He headed for the bank, which was a medium-sized brick and adobe building with bars on all the windows and doors. He walked in to see two tellers standing behind the counter and one man wearing a suit sitting behind a desk talking to another man. When they finished, Jess walked over and sat down in the chair across from him.
“Mr. Williams, what can I do for you?”
“Does everyone in town know who I am?”
“Word is getting around fast, especially after you killed that man yesterday,” he said as he extended his hand. “I’m Lou Harter and I’m the manager of this bank.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said as he shook his hand. “Now, do you have any grazing land available for purchase?”
“Are you thinking about starting a ranch?”
“Not exactly.”
“The bank is holding a few properties. What did you have in mind?”
“Do you have anything with water on it?”
“I have one piece that has a river running through the property. It has a huge home, a very large barn, corral and twenty thousand acres of rich fertile ground, but I have a small deposit on it at the moment.”
“From who?”
“Why, Mr. Malvern of course, since the property abuts his.”
“Can it still be purchased by someone else?”
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Well, uh, I’m not sure, but Mr. Malvern is used to getting his way around here.”
“How much is the deposit he put down?”
“Let me see,” he said as he rifled through a dozen ledgers on his desk until he found the one he wanted. “Um, okay, the deposit was for five hundred dollars.”
“What is the total value of the property?”
“Well, the house Mr. McBee built is very large and it cost a lot to build. The house is actually worth more than the land. He ordered a lot of extravagant things from the east and even some items from overseas. He had very expensive taste. Because of the house, I’d guess the total value of the property to be between ten and fifteen thousand dollars.”
“And what would it cost for me to buy the property right now?”
“Well, the previous owner still owed five thousand dollars on it when he died. He left no heirs to claim it, so if I add the bank’s fees for holding it and my commission of course, that brings the total to six thousand and five hundred dollars to purchase the deed. It’s a great investment.”
“How much is your commission?” Harter’s face reddened slightly as he cleared his throat.
“My commission is five hundred dollars, but mind you, the bank has been holding the property for over a year,” he said. Jess leaned back and pulled out a wad of large bills and started counting. He counted out seven thousand dollars in cash and slid it across the desk to him.
“Make your commission one thousand dollars and put the deed in my name right now,” he told Harter, who stared at the cash.
“Do you always walk around with that much money on you?”
“Not always. Now do we have a deal?”
Harter counted the money and signaled for a teller to come over and put the money in the safe.
“I’ll fill out the paperwork and have it ready for you to sign in just a few minutes,” he said, smiling now.
Harter found the deed and had Jess sign the paperwork and he filed it in the safe. He gave Jess a bill of sale and a copy of the deed with his name on it. He shook hands with Harter and walked out, heading for the café in the hotel for some lunch.
Jess finished eating and was sipping coffee when Sheriff Burke came strolling in with a disgruntled expression on his face. He sat down across from him and let out a frustrated sigh.
“I just came from Malvern’s place and he ain’t happy,” he said. “You shouldn’t have embarrassed him like that this morning.”
“I didn’t ride to his place,” explained Jess. “He came out to the Roddys’ house dragging dead sheep that his men had killed. He doesn’t have the right to force those poor people’s sheep off that land.”
“Listen, I appreciate the fact that you caught up to that sumbitch who raped my sister and killed my brother-in-law, but I have an obligation to uphold the law around here. You can’t go around threatening people and making them pay for dead sheep.”
“His men killed them so I figured he owed the money.”
“But it’s Mr. Malvern,” he moaned slowly.
“So?”
“So he’s used to getting his way around here and if you keep after him, who knows what he might resort to.”
“Then you’re saying that he can keep pushing Roddy’s sheep off public land and put him out of business? Do you think that’s fair?”
“I never said it was fair. I said that’s the way things are around here and you should stay out of it before I have to wire the United States Marshals’ office regarding it.”
“I think that would be a great idea,” Jess said smiling oddly.
“You do?”
“Absolutely.”
Burke narrowed his eyes and considered it for a long moment. “Okay, I’ll do that, but it probably won’t be good for you. Maybe you should leave town while you can.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I already paid for a room for the next few days.”
“But Mr. Williams…”
“I’m not leaving and I’m standing with the Roddys on this matter.”
Burke shook his head, worry evident in his eyes. “I’ll probably be coming back with a warrant to arrest you,” he warned.
“Something tells me you won’t have much success at that.”
Burke said nothing more. He simply stood up and walked out. The manager of the café, Juanita, walked over to Jess’s table and refilled his coffee cup.
“The sheriff doesn’t look very happy,” she observed.
“No, he sure ain’t,” he agreed. “Did you know that the cattle ranchers pay for his salary?”
