by Alan Black
Grace said, “We can try to make it work. I can run the business; you and your sons can help where you can. I’ll move my blacksmithing business into town. I have to come into Oasis for my work as the sheriff anyway.”
She knew she had just bitten off more than she could chew. It would take more time than she had to take care of her home property, be a part-time sheriff, and run the stables full time. She knew the stable was more than full time. It was an all the time business. Someone had always been there, no matter what time she or Clayton had stopped by.
How was she going to manage? She wanted to help the woman. Her feelings were not just sympathy or pity for Sariah’s predicament. She was in the same boat. She had lost her own husband and had little to no means of supporting herself. She convinced Cummings to give her a job only by virtue of her pushy personality. And thanks to LillieBeth having Clayton’s death certificate, she had a small bank balance to see her through for a while.
She was losing customers for her blacksmith work, but now with Odie Washington gone, the men of this community would have to ride a long way to find another blacksmith. They would have to come to her at the stable or do the work themselves. She hoped a business in town would cause many wives to relent. It wasn’t like their husbands were visiting a widow at her home.
It all meant more work. Sure, she empathized with Sariah, but she was barely holding her own head above water. How could she stay afloat holding on to Sariah and her two sons? She knew she had just shoved her considerably large foot into her way too small mouth. Nevertheless, she had to do what she said or she had to at the very least try.
Sariah said, “Will you teach my boys business? I want them to know how to take care of themselves when I’m gone.”
Grace nodded, knowing she was talking herself in deeper and deeper. “The more they know the better help they’ll be to us. Besides, I still have my place to run. They’ll need to be here and help when I can’t be here.”
Grace noticed LillieBeth standing at the back door of the stables. The young woman was staring at the sky, looking to the right and then to the left. She hoped LillieBeth was not becoming too curious about where Mercy had gone. She did not think Taradittles would get out of Stone County and she doubted anyone would ever find his body. But, a black girl who was thought to have killed a white man would not live past noon.
LillieBeth walked back to Fletch. She eased her lever action rifle from the saddle tie down. She ratcheted a few shells out, worked the action, and picked up the cartridges, and she reloaded the gun. She glanced up at Grace. “Mrs. Grissom, I have two bits of news. I think the rain has stopped.”
Grace said, “And I assume the other bit of news requires shooting?”
LillieBeth nodded. “I think Trance Braunawall is up in the bank.”
FRIDAY - NOON
Grace drew her Colt Peacemaker equalizer and checked the beans in the wheel. She pulled off the poncho rain gear and walked to the back door.
LillieBeth slipped up next to her. The young woman pointed off to a cluster of trees behind the bank. “See that mule with the two horses tied by the long lead?”
Grace nodded.
LillieBeth said, “That is Trance Braunawall’s mule. I have seen it often enough to recognize that jug head and the bobbed tail.” LillieBeth shed her fish rain gear, dropping it to the ground.
Grace said, “Those two horses with the mule must be the ones Zeke Braunawall and Bobby John McDonald rode into town. How do you figure Trance is in the bank?”
“Because those horses were not there when I found Zeke hiding in the ditch and they are right behind the bank, sort of hidden like in the trees.”
Grace said, “You stay here and cover me. I’ll go down and see.”
LillieBeth said, “Mrs. Grissom, you need to stop trying to protect me. I want Trance as bad as you do.” Not waiting for a response from Grace, the young girl sprinted toward the bank at a ground eating pace.
Grace ran after her. She knew LillieBeth was right. No matter how hard she tried, all she saw when she looked at her young friend was a twelve-year-old girl. But, she knew from experience Elizabeth O’Brien Hazkit was not a typical girl of any age. She was hard, strong and determined. She knew LillieBeth had helped her more than she had helped LillieBeth.
Grace pulled up short before reaching the bank. Sariah’s son had followed her. Determined anger showed on his face. She asked, “What’re you doing?”
