Joshua (Book 2): Traveler

by John S. Wilson

  At last he was walked out over the trapdoor and the rope was put around his neck. It was time, justice would finally be done. The door suddenly dropped and so did Rob. When he came to the end of the rope, his head was ripped off. His headless body lay below the scaffold. They say his heart kept pumping for over a minute, the blood saturating the snowy ground.

  They all stood there watching, half the mob in horror and the other half in delight.

  Afterwards, an investigation showed that the hangman was all new to this and had made the rope too long. He wouldn’t make that mistake the next time.

  Hannah lay in her bed with a guard just outside. She could tell by the sound of the crowd the exact moment Robert died. The girl said a prayer for his soul although she knew he didn’t want her to. She spent the rest of the night tossing around in the bed, wondering if her fate would be the same.

  The girl’s trial started promptly at 9:00 that morning. Judge Stewart told all of them there were only a few witnesses and she hoped it would be over in no more than a day or two. The same jury was sworn in for this new trial and made to promise they wouldn’t hold any testimony, evidence, or the outcome of the previous one against the girl.

  Both sides gave their opening arguments and the prosecution proceeded with its side of the story. Then they started swearing witnesses in.

  Several people identified the girl as the same one that was with the gang that had robbed or harassed them. The most damming witness was Sarah Whitman. While on the stand talking about her husband, she began weeping, telling the jury how he was dead and it was all Hannah’s fault.

  Several members of the jury and Hannah were brought to tears.

  After lunch, it was time for the defense to make its case. They brought several witnesses, including Vira, Nancy Kurtzman, and Carol, all of them testified to how the girl had changed her life and deserved a second chance. Carol made the best impression on the jury, telling them how Hannah had worked for the welfare of the group and about the good works she did for refugees and other people she barely knew.

  Late in the day, her attorney asked Hannah to get on the stand but the girl refused. Carol tried to talk her into it too but Hannah wouldn’t budge. At that point her attorney asked for another short recess so they could talk to the girl.

  The three went into the laundry room of the old house but Carol stopped the girl’s attorney at the door. “Do you mind if I speak to her alone?”

  “No, if you think it will help.”

  Carol shut the door, only the two of them in the room. “Hannah, what’s going on? Don’t you know how serious this is? Sarah Whitman’s testimony was damning. You could be convicted of murder if you don’t testify. You have to get on that stand.”

  The girl was resolute, “No, no I don’t. I don’t want to and I don’t have to.”

  “What do you mean you don’t want to? Do you want to be convicted?”

  “Did it ever occur to you, Carol, that I am guilty?”

  “No, you’re not guilty, Hannah.”

  “Did it ever occur to you that Sarah Whitman is right, her husband is dead and it’s all my fault.”

  “No ... she’s not right.”

  “I didn’t think so either, when this trial started, I guess I was just fooling myself. But sitting there listening to all the testimony, I have to admit they’re right. I led Rob and the guys to the Whitmans. I showed them where they lived, told them about their defenses. That poor couple was left with nothing, that’s the reason they were out wandering on the road in the middle of winter, that’s why Mister Whitman was killed trying to get some food. If it wasn’t for me they would still be living in that nice little place of theirs. Sarah Whitman, the prosecutor, they’re both right, I am guilty. I deserve to die.”

  Carol’s resolve was gone. “I don’t know what to say, Hannah. If that’s how you think, it’s best you don’t testify. I would tell you again that this isn’t your fault, but I can see you wouldn’t believe me.”

  The two got up and went back to court. Without any more defense witnesses, closing arguments began.

  Hannah’s attorney did a competent job. He told them the girl wasn’t the cause of Mark Whitman’s death and noted she was miles away from where it happened, and how he died from his own mistakes. The attorney also had to admit that while the girl was a thief, she had turned her life around and deserved a second chance.

  Then the prosecution attorney began, speaking for a half hour, recommitting all Hannah’s crimes to the jury’s memory. She spoke about Mark Whitman’s unnecessary death and how Hannah was the cause of it all. She closed her summation by noting that there were no jails now, death could be the only true penalty for murder.

