Burned By The Flame

Chapter 11

Humble Pie

He sat quietly, inconspicuous, in the back of the room. The tall slender man was secure in himself, not in a boastful way, but in a way that comes from a quiet confidence Despite his self-assurance, it appeared as though he were hiding his face behind a wild and woolly mass of hair that splashed down his chin and onto his chest like a brown waterfall. Piercing green eyes moved slowly, deliberately, taking in every move. He could see the mounting frustration on the Boston-born defense attorney.

"Your Honor. I haven't even finished cross examining this witness."

Judge Rambeau cast a haughty gaze, clearly signifying he was the victor once again. "I have ruled, Miss Clanton's testimony has no real relevance to the case."

"Judge, it was Charlie Poe's attack on Miss Clanton that provoked my client to interfere on her behalf. That is the only connection Mrs. O'Brian-"

"I SAID, the witness can step down! She did not see the murder, nor can she testify to your client's whereabouts at the time of the shooting." Rambeau motioned for Deidra Clanton to leave.

Barlow Madson stomped back to the table, ashamed to face his client. Never, in all of his years of practice, had he been so helpless in a courtroom. He whirled around again, unable to hide the anger in his voice, "Your Honor. I'd like to call for a recess."

Rambeau looked at the clock above the check-in counter. 11:30. "Well, it is a little early, but why don't we break for lunch. Take an extra half hour to...pull yourself together Mr. Barlow." With that, he slammed the gavel and rose from his seat to slip up to his room for a much-needed drink.

Bits of conversation, words of anger and just complaints in general, buzzed through the crowd as it poured out onto Front Street. Within a few minutes, the room was bathed in silence. Left behind was a very exasperated attorney, his young client and her family.

Calleigh reached over and laid a consoling hand on Barlow's arm. Her face was one of trepidation, her tone apprehensive. "Barlow, I have to ask..."She paused, her blue eyes troubled, "did Bethany say what kind of pie was on the menu today?" Barlow stared at the redhead, his rage vanquished in the blink of an eye, under Calleigh's careful execution of her own unique brand of humor. Her encouraging grin materialized slowly.

Days of tension seemed to melt from his face, as he leaned over hugging his client. "Thank you." There was even a hint of laughter in his voice, "I'm supposed to be reassuring you."

"And you do." Her winning smile was back as usual, "You're a good lawyer; he's a rotten judge." She shrugged "Sometimes life just doesn't play fair."

"He has shut me down, for three days in a row."

Matt walked around the chair to stand beside his daughter. "Can you lodge a complaint against him?"

Barlow turned in his seat, facing Calleigh's husband and parents. "He stays just within the law; his rulings are questionable, but not corrupt. And I think he wants me to file a complaint. Then, more than likely, what would happen is that the court would file a change of venue for a whole new judge and town. Probably Hays."

"Wouldn't that be better than this?" Kitty's fear was evident. She didn't share the same confidence as her daughter. Her doubts weren't with Barlow, but with Judge Rambeau.

Newly stood up, taking his stand beside Matt and behind his wife. "With all the circumstantial evidence, she wouldn't stand a very good chance in a town where no one knows her."

Kitty cast a doubtful look at Matt and then shared it with Barlow. "It doesn't look like being in her home town is helping her much so far. Those twelve men don't really know her, Newly. They know she's your wife and Matt's daughter, but they don't know her."

"As soon as I can get some of these witnesses up there, they will know her." Barlow gazed at his client with a little better outlook, "I promise you, they will know Calleigh O'Brian."

Calleigh stood up and looked at the forlorn faces surrounding her. "Well, I know this is all important talk, but I'm hungry and we've only got an hour left. You guys go ahead and figure out a way to save my scrawny neck. I'm going on over the Prairie Rose." She grabbed Newly's arm and led him out of the Dodge House.

DodgeDodgeDodgeDodgeDodge

Matt said that he had some business to take care of and had excused himself early from the dinner break. With a quick kiss to both of his girls, he asked Newly to see Kitty back to the Dodge House, then left. As he glanced across the street, he saw Rambeau heading back from dinner. He adjusted his hat, set his jaw and stomped across the street. Rambeau had barely stepped inside the room, when Matt closed in behind him.

"Rambeau. Let me tell you something. I've had about all the crap off you I'm going to take. You're messing with my daughter's life here!"

