A Gideon Johann Boxed Set Book 1 - 4 (A Gideon Johann Western 0)

by Duane Boehm

  Hank was starting to feel sick. He never envisioned killing the kid and the thought of walking up to him to slit his throat made him want to puke. He had done a lot of despicable things in his life, but he had never sunk to killing children. “You sure you want me to kill the kid, Boss?” he asked.

  “What’s the matter? Aren’t you man enough to do it? You’re always running your mouth about how big and bad you are. Surely you can take care of a kid,” Frank said.

  “It’s not that, but if we kill the kid and get caught, it goes from prison to hanging,” Hank said.

  “How are we going to get caught? I’ve thought about everything,” Frank said.

  “Won’t they hear all the extra shooting?” Hank asked.

  “You should be far enough away that the gun shots won’t carry that far, but after you kill them, you can take their guns back in the cave to shoot them. You won’t have to go back in there very far to kill most of the sound. Take a little torch with you,” Frank said.

  “Okay, Boss. I don’t hanker to kill a kid, but I guess it’s best,” Hank said.

  “Go into town tonight after you drop off the note. Relax and have some beer and keep your ear to the ground to make sure there’s no surprises. I don’t think there will be. They want that kid alive. Buy Doc a beer if you get the chance,” Frank said as he threw a twenty–dollar gold piece towards Hank and then waved his hand to dismiss him.

  ∞

  Gideon returned to the cabin at noon to find a wagon and team of horses out by the barn. On the porch there was a young girl playing on the swing. Looking her over, he knew it had to be Winnie as her facial feature made her a dead giveaway to be Abby’s daughter. Inside the cabin, he found Ethan, Sarah, Abby, and Marcus all sitting at the table. Quickly scanning the group, Marcus’s face practically dripped with contempt and Abby was having a hard time making eye contact, but Ethan and Sarah looked as if the company had distracted them enough to relax a little. “Well, if we had some cards, we would have enough for poker,” he said.

  “Gideon,” Marcus said as a greeting.

  “Marcus, good to see you,” Gideon said.

  “I see the sheriff pinned a star on you. What did he have to say?” Ethan asked.

  “Not much. After we get Benjamin back, I’m going to try to find them. They won’t have time to cover their tracks this time. I’m going to make the drop–off. That way it will be the law that they are dealing with if they try anything,” Gideon said.

  Sarah stood and walked to Gideon, placing her hands on his chest for emphasis. “Gideon, I don’t want you being a hero. I just want Benjamin back. We can always make more money, but we can’t make another Benjamin,” she said.

  Gideon put his hands around Sarah’s arms. “Sarah, I promise you, I will do nothing to jeopardize Benjamin. I just want to be the one to do it so that if there is trouble, Ethan will not be in danger. Okay?” he said.

  Sarah kissed his cheek. “Okay.”

  Chapter 24

  Jasper was up pacing, more agitated than the day before. The stay in the cave was making him crazy. He had never counted on the isolation being this hard and he couldn’t take it any longer. “I got enough money to go buy a bottle of whiskey and I’m going to town to get it. I can’t take another minute sitting here waiting,” he said.

  “It will be over tomorrow. You can hang on for one more day,” Walter said.

  “It ain’t over tomorrow. We’ll be running for days to get away. They’ll be wanting that money back,” Jasper said.

  “Come on, Jasper. Just sit tight another day,” Walter pleaded.

  “They should have packed us some whiskey if they were going to hole us up here. I’ll just ride into town, get a bottle, and come back. I’ll be back way before night and nobody will think anything of it,” Jasper said as he moved towards the back of the cave to retrieve his horse.

  “Somebody might see you leave,” Walter said in one last attempt to stop Jasper.

  “There’s a better chance of the Indians coming back for their moccasins than a white man riding around here,” Jasper said as he pulled his horse into the front of the cave.

  Walter stood idly and watched Jasper saddle his horse. He knew he could stop him if he really wanted, but he just didn’t have it in him to fight that day, and besides that, some whiskey would go a long way in soothing the boredom. “Be careful and don’t waste time. You know if the boss catches you, he will take your head off,” he said.

