HELL HATH NO FURY (A Jess Williams western novel) (13 page)

             
“Jess, are you going to ever tell me what we’re doing out here?” asked Annie, trying to control her temper.

             
“Get off your horse and tie him to Gray. Then, grab one of these saddlebags and follow me. We’re going up that hill,” replied Jess.

             
Annie looked up at the top of the hill. “Are you out of your mind, there ain’t anything up there but rocks and brush. This is what you brought me out here for?”

             
“You see that brush up there?” Jess asked, pointing to the clump of brush that he and Bodine had went through before. It was already filling back in.

             
“Yes, I see it, what about it?” Annie asked, confused.

             
“Well, behind that brush is the opening to an old abandoned gold mine that me and John Bodine blew up. The old prospector who was mining it was working the ceiling of the mine when the gold vein he was working petered out. That’s why he abandoned it. I just want to go up there and see if when we blew up the other opening on the other side of the hill, if it exposed another vein of gold. I figure it’s worth a look at least.”

             
“Alright, if it will get us back to town and to supper, let’s go,” replied Annie, who started walking up the hill. Jess was right behind her.

             
“And stop looking at my behind,” Annie exclaimed without even turning around.

             
They finally got to the top of the hill and Jess took out his bowie knife and started cutting and breaking enough of the brush to make an opening for them. “Annie, let me go in first to see if it was safe to even go inside,” said Jess.

             
“I think that’s the best idea you’ve had so far today,” replied Annie. Jess walked inside and lit a match to see a little better. He slowly made his way to the other end of the hill and he caught a hint of something glittering in the dim light of the match. He looked at the ceiling of the mine and it looked like it was still rock solid. He reached the other end and that opening was almost completely closed from the dynamite that he and John Bodine had used, but there was a little light coming in from the top of the rocks that had dislodged from the explosion. Jess hollered back to Annie to come in and to bring a piece of the brush with her. She picked out one that was about two feet long and she climbed through the brush and entered the mine and waited for a minute for her eyes to acclimate to the dim light.

             
“Where are you at?” asked Annie.

             
“Right back here, walk carefully because there are rocks all over the ground,” replied Jess. Jess lit another match and then Annie could see his outline a little better. Annie finally reached Jess and when she did, she stumbled on a rock and fell straight forward at Jess who caught her. Her breasts were now pushed tightly against Jess’ chest and her face was only inches away from his. They looked at one another for a moment, neither one of them knowing what to do and each of them wondering what the other one was thinking at this very moment. Jess then realized that Annie didn’t make any attempt to back away soon.

             
“Thank you for catching me, Jess. I could have really hurt myself. It seems like you keep coming to my rescue,” replied Annie, before she backed away from Jess. Jess was blushing, but Annie couldn’t see it since the light was too dim in the mine.

             
Jess looked at Annie and then he looked at her right arm. “I have an idea,” said Jess, as he grabbed his bowie knife and took Annie’s right hand and lifted her arm up. “Don’t move, I don’t want to cut you,” said Jess.

             
“What do you think you’re doing?” Annie asked. Jess started cutting her shirt off at her right elbow being careful not to cut her.

             
“Hey, this is a pretty new shirt! What are you doing this for?” Annie Demanded. Jess finished cutting the shirt and he removed it and ripped it in two strips. He found the stick that Annie had dropped when she had tripped on the rock and he wrapped the stick with the cloth and lit it with a match. It gave him enough light to see what he was hoping for. There were large chunks of gold lying all over the ground and there was a lot of it.

             
“Oh my!” exclaimed Annie. “Is that what I think it is?”

             
“Yep, it’s gold and lots of it, too. Here, hold the stick while I climb up on the top of these rocks and clear enough of an opening so that we can get some more light in here. Jess climbed up onto the pile and started throwing some rocks out the other side. He was lying on his stomach and throwing the rocks as hard as he could so as to break some of the brush on the other side to let in a little more light. When he finished, he backed himself down the pile of rocks and took a good look around. There were chunks of pure gold all over the ground and some of them were really large. Annie already began to pick up the gold and load it into the saddlebag she carried in. Jess went about doing the same until they filled both saddlebags all the way up, but there was still more gold on the ground.

             
“Annie, you wait here. I’m going down to the horses and get my saddlebag off Gray and bring it up here. That way, we can get most of the rest of the loose gold lying around. You start collecting more and pile it up,” said Jess, as he headed down to the other end of the mine. When he got there, he tore away enough brush to let even more light inside the mine. He quickly returned to the mine and his saddlebag was almost empty. He had thrown out everything except some ammunition he might need. He removed the ammunition so that he could put it on top of the gold in case he needed it in a hurry. He and Annie began loading up the saddlebag.

             
“So, Jess, is this where you killed all those men?”

             
“How did you know about that?”

             
“Sara and Jim told me all about it before you shot those three men who tried to rob the bank today. So, how many men did you kill out here?”

             
“I don’t rightly remember exactly. I think it was seven,” Jess replied, nonchalantly.

             
“You killed seven men in one gunfight?”

             
“Yeah, but they were all bad men and it was something that needed to be done. They were terrorizing the town and they beat the hell out of Sara. I would’ve killed them all for that reason alone,” replied Jess.

