The RECKONING: A Jess Williams Western (16 page)

             
They arrived at Carter’s ranch after two days of hard riding. They were met by one of Carter’s foremen who took care of their horses and arranged for them to have a nice hot bath and good meal before meeting with Carter. That was just fine with them.

             
“Must be pretty important for Carter to give us the royal treatment like this,” Spicer said, as he soaked in the tub next to Reedy. A young cowboy was bringing in more buckets of hot water and adding them to their tubs. The foreman had also put a good bottle of whiskey and two glasses on a table between the two tubs.

             
“Yeah, this ain’t bad at all, partner,” said Reedy. “You know, I’ve been sitting here thinking and I have a hunch I know what he wants.”

             
“Really, how the hell you know that?” he asked. “You got a crystal ball in that tub of yours?”

             
“I don’t need no crystal ball, you idiot,” replied Reedy. “Don’t you ever read the papers or listen to what’s going on?”

             
“I only read the numbers on the money we get paid and I only listen to what I want to hear,” he said as he shook some water from his head.

             
“You’re one hell of a partner, Spicer,” retorted Reedy. “I don’t quite know what I’d do without you.”

             
“Probably starve and have to beg for food.”

             
“Then you don’t know that Dick Carter’s only boy Red bit the dust recently?” asked Reedy.

             
“Hell, I didn’t even know Carter had a son.”

             
“I’m sure glad I’m the brains of this outfit,” said Reedy, as he lay back in the tub after scrubbing his feet with a brush. “Anyway, I guess some young kid put a slug into Carter’s boy, Red.”

             
“Why the hell did he do that?”

             
“I guess it had something to do with the fact that Red killed old Sheriff Diggs, who was the sheriff here in Black Creek. For some reason, that riled the boy and he came to town and braced Red and killed him for it.”

             
“Did he back shoot him?”

             
“The way I heard it, he faced him fair and square,” replied Reedy. “I heard he was damn fast, too.”

             
“So you figure old man Carter wants to hire us to go after the kid who killed Red?”

             
“You catch on real quick sometimes,” said Reedy sarcastically.

             
“Don’t make me pay that young cowpoke to throw a bucket of hot water on your sorry ass,” retorted Spicer.

             
“Too bad about Sheriff Diggs though. I worked with him a few times and he was a pretty good law dog. Tough but fair.”

             
“Don’t get all mushy on me,” said Spicer. “Pour me another shot of that good stuff and let’s get on to our little parley with Carter. Maybe we can separate him from some of his money.”

             
They both finished their baths and got dressed. Carter’s foreman led them up to the main house. It was a grand looking place with huge rooms and high ceilings. The foreman led them to a room that had a nice spread of food laid out and told them to make themselves comfortable and that Carter would be in to see them in a little while. They both dug in and filled up. The food was as good as the whiskey. They were sitting down, sipping on some more good whiskey when the door opened and a large man with graying hair entered. Dick Carter wasn’t what you would call fat or heavy. He was big boned and made of muscle. He was over six feet tall and weighed almost three hundred pounds and not one pound of it was fat. He tried to force a smile, but you could see the look of torment on his face.

             
“Welcome, boys. I hope my foreman treated you well so far?” he asked.

             
“Hell, we ain’t been treated this good in a long time,” said Reedy. “A nice hot bath, the best whiskey I can remember and all this good grub. What else could a man ask for?”

             
“How about three thousand dollars?” Carter said, almost nonchalantly. Spicer, who had been gnawing on a chicken leg, almost choked.

             
“Excuse me?” said Spicer with a mouth full of chicken. “Did I hear you right? Did you just say three thousand dollars?”

             
“That’s exactly what I said, three thousand dollars,” he replied bluntly. “You would each get paid a five hundred dollar advance and then one thousand dollars each when you finish the job.” Carter poured himself a glass of whiskey. Spicer glanced quickly at Reedy and swallowed the mouthful of chicken.

             
“And all we have to do for it is hunt down the kid who killed your son, Red?” asked Reedy.

             
Carter looked surprised. “So you know about what happened?”

             
“I can read and I hear things,” added Reedy.

             
“Well, do you boys want the job?”

             
“Hell yes!” replied Spicer, who had put the chicken leg down and was already figuring what he could do with his half of three thousand dollars.

             
“Hold on there, partner,” debated Reedy. “I’d like to at least find out who it is he wants us to hunt down. Who is this kid who shot your boy?”

             
“His name is Jess Williams,” replied Carter. “His family owns a small ranch the other side of town. He’s the one who shot my boy and now he’s got to pay.”

             
“Don’t you mean
used
to own a small ranch on the other side of town?” asked Reedy.

             
Both Carter and Spicer looked up at Reedy with a surprised look on their faces.

             
“So you heard about what happened to his family,” Carter said, not really asking since he sensed that Reedy knew all about it already.

             
“Like I said,” observed Reedy. “I read and I hear things.”

             
“Well, that doesn’t matter none to me,” countered Carter. “My boy didn’t have anything to do with his family being murdered. I even hired Jess to do odd jobs around here to help him out ‘cause I felt sorry for him. He had no right to kill my boy and he damn well is going to pay for it.” Spicer just sat there listening to the conversation between Reedy and Carter.

             
“Well, do you want the job or not?” asked Carter plainly, leaning forward in his chair.

