HELL HATH NO FURY (A Jess Williams western novel) (9 page)

             
“Samuel, I’ll make up for any losses you might suffer. Besides, she won’t be in here much anyway. Now, back to your first question, we are looking for a man by the name of Darrel Clemmon and I was informed that he had been here.”

             
“He sure was and he’s still here. He’s upstairs right now sleeping off his liquored ass. That man can sure slam the whiskey back. I think he went through two bottles of cheap rotgut himself last night,” replied Samuel. “Why are you looking for him anyway?”

             
“He raped and killed a good friend of mine over in Clarence, Kansas. Before that, he and his partner, Cliff Hunt, killed Annie’s father and then raped Annie and her mother, so that’s all the reason I need,” replied Jess.

             
Samuel looked Annie over again. “I’m sorry about what happened to you and your family. I don’t cotton to men who do that kind of thing to any woman. I’d go and kick his sorry ass out of my room upstairs, but he’s one mean son-of-a-bitch, if you know what I mean. He’d probably just shoot me and go right back to sleep.”

             
“That won’t be necessary, Samuel. We’ll be taking care of that problem upstairs when he finally wakes up,” replied Jess.

             
“Well, I don’t know of anyone better to deal with that one than you,” replied Samuel. He looked at Annie again. “So, are you a bounty hunter too?”

             
“No I am not. I bought this pistol and learned how to use it because no one would do anything about what that worthless man upstairs did to me and my family. I plan on killing him myself for what he did,” exclaimed Annie.

             
“Do you mean to face that man upstairs in a gunfight?” Samuel asked with a confused look on his face.

             
“That is exactly what I plan on doing,” replied Annie.

             
“Well, if I were you, I’d let this one here take care of him. You’re going to get yourself killed going up against that one upstairs,” replied Samuel.

             
“I told you not to tell me what I can or can’t do,” retorted Annie.

             
Jess interjected before Samuel could respond because he knew it would just lead to another argument. “Samuel, is that coffee I smell brewing back there?”

             
“Sure is, you want some?”

             
“Bring the pot and two cups out here. We’ll wait until Clemmon wakes up and find the little surprise we have in store for him and he ain’t going to like it one bit,” replied Jess.

             
Samuel brought out the coffee and Jess and Annie sat down at a table in the front corner with a good view of the stairs that led upstairs to where Darrel Clemmon was sleeping. Annie finished her first cup and looked up at Jess.

             
“So, are you going to let me have a go at him first?” Annie asked.

             
“Are you really sure you want to take that chance?”

             
“It’s all I’ve been thinking about every day since it happened.”

             
“But you admitted that you’ve never faced down a man before in a gun fight.”

             
“I don’t know how to explain it to you, but it’s just something I have to do for myself.”

             
“I’ll tell you what, you can have a go at him, but if I think he might beat you on the draw, I’ll intercede on your behalf,” replied Jess.

             
“Okay, but you let me at least try first,” replied Annie.

             
The two of them sat and drank coffee until after the noon hour. Finally, they heard some noise upstairs and Samuel came out from the back to watch what would happen. The door upstairs creaked as it opened and Jess and Annie both stood up. Jess removed his hammer strap from his pistol. Darrel Clemmon stumbled down the steps and he looked like someone who just came in from a dust storm. His shirt wasn’t tucked in all the way and his hat was all crumpled up like he had slept on it. He belched loudly three times and then farted as he hit the last step. He noticed Jess and Annie standing by a table and what really caught his attention was the fact that a woman was in a saloon and no less wearing a pistol.

             
“Hey, get yer ass out of here woman. Women ain’t allowed in saloons; especially wearing a six-shooter like that,” exclaimed Clemmon.

             
Annie, who was already fuming inside, started to step forward, but Jess stopped her by putting his left hand in front of her. He looked at Clemmon and thought of what the man had done to Ingrid. It made the rage inside him almost boil over. He wanted to just shoot Clemmon right there on the spot, but he had promised Annie that he would let her have a go at him first.

             
“Are you Darrel Clemmon?” asked Jess.

             
“Mister, I don’t know who the hell you are or what you’re doing with a woman in a saloon, but either way, you can both kiss my hairy ass,” replied Clemmon as he motioned to Samuel to get him a glass of whiskey.

             
Jess didn’t plan on doing it; it just seemed to happen without warning and it even surprised him. He waited for Samuel to move out of the line of fire and as soon as he did, Jess slicked his pistol out and shot Clemmon’s right ear clean off. Clemmon screamed loudly as he turned around to face Jess.

             
“You crazy son-of-a-bitch! You done shot my ear off!” hollered Clemmon. Jess was still holding his pistol in his hand and it was cocked, which is the only reason Clemmon didn’t reach for his own gun. “What the hell did you do that for?”

             
“Because of what you did to a woman by the name of Ingrid Marsh,” replied Jess.

             
“Well, you can’t just go around and shoot a man’s ear off without so much as a warning!”

             
“Why not? You seem to think that you can go around and rape any woman you want,” replied Jess.

             
“Yeah, but that’s different, ‘cause that’s the only thing women are good for,” replied Clemmon.

             
Annie shot Jess a glare. “You said I could have a go at him first!” exclaimed Annie.

             
“I couldn’t help myself. Besides, I didn’t kill him so you can still have your turn at him if you still want to,” replied Jess.

             
Clemmon was still holding his right ear with his gun hand and the blood was dripping down his neck. His ear was still ringing badly, but he heard what Jess said. He looked at Annie and smiled. “So, you want to have a go at me woman?” Clemmon asked in a condescending tone of voice.

