Sins of the Father (15 page)

HE SKY HAD A BEAUTIFUL
orange and reddish glow to it as the sun finally started to rise high enough above the horizon to see it. Pattie Nate had been busy in the kitchen whipping up some tempting food. She had cooked biscuits, flapjacks, eggs, bacon, ham and fresh bread. She had cooked up four large apple pies and the men were all drooling like a bunch of starving animals. They weren’t used to getting this kind of food here. Stumpy was an okay cook, but he was an amateur compared to Pattie. Pattie allowed him to make the coffee and help serve, but that was about it. The table would only accommodate eight people so the other men would have to eat later. For now it was Henry Thornton, Frank Reedy and his two deputies, Buck Hern, Tex, Dana Stevens and Jess. Stumpy always ate standing up, picking up pieces of food from the plates as he put them down and eating it while he was pouring coffee or replenishing the food on the table.

Thornton looked over at Marshal Reedy who was carefully putting some fresh butter on a biscuit and trying not to break it apart. “Marshal, a few days ago you were here warning me about my little war with Rance Madden and now, here you are, a guest at my table. Isn’t it funny how things work out sometimes?”

Reedy broke the biscuit and it fell on the plate in a few pieces. “Yeah, who would have thought that would happen. Of course, I might not have had another meal if it wasn’t for Jess here. Thanks for breaking me out of that hole.”

“You’re welcome, Marshal, and you can show me just how thankful you are by not arresting me for some of the things I had to do concerning Rance Madden and his hired guns.”

Reedy finally got another biscuit and successfully buttered it. “Yeah, I heard about most of it from the two men who were guarding us in the jail. Some of the things you did are things that I normally would have arrested you for, but I suppose this ain’t exactly a normal situation. I couldn’t have done what you did, that’s for sure. If I did, they’d yank this badge off me in a second and I’ve kind of gotten used to wearing it.”

“Is it true that you just plugged Galt Dixon without even giving him so much as a warning?” asked Tex.

“Yes, that’s true. He had four other men with him so I couldn’t take the chance and besides, they ain’t been exactly playing fair, so why should we?” replied Jess.

“Well, just so you know, I would’ve done the same damn thing, knowing what I know now,” said Tex.

“Maybe,” added Buck, “but we wear a badge and we can’t do things like that. We are supposed to follow the law and all.”

Pattie Nate brought another platter of flapjacks over to the table. “You lawmen are something else. If it wasn’t for Jess and his way of doing things, you men would all be under the ground and never heard from again, Sheriff Steele would be dead, if he ain’t already, and I would have been raped and buried in a deep grave, too. Rance Madden would own this whole town along with Mr. Thornton’s ranch. Is that what you lawmen want? Do you want the bad guys to win all the time because you’re too damn proud of those shiny tin badges you wear and all the rules that go along with them? Those badges only mean something to law-abiding people, not murderers the likes of Madden. When are you men going to finally get it? When you are all dead? And what about all the innocent people who get killed in the process? Don’t their lives count? According to the law you men are so concerned about following, you can’t do anything until a crime has been committed, even when you know for sure that Madden is going to commit a crime. The only reason that Mark Steele is lying in Doctor Hammond’s office, in a coma and near death, is because of his belief in following the law. All of this could have been prevented if you all did things the way Jess here does. Hell, he’s been here just a few days and he’s done more to stop Madden than all the rest of you combined. I think you all need to do some serious thinking about what you are going to do next, because I can guarantee that Rance Madden is going to commit another crime and it won’t be long before he does it either.”

Pattie turned around, almost in tears and went back to cooking. Everyone in the room was speechless. No one knew what to say because they all knew that she was right. The only one who was still eating was Jess. The other seven men were watching him eat and he finally noticed it.

