Wildest Dreams

by Rosanne Bittner

  Lettie hoped such justice would end, that men like Luke could stop risking their own lives keeping the lawless out of Montana. He had brushed against death too many times over the years. If the bullet he'd taken rescuing Katie had hit him just a few inches to the left, it would most certainly have killed or crippled him. He still could not fully use his right arm, and to this day he still limped from the bullet wound that had shattered his right thigh the day the buffalo hunters had shot him down.

  Today justice would be served legally. A hangman would pull the lever that would open the trapdoors beneath the three Walker men and send them to their reward, whatever that might be. Lettie hoped they would burn in hell forever for what they had done to her daughter, and she had no regrets over killing one of those men herself. By the time bodies were collected and identified after Luke's rescue of Katie, Tex told her that one she had shot was dead. It was learned he was Irv Walker, father of the two Walker boys to be hanged today, brother to Zack Walker, and just as no-good. Katie had told her that the one called Irv had urged his "boys" to have themselves a good time with their captive. Also killed were another nephew, Larry, who was one of those involved in the rape; and a man called Coolie, both shot down by Tex. They had picked Coolie up along the way on their journey of vengeance, and the man had never told them his full name. Tyler had wounded another man named Ken Justice, and the man had died on the trip back to Billings. It was Ty's first killing, and Luke and Lettie both hoped their son would never have to kill again. It had gone hard on him, and his only consolation had been that the man had been a part of the terrible gang that had hurt his sister. Ty had also wounded Brubaker, but the man had lived. Runner had captured Matt Peters, as well as the fleeing Brubaker, and it was those two who were headed for prison.

  Nine men, Lettie thought, four killed, two going to prison, three to hang. Even that did not seem like justice enough for poor Katie. It would take more than ending their lives for her daughter to recover from her ordeal. She well knew the kind of nightmares that would haunt the girl for a long time to come. The family had surrounded her with love. They were all doing everything they could to encourage her, and she was glad she had shared her own tragedy with her daughter. That had seemed to help more than anything.

  Pearl came to stand beside her mother at the window. "Katie, you should see the crowd down there!" she told her sister. "I never saw so many people!"

  Katie sat in a corner of the room knitting. "I don't want to look," she answered quietly. "Just tell me when it's over."

  Lettie's heart ached at the evident pain in Katie's voice. The trial had been held inside the cattlemen's hall, and the poor girl had had to live her rape all over again when she testified to the jury about what had happened. Although the general public and the outlaws involved were not allowed in the room during her testimony, it had still been a humiliating experience for her, and she still had had to face the Walkers once more, just long enough to point out the culprits who had actually raped her.

  It seemed almost ludicrous that the crowd in the street below was laughing and celebrating as though they were attending some grand picnic; but then deep inside she celebrated herself that this would be the end of men like the Walkers. It was too bad that two of them were so young. Perhaps if they had been brought up differently, they might have been decent young men. They had complained that they were worried about their mother and seven siblings left behind in Wyoming, and a wire had been sent to Cheyenne for the U.S. Marshal there to deliver a message to the woman that her husband and one of her sons had been killed, and that her brother-in-law and two more of her sons would be hanged. Lettie wondered what the woman would do, where she would go. It was a sad situation, but the Walkers had chosen their path in life, and a man's sins had to be accounted for.

  Piano music filtered through the window, as well as laughter, people in saloons having a jolly time... all these people in a gay mood, making money, enjoying the gossip, visiting and picnicking... all looking forward to the hanging as though it was the event of the decade. Perhaps it was. She wondered how many of those below cared about poor Katie. Most of the citizens of Billings did. They had contributed their life savings to help get her back, and Lettie was glad the money had been recovered and returned. The others, the strangers who had come into town, probably didn't care one whit what Katie had suffered. They were just here to see the results. Whole families had come, determined that their children should watch and be "taught a good lesson." This is what happens to a man who chooses the wrong path in life.

  She caught sight of Luke then. He walked to the hanging scaffold that he and his men had helped build. It was right in the middle of the main street of Billings, not far from the hotel. Lettie turned and looked at a clock on the wall. It was one-forty p.m. In just twenty minutes the hanging would take place. The crowd grew more excited and louder when Sheriff Tracy, accompanied by two deputies, came out of the jail farther up the street then, herding the three Walker men in front of them. "They're bringing them out," she told Katie, who did not reply.

  Lettie noticed Luke look up at the hotel window. He saw her standing there, and their eyes held for a moment. Even though she was not right beside him, she knew he felt her with him. Both of them wanted this, yet they knew that the death of the Walker men could never erase what had happened. People began to shout curses at the three men as they were brought to the gallows, but a few gathered nearby and started singing hymns. Young Jim Walker walked just fine on his own, but Benny limped from a bullet Tex had planted in his right leg as he was trying to escape. Zack Walker had to be aided by two men, one on each arm. His injuries from Luke riding his horse over the man were extensive, and he was obviously in great pain, unable to walk on his left leg at all. Lettie wished she could feel sorry for him, but she felt nothing but contempt, glad for his pain, glad that soon he would feel nothing at all. The man was shouting terrible curses, and a few women either covered their childrens' ears or hurried them away. The two younger men said nothing, but Jim looked as though he were crying. Lettie was not touched by his tears, and she knew Luke was not either. Lettie could only imagine how the young man had probably laughed at Katie's tears while he was raping her.

