Whispers on the Wind (30 page)

Mentally, she gave herself
a hard shake as Gregory Gulch came into view. Main Street loomed
ahead, if it could be called that Mary knew she had to get her mind
off what lay ahead. She had to take it one day at a time. If she
could survive the whorehouse and the orphanage, she could survive
anything—she hoped.

The mining town hadn’t
changed much. The rough wooden sign said they were in Gregory
Gulch. However, it dangled by one chain so Mary had to turn her
head sideways to read it. Everything in Gregory Gulch appeared
peaceful—or maybe a better word was dead.

Log cabins lined both sides
of the street that was muddy from rain. Everything was barren and
lifeless brown. Each cabin looked like the next, though some didn’t
have windows.

No one was outside as they
started up the street. Most everyone would be in the mines this
time of day. Mary had almost forgotten what a normal mining day was
like: up at the crack of dawn and working until late in the
afternoon. Her throat clogged with emotion as a vision of Big Jim
smiling at her brought his memory fresh into her mind. He was a
good man, and he hadn’t deserved to die.

Slowly, they approached the
small jailhouse. The door stood open and the windows had been
thrown open since it was a warm spring day. They stopped in front
and tied their horses to the hitching post. Mary drew a deep breath
of fresh air and started up the steps.

Carter touched Mary’s arm
outside the door. “Everything will turn out all right,” he said,
trying to assure her.

She gave him a small smile,
then ducked quickly into the office. It was better to just get it
over and done with.

Marshal Forester, who had
been sleeping at his desk, reared back in his chair and jerked
awake. He licked his dry lips then lowered his chair to the floor
with a hard thud. “Sorry, folks. You caught me checking my eyelids
for holes,” he said with a smile. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Marshal Carter
Monroe,” Carter said, extending his hand. He shook the man’s hand.
“I’ve brought in Mary Costner.”

Mary noticed that Carter
hadn’t referred to her as a prisoner, but considering the charges
that was little consolation.

Surprise registered on
Forester’s face, then his gaze settled on Mary. “I guess there is
no need for an introduction, although you sure had me
fooled.”

Mary wasn’t sure what the
marshal meant by that. He wasn’t smiling. “I beg your
pardon?”

“I never figured you for a
girl. You sure looked like a boy to me,” Forester said with a
chuckle. Then he shoved slowly out of his chair and retrieved the
keys. “Guess you know I have to lock you up.”

“I thought being mistaken
for a man was safer,” Mary said with a smile. She had always liked
Marshal Forester, and she hoped he hadn’t judged her beforehand.
Dreading the thought of being behind bars again, she watched as he
unlocked the door.

“And you were right” He
opened the door and stood back.

Mary stopped before
entering the cell. “I didn’t kill Big Jim,” she said simply. She
wasn’t sure why she wanted the marshal to know that, but she
did.

Forester closed the door
without comment Then he asked, “Can you tell me what
happened?”

Mary shook her head. “I
wish I could, but the fact is I don’t remember anything about what
happened that night”

“You know that doesn’t
sound good,” he pointed out needlessly.

Mary stood on the other
side of the bars, her hands dosed around the cold iron. She looked
squarely at Forester. “I know how it sounds. Why do you think I
ran?”

The marshal nodded. “I see
what you are saying. I can tell you, I’ve met your family. They’re
real nice people. As a matter of fact, Thunder has been looking for
you.”

Mary smiled. “He found me.
He’ll be along shortly.”

“You know M-Mary—”
Forester chuckled. “Can’t get used to calling you Mary instead of
Mark, even though you don’t look one bit like Mark anymore. Anyway,
I tend to believe you, but I should tell you, the men in town are
still looking to blame somebody. And so far that somebody is
you.”

“In that case, I had
better stay around to keep an eye on her,” Carter said. “Just in
case there’s trouble before Thunder gets here. He should be here
anytime, but we’re not sure when. After he arrives, I’ll
leave.”

Mary gaped at Carter, but
he didn’t seem to notice. As usual, he wasn’t paying her any
attention. She couldn’t believe that he had already anticipated
leaving her, and that hurt. Did he realize that having him near her
would be a comfort? Then again, maybe he didn’t care.

Forester strode back to his
desk and tossed the keys down. “Good. I heard the judge is in
Appleton, so that’s where her trial will be held.”

“Figures,” Carter said
with a frown. “Wish we had known that before we came
here.”

“Well, it’s too late to
head back today,” Forester told him as he picked up his tan-colored
Stetson and settled it on his head. “You can spend the night and go
back to Appleton tomorrow. Let’s go get some grub. We can bring
Mary back a plate when we’re done.”

Carter glanced at Mary,
then the marshal. “Will she be safe?”

Forester nodded. “It’s too
soon for word to have gotten out that Mary is back in town, so I
think she’ll be all right for now. I want you to fill me in on what
you know.”

Mary watched them leave,
then settled wearily down on the hard cot. Carter hadn’t even
bothered to tell her good-bye. That certainly showed how much he
cared about her. And she didn’t like the way he had referred to her
as “she”—like he really didn’t know her at all.

Mary wrapped her arms
around herself, gazing at the closed door. She remembered the
tenderness in Carter’s deep voice and the way he’d held her last
night It was strange how the air seemed to vibrate whenever Carter
was near, and when he was gone the world seemed so colorless.
Without him, nothing was the same. She felt empty. Sighing, she
sank down on the bunk to wait, but she was so tired from the little
sleep she’d gotten the night before, she soon fell
asleep.

Much later, Mary was
awakened by men shouting. Slowly, she pushed herself up off the
bunk, rubbing her eyes as she tried to remember where she was. It
didn’t take long to see the bars and remember she was once more in
jail. However, this time the front door was open, and she saw the
flicker of torchlights in the street and heard what sounded like an
angry group of men. She strained to hear what was going
on.

