“Could be, but I don’t quite see the connection.”
“What if he had an interest in the blond girl back east? He took her out a couple of times, but then when he wanted to get serious, her father put an end to it? Maybe the robbery was a cover-up for his real intention—murder?”
Trace ran a hand down his long beard in thought.
Sky went on. “A couple of months ago Fraser mentioned in passing that this lunatic—that was his exact word—was interested in his daughter. He told her suitor in no uncertain terms that he was not to call on Alice again. You following me now?”
Trace nodded, understanding lighting his eyes.
“I need to know the man’s name. His tracks are all over here, and Lee Chang recognized his description. I think he had something to do with this.”
Trace thought for only a moment. “Percival Hunter.”
Sky frowned. His heart rate quickened as all the pieces suddenly began to fall into place. “He rode the stage up from Lewiston with you and my wife, Brooke, didn’t he?”
“Yeah.” Trace nodded.
“Well, my wife wasn’t afraid of Percival then. She was very comfortable around him, in fact.” Sky was thinking out loud. “But on the night of the murder she saw a man, which she claimed was you, in the alley by Fraser’s store. Now, you told me you weren’t here that night, and all of a sudden at the funeral that day my wife turned pale as death itself over something. Was Percival Hunter at Fraser’s funeral?”
Trace nodded.
Sky rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe Brooke saw him and it was him she was afraid of. Now what does that tell you?”
“That something happened to make her afraid of Hunter between the time she first met him and the day of the funeral.”
“Exactly. I think he was the man in the alley. Maybe he saw her and somehow got to her and threatened her into silence.”
Sky’s body trembled as he spoke. He snatched his hat from his head and raked a hand back through his hair in agitation. To actually say these things out loud and realize that they made sense caused his blood to run cold with fear for Brooke. That someone had been near her, threatening her and causing her terror, was unforgivable.
He straightened at the next thought. He had seen Percival’s tracks in the barn yard even before the night of the murder. Hunter had been following Brooke for a while.
Rage coursed through every vein in his body. He pictured Brooke’s strawberry-blond curls and forced himself to say the next words even as his heart hammered with dread at the thought. “I think he will be paying our farm a visit, and maybe I can help you get the information you need to arrest him and get a conviction. Probably not for this crime, because Lee Chang doesn’t seem to want to talk, but hopefully for that other one.”
Trace Johnson eyed Sky as he turned his hat around by the rim. “Are you too close to this one to think clearly?”
Sky chuckled nervously. “Probably, but I’m all the hope you’ve got.”
Trace nodded. “I’ll head out to your place right now if it will make you feel any better.”
“Yeah, I think it would, thanks. My mother and dad are out there. Dad’s a lawman, but he’s not expecting any trouble, so you might want to give him the heads-up. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Sky pushed his hat back onto his head.
Trace moved off silently in the direction of his horse.
Sky prayed like he never had before that the Lord would protect Brooke until he could get home again.
Brooke moved the horse confidently through the brush now, not bothering to keep quiet. Pierce City was just over the next little rise. She ducked under a large branch that stretched across the trail and moved ahead, intent on her goal.
When she had first left the house, all of Sky’s warnings about the men of the posse, not to mention thoughts about Percival Hunter, had come to mind. However, the heavy feel of the .22 in her dress pocket reassured her. If anyone accosted her, she would simply pull it out, point it in their direction, and they would have to let her pass.
She pressed on, wishing she had told Sky the truth earlier. Then this little morning jaunt would not be necessary. But she knew innocent men might be convicted if she didn’t arrive and tell all she had really seen. Which, when she stopped to think about it, wasn’t much, but she must have seen something important…otherwise why would Percival have threatened her the way he did?
What had she actually seen that night? She fiddled with the loose ends of the reins as she tried to think of anything incriminating she might have seen and just not recognized.
The snapping of branches caught her attention. She lifted her head and pulled her mount to a stop, listening. Another horse was coming through the brush to her right!
Sweat broke out all over and she jerked on the reins, but the horse was confused by the sudden jolt and only backed up a few steps.
Percival Hunter rode his horse into the trail in front of her.
She gasped, her heart pounding in her ears. Too late! She froze, unable to think of a thing to do. All the threats this man had made against her came rushing to mind and she swayed in the saddle. Jesus, help me!
“Well,” Percival chuckled sardonically, “if it isn’t little Mrs. Jordan! Simply out for an early morning ride, I suppose?” He eyed her coldly. “You wouldn’t be on your way into town to confess your little lies, would you?”
Brooke’s mouth was so dry she couldn’t have spoken if she had wanted to, but suddenly her mind cleared. She had to get away from this man. Now! Spinning her horse around, she spurred it back down the trail toward home.
Hunter gave an angry roar and galloped after her.
Her breaths came in short gasps and she tried not to think about how closely this situation resembled some of her recurring nightmares. Hooves pounded on the trail directly behind her. Looking back over her shoulder, she could see that Percival was gaining on her. Panic clawed at her heart.
