Sins of the Father (12 page)

ess had ridden hard the last few days. It was a little past noon and he decided to stop and have something to eat. He made a quick fire out of some small dry branches and made a pot of coffee. He ate a chunk of pan bread after he warmed it by the fire and was finishing his first cup of coffee when he heard a rider approaching. He calmly removed his scattergun from his back holster and laid it across his lap after re-filling his cup. The rider, who looked to be in his fifties with a large bushy beard was just topping the rise as Jess took a swallow from his tin coffee cup.

Stumpy had seen the smoke at the top of the hill, which is why he detoured off the trail. He didn’t know who it was, but it might be someone he could hire and send off to Henry Thornton. What he found was a young man, sitting on a boulder, sipping coffee. Stumpy was not lost on the fact that the young man had a scattergun across his lap. He reined up his horse about thirty feet from the young man.

“Mister, might I sit a spell and share a cup of coffee with you?”
Jess looked him over and decided that he would not pose any real threat. He propped his scattergun up against the boulder. “I guess I can spare a cup or two. Tie up your horse and join me.”
Stumpy tied his horse to a small tree by the campfire. He dug around in his saddlebags and retrieved a coffee cup. He was pouring coffee in his cup when it hit him. “Well I’ll be damned; you’re that Williams fellow, ain’t you?”
Jess looked at Stumpy who noticed that somehow Jess had removed his hammer strap without Stumpy even seeing it. “I’m Jess Williams, and who are you?”
Stumpy stood up and stuck out his hand, slowly. “I’m Stumpy Watson and I work for Henry Thornton. I’m on my way to Baxter to send off some telegrams for some help. I don’t usually speak for Mr. Thornton, but I’ll bet he’d pay you any amount of money for your talent with that thing,” he said, pointing to Jess’ pistol.
“I don’t hire my gun out to anyone. Tell me, why is this Henry Thornton looking for more hired guns?”
Stumpy filled his coffee cup again and told Jess the whole story just like he had heard it from Toby Hewitt this morning. Jess heard about Steele getting shot and Reedy being locked up in the jail. Stumpy could feel the tension coming from Jess as he told the story.
When Stumpy was finished, Jess got himself another pot of coffee going. “Stumpy, it seems like me and your boss have something in common.”
“What’s that?”
“Rance Madden. I received a telegraph a few days ago from a friend of mine in Timber. I know Sheriff Steele and Marshal Reedy. The telegraph was sent by Pattie Nate telling me to get to Timber as soon as a horse could carry me.”
The name Pattie Nate jogged Stumpy’s memory. “Oh, yeah, I forgot about Pattie Nate. When Hewitt was filling Mr. Thornton in this morning, he mentioned that a woman by that name had sent that telegraph to you asking for help. I tried to tell Mr. Thornton that you might be able to help but they said that one man couldn’t do enough to help in this situation. Besides, no one knew if you had even gotten the message. Who’d a guessed that I would’ve run into you on the trail.”
“Is Pattie Nate okay? Has Madden harmed her in any way?”
“I guess he and his men have shoved her around some. Hewitt said she had bruises on her neck and a knot on her head. At least she is still alive, which is lucky if you knew Rance Madden.”
“I know one thing for sure.”
“What’s that?” Stumpy asked.
“Rance Madden is going to know me before this is over.”
“So, you are going into Timber to see this Pattie Nate?”
“That is the plan.”
“Well, I might make a little suggestion.”
“I’m listening.”
“I wouldn’t go into town right now. Rance Madden has about twenty hired guns and at least a dozen are holding the town under Madden’s rule. You’d never get to the livery before they’d shoot you. You’ll have to sneak in at night and try to get her out of town. And that U.S. marshal is locked up and there are always at least two armed men inside the jail. There is no law in town except for Madden’s, and he ain’t too forgiving, if you know what I mean.”
“I know exactly what you mean; I’ve dealt with the likes of him before, but thanks for the information. I guess I’ll have to take a little different approach to this situation.”
“Might I make another suggestion?”
“I’m still listening.”
“You should stop by and talk with Henry Thornton before you do anything. He can fill you in on what has happened since this morning. You best approach the ranch house carefully ‘cause those boys are trigger happy and you can’t blame them none. They won’t take any chances with any strangers.”
“I think that’s good advice and I will do just that. Well, I better get going.”
“Me too, I still have to get to Baxter.”
“Stumpy, might I make a suggestion to you?” “I’m all ears.”
“You tell anyone who comes to work for Thornton that if they run into anyone on the trails leading into town, that they inform that someone who they are working for.”
“Why would you say that?” asked Stumpy, not quite sure why Jess would make such a request.
“You just make sure to tell them. It might save their life.”
