The RECKONING: A Jess Williams Western (32 page)

             
He walked into the stables and called out Ted’s name. There was no answer. Jess was about to turn around when he heard some moaning coming from the back of the stable. He walked over to where the sound was coming from and he saw Ted Watkins laying flat on his back in a pile of hay. He had been severely beaten. Jess grabbed a water pail and took it over to where Ted was. He dipped a rag into the water and placed it on Watkins’s forehead. After a minute or so, Ted came around and was startled at seeing someone leaning over him.

             
“Easy, Ted,” said Jess. “Just stay down there for a minute and get your wits about you before you try to stand up.” Jess saw several knots on Watkins’s forehead and at least a dozen cuts and bruises, along with a real bad gash just below the hairline over the right eye. Someone had really worked him over good.

             
“Who the hell did this to you?” he asked, after Ted seemed to have shaken some of the fog from his brain.

             
“That damn bunch that came into town a little bit ago. I told them it was extra for the good grain for their horses and they started to argue with me. They were just looking for a reason and before I knew it, one of them hit me with the grain bucket. I punched the bastard square in the nose and he started bleeding like a stuck pig and that pissed off his friends. They all jumped me and beat the tar out of me. I could’ve taken the one guy, but I didn’t have a chance against all of them,” he explained.

             
“Well, at least you were smart enough not to try using that pistol.”

             
“Hell, I'm not afraid of any fight, but I'm no fool either,” he said. “They’d have shot me down like a dog. I’ve seen their kind before. They make a life out of looking for trouble and a reason to kill someone.”

             
“Well’ maybe this will make you feel better,” said Jess, as he gave Nevada’s pistol and holster to him.

             
“What’s this for?”

             
“I took this off Nevada Jackson. I figure I don’t really need another gun and since you seem to want to wear one, you might as well have a nice one.”

             
“I can’t keep this. Nevada will…” Ted’s words cut off as his brain began to fire on all cylinders and he remembered the old prospector coming in to claim Nevada’s horse and rifle, but not before telling him about the gunfight. Ted stood up and shook the cobwebs out of his head.

             
“So, you really did outdraw Nevada Jackson?”

             
“You’re holding his pistol and holster,” he replied clearly.

             
“Damn,” replied Ted, rubbing his forehead.

             
“I’m going to head back to the saloon, but I want to ask you for a favor,” said Jess.

             
“Name it. I figure I owe you one,” replied Ted.

             
“Let me know when Blake Taggert comes back to town.”

             
“You got it, Jess. And thanks a lot for the pistol and holster. It’s mighty nice,” he said examining the pistol and holster.

             
“You’re welcome. I think it’s one of the nicest ones I’ve seen, except for mine that is. And go see someone about that bad cut over your eye.”

             
Ted nodded and walked out right behind Jess, but not before putting on Nevada’s gun and holster. Jess walked back into Little’s Drinks. As soon as he stepped inside the door, he saw trouble in the form of five men standing at the bar drinking and slamming their glasses down on the bar. All five of them were wearing guns, but only two of the men had them tied down low and tight on their legs. Jess wondered if these were the men who had beaten Ted Watkins earlier.

             
Jess walked up to the far right end of the bar and ordered a beer. Four of the five men didn’t pay Jess any attention at first, but one of the men in the group did. The man had watched Jess walk into the saloon and he was still watching him. Jess didn’t return the stare, but was well aware of it and he had already taken his hammer strap off. The man turned back to his other four friends and they suddenly became quiet and then they all seemed to turn so they could see Jess. They drank quietly and spoke amongst themselves for a while, all the time glancing over at Jess. The five men were distracted when Ted Watkins walked into the saloon. The five men smiled at Ted as he walked over to the bar and stood next to Jess.

             
“Well, looky here,” one of them said. “It’s the little stable boy. You come to tell us you done raised the boardin’ fee on our horses?”

             
“Naw,” said another one of the men, “he just likes the beatin’ we gave him and he’s come back for another.”

             
Ted ordered a beer and was just about to respond when the one man who had been carefully watching Jess spoke. This man was the leader of the group and his name was Ike.

             
“Now boys, we done gave the stable boy here enough exercise for the day, don’t ya think?” asked Ike. “I mean, look at that big ole bandage on his forehead. I bet he’s got a real nice cut under that bandage.” The other four men laughed at that.

             
“Besides,” Ike continued, “I’d like to know more about his friend there at the end of the bar. He’s been ignoring us since he came in here and I don’t think I like that. Are you shy and hiding behind the stable boy there?”

             
Ted looked at Jess and Jess gave him a look that Ted understood. Jess motioned his head to tell Ted to move away from the bar, which he did. Ted moved about ten feet away and stood by a table. Jess took another sip of his beer and slowly turned to the men and responded to the question very simply.

             
“Neither,” said Jess. The response from Jess took the man a little by surprise. He wasn’t used to getting a simple one-word answer from someone and it riled him a little, although it didn’t show on the man’s face.

             
“You ain’t one for carrying on much of a conversation, are ya?” asked Ike.

             
“Nope.”

             
“So is it that you don’t like to carry on a conversation, or is it that you just don’t want to carry on a conversation with me?”

             
“Neither,” replied Jess. The man laughed for a moment until he finally realized what Jess had answered. That really riled him and this time it showed on his facial expression.

