Chapter 10

Jess' hands pushed against a covering, the same as how he was trying to peel back the layer of darkness that shrouded his eyes. The groan that went through his lips, his return to pain, was the final act that put oblivion behind him. But his hands kept working at the blankets, for even as Jess was awakening, he was trying to get out of bed.

His leg, and the woman in the room, had other ideas.

"I'd rather you lie still."

Jess' entire body flinched, his face the worst pinch. "Mrs. Martin."

"Now as I said." Cheryl tugged the quilt that Jess had tried to vacate from back up to his neck. "Lie still."

His body, yes, but Jess' eyes couldn't comply. In one movement Jess had absorbed the entire bedroom, the worry starting to pinch his brows together that he was there alone. "Where's...?"

"You're looking for your partner?"

He nodded.

"He's got a headache, but he's all right. Like you, he insisted on getting up, but unlike you, I let him."

Jess lifted the quilt to look down at his leg. The bandage covered his entire knee and then some. "How bad is it?"

"It'll mend. No infection, although you're not out of the woods there yet. I cleaned it, packed it with a poultice, and wrapped it up good." She pushed the colorful patchwork over far enough to touch Jess' leg. "Still no fever in it."

"How come you're doing this?"

Cheryl barely took hold of his eyes as she lowered the blanket back over his leg. "You need help. That should be reason enough."

"Even after what I did to you?"

Her hands stilled. "You were desperate."

"But Ma'am, that shouldn't be an excuse."

"Well, I now know what you were up against."

"How so?"

"Jack Lexington is my brother." She expected Jess' eyes to grow, even thought he would recoil from her, but he did neither.

Jess' breath went in and out as quietly as he could. "You ain't like him."

"Maybe a little," Cheryl said, dark eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, I reckon you are made outta tougher material than most in skirts. Not a bad quality, really. If you don't mind me saying so, I admire that in you."

Her smile was soft. "Thanks. I admit I thought you'd have a few choice words after I told you the truth."

"You ain't responsible for what your brother does."

"I know. But I also know Jack. I know everything that he's capable of doing. You're not that kind of devil, Mr. Harper. I suppose I knew that the day you pulled your gun on me."

"I sure am sorry for that, Ma'am. I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't felt…"

"Desperate," she finished for him.

"Something like that." Jess' head that had been nestled into the pillow suddenly pulled away. "Ma'am. Slim and I being here, that's just gonna make trouble for you. Your brother's gotta know by now where we are."

"He does. I'd imagine he's out there now, watching."

"Then I don't got any choice, Ma'am. I gotta get up. I don't wanna cause your family any harm."

In one toss, the quilt was bunched at the bed's foot, his legs swinging toward the floor. She was letting him, at least that was how it appeared from Jess' angle as Cheryl crossed her arms in front of her and watched with slanted brow as he made the attempt. Standing wasn't too difficult, but when Jess took a step, the injured leg wouldn't follow. He would have buckled all the way to the floor if she didn't reach out a supporting arm to tuck around Jess' waist.

"Dad-gum." Jess' cheeks turned pink. "Sorry, Ma'am. I reckon my tongue don't know how to act around a lady."

"Don't let it bother you. I've heard much worse. Even out of Hal."

Jess eased his backend onto the bed, but lying down, he wouldn't go that far. "Where is your husband?"

"He rode to Carson before dawn. Should be back with Sheriff Gregory around suppertime tomorrow."

"You really think a lawman's gonna be able to ride in here with a man like Jack Lexington close by?"

"I'm not sure. Hal and I debated that well into the night. He finally decided it was best to get the law involved."

Jess' sigh was long. "The law's gonna be involved with me too."

"I hold no grudge against you, Mr. Harper."

"It ain't that. I'm wanted for murder in Billings."

Her breath was caught. "Did you...?"

"No. Your brother did it."

It rushed back out with relief. "I suppose I didn't need to ask."

