by James Butler
***
Jeremiah woke up to the sound of crows calling back and forth across the river bottom. Lilly was already on the wagon. She looked afraid, like something bad was about to happen. Dick had saddled his horse and was sitting on it ready to ride. He had his rifle in his hands.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” said Jeremiah. “I must’ve been dog tired. He sat up and stretched. He couldn’t help but notice that his guns were missing.
“Last night, while you and my little sister were down on the river doing it, I had a different idea. Why not take all the money? After all, you did kill all my brothers. I ain’t got nobody left ’cept my ma and Lilly.” Lilly stood on the wagon crying.
“He didn’t kill them all,” she said. “Billy Bob got shot at the ranch by a woman friend of Alma’s and Ma shot Charlie. Besides, they deserved what they got and you know it.”
“It don’t matter who kilt ’em or what they deserved. I’m gonna kill Jeremiah and then me and you can take the money.”
“I don’t want the money. We don’t have to kill him. Just leave him here without a horse. He’ll never find us in these mountains. Please don’t kill him. I love him.”
“You just do as I tell you. Get the money and put it on your horse.”
“Please don’t kill him.”
“He’s a gunfighter, Lilly. He won’t stop coming until I'm dead.”
She took the satchels filled with money and dropped them on the ground. “They’re too heavy for me to carry. You’ll have to get them.” Dick took his eyes off her just long enough to raise his rifle and take aim at Jeremiah when Lilly picked up the shotgun, closed her eyes and fired. Jeremiah was watching Dick and looking at the end of the barrel of his rifle when he heard the blast. He was sitting down with his legs crossed, but somehow sprang completely off the ground, feeling his body for bullet holes, thinking he’d been shot. He saw Dick’s body fly backwards out of his saddle as a red mist drifted down. He ran to Lilly standing in the wagon with her eyes still closed. He took the shotgun and laid it in the seat. Lilly opened her eyes and he grabbed her and spun her around.
“Don’t look, baby.”
“Did I get him?”
“You got him all right.” He sat her down and told her not to look, then he climbed down and covered Dick’s headless body with a blanket.
“We’ll have to find a new place. I couldn’t live here knowing it was where I kilt my brother.”
Jeremiah threw the satchels of money on the wagon, then drove it down the river a piece. “You stay here.” He reloaded the shotgun and handed it to her. He could hear her crying as he walked back and covered Dick’s body with rocks.
“You had it made. You could of had it all, you stupid bastard.”
He took Dick’s guns and his horse and rode back down to Lilly. He climbed on the wagon and sat holding her until she stopped crying.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too, baby.” He had never heard of anyone shooting their own brother to save the life of their man. He hoped he could live up to her love. He thought of Alma and her horrible death, just because she loved him.
There will always be somebody looking to shoot it out with a gunfighter, he thought. He wondered if he hadn’t made a mistake falling in love with Lilly and putting her in danger.
“There are lots of beautiful places in Arkansas,” he said. “We’ll just find us another place.”
He knew the more distance he could put between Lilly and her dead brother the better. He cracked the whip and the horses started moving along the river.
He glanced back over his shoulder. He didn’t know who, but someone was following them.
Chapter 4
Two years earlier in Coffeyville
Jeremiah met Alma Simpson on the stagecoach on his trip to Alaska. Alma’s sister and her sister’s husband were both killed by the Yankees during the war and Alma was taking her sister’s two children to Council Bluffs, Iowa, to live with their grandmother.
On the long trip to Iowa, Alma and Jeremiah, being attracted to each other, had an affair. It was more than an affair to Jeremiah. He had never known a woman like Alma and was considering staying on in Council Bluffs and asking for her hand in marriage, but there was the ranch in Coffeyville and he needed money to get it back. He left Alma in Iowa, but while he was away, they communicated by mail and over the next year, fell in love.
She was a school teacher in Independence, Kansas. Her husband of only a few weeks had been killed in the war and now she was going to start a new life with Jeremiah. Jeremiah was coming home. He had written her and told her he was going back to Coffeyville before he came for her. He wanted the house to be just right for her.
