THE DODGE CITY MASSACRE (A Jess Williams Novel.) (13 page)

             
“You might have at least warned me about it first,” exclaimed Bodine, as he lit the fuses and started to limp as quickly as he could toward the opening where Jess was waiting.

             
Before Bodine lit the fuses Jess placed himself just outside of the opening of the mine. He hollered in to John, “Because if I had warned you, you might not have done it.”

             
“Damn it, Jess. You know I got this badge on me and after what you just did killing all those men, I could arrest you,” he said, as he climbed out of the opening and started limping down the hill.

             
“Yeah, good luck doing that,” replied Jess.

             
“I think I heard some of those men getting close to the entrance when I was limping out of the mine.”

             
“Good, hopefully it will kill a few more of them,” replied Jess.

             
Jess and Bodine made it to their horses and were almost to the bottom of the hill when they heard the loud explosion from the dynamite in the old mine. They stopped for a second to look back and they saw dust and smoke filtering out from the opening they had just escaped from. Then, they spurred their horses into a full gallop heading back to Black Creek.

             
Jess and John had killed nine of the fourteen men at the camp in the hills. The remaining five men had made it up to the opening of the mine, but they had not gotten to the opening when the dynamite exploded. The five men all got a few cuts and bruises from flying rock, but they all made it back down the hill to their camp.

             
Doug Hammer, who was the leader of the group, started giving orders. “Charlie, ride out and get our other five men and bring them back here. We’re going into town tomorrow and burn it to the ground for this.”

             
Charlie Diggs didn’t like to question Hammer, but he did ask one question. “Alright, I’ll go and get the other men, but how do you know it was someone from Black Creek who did this? Lawmen don’t usually just start shooting like that. I don’t think it was the sheriff and his two deputies who did this,” said Diggs, as he looked around at the nine dead bodies.

             
“Who the hell else do you think it was? We locked them up in their own jail, shot up the town and beat that old woman yesterday. That gave them reason to do this, although I didn’t think they had the gonads for it. Besides, we got two of our men still locked up in jail and we have to break them out.”

             
“Hey, that was their fault. They should’ve left when we all did.”

             
“I know, but they were too damn drunk to get on their horses. Now get your ass on your horse and collect our other men. Tomorrow, we are going into Black Creek and finish this.”

             
“Alright, I think I know where they are and I’ll have them back here before nightfall,” replied Diggs.

             
Hammer and the other three men began digging graves for the nine men who hadn’t survived the attack. That took most of the rest of the afternoon.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

              Jess and Bodine rode past the six buried bundles of dynamite and into town. Jess was relieved to see three men on rooftops holding Winchesters and watching. They rode up to the livery and Tony took their horses. Bodine headed for the doctor’s office to get his leg wound fixed up and Jess headed for Andy’s Saloon to get a drink. He found Andy sweeping up the floor. There were no customers yet so Andy looked up as the swinging doors opened.

             
“I was wondering when the hell you was coming in to visit me,” exclaimed Andy, a wide grin on his face as he walked over and shook Jess’ hand.

             
“Well, I’ve been kind of busy since I got here,” replied Jess, as Andy went behind the bar and retrieved a good bottle of whiskey and poured both himself and Jess a glass of it.

             
“I heard about what you did to those two fellers over at the jail. I see you ain’t changed your way of doing things since the last time I laid eyes on you.”

             
“I just do whatever needs to be done, Andy,” replied Jess.

             
Mayor Smythe and Sheriff Fowler walked into the saloon and up to the bar where Andy was already pouring both of them a drink.

             
“Well, what did you find out at that camp?” asked the mayor.

             
“We found fourteen men out there and all of them looked to be gunslingers and thieves. They were carving up a cow that they probably stole from one of the local ranchers in the area.”

             
“Yeah,” said Sheriff Fowler, “I’ve had several complaints from the closest ranch to their camp about losing a few cattle. Do you think they have more than fourteen men with them?”

             
“It’s possible that they have more men who weren’t in the camp when we found them, but when we left, they only had five men left in their camp. Although, a few of them might have gotten killed by the blast from the dynamite we set off in the mine just before we left,” replied Jess.

             
“Five? None of them came into town, so where the hell did the rest of them go?” asked the sheriff.

             
“They didn’t go anywhere, they are still out at the camp in those hills,” replied Jess.

             
“You have me a little confused, Mr. Williams,” said the sheriff. “If there were fourteen men in the camp when you got there and only five there when you left, where did the other nine go?”

             
“I guess they went to wherever that place might be that people go to after they die,” replied Jess, nonchalantly.

             
“You’re telling me that you killed nine men while you were out there?” asked the sheriff.

             
“Actually, John shot a few of them as they were trying to climb up the hill to the mine where we were,” replied Jess.

             
“Who shot first?” asked the sheriff, a skeptical look on his face.

             
Jess smiled at Andy as Andy poured Jess another drink. “I don’t rightly remember for sure, Sheriff, since everything happened so fast. Besides, what difference does it make at this point?”

             
“I’d really feel a lot better if you pinned on this badge I have for you,” replied the sheriff.

