The courthouse was full. Gold, buckboard, stage, and steed had transported the curious to the court of justice in Gillespie. When the accused was brought into the room, the crowd murmured excitedly. The court was shortly called to order and the proceedings began.
“The prosecution would like to question the accused first, Your Honor,” the sheriff said as he led Jackson to the bench. Jackson glanced up nervously at the older man with the shiny silver hair and vivid blue eyes.
Drummond saw Ruth Anne in the stands, but the Wilde woman was nowhere to be seen. Better, he thought. Silent tears ran down Ruth’s face, but he was not perturbed in the least. Soon, he would be the one to erase the tears and replace them with something far better. A night in his bed and she would forget all about Jackson.
“Very well. Swear him in, Sheriff,” the Judge was saying from his high seat. Judge Wilde was an impressive man with his booming voice, large fit body and strict demeanor that gave way to his natural convivial nature once he was off the bench. There was none in the room that didn’t know firsthand or had heard of his reputation. Percival didn’t like that he was the judge in this case, but his hands were tied.
The sheriff did as he was told, and the trial began in earnest.
“The Court might be amused by your story, Jackson. Go on with it,” Kincaid said to Jackson, who looked annoyed at the words.
“My story is the truth and remains the same, Your Honor. I hitched the team outside the Gillespie office; there were no passengers. I asked the ticket agent and the baggage man, “Don’t tell me that gold chest is all I’m hauling boys? They told me, yep, it was four thousand in gold nuggets and that the boss had personally loaded it up on the stage himself before riding on ahead to Alamieda to be on hand for its arrival at the bank. I asked where the shotgun guard was that would accompany me, but they said Mr. Drummond had chosen to forgo sending one. That was a head-scratcher to me, but since I had a schedule to keep I couldn't wait any longer and began the trip to Alamieda," Jackson finished.
“That’s all, Jackson,” Kincaid said and turned to the judge. “Your Honor, it is obvious that Jackson stopped somewhere along the way and stashed the gold. It’s just a question of where!”
Drummond smiled as his lawyer played around the details that Jackson rendered. The dimwit was beginning to look nervous now, glancing at Ruth Anne pitifully. It was only a matter of a few minutes before he wouldn’t see her again.
***
On the other side of town, on the outskirts of Gillespie, Blue River and his sister, Bright Feather, stood by the gate to a corral full of cattle they had herded over from Alamieda earlier in the day.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bright Feather, a beautifully tanned and toned full-blooded Indian with the same long dark hair as the brother she had asked the question of.
“These are all Cedar Ledge cattle. Cattie figures that gives us the right to do with them as we wish,” he said.
"Very well, I shall do as you ask," Bright Feather said always willing to help her younger brother and the family of her beloved friend, siblings to the man who was the love of her life.
“If Cattie was involved, nothing should go wrong,” she thought, decidedly.
“I am thankful you are around to be able to help,” Blue River said with a fond smile.
“Dutch and his troops didn’t need me for his mission in New Mexico,” she said forlornly. “Though my heart ached from his absence.”
“My brother’s love for you is as vast as the skies above, as we all know,” Blue River teased. “I am certain that he longs for you at his side, even now, just as you do for him,” Blue River told her.
“Every beat of my heart awaits his return. I am glad for something to do while I wait,” she said gratefully.
“I must go now to help Catalina,” Blue River said. “Please, wait for a few minutes before doing as planned.” She nodded in agreement and he headed back towards town on his horse.
***
Catalina was waiting for Blue River behind Drummond’s office, by a window. She had slipped through the back bushes when she noticed a few deputies of the sheriff standing guard out front of Drummond’s offices. As she waited she re-read one of the letters she had picked up at the Alamieda post office before heading over to Gillespie.
