Rue Allyn Read online

  Time. He didn’t have time. Not until he knew Kiera was safe.

  “Two Ponies has returned from Laramie with news of Dabai’Waipi sent by the man Boyd. As they said they would, the blue coats have left her in the jail at Laramie. Boyd sees her each day and ensures that her needs are met. The whites in that town will hold a trial when the judge who rides comes.”

  Ev felt his heart clutch as if a noose tightened around it. Laramie was several days hard riding, and he was in no shape to ride hard. At least Boyd was with Kiera and would do what he could to prevent a trial until Ev could show up and claim his prisoner. Without the photographic evidence Kiera had left with him and which he hadn’t seen since before waking up on the travois, Ev could think of only one way to save her. With his Marshal’s authority, he’d force her release into his custody on the premise that he’d take her farther east for a fair trial. Once away from Laramie, he could release her and claim she’d escaped into Canada.

  Spirit Talker paused, turning to receive something from one of the Shoshone men standing behind him. When the medicine man turned back, Ev saw that the object was the oiled leather packet holding the precious evidence photographs. “These pictures were found near you when you were brought from Smoke Valley.

  The noose around Ev’s heart loosened a small amount.

  “You will take them, Marshal,” continued Spirit Talker. “Prove to the judge who rides that Dabai’Waipi is not guilty as others claim. Bring her home to us safely.”

  Muh’Weda rose, took the packet from the medicine man and gave it to Ev.

  “Thank you. I will do everything in my power to see that justice is done.”

  Spirit Talker nodded.

  “This is good. You must leave quickly. Dabai’Waipi does not have much time. Take this also.” Muh’Weda repeated his task as go between, giving Ev a small water skin.

  “Rub some on your wounds then drink the rest. Your injuries will heal faster. You will need it to get to Laramie in time to help Dabai’Waipi.”

  A push from Muh’Weda on Ev’s elbow signaled it was time to stand. “Thank you, Spirit Talker. I owe you.”

  The medicine man smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

  Muh’Weda took Ev by the shoulder. “Let us be on our way.”

  Ev left thinking that he might be in serious trouble owing a debt to a Shoshone medicine man.

  CHAPTER TEN

  After days of waiting inside her jail cell, Kiera sat in a hard chair and watched Boyd pound on the defendant’s table set up in the saloon being used as a courtroom. He’d arrived late, after sending a telegram, to hear the judge’s outrageous statement.

  “Judge Richter, you cannot put this woman on trial without legal representation.”

  The middle aged man at the table serving as the judge’s podium turned a frown on Boyd. “You a lawyer, young man?”

  “No sir, but … ”

  “Then shut your trap.”

  “I’m a witness.”

  “You’ll get your turn to speak your piece if you’re called on to testify. Until then any more words from you are out of order, and you will be charged with contempt and put in jail. Then I won’t have to listen to your yap.”

  The second day of her so-called trial didn’t seem to be going any better than the first, when the judge had called on the horse thief to identify herself. The rest of the first day had been taken up with jury selection. Kiera had sensed hostility from every juror selected, even the three very respectable women. Despite the dark, modest shirtwaist Boyd had conjured for her, Kiera was anything but respectable. She knew how decent women looked on those whose reputations were less than pristine. On that basis alone, the three were likely to want her to hang. She was less sure about the nine men. Every one of them had examined her with speculation in his eyes. A couple had blatantly ogled her. She knew she was attractive, but she doubted that would influence ranchers and cowhands whose lives depended on horses. With the judge treating her as already convicted, she’d be hanged on suspicion alone. No, the first day hadn’t gone well.

  Judge Richter banged his gavel, calling for order. Silence hushed the crowded room. “The prosecutor will provide his opening statement.”

  The litany of crimes, offenses, and sins presented by the county’s prosecuting attorney was a lot longer than Kiera expected. He accused her of fraud, vandalism, thievery, assault, arson, bank and train robbery, lewdness, public drunkenness, and assorted other offenses dating from childhood. Though how he could know was beyond her. The lies would have been funny if they hadn’t been so damning. The man’s delivery was flawless and earnest, building crime upon sin upon crime, culminating in the charges of murder, arson, and horse stealing.

