The Law of a Fast Gun (18 page)

“Enough talk!” Jesse shouted back. “I’m going to send every one of those sorry sons of bitches to hell!” Jesse used his ramrod to tamp down the wad.

Hawke hit Jesse on the point of his chin, putting everything he had into the swing. Not expecting it, Jesse fell back with his arms flailing out to either side, his eyes rolling back in his head.

WHEN JESSE CAME TO, HAWKE WAS SITTING QUIETLY
on a rock, staring at him. Jesse sat up and rubbed his chin.

“What did you hit me with?” he asked. “A horseshoe?”

“What was that all about?” Hawke asked, pointing to the rifle.

“I told you what it was about,” Jesse answered. “They killed Tamara and Lucy. I didn’t ride all the way out here to talk them to death.”

“The men you killed had nothing to do with it,” Hawke insisted. “The ones who came into town were Deekus and his bunch.”

“Emil Decker,” Jesse said.

“What?”

“Deekus’s real name is Emil Decker.”

“You know Deekus?”

“Yes, I know him.”

“I suppose you have ridden with him too,” Hawke said.

“I have.”

“I’ll say this for you, Gideon—”

“Jesse.”

“All right, Jesse. You are a man full of surprises. When you told me back at the Hog Lot that you were Jesse Cole, I wasn’t sure I believed you. The preacher I knew didn’t square with what happened at Spring Hill. But you made a believer out of me a few minutes ago when you shot down those two men.”

“I’m not proud of what happened in Spring Hill,” Jesse said.

“Were you in Lawrence, with Quantrill?”

“No.”

“What about Sikeston? Were you in Sikeston?”

“No, Sikeston was all Quint Wilson. There is a big difference between Spring Hill and Sikeston.”

“What was the difference?”

“At Sikeston, the killing was systematic and by design. Quint Wilson ordered the slaughter of every man and boy in the town, and Deekus took a particular delight in carrying it out.

“Spring Hill wasn’t supposed to happen the way it did. We were just going to rob a bank then leave. But the whole town turned out against us, and we got into a full pitched battle. A lot of people wound up getting killed, but we had no choice.”

“Tell that to Millie,” Hawke said. “I think she would tell you that you are straining to draw a line between Spring Hill and Sikeston.”

“As I said, I’m not proud of Spring Hill,” Jesse said. “Anyway, why am I having to explain this to you? You were in the war, you know what it was like.”

“I’m not sure that I do know what it was like,” Hawke said. Standing then, he started toward his horse.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going after Deekus.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Hawke paused for a moment, then turned and looked at Jesse Cole. “If you start shooting innocent men again, Cole, I’ll kill you,” he said calmly.

“You can’t kill me, Hawke. I’m already dead,” Jesse replied.

They had been on the trail for nearly six hours when the still of the afternoon was interrupted by several gunshots.

“Ambush!” Hawke shouted, but his warning was unnecessary. Jesse’s training and experience, though long dormant, surfaced immediately, and he jerked his horse to the right of the trail, darting in behind a small grassy mound, even as bullets were clipping through the leaves of a low-lying sumac bush.

Hawke left the trail to the other side, finding cover behind a fallen tree.

“Hawke,” Jesse called, loud enough for Hawke to hear but too quiet to be heard by whoever set up the ambush. “Are you hit?”

“No,” Hawke replied. “How about you?”

“I’m not hit. Did you see where the shooting came from?”

“I saw a puff of smoke, but it was already drifting when I saw it. No telling where it came from.”

“We need them to shoot again,” Jesse said. “You keep a sharp look.”

“All right.”

Jesse put his hat on a stick and held it up, moving it back and forth, but there was no reaction.

Hawke chuckled. “I guess they’ve seen that trick before.”

“I reckon so,” Jesse said. “All right, I’m coming over to your side. You watch.”

“Don’t do it, Jesse, you’ll be too exposed,” Hawke said.

“You just keep an eye open,” Jesse replied.

Hawke realized then that Jesse was going to do it no
matter what, so he kept his eyes peeled when the preacher stood up and darted across the trail.

At least three shots rang out, and Hawke saw all three muzzle flashes. The flashes were followed immediately by billowing puffs of smoke.

Jesse dived the last few feet and slid to a stop right beside Hawke.

“Please tell me I didn’t do that for nothing,” Jesse said as he sat up and began brushing rocks and dirt from his pants and shirt.

