Posted by The Black Knight on November 07, 2000 at 00:24:17:
Chapter 1
The noon day sun turned the ground into loose dust under the horse's hooves as a stranger rode into town. He was a tall slender man who sat tall on his custom made saddle. The custom tailored black
suit and tied down Navy Colts gave one single impression to everyone in town.
"A gunfighter. The third one today." a grizzled old man in front of the General Store commented.
"Ya, der is def'netly trouble a' brewin'." another younger man who sat beside him said in a decidedly Dutch accent.
The old man was Jediciah Watson, but everybody in town called him Pop. The Dutch man was Theodore Ernst, a recent immigrant who had come in search of prosperity, but found none. Pop Watson owned the General
Store and had given Theodore a job because he couldn't find any work and wasn't much of a farmer. On hot days like this, when business was slow Pop and Theodore sat outside the store and speculated on the
weather and other things. This was Red Gulch, a small mining town in Southeastern Arizona territory. A blonde teen stuck her head out the door.
"Papa, what's goin' on?" the young woman asked in a Dutch accent that equalled Theodore's.
"Get inside girl." Theodore said.
The gunfighter dismounted and smiled warmly at the girl. The young woman shuddered.
"Hannah, get inside." Theodore snapped.
The gunfighter walked slowly and deliberately onto the porch of the General Store.
"Are you Pop Watson?" the gunfighter asked in articulate English.
Pop nodded. The gunfighter pulled a rifle out of his saddle boot. He held it out to Pop.
"Can you find bullets for that?" the gunfighter asked.
"What kind of gun is that, son?" Pop asked as he stood up and took the gun.
"A Springfield single shot." the gunfighter said.
"Not much use in a fight." Pop said sarcastically.
"Not much, but that's why I have these." the gunfighter said laying his hand on the butt of one of his Colts.
"Strange, you're the third stranger in town today." Pop said.
"Don't get curious old man, just tell me if you can find the cartridges." the gunfighter snapped.
"Yes, I believe I have some in the back room. No-one ever asks for them anymore." Pop said.
Pop went inside the store.
"The kid yours?" the gunfighter asked nodding toward Hannah.
"Ya, and I vould appreciate it if ye stay away from 'er." Theodore said.
"Papa." Hannah whined.
"You listen to your Papa, Hannah, he'll keep you out of trouble." the gunfighter said.
Pop returned with a box of cartridges. This is left over from what Fred Robertson bought yesterday. It's all I've got, you can have them on the house." Pop said.
The gunfighter flipped a coin into Pop's chair.
"No, I always pay for what I get. Never know what I may have to do and I don't want to owe you anything. Never let it be said that Jess Hawkins doesn't pay his own way." the gunfighter said.
"Jess Hawkins, I've never heard of you." Pop said.
"Good, I like it that way. Less likely to see me coming and less likely to shoot back." Jess said.
Pop recoiled from the strangers cold tone.
"Now, where can I find this Fred Robertson?" Jess asked.
"Likely he'll be in the saloon. He spends most of his days there." Pop said.
Jess remounted his horse and rode down the street to the tallest building in town, "The Ace of Spades Saloon". He stepped down off his horse and walked into the saloon. He pushed through the mob of drunken cow hands to the bar.
"What'll it be?" the bar tender asked.
"Where's Fred Robertson?" Jess asked.
"Who wants to know?" another man down the bar asked.
"That's none of your business, friend." Jess said.
"I'm Fred Robertson's foreman and I'm making it my business, mister." the tall man said.
The bar emptied as Jess pulled his coat back over the butts of his Colts.
"You really shouldn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, friend." Jess said.
"I'm not your friend." the cowboy said as his hand inched near his single Colt forty-four.
"Quit talking and use it if you're so determined to prove your point." Jess said.
"Take it outside boys. There'll be no killing in this saloon." the bar tender said pulling up a shotgun.
"Put the gun down, Sam, or I'll kill you, too." the foreman said.
"You're that good?" Jess asked with a cold smile on his face.
Jess bent his knees a little as he drew his guns. Before either the cowboy or the bartender could react, he had fired his guns. The bartender dropped his shotgun and the foreman looked down at his
gunbelt on the floor. The bar tender picked up the stock and then the barrel of what used to be his shotgun.
