HONORABLE INTENTIONS
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Gladys Moore opened the door after the first knock. She still had that lost look about her.
"Mornin' ma'am," I said tipping my hat.
"Jess? Didn't expect to see you back here so soon."
"No ma'am. I just wanted to call by and see how you're doing. You ain't had any strangers poking around here, have ya?"
"No one's been here 'cept the Sheriff. Came out earlier this mornin'… dropped Joe's things off to me." She ducked her head and worried at the necklace she was wearing, pulling at it with her fingers. "Said he was on the way out to that rancher's place…the fella Joe… the one Joe robbed."
She looked down at her feet then back at me. "I been a fool, Jess, and that ain't easy to take."
"No ma'am… uh… Can I come in?" I asked. "We need to talk."
She opened the door wider, invitin' me inside.
"You want some coffee?"
"Yeah, thanks." I walked over to the table, noticing she'd been doing some packing. "Going somewhere?" I pointed to the bags sitting on the floor by the sofa.
She nodded, reaching for two cups off a shelf. "Thinkin' about it." She poured the coffee and brought both cups to the table.
"Sit down."
"Thanks," I said, taking a seat.
"Your hand feelin' better?" She asked, looking at the sling.
"Yeah, I reckon. Better, now I ain't movin' it around so."
"Miss Moore… Uh, Gladys… I gotta tell ya… Deevy ain't lettin' things rest 'bout Mac Morgan catchin' one in the back yesterday. He's been makin' threats and there was some fella hangin' round near the ranch. Said he was heading out this way. You ain't seen him have ya? Claimed he was a nephew or something of old Mrs. Walker's."
"No, Jess. What's he want out here?"
"I dunno. Right now it ain't nothin' more than a hunch… but I reckon you oughtta keep an eye open… in case." I remembered the other reason I came out here and reached into my shirt pocket pulling out the wad of cash. The $380.00 I'd taken out of the bank yesterday.
"Ma'am, what I said the other day, it still goes. It's all I got, but I'd be mighty pleased if you'd accept this. Help you get started again." I held out the money to her.
"Jess…"
"You got a home to go to, ain't ya. Folks who care about ya?"
She looked down at the cup in her hand, chewin' on her bottom lip, sayin' nothin'.
"I'm sorry… Slim's always tellin' me I should learn to mind my own business. Guess I don't know when to keep my mouth shut."
"No… it's okay. I got folks. And two brothers. They got a little spread north of Cheyenne. They ain't got a lot – a few cattle – enough to get by." She still wasn't lookin' at me and I reached out and tipped her chin… so as she was facin' me.
"You know… the other day… when I offered you the money… I sorta got a feelin' home wasn't a place you were real keen to get back to."
"Oh… it's alright… there just ain't a lot for a girl to do out there, ya know."
"Yeah… I guess. But ya get on okay with ya folks, don't ya?"
"My ma, she didn't want me to go, but Pa told me if I left, not to come back. I don't think he meant it… not really."
"Then why don't you give it some thought… least till you work things out… till you feel right about what happened here. Like I said before… you just gotta give yourself a chance. You gotta feel right in here," I leaned in, pointed at my chest, "and not let them folks in town make you feel bad. If you feel good about yerself on the inside it'll show on the outside and folks'll see that…"
She chuckled quietly, "that's mighty fancy talk from a man who made a livin' outta shooting people'."
I drew back, sat up straight… feeling the stab of her words like a knife through my guts.
"Jess… I'm sorry… I didn't mean it that way… I know that ain't what you do now…" She reached out and put a hand on my arm…
Before she had a chance to say anything more the front door burst open and both me and Gladys were looking down the barrel of a 66 Winchester. I was on my feet, right hand twitching in the sling, aching to draw my gun.
"Don't even think about it, Harper. Stay right where you are and take off that gun belt."
"In case you hadn't noticed, Deevy, my gun hand ain't exactly workin'," I said, holding my slinged arm up.
He laughed, a hollow, kinda animal sound. "Yeah, and that's what Al and Mac figured and look where it got them. Now lose the belt and do it nice and slow."
"What do you want?" I asked loosening the tie round my leg then workin' the strap outta the loop. It wasn't easy but I got it done and let the belt drop to the floor.
"Well, well, looky here. Seems the little lady weren't lying about the money." He took a few steps closer, holding out his hand. "I'll take that." He nodded to the cash laying on the table in front of Gladys Moore.
I licked my lips, figurin' out what my chances were of taking Deevy out one-handed and not getting me and Gladys killed. Figured those chances were slim to none so I reached out for the money.
"Uh-uh, not you, Harper." Waving the gun towards Gladys, he said. "She can hand it to me."
"You don't think you're gonna get away with this, Deevy?" I said, tryin' to stall him while I worked on lookin' for a way out of this fix.
"Shut up, Harper," he snapped. "Now… the money."
Gladys reached out and took the cash off of the table and put it in Deevy's upturned palm. She had a look of venom in her eyes. She sure got a temper on her.
"Now what?" I asked.
"You're coming with me. You and me's got a little unfinished business to take care of." He bared his teeth, smilin' that hyena smile of his. "Not so tough now, are you, back shooter?"
"I ain't no back shooter!" I snarled, feeling like I could tear him apart with my bare hands and I made a move to get to him.
He brought the gun up to his shoulder and I pulled up short, my teeth clenching with a need to land a fist right between his eyes.
