HELL HATH NO FURY (A Jess Williams western novel) (6 page)

             
Jess looked over at Walter as he holstered his pistol. “Huh?” said Jess, looking at Hayes and then back at Wales’s dead body. “Oh, I didn’t mean him. I meant it was a waste of that fine bottle of whiskey there broken on the floor.”

             
Just then Annie came running into the saloon to see Jess standing at the bar sipping whiskey and a dead man on the floor. Walter started to say something about a woman coming into his saloon, but Jess shot him a look that made him change his mind.

             
“Well, it looks like you’ve dispatched one more man to his maker,” said Annie.

             
“It would seem so, but I’m not sure where they really go after they take their last breath,” replied Jess.

             
“You don’t believe in the good book?” asked Annie.

             
“Let’s just say that I wonder about it a lot,” replied Jess. “I sure hope there is something after death, but I’m just not sure. Maybe one day I’ll sit down and read the bible, but for now, I have a mission in life and it doesn’t exactly go along with what most people have told me about the good book.”

             
Sheriff Davies came into the saloon with his two deputies. The sheriff checked Harney Wales and told one of his deputies to go and get the undertaker. The sheriff walked over to Jess and ordered a whiskey. “Does the grim reaper follow you around like a shadow or something?” asked the Sheriff.

             
“I don’t rightly know, Sheriff, but maybe that’s true because he seems to keep me pretty busy,” replied Jess.

             
The sheriff looked over at the woman standing next to Jess. What stood out to him wasn’t the fact that she was a woman in a saloon, but instead, it was the fact that she was wearing a six-shooter tied down low like any other gunslinger.

             
“And who the hell is this?” asked Sheriff Davies, nodding at the woman next to Jess.

             
“I can speak for myself Sheriff,” retorted Annie, a smart tone in her voice. “My name is Annie McCracken.”

             
“Well, Annie McCracken, that don’t exactly explain why you’ve got a six-shooter strapped around your waist,” replied Sheriff Davies.

             
“I’m wearing it because I’m looking for the two men who raped me and my mother and murdered my father,” replied Annie.

             
“I sure hope you know how to use that thing because if not, it might get you killed just for wearing it,” replied Sheriff Davies.

             
“Don’t you worry yourself on that matter, Sheriff. I know how to use it quite well and Jess here said that he was going to teach me how to shoot better—starting today,” replied Annie, shooting a look at Jess and he knew what it meant.

             
“I think that will have to wait until tomorrow,” replied Jess.

             
“But you said that we would start today,” insisted Annie.

             
“I know, but I didn’t exactly think I’d be in a gun fight today and it is getting late now. I say we start tomorrow out on the trail,” said Jess.

             
“But you said we’d start today,” continued Annie, an insistent tone in her voice.

             
Sheriff Davies finished his drink and put his hand on Jess’ shoulder. “Mr. Williams, I don’t think your real problem is all the gunslingers looking to take you down. I think your real problem is standing right next to you and I wish you all the luck in the world,” smiled Sheriff Davies, as he walked out of the saloon.

             
“And just what does that mean,” replied Annie, but the sheriff didn’t answer, he simply waved his right hand in the air as he walked out of the saloon.

             
“What did he mean by that comment?” Annie asked as she turned back to Jess.

             
“Why can’t you just leave things alone for once?” asked Jess.

             
“Because I usually like answers to my questions,” replied Annie.

             
Jess didn’t respond, he simply poured himself another drink and slowly sipped it. Annie finally stopped talking and stood next to Jess and had a drink with him. They stood there in total silence for an hour and then Jess sent Annie down to the hotel to get two rooms. Jess was finishing up his last drink when the barkeep walked over to him.

             
“Good luck with that one, Mr. Williams.”

             
“Thanks. I think I’m going to need it,” replied Jess, as he headed out of the saloon and straight for the hotel for a good night’s rest.

             
In the morning, they went to a small café and had breakfast and Jess sent Annie to retrieve their horses while he went to the telegraph office to check on any messages that Jim Smythe back in Black Creek might have forwarded him. Jess had asked him to forward any messages that were wired to him in Black Creek, to the dozen or so larger towns that Jess usually found himself in at one time or another and Wichita was one of the towns on the list. The telegraph operator looked through a dozen or so messages and he found one with Jess’ name on it.

             
“It looks like you do have one message, Mr. Williams,” said the operator, handing it to Jess.

             
Jess read the message and his smile quickly turned to a look that scared the man who handed him the message. The message was from the barkeep, Joshuha, in Clarence, Kansas. The message read: ‘To Jess Williams, Sorry to inform you that Ingrid Marsh was beaten, raped and killed by two men by the names of Cliff Hunt and Darrel Clemmon. They killed Sheriff Saunders too.’ Jess threw a five dollar gold piece on the counter and the telegraph operator took it, but he still didn’t smile because of the look on Jess’ face. Jess headed straight for the livery and Annie could see a definite difference in his demeanor.

             
“What happened?” Annie asked, as Jess climbed into the saddle.

             
“I just found out that the same two men you’re looking for raped and killed the one woman in my life that was a close friend, so it seems like the two men you are looking for just went to the top of my list for killing,” said Jess, as he nudged Gray out of town and straight for Clarence, Kansas.

