First Impressions:
One of the best of season four. We finally get to meet an actual member of Jess' family when his big sister comes to town.
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The Story: Slim is all dressed up in his Sunday-go-to meetin� clothes. The whole family is out to see him off on the stage. He�s going to the company meeting in Cheyenne and will be gone for several days. As Slim is climbing on board, Jess and Mose are bantering back and forth. We find out that Jess has been deputized while Mort is out of town. As he�s leaving Mose remembers that he has a letter for Jess. He says a woman in town gave it to him. He hands it to Jess as Slim irritably tells them to stop gossiping so they can go. |
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After the stage pulls out, Jess opens the letter and reads it, his face revealing the shock of what it contains. Daisy asks him whom it�s from. After a moment, Jess stutters out that it�s from his sister, Francie. Daisy says, �But Jess you told me�.�
�I know, Daisy, but it�s her handwriting.� He says she�s waiting for him in town. �Daisy, Francie�s been dead for four years.� |
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Down the street, Jess sees where some of the townsfolk are gathered around a wagon with a woman in black sitting in the driver�s seat. The men are saying that this could ruin them having a notorious gunman buried there. They want her to go somewhere else. She�s waiting for Jess and says she�ll wait until he gets there. Jess comes up and first sees his sister as she turns around to face him. As the townspeople keep on jabbering, Jess and Francie have a moment. He is stunned to see her and says, �I-I thought you were dead.� She says she�s sorry, but she didn�t know where he was until a few days ago. Jess tells the towns people who she is, and then they go into the sheriff�s office to talk. |
| Francie wants to know why Jess thought she was dead. He said he got a letter from a friend in Galveston who saw her name in the paper listed among the dead in a Diptheria epidemic. He wrote to the sheriff several times and found out the dead were buried in the bay. He couldn't even go visit her grave. She said she was sick, but her husband Ben got her out. He says she could�ve let him know. She says she couldn�t find him, he�d been galavanting all over since he was sixteen years old and he never was one for writing. She saw his picture in a paper on a stagecoach. She and her husband, Ben were leaving Leavenworth and changed their plans to come to Laramie. |
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Francie's husband served 3 years and she waited for him until he got out. She tells Jess that the story is he got sick and died in Cheyenne, but then she tearfully tells Jess that Ben isn�t dead. He�s hurt, he was shot, but he�s alive. He�s in a cabin outside of town. The only way she could get some men off his trail is to make them think he was dead. Ben wants to lay down his gun, but these men won�t let him. Jess wants to help. If Ben squared things, he has as much right to live happy as anyone. |
| Mister Elbee, the undertaker, comes in and tells Jess and Francie that they were all wrong and they would be happy to be of service to Jess and his sister, and her husband. They were wrong to refuse her. Jess thanks him and Mister Elbee leaves. Jess says, �Say they do bury the coffin. What�s to stop the men from digging it up?� |
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Looking out the window, Francie sees the three men that have been after them. Jess goes out and confronts them. They�re bounty hunters and they demand to claim the body for the bounty. Jess says the poster that they show him is old and McKittrick�s wife brought him in, not them. They claim they shot him in a shootout in Red Rock, and they are entitled to the bounty. Francie says the poster is old and Ben went to Leavenworth on that charge. He�d already served his time. Jess tells them they can confirm it by telegraph. |
| Frank Keefer tells them that their brother, Tony was killed by McKittrick. They say they want to see the remains to set their minds at ease that the man that killed their brother is dead. Jess says that to view the remains, they have to have the next of kin�s permission. Francie says no. That�s good enough for Jess and he sends them on their way. The three are not satisfied, and they want to know what Jess and Francie are hiding. They decide to hang around. |
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Throughout the day; the three loiter in the street looking menacing. Jess tells them he and Mrs. McKittrick are going out of town to bury her husband. The Keefers want to ride along and help them out. Jess draws on them, rather unjustifiably, I�m afraid, and shoots a gun out of the hands of one of them He arrests them and puts them in jail for �suspicion�, that�s pretty much it, just suspicion. He says maybe they murdered McKittrick. He�ll telegraph the sheriff in Red Rock to check. Jess can be pretty menacing himself and they trot along to jail. |
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At the ranch, Ben has been put to bed and Daisy and Francie tend to him. Jess goes back to town and sends the doctor out to the ranch the next morning. |
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Back at the ranch, Ben is feeling better and he�s worried about Jess. The Keefers are dangerous and he�s afraid if they find out where he is they�ll come out to the ranch and maybe hurt Mike or Daisy. |
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In town, a lot of vandalism has been going on all over town. Mr. Jones shows Jess his storage room where all his grain has been saturated with kerosene. The livery has had some saddles and gear stolen. The Keefers are innocently lounging around town, watching the goings on. |
| In the saloon, the three Keefers are talking about Jess. They�ll �bee-sting� him into making a move. They tell the bartender they plan on staying. The bartender tries to convince them to go to another saloon because they�re really putting a crimp in his business. He figures there�s trouble coming soon and no one wants to be around when it happens. They say the only shot that�s been fired is by that deputy. |
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Mr. Elbee comes to see Jess at the sheriff�s office. He has red paint all over him. Someone painted his hearse red. The other business owners are all there too. They all know who�s responsible for all that�s been going on. Jess wants to know if any of them can identify the Keefers. None of them can, but they all think the Keefers are responsible for all the vandalism. Jess tells them if they can get a witness to make a positive identification, he�ll lock them up. They don�t want to force Jess into anything, but the town is scared. Business is bad, the women won�t let the kids out to play. Why doesn�t he just let them see what they want to so they�ll go? Jess is troubled, but says nothing. He takes a rifle and they all head out to the saloon. |
| Jess then takes off down the street with fire in his eye, townspeople getting out of his way and following. In the saloon, the business leaders are waiting for him. They tell him that the Keefers are gone, but they said they�d be back around noon. They left a message that Jess could leave the information they want with them and they�ll get it and leave. The business men say there�s three of them and they�ll stand up with Jess if he wants. Jess says he can�t let them do that. It�s his personal fight. They are on his side anyway. This town owes him too much for everyone to go hide when he�s got trouble. Jess thanks them, hearing that makes him feel about nine feet tall. He tells them to stay out of it, it�s not their problem. He takes off his badge and puts it on the bar, it�s not the laws problem either. He turns and leaves. |
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