Nolans law, p.1
Nolan's Law, page 1
Nolan’s Law
After his mother and father die, and the girl he hopes to marry turns him down, Jude James decides to abandon his rented homestead and ride for the West. Before he can leave, though, Josh Appleseed – a young ex-slave – arrives on a stolen horse seeking sanctuary. They ride West together.
The unscrupulous owner of a farm sends his gunslingers in pursuit which leads to a showdown in which one of the gunslingers and a tracker-dog are killed.
As they continue on, Jude and Josh fall in with Brod Nolan and his gang. Nolan claims to rob the rich to feed the poor, but with Nolan there is more than meets the eye, and the two friends find themselves embroiled in a series of blood-curdling encounters in which they must kill or be killed. Will they emerge unscathed?
By the same author
Shoot-out at Big King
Man of Blood
Riders From Hell
Time to Kill
Blood on the Sand
A Town Called Perdition
Incident at River Bend
The Proving of Matt Stowe
Nolan’s Law
Lee Lejeune
© Lee Lejeune 2016
First published in Great Britain 2016
ISBN 978-0-7198-2111-0
The Crowood Press
The Stable Block
Crowood Lane
Ramsbury
Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR
www.crowood.com
This e-book first published in 2016
Robert Hale is an imprint of
The Crowood Press
The right of Lee Lejeune to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
CHAPTER ONE
Jude James was looking west as he had many times before. Somewhere over the horizon lay a land of great undulating plains, beyond which were high impenetrable mountains capped by snow. Jude had soared across those plains and snow-capped mountains many times before in his imagination, but now, suddenly, they seemed to beckon more urgently; he knew he had reached a crossroad in his life and either had to turn back or go on towards those beckoning plains and crags.
Jude was just twenty years old. He had reddish hair that hung down almost to his shoulders, so that some of his friends called him ‘Ginger’ James and others, more disparagingly ‘Carrot Top’. Jude didn’t mind the disparagement too much. He reckoned he had quite a lot going for him. He was around six feet tall and as strong as Hercules. He was a good wrestler and had been bright at school, though he hadn’t stayed there long enough to find out just how bright he was.
Trouble was, his pa had died three years back after being trampled by a big farm horse and his ma had teamed up again with a big bruiser of a man who cared for his drink a little too much, especially the hooch whiskey he got from a neighbour who ran a still in his barn. That hooch whiskey was lethal and it had been known to blind a man who drank too much of it. One of the neighbours had stumbled out into the dark on one freezing night after a skinfull and disappeared completely. They had found him stiff as a chopping board in a ditch a couple of days later. Old Hennessey, who ran the still, was hauled out protesting and given a thorough beating by the farmer’s brother a week later but that didn’t stop the hooch drinking. Ed Shadwell, Jude’s mother’s new partner, continued, falling into a drunken stupor for days on end. He was no use to any man or woman, or beast, for that matter.
Jude knew in teaming up with Shadwell his ma had made the biggest mistake of her life and he stayed on at the farm hoping that bum Shadwell would eventually be kicked right out.
Then three events occurred to make Jude change his mind. The first was that his ma took to drinking the moonshine with Ed Shadwell, which meant she was often out cold for days on end as well, so that Jude had to do most of the work around the farm on his own. That wouldn’t have mattered since Jude was good and more than capable, except that they didn’t own the farm. It was on lease from a carpetbagger from the north who had got rich from buying up land after the recent war. Jude had never met Mcdee, the carpetbagger, but he knew his agent, a certain Ben Maddock who showed up regularly, accompanied by two sinister-looking hombres to collect the rent.
In fact, while Jude was looking west towards the distant plains that day, Ben Maddock showed up with his two sidekicks. The three rode right up to the cabin and Maddock looked over it just like he owned it.
‘Good morrow,’ he said, superciliously.
‘Good morning, Mr Maddock,’ Jude replied, politely.
‘Where’s your folk?’ Maddock demanded, in a superior tone.
