A Town Called Fury

by William W. Johnstone

  When Jason reached the front of the building housing the marshal’s office, he saw Matt MacDonald reining his lathered mount to a halt. Matt was hard on that pinto of his. From the looks of it, he had nearly run the horse into the ground.

  “There you are, Fury!” Matt said.

  “You been looking for me, Matt?” Jason asked, knowing full well that Matt had just arrived in town.

  “Never mind about that. I’ve got a crime to report.”

  “What sort of crime?”

  “Somebody just tried to kill me!” Matt glared at Jason. “And I damn well expect you to do something about it!”

  Chapter 6

  Jason Fury and Matt MacDonald were the same age and built along the same lines—muscular, broad-shouldered, powerful young men. Both had a rugged handsomeness about them that attracted admiring gazes from women—open admiration on the part of the younger females, more discreet but no less appreciative glances from the older ones.

  But that was where the similarities between them ended. Matt was arrogant, domineering, even cruel. A born bully. He had been beating up a younger, smaller boy when he and Jason first met, back in Kansas City. They had wound up slugging away at each other, with Jason emerging from the ruckus victorious.

  The young man Jason had rescued, Thomas Milcher, was one of the Reverend Milcher’s children. Tragically, Thomas hadn’t lived to reach the new settlement. He had died in the same Comanche attack that had taken Jedediah Fury’s life, part of the toll in human lives that the expansion of civilization always extracted.

  Jason thought for a second about Tommy Milcher as Matt glowered at him, but then he shoved the memory aside and said, “What are you talking about? Who tried to kill you?” A thought occurred to Jason, and he added, “Where’s Ward? He was out at your place, wasn’t he?”

  Matt grunted as he swung down from the saddle. “Don’t worry about that coward,” he said. “Wanamaker’s fine. Probably down at the Krimp woman’s place guzzling whiskey by now.”

  Jason’s jaw tightened in anger. Ward Wanamaker was a good man and no coward. Jason knew that from experience, having fought alongside Ward on more than one occasion.

  “You still haven’t told me what happened.”

  “It was a man named Ezra Dixon.” Matt grimaced as if the name tasted bad in his mouth. “Claims he’s a rancher. He and some of his men rode up to my place while Wanamaker and I were working. Dixon said that was his range and warned me to get off.”

  Jason had warned the settlers of that very possibility, so he wasn’t surprised by what Matt had just told him.

  “Let me guess,” he said. “You told Dixon to go to hell.”

  “Damn right I did! Nobody’s gonna come along and run me off my own land.”

  Jason didn’t bother pointing out that the land hadn’t been Matt’s until he came along and said it was. And that didn’t make it so.

  “So then they started shooting at you.”

  “That’s right. Wanamaker and I had to fort up inside the house and hold them off. Then they tried to burn us out.”

  Jason was going to have to ask Ward about this. It would be interesting to get Ward’s version of the story and compare it to Matt’s.

  “What happened then? I can see you didn’t get burned up.”

  “A cavalry patrol came along and scared off Dixon and his men. If they hadn’t, I reckon Wanamaker and I would be dead by now.”

  That was the first Jason had heard of cavalry patrolling in the area, but it was to be expected, considering the continuing threat from the Apaches. He nodded and said, “All this is interesting, Matt, but what do you expect me to do about it?”

  Matt stared at him. “What do I expect you to do about it?” he repeated. “I expect you to arrest Dixon and his men and charge them with attempted murder and arson! Wanamaker and I were nearly killed, and I’m going to have to replace the part of my roof that burned.”

  Jason thought about it, but only for a second. “There’s a problem there,” he said. “Dixon didn’t do any of that in town. My authority is only good here in the settlement.”

  Matt was so red-faced with anger that he looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. “Damn it, that son of a bitch lieutenant said he couldn’t do anything about it either, and told me to report Dixon to the local authorities. That’s you, Fury.”

  Wash nudged Jason’s arm and cleared his throat. Jason looked around at the old-timer, who nodded toward David Cohen, still standing there and taking in everything with avid interest, including Matt’s curses.

