THE DODGE CITY MASSACRE (A Jess Williams Novel.) (11 page)

             
“Oh God, Jess, I’m glad you came to help. I’ve been afraid that Jim would get himself killed before you got here.”

             
“I came as soon as I got the message. Who the hell did this to you?”

             
“I don’t know their names, but they are both locked up in the jail right now.”

             
Jess stood up, kissed Sara on her forehead and headed straight down the steps. He looked at John Bodine and he knew what the look said. Jess walked straight out of the general store with John trying his best to catch up. The sheriff and his two deputies tried to get up and follow Jess, but Jim Smythe ordered them to stay in their seats.

             
“Trust me, Sheriff, you don’t want to be there when it happens. I’m betting he’s heading straight for the jail to pay those two you got locked up a visit and it won’t be a pretty sight when he’s finished.”

             
“Mayor,” asked Sheriff Fowler, a worried tone in his voice, “just how much leeway do you want me to give that young man?”

             
“You’d better give him all the leeway he wants because once he makes up his mind about how to handle things there ain’t anything or anyone who could change it. He’s been that way since the day he killed his first man right here in town.”

             
“Alright, but I’d like you to see if he’ll agree to wear a badge while he’s here. At least that will make it legal, maybe.”

             
“Good luck with that,” replied Mayor Smythe.

             
Jess walked into the jail cell. There were two men sitting in two separate cells. They were still wearing handcuffs. “Are you the two men who beat up Sara Smythe last night?”

             
One of the men looked at Jess and Bodine. “I don’t see any badge pinned on either of you so you can kiss my ass, Mister.

             
Jess walked over behind the sheriff’s desk and grabbed the keys to the jail. He walked over to the first man’s cell and started unlocking it as he said to Bodine, “John, if either one of them even tries to defend themselves, you put a bullet in both of their legs.”

             
“It’ll be my pleasure, I ain’t got patience for any man who beats on a woman, anyway,” replied John, as he drew his pistol and cocked it.

             
Both men were getting pretty worried at this point. Jess unlocked the cell of the first man who had stepped back against the wall. “Hey, you can’t come in here and…”

             
He never got to finish his sentence when Jess took out his Pa’s Colt and used the butt of it to hit the man in the face, breaking his nose in several places. Then, he grabbed the man’s right arm with his left hand and used his right elbow to slam into the man’s elbow, breaking it. Jess locked the cell back up and went straight into the next man’s cell that was screaming and hollering for help. Jess repeated the same thing on the second man and locked the jail cell when he was done. He put the keys back up on the wall and walked over in front of the jail cells and looked over his handiwork as if he was some sort of artist. Bodine put his pistol away. Both men were blowing blood out of their noses and screaming in pain.

             
“Well, it looks like you two know how to do one thing right,” said Jess. Neither man answered so Bodine asked, curious of the answer.

             
“What did they do that was right?” asked John.

             
“Bleed a lot and scream like an old woman. Let that be a warning to you two. If you ever go near Sara Smythe or if I ever see you two around here again after you get out of jail, I’ll kill the both of you as soon as I see you, do you hear me?” neither man responded. They were too busy blowing blood on the floor. “Well, John, let’s go meet with the mayor and the sheriff and find out what the hell is going on.”

             
“After you,” replied Bodine, waving toward the door.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

              Jess and Bodine returned to Smythe’s General Store where the three lawmen were still seated at the kitchen table with Mayor Smythe. The coffee was done brewing and sitting on the table. Jess and Bodine poured themselves a cup as they sat down. The sheriff couldn’t wait to ask them what they had done.

             
“I didn’t hear any gunshots, so am I to assume that those two we have locked up over at the jail are still alive?” asked Sheriff Fowler, almost afraid of the answer.

             
“Yeah,” replied Jess, “but they will surely need a doctor. However, if it was up to me, I’d let them suffer a little longer.”

             
“What the hell did you do to them?” asked Mayor Smythe.

             
“Let’s just say that they look a whole lot worse than Sara does right now,” replied Jess. “Mayor Smythe, go ahead and tell we what has been going on lately.”

             
Mayor Jim Smythe poured himself another cup of coffee before he began. “Well, about a month ago, a bunch of thugs started coming into town once or twice a week and raising hell. That’s what made us put the signs up at both ends of town informing men to surrender their weapons when they came into town and they could get them back when they left.”

             
“Then how did those two get away with doing what they did to Sara?” asked Jess.

             
“They caught the Sheriff here and both of his deputies off guard over at the jail. They burst into the jail with shotguns and then locked these three up and then went on a shooting spree raising hell all afternoon. When they came into the store, Sara told them to get out and when they refused, she reached down under the counter where I keep that double-barrel and they grabbed it from her and proceeded to give her a beating.”

             
“Where in the hell were you, Jim. Sorry, I mean Mayor Smythe.”

             
“I was down at my other store, working.”

             
“What other store?”

             
“Well, after you took care of Carter and his hired guns, the old Carter store was returned to the bank in town and I bought it after it sat there for a few months. Hell, I’m making a whole lot more money now, but it takes both of us to run two stores. I’m hiring a clerk today to run my other store so I can stay here with Sara from now on.”

