Sins of the Father (18 page)

ANCE
M
ADDEN WAS JUST
lifting his shot glass to down his whisky when bullets started hitting the front of the saloon. The first bullet whizzed right by his right ear, missing him by mere inches. Treat Knudsen and Denzel Matheny flipped the large table they were sitting at on its side, and pushed it up to the window using the thick tabletop for extra cover. Madden ran behind the bar and

grabbed the scattergun that Jed kept behind the bar. Jed was crouching down behind the bar, shivering like a scared cat.

“Rory and Clevis, you two run out the back and work your way around the front of the next building and fire from there.”

Treat Knudsen and Denzel Matheny were firing off shots at the two openings of the mercantile store where the incoming shots were coming from. Jess was taking aim at one of the men behind the table, but he was having trouble keeping him in his sights because both men were ducking down and coming up to fire a few quick rounds. He fired off a few rounds with the Winchester, but the rounds wouldn’t go through the thick tabletop after going through the wall. He grabbed the Sharps and chambered a round. It barked and Treat Knudsen fell back from behind the table, dead.

“Jesus Christ, I think someone is on top of that building with a cannon or something,” exclaimed Matheny as he ran behind the bar where Madden was still crouching behind. Bullets were flying everywhere, hitting behind the bar, breaking glasses and bottles of whiskey, the glass falling on Madden and Matheny who were ducking from the shots and the glass both.

Rory Clement and Clevis Danville ran out the back door of the saloon but they had not made it very far. Torry Abel hit Clement first and when Danville tried to go back inside, Abel hit him with a second round from the Winchester, throwing Danville into the screen door hard enough that he pushed the screen out and his body was lying halfway inside the doorway. Abel fired a few more rounds into the back of the saloon, then he headed out at a dead run for the other men who were positioned at the last buildings at the west end of town.

Jess turned his attention to the sound of running horses. He crouched down and propped the Sharps on top of the side of the building. When he could finally see the shadowy figures atop the running horses, he took aim and fired. He couldn’t tell if he had delivered a fatal shot, but the rider did fall off his horse. He took aim at another figure and fired, this time missing the man. Then, he heard gunfire erupting from the end of the street.

Frank Reedy had sent Buck Hern and Hal Banks to the end of town to help his other men. He stayed on the side of the mercantile store to keep Madden, and whoever he had left in the saloon, pinned down. He could see through the front saloon door all the way to the back door. If anyone tried to go out the back, he would know it. Besides, anyone who tried would have to move Danville’s body out of the way, or try to jump over his body.

Vreeland Summers was leading the pack into town. He was riding next to Jeramiah Paxton when he saw Paxton get hit and go down. They rode straight through the gunfire and Reedy’s men took out four more of Madden’s men. Murphy Monroe, Taylor Stowe, Ernest Winslow and Gorden Berry all went down. Vreeland and his men rode past Jess who was still on top of the mercantile store. Jess aimed his Winchester at a man and the bullet slammed into his back. He fell forward, bounced off the neck of his horse, and hit the ground. Lyle Bitters was dead two seconds after he had been hit. Jess fired another round and Mike Winters flew off his horse, the slug entering the back of his head and exiting out his left eye. That left Vreeland Summers and four other men. They all jumped off their horses and scattered between buildings firing back at Jess and at the other men, who were now making their way up the street, ducking between buildings one at a time and laying down cover fire for the other men to advance up the street.

Buck Hern and Hal Banks made it back to Reedy’s position. Frank was reloading his Winchester and his pistol. “Glad to see you boys are still breathing.”

“Yeah, but we lost two men. Dana Stevens took one in the chest and Lawrence Fields took one in the gut. He ain’t dead yet, but he will be soon,” said Buck.

“The good news though,” added Banks, “is that we got six of Madden’s men, so we are raising our odds of surviving this thing. Your boy upstairs took out three of them himself.”

“Actually he got four. He took out one in the bar with that Sharps rifle of his. That round went right through the wall of the saloon and through a thick wooden table and still knocked the man backwards.”

