After Slim picks up the mended turnbuckle and pays Albert they load back into the buckboard and head out of town. Slim waits for Laramie to disappear around the bend before he breaks the silence.
"Listen Jess, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you go into town with me, not if people were going to act like that. I really expected better from folks in Laramie, I wouldn't have done it otherwise." Jess doesn't look at him, shrugging the concern off.
"Don't worry about it Slim, not your fault you expect the best out of people. Half of those folks back there already thought I was a no-good saddle tramp with an itchy trigger finger, this just gave 'em an excuse to come out with it. Ain't no changing their minds, one way or another, and maybe they're right not to." There's that defeated tone in Jess's voice again, like he half-believes it about himself. Now Jess is a lot of things but he's not one to run himself down, not like this, and certainly not over a clean killing.
"Jess, don't talk like that. What's gotten in to you? Never seen you act like this before." Slim says sharply, unsettled. Jess gets angry, he grieves more dearly then most, laughs harder too, but he doesn't give up. Not even when he's down on the ground spitting blood. Slim doesn't know what to do with a Jess that's not trying to fight and it scares him. For a moment Jess looks like he's going to say more, but then he shakes his head, and offers Slim a wan smile.
"Aw, don't mind me Slim, just feelin' a bit down is all. Let's get back to the range, I'll sort myself out alright after a bit of grub."
Later, after a good lunch and a cup of joe, Jonsey and Slim watch Jess out in the paddock with that blood-bay stallion of his. He's been going at it almost an hour now, and has enough dust on the seat of his jeans to prove it. He seems to be in a better mood then he had been earlier, grinning like the devil on the back of that beast while it does it's durndest to buck him off.
"Jonsey, I don't understand it." Slim ponders, putting a shoulder against the porch post and shaking his head. "Jess has killed men before, I know he doesn't like to do it but he's never shied away when it's necessary. I don't fet why this time it's tearing him up so bad."
"Well, like as not probably reminds him of a lot of things he's been trying to forget. Some gunhawk comin' up on him like, spoilen' for a fight. Pokin' at his sore spots in fronta the whole town. No, can't imagine that's stirrin' up anythin' good in him." Jonsey says contemplatively as he sits back in the chair he'd dragged out onto the porch, hands working at his bad back. "Probably makes him feel he's right back where he started when he showed up here."
"Maybe so." Slim admits. "But he isn't the same man. Anyone can see how hard he's tried to change. I don't understand why the folks down in Laramie don't."
"Naw he certainly isn't, not quite as rough 'round the edges and a few pounds heavier by my count, and a good thing too, boy was too skinny. And the townfolk don't see it because they're scared, Slim, and that makes people see what they want too. Don't make it right, but it's how it is, always has been." Half a smile curves at Slim's mouth, and he gives the old man a sideways glance.
"When'd you go get all wise like that Jonsey?" Jonsey's saved from answering by Jess's stallion giving a particularly vicious buck, sending Jess flying over his flank and into the ground. Both men watching him wince.
"That horse is gonna be the death of him, don't know why he's so dead fixed on breaking it." Slim mutters, hopping off the porch to go check on his friend.
"Maybe 'cause it reminds him of someone." Jonsey calls after him, and Slim can hear the grin in his voice.
Jess is picking himself up off the ground by the time Slim reaches the paddock fence, brushing the dust off of his jeans. The stallion's trotted over to the far side of the paddock, trailing the knotted rope tied through his bridle in the dirt. He stays there at a safe distance, watching the two men malevolently out of the corner of his eye.
"You okay?" Slim asks, caught between concern and amusement. Jess is moving alright, so it can't have been too bad. Jess grimaces, snatching his hat off the ground and stuffing it back on his head. The sleeves of his shirt are unbuttoned at the wrist and rolled up, and there's sweat glistening on his brow.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just gettin' tired of eating dirt." Slim leans forward, putting his elbows against the paddock rail.
"Well, might be time to throw your hat in then. That horse is doing it's durndest to kill you, maybe it's best not to give it a chance." Jess pauses in his contemplation long enough to shoot Slim a glare.
