Cole's Redemption (Love Amongst the Pines) (4 page)

“
What do you want?"

             
"We're
gonna
take care of things, Gunslinger. Don't worry none about it," the sheriff growled. "What do
ya
think,
Stef
? Can it be done?"

             
Cole backed away from them but the smithy was quicker, stepping forward, he reached for Cole's clenched fists. He raised them up, examining first one, and then the other and nodded to Watkins.

             
"He has good sized hands but I think I can manage."

             
"Manage what?" Fear snaked up Cole's spine as he jerked his hands away.

             
The sheriff and the preacher stepped up beside Cole, each taking hold of one of his arms. The men exchanged uneasy glances, but neither spoke.

             
"What the hell's going on here?" Cole demanded.

             
"We're getting you ready for your new bride,
Remmington
," Watkins stated, finally.

             
"I don't want a bride. I told you earlier, I want to be hung, just like you promised me in court." He turned to Judge. "You found me guilty! You sentenced me to die!"

             
The lawman remained silent as the others propelled Cole down the long hallway. They paused before a door to the back of the jail.

             
"You
ain't
afraid of dying, son?" Judge asked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.

             
"No." Cole said, straining to keep his face as still as stone.

             
"But, you're afraid of a skinny little doe eyed girl?
Ain't
that something.
"

             
The room they entered was dim and dusty. The smithy was busy adjusting some leather straps around the length of a sturdy, wooden table.

             
"This will do. Sit him over there and tie him down. Make sure the straps are strong enough." The Judge instructed. "We don't want him hurt anymore than necessary."

             
"Wait a minute!" Cole struggled against the men as they forced him into the chair. "What the hell is going on?"

             
Sheriff Watkins pulled a length of rope around Cole's waist and secured him to the chair. "Just settle down, and this'll go easier on everybody."

             
A few moments later, Cole sat tied to the chair, his hands palm down, fastened to the table in front of him. It took Geary, Watkins, his deputy Hobart, Evans, and Dean to hold him still. Only a bemused Judge stood apart watching the proceedings. All the men except him were panting and sweating.

             
"Get me the hell out of this!" Cole shouted.

In the next instant, the judge was standing on the other side of the table leaning forward with his hands down on the hard surface between them.

             
"Now, listen here,
Remmington
. You're a wanted criminal. Only in my jurisdiction will you be allowed to stay alive.
If you leave this county, you'll be strung up faster than a side of beef on
butcherin
' day.
You only live because I decree it. As such, you're a considerable amount of trouble."

             
"Then why don't you just hang me?"

             
The judge grinned at him. "Before it's over, I just might. You've been given a singular opportunity here, another chance to make things right. A real life, not one of those whoring, robbing, drinking ones you're used to. I'm offering you a good home, and a chance for happiness with an honest woman. Natty Lane is a hell of a girl. She's young and bull headed just like her Ma and Pa before her, but she'll make you a right fine life if you let her."

             
"And what if I don't want a 'right fine life,' Judge?"

             
"That's pretty much up to you. I
ain't
fool enough to believe that if we give you this chance, you'll take it. There's plenty enough ways to die and most of '
em
are damned easy. It's the '
livin
' part that's hard. What you do from here on in is your decision. But if you harm so much as one freckle on that girl, I promise you, I'll make you regret it."

             
Cole fought the fear and rage that threatened to boil his insides. Seconds passed before he could clear his throat and level his voice.

             
"You don't know regret as much as I do, Judge. I may have shot and killed men but I've never hurt a woman. I won't now. You have no right to force me into anything. You need to do your job and carry out my execution."

             
"Well, that's the thing, boy. I am the law that decided your punishment. I just don't think death is adequate anymore. Like it or not, I'm sentencing you to life." He stood up straight and stepped back. "Let's get this done with, boys," Judge ordered.

             
In the course of his life, Cole had known many men. From
the soft boned doctors and lawyers back east, to the stringy, toughened men who lived in the hostile west, and every measure of man in between. But only a few times had he been around men of any real girth.

             
Stefan Geary was the king of them all. At well over six foot six, he towered above everybody. In addition to his height, the giant man sported thick muscles that covered his upper torso. He was so big, in
fact, that
a regular shirt didn't fit around his massive upper body.

             
Instead, he wore a rough sleeveless, wool tunic that had been stitched together in the back. Thick, corded muscles wrapped his arms. A behemoth, Geary moved to stand before Cole with only one object. A thick, wooden handled sledgehammer rested easily in his broad, muscular hands.

             
"Real sorry 'bout this boy. I promise to make it quick." Before anyone could say another word, the giant lifted up his tool.