  “David, you run on back to your pa’s store,” Jason told the boy.

  “But Marshal—” David began.

  “No arguing now. We made a deal, remember?”

  “Yeah, I guess. I’ll see you later?”

  Jason nodded. “You bet.”

  David loped off toward the hardware store. Jason turned back to Matt, who said, “You really mean to tell me that you’re not going to do anything about what happened to me?”

  “I can’t, Matt. I don’t know how to make it any clearer than that. What you need to do is figure out what county we’re in and where the county seat is, and report Dixon to the sheriff. He’s the only one who had any authority to do anything.”

  “Maybe you’re just too scared to go up against Dixon.”

  Jason fought down the urge to plant his fist smack-dab in the middle of Matt’s face. He said, “I’ve told you all I know to tell you. If Dixon or his men come to town and cause trouble, I’ll arrest them. Otherwise, there’s nothing I can do.”

  Muttering curses, Matt grabbed his horse’s reins and stalked away, jerking the animal’s head to make it come along with him. He stomped off toward Abigail’s place, no doubt intending to fuel his anger even more with some whiskey.

  “That fella just don’t like you, Jason,” Wash said. “Even a blind man could see that.”

  “The feeling’s mutual,” Jason said.

  But despite what he had just told Matt, he had the uneasy feeling that he was going to be drawn into this trouble between Matt and Ezra Dixon. From the sound of it, it was already a shooting war.

  And knowing Matt, Jason figured things would get worse before they got better.

  * * *

  Jenny Fury had been shopping with Megan MacDonald when the trouble broke out down at Abigail Krimp’s. She had seen Jason go in there and had worried that more shots would ring out and her brother would never come out of the place alive. The relief she’d felt when she saw Jason emerge from the building, along with Mr. Cohen and Mayor Kendall and the three prisoners, had made Jenny’s knees weak for a few seconds.

  She loved her brother. Even though she was going to marry Matt MacDonald—as soon as he got around to asking her—she didn’t want anything to happen to Jason. Jenny figured that in time, she could get Jason to understand just what a fine man Matt really was.

  Like all big brothers, Jason thought he knew what was best for his little sister. But he was wrong. Jenny was sure of it.

  A while later, she spotted Matt riding into town, and her heart jumped as it always did when she saw him. He was hurrying, though, like something was wrong, and he rode straight to the marshal’s office. Jason and Mr. Keough and one of the Cohen boys came from around in back, and Jason and Matt started talking. Jenny couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she could tell that Matt was upset.

  Jason just had to learn how to get along with Matt. She would give him a talking to, Jenny vowed.

  For now, though, she bided her time, lingering across the street until Matt finished talking with her brother. Matt turned and started down the street, leading his horse. Jenny waited until Jason and Mr. Keough had gone inside the marshal’s office before she hurried to intercept Matt.

  “Hello,” she said as she came trotting up to him. She knew it would have been more ladylike if she had pretended to meet up with him by accident, but she didn’t have the patience for that.

  Besides, Matt was heading
in the general direction of Abigail Krimp’s place, and Jenny didn’t want him indulging in any of the . . . diversions . . . that Abigail’s offered.

  “What are you doing in town?” she went on.

  “I came to talk to that brother of yours,” Matt replied with a scowl. Jenny knew that Matt didn’t like Jason either, but she figured that was Jason’s fault. “There was some trouble out at my ranch.”

  “What happened?”

  “Some fellas tried to kill me.”

  Jenny’s hand went to her mouth in shock. “Oh, no! Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Matt answered in surly tones. “My ankle’s a little twisted, but that’s all. My new roof’s got a hole burned in it, though.”

  “Those men tried to burn your house down?”

  “With me and Ward Wanamaker inside it.”

  Anger filled Jenny at the thought of somebody trying to do that to Matt. “Did you tell Jason about it?” she wanted to know. “He’s the marshal now. He can arrest them.”

  Matt gave a disgusted snort. “Yeah, I told him. But he refused to do anything about it. Said it didn’t happen in his jurisdiction, or something like that.”

