarmed out in the wild with a man that she only knew from what she read in the dime novels, but she felt safe enough to hand over her pistol. She slowly removed her it and handed it over to Jess. Jess holstered his pistol, but she noticed that he still left the hammer strap off. Jess poured them both a cup of coffee and they sat down on the ground.

             
“Alright,” said Jess, “let’s hear it.”

             
“Well, the reason I was sneaking up on your camp is I’m looking for the two men who murdered my father. I thought you might be one of them. I didn’t know it was you in the camp. Then, my left leg hit a string and it was tied to cans with rocks in them and when they rattled, I knew I was caught. Who the hell does that?

             
“The kind of man who ain’t going to get ambushed, that’s who,” replied Jess. “Now finish up with your story.”

             
“Okay. These two men murdered my father about two years ago. He wasn’t even armed because he didn’t even know how to shoot a pistol. After they killed him, they both had their way with my mother and then they had their way with me. It was a horrible thing to go through and I will never forget their faces if I live to be an old hag. Well, after it happened, my mother and I tried to get the town sheriff to go and find the men who did it, but he didn’t do a thing. After a few months passed, I decided that if no one else was going to do something about, I would. I worked in town doing every odd job I could to make enough money to buy that pistol and this holster. Then, I practiced with it every day until I got real good with it. I left home and I’ve been on the hunt for those two for over six months now, but I haven’t been able to find either one of them. So, that’s why I’m out here in the wild roaming from one town to the next and I’m not going to stop until I kill both of those bastards.”

             
Jess filled both of their cups up again with coffee. “Well, that is some story and it’s a familiar one too. My family was also brutally murdered and that’s what led me to the path that I’m on. I found the three men who killed my family and then just kept on killing every bad man I could find and there sure is no shortage of them.”

             
“I know that fact to be true. I’ve been beaten, robbed and thrown out of a dozen saloons so far. I’ve been run out of town by some town sheriffs and even locked up for a week once, just for wearing a six-shooter and going into saloons looking for those two men. It hasn’t been an easy time for me being a woman and all.”

             
“I can imagine. Well, I guess you can have your gun back now, but don’t you get any ideas about trying to use it,” said Jess, as he handed her gun back to her.

             
“I’m not a stupid woman and now that I know who you are, there is no way I’d try anything like that because I most likely would end up dead.”

             
“You’re most likely right about that,” replied Jess. “So, who are these men who killed your father and raped you and your mother?”

             
“Their names are Cliff Hunt and Darrel Clemmon. I’ve been chasing them around for a long time, but I just don’t seem to be able to find them anywhere,” replied Annie.

             
“Men like that move around a lot and for all you know, someone else might have dispatched them to the hereafter already. They might even be in a jail or a prison somewhere or even down in Mexico for all you know,” said Jess.

             
“I suppose so, but I won’t stop looking for them until I either find their graves or find them locked up somewhere.”

             
“Well Annie, I’d like to help you out, but I’m on my way to Buckley, Kansas right now. I’m hunting down a man by the name of Darin Lovett for his offenses and also for the bounty that he has on his head,” said Jess.

             
“I was heading there too when I saw the flames from your fire. Can I ride with you to Buckley?”

             
Jess thought about it for a moment. He felt bad about what had happened to Annie McCracken and her family. “I guess it won’t hurt any, but don’t get in my way especially if I find Darin Lovett there.”

             
“You’ve got yourself a deal, Mr. Williams,” replied Annie, “I can’t think of anyone else I’d feel safer riding with.”

             
Annie went and retrieved her horse and Jess fixed the cans Annie had tripped over. Annie laid her bedroll down on the other side of the fire. Jess fixed her some beans and some pan bread, which she devoured along with another pot of coffee. They both retired for the night and Annie had the first restful night of sleep in a long time. In the morning, Annie woke to find Jess already making a pot of coffee and he was cooking up some flapjacks in a skillet. They both ate in silence and mounted up and headed for Buckley.

XXX

              Jess and Annie rode into Buckley, Kansas in the late afternoon. They stabled their horses and Jess found a hotel and got two rooms for the night. He told Annie to go ahead and clean up while he went to the sheriff’s office. She gladly obliged him since she had not stayed in a hotel for months. She had pretty much lived on the trail and bathed in lakes and rivers wherever she could.

             
Jess found the sheriff’s office only to see it padlocked. There was a notice on the door informing anyone who came there that the sheriff’s position was open due to the death of the previous sheriff. He walked back to the hotel and took himself a hot bath and then knocked on Annie’s door.