  Of the three, horse stealing was seen as the most vile. The wilderness was a dangerous place. Those who settled there risked injury and defied death every day. But without a horse, death was a near certainty. So horse stealing was worse than murder because it left the victim at the mercy of the elements to freeze, bake, starve, or be eaten alive by animals.

  She’d left all but one horse with Ev, but they’d both known he wouldn’t be able to ride. He might as well have been stranded. Was he dead now? Immediately on arriving in Laramie, she’d been jailed, and Muh’Weda’s cousin had left to carry news back to the camp at Lake Yellow Stone. If Ev was alive, surely he’d be here by now. He’d urged her to leave him, but maybe he’d hoped she’d stay. Maybe he hated her for abandoning him, so why bother showing up to help her. Ev wasn’t like that. He said what he meant. The Shoshone would have killed Boyd if she hadn’t returned in time. Neither she nor Ev had expected a cavalry troop to be at the camp. Arrested on sight, she’d been forced to break her promise to return to him. She shook her head. She hoped Ev would understand and forgive her.

  “What? You actually deny these charges?” The prosecutor’s astonishment broke in on her thoughts. He’d obviously noticed her headshake.

  Her gaze met his accusing stare. He turned his back on her, without waiting for a reply. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, see how brazen and remorseless is this horse thief. Laramie and Wyoming have languished too long under the boot heel of thugs, robbers, and worse. It is past time we follow the example of our dearly departed Sheriff Boswell, throw off the chains of lawlessness, and give these criminals the hangings they deserve. Let us begin with this woman, the Wyoming Wildcat also known as Madam Kiera Whitson. We must rid ourselves, cleanse our land of this insult to womanhood, this scourge of deceit and violence, this … horse thief.”

  With every word he jabbed his finger in her direction, stabbing home each point. Kiera felt none of it. She was now resigned to hanging, never to see her sisters again. She was grateful they would not know her fate. She had regrets, but not for the life she’d lived. Her only regrets were for actions left undone, plans that would never see fruition. Maybe if God was generous, she would join Ev in heaven.

  “Judge Richter, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution will prove that the Wyoming Wildcat did willfully and maliciously murder Sheriff Boswell. Robbing him of life in the same moment that she robbed Big Si Van Demer of the horses that are his livelihood, and left him to default on contracts already made with the United States Government. Maliciously she set fire to the Van Demer horse barn, not merely to disguise the crime of murder, but to incite danger and confusion in the community so she could run away while others fought for their lives. Her callous thievery and willful destruction of property placed Mr. Van Demer’s ranch at risk of foreclosure that must force Si and his precious daughter into destitution, which will surely lead to his death and a young girl’s destruction.”

  As one, the jurors drew back in fright. A murmur of disquiet rumbled through the audience. The judge banged his gavel. “Order. Order in my courtroom.”

  Kiera almost laughed. The lawyer painted her guilty of crimes that were only possibilities. He made certain that each juror believed he or she was destined to be Kiera’s next victim, if they were foolish enough to
acquit her.

  “Being as how the defendant has elected not to provide a defense, the prosecutor may present his evidence and call his first witness.”

  Beside her Boyd nearly leapt to his feet at the blatant lie. She gripped his arm hard. He subsided and turned to look at her. “I need you here to help me get through this, not sitting in a jail cell serving a sentence for contempt of court,” she hissed.

  He nodded and shifted his attention back to the courtroom.

  “The prosecution calls Mr. Yancy Davis.”

  At first Kiera didn’t recognize the man shuffling up the makeshift aisle between the sections of seated observers. His hair was hidden under a new hat. He wore an eye patch, and his clothes were stiff, as if they were new and store-bought. When he reached the space between the defense and prosecution tables, he turned and bent his stare on her. She looked up to see a sneering smile distorted by a face full of scars and one beady yellow eye. Cream!