"It ain't a problem. You had to know."

Cheryl nodded toward the bedroom's doorway. "Can I get you anything, food, drink?"

"I'd kinda like to talk to Slim."

"He's out on the porch swing, keeping watch. I'll get him."

"No. I'm getting up. And this time I'll stay up." Jess reached for the rifle that had been perched at his bedside, using its butt as a cane handle. "Just need a little assistance is all."

Slim heard the distinct clop of a heavy limp and he turned toward the doorway, already reaching a hand out to support Jess' elbow before one foot dropped to the porch's level. "You all right, Jess?"

"No, but I feel better hobbling around than lazing around," Jess answered, his eyes wandering around the entire landscape. "See anything?"

"Not yet. But if feelings were eyes, I know Lex is out there."

"Yeah. Me too. I don't like being here, Slim. Sure, I'm grateful that I could get squared away with Mrs. Martin over what I did to her, but keeping her in danger ain't sitting right in my gut." He gave the rifle a slap. "I don't wanna shoot this thing unless there's no other option."

"I know, Jess. I feel the same way, but I don't think we have any choice but to stay here until Hal Martin gets back with the sheriff."

"If he gets back, you mean."

Slim nodded, his lips toying with a smile. "Yeah. But we can't ignore the positive side of things. If we can catch Lex, especially with the sheriff along for the ride, that'll free you up of the murder charge, and we can finally get back where we belong."

"I reckon, but it ain't gonna be easy. All this time Lex hasn't killed us because of his lust for dragging things out. The next chance he gets, he's gonna kill us straight away."

"That's how I figure it too."

Jess lifted his gaze to the sun, leaning far enough toward evening to call it as such. "Well, we just gotta make it through suppertime tomorrow."

The sun had set and rose again, breakfast had been eaten, lunch had been cleared away, which left the last meal of the day. The food wasn't on the table, but Cheryl was getting it set with plates and forks when the sound of a lone rider made the approach. Lifting back the curtain, she sucked in her breath and then quickly put her two children in the cellar. The two men on the other hand, we're standing fully alert and fully loaded.

The brazen man that he was, Lex didn't even knock, but just opened the kitchen door and walked right in, gun drawn. "Evening, Sis."

Cheryl pulled her cheek away from the brush of his lips. "Jack."

He barely looked at the weapons that were pointing at him. "Bring me their irons, Sis."

Slim raised a brow. "And if we don't give them up?"

"You don't seem like the type that'll have a shootout with a woman in the middle. Especially a mother of two little ones." Lex snapped his fingers and then laid his palm out. "Give them here."

Cheryl waited until the irons exchanged hands and then she released some of her fire. "Why are you here, Jack? And don't tell me it's because you smelled food cooking."

"Got a swap for you. Hal and what's left of Sheriff Gregory, for these two."

Her fire was quick to be distinguished. "Is Hal all right?"

"Oh, come now, Cheryl. Do you really think I'd hurt my brother-in-law?"

An affirmative answer was on the tip of her tongue, yet she left it there, settling for a firm look out of her eyes instead. But she wasn't the only one with a searing gaze. Slim and Jess wore one of their own, in part, because they were surrendering.

"You don't gotta answer, Mrs. Martin," Jess said, limping forward. "We'll trade."

She held her hand on Jess' chest, the other holding a finger toward her brother. "Hal and the sheriff first, or nothing doing."

Lex pulled a deep breath into his lungs. "Deal. But only because you're my sister. I'll have Beamer bring Hal and the badge to the door, and then I'll take what's mine. All right, Sis?"

She nodded, but her head, and everything else, visibly faded when Lex went out the door.

Slim put a hand on her drooping shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Martin."

"It's not your doing," Cheryl answered, stifling the tears that were threatening to fall. "I believe Jack that Hal's all right, but Sheriff Gregory, well, I'll do what I can for him, but part of Jack's reputation is that no lawman is left to live."