"You have to be Jess Hawkins." a small slender man said as he stepped up to Jess.
"Why's that?" Jess asked.
"No-one else would have left them alive. I'm Fred Robertson, and that's my foreman Bob Paskel." the man said.
Fred Robertson motioned Jess to proceed him into a back room.
"No thanks, I'll follow you." Jess said.
Fred smiled as he lit a cigar. He led Jess and Bob Paskel into the back room.
"Now what's your problem, Mister Robertson?" Jess asked.
"Sodbusters. I've got a severe case of an infection of dirtfarmers." Fred Robertson said.
"That doesn't seem like a problem to me." Jess said.
Fred pulled a map out of a desk. He lay it down on a table. Jess stepped over to it with him. Fred pointed to a range of mountains.
"My land runs from here," Fred moved his finger across the paper to another range of mountains, "to here, however my only way of getting in and out is through Red Valley here. This is where my problem is. That's where those song singing Bible thumpers live." Fred said.
"And just what do you want me to do?" Jess asked.
"These first two plots here," he pointed to the two largest parcels of land, " belong to Bill and Vanessa Cooper and Karen Sampson. I want you to make and example of them, then the rest will be happy to
move out." Fred said.
Jess nodded and turned to the window. He watched a beautiful young woman walking down the street.
"That there is one of the worst of the bunch, Rebecca Brannigan, the daughter of the preacher. She's a real looker, but you couldn't wrestle her away from that church of theirs." Bob said.
"We'll see about that, Bob." Jess said as he bit the end of a cigar.
Fred pulled a handkerchief out of his desk and lay it on the map. He unfolded it to show three bullets. They looked like normal bullets, but the tips had two crossing grooves in it.
"What kind of bullet is that?" Jess asked.
"A guy up in Abilene called them hollow point bullets. They're supposed to explode on impact." Fred said.
"Nasty way to make your point, Mister Robertson." Jess said.
"I want you to kill the Coopers and Karen Sampson with them." Fred said.
He pulled a box of cartridges out of the drawer in his desk. He emptied them on the table.
"You and Bob take some, then give them to the men. You'll make your move at noon today." Fred said.
Jess scooped up a handful of the bullets as they were poured out onto the table.
"Anything else?" Jess asked looking at his gold pocketwatch.
"Yes, I want these sodbusters to be examples to their friends." Fred said.
Jess and Bob walked out the back door. Bob looked at a clock on the top of the "Fred Robertson Senior Memorial Bank" across the street.
"It's eleven thirty now, we'd better get moving." Bob said.
"My horse is around front, I'll meet you outside of town." Jess said.
Moments later, Jess met Bob just outside of sight of the town. Three men on horses waited with him. Two were also professional gunfighters and the third was a Mexican.
"This is Juan Callen, Jeb Clancy, and his brother Mark." Bob said.
"Introductions ain't necessary, Mister Paskel." Mark Clancy said rubbing his right hand across a scar on the back of his left hand.
"You're lucky, I didn't kill you, Clancy." Jess said.
The five of them rode at a fast trot toward the Cooper farm. They were there at 11:55 A. M. Jess looked down at his pocket watch.
"You three go to the farm house, Bob and I will take the field." Jess said.
"Who died and made you boss?" Mark asked in a gravelly voice.
"Shut up, Mark, he knows what he's doin'" Jeb said.
Jess and Bob rode down toward the field as the others went down the small wooden shack in the little gully nearby. Bob and Jess found a large red headed man there. He stood behind a plow which was tethered
to a small mule. The man looked like he could have pulled the plow himself. The big Hawkins rifle propped on a fence rail nearby looked just as intimidated as its owner, Bill Cooper.
"Well we've got a big enough target." Jess muttered as he dismounted.
"Mornin' Bill." Bob said as he got off his horse.
Bill Cooper stopped and looked up. He looked at Jess' Colt's then the rifle and realized he had no chance that way.
"Get out of here, Paskel, I told your boss that I won't sell." Cooper in a deep booming voice said.
"That's no secret, Bill, but I thought we would give you one last chance." Bob said.