“Yeah, everyone in town knows about that,” she said. “He’s been doing the bidding of the cattle ranchers for years now. I think it’s wrong what they’re doing by trying to push those people off that land, but I keep that to myself. I don’t even tell that to my husband.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. “I think you know why,” she said as she walked away.
He put money on the table and stood up, donning his hat.
“Time to go look at my newest investment,” he said to himself as he walked out and headed for the livery.
Chapter seven
Jess used a map that Harter had given him to locate the McBee property. He found the ranch house and rode straight up to it. He slid from the saddle, walked up the steps and used the key to unlock the front door. It creaked when he opened it. The place was decorated beautifully and had all the necessary furnishings. The kitchen area was large enough to feed twenty people at a time. He found the office, which had a large desk and several nice chairs. Upstairs, he found seven huge bedrooms, all nicely furnished.
He went back outside and checked the corral and barn. The corral needed some repair work, but the barn was in great shape, with tools still hanging on the walls. It was as if someone just up and left and never came back. He looked at the map again and climbed up in the saddle. He rode west until he found the markers for the property line that separated his land from Malvern’s. He smiled as he rode past hundreds of longhorns that were grazing on his property. They had Malvern’s brand on them. He rode all around the rest of the property and found fields that could be used to grow hay and plant corn for cattle feed. He found the river and followed it for a while until he stopped on a rise in the landscape that gave him a good view of most of the property.
“Pa would have loved this place,” he whispered to himself as he envisioned his deceased father working the ranch. He put the map back into his pocket and headed
back to town. He stabled his horses, dropped his things off at the hotel and headed for the general store. The clerk came running out of the back room and smiled.
“What can I get for you, Mr. Williams?”
“How many rolls of fencing do you have?”
“Quite a bit since no one uses it around here.”
“I’ll take every roll you have and all the tools necessary to string it up.”
“Do you have a wagon to haul the stuff?”
“No.”
“I just happen to have a used one in back. All you need is a horse to pull it.”
“Buy one at the livery for me and put it on my bill,” he said as he handed the clerk fifty dollars as a deposit.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what are you gonna do with all the fencing?”
“Put it up,” he said as he walked out before the clerk could ask another question. The clerk smiled and picked up the money.
“What do I care? He’s payin’ cash,” he muttered as he headed for the door, flipping the sign over to say he was closed as he walked out.
Jess was headed for the hotel again when Sheriff Burke came striding toward him with some paper in his hand. He stopped and waited for Burke, who had a confused look on his face. Jess smiled strangely at him.
“I got a wire back from the marshal’s office that said I wasn’t to interfere with you in any way or I’d be gettin’ a warrant issued on my head. Why do you think they’d say something like that?”
“Who wired you back?”
“A United States Marshal by the name of Frank Reedy up in Stratton.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“I sure am,” he admitted nervously.
“I’ll bet you are,” Jess told him. “Sorry, Sheriff, I’m in a hurry. I have to get some men to string some fence for me.”
“What?” Burke asked, the confusion scrunching his face up even more.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I just bought the old McBee spread. Nice piece of property, but Malvern’s cattle are grazing on it, so I’m going to have to string some fencing to keep them off.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“No, I’m feeling just fine.”
“Mr. Malvern ain’t gonna like this one bit,” Burke mumbled as he walked away.
“No, I don’t suppose he will,” Jess whispered to himself.
He went to the hotel, got his things and headed for the livery. He rode straight out to the Roddys’ house. He found Lida in the front yard beating a rug with a forked branch. She stopped and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Mr. Williams, I didn’t think we’d see you back out here so soon,” she said.
“Where are Buster and Gabriel?”
“They’re both out tending to the herd.”
“Have you seen the McBee spread?”
“Why yes, of course, very nice land indeed. Why?”
“I just bought the place and I need someone to take care of it for me.”
“I thought Mr. Malvern was buying it.”
“He thinks so too, but I have the deed and it’s in my name.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” she said as she shaded her eyes from the sun.
“I’d like you, Buster and Gabriel to move into the house and take care of the place for me,” he explained. “You can move your sheep there. It has plenty of water and lush grazing areas.”
“Mr. Williams, we told you before, we don’t have any money except for what Mr. Malvern paid us this morning.”
“You’ll be doing me a huge favor by taking care of the house and barn for me,” he explained. “The house is in fine shape, but it needs a good cleaning and the corral needs fixing. When your herd grows, you can pay me some rent when you start selling sheep. You can still keep this place if you want, but eventually I’ll sell off some of the land and get my investment back.” She looked down at the ground and her bare feet.
“Why are you doing all this for us?” she asked. “We’re just simple poor folks trying to scratch out a living from hard work. We don’t have anything and we can’t give you anything in return. I fully expect the sheriff to come out here and demand that the money Malvern paid us be returned any moment.”