“Who is left in the bar?”
“As far as I can tell, Madden is still in there with at least one other man. One man is lying halfway inside the back door, dead.”
“That was Abel’s work. He told me he got two men who came out of the back door of the saloon.”
“Well,” Banks said, “let’s not get too awfully excited about this. We still have five of Madden’s men to deal with and they are hiding in town right now taking pot shots at us. We have five men left, unless you want to count Jess and that makes it six.”
“It seems like we have more work to do,” said Reedy as he started to work his way behind the mercantile store. Hern and Banks separated and went looking for Madden’s men. Reedy slowly worked himself staying as low as possible, until he got past three more buildings. He heard the sound of gunfire from all around town as Madden and Reedy’s men fought it out. He peeked around the building he was behind and he found one of Madden’s men aiming a rifle down towards the mercantile store where he had just come from. Reedy put the sights of his Winchester on the man.
“Hey, who you shooting at?” Reedy asked, nonchalantly.
The man, Jon Stidham was so startled by the voice he tried to turn to his left to see who it was and when he did, the rifle barrel hit the side of the building knocking his rifle out of his hands and it fell to the ground. Stidham’s right hand went for the butt of his pistol, but he knew he didn’t have a chance so he stopped and raised both of his hands.
“You got me, Marshal, I give up.”
Frank Reedy smiled at Stidham. “Do you see a badge on this shirt?”
Stidham understood what that meant and he went for his pistol, but Reedy pulled the trigger on the Winchester putting a hole in Stidham’s chest and knocking him backward and he fell to the ground on his back. Dan Cotton, one of Thornton’s men, took a shot at Reginald Sharky, who was leaning on the side of the jail and firing off rounds from a rifle, but his shot was high and Sharkey ran back behind the jail where he found Hatch Simpson.
“Hatch, let’s me and you go up on the top of the jail.”
“I’m right behind you,” said Hatch.
Sharky and Hatch Simpson took the stairs up to the roof of the jail. Jess had watched them run across the roof and take up positions at each end of the front wooden wall that protruded up about five feet above the roof. Sharky and Simpson were firing their rifles as fast as they could, and Simpson hit Dan Cotton in the right shoulder. Cotton ran back behind the building. Sharky was firing at Lemore Taft, keeping him pinned down behind a wagon that was in front of the livery.
Jess took careful aim and the slug from his Winchester hit Simpson, and Simpson fell backwards onto the roof. Jess couldn’t see Reginald Sharky from the angle he was at. Sharky was behind the far end of the roof of the jail, but Jess knew he was there because he could see the muzzle flash as Sharky kept firing at Lemore Taft. Jess put the Winchester down and grabbed the Sharps. He took aim at the wooden wall right about where he figured the man would be standing and the Sharps exploded with a loud boom. Jess saw a rifle fall off the roof and land on the cover of the porch of the jail and he heard a thump when the body hit the ground.
Lyle Bitters and Griff Clark made their way back to Jed’s Saloon. They had to move the body of Clevis Danville before they could get in the back door. They took up positions behind the bar with their boss and Denzel Matheny.
“How many men do we have left?” Madden asked.
Bitters shook his head. “We got slaughtered, boss. I don’t think we have but one or two men left out there besides us.”
“God damn it!” hollered Madden. “Where the hell is Vreeland?”
“I haven’t seen him since we ran into town. Everyone just scattered.”
“How many men does Thornton have?”
“Thornton? Hell, he didn’t even come in. Frank Reedy brought a bunch into town and ambushed our ambush. I don’t know how many men he has, but I’m guessing about six or seven. I’m thinking we should surrender right about now and beg for mercy.”
“They can kiss my ass! I ain’t going to surrender and let Thornton win. I’d rather take a bullet first.”
Just as Madden said that, a few rounds hit the shelves behind the bar and one of the rounds busted one of the few bottles of whiskey left.
“I’m afraid it just might come to that in the very near future, boss,” replied Bitters.
Vreeland Summers was just taking aim at Lemore Taft’s back with his Winchester when he felt the end of a gun in his back. He had spotted Taft behind the wagon and made his way around to the back of the livery to get a clean shot at him.
“I wouldn’t pull that trigger if I were you,” said Frank Reedy.