Jude looked over the two hard-faced hombres and they stared right back at him through half closed eyes. ‘My ma’s inside,’ he said. ‘Resting up.’
‘Resting up,’ Maddock said contemptuously. ‘You mean she’s been sipping at that moonshine again with that there new pa of yours.’
Jude felt the hackles on the back of his neck rising. ‘I said she’s resting up,’ he said defiantly. ‘I don’t think I mentioned anything more.’
Maddock looked down at him and sneered. ‘You got a lot of lip on you, Ginger Boy. How old are you?’
Jude paused for a moment and then said ‘I’m about as old as my toes and a little older than my front teeth.’
‘Is that so?’ Maddock said. He turned to his two sidekicks. ‘You hear that, boys? We got a real wise guy here.’
The two sidekicks were still looking at Jude without the flicker of a smile. He knew they were armed and would be happy to use their guns if needs be. He also knew that he could lick them clean if they got off their horses, but such thoughts were foolish and had to be pushed to one side.
‘So what can I do for you, Mr Maddock?’ he asked again.
‘What you can do for me, Ginger Top, is hand over the rent you owe me,’ Maddock said. ‘Soon as you done that, me and the boys can ride out of here and leave you to get on with the common round.’
Jude looked up and grinned. ‘I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you to come back next month when my ma’s feeling a little better because right now we don’t have the money available.’
Maddock looked at his two sidekicks again and considered the matter. ‘Well, Ginger Top, Mr Mcdee ain’t gonna like that one little bit. Right now you owe two months’ rent with interest. Things are mounting up and you know what happens when a tenant gets out of his depth, don’t you? There are plenty of others lined up to take his place.’
Jude stiffened. ‘I guess I can figure things out as well as the next man,’ he said.
‘Sure you can,’ Maddock agreed ironically. He turned his horse and looked back over his shoulder. ‘Give your ma my regards,’ he said. ‘Tell her to keep off that poisonous comfort juice and make sure you got the money next month when we come on by.’
The two sidekicks nodded with grim innuendo and the three men rode slowly away.
The second thing that happened was that Jude rode into town for the local shindig. Jude had an excellent sense of rhythm and he liked to dance. In fact, he had quite a good reputation among the ladies, and one young lady in particular. She was Lucy Hendry the doctor’s daughter. Jude knew only too well that Lucy was too good for him. She was from a different class altogether, but there was definitely a mutual attraction between them. Lucy was a fine-looking girl with dark hair and a flashing smile. Doctor and Mrs Hendry had sent her to the very best school in the state.
As soon as Jude saw her he knew that he wanted her above all things, but he also knew that what he had hoped for was well out of his reach. Nevertheless, he bowed graciously and asked her to dance.
‘I’d love to,’ she said in the low voice that made his heart skip a beat. And away they went, in and out and round about with the other dancers. Each time they drew close Lucy smiled enticingly and drew away again. When Jude escorted her to her seat, her father and mother scrutinized him closely. Doctor Hendry smiled at him politely but without particular warmth.
Although Jude knew that Lucy was beyond his grasp he had dreamed that they might run away together and someday he would make a pile of money and keep them, if not in luxury at least in reasonable comfort. Now his dreams were to be shattered like fine glass when Lucy said, ‘Mr James, I want you to meet somebody.’ She turned to a young man who was sleek and probably the most smartly dressed man in room. He was as tall as Jude and very well presented. Jude thought he looked like an English duke.
‘This is Dr Roach, my fiancé, Mr James.’
Jude felt the blood drain from his face, but he bowed politely. ‘I’m pleased to meet you, Dr Roach.’
The musicians struck up again and the dancers whirled away like bright lilies floating on the surface of a lake, but Jude didn’t join in. He felt sick to his stomach and light in the head. The words my fiancé echoed through his brain like the bells tolling at a funeral. So he slipped out of the hall and rode back to the farm where his mother and stepfather were drinking moonshine and playing cards.