  “The boss can kiss my ass. He hasn’t been sitting in a cave all week,” Jasper said as he led his horse out of the cave and mounted.

  Jasper’s ride into town was uneventful, never seeing another person until he was almost to Last Stand. Riding down the main street, he checked and did not see Sligo’s horse tied anywhere. His plan was to go into the saloon, buy his bottle, and head back. When he walked in, the first thing that he saw was Mary leaning against the bar, laughing as if she were having the time of her life. He immediately decided that maybe spending some time in a saloon talking to a woman would be a whole lot more enjoyable than drinking in a cave, listening to Walter jabber and smelling his farts.

  He sat down at a table and called out for a bottle. Mary brought the whiskey over with two glasses. “Buy me a drink, Jasper?” she asked.

  “Why sure, Mary. It would be nice to have your company,” Jasper said.

  “What are you doing in here on a Friday afternoon?” Mary asked as she filled the glasses.

  “Uh, Sligo gave us the afternoon off,” he said.

  “What’s gotten into him? I never knew he did anything nice,” she said and took her first sip.

  “I guess there is a first time for everything,” Jasper said before taking a drink and swishing it in his mouth before swallowing. He closed his eyes and tilted his head up as if he was receiving divine inspiration.

  “Have you been working hard?” Mary asked.

  “Working cattle for Sligo is always hard. He never lets up,” he said.

  “I bet so. Have you heard about Benjamin Oakes being kidnapped?” she asked.

  Jasper laughed nervously. “I don’t know nothing about that kid getting kidnapped,” he said.

  Mary took a sip of whiskey, watching Jasper. She found his behavior odd in the way that he answered her question. “So you heard about it then. What do you think happened?” she asked.

  He laughed again nervously, avoiding eye contact and taking a quick sip of his whiskey. “I tell you, I don’t know nothing about that kidnapping,” he said with his voice sounding like a child trying to cover up a misdeed.

  She was sure he was lying now and slowly took another sip of whiskey trying to think what next to do. “Why don’t you take me upstairs, Jasper? You look like you could use a good roll in the hay,” she said.

  Jasper leaned over close to her. “Mary, I don’t got enough money,” he said.

  “Jasper, it is your lucky day. Not only did you get the afternoon off, but Mr. Vander said that he wanted me to give one of my regular customers a free poke in appreciation of their business and Jasper you are my favorite cowboy in this whole town,” Mary said.

  “Really, Mary, I’m your favorite?” Jasper asked.

  “Shoot, Jasper, I’d have got you to marry me a long time ago except I knew you can’t afford a wife,” she said and grabbed his hand.

  “Well, let’s go then,” he said, standing up and grabbing his bottle and glass.

  Mary led him by the hand into her room and shut the door. Determined to be in control, she did not want to give him time to think and started unbuttoning his shirt with him pinned against the door. Pulling the shirt open, she started kissing his chest. “Jasper, if you ever came into money, we could run off somewhere and get married. Start a new life. Wouldn’t that be nice?” she said between kisses.

  “Uh–huh,” he moaned.

  She continued kissing him, working down his belly. “We could have us some real fun if we were married and had money. You like fun don’t you Jasper?�
� Mary said.

  “Oh, Mary,” Jasper groaned.

  She knelt down on her knees, unbuckling his gun belt, his belt, and then the buttons on his breeches. She yanked the trousers down and the musky smell hit her so hard that she had to stop. Trying not to break the mood, she led him waddling with his breeches at his ankles to the washstand. She needed information, but there was no way that she was going to put her mouth on his pecker without scrubbing it first. She soaped him, running her hands up and down his penis. “You are so big and hard. A stud horse doesn’t have anything on you. Let me get you good and clean and then I got a surprise for you,” she said as she wiped the soap off with a towel.

  She put her mouth on him and started working while he moaned like a cat purring. She looked up and his eyes were rolled so far back in his head that she thought they might flip over and come back around. “I could do this for you every day if we were married. Wouldn’t you like that, Jasper? If we just had money,” Mary said.

