HELL HATH NO FURY (A Jess Williams western novel) (23 page)

             
Jess tapped Gray and he leaped into a full gallop and he ran faster and faster until he reached his maximum speed as he began to close the gap between Jess and Hunt. Jess’ packhorse, Sharps, was following straight behind Gray. Jess rode him hard for about twenty minutes and then he slowed him down to a walk to let him rest a little. Gray had some sweat forming on both sides of his neck now and so did Sharps, although Sharps wasn’t carrying as much of a load. Jess stared at the tracks of the horse with the missing piece of horseshoe and he could see that the horse had slowed to a walk at this point, which was a good thing.

             
After Jess gave Gray a break and his breathing slowed somewhat, Jess patted him on the neck and nudged him into a full gallop again. Gray seemed to be stretching his legs further and further to cover more ground. After another fifteen minutes of hard running, Jess could see some dust way off in the distance. He stopped Gray and pulled out his spyglass and focused it in on the dust cloud rising up in the air. It was a lone rider and probably Cliff Hunt since Jess had seen no other fresh tracks in the dirt. He noticed that the rider was approaching a small but long hill and he was staying to the right of the hill. Jess figured that he could get to the far end of the hill and up to the top before the rider could get past the end of the hill. Jess walked Gray for a few minutes to let him catch his breath a little and then he nudged him into a full gallop again, heading toward the left side of the long hill; Sharps following behind. Jess pushed Gray to the limit and finally got to the end of the hill and started Gray up the hill. Gray was breathing hard now, but he wouldn’t stop until Jess allowed it or until he literally collapsed from lack of air. Gray would run himself to death if that’s what Jess needed him to do. Jess finally got to within ten feet of the top of the hill and grabbed his Sharps buffalo rifle and the leather pouch that held the cartridges and forked sticks for it.

             
Jess walked the last ten feet to the top of the hill and looked down. The rider was just coming toward the end of the hill so Jess dropped to the ground and grabbed a forked stick from the leather pouch and place two cartridges on the flap of the pouch. He chambered a round into the buffalo rifle and took aim at the horse. He hated the thought of killing the horse, but he didn’t want to wound the man. He wanted to make sure it was Cliff Hunt first and if it was, he didn’t want him wounded so that Annie could face him in a fair gunfight.

             
Jess slowly pulled back on the trigger of the Sharps buffalo rifle and hit the horse in the neck. The horse stumbled and fell to his knees and then he slowly fell over to his left. The rider, who was completely taken by surprise, jumped off the horse to keep himself from being pinned underneath. The man was spinning around and looking for where the shot had come from, but Jess had already walked down to where he had left Gray and Sharps. He put the Sharps rifle away and started down the hill, slowly. He knew the man wasn’t going anywhere.

             
Jess slowly walked Gray around the hill and he came out on the far end and saw the man, who was now trying to get his saddlebags off his dead horse. The man was looking up every few seconds, still trying to figure who had shot his horse. Jess took his Winchester out of the scabbard as he came into view of the man, who now spotted him. Jess jumped down from the saddle and walked toward the man and to the left to keep Gray and Sharps out of the line of fire. The man, who had his pistol in his hand, holstered it. He then went for his Winchester, which was still in the scabbard on his horse. When Jess noticed this, he took aim at the man’s Winchester and fired a round that hit the scabbard and ricocheted off the Winchester in it. This startled the man, but didn’t injure him. The man started to go for his pistol, but Jess had already levered another round into his Winchester and he was still walking toward the man.

             
“I wouldn’t pull that pistol if I were you,” hollered Jess.

             
The man stopped his movement, but he still had his right hand on the butt of his pistol. “Who the hell are you and why in the hell did you shoot my damn horse right out from underneath me?” demanded the man.

             
“To answer your first question, I’m the man who’ll put a slug in you if you attempt to go for that pistol again; and to answer your second question, it was either you or the horse and while I would have rather shot your sorry ass instead of the horse, I didn’t have much choice at the time,” replied Jess, still walking toward him.

             
“You’re not making much sense, Mister. Who in the hell are you?”

             
Jess was now close enough to see that the man was indeed none other than Cliff Hunt. A smile formed on Jess’ lips now. As Jess got closer, Hunt finally recognized him after Jess moved his cheek from the rifle because he was close enough now that he didn’t need the sights on the Winchester. Jess lowered it down to his side, but he still had it pointed straight at Hunt’s chest with a round in the chamber.

             
“Oh, it’s you, the bounty hunter who’s been on my ass for quite a while now,” said Hunt.

             
“You’re a right smart fellow—sometimes,” replied Jess, sarcastically.

             
“What do you mean by that?”

             
“You weren’t so smart when you and your partner Darrel Clemmon raped and killed Ingrid Marsh a while back.”

             
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Hunt lied.

             
“Lying to me about it will just make it go harder for you,” said Jess, as he finally got to within five feet of Hunt. Cliff slowly raised his hands and Jess slowly walked around him. Hunt started to turn around to face Jess.

             
“Quit turning around or I’ll put a slug into your left arm,” demanded Jess. Hunt unwillingly obliged. When Jess got behind Cliff, he took the butt end of the Winchester and slammed it into the back of his head. Hunt’s eye’s rolled back into his head and he slumped down into the dirt, unconscious. Before Hunt could regain consciousness, Jess had used piece of leather strap to tie Hunt’s hands behind his back. Jess took one of his canteens and used Hunt’s hat to hold water in it for both of his horses to drink from. Jess patted both Gray and his Sharps on the neck to show his appreciation for their hard work and loyalty. Hunt finally started to come around. He opened his eyes and had to wait a moment to focus. He was still a little dazed from the sharp blow he took to the head. He was staring up at a blue sky with only a few small clouds slowly drifting high up in the sky. Then he looked over at Jess who was sitting on Hunt’s dead horse and eating a piece of hardtack. Hunt tried to get up and that’s when he realized that he was tied up really tight.

