Chapter 26: Lesson Learned

Fred threw up his hands. "We don't have time for your little games, Lan! I hate his guts but that don't mean I want to risk my life to play around. Do what you like, I'm getting outta here."

"Suit yourself," Lan pleasantly agreed.

Fred looked at the other man suspiciously. "How do I know you won't kill me soon as I turn my back, like you did them other fellers?"

"Freddie, they didn't turn their backs on me. 'Sides, what good would it do me to kill you?"

Fred considered this, then made his decision. "Fine, but put your gun away. It'll ease my mind." He turned toward Jess. "Guess this is goodbye, Harper. I sure woulda liked to have finished you myself, but I reckon it makes me feel better when I think that what Lan'll do to you'll be way worse than anything I could dream up. No hard feelings?" he smirked devilishly, as though it was all so funny.

Jess just rolled his eyes, not bothering to humor the cowardly man. Jess doubted Fred could kill anyone who was looking at him.

Fred scowled a moment before shrugging. "Be seeing you, Lan."

"Sure, Freddie," Lan returned amicably, but Jess could read in the madman's eyes that things were not going to be so simple. Jess bounced on the balls of his feet, wondering what would happen next.

Lansing seemed excited at Fred's apparent departure, and started running the rope through his hand. Jess swallowed uneasily.

"On second thought," Fred commented after watching the silent interaction between the other two men, "I think I might just take the time to see what you're gonna do to young Harper here, maybe even help ya out some."

Lan seemed perturbed to notice that Fred was still with them. "I said you can get, so go on and get."

Fred straightened, his hand tightening on his gun. "I don't have to listen to you, Lan. You're just some crazy man I picked up to help me do a job - and it seems to me that you did a terrible one at that!"

Jess could see that both outlaws were becoming agitated - Fred from being told what to do, and Lansing from being called crazy. Jess resisted the urge to glance behind himself toward his gun. Despite the apparent distraction in which the two arguing men were involved, Lansing was still a calculating killer. Fred wasn't too stable himself at this time.

Jess decided that the best thing he could do at this time would be to keep the attention off himself...until this plan was ruined by something he couldn't control. A tickle wiggled its way up his throat, giving him the unmistakable message: he needed to cough. He held his breath, but this just made it worse. He let a small "ahem" escape, but this was like opening the dam.

Jess bent double, hacking up what felt like part of a lung. Across the stable, the two armed men stopped their squabbling to take in the struggling and ill man.

Fred waved his arms. "Oh come on, Harper!" He stomped over to where Jess stood hunched over. "You really think we're gonna fall for that little trick again?"

Jess wheezed a moment. He had one arm around his ribs and other braced against the ground, and peered up at Fred's face through one eye. "I hoped you would, and you obliged."

"What-"

Jess grabbed a fistful of fine dust and flung it into Fred's face, then followed through with one of the most vicious uppercuts he'd ever delivered. Almost immediately his fist swelled and blood gushed through the split skin on his knuckles.

Fred's head flew back, his arms spread away from his sides as he stumbled backward before falling onhis back. Jess didn't stop to survey the damage but charged across the small space toward where he had left his gun. Unfortunately, it had slid off the hay bale when he had dropped it, and he could not see it in the loose straw. He reached out a hand to search when he barely heard a whirring noise before a small thunk finished the first sound. In disbelief, Jess observed Lan's knife quivering from where it protruded from the wall, its blade sunk deeply into the board. The blade had managed to just catch Jess' jacket sleeve along with a pinch of skin, capturing Jess' right arm. Jess frantically grabbed at the wooden handle, but he didn't have enough time when the end of a rope snapped against the back of his other hand like a bullwhip.

Gritting his teeth, he glared up at Lansing, who was recoiling the length of cord. "Nice try, sonny," the madman complemented. "You sure do never give up, do you?"

