Heartbreak Trail Part 26

"Well, here's what you don't know. While we were on the trail, Abner got himself a bad reputation for bothering the women. He was always touching where he shouldn't, getting up too close, making suggestive remarks. His actions made us angry, especially because he was so sneaky about it, always going around with that pious, holier-than-thou att.i.tude." Cordelia paused, apparently gathering her thoughts. "I never told you this, but Abner had the nerve to come to my wagon the night after Nathaniel died and ... it was just awful. He actually thought I would welcome his advances. He said he wanted to 'comfort' me and help me find solace in G.o.d. I was horrified."

"Why didn't you speak up and complain? Why didn't anyone complain?"

"Far as I know, none of the wives ever said anything. You know what it's like on a wagon train, what with the men's tempers so short anything could set them off. Something like that ... well, you know they all have guns. It could have led to bloodshed."

"I had no idea."

"n.o.body wanted to tell you, but at this point, I think you deserve to know. I suppose you can't stop him, but you should be aware of what he's up to every night. Quite frankly, I think we should all keep an eye on him. He doesn't quite seem normal to me, like he's some kind of pervert or something."

"Thanks for telling me. I needed to know."

Cordelia eased into a warm, friendly smile. "Let's get on to more pleasant topics, shall we?"

"Yes, let's." Lucy didn't want to think about that loathsome man any more than she had to.

"Don't forget my tea party." Cordelia rose to leave. "Next Thursday afternoon. Perhaps you might ask Molly to watch the baby while you take some well-deserved time for yourself."

That night, like every night, Lucy strained to keep the conversation pleasant between Abner and herself. It wasn't easy; that horrible moment when he had put his hand over the baby's face remained etched forever in her memory. Now this latest news ... Cordelia's revelations simply gave her yet another reason to detest Abner.

"You overcooked the roast," Abner announced when dinner was done.

"Really?" These days she wouldn't dream of apologizing. Abner rose from the table and hobbled to the coat rack. A Hangtown doctor had fitted him with a peg leg, which thumped annoyingly across the wooden floor. He donned his coat and hat and headed for the door. "I'm going out."

"All right." She'd wondered where he went every night. Now she knew and couldn't care less. The more time he spent out of the house, the better, as far as she was concerned. She could hardly stand him anymore. Most of the time he treated her like a lowly servant. Only when they worked together in the store did he make any show of affection, all of it false, just meant to create a false impression that they were a loving, congenial couple. Oh, what a hypocrite he was!

She went to the baby's room, where she could always find peace and comfort. With a troubled sigh, she sank into the rocking chair by Amy's crib. Trapped. She gazed at the sleeping baby. She could run away, she supposed, but without any money, where could she go? Back to Boston in disgrace? She'd rather be dead.

Besides, how could she escape when she had a baby to care for? Amy came first, always.

If only Clint would find her! Was he looking? Did he care? No day went by when her agonized thoughts didn't dwell on Clint. Was he well? Sick? Happy? Sad? Had he found someone else? Was he dead? What torture never to know.

The trunk she'd brought clear from Boston stood in the corner. On an impulse, she went and opened the lid. On top lay the pair of moccasins the Indians had traded for her pan of biscuits. That night on the trail seemed ages ago, almost another lifetime. She carried the moccasins back to the rocking chair. In the darkness, she started to rock, tenderly holding the soft, embroidered buckskin to her cheek. Clint had touched them once. Clint. Her heart swelled with longing. How could she live knowing he was gone forever?

She continued rocking, her tears dampening the moccasins still pressed to her cheek until, from out of nowhere, she remembered something Charlie Dawes had said.

"Did it ever occur to you that you should do what's best for you? There ain't no person on this earth should have to be beholden to someone else. That includes you, even if you are a woman."