             
“Hey Mister, why did you crack me on the skull and tie my hands behind my back?” asked Hunt.

             
“I didn’t know I needed a reason,” replied Jess, who was drinking from a canteen to wash down the hardtack.

             
“How about a drink of that water?”

             
“You won’t need it where you’re going,” replied Jess, a smart grin on his face.

             
“Well, you shot my horse, cracked me on the head hard enough to knock me out cold and now you have me tied up. Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with if that’s your intention?”

             
“Oh, you are definitely going to die today, but maybe not by me.”

             
“What the hell does that mean?”

             
“I’m taking you back to Buford to face someone else who wants to kill you even worse than I want to right now.”

             
“Who?”

             
“A woman by the name of Annie McCracken. Do you even remember her?”

             
A devious smile formed on Cliff Hunt’s face. “I remember her quite well. She screamed like a wild tomcat when I was having my way with her and her mother,” laughed Hunt, figuring he had nothing to lose at this point.

             
“Go ahead and laugh all you want. Laugh while you can because tonight, your carcass will be food for the coyotes and wolves and what’s left in the morning will be breakfast for the vultures and crows and other hungry critters. Now get your ass up and I’ll help you onto my packhorse so we can get back to Buford before dark.” Jess walked over and helped Hunt get on his feet and gave him a boost up onto Sharps. As soon as Hunt was on Sharps he gigged Sharps hard, but Sharps wouldn’t budge. Jess walked over and looked at Hunt.

             
“He ain’t going to move for the likes of you,” said Jess, as he walked over and removed Hunt’s boots and threw them over at his dead horse.

             
“Hey, I’m going to need them,” exclaimed Hunt.

             
“No you’re not,” replied Jess.

             
“This leather strap is too tight and it’s making my hands go numb.”

             
Jess smiled up at Hunt. “I can take care of that,” said Jess, as he walked over and reached behind Hunt and broke the baby finger on Hunts left hand.

             
Hunt screamed in pain. “Why the hell did you do that?” exclaimed Hunt.

             
“Well, do you feel the leather strap now?”

             
“Hell no! My finger hurts too much!”

             
“Problem solved the way I see it,” replied Jess, as he climbed up in the saddle and nudged Gray into a fast walk, Sharps obediently following, as always.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

              Annie was still seated at the table where Jess left her and she was bored to death. It had been almost three hours since Jess rode out of town chasing after Cliff Hunt. Hal and John were still standing behind her like two soldiers on a mission . Hal still had the cut-down double-barreled shotgun aimed in the direction of Chase Penrod, who made sure he kept his hands above the table. All of a sudden, there was some commotion outside and one of the locals looked outside to see what it was. Jess was riding into town and he had a man sitting atop his packhorse behind him with his hands tied behind his back. Jess rode up to the livery and the livery worker, Hank, came out to get the horses. Jess helped Cliff off the horse and he told Levine to give them a good rub down and his best feed. Hunt was still moaning about his broken finger. Jess glared at him.

             
“I swear if you don’t shut up about that finger, I’ll break two more,” snapped Jess, more than willing to do exactly that.

             
“Damn you’re a mean one for such a young man,” replied Hunt.

             
“Maybe, but at least I don’t go around raping and killing innocent women.”

             
Hunt smiled. “You might have a point there.”

             
Annie finally walked over to the swinging doors of the saloon and Hal and John stayed behind her; Hal still watching Chase Penrod closely.

             
“I’ll be damned,” whispered Annie, “he caught up with Hunt and brought him back to town with him.” She walked outside and onto the boardwalk. Hal stayed inside with Penrod, but John followed Annie outside. Jess had Hunt by the left arm and was dragging him down the street like a rag doll. Annie noticed that Hunt wasn’t wearing any boots. Jess brought him to within fifteen feet of her and stopped. He let go of Hunt’s left arm.

             
“If you so much as try to move, I’ll put a slug into your left shoulder, understand?” asked Jess, as he removed his hammer strap.

             
Chase Penrod slowly stood up and kept his hands away from his pistol to show Hal there was nothing to worry about. He slowly walked outside to watch what was going on and Hal followed behind him, still aiming the shotgun at him.

             
“Mister, you don’t have to keep that thing pointed at me. I mean no harm to you or that woman,” said Penrod.

             
“Hey, I got my orders and I follow them,” replied Hal, “especially for two hundred dollars.”

             
“Well, can I at least keep my hands down?”

             
“I guess so, as long as you keep that hammer strap on your pistol. If you try to remove it, you’ll get both of these barrels and at this range, I’ll be able to see what’s going on through the big hole this thing will make in your chest.”

             
“Don’t worry; I’ll keep the hammer strap on,” replied Penrod.

             
Jess left Cliff in the middle of the street and walked up to where Annie was standing on the boardwalk and she was glaring at Hunt. A few tears began to form around both of her eyes as she relived that terrible day that Hunt and Clemmon killed her father and raped her and her mother. She was visibly shaking now. Jess walked up and reached for her left hand and helped her down the steps and into the street about thirty feet from where Hunt was still waiting. Jess looked deep into her eyes and while he saw hatred there, he didn’t see what he wanted to see; a strong resolve and the look of someone who was ready to kill someone in a face-to-face gunfight.