By Kirsten Page
Copyright 1999
Cole resisted with every step they took to the Marshal’s office. To no surprise, it took the strong arms of Jimmy and Buck to get him there.
“Is this some sort of joke, boys?” Cole said, as he tried to conceal the edgy sound of his voice. “I mean really, if you didn’t like the way I was doing something, you could have just told me.”
Jimmy yanked harder, not wanting to answer the question. He detested Cole as it was, and his babbling was not making points.
“It’s time you answered a few questions,” Buck stated as he opened the door to Teaspoon’s office and ushered him into the chair next to the desk.
Teaspoon took a deep breath, knowing that if Cole said the wrong thing, it wouldn’t take much for him to shoot him on site. He’d had it with the man, and if that weren’t enough, the fact that he had run from the law was enough to see what kind of person he really was.
With his outwardly calm demeanor, Teaspoon leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. He spoke in a low, yet persuasive tone that would have aroused the nerves of anyone holding a secret. “I’ve got enough on you to get you locked up for the rest of your life,” he began, watching the sickening shade of pale pass over Cole’s face, “And if that don’t scare you enough into telling me what I want, I’ve got another ace up my sleeve that you might just find threatening.”
Cole wasn’t about to give in so easily, nor was he in the business of giving away more than he needed to. If there was one thing that he had learned from poker...it was how to bluff. Obviously these men must have found something out about his past, but that wasn’t going to intimidate him. He still knew where ‘the body was buried’, so to speak. “Marshal, I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied steadily, realizing that his face had given away more than he wanted.
“Oh, and I’m sure you do,” the older man stated as he reached into the drawer of his desk. “Recognize this?” In one brief moment, he pulled out the old WANTED poster and placed it in front of Cole.
“Do you want to retract that statement?” Teaspoon asked, quite sure of his upperhand now.
Maddie watched through the cracked door of the closet. She saw the whole thing...Wayne’s setup, and Louise’s untimely passing-out spell. Every since she’d seen her arrive, Maddie had known that something was going to happen. Wayne was the type of man who would use any girl for any purpose.
Once she saw Wayne step out of the room and close the door behind him, she knew that they probably had about 10 seconds in which to get out of there. Unfortunately she hadn’t planned on Louise passing out...and she wasn’t quite sure how she would be able to manage carrying her out of the window in time.
“Louise, come on, wake up,” Maddie said in a panicked voice. She shook her shoulder and looked towards the door cautiously. If she were caught in the room when the marshal walked in, there’s no telling what they would do to her.
“Please,” she begged as she began pulling her towards the window. “I don’t think I can lift you.”
Outside the voices were growing louder. She could hear the muffled sound of someone crying, and the apparent tone of the marshal questioning Wayne. It made her heart race all the more as she strained with all her might to hoist Louise’s body through the window.
“Don’t you understand this might be our only chance of escape?” She asked, knowing full well that Lou wasn’t hearing any of it. In fact, the young woman had not moved at all. Maddie began to wonder if she was even still alive, therefore, strictly on impulse, she set her back down gently and listened to see if she was breathing.
Kid was relieved to finally reach the station and hand off the mail to the next rider. His day had been long, and with dusk rapidly approaching, he was very ready to settle down for the night. In the morning he would saddle Katy once again and prepare for his ride home. Noah would be riding out the day after tomorrow, and he would have to decide by then if he wanted to mail his letter to Jeremiah and Theresa, or if it was better to deliver the news in person.
He walked the short distance into town, Katy following behind, and headed straight for the hotel. After all that had gone on, he wanted to be in a place where he would be assured to get a good night’s sleep...something which seemed to be in short supply this past week.
Kid was surprised to see a crowd inside the saloon and hotel lobby. Apparently something big was going on, and from the looks of it, it wasn’t pleasant. He tied Katy to the hitching post and strained to hear the conversation which seemed to be directed from one of the men upstairs.
“I saw her do it,” the one man kept repeating. “I saw it all.”
The man that Kid identified as the marshal stepped forward and turned the handle on the door, “Then it’s time I started doing some questioning.”
Kid turned to one of the ladies that worked at the saloon, who was also equally interested in what was going on. “Excuse me, ma’am,” he began, “What’s going on?”
She looked frightened, and it was clearly demonstrated through her voice, “Someone was murdered.”
The word that he had heard one too many times this week rang through his ears. “Murdered?”
Just then, an angry voice was heard from the room in question. A few seconds later a man stomped out, his eyes were full of fury, “She’s gone! I can’t believe she’s gone!” He went down the steps two at a time, pushing his way through the crowd. Kid stepped out of the way just in time to avoid his shove. “That woman murdered my friend, and you let her get away!” He directed towards the marshal.
The marshal followed closely behind him, “Well if you would at least tell me her name and what she looked like, we might be able to find her!”
Snapping around, he turned to face him, “Her name was Louise, and don’t worry about finding her. I’ll see to that,” he said in a low, intimidating tone.
Louise, Kid couldn’t help but stiffen at the name. And it just so happens that the one girl they’re talking about murdered someone. Trying to shrug off the chilling feeling that had passed over him, he proceeded to the front desk. The crowd was starting to dissipate, seeing as most of the excitement was over. “Excuse me,” he asked the manager, “Is it possible to get a room?”
Pushing the brim of his glasses back on his nose, he tried to stifle a laugh at the request. This time of the week was their busiest...therefore the young man before him must be crazy to think that he can just walk in and expect to get a place to sleep. “I’m sorry mister, we’re all filled up.”
Kid bit his lip, “Thanks anyway.” As he watched the marshal returning through the door, he realized that perhaps this wasn’t the best place to be. He would be better off making his way to the next town, and then returning back to Rock Creek in the morning. Besides, with all of the town trying to catch that murderess, Louise, it was probably going to be a noisy night...and not conducive for sleeping at that.
Mounting his trusty steed, Kid took one look over his shoulder at the hotel and then took off into the onset of dusk, Katy kicking up a cloud of dust behind him. He was in such a hurry to leave that he didn’t even see the shadows of two figures in the alleyway.
A young girl sat cradling an unconscious woman in her arms, trying to stifle the sobs of her fear at the sound of Wayne’s hot tempered threats. Wayne was going to be coming after Louise, and they had no way to protect themselves against him.
On to Chapter Twenty