The first letter had given her good cheer as it was from her sister's in Carson City. Apparently, their first night had been eventful. Cassandra had spent the evening with a fellow hotel guest they had met while checking in. Lijuan its seemed had wound up smashing a fair number of beer mugs at a poker table with her hammer when she caught a couple of card sharks trying to cheat her. Honor she read, had already rung up a massive one hundred dollars purchasing new dresses. How she loved her family she thought with a chuckle.
Her good humor faded as she saw who the second letter had been from. It was the one she was re-reading now. Melinda Novack! She had met the young beauty recently when she was helping her sister clear the name of Melinda's brother an escaped convict. Catalina had invited her down to the ranch on the excuse of shooting lessons but it had really been just an excuse to seduce the woman when Catalina sensed an interest in her from Melinda when they had met and she had saved Melinda's life.
The sex had been fun and wild like with Noelle but Catalina had moved on already. Half the fun was in the seduction and once it was over well…Catalina and her sisters rarely got into knock down drag out arguments like when they were children these days but she remembered a screaming match she had unleashed on Honor Elizabeth when she had remarked on all the women Cattie had a habit of leaving hanging. It hadn’t been something Catalina had wanted to hear because she knew Honor was right.
Now it seemed Melinda wasn’t one who wanted to be left hanging either. This was the third letter she had received wondering when Catalina would come to Godspell for a visit or when she might get invited down to Cedar Ledge again. Catalina had written her back after the first letter and said she would be in touch.
However, she had gotten sidetracked when she began to pick up hints that Naomi Dorrett was interested in her and Melinda had quickly faded from her thoughts. Now reading this new letter asking the same thing she felt guilty but this was a matter she would have to concern herself on some other day. Helping get Jackson set free was all that mattered now and she was relieved when she saw Blue River approaching, a crowbar swinging from his hand.
“Bright Feather is ready?” she asked Blue River. He gave a short nod and she smiled in return. It was time.
At her nod, Blue River proceeded to jimmy open the window with the crowbar.
“Should I stand watch right here or come in with you?” Blue River asked when he was done forcing the window open.
“Come along, Blue River. It might draw attention if you were seen standing around outside,” Catalina told him, and they went through the window into the back office.
"Besides, I might need help. We've got to work fast," she whispered as they found their way around. "There's Drummond's safe, let's have the crowbar."
Catalina grabbed the crowbar from her brother and began working with it to open the big safe.
“Now let’s see if what I learned from the good Mr. Bergendahl applies here. Keep your fingers crossed, brother,” she said in excitement.
Working as silently as she could, she gave a final thrust and the safe came open. She had guessed right! The Bergendahl siblings weren’t the only magicians in this part of the territory.
“Holy hell! It looks like my hunch was right, Blue River!” she whispered enthusiastically. “Now all I need is Bright Feather to still be on the edge of town with those steers.”
Waiting too long could spell doom for Jackson, she knew.
“She has promised to do as I asked her,” Blue River said firmly. “She will come through for us.”
“I know she will,” Catalina nodded. “She’s my truest friend. You know, after all these years, it still feels strange, you havin’ another sister that isn’t one
of us Wildes. But you know I love Bright Feather like any of the rest and as for our brother Dutch, well, he would die for her.”
“Yes, and won’t we all be relieved when those two marry someday? Then she will have the last name of Wilde. It is as certain as the sun following the moon,” Blue River said with a smile and a pat on Catalina’s shoulder. Left unspoken was there would be one Wilde this eventual marriage would not please … Lijuan for reasons neither could fathom.
Catalina smiled and was going to say something more but her eyes went to something odd on the desk. The corner of some type of illustration was sticking out from beneath the papers, but Catalina knew a shapely female thigh when she saw one. It appeared to be a sketchbook that had been hastily put there. Curious to see, she slipped the book out from beneath the papers and her eyes widened in shock.
“What in Sam Hill …” She began to flip through the sketches in amazement. Blue River peeked over her shoulder before looking away in disgust. There were pages and pages of nude sketches of Ruth Anne. There were even a few of Drummond making love to Ruth Anne. Catalina was certain that had never happened.
