Sins of the Father (17 page)

Jess put the Sharps against the cave wall and took the telescope and watched the flurry of activity that took place next. The other man who was on the rooftop of the livery ducked down for cover. Two men came running out of Jed’s Saloon trying to find out who had been hit. The man Jess had killed was Lane Myers, one of the new men. Vernon Foster went to check on Myers who lay dead between the two buildings. There was only three feet between the buildings and Myers had fallen backwards and did a full turn before hitting the ground, so his back was propped up against one building and his feet were propped up against the mercantile store. There was a very large hole in his chest. Vernon ran back over to the saloon where Rance Madden was standing on the porch, a rifle in his hands.

“One of the new men, Lane Myers. Shot right in the middle of his chest, boss.”
“Where the hell did the shot come from?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out right now. It’s just like the last time; no one has seen a thing. I got a few men looking around town now but so far, I haven’t a clue.”
“Well find one, damn it! I can’t start losing men again.”
Jess watched a man walk over to Jed’s Saloon and talk to a tall man who was wearing a brown hat. Jess looked down at the man’s boots and they were, indeed, a fine looking pair. Then Jess looked at the man’s face, but he couldn’t see if he had a scar over his right eye from this distance. Jess figured that this might be Rance Madden and even though he couldn’t be sure, it didn’t matter. If it wasn’t Madden, it surely was one of his men and that made him a good target. Jess grabbed the Sharps again and propped it up in the fork of the large branch. He sighted the man in and just as he was beginning to put pressure on the trigger, the man walked back inside the saloon. “Well, Mr. Madden, if that was you, that was your one break,” Jess said to no one but himself.
Jess figured he would wait and watch. A man from each end of the town rode in to find out what had happened, and then rode out again. The other man on the rooftop of the livery had been staying down, but he was slowly getting more comfortable now that the shooting was over. Jess watched the rotation take place with the guards on the rooftops. The one who was left of the rooftop of the livery came down and two new guards took over. One man replaced the man on the livery and the other man went up to the rooftop of the mercantile store. Jess also watched as some of the men from each end of town rode in and for each one that rode in, one rode out to take the other man’s place. “Well, Mr. Madden, you seem to have set up quite an elaborate plan for your men,” he said, again, to no one but himself.
It had been four hours since Jess had shot the first man. He figured that Reedy and his men would come into town about a few hours after dark. Jess couldn’t do anything to help from his position in the cave. All he could do was to keep any other men from riding out of town. He figured it was time to take another man away from Madden. He propped the Sharps up in the fork of the branch and sighted in his target. He picked out the meanest looking of the two who were on the rooftops. The man was Smitty Morrison, and he was on top of Jed’s Saloon. Jess took careful aim and pulled the trigger back slowly until the Sharps barked. He hit the man in the middle of his back since he was turned away from Jess. Morrison fell forward and fell flat onto the rooftop.
Vernon Foster and Gus Gilroy came running out of the saloon again, trying to see where the shot had come from. They had heard the loud thump of Morrison’s body hitting the rooftop. Foster ran up the side steps and onto the rooftop to find Smitty Morrison in a puddle of blood and a large hole in the middle of his back. Jess watched as the man he thought to be Rance Madden climb the steps to go and see about Morrison. Jess put the sights of the Sharps on the man all the way up the steps and when he stopped to look at the body of Smitty Morrison, Jess pulled the trigger back and the Sharps exploded but a split second before it did, a small rock under the branch moved and threw the shot off ever so slightly. The round hit Madden in his left arm, spinning him around and down on the roof. Vernon Foster turned in the direction of where the shot had come from and he still didn’t think to look up to the top of the rock cliff. Jess focused the telescope on the man and that’s when Jess recognized him as the one who had slapped Pattie so hard that she fell.
I owe you one, mister,