Fred rolled, groaning. Lansing turned and spit at the downed man. "Idjit," he snarled, then turned back toward Jess. "No, no," he scolded as Jess continued to wiggled the handle up and down. "Don't be in a hurry, pretty boy." In a rapid and deft move, Lansing kicked Jess' feet and knocked the Texan from his crouch. Jess fell heavily to his seat, sucking in air when the abrupt movement pulled on the skin trapped with his sleeve. He sat against the wall, panting fast with his knees drawn up against himself protectively.

Lansing braced himself on Jess' knee and lowered himself down to Jess' level. "Hm, you sure are lookin' better than you was out on the trail." Before Jess could avoid the man's hand, Lansing had his jaw firmly grasped in a huge hand. "Yep, them bruises are fadin' to green and yeller. They was real pretty before, all purple and blue."

Jess dug his fingernails into the man's hand, a weak defense to be sure, but it was all he could manage. The man's terrible breath washed over Jess' face, bringing back memories he was sure he could live without. "Just get on with whatever you're plannin', Lansing. I'm gettin' bored here," he bluffed. Inwardly, he could hardly contain the shudders that fought to be released.

"Now, little feller, why you wanna rush things? Don't you wanna talk or nothin'?"

Jess was pulling against the hand clamped on his face, so when the larger man abruptly let go, Jess' head thumped back against the wooden planks behind him.

"Aw," Lansing commented, showing concern. "You bump yer head there, sonny? You gotta be more careful."

The hit on the head was nothing serious, as it had not been a hard strike. Jess still felt confusion about Lansing's odd behavior, but wondered why he bothering thinking about anything the crazy man did. However, he was not prepared when Lansing grasped him by his hair and pulled his head forward, bending Jess' spine to the point of discomfort.

"Don't see no lumps or nothin'. You must be okay."

He released his hold on Jess, who slowly straightened back up, his free hand to his scalp. "Why do you care?" he asked in a careful tone. "I thought you wanted to kill me."

Lansing smiled in a friendly way, and Jess felt his stomach knot. "Why, sonny, what gave you that idea?"

Jess' mouth fell open in shock. "What...why...you…," he stammered.

Lansing rubbed Jess' knee in a comforting way, gripping it firmly when Jess tried to pull it away. "It's never been the plan to kill ya, kid. I just wanted ya to learn a real good lesson and become a better man."

Jess felt as though he were having an out of body experience. "And have I learned?" a voice asked that seemed separate from himself.

Lansing's hands were twisting and flipping the end of the rope. He stood slowly, holding the end and swinging the little noose he had made. He shook his head sadly. "You gotta stubborn streak a mile wide, sonny. You tried to tell them people at the trial that I was some kind 'a crazy man. You know that ain't true, don't ya boy?"

Jess could only stare up at the man, unsure of what to say. He didn't want to set off the man if possible.

"I said, don't you know that ain't true? I ain't crazy, right?"

Jess' heart leapt into his throat when Lansing dove toward him on the floor. Jess' knees tightened against his chest, hoping to spare himself from the impact. However, Lansing was not looking to crush Jess. Instead, the small noose the madman had formed was being cinched tight around Jess' free wrist. Jess frantically tried to bring his left hand to his mouth to try to work the noose free, but Lansing was ready for this. He was pulling the rope tight by tossing the free end over a beam above their heads and tying it off. Jess' arms were now stretched out away from his body, one being held by the rope and the other pinned by the knife.

Chest heaving, he tested both arms, but the knife cut cruelly and the rope was snug. Finally he managed to look up at Lansing, who had resumed his stance a few paces in front of the captured man. He just stood there smiling, a friendly face to those who didn't know any better. "You think I'm crazy, huh, Jess-boy?"

It was the first time Jess recalled Lansing using his actual name. He shook his head, afraid to answer.

Lansing beamed even more. "Aw, thatta boy! Too polite to answer! Maybe ya did learn ya somethin' after all." Lansing pulled out his pistol and licked the barrel in a long stroke. "I just love me the taste of cold metal. Just somethin' so sweet 'bout a thing that can end the life of a creature."

