by Linda Bridey
“I know and we have to be prepared for that, but I think he may be right. Just listen to me,” Dean said and went on to outline the reasons it would be beneficial.
By the time Dean was done, Joe was convinced. “I knew putting you on the council was the right decision. Let’s go.”
Hannah lie in bed that night unaware of the debate taking place over the fate of the man she loved. It had been a busy day at the clinic thanks to Doc’s impromptu tongue lashing in the town square. People were coming into the clinic again and while they had been reserved at first, Marcus’ wit and compassionate personality had won them over again. Hannah had even seen sympathy for her in some of the women’s eyes as they looked at her bruises and they had inquired after her well-being.
After she’d arrived home, Raven had shown up and she’d quickly gotten him in the house. She told him that Owl was doing well but that he missed everyone.
Raven had given her a small parcel and said, “It’s his favorite pemmican. Aunt Squirrel made it for him. Will you give it to him?”
“Absolutely, I will. He’ll be very happy to have it,” Hannah said as she stroked the boy’s hair.
“Ok. I better get back to camp. I’ll tell Father what you said. Thanks,” he said and had given her a quick hug.
“Raven, please be careful. Be sneaky like Owl says you can be,” she’d said.
“I will. Goodbye,” he said and had faded away into the night.
She couldn’t sleep because her mind kept playing all of the special moments she’d shared with Owl and the way their unlikely relationship had developed. His dark, exotic looks and smile had captivated her from the first moment they’d met. Hannah had been stunned the day that Owl had kissed her in the examination room at the clinic.
She put her fingers to her mouth as she remembered it. Hannah had been caught up in the sensual spell in which he could entrap her without even trying. Resisting his kiss hadn’t even entered her mind. It had been wildly improper, but she hadn’t cared. Pulling his pillow close, Hannah inhaled his scent and cried until she fell into fitful slumber.
Dean arrived home to find Tessa in a frantic state.
“Have you seen Mikey?” she asked him. Her eyes were wild with fear.
He grasped her arms and said, “No, I haven’t. It’s late. He’s not in bed?”
“No. We’ve looked everywhere. He’s not here,” Tessa said. “Do you think he went to the camp?”
They had repeatedly told Mikey that he couldn’t go to camp anymore for a while and while Mikey had been saddened by it, he seemed to understand.
“I don’t know. Is his horse here?” Dean asked.
His question stopped Tessa and she said, “I don’t know.”
“I’ll go look,” Dean said and ran to the barn. Shadow’s stall was empty. “Damn it, Mikey.” He thought about what Owl had told him about no whites going to the camp under the threat of death and he began to saddle Twister. He had to get to camp. Once the horse was saddled, Dean did something he hadn’t done in years; he retrieved his gun holster and gun from the locked chest in the tack room where he kept them and strapped them on. As he left the tack room, he encountered Seth.
Seth saw the guns and said, “Let me saddle Hank and I’ll go with you.”
The two men tore through the darkness on their mounts that were now well acquainted with the trail to the camp. They never announced their identity to the sentry. Instead they rode at full speed right through the camp to Black Fox’s tipi. The man himself sat by the fire outside his home and stood up as soon as he saw them.
“What are you doing here? You cannot be here,” Black Fox said.
“Where’s Mikey?” Dean demanded.
“I haven’t seen him,” Black Fox said.
“I don’t believe you,” Dean said.
By now there were many braves surrounding Dean and his brother. Seth had his pistol pulled and he aimed one at Red Bear’s head and said, “First one that moves is a dead man.”
Black Fox put a hand up and signaled that the braves were not to harm the brothers.
“Has anyone seen Mikey? Speak now and do not lie!” Black Fox yelled.
Brown Snake said, “He did not come down the trail my way. Sentries, have you seen the boy?”
None of the other sentries had seen him.
Black Fox said, “There is your answer. Even if we had seen him, no harm would come to him. We would simply send him back home.”
