That Night at the Palace

by Watson, L. D.

  The kids started for the steps just as the Crawford sisters came out the door. While Jesse’s full attention was fixed on Gemma, Cliff noticed Cherokee One-Leg pull up to the gas pump in his old truck.

  “Uh, hi, Gemma,” Jesse said with a bit of a shudder in his voice.

  As the two girls came down the steps, Gemma looked uncomfortable as she replied, “Hi.”

  The sisters began walking toward Main Street. Jewel gave Jesse a shove to follow along.

  Cliff shook his head in disgust. “I can’t take this,” he said as he turned and headed over to Cherokee.

  Jesse followed after Gemma, with Jewel a step behind. He looked down at the letters Gemma was carrying.

  “Did you get the mail?”

  Gemma just looked at him as he realized how stupid of a question it was.

  “Did you see the carnival come in?” He asked in an attempt to stave off humiliation.

  “Yeah.”

  “They’ll probably be open tonight. Are y’all goin’?

  “I suppose so.”

  “So maybe I’ll see you there,” he said as he stopped walking, Jewel stopping next to him.

  Gemma smiled. “Maybe,” she coyly replied and continued walking away.

  He watched as she and her sister walked toward their mom’s store. Jettie whispered something to Gemma, and they giggled. Obviously it had something to do with Jesse, but he didn’t care.

  Jewel patted him on the shoulder. “Smooth, Valentino.”

  While Jesse and Jewel were with Gemma and her sister, Cliff walked over to the old Indian.

  “Hi, Cherokee.”

  The old man just nodded his direction as he began filling his truck.

  “Did you see the carnival comin’ in?

  Cherokee glanced at the boy and shook his head.

  “I suspect that everybody in town will be goin’.”

  The old man smiled at the boy. “ I ‘spec’ that could be interestin’. You keep your eyes open. I’ll be on Main Street. Let me know what ya see.”

  “You won’t come to the carnival?”

  Cherokee shook his head. “There’s some places that folks from ‘the Grove’ don’t go.”

  Cliff took on a sad look on his face as he realized what Cherokee meant.

  “It shouldn’t otta’ be that way, Cherokee. There’s kids in ‘the Grove.’ They should be able to go to the carnival.”

  “I know. But that’s the way it is.”

  “You fought in the army. Your son got all those medals. There shouldn’t be no place you can’t go.”

  Cherokee smiled down at the boy as he topped off his tank and put the hose handle back on the pump.

  “Keep your eyes open,” he said to Cliff as Jesse and Jewel walked back over.

  Cherokee nodded at the three kids and then walked into McMillan’s to pay his bill.

  Chapter 11

  301 RED OAK AVE.,

  ELZA, TEXAS

  5:45 p.m. November 28, 1941

  Jewel Stoker was uncomfortable as she walked to the front door of the Rose’s house. She’d known Jesse all of her life, but she had never been to his house. In fact, she had never so much as even met his parents. That was probably what made her uncomfortable. She had seen them many times, of course. They looked like nice people, but looks could be deceiving. Almost anyone in town would tell you that Garvis Rose was as nice of a woman as you’d ever expect to meet on the surface, but she could easily be as downright mean a person as you could ever expect to meet.

  Almost anyone in Elza who owned a store had a story or two about Mrs. Rose. Even George Henry McMillan, who was as affable a person as Jewel had ever known, once remarked that Mrs. Rose considered anyone short of an oil tycoon beneath her. That, naturally, came after she had spent an hour in his store complaining that there just wasn’t a decent place to shop in “This entire one-horse town.”

  So naturally, Jewel was uncomfortable as she stepped onto the porch and knocked on the door. Mr. and Mrs. Rose could be the most gracious and wonderful people in the world, like the Tidwells, and Jewel would still probably not be welcomed. Not after the scene her father had made in the Palace. Had he not gotten drunk and made that scene, Jesse would not be on trial for a crime that everybody in Elza knew for sure he hadn’t committed.