Ed Shadwell looked up at him and grinned. ‘You’re back early, boy,’ he said. ‘Did something happen to cool your jingle bob?’
Jude looked at his stepfather and knew he despised him. Picturing Lucy Hendry dancing with Roach didn’t help much. ‘What’s my jingle bob to you?’ he asked a little more aggressively than he had intended.
Ed Shadwell had already imbibed more of that hooch than was good for him. So he pushed himself up from his chair and thrust out his chin. ‘Are you talking to me, boy?’ he slurred.
Jude tried to k
Shadwell shook his head and gasped in fury. ‘You gonna apologize to me, boy, before I teach you a lesson in good manners?’
Jude was aware of his mother looking at him as if to say, ‘Please stop this before it gets completely out of hand’, but for him it had already gone too far. ‘I don’t think I need to apologize to you for anything,’ he said to Shadwell.
Shadwell staggered back in amazement. ‘Well, that’s downright disrespectful!’ he shouted. ‘I’m gonna teach you to respect your elders, boy!’ He drew back a hefty fist and took a swing at Jude. If he hadn’t been drunk the fist might have connected. In fact it was pretty well on target anyway, But, as it swung in, Jude parried it with his left arm and threw a jab with his right. His fist struck Shadwell on the left cheek and Shadwell staggered away and went down on his back. Shadwell wasn’t a small man and, as he went down, he took the chair with him and it broke in pieces. For a moment Shadwell lay panting with a look of amazement on his face as though he wondered where the thunderbolt had come from. Then he coughed and blood started gushing from his nose.
He started to roll over and was struggling to drag himself on to his feet. Jude knew he either had to hit him again or get out of the room. So, in a split second, he backed up and held his fists ready. Though he was a good wrestler he knew he could punch Shadwell into unconsciousness and he was ready for what seemed to be inevitable.
But Shadwell never came rushing in with his hammer-like fists because at that moment Jude’s mother cried out in pain and pressed her hand to her side just under her heart.
‘Oh God!’ she gasped. ‘Oh God!’ Her face was yellow and her mouth opened with pain and horror as she fell.
*
The two men stared in disbelief as she collapsed behind the table.
Shadwell was the first to speak. ‘My God!’ he croaked. ‘She’s had a fit!’ He leaned on the table and wiped his arm over his bleeding nose.
Jude didn’t bother to reply. He got down on his knees and looked down at his mother and realized she’d had a heart attack. He leaned over her and wondered what he could do to save her.
How do you bring back a person with a heart attack? he asked himself. He pressed his ear to her breast – the breast that had suckled him, and listened. Yes, the heart was beating spasmodically like a bird fluttering against a window pane.
‘Keep calm, I will bring you back again,’ he told her. Then he pressed his hands against her ribs and started pressing rhythmically.
‘What can I do?’ he heard Shadwell asking him, as though from a distance.
‘What you can do is you can ride into town and ask Doc Hendry to come immediately. He’ll know what to do. You think you can do that?’ He turned to look at Shadwell and saw that he was in no state to do anything. He was just standing there and shaking and ready to puke. ‘Just go out there, get on your horse and ride like hell,’ Jude commanded.
Shadwell nodded vaguely but seemed to be nailed to the floor.
‘Get out there and ride!’ Jude shouted.
Shadwell nodded; then he moved to the door and shambled out.
Dr Hendry was still at the shindig when Shadwell appeared. A man came into the hall and approached the doctor who was taking a refreshment with his wife and daughter and future son-in-law.
‘Excuse me, Doctor, there seems to have been an accident There’s a man outside wto looks a mess. I think he’s been in a fight and he’s asking to see you.’
Doctor Henry never refused to see a patient. It was a matter of medical ethics. ‘Well, why don’t you bring him in?’ he said. He looked at his wife and raised his eyebrows as if to say, It’s probably nothing but I have to investigate. He went to the door where he saw a rugged individual with a badly swollen and bruised face and his left eye half closed. ‘What happened?’ he asked. ‘Were you hit by a wagon?’
