CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jess knew that he had one big advantage in fighting Jack Phillips, which was the stage line. Most days a stage stopped at Laura’s relay station both in the morning and in the afternoon, and some days three and four stages traveled the route. Jess knew that if Phillips attacked during those times, the stage company would send men to investigate and Phillips couldn’t afford for that happen. So Jess reasoned that a nighttime assault was eminent. Attacking at night would be to Philips’ advantage, for his men could use the darkness for cover. In anticipation, Jess had erected two large haystacks. At first sign of Phillips and his men, Jess planned to light these huge mountains of hay to illuminate the yard.

Jess also reasoned that Phillips’ best plan was to run off the horses, just like he had done before. Jess figured that Phillips had already found out that Jess had bought the only horses available for sale in this area, and that wasn’t many. Phillips also had to know where Jess had worked. Mose had made sure everyone knew that. So Phillips had to reason that Jess was limited on funds. The loss of livestock was Laura’s Achilles’ heel. That was no secret to anyone, especially Phillips. He had tried twice to run her off by getting rid of her livestock. It was only a matter of time until this tactic worked.

For four days Jess heard nothing from Phillips. Not one word. Not even a rider watching the place. At night, Jess had taken to sleeping outside, close to the corral, ready for any ambush. The more peaceful things had been; the more jumpy Jess had become. He had drawn his gun so many times on Laura that she quit being shocked every time she surprised him.

As dawn broke during the fifth day, Jess sighed with relief, for there had been no attack and no sign of Phillips.

Bone tired from lack of sleep, Jess started into the house, looking forward to a hot breakfast. He knew he faced a long day of changing stage horses and working on rebuilding the barn.

The bullet hit the porch rail, slamming into the wood with such force that chips flew. For a second Jess was dazed, but as the second bullet hit the house, Jess reacted. He ran across the small porch, then slammed his body into the door. As the oak door flew open, Jess dove for cover as bullets followed behind him.

“Jess?” Laura rushed from the kitchen, a dishtowel still in her hand.

As more bullets hit the house, Jess grabbed Laura and pushed her to the floor. “Keep low!” he ordered Laura. He grabbed the rifle that he had kept next to the door. He returned the fire, shooting out of the living room window. After several tries, he managed to get the front door shut, to help hide them from the view of Phillips’ men.

Soon the air was filled with smoke from gunfire, so heavy at times it was difficult to breath.

As soon as Jess emptied the rifle, Laura began loading this weapon as he had taught her. Often her hand slipped as her body shook from being nervous.

“Laura, you have to keep as flat against the wall as you can!” he snarled, and then shot four bullets out the broken window with this revolver. “Hurry up with that rifle!”

“How many are there?” she asked as she handed the rifle to him.

“Enough we got trouble.” Jess leaned against the wall. Jess figured out why Phillips had waited to attack. He had hired more guns, and it had taken time for the killers to arrive.

“Laura, you need to take the woods.”

“Not without you.”

Jess turned towards her with so much anger, she froze. “We talked about this. Now I don’t have time to argue. You do what I say and get out of here!”

“Not without you!” Her body shook with fear and he wondered if it was from Phillips’ men or from his own anger.

“Laura...”

The bullets sprayed the room.

Jess jumped for her and covered her body with his own. The bullets slammed into the walls. For a long moment this storm of artillery continued. A vase of bluebonnets and two pictures, one of her mother and one of her father, crashed to the floor. A glass on a table exploded. As quickly as it began, it ended. “You all right?” Jess asked as he helped her to stand.

She nodded, her face pale. “I want to give up.”

“Honey, it’s too late.”

“But if we tell Jack...”

“He knows we’ll go to the sheriff. Or wire the US Marshal. He ain’t going to leave witnesses this time. He can’t.”

“But if he kills us, the sheriff will know...”

“Sheriff may be on his payroll, and even if he’s not...” Jess hesitated, and then blurted out, “He’s burned the barn. Burning the house could look like an accident. No one would know that we’d died by Phillips’ hand.”

Laura gasped. Her face grew so ashen that Jess feared she would faint.

“Now you listen to me, Laura. You have to get to the woods. That’s your only chance to survive this. I didn’t expect him to have this many guns. That cave we found, you head for that, just like we planned.”

Suddenly bullets hailed from the back of the house. Jess grabbed her and pulled her towards the bedroom. He squeezed them between the frame of the bedroom door. “Stay here!”

