by James Butler
Alma wasn’t the kind of woman who would take to a man like the sheriff. On his best day, he wasn’t a desirable sort. Even the barroom whores were put off by his loud-mouthed arrogance.
She came all the way from Iowa and bought the ranch just to please me, he thought, and got herself killed for it. He lay there with his head resting on his saddle trying to stop the thoughts that were swirling around in his mind. He listened to the coyotes yapping and what sounded like wild hogs running through the brush. He considered climbing a tree and sleeping off the ground, but didn’t. He heard a gunshot off in the distance. Probably a farmer shooting at some hogs, he thought. Hogs had been known to attack the soldiers at night during the war.
He was just about to doze off when they came out of the brush. There were two of them. One came straight at him and the other from the side. He had already woke up once with his guns missing, so on this trip, he was sleeping with both of them in his hands.
“Is that you, Jeremiah?” he heard a familiar voice say. “Don’t shoot. It’s me, Luke Johnson. I got my son, Zeb, with me.”
“Luke,” Jeremiah said, sitting up. “What’re you doing out here?”
“We’ve been lookin’ for you. We saw the light from your fire. Not many people out at night in these mountains, what with the bears and wolves and all. Maybe even a few Cherokees left.” Zeb brought a coffee pot from his saddle and made coffee. They sat around the fire drinking coffee and Luke told Jeremiah about the sheriff.
“We never sat down and talked about Alma after she died. When you came back to town, I figured you needed to be left alone for a while, then you kilt that sorry ass judge and were gone again. We never got to talk.”
“I guess I never thanked you for tracking down those brothers. They’re all dead now and I’m with Lilly. She killed the last one herself and saved my life. I never met a woman like her.”
“Sheriff Hunter was after Alma from the first day she came to town, Jeremiah. I don’t know what you did to him, but Hunter has hated you since we were kids. He went around town braggin’ about how he and Alma were gonna get together. It was all lies. She was a good woman and never did none of the things he said. I told him once that if he didn’t let you alone, I’d see to it that he was never elected sheriff again. When I heard him talkin’ about Alma, I told him I was going to kick his sorry ass out of town if he didn’t shut up. I guess now, lookin’ back, I shoulda shot the stupid bastard. We were comin’ to tell you he’s sendin’ hired guns after you.”
“I’ve already taken care of two of them,” said Jeremiah. “Well, me and Lilly.” He smiled. “Lilly turned out to be a fine woman, Luke. If I live through all this, I’m going back and marrying her. She killed her own brother to save my life.” Jeremiah looked down at the fire.
“Hunter will probably wait a while and then he’ll send others. He’ll keep doin’ it until one of you is dead.”
“How can he afford to keep sending them? The two men I shot told me he was giving fifty dollars to whichever one killed me.”
“Yeah, he’ll pay fifty dollars to the one who kills you, but that’s after he kills you and brings your ears back to the sheriff. He makes the same offer to every drunk he arrests in Coffeyville.”
“When he helped me escape, I thought he was a friend.”
“He couldn’t let you hang or kill you hisself and still keep his job. He had to figure out a way to kill you where nobody would know it was him.”
“You remember when we were kids and there was this little girl named Rosie O’Mally?” Luke smiled and nodded. “Well, Hunter had a thing for her.”
“Yeah, but she had a thing for about every boy in town.”
“Hunter thought he was the only one she was screwing and one day he caught me and her in her daddy’s hayloft. That’s why he hates me. He’s hated me ever since, I suppose.” Jeremiah laughed. “There wasn’t no way Rosie was going to settle for just one fella.”
“How could anyone hold a grudge for so long over such a little thing?”
“Her thing wasn’t all that little as I recall,” laughed Jeremiah. “It was like opening the barn door and sticking your dick inside.”
“We were all just kids then, havin’ a good time. Rosie lives down in Texas now and I understand she has a big family. You never know how things are gonna turn out.”
“Hunter never married, did he? He never had much luck with women.”
“Maybe he’s turned the other way.”
Jeremiah laughed. “I probably took away the only girl he ever made it with.”
