Chapter Four

"No shock, that." Mr. Frazer smirks and shakes his head. "I've known thousands of men in my time, and a good many of 'em were flat-out hellions. But I've never seen anyone in my life who could brawl like Harper. He's known to start more than a few of 'em himself, and finish the ones he doesn't start."

"It was a dust-up of sorts, not really a brawl, though, sir."

"Oh, yes. I guess it wouldn't be. Right, Slim? Not when Harper had a gun."

I nod my agreement, again not real sure how Mr. Frazer is taking all this. I draw a deep breath and go on with the tale…

Jess sprang up from the table, throwing his hot coffee in Buck's face and pulling his sidearm at the same time. His cup crashed on the floor as he'd let it go, so he could use that hand to shove the stunned and hollering man toward me.

"Hold him, Slim!"

I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but Jess is my pard and I trust him—well, usually and for the most part. So I reflexively grabbed Buck, pinning his arms to his sides, thankful that he wasn't a real big guy, so even his violent struggling presented no problem for me. I held him securely, afraid if I didn't, he was gonna try to throttle my best friend six ways to Sunday. And though I would have agreed with Mr. Carson that it was well deserved, I held the man back anyway, all the while wondering what in the heck had gotten into Jess.

He wasn't pointing his Colt at Buck. As soon as he'd pushed Carson toward me, Jess wheeled around and aimed toward the other small room on the opposite side of the house from the one where Holly was.

"Come out now, Red. Hands high, or I'll come over there and drop ya!" Jess yelled. "And your pal Buck here along with ya!"

A red-haired man a little older than Jess and me, hands raised and a .45 dangling loose in his right, slowly stepped out from the small room and joined us in the larger one. Jess ordered him to toss the sixgun. The guy looked scared as all get out. Like he really expected Jess to pull that trigger at any second. So he immediately let the gun slip from his hand.

"Keep 'em high," Jess growled. "Slim, you got Buck's?"

I'd had both arms wrapped around Buck's middle, holding his arms immobile against his sides. So, while keeping a strangle hold around his neck with one arm, I quickly removed Buck's iron from his holster with my other.

"Jess, what in tarnation…?" I stared at him, trying to decide who I was madder at—him or the guy with the red hair who apparently had drawn Jess's attention and anger. And how did Mr. Carson figure into this picture?

Then Holly, holding her little toy doll cradle, came running from the bedroom and into her mother's arms as Belle bent to hug her. Then the woman looked up at Jess with teary eyes.

I hoped she wasn't too terrified of him. I knew, of course, that he wouldn't hurt her. But how could she know that? With him standing there holding a gun. And after the way he'd shoved her husband around, making sure I held him secure and disarmed him. And then there was this red-haired dude, whoever he was. I was completely confounded. Belle had to be scared half to death. Of me and especially of Jess, who she surely must have thought was a wild and dangerous man.

With his gun never wavering from its steady bead on the man he called Red, Jess looked kindly at Belle.

Very quietly, he asked her, "It's just the two of 'em, ain't it, ma'am?"

"Yes," Belle gasped, "Yes. Thank you!"

Well, that confused me more than ever. Belle was obviously not at all worried about Jess. In fact, there seemed to be some kind of understanding between the two of them that left me out in the cold. But I didn't know how that could have happened. When could they have discussed anything? The three of us had always been together there in the main room. I knew they hadn't had any time at all when they could have done so much as whisper to each other.

Jess had the red-haired man where he could see him well enough from the corner of his eye, but he was currently watching Belle with an intensity that was somehow comforting and worried at the same time.

"They didn't hurt ya none… yet… did they?" he rasped in that low, gentle tone that was familiar to me as the one he uses to soothe his horse when Traveller is ailing or spooked.

He kept his voice controlled and even, but I recognized the just-below-the-surface fury reined back in that gravelly Texan drawl. Jess's eyes were narrowed, though soft with concern turned toward Belle. But his fingers clenched and flexed on the grip of his Colt pointed at Red. If the woman's answer turned out to be other than what Jess was hoping for, I worried about what his next move would be. I figured Red would bear the brunt of it. I still couldn't guess, though, what grievous sin that man had committed to stir up the righteous wrath of Jess Harper and bring it burning down on his head. And why Belle didn't seem the least bit concerned about what Jess had done to Mr. Carson─and had me do to him─was just as puzzling.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood up, holding the child against her leg and looking like she might faint with relief. "No. We're okay."

Jess released the breath he'd been holding. He gave a quick nod to Belle and flicked a brief smile to Holly. Then those eyes of his turned midnight blue again and drilled into the man he was holding a gun on. He shoved the guy over to the side of the room. "On your knees, Red. Face the wall. Hands behind your head." He waved his iron at Buck and then toward a space beside the red-haired man. "You too, Sage."

Wondering why Jess called him that, I released my hold on the man I had thought was named Buck Carson. He glowered at Jess, but still obeyed the command. I still had his gun, but also drew my own pistol and trained it on the subdued men. I was beginning to catch on to what had been happening. Jess locked eyes with me for a second to be sure I had things under control while he moved toward Belle.

He patted her shoulder. "They already get any of your money or belongin's?"

"Yes." She gestured at Red. "He took all the money we had in the house, and my wedding ring and a brooch, and put them in his saddlebag."

Though Belle had given no indication of where the bag was, Jess walked straight over to the far corner. There, lying in a heap, partially covered by a jacket, was a saddlebag. He'd obviously known it was there. I hadn't noticed it, seeing no reason to have swept my vision around the room of a common family home. Jess would have done that though. Every place he enters he secretly and thoroughly surveys the minute he walks in, a habit from his gunfighter days on the drift.

He handed the bag to her so she could retrieve the family's valuables. "Where's your husband, Belle?"

"Over the rise. He's moving a few yearlings to a different pasture. He should be back soon for a meal. The next stage is due in an hour."

I know I was frowning when my eyes briefly met Jess's again. How had he known Buck wasn't her husband?

"We'll stay with ya till he gits here. Then we'll take these varmints to the law, and you can swear out the complaint against 'em. I'll be a witness when it comes to trial. Slim too." Jess looked at me, his left eyebrow hiking up.

"Count on it." I nodded to Belle.

So, it wasn't the rage of a jealous husband that Buck had displayed. He'd wanted him and his partner to be able to get on with their outlawing there at the Carson house—and I don't even want to think about what the intended total of that may have been—then make good their escape without having to put up a fight against two unexpected visitors. Jess and me. And he became more and more frustrated and finally downright enraged with my stubborn partner, who simply would not leave.

I laughed a bit to myself about that, as we got the two sidewinders tied up and moved into the small room, out of sight, for little Holly's sake.