Sins of the Father (21 page)

HEN
F
RANK AND
J
ESS HAD
arrived in Largo, Jess sent Frank to the only saloon in town to find out if Eddie Sloan was still there. While Frank was doing that, Jess visited Sheriff A.J. Rubel’s office. The deputy, who recognized Jess right off, waved him in and Jess walked up to Sheriff Rubel’s desk.

“Why, I’ll be damned, if it ain’t Jess Williams himself come back to visit,” said Sheriff Rubel, as he stood up and stuck his hand out to shake hands with Jess.

“It’s nice to see you again, Sheriff, but I’m not here on a visit, I’m here on business.”
“Is that right? Who might you be looking for here?”
“I’m looking for a man by the name of Eddie Sloan. I heard he was in a poker game here in town. Is he here?”
Just then a gunshot boomed followed by a second one. The sound was coming from the saloon. “Eddie Sloan is here in town and over at the saloon in a poker game and I’ll bet my month’s pay that he’s got something to do with the gunshots we just heard. Elias,” Rubel hollered out to the deputy on the front porch, “get your ass over to the Mustang Bar and see what’s going on. I’ll be right behind you.”
Sheriff Rubel grabbed a scattergun from behind his desk and loaded both barrels. “Nothing like a scattergun to quiet things down. I see you’ve cut the stock down on yours.”
“Yeah, I like it that way. It seems less cumbersome and easier to handle. Sheriff, can I ask you a favor?”
“Sure, Jess, what do you need?”
“If that is Eddie Sloan involved in a gunfight over there, will you not arrest him but instead, tell him to meet me out in the street?”
“What business do you have with Eddie Sloan, anyway?”
“I don’t like to admit it, but he is actually my father, although I have a hard time bringing myself to saying it.”
“Eddie Sloan is your father? I thought you said your entire family was murdered the last time I saw you.”
“It’s kind of a long and complicated story, Sheriff. I never knew about Eddie Sloan, or my brother Tim Sloan, until a few years back. I found my brother and now I have finally caught up with my socalled father who abandoned me when I was just an infant.”
“I bet you were happy to finally find you still had some family left. How did you and your brother get along after you met?”
“Actually, not too well, Sheriff.”
“Why not, what happened?”
“I killed him.”
“You killed your brother? Did he deserve killing?”
“Yes, he did, I can assure you of that.”
“You plan on killing Eddie Sloan, too?”
“I can’t say for sure until I get to talk to him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the way it goes down.”
“Well, I’ll give him your message and as long as it’s a fair fight, I got no problem with it. I doubt there will be any people crying at his funeral.”
Sheriff Rubel walked out and headed for the Mustang Bar. Jess checked his pistol, walked out, and stood outside the Mustang bar, waiting. When Sheriff Rubel walked into the Mustang holding the scattergun, everyone went silent. Everyone in town knew about his short fuse and they weren’t taking any chances, not even Eddie Sloan, who had been engaged in a conversation with a man at the bar that Rubel recognized right away.
“When did you get into town, Frank, and where is that U.S. marshal’s badge?”
“It’s in my back pocket taking a little siesta,” said Reedy with a look that Rubel understood.
Sheriff Rubel turned his attention to Eddie Sloan. “Sloan, what did I tell you about keeping this game clean and no gunplay?”
“Sheriff, I had no choice. Tillman drew on me.”
“Frank, did you witness it? Is that the way it went down?”
“He’s telling the truth, Sheriff. That Tillman fellow forced the fight.” Rubel’s deputy, who was standing next to Reedy, nodded in agreement.
Rubel had a smile on his face, which was not a very common sight to see. “Well, then, I guess I’m just going to have to let you go.”
Eddie Sloan was somewhat confused by the sheriff’s attitude and comment. Usually the sheriff would have locked him up for a night, even if it was a fair fight. “Well, thank you, Sheriff. I appreciate the fact that you agree with me.” Sloan started to sit back down again and join the poker game.
“I didn’t mean that I was letting you go back to your game, Sloan. I meant that I was letting you go outside.”
“Why do you want me to go outside?”
“Because there is someone out there who wants to meet you. I believe he said he was your son and his name is Jess Williams.”
Sloan looked over to Frank Reedy who just nodded his head as if to confirm it. Eddie Sloan looked back over at Sheriff Rubel who was pointing the scattergun towards the door of the bar going outside. Sloan, knowing that there was no point in delaying this thing, whatever it was, put his hat on and slowly walked outside the batwing doors of the Mustang Bar with Reedy following close behind. Sheriff Rubel decided to sit and watch from a window while sipping on some whiskey. Frank Reedy walked out of the bar behind Sloan and leaned against one of the posts on the edge of the boardwalk just outside the saloon’s batwing doors. Sloan stood on the other side of the other post; one hand below his pistol and the other hand holding the buckle of his gun belt.