Jess.
“Because we all just got an ass-chewing, except
you,” answered Reedy.
“Well, that’s because you all deserved it.” “Yeah, maybe,” said Reedy, “but we are sworn to
uphold the law and that means following it, too.” “Tell that to Sheriff Steele. Tell that to all the
other men who have died at the hands of Madden’s
hired killers. Hell, I would have shot Rance Madden
right from the start. You knew what he was when you
let him out of jail, and you knew exactly what he was
going to do.”
“Well, what would you have done?”
“I would have gone over to the jail and plugged
his sorry ass, strapped him on his horse and sent him
back to his ranch. Hired killers don’t work for free
and when there isn’t someone to pay them, they
leave.”
Frank Reedy wanted to argue the point further
but he knew that he couldn’t win the argument. Hell,
he couldn’t even win the argument within his own
head. The truth was, that is exactly what Frank Reedy
wanted to do about Madden but
Marshal
Reedy
couldn’t allow himself to just shoot Madden in the
jail cell. They all ate in silence for about five
minutes, every one of them letting what Pattie Nate
and Jess had said sink into their brains.
Henry Thornton finally finished up with his meal.
“Pattie, that was the best food I’ve had in a long time.
If you don’t want to go back to work at the saloon,
you have a job right here as my full time cook.” “Why, thank you Mr. Thornton, but I like
working over at Jed’s place. Of course, by the time
you men do something to stop Madden, Jed might be
dead and the place burned to the ground,” she replied,
a sarcastic tone in her voice.
“I heard you the first time, Pattie,” said Frank
Reedy.
“Good, I’m glad you were paying attention.” “How could we not? Well, Jess,” said Reedy,
“what do you think we ought to do about Madden
and his men?”
Jess stopped eating and Pattie turned around to
hear what Jess would say. “Hey, I’m not the leader of
this group and I don’t wear a badge. You and your
men have to decide for yourselves what you want to
do. I do things my way and I usually work alone.” Reedy folded his arms, which is what he usually
did when he was getting frustrated. “Okay, let me put
it to you this way. What are
you
planning on doing
about Madden and his men?”
Jess placed his hands on the table and let out a
sigh. “Well, Marshal, unless you plan on arresting
me, I plan on going back to town and killing every
one of Madden’s men, and then I’m going to put a
bullet in Madden’s head and I ain’t going to do it
nicely, either. Rance Madden made up his own set of
rules and I’m simply going to use his rules against
him and his men. And, I’m planning on leaving in
about ten minutes to get started, so if you’re going to
arrest me, you had better do it before I leave because
once I do, you’ll never catch me.”
“Well, don’t you just get to the point,” said
Reedy.
“No sense putting off the inevitable or waiting
around for something to happen. Pattie is right;
Madden is plotting as we speak. It’s either him or me,
and I’d rather it be him. He started this war and I plan
to finish it, even if I have to do it alone. “
Reedy unfolded his arms. “Well, I don’t want to
arrest you and I’m not sure that I want to stop you
from what you want to do.”
“I’ll tell you what, Marshal. I’m going over to the
barn and spend about a half hour cleaning and getting
my weapons ready. You try to make up your mind
about things. I’m going to assume that if you let me
ride out, that you won’t arrest me for anything I’ve
done, or anything I’m going to do.”
“I guess that’s fair enough,” said Reedy. Jess pushed the chair back and kissed Pattie on
her still bruised cheek. Then he gently brushed his
right index finger over the bruise. “I’m not forgetting
who did this either, Pattie.”
Jess went out to the barn, sat at a small table, and
went through his ritual of cleaning and checking all
his weapons. He had plenty of ammunition for his
Winchesters as well as the Sharps Big Fifty. Frank
Reedy and the rest were still sitting at the table. “Mr. Thornton, how many men do you have left
now?” Reedy asked.
“Stumpy here got me five new men. Add that to
the five I have left and that gives me ten men who
can shoot a gun. None of them are gunslingers but
every one of them will fight.”
“Well, when you add me and my two deputies
along with Buck, it gives us fourteen men.”
Torrey Abel looked at his boss. “What are you
planning, Frank?”
“I’m not exactly sure yet but I’m thinking about
it. Mr. Thornton, would you excuse me and my two
deputies? We need to have a private meeting.” “You can use my study if you wish.”
“Thanks, but I think we’ll just go out back and
have a smoke.”
Frank Reedy, Torrey Abels, Hal Banks and Buck
went out back behind the Thornton Ranch. Buck and
Abel took out the makings and rolled themselves a
smoke.
Torrey took a long drag from his cigarette and