Summers dropped his rifle to the ground and as he did, he turned, spinning to his right knocking the rifle out of Reedy’s hands with his right hand and grabbing Reedy’s throat with his left hand. Summers pushed him back against the back wall of the livery. He grabbed Reedy’s pistol out of its holster and Reedy knocked it out of Summers’ hand. Summers landed a right fist to Reedy’s jaw and it stunned him. Summers went for his own pistol and Reedy grabbed his hand and pulled it up, but Summers was strong and he was slowly pulling it down to level it with Reedy’s face when all Frank Reedy saw was a flash of light from something that looked like silver. Jess’ bowie knife cut through the left carotid artery of Summers’ neck and the blood was pumping out with each beat of his heart. He was trying to hold his hand on it to stop the flow of blood, but it was hopeless. He staggered a little as he turned around to look at who had cut him and he saw Jess Williams, as cool as could be and Jess was waving his hand to the right. Summers looked back to Reedy now who had understood what Jess was trying to tell him. Reedy had moved out of the line of fire and Summers now understood and when he turned his head back to Jess, Jess had pulled his scattergun out of its back sling and Jess fired both barrels, hitting Summers in the gut, nearly cutting his body in half. Jess reloaded his scattergun and put it back in the sling. He picked up his bowie knife and wiped the blood off the blade on Summers’ pants and placed it back in its sheath.
“That’s the second time you pulled my ass out of the fire, Jess.”
“Yeah, but who’s counting?”
“I sure am. I owe you a couple of favors already and I don’t like owing favors all that much.”
“Don’t worry, Frank, you’ll get a chance to use them all up pretty soon.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“You’re going to like it even less when I call those favors in.”
“Now you’re really scaring me.”
“Rance Madden’s the one who needs to be afraid.”
“I sure wouldn’t want to be him today.”
Reedy and Jess made their way back to the mercantile store where Buck Hern and Hal Banks were. Banks had sent Torry Abel out behind Jed’s Saloon to pick off anyone who tried to escape. Lemore Taft and Dan Cotton showed up about the same time. Cotton had a handkerchief stuck inside his shirt, which was bloody from his gunshot wound.
“How bad are you hit, Cotton?” Reedy asked.
“It hurts like hell, but I’m all right.”
“Well, Buck, who do you think is left in the saloon?” asked Reedy
“As far as I can tell, Madden and maybe two or three of his men along with Jed are still inside.”
“Well, let’s see if we can get them to give it up.”
They all walked between the buildings. Buck, Hal and Lemore went to the right of the mercantile store while Reedy, Cotton and Jess walked to the left side of the store. There was no shooting going on and it was eerily quiet compared to the last five or ten minutes when gunfire had been erupting and bullets flying through the air in all directions, most of them missing their intended targets.
Reedy cupped his hands around his mouth and talked as loud as he could. “Madden, this is Frank Reedy, you and your men are surrounded from all sides. I have six men behind you with rifles and ten more out here. You haven’t got a chance. Come on out with your hands up and we’ll spare your lives.”
Buck looked at Hal. “We ain’t got sixteen men.”
“He’s just trying to scare Madden. Frank always says that he don’t often tell the truth, but he never lies.”
Madden hollered out back at Reedy. “Kiss my ass, Marshal. You ain’t locking me up in that jail cell again!”
Reedy looked at Jess for a moment. “Madden, that jail cell might be the only place you’ll be safe right about now.”
A few minutes of silence passed as if Madden was thinking it over. Madden wasn’t really thinking anything over in his mind, he was simply stalling to see if any of his men were still out there. If they were, they would start shooting anytime soon. No shots came, only Frank Reedy’s voice again.
“I’m still waiting for an answer, Madden!”
“You want an answer? Well here it is.” Madden let both barrels of the scattergun go off blowing off what was left of the swinging saloon batwings; lead pellets flying all over the place. Reedy and his men ducked back farther between the two buildings.
Jess looked at Frank Reedy. “I think it’s my turn now, don’t you agree?”
Frank Reedy didn’t even have to respond. He just put his head down. He knew exactly what Jess had meant. He looked back up to Jess but still said nothing. He didn’t have to; his eyes said all Jess needed to hear.