“I don’t know how many are up there,” Hawke said. “But I know where three of them are.”

“Good. Point them out to me.”

“You see the cottonwood there, just to the left of those two rocks?” Hawke said.

“I do.”

“Follow the limb that comes straight out to the right, the one that runs almost parallel to the ground. Do you see it?”

“Yes.”

“Now, when you get to the third branch that is pointing down, follow it down. You’ll see that it is pointing directly at one of them.”

“Glory be, you’re right,” Jesse said. “I can see him. Keep an eye on them, let me know if they move.”

Jesse slipped down a little lower and, lying on his back, loaded his Whitworth. Then, with the load tamped down, he eased back up to the fallen tree limb and looked toward the rocks.

“Is he still there?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t see…wait, there he is,” Jesse said. He lay the long rifle across the log, thumbed back the hammer, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

The rifle boomed and rocked back against Jesse’s shoulder. When the smoke of the discharge rolled away, one of their adversaries was lying on his back, head pointed down
on the small incline upon which the two large rocks were located. He had fallen forward, thus marking the location of the others.

“Holy shit! Where’d that come from?” one of the cowboys shouted, his words clearly audible across the distance.

“Let’s get the hell out of here!” another said.

Moments later they heard the sound of retreating hoofbeats as the would-be assailants rode away.

Tex and Cracker rode hard to get away from the place where they had set up the ambush. Finally, when they were sure they weren’t being followed, they slowed their horses to a trot, then to a walk.

“How many did Keefer say there was of them?” Tex asked.

“He said he thought there was only two of ’em,” Cracker answered. “He said that while the piano player was talkin’ to ’em, the other’n started shootin’.”

“There must be at least three of them,” Tex said.

“I only seen two,” Cracker answered.

“That’s all I seen too, but there must be another one.”

“What makes you think that?”

“One of ’em was the piano player. Did you see who the other’n was?”

“Not so’s I’d recognize him,” Cracker replied.

“It was the preacher,” Tex said.

“What was the preacher doing there?”

“You remember the woman and little girl we killed when we rode into town the other night?”

“Oh, no,” Cracker said. “Not ‘we’ killed. I didn’t have nothin’ to do with that. I know damn well I didn’t shoot no woman and little girl.”

“Well, one of us did,” Tex said. “So as far as anyone else is concerned, we’re all guilty of that. Anyway, the woman was the preacher’s wife, and the little girl was his daughter.”

“So that’s why he come along with the piano player,” Cracker said.

“Yeah, but, like as not he’s just along to see that things are made right. I can’t see a preacher doing the actual shooting. Especially not as good a shot as this person is.”

“Where’s Brandt?” Jessup asked when Tex and Cracker returned.

“He’s lyin’ back there somewhere,” Tex said.

“Dead?”

Tex nodded.

“They sent a posse after us, didn’t they?” Jessup said. He shook his head. “I didn’t think they’d do that without a marshal to lead them. How many were there?”

“I don’t know,” Tex said. “That’s what Cracker and I were trying to figure out.”

“Ten? Twenty men, maybe?” Jessup asked.

Tex shook his head. “We only saw two, but there might be one more.”

Jessup looked up in surprise. “Two? You only saw two, and you ran?”

“After Brandt was killed, that left only two of us,” Tex said. “And like I said, I’m pretty sure there was three of them.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well, one of ’em is the piano player,” Tex said. “And like we said, Major, he isn’t your ordinary piano player. But he wasn’t the one who killed Brandt.”

“Who was the other one? The deputy? Is he the one who killed Brandt?”

“I don’t know,” Tex said, “but I think there must be a third person, one that we didn’t see, because the second man—the one that we did see—is the preacher. And it’s not likely that the preacher did the killing.”

“You don’t think it was the preacher, huh?” Jessup asked.

“Hell no, I don’t think it was the preacher,” Tex replied. “I mean, can you see some preacher havin’ the courage to pick up a gun and come lookin’ for us?”

“You said Hawke is no run-of-the-mill piano player, didn’t you?” Jessup asked.

“That’s what I said, all right.”

“Well, believe me, Gideon McCall is no run-of-the-mill preacher. Not by a long shot.”

“What makes you say that? Do you know this preacher?”

“Oh, yes, I know him.”

“You know the preacher?” Tex chuckled. “Why, Major, who would have ever figured you for a Bible-totin’, gospel-singin’ churchgoer? How long have you known him?”

