Beatrice and the Beast, page 29
When the girl finally, managed to compose herself, she looked shame faced at Charlie who was grinning from ear to ear.
‘Oh Charlie,’ she gasped. ‘I’m so sorry and I feel such a fool.’
She leaned toward him conspiratorially.
‘Are people looking at me?’ she whispered. ‘Did anyone notice what happened?’
‘Everybody in the whole damned Restaurant noticed,’ he said. ‘I expect you’ll be the talk of the town by tomorrow.’
Her mouth dropped open.
‘Oh, my goodness Charlie. I won’t be able to show my face in here again.’
He laughed.
‘Don’t worry, it’ll all be forgotten long before tomorrow comes.’
‘I didn’t mean to take such a large drink of my wine and I’m so sorry I sprayed you with it.’
She giggled softly.
‘It was rather funny though don’t you agree?’
‘Oh yeah, you and me should be entertainers, we’ll be famous.’
‘Sarcasm doesn’t become you Charlie.’
‘I guess not. Are you ready to go to your room now?’
She narrowed her eyes as she gave him a serious look and decided she would not bow to their strategy to ship her off to bed so they could drink the night away safe in the knowledge she would be safely, out of the way.
‘I still haven’t finished my wine. But if you are so desperate for a drink, by all means leave me to finish it alone. I’m sure I will be perfectly safe.’
‘Nope, Frank would skin me if I left you here alone. I’ll wait for you to finish.’
She smiled sweetly.
‘Then perhaps now would be a good time for you to continue your story about Mister Zelletta.’
‘Are you really that interested in Frank?’
‘Interested isn’t the word I would use. I would be more inclined to say, I am intrigued as to how he came by his injuries.’
He smiled knowingly but didn’t pursue the matter. Instead, he asked which part of his tale had been interrupted by Frank’s return, and was mildly surprised when she was able to tell him the exact moment his relating of the story had been cut short.
‘You were following the tracks that showed where you thought Mister Zelletta had been dragged away from the farm.’
‘Oh yeah. Well the tracks led to a small spring fed stream that ran along the bottom field of the farm. It was only a couple of hundred yards away, but to get to it you had to go over a high ridge and the stream was around fifty yards away at the bottom of a slope.
I took my Winchester and climbed the rise to the ridge and just before I was about to arrive at the top, I heard a scream and figured it would have come from young Frank ‘cos it sounded too young to be a man and too manly to be a woman if you get my meaning.’
She nodded before questioning him.
‘How old was he at that time?’
‘The poor kid was just thirteen and couldn’t understand why them bastards did what they did. Like I said, he was a big gentle boy who saw nothing but good in anybody. If he’d of had half the coldness and ferocity he now possesses, I think he may well have killed his tormentors before they had a chance to do what they did. But at that time, he wasn’t a fighter. He was as strong as any man even at thirteen years old. But he was too gentle to use his strength against another human being even when they were torturing him. It was only when he saw what they did to his family, that he changed his attitude completely.’
She stared at him with horrified wonder in her eyes as she waited for him to continue. He in turn, took a sip from his now, almost cold, coffee before returning to his oration.
‘Well, as I said before, I heard this kinda scream on the other side of the ridge, so I hunkered down and crawled to the top of the slope so I could peer over and see what was happening on the other side. What I saw put me in the biggest rage I can ever remember and it took all my will power to keep my temper in check, but losing it can cost a man his life, so, I calmed myself down.’
He looked at the remnants of his coffee and pulled a face before setting the mug aside.
Beatrice stared at him wide eyed and open mouthed.
‘What did you see Charlie?’ she whispered.
‘There were three of ‘em and they’d got that poor kid tied to a tree and were in the process of scalping him. In fact, they’d already started the job and were cutting the hair and skin away from his forehead. His face was covered in blood, but I found out later it wasn’t just from the scalping. I figured they could only be the same men who’d killed his family ‘cos they had no pity at all and were laughing like crazy bastards.’
‘Oh, Charlie,’ she gasped. ‘That poor boy. What did you do?’
‘I did the only thing I could do, I shot the scalper in the back of his goddamned head.’
She stared at him for a moment with a look of horror on her pretty face. Then regained her composure and it was Charlie’s turn to be surprised when she finally, spoke.
‘They were animals Charlie and I’m glad you shot him.’
He looked up sharply and took in her serious demeanour.
‘I expected you to call me a murderer or worse for shooting a man without giving him any warning.’
‘Before I set out on this journey, I might have done Charlie. But I have learned that many ruthless men out here have no regard for human life and Mister Zelletta has already proved to me, when facing such men, it is a case of kill or be killed. Those animals have no right to be mixing with decent, law abiding people after what they did to Mister Zelletta’s family and had you not intervened, I have little doubt he would not be here with us now.’
He grinned.
‘I guess Frank’s influence has rubbed off on you whether you like it or not Beatrice and I figure you’re a hell of a lot tougher now than you were when you left Wichita. We’ll make a westerner of you yet.’
She smiled sadly.
