THE DODGE CITY MASSACRE (A Jess Williams Novel.) by Robert J. Thomas Page B

were sitting. “Mattie said you wanted to speak to me about something?” asked Dottie.
                  “Yes, I did. Dottie, I apologize if we are causing any problems for you because we eat here. Mattie says we’re chasing some of your customers off so I want to ask you if you want us to stop coming in here. If you say so, we’ll start eating at one of the saloons in town. We don’t want to trouble you,” said Jess.
                  Dottie thought about it a moment. “You can still come in if you want. Just promise me that if any problem starts in here you’ll take it outside. I don’t want any shooting in here. That’s the only reason why we don’t serve alcohol and I’d sure make a lot more money if we did, but then we’d have gunslingers coming in here and I don’t want that.”
                  “I promise that I will do my best to see that nothing happens in here. If I even think someone is walking in that might be trouble, I’ll immediately walk out and take the problem out with me. Also, I want you to take this to make up for any loss in your business,” said Jess, as he handed her fifty dollars.
                  “Thank you Mr. Williams, but that’s not necessary. You pay for your food and you always leave a nice tip for Mattie, so you keep your money,” said Dottie.
                  “I insist that you take it. It should cover any losses you’ve had so far and for the time we are here in Dodge City, which might be another few weeks.”
                  “Well, alright, I’ll take it and thank you for understanding,” said Dottie, as she took the fifty dollars and went back into the kitchen.
                  Mattie Womack walked over to their table. “That was mighty nice of you Mr. Williams.”
                  “I don’t want to see anyone pay for what I’m responsible for,” replied Jess. Mattie Womack went back to the kitchen.
                  John kept silent during the conversation and he continued eating. He finally stopped eating and looked up at Jess with a funny look.
                  “Now what?” asked Jess.
                  “Last night, you were executing a man out in the middle of the street and today you are reimbursing the owner of this eatery for her loss of business,” replied Bodine.
                  “She shouldn’t have to pay a price for what we do.”
                  “Just make sure that fifty comes out of your share,” said John. “I still plan on retiring after this is over, if I manage to stay alive.”
                  They finished their meals and Jess left a five-dollar gold piece on the table for Mattie. Then, they walked down to The Hanging Tree Saloon to see if they could run into anyone with a bounty on their heads. The barkeep, Randy Hunt, brought them a bottle of good brandy and two glasses and sat it down in front of them. “No one in here yet that might be a problem, Mr. Williams,” said Randy. “These are mostly locals from town.”
                  “Yeah, but that could change real quickly though,” replied Jess.
                  “I suppose you’re right about that,” replied Randy. “The ranch hands and cowboys usually come in a little later.” They both sipped on brandy and waited.
     
    XXX
     
                  Manny Welch was in the office of his large ranch house meeting with his men. He had found out what had happened to the twelve men he sent into town last night to ambush Jess and John. He was in a somewhat heated debate with the best man he had left on his payroll, Heath Durrand.
                  “Listen to me, Heath,” said Welch, “I sent twelve men in to ambush those two and they managed to kill every last one of them. I’m not going to lose any more men to those two.”
                  “I still say