             
Not even daring to breathe, Cole watched as the hammer came plummeting downward, landing square on his right hand. A guttural scream tore from his lungs when the iron landed, and he lost all sense as a white-hot sheet of pain engulfed him. The agony was prolonged by the sensation that quickly followed, when Geary brought the hammer down once again, this time smashing his left hand.

             
Natty paced outside the jail. She wanted to go inside, but
she'd no clear idea just what the Sheriff meant by after dinner. It was nearly six, and she'd spent the whole afternoon dragging Dermott around town, finally taking him to the dry goods store and buying him a hefty package of taffy.

             
He now sat on the bench devouring his confection and running on about his every experience with the sugary delight. It amazed Natty how he could remember every time he'd eaten the candy but couldn't remember what year it was, or who was president.

             
Suddenly, the evening silence was cut by a wrenching scream. Like shot from a gun, Natty jerked open the jail door and ran through the building in search of the sound, only to be met with a second scream as she found the small back room where six men stood, all staring down at one.

             
The object of their concern sat tied in a chair, now humped over, unmoving. She gasped as she saw two mangled, bloody objects on the table before him. His hands lay spread out, fingers broken and bloody as she stood there staring.

             
"What the hell did you do?"

             
Natty stepped back, stunned at the sight of the injured gunslinger.

             
"Never mind that," Judge stepped quickly around the table. "We've got to get the two of you married fast. If the ladies of the church find us out, we'll be in for more trouble than a bear in a honey tree full of bees."

             
"What did you do to his hands?" She couldn't take her eyes off the moaning figure.

             
Sheriff Watkins stepped forward. "We fixed it so he can go home with you tonight. Of course, he won't be much good for a few days, but eventually, he'll be able to work. He won't be too interested in
shootin
' anybody, neither."

             
Shocked, Natty watched in silence as Doc Evans and Preacher Dean began to examine and treat the gunslinger's wounds.

             
"I thought that you'd just leave them chains on him!"

             
Judge Cummins pulled her to the side. "The sheriff didn't think that would be good enough, and I agreed with him. This way, it'll give you two time to get to know each other before you have to worry about any marriage duties."

             
Doc Evans looked up from his ministrations. "Nope, I don't reckon he'll be doing much thinking about the wedding night tonight."

             
"I
ain't
marrying him for that." Natty scolded, unable to keep the flush from heating up her face. "I need him to work, that's all."

             
"Well, either way, it'll take some time. Now, I need to talk to you before the two of you head out." The older man took her by the arm and led her into the hall.

             
"I know what you're
gonna
say. You're
gonna
to tell me like everybody else to give up the mine. We'll, I
ain't
doin
' it!"

             
"Natalie, ever since I've known you you've been cheated. Neither one of your parents took the responsibility of raising a daughter seriously."

             
"Stop it!" Natty growled.

             
"Because of that damn fool mine, they were chasing rainbows with no thought of what was necessary to help you become a proper young lady. Just look at you now, dressed in rags and filthy. How long has it been since a comb went through your hair? I bet if you were all cleaned up, with a pretty dress and stockings, you'd be the belle of the county."

             
"You
ain't
got
no call to talk to me like that!
I brushed my hair the other day. It's just that
livin
'
ain't
been easy."

             
"I know that, Nat. But facts are facts. It's time you settled down and had a good life. You deserve to have the same things any other girl your age has. Doesn't it bother you that you're selling your soul for that hole in the ground?"

             
Natty twisted her hands. "Of course, this
ain't
all I want. I'm hoping for a good life some day. When I have a good strike, I can buy a nice dress and live in a pretty little house that has real floors. You know, the type of life where dirt don't stay under your fingernails and the windows have lace curtains."

             
Natty sighed. "That's all for the future. Much later, when I can prove that my Pa wasn't shiftless and lazy, or that my Ma wasn't a fool for staying with him. Only when I do that, can I even think about really getting married for real and having a family of my own."

             
"Still," Judge told her in a firm voice, "your parents didn't do right by you. Not when they were alive and not now."

             
"You shouldn't talk about my Pa and Ma like that. They did everything they could."

             
"No, they didn't, Nat. Someday, you'll come to see that. But that's the past. I want you to think about the future. Think about what you're getting yourself into here. I've seen every form of lowlife that's walked, rambled, or slithered across this territory. This one's different. I surely hated to give him a hanging sentence. Didn't seem right, somehow."

             
"You think he's innocent?" Natty shook her head. "Cause, I can't keep
no innocent man.
I mean, it wouldn't be fair, would it?"

             
"I don't know that he's innocent, but I don't think he's completely guilty, either. He shot a man in cold blood and in front of witnesses, to boot. The wanted posters say he shot two other men as well. Chances are they were criminals in their own right. I imagine if he'd called himself a bounty hunter, he might even be considered a hero. It's just a different way of looking at things. At any rate, I still think he's a good man, deep inside. There's just something about him."