‘Well I hope I never find myself in a situation where I have to make that choice. I know I could never kill another human being, even if my life depended on it.’
‘You might be able to do it if the life of somebody you cared for depended on it.’
She curled in her lips to cover her teeth but did not comment on his suggestion.
‘Anyhow,’ he continued. ‘If I’d of just wounded the guy, he might have finished the boy off, so I had to get in a clean shot and kill him instantly. Lucky for me, the other two were too surprised by what happened to their pard to take immediate action and that was all the time I needed to kill one of them and get off a shot at the other one. But he was already on the move and although I nicked him, he was able to get behind a tree and start shooting back. His problem was though, he only had a hand gun while I was armed with a rifle and he was firing wildly in all directions not knowing where I was hiding.
I wanted to get to Frank as soon as I could so I could cut him loose and see what they done to him. But before I could do that, I needed to take out the last of them murdering bastards, pardon my language Beatrice.’
She waved a hand absently and so, he continued with the story.
‘I hadn’t counted how many shots he fired, but I figured he couldn’t have many bullets left before he needed to reload. Also, the tree didn’t give him complete cover, so there was always a part of him on show and I was a damned good shot with a rifle, so I thought I’d disable him a bit more and try and force him out.
He’d gotten down on his belly behind the tree to make a harder target but I could see a foot and part of his leg so I took aim and fired. My bullet shattered his ankle and I heard him scream just as him and his pards had made Frank scream. He pulled his leg up but that meant his knee was on show and I fired again shattering his knee and I got plenty of satisfaction when he screamed again. That must have made him desperate and very careless, ‘cos he did what I hoped he would and began shooting his gun in my direction. His problem was, he had to reach round the tree with his gun hand to do it. I had to make this one count so I took aim and fired a third time. It wasn’t an easy shot but I pulled it off and my bullet hit the hand holding the pistol and smashed it as well as the gun. I heard him yelp in pain and knew instantly, both his gun and hand were now useless. But I couldn’t be sure he wasn’t carrying a spare gun, maybe a pocket pistol or something. A lot of men carry more than one gun as a backup. Because of that, he might still be dangerous so I didn’t plan on showing myself just yet. Instead, I offered him a chance so I could get some help to Frank who looked in a bad way with his head slumped on his chest.
‘Hey mister,’ I called. ‘Come out with your hands high and I’ll let you walk away.’
He told me to go and do something to myself which I won’t repeat to a lady ‘cos it ain’t for delicate ears. So, I decided to persuade him giving up was the easy option. I could make out his shoulder was on view so I put a bullet in it. He yelped and tried to curl up behind the tree which put his backside on show and I let loose another bullet which hit him square in the ass, beg pardon again ma’am.’
She giggled.
‘Don’t worry Charlie, I’m getting used to the colourful language one hears in this part of the country and I have little doubt I will hear a lot of it around Jacob’s ranch once the men get to know me.’
‘That you will ma’am, that you will.’
She smiled.
‘Please continue Charlie.’
‘Well, the guy must have had enough when he got the bullet in his ass, ‘cos he yelled out that he wanted to surrender. I told him to toss out any weapons he had and to crawl out from behind the tree. He shucked a knife and had a hell of a struggle to move away from cover what with his bad ankle, knee, hand and ass. I told him to keep his good hand where I could see it and approached him carefully.
He didn’t look very well but I figured he was still dangerous and I wanted to get to the kid as quickly as possible so I hit him on the head with the butt of my rifle to disable him for a bit, then I went to check on Frank.
His face was covered in blood where they’d cut him. You’ve already seen the scars.’
She nodded her head solemnly.
‘Well the couple of cuts on his face weren’t bad compared to what they done to his forehead. They’d tried to scalp him but must have made two attempts at it. Sure, he’d started cutting away Frank’s hair and skin when I shot the guy. But the first attempt must have gone wrong, ‘cos he’d cut a big chunk of skin and some bone outa Frank’s forehead just below the hairline and though his hair healed back into place, he was left with a deep indent on his forehead.’
‘So, that’s why he never removes his hat,’ she said incredulously. ‘He thinks the mutilation to his forehead makes him look ugly.’
‘He don’t think that at all and he’s only took to keeping his hat on since he met you. Like I told you before, normally, he don’t give a damn what folks think.’
‘Well I’m not the type of person who judges people by their looks Charlie. There are far finer qualities than looks.’
‘As you’ve already demonstrated young lady.’
‘Thank you, kind sir,’ she said coyly. ‘Please go on.’
‘The boy was still conscious but weak, when I cut him down and his legs gave way so I sat him with his back to the tree while I looked for something to clean him up with.
I found the Jayhawker’s hosses a few yards away and when I searched their saddlebags, I found a new shirt in one and some salve in another. I also found a half bottle of whiskey. I tore the shirt up and used water from the stream to clean him up. Then I used some of the whiskey on him to properly clean the wounds against infection. All the time he never made a sound even though, the whiskey must have stung like hell on them wounds.’
‘Did he know about his family?’
