Give My All to Jessie (Third in Outlaw Series)

Give My All to Jessie

"Ma'am...." she said and then she burst out laughing as she rode away. Langly watched her ride off and then felt Jeremiah's hand land sharply on the back of his head.

"What the hell was that about?" Jeremiah demanded.

"She... She looked so..." Langly couldn't figure out how to say what he wanted to say and Jeremiah laughed.

"That's Jessie. Her pa raised her up right. She looks like some kind of innocent angel but that damn woman can cheat at poker with the best of them. She can drink most men under the table and handle a set of irons better than anyone I know. She cusses, spits, smokes and she's dangerous because she knows how pretty she is. I suggest steering clear of that one, Langly. You're better off spending your time with more honest women who tell you upfront what they want for an hour of their time."

"How old is she?" Langly asked, still watching the now empty path Jessie had disappeared down.

"I can't say for sure... 'Bout your age, maybe a year younger or a year or two older. That don't matter though because she is gone now." Jeremiah replied as he threw his arm around Langly's shoulders. "Now come on let's get to Hawkins' fire."

Langly nodded and let his uncle lead him away though his mind was still on that woman. She was unlike any woman he'd ever seen before and she had laughed at him for being polite and calling her ma'am! She had also called him a kid! Neither of those things were things that he liked and he'd like the chance to give her a piece of his mind. Though he knew he could never be rude. Not to a woman.

"Jeremiah! Nice of you to join me!" Hawkins exclaimed loudly, jerking Langly from his thoughts. "Have a seat both of ya and lets play catch up." Langly sat down on a rock beside his uncle and felt very awkward in this group of tough burly men. His pa would fit in here but he didn't quite so much. He was tall but kind of scrawny and he still had that stupid red hair and those childish freckles.

"What's your name? I didn't get it earlier." Hawkins asked him and Langly smiled and held out his hand.

"Langly is my name, sir." he replied and again Hawkins stared at his hand with amusement.

"You sure are a polite one." he said with a chuckle and Langly quickly pulled back his hand.

"Hawkins come here a minute!" A man called from across the camp and Hawkins nodded.

"I'll be right back, y'all help yourself to my whiskey." he said before standing and walking away.

"What in the world is wrong with being polite?" Langly demanded of his uncle while Jeremiah grabbed the large jug and pulled out the cork.

"Nothing, necessarily." he replied as he stuck his nose to the mouth of the jug and then let out a cough as his eyes began to water.

"Apparently there's something wrong with it because I keep getting laughed at." Langly argued.

"Your pa can pull of the polite outlaw thing because just the sight of that giant bastard scares the shit out of people but you... You aren't all that scary lookin'."

"Kiss my ass." Langly grumbled as he kicked at a tuft of grass by his boot.

"The truths' the truth." Jeremiah replied with a shrug and then he took a big swig of whiskey and instantly began to gasp for breath and pat on his chest. Langly's eyes widened.

"Are you okay?" he gasped and then Hawkins came back laughing.

"He's just fine.... That's some good whiskey and it'll put hair on your chest where there wasn't none before." he replied as he sat down. "You want some?" he added and Langly shook his head.

"No, thank you." he said and then he noticed the way that both Jeremiah and Hawkins looked at him and cleared his throat. "I mean hell no I don't' want none of that rotgut." Jeremiah laughed but Hawkins studied Langly a moment before turning his shoulder to him and talking to Jeremiah.

Langly realized he had just been seen as unworthy for this conversation and he found himself offended as hell but what could he do about it? He picked up a stick and began tracing patterns into the mud while hearing snatches of conversations from the men all around them. One conversation in particular caught his attention.

"I'm not sure what's wrong with this thing." a man said.

"What's it doing?" another asked. Langly turned his head to see the two men studying the revolver in the first man's hands.

"It just keeps wanting to seize up on me. It doesn't want to cock right... It's gonna get me killed is what it's gonna do."

Langly offered no explanations to Jeremiah or Hawkins before standing and walking over to the two men.

"Can I take a look at it?" he asked and the men sneered at him.

"Who the hell are you?" The first man demanded before spitting a mouthful of tobacco at Langly's feet.

"I'm Marston Jacob's boy and I'd like to take a look at that revolver. My pa taught me a thing or two about working on them."

"You're Marston's kid?" the first man asked, but now instead of irritation, Langly was sure he heard awe in the mans voice.

"Yeah that's right." Langly replied holding his head high as he realized the angle he could use to get a little respect around here. The first man handed the gun over to Langly and Langly inspected it carefully.

"I see your problem... I could get this lined back up for ya if you wanted me to." he said finally and the first man nodded.

"Hell yeah! I'd be willin to pay ya to do it to cuz that things gonna get me killed if it's not fixed soon."

"Not a problem." Langly replied with a shrug as he finally felt a little more in his element. He knew the ins and outs of gun repair. Langly walked away from the men and back to where he and Jeremiah had left their horses. Langly dug around in his saddlebags until he found the leather satchel full of gun smith supplies.

He didn't even realize that an audience was gathering around him as he worked on the revolver. This is when he felt peaceful... With a cold piece of metal and wood in his hands being brought back to life under his touch. Finally he reassembled everything and nodded with satisfaction.

He looked up and realized that quite a few men were standing around watching him, including Jeremiah and Hawkins and the owner of the gun. Langly stood and gave the revolver back to its rightful owner.

"That should work better now." he said and the man smiled.

"Only one way to be sure." he replied and he quickly fired off six shots and emptied the revolver into the sky. "Hot damn!" he exclaimed. "That felt like a brand new gun! You are something else!"

"Thank you." Langly said with a proud grin, forgetting all about being rude. The man dug in his pockets and gave Langly a handful of change.

"I'll make sure folks know about you.. What's your name?"

"Langly Jacobs." Langly replied deciding to go by the name he'd taken when he had thought Marston was dead. The man nodded again and the crowd cleared. Hawkins walked over to Langly and patted him on the back.

"Well damn, kid, maybe you'll find a place around here after all."