He crouched as he moved along the wall. At the back door, he peeked. Bullets flew all around him. He ducked back out of sight, breathing hard. For a second he closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax. Suddenly he moved. He kicked opened the door then leaped back against the wall as bullets hailed from the woods. Within those few seconds, he had enough time to see his quarry. Again he took a deep breath, then stood in the opened door and fired. His first bullet missed. The gunman fired back. The bullet was so close that Jess jerked with anticipation of being hit.

Laura screamed with fear as she saw Jess flinch.

Jess didn’t move away. He took careful aim and fired. Both heard the cry of pain. One man was dead; but only one man among many.

Jess grabbed the back door and slammed it shut. He then leaned back against the wall. He didn’t know when Laura had moved; but she was there, hovering over him.

“Let me see.”

“It missed me,” he said. He touched the hole in his jacket. “Don’t know how it could get any closer though.” He looked up with a grin.

Laura didn’t smile back. Her eyes were pools of tears.

He said quickly, “Laura, there’s no one at the back. Now get out. And no matter what you hear or see, you keep running. Go! I’ll cover you!”

She shook her head no. “I can’t, Jess. I can’t!”

“You have to! You...”

The bullets tore though the house like dynamite. Walls and furniture became married. Jess grabbed her hand and pulled her away. Again he sought refuge in the frame of the bedroom door. He held his finger up warning her to stay put. Jess then moved to the window that faced the front yard.

“Laura, you have to...” What he saw caused his breath to catch in his throat. There were more men than he ever anticipated. Jack Phillips was taking no chances. “They’re moving in,” he said more to himself. He glanced at her, but she was frozen with fear. He needed her help but she’d be safer where she was. He loaded his gun; then loaded the rifle. With each bullet, he prayed that he had enough to hold them back. He had bought extra ammunition in town; but now he wondered if he had purchased enough.

Jess fired his gun, pointing it through the broken glass. He saw the gun smoke as the men returned fire. He knew exactly where everyone was. Two men were behind trees. One man was near the corral. Another man was behind the water trough. And still another man was near the haystack, using it as a shield. There were three more scattered around the yard. He wondered where Montana and Phillips were. Add their guns and he would be up against ten guns total. Jess knew he was outnumbered and had little chance of winning.

Quickly he planned. He had to keep them busy so another one wouldn’t sneak behind the house. Laura would at least have a chance to get out. He rose up in front of the window, then ducked as quickly as he could as bullets hit the window, glass flying everywhere. He covered his head with his hands as glass broke into flying bits.

“Jess!” she screamed.

“I’m all right,” he answered before he again fired his gun. He fired once...twice...three times before he winged the man behind the water trough. The two near the trees moved closer, until the half built barn hid them. Jess searched frantically and finally saw another had moved to stand by the second haystack. With each moment these killers were getting closer to the house, and with every move closer, the already narrow odds were getting less and less in Jess’ favor.

Jess saw the man sprint from the corral to the water trough. Jess aimed then fired. The gunslinger made it to the water trough. Suddenly what Jess saw caused an icy shiver down his spine, and what little hope Jess had, died.

The haystack was lit first. The flames burst high into the sky.

Fire then began consuming the second haystack.

The house was next. A burning arrow struck the porch, right under the open window.

“Laura! I need a bucket of water. Keep low!”

Laura raced to the kitchen. They had four buckets of drinking water for any siege. She tried to carry one of the buckets but water splashed out, leaving a wet trail behind her.

Jess grabbed the bucket from her hand. He tossed the water on the porch. This time he was lucky. The water easily doused the fire. Another arrow hit the side of the house and a third hit the roof.

Jess reloaded his gun. He aimed and fired rapidly. One man yelled but Jess had only wounded the man. He saw the men move even closer to the house. Jess turned as gunfire came from the back of the house. He looked back out the front window. Two were now behind the water trough. He knew they were surrounded, and worse he knew that they were trapped with fire overhead and around them.

“Jess?” Her voice was over flowing with fear.

He tried to think...to reason what to do. He could now smell smoke. Within a few minutes he knew he’d see the flames. “We’re going to have to make a run for it,” he said.

“How? If there’re gunmen in the back and in the front, then how, Jess?”

Jess didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say. He had known the battle with Phillips would be rough. He had warned her, but he never thought Phillips would go this far, not when a woman was involved.

“Jess, I’m scared.” She had her arms wrapped around herself as if trying to give herself comfort.

“I know.” He tenderly touched her face. His thumb wiped away tears. He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. “Don’t give up,” he said. “we ain’t done yet. Now you got to be brave. I’m counting on you.” He pulled back and studied her tear streak face. “All right?”

She nodded. “All right. I trust you.”

In that moment, he knew that she did. He had finally gained her trust. He could see that she trusted him totally without any reservation, and that knowledge frightened him for he was afraid that he would let her down.

