Morgan's Woman

by Judith E. French

  He held her for a long time, until she stopped trembling, and his heartbeat returned to normal.

  "I suppose we need to take them back to Sweetwater for a Christian burial."

  Ash shrugged. "It would be the only decent thing to do." Then he added, "Of course, we could dig graves ourselves. If we had a shovel." He buried his face in her hair and hugged her again. "But since we don't, I'd say it's best we leave them to the coyotes."

  Chapter 24

  It was hot enough to fry eggs on the wooden sidewalks of Sweetwater the afternoon of Tamsin's trial. Not a breath of air stirred in the Rooster's Den, the town's largest saloon.

  Judge Buckson Marlborough, presiding justice, had taken one look at Henry Steele's chambers and appropriated Howie Knight's thriving business establishment for the proceedings. So much attention had been raised by the trial among the good citizens of Colorado Territory that seating was at a premium and the street outside was crowded with gawkers. One enterprising woman had filled the back of her wagon with a barrel of sweet cider, gingerbread, and pies, and was selling slices faster than her husband could count change. Across the street from the Rooster, a Baptist minister stood on a packing crate and preached the gospel to one aging Ute Indian, a German immigrant in lederhosen and steel-toed clodhoppers, and three heavily rouged ladies currently on holiday from their positions at the Rooster's Den.

  Children, dogs, and poultry wandered amid the throng of noisy onlookers. Horses whinnied, chickens scratched, dogs barked, and babies wailed. Shopkeepers had moved their goods to the sidewalks in front of their establishments and were doing a brisk trade.

  Inside the saloon, Tamsin fought a rising nausea in her stomach and tried to make eye contact with the jury as Dimitri had instructed. Twelve stern-faced men sat on hard wooden benches and stared at her with varying degrees of contempt as Henry Steele completed the final minutes of his damning testimony against her.

  The splintery floorboards were sticky under her feet, and the overpowering stench of years of spilled beer, vomit, blood, and stale tobacco made her light-headed. Since her grandfather had always insisted Tamsin had the strength of a workhorse, her physical weakness made her believe that her suspicions were a certainty.

  In the last harried weeks, her woman's time had come and passed without a show of blood. She'd tried to remember the last time she'd had her flow. It was definitely before Sam Steele's death. But after-she couldn't remember.

  She strongly suspected that her intuition had been correct when she'd felt that she and Ash had made a child that glorious day at the hot springs.

  "Tamsin?" Ash laid a hand on her bandaged arm.

  "Mrs. MacGreggor. Are we boring you?" Judge Marl-borough asked.

  His sarcasm sliced through her reverie, and she jerked upright. To her shock, she saw that the witness chair beside the justice's table was empty. Henry Steele had already taken his seat with the prosecutor to her left. The lawyer representing Colorado Territory, Russell King, was a big man with a paunch, gray sideburns, and a double chin.

  "Will you honor us by taking the stand, Mrs. MacGreggor?" King asked sarcastically. The crowd loved his remark. Even two of the jurors snickered.

  "I'm sorry," she murmured as she got to her feet.

  "It's all right," Ash said quietly.

  She really did feel unwell. The room seemed to be pitching. She wondered if they had earthquakes in Colorado.

  Dimitri took her arm and helped her up the two steps to the bottom landing of the staircase where Judge Marl-borough presided. Today the doors to the social chambers above, which Tamsin supposed to be usually well oiled, remained firmly closed. According to her friend and lawyer, the upper floor of the Rooster was given over to lodging for gentlewomen. Tamsin doubted that there was a genuine lady among them.

  Russell King asked question after question, all styled in a manner to make her look guilty. Dimitri had received letters from her hometown assuring the judge that Dancer and Fancy were legally hers. Unfortunately, statements from strangers in Tennessee didn't hold much water here in Colorado.

  Tamsin tried to remain calm. She answered each accusation fully and with dignity. Some truths rang harsh in the courtroom.

  "You admit to this jury that you went to Mr. Steele's stable with the express intention of stealing two valuable thoroughbreds?" the prosecutor asked.

  "You don't understand," Tamsin began. "These were my-"

  "Answer the question," King said.

  "It's not possible to steal my own-"

  Judge Marlborough rapped his gavel on the table. "Yes or no, Mrs. MacGreggor."