Shadwell didn’t even try to smile. His face was too painful. ‘She’s passed out,’ he muttered. ‘Had a fit or something.’
‘Who passed out?’ the doctor asked.
‘Mrs James,’ Shadwell said. ‘Fell down behind the table. Her son Jude is trying to bring her round.’
‘Mrs James?’ the doctor said. ‘Where is she?’
‘She’s at home lying on the floor. I think she’s dying.’ Shadwell looked so ghastly he might have been dying himself.
Doctor Hendry didn’t ask any further questions. He just grabbed his medical bag and turned to his wife. ‘I’ve got to ride out to the James’s place. It seems there’s been some kind of accident there.’ He hurried out, followed by Shadwell who, despite his size, looked more like a shadow than a Shadwell.
When they reached the farm, Dr Hendry hurried in with his bag and looked for the patient.
‘She was over there underneath the table,’ Shadwell explained feebly. ‘Now she’s gone.’
Hendry wondered whether he was the victim of some illtimed hoax. He noted there was a strong smell of alcohol in the room. Then he heard a voice from the other end of the cabin. ‘Through here, Dr Hendry.’
The doctor moved to the door and looked into the room where he saw in the light of an oil lamp the figure of a woman lying on a bed. Jude, her son, was standing beside her.
‘Thank you for coming, Doctor,’ Jude said, ‘but I’m afraid you’re too late.’
The doctor knelt beside the bed and examined the patient. It was a thorough examination but short. He got up from the bed and looked at Jude with grave concern. ‘I’m afraid you’re right, Mr James. Your mother has passed away.’
Jude looked down at his mother with reverence but said nothing.
‘What happened?’ Dr Hendry asked him.
‘I think I killed her,’ Jude confessed.
Jude knew that he had killed his mother when he launched his fist at Ed Shadwell and it affected him profoundly. Shadwell was a man of straw – a trail bum who had taken advantage of a lonely woman, still pining for her dead husband. But Jude blamed himself: he shouldn’t have let that man of straw provoke him. So he made up his mind right away that Shadwell had to leave the farm immediately before they came to blows again, or Shadwell killed him while he was asleep at night. Shadwell seemed to read his mind. So he avoided meeting the younger man’s gaze and transferred himself to the barn until after the funeral.
The funeral director, a man called Tut Turtle on account of the fact that he always tutted when he looked at one of his precious bodies, gazed at Jude’s ma, and looked really sad. ‘Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person,’ he said. ‘So young too!’ He looked at Jude with moist eyes. ‘How old was she, Mr James?’
‘Around forty,’ Jude replied. He had no wish to discuss his mother’s age or anything else with Tut Turtle, though he appreciated that Turtle was trying to show his professional concern.
‘So young!’ Turtle sighed. ‘Far too young. But we never know when the Good Lord will take us, do we, Mr James?’
‘Indeed, we don’t,’ Jude agreed. In fact he didn’t know much about anything at the moment, least of all the Good Lord.
The funeral was frugal as it had to be since Jude had very little money. Ed Shadwell proved to be conspicuous by his absence. In fact, a couple of days after Jude’s mother’s demise he had disappeared completely like any other trail bum.
After Mrs James had been laid in the ground beside her late husband, Dr Hendry came up to Jude and put his hand on his shoulder. ‘We live in hard times, Mr James, and your mother had a hard life. What will you do now she’s gone?’
Jude pondered for a moment. ‘Thank you for your concern, Doctor,’ he said. ‘To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I will do.’
Doctor Hendry gave him a shrewd, almost fatherly, look. ‘You should study, you know. You have a head on your shoulders and a future before you. Don’t let it go to waste, my boy.’ Doctor Hendry pressed his arm and walked away.
Yes, I have a future, Jude thought, and it’s somewhere far away from here and I mean to go and search for it. He thought of his ma and pa lying side by side in that cold grave. What had life given them but toil and hardship? he asked himself.
