The Gunslinger (Barnett Ranch) (4 page)

             
Mrs. Ellen
made conversation while she cooked.  She asked him about his childhood and the life he had up until he arrived in their sleepy little town.  He avoided most of her questions about that time, but answered those about his childhood.  Virginia sat quietly, not speaking a word.  He caught her staring at him from time to time but pretended not to notice.

             
The meal was good as usual. 
Mrs. Ellen
was a fine cook.  He thanked them for coming out and walked them out.  He helped
Mrs. Ellen
climb in her buggy while Virginia climbed up on top her mare. 
Mrs. Ellen
waved goodbye and he waved back.  Virginia kept herself stiff in the saddle.  He nearly missed the half smile she offered before she spun her horse around and left. 

             
Jax watched them go laughing to his self at the strange way Virginia had acted.  Again, he thought of the woman beneath men’s clothing.  He stood there shaking his head.  He tried to clear the thought out of his head. 

             
By Monday morning, Virginia was back to her usual self.  She did everything possible to irritate him.  She sent him on one errand after another, smacked his feet with the broom to make him move them and started with her usual berating of him.  If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that she was flirting.  Surely
,
that could
n
o
t be the case. 

             
More than once
,
he caught her looking his way. 
Mrs. Ellen
popped her head out of the kitchen.  “Virginia, would you run across the street for me and get some
more
honey?”  Virginia looked up from her sweeping.  “Yes ma’am, I’ll head on over there now.”  She propped the broom against the wall and walked out.  Seeing Jax leaning back on the back two legs of his chair with his feet propped up, Virginia smiled to herself.  She eased up behind him and pushed down on the back of the chair sending Jax sprawling.  Then she hurried across the street laughing, while Jax was still cursing her for being a little devil. 

             
Mrs. Ellen
stepped out, smiled and said, “You know, I don’t recall her ever behaving like this before.  Granted she grew up with men, but the w
ay she is with you is unusual
.”  She crossed her arms, wrapping her shawl around her. 
Jax watched her a minute, trying to read the look that crossed her face, then he said; “You probably never seen her around someone she hated before.”  “She doesn’t hate you.”  She turned on her heel and walked back inside leaving him to think on what she said.

             
He didn’t have long to think on it because a scruffy bunch of men rode into town and headed over.  They hitched their horses to the post in front of the restaurant, and stepped up on the porch.  One feller spit out a chaw of tobacco, nearly missing Jax’s boot.  “I’d watch where I spit that if I were you.”  Jax stared at the man.  “You nearly got your chaw on my boots.”  The man narrowed his eyes at Jax.  “Well I guess it wouldn’t hurt them none.  A little bit of tobacco spit might be an improvement.”  Jax, stood up straight.  He cracked the knuckles in his fist and popped his neck to one side then the other. 
He propped his hand on the hilt of his gun. 

             
The man’s eyes went immediately to Jax’s gun and he moved on past him. 
“I ain’t looking for no trouble Mister, just want to get a bite to eat.” 
“Well I guess you found the right place.” 

             
Virginia crossed the street, honey in hand and walked inside.  She took note of the scruffy bunch of men sitting down
at
a table in the corner.  Jax followed her inside and took his place at the end of the counter.  She carried the honey into the kitchen, then came back out to clear a table of dishes that had been left by the two gentlemen who’d recently left.  She overheard the scruffy looking men, whispering.  They were talking about Jax and looking his way.  One of them said, something that caught her attention.  “Fellows, I’ve seen him in action before.  I’m telling you that’s the Angel of Death.  I saw him down in Tucson.  They say he’s never killed a man that didn’t draw on him first, but the number of men who’ve gone up against him is way up there.  I’m telling you he’s killed more men than Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill
Hickok
combined.”  “I say you’re full of crap,
Reeves
.  You’ve been reading too many of those dime novels.”  “I ain’t done it, it’s him, I tell you.”

             
Virginia, stilled her hands and listened, then she cut her eyes toward him. 
“I’m telling you,
Reeves
, even if it is him, I wouldn’t go around blabbing it to everybody.  You ever think the man might want to settle down somewhere, without some slick hotshot seeking him out to challenge him.  I mean that’s why Pa was never around, or didn’t you know that.  He stuck around long enough to get married and have us, then some stranger came into town looking for him.  That’s why he left and only came around about once a year.  I’m telling you let the man, be.”  “Yeah, I guess you’re probably right, Jimmy.  I won’t mention it again.” 

             
Virginia finished cleaning the table.  She carried the dishes to the sink and left them to be washed.  She found her way back out front and propped up on the counter.  She watched Jax out of the corner of her eye.  She pretended to be looking at the customers.  She took in the way he stood with his hand on his gun.  She watched the steady gleam in his eye.  Why had she not seen it before?  His very stance spoke volumes as to just how dangerous he was.  She took note of his intense gaze.  He carried himself like a gunslinger.  She recalled the day she’d rode up on him at the creek.  She’d challenged him but he sent her away.  He could have made a fool of her but he didn’t.  He chose not to humiliate her or maybe he just didn’t want her to figure it out. 

             
She watched as a man and woman walked in and took a seat.  She walked over to the
ir table to tale them the special.  Her granny was bringing out food for the group of men when she walked through the kitchen door.  They got quiet when she walked up to the table.  Once their food was on the table they never opened their mouths again.  Virginia wanted to know more, but she wouldn’t get a chance to hear it from them.  They finished their meals and left. 

             
Shoot, she thought.  There went the only evidence she had of the Angel of Death. She remembered something one of them said about a dime novel.   That’s it, I’ll get a dime novel.  I’m sure I can order one over at the general store, she thought.  She looked over at Jax.  “I think I’m going to walk across the street for a minute.  Would you tell Granny I’ll be right back if she ask?”  “Sure, go ahead.” 