ANCE
M
ADDEN
,
THIS IS
Jess Williams. I’m only going to give you one minute to come out of there. If you don’t, I will surely come in there and kill you.”

Lyle Bitters.
“Shit, I bet he’s the one who has been killing our
men all along. He’s a bounty hunter and they say he
is faster than lightning and one tough hombre to deal
with. Boss, I think you might want to give it up.” “He can kiss my ass too, right along with Frank
Reedy. As a matter-of-fact, I got two cheeks, and
they can each pick one out and pucker on up.” “Boss, your ass ain’t the only one in here, you
know.”
Madden raised his head slightly above the bar.
“Listen, Mr. Williams, I don’t care who you are, I
ain’t coming out. We’ve got good cover in here and I
know you won’t burn us out ‘cause poor Jed is still in
here with us.”
“You’re right, Mr. Madden, we won’t burn you
out. But you’re dead wrong about that thing you said
about having good cover.”
“Hell, this bar is made of thick wood and there
are three walls behind us. You can shoot all day but
you won’t hit any of us.”
“Mister Madden, you obviously don’t know
much about me, but do you know anything about
buffalo rifles?”
“I know some things about ‘em, why?”
“Well, I have a really nice one here. They call it a
Sharps Big Fifty. That’s because it shoots a fifty
caliber round and I’ve killed men at some pretty long
distances with it and more than once. As a matter of
fact, I shot you in the left arm all the way from the
top of the north cliff behind you.”
Jess chambered a round in the Sharps and
nonchalantly walked out in the street and right in
front of the window of the saloon. He knew that he
was putting himself in harms way, but he just didn’t
care anymore. He was going to end this matter once
and for all, and right now. “I have some bad news for
you, Mister Madden.”
“Yeah, and just what is that?”
“It seems that you just ran out of time.”
Jess aimed at the front of the bar and the Sharps
exploded. Madden ducked back down and the round
went through the solid wood front of the bar and the
slug still had enough force to hit Denzel Matheny in
his side. The shot didn’t kill him, but he was bleeding badly. Denzel ran out the back door holding his side and Torrey Abel took him down with one shot to the chest. Jess didn’t know that Denzel ran out and he didn’t care. He was in forward motion, and when he got like that, a steam locomotive couldn’t hold him back. He knew that the shot through the bar would let them know that they were no longer safe. He dropped the Sharps on the ground in the street and walked quickly towards the saloon. He pulled his scattergun out of its sling and as he continued walking, he fired off one round through the window and then the second one through the door of the saloon. He grabbed two shells from the front of his shirt, after pulling the spent ones out, and reloaded the scattergun. Jess had long ago learned to be able to grab two shotgun shells from the special pockets he had sewn on the front of his shirt, and load them both with his left hand simultaneously. He didn’t have to look at the shells or the scattergun to do it; he could do it with his eyes closed; which is exactly how he practiced doing it so that he could keep his eyes on his target. Buck Hern and Hal Banks were now throwing lead with their rifles through the window, trying to cover Jess. Jess knew what they were doing but he didn’t let it distract him in the least. As soon as he reloaded the scattergun, he walked up to the door and let one barrel go, lead buckshot peppering all around the bar. He walked into the saloon and he let the other barrel go; and as soon as he did, he dropped the scattergun on the floor and slicked his pistol out just as Griff Clark tried to peek above the bar to see if he could take a shot. Jess fired his first round and hit Clark in the top of his head, scattering some of his brains behind the bar. Lyle Bitters threw his rifle and
pistol out from behind the bar.
“I give up, don’t shoot. I’m coming out.” As soon
as he stood up, Jess plugged him square in his chest
and Bitters’ dead body fell against Rance Madden
who was still crouched behind the bar. It knocked
Madden over and he dropped the scattergun just as
Jess came around the corner of the bar. He saw
Madden reaching for the scattergun and Jess shot
Madden in his left hand.
“You crazy son of a bitch! All right, I give up,
damn it!” Madden slowly rose up and turned around.
He was looking at a young man who looked as
though he could scarcely be twenty years old, but the
look in the young man’s eyes were that of a much
older man and a look that actually scared Madden for
the very first time in his life.
Frank Reedy and his men walked into the bar.
Reedy looked at Jess with a pleading look. “Jess, it’s