He thrust out his jaw. “I’m helping you catch bad men who hurt people like my father.”
Grace said, “You help me in the stable, not here.”
LillieBeth ran back. She grabbed the boy by the shoulder, even though Odie’s son was a couple of years younger than she was; he was still a few inches taller. “Can you help with something dangerous?”
The boy nodded and gulped, but he clenched his fists in determination. “You tell me and I’ll do it.”
LillieBeth pointed at the mule and the horses in the trees. “You get those animals and lead them down to the stable. They are the bad man’s and without them, he cannot get away.”
Without waiting for further instructions, the young boy raced off to lead the animals to the stable. Grace wondered why she had not thought about that. Her plan, if it was a plan, had been to go into the bank and capture Trance at the point of a gun. She realized LillieBeth may have a better plan. She would try to follow the young woman as much as possible, but deep in her heart she knew Trance was not going to get away from her. She knew she was going to have to change if she was going to be sheriff for longer than a few days. She needed to start seeing the whole picture and look ahead. That was how Clayton always beat her in chess. The man could see more moves ahead than she could.
Grace unconsciously thrust her jaw out in imitation of the young boy. She should learn, she could learn and she would do better. She was smarter than the average criminal. She knew she was as she was smart enough to not be a criminal. All she had to do was catch criminals without being shot. She wondered if it was possible to catch a criminal before he did the crime.
She reached the back door of the bank slightly behind LillieBeth. The young girl flattened herself against the bank wall on one side of the door. Grace did her best to flatten against the wall on the other side of the door.
The bank’s back door was slightly ajar. That in itself was unusual. From what they had seen of their visit to the bank, Cummings rarely used the door. It should have been locked from within. There was a pry bar on the ground. Grace could see marks in the wood where the door latch had been jimmied open far enough for Trance to reach through and push the security bar out of its brackets.
She made a mental note to check with Cummings to see how the door was usually locked. It obviously was not enough just to use a standard lock and latch. It had a bar and inset brackets like the back door to the sheriff’s office, but did Cummings leave it locked that way all of the time? Maybe it needed a wide bar stretching from wall to wall with heavier metal brackets. She thought that maybe she could convince Cummings to let her build him a metal door inset into thick timbers. It shouldn’t be hard to hammer one in her forge. It wouldn’t even be heavy to open and close if it was hung properly. It would certainly stop casual thieves.
This was the first bank robbery she had ever heard of in Oasis. She would not allow it to succeed while she was sheriff. It wasn’t just her reputation, but she had an account here. Any money stolen would be her money as well as money from her friends.
LillieBeth listened carefully through the crack in the door. She nodded and mouthed the name, “Trance.” The girl did not move, but shifted her rifle to her other hand and pulled out a cold hard hunk of granite from deep in a pocket. She hefted the rock a few times and settled it comfortably in her hand.
Grace knew she could not shoot Trance the minute she saw him. She had no problem with shooting the man, but if he was between her and LillieBeth, she might hit her young friend by accident, as she had yet to practice wit
h this gun. She would have to let him get a few steps from the bank before she shot. She knew she would have to shoot since LillieBeth still held her granite heart in one hand and her rifle in the other. She wanted to ask what the young woman had in mind, but it was not the time to ask questions. Now was the time to shoot.
She wondered how she was going to feel about shooting the man in the back as he ran to the copse of trees looking for his mule. She decided she would shout once and then shoot. Trance was not going to get away. She took her eyes off the bank door and checked the Washington boy’s progress toward the barn. The mule and the two horses were halfway back to the stable. He was tugging hard with the mule. It was following him, but slowly.
The bank door flew open and Trance leapt into sight. He was disheveled and wet. He had lost his hat and one of his boots. He had a dirty old shirt tied around his head to stop the bleeding from his ear. A stream of blood ran down the side of his face. Without the rain to wash it way, some of the blood clotted leaving a trail along his jaw.