“Let’s lynch her!” someone
in the mob shouted.

Mary gasped and her heart
seemed to stop beating. Out of pure reflex, she jerked back from
the bars. It was a lynch mob. And they wanted her!

Screwing up as much courage
as she could, she looked again. Thank God! Marshal Forester and
Carter stood on the porch between her and the seething
crowd.

“Yeah!” everyone shouted.
“Get out of the way, Forester. She done and killed Big Jim. We have
our own justice up here. She needs to hang! And if you ain’t gonna
do it, we can take care of it ourselves.”

Mary recognized that voice
and the small hairs on the back of her head seemed to stand on
their own. It was John Wiley, somebody she’d thought was a
friend.

Carter spoke next “I
suggest all of you return to your homes,” he said calmly. “Mary
will stand trial for the crime. If she is found guilty, she will be
punished.”

“Who the hell are you?”
another man shouted from the back of the crowd.

'“I’m a U.S. Marshal. And I
should warn you that I can arrest most of you for forming a mob,”
Carter told them, his voice showing all the authority he had with
his badge.

“We want justice
now!”

“So you think she’s
guilty?” Carter asked.

“Sure, who else could have
killed Big Jim?” Wiley asked.

“I think any of you could
have killed him,” Carter pointed out reasonably, “just to gain his
half of the claim. Mary already had the money.”

Tears filled Mary’s eyes as
she listened. Carter was actually taking up for her. Defending
her.

Wiley turned to the crowd.
“There’s only two of them. We can take them real easy.”

“I’d think twice about
that,” Forester warned. “All of you could end up in
jail.”

Mary gripped the bars so
tightly that her knuckles were white. The mob was right. They were
big and there were only two lawmen standing between her and that
mob. She shivered in dread. It sounded as if everybody in town
hated her. These were men she’d seen every day, men who she’d
thought liked her. Now they sounded like a pack of angry dogs over
a carcass, waiting for the first one to make his move.

What if they overran
Forester and Carter?

“Or dead,” Carter added to
Forester’s remark. He pointed his gun towards Wiley. “You first
There may be more of you, but I assure you, I’m going to take a
half dozen of you with me before I go down.”

“And if Carter doesn’t
take you down, Marshal Forester and I will take care of the rest of
you,” Thunder said from the back of the group. “As for myself, I
can take you down the easy way with a gun, or I can take your scalp
with my knife.”

There was a lot of mumbling
among the men.

“So what’s it going to be,
boys?” Forester asked.

Mary could hear the crowd
mumbling, but they seemed to be backing up because the torchlights
were dimming. She eased her grip on the bars and forced herself to
breathe.

It must be over.

A few minutes later, three
men sauntered in through the door. Thunder came over to her. “How
you feeling, kid?”

“Scared.”

“I can see why. Mobs are
always scary. And very unpredictable.”

“Do you think they will
come back?” Mary asked.

Thunder looked at Forester
for the answer.

“I don’t think so,”
Forester assured Mary, then he asked Thunder, “Did you hear that
they will have the trial in Appleton?”

“Yes, I did,” Thunder
said. “I stopped today and spoke with the judge.” He looked at
Mary. “Your trial is in two days. The only problem is I’m not sure
Delaney will be here in time for the trial.”

“Who’s Delaney?” Forester
asked.

“He’s a doctor from back
east who has studied hypnotism. I think that he can help with our
case.” Forester drew his brows together in confusion. “What does
that have to do with anything?”

“We believe that could be
the reason why Mary can’t remember anything,” Thunder
explained.

“I’ve heard about such
before. Just never seen it,” Forester explained, then looked at
Carter. “Have you?”

“Nope. Sounds weird to
me,” Carter said.

Thunder folded his arms
across his chest. “I know this is a long shot and I might not be
able to find Delaney, but I’m going to try.”

Carter nodded. “I’m all for
trying anything, but I think we should head out in the
morning.”

Thunder nodded. “I agree,
but first I’d like Mary to take a look around the cabin again to
see if being there brings back any memories. We can go there in the
morning before we head to Appleton.”

Mary felt faint and slumped
down on the cot. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go back to the
cabin when she was trying so hard to forget the gruesome, bloody
sight As she curled up on the small cot she prayed sleep would come
soon.

The next morning, Carter
and Thunder were preparing to leave when the front door swung open.
Mary was out back using the outhouse, so they figured it was
Marshal Forester returning from the post office.

Sure enough, Marshal
Forester and another gentleman strolled inside. The other man was
tall and beady eyed.

Carter disliked the man
immediately.

“Before you leave this
morning,” Forester said, “I thought you’d be interested in what
this gentleman, John McCoy, just told me.”

“John McCoy, as in Big
Jim’s brother?” Thunder asked.

Forester nodded.

Carter noticed that McCoy’s
face had gone completely white.

“So what’s up, McCoy?”
Carter asked.

“I’d heard the girl was
dead, so I’ve come to collect my brother’s mine,” McCoy said
defensively.

“What makes you think that
she’s dead?” Carter asked. He wanted so much to lock this man up
that it hurt, but the only witness that could swear to McCoy taking
Mary from jail in Windy Bend was now dead, so unfortunately Carter
didn’t have anything on the man.

“I was passing through
Windy Bend when I heard it”

“Sounds convenient to me,”
Thunder said.

“Who are you?” McCoy
asked.

Thunder.”

McCoy involuntary took a
step back. “What are you trying to say, mister? I’m the next of
kin.”

“I’m ready,” Mary said,
walking back into the room. She stopped upon seeing McCoy and
frowned like she was trying to remember the man.