“Well, he tried to get back at you with Alma and that didn’t work, so he sent those Jones boys out to your place. Now, he’s afraid you’ll find out and kill him.”
“He’s got that right. I’m gonna kill him as soon as I get back to Coffeyville.” Jeremiah picked up a stick and threw it on the fire. “It is funny how things work out. I took away his girl, then I lost Alma because of him and, in a way, I found Lilly because of him. I think that’s strange, don’t you?”
Luke stood and threw what little coffee he had left into the fire. “We better get those saddles off the horses,” he said to Zeb. “We’ll be ridin’ back with you, Jeremiah, if that’s okay with you.”
“That’d be fine with me. If you ain’t afraid of getting shot.” He laid his head back on his saddle. “We’d better get some sleep now. We still have a long way to go. You didn’t see no one else when you were riding in did you? I keep feeling like I’m being followed.”
“Nope, we didn’t see no one at all. You were probably just feelin’ us comin’.”
Chapter 7
“They crossed the border into Missouri and went to the closest bar which was in a little town called Neosho. “I haven’t had anything stronger than coffee for three weeks,” said Luke. Jeremiah and Zeb took a table in the corner. Jeremiah always sat with his back against a wall which was standard for a gunfighter. Luke went to the bar and ordered a bottle of whiskey and three glasses.
The cowboy was tall and dirty. He looked like he had just come in off a cattle drive. He reminded Jeremiah of the cowboy who killed his father. He’s young and inexperienced, Jeremiah thought. It was the way he strapped his gun down to his leg and the way he approached the table.
“Never come head on,” Zeb heard Jeremiah whisper. “I knew I was being followed.”
Jeremiah leaned back in his chair with both hands in his coat pockets.
The cowboy walked up to the table. “You’re Jeremiah Tucker, ain’t you?”
“Move away,” Jeremiah whispered to Zeb.
“Look, young fella,” said Jeremiah. “I just came in here to have a drink. Why don’t you sit down and have a drink with me and maybe smoke a cigar? I don’t want to kill nobody today.”
“The Coffeyville sheriff sent me to bring you back.” The cowboy turned his head slightly as Zeb moved away, but didn’t take his eyes off Jeremiah. “You all know who this is, don’t you?” he said to the men in the bar. “This is Jeremiah Tucker, a wanted gunfighter, murderer, thief and defiler of young women. I aim to take him back to Coffeyville to stand trial for all his wrong doings.”
“You were sent here to kill me by Sheriff Hunter. Isn’t that what you mean to say? He offered you fifty dollars to kill me and bring my ears back to him.” Zeb moved farther away from the table and over to the side of the cowboy. Luke put the bottle and glasses on the bar and moved in closer, but not behind the cowboy. He dropped his hand down to his pistol. He was waiting for the cowboy to make a move so Jeremiah could shoot him and they could have that drink.
Jeremiah could see the young cowboy was getting nervous. He was watching Zeb more than he was watching Jeremiah. Jeremiah had both of his guns cocked and ready. They were under the table and were aimed at the cowboy’s gut. Zeb was more inexperienced than the cowboy, otherwise he would’ve just moved to another table and sat and waited. He was being very cautious as he moved across the floor, like he thought the cowboy couldn’t see him. Everybody in
the bar was dead still, waiting, when Zeb’s boot heel hit a crack in the floor and he stumbled. The cowboy drew and fired at Zeb thinking he was pulling on him and Jeremiah fired on the cowboy. Everybody in the bar stood dead still waiting to make sure it was over.
“It was a fair fight, Mr. Tucker,” said the bartender after the smoke cleared. “I seen him draw and fire first.”
Luke ran over to Zeb and pulled him up, sitting him in a chair. “Am I going to die, Pa?” Luke looked him over.
“Not unless your heart’s in your ass,” said Luke, laughing. He was scared Zeb had been killed.