He rose again and fired off another round of bullets. Another cry, but again Jess had only wounded the man. Once more Jess fired his gun. This time the bullet hit the man in the gut. Now Jess was facing seven men that he could see. He still couldn’t place Phillips or Montana, but he knew they were there, lurking, waiting for his defeat. Nine guns against his one gun, Jess knew he had no chance to win, but he still had a chance to save her. If he could just get her out of the house, into the woods, and far enough away that even searching they would not find her.

The fire fought its way through the roof, until Jess and Laura saw it overhead. Smoke began filling the house. Jess tore for the kitchen. He grabbed the two buckets of water. Jess used both buckets to put out the fire over them. That left only the fire on the side of the house. He seized the last bucket. He moved to the bedroom and soaked the wall as the fire peeked through. Though nothing burned, the smell of burnt wood caused a stink throughout the house.

He heard the sound of breaking glass. He turned as quick as a panther. Laura stood frozen, her hand to her mouth, fear marring her face. Jess aimed and fired at the same time. The man fell across the windowsill. Laura’s body began to tremble. Jess moved to the fallen gunman and pushed hard with his boot. The dead gunslinger fell back onto the porch.

Jess offered her a reassuring smile, but just as quickly, he lost his smile as he saw the men run across the yard, moving even closer to the house. Now it was only a matter of time. He knew that, and he suspected she did too.

“It doesn’t look good, does it?” she asked.

Jess wanted to lie but he couldn’t. He gave her a slight shake of his head.

“It’s my fault because I riled Jack so badly. I hurt more than his cattle. I hurt his pride.”

Jess’s chuckle surprised her.

“’Spect he thought he was dealing with a kitten. He sure wasn’t expecting to be tangling with a wildcat.” Again Jess chortled.

“Jess, you felt the sting of my claws too, and for that I’m truly sorry. You need to know Jess, even if we don’t win, that you’re still my hero.”

“I ain’t no hero,” Jess immediately disagreed.

“You’re much better than any I’d find in the books I read,” she argued. “And no matter what happens here today, I’m beholding to you.”

Jess replied in a whisper, “You don’t owe me nothing ‘cause I ain’t nothing but a fool.”

Her face registered her shock. “No…”

“Slim warned me before I got here, but I was too stubborn to take heed to his advice. I should have wired the US Marshal as soon as I found out about the problem you were having.”

“Jess, that wouldn’t have done any good.”

“The marshal would have come.”

“He already did,” she admitted.

Surprise sculptured Jess’ face. “He came here?”

She nodded. “I wired him right after Jack ran off my horses.”

Jess barked, “You got the marshal riled too, didn’t you?”

“He said I had no proof!” she snapped.

“Well you got proof now,” he growled back.

“Jess, I’m scared!”

The anger in Jess dissolved like a pin bursting a balloon. Jess pulled her close to his body. He could feel her quivering. His hug tightened.

Without warning, she kissed him. Boldly her lips sought his.

His hands grasped her head and held her in place as his lips answered hers.

Good Lord! His tongue was in her mouth. She pulled back from him so fast that she felt dizzy. “Jess Harper, you remember I’m a lady.”

“There’s few things in this world, I ain’t going to forget. ‘Spect that’s one of them.” He started to turn away, to glance out of the window.

She took hold of his hand. He turned back, with a look of question on his face. She answered by pulling his head down towards her. His other hand buried in her hair as the kiss that they shared was long and intimate.

As they finally parted, he studied her. He saw her fear. She saw that he cared.

“Laura, I’m going to save two bullets. You know what I’m saying?”

She shook her head as her eyebrows knitted with confusion.

“If I thought Phillips would spare you but with men like Montana, they might first...so I’ve got to...” He couldn’t say the words.

She looked at him with trust, still not understanding.

“I ain’t going to let them hurt you,” he reassured. “So, honey, you got no reason to be scared.”

He moved away from her, slowly, hesitantly, not wanting to leave but knowing he couldn’t stay in her arms. He peeked out the window then fired. One man backed away, but the others didn’t. Now two were behind the buckboard, which was right in front of the house. Another one moved to the water trough.

The gunfire from the back of the house had stopped. Jess knew those gunmen had moved to the side of the house. He saw the gunfighter, who hiding behind the water trough, wave at them, encouraging them to move closer to the window.

Jess started to shoot but stopped. “I don’t believe it!”

Laura saw the shock on Jess’ face. She spied out the window. “Jess?” she asked. “What...”

She hid her face against Jess’ shoulder. “Oh Jess…it’s awful!”

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Chapter Fifteen