“I’ve known him for a long time,” Jessup answered. “Ever since we were plebes together at West Point.”

“You mean this preacher went to West Point?”

“He did.”

“I’ll be damn. Who would’ve thought that? So, did you keep up with him durin’ the war? Or did you fight on opposite sides?”

“No, we were on the same side. He fought for the South, just like I did. Actually, he made somewhat of a name for himself. In fact, I would be very surprised if you had not heard of him.”

“His name is Gideon something, isn’t it? Gideon McCarty, or McNeil, or something like that?” Tex shook his head. “No, I don’t recollect the name.”

“That’s because Gideon McCall isn’t his real name,” Jessup said. “But if you heard him called by his real name, you’d recognize him.”

“Well, if Gideon McCall isn’t his real name, what is his real name?” Tex asked.

“He is Jesse Cole,” Deekus said, coming up behind them then, and answering Tex’s question before Jessup could respond.

“Damn! Jesse Cole? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Jessup said. “As I told you, I’ve known Jesse Cole for a very long time.”

“Why didn’t you say somethin’?” Tex asked.

“What would you have us say?”

“For one thing, you coulda told us who he is. If we had known who he was, maybe we would’ve been a little more careful,” Tex said.

“Yeah, and if a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his ass every time he jumps,” Deekus said.

“You’re the one that got us into this mess, Deekus,” Tex said. “You’re the one killed his wife and daughter.”

Deekus chuckled. “It don’t matter to Cole who it was that killed his wife and daughter, he’s going to kill us all if he can.”

“This ain’t right,” Tex said, pointing at Deekus. “You didn’t say nothin’ about anything like this.”

“So, what do you want to do, Major?” Deekus asked Jessup, paying no attention to Tex’s outburst.

“We don’t have any choice,” Jessup said. “We’re going to have to kill them.”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to do, isn’t it?” Tex asked.

“Yes,” Jessup agreed. “But now we’ll try a little harder.”

“Have you got any ideas, Major?” Deekus asked.

“Maybe,” Jessup replied. “Cracker, look over there in my saddlebag and bring me that map, will you?”

“All right,” Cracker agreed.

“Deekus, how many men do we have with us right now?” Jessup asked.

“Well, let’s see. Some of the men have gone on ahead, some quit soon as they were paid out, and a couple have gone off to visit family. I reckon we’ve got around twenty or so who are still with us.”

“Here’s your map, Major,” Cracker said, returning with the document.

Jessup opened the map and looked at it for a moment, then put his finger down on a point. “Right here,” he said,
“right here where Eureka Creek comes off Snake River. This is where we will bait our trap.”

“Bait our trap?” Tex asked.

“Yes, bait,” Jessup answered. “You do know what it means to bait a trap, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah, I know what it means to bait a trap.”

“Say, you wanted to catch a rat. What would you put in the trap?”

“Cheese?”

“Very good,” Jessup said. “And if you wanted to catch a rabbit?”

“I don’t know, maybe a carrot.”

“Right again. The point is, if you want to catch something, the best bait is normally food. Now Hawke and Cole have been coming after us at a pretty good clip for two or three days now. And unless I miss my guess, they’ve been eating nothing but jerky.”

Jessup put his finger on the map again. “There is a line shack right here that’s in pretty good shape. And it’s near fresh water. They are bound to stop and take a look around when they get there. What do you think they would do if they found some flour, a side of cured bacon, a few potatoes, and some salt and pepper there?”

“Ha!” Tex said. “I see what you mean! It would be just like baitin’ a trap for a possum.”

“While they’re in there, feeding, we’ll be outside, closing the trap.”

“Yeah!” Tex said. “Damn, that’s a good idea!”

“Deekus, get ten good men.”

“Just ten? I tell you what, Major, if it was up to me, I’d get every rider we’ve got. I mean, why take chances with these guys? We’ve already seen what they can do.”

“Have you ever heard of Euripides?” Jessup asked.

“You rip a what?”

“Euripides,” Jessup repeated. “He was a Greek philosopher
and military strategist. He is also the author of one of the most important maxims we learn at West Point. According to Euripides, ten men wisely led are worth a hundred without a head.”

“Ten men wisely led are worth a hundred without a head,” Deekus repeated, letting the words jell in his mind. After a moment of concentration, he smiled broadly. “Hey, that’s a good one,” he said.