XXX

              It took three days to get to Clarence. Each night when they stopped and made camp, Jess would work with Annie on her pistol skills. They really didn’t talk very much since Annie could actually feel the change in his demeanor after he heard about the rape and killing of his good friend, Ingrid Marsh. Annie was curious about his relationship with Ingrid and on the third night, after they quit shooting practice, her curiosity got the best of her.

             
“So, how’s my shooting doing?” Annie asked.

             
Jess poured himself another cup of coffee. “Actually, I was quite surprised by how fast you were before we started and you’ve increased your quickness on the draw just slightly since then,” replied Jess.

             
“Why thank you, Jess. I really appreciate the lessons,” replied Annie.

             
“Just remember always shoot straight at whatever you’re aiming at. That is the most important lesson to remember when you’re in a gunfight.”

             
“So, if you don’t mind my asking, how close were you with this Ingrid Marsh?”

             
Jess stared down into his cup of coffee wondering how to respond to the question, especially when it was coming from another woman. “Let’s just say that she was something pretty special to me and someone that I will never forget.”

             
“Were you planning on marrying her or something? Were you courting her?” Annie pushed.

             
Jess was uncomfortable with the conversation and Annie could tell. “No, I don’t think I’ll ever marry, especially now that this has happened. In my line of work, I guess marrying just doesn’t fit into my life as long as I’m always on the trail hunting one man after another.”

             
“I suppose you might be right about that,” replied Annie.

             
“Well, I reckon it’s time to turn in for the night,” said Jess, as he threw the rest of his coffee out of his cup and went through his usual routine of placing cans around their campsite. They both got their bedrolls out and Annie put a few more pieces of wood on the fire and they both fell fast asleep.

             
In the morning, after they broke camp and were getting ready to climb up in the saddle, Jess turned around to see three men riding fast toward them. Jess didn’t know if they were trouble or not, but he was not one to take chances. He gave Annie his double-barrel out of his back sling and removed his hammer strap. He grabbed one of his cut down double-barrels with his left hand. The three men rode straight up to Annie and Jess. Annie had the double barreled shotgun pointed at the three men. One of the three men moved his horse a few feet closer to them, he said nothing yet. He gave Annie a good look over.

             
“Well, look here boys, we ain’t got to go to that cathouse now, seems we have a right handsome woman right here and she sure has a real nice figure too,” said the lead man.

             
“Yeah, and she sure is pretty on the face too,” said one of the other men.

             
“You men ain’t getting anything from me! I’d rather turn this shotgun on myself first,” exclaimed Annie.

             
“You’d best stop pointing that shotgun at me woman,” demanded the lead man.

             
Jess didn’t know who these three men were and he didn’t really care much. The fact was he was helping Annie after being raped by two men and it was the same two men that beat, raped and killed Ingrid. This made him do something that was somewhat unusual, even for him. He never even said one word or even gave the three men so much as a warning. Jess simply dropped his cut-down double-barrel and slicked his pistol out and shot all three men. All three of them fell off their horses. One was still breathing so Jess put another slug into the man. He made sure the other two were dead and then he reloaded his pistol and holstered it. He went through their pockets and found a total of two hundred dollars and he pocketed it.

             
“What in the hell was that?” asked Annie.

             
“That was three idiots getting killed for what they were planning on doing and don’t tell me you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about.”

             
“I know, and I appreciate you protecting me, but you never even gave them a warning or a chance to ride away,” replied Annie.

             
Jess holstered his pistol, grabbed his shotgun from Annie and put it back in his back sling. He glared at Annie. “Listen to me and listen good because I’m not going to tell you again. Those three didn’t deserve any warning and if I had let them leave they would’ve waited for us on the trail and ambushed us and maybe kill me and if that happened, what do you think would have happened to you after that? Think about it for a minute. You know I’m right. So, I saw the problem and I fixed it by just killing those three and they deserved it for sure. I don’t know who they are and I don’t really give a shit. Now, do you still want to ride with me or are you going your own way? Make up your mind either way, but I’m riding into Clarence.” Jess didn’t wait for an answer. He simply climbed up into the saddle and nudged Gray into a walk toward Clarence leaving Annie standing there with the three dead men.

             
“Well, aren’t we going to at least bury them?” asked Annie loudly because Jess was already a hundred feet away.

             
“Hell no, the vultures have to eat and they don’t deserve a proper burial anyway,” Jess hollered back, still riding.

             
Annie was confused, afraid and frustrated, but she wasn’t stupid. She climbed up in the saddle and spurred her horse into a gallop until she finally reached Jess, who was staring straight ahead and he looked like he was staring right into the eyes of hell, which wasn’t far from the truth. The real reason Jess had killed the three men and left them out on the trail was the that he was furious about what had happened to Ingrid and Annie. He was furious about men who thought they had the right to take whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. He was mad as hell and he wasn’t going to stop being mad as hell until he killed every last bad man he could hunt down, but not before he found the two men who had killed Ingrid. They rode in complete silence for the remainder of the ride. For the first time in her life, Annie knew when to keep her mouth shut.

CHAPTER SEVEN

              Jess and Annie arrived in Clarence at high noon. Jess told Annie to take care of their horses and for her to go to Jena McDiermont’s boarding house to see if she had rooms available for rent. Jess gave Annie the money he took off the bodies of the three men he killed earlier in the morning. Jess told her to wait at the boarding house while he went to see Joshuha, the barkeep, at the saloon. Jess walked in to find him wiping down the bar. He smiled a wide smile when Jess walked through the swinging doors.