Sloan watched Reedy out of the corner of his eyes. “Are you getting involved in whatever this is, Frank?”
“I’m just here to watch and make sure everything goes fair,” Reedy replied, leaning his left shoulder lightly on the post and placing his other hand on the butt of his pistol; his thumb on the hammer. Reedy had already made up his mind that he would kill Sloan if anything went wrong. He figured he owed it to Jess, even though he had not discussed it with him.
Eddie Sloan simply stared at Jess who standing in the street, only a few feet from Sloan. Sloan looked Jess over and there was a remarkable resemblance to his other son, Tim. Sloan noticed the unusual pistol and holster that Jess was wearing. Sloan slightly leaned up against the post and said nothing, he just kept glaring at Jess and neither of them spoke for a minute or so.
Sloan looked up at Jess. “Frank Reedy here said you killed my boy, Tim? Is that true?”
“He told you straight. I killed him.”
Sloan moved away from the post. “Now, why in the hell would you go and do something like that? Family don’t kill family; he was your brother.”
“Maybe by blood but that doesn’t matter much to me. He was still a bad man and he was involved with one of the men who killed my ma, pa and little sister Samantha.”
Sloan looked surprised. “You mean Becky is dead? Last I heard she got married to an old law dog and was living with him outside of Black Creek. What happened?”
“Why do you care, you never came back or helped her in any way. You abandoned me when I was an infant and you took one of her two sons away from her and raised him to be a bad one.”
“I take what’s mine, boy, and I don’t answer to anyone for it.”
“That’s going to change today.”
Sloan’s demeanor turned somewhat darker now. “What the hell did you come here for, boy?”
“I came to find out if you were just like my brother.”
“Well, I’m not, I’m worse than he ever was.”
“I’ll bet that’s one of the first times you’ve ever told the truth. A man who abandons his family and lives a life of gambling, cheating, lying and killing other men over a card game isn’t really a man in my book.”
“You kiss my ass, boy; you ain’t got any right talking to me like that.”
“I have all the right I need right here,” Jess said, tapping his right index finger on his pistol.
“Do you really think so? Do you think that fancy pistol is going to do you any good against me?”
“Why don’t you come on down off that boardwalk and find out?”
Sloan slowly stepped off the boardwalk and walked out into the street about thirty feet from where Jess stood, waiting patiently.
“Boy, you done killed your brother and now you want to brace me in a gunfight? That makes you just as bad as me or your brother.”
“Don’t even try to compare me to you or Tim Sloan. I don’t go around killing people without a good reason. Tim Sloan deserved to die and so do you.”
“I’ve got some bad news for you, boy; I don’t plan on dying today.”
“Actually, the bad news is that there is a slight change in plans and I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“You’ve got salt, I’ll give you that. Well, if that’s what you really want, go ahead and slick that pistol of yours out and let’s see who is left standing when the smoke clears.”
“I’m the one making the challenge, so I think it’s only fair to give you the first move.”
Sloan had an evil smile on his lips. “Awe, is that out of respect for your father?” he said, sarcastically.
“No, it’s because you’re going to need that extra split second.”
Sloan glared at Jess who was glaring straight back at Sloan. Jess had a look of stone on his face but it didn’t bother Sloan. Sloan slowly lowered his right hand until it was in position to draw. Jess’ right hand had been at the ready all along.
“Last chance to back out of this, boy.”
“That’s not going to happen, so you might as well stop talking and start shooting.”
Eddie Sloan went for his gun just as Jess finished talking. He was using that as an advantage to beat Jess on the draw. It didn’t work as Jess’ first shot hit Eddie Sloan in the right side of his chest before Sloan had gotten his pistol completely out of the holster, collapsing his right lung. Sloan staggered back and his pistol slipped from his right hand. Jess had not missed his target; he had intended to wound Sloan with his first shot.
“Well,” said Sloan, his voice weak, “you are damn fast with that pistol, but your aim is a little off.”
“I hit exactly what I was aiming at.”
“I don’t understand?”
“You don’t have to. I just want to ask you a question.”
“What?”
“Do you remember my ma?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you picture her in your head right now?”
Sloan searched his head for a moment. “Yeah, I can picture her.”
“Good, because that’s the last thing I want you to remember.”