  “Yes, Mary, yes,” Jasper cried out as if he had found religion. “I’m going to be rich tomorrow.”

  She went back down on him, arousing him as much as she dared. “If you’re going to be rich, we can run off and get married. I can’t wait to please you every night, Jasper. If you’re going to be rich tomorrow, you must be part of the kidnapping. Is that it?” Mary said, mouthing him before he could speak.

  “Yes, Mary, I’m part of it,” Jasper said rapidly.

  “I’ll keep pleasuring you and you tell me all about it,” she said.

  “I can’t tell you about it. It’s a secret,” he said.

  Mary paused, waiting for him to need her so badly that he would tell her everything. His face was so contorted that she would have laughed if she could have. “Now Jasper, if we are going to get married, we can’t have secrets. You need to tell me all about it so I know what to expect for meeting up with you,” she said and waited.

  “Okay, okay, don’t stop and I’ll tell you,” Jasper said and then moaned as Mary resumed. “Frank and Hank planned it all. Hank kidnapped him and took him to Moccasin Cave and me and Walter have been keeping him there ever since. Hank is coming in the morning to tell us what to do. I get a thousand dollars and me and Walter will make our getaway and nobody will know Frank and Hank did it.”

  Mary almost stopped from shock upon hearing that Sligo and DeVille were the ringleaders. She realized that she should have known that Sligo had his hand in it as everything evil around here involved him. “Jasper, you’ve made me so happy. I can’t wait to marry you,” she said.

  She steeled herself for what was to come and went to work to get it finished. Jasper screamed out like a girl when he came, making her worry that Mr. Vander would be knocking the door down at any second coming to her rescue. Pulling Jasper down onto the bed, she bathed his face in kisses. “Jasper, I love you and I’m going to make you so happy. Do you feel good, Honey?” she cooed to him.

  Jasper was so relaxed that he looked as if he might fall asleep. “Uh–huh, I feel real good,” he said.

  “Where can I meet up with you tomorrow? Where are we headed?” Mary asked.

  “Can you ride? Do you even have a horse?” Jasper said.

  She smiled and kissed his lips, relieved that he was still thinking about her riding with him. Getting more information out of him was going to be easy. “Baby, I’ve been riding horses since I could walk. I know horseflesh too. I go down to the stable all the time and see what that old coot has for sale. He’s got one that I’ve had my eye on. I’m going to buy it for our escape. Now where are we going?” she said.

  Jasper tucked his hands behind his head, looking as if he thought he was the king of the castle. “We are going to ride the back country to Pagosa Springs and then take the trails north. Walter is from over in there and knows all the trails. We got a lot of riding to do. Depending on how hard they chase us, we may go to Denver or keep going up into the Wyoming Territory,” Jasper said.

  “So you don’t know where you pick up the money or anything? You’re not going to hurt the boy are you?” she asked.

  “Nah, Sligo hasn’t told us anything. I guess they won’t hurt him. Nothing’s been said about it,” he said.

  “I’ll ride out to Pagosa tomorrow morning and be waiting for you off the road going north out of there. You had better get back to the cave. If Sligo catches you, he might kill you. I love you, Jasper. I am going to make you so happy,” Mary said and started kissing him again.

  “Do you think I could have a poke before I go?” Jasper asked.

  “Honey, you have got to go. I’m going to give you so much loving that you’re going to think you have died and gone to heaven,” she said before jumping up and topping her glass off with whiskey.

  Jasper got up reluctantly, buttoning his breeches and putting his gun belt back on. “I don’t know what time we will get to Pagosa Springs. It’s hard to say,” he said.

  Mary gave him a kiss and handed him his bottle. “Don’t you worry, I’ll be there waiting. Don’t you dare get yourself killed now,” she said as she led him to the door.

  With the door locked behind her, she took a drink of the whiskey, swirling it around in her mouth until the burning had made it completely numb and then spitting it in the washbasin. As she watched out the window, she took a big sip and swallowed slowly, feeling it burn all the way down her throat. She gave Jasper a little wave as he looked up at her window when he mounted his horse.