‘I thought he did, but I found out later, he’d been on his way back from delivering some cheese and vegetables to a neighbour a few miles away. So, he wasn’t around when they were butchering his family. It was his bad luck that they just happened to be on their way out and caught him as he was crossing the meadow. He tried to be friendly but they pistol whipped him to the ground and worked on him with a knife while he was dazed. Then they dragged him back to the stream and tied him to a tree and that’s when they tried to scalp him. If I hadn’t of come by when I did, the poor kid would likely have died a slow painful death tied to that tree.’
‘Oh, my goodness. What did he do when he found out?’
‘Well, after taking all the weapons from the dead men, I took the horses and helped Frank back to the farm. The Jayhawker I left alive wasn’t gonna be a problem, he could barely move let alone be a threat. On the way, I told him I was sorry about his family, but the poor kid didn’t know.
‘Sorry about what happened to your folks and sister kid,’ I said. ‘At least they won’t be able to terrorise another family.’
He stopped and stared at me.
‘What do you mean?’ he asked.
It was then, I realised he didn’t know and I began to say how sorry I was for breaking it to him that way, when he shot off back to the farm. He forgot all about his injures or how weak he was. He just headed back there as if his tail was on fire and there was no way I was gonna be able to prevent him finding out what happened back there. The poor kid was gonna see what they did to his ma and sister before I got a damned chance to break it to him gently.
That day, the gentle, easy going boy I had known previously, disappeared. He changed completely, into a cold hunter and killer of bad men. He especially went after men who molested and killed women and he always made sure they suffered before he brought them in or killed ‘em.’
‘I don’t condone killing Charlie. But at least now, I am beginning to understand what made Mister Zelletta the way he is and why he believes in his brand of justice. I suppose becoming a bounty hunter is a way of dealing with such ruthless desperados and making a living at the same time.’
‘That it is ma’am. It kinda puts him on the side of the law while at the same time, ridding the country of low-down killers of women and children.’
‘What happened to the man you left injured?’
‘Well, after Frank saw what happened to his family, he took one of the guns that belonged to the jayhawkers and went back to the stream and shot him. That was the first time he’d ever fired a pistol and his first killing. I guess he did the man a favour, ‘cos I planned to leave him to die anyhow.’
‘Oh!’ She exclaimed. ‘Perhaps it would have been better had he tried to run the farm himself?’
‘Maybe, but the kid was hell bent on vengeance. After we buried his family, he asked me to take him with me and teach him how to shoot. I wasn’t too happy about it, but I couldn’t leave him alone. He was a big boy but still only thirteen years old and he’d already strapped on a gun and holster and told me he’d go it alone if I didn’t help him to become a gun fighter.
Well, for the next twelve years we stuck together. We tracked down outlaws and killers for the bounty they brought in, though I ain’t sure it was the bounty that drove Frank. I’m pretty damned sure he was and still is, driven by vengeance and the need to rid the country of as many low life scum, as he can and the money is just incidental. But I was getting too old for tracking outlaws all over the country and after a dozen years, I became a deputy marshal of Abilene. I asked him to join me because it was becoming a boom town then and they were recruiting lawmen. But he was obsessed with hunting down killers and rapists. It was as though he’d made it his sole purpose in life and he was particularly unshakeable when it came to men who’d preyed on women and girls, and he was clearly, doing it for his mother and sister.’
…
Beatrice sat for many moments staring at the glass of wine she no longer felt like drinking. Then she tilted her face upward to gaze through moistened eyes, at her companion.
‘Thank you so much Charlie,’ she whispered. ‘I have a much greater understanding of Mister Zelletta now and why he has a right to be the way he is. I respect and would even defend that right after all the pain and heartbreak he must have suffered because of what happened to his family.’
‘I’m glad my telling of Frank’s story has given you a chance to see his side of things Beatrice. He’s got a reputation as a cold-hearted killer. But I challenge anybody to name one man he’s killed or taken prisoner, who didn’t deserve it.’
‘I believe you Charlie and I’m beginning to understand that in the absence of proportionate law and order, sometimes a man must take the law into his own hands and become a vigilante or as in Mister Zelletta’s case, a bounty hunter.’
‘You’ve really changed your attitude since I’ve known you, young lady.’
‘I believe I have Charlie. Perhaps one must become attuned to one’s environment if one is to establish themselves as an inhabitant of this part of the country.’
He grinned broadly.
‘Like I said before, we’ll make a westerner of you yet Beatrice.’
‘I hope so Charlie. I want to make Jacob proud of me when I become his wife. So, I need to learn as much as possible about the ways of the west.’
Charlie turned away slightly and pulled a face but didn’t respond to her remarks. Instead, he changed the subject in his favour.
‘I figure Frank will have given up on me now.’
‘Oh Charlie,’ she gasped. ‘I’m so sorry. I was so engrossed with your story, I lost track of time. You must go immediately and I assure you, I will be alright to make my way to my room alone.’
‘Frank instructed me to walk you to your door. If I allowed you to go alone and something happened to you, he’d probably kill me.’