  He’d disappeared after attempting to kill Ev. They’d never known how he escaped the ropes she’d tied him with. She had been too busy trying to help Ev recover from his wounds to go chasing off after a walking dead man. That’s how she’d thought of Cream. He had no weapons, no food, and no horse. The chances that he would survive and make it all the way to Laramie had been astronomical. Perhaps even the stars were against her.

  Cream moved on without a word to stand before the witness chair and be sworn in.

  Once he was seated, the prosecutor approached. “Mr. Davis, please tell us in your own words when you met the Wyoming Wildcat, where you were, and what happened from that time until you arrived in Laramie.”

  “Me and my partners got a claim up in the mountains beyond Wind River.”

  “Your partners names, please,” interrupted the prosecutor. “For the record.”

  “Reb Jones and Smitty Albright.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Like I was sayin’. We were panning for gold on our claim when this woman shows up.”

  “Is the woman in the courtroom?”

  Cream pointed toward Kiera. “That’s her.”

  “You’re certain?”

  “I won’t never forget the woman who killed my friends, ripped out my eye, and murdered a U.S. Marshal.”

  Gasps flew round the courtroom.

  “Order,” shouted the judge.

  “Please describe how these events happened.”

  “She was with the marshal, and she wasn’t handcuffed or nothin’, so when they asked for food and shelter, a course we gave it to ‘em.”

  “Do you know why this criminal wasn’t manacled?”

  “No sir. But she was crawlin’ all over the marshal, so I thought she was his woman. Didn’t imagine he’d go and lay with a murderin’ horse thief.”

  “So you gave the marshal and the Wyoming Wildcat shelter and food.”

  “Yessir. They was real tired like, so we let ‘em stay a couple days. Then, early one morning, I found that Wildcat woman stealing our stash. I got the jump on her, so she couldn’t shoot me. She fought hard and dirty, gouging my eye right outta my head. She ran off. Took the gold, and left me for dead. Next thing I know, I hear gunshots coming from our cabin. By the time I get there, I see her in the saddle stealing the horses from the corral. I tried to catch one back and follow her, but I was hurt too bad. I headed for the cabin. Found my friends and the marshal murdered and the building on fire. I figure she did that to hide the murder she done. That claim was dry as tinder, like most of Wyoming this year. Without horses, I nearly died. Would have, if I hadn’t managed to find a trickle of a stream that wasn’t dried up. Was sheer luck that I ran into Clem Salter and his men searching for the Wildcat. They brought me back to Laramie and got me fixed up, so’s I could have my say in court. I wanna make sure that woman don’t kill nobody else ever again.”

  “Is that all?” asked the prosecutor.

  “‘S everything that matters.”

  The judge eyed Kiera thoughtfully then sighed as if he carried a heavy burden. “Why I imagine a horse thief would do anything but lie, I don’t know. However the law requires that I ask if you got anything you want to say to this man or about his testimony?”

  Kiera stood. “He’s lying. He and his friends tried to steal my gold. I filed a claim on that land under my legal middle and last names, Boudicca Alden. They set fire to my cabin. They tried to kill me and Marshal Quinn. The last time I saw the marshal, he was seriously injured, but alive.

  The prosecutor hooked his thumbs in his vest pockets and stuck out his chest. “A likely story, and a very convenient pack of lies that accounts for everything but this.”

  He and the judge seemed to have forgotten that it was her turn to speak. She intended to remind them and remained standing.

  The lawyer withdrew an object from a pocket in his suit coat and presented it to the judge. “Your honor, I wish to place into evidence this badge. You will note that it is a US Marshal’s badge with the name Evrett Quinn engraved on the back side.”

  The lawyer displayed the pointed metal star to the gallery then walked to the jury giving each member a good look at the blackened metal before returning it to the judge.

  “How’d you come by this?” asked the judge.

  “It came into my possession from the hand of the witness. Mr. Davis, explain to the court how you obtained this item.”

  “It was an impulse, sorta. I was in the cabin, and it was burnin’. I tried to get my friends and the marshal out, but weak as I was from loss of blood I couldn’t manage. I knew that nobody’d take the word of one old miner against that of a beautiful woman, no matter how evil she might be. So I took the marshal’s badge to prove what I said was true. No marshal would give up his badge ‘less he’s dead.”

