He was pointing the blade at Elvira, who screamed again, long and shrill.
"Shut up, ya old crow, or I’ll cut ya," Oscar roared, waving the blade inches from her nose.
Elvira stopped in mid-shriek and clamped a hand over her mouth. She’d been standing, but her knees gave way and she collapsed on the bed, shuddering.
"Put the baby down, Chalmers.”
Logan tried to keep his voice even and reasonable. He had his derringer in his hand, but he kept it hidden at his side. He didn’t dare make a move as long as Chalmers held the child.
“Put her down and we’ll talk.” He was aware that Hannah had materialized at his side, and he cursed silently, wishing to hell she’d stayed put in her room.
At least, after an initial gasp, she was quiet, but now Daisy was there too, just behind Logan.
He heard other voices from the rooms the miners were renting. They'd be out here in another minute as well, and Logan was afraid that the crowd of people might push Chalmers into using the knife.
"C’mon, Oscar," Logan wheedled. "Your wife just had the baby. She’s small and she’d not doing so good. Doc said to keep her quiet,” Logan lied.
“You don’t want something to happen to your own little girl, do you, Oscar?”
"Don't bullshit me, McGraw. This kid’s fine. I'm takin’ it home where it belongs.”
Chalmers leaned over the bed, the knife now inches from Jeannie’s throat.
"You wanta take care o’it, ya better get yer sorry ass home soon’s ya can. And where’s the gold ya stole from me, ya thievin’ whore?”
The knife waved unsteadily in front of Jeannie’s face and Logan held his breath.
“Give me my baby.” Jeannie’s voice shook uncontrollably.
“Please, Oscar, don’t hurt her. Ya can take the gold—just don’t hurt my baby. Please, Oscar.”
"Bullshit." His roar reverberated through the small room, and Jeannie jumped and whimpered.
“This kid’s mine. She goes with me. That way ye’ll be sure to come runnin’ home, wontcha? And I want that poke ya stole right now, ya lyin, thieven’ little bitch, ya hear me?"
He feinted at her with the knife, grazing it across her cheek, and Jeannie shrieked and cowered back against the pillow.
From behind him Logan heard Hannah and Daisy cry out.
Oscar swore at them and the baby started to cry.
"The gold's downstairs in my safe, Oscar," Logan said. “Put the baby down and we'll go get it.”
Logan’s fingers tightened helplessly around the small gun pressed tightly against his leg.
His only hope was to try to reason with the other man, because he couldn't get a clear shot.
The baby’s cries grew louder and more urgent, and Oscar gave the bundle an impatient shake.
The women all made horrified sounds, and Jeannie’s agony was in her voice.
“Oscar, don't hurt her. I’ll do anything you say, but please don’t hurt the baby like that."
“Please don’t hurt the baby—’’ Oscar’s taunting voice and sarcastic tone were pure evil.
Icy-cold rage sent adrenaline pumping through Logan’s body. His eyes followed Oscar’s every move, and his finger rested on the gun’s trigger. He only needed one single, clear shot. . . .
Before Logan realized what she was doing, Hannah darted past him. In one smooth motion, she reached out and snatched the baby from under Oscar’s arm, whirling away as quickly as she could, her body curled protectively around the child.
Oscar cursed and lunged towards her, the knife raised.
Hannah twisted away, shielding the baby as the blade came slashing down.
Both Elvira and Daisy screamed.
Hannah made a choked sound in her throat as the knife grazed her shoulder. Her knees buckled and she fell, but she retained her hold on the baby, curling her body around it in a protective ball, her back to the knife.
Chalmers, thrown off balance by the force of his attack on Hannah, stumbled and caught himself on the iron railing at the foot of the bed. Then he raised the knife again, ready to drive it down into Hannah's back.
For one single moment, no one else was near him. Logan raised his gun and aimed it at Oscar’s chest.
Without hesitation, he fired.
Yesterday’s Gold: Chapter Twenty-One
The investigation into Oscar Chalmers’s death was held in the courthouse, presided over by Judge Begbie.