Lucy sat straight up. By G.o.d, Charlie was right. Out of her own fear and guilt, she'd let Abner take the upper hand. Well, no more. "Follow your heart," Hannah had said. d.a.m.ned if she'd spend the rest of her life with Abner. Now wasn't the time, what with the baby still so little, but the day would come when somehow, some way, she'd leave this place and go find Clint. It might take years. She might have to search the continent over, but once she escaped, she'd either find him or die in the attempt.

On the day of Cordelia's tea party, Lucy spent the morning downstairs waiting on customers alongside Abner. Chad was there, too. When he wasn't helping his mother, he enjoyed working in the store. As usual, gold seekers swarmed the aisles, buying everything from pick axes and shovels to tents, blankets, and food. For the most part, the miners were a rough, tough lot, but even the most uncouth showed her the utmost courtesy and respect. If she heard the occasional stray curse word, she simply smiled to herself. After the Butler Brothers, nothing could shock her.

Before she left for Cordelia's, she ran upstairs to check on the baby and found Molly cuddling her. "I'll be at Mrs. Benton's tea party. If you need me-"

"Now, you just run along." Molly looked up and gave her a bright smile. "Don't you worry. We'll be fine."

"I'm sure you will." Although Lucy never liked to leave the baby, she trusted Molly implicitly. At just thirteen, the doctor's pretty daughter showed a maturity beyond her years. Soon she'd be a real heartbreaker with her rose petal cheeks, wealth of dark hair, and full red mouth.

Descending the stairs, Lucy felt a spark of antic.i.p.ation. After weeks of nothing but hard work, how nice to be going to a real indoor, sit-in-the-parlor tea again. She drew Abner aside. "I'm going to Cordelia's for her tea party."

Lines of annoyance instantly furrowed Abner's forehead. "You can't go. We're busy today."

She might've known Abner would attempt to spoil her first real social event since she'd left home. d.a.m.ned if she'd let him. She leaned her head back and looked straight into his eyes. "I'm going to the tea. You can get along without me for an hour or two."

She'd always found it amusing when, at the least provocation, Abner's face turned red. A deep crimson she could see through his beard crept over his cheeks, deepening by the moment. Mindful of nearby customers, he gritted his teeth. "How dare you disobey me?"

"Oh, I dare all right." Amazing what last night's remembrance of Charlie's words had done for her. "I may have to live with you, but you're not going to order me around. Is that clear?"

She turned away and marched out the door. He must be livid, but he'd have to get over it. No longer were they on the trail. They were in a civilized place where getting away with murder wouldn't be so easy. She wasn't going to be his slave anymore.

"My, what delightful tea, Cordelia. Is it oolong? What delicious cookies. I must have the recipe."

Sitting in Cordelia's frilly parlor, Lucy savored the pure pleasure of mingling with a group of ladies who held their cups gingerly and didn't slurp. Cordelia's guests included the cream of Hangtown society: Edwina Sawyer, the doctor's wife and mother of Molly; Carolyn Washburn, wife of the town's one-and-only banker; several wives of the town's leading merchants; and the new school teacher who boarded with Cordelia.

Lucy thoroughly enjoyed the idle, feminine chatter. What a lovely change from having to listen all day to the rough talk of men.

"We ought to make this a regular event," Edwina Sawyer said. "Why don't I be the hostess for our next tea? We could discuss forming a lady's benevolence society, as well as ... what was that?"

From outside, Lucy heard men shouting. Cordelia went to the window, drew back the lace curtain, and looked to her left, toward Schneider's General Store. "I declare, there's a crowd gathering in the street. They seem angry. My gracious, they appear to be directly in front of your store."

Lucy hastened to the window. Dozens of shouting men had gathered in the street. Even as she watched, the crowd grew larger. She set down her teacup. "What on earth? I'd better find out what's going on." She started for the front door.

Frowning, Cordelia shook her head. "Perhaps you shouldn't go out there. Those men look mighty angry to me."

"I must see about Amy." Lucy hurried through the door, down the steps, and into the street crowded with men, their faces twisted with rage, shouting, thrusting fists in the air. In a state of growing anxiety, she made her way up the street to where the crowd seemed most heavily congregated, directly in front of Schneider's General Store. Spying portly Americus Washburn, the banker, she shoved her way to his side and grabbed his arm. "What's going on? Why are they gathered in front of our store?"