"Considering how he treated Sheriff Ratcliff, I'm not surprised."

Jess' fingers had been pulling the curtain aside, but the view from the opposite made the lace fall. "We better get ready, Slim. They're coming up the walk."

Cheryl caught Jess' arm. "He won't let you live two minutes. You know that, right?"

"We know, Ma'am. But we already made the deal," Jess said, giving her hand a squeeze as he released it from his shirtsleeve. "Just as long as your family's gonna be fine, I'll take what's coming."

Cheryl stepped backward, her eyes boring into the intense blue in front of her, but then with a sudden switch, she hurried to the potato bin. She might not be an outlaw, but she was made out of the same stock. And a golden rule of that breed was to always have hidden irons. "Wait."

Slim and Jess' eyes widened at the handguns she held outword.

"Don't go out empty. They're loaded. Put them inside your shirt. No, around the back where he won't suspect. Hurry! He's here."

The door being kicked open by a boot heel, Beamer walked in backward, hanging onto Sheriff Gregory's shoulders. Hal followed with his hands attached to the lawman's feet. By appearances, except for where a fist must have gone into a jaw, Martin was all right, but by the double circles of blood to his front, Sheriff Gregory wasn't going to live through the night.

"Get him in the bedroom," instructed Cheryl as she connected her gaze with her husband's. Then before she could make her feet go into the same room the bleeding man was being taken, she turned to see Slim and Jess walk outside by the waving of her brother's gun. At this point Cheryl didn't know which, but she knew that someone, or that in plurals, was going to die.

Beamer freed of the sheriff's weight, he filled his hand with his sidearm and followed Lex outside, the barrel quick to find the base of Slim's skull. "Walk."

Slim's voice, like his legs, remained steady. "Where to?"

"Just to that tree line," Lex answered, giving Jess' shoulder a shove. "Don't want my sister to have to step over your bodies when she goes out to milk the cow."

"You're all heart, ain't you?"

Lex smirked at Jess. "Glad that you can see my best quality. Now get moving."

"Take it easy," Slim barked, despite the gun that sat in a dangerous position behind him. "He's hurt."

"Strange that you can worry about a man's leg when he's about to die."

"Friends watch out for one another, Lex. But you probably have no idea that's how it works."

"I see you're talking tough during your last minutes again, Sherman. But just to show you that I don't care..." Lex's boot stretched outward, clipping Jess in the leg behind his injury.

"Ah!" With a painful gasp, Jess fell, the strike doing more than tearing his wound open. The gun jostled against his back, and immediately he pulled his shirttails free. It wouldn't be easy to reach, but definitely not impossible.

"Leave him be, Lex!" Slim shouted, his body lunging for the killer, but he wouldn't get farther than one stride when Beamer's hands clapped onto his arms and held tight.

"That's right, Beamer, take hold of Sherman. We don't want him interrupting, now do we?"

Slim struggled violently against the hands that bound him. "Why don't you just get it over with?"

"I am, Sherman," Lex said, checking the number of rounds that were in his gun. It was full, and with the hammer back, his finger found the trigger. "Beamer, keep a tight rein, Sherman's not going to like this."

With a grunt out of both men, Beamer pulled Slim's arms even tighter behind his back. Slim could feel the handle of the gun underneath his shirt, yet secured like he was, it was still beyond his reach. "Lex, what are you going to do?"

Lex stepped right in front of Slim, their eyes a matching smolder. "Have you forgotten something, Sherman? I told you that you were going to watch your partner die. And that's going to happen right now."

Slim saw the gun's point start to shift, making Jess' chest the aim. "No!"

Teeth connecting together for a tight grind, Jess' eyes bore into the dark, ugly pair that loomed above him. Having been fed enough revenge by his own hand, it was still sitting in a heated ball inside of Jess' belly, and if a bottle of the same were beside him, Jess would be downing every last drop. It didn't matter that his position was not a gunfighter's, he had made a vow to Slim. Sure, that promise had burned off of his tongue when Jess thought that Slim was a dead man, but to Jess Harper, a vow was a vow. He was going to kill Jack Lexington, even if he would go down with him.