  Tamsin bit back a peppery reply and said, "No. I did not."

  King smiled. "Then why, may I ask, were you trespassing on property you had specifically been ordered to stay-"

  "I think you should ask Judge Steele what he was doing there in the middle of the night," she replied.

  "Objection," King protested. "The defendant is evading my questions."

  Tamsin felt hotter and hotter inside the layers of clothing and boned corset Dimitri's wife had insisted she wear. The black silk taffeta folds of the flounced dress with its high collar and tight waist smothered her. Sweat beaded on her face and collected in the hollow of her upper lip. If she didn't get off this witness stand soon, she'd faint.

  "Mrs. MacGreggor. Mrs. MacGreggor, you will answer the questions put to you by…"

  The judge droned on, but Tamsin forced herself to sit straight and keep watching the members of the jury. She shifted her gaze from one to another with what she hoped was an honest demeanor.

  "Your honor," Dimitri said. "I believe my client is unwell. Could you grant a short recess?"

  "Objection," King said. "This is my witness. There's no need to delay this jury-"

  "It's all right," Tamsin said. "I'm fine. I'm ready to proceed."

  King continued with his grilling for nearly an hour; then finally she took her seat at the defense table and Ash clasped her hand.

  "Good work," he whispered. "You'd have my vote for innocent."

  Dimitri put a finger to his lips, warning them to silence as Sam Steele's weeping widow took the stand.

  King's demeanor toward Sarah Steele was totally different from his manner with Tamsin. He spoke softly, sympathetically. He asked only a few questions, then excused her.

  As she stepped down, the widow Steele's gaze met Tamsin's. Quickly Sarah looked away, but not before Tamsin saw her flush.

  "She knows more than she's saying," Tamsin whispered to Dimitri.

  Next, King called Edwards from the livery to testify as to Tamsin's behavior the day she found her horses missing.

  Tamsin listened in disbelief as Edwards described two totally different animals that she supposedly left in his care." He's lying!" she cried.

  "Order!" Judge Marlborough declared. "Hold your tongue, woman, or you'll be removed from my court."

  "Like I said," the stable owner continued, "that woman left an old mare and a black gelding, neither one worth spit. The kid what worked for me, Javier, claims she came back that night with a man that matches the description of the outlaw Jack Cannon and took the horses away. Next day, she starts yellin' she had blooded stock…"

  Ash stared at Edwards, then whispered in Dimitri's ear.

  Tamsin's lawyer jumped to his feet. "Your honor, this man isn't-" King turned and glared at Dimitri. "This is my witness. Mr. Edwards-"

  Ash stood up. "That's the problem, Judge. That's not Edwards on the stand. At least that's not his legal name. He's really Ed Jackson out of Kane's Crossroads, Missouri. He's wanted by the authorities there for horse stealing, extortion, and barn burning. I also believe he should be charged with Javier's murder."

  The witness leapt up, overturning his chair, and fled up the steps behind the judge's table. Pandemonium erupted as Sheriff Roy Walker and Ash both tore off after him.

  The livery owner ducked into one of the rooms on the second floor. Seconds later, Tamsin heard glass breaking, then a gunsho
t.

  The entire jury produced pistols and joined the chase. Women screamed, King cursed, and Sarah Steele laid her head on Henry Steele's chest and began to sob loudly. Judge Marlborough shouted for order, but no one paid him the slightest attention. Some of the onlookers pushed past the judge and ran upstairs; the rest spilled through the saloon doors into the street.

  Dimitri pulled a derringer from his satchel, took Tamsin's arm, and escorted her through the confusion into a back office.

  Buckson Marlborough followed, a Colt.45 in one hand and a bottle of good whiskey in the other. "Don't think your client's going to escape," he said sternly.

  Dimitri motioned Tamsin to a chair and took two glasses from a shelf in the corner. "Your honor-Bucky-does it seem to you as though Mrs. MacGreggor is attempting an escape?"

  The judge muttered and poured both glasses half full of the spirits. Dimitri clicked his glass to Marlborough's and took a sip.

  Tamsin chewed at a fingernail and watched the door.

  Two hours later, the trial resumed with a courtroom cleared of everyone but Ash, the sheriff, the accused, counsel, witnesses, the jury, and the presiding judge.