             
“Not unless Mayor Smythe demands that I do,” replied Jess.

             
Mayor Smythe put his glass down and looked over at Jess. “Jess, I know you don’t want to pin this badge on, but I’d consider it a favor if you would. The town council would like you to pin it on, too. Once they find out what you did, they might get a little nervous about your way of handling problems.”

             
“They’d be a whole lot more nervous if those fourteen men came into town and killed the sheriff and his deputies and then a few more of the townsfolk. Now, they only have five men that we know about and that sure is a lot less of a problem,” replied Jess.

             
“I know and I can’t say I disagree with what you did, but I’d still like you to pin it on and let Sheriff Fowler swear you in.”

             
Jess felt really uncomfortable, but he had agreed to let the sheriff pin a badge on him if the mayor asked him to.  “Alright, but I don’t like the idea and as soon as this is over, I’m taking it off, understand?”

             
“That fine with me,” replied Mayor Smythe.

             
The sheriff swore Jess in as a deputy and pinned the badge on his shirt. Jess looked at it and it wasn’t a happy look. Andy was trying to hold back a laugh, but he finally couldn’t help himself. He started laughing as John walked into the saloon.

             
“I never thought I would live to see the day you would have a badge pinned on your shirt,” said Andy, still laughing.

             
“What the hell is so funny?” asked Bodine as he walked up to the bar.

             
Andy poured Bodine a whiskey, still laughing. “Just take a peek at your partner there,” replied Andy, as he pointed over at Jess.

             
John backed away from the bar and Jess turned to face him. Bodine started laughing along with Andy and then the mayor and the sheriff started laughing along with them. “Damn if that ain’t a pretty sight,” said Bodine, as he raised his glass and then they all took a drink, except Jess.

             
“Yeah, well enjoy it, because it ain’t going to be pinned on this shirt for very long,” replied Jess, now taking a drink from his glass.

             
Mayor Smythe and Sheriff Fowler both thanked Jess and they walked out. Before Sheriff Fowler walked through the swinging doors he turned around to face Jess.

             
“Oh, and by the way, Jess, I’m going to assume that you were sworn in this morning before you did what you did in the jail cell and out at the camp in the hills.”

             
Bodine was still chuckling along with Andy. Jess looked over at Bodine. “You keep laughing and I’ll kick you in that left calf,” said Jess. “How bad was it, by the way?”

             
“It wasn’t much of a wound. The doc had to dig the bullet out and it was lodged against the bone. The bullet probably didn’t have much speed left to it once it ricocheted off the top of that mine,” replied Bodine.

             
“Actually we were both pretty lucky to get out of that mine alive,” said Jess.

             
“I know. Now, what’s next?”

             
Jess thought about it for a moment. “Well, it’s getting a little late in the afternoon and the way I figure it, they will try to round up any other men they might have and come into town tomorrow. They might try an attack at night though, no way to tell for sure so we’ll have to make sure there are guards posted at all times.”

             
“I’ll make sure to tell Sheriff Fowler about it, Deputy Jess Williams,” replied John, still rubbing it in.

             
“I wasn’t kidding about kicking you in that left calf of yours,” replied Jess.

             
Bodine walked out and headed over to the sheriff’s office to talk with the sheriff. Jess stayed at Andy’s Saloon a little while longer catching up on the entire goings on in town.

             
“Andy, is Mr. Jameson still the bank manager in town?”

             
“Yep, he keeps saying he’s going to retire, but I think it’s just talk. He really loves his job I guess. Besides, he told me he makes a right nice commission on all your money and investments.”

             
“You know what, Andy? I don’t even know how much money I have in the bank. I’ll have to go over and pay Jameson a visit and find out.”

             
“I guess so,” replied Andy. “A man ought to know how much money he has.”

             
“It’s kind of hard to guess at. I mean, I know how much bounty I collect on each man, but you never know if you really get paid on every bounty since by the time the money gets to my bank, I’m already in another town hunting down another man.”

             
“Just how many men have you put in the ground so far?” asked Andy.

             
“I don’t really know, I quit counting after a while, but it is surely a lot.”

             
“Damn, a man who doesn’t know how many men he’s killed and doesn’t even know how much money he has in the bank. What the hell
do
you know for sure?”

             
“I know this for sure, there will be a few more men going into the ground before I leave town,” replied Jess.

             
Jess finished up with his drink and headed for the sheriff’s office where he found Bodine and Sheriff Fowler still talking. Jess walked in and poured himself a cup of coffee and took a swallow of it. He put it back down on the table.

             
“That’s some damn nasty stuff you got there, Sheriff,” said Jess.

             
“It ought to be, it’s been on the stove all day,” replied Sheriff Fowler.

             
“So Sheriff, are you going to make sure to have guards on the rooftops around the clock like I suggested?”

             
“Absolutely, we’ll be ready for them anytime those boys come into town. I’ve rustled up a dozen men and they’re taking turns every six hours. And, I’ve even got the ones who are resting up sleep with their cloths on and ready for action at the first sound of a gunshot.”

             
“That sounds like a real good plan, Sheriff,” replied Jess.