"Why, they-" The dignified banker stopped abruptly when he saw who it was. "Uh, I really don't know."

Just then, a rough voice called, "Come out, Abner Schneider!" The crowd immediately picked up the phrase and started chanting, "Come out, Abner Schneider!" over and over, in a chillingly growing roar.

Something was wrong, really wrong. Lucy pushed her way through the crowd and raced up the wooden steps of the store. The front door was closed. Strange. It was never closed in the middle of the day. She turned the doork.n.o.b, but the door wouldn't open. Why was it locked? She peered through the gla.s.s. The store seemed empty, but there had to be someone inside. "Let me in!" She started pounding. Behind her, the angry shouts grew louder. She called out again and kept on pounding. Finally she saw Chad through the gla.s.s. "Chad, let me in." By now she was beating on the door with both fists. The young man came to the door. She could see his face, white and frightened. "Let me in. You must let me in!"

Chad unlocked the door and cracked it open. "Quick!" His voice was urgent. In an instant, she slipped inside. The boy slammed the door shut behind her and quickly locked it again. He was trembling.

"What is this? Why is there a crowd outside? Where's Mister Schneider?"

Chad shook his head. "All I know is, after you left, Mister Schneider asked me to watch the store while he went upstairs. Then, not long after, Molly came running and screaming down the stairs." He bit his lip, looking as if he wasn't sure he should go on. "She had blood on her face, and her clothes were torn." Dismally he added, "I'm real sorry. Molly ran screaming out the door, home I reckon. Not long after, this crowd started gathering. I guess they're after Mister Schneider for something he did."

She spoke as calmly as she could. "Where is Mister Schneider?"

"He's upstairs, ma'am. I think the baby's room."

She thanked Chad, lifted her skirts, and raced up the steps to the second floor. In the baby's room, she found Amy safe and asleep in her crib. Abner cowered in a corner, his left eye bruised and swollen.

The roar of the crowd grew louder. Over the shouts of, "Come out, Abner Schneider!" she asked, "What happened? Why are they after you? What happened to your eye?"

Ashen-faced, Abner cringed against the wall, hugging himself. His lips trembled. "They're mad, Lucy, mad! I've done nothing wrong. That girl is telling lies." A sudden, jarring crash came from downstairs. "Dear G.o.d, they've thrown something through the window!"

Lucy gripped Abner's shoulders. "For G.o.d's sake, what did you do?"

"Mister Schneider?"

Lucy turned to see Tom Stewart, the town's newly appointed marshal, standing in the doorway. A tall, imposing figure with a star on his vest and gun on his hip, he addressed Abner. "I've been delegated to come get you."

Abner's eyes grew wide with terror. "Never! You have no right to come in here."

"Chad let me in, sir." The marshal shrugged dismissively. "An angry mob like this isn't concerned over your rights. Didn't you hear? Already they've broken a window. If you don't come out, they'll come in. Do you want that? Do you want them busting up your store?"

Abner spoke in a quavering, almost childlike voice. "What will they do to me?"

"Give you a fair trial. That's all I can promise."

"Fair trial?" Abner laughed hysterically. "In Hangtown?"

"It's the best you're going to get. Now come along."

The blood-thirsty crowd was screaming as Tom Stewart led Abner through the front door of Schneider's General Store. Shouting men surged forward, but when the steely-eyed Marshall raised his hand, they held back.

"This man deserves a fair trial, and long as I'm marshal, he's going to get one." He laid his hand over his gun. "If there's any man not agreeing with me, he'd better step forward."

The crowd made way for the marshal as he pushed Abner forward, down the steps, onto the street. The noise picked up again as Tom escorted his prisoner next door to the Gold Dust Saloon.