  Now part of Jenny’s anger was directed toward her brother. “How can he be that way? He’s the marshal! He’s supposed to arrest anybody who breaks the law!”

  “Only if they do it here in town, according to him.”

  Jenny’s nostrils flared as she drew in a deep breath. “We’ll just see about that.”

  Matt looked at her. “You’ll talk to him for me?”

  “Of course I will.” She stopped just short of saying she would do anything for him. “I’ll convince him to help you.”

  “I don’t need Jason Fury’s help,” Matt said with a frown. “I just think he should do his job, that’s all.”

  “That’s what I meant,” Jenny said quickly, not wanting to offend him. “You wait right here—”

  Matt shook his head. “No, I’d better get back out to my ranch. By now, Dixon and his men might have come back and burned everything to the ground.”

  She put a hand on his arm and said, “You be careful, Matt. I . . . I’d hate to see anything happen to you.”

  “Don’t worry about me. Just tell that brother of yours to stop shirking his duty, that’s all.”

  Then he leaned over, bold as brass, and kissed her on the mouth. It was a quick kiss, but it thrilled Jenny all the way down to her toes, which curled in her shoes in response to the feelings he aroused in her.

  Matt grinned that cocky grin of his as he mounted up and turned his horse toward the edge of town. Jenny stood there looking after him as he rode out of the settlement.

  Then she turned and clenched her fists in determination as she stalked toward the marshal’s office.

  Jason was sitting behind his desk and Wash Keough was at the black cast-iron stove in the corner, pouring himself a cup of coffee, when Jenny came into the office, glared at her brother, and said, “Jason Fury, I want to talk to you!”

  Chapter 7

  Jason looked at his sister and thought, Oh, hell. Jenny had the bit in her teeth about something.

  “It’s about Matt,” she went on.

  He grunted. “I’m not surprised. He seems to be just about the only thing you think about these days.”

  “He told me what happened earlier out at his place. He also told me you said you couldn’t do anything about it.”

  “I can’t.” Jason shrugged. “I don’t have a lick of authority except here in town.”

  “Well, that’s just crazy! You’re the marshal.”

  “Town marshal. Matt’s going to have to report Dixon to the county sheriff if he wants the law to do anything about it.”

  She crossed her arms and glared at him. “You’re only saying that because you don’t like him. You’re not being fair to Matt. You’ve never been fair to him.”

  “I fished him out of that flooded creek and kept him from drowning, didn’t I?” Jason snapped.

  Jenny gave a disdainful sniff. “I’m surprised you did that. It was out of your jurisdiction, wasn’t it?”

  Jason gritted his teeth and didn’t point out that he hadn’t even been a lawman at the time. He had rescued Matt because he couldn’t stand by and let anybody drown, even somebody he didn’t like. And if he had been out at Matt’s ranch when Ezra Dixon attacked the place, he would have pitched in to help defend it, not as a star-packer but just as a fellow human being.

  This situation was different. Dixon had already committed the crime—assuming that everything Matt said was true. If Jason took action against him now, it wouldn’t be in self-defense. It would be as a representative of the law, which changed everything.

  Making Jenny understand that was going to be next thing to impossible, though, he realized as he looked at his sister. She was so blinded by her feelings for Matt that she couldn’t see the truth. Jason might not be able to understand why she felt that way about Matt, but he acknowledged that Jenny’s emotions were real.

  “If Dixon comes into town, I’ll have a talk with him. That’s all I can do.”

  Jenny blew her breath out, glared at Jason some more, and shook her head. She turned on her heel and stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind her.

  Wash took a sip of his coffee and commented, “Your little sis sure has a burr under her saddle.”

  “Jenny’s always been that way. You can’t argue with her. She’s so convinced she’s right that it’s like butting your head against a stone wall.”

  “Maybe you ought to go see this fella Dixon not as a lawman, but as Jenny’s big brother. After all, Matt MacDonald’s gonna be your brother-in-law ’fore too much longer.”

  Jason turned a sharp look toward the old-timer. “You know something I don’t, Wash?”