Alma couldn’t wait. She took the stage to Coffeeville. Sheriff Hunter met the stage when Alma came in and was taken by her at first sight.
“Let me help you,” he said as Alma stepped down from the stagecoach. My name’s James Hunter, ma’am. I’m the sheriff of Coffeyville.” He even hired a buggy and took her out to the ranch and then back to town where she purchased the ranch for back taxes.
It was a regular occurrence for him to show up at the ranch and ask if he could be of any assistance. Alma was a beautiful woman and was used to being admired by men and women alike. She told him on every occasion that she was promised to Jeremiah, but that made him no difference.
“That trash,” said the sheriff. “He’s nothing but a lowlife gunfighter.”
One morning while she was out back hanging out her wash, the sheriff snuck up behind her, slipped his hands up under her blouse and held her breasts. He pulled her close to him and squeezed. “You’re the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen. Why can’t you forget about that gunfighter and let me take care of you?”
Alma screamed and fell to the ground trying to get away from him, but he jumped on top of her and pulled up her dress.
“Nobody’s going to know,” he said. “Why don’t you let me have a little? I won’t tell nobody.” He cupped his hand and grabbed her between her legs.
She scratched his face and kicked him in the jaw with her knee. It was enough to get away from him, then she ran into the house and grabbed her shotgun.
“Aw, come on. It wouldn’t be that bad.” Then he heard her cock the shotgun. “Oh, shit.” He ran to the front of the house where he had tied his horse. He mounted and whipped his horse, riding as fast as he could away from the house. Alma ran out the front door and managed to get off a shot. She aimed high because she didn’t want to hit the horse. He was far enough away that all he felt was a few pellets hitting him like rain falling. He was laughing, but he didn’t go back for more.
He waited a few days, then started all over again as if nothing had happened. He was even bragging around town about how she had let him feel her tits and the softness between her legs. How she had begged him to take her to bed. “I have too much respect for Jeremiah to fuck the woman he’s going to marry,” he told his deputy.
She continually refused his advances right up until Jeremiah came home. The sheriff was jealous of Jeremiah and mad at Alma for turning down his advances. He lived in fear that she would tell Jeremiah what he’d done. So when the Jones brothers and their sister, Lilly, came to his office and asked where Jeremiah Tucker lived, he was more than happy to oblige them. He had no idea that they would rape and kill Alma, but if he had known, it wouldn’t have made any difference. He hoped they were after Jeremiah, but as it turned out, Alma was raped and cut up so bad that she died that same evening.
After Alma died, Jeremiah came to town and killed one of the brothers who was locked up in the jail and took Lilly with him. The sheriff had expected Jeremiah to come and pretended to be his friend and dissuade him from doing anything violent. That only led to Jeremiah clubbing the sheriff over the head. Alma had never told Jeremiah about the sheriff because she knew Jeremiah would have killed him.
Now with all the brothers dead save one, Jeremiah, Lilly and her last surviving brother, D
ick, had come back to town. The ranch was up for sale again and Jeremiah had killed the judge who was aiming on buying it. Sheriff Hunter had grown to hate Jeremiah and wanted him dead, but he couldn’t kill him in Coffeyville because Jeremiah had too many friends who wouldn’t allow it. They all knew about his admiration for Alma. If he’d hung Jeremiah, the whole town would’ve come after him, so he arranged for Jeremiah’s escape and then had him followed.
***
Jeremiah looked over his shoulder again. “What is it, Jeremiah?” said Lilly. “You see something back there?”
“I guess it’s just my instincts. I feel like someone’s been following us.”
“Well, I don’t have no gunfighter instincts, but I’ve felt the same way ever since we left the ranch. Maybe it’s the sheriff.”
“It couldn’t be the sheriff. He took the posse to Colorado. Probably just our imagination. If there’s someone back there, he’s sure keeping his distance. Waiting for dark, I suppose.”