Hannah, her injured shoulder bandaged and aching, walked into the log building flanked by Logan, Daisy, Elvira, and Doc Carroll.
Jeannie had wanted to come, but Doc forbade it.
It was only four days since the baby’s birth. The shooting was the talk of the town, and every bench in the small log courthouse was filled, except for the space at the very front reserved for those involved in the proceedings.
Aware that every curious eye in the place was riveted on their little group, Hannah held her head high as she walked along the narrow aisle and sat down in the designated area, Daisy on one side of her and Logan on the other. She told herself there was absolutely no reason to feel nervous and on edge, but she did anyway. She also felt slightly nauseated. Her shoulder throbbed, and she could smell the pungent ointment that Elvira had smeared on the wound.
Logan, immaculate in his well-pressed black suit and stiffly starched white shirt, reached over and took her fingers in his, giving them a reassuring squeeze, but when she turned to look at him, there was a remoteness about him that had been there ever since Oscar Chalmers crumpled to the floor in a pool of blood.
They’d just gotten settled when Constable Bowran cleared his throat noisily and bellowed, "All rise!” Everyone stood, and with immense dignity and a fine sense of theater, Judge Begbie emerged from his chambers at the front of the room and sat down on the raised platform.
“Be seated," he boomed in a deep, rich voice that carried to the farthest corner of the building.
"Let it be noted that this is an informal inquiry into the shooting death of one Oscar Chalmers which occurred at approximately three-forty-five on the morning of July 30th, in the year of our Lord eighteen-hundred and sixty-eight.”
The court clerk was a small man wearing round glasses. He was seated off to one side of the judge, and he scribbled furiously in a large notebook.
Hannah stared up at Judge Begbie, intimidated in spite of herself. The judge was a thinfaced man somewhere beyond fifty, incredibly tall, at least six-four or five, with an upswept mustache and a white Vandyke beard with one distinctive black streak down its center.
Even for this informal inquiry, he wore flowing black robes and a long horsehair wig. He looked stern, and his piercing dark eyes caught and held her own for what could only have been a second but felt much longer.
Hannah shivered. She understood now why everyone seemed afraid of Judge Baillie Begbie, and she pitied anyone who had to stand accused before him. His gaze alone was enough to make one feel guilty, even if one weren’t.
He conducted the investigation in a very orderly manner.
Doc Carroll was called first, to describe in technical medical terms what the autopsy he'd performed on the body of Oscar Chalmers had revealed.
Hannah listened to the doctor’s explanation, concluding that it was a long-winded way of saying that Oscar had died of a bullet that entered his chest, passed through his heart, and lodged in his spine.
She shuddered, unable to forget the agonizing moments she’d spent crouching on the floor with Jeannie’s tiny baby wailing in her arms, waiting helplessly for Oscar's knife to stab deep into her back.
When Doc Carroll was done with his statement, Elvira was called.
She stood, and Begbie motioned her to come forward so that she was standing directly below him.
Begbie leaned towards her. "Mrs. Taylor, I want to know exactly who you are, where you're from, and how you came to be present on the night in question.”
Hannah stiffened. She and Elvira and Daisy had talked ov
er how much of their story might be necessary in court, and they’d agreed that if they were asked, they'd simply give their home address as Victoria, without going into any details about how they came to be in Barkerville.
“I'm Mrs. Elvira Taylor, formerly of Victoria, British Columbia.”
Elvira’s back was ramrod straight, her head high.
"I'm a nurse, on an extended visit to Barkerville, and I'm presently employed by Doctor Carroll to assist him at the hospital. On the night in question—”
Hannah felt a surge of pride and had to hide a smile. Elvira had watched enough courtroom scenes on television to know the procedure and the language, and she wasn’t about to be intim- idated by Begbie. She told what she'd seen in a clear, straightforward manner. Her outrage and horror were evident in her tone when she described Jeannie’s injuries and the scene in the bedroom that included Hannah being stabbed.
When she was finished, Begbie gave a satisfied nod.