The eyes across from him emitting a deadly spark, Jess' hand slid inside of his shirt, the clasp, the pull, the hammer, all done with such a rapid succession that an untrained spectator would never see each detail. It might have been enough for Jess to be the lone victor, if Lex's gun wasn't already pointing his way. The guns went off simultaneously, the spurts of blood, the same.

"Jess!"

Feeling the grip on him loosen, Slim pushed his elbow into Beamer's stomach. The second jab such a thrust that Beamer bent in half. Spinning, Slim clasped both palms together and put a straight up crash into Beamer's chin. Still doubled up, the enlarged fist walloped Beamer behind the neck until the man's face hit the dirt. With lashes lowered and breaths short, Beamer didn't find an immediate grave, but he was lost to a personal type of darkness.

With one look over his shoulder, Slim left one downed man to kneel by another. "Jess?"

He was afraid to touch him, but he had to. Slim had to know. Hand against Jess' heart, Slim's head turned as Cheryl's skirt was whipping around her as she ran toward her brother. He himself hadn't looked that far, but Slim could guess. Jess wasn't likely to miss.

Cheryl's voice held little emotion. "Jack's dead. Your partner?"

"He's still alive."

"Hal, come quick!" Cheryl hollered as she switched to Jess' side, her fingers lifting the edge of his shirt to look underneath. "It's bad. I'll do what I can, Mr. Sherman, but I don't think he's going to make it."

"You don't know Jess Harper."

Had somebody just turned back the clock's dial so far that Slim was standing outside of Lex's hideout? He has said the same thing then. True, it was given to intimidate, but it was built on the most solid form of faith in his partner. Now Slim was saying it to a gentler set of ears, but the reason, there wasn't much difference at all. It was still faith in Jess, believing in his strength, trusting in his ability to beat all the odds.

Slim looked at the still eyelashes, lying over the palest cheeks. "Prove me right, Pard. Please God, prove me right."

.:.

Slim's boot slammed against the shovel, the crack against the hard soil shuddering every muscle from top to bottom. Another part of his body was rolling, his insides, for he was working on this evening's second grave. Eyes shifting to his right where Jack Lexington had already been laid, Slim tossed another shovelful and then struck the ground again with such severity the handle in his clasp whined against the force.

He shouldn't hate a dead man, but it was impossible for Slim to feel any different. The burning emotion that started in his head from the day they met wasn't ready to be extinguished, for the man that would be fitted inside of the grave underneath Slim's hard working boot was another of Lex's victims. Well in truth, his last victim. Although Lex could never kill again, there was no consolation in this thought.

Since Slim had started on this journey that could be named after Death, there had been six total. Six killed, a larger number mourning, all because of one despicable man.

Slim felt the nausea start all over again. He had been keeping it tamed by the brutal punches he was giving the earth, but he did begin to soften his stomp. Mrs. Martin was approaching, and although he figured she would understand his fury, Slim also didn't need to express it so fiercely in front of her. As vile as the man was, Jack Lexington was still her brother.

She locked her eyes on the mound already made. "That one Jack?"

Slim nodded, watching her head move to the hole that was growing with every turn of the shovel in Slim's hand. It was obvious which grave this one was for. He could tell by her expression that she felt this one just as painfully.

Cheryl sighed. "I feel terrible that I couldn't save him."

"The bullet hit his lung. Not even a doctor could've performed that kind of miracle."

"Still, I wish the outcome could have been different," Cheryl said, once again viewing her brother's grave. "The only thing I can say is that he can't hurt anyone ever again."

"Any new people, you mean."

"I don't understand."