"Oh, you're a real tough guy," I said, breathin heavy, "Taking on a man with only one good hand and a defenseless woman. You oughta be real proud of yerself."
I never saw it coming, for a big man Deevy moved fast as a mountain lion. He landed the butt of his rifle hard into my stomach and I dropped to my knees gasping for breath.
"You finished flapping that big mouth of yours, Harper?"
I could see Deevey's feet out of the corner of my eye. It was a few seconds 'fore I could get my chest to start workin' again and I quietly sucked in a breath. I played up my belly ache, falling to my right side and pulling my knees up. I could feel the derringer still tucked down tight in my left boot.
Groaning so Deevy'd think I was hurtin' bad, I slowly moved my hand down, attemptin' to reach the gun. I could hear him makin' bragging sounds to Gladys Moore, tellin' her how he'd seen me and her in town together yesterday.
My fingers wrapped around the pistol and I pulled it out, rolling to my knees and aimin' at Deevey. But he weren't as stupid as I'd figured and he kicked the gun clean outta my hand just before bringing the rifle butt down across my head. The floor came up fast and hard, givin' me a taste of wood and dust as darkness closed in around me.
"On yer feet, Harper." Deevy's voice came from a long way off, but it was just as ugly as it was up close. "On yer feet!" The breath wooshed outta me again when a solid kick landed square to my ribs. I rolled over onto my knees, trying to suck air in round my achin' side.
Deevy dug a meaty paw into the front of my shirt and dragged me to my feet, but my knees wouldn't lock and kept givin'out. Blinking hard, I tried to get my eyes to see clearly but the room was swirlin' around all grey and mixed up. Next thing I knew he was shovin' me hard into one of the wooden chairs. I sat, leaning my head on the table and reached up behind my right ear, feelin' a sticky wetness coat my fingers.
"I ain't playin' games with you, Harper. You try anything like that again and the little lady here is going to be getting a bullet straight to that pretty head of hers."
I raised my head, squinting first at Deevy, then at Gladys Moore. She was tied to the same chair she'd been sitting in 'fore Deevy burst through the door, a gag knotted tight around her mouth. Even through my bleary eyes, I could see she was kinda pale and that feisty look she'd been wearing before was resemblin' one of terror.
"Let's go, Harper."
"Where're ya takin' me?"
"Shuttup and start walking." He gestured toward the door with the rifle.
I stood and then staggered forward, looking back over my shoulder at Gladys Moore. "Are you all right, ma'am?" I was still working at getting my eyes to see straight.
She nodded, shiftin' her attention between me and the man holding the gun.
"Move it!" A sharp jab to my rib cage with the barrel of Deevy's rifle convinced me to get going.
"Where to?" I asked.
"That way." He jerked this thumb at a small path through a scatterin' of trees behind the house.
The path was headin' away from the Laramie road, far as I could tell if we kept goin' in that direction we was gonna to be hittin' a dead end, or leastways a river. I was havin' trouble figurin' out what Deevy was plannin' to do, but one thing was sure, it wouldn't be ending well for me.
"Whatta ya hope to get out of this, Deevy? You know the sheriff ain't gonna let you get away with what yer plannin'." I scuffed at the dirt path makin' it plain to see which way we were headin'… in case anyone came lookin'.
"I ain't hopin' nothin'. I know exactly what I'm going to get out of this." He said, giving me one of them smug looks of his.
"You just gonna up and shoot me? 'Cause you gotta know, if you kill me, Slim'll hunt you down...and he won't quit till he sees you swingin' from the end of a rope."
The trees were thinning some, spreading apart and opening out to a clearing. I could hear the sound of the river. Flowin' fast for this time of year.
"There ain't gonna be no bullet, Harper. You're just gonna have a little accident. Them rocks, by the river, they can get mighty slippery...easy for a man to take a tumble."
I swallowed hard. I was comin' to an understanding of what he was fixin' to do to me. I weren't too bad at swimmin' now, but hearing that water rushin' by, and havin' only one good arm, I didn't like my chances.
"Over there." He pointed to the river bank. I could see the whitewater, frothing and foamin' its way over rocks as it headed downstream in an awful hurry. I reckoned the drop to the bank was about 40 feet and it was scattered with rocks all the way to the water's edge.
"You figure I'm just gonna mosey on down there and start swimmin'? Cause if that's what yer thinkin', you better come up with another idea. I ain't gonna make this easy for you, Deevy." I stood tall as I could with my ribs achin' and my head still not feelin' right.
"Get moving down that slope, Harper." He nodded towards the river.
I turned, like I was gonna do as he said, keepin' my left side facin' him. Figurin' I was gonna die anyway and decidin' drowning wasn't the way I wanted to go, I made a move. He wasn't expectin' it and I got a hold of the gun, twistin' the barrel up and givin' him a solid kick with my foot.
But my bum hand, all twisted up in the sling was throwin' me off balance. Deevy brought the rifle down hard and jerked it outta my grip. At the same time he pushed me backwards and my right leg slipped over the edge, my feet scrambling for a hold on them smooth rocks.
The rocks rolled out from under me and I landed hard with my busted hand crunching beneath my body. My throat closed round a scream and there was a sound in my ears like a roarin' cannonball. Curling onto my side, I hugged my right arm tight and the rocks and dirt caught me, dragging me closer and closer to the water's edge and there wasn't nothing I could do to stop it.
Continued in chapter twelve