             
“So, who are these thugs you talked about?”

             
“That’s the strange thing, Jess. They don’t work for anyone and they seem to be gathering up more men every week. I think they are just a bunch of bad men who are teaming up figuring there is strength in numbers and there is a lot of truth to that. As far as we know, they are camped out the west end of town in those hills you used to play in when you was just a boy. The Sheriff here rode out there and found their camp, but he was outnumbered so there was nothing he could do. He tried to gather enough men for a posse, but he couldn’t get more than three men to join him and that just wasn’t enough men to handle it.”

             
“Sheriff Fowler, what exactly did you find out there?” asked Jess.

             
“They are holed up real good in those hills. There is only one way in and out from their camp. Last time I was out there, I counted fourteen of them, but that probably ain’t all of them. I’m sure some of them were out raising hell somewhere else. My guess is they might have added a few more since then. I also figure that they might come in to retrieve their two friends we got locked up,” replied Sheriff Fowler.

             
Jess was shaking his head. “Then why the hell don’t you have one of your deputies over there right now with the door locked?” asked Jess, a challenging tone in his voice.

             
“Don’t start telling me how to do my job,” retorted the sheriff.

             
“Well, someone obviously has to. First, you let them get the drop on all three of you and then they beat Sara up. You should always have one deputy standing guard at the jail especially with what’s going on. Hell, those men could be on their way into town right now and all three of you are sitting in here drinking coffee. Now send one of your deputies over to the jail right now and send the other one out to watch for any signs of men coming into town,” demanded Jess.

             
“Don’t you be giving me orders, I take my orders from the Mayor here and the town council,” retorted Sheriff Fowler.

             
Mayor Smythe looked at the sheriff. “You’d better listen to him,” said Mayor Smythe, “he knows what he’s talking about. If you won’t listen to him, I’ll make him the sheriff. I’m not real happy with how you’ve handled this situation so far especially with my wife taking a beating like she did.”

             
“I’m really sorry about that, Mayor,” replied the sheriff. “It won’t happen again.”

             
“Don’t be sorry about it. You just make sure you listen to Jess about how to handle this situation. He’s handled this kind of problem before and while you might not like the way he’ll handle things, you can be sure that he will in fact take care of it, one way or another,” replied the mayor, a stern tone in his voice now.

             
“Yes sir, Mayor, you’re the boss.” The sheriff sent his two deputies out, one to the jail and one to sit out at the west end of town, which is the direction the thugs always seemed to come in.

             
“Well, Mr. Williams?” asked the sheriff. “How do you plan to help us deal with these men?”

             
“For starters, we’re going to take the fight to them and catch them off guard. Mayor, I’m going to need you to get four more men and station them on the rooftop closest to the west end of town. Make sure they get some heavy wood and take it up with them and nail it in place to give them more cover. As soon as they see riders coming and they know the riders are the men causing all the trouble in town, tell them to start shooting. Just make sure one of the men with them is one of your deputies so they can see if it’s me or John riding back into town,” said Jess.

             
“Alright, Jess, but why would you be riding
back
into town?” asked the mayor.

             
“Because the two of us are going to go out to their camp and pay those thugs a little visit and they ain’t going to be happy about it,” replied Jess.

             
The sheriff looked at Jess. “You mean just the two of you are going out there?”

             
“That’s right, and we are going out there now in broad daylight. Have your men ready because I figure once we’re finished, they will be coming to town later to get revenge for what I have planned for them.”

             
“Do you have a death wish or something?” asked the sheriff.

             
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” said Jess. “Mayor Smythe, do you stock dynamite here in the store?”

             
“Yes, I still have two cases left. How much do you want?”

             
“A lot.”

XXX

              Jess and John took sticks of dynamite out of the cases and tied ten sticks together in bundles with string. They made eight bundles. Jess loaded some loose sticks of dynamite into his saddlebags along with two of the eight bundles they had tied together. They took the other six bundles of dynamite and the sheriff out to the end of town with a shovel that they took from Smythe’s General Store. Jess started digging six holes just deep enough to cover all but the top inch of the bundles of dynamite. Three holes were about eight feet from the left side of the trail coming into town and the other three holes were on the right side. Jess placed rock on top of each of the six piles of dynamite. The sheriff helped out, but he didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t have too.

             
When they were all finished Jess turned to the sheriff. “Sheriff Fowler, let all your men know where these bundles of dynamite are so that no one sets them off accidentally. If those thugs come into town before we get back, tell your men to shoot at those rocks on top of the bundles when those men are close enough to them. It might take more than one shot, but they will surely go off with the second shot.”

             
“Okay, I’ll let them know. Are you sure you don’t want to take my two deputies with you out there to their camp?”

             
“No, they are better off here protecting the town and Sheriff, please do me a favor,” said Jess.

             
“Sure, the mayor told me to do whatever you said, so just say the word.”

             
“If those thugs come into town don’t risk your lives trying to arrest them, just shoot them on sight. If not, you and your men might all end up dead.”