  “Hell, I got eyes, don’t I?” Wash said with a shrug. “I seen the way them two look at each other. It’s just a matter of time, and I don’t think it’ll be very long neither.”

  Jason sighed. “I’m afraid you’re right about that.”

  “For what it’s worth, even though I ain’t got much use for Matt, he seems to really care for your sister.”

  Jason pushed himself to his feet. “What would I say to Dixon?” he asked. “I can’t tell him to leave Matt alone or the law will be after him.”

  “Why not? You can tell him that if he attacks Matt’s place again, you’ll contact the sheriff. Chances are the fella would be more likely to respond to a yell for help from a fellow badge-toter. Maybe Dixon would see it the same way and decide to leave Matt alone.”

  Jason rubbed his jaw and frowned in thought. Wash might be right about that, he decided. He might be able to bring the power of the law to bear against Dixon, or at least threaten to, without exceeding his own authority.

  “I guess it’s worth a try,” he said after a moment. “Since it’s your idea, though, how about riding out there with me?”

  Wash grinned. “You mean ride up to a place owned by a high-handed son of a bitch who’s in the habit o’ shootin’ at anybody who gets in his way? Sure, why not? Sounds like it might be entertainin’.”

  Jason didn’t think so, but at least if he made the effort, it would get Jenny off his back.

  And he didn’t think that even a man like Ezra Dixon would gun down a lawman in broad daylight for no good reason.

  * * *

  The first thing Jason did was to go looking for Ward Wanamaker, just to make sure that the story Matt had told him was really what had happened. Jason didn’t think Matt had been lying about the fight, but Matt had a habit of telling every story so that he came off as either the hero or the victim, depending on the circumstances.

  Jason and Wash found the lean, sandy-haired Ward at Abigail’s place, leaning on the plank bar and downing a shot of whiskey. He greeted them with a smile and a friendly “Howdy, fellas.”

  From the other side of the bar, Abigail asked, “Did you get those troublemakers locked up all r
ight, Marshal?”

  “Sure did,” Jason replied with a nod. “I haven’t decided what to do with them yet, but they’re locked up where they can’t get out.”

  Abigail gave Wash a pointed look. “You missed one of them, I’d say.”

  “Aw, now, Abby,” Wash protested. “You know that ruckus weren’t my fault. I never meant to knock that spittoon over on Flores’s boots.”

  “You might not have if you hadn’t been so drunk you didn’t know what you were doing. And my name’s Abigail, not Abby, thank you very much.”

  “You didn’t seem to mind how much booze I was drinkin’ when you was collectin’ from me for it,” Wash pointed out.

  “We came to talk to Ward, remember?” Jason reminded him. “Not to wrangle with Miss Krimp.”

  She smiled at him. “You should call me Abigail, Jason. We’ve known each other long enough for that.”

  They had known each other since Kansas City, in fact, where Abigail had made it plain that she found Jason very attractive and wouldn’t mind if he felt the same way about her. She knew that Jason was interested in Megan MacDonald, but she hadn’t quite given up her designs on him.

  Jason was glad that Ward changed the subject by saying, “You want to talk to me, Jason? What about?”

  “I hear you had some trouble out at Matt’s ranch today.”

  Ward nodded. “Yeah, and it sounds like there was a ruckus here too.”

  Jason waved that away. “Never mind about that. What happened to you and Matt?”

  “Fella who called himself Dixon rode up with some tough hombres backing him and tried to run us off. Said he was a rancher and that was his range. Matt pretty much called him a liar.”

  “So Dixon and his men started shooting.”

  Ward pushed his empty glass across the bar to Abigail and nodded. “Yeah. We got in the house before they ventilated us, and damned lucky we were to make it too.”

  “That’s when they tried to burn you out?”

  “Matt’s been talking to you, I see. Yeah, they managed to throw a torch onto the roof. I was about to go out shootin’, rather than sit there and let the place burn down around my ears, but then Dixon and his men took off for the tall and uncut. A cavalry patrol came riding up a minute later. I reckon Dixon and the others heard the horses coming and took those troopers for Apaches. Good luck for us again.”