Jess thought to himself as he chambered another round into the Sharps. Foster helped Madden up and was taking him down the steps when the Sharps barked loudly again, the round hitting Vernon Foster in his right side just below his elbow. Foster and Madden tumbled down the steps like two rag dolls, Madden cussing all the way. Gus Gilroy and Denny Shank ran over to Madden and got him into the saloon as quickly as they could. One look at Vernon Foster told them he was dead. They sat Madden down in a chair and sent for Doctor Hammond.
“I want you men to find out who in the hell has been doing the shooting!” hollered Madden.
“Boss, we’ve been trying,” Gilroy replied, “but whoever it is, he must have one heck of a hiding spot.”
Doctor Hammond came in and checked out Madden’s wound. “You’ll live; it’s just a flesh wound. It didn’t even hit the bone. The bullet went clean through the muscle.” Hammond began cleaning the wound when he noticed something funny. “That’s a little strange,” Hammond said.
“What’s so strange about a flesh wound, Doc?” Madden asked.
“It’s the angle of the bullet. It looks like it hit your arm at a forty-five degree angle. See here at the entry point and then look at the exit point.”
Madden looked at the wound and it was obvious. He thought about it for a moment and then he remembered that the shot seemed to have come from above. “That son of a bitch is on that rock cliff to the north side of town.”
Gilroy looked at Denny Shank and then back to Madden. “Boss, that cliff has to be about six or seven hundred yards out. Even a Winchester in an expert’s hand couldn’t reach that far and kill anyone. The shots couldn’t have come from up there.”
“Yeah, but a buffalo rifle could make a shot like that; especially if the right man is doing the shooting. I used to hunt with a buffalo hunter for a few months, and you wouldn’t believe how far those damn things shoot,” said Denny Shank.
“Gilroy, take Shank and two more men and go around the other side of that cliff. The slope is easy enough to climb with a horse. If you find someone up there, bring him to me. I want to cut his gonads off and make him eat them right here while we watch.”
“You got it, boss,” said Gilroy as he and Denny Shank headed out. They took Richard Braun and Grant Hull with them and rode out the west end of town and headed for the backside of the rock cliff where Jess was hiding. It didn’t take long for Jess to figure out what was happening. They had figured it out. He had just enough time to get out of the cave, back down to the bottom, and into the cover of the woods. When he got there, he tied Gray up to a tree about fifty feet inside the woods and then he grabbed his Sharps and both of his Winchesters and ran back out to the edge and waited. He didn’t wait long. The four men were riding fast and coming around the bottom of the rock cliff. They were about two hundred and fifty yards out. He raised the sights and his first target was Gus Gilroy. The Sharps barked and knocked Gilroy backwards out of the saddle. The other three men stopped momentarily to see where the shot had come from. Jess knew that he didn’t have much time, so he chambered another round into the Sharps. He fired again and Denny Shank hit the ground, his horse running off back towards town. The other two men started running their horses at a full gallop. Richard Braun was firing his Winchester and Hull was firing his pistol. They were about one hundred and fifty yards out when Jess’ third shot took out Braun and silenced the Winchester, which had been slamming rounds into the tree Jess was standing behind. That only left one man, Grant Hull, who had emptied his pistol and pulled his Winchester out of its scabbard. Hull was levering a round into the chamber when Jess’s fourth shot slammed into Hull’s chest, knocking him off the saddle and his body hit the ground not more than fifty yards from Jess. Jess knew that the men at the west end of town would be coming so he grabbed his weapons, jumped on Gray and retrieved his other horse and headed through the thick woods as fast as he could.
He could hear the hollering and the beating of hoofs heading in the direction of where he had been. Jess made it to a small clearing and he spurred Gray and made it across the clearing in two minutes. He reached the heavily wooded area on the other side of the clearing and still rode as fast as he could through the trees. He wanted to put as much distance from the men as he could. He knew that they would not follow him too far because they would have to go back to their ambush location. He took a turn to the right and rode about five more miles before he found a creek and made camp. He kept both of his horses saddled and ready to ride at a moment’s notice. He opened up a cold can of beans and ate them.