“Seems like old Percy here is quite the artist, but now this whole thing makes more sense to me. Ruth Anne said he was interested in her, but …”
“But this goes far beyond interest, doesn’t it?” Blur River asked the disgust still clear in his eyes.
"There's a ten-dollar word for it, and I think it is called obsession," Catalina responded, her eyes still not quite believing what she was seeing. Grim-faced, she closed the sketchbook and shoved it under one arm. It would certainly come in handy as evidence.
A moment later, hoof beats thundered beyond the walls and a shout echoed from the street nearby. The ground rumbled faintly and Catalina smiled. Knowing what it was, she went to the window. She could hear voices shouting.
“Stampede! They’re loco wild. Come on, we gotta get ‘em before some hombre gets killed!” she heard someone yell from the front room of the stage office.
Her smile got broader as in her mind’s eye she saw a dozen head of cattle looking as mad as the man said. Their eyes would be gleaming madly as they ran down the streets. The cattle were among the best on the ranch—big, strong, and mean. No man would want to stand in their way. Within seconds, the streets of Gillespie would be completely deserted, save for the lawmen.
“But our orders are to sit tight on that chest until they call for it at the trial,” another voice yelled.
Suddenly, she heard the sheriff’s voice from the front room of the offices. He must have been coming for the chest when the stampede happened.
Catalina was grateful that Bright Feather had released the cattle right on time.
“Hang that chest of rocks, lawyer Kincaid and his play acting for the judge too. A stampede in the middle of Main Street is more important! Stir yourselves, men!” the sheriff yelled.
Catalina and Blue River listened as the men took to their heels, giving chase to the herd and leaving them alone with the only exhibit that could vindicate Jackson. Catalina fixed her gaze on it. The chest had been kept in the area behind where the tickets normally were sold. An old chair still swiveled from being vacated by the deputy who had been guarding it.
Catalina simply couldn’t wait to disrupt the court proceedings, even if her father was the presiding judge.
CHAPTER 10
* * *
In the courtroom, things were moving along as Drummond had planned. He was on the stand and answering leading questions from his lawyer. All the better to win the case he thought happily as he answered each.
Until the judge noticed.
"Prosecution will stop prompting the witness," Judge Wilde ordered. "Go on, Drummond. You were awaiting the stagecoach in Alamieda."
“That’s right, Your Honor. As said, I had placed the gold box personally on the coach before I saddled up and rode on ahead to Alamieda to make final arrangements with the bank. I was worried about keeping it in my old safe, and I knew the Rock River Bank in Alamieda had just gotten that new heavy duty safe and I wanted it there. The coach rolled in from Gillespie right on time. Jackson Campbell left in a hurry. “What’s up, Campbell? Not waiting around until your cargo is checked in?” I asked him.
“Got some mighty important things to do now, Mister Drummond. Can’t wait,” he said to me.
“But we soon found out why he couldn’t wait. Somewhere along the way, he’d robbed the gold and left me with nothing but rocks. Soon as he could, he saddled up and rode off. Luckily, I immediately discovered the theft and grabbed the sheriff and Mr. Kincaid who was going to assist me at the bank, and we tore off after him until …” Drummond stopped there.
“Until he was arrested on my very ranch, I am told,” the judge said.
“Indeed so, though I understand Your Honor wasn’t anywhere on the premises that day,” Kincaid was hasty to add.
“I was handling a trial in another town,” the judge confirmed. “Imagine my surprise to return and find this out.”
Drummond thought the man should be ashamed of his daughter’s behavior, but the man appeared not to be at all. He swallowed his renewed anger at the Wilde woman’s sass and nodded benignly at the judge.
“A question, Mr. Drummond,” the defense asked. “Four thousand in gold is a lot of money. Why not have a shotgun guard on the stage with Campbell that day?”
“Mr. Kincaid here advised me the same thing, but I feared that would only draw attention to the coach. Twenty years in business and not one robbery; I wanted to keep that up.”
