~ The Hanging Bride ~
by
Pam Labud
“Well, little girl, just lookie what’s goin’ on! You didn’t tell me we was having another hanging.”
Natty Lane, sole proprietor of the Denton Lane Silver Mine, stood along the edge of the crowd, stretching on tiptoes, and trying to see the spectacle that was gathering at the foot of the gallows.
“Yeah, I did, Dermott. I’ve told you every day for a week. Remember the trial we went to last Monday? And then we talked about how we were going to ride into town and fetch us a man to help around the place?” She squinted against the early morning sun and stared at the newly built gallows.
“Naw, I distinctly remember you telling me we was gonna get us some salt water taffy. I love salt water taffy.”
“Sure you do, Derm. I’ll get your candy, right after I take care of business.” For a moment, she craned her neck, deciding the best way to navigate around the mass of people crowded at the farthest end of Main Street.
“You stay here, Derm. I’ve got to talk to the Sheriff.”
“Sheriff, I need to talk to you,” she lurched forward before her bravado slipped completely away.
“Natty, I’m real busy right now. Come on over to the office when we’re done here. Has Lester Biggins been bothering you again?”
“Uh, no sir. Not since he accused Dermott of setting his outhouse on fire last month. I wanted to talk to you about today’s hanging.”
The prisoner glanced briefly at her. His deep, hazel gaze instantly stung Natty. A hot flush rose up her neck and nearly took her breath away. It took two quick swallows to get her mind back on track.
“What about the hanging?”
“Well, I...um, I want to buy the condemned man.” There. She’d said it.
The Sheriff looked at her with a stunned expression. “You wanna do what? Girl, do you know what you’re saying?”
“I do. My ma told me she read about how some widowed women in Oklahoma needed men to help with their farms, but there wasn’t any. They were allowed to pick ones that were sentenced to hang and marry them. So, she’d decided to do the same to get us some help with the mine. Ma got sick so quick, and then the fever took her. I’ve got to do something. Last year, we almost died cause the winter was so bad.”
“Now, Nat. Don’t be foolish. A girl as pretty as you can get any buck around here. How old are you? I heard you turned eighteen last fall. You should be married, anyhow. And everybody ‘round here loves ole’ Dermott. You won’t have any problem getting someone to take care of him if your new husband won’t.”
Natty chewed her bottom lip. “I ain’t courting any of the boys from around here. Three of ‘em came to my doorstep last spring. Not one of them cared a whit about the mine. Then there was that Bob Devlin. His poor wife died in childbirth less than a year ago. He doesn’t want another wife, just someone to take care of his young’uns and keep house. He ain’t interested in mining silver.”
“Could be you didn’t give any of those fellas a chance to court you right. You’ve still got plenty of time to pick one. I think that Hansen boy is pretty upright. If my Lizzie wasn’t already engaged to Taylor Jones, I’d have picked him right up front.”
“I ain’t marrying anybody but who I want.” She pointed at the prisoner. “I want him.”
“Natty, think about this. How are you going to get the money? You ain’t buying a horse, you know.”
“No, a horse would cost more. I mean to pay with this.” She held out the pure gold band that had been her mother’s wedding ring.
“Aw, Natty,” the lawman muttered.
“It’s my most precious possession, and it’s barely been worn. My Pa won it in a poker game in San Francisco when he met my Ma.”
The Sheriff took the ring and eyed it carefully. “Are you sure, Nat? I mean, this is an awful nice ring.”
“It is. Now, do I get to buy the drifter, or what?”
“Your mind’s really set on this?”
She nodded, showing more certainty than she actually felt.
He sighed. “Look, I’m sorry but I can’t let you have this fella. If you’re really set on this plan, there’s three boys down at the jail. Two of them are just wanderers, came through town about a week ago and were arrested for disorderly conduct. They tried to practice shoot at the Ladies’ Auxiliary meeting. Then there’s the Dennis boy, he stole a horse from the Granger stock. Pick one of them but be quick about it. Right now, I need to get this over with before the crowd gets ugly,” the Sheriff glanced around nervously, “and, they ain’t that close to pretty as it is.”
Natty dug her heels into the dirt, not budging from her spot, and gave him a scornful look.
“I don’t want one of them. They ain’t condemned and facing a hangin’.” She crossed her arms, waiting for the lecture that was to come. “A girl has a right to marry who she wants, and I want him,” she said between clenched teeth.
“Listen here, Natty, this fella’s a dangerous killer. He’d just as soon shoot you as look at you. You’ve got no business tying up with the likes of him.” In demonstration, the Sheriff yanked the chain, causing the prisoner to scowl. “Lookit,’ he’s got the devil in him for sure.”
“He’s the one I want, Bill. He’s young and strong, and if you just leave those irons on for a spell, I know I can get a good portion of work out of him.”
The lawman scratched his head. “I don’t know, Natty. I don’t see how it can be done. I mean, what if you was to take him home and something bad happened?” He glanced up as his deputy finished tying the counterweight to the noose. Natty knew they would be testing the gallows as soon as he gave the word.
“Please, Bill. I ain’t givin’ up my Pa’s claim and spending my life raising some widow man’s brats. And I sure ain’t gonna end up tied up to some half cocked local boy who thinks I’ll just throw in my silver mine so he can move me into town and cling to his Mama’s skirts.”
“I don’t know how you’ve made it this long.”
Natty stepped forward, grasping his arm. “I love that place. I know most people think mining silver out of that hill is a lost cause, Sheriff, but I ain’t gonna give it up until I have to!”
“If this young fella gets hold of a gun, Natty, he might just blow your fool head off.”
The man beside him stood silent, staring at the gallows and the crowd of people beyond it.
“Maybe you can hobble him, Bill.” Dermott said as he walked up to join them. “You know, the way you do a mule that won’t behave.”
Sheriff Watkins chewed on his bottom lip. “Well, there might be one thing we could do. I heard tell that down in Kansas they fixed a fella so he couldn’t ever shoot a gun again. Might be we could help you out after all. All you really need him to do is a push cart, swing an ax, and lift a shovel, right?”
“That’s about all there is to it, yeah.”
“All right. I’ll have to talk it over with Judge Cummings. He’s got the final say in what happens. Come back after supper, and I’ll see what we can do.”
Suddenly, the condemned man snapped to attention, jerking the chains in the Sheriff’s hands. “You can’t do this. You promised me a hanging.”
Sheriff Watkins yanked the man back. “I’m the law in this county, and I can do whatever the Hell I want, bushwhacker. If I wanted to dress you in women’s pantalets and march you down the middle of Main Street, there ain’t nothing you can do about it!”
“You found me guilty. I’m not going anywhere but up those steps.”
“You don’t have no say in anything anymore, son. Whether you like it or not, you’re going to do what I tell you.”
The sheriff turned to one of the men holding court over the proceeding. “Hobart, send everybody home. I’ve got business to attend to here.”
In the next instant, a loud crack sliced into the afternoon. A hush fell over the crowd. All eyes looked up to see the counterweight had snapped, and the bag of sand had fallen through the trap mimicking what would have happened had a man been standing there with the noose around his neck.
Natty glanced at the gunslinger. He jerked as if he’d been struck by lightning. A sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and he squinted against the bright sunlight. Turning his head, he glared back at her.
The sharp pain that lived in the muddy brown-green depths of his eyes stung like a hornet. For a moment, she hung suspended by his gaze, caught like a fly in the web of his emotions. Just as suddenly, he looked away, and she plummeted back to earth, suddenly set free of his penetrating stare.