“That’s a good thing,” Dean said dismounting. He walked right over to Black Fox and looked up at him. “What’s with disowning Marcus? He didn’t do anything wrong.”
Black Fox gave Dean a warning look. “That is what the council has decided.”
“I know that’s what they decided. It’s bull crap,” Dean said.
He Who Runs appeared and said, “That’s funny coming from you. Isn’t that what you did?”
Dean gave him a malicious smile. “Yep. I did. You’re right. But it wasn’t for the reasons you think. It had nothing to do with his Lakota blood. He kept you all secret from us for years. I felt like he should have been able to tell me anything and I would have understood. That was my problem. I may have disowned him, but I never said I’d kill him if he came around. I never threatened any of you over it, either. I never forbid any of our other family from seeing him.”
Dean turned to the rest of them and glared at them defiantly. “I also never would have threatened his children and wife, people you say you supposedly love. You don’t just stop loving someone who you were so close to. I learned that lesson and Marcus and I have worked things out. But in this case, you’ve disowned an innocent man and his wife and children. Little kids who don’t understand why they can’t come see their family. My children who can’t come see their family. It’s disgusting what you’ve done.” He looked at Black Fox again. “You may have turned your backs on Marcus, but I won’t turn my back on Owl just because he’s Lakota. I’m standing by him. Too bad you couldn’t do the same for Marcus. C’mon, Seth. Let’s get out of here.”
Dean mounted and he and Seth turned their horses around and galloped from camp.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mikey had gone in town to see his Uncle Owl, not to the camp. Jack had admonished his little brother fiercely, but had ended up letting him see Owl. Mikey had tried not to cry when he saw him, but he couldn’t help it. Owl had comforted the boy the best he could and told him to try not to worry. He told Mikey his favorite Lakota story and then Jack had taken him back to the ranch while Sammi stayed at the office.
The boy had been alternately hugged and scolded by his parents and then put to bed. Jack had gone back to the sheriff’s office. He’d just sat down when Mitch and Joe walked in. They went back to see Owl.
“Hey, how’s my favorite prisoner?” Joe said with a smile.
“Bored. Worried. Missing Hannah. Take your pick,” Owl said as he joined the mayor and sheriff at the cell door.
“Well, you got your way. The council agreed that it would be in the best interests of the town for your case to be decided by a special trial by the townspeople. They want this over with as quickly as you do, apparently. The trial will be in one week. Owl, you have to know that whatever they decide, it’ll be binding. If they find you guilty, I won’t be able to stop an execution,” Joe said.
Owl sighed and nodded. “I understand and I’ll accept whatever decision they make. Thank you for helping me.”
“You’re welcome,” Joe said. “It’s going to be decided by vote. People will have a chance to speak either on your behalf or against you, so be prepared for a lot of insults. Whatever is said, do not react. You can’t show any signs of anger. Understand?”
“Yes, I understand,” Owl said.
Joe nodded. “Good. I admire you for how calm you are about this. I sure wouldn’t be. Hang in there, Owl.”
The two men left him for the night and Owl lay down on his cot. He might appear calm on the outside, but inside, his stomach churned an
d his heartbeat ran fast as he thought about the possibility of never being able to see Hannah’s face or hold her again if they found him guilty.
He closed his eyes and thought about giving Hannah her first riding lesson. The joy on her face as she’d closed her eyes and held her arms out while her horse had cantered along had enchanted him. She was a courageous woman, his Hannah. She’d come to Dawson expecting one kind of future, but fate had intervened and left her stranded instead.
Not to be deterred, she had turned those unfortunate events into something positive. She’d found work and made friends. He smiled as he thought, she wasn’t afraid to become involved with me despite my being Lakota, either. As he looked back on all of this, Owl knew that he wanted to marry her, but now there were so many obstacles in the way that he didn’t know if that would be possible even if he were set free.
Silent tears leaked from the corners of his eyes as he lay in the dark thinking about all that could have been.