“I don’t understand why, but I will tell them.”
“Thanks, Stumpy. Enjoy your ride into Baxter.”
Jess swung up onto Gray and headed out towards Timber. Stumpy had told him that the Thornton ranch was about ten miles west of Timber. Jess was already formulating a plan for dealing with this Rance Madden and his hired guns and he hoped that Stumpy would not forget the warning that Jess had told him about. He finally spotted a large house out in the distance. He got out his telescope and extended it to look the place over. He had a side view of the Thornton house. There were two men on the front porch, two in the back and one man atop a large barn. He followed along the trail going out; and about a half-mile out from the house; he spotted a man sitting on a horse. Jess figured this man was positioned to see anyone coming from a distance and ride back to the house to warn the other men. Stumpy was right, these men were not taking any chances. Jess knew what to do.
Jess slowly walked his horse towards the house. Before he got too far, he heard the man on top of the barn hollered and a few seconds later there were three riders coming straight at him. He stopped and kept his hands on the horn of the saddle. He had removed his hammer strap just in case. The three men who were riding out to meet Jess were Toby Hewitt, Dana Stevens and Lindsey Stanton. They were all holding rifles in their right hands. As they approached Jess, two of the men veered off about a hundred feet from the man in the center. That split them up and made it harder for one man to take down all three of them.
They really aren’t taking any chances,
Jess thought to himself.
Toby Hewitt reined up in front of Jess. The other two men stayed back about twenty feet and they both had their rifles trained on Jess.
“Who are you, and what do you want here?” asked Hewitt.
“My name is Jess Williams, and I’ll only ask you once to tell your men to put those rifles down.”
Hewitt looked surprised and Jess could tell that Hewitt knew the name. “Dana, Lindsey, put those rifles down. I think we have a friend here.” Both men put their rifles down.
“Thank you,” said Jess. “I’d like to speak with Henry Thornton.”
“I’m sure he would like to speak with you, too,” answered Hewitt. “Follow me, Mr. Williams.”
Jess followed the three men to the Thornton house. Henry Thornton was standing on the front porch with a rifle in his hands when Jess reined up and tied off Gray and Sharps. He walked up the two steps and onto the porch and extended his hand out to Thornton.
“Mr. Thornton, I’m Jess Williams and I’m here to help out my friends in town.”
Thornton shook his hand and motioned for him to come into the house. Toby Hewitt stayed with Thornton but Dana Stevens and Lindsey Stanton went back to their guard duties. The three men sat down at the kitchen table and Thornton put a pot of coffee and three cups on the table.
“Mr. Thornton, I ran into one of your men this afternoon. A man by the name of Stumpy. He told me to stop and talk with you before I do anything or go into town.”
“Stumpy works for me and he gave you some good advice. You don’t want to go riding right down the main street of Timber, that’s for sure. I’m not sure what you think you can do for your friends. Sheriff Steele is near death, one of his deputies is shot and the other one is locked up in the jail along with Marshal Reedy and his two deputies. Just what do you think that you can do?”
“You let me worry about that. I just need to make sure that your men don’t go back into town, and that if you get any more hired guns arriving at your place, that you keep them here and not go into town or try to attack Madden or his men.”
Thornton laughed out loud. “That’s an awful lot to ask a man who has lost ten of his men to Madden’s hired killers the last few days.”
“It may be a lot to ask, but it’s for your own protection.”
“Really? And why is that?” Thornton questioned with a somewhat threatening tone in his voice.
“Because after today, it’s not going to be safe out there.”
Henry Thornton leaned forward, put his elbows on the table, and folded his hands together. “Let me understand this correctly. You want me and my men, and any other men I can hire, to sit here at my ranch and do nothing about what has happened up to this point, is that correct?”
“That is exactly what I’m asking.”
“And you are telling me that it’s not going to be safe out there.”
“That’s correct.”
“So, tell me again why it’s not going to be safe out there?”
“Because, Mr. Thornton, I’m going to be out there.”

ESS WOKE AT DAYBREAK
and headed out from Thornton’s. He had finally gotten Henry Thornton to agree to keep his men at the ranch and to keep any other hired guns who showed up with him. Jess had finally convinced him by telling him it was better to wait until he had enough men to try anything anyway. Thornton realized that since he only had seven men left, that was about all he could do

anyway. He probably couldn’t hold off an attack from Madden’s men as it was. Thornton would be lucky if Stumpy could hire more than a few men with such short notice, and they probably wouldn’t be hardened gunslingers.