  Judge Stewart gave her instructions to the jury but as she finished Carol stood up and interrupted. She asked if she might say a few words to the jury herself.

  The judge and the prosecution both reluctantly agreed.

  Carol started by repeating what Hannah’s attorney said, that the child was miles away when Whitman died and how it was his own bad judgment that killed him in the end. She then discussed Hannah changing her life and committing herself to God. Carol recounted several instances where the girl had put others first since and had done a lot of good for this world. She asked the jury if mercy wasn’t deserved when people truly changed their lives. By the end, she was on her knees right in front of them, crying, begging for Hannah’s life.

  Judge Stewart ended it there, reprimanding Carol for the “theatrics” and then repeating her instructions to the jury. By now it was late in the day but the judge sent them out to deliberate right then.

  They considered the question of Hannah’s guilt through the night but couldn’t come to a decision. That morning they sent the judge a note. The question they asked was if it was theirs to decide what exact punishment the accused might receive.

  In open court, Judge Stewart informed them they could recommend any punishment, if it was used in America at any time it could be used by them. She then informed the jury that theirs was the final decision. She could only make recommendations to them.

  Just before noon the jury returned.

  Hannah sat at her table staring at the jury, Carol by her side. The older woman took her friend’s hand. “It’s going to be all right Hannah, I know it is.”

  The judge finally spoke, “Has the jury reached a verdict on all counts?”

  The jury’s foreman, a kindly looking older man Hannah didn’t know, stood up. He addressed Judge Stewart, “Yes, Your Honor.”

  Judge Stewart turned to the girl, “Hannah Leightman, stand up.”

  Hannah stood along with her attorney and friend by her side.

  The judge began reading from a list, “On the first count of robbery, how does the jury find?”

  “Guilty, Your Honor.

  The crowd started muttering amongst themselves.

  “On the second count of robbery, how does the jury find?”

  “Guilty, Your Honor.”

  “On the third count of robbery, how does the jury find?”

  “Guilty, Your Honor.”

  “On the fourth count of robbery, how does the jury find?”

  “Guilty, Your Honor.”

  Judge Stewart stopped and looked back at Hannah a moment, then went to her list again. “On the fifth count, murder, how does the jury find?”

  The man paused and looked right at the girl as he spoke, “Guilty, Your Honor.”

  The crowd went wild.

  Hannah felt numb. Carol put her arm around the girl to hold her up, and she started weeping herself. Nancy Kurtzman and Vira came running to the girl’s side, both with tears in their eyes.

  At last Judge Stewart calmed the crowd down. “Has the jury decided on a sentence?”

  It went completely quiet again.

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “Was the decision unanimous?”

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “Please inform the court your recommended punishment.
”

  “We the jury recommend the following punishment: for each count of robbery, five lashes on the bare back with a whip. For each count of murder, thirty lashes on the bare back with a whip, and permanent banishment.”

  The crowd went wild again.

  Sarah Whitman began crying too.

  The judge stood up and waved her hands in the air, “Everybody settle down! Quiet!

  It took a short while but the crowd went still again.

  Judge Stewart sat back down as she wiped a tear from her own eye.

  Hannah stood there shaking, her friends at her side.

  “Hannah Leightman, having been found guilty of four counts of robbery and one count of murder, I order that the following punishment be carried out immediately. You are to be taken outside and tied to a post. Your shirt will be removed. You will be given fifty lashes with a whip. You will then be given your rifle and one week’s worth of provisions. You then have exactly seven days to be out of the jurisdiction of this court, which for this proceeding I will assess at fifty miles. I also order that if you ever return to this jurisdiction again, the penalty will be death by hanging.”

  Sarah Whitman suddenly screamed out, “You call that justice?!” A guard restrained her as she cursed Hannah and tried to make her way towards the girl.

