HELL HATH NO FURY (A Jess Williams western novel) by Robert J. Thomas Page B

in a gunfight and killed. “No, the thought never even occurred to me when it happened. I just waited until he went for his gun and killed him and never gave it another thought. He deserved it and it led to a war with his father after that.”
                  “Did you kill his father too?” asked Annie.
                  “Yes, right in the middle of the street. He was still sitting on his horse when I just opened fire and shot him and two of his men before he even reached for his gun.”
                  “You just shot him without even letting him have a chance to draw on you?” asked Annie, somewhat confused.
                  “Well, yeah, but it was because he had a half dozen hired guns with him at the time, so I couldn’t let him have a fair chance of it,” replied Jess, trying to defend his honor.
                  “What happened to the other men?”
                  “Well, the townsfolk helped me out and we ended up killing Dick Carter and his six hired guns right there in the middle of the main street in Black Creek. One man tried to escape by riding out of town, but I plugged his sorry ass with a Winchester before he could get out of town and that was the end of that problem,” replied Jess.
                  “You mean you shot the man in the back?”
                  “Well, I couldn’t exactly ask him to turn around so I could shoot him in the front,” retorted Jess. “It was something that had to be done and I did it.”
                  “I don’t think I could ever shoot someone in the back,” replied Annie.
                  Jess laughed. “Hell, you can’t even shoot one in the front when he’s standing right there in front of you.”
                  “Don’t you get smart with me,” retorted Annie, embarrassed by what had happened.
                  “I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t pass that one up,” replied Jess, still laughing. Now Annie was laughing a little too.
                  “Jess, how many men have you killed so far?”
                  “Hell, I gave up counting a long time ago, but I’ve dispatched more than my share of men to the hereafter or wherever the hell they go. I have to say though, they were all very bad men and every one of them surely deserved to die.”
                  “I guess somehow that makes it right. Someone has to do it and it seems like you’ve taken up the task of killing men with the likes of Darrel Clemmon and Cliff Hunt,” replied Annie.
                  They finished up with the pot of coffee and retired for the night, but not before Jess went through his routine with the cans around his camp.
                  They arrived in Black Creek, a little after the noon hour. They rode up to the livery and Tony, the owner of the livery, walked out to see who it was and a big smile formed on his face when he saw that it was Jess.
                  “I didn’t expect you back so soon and it looks like you found some company and a mighty pretty one if I don’t say so myself,” said Tony, smiling up at Annie. “What might your name be, ma’am?”
                  “My name is Annie McCracken and I’m not a ma’am. I’m a lady and Jess here is helping me hunt down a man who raped me and my mother and killed my father.”
                  “Well, if anyone can help you do that, you’re riding with him,” replied Tony, looking at the two lifeless corpses strapped to their respective horses. “I see you’ve been busy again, like always Jess,” said Tony.
                  “Yeah, I got a little sidetracked over in Buford when I found these two riding into town,” replied Jess. “I’m going to turn them over to Sheriff Fowler for the bounty money.”
                  “I saw him walk into