Jess fanned two shots at Sloan, the first one hitting him in the forehead and the second one in the neck. Sloan fell back and hit the dirt. Jess walked over to him as he replaced the spent cartridges from his pistol. He holstered his pistol and removed Sloan’s gun belt. Jess looked up at Frank Reedy who said nothing. Jess stepped up onto the boardwalk and into the bar, ordered a beer, and slung Sloan’s holster on the bar. Reedy walked up next to him.
“Well, do you feel any better now?” asked Reedy.
Jess thought about it for a moment. “No, not really, but it does feel as though things are finally right somehow.”
“So, what are you going to do now?” asked Reedy, as he ordered a whiskey.
“Well, I’m still a bounty hunter so I guess I’ll keep on doing that. I do think, though, that I will take a little time to go and visit a real nice family I met out on the trail recently. They were going to build a cabin outside of Abilene, Kansas. I don’t figure they are done with it yet, so I think I’ll go and help him finish building it.”
“I think that is a wonderful idea. You need to find out that there are other things that you can do with those hands besides killing.”
“What about you, Frank? Are you going to pin that marshal’s badge back on now?”
“I think I might just do that,” said Frank, as he took out his badge and pinned it back on his shirt.
Jess smiled at Frank. “It looks right nice on you, Marshal.”
“It feels right nice, too.”
Jess and Reedy finished their drinks and turned to face Sheriff Rubel and his deputy, who were sitting at a table by the window of the bar. “Sheriff,” said Jess, “thanks for not interfering.”
“Hell, it was my pleasure, Jess. Watching you slick that pistol out was worth it alone and besides, Sloan needed killing anyway. If it hadn’t of been you, someone would have killed him sooner or later.”
Jess and Frank walked back to the livery and mounted their horses. They slowly walked them to the end of the main street. “Marshal Reedy, it was a pleasure to work with you,” said Jess, as he stuck his hand out and shook Reedy’s hand. “Don’t hesitate to call on me if you ever need to.”
“The same goes for me, Jess. You take care of yourself, you hear?”
Jess tipped his hat and turned his horse to the north. Reedy watched him until he was out of sight. He tried to imagine what Jess felt like inside after killing his brother and his father but he couldn’t get his head around it. Once Jess was out of sight, he headed back towards Timber to retrieve his two deputies and give them the good news that they were officially back on the payroll.
Jess made his way slowly, not being in any hurry. He made camp the first day, early, by a nice river and he caught a few fish on a string and a hook, using a few kernels of corn that he always kept on hand for fishing. He had a nice meal of pan fried trout and pan bread along with a helping of beans. As he laid back on his saddle sipping coffee and looking at the dancing flames of the fire, he finally felt as though he was at peace with himself. Sure, he had killed his brother and his father but they were just two more bad men and nothing else to him. Then he thought about the nice family he rescued recently. He was looking forward to visiting Hadley, Jane, Harold and little Jessica Brown and helping them work on their new house.

ESS HAD TAKEN HIS TIME
getting to Abilene. He was in no real hurry; he was no longer on the trail hunting down a killer for bounty. He had
stopped early each day so that he could practice with
his pistol, as well as with the Sharps. He spent some
time practicing throwing his bowie knife and he had
gotten pretty accurate with it, too. He was constantly
honing his skills with his weapons.
He rode into Abilene in the late afternoon and
found Sheriff ‘Bad Axe’ McCoy sitting on a rocking
chair outside his office. He reined Gray up, tied Gray
and Sharps up to the post, walked up, and shook
hands with the sheriff.
“Nice to see you again, young Mister Williams.
Did you finally catch up with your father?”
“I’m afraid so, Sheriff.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound good.”
“It wasn’t, especially for my father…I mean
Eddie Sloan.”
“Are you just stopping by or are you looking for someone who has a bounty on his head, ‘cause if you are, I have some bounties on some real bad ones?” “No, Sheriff. I’m actually here to visit with that nice family; the Brown’s who are building a home just outside of town.”
Sheriff McCoy hung his head and frowned. “Oh, yeah, the Browns, Hadley and Jane and their two children. You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what, Sheriff?”
“It was an awful thing what happened to that poor family. Hadley Brown had come into town to get some more lumber and when he did, he got into an argument with three cowboys in the saloon. Hadley didn’t even wear a gun and those three cowboys were hell-bent for starting trouble. Hadley told them to kiss his ass and Hadley threw his whisky in one of their faces. Well, the three of them went to giving him the beating of his life. I wasn’t here at the time and by the time my deputies heard about it, those three cowboys rode out of town. I got back here the next day and decided to ride out and check on him and when I got there, the only thing standing was the stone fireplace. I found the four bodies all stacked together so I figure they must have been shot and then the cabin set on fire. They were burned beyond recognition but we did bury them separately, although it was a real mess getting the four bodies apart. We buried them in the local cemetery here in town.”
