The Land Deal 2
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"She did WHAT!?" Joseph Kerns' voice could be heard not only in every room of his house but clear across his well-manicured lawn and out into the barn as well.
Several of the men working for the enraged rancher, swiftly finished saddling their horses and rode out to carry out what ever tasks they could think of, which would take them far from the ranch proper and the man who owned it.
"What the hell does a saloon woman know about running a place like that?" He turned his merciless glare on his foreman, who had been the unfortunate one, chosen to deliver the unhappy news when Mr. Bodkin saw him in town getting supplies.
"I… I don't know, sir." He took a step back. "All I know is; Mr. Bodkin said she'd already signed the papers and paid for it. He thought it'd be better that I tell you, afore you rode all the way into town. He didn't want you to make that ride for nothing."
"Oh, he did, did he?" Joseph Kerns turned his softly graying head towards the window, scowling as he looked out upon everything he had managed to acquire in his 46 years on earth. He had a large successful 500 acre ranch, a devoted and faithful wife, who doted on his every whim and fifteen men, working for him, who would do anything he commanded them to. He also had, if not respect, at least the fear of many people in town as well as the county and state and enough money to buy anyone or anything he wanted.
Anything, that is, except the now former Shipp ranch and anyone except the Dodge City Marshal, Matt Dillon and the beautiful, red-headed Kitty Russell, that owned and ran the Long Branch saloon.
Dillon had refused to take any sort of gratuity from the brown-eyed rancher in exchange for certain legal considerations and steadfastly warned Kerns that any attempt of his, to circumvent the law in any way, would be met with resistance and possibly jail.
Kerns hadn't been too worried about that, believing his contacts in government, both local and statewide, would break down any barriers Dillon might erect. But he had soon found out differently the first time he had tried to force a small farmer on the southern edge of his ranch to sell him his property for a small token sum. The farmer had refused and Dillon had stepped in to back the man, making it clear, his tactics would not be allowed.
Kerns, believing himself to be above the law, refused to listen and instructed several of his men to convince Dow Jefferson to sell his property or else. The resultant feud cost Kerns quite a bit in money as well as the life of his only son who had just turned 20 at the time. That was 4 years earlier and Kerns still grieved for his boy, Paul. And each day that passed, he hated Dillon just a little more.
His feelings towards the stunning saloon owner were somewhat different, though no less intense. From the moment he had first set eyes on her, he had wanted her. She was everything his wife was not, beautiful, strong, smart, with a fiery temper and a will of iron. He was determined to have her. Not merely as his mistress but as his possession. A woman he could own both physically and emotionally. Much like he owned his wife.
But Kitty Russell hadn't been willing to go along with his plans. She had steadfastly refused any overtures from the man who many considered to be handsome and charming and instead pointed out that he was married. Besides, she told him, she was not interested, in the least little bit, in anything he had to offer. She did not like the man and she didn't hide the fact from him or anyone else.
Her refusal to heed his advances had not only angered Joseph Kerns, who was used to getting whatever he wanted, but it had also embarrassed him. He had made the mistake of bragging, to his few contemporaries, that he would have the woman who had set many a male heart to flutter. Joseph Kerns had no doubt that the men he did business with, were secretly laughing at him behind his back at the knowledge that a saloon woman wouldn't have him.
And now that very same saloon woman had gone behind his back and practically stolen the only other thing he had really wanted, besides herself. The fact was infuriating and intolerable. Somehow, Joseph H. Kerns vowed to himself, he was going to get that piece of land and the woman who owned it as well.
Even if he had to kill her.
TBC