             
She opened it and she looked lovely and smelled even better. She was probably the prettiest woman Jess had ever laid eyes on and even the fact that she was wearing a six-shooter didn’t distract from that.

             
“Well, don’t you look just dandy,” said Jess. “I found a small café where we can get a meal if you’re interested.”

             
“I’d love to, but I’m plum out of money, Mr. Williams,” replied Annie, the embarrassment making her lower her head a little.

             
Jess used his left index finger to gently push her chin up a little to look her in the eyes. “I’ve got more money than I need so everything’s on me while we’re together, but there is one catch.”

             
“Don’t you get any ideas, Mr. Williams,” replied Annie, her long standing self-protection mode kicking in after what had happened to her.

             
“Oh, no, that’s not what I was getting at,” exclaimed Jess. “I was only going to say that from now on, you have to agree to call me by my first name, Jess.”

             
“So, then you’re saying that I’m not pretty enough for you?” retorted Annie, her self-esteem now getting the better of her self-protection mode.

             
Jess looked at her confused. “Actually, I think you are a very lovely and beautiful woman, but I usually don’t get involved with women in my line of work and besides, after what you’ve been through, I figured you wouldn’t cotton to any man’s advances.”

             
“Boy, have you got a lot to learn about women, Jess,” replied Annie, as she pushed him toward the stairway leading down to the lobby.

             
“I’m already regretting the decision I made last night,” said Jess, low enough that she couldn’t make out exactly what he said.

             
“What was that?” asked Annie

             
“I didn’t say anything,” replied Jess.

             
“Yes you did, I heard you say something, I just couldn’t make it out,” insisted Annie.

             
Jess stopped before they walked out of the lobby of the hotel. “You know what, in the words of my good friend John Bodine, you are a contradiction in terms.”

             
“I’m not sure what that means, but I don’t think it’s anything good.”

             
“Well, let’s hope the food at the café is good and leave it at that. Now, are you going to keep yacking or are we going to go and eat because I’m starving.”

             
“Let’s go and remember, you said you were buying.”

             
“I think I’m going to start calling you John,” said Jess, shaking his head.

             
“Now what does that mean?” Annie insisted. Jess didn’t say a word. He simply walked out and headed for the small café.

             
The café did in fact have some very good food and the both of them filled up and washed it down with some coffee. The waitress brought them the bill and Jess picked it up and handed the waitress ten dollars. The waitress had been looking over Annie, wondering what a women was doing wearing a six-shooter, but she knew better than to ask. “Ma’am, what happened to the sheriff in town?” asked Jess.

             
“He got himself shot yesterday by some gunslinger that’s been hanging around here for the last several days. That man’s been nothing but trouble since he showed up. He raped the young daughter of the sheriff and that’s what started the whole incident between him and the sheriff. The rest in history and no one will take the sheriff’s place until that man leaves town.”

             
“Do you know the name of this man?” asked Jess.

             
“Sure, his name is Darin Lovett, Why?”

             
“Because that is exactly who I’m looking for,” replied Jess. “Which saloon does he usually hang around at?”

             
“He usually hangs around Dead Man’s Saloon the next street over, but I wouldn’t mess with him, he is one mean rattlesnake,” replied the waitress. “I’ll go and get your change for you.”

             
“I don’t need any change, you keep the rest of it,” replied Jess.

             
“Why thank you, sir, I don’t think I ever got a tip that big before,” said the waitress, as she headed back to the cash box to pay his bill and keep her share of the money.

             
“Do you waste your money like that all the time or are you just trying to impress me?” asked Annie.

             
“I always leave a good tip. Most waitresses live on the scraps they can get. It’s a tough living and like I told you, I have a lot of money.”

             
“Well, I wouldn’t be throwing it around like that,” replied Annie.

             
“Are you my banker now?” replied Jess.

             
“Don’t you be speaking to me in that tone of voice,” exclaimed Annie.

             
Jess shook his head. “This is really going to be a long ordeal,” said Jess, loud enough for Annie to hear him now.

             
“That’s what you said back at the hotel, wasn’t it?” demanded Annie.

             
“Maybe and maybe not.”

             
“Don’t maybe me, I know that’s what you said, I know it,” insisted Annie. Jess didn’t respond. He simply stood up and walked out of the café, Annie following him out onto the wooden walkway.

             
“Annie, I’m going to go over to the saloon and see if Lovett is in there. You might as well go back to your room or stay here for a while if you’d like.”