over. We can lock Madden up and take him to a
judge. I’m sure we can get him hanged.”
Jess never took his eyes off Madden. “Frank, you
know those favors we spoke about?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, consider them paid in full.”
Madden was now visibly shaking with fear.
“Marshal, he’s loco. He shot an unarmed man. It’s
him you should be arresting.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I ain’t wearing any
badge and neither is anyone else in here. The only
men who still have a badge pinned on is the sheriff
lying in a coma in Doctor Hammond’s office thanks
to you, and Tex who is still recuperating from two
gunshot wounds that he got from…now, who was
that…oh, I remember now…you. If you’re looking
for justice, you’re looking at him now right in front
of you. It just so happens that it ain’t the kind of
justice you figured on.”
Jess looked at Jed, still crouched up on the floor.
“Jed, come on out of there.”
Jed slowly got up and walked around Madden.
Rance Madden was terrified now. He had never felt
helpless before and he didn’t like it. He had always
been able to buy anything with his money but now,
all the money in the world wouldn’t help him. Jess fired a round into Madden’s right arm. “That
one is for Sheriff Steele.”
Madden spun around and his back hit the wall.
“God damn it Reedy, do something! You can’t just
let him kill me like this!”
Jess fired another round into Madden left thigh,
missing the bone but going through the muscle. “That
one is for Pattie Nate.”
Madden went down on his right knee. “You
rotten bastard! You don’t even have the courage to
face me fair. Give me a gun and I swear I’ll kill you!” “Fair ain’t here right now, but
I
am. Mr. Madden,
your killing days are over for good. Someone should
have done this a long time ago. This last one—is just
for me.”
Jess fired a round that hit Madden in the middle
of his forehead. Madden fell backwards onto his back
and his right leg flipped out from under him as he fell
back. Jess reloaded and put his pistol back in its
holster and placed the hammer strap on, all the while
looking at Madden’s boots. “Those are some pretty
nice boots he has there, someone should claim them.” Jess looked at Reedy and the other men who
were looking at him with a stunned silence. “What?” Frank Reedy shook his head. “Madden might
have been right about that loco thing. What the hell
were you thinking, walking right in here blasting
away? You’re not invincible, you know. Didn’t you
ever consider the fact that you might have gotten
yourself killed?”
“I wasn’t really thinking about it all that much. I
just figured that I was coming in here, and kill Rance
Madden and anyone who got in my way and that was
that.”
“You sure live dangerously, I’ll tell you that.” “Maybe.”
“So, are we even now?”
“Yeah, until you get your ass in a sling again and
I have to come and pull it out.”
“That’s not going to happen again. Jed, you got
any good whiskey left in here?”
Jed, who was still quite shaken by what had just
happened, finally responded. “Oh…yeah, I keep
some in the back. I’ll go and get some.”
“Jess, let’s sit for a spell and have a drink.
Gunfightin’ is damn hard work and a man has to rest
up a bit after it’s over.”
“That sounds like a good idea, Frank.” They all
sat at a table and Jed brought out the last few bottles,
which hadn’t been broken by gunfire, along with the
last shot glasses he had in the place. They all sat
around for hours and talked about all that had
happened. Even some of the townsmen who had been
afraid to come out of their homes or shops came in
for a drink to celebrate the fact that the town had
finally been released from Madden’s grip. Everyone
turned in early for a well deserved good night’s rest.
Thornton’s men went back to the Thornton ranch to
tell Henry Thornton the good news. The war was
over and Madden was dead.
The light was just peeking through the curtains in
the hotel room and that was all that was needed to
wake Jess. He had taken a long hot bath last night
before turning in and it had felt so good. He got up,
splashed some cold water on his face, and wiped off
with a small towel. He looked at his youthful stubble
and decided that he would get a shave and a haircut today before leaving town. He had to get back to looking for Eddie Sloan. He moved the chair that he had placed in front of the door and walked downstairs and out of the only hotel in Timber. He saw Frank Reedy and Tex walking out of the jail. Tex still looked a little pale but at least he was walking on his own, even though he was still limping on his right leg
a little.
“Good morning, men. Tex, I didn’t expect to see
you in town yet. When did you get in?”
“Pattie wouldn’t wait until morning. As soon as