  It was only a few moments after she knocked that the door opened. To her relief, it was Jesse and not one of his parents. Although she was a little frightened and horribly worried for him, she couldn’t help but smile at the sight of him. Jesse, she realized, always put a smile on her face. He was wearing his jeans and a white t-shirt, like usual, the only difference was the stressed look on his face.

  “Jewel,” he said with a sudden smile.

  There was the Jesse she’d grown up with. Jewel had been to the courtroom that morning, but more than once she had thought to herself how much he had changed since she’d last seen him. Suddenly she realized that the difference was that in the court he never smiled.

  “Hi, Jess.”

  Jesse opened the screen, “Come on in.”

  Jewel smiled politely and shook her head. “It’s nice out. Can you come for a walk?”

  Jesse could see that she was nervous and understood. Not many people visited the Roses. He glanced over his shoulder and said, “Sure, let me get my jacket.”

  A moment later Jesse came out, and the two instinctively walked to the street and down the block past the only row of brick homes in Elza.

  “I saw you in court today. Thanks for coming.”

  “Oh, Jesse, of course I came.”

  “Don’t you have to go to work?” He asked.

  “I slipped out for a little while. I can probably come for a couple of hours a day. How are you holdin’ up?”

  Jesse shrugged.

  “You must be scared.”

  “The lawyers say that the C.A. doesn’t have case.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know what to think.”

  “I feel awful. My dad caused all this.”

  “It’s not his fault.”

  “Yeah, it is. If he hadn’t barged into the Palace that night, you two wouldn’t have gotten in that fight and you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  “How is your pa?”

  “He’s okay. He’ll be down at the county farm for another month.”

  “Hey,” Jesse said suddenly remembering. “Cliff said you got a boyfriend.”

  Jewel smiled broadly. “Yeah,” she said tenderly. “He’s good to me. I’m really happy. I’m a little afraid to let him meet Daddy, though. He’s a little older. You know my daddy. He’s not gonna like anybody I see.”

  “He’s gotta meet your dad sometime, you know,” Jesse said as he looked down at her belly.

  “I really messed up, Jesse. But I love ‘im. And he’s good to me. I think we might be gettin’ married this weekend. We’re goin’ to keep it a small thing, you know, with all that’s goin’ on.”

  The two reached the end of the block and turned the corner onto Main Street without saying anything more.

  “I can’t believe that Cliff’s gone,” she said solemnly.

  “I know. Every day I think of somethin’ I want to tell ‘im, but then I realize that I can’t.”

  “I do that too.”

  “Can’t the chief or somebody find out what really happened?”

  “Remember when we were kids and that Texas Ranger came to town? He’s been lookin’ into it. I don’t think he’s gonna let it go until he gets the guy.”

  “I remember him,” she said with some sadness. “It wasn’t long after my mom…left.”

  Jesse glanced at her, and a knot formed in his stomach.

  As they reached Main Street, about a block to the north, Hunker and Toad Lowery were hanging a banner
across the street reading, “FREE JESSE.” Hunker was standing on an extension ladder, and Toad was on the ground holding it.

  Jesse watched the Lowerys in silence and finally looked at Jewel. “Jewel, your mama. She didn’t run off on you.”

  She looked somewhat patronizingly at him. “It’s okay, Jesse. Everybody knows that she ran off on me and Daddy.”

  Jesse looked directly in her eyes. “I saw her that night. Cliff and me, we saw her. She didn’t run off on you.”

  Jewel was stunned. “You saw her? And you never said anything?”

  “Me and Cliff, you know, we used to sneak out all the time. We saw her. She was in the alley behind the Palace cryin’. She told us that there were some bad men tryin’ to hurt your family. She said that she had to go ‘cause they would hurt you.”

  Jewel started walking slowly up the street. Jesse locked in step beside her.

  “One time I took the bus into Rusk and looked up mama in the courthouse records. Then I went to the library and started lookin’ though the old newspapers. Did you ever hear of The Tomato Farm near Maydelle?”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard of it.”