Jess felt literally sick to his stomach. He let out a long sigh and he sat down on the chair next to the sheriff. Sheriff McCoy didn’t say anything; he knew that Jess needed a moment to let it all sink in. Jess took off his hat and fidgeted with it. Jess’ thoughts turned back to his family and then to the Browns. There were so many similarities that he wondered if fate was again playing a roll in his life. He thought about little Harold Brown and compared Harold to himself. Jess had been away and came back to find his family murdered, but Harold had been at home and suffered the same fate of his family. Jess wondered which way was better, to die together as a family or to be the only one left to face the loneliness and the hatred and the rage. Then he thought of little Jessica and compared her to his little sister, Samantha. He wondered if the men who were responsible for the death of the Brown’s had raped the little girl or the mother, Jane, or just killed the family and robbed them. He would find out no matter how much pain he would cause the Bolin brothers; before he killed each one of them. He put his hat back on, leaned back in the rocker, closed his eyes, and sat silent for almost ten minutes. Sheriff McCoy said nothing.
Jess finally opened his eyes, leaned forward in the rocker, placed his elbows on his knees, and closed his hands tightly. “Sheriff, do you know who did this?”
“We’re pretty sure it was the three cowboys who gave Hadley the beating. After it was all over, someone said they spotted the three of them heading towards the Brown’s homestead and they recognized them as the Bolin boys. Their names are Felix, Lance, and Burt Bolin, to be exact. All bad ones, if you know what I mean. We formed a posse and chased them for days but we couldn’t catch up with them. They split up and went in three different directions to throw us off, but it was the rain that finally washed away all the tracks. I’ve had my ear to the ground but haven’t heard any news about them since it happened. They are probably holed up somewhere waiting for things to blow over.” Jess looked over at Sheriff McCoy and McCoy saw a look in Jess’ eyes that unnerved even him. “Sheriff, there isn’t any hole deep enough for them boys to hole up in. Do you have any description of them that I can get?”
“The man who saw them heading for the Browns place runs the local newspaper here in town and he is sort of a sketch artist and he drew us some pictures for wanted posters. I have copies in my office, if you would like them? Those were the bounties I mentioned to you before.”
“Yes, I would like a copy of each one of them. I don’t much care about the bounty on their heads. This is personal.”
The sheriff walked inside his office, came back out, and handed Jess three pencil sketches of the Bolin brothers. Jess looked at each one of them and folded them and put them in his back pocket. “Sheriff, it was nice seeing you again, but I have to go.”
“Won’t you stay the night and leave in the morning? I’d like to buy you some lunch over at the café.”
“I don’t think I would be very good company right now, Sheriff. I have to go and pay my respects to the Browns and then I’m going to go look for the Bolin brothers and when I find them, I’ll give them one chance to convince me they aren’t the ones who did the killing and the burning of the Brown family. If they don’t, they will pay dearly for what they did.” “I hope you catch up with them. I hear they like to hang around Dodge City a lot. Last I heard the law there hadn’t seen them lately.”
“I’ll find them, one way or another and it doesn’t matter how long it takes me.”
“Good hunting, Jess. You keep in touch with me back here and I’ll let you know if I find out any news about them.”
Jess untied both horses and swung up onto Gray. “I will, Sheriff. And maybe next time I see you, we can have that lunch. I’d like that.”
Sheriff McCoy nodded at Jess. Jess walked Gray slowly towards the east end of town and stopped at the little local cemetery. He got off his horse and walked around until he found the gravesites of Hadley, Jane, Harold and Jessica Brown. He knelt down at Jessica’s headstone and placed his right hand on the dirt over her grave. “I swear to you on my life that I will bring justice to the men responsible for you and your family’s deaths. You have my word on it. He stood back up and began to walk back to Gray when he saw one of McCoy’s deputies, Elias, walking towards him.
“Damn shame about that poor family, Jess,” said Elias as he reached Jess and shook his hand. “Yeah, they didn’t deserve that. They were just trying to live their lives and build a new homestead.” “I hear that you are going after the men who did it?”
“Yes, and I don’t plan on wasting one more minute.”
“I hope you find them.”
Jess climbed up in the saddle and headed Gray in the direction of Dodge City. Elias watched until Jess was out of sight. Then he looked over at the gravesites of the Browns. When he looked back up in the direction that Jess had went, he said in a low voice that no one could heard—”I surely wouldn’t want to be one of them Bolin brothers.”