Oath of I'm Fine
Part Three
Chapter Five
The year: mid summer 1862
Jess Harper's age: 16 years old
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"Hold it right there! Don't come no closer."
The gruff command was accompanied by a raised shotgun, pointed straight at Jess Harper's chest.
The dark-haired young man reined to a stop and sat still on his bay twenty feet in front of the hitching post. On the dilapidated porch stood a middle-aged man with stringy shoulder-length hair. He maintained an unwavering hold on the long gun.
Careful to keep both hands on his saddle horn and present no threat, Jess tried to give the man the benefit of the doubt.
"Cousin Ebal, it's me. Jess."
"I know who ya are."
The gun didn't so much as dip as the man spat a wad of tobacco into the dirt. "Only been a little over a year since ya left. Looks like ya put on a couple a' inches and a few pounds of muscle since then. But your looks ain't changed all that much that I wouldn't recognize ya."
Jess had been riding since dawn yesterday, sleeping just a little during the darkest hours of the night. It was now near noon, and he hadn't eaten since early last evening. He was tired and hungry and running short on patience. His leniency turned to anger, which he tried to tamp down. He kept his voice level, but failed at keeping his agitation from showing.
"Then why are ya pullin' down on me?"
"I can see your outsides. But how's I to know what you're like inside now, boy? After a year of wearin' that holster low." Ebal Harper momentarily gestured with the shotgun at Jess's sidearm.
Then he aimed his weapon back toward Jess's chest. "Huntin' the Bannister bunch. Then runnin' with Dixie Howard. Don't think we ain't heard of your doin's. Half the state of Texas knows 'bout ya. And don't count on me bein' a second cousin to your pa buyin' ya any pity."
"I don't want any!" Jess snapped. He sucked in a steadying breath. "And I'd never bring any harm to your wife and kids. You know that. I just want to see my brother and sister. Could use some water for my horse, and a place to bed down for him and me."
The man harrumphed. "I ain't takin' in no more o' Luke's whelps. The two I let ya dump off here b'fore was too many."
Disrespect toward himself angered Jess; but when it was directed to his siblings, it infuriated him. "They been earnin' their keep," he growled low. "I know you're makin' sure a' that."
He glanced around the rundown property. To the field beyond the barn, where several of Ebal's children were hoeing weeds. To the chopping block, where a small boy split kindling. To the clothesline, where a girl of 10 or so struggled to hang a sheet. To the corral, where the two oldest boys were saddling horses to prepare for riding out to work. He counted seven kids in all, the oldest looked to be around fifteen. Kids on any ranch would be expected to help with the work, but not one of them so much as paused in their chores to show interest that a man had ridden in. They knew what they'd get if they shirked even for a moment.
Jess knew Ebal would have been working Johnny and Francie just as hard or even harder than his own children. That was the reason the man had allowed them to live there after the fire set by the Bannister gang had destroyed their home and killed their parents and the youngest siblings, Benjie and Chloe. Taking in "Luke's whelps" had nothing to do with Ebal Harper having any generosity of spirit. Rather, it was just because he saw them as nearly free labor, needing only to be fed some, as he put them to use on farm work, household chores, errands, and such. He hadn't been so tolerant toward Jess though. Knowing full well of Luke's oldest son's stubborn independence, Ebal reckoned Jess would be a continual source of trouble for him. As soon as Jess's burns from trying to rescue his family had somewhat healed, Ebal had kicked him out.
Jess had never expected or wanted to stay, so he was more than willing to be on his way. He just hated leaving Johnny and Francie at Ebal's place, but they had nowhere else to go. Francie had assured him they would be all right, as Ebal's wife was a good woman. She told her brother to just take care of himself. So Jess had set out. While on his mission of justice and revenge against the Bannisters, he had sat in on a poker game in a saloon to try to earn some money for food and supplies, an establishment and situation that he was mighty young to be in anyway. Also in the game was Dixie Howard, the well-known gambler, gunfighter, and suspected though not convicted outlaw. When Jess accused the older man of cheating and drew his Colt, Howard shot it out of his hand. After that, Howard had taken an interest in helping the angry young upstart that had the nerve and plain recklessness to pull a gun on him. Jess had ridden with the man for nearly a year and learned much from him. Now, he wanted to take a break from his nomadic search for the murderous Bannister gang so he could see his brother and sister and make sure they were all right, maybe even find them a better place to live.