  Jim and Benny made it up the steps of the scaffold with no protest, neither of them even looking at Luke; but Zack Walker noticed him, and he let off another string of curses. "The devil will have his day with you, Luke Fontaine!" he shouted. "Piss on you, you rich, greedy bastard! Piss on your whole family! I wish I'd have kilt them all! All your pampered sons and that bitch of a wife and your prissy, ugly daughters!"

  Lettie put a hand to her chest, glancing back at Katie, who had surely heard the words through the open window. She continued knitting feverishly, never looking up.

  "Mama, Father just punched that awful Walker man!" Pearl spoke up. "And Ty is in there, too!"

  Lettie looked back to see a tumble of men around Zack Walker, who was yelling with pain. A few women screamed and moved farther away, and finally several men managed to pull Luke away from Walker. Tex had hold of Ty, and Robbie stood nearby looking ready to cry. Luke was holding his arm, and Lettie knew he had lost his temper over Walker's cruel, ugly words. Luke bent over for a moment, holding his shoulder, and Ty and Robbie went to stand next to him while the sheriff and his deputies managed to get the still-cursing Walker up the platform and into position under his noose. The crowd was in an uproar of gossip now because of the scuffle, and some began shouting, "Hang them! Hang them high!" in a kind of chant.

  Reverend Gooding climbed onto the platform then to talk to each man. Jim cried harder, but Ben just stood silent. Zack continued his curses, screaming so loudly that Lettie could hear some of the words above the crowd. He shouted to the reverend that the devil would get him someday, too, just like he'd get Luke Fontaine. The reverend ignored the man's swearing and turned to raise his arms, finally managing to quiet the crowd. Then he began reading from the Bible. When he finished, those who had been singing hymns began a
nother song, "In the Sweet Bye and Bye." The rest of the crowd quieted as black hoods were placed over each man's head, then each noose put in place and tightened. The singers finished their hymn, and Reverend Gooding said a prayer for the souls of those about to die. He led the entire crowd then in singing "Shall We Gather at the River," after which Sheriff Tracy read each man's name and the charges for which he was being hanged, "murder, kidnaping, extortion, rape, and cattle rustling." He pulled a watch from his vest and announced that in just two minutes the hanging would take place.

  The crowd was nearly silent then. A few of them began singing "Shall We Gather by the River" again, and Reverend Gooding and Sheriff Tracy stepped down from the platform. The two minutes seemed to take forever. Sheriff Tracy walked behind the scaffold with the hangman the town had hired, and people stared silently.

  "I hope you all burn in hell!" Zack Walker suddenly shouted from under his black hood, just before the trapdoor beneath his two nephews and him was sprung, silencing all three of them.

  Lettie gasped, as did just about every person in the crowd below. The sound moved through the street almost in unison so that the "Ohs!" went up almost in a roar. Pearl and Lettie stared; both the young Walker men seemed to have died right away, their necks snapping and their heads hanging oddly to the side. Zack Walker continued to kick for several seconds before finally hanging still. Everyone waited breathlessly as each body was dropped under the scaffold, where Dr. Manning waited to check each one. After several minutes Sheriff Tracy came out to climb up onto the scaffold.

  "Ben Walker, Jim Walker, and their uncle, Zack Walker, are officially dead," he announced. A cheer went up from the crowd, which began mingling and celebrating again. Luke looked up at Lettie once more, then she turned away from the window, putting her arm around Pearl, who was holding her stomach.

  "I'm glad they're dead," the girl told her mother, "but I don't think I want to see something like that again."

  "Nor do I," Lettie answered. She left Pearl for a moment to walk over to Katie, who had dropped the knitting in her lap and was just staring at it. "They're dead, Katie. Are you all right?"

  The girl shook her head and began sobbing. "They took... part of me with them," she wept.

  Lettie knelt beside her and put an arm around her. "Katie, no man can take what a woman doesn't want to give."

  Pearl touched her sister's hair. She did not totally understand what had happened to Katie, but she knew it was something horrible and humiliating. "I love you, Katie," she told her.

  Minutes later Ty, Robbie, and Luke came back to the room, Ty strutting inside with a manly air. "They're dead, sis," he told Katie.

  Robbie timidly walked up to Katie, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Katie. If I had watched you better that night—"

  "We'll have none of that," Lettie interrupted. "Nothing that happened was anyone's fault," she reminded him again. She had had several talks with the boy since Katie was taken, assuring him that he was not to blame for what happened, any more than he should blame himself for Paul's death. Both things would have happened whether he was there or not. "The Walkers were out to get us, one way or another," she told the boy. "We're lucky they didn't take you, too, maybe kill you."

  Katie reached out and hugged Robbie. "Don't ever blame yourself, Robbie." She sobbed.

  Lettie looked up at Luke, saw the agony in his eyes. She rose and walked over to him. "You shouldn't have gotten into that scuffle. How is your arm and shoulder?"