             
“Three thousand dollars is a whole lot of money,” submitted Reedy. “You want him dead or alive?”

             
“I don’t really give a shit,” replied Carter. “You can kill him, hang him or bring him back to me and I’ll hang him myself. It doesn’t really matter to me. Just as long as he ends up dead just like my son. I won’t rest until that happens.”

             
“I don’t know about my partner, but I’ll take the job for that kind of money,” said Spicer.

             
“I’d really like the both of you to take the job,” said Carter. “I hear you work pretty well as a team and you don’t fail to bring back your man, which is why I sent for you. I’ll hire just one of you if I have to, but I’d much rather have you both on the job.”

             
Reedy knew that his partner would take the job alone anyway and as long as it was going to happen, he might as well cut himself in for a part of the action. He felt odd though. Something about this job just stuck in his craw like when a piece of meat that gets stuck between your teeth and you just can’t get it out, no matter how hard you work at it. But three thousand dollars was a lot of money, especially for just one man; or boy. That kind of money was hard to turn down under any circumstances.

             
“Okay, we’re in. Do you have any idea where he is?” asked Reedy.

             
“I hear he headed out to Tarkenton to look for one of the men who killed his family,” replied Carter.

             
“At least that’s a start,” said Reedy. “Can you give us a description of the boy?”

             
“You can’t miss him,” replied Carter. “He’s wearing a pistol and holster that sticks out like a sore thumb. I didn’t see it, but those that did said it was like no other pistol and holster they’d ever seen before. Other than that, he’s about sixteen, dark hair, slender, and wears a sawed-off shotgun strapped to his back so that the butt sticks up over his shoulder.”

             
“That should separate him from the crowd,” implied Reedy. “We’ll head out first thing in the morning. Mind if we bunk down here tonight?”

             
“I’ve got a nice room for you boys,” said Carter, smiling for the first time in a while. “And I’ll make sure you’re provisioned up real good when you leave tomorrow. Anything you need to get the job done, you just ask for it.”

             
“I wouldn’t mind a few bottles of this fine whiskey to take along with us. A man gets mighty thirsty on the trail,” Spicer said with a grin.

             
“I’ll have a case of it on the pack horse along with food, ammunition and water. I’ll give you the cash in the morning before you leave,” offered Dick responded.

             
They shook hands with Carter to seal the deal and Carter left them in the room. They ate and drank some more and then turned in for the night. In the morning, Carter paid them five hundred dollars each in cash and supplied them with a packhorse loaded with everything they could possibly need. They left Carter’s ranch and headed in the direction of Tarkenton, but both men had enough experience at chasing men down to know that anything could have made Jess detour. Once they reached the outskirts of town, they found a campsite where they decided to stay overnight. They would go into Tarkenton in the morning. Their hope was that Jess would still be in town when they arrived. They could make their kill; collect their money and move on to the next job.

             
Both men settled in just before dark and Reedy was pouring them both another cup of hot coffee and Reedy gave his partner a concerned look. “You know what partner; I’m still not sure about this job. It just doesn’t set well with me,” he said as he put the pot back on the fire. He had become increasingly uncomfortable about the job.

             
“A job is a job, Frank,” he argued. “Hell, I told you if you want to back out, I’ll do the job myself. Just give me the five hundred dollars Carter already paid you and head out tomorrow. Then, after I kill that kid, I’ll collect the other two thousand dollars. Hell, that’s more money than I made all of last year.”

             
“It’s just that the kid doesn’t seem all that bad,” debated Reedy. “They said it was a fair fight and that Red drew on the kid first.”

             
“Now who the hell told you that?” he asked skeptically.

             
“I talked to the owner of the general store back in Black Creek when I went there to get us some more supplies before we met with Carter,” replied Reedy. “He’s known the kid since he was a baby. He told me the whole story about his family and all.”

             
“Well, he ain’t no baby now,” retorted Spicer. “He’s a man-killer, and we’ve been hired to take him down.”

             
“Let’s not forget about Red killing the sheriff either,” added Reedy. “You know I don’t stand for killing a lawman.”

             
“Frank, you gonna shine up that old badge of yours and pin it back on?” he asked sarcastically.

             
“I ain’t saying that,” he argued. “I’m just saying there are a lot of things I don’t like about this job. It doesn’t feel right. Hell, if my family was murdered like that, I’d track down the men who did it and shoot ‘em down like dogs, too.”

             
“Hell, so would I, but that’s got nothing to do with the job we’ve been hired for,” countered Spicer. “The kid killed Red Carter and red didn’t have anything to do with the kid’s family being murdered. And now Red’s dad wants him dead and he’s willing to pay three thousand dollars to get the job done whether we do it or someone else does. It seems pretty plain and simple to me. What part of that don’t you understand?”

             
“I’ll tell you what, Todd,” decided Reedy. “I’ll go into Tarkenton with you, but I want to talk with the kid before we finish the job. I’m not going in there and put him down without hearing his side of all of this. Good enough?”

             
“Suit yourself, Frank. Just remember, once you’re done talking, if you ain’t in, turn around and leave your share of the money,” he replied. “I’ll finish the job myself.”

             
“Can’t ask for more than that, I guess.” replied Reedy as he put a few more pieces of wood on the fire and both men turned in.