During the next week, preparations for the trial were made. It was an unusual situation for the town. Joe and the council decided that they wanted it to be an orderly affair and were taking every precaution to ensure that it would be. Each side would have three speakers who would have no more than ten minutes to talk. After that, the votes would be cast and counted by Pastor John so that no one could say the vote was rigged. The trial would be held at the community center so there was plenty of room.
Elliot Bradbury was the only other witness besides Hannah who had actually seen the act itself. Both of them were to testify. Hannah was eager to tell her story and Elliot promised to be truthful about the event. George Levine, the president of the council would direct the proceedings to keep things on track. He knew neither Owl nor Clive very well and would be able to stay impartial.
Joe was pleased with how things were coming together, but still wasn’t hopeful that this would be better than a trial in front of a judge. He did feel that it was better than vigilante justice and had been worried that Clive’s family was going to amass a posse to attack the jail and kill Owl outright along with a lot of other people before the case would get to trial.
Those kinds of things had happened not so long ago in and around Dawson and it seemed that no one on the council wanted that kind of violence in their town again. While unusual, all agreed that this was the best course of action. Once the event was set up, Joe had ceased to go to see Owl and he didn’t confer with anyone on either side about anything more. He would attend the trial as a bystander and not interfere.
Hannah spent as much time with Owl as possible and when Sammi was working, she usually let Hannah into the cell with Owl. Jack set up a checker board outside Owl’s cell and taught him how to play the game. If Owl was bored before, he wasn’t any more. There seemed to be one visitor or another to see him.
Owl missed his Lakota family, though. He wanted to see his brothers again in case the vote didn’t go his way and he was put to death. Owl had wanted to speak for himself, but Seth didn’t think that was a good idea.
“What would you say?” Seth had asked.
Owl had replied, “That he was going to kill Hannah so I killed him. Why does it have to be so complicated?”
“Do you want to live?” Seth had asked.
“Yes.”
“Then you keep your mouth shut.”
Therefore he’d chosen Marcus, Jake, and Tessa to speak for him. Dean had questioned the decision for his wife to speak, but Seth thought it was a great idea.
“You know what kind of speeches Tessa writes. Just think what she’ll come up with. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that she’s a woman. I don’t think Clive’s family has a woman speaking for them. We gotta keep this under wraps. No one tells who his speakers are gonna be,” Seth said.
Dean would not be sitting on the council the day of the trial since he was close with the defendant. Everyone was trying to keep it fair and Dean felt that he should recuse himself for that exact purpose. He could vote, but that was it. He and Marcus had had a long talk about what had happened with his Lakota family.
He’d confronted Marcus about why he’d had to hear about it from Owl. Marcus had said that he hadn’t told anyone but Owl and Claire. He hadn’t been able to talk about it yet because it had still been too raw. Dean had understood and his anger had quickly dissipated.
The night before the trial, Sammi and Mitch guarded the jail. Hannah was allowed to stay as long as she wanted. She and Owl were given a lot of privacy since this might be the last evening they would get to spend together. Sammi would have let Hannah into Owl’s cell, but she knew Mitch would never go for that. However, when Mitch left to stretch his legs a little, she ran back to Owl’s cell and opened the door.
“Make it quick,” she said and kept watch on the door.
Owl and Hannah needed no further urging. They quickly embraced and Owl kissed her long and hard. Hannah’s hands had fisted in his shirt as desire swept through her. When Sammi whispered for Hannah to get out of the cell, Owl let her go and Hannah saw the same hunger in his dark eyes. Sammi yanked her from the cell and closed it quietly. There wasn’t time to lock it properly before Mitch poked his head around the corner.
“Hannah, it’s time to leave. I’m sorry,” he said. His brown eyes held genuine regret. “It’s getting late. Jake’s gonna take you home since he closed the bar early.”
Hannah nodded. “All right. Thank you.”
Mitch looked at his wife. “Lock it, Sammi,” he said.
“What?” Sammi said.
“Lock the cell door,” Mitch said.
“How did you know?” Sammi said as she followed his order.