slowly let it out. “What do you think we ought to do,
boss?”
“Well, we have fourteen men. I figure that
Madden has at least that many men and more on the
way. Madden has us outnumbered and his men are
hardened killers and that puts us at the disadvantage.” “Maybe not,” said Buck.
“What do you mean?”
“We got Jess Williams. Hell, from what I’ve seen
so far, he counts as ten men.”
“Yeah, that’s true, but I can’t let him loose while
I wear this badge.”
“Well, you better make a decision pretty soon
‘cause our friend is saddling up to ride out right now
and once he does, we will have no control over what
he might do unless we arrest him and somehow I
don’t think he would allow that to happen.”
Reedy folded his arms again. “I don’t think we
have much control over what he does anyway, but I
do think that he will work along with us if we ask
him.”
Torrey Abel and Hal Banks looked back and
forth at one another and then Banks looked at Reedy.
“You mean if
you
ask him.”
Reedy looked at his two deputies who had been
working under him for a while now. They were both
as tough as they come and seasoned gunmen. “You
don’t mean to imply that the two of you are afraid of
him, are you?”
“No,” answered Banks quickly, “we just have a
lot of respect for that right hand of his.”
“Yeah,” added Abel.
“Well, so do I, but I know him better than you
two. He wouldn’t take on either one of you unless
you gave him no chance. He’s not like that. As a
matter of fact, as much as I don’t always agree with
how he does things, he ain’t never killed a man who
didn’t need killing. Anyway, enough of that. I’ve
made a decision. Torrey, Hal, you’re both fired. Take
those badges off.”
Both Abel and Banks looked at their boss as if he
had gone loco. “What the hell you say?” asked
Banks.
“You heard me right, take them off,” replied
Reedy who also removed his U.S. marshal’s badge
from his shirt and placed it in his back pocket. “Why are we being fired?” Abel asked, taking his
badge off and handing it to Reedy. Banks followed
suit but said nothing.
“Because what we are about to do might tarnish
these badges and I won’t allow that to happen. Maybe we can put them back on later but for now, until we get this problem with Rance Madden settled, we don’t represent the U.S. marshal’s office. We are
officially off the payroll.”
“Damn it,” said Banks, kicking a small rock
about ten feet. “I need this job.”
“Well, I know someone who is hiring and paying
a whole lot more money than a deputy U.S. marshal
gets paid,” said Buck, who had been silent during the
entire conversation until now.
Banks and Abel looked at one another with that
unspoken language and then they looked over at their
boss. “Frank, you got a problem with us working for
Thornton since we’ve been fired?” asked Banks. “The way I see it, you two are free to pursue any
line of work you wish to. I have officially relieved
you of your duties as of this moment.”
“Frank, what are you going to do?” asked Buck. Frank Reedy looked down at the ground for a
moment. “Well, I just quit so I am relieved of my
duties as a U.S. marshal as of now, so I guess I’m
looking for a new job and Thornton is paying pretty
well.”
Buck looked at Reedy, Abel and Banks. He
smiled as he took off his deputy sheriff’s badge and
stuck it in his back pocket. “I guess I’m in too.” “What about Tex?”
“I don’t think he should ride yet. He’s still
bleeding from his wounds. I think it’s best if he stays here and helps guard the ranch. It will be up to him to
decide whether or not he wants to take his badge off.” Jess was coming out of the barn with both of his
horses saddled up and ready to ride. “Marshal Reedy,
I sure enjoyed seeing you again but I have to ride out.
I hope you won’t try to stop me.”
“I have no intention of stopping you. I intend to
join you.”
Jess noticed that Reedy’s badge was missing. He
looked at the other three and noticed that all three had
removed their badges. Jess smiled. “Just what do you
have in mind, Marshal?” Reedy smiled back. “Just
call me Frank from now on.”

ANCE
M
ADDEN HADN
’
T SLEPT
all night. He was still livid over losing his prisoners, and even more livid over losing three more of his men. He had sent Vernon Foster out to his ranch to wait for the new arrival of hired guns that he hoped would show up soon. He had Jed working the bar and the kitchen both and Jed was getting worn out trying to keep Madden’s men fed and full of whiskey. The only good thing is that there were less of Madden’s men right now.

Madden had posted two men on the top of the two last buildings going out of town to the east and two more on the top of the two last buildings going out of town to the west. He kept three men with him in the saloon and two more walking along each side of the main street of Timber. He would know instantly of another ambush attack like last night at the jail cell. He waited all day but nothing happened.