He saw her right away. Their eyes locked. His gun was in his hand and it started to rise. His other hand held a heavy sack. He must have taken paper and coins.
Her gun was in her hand as well, but she could not raise it and fire. A Colt Peacemaker would blast a hole through a man and hit anyone standing behind him. LillieBeth was behind him. Unseen by Trance, LillieBeth swung her granite heart. The cold solid rock connected hard against the side of Trance’s head before his gun was halfway up. His gun fired and blew a spout of mud, leaving a deep hole between Grace’s feet.
Trance screamed a high-pitched little girl squeal, dropping his gun and the moneybag. He grabbed his ear with both hands and dropped to his knees. Blood spurted from under the makeshift bandage.
LillieBeth reared back, preparing to hit Trance again.
Grace beat her to the punch. She slapped Trance hard across the face with the barrel of Clayton’s gun. The nub of a front sight gouged across his cheek, ripping a deep furrow.
Trance lay out flat on his back staring open mouthed at Grace and LillieBeth. He tried to scream in pain, but nothing came out. The man was more stunned than unconscious.
LillieBeth leaned down and picked up Trance’s gun. She stared at it. “I do not know what it is about Trance and .38 caliber revolvers. This is the second one I have taken off him and this one is just as dirty as the first one.” She dumped the cartridges from the wheel, putting them in one pocket and putting the gun in another.
Grace said, “You’re going to have to do something with that armory you’re carrying around.”
LillieBeth said, “What armory?”
Grace said, “Well, you have that Winchester rifle, the revolver in your holster, your Daddy’s .45 semi-automatic pistol in one pocket and now you have another .38 revolver in another pocket. Pretty soon your weapons will weigh more than you do if you keep this up.”
Trance groaned.
Grace pointed her Peacemaker at his chest. “I suggest you get up off the cold, wet ground, Mr. Braunawall. I’d not want you to catch cold before they hang you.” She leaned inside the open door of the bank and shouted. “Mayor Cummings, come and get our money.”
SATURDAY – NOON
Grace bounced along, sitting high on the wagon seat. The sun was warm on her shoulders and she felt comfortable and relaxed. She looked fondly at the backs of Solomon and David as the huge Belgians pulled the wagon without effort. She smiled, the grey draft horses reminded her of Clayton, not that he was a horse’s ass, but he loved all four of their horses as much as she did.
LillieBeth sat backwards, a short-barreled coach gun from the sheriff’s office sitting in her lap, its twin 12-gauge barrels pointed at their prisoners. Thomas, Ezekiel, and Abraham Braunawall lay chained in the back of the wagon. They were heavily bound hand and foot. The young woman had hidden the key to the locks where, if more Braunawalls did show up, they would not be able unchain the men.
Abe had a gag stuffed in his mouth. He glared at LillieBeth and she smiled back. She had warned him that if he could not be quiet, she would shut him up. He was surprised when Grace stood back and let the young woman gag him. It was a quiet ride and she was ready to turn these prisoners over to the county sheriff before lunch. She brought enough food for her and her deputy. She did not care if the Braunawalls ate or not.
Even though she had been in Galena just a short two weeks before, she did not know her way around town. She did not remember where the courthouse was situated. She remembered being here, but it was all wrapped in the fog of shock at Clayton’s loss.
LillieBeth twisted in the seat and said, “Take the next left, please. The county sheriff’s office is in the big brick building.”
Grace pulled up in front of the courthouse. It was a large building, strong and solid, but plain and simple. She did not know much about architecture, but she had seen pictures of buildings from all over the world in her National Geographic magazines. This was not as fancy as many of the others, but she liked it.
Grace said, “Shall we go in?”
LillieBeth shook her head. She saw a man she recognized coming out of the doctor’s office. “Sir?”
The man grabbed the fresh bandage on his face without thinking at the sound of her voice. He flinched when he saw her. He started to turn and leave, but changed his mind and walked over. “What do you want?”