The judge smiled for a moment, and the smile galled Percival to no end. He, however, had to keep his face carefully neutral lest the man catch on.
“That, sir, is a rarity in Arizona,” the judge said thinking of how his daughters frequently got mixed up in various stage robberies.
Drummond glanced at the wall clock of the courtroom covertly. Fifteen minutes ago, the sheriff had gone for the chest of rocks to be presented as evidence, but he was yet to return. All the leading questions Kincaid kept asking him were a ruse to tarry until the sheriff showed up. Drummond was beginning to get worried. He saw Kincaid raise his hand to draw attention.
“Moving on, Your Honor, we ask for a recess. An important piece of evidence was supposed to be delivered by now and we are still waiting …”
He was interrupted as the doors to the courtroom flew open and the sheriff came in hauling the chest. One of the deputies from the chase days ago trailed behind him.
“It is about time, sheriff. I was wondering when you would show up,” Kincaid said to the sheriff before turning back to the judge. “I respectfully withdraw the request for a recess, Judge Wilde.”
“I apologize for the delay. My men and I had a situation to handle,” the Sheriff addressed the judge respectfully.
“I assume it has to do with that commotion we heard beyond these walls?” the judge commented, waving off the apology.
“Yes, Your Honor, a bunch of your steers broke free from the holding pen down by the depot. We managed to corral most of them, but a couple managed to run right off into the desert before we could stop them,” the sheriff informed the judge.
“My cattle?” the judge scratched his chin in a way that annoyed Drummond immensely. “I see. Well, it appears I owe you and your men a debt of gratitude for the ones you got back.”
“We are here to seek justice regarding my nuggets, not deal with your ranching problems, Judge!” Drummond yelled angrily. He would not have the judge waste time when things were going his way.
Kincaid hurried over to him and whispered fiercely. “Mr. Drummond! Don’t be antagonizing the judge, we are about to win this case!” Drummond saw the right of his lawyer’s words and looked up at the judge, hoping he looked sufficiently contrite.
“Your Honor, I didn’t mean that,” he apologized. “As you have said, four thousand in gold sure is a lot of money and I apologize for getting carried away by my want for justice.”
J
udge Wilde was staring steadily at him. Drummond shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He hoped that his outburst would do nothing to influence the judge’s decision.
“I would like to present the evidence,” Kincaid took over. “This is the very chest on the stage from a few days ago, the basis of our whole case. It’s been under guard by deputies at Mr. Drummond’s office since then. Imagine our surprise when we saw Mr. Jackson’s deceit. It is a box full of rocks instead of gold!”
The lawyer approached the chest and reached for the lid as the doors once again opened, and this time, Catalina and Blue River came walking in. Drummond glared at the two, wondering what mischief they were up to now. However, he was confident that whatever their plan, there was nothing they could do for Jackson now.
***
Ruth Anne cried out for her friend’s help from amidst the crowd, but Catalina did not glance at her, unwilling to be distracted. She went straight to the witness’ box.
“Yes, open it up, Papa. I think the court is in for quite a sight!” she said with a mischievous grin.
“Catalina, daughter or no daughter, this is highly inappropriate! What are you doing here, Peppercorn?” Judge Wilde asked with a frown for his daughter.
“Just have Kincaid open the box, Papa,” she told him calmly.
“Very well,” the judge nodded, and Kincaid proceeded to do just so. “But living in the West as long as I have, a box of rocks isn’t going to …”
He stopped as the chest was opened and revealed glittering gold nuggets. The court of spectators gasped in astonishment as Drummond leaped to his feet.
“What in tarnation? The missing gold!” her father exclaimed as everyone in the court jostled to lean forward at the sight of the gleaming fortune in the chest.
"Your Honor, I demand an immediate recess!" Kincaid said loudly over the din of noise from the gallery, but nobody was listening to him.
Silver, Gold And Deception: Catalina Wilde Western Adventure (Half Breed Haven Book 4) Page 12