The sun was going down so he found a place with good cover from the road and pulled over for the night. He unhitched the horses while Lilly made their bed in the back of the wagon. Jeremiah climbed in and lay down with his rifle aimed at the road. “If there’s somebody coming, I’ll have a clear shot from here.” He had made several turns to get to the place where he stopped. No one would come to that exact spot unless they were following his wagon tracks.
It was almost dark when two riders appeared.
Jeremiah squeezed off one shot hitting one of the riders and knocking him off his horse. The other rider turned and ran, but Jeremiah got off several shots as he rode away into the darkness.
“I think you hit him,” whispered Lilly. “I thought I heard him groan.”
“You stay here.” He handed her the shotgun. “Don’t you shoot me now when I come back.” I shouldn’t have said that to her, he thought as he walked back to where the rider had fallen. The man was still alive, but barely.
“You gut shot me,” he said.
“You shouldn’t of been following me,” said Jeremiah. “Why were you following me?”
“Could I have a drink of water?”
“Why were you following me, goddamit? You tell me and then I’ll get you some water.”
“The sheriff in Coffeyville sent us to kill you.”
“The sheriff? Why?”
“He didn’t tell me why. All’s I know is that he wanted you dead. He said he’d give the man who kilt you fifty brand new American dollars. That’s why we followed you, otherwise, we ain’t got nothin’ against you. Can I have some water now? My stomach’s burning something terrible.” Jeremiah called back to the wagon. “Lilly, can you bring this man a drink of water?”
Lilly grabbed a jug of water and her shotgun and walked back to Jeremiah. He took the jug and knelt down beside the man. He lifted his head, but the man was already dead.
“He said it was the sheriff, Lilly. I wonder why the sheriff would want me dead.”
He laid awake most of the night while Lilly slept, waiting for the other rider to come back. At daylight, while Lilly kept an eye out for the rider, Jeremiah hitched up the horses and they were on their way.
“What about that man, Jeremiah? Shouldn’t we bury him?”
“Fuck him. Let the buzzards have him.”
Chapter 5
When they came to the river where Lilly’s mother lived, Lilly started to cry again. Jeremiah stopped the wagon before crossing. “What is it, Lilly?”
“I don’t know how I’m gonna tell ma about killing Dick.”
“Just tell her the truth. He wanted the money for himself and was going to kill me for it. You shot him to save my life. Just tell her the truth. She’ll understand.” They crossed the river and drove up to the house. Lilly’s ma was on the porch waiting for them.
“There’s someone following you’ens. I saw him as soon as he come up over the ridge. It ain’t Dick. He don‘t sit a horse like Dick.” Lilly ran to her mother, crying, and hugged her.
“What’s the matter, Lilly? This man not treating you right?”
“No, Ma, that ain’t it. I had to kill Dick.”
“You what?”
“I had to kill Dick.” They went inside the house and Lilly told her mother all about it.
Jeremiah unloaded the wagon onto the porch, He carried the satchels of money into the house and set them on the floor next to Lilly, then he took his rifle and sat next to the door and waited for the rider to cross the river. The rider came down out of the hills and rode along the river until he came to the place where Jeremiah had crossed. He didn’t ride like a man who was cautious or concerned that he might get shot. He was riding along looking around like he was going to church or to see a friend. He crossed the river and then disappeared into the trees. Jeremiah looked up and down the tree line until he saw the man’s horse. “He’s not on his horse anymore, he’s afoot.”
Lilly got up from her mother and picked up the shotgun. “We’re in the best place for cover unless he just starts shooting wildly at the house.”
“Shooting at the house?” said Lilly’s ma. “Who’s going to shoot at the house?”
“There was two men following us, Ma. Jeremiah kilt one of them back on the trail, but the other one was the one you saw following us. He’s out there somewhere now.”
“He’s crossed the river,” said Jeremiah, “and now he’s afoot. Is there a back door to this house or somewhere you can hide?”