  The jurors nodded their agreement, and excited whispers circled the room.

  Faint with the certainty that Cream must have gone back and killed Ev or robbed his dead body, Kiera sat before she could fall down. Tears welled. To halt their flow she dug her fingers into the splintered tabletop. She concentrated on that small pain instead of the greater ache in her heart.

  After the judge dismissed Cream with a warning that he could be recalled, Kiera hardly listened to the parade of witnesses. None of them knew her, although all of them said they saw her in or near the corral the night she and Muh’Weda had stolen back the Shoshone ponies. Several outright liars claimed to have seen her come out of the barn where the murdered sheriff had been found after the fire had been extinguished. Big Si made a huge deal of how the rubber hoses he’d ordered from back east saved his barn and prevented the sheriff’s body from being burned beyond recognition.

  Even Si’s daughter, Elise, got in on the act giving a tearful account of the sheriff’s unrequited love for her. He’d been in the barn hoping to meet her. Of course she would never have done anything so rash, but if he hadn’t loved her he might still be alive, instead of dead at the hand of a murdering horse thief. The prosecutor’s piercing stare in Kiera’s direction made certain that judge, jury, and observers all knew that Kiera was the thief responsible.

  At the end of the grueling day, Kiera was almost happy to be escorted back to the jail.

  • • •

  Boyd, on the other hand, was despondent. If the evidence was true, and it looked to be, Quinn was dead. Despite their differences, Boyd had liked and respected the lawman. The world would be worse off for his loss. In addition, Boyd was now forced to send a second telegram, one that he’d hoped he’d never have to send.

  He set off for the telegraph office. Halfway there he stopped, ducking into an alley and behind a stack of crates that sat between a mercantile and a blacksmith’s shop.

  Big Si and his daughter came down the boardwalk, and they appeared to be arguing.

  “You did the right thing today, girl,” Si was saying as they paused in the opening to the alley.

  “But I lied.”

  “You lied for a good reason. Now no one’s going to suspect
you of murdering Sheriff Boswell.”

  “I didn’t shoot him, Daddy. I told you I went into the barn to be alone for a minute, and he was laying there dead.”

  “You don’t have to lie to me, daughter. I know Sheriff Boswell had been pestering you.” Si gave an impatient shake to his head. “You should have listened to me when I told you to stay with the Marshal. When he quits marshaling to learn how to run my ranch, he’ll make you the right kind of husband.”

  Elise bowed her head, but through a gap between the crates, Boyd saw pure hatred on her face. Si was too tall to see her expression, especially bowed like she was.

  “But Marshal Quinn’s dead. That man, Davis, said so.”

  “Are you doubting my word?”

  “I’m sorry, Daddy. Please let me make it up to you.” Her voice was meek and humble. However, the hands linked in front of her showed white knuckles.

  What in tarnation is the woman doing?

  “I got word from one of the men I set to watching the trails into Laramie. That the marshal ain’t dead. He’s headed this way with that redskin friend of the Wildcat’s. They should arrive tonight. You go to the hotel and make up to him. Be nice, find out what they’re planning then come tell me, and get those pictures that soldier said the Wildcat claims will prove her innocent.”

  “You want to stop them from doing anything that might save Kiera Alden?”

  Her father gave her a considering look. “Maybe you’re not so stupid after all. Now go wait at the hotel. I’ve got to meet Judge Richter back at the saloon.”

  “Yes, Daddy.”

  Si waited until he saw his daughter walk into the hotel then he turned on his heel and strode off to the saloon that was open for business now that court wasn’t in session.

  Heart leaping with relief that Quinn was alive and well, Boyd stayed hidden until he was certain Si was out of sight. He’d hold off sending that second telegram, but what to do now? If he tried to meet Quinn on the trail he might take the wrong one and miss him. No. He’d have to wait in town and try to get to Quinn before Si’s daughter. Maybe they could make use of her. Meantime, Boyd had a somewhat different telegram to send. Then he’d go tell Miss Alden that Quinn was on his way. After today’s barrage of lies, she could use some good news.