LillieBeth asked, “Is the county sheriff in?”
“Think so.” The hostility was evident in his voice.
LillieBeth said, “Would you kindly tell him we are out here with prisoners for him?”
“Why should I do anything for you?”
LillieBeth said, “Because I asked you nicely. And because you know I am not a nice person when I lose my temper.”
The man turned and stormed into the courthouse.
“What did you do to that man?” Grace asked. She was more amused than surprised. She was sure nothing LillieBeth did would ever surprise her again.
LillieBeth said, “I am sorry to say I hit him the last time I was here. He said he thought Mr. Grissom and Daddy got what they deserved when they got shot. I sort of took offence.”
Grace said, “You really should break that habit of hitting people.”
LillieBeth laughed, with more real humor in the laugh than there had been in weeks, “What about you? The last time we were here you threatened the casket maker with a forge hammer.”
“I did not. Did I?” Grace laughed. “I really don’t remember.”
The woman doctor looked out of her office door. She walked down the street and looked up at LillieBeth. “I thought I heard a familiar voice. Remember me?”
LillieBeth said, “Yes. You are Doctor Rawlins. It is very nice to see you again.”
Grace was surprised to see a woman doctor.
“I’m Grace Grissom,” she said. She stuck her hand out to shake as a man would.
Rawlins grabbed the hand, gave it a quick pump and let go. “I’m sorry about your man. Are these some of the ones that did the killing?”
The sheriff interrupted her answer. “What can I do for you ladies? Are you here to beat up more of my help and threaten more town folk?”
Grace said, “No, Sheriff. I’m Grace Grissom, the new sheriff of Oasis, and I have some prisoners for you.”
The sheriff shook his head. “There ain’t no such thing as a female sheriff.”
Grace smiled as sweetly as she could. This was not the first time she had heard that phrase. She tapped the badge on her shoulder. “Sheriff, I’m duly hired and authorized to perform sheriff duties.”
The sheriff said, “You have not been authorized by me. I don’t allow women in law enforcement.”
LillieBeth snapped, “You should, since the men around here cannot get the job done.”
“Easy up there, young lady,” The sheriff said, “You can still be arrested for hitting my night watchman.”
“Fine,” she replied. “Do that and I will swear in court I did i
t because he laid hands on me, tried to touch me in my private places, and I am only twelve-years-old. I am good with telling the story that way if he wants that kind of reputation.”
The sheriff looked at the men in the wagon. “You just let those men out of those chains, turn this wagon around, and go home to your men folk. I won’t take prisoners from women pretending to be lawmen.”
Doctor Rawlins had been listening to the whole conversation. “Sheriff, I seem to recall you saying much the same thing to me when I first came to town, but you came around fast enough when your boy broke his arm.”
The sheriff said, “That’s different.”
Rawlins said, “No, it isn’t. Don’t dismiss these women out of hand. At least hear what they have to say.”
Grace jumped down to stand in front of the sheriff.
The man blanched when he realized she was taller than he was. She also had broader shoulders and her arms were much thicker with muscle than his. “Well…”
Grace grabbed a packet of papers. She handed the top sheet to him. “This is a letter from the Mayor of Oasis stating I have the authority to act as a lawman. The young lady there is Miss Hazkit, as this letter states, she is my authorized volunteer deputy.”
The sheriff looked at Grace and LillieBeth. He read the letter and shook his head in disgust. “I don’t know what this world is coming to with women lawmen and children as deputies.”
Rawlins laughed, “And don’t forget women doctors?”
The sheriff said, “What’s next, a woman President of the United States of America?”
LillieBeth said, “Not next, sir, but someday.”
The sheriff said, “Not while I’m alive.”
LillieBeth laughed, “I do not think it will happen in my lifetime either, but someday.”
“Be that as it may be, you dragged these men here. Let me at least see who you have and what you arrested them for. I’ll see if we have enough to hold them over.”