Numb with shock, Amy in her arms, Lucy trailed behind the ever-growing mob. When she went up the steps of the Gold Dust, Cordelia came alongside. In a horrified voice she asked, "Oh, Lucy, what has he done?"

"It has something to do with Molly."

Someone shouted, "Americus Washburn's been appointed judge!"

Cordelia shouted out, "And just who appointed him?"

"The crowd, ma'am."

Inside the Gold Dust, two rows of six chairs each had been hastily set up for the jurors, a chair and a table up front for the judge, and a chair for the witnesses. After seating Abner in another chair up front, Tom Stewart stood behind the judge.

Lucy and Cordelia found two seats in the back. Holding Amy tight, Lucy watched the unruly crowd choose the jurors. The selection proved easy enough. Without asking a single question, they pointed to the first twelve men who stepped up and volunteered. The whole process took less than two minutes.

Someone in the crowd called, "Where's his lawyer?" but was quickly stilled by hisses and boos.

"I guess it's just the judge, Abner, and the jury," said Cordelia.

"This can't be happening." Abner was about to be hanged? She couldn't get it through her head.

Cordelia squeezed her hand. "You must be brave. There's nothing you can do now except pray." She flicked Lucy a glance. "That is, if you want to pray."

In a daze, Lucy sat and watched what pa.s.sed for a fair trial in Hangtown. The jurors were immediately sworn in. The marshal called the first witness, Doc Sawyer, who swore to tell the truth with his hand on the Bible and seated himself in the chair beside the judge.

"Doc, tell us what happened," said Americus.

The town's only doctor, ordinarily a pleasant man with kindly eyes and an easy manner, today sat clutching his fists as he testified, his mouth set in an angry line, a muscle twitching along his jaw. "This afternoon my daughter, Molly, was watching the Schneider baby. I was working in my office, which, as you know, is in my home. All of a sudden, I heard screaming. It was Molly. She burst into my office.

She ..." The doctor choked up. He needed several seconds to pull himself together. "She said Abner Schneider came upstairs and threw her to floor, demanding she submit. My daughter refused and started to fight him off. It was then he tore her dress and hit her in the face. I saw the blood!" Eyes blazing, the doctor stood, raised his arm, and pointed an accusing finger at Abner. "That man tried to rape my daughter!"

The room exploded into angry shouts. Not having a gavel, the judge pounded on the table with a heavy whiskey gla.s.s. When the noise died down, he asked, "How did Molly get away, Doc?"

"She hit him in the eye and ran."

"So he didn't-?"

"No, he did not."

"How's she doing now?"

"Fine, but she'll be doing a lot better when they put a noose around that b.a.s.t.a.r.d's neck."

"Hang him!" came incensed shouts from the crowd. Americus had to bang the whiskey gla.s.s again.

When the doctor stepped down, young Chad Benton was sworn in and took his place in the witness chair. More composed now, he looked expectantly at the judge, waiting for a question.

"Tell us what happened, lad."

"Well, uh, Mister Schneider and I were working in the store. Then he went upstairs. Then pretty soon Molly came running down and out the door."

"Was she screaming?"

"Yes, and her dress was torn."

"Did you see any blood?"

"On her face I did."

"Then what happened?"

"Mister Schneider came downstairs. He acted like nothing was wrong, but he looked terrible, like he was upset about something. His eye looked awful, real red like somebody punched it."

"Anything more?"

"Pretty soon I heard yelling outside. So did the customers. When they all went outside to see what the yelling was about, I got scared and locked the door. Then Mrs. Schneider knocked, and I let her in. Then I let the marshal in, and he took Mister Schneider away. That's about it."

Chad had nothing more to add. When he left the witness chair, the judge addressed Abner. "What have you to say for yourself?"

Abner stood and faced the crowd. "All lies! I never touched the girl. I didn't do it." His gaze swept the room until he spied Lucy. "Strumpet! Harlot, this is all your doing." He pointed an accusing finger, quoting a verse she recognized from the Book of Obadiah. " 'As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee.' "