"While it's true that Lex can't kill another, his damage still goes on. You're hurting, as is Mrs. Avery, Sheriff Ratcliff's family and friends, the same for the Whitman's and Saks'." Slim's head lowered, and as he had already measured the span with his hands, his eyes were quick to come to the same conclusion. The grave was ready for the last body to be placed. "And now those that are left to mourn over Sheriff Gregory."

"But not over Jess Harper."

A corner of Slim's lips rose, the repeat swelling from his heart as well as his mouth. "But not over Jess Harper."

"I came out to tell you that his color's coming back. I wouldn't be surprised if he'll be coming around soon."

The shovel went into the ground and stayed there. "I'll be in when I'm finished here."

Her nod took her back into the house and Slim went back to his duty. Sheriff Gregory's death did mark the final hole that would have to be dug because of Jack Lexington. Maybe that thought should have abated Slim's anger, but it couldn't. Not yet. This road had been too long and too dark to shuck off the heaviness that Slim had worn for the entire duration. Yet there was one ray of sunshine. The burial complete, Slim went inside to feel its warmth.

Standing next to Jess' bed, Slim felt his breath come easier as he saw the pink hue blossoming on each cheek. "I sure want to thank you, Mrs. Martin."

"I didn't do much. The bullet went all the way through, so it was mostly just patch and prayer," Cheryl said, her hand resting on Jess' gently rising chest. "Even still, I don't know how he survived, but here's the proof."

"It's because Jess has the kind of grit that if a match went across his hide, it would light."

An eyelid rose, revealing a weary, yet ornery spark of blue. "Wanna try?"

"Jess!" Slim sniffed, trying to calm what was building behind his lashes. "You sure scared me, Pard."

"I do have that affect on people."

The smile, the unshed tears, together made Slim's eyes sparkle. "Just stop doing it to me."

"I'll try," Jess said, the exhaustion bringing his head closer to the pillowcase.

"Rest, Pard. We can talk when you're not battling oblivion." Hearing the clop of multiple hooves, Slim turned toward the window, but the explanation didn't need to be found on its other side, but there in the room.

Cheryl caught his arm before his stride could make it to the curtain. "Hal's taking Beamer into Ridgewood. I'm sure with what Hal knows and Beamer's ties to Jack, your partner's name will be cleared from murder."

"I hope so. I'll ride in tomorrow and have a talk with the Justice of the Peace myself."

"If you need any other witness, my voice should carry far."

He squeezed her hand. "Thanks, Mrs. Martin."

"No problem. If you'll excuse me, the baby needs to be fed. If you need anything, just call."

"I will," Slim answered, but he knew he wasn't going to need anything else, for what was needed was there in the bed next to him. Jess.

There were several hours left to himself. The ride to and from Ridgewood, the night and then day that Slim sat beside Jess, all were filled with the quietness of his thoughts and the gentle breaths of Jess' life. It was soothing to Slim's battle scars, and the rest of the healing was about to be taken in hand.

"Slim?"

Slim moved to attach their similar shades. "Well, Pard. You sure know how to take the longest road there is."

"Lex, is he...?"

"He's dead. Sheriff Gregory didn't make it either."

"Dad-gum." Jess' hand crawled across his torso to find the place, there underneath the bandage that hurt the most. "How did I not go out too? Lex was right on top of me."

"His bullet missed everything vital. You lost a lot of blood, but in Mrs. Martin's words, it was mostly patch and prayer."

"You'd think the Almighty'd be mighty fed up with me by now to answer any prayers said for me."

"I don't think so, Jess. After all, forgiveness is God's business."

"Maybe for somebody like you. You're naturally good. Me...?"

"There's nothing wrong with the way you are, Jess."

"Sure, I'm just a revenge-filled, riled-up, no account."

"No, Jess. All that you've done was for me, which means that you're a good partner, a best friend. You fight for those you care about. You cross lines, sure, but you feel contrite when you do so. And then you go and make your own wrongs right. That's why you're still alive, Jess, because God knows the kind of man you really are and the kind of man he wants you to continue to be."