  “My grandmother ran it. She went to prison and killed herself.”

  Jesse shrugged. “Okay…”

  “Don’t you get it?” She said. “All those stories people say about my mother were true. She was a prostitute. My mom was a prostitute, and so was my grandmother.”

  Jesse stopped and stared at her. He had tears in his eyes. “Your mom wasn’t,” he said firmly.

  “What makes you think you know?” She asked, beginning to get angry.

  “Because she told me,” Jesse answered with a tear running down his cheek. “She asked me and Cliff to take care of you. She knew all the things people said about her, too. Jewel, I don’t know anything about your grandma, but your mama, all she did was love you.”

  Jewel had tears running down her cheek, “How come you never told me this before?” She asked angrily.

  “She asked us not to.”

  Both stood silent. Neither noticed Toad Lowery walking toward them.

  “Hey, Jesse. How do you like the banner?”

  Jesse looked at Toad and smiled and wiped his eye. “Thanks Toad. It looks good.”

  “Jesse,” Toad began, “me and Hunker, we gotta go testify. You know, on account of us findin’ Cliff and all.”

  “I know, Toad.”

  “We ain’t gonna say nothin’ that goes against ya, I promise.”

  Hunker, having come off the ladder joined his brother and added, “We mean it, Jesse. We already talked about it. We’ll lie if we got to, but we ain’t gonna say nothin’ that helps that County Attorney.”

  Jewel began to back away.

  “It’s okay, guys. Just answer their questions,” Jesse answered.

  “We just wanted you to know. We gotta get this banner up. Good luck buddy,” Toad said as he reached to shake Jesse’s hand.

  Hunker reached out and shook Jesse’s hand as well. “We mean, it, Jesse. Me and Toad pray for ya every day.”

  “Thanks guys,” Jesse said with genuine warmth as the two brothers headed back to work.

  Jewel had backed a few feet away by the time Jesse turned his attention back to her.

  “I gotta get home, Jesse,” she said with a crack in her voice.

  “Jewel, I’m sorry.”

  Suddenly she ran back to him and hugged him tightly. Both had tears in their eyes. After a moment she backed away and looked into his face. She then wiped the tear from his cheek and kissed him tenderly.

  “I always kind of loved you, you know,” she said softly.

  “I know,” he said. “Cliff told me the night he died.”

  Jewel smiled, “You were always so in love with Gemma.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She continued to smile as she let go of him. “Don’t be. I’m glad it worked out this way.”

  Jesse just stood there as she hugged him again. “I love you, Jesse. I pray for you too.”

  She let go and began to walk away. “I’ve got to go. Rick’s gonna pick me up at the house.”

  “Rick?” Jesse asked.

  “My boyfriend,” she reminded him.

  “What’s his last name?” Jesse asked as a cold tension swept through him.

  “Hall,” she said as she headed across Main Street.

  Jesse smiled with relief as she headed away.

  #

  MAIN STREET – ELZA, TEXAS

  Noon, December 3, 1941

  Brewster McKinney reached over into the seat beside him and took a leather briefcase and pulled his large frame out of the Ford Coupe. The older he got, the stiffer his body seemed to be after a long drive. It didn’t help that over the years he’d broken a half-dozen bones fighting criminals, not to mention harboring a twenty-six-year-old bullet wound. The only serious shoot-out in his Ranger career happened only a year after he’d gotten his star. The fight hadn’t lasted more than a minute, and in the end three bank robbers lay dead, but not before the state’s newest Ranger got shot.

  The Rangers had a tip that the Waco bank was going to be robbed. Young Brewster McKinney and an older ranger by the name of Texas Jack Burnet had staked out the place from across the street. They saw five men walking in together, which was reason enough for concern, but they also had a picture of one of the men and knew that it was on. What McKinney and his partner didn’t realize was that the group had left a young crook by the name Eliza Fenwick outside to watch their horses. Had Fenwick watched their horses like he was supposed to, the entire event probably would have ended without a shot, but as soon as his five partners went into the bank, Fenwick walked around behind the building to relieve himself. He returned just in time to see two Texas Rangers standing by the front door of the bank, waiting for the five robbers inside to come out and be apprehended. Fenwick, not being the brightest criminal in the world immediately pulled his gun and started shooting at the two Rangers.