  Two guards took Hannah by both arms and escorted her outside. Judge Stewart, Hannah’s friends, and the rest of the mob were right behind.

  The judge directed them to the gallows where Rob’s life had so violently ended. They stopped at the base of the tall wooden structure and Judge Stewart spoke again. “Take your top off, Hannah.”

  The girl started to take off her blouse, her fingers trembling as she undid each button. She slipped out of it and gave it to Carol, and reluctantly pulled her undershirt off over her head. She stood there in front of the mob shivering, covering herself with her hands.

  A guard came with a length of rope and they tied her by the wrists to the corner beam of the scaffold.

  Hannah stood there with her back exposed to the crowd, her arms tied above her head, her entire body shaking.

  Carol tried with little success to comfort her friend, “It’s all right, Hannah, this will all be over soon.”

  They all stood there waiting in the silence, the girl more frightened with every minute that went by.

  At last a man came running through the crowd with a leather whip, “Here you go,” and handed it to the hangman. He seized it by the handle and took a tight grip on it. He stood there, waiting for his orders.

  Judge Stewart gave the word, “Just do it, get it over with.”

  Hannah stood there waiting for it, and then it came, a blinding pain running the length of her back. She jumped when it hit her and braced herself for the next one right as it came. The girl tensed up her arms and back trying to control the pain as the lash hit her yet again.

  A shouting started coming from the crowd, some appalled and some cheering the hangman on.

  The blows were coming fast and hard; the girl told herself to hang on, there couldn’t be many more.

  Then she could hear among the throng a growing sound as she tried to hang on for just one minute more, “ELEVEN! TWELVE! THIRTEEN! FOURTEEN! FIFTEEN! SIXTEEN! SEVENTEEN!”

  Hannah’s back was aflame but each new bite of the whip was as agonizing as the first.

  She prayed to God that this would be over soon as she listened to the mob put a number on her pain. “TWENTY-TWO! TWENTY-THREE! TWENTY-FOUR! TWENTY-FIVE! TWENTY-SIX!”

  Through the anguish there came a peculiar feeling to her, a warm and wet sensation running down her back.

  At that moment a single voice pierced the chant of the crowd. It was a women’s voice the girl didn’t know. “PLEASE STOP THIS!”

  The blows continued to come, each one as cruel as the first. Hannah didn’t think she would survive to the end.

  “THIRTY-THREE! THIRTY-FOUR! THIRTY-FIVE!”

  The girl stood there as long as she could. Suddenly her strength was gone and her legs gave way, they buckled but she was held there hanging by her wrists.

  She heard the voice come from the crowd again, “THAT’S ENOUGH! PLEASE STOP THIS!”

  Hannah tried to stand up but didn’t have the strength; she swung there hanging from the post, the agony without end.

  The pain kept coming again and again. “THIRTY-NINE! FORTY! FORTY-ONE! FORTY-TWO!”

  The unknown woman screamed out, she spoke for at least a few in this crowd, “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE STOP THIS!”

  Hannah knew it was near the end now, if she could just hold on a few seconds more.

  “FORTY-SEVEN! FORTY-EIGHT! FORTY-NINE!”

  Hannah smiled, somehow she survived.

  “FIFTY!” The crowd shouted out with a deafening cheer.

  Someone ran up and cut the ropes that held her in the air and Hannah collapsed into Carol’s waiting arms. Her friend held her there, keeping the girl from falling in the blood spotted snow. “Hannah, you’re going to be all right. I promise.”

  Hannah blacked out for a moment and was in Carol’s arms again, the woman’s eyes filled with tears and her hands and arms smeared with blood.

  A single soldier ran up with a clean towel and wrapped it around the girl, he took her in his arms and quickly cut a path through the mob.

  Carol was right behind her friend as they made their way to the house through the applauding crowd, some of them spitting or cursing at the girl, most calling out for more. “I can’t believe these people ... I’m ashamed to know them.”

  They put Hannah on Nancy’s bed, stomach down, and in and out of consciousness. The doctor was called.