"Don't see Johnny and Francie around here. Where are they?"
"Take yourself over yonder to the Brady place."
"You sent 'em to live with the Bradys?"
"Woulda liked to. But high and mighty Miz Brady wouldn't have it. Ain't changed her mind a speck since last year. No single Harper girl is gonna live under roof where she's got four sons. Wouldn't be proper by her standards. But I send Francie over there often enough to fetch somethin' for me. Maybe sooner or later one of those Brady boys'll up and marry her and take her off my hands. Less mouths for me to feed, the better."
Jess looked across the open terrain. "The Bradys still in the same place, a few miles over the hill there?"
"Yup."
Off in the distance, at the base of the large hill on the near side, stretched a series of buildings in even worse state of repair than Ebal's place.
"Where's your brothers? They still farmin' over there?"
"Nope. All three of 'em took their broods and joined up with a wagon train headin' to California a few months ago. Thinkin' of doin' the same for myself and mine when the next train comes through."
Jess knew he'd have to talk to Francie and Johnny about that. Somehow, he would have to be sure they were settled elsewhere before he left the area. He wanted to get them out of this place anyway. He had never intended to leave them here this long. But his search for the Bannisters and his association with Dixie Howard had led him far from the Panhandle, and it had taken a long time to make it back. He turned his view back to his distant cousin. Shirt-tail relations, Pa had called Ebal and his brothers.
Just then a short woman with graying hair stepped out onto the porch. Jess was shocked at how she had aged in just a year. But the hard life and hard marriage she was enduring to the boorish man at her side would be enough to take the bloom off even the prettiest rose. Her greeting, though, showed she tried to be pleasant as always. "Jess! Why it's good to see ya!"
"Howdy, Miz Janeene." Jess tipped his hat. "I hope life is treatin' ya good."
Janeene smiled briefly. "Francie has been a great help to me. She is sure a dear one." She paused. "And 'course… Johnny… oh, what a sweet boy, Jess."
"Yes'm. He's always been of a kind heart. Even though that heart ain't never been too strong at pumpin'. I know he's probably sickly sometimes, always has been. But I'm sure he does his best to help out here as much as he can."
Janeene glanced at Ebal, a look of uncertainty on her face that Jess didn't know what to make off. But then he chalked it up to the uneasiness anyone would feel around Ebal Harper.
"You must be hungry, Jess. Why don't ya get on down off that horse and come in for a bite?" She looked again at her husband and cringed when his eyes narrowed menacingly at her.
"He don't want nothin' to eat. He's ridin' over to the Bradys now." Ebal glared at Jess.
"That's right, ma'am. I'll be goin' that way."
"Well, surely, you'll be stayin' a while with us, won't ya?" Janeene looked up imploringly at him, grateful for any break in the routine that might occur.
Jess directed a questioning look at Ebal.
Ebal sent a glower back. "In the barn. With your horse. One night."
Jess noticed the frown that flitted across Janeene's face at the idea of making a 16-year-old worn-out relative sleep in the barn and limit him to one night. He patted his horse's neck. "Tracker and me'll head to the Bradys right after we git ourselves a drink." He stated it, rather than asking permission, and sent a dare from his eyes for Ebal to deny him the water.
The man gave one quick nod of his scraggly-haired head.
Jess looked to the kind woman and touched the brim of his hat again. "Ma'am." He turned his horse, walking him to the trough, where he dismounted. Pumping some water into his canteen, he looked back toward the house while his horse drank from the trough. Janeene, shoulders slumped, head hanging, went back inside.
After remounting, Jess glanced once more toward the porch. Ebal stood there, glaring like before. As Jess headed his horse toward the hill, he gritted his teeth at the fact that the shotgun was still aimed at him.