  Fenwick’s first shot missed McKinney by inches. Immediately Fenwick’s five friends came running out. The ensuing shoot-out lasted all of about a minute but resulted in three deaths. McKinney had drawn his weapon and shot Fenwick and then got two more of the bandits as they came running out the bank door. Lying wounded on the ground, Fenwick shot Brewster in the back. It was only a .22, but it still hurt.

  Brewster’s partner took down the other three. All three of those men were dead. The three men that McKinney shot, including Fenwick, were only wounded.

  As Texas Jack said, “Wounded men can still shoot.”

  It occurred to McKinney that killing came far too easy to Texas Jack, and, maybe more importantly, he did it without remorse, which to McKinney was far worse. Years in the trade can do that to a man. Most of the old Rangers McKinney worked with in those days were like that. Young Brewster McKinney didn’t want to become that kind of Ranger.

  McKinney had been in a dozen more gun battles over the years, and he still hadn’t killed anyone. But he also hadn’t made the mistake of turning his back on any more wounded bandits either.

  Twenty-six years later, Brewster was reminded of Eliza Fenwick every time he climbed out of his coupe. He also couldn’t help but think that it was only blind luck that the wounded bandit didn’t killed him.

  He’d forgotten to notify Chief Hightower that he was coming back. He really hadn’t seen the need. Hightower had made it clear that he wanted the help, and more importantly to McKinney, Captain Little Bigfoot McCullough had ordered him back.

  McKinney knocked twice and then pushed the door open. He knew that the chief wasn’t at his desk - he could see that through the window - but hopefully Hightower was either upstairs or in the back.

  “Chief?” McKinney called as he walked into the police office.

  Jefferson Hightower came rushing in
behind McKinney.

  “Corporal.”

  McKinney turned around to see the chief, somewhat ruffled and out of breath, coming in the door.

  “I wasn’t expecting you. I was down the street at McMillan’s when I saw you turn off the highway.”

  McKinney nodded and reached out to shake hands. “I apologize, Chief. I should have called.”

  “Not necessary. I’m just glad that you’re back. The trial started yesterday morning,” Hightower offered as they shook hands. “I have a little coffee made; you want some?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “They delayed the trial a couple of days. Something about your fingerprints?”

  McKinney smiled and sat his briefcase on the floor and relaxed in the chair across from the Chief’s desk while Hightower poured two cups.

  “I’ll explain that. How’s our boy?”

  “He’s holdin’ up. He’s scared, and he’s still not talkin’. He’s been out on bail, so at least he’s home.”

  “My Captain has taken a special interest in this case.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “A number of things, really,” McKinney began. “First of all, that C.A. had one of his boys camped out in my office all last week demanding immediate access to the prints I pulled off the car. He’s welcome to ‘em, of course, but instead of requesting through normal channels and waiting for us to get the verification on all the prints, he demanded that we give him what we had. That of course was only the deceased and Jesse’s. My Captain agreed that I shouldn’t hand anything over until every print on the car had been identified. The deputy C.A. called his boss, who immediately called Captain McCullough and ordered him to hand over the prints. Well, between you and me, the Governor himself doesn’t have the guts to give an order to Captain Little Bigfoot McCullough. Bigfoot told him he’d get the prints in a day or two. So your C.A. called the Ranger Director down in Austin. This was the second time he’s called Director Anthony on this case. That sent up a red flag with both Director Anthony and Captain McCullough, and together they decided that this case needed a little more thorough investigation. So I’m here, and there’s nothin’ that County Attorney can do about it.”

  Jefferson chuckled and then got serious. “Did the prints show anything?”