             
“You smart-ass punk!” hollered Ike. “Don’t you know who you’re talking to?”

             
“Nope, and I really don’t care either.”

             
“You best care, mister,” Ike spat angrily.

             
“Why?”

             
“Because I’m Ike Hardy and I was puttin’ men in their graves before you were a twinkle in the half-dozen men you call your daddy!” exclaimed Ike. “Besides, you ain’t even a man yet, just a young punk who thinks he is.”

             
Ike’s face had turned two shades rosier now and the other four men spread out. The one man who had his gun tied down low and tight was looking right at Ted Watkins. Jess knew that he would have to hit that man if he wanted to save Ted. Ike took one step forward.

             
“Well, smart-ass, why don’t we find out how good you are with that fancy shootin’ iron you got there?” asked Ike.

             
“If you want to find out, all you have to do is grab for yours,” said Jess. “That should be about the last thing you’ll remember.”

             
Ike went for his gun and the first thing he felt was his thumb beginning to put pressure on the hammer of his Colt Peacemaker as he went to jerk the gun from his holster. The second thing he felt was a heavy thump in the middle of his chest from Jess’s first shot. Before he fell to the floor of the saloon, he saw three flashes from Jess’s gun barrel. It seemed as if it was one continuous blast, but it wasn’t. Jess’s second shot hit the man who was eyeing Watkins and his third shot hit the man to Ike’s left. Ted Watkins had just drawn his gun and had it cocked when the other two men in the group raised their hands high in the air. “We give! Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”

             
Ted Watkins was standing there in disbelief at what he had just witnessed. He had watched in the blink of an eye as Jess had taken out three men and was ready to shoot a fourth one and not one of the men had cleared leather yet. His mouth was open, but he couldn’t speak. He slowly put his gun down at his side, but didn’t holster it. Jess continued to keep his gun cocked and ready.

             
“You men take those gun belts off,” demanded Jess.

             
“Okay. Sure, mister, whatever you say. Just don’t shoot,” one of the two men said. Both men unbuckled their gun belts and let them drop to the floor. “Okay, now what?”

             
“Well, I would suggest you men leave town immediately and don’t bother taking your friends’ horses with you. I’ll be taking care of them since they’re my horses now.” Jess stated plainly.

             
“You gonna keep their horses?” asked the other man.

             
“Shut the hell up, you fool,” replied the first man. “Let’s get our asses out of town while we still have them.”

             
The two men almost ran over to the stables and got on their horses and rode out of town at a dead run. Ted Watkins finally put his gun in the holster and sat down. Jess got two beers from the barkeep and sat down at Ted’s table and slid one of the beers across the table toward him. Ted gulped it down and Jess noticed his hand was shaking a little.

             
“Mr. Williams, I don’t know what to say. I’d be dead right now if it weren’t for you. Are you for real?” Ted said still somewhat shocked at what he had just witnessed.

             
“I guess so, at least the last time I checked anyway,” he replied. “What the hell did you come in here for? You must’ve known those men were in here. Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Ted shook his head, still stunned a little by what had happened.

             
“No, I wasn’t even thinking of that,” he replied eagerly. “I was just doing what you asked me to do.”

             
“What do you mean?” asked Jess with a confused look on his face.

             
“Blake Taggert is back in town and he’s already heard there was someone in town looking for him,” he explained. “He’s down at Harry’s Place right now and he’s got a friend with him. I was just coming to let you know he was back like you asked me to do.” Jess’s eyes turned darker as he slowly stood up.

             
“Well, I guess I’ll have to go have me a drink over at Harry’s. Ted, get these men’s guns and take what money they have on them and take it over to your place for me, okay?” Ted nodded.

             
Jess left Paul a tip and started to walk out. He was at the doorway when Ted stopped him with a question. “Jess, I gotta hunch that Blake Taggert is in a whole heap of trouble, ain’t he?”

             
“You are absolutely right about that,” said Jess, as he walked out. Ted turned to the barkeep and asked for another beer. The barkeep poured him another beer and walked it over to his table.

             
“Well, Paul, I guess you got some cleaning up to do here,” implied Ted, looking at the three dead bodies lying on the floor.

             
“I guess so,” he agreed. “I figure Harry’s going to be doing some mop work in a few minutes himself.”

             
“Yeah, but I got a real strong hunch that it won’t be any of Jess Williams’s blood on the floor once it’s over.”

             
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were one of them mind readers,” said the barkeep.

             
Jess stood there in the street for a moment thinking about everything that had happened so far. He looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was shining and the sky was a deep rich blue with just a hint of clouds here and there. He reloaded his pistol as he began walking down toward Harry’s Place.
Yes,
he said to himself,
this is a good day to finish it.
He slowly walked straight down the middle of the street. His thoughts turned to his little sister Samantha and what Blake Taggert had done to her. Blake Taggert’s final destiny was finally coming to him and it had a name; Jess Williams.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

              As Jess walked down to Harry’s Place, he saw a few men running for Little’s Drinks. Jess figured they must’ve heard the gunshots and wanted to see what happened. Jess saw Sheriff Clancy heading toward him from the direction of Harry’s.

             
“Jess, I heard gunshots,” said Sheriff Clancy. “I suppose there’s some more business for the undertaker back at Little’s?” Clancy fell in step with Jess heading back toward Harry’s.