"Thank you, madam. I wish all those appearing in my courtroom were as vocal and as eloquent."
He looked down at his notes.
"Mrs. Daisy Gilmore, if you please.”
Hannah could feel the tremor that ran through her mother’s slight frame, but she got to her feet, walked up to Begbie and told her story.
Her voice trembled, and tears ran down her face when she described how Hannah had snatched the baby and been cut by Oscar’s knife, but she made it through with real dignity.
Hannah felt enormously proud of her mother.
"Miss Hannah Gilmore.”
Lordy, it was her turn. Hannah’s knees suddenly felt like jelly, and she had to make two attempts to get to her feet.
Logan helped her.
"A chair for this witness, if you please," Begbie ordered, and when Hannah sank gratefully into it, he added, "Miss Gilmore, would you like a drink of water?”
He held out a glass, filled from the pitcher on his desk.
Hannah took it and gratefully swallowed half of the lukewarm liquid.
Her voice wobbled at first. She said nothing about being a social worker, stating only that she worked at Pandola’s store. Once she got through the first few sentences, it became easier to talk to Begbie.
When Hannah was finished, Begbie fixed her with his X-ray eyes.
“I commend your bravery, Miss Gilmore."
Hannah flushed and bit back the denial that sprang to her lips. It infuriated her that everyone considered what she’d done an act of bravery.
In actual fact, snatching the baby from that madman hadn't been something she’d thought about or planned; it was as if her body had acted independently of her brain.
Logan was the only one who'd understood. He’d cursed and called her a bloody fool and a total idiot and been utterly furious with her for doing what she had, and she figured he was absolutely right.
He’d also scooped her up in his arms and raced down to his bedroom with her, hollering for Elvira, sending someone running for Doc Carroll, roaring orders and raging at everyone as if she was dying, instead of just bleeding a lot from a cut on the shoulder.
Doc had threatened to tie him down and give him a sleeping potion.
The judge called Logan next, and Hannah felt her heart swell with pride as he quietly gave his version of what had happened.
Begbie was in no hurry to conclude the proceedings. When Logan was finished speaking, Begbie leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard, and the rustling from the spectators increased as he simply sat there, staring into the middle distance with a contemplative look on his face.
Hannah’s heart was in her throat, and she silently cursed the judge for his need for drama.
The hard bench bit into her thighs, and her shoulder had gone from uncomfortable to painful.
Reason told her that Begbie couldn’t possibly find Logan guilty of anything, but she’d heard that Begbie made unorthodox judgments at times.
She curled her hands into fists and stared at the judge, willing him to end the waiting, to do the only thing possible in this investigation: absolve Logan totally from any wrongdoing, and thank him for what amounted to saving the lives of Jeannie and her baby, and Hannah’s as well.
At last the judge cleared his throat and rose to his feet. Like the showman he was, Begbie waited until the excited whispering and shifting of bodies gradually died away. There was hardly a sound in the courtroom when he spoke.
"I have listened most carefully to the witnesses in this matter of the shooting death of Oscar Chalmers, and it is my belief that what occurred is not a matter to be brought before the courts at this time.”
Relief swept through Hannah like a cool breeze on a hot afternoon. She could feel tension draining from her body, and she reached over and squeezed Logan's hand, waiting for the judge to commend him.
"Stand up, Mr. McGraw."
Logan did, and Judge Begbie looked at him with a stern expression on his formidable features.
Hannah felt herself grow tense all over again.
"Mr. McGraw, how did you happen to have a gun handy on the night in question?”
"I own a derringer. I was wearing it because I was concerned for the safety of my household and Jeannie Chalmers."
"It is my firm belief that the wearing of firearms leads to tragedy, Mr. McGraw."
Begbie’s voice rose and he leaned forward, fixing Logan with a formidable stare.
"Whatever the circumstances, a man’s life has been taken, and that is a deplorable situation. My duty is to keep order and to administer the law, and I am a sworn enemy to the use of the knife and the revolver.”
He paused again, and the spectators seemed to hold their breath.