She kicked her heels into the horse’s side and yelled, “Come on, mov—!” As she faced forward, the thick branch that stretched across the trail caught her directly across the forehead. Pain sizzled through her in jagged shards as she jolted backwards in a head-over-heels roll off the galloping horse. She groaned once. Smashed into the ground. Then blessed blackness engulfed her.
Sky leaned one shoulder into the side of a building on the south end of town, making sure he had a clear view of all the proceedings. With his arms folded, ankles crossed, and black hat set low on his head, he affected a casual stance, but in reality his every nerve was on edge. He took note of the positions that Jed and Currey had taken up and was pleased to see they were well spread out, as he had asked them to be.
Chang was brought out first, asked one more time if he had anything to say, and when the answer was negative, he was forced to lie down with his face against the cold ground.
“You can see ‘im breathin’,” called a man from the group.
“And there are no drag marks from the noose to the body,” noted another. “We should at least make it look real.”
Sky shook his head at the unreality of it all as these little details were taken care of. Chang was moved further away from the noose so that the other prisoners wouldn’t be able to see him breathing. Another man dug the heels of his boots deep into the ground and allowed one of his friends to grab him under the arms and drag him from where the noose hung to the location of Chang’s “corpse.”
A sharpshooter stood close enough to Chang to remind him that if he made a move, it would be his last, but far enough away that the prisoners wouldn’t wonder why a gunman was standing guard over a dead body.
Then the next prisoner was brought from the jail and questioned. He was told his fate would be the same as Chang’s if he didn’t tell the truth.
The man stammered out the same story he’d been telling all along. “I-I not h-here that night. I innocent!”
Bymaster slipped the noose over his head, and two other men pulled on the rope, applying p
ressure. The man’s body lifted until his toes scrabbled for purchase on the cold ground.
Sky swallowed and looked down.
Finally they eased the pressure, and the prisoner gasped for air. However, when he could speak again, he still adamantly clung to his innocence.
Bymaster sighed and forced him to lie face down on the ground next to Chang. “Don’t move. Do you understand? Lay still!”
Sky noted Jason’s grim face across the crowd and wondered if he felt the same way he did. Having once been a lawman, Sky found he didn’t have enough fingers to count the number of laws broken in order to coerce some sort of confession from the accused. To even be present during such a breach of constitutional proprieties felt traitorous. Yet looking around at the angry mob Sky knew nothing he could say would make them see it his way.
One by one each prisoner clung to his claim of innocence until the last one, other than Ping Chi, was brought out. As the noose settled around his neck Sky felt his heart go out to the young man. He couldn’t be more than eighteen, but he was one of those whom Ping had indicated had been a part of the murder. His eyes were wide and his breathing spasmodic as he looked first at the “dead” men on the ground and then at the angry crowd of white people before him.
“It not me!” he shouted in response to John’s questions. “It old men. They not like Fraser. They kill him! Not me!”
The moment turned to chaos. One of the elderly men lying on the ground jumped up, ignoring the threat of the guard, and started to yell at the young man in Chinese. The guard was so surprised he didn’t even raise his gun. He stood staring, slack-mouthed, at the shouting-match going on between the two prisoners.
The posse, who had been lounging on the ground, surged to their feet as one and began to argue and mill about in confusion. Above the hubbub Sky heard one distinctively nasal voice that he recognized.
“Let’s hang ‘em all!” Smyth shouted.
Sky moved into action. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jason move, pointing Jed and Bill in the directions they should go and then slipping off in another direction himself.
Moving purposefully toward the front of the mob, Sky helped the young Chinaman down and stepped up onto the chair that sat under the dangling rope. He pulled his gun from its holster and fired two shots into the air.
A loud cry ascended as every man momentarily thought he’d been shot. Then, as each one realized he was unharmed, they began to hit the ground. All of the prisoners and most of the posse lay flat with hands over their heads, and thick silence immediately descended.
Somewhere, Sky heard a squirrel chattering in the trees and found it odd that he would notice such a thing at a time like this.
Bringing his gun down and calmly emptying the two spent chambers, Sky eyed the group of men as he reloaded. “Now, I suggest we all calm down and think rationally before we find ourselves a part of something we will all later regret.”
“What’s one man going to do to us, boys?” Smyth yelled from the middle of the crowd. “We can take him easy! Then we’ll show these Chinks what we do to those who harm our own!”
Smyth rose to his feet and moved toward Sky. The mob surged to their feet and followed him. Sky stood calmly on the chair, not even bothering to raise his gun again.
“No!” John Bymaster stood in front of the crowd, spreading his arms wide as though he could hold the mob back. He was swept into the current of moving bodies, like a dandelion seed blown by the wind.
Suddenly, another shot rang out! A second! A third! With each successive gun blast the throng spun to see first Jason on the roof of the Joss house, then Jed on the porch of the boarding house, and then Bill hanging out the window of Gaffney’s Pioneer Hotel.
“I’ll put a bullet in the first man that moves,” Jason said into the stillness that followed the echoing reports. He spoke in a low relaxed tone, but his deep voice carried to every ear from his elevated position.
“Gaffney, Carle, take those men back to the jail.” Sky gestured in the direction of the fear-paralyzed Chinamen. Then turning back to the suddenly very orderly men before him, he continued, “I think Bymaster has something to say to all of us, and I suggest we all listen.”