Jeremiah walked over to the cowboy, who was still alive, and kicked his gun away. “You never come at a gunfighter head on, young fella, and never tell him what you plan on doing to him. You just do it. I made you the minute you walked in the bar. I had my guns on you as soon as you walked through the door.” The cowboy tried to speak, but couldn’t. He spit up some more blood and then died. “He got in too big a hurry,” said Jeremiah. “You gotta keep your wits about you.”
The bartender picked up the bottle and the glasses and brought them over to their table. “This bottle’s on the house.”
“I really don’t feel like no drink now. I meant it when I said I didn’t want to kill nobody today.”
The bartender told them where the doctor lived and they took Zeb to the his house. Luke slipped the bottle of whisky in his coat pocket.
“He’s not going to be able to sit in a saddle for a few days,” said the doctor. “You’re lucky the man who shot you was inexperienced. Only a couple of feet higher and he would of killed you.”
“He was scared,” said Jeremiah. “I doubt he ever killed anyone before. I didn’t want to kill him, but when he shot Zeb, I had no choice.” Jeremiah thanked Luke and Zeb for coming to warn him about the sheriff.
“If you’ll wait a day or two until Zeb can ride I’ll go with you,” said Luke, “or I can just leave Zeb here and come back for him with a wagon.”
“No need in that, Luke. I need to handle this myself. You need to stay here with Zeb. He’s gonna need some looking after. I’ll stop by and tell your wife when I get to Coffeyville.
“You may have to learn to ride standing up in the saddle,” he said to Zeb.
Chapter 8
It was almost sundown when Jeremiah arrived in Coffeyville. He stopped off at Luke’s place and told his wife what had happened. “They’ll be along shortly. It’ll just take a few days before Zeb can ride sitting down, but don’t you worry none. He’s gonna be just fine. He’s just gonna be a little sore for a while.”
He decided to go out to the ranch and get some rest before he hunted down the sheriff. He hadn’t been gone that long and felt sure no one had bought the place, but when he got to the ranch, there were horses tied outside the house. He saw a light in the barn. He tied off his horse and walked toward the barn. He wasn’t trying to sneak up on anybody; he still felt like he owned the place,and wanted to see what was going on.
“You Jeremiah Tucker?” he heard a voice say. He turned to the back of the house where a man was standing.
“That’s right. I’m Jeremiah Tucker. Who’s asking?” The man didn’t answer, but went for his gun. Jeremiah had his hands in his pockets and both guns cocked. He fired before the man could clear his holster. He walked over to get a closer look at his assailant when a rope dropped around him and was pulled tight holding his arms to his sides. He tried to fire, but was suddenly jerked off his feet when the man on the other end of the rope whipped his horse. He drug Jeremiah around the barn over the rocks and cactus until he was covered with blood and too shaken to stand and fight. He dragged him into the barn and, after taking his guns, tied his hands together and threw the rope over a rafter. He tied the rope to his saddle and lifted Jeremiah up until his feet were off the ground. Jeremiah turned his head from side to side. He blinked his blood-soaked eyes several times trying to see who the man was.
“You didn’t think I was gonna let you live, did you, Jeremiah?” He recognized the voice - it was Sheriff Hunter. “You killed every man I sent after you, but you can't outsmart me. You should’ve let one of them kill you. Now I’m going to beat you to death.” He walked over to his horse and took a bullwhip from his saddle.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I bought your ranch. I got it for almost nothing. There’s been talk about gas and oil being found in Montgomery County and since this ranch covers a good part of it, I figure my chances of getting rich are pretty good.” Hunter laughed. “That’s the only reason the judge wanted it. One of the first things I did was dig up your parents and that whore you were married to. I drug what was left of them out onto the prairie and dumped them.”
“You’re a goddamned coward and a liar.” He could hardly breathe. He was choking under his own weight.
Sheriff Hunter laughed. “You think that little school teacher was true to you? She was fucking everyone in Coffeyville before you came home. She even wanted to marry me, but I could never marry a whore like her.” Jeremiah jerked at the ropes, but he was too weak to pull loose.