REELAND
S
UMMERS HAD TAKEN
his men to the site of the shooting. He found the dead bodies of Hull, Shank, Gilroy and Braun scattered on the ground. He sent a few men into the woods to look for the shooter, but he didn’t want to keep them in there long. He had left only two men back at their ambush location and he wanted the rest of his men to get back to it as soon as possible. He sent his men back to the ambush point and he rode back to Jed’s Saloon to inform Madden of what had happened. When he walked into the saloon, Madden had a bandage covering his left arm. Madden was in a foul mood, which was evident from the nasty scowl he had on his face.

“Mr. Madden, I have some bad news for you.” “That’s a surprise; it seems like that’s all I’m getting today, including getting shot myself! I just sent four men up to the top of that rock cliff to find the son of a bitch who has been doing all the shooting.”
“I heard a few gunshots but I figured you and the other men had it covered. As for the four men you sent to find out about the shooting, well, they didn’t make it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I found all four of them at the base of that hill, dead.”
“All four of them?”
“Yes sir, all four.”
“Who the hell could pick off four men by himself? It has to be more than one shooter. All I know is I’ve lost seven more men today and got myself shot too. That damn Thornton must’ve hired some damn good men.”
“Mr. Madden, I don’t mean to tell you your business, but I would suggest that you keep the men in town hidden and off them rooftops until this is over. Let’s hope that Thornton or the marshal come to town soon. We are getting a little light on men.”
Madden looked down at his drink on the table, “I think that’s good advice, Vreeland. I know I ain’t going outside unless I have to. Why don’t you take the men from the east end of town with your other men at the west end? If they come in from the east, you and your men can make it here in a few minutes anyway.”
“I agree. I’ll go and get them and head back out to the ambush point. That will give me a dozen men including myself. My guess is that if Reedy comes in, he will have fewer men than that. If you hear gunshots, send the rest of your men out to join us.” Madden nodded in agreement. Vreeland Summers headed out and Madden went back to drinking his whiskey.

t was dark now and Reedy and his men were saddling up to ride into Timber. He had no idea that Jess had already taken out seven of Madden’s men and wounded Madden himself. They rode along the woods and entered the woods about a mile out from where Vreeland Summers and his men were waiting to ambush them. Reedy and his men worked their way slowly and quietly until they reached the edge of the woods to the north of the town right about in the middle. They could see the back of Jed’s Saloon. They tied their horses up about a hundred

“Torrey, you’re the best man with a Winchester I know, so go and position yourself about fifty feet off to our right. That will give you a few shots before they spot you. The rest of you men go about a hundred feet in the other direction. I’m going to take Buck and Hal with me to the back of the saloon and check things out. Then, we’ll work ourselves across the street and open fire on the front of the saloon. When the shooting starts, the rest of the men here will start firing, but all of you wait until you see a target before you fire. We will be straight across the street from the saloon, and that way, both you and the other men will be shooting from different angles and with a little luck, you won’t hit us.”

“That’s a good plan, as long as the three of you stay across the street from the saloon,” replied Torrey.

“We’ll do the best we can. My guess is that a few of them will sneak out the back door of the saloon when we start firing at the front and that will be your chance to pick off a few.”

“All right, but be careful. You don’t know how many men he has in town. You might just be running into an ambush.”

Reedy, Buck and Banks started crawling on their bellies towards the back of Jed’s Saloon. When they finally reached it, Banks peeked through the back door. He could see Madden and two other men sitting at a large table. He couldn’t see if there were any more men inside from his vantage point, so he worked his way around the side of the saloon and peeked in. He saw two more men at the bar and Jed behind the bar. He worked his way back to Reedy and Buck, who had ducked behind and below the little room that Pattie usually stayed in.

“I count five men inside along with the bartender. Madden is sitting at a table with two men and there are two more at the bar. Madden is wearing a bloody bandage on his left arm, though.”