             
Annie shot Clemmon a look. “You don’t even remember me, do you?” asked Annie.

             
“No, but I’d sure like to,” replied Clemmon.

             
“You killed my father and raped my mother and then you raped me!” retorted Annie.

             
“I think I do remember you now, but you wasn’t wearing a six-shooter back then.”

             
“You’re the reason I bought this gun. I bought it so I could hunt you down and kill you with it and today is the day that you’re go to meet your maker,” said Annie.

             
“You really mean to draw down on me woman?”

             
“That is exactly what I mean to do you nasty pile of cow dung,” retorted Annie.

             
“You got one filthy mouth for a woman, and if you plan on skinning that pistol of yours out and draw down on me, I’ll put a bullet straight into you.”

             
All of a sudden and without warning again, Jess shot Clemmon’s left ear clean off. Clemmon let out another loud scream from the pain. “Son-of-a-bitch, you done shot my other ear off! Mister, are you crazy in the head or something?”

             
“No, I just wanted you to remember Ingrid Marsh again,” replied Jess.

             
Annie shot Jess another look. “Are you going to let me have a go at him or are you going to shoot him full of holes before I get the chance?”

             
“Alright, it’s your turn, but at least he’s a little distracted now,” replied Jess, his gun still drawn and cocked again.

             
Annie turned her attention back to Clemmon. “Mister, get ready to pull that pistol.”

             
Clemmon wiped both of his bloody hands off on the front of his shirt. “I ain’t going for my gun unless he puts his away,” replied Clemmon, pointing at Jess. Jess had the urge to shoot him again, but he resisted the temptation and he holstered his pistol and that’s when he saw it. He glanced at Annie and saw that she had failed to remove her hammer strap from her pistol. It was an all too common mistake people made when they weren’t experienced gunslingers, but it didn’t matter anyway, he would let her learn the hard way and then he would put another bullet into Darrel Clemmon.

             
Clemmon sneered at Annie and readied himself. “Now I remember why I didn’t recognize you right off. It’s because you was facing the other way most of the time the last time we met.”

             
That pushed Annie over the edge and she went for her pistol, but her hand slipped off the butt of it and that’s when she realized the terrible mistake she made. Clemmon went for his gun and Annie thought she was a goner for certain, but Jess slicked his pistol out and shot him in his right arm and Clemmon dropped his pistol onto the floor. He screamed again from the pain. “Damn it, Mister! Just how many times are you planning on shooting me?”

             
“As many times as I feel like,” replied Jess, putting another slug into Clemmon’s left arm. Clemmon screamed and hollered like an old lady, bleeding from both ears that were now gone and bleeding from both of his arms.

             
“Damn it, Jess, I wanted to kill him and you just keep shooting him,” exclaimed Annie.

             
Jess looked at her and she saw a strange and unknown darkness in his eyes that she had not seen before and it actually frightened her. “Then go ahead and kill him,” replied Jess, with absolutely no emotion in his voice. He said it like he was telling someone to step on an ant.

             
“I can’t just kill him now because you’ve shot him so many times already that he can’t hold onto a gun,” replied Annie.

             
“Then just shoot his kneecaps so that you can see what it feels like to put a bullet into a man for the first time in your life,” replied Jess.

             
“I just can’t do that to an unarmed man,” retorted Annie. “It don’t seem right.”

             
“Oh, so now after hunting this piece of crap down for two years, you have a conscious? I bet it feels a lot different now actually seeing a man getting shot.”

             
“Well—I guess it does feel different now,” replied Annie, becoming confused with her emotions. She wanted to see this man dead for what he had done to her and her family; but now, watching it unfold, she didn’t know exactly what she felt. She had sad, happy and scared emotions all rolled up into one all at the same time and she didn’t know how to handle it.

             
“If you ain’t going to finish him off, I’m going to keep shooting him until you do,” replied Jess, as he put a slug into Clemmon’s private area. Clemmon screamed and tried to grab his private area, but both of his arms were shot and he could hardly move them. Even Samuel behind the bar winced at that one.

             
“That’s not right shooting a man’s gonads off!” hollered Clemmon.

             
“I’ll tell you what’s not right. It’s not right to rape, beat and kill an innocent woman just for your own personal pleasure. Besides, you’re not going to need them anymore,” replied Jess, as he put his last slug from his pistol into Clemmon’s left kneecap. Annie was almost in shock at the extreme level of violence that Jess had reached and she actually sat down. Jess looked at her, a little confused.

             
“Are you going to finish him off or not?” Jess asked, as he reloaded his six spent cartridges in his pistol.

             
Annie looked up into Jess’ eyes and she had tears in her eyes now and looked as if she didn’t know what to do now that the day of reckoning had come for one of the men who had raped her. “I don’t know if I can,” said Annie in a soft and scared voice.

             
“Fine, I’ll be glad to do it for you and especially for Ingrid Marsh.” Jess turned to Darrel Clemmon and he thought about the night he slept in Ingrid Marsh’s arms and then he tried to picture Clemmon beating and raping and killing her and that caused the rage inside him to boil to a level that no one could stop. It also caused him to put a slug into Clemmon’s head and then two more in his chest, one slug tearing through his heart. Jess reloaded his three spent cartridges and told Samuel to get a good bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Jess sat down at the table with Annie who was holding her head in her hands, sobbing. Jess had Samuel bring a clean bar towel for Annie, who gladly took it to wipe her tears, which were caused partially by the violent scene she just witnessed, but also tears of joy that one of the men who had violated her and her family was finally dead.