The sheriff backed away and cracked the whip a few times. “It’s been a long time since I beat a man to death. I’m kinda looking forward to it. You can scream as loud as you want. No one will hear you out here. When I’m through with you, I’ll drag your dead ass out on the prairie and dump you off with your little whore.” He tore Jeremiah’s coat and shirt off. “I’m gonna start with your ears and work my way down.”
Jeremiah waited for the first lash of the whip. He could hear it cracking closer to his head each time the sheriff swung it. Then it stopped.
“What’re you doing here?” Jeremiah heard him say. Then there was a blast from a shotgun and then another.
He couldn’t see, but he could feel the rope moving as someone cut through it with a knife, then lowered him down to the barn floor gently. He felt someone lift his head and hold it in their lap. “I’m here, Jeremiah. You’re gonna be all right now.”
“Lilly?” he said.
She took her dress and wiped the blood away from his eyes. “I couldn’t let you come here without me. You’re my man. We belong together.” She went to the house and got some clean cloth and water. She washed his face and wrapped his wounds the best she could. “You’re beat up a bit and bruised. You got a few cuts on you, but nothing’s broken.” She spent the night in the barn laying beside him keeping him warm and, when morning came, she hitched up her horse to the sheriff’s buggy and helped Jeremiah into the seat.
She took the lantern into the barn and drug a bale of hay over to the sheriff’s body. “You ain’t much with a whip,” she said. “Let’s see how well you burn.” She lit the bale, then she went to the house and threw the lantern inside. “There ain’t nothin’ here worth keeping.” They rode out onto the prairie and watched as the house and barn burned to the ground.
“How’d you get here?” asked Jeremiah.
“I know how to ride a horse. I followed you. I stayed close enough to you so you could hear me if I got in trouble.”
“You saved my life again. You’re like the angel my mother used to read about in the Bible, the angel of death. You follow me around and kill folks who’re trying to do me in. I’m gonna have to marry you and keep you around just to stay alive.”
Lilly leaned over and kissed him. “You never knew I was back there, did you?”
“I told Luke I thought someone was following me.”
“You were so intent on getting here, you never realized I was following you. I had to scare off a bear the first night out.”
“I heard some shots. Was that you?”
Chapter 9
Back in the courtroom, Lilly came in and sat down beside Jeremiah. “It’s almost time, Jeremiah.” He stood up.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “I want you to meet my Lilly. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t be here today. She’s saved my life so many times. Remember this place, honey? It hasn’t changed much in the last thirty years
.”
“We saved each other,” she said. She stood and held Jeremiah’s arm. The reporters applauded her.
“I want to thank you all for coming,” she said. “It’s not everyday a mother gets to see her son sworn in as district judge.”
A man sat on his horse outside the courtroom listening.
“Do you still cut out the bottoms of your pockets and carry those guns under your coat?” asked a reporter.
Jeremiah raised his coat with his left hand and showed him the two .44s. He had one in his right hand. “I’m getting old,” said Jeremiah, “but I ain’t stupid.”
“Is it true that your son’s first ruling as a judge will be to grant amnesty to his own father?”
Lilly pulled at Jeremiah’s arm. “I think it’s about to begin.”
Jeremiah laughed. “Ain’t that something? A gunfighter’s son growing up to be a judge and sworn in at the very same courtroom where I was sentenced to hang. I guess my gunfighting days are finally over. My son’ll be looking out for me from now on.”
“Don’t count on it,” he heard someone say.
“Stay here, Lilly,” he said. He put his hands in his coat pockets, stepped outside and looked around. There was no one there.
The look on his face changed from that of a happy father to that of a vicious gunfighter.
“You print this in your papers,” he said as he stepped back in the room. I ain’t killed no one in thirty years, but if this town lets anything happen to my son, I’m coming back. I’ll come at night so’s no one will see me and, like the angel of death my mother used to read about, I’ll kill every mother's son of you.”
Lilly took his arm.
“And I’ll be coming with him.”
EBooks by James Butler available through Amazon:
A Change Of Heart
A Rose For Amy
Along Came A Gunfighter
Amy’s Revenge
El Diablo