             
“I can see why you can’t keep count of all the men you’ve killed. I don’t think I can count all the men you’ve killed just since I met you,” replied Annie, as she put the last piece of gold into the saddlebag.

             
“I guess that’s all we can carry. I can see more gold in those rocks, but you’d have to break them apart to get it and we don’t have the time for it. I’ll tell Jim about it and he can file a claim for the mine and finish getting the rest of it. These are too heavy for you so I’ll carry them down to our horses while you stand guard with a Winchester and a shotgun. Most men would kill their own mothers for this much gold.”

             
“What made you even think of coming out here?” asked Annie.

             
“Mr. Jameson told me about all the gold he had in the bank waiting for transfer and that’s what made me remember this old abandoned mine. I figured it was worth a short ride to check it out and it sure paid off,” replied Jess.

             
“Well, I guess you just got even richer and it was easy pickings, too,” smiled Annie.

             
“Hey, half of this gold is yours. You helped me load it all up, so I figure it’s only fair that we split it in half,” replied Jess.

             
“You’re just trying to buy yourself into another look at me naked,” joked Annie.

             
“You know what, Annie? I think you actually want me to see you naked as a jaybird again,” retorted Jess.

             
Annie huffed loudly. “And just what makes you think that, Mr. Williams?”

             
“Because you keep bringing it up over and over again,” replied Jess, as he started down the hillside with the first saddlebag. “And don’t you be looking at my behind,” Jess said smugly.

             
“I’m not looking at your behind,” retorted Annie, but she was doing exactly that.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

              The saddlebags were so heavy that Jess had to literally drag them down the hillside and Annie had to help him lift them up and onto Jess’ pack horse. Jess put his regular saddlebag on his horse Gray. They rode back into town and headed straight for the bank. Jess saw Tony sitting in a chair outside the livery and Jess asked him to meet him over at the bank. Jess got to the bank, but it was closed. Jess asked Tony where Mr. Jameson might be and Tony said that he would most likely be in the saloon for a few drinks and maybe to play some poker. Jess sent Tony to find Jameson while he and Annie guarded the gold.

             
Mr. Jameson and Tony walked out of the saloon and over to the bank. “Mr. Williams, Tony here says you needed to see me right away?”

             
“I sure do, we need you to open your safe because we have something we need to have deposited in it right away,” replied Jess.

             
“Sure, but what do you have that couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” asked Jameson, puzzled.

             
“Open those saddlebags and you’ll know why it can’t wait,” replied Jess.

             
Jameson opened one of the large saddlebags and saw all the gold and he let out a gasp. “Holy shit, that is one huge amount of gold,” said Jameson.

             
“Yes, and we have two more saddlebags that are filled with the same stuff,” replied Jess. “Tony, will you help me carry these in to the safe?”

             
“Sure thing, Jess, where in the heck did you find this much gold in such a short time?” asked Tony.

             
“Remember when me and John Bodine blew up that old abandoned mine? Well, when we did, it exposed a new vein of gold and it was all just laying around on the ground up in that mine. We just had to pick it all up and load it,” replied Jess.

             
“Damn, you sure are one lucky feller, for sure,” replied Tony. “No one else ever thought to go up there and check it out. Everyone just figured it was all petered out.”

             
“Well, I didn’t think about it either until Mr. Jameson was telling me about all the gold he had in the safe here in the bank waiting to be transferred. That’s when I thought about going up there and checking it out,” replied Jess.

             
Tony and Jess carried the heavy saddlebags into the safe and Mr. Jameson locked it back up and turned to Jess. “Jess, I’ll take care of having it assayed for you and tell you how much money you’ll get for it. Do you want me to deposit it into your account?”

             
“Mr. Jameson, I need you to open an account in Annie’s name and split the money up equally between the two of us,” replied Jess.

             
“Okay then, I’ll open her account tomorrow. Annie, I’ll need you to come and see me in the morning so we can file the proper paperwork for you,” said Jameson.

             
“I’ll be here right after breakfast,” replied Annie, a wide smile on her face.

             
Jameson turned to Jess. “I guess she’ll have enough money now to build her own house, Jess.”

             
“What house are you referring too?” asked Annie, somewhat confused.

             
“Well, Jess here told me today to have a house built for you in town if you agreed to make this your new home and he was going to pay for it himself.”

             
Annie turned to Jess. “You were going to build me a house here in this town and you weren’t going to even consult with me about it?”

             
“I wasn’t going to have it built until I talked to you about living here and I haven’t had the time to ask you yet,” replied Jess.

             
“Well, when were you going to ask me?” retorted Annie.

             
“I was going to bring the idea up at supper with Jim and Sara.”

             
“And what if I don’t want to live here, did you think about that?”

             
“Yes, and that’s why I told Mr. Jameson not to build it until I talked to you.”

             
“So that’s what you and he were talking about when you pretty much told me to get out?”

             
“Yes, that’s what I was discussing with him.”

             
Tony and Jameson took their leave after listening to the conversation for a while. They figured they would be safer in the saloon. Jess started walking the horses down to the livery and Annie followed him.