"No way I'm cutting him lose! I'm gettin' close Slim, I can feel it." Slim snorts. He's pretty sure that stallion isn't any less ornery then it was near a month ago when Jess came back from Cheyenne trailing it with a dopey grin on his face.
"Yeah, sure, and my name's Lula May. Now stew's almost done cooking, why don't you wash up and come on in for some dinner. That stallion'll keep until tomorrow." Jess shrugs, seemingly seeing the wisdom in his friend's words, and hops gracefully over the fence so that two can walk in together.
The next afternoon Slim heads back to Laramie with the buckboard to pick up the grain delivery. This time he doesn't ask Jess to come with. He hadn't planned on making this trip and there's plenty of work to be done back at the ranch so he's hoping it'll be a quick turnaround. Luckily the delivery is in, and after a quick thank you to Judd he starts loading the sacks of grain onto the buckboard. Just as he heaves the last one in, he sees Herman Meyer and Ed Rhode approaching him from across the street. Meyer's the new bank manager that came in last year, and Ed owns a big parcel of land out west of Laramie. Slim knows they both figure themselves as important men around town, which means seeing both of them together advancing on him makes him a mite nervous.
"Morning gentleman." He greets politely when they reach him, wiping his hands off on his pants.
"Mornin' Slim." Ed says, exchanging a glance with Meyer. Neither of them seem to want to breach whatever topic's on their minds, and Slim doesn't make it easy for them, waiting quietly for one of them to take the lead. Meyer sighs at last, stepping forward.
"Well, there isn't really an easy way to say this but Ed and I have been talkin' with folks around town, and we think it's best if Jess Harper's movin' on." Slim stares at him blankly, hearing the words but not quite understanding them. Finally he gathers himself, frowning dangerously.
"And why should he do that, Mr. Meyer?" He asks flatly, giving the man a chance to reconsider his words. Meyer's lips just tighten into an unpleasant line.
"Because of what happened at the saloon last week. He's dangerous, Sherman, and we don't want his kind around these parts." A good solid anger is starting to build in Slim now, and he crosses his arms tight across his chest so he can't give in to the urge to hit Meyer right in his smug face. As if sensing the rising tension Ed inches forward, his hands raised in front of him.
"Now Slim, we know he's your ranch hand, and that's why we figured we'd talk to you about this. It ain't a pretty business, but it's got to be done, for everyone in Laramie's sake." Slim's had just about enough of listening to the two slander Jess like he doesn't even matter, like he's just some no good drifter to be tossed out with the trash at the first sign of trouble. Jess belongs here just as much as anybody, maybe even more. He's saved more than a few people in this town from trouble, and never asked for anything in return but some common decency.
"You're correct, he is my employee. Not only that he's my friend, and a friend to a lot of folk round these parts. You've got no right to tell me who can and can't work on my ranch, seeing as it's me that pays him. If you'll excuse me, I got better things to be doing then standing around listening to this nonsense." Slim snaps, his patience wearing thin. He turns away, moving to climb onto the driving board, but a firm hand on arm stops him. He looks down at the hand then up at Ed.
"Ed, you best be taking that hand off of me if you know what's good for you." Ed hesitates, then lets Slim go, backing away by a wide step. Meyer however just steps closer, grasping Slim by the sleeve, his face turning tomato red with indignation.
"Now you listen here. That shooting last week might have been self-defense, but what happens the next time a gun-slinger rides in here looking to take Jess Harper's reputation? He's a bad penny, no doubt, and he'll bring nothing but trouble down on our heads. If you won't tell him to leave, we'll take this to the sheriff."
"You do that, he knows there's no grounds to run a decent man out of town. Now, I think we're done here." He shakes Meyer's hand off and pulls himself into the wagon, snapping the reins and forcing the two men to step aside to avoid being trampled.
"This isn't over, Sherman!" Meyer calls as Slim drives away. He doesn't bother with a response.