Jax stepped outside, and sat back down in his chair and watched Virginia cross the street.  If he hadn’t been watching her, he would have noticed the sheriff walking toward him.  He turned around when he heard the man grunt.  “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”  “I want to know who you are and what you’re doing in this town.”  “
My name’s Jax Tanner.
I’m working for
Mrs. Ellen
.  She pays me to chop wood and a few other things.”
“Is that so, you don’t strike me as the wood chopping type.”  “Maybe it’s because she also pays me to keep an eye on things.  I handle the more rowdy customers Sheriff.  I take it you’ve been out of town, or you would know I’ve been working here a few weeks now.  I’m renting that little farm outside of town, from the bank.”

Virginia watched from the general store as the sheriff stood talking to Jax.  S
he wanted to know what was
being,
said between the two men. 
She
watched as her granny exited the restaurant and joined the conversation.  After her granny said a few words to the sheriff, he left.  The clerk waved his hand in front of her face.  “What can I do for you, Miss Virginia?”  “Oh sorry, I was hoping I could order a few books.”  She decided to order more than one, so no one would get suspicious.  She would pretend to be buying them for her brothers.  “Sure, sure, let me find the right catalogue.”  The clerk dug under
the counter through a few items and pulled out a catalog setting it on the counter. 
Virginia made conversation while she flipped through the pages.  “I want to order a few books for my brothers, you know for when they return from the drive.  I thought they might like that.”  She picked out a couple novels about other gunslingers and then she found the one labeled the Angel of Dea
th.  She ordered three novels total,
just to make sure she
did have each of her brothers a
book, because she would be keeping the Angel of Death novel for herself. 

Upon leaving the general store, she saw Penelope Shepherd smiling at Jax while she flirted immensely.  Virginia wasn’t sure why, but it made her angry, and she hurried across the street, to where the two were.  “Penelope, were you looking for someone?”  “Why no, Virginia, I was just talking to Mr. Jax here.”  “I wouldn’t let your father see you talking to him.  He would scold you good.”  “No, he would not.”  “I would hope that any man would scold his sixteen year old daughter for making such a fuss over an older man.”  That did it.  Penelope huffed and stomped off.  Virginia looked down at Jax.  He was staring up at her, with his eyebrows raised.  “What?”  “Nothing, just thought you were kind of mean to that poor girl is all.” 
“Really, I don’t know what you mean.  I was just trying to keep her out of trouble.” 

Virginia stomped inside but not before, she heard Jax’s laughter.  She shrugged her shoulders and went back to work clearing tables and taking orders. 

Mrs. Ellen
walked out of the kitchen looking for Virginia.  “Virginia, would you get Jax and take him out to the ranch, hunting?  I’m getting low on meat and I would like something besides beef and chicken.”  “Yes ma’am, although I doubt he’ll go with me.  He’s afraid someone might see us together, and he’ll be for
ced to marry me.”  “Oh yes, I wasn’t thinking.  I’m so used to you being around the boys that I completely forget the rules of civilization sometimes.  I’ll close up and come with you.  I’ll just sit in the buggy, while you two hunt.  Please ask Jax to go down to the livery and hitch up my buggy.”   “Yes ma’am.”  Virginia walked to the door and relayed her grannies orders to Jax. 

She walked back inside and finished taking dishes to the kitchen.  She helped wash them up so they could all close up and leave.  When Jax pulled the buggy up in front,
she grabbed her rifle and
they walked out to join him. 
Behind the buggy his stallion and her mare were hitched to the back. 
She unhitched her ma
re and climbed up in the saddle, then put the rifle in its sheath. 

Jax helped
Mrs. Ellen
into the buggy then climbed on his own horse.  As they rode out of town, the sheriff stood in front of the jail propped against a post watching them.  Jax tipped his hat to him, and rode on. 

“Here we are, welcome to the Barnett Ranch. As far as you can see and much more is nothing but Barnett land.” Virginia waved her hand in a wide arc.

 
The
Barnett
ranch was huge. 
Jax
caught himself admiring it and wondered what it must take to run a place this big.  He’d never had much use for cattle but he’d wanted to start a horse breeding business of his own someday.  He would need plenty of land, but he doubted anyone really needed this much. 
Mrs. Ellen
and Virginia pointed out different things to him.  The pride in their voices, was all that needed to be said. 

Virginia found herself pointing out a section of land that stretched as far as the eye could see with a great big hill dotted with trees and the most beautiful scenery he’d ever seen.  “This is all going to be mine,” she said.  “It’s my dowry.  Pa asked me
to pick
out ten thousand
acres of my own, that would go to me on my wedding day.  That hill over yonder, sits right smack dab in the middle of it.  You can’t see most of it from here
, but you are technically on it right now
.”  “
Ten thousand
acres is a lot of land.”   “It’s small in comparison to what my brothers will inherit.
  All total
there is a hundred
thousand acres here.
 
The remaining land will be split between them, which means, they’ll each have forty five thousand acres a piece. 
That’s enough for each of them to operate their own ranch.”

He’d never thought about having children, so it never cro
ssed his mind to think about own
ing enough land to provide his children a future.  It didn’t quite seem fair to him, that she wouldn’t inherit as much as her brothers.  Some men didn’t see their daughters as equals to their sons.  He supposed her father was one of those men. 

Mrs. Ellen
pulled her buggy under a big shade tree and relaxed.  Jax took one side of the road while
Virginia took the other.  They’d decided to have a little friendly competition.  Wh
oever got the biggest game, would win
.  The winner got to choose his or her prize.