“In this case, it would seem you had little choice in the matter. But if there is another shooting in Barkerville, for whatever cause, and you are involved in any fashion, sir—"
Again he paused for a long, tense moment, and he dropped his voice to a near whisper.
“I assure you, there will be a hanging in Barkerville, Mr. McGraw. Do I make myself plain?”
Hannah couldn’t believe her ears. Begbie was actually threatening Logan.
Outraged, she started to struggle to her feet, but Elvira beat her to it.
The older woman stood ramrod straight and scowled up at Begbie from behind her glasses. "Your honor, with all due respect, it's contemptible of this court to say such a thing to Mr. McGraw."
"Sit down, madam." Begbie leveled a killing look at Elvira, but she ignored him and went right on talking in her loud voice.
"Logan was the only one who was willing to protect Jeannie Chalmers or her baby. You and the constable weren’t around, and Doc Carroll naturally didn't want Oscar coming to the hospital and causing trouble. We have other sick folks there to think about. And I sure didn't see any of the men from the saloon coming forward. They cleared out when they heard Oscar was on the rampage."
"Madam, I said sit down, or I will have you removed from this courtroom.”
Begbie was on his feet now, his eyes bulging out of his head.
“I will not tolerate this kind of behavior—"
Elvira wasn’t finished. She raised her voice over Begbie’s.
"Everyone was quite ready to sit back and let that wife-beating maniac do whatever he wanted to that poor woman and her baby. It just points out the general attitude of this town towards women’s rights." She was shouting now. "The fact is, we haven’t any!"
“Constable!" Begbie looked apoplectic. "Remove that woman." He leaned forward and pointed a long finger at Elvira.
Constable Bowran moved hesitantly forward.
"Don't bother. I wouldn’t stick around here if you paid me.” Elvira marched towards the door.
Hannah got up, and Daisy did as well, and both of them followed her. Hannah was surprised and pleased to see Rebecca Carroll also get to her feet, and when she reached the door and glanced back, she saw Rebecca, Mary Winnard, and Prudence Heatherington also walking out of Begbie's courtroom.
> A thrill of triumph went through Hannah.
Dear old Elvira had staged Barkerville's first women’s protest march.
At eight o'clock the following Wednesday evening, Hannah had to move extra chairs into the kitchen to seat the women who turned up for the regular meeting of the women’s group.
Rebecca brought a friend named Louisa Rockwell, whose husband was the new schoolteacher. Mary Winnard was there. Two miner’s wives arrived, Ella Purdy and Susan Burtrum. Gentle Annie was absent.
Jeannie had decided she wanted to come downstairs for the meeting. The women all made a huge fuss over the baby, and each of them registered shock and pity when they first saw Jeannie's battered face.
Rebecca brought Sophie a half-dozen tiny nightgowns with delicate lace at the sleeves and a stack of hand-hemmed flannel diapers, and Hannah knew they were part of the layette she must have sewn during her own pregnancies.
Hannah had already called the meeting to order when Carmen Hall sashayed in.
The room became very quiet, and Hannah held her breath, certain that some of the women would walk out. She was relieved and surprised when they didn't, although they all studiously avoided looking at Carmen.
Hannah greeted her by name and made her welcome and then stated the purpose of the meeting, to bring women together and discuss issues that affected all of them.
Out of respect for Jeannie's feelings, it seemed no one was about to mention the scene at the courthouse, so Hannah took the initiative, remarking on the power of peaceful protest.
There was a buzz of excited conversation, and they all agreed that something needed to be done about the deplorable way women were being treated by the courts.
Elvira suggested writing a letter of protest to Judge Begbie with copies to whoever else was in charge of justice, and everyone enthusiastically agreed.
The women were obviously impressed with Elvira.
Rebecca brought up her church campaign, Louisa Rockwell spoke of the need for slates and books at the schoolhouse, and Elvira started a heated argument by proposing that the Chinese children be encouraged to attend school, which horrified Louisa, but which Rebecca supported.
Now and Forever: Time Travel Romance Superbundle Page 57