A/N I do not own twilight or the characters, all rights go to S. Meyer and Madeline Baker ( I got this story idea from one of her books)
I hope everyone likes the prologue and more will come! Pleases review!
Under the Hanging Tree
Prologue
July 29, 1872
A lynch mob was an ugly thing. Jasper Whitlock stared at the handful of men who surrounded him, his heart pounding like a runaway locomotive, his throat desert dry, his palms damp. He shifted in the saddle, feeling the rough edge of the noose tighten around his nick.
The big bay beneath him stamped restlessly. In moments, someone would give the horse a sharp slap on the rump and there would be nothing between him and his dying would be quick and merciful. If not…
He shook the gruesome image from his mind as his gaze shifted to the woman standing in the distance. The breeze stirred the hem of her long white nightgown and ruffled the collar of the blue silk robe she wore over it. Her hair, a light black color, tumbled over her shoulders. She was starting back at him, her eyes wide and scared and guilt ridden.
His gaze imprisoned hers. If she had the nerve, she could save him. She was the only one who could.
Come on, he thought, come on… He stared at her, willing her to find the courage to say the words that would free him. Damn you, I don't deserve this…
She took a half-step forward, her expression uncertain. Hope flared in his heart. Flared and died when she turned and ran up to the house, leaving him to face his fate alone…