“We got a back door,” said Lilly, “and a potato cellar out back, but we wouldn’t have a chance if he caught us in there. Maybe we could hide in the barn or run for the woods.” Jeremiah took the satchels of money and shoved them under the bed. He checked his pistols and rifle to see that they were loaded.
“Jeremiah Tucker!” the gunman called out. “I know you’re in there. Come on out and face your end like a man.”
Lilly ran to the door and fired both barrels of her shotgun at the man, but hit the dirt in front of him. “You git on outta here before you git yourself kilt. We never done nothin’ to you.”
“It’s Jeremiah I want, miss. I ain’t got no business with you.”
Jeremiah kissed Lilly on the cheek. “Reload your gun,” he whispered. “If he shoots me, blow his fucking head off. You’ll have to aim higher and don’t close your eyes.”
He stepped out onto the porch. The man’s shirt was bloodied where Jeremiah had nicked him in his left shoulder.
“You standing there with both hands in your coat pockets ain’t going to save your life. I’m going to kill you whether you got a gun or not.”
“Why would you want to kill me? I don’t even know you. Have you ever even heard of me before?”
“No, not ever. It’s the sheriff who wants you dead, not me. It’s because of your wife.”
“My wife?”
“Yeah. The sheriff wanted her for himself. He was in love with her or something.” He laughed. “She didn’t want nothin’ to do with that dumbass. You can go to your grave knowing that. He was afraid you’d find out and come kill him.”
“Find out what?”
“That he was in love with her, I guess, or maybe because he was running off at the mouth, telling everybody in town what a slut she was.”
“You’ve really never heard of me, have you?”
“He was so mad when you come back to town that he sent them men out to your place to fuck her up. He said if he couldn’t have her, nobody could. I got nothing against you, Jeremiah, but fifty dollars is a lot of money. He’s gonna give me fifty dollars just for killing you. He didn’t say nothin’ about it being a fair fight.”
“That’s good. Anybody who knows me knows I don’t go by no rules.”
Jeremiah’s mind was filled with rage. He didn’t wait for the man to draw, but fired away, emptying all twelve slugs into him. The gunman tried to draw as he was flying back from the force of .44 slugs, but was only able to shoot himself in the foot. Lilly stepped out the door and fired both b
arrels at him and, this time, she didn’t miss. “Jeremiah!” she screamed, “you’re on fire!” Jeremiah pulled off his coat, threw it on the ground and stomped out the fire.
“I never had that happen before, but I never emptied my guns on anyone neither.”
“There ain’t much left of him,” she said smiling, looking down at the hired gun. “I told you to leave before you got kilt, you asshole.”
Jeremiah took the body down to the river to a place where there were rapids and threw it in. “I’ll have to go back,” he told Lilly that night. “As long as he knows I’m alive, he’ll keep sending gunmen after me. The only way to stop him is to kill him.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, better you stay here with your mother. This is something I’ve got to do myself. I’ve got to bring an end to it once and for all.”
“What would happen to me if you got yourself kilt?” She held him tight like she was never going to let go. Tears were streaming down her face. “I couldn’t live without you.”
“I’ve killed a lot of men in my time, more than most. I’m not that easy to kill, I reckon. I’ll leave the money with you and your ma. If anything happens to me, at least you’ll have the money.”
“I don’t want the money if I don’t have you.” She held him and cried most of the night, until she fell asleep in his arms.
She told him she loved him and, as he rode off that morning, she ran along the side of the horse all the way to the river. The last words he heard her say as she dropped to her knees were “Please take me with you.”
Chapter 6
He had a long ride back to Coffeyville. He wasn’t even to the top of the ridge before he was already missing her. He stopped at the top and looked back down at the farm. He could see Lilly standing next to the river waving goodbye. He waved back and then rode away before he changed his mind and went back to her. He made it as far as Bear Creek before he stopped and made camp. He gathered some wood and built a fire. His mind was racing back and forth from Lilly to Alma.