  Sheriff Walker testified. "Edwards… I guess his name is really Edward Jackson, is under arrest and being held in my jail for Missouri. He was apprehended by Morgan, who's claimin' the two-hundred-dollar reward. I'm also plannin' on askin' him some hard questions on the death of his stableboy, Javier Chispero."

  Marlborough glanced at King. "Do you have any further remarks about that witness?"

  King shook his head. "No, sir. His true identity was unknown to any of us. Edwards-Jackson-has lived in Sweetwater for three years. We had no way of knowing-"

  "Yes, yes, I understand that. Do you have anything else to say about Samuel Steele's murder?"

  "No, sir. Prosecution rests."

  Marlborough grunted. "I hope so. Dimitri?"

  Tamsin's lawyer rose. His eyes were a little brighter, his stance somewhat rigid. Other than that, Tamsin thought, no one could have guessed he'd just downed five shot glasses of sipping whiskey, one less than the judge.

  Dimitri gestured toward the empty witness chair. "I'd like to call Mrs. Steele, if it please the court."

  The judge frowned. "Not much, it doesn't. Can we get this over with, son?"

  A pale Sarah Steele took the stand.

  "Mrs. Steele," Dimitri began. "I won't make this any more difficult than it already is for you."

  She brought a handkerchief to her eyes and sniffed.

  "Do you see my client?"

  Sarah nodded.

  "Is she a lady, would you say, Mrs. Steele?"

  Sarah's reply was too low for Tamsin to understand.

  "Could you repeat that, please?" Dimitri asked. "Is Mrs. MacGreggor a lady?"

  "I don't know."

  "You don't know." Dimitri put his hands behind his back and walked over to the jury. "I'm sure these gentlemen would have no difficulty in deciding that question."

  "Objection," King complained.

  "What's he doing?" Tamsin whispered to Ash. "He'll antagonize them."

  "Shhh," Ash answered. "Wait and see what he's getting to."

  "Well, then, Mrs. Steele, would you describe yourself as a lady?"

  "Objection!"

  "Yes, I would," Sarah replied. She was visibly trembling.

  "Do you know what the penalty for murder is?" Dimitri asked quietly.

  Sarah nodded.

  "And it will not bother you to see this innocent woman hanged by the neck for-"

  "No. No," Sarah cried. "I can't, Henry. I just can't. I'm sorry, but-"

  "What the hell are you talking about?" Henry Steele demanded, rising to his feet.

  "Order! Order in this court!"

  "Who did kill your husband?" Dimitri asked.

  Sarah covered her face with her hands. "I did," she said. "I killed him."

  "You don't know what you're saying!" a stunned Henry shouted.

  "She did it?" Tamsin cried. "Sarah shot him?" Tamsin flung herself into Ash's arms.

  "I knew all along you couldn't have done it," he teased.

  "Did you?" She drew back and pummeled him halfheartedly in the chest. "If you did…" She tried to gain control of herself "If you did," she repeated, "you sure had a strange way of showing it."

  "I'll have order in this court, or I'll lock you all up for contempt," Judge Marlborough said, slamming his Colt on the table.

  Henry Steele's face whitened to chalk. "You killed my brother?" he rasped.

  Dimitri laid a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Would you like to continue?" he asked. "Tell us exactly what happened."

  "Shut up, Sarah!" Henry shouted. "Don't say-"

  "Get him out of here," Marlborough ordered, pointing to Judge Steele. "Sheriff! Do your duty or find another job!"

  Walker hustled a protesting Henry toward the swinging doors.

  "Please," Sarah begged. "Let him stay. I want him to hear. I don't know if I can tell it again, and Henry must know why."

  Walker glanced back at Marlborough. "He can stay," the presiding judge consented. "But one word out of you, Henry," he threatened, "one word, and I'll shoot you myself."

  "Sam and I," Sarah began brokenly. "It was a mistake, from the first. My mistake. Sam was a hard man, very hard. He hit me whenever I…"

  Dimitri took Sarah's hand. "You don't have to go on if you don't want to."

  "No, if I don't tell it now, I never will," she insisted. "Henry and I… I love Henry, and I think he loves me." She looked at him, and he nodded.