Still, for all his confident words he can't help but feel a twinge of worry in his gut. Mort Corey is a good man, and Slim knows he won't give those two the time of day, but it's not out of the question for the townsfolk to get riled up and take matters into their own hands. He's not going to tell Jess to leave and he's not going to let anyone else do it either, but he doesn't like the thought of an angry mob out at the ranch, not around Andy. Plus, this gets big enough it could get back to the stage company, and the ranch can't afford to lose it's business, not with their finances so tight the way they are. It's with these heavy thoughts on his mind that Slim starts the journey back home, only hoping he'll find a solution.
Jess gets busy after Slim takes off into town, doing his best not to think about what people might be saying to him while he's there. There's a few mares that need to be re-shoed, a hole in the roof the barn that needs patching, and the blood-bay had kicked a few slats out of the corall rail yesterday he'd liked to get fixed up before Slim gets home. With a renewed vigour he sets himself to the tasks, the morning melting away under the spring sun. When he finishes with everything though Slim's still not back from Laramie. Now Jess figures there's a few things that he could be doing in the meantime, maybe take Trav out to check the fences in the northern pasture, see how soon they need to be moving the herd to the next field, but instead he finds his feet leading him back to the barn. The stallion's saddled up in a jiffy, and Jess leads him out into the paddock, not knowing why this feels so important but just knowing that it does.
He starts the horse out easy, running him in big wide loops around the fenceline to tire him out. Once horse and man both have worked up a bit of a sweat he pulls him up to a halt, slowly approaching the stallion.
"Come on, buddy. Just you and me, I got a feeling today's the day, huh?" Jess murmurs, running a careful hand down his taut neck. When that doesn't seem to elicit any aggression he takes a deep breath, wraps his hand around the pommel, and pulls himself up and onto the horses back. The stallion explodes into violent motion as soon as Jess's rear is in the saddle, bucking back and forth across the corral like the devil's on his tail. Time and again Jess goes flying and time and again he dusts himself off and gets back on with a sort of dogged single-mindedness.
He thinks he's trying to prove something, but he's not sure what. That he's worth keeping around, or that he's tough enough to take the hits and keep coming. Or maybe just that he can still touch things without breaking them. That there's good enough in him to gentle something as mean and wild as this stallion. Whatever it is it drives him on past the point of endurance, past when any other man would have quit, and rightly so. He's still on the back of that horse when there's the sound of hooves and wagon wheels, Slim finally home from Laramie.
The stallion settles long enough for Jess to get a good glance at his friend's face as he reigns the buckboard to a stop in the yard. Slim's expression is grim, heavy eyes settling on Jess, and he feels his stomach flip. That kind of look never comes with anything good. The reprieve only lasts for a second though - at that moment a stiff wind blows through the ranch, and Jess's hat, which had fallen off at some point during the ride, is blown scudding across the dirt of the paddock, right across the mustang's feet. It spooks, rearing back in fear, and Jess can feel the moment it's weight shifts too far, horse and man tumbling backward towards the rail.
Slim thinks on the problem the whole way back to the ranch, and when he reaches home he still hasn't settled upon a good solution. He's also been debating whether or not to tell Jess about what Ed and Meyer had said to him. On the one hand it feels cruel to confirm his suspicious, he knows Jess'll take it to heart and worry about the trouble he's bringing Slim, on the other hand if a mob shows up here to try and drive him out he has a right to know what's coming. He hasn't decided on that one either.
Jess is on the back of that dang stallion as he guides the wagon into the yard, watching him come in with an uncomfortably perceptive gaze. Slim frowns, half because Jess is on the horse again after Slim warned him he was liable to break his neck, and half because seeing Jess makes him feel guilty all of a sudden for some reason. Before he can decide on what to say though, a gust of wind drags across the yard, pulling something dark across the ground in front of the mustang's feet. It rears back, far, to far. Jess tries to tug its head to the side, get its feet back down, but it's far too late and Slim can only watch in horror as horse and rider flip back, crashing against the paddock rail before coming down hard. Neither get back up.