Thornton’s men came back to the ranch last night,
she asked Thornton for a wagon and made me bring
her into town so that she could see the sheriff.” “That doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m still pissed
off at Madden for what he did to the sheriff. As a
matter-of-fact, I wish that I could bring him back
from the dead just so I could have the pleasure of
shooting him again.”
“The good news is,” interjected Reedy, “the
sheriff finally woke up last night. Doctor Hammond
was sleeping in the back of his office last night when
the shooting started and he came out to peek out the
window. He said when you fired the Sharps rifle at
the bar, Steele started moaning. He’s been drinking
water and eating some soup that Pattie made for him
last night. He’s real weak and can hardly talk, but the
Doctor thinks that he might just pull through.” Jess put his arm around Frank Reedy and smiled.
“That’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time. Let’s
go and see him right now.”
Tex, Reedy and Jess walked into Doctor
Hammond’s office and Mark Steele was still lying
down but his head was propped up with some
pillows. Jess walked up to him, grabbed his right
hand, and squeezed it very gently. “Damn good to see
your eyes open, my friend.”
Sheriff Steele squeezed Jess’s hand a little. Then
he looked at Jess with a serious look as he gathered
up enough strength to speak. “I hear you’ve been up
to your normal tactics. Most lawmen would arrest
you for some of what you did.”
“Well, the marshal here took off his badge and so
did Buck, and Tex wasn’t there last night so I guess
I’m still a free man, unless you intend to arrest me.” Frank Reedy shook his head as he laughed.
“Yeah, like you’d let that happen. Sheriff, he did
what needed to be done and if it weren’t for him, a lot
of us would be eatin’ dirt about now, including Pattie
Nate, and I know you wouldn’t want that.” Sheriff
Steele shook his head as if to say no.
“Well, Sheriff, we’ll let you get some rest. I’m
planning on leaving town in a little bit so this is
goodbye, my good friend. If you ever need help
again, you know you can count on me.”
Sheriff Steele nodded his head affirmatively.
Reedy and Jess had almost gotten to the door when
the sheriff got up enough strength to speak again. “Jess, thanks, especially for saving Pattie.” “No thanks necessary, Sheriff. When a friend
calls for help, I consider it an obligation to respond.” Jess and Frank Reedy walked over to Jed’s
Saloon. Tex stayed behind to keep the sheriff
company. Jed had restocked the bar with what little
whiskey he had left. Reedy and Jess sat at a little
table by the window, which was still broken out. Jed
brought over a coffee pot and two cups and filled
them. “I’ve got some men coming over today to
replace the windows and fix the place up a little. You
boys sure shot it up pretty good.”
“Sorry about that, Jed. I’m willing to pay for all
the damages,” replied Jess.
“You don’t have to apologize. I’m glad you did
what you did. I have a dozen horses and a lot of guns
and rifles from Madden’s men that I’m going to sell
or trade for the work needed to fix this place up. Plus,
Madden had five hundred dollars in cash on him as
well as a few of his other men, and I figured he owed
it to me. I’ll be all right. Hell, I’ll be able to fix this
place up right nice, and I plan to order a brand new
mirror for the bar, too.”
Jess looked at Jed as he walked away. “Mighty
fine boots you have there, Jed.”
Jed turned around and smiled as he looked down
at his new boots. “Yeah, and I have a pretty nice hat
to go with ‘em, too. Figured they might as well not
go to waste and that’s what they were doing on
Madden’s feet.”
Just then, Pattie Nate came out from the kitchen.
She walked right over to the table. “Jess Williams,
stand up right this minute.” Jess did as he was told
and Pattie grabbed his face with both hands, kissed
him right on the lips, and then hugged him for a long
time. “I owe you my life, young Mr. Williams. I will
never forget what you did for me and everyone else
and especially for saving my man. If you hadn’t
showed up, Madden would have killed him for sure.”
She finally let go of him and she had tears in her
eyes.
Jess was still stunned by the kiss. It was the first
time that he could remember being kissed by any
other woman except for his ma, and it was a very
new and strange feeling for him. “Uh…well, you are
certainly welcome, Pattie.”
“Well, I suppose you two are hungry. Would you
like me to fix you some breakfast?”
“I don’t know about Frank here, but I’m
starving.”
“He’s speaking for the both of us, Pattie,” Frank
added.
Pattie headed back into the kitchen to fix them
some food. She would make them a breakfast that