"No sell." Bill Cooper said.
Jess looked over at Bob as he drew his gun. Before Bob even had his ready to shoot, Jess had his left gun up and cocked. Bob's barrel spat out fire as he shot. Bill Cooper fell back hard as a massive
explosion hit his stomach. Jess stepped over the big man.
"Mister Robertson wasn't kidding when he said it exploded on impact." Jess said.
Bill Cooper began to speak again, but this time his voice was choked and weak, but still defiant:
"Don't you," he paused gulp, "have enough decency," he gulped again, "to finish me off?"
"Nah, Mister Robertson wants you and that purty little filly of yours to be an example to your friends out here." Bob said.
"You leave Vanessa alone." Bill gasped weakly.
About that time a woman's scream came from the shack. Jess looked down in that direction as he stood.
"Ahh, it's just the boys havin' a little fun with her." Bob said.
Jess swung up into his saddle and rode down the Cooper farm house at a gallop. A beautiful brunette held her long dress up off the ground as she tried to run away from Juan. The Mexican held a long cut in his
cheek, probably from Vanessa Cooper's fingernails. Jess dismounted in front of Vanessa.
"Let her be." Jess said.
"We were just having a little fun with the lady here." Juan said.
Jess looked down the slender young woman. Her long blue dress hid her body, but her beautiful face made her very attractive.
"I'm Vanessa Cooper, you probably met my husband Bill on the way in." the woman said.
"Mrs. Cooper, your husband's dead." Jess said.
"Bill!" Vanessa screamed as she ran off toward the field.
She pushed her long brown hair out of her face as she ran screaming. She stopped just short of her husband's body as she saw Bob Paskel.
"Paskel, I should have known they were with you." Vanessa said.
She looked sarcastically at him as he drew a gun.
"Even you wouldn't shoot a woman?" Vanessa said.
The gun jerked in his hand as he pulled the trigger. Vanessa's jaw dropped as she looked down at a huge hole in her side.
"Don't bet your skirt tails on it sweetcakes." Bob said.
He heard a faint thump and Vanessa tilted her head back and arched her back. Vanessa fell on her back as a loud rifle boom sounded in the gully. Bob looked up in time to see Jess replace the Springfield in
his rifle boot. Jess remounted and rode back to the field. Jess reached the field as Bob rolled Vanessa over to see a hole just beside her right shoulder blade.
"What did you do that for?" Bob asked.
Jess looked over at Bill who was still alive and gasping in pain.
"No woman deserves that." Jess said.
Vanessa had been killed the instant the rifle slug hit her.
"Then you're not going to like killing Karen Sampson." Bob said.
"Depends on how pretty she is." Jess said with a smile.
"Oh she's a real good lookin' woman." Bob said.
They swung up into their saddles and rode in the direction of the Sampson farm. The other three didn't join them.
"What happened to the others?" Bob asked.
"They didn't take me spoiling their fun too lightly." Jess said.
"They may shoot you in the back for it." Bob said.
"Not from Boot Hill." Jess said.
Bob kind of huffed as he rode on in silent. They reached the Sampson farm in thirty minutes. A beautiful raven-haired woman sat in a rocking chair on the porch. She held a large black book in her lap.
Bob and Jess rode up to her and dismounted. Karen Sampson didn't even look up as they stepped up on the porch.
"What do you want, Paskel?" Karen asked.
"You're just as amazing as usual, Karen." Bob said.
"No, just you're wearing those noisy spurs." Karen said.
Bob closed the book in her lap. Jess for the first time got a glimpse of the cover. It was a Bible. Karen pulled off her black rimmed glasses as she stood.
"Is there something I can do for you?" Karen asked.
"Just wanted to know if you were ready to sell." Bob said.
Karen shook her head as she reached for her Bible again. Jess started when he heard a gunshot. Karen folded as she flew back off her porch. Jess knelt beside Karen as she lay in the sand gasping in pain. There was a huge hole in Karen's stomach. Jess lay Karen's Bible on her chest.
"Thank you." Karen gulped as she folded her hands on the Bible.
Jess drew his gun and lay it on Karen's forehead. Just as he cocked the weapon his whole world went black.