Jess leaned forward in the saddle and smiled at her. “And don’t you think it’s time for all of that to change?” he asked her thoughtfully.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to lose my husband or my boy over it,” she said nervously. “I thought for sure I was going to lose Buster this morning.”
“Listen, when Buster returns tonight, tell him what I’m offering. If he agrees, tell him to send Gabriel into town to pick up the wagon I purchased at the livery and bring it out here to get you. Pack up any personal belongings and move into the house on the old McBee property.”
“I’ll tell him when he gets back,” she agreed.
He spun his horses around and headed back toward town. She watched him until he was out of sight. She went back to beating the rug, wondering what it would be like to live in such a fine house. She put it out of her mind and began beating the rug harder and harder until a hole opened up in the middle of it. She stared at it for the longest time and then she began sobbing as she stood there holding the stick in her hands. She dropped the stick and walked inside the sod house, still crying.
When Jess arrived in town, he took care of his horses, made more arrangements with the clerk of the general store and retired to his room for a short nap. When he woke, he headed down the steps and to the café. Before he walked in, he heard some yelling out in the street.
“Jess Williams, we know you’re in there so come on out,” a voice boomed from outside.
He slipped his hammer strap off and peered through the window of the café. He saw Halsey Blair standing in the street with another man he hadn’t seen before. Juanita walked over to him holding a pot of coffee in her hands. She looked out at the two men.
“Looks like you’ve shook the trees and a few bad apples fell out,” she told him.
“I know Blair, but who is the other man?”
“Oh that one is Butch Engall and he’s a bad apple for sure.”
“Wait a minute,” he said as he reached into his front pocket and took out the wanted posters he had. He looked through them until he found the one he was looking for. “I knew that name sounded familiar. He’s wanted dead or alive for two thousand dollars.”
“He works for Mr. Malvern.”
“Not for much longer,” he said as he put the wanted posters back into his pocket and headed out the door. When Jess appeared in the doorway, Blair and Engall scrunched their faces up into leering hateful looks.
“I told you we’d be doing a lead dance,” Blair said as he tapped the butt of his pistol.
“I see you brought some help,” said Jess.
“Everyone says you’re so good, I figured you might want some real competition. I brought Engall along with me ‘cause he don’t like you any more than I do.”
Jess stepped off the boardwalk and into the street. “Was this your idea or did Mr. Malvern send you to town?”
“He was mighty pissed when the bank manager returned his deposit on the McBee spread today. He decided to end this whole problem right quick by ending you. You should’ve just kept on riding after collecting your bounty money on Hansard.”
“I’m glad you brought Engall with you instead of Reid.”
“Why? Engall ain’t as good as Reid, but he’s pretty damn fast.”
“That may be, but Reid doesn’t have a two-thousand-dollar bounty on his head like Engall does.”
“How’d you find out about that?” demanded Engall. “Did the sheriff tell you about it?”
“No, I just happen to have an old wanted poster on you.”
“That bounty has been lifted,” claimed Engall.
“Seems it doesn’t matter much anyway, since you two came here to try and kill me.”
“We ain’t here to try anything. We’re here to finish you.”
/> “All you have to do is reach for those leg cannons,” Jess told them as he tilted his head slightly and grinned.
Engall and Blair went for their pistols, but before they thumbed the hammers back and lifted them out of their holsters, they found themselves stumbling backward in the street. Blair looked down at the hole in his chest and then looked over at Engall, who was already slowly falling backward into the dirt, with a stunned expression glued to his face. Blair looked over at Jess, who stood there with his cocked pistol in his hand, smoke still filtering out the end of the barrel.
“How the hell did you do that?” stammered Blair as blood started trickling down the corner of his mouth.
“You two reached for iron and I beat you to the draw,” he told him directly.
“No man can be that fast,” he said as he spat out some blood.
“Seems you’re mistaken about that,” Jess told him as he fired a second slug at Blair that punched a hole between his eyes. Blair fell backward and landed next to Engall. Jess walked over to the two dead bodies and replaced his spent shells as Sheriff Burke came walking over.
“Aw hell, seems you’ve gone and done it now,” moaned Burke. “Mr. Malvern won’t be happy to hear you took down two of his top guns.”
“That one on the right is Butch Engall and he’s wanted dead or alive for two thousand dollars,” Jess informed him.
“I can’t pay you any more bounty money.”
“Why not?”
“Mr. Malvern and the other ranchers pay any bounty money and they won’t pay you for this one.”
“You’ll pay me sooner or later,” Jess warned him as he handed Burke the wanted poster on Engall.
“I thought these were all gone,” Burke said as he looked at the poster.
“What did you do with your copies?”
“Burned them at Malvern’s request.”
“You should be ashamed to wear that badge,” Jess told him as he holstered his pistol.
“I’m just trying to survive and I need this job,” Burke said heatedly.
Wanted: A Western Story Collection Page 12