"Maybe you shoulda been a preacher."

Slim laughed. "No, then I'd have to baptize you, and I don't think even I could get your head underwater."

"Chicken."

"You got that right."

Jess' smile started to dissipate. "What about the murder charges?"

"I was wondering when you were going to ask about that." He pulled the poster from his hip pocket, and starting from the top corner, Slim tore the page in half, leaving a jagged line right over Jess' name.

"Then I'm cleared?"

"Ridgewood's mob was too intimidating for Beamer to stay quiet. He said that both Avery's death and Saks' was all Lex's doing. You're as free as I am."

"That's a good feeling," Jess said, but then both eyebrows turned quizzical. "Wait a minute."

"What?"

"But you broke me outta jail. I mean, Justice of the Peace."

Slim's finger rested over his lips. "Let's just keep that as one of our secrets."

"Like how no one's ever gonna know what happened to us on the Barbary Coast?"

"Exactly."

Slim knew that Jess was tired, but before he could allow his partner to take the step back toward rest, there was an answer he needed to be given. "Jess. Why did you fire on Lex when you knew there was no way he could miss you?"

"I didn't care about my own life. But I had to get him for you, Slim. For all the brothers that've been lost. Mostly for the one that was found."

.:.

Home. It had never looked as good to the pair of ranchers as they rode in. True, there was a run-down appearance, as Ben wouldn't have been able to keep up with all of the chores that kept everyone busy from the sun's rise until its set again. But there was a definite sense of beauty to the land along with a welcoming serenity.

Until they ran into the codger.

"There you are." Ben scowled, switching from having a firm cross of his arms over his chest and a wagging finger in two smirking faces. "Why, you've been gone so long I was thinking neither of you remembered where your roots lie."

"Aw, Ben. You know we always come back. There ain't nothing out there that'll keep us away from Laramie too long."

"Jess is right. We know where home is."

Ben's chest rumbled. "I dunno. With Jess always in trouble and..."

"Except it was Slim in trouble this time."

"Oh, yeah." Ben nodded, taking his gaze to Slim's. "With Slim always in trouble... Wait. That doesn't sound right either."

Slim's arm draped across Ben's shoulders. "How about, with us always around when there's trouble?"

"That sounds about right," Ben said, trying to keep his frown in place. "With you two always around when there's trouble, there seems to be no end to how far you'll gallivant. Maybe someday you'll forget where you belong and leave me here all alone."

"Not gonna happen, Ben. Even if we take off again tomorrow, there ain't no place I'd rather be than here. Ain't that right, Pard?"

"I don't know, Jess. I thought you were right fond of that hole I dug you out of."

"Dadgummit. You would have to remind me about my grave when I was finally feeling pretty good."

"Say, what's this about a hole? And what grave? Ain't either of you ever gonna tell me what went on?"

"It's a long story, Ben."

"If you don't tell me I'm gonna quit."

"All right," Slim said, his smile getting the same lift out of Jess. "Between the two of us, I think we can spell it out well enough so that you'll know who the heroes are at the end."

"What, ain't it you two?"

"Well, in this story, I think that can be said about some others. And that includes you."

"Me?"

"Yeah." Jess laughed. "If you're still listening by the time we finish. You see by then, something else just might have come up to tell about instead."

"Aw, you're joshing me."

"Nope. Laramie seems to have no end when it comes to stories and those that tell them."

"Good. Because I'm getting mighty tired of waiting for this one to get told. Maybe I'll go find somebody else to fill my ear for awhile."

"No, no, Ben." Slim steered the aging hand to the porch rocker. "I'll begin. You see it goes like this. My boots were my only brace, yet their power was being reduced to nothing but a double-lined skid through the dirt..."

.:.

Thank you all so very much. I am truly blessed to be a part of this Laramie family. I'll see you somewhere around the bend, I promise. CW