Jess figured that it was good advice not to go into town. He wanted to in the worst way, but he was smart enough to know better. He came up with another plan. He knew that Sheriff Steele would never agree with his plan, nor would Marshal Reedy, but they were unable to do anything about it anyway. Steele was near death and Reedy was locked up with his deputies. There was no law in town, except for Madden’s law, enforced by the end of a gun barrel. Jess was about to change that.

Jess spent the entire day checking out everything from a distance. The main street of Timber ran pretty much east and west. On the north side of town was a high ridge facing south that was too steep for a horse to climb. The other side of the ridge had a gentler slope and was easy to climb. There was a thick forest at the base of the slope. Jess had found what he was looking for. There was an opening that he remembered about when he was a kid. The opening was just barely large enough for him to fit into. Once he got into the hole, it opened up into a cave that ran to the other side of the ridge. Jess peeked out of the opening and it looked right down on the town of Timber, and Jess figured it was probably over six hundred yards away. That would be a long shot for the Sharps but he would have gravity working in his favor. It was a steep drop to the main street.

Jess left the cave and rode to the south side of town. He had tied Sharps up to a tree in the forest, deep enough so that no one would see or hear him. He took the small shovel from the packhorse and tied it to the back of the saddle on Gray. There was a heavy forest of trees starting about eight hundred feet out from town that ran all along the trail leading into and out of Timber. That would give him some good cover and hiding places. He used his telescope to spot several men in town. They were all heavily armed and he figured them for Madden’s men. He could see the jail but he could not see inside well enough to see if Reedy was still inside. He rode out towards the east to see Madden’s ranch. He stayed way back in the heavy trees and used his telescope to check things out. He counted seven men outside. He could see a few men inside the house and a few in the bunkhouse. Every man was armed with pistols and either a rifle or a shotgun.
What in the hell have I gotten myself into this time?
Jess thought to himself.

He left the Madden ranch and headed back towards town, always staying along the edge of the woods. He found a spot where the trees came within a hundred yards of the main trail leading into town. He took Gray and tied him to a tree about a hundred feet inside the tree line and then he walked out to the edge and started digging about ten feet past the tree line. It took him almost three hours of heavy digging before he finished. When he was done, he was looking at a hole that was four-feet deep and four-feet long and three-feet wide. Then, he cut a bunch of branches and he wove them together to make a top for the hole he had just dug. He tore enough tall grass to cover the top he made and placed it on top of the hole. He stepped back and checked his work. You could spot it if you were right on top of it, but from the trail, no one would ever know it was there. Then he heard horses coming down the trail from the Madden ranch. He ducked into the woods and watched.

There were five men in all. He grabbed his telescope and extended it. All five men were armed to the teeth. There was one man who stuck out, though. Jess could tell that this man was a gunslinger for sure. He was wearing a double holster and was dressed in black with a very nice black hat. You could see the confidence in this man even by the way he sat in the saddle. Jess finally recognized the man. It was Galt Dixon. Dixon was a gunslinger with a reputation, and a bad one at that. Madden had obviously hired Dixon and he would be someone to be reckoned with. Jess knew that if Dixon made it to town, someone would most likely die before the day was over.
I guess now is as good a time as any to start working my plan,
Jess thought to himself. He ran over to Gray and grabbed his Winchester. He ran back to the edge of the tree line just as the five men were coming closer. It was over a hundred yards. Jess waited until the men were less than one hundred yards. He put his sights on Galt Dixon’s chest and pulled the trigger. The slug hit its mark and Dixon fell from his horse, dead. Jess didn’t hesitate even for a split second. He began firing at the other four men who were confused and trying to see where the shots were coming from. Jess took out two more men before the other two spotted him. One of the men spurred his horse back towards the Madden ranch and the other man pointed his horse towards Jess, firing his pistol at Jess as he did. Jess fired again, hitting the man in the neck. Jess immediately ran back to Gray and grabbed the Sharps out of the scabbard. He ran at a full pace towards the trail with the Sharps in one hand and two rounds in the other. As soon as he had the man in sight, he dropped to the ground on his belly and sighted the man in. The man was still within range for the Sharps, but the man was not a stationary target. Jess took careful aim and slowly pulled the trigger back. The Sharps exploded and the round missed the man but it had surprised him to the point that he made a deadly mistake. He stopped and turned his horse to look back, figuring whoever was shooting at him was close behind him and that’s when Jess’ second round hit him square in the chest, knocking him off his horse. The horse took off down the trail back in the direction of the Madden ranch.