  After Jasper rode out of sight, she peeled off her saloon clothes and put on her best skirt and blouse. The clothes had not been worn in ages and she stopped at the mirror, admiring herself and fixing her hair back in place. She managed to smile at herself, thinking that she cleaned up pretty good for a whore.

  She ran down the backstairs into the room where she normally ate breakfast and helped Mr. Vander with the books. He was sitting at the table reading the newspaper. “Mr. Vander, I have to leave. It’s an emergency and I can’t explain now. I will tell you everything when I get back. Don’t say anything to anybody about my leaving,” she said.

  Mr. Vander lowered his paper and peered at her. “Well, alright Miss Mary, but you be careful. I couldn’t stand something happening to you,” he said.

  “I will be,” she said as she headed to the back door.

  From the alley, she walked as fast as she could to the sheriff’s office. There was a note on the door stating that he would not be back until evening. “Damn it,” she cursed aloud. “I bet he went to see Ethan.”

  Mary looked around, trying to think what she would do next when she saw the doctor’s office and headed towards it, bursting through the door.

  Doctor Abram was asleep at his desk when Mary rushed in, startling him so badly that he jumped to his feet. “Damn, Mary, what in the hell are you in such an all fire hurry about?” he said, clearly irritated.

  “Doc, you have to take me out to Ethan’s place. I think the sheriff is there and I need to see him now,” Mary said.

  “What’s the problem, Mary?” Doc asked.

  “Doc, please, we have got to go now. I’ll tell you everything on the way,” she pleaded.

  Chapter 25

  Gideon and Marcus were sitting out on the porch with Ethan as he smoked his pipe. Tension between the two men had eased somewhat as they managed to make small talk, though Gideon continually caught himself thinking that unless Marcus got lucky last night, and he doubted that he did, he and not Marcus was the last person to sleep with Marcus’s wife. There was no regret or remorse in his thoughts. In his mind, a love born long ago trumped a marriage certificate even if it had only been for one night. He then banished Abby from his thoughts and starting thinking about Benjamin. Much to his chagrin, he knew that the kidnappers held all the cards. His only option was to react to the hand they dealt. Foreboding that he could not save Benjamin started sinking in.

  Ethan took a draw on his pipe, raised his head and blew the smoke into the air. “That looks like Doc Abram’s buggy coming. I
wonder why he is in such a hurry,” he said.

  Gideon looked up, watching the buggy scurrying down the road. “There’s somebody with him,” he remarked.

  Doc trotted the buggy right up to the porch. “Is Sheriff Fuller here? Mary has some news,” he said.

  Gideon could see the surprise on Mary’s face upon seeing him standing on the porch. The moment was awkward and he had a feeling it was going to get more so. “The sheriff deputized me. What’s the problem?” he asked.

  Doc climbed off the buggy and helped Mary down. “We should go inside. Sarah needs to hear this too,” he said.

  Sarah and Abby looked up as everybody walked into the cabin, obviously surprised to see Doc and Mary. There was an embarrassing silence and nobody seemed to know what to say. Finally, Sarah spoke. “Doc and Mary, good to see you. What brings you out here?”

  Doc looked at Mary and realized that he needed to take the lead with her seeming to be too overwhelmed to speak. Looking around the room, he thought that if a boy’s life were not in the balance that this gathering would make a great joke about what happens when a preacher, a whore, and star–crossed lovers enter a room. “Mary has some news about Benjamin. Go ahead and tell them, Mary,” he said.

  Mary was looking down, playing with her hands. She had never felt more embarrassed about being a whore or how low her life had sunk. If not for Benjamin’s sake, she would have run from the house. “Uh, Jasper, Frank DeVille’s ranch hand, came into the salon today and I sat down at the table with him. I mentioned the kidnapping and I could just tell that he was lying and knew something about it. Jasper’s not the smartest man alive and he can’t lie for nothing. So, I, uh, uh, tricked him into telling me everything. Frank is in on it and Hank Sligo kidnapped Benjamin and took him to Moccasin Cave.”