“That’s interesting but you didn’t see any more men?” asked Reedy.
“Nope, just those five. Maybe he has more men hiding in the other buildings.”
Reedy took a moment to think about it. “Well, let’s see if we can get across the street. Let’s go down several buildings and cross towards the end of town.”
They slowly worked their way to the east end of town. They took turns running across the street, one at a time. Reedy went first, Buck second and Banks last. They ducked behind the mercantile store, which was directly across from Jed’s Saloon.
“I don’t see any other men,” said Buck. “Where the hell do you think they all are?”
“I’m betting that Madden’s men are waiting out at the west end of town for us to ride straight into an ambush,” replied Reedy.
“You just might be right,” said Banks.
“Well, this certainly changes things a little,” said Reedy. “Buck, I hate to ask you to do this, but I need you to make it back to the other men. Tell them to leave Abel there to pick off the men I’m certain will come out the back door of that saloon. Then, tell the rest of them to get themselves over to the west end of town as quickly as they can and position themselves on both sides of the street and wait for Madden’s men to come riding in when they hear all the shooting. When they do, our men will have them in a cross fire.”
“I’m on my way. It’s going to take a while, so don’t start the fireworks without me.”
Buck worked his way along the backs of the buildings. He looked both ways and ran across the street. As far as he knew, no one had spotted him. He was looking back and forth at the backs of the buildings on the north side of town before doing another belly crawl through the grass. Just as he was about to get down he felt a gun barrel in his back and the cocking of the hammer at the same instant. Before he realized it, a large bowie knife was at his throat; the pressure of the blade just slight enough to push the skin in, but not enough to cut it.
“Make one sound and I promise it will be your last,” the unknown figure said, in a very low whisper. “I want to know where Rance Madden is and you’ve got five seconds to tell me before I slit your throat.”
“Take it easy, Mister; Rance Madden is in the saloon with four more men. If you are asking about Madden, then maybe we are on the same side.”
“Who are you?” the man behind Buck asked.
“I’m Buck Hern, one of Sheriff Steele’s deputies. I’m here with Frank Reedy and we are getting ready to go after Madden.”
The bowie knife disappeared as fast as it had appeared at Buck’s throat. Buck slowly turned around when he didn’t feel the barrel in his back and when he did, he was looking at Jess Williams. Buck let out a sigh. “Well, ain’t you a sight for sorry eyes. Where the hell you been all day?”
“Up on the rock cliff, killing more of Madden’s men.”
“How many did you get?”
“Seven. Plus, I had the pleasure of putting a slug in Madden in the process.”
“Seven? You killed seven of Madden’s men all by yourself and you’re still walking upright?”
“Yep.”
“Damn, you don’t mess around none, do you?”
“Nope.”
“So, why were you here in town?”
“I was working my way towards the saloon to kill Madden and finish this. That’s when I spotted you running across the street.”
“Well, you’ll have help, but I need to fill you in on what’s going to happen.” Buck told Jess the entire plan, including the fact about Madden having most of his men at the west end of town.
“Tell Frank Reedy that I’m going to put myself up on top of the mercantile store with my Sharps. It’s only a half moon so it’s not very light out, but I might be able to pick off a few of them as they come into town.”
“He’ll be happy to hear it, but you can tell him yourself. He’s back behind the mercantile store with Banks waiting for me to return.”
Buck got down on his belly and started to crawl through the grass, but before he got two feet, he stopped and turned his head around. “You really were going to slit my throat, weren’t you?”
“Well…you did have
one
second left,” replied Jess, a smirk on his face.
“A damn good thing I don’t stutter,” said Buck, as he started crawling.
Jess worked his way across the street and to the back of the mercantile store where he spotted two men sitting on the ground with their backs against the back of the building. As soon as he got close enough, the two men began to point their Winchesters in his direction. “Easy, Frank, don’t open up with those rifles, it’s Jess Williams.”
Reedy was not one to take chances. He continued to keep his Winchester pointed at Jess until he could actually see his face. “Well, I’m glad you decided to join the party.”
“Hell, I’ve been here all day. You’re the one who is late. I already took down seven of Madden’s men.”
“I guess you’ve been a little busy then.”
“Yeah, I would still be up in my little hiding spot, but when I saw Madden, I just had to take the shot and it gave my position away.”
“Well, you didn’t get him because he’s still over there at the saloon, but he is sporting a nice bandage on his left arm.”
“Yeah, I gave him that. The only reason he isn’t dead is that a rock moved under the forked branch I was using to support the Sharps and it threw the shot off. I won’t miss the next time.”
“Buck should be back soon and when he arrives, we plan to open up on the front of the saloon. I have Torrey Abel back behind the saloon at the edge of the woods ready to open up when any of them go out the back. Madden has only four men with him in the saloon, and I have a hunch he has the rest of his men out at the west end of town to ambush us if we rode in. I sent the rest of my men to the buildings at the end of the street and they will turn the tables by ambushing Madden’s men as they ride in.”
“I can tell you for sure that’s where they are. I spotted them from the cliff at the north of town. They were out of range of the Sharps so I couldn’t take any of them out. I was hoping you were smart enough not to ride in on the main trail.”
“I let them ambush me once and if I had prevented that, this whole thing would have never gotten this far. I’m not going to let that happen again. We came in along the woods to the north.”
“I see you still haven’t pinned on that badge, yet.”
“No, and I don’t plan to until this is over. I’m done playing fair with that madman.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Frank, I’m going up top with my Sharps. I met Buck on his way to your other men and he told me about you sending your men to the west end to wait for Madden’s men to come riding in. I figure that I might be able to pick off one or two before they get into range of your men.”
“Okay, but wait until the shooting starts. I figure it won’t take but a few minutes before Madden’s men come riding straight in at a full gallop.”
“I’ll use my Winchester and help you pick off the men in the saloon, but I want to ask you a favor.”
“Anything you want, what is it?”
“If it’s possible, I’d like you to leave Madden alive for me.”
“I’ll try, but once the shooting starts, he’ll probably be hit before it’s over with.”
“I know, but if he makes it, leave him to me.”
“Why?”
“I like to finish what I start.”