John Bymaster, who had finally gained his feet, stepped to the front of the unruly bunch. His voice was loud but a little shaky. “Now listen, men.” He pulled at his collar and straightened his bandanna nervously. “The purpose of this inquiry was to come to some conclusions about who the potentially guilty parties were, and then to send them on to Murray to stand trial in a court of law. You all knew that. It is not our place to carry out judgment, much less punishment.”
A grumbled muttering rose through the crowd, but John stood his ground and gained confidence as he spoke. “I believe our work here is done, men. We will hold over Lee Chang, Ping Chi, and the other three men that Ping indicated were involved in the crime.”
He held a hand aloft as the murmuring took on a frenzied pitch. “They will be sent to Murray, where they will stand trial and we will leave their fate in the hands of the judge and God Almighty. Now I want you all to head out of town. And Smyth! You had better be the first one gone!”
The crowd that had begun to disperse stilled its movement at this last barked word.
“If I so much as see your face within twenty miles of this place after the next ten minutes I will throw you in jail yourself and haul you off to stand trial for attempting to incite a riot!”
“We’ll just see about that!” Smyth threw the parting shot over his shoulder as he turned to head for his horse.
But Sky had seen real fear in the man’s eyes. He knew the type. Smyth wouldn’t be back. The man had bold words, but no courage whatsoever.
Percival Hunter watched the town through his binoculars, unable to keep the grin off his face. “‘Twas all for naught, Mr. Jordan,” he leered. “I don’t plan on letting them get more than two miles out of town.” He chuckled as he lowered the binoculars and scrutinized the town. “And are you ever going to have a big surprise when you get home.”
One heavily jeweled hand picked up a large bulky bag that rested at his feet, and he made his way deeper into the forest to put his plan into motion.
After this was taken care of, he had just a couple more little details to see to, and then he would head back to Lewiston and his fair Alice.
21
Relief flooded Sky. The inquiry was over, and no one had gotten hurt in the process! Most of the men from Lewiston had immediately headed for home, no doubt itching to spread the news of the last couple days’ events. Six trustworthy men were left to guard the prisoners on the way to Murray.
John had asked Sky if he would consider being one of the guards, but he had refused. He wanted to be near Brooke, especially with Percival Hunter in the region. There was no way he would leave her right now. Not when he wondered if a madman might be coming after her. Also, his parents were here, and he wanted to spend some more time with them.
He went to Chang’s Mercantile to tell Jenny everything should be safe now and to ease her fears about her husband. “You could even go visit him at the jail if you want.”
“I do that,” she said sadly. “You tell Brooke, I so proud of her. Happy she know Jesus now.”
“I’ll tell her. Thank you for leading her to the Lord.” He smiled at her.
Jenny shrugged. “Some plant, some water, but God, He make it grow, yes?”
Sky nodded. He contemplated that verse of Scripture as he mounted Geyser and made his way toward home at a fast clip.
He pushed his Stetson back and felt a measure of relief as he rode into the yard. It was good to be home. And he certainly had plenty to catch up on, now that he wouldn’t be needed in town anymore. He glanced toward the house.
Ma stood on the porch, wringing her hands as she watched him approach.
A cold dread started in the pit of his stomach and worked its way upward. He spurred his horse the last several yards and didn’t even bother to dismount. “
What’s the matter?”
“Did you see Brooke in town today?”
“No.” He frowned in question. Fear constricted his chest and blocked his ability to breathe.
“Brooke left us a note this morning saying she had ridden into town to talk with you about something. Your father went after her on foot. He found the horse we rode up from Greer. It was grazing by the trail, but Brooke was nowhere in sight. There was no evidence of a struggle, but as soon as he came back to let me know he’d found the horse, he rode it back up the trail to see if he could find any clues. Didn’t you see him on your way here?”
Sky’s heart sank further with every added word. He shook his head. “Did a man named Trace Johnson come by here today?”
“No. I wonder how you missed Dad?”
“I took a shortcut. It’s pretty steep, so I don’t usually go that way, but it cuts off about ten minutes of travel time between here and town. I probably missed him somewhere in there. I’ll go after him.” He turned back down the trail, trying to calm his pounding heart. What could have happened?
“Sky?” Rachel shouted after him.
He pulled on the reins and turned toward her. Every muscle tightened with dread at the trepidation in her tone.
“I’m sorry, Son, but there was blood all over the saddle and the back of the horse.”
His heart dropped in his chest, and he clenched his eyes shut. He felt sick. Someone might have hurt Brooke. Absolute frustration quickly followed in the face of his own helplessness. He had no idea where she was.
He suddenly remembered his innocent words to Percival Hunter on the morning after their wedding. “Come visit us sometime.” Percival had smiled and replied, “I think I just might.”
Rage pulsed through Sky’s veins. He spun Geyser toward the trail and cantered out of the yard, his eyes fastened to the ground, searching for any clue that might lead him to her. He would do his best to find her. He only prayed he would before it was too late. It would be dark soon, and the chances of finding her after dark…
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