“Because I know you and if I wasn’t the sheriff, I would have done the same thing,” he said with a wink and then went to his desk.
The three of them looked at each other and laughed. Sammi left them alone for a few more moments. Owl and Hannah didn’t speak. Their eyes said all they needed to say to each other. Then Hannah turned and left quickly. She followed Jake to their horses and mounted her horse. As Jake escorted her home, Hannah tried not to cry, but it was a losing battle and by the time they got to her house, her shoulders shook with sobs.
Jake got her off her horse and he helped her inside. He got her situated on her sofa and then tended to her horse. By the time that Jake came back inside Hannah had composed herself. Jake made sure she would be all right before leaving again.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Elliot Bradbury testified first the next morning. The quiet store manager was very nervous about talking in front of so many people, but he did his duty like the good citizen he was.
“I was in the men’s room when I heard Clive yelling at Hannah Fairbanks. Then I heard Clive say that he was going to cut her throat if someone tried anything. I didn’t know who he was talking to. I was going to come to her defense but when I came out of the bathroom behind Clive, he turned to look at me and that’s when I saw Owl throw his knife and kill Clive. Then Sammi arrested Owl. That’s it.”
Hannah settled in the witness chair next and said, “I had gone to the ladies’ room and when I came out, Clive was waiting for me. He made rude remarks to me about me not marrying him even though I was supposed to have. I’m sure everyone knows what happened when I first came here, so I won’t go into that, except to say that Clive was a manipulative and deceitful person.”
“Anyway, we exchanged words and he wouldn’t let me pass to rejoin my friends and Owl. He grabbed me and slapped me. Then he shook me, hurting my arms, and when I fought back, he punched me and began to strangle me.”
Hannah had to stop there to compose herself as the memories came back to her then. She’d been suppressing them and now that she was actually talking about the attack again, they surfaced.
“I couldn’t breathe and my face hurt so badly. I couldn’t see right out of my left eye and I felt as if he were crushing my windpipe. Then he was behind me and put a knife against my throat and threatened to kill me. I didn’t know why
, but I felt him turn around, and I saw Owl throw his knife. If Owl hadn’t, I would be dead now. It wouldn’t have mattered to me, who threw the knife, I would be grateful to them for saving my life.”
Owl watched her go back to sit with Jamie and Lacey and longed to go to her. The whole time she’d been testifying about the detestable and cowardly things Clive had done to her, he’d clamped one hand around the other to prevent making fists. Marcus had also warned him against showing any sign of aggression. He stopped looking at Hannah as the first speaker took the floor.
Clive’s side had requested to speak first after the witnesses and since Owl’s side didn’t have any objection to that, they were allowed. Clive’s brother Reggie spoke about what a good brother Clive had always been and what a hard worker Clive was.
Marcus made notes as Reggie spoke, which seemed to unnerve the man. Claire had told Marcus that lawyers did this during trials she had gone to see while she still lived in Pittsburgh. Reggie kept looking at Marcus and getting off track, which ate up some of the man’s time. Marcus’ tactic didn’t work with Morris Albertson, Clive’s best friend. Morris was a good speaker and made an impassioned plea for justice for his friend who didn’t deserve to be killed, especially by a vicious Indian like Owl.
Owl sat looking straight ahead. He was handcuffed and Jack and Sammi flanked him during the trial. He listened to the many insults hurled at him by Reggie and never flinched. He’d been adamant about wearing his own clothing and Hannah thought he looked incredibly handsome and proud. It didn’t help his case, though, because he looked like what Reggie was trying to make him out to be.
When Reggie finished, there was a general outcry from the crowd to just hang Owl right then. Mitch and his deputies had to quiet things down before the trial could go on. Vince Cooper was the last speaker for Clive’s side.
“I’ve been friends with Clive since we were kids,” Vince said, “and I know that he had faults. I wasn’t blind to them, but he was there for me a lot when I had rough times. Nobody’s perfect. But Clive worked hard to make a living and he was lonely, which was why he put an ad in the paper for a bride.”