  "Sam found out about us, about the baby… Henry's baby. He said he was going to kill Henry. He said it, and he would have." She was speaking to Judge Steele, as if they were alone in the room, Tamsin thought.

  Sarah inhaled deeply and went on. "I followed him to the barn that night." She glanced at Tamsin. "They were her horses. I'm sure of it. Mr. Edwards stole horses and sold them to Sam. They always had bills of sale. Sam made them himself. It was one of the reasons Sam's ranch was so successful. He always had good horses to sell in Denver."

  "Go on," Dimitri urged.

  "That night, I was leaving him. I'd sent a note to Henry, asking him to come for me. But somehow, Sam found out. He let the cowboy deliver the letter, but he was waiting in the barn for Henry to come. He said he was going to shoot Henry first, so I'd know he was dead. First Henry, and then me. I couldn't let him do that."

  "So you followed your husband to the stable," Dimitri supplied.

  "Yes, I did. I told him I was going to stop him the only way I knew how. I had to protect Henry and our baby, you see. Who else could do it?"

  "Yes," Dimitri urged. "Then what?"

  "He laughed. Sam laughed. He said I was… He called me a filthy name. He said I didn't have the guts to shoot him. And then he turned his back on me."

  "And you shot him," Dimitri finished.

  "Yes."

  "You intended to kill him, or you intended to frighten him. Which was it?" Dimitri asked. "Think very carefully, Mrs. Steele. Remember back to that terrible night. You were in the stable on a dark, stormy night. You were upset, frightened. Are you sure you meant to pull the trigger? Or is there a possibility that it could have gone off accidentally?"

  Sarah looked up into Dimitri's face. "It could have been an accident."

  "There," the little lawyer declared. "There you have it, gentlemen." He whirled on the jury. "This frail woman, a woman already traumatized by beatings and the threat of being murdered. She goes to the barn and tries to frighten her husband by pointing a gun at him."

  "And the weapon simply discharged." Marlborough slammed his Colt on the table. "Sheriff. Arrest this woman. She is to be delivered to my court in Denver for trial two weeks hence."

  "Marlborough-"Judge Steele began.

  "Shut up, Henry," Marlborough said. He rapped the table again. "Henry Steele to pay the fine of one hundred dollars for contempt of court."

  "One hundred dollars?"

>   "Make that five hundred dollars. Fine dismissed if Judge Steele provides this court with proof of his marriage to Mrs. Samuel Steele within twenty-four hours."

  "That's blackmail," Henry retorted.

  Judge Marlborough fixed him with a steely, if somewhat unfocused, gaze. "Will you or will you not do the honorable thing by this lady?"

  "But you're going to try her for murder."

  "I am. But that doesn't mean you don't have a responsibility toward her child."

  Sarah looked at Henry hopefully.

  "I will, damn it," Henry replied.

  "Good." Marlborough stood up unsteadily. "Dimitri, your client is free to go."

  "Which client, your honor?" Zajicek asked. Bucky Marlborough chuckled. "Mrs. MacGreggor. You'll have a more difficult job defending the other one."

  "Perhaps," the lawyer replied. "But there are extenuating circumstances."

  "Aren't there always?" Marlborough slammed his Colt down a final time. "This court is no longer in session."

  Chapter 25

  Tamsin and Ash returned with Dimitri to the boardinghouse, where his wife, Helen, joined them for a celebration supper. The owner had set up a private table for the four of them in a small chamber off the main dining room.

  "How brilliant of you to suspect Mrs. Steele," Helen remarked.

  Dimitri smiled and patted his wife's hand. "Hardly brilliant. We were running out of suspects, and Mrs. Steele had as much reason to want to be rid of her husband as Judge Steele did. And she seemed entirely too sympathetic toward Mrs. MacGreggor. Naturally, if Ashton hadn't identified the livery owner as a wanted criminal using an alias, we would have been in a difficult position with that jury."

  "Edwards's escape attempt didn't do us any harm either," Ash put in.

  "I don't care. You're still a brilliant lawyer," Helen said. "You would have thought of something. You always do."

  "Thank you, my dear. I'm glad you think so," Dimitri answered, and then went on to explain the details of Sarah Steele's confession.

  "But how will you defend her?" Helen asked. "Since she's already confessed to the shooting."

  "Extenuating circumstances," Tamsin put in.