  The girl woke again and from a haze could see Judge Stewart and Carol standing there across the room.

  Judge Stewart’s was the voice she first recognized, “I can’t believe it. I’ve never seen a public whipping before. I didn’t think it would be that bad.”

  Then she heard Carol’s voice too, “Bad? That wasn’t bad, it was horrific. That’s one of the ugliest things I have ever witnessed. What’s Hannah supposed to do now, put her shirt back on and get out of town?”

  “No, of course not, I’ll give her some time to mend. I didn’t think it would be that bad ...”

  Hannah passed out again and woke with a painful tugging to her back. The doctor had his hands full stitching this mess up.

  Doctor Todde could see she was awake again, “Hannah, do you know who I am? We’ve met once before.”

  The girl was weak, but there, “Yes, you’re a doctor, your name is Todde.”

  “That’s right. Do you know where you are?”

  Hannah looked over her shoulder and all around, “This is Nancy’s bedroom, isn’t it?”

  “It is.”

  “How am I? Am I bad?”

  “You’re pretty cut up, but I can fix you, don’t worry. Is the pain bad?”

  “Yes ...”

  The doctor turned to a shadowy figure standing in the corner, “Carol ...”

  Carol suddenly came into view and picked up a bottle and a glass of water sitting there on the dresser. “Hannah, take these, they’ll help with the pain.” She helped the girl sit up some and take the pills; even swallowing was excruciating. “Lie back down; the doctor has a lot more work to do.”

  The girl tried to get up, “I have to go; if I don’t they’ll hang me.”

  But with little effort Carol and the doctor eased her back down on the bed. Carol said, “Don’t worry about that. Let’s get your wounds healed first.”

  It took fifty-two stitches to put Hannah back together again and then the doctor and Carol bound her wounds up tight. For the next two and a half days, the girl came in and out of her dream world, but by Tuesday morning she was feeling well enough to sit up in bed and eat again.

  Carol sat in a chair reading while Hannah rested in bed; since the sentence she hardly left the girl’s side.

  Hannah slowly sat up and put her feet on the fl
oor, the first time in days. She had to talk to her older friend. “Carol, I’ve got to go. Help me get up.”

  “You’re not going anywhere right now, Hannah, you have to get better first.”

  She tried to stand but barely had the strength, “I’ve got to go. I heard you and Judge Stewart talking last night ...”

  “What did you hear?”

  “I heard her say that I had to go, that people were threatening Nancy for letting me stay here ... that they were even threatening to burn this house down if I didn’t go.”

  Carol sat there holding her book and the words didn’t come easy, “Oh, I thought you were asleep.”

  “No, I heard all of it. Carol, I know you love me, that you want to take care of me, but you’re just making this worse.”

  “How so?”

  “You were in court, you heard the sentence, banishment. I can’t stay here, and the longer you put it off the worse you’ll make it for you and my other friends. Do you think you can talk Judge Stewart out of it?”

  Carol now had a self-conscious look on her face. “Well, I’ve been trying to do just that ...”

  “You know you’re not going to talk her out it. I’ve been sentenced, she’s just following it. You won’t change her mind. I’m not above the law.”

  “Hannah, you’re just a girl, you don’t understand ...”

  “Please stop calling me a girl. I’m not a little girl, I’m a woman, please start treating me like one. I’m almost eighteen, I’m a convicted felon. I’ve been convicted of murder. I know I look younger than I am but I’m an adult. The court treated me like an adult, I wish you would too.”

  “What do you want, Hannah?”

  “I want you to face up to reality.”

  “Which is?”

  “That I can’t stay here much longer. There’s a lot of people around here angry with me, they thought I got off way too easy. I heard you talking, don’t deny it.”

  “Yes, that’s certainly true. But give them time, Hannah, they’ll forgive you.”

  “No, no they won’t. Something like that ... there is no forgiveness, ever. Carol, you’re going to have to accept the fact that I have go. You have to.”