Read HELL HATH NO FURY (A Jess Williams western novel) for Free Online Page A

of the trees holding two fat rabbits in his hands. He cleaned them up and Annie went to frying them in a skillet along with some potatoes and carrots. She fixed Jess his meal and handed it to him. Jess took a bite out of the rabbit and it was cooked to perfection.
                  “Annie, you sure know how to cook a rabbit right, this is delicious,” said Jess.
                  “I learned to cook when I was young. My mother taught me how to cook and bake. My father used to raise rabbits on our ranch so we ate rabbit quite a lot.”
                  “Well, I think you should do all the cooking from now on while we’re together,” said Jess.
                  “That’s just fine with me.”
                  “What, no argument this time?”
                  “Don’t you start with me,” retorted Annie. “Besides, you’re paying for my way so the least I can do is cook, especially since I’m a much better cook than you,” she said, getting a dig in.
                  Jess shut up, partially because he learned quickly that there was no sense in arguing with her, but mostly because he had a mouthful of rabbit he was working on. After supper, Annie went to the river to clean the pans and cups and Jess went to the clump of trees and began his ritual of shooting practice. Annie came back to the campfire and made another pot of coffee. She watched Jess go through his ritual of using every weapon he had and she was quite amazed at his expertise. Jess came back to the campfire after cleaning and putting all his weapons in their proper places and poured himself a cup of coffee.
                  “I have to say, Jess, you are mighty fast with that pistol of yours,” said Annie, pouring herself another cup of coffee.
                  “Yeah, that’s from years of practice and of course, this pistol is quite a bit different than any other pistol. I haven’t found one like it anywhere,” replied Jess.
                  “Do you think you could teach me to shoot that fast?” Annie asked.
                  “No, there is no way you could learn to shoot that fast unless you had this gun or one exactly like it, but I can help you to shoot better.”
                  “Would you?” Annie asked.
                  “Sure, we can start tomorrow after we get into Wichita. I can help a little with your hand speed, but the most important thing you need to learn about gun fighting is that shooting straight and true is much more important than how fast you draw. That first shot counts the most and if you hit what you’re aiming at on the first shot, it usually means the difference between life and death. I’ve heard of gun fights where both men emptied their six-shooters and neither one of them were hit with a single bullet. Most men just start firing off rounds as quick as they can, but they usually miss with their first two or three shots. My good friend John Bodine is not as fast as some of the men he has faced, but he shoots straight and true and that’s why he’s still alive today.”
                  “I’m going to hold you to that,” said Annie.
                  “Like I said, we’ll start tomorrow after we get to Wichita and turn that corpse in for the bounty,” replied Jess. “Let’s turn in for the night.” Annie put two more pieces of wood on the fire and they both fell fast asleep.
     
    XXX
     
                  In the morning they ate and headed straight for Wichita, Kansas. They arrived late in the afternoon. Jess took Lovett’s body, which was still strapped over his horse, to Sheriff Davies office to file a claim for the bounty and Annie took care of their horses. Sheriff Davies saw Jess walking Lovett’s horse with his body strapped over it to his office and he met Jess out on the wooden boardwalk.