Jess closed his mouth when he realized it was dry from hanging open. Lansing smirked at this before spinning the revolving cylinders, listening to the clicks close to his ear. "Yer prob'ly wonderin' if I plan to end your life, little creature?" He knelt beside Jess again. "I've thought on it, for certain." He stroked the barrel against Jess' cheek, who felt the moisture of the other man's saliva soaking into his skin. He jerked his face away with unconcealed revulsion. "Ha-ha," Lansing breathed. "Does curdle yer blood, don't it? Havin' a crazy man so close to ya, huh?" He blew air into Jess' ear, manically giggling when Jess jumped. The criminal pressed his free hand into Jess' face, forcing him to turn his gaze toward Lansing. He pressed the end of his pistol into Jess' temple. "How's it feel now, sonny? To have death one click away?"

Jess stared into the eyes of death, seeing nothing but madness swirling like a mirky pondy to dirty to see the bottom. "It's a relief," he finally sighed.

Lansing's face screwed in confusion. "How's that?"

"Death. An end to the sufferin' you've caused me. I'd welcome it with open arms."

"Ya would? Why would ya say that? Don't be sayin' stuff like that! You're supposed to be scared of me!"

This was a new development. Was the man actually...pouting?

The pistol barrel shook against Jess' head, the metal grinding deeper into the tender skin there. "Ain't ya just a little scared? That's what respectin' is, bein' scared of somebody."

"No, it's not, Lan," Jess argued. "Respect is lookin' up to somebody who deserves bein' looked up to. They do you a good turn without expecting' nothin' back. That's when you respect somebody. Not when they hit ya and beat ya and tie you to the wall."

Lansing's teeth ground audibly, and before Jess could brace himself, the man struck Jess across the cheek with the pistol butt. The blow wasn't as hard as it could have been, but just the same Jess could feel the skin begin to swell across his cheekbone. He blinked several times to clear his vision, seeing through the stars that flickered across his view the other man stumbling to his feet, one hand to his head and the other waving the gun around. He moaned like a wounded dog and pressed the heel of his hand against one eye. He pointed the gun point-blank at Jess. "I teached you respect, and don't you try an' tell me somethin' else. That's what my daddy teached me, respect."

Jess stared back, stillness in his heart. "You did nothin' but show me how to be scared of somebody. But I ain't scared any more, Lan. Not any more."

"Nnnnnoooooo!" the man shrieked loudly enough to raise the dead. He stalked around the barn, kicking objects. The horses stirred nervously and one pawed the wall, its hard hoof sounding like a wardrum.

Jess watched for a few seconds before his senses returned to him. My gun! He looked around frantically for his dropped pistol. In the earlier struggle, loose straw had been tossed about, but in the flickering lantern light he could just make out a metallic gleam. He yanked at his tethered arm, but it did no good.

Meanwhile, Lansing had turned his attention to Fred. "You respect me, don't ya Freddie?"

Fred, while barely coherent, still had the good sense to nod his head in agreement.

Jess took in this interaction out of the corner of his eye, desperately trying to think of a way to free at least one hand. The hand tied with rope was out of the question, which meant…

Lansing whirled, facing Jess. "He respects me!" he triumphantly shouted with a childlike pride.

Jess was not focusing on his enemy at this point. He clenched his jaw and prepared himself.

"Sonny?" Lansing demanded attention. "You listen to me, boy!"

"NO!" Jess shouted through clenched teeth, then yanked his arm down with what resembled a Comanche war cry. Fabric and skin alike ripped on the razor-sharp blade, and the pain was almost unbearable. Blood soaked into the tan material instantly and ran down his arm to creep into the bandage around his wrist.

"Boy, what're you doin'?" Lansing asked, his face red with anger.

"Gettin' clear of you," Jess growled, reaching as hard as he could for the half-covered pistol.

XXXXX

Oh, I am so mean. Cliffhanger! Sorry friends!

Truth be told, I have been trying to upload this chapter for a couple days but the formatting kept trying to mess with me. I'm at my parents' visiting and I didn't bring my laptop, just my tablet and phone, so maybe that's why - it doesn't like mobile devices? I'm "borrowing" their computer (while they aren't home) so I can get this up to you. I do have the rest of the story laid out, just need to hammer out the dents and polish the scratches. ;)