  He sighed deeply. "Feels like fire is raging inside my shoulder and down my arm," he answered. He reached out with his good arm and embraced her. "Let's go home, Lettie."

  Outside men covered the bodies of the three Walker men and carried them off for burial.

  It was four months after the hanging before Lettie could get Katie to come to town again. The only reason the girl had obliged her mother was because Pearl was to play during a special Saturday church service that was to take place just before a church social being held to celebrate harvest time. Luke grumbled that he had no desire to celebrate a farmer's holiday, as he had no use for farmers in general; but he came to attend a cattlemen's meeting, and because he wanted to hear Pearl in her first public piano recital.

  Lettie's heart glowed with pride, and she could see that same pride in Luke's eyes as the entire congregation sat spellbound by Pearl Fontaine. She turned simple hymns into something glorious, her fingers flowing over the keys in rich melody that brought goosebumps, the music made more touching and thrilling by the simple fact that the girl playing the hymns was only a child. How much better would she play by the time she was an adult?

  Lettie grasped Luke's hand, turning to look at him. He smiled, and she knew she would eventually win the argument she and Elsie Yost had been giving him—that Pearl should study music when she was older. It was obvious each child was going in a different direction, Robbie still talking about wanting to be a doctor, Pearl adamant that she wanted to go to the music school in Chicago that Nial Bentley had told her about. Lettie knew part of the reason Luke had fought the idea was simply because Nial had suggested it; but Nial was no longer a threat to their marriage, and there was no doubt in their minds now that to deny the girl her heart's desire would be a shame.

  When Pearl finished playing several hymns in a row, the congregation cheered and clapped and whistled, in spite of the fact that they were sitting in church. Such a performance simply could not be met with silence afterward, and Pearl stood up and curtseyed. The sight tugged at Lettie's heart. Pearl had always behaved like someone older than her real age. She had an elegance about her that no one had had to teach her, and she seemed to welcome an audience eagerly. She was a natural-born performer, with no fear of playing in front of others. Her beautiful young face was lit up with a smile and personal pride, and her red hair was twisted into a tumble of curls that made her look older.

  Katie stood up and clapped right along with everyone else, and Lettie was glad Pearl's playing had brought Katie to town. For the moment she seemed to have forgotten her ordeal, and Lettie decided to bring the girl to town more often from now on. The best way to get over the worry of what others thought was to face people and show them she was not ashamed, that she was the same generous, loving Katie she had been before the Walkers tried to destroy her.

  The crowd pleaded for more, and Pearl gladly obliged, playing requests for several more minutes before Reverend Gooding reminded everyone there was food waiting outside and laughingly hinted that a lot of the men were getting hungry. The congregation clapped once more for Pearl and began breaking up, and Lettie spotted Nial Bentley talking to Pearl. He embraced her and was obviously congratulating her. He had young Chloris on his arm, and Lettie almost laughed at the proud look on the rather plain girl's face. She had been after Nial for a long time, and had finally snared him.

  She had not seen Nial herself since she had sent him away after he had tried to kiss her. He had invited Luke and her to his wedding at Essex Manor, but Luke had made up an excuse for declining. Now Lettie could feel Luke's irritation by the way he held her arm as they approached Pearl. Not only did he not like Nial talking to his wife, he didn't even like the man talking to his children. They made their way to the front of the little church, greeting Nial coolly. Nial reddened a little, nodding to Lettie, putting his hand out to Luke, who shook it reluctantly.

  "I was just congratulating Pearl," Nial said, looking at Lettie again. "I have missed hearing her play, and I see she has only gotten better. Have you decided whether to send her to Chicago?"

  "Yes, I believe we will," Lettie answered cordially. "It's rather obvious we would be doing our daughter an injustice if we did not allow her to study music."

  Nial did not miss the accent on our daughter. He looked at Luke. "Yes, well, you must be a very proud man today, Luke. And, by the way, I am sorry about what happened a few months ago. I was in Europe at the time. Chloris and I have been traveling even more since then, just got back only a month ago after vis
iting my ranch in Wisconsin. I apparently missed quite a spectacle with the hanging and all. I'm just sorry for the reason. I truly mean that. If I had been here and more money had been needed, I would have given it to you without ever expecting it back."

  Luke was surprised by the sincerity in the man's eyes, but he knew the main reason for the gesture was Lettie and Katie. "I appreciate what you're saying," he answered, putting an arm around Katie, who was looking down. "Katie's going to be all right." He gave her a squeeze. Katie raised her eyes to look at Nial, knowing Luke hated it when she acted bashful or ashamed. Her parents had helped instill a new pride in herself, had smothered her with love and attention, had prayed with her and preached to her, to the point that coming to town today and facing people had not been nearly as unbearable as she had thought it might be. "In fact, Katie baked several of the pies out there waiting to be eaten," Luke added. "She's one hell of a pie maker, and damn smart to boot. Elsie Yost is expecting again and having a hard time of it, so Katie has taken over tutoring Pearl and Robbie in their lessons, as well as several of the other children living at the ranch."