The aged, white haired man didn't even attempt to hide the smirk twitching at his lips. "Why Marshal Dillon, I'm just taking your advice. What was it you said—I hadn't learned how to handle power?" He hooked his thumbs in his vest pockets, allowing his protruding belly to take center stage. What was supposed to be a laugh, sounded more like the cackle of a wounded bird. His laughter stopped, when he saw Matt move as though he were going to hit him. "Touch me and I'll make sure you not only lose that badge, but spend the next twelve months in prison!" Feeling brave behind his twisted interpretation of the law, he took a challenging step, into Matt's face. His voice became dark, matching his threat. "You thought you could make a fool out of me! I've been waiting ten years to show you, you can't mess with Collin S. Rambeau!"

With an arrogant huff, he turned to walk away, as Matt, completely at his limit and not caring about the consequences, reached out for Rambeau. Only seconds before he had a handful of the hateful man in his grasp, an unseen intruder grabbed Matt by the arm.

"No need for that." The words were soft-spoken, but with an air of authority.

Rambeau swung around at the mysterious man's words. The judge could tell by the look on Matt's face that the stranger had probably just saved him from a beating. He started to thank the bearded man, but something stopped him. Now, he remembered seeing this man, sitting in the back of the courtroom. There was something familiar about him.

As Rambeau stared at the long, wild, beard, he suddenly remembered the face. His eyes grew wide, revealing fear from the abrupt recollection. He swallowed hard and began to grovel. "Attorney General Bradford." Rambeau began to pump the man's hand, as he proclaimed what an honor it was to have Bradford in his courtroom.

Bradford stood quiet while the Judge fumbled and rambled—until finally he fell silent. "Judge Rambeau, I received a disturbing telegram from a very dear, old family friend. Now, this friend was extremely upset about the way you have been running this trial. So upset, that I felt the need to come and investigate these allegations for myself." Bradford stepped closer, noticing the sudden pallor on the judge's face.

He turned to the huge man who had been ready to lose a deeply cherished, well-earned badge for the sake of his child. Holding out his hand, he introduced himself, "Marshal Dillon, I am Simeon Bradford."

Matt stared at the man; he felt as speechless as Rambeau, although not for the same reason. "Matt Dillon." He replied.

Bradford smiled, then turned, when he heard others approaching. He was glad to see it was the defense attorney, Madson and the young defendant. Again, he introduced himself, his tone still calm and reassuring.

"I did a little checking before coming here and discovered the uh, let's say, grudge that you have against the Marshal here." Now his tone did change, as he stepped directly in front of the judge. "Rambeau, you have skirted the law in this case and put that young woman's life in jeopardy. I will not have that in one of my courts. I don't know if this lady is guilty, or innocent, but I do know that she will get a fair trial and the best representation available." He eased back just a hair and let his tone relax. "Rumor has it, you want to retire next year. I would hate to see those plans thwarted."

Collin Rambeau was speechless. His arrogance had been consumed by fear and he knew his reign of terror was over. Taking in Bradford's not quite subtle hint about his retirement, spurred him on to a somewhat lame apology. "Marshal, I…uh, hope we can start over here. I'm sorry for any misunderstanding between us. Mr. Madson, you can bring those witnesses back today." Figuring his best option at that point was just to walk away, he hurried back to his place at the front table.

"I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth," Matt was about to ask what they all wanted to know. "Exactly who is it that contacted you?"

"Oh, well it was..." Bradford stopped when he heard a familiar voice. "It was her."

They all turned to see Edsel Pry walking toward them. Together, they seemed to have been robbed of the ability to speak, but with all those wide eyes, they certainly could see. There was one exception. Calleigh, wearing her irrepressible grin, stretched out her arms to embrace the frail, little woman.

"Miss Pry, I should have known I could count on you! You are a Godsend." She hugged the woman again. They turned together, only to find themselves confronted with three of the most shocked faces ever to grace the city of Dodge.

It was never confirmed which was the greater surprise: The Attorney General coming to help; the fact that Edsel Pry had requested his presence; or that she and Calleigh were such good friends.

The tiny, shriveled lady took an impatient breath while giving Matt a sidelong glance, "I don't know what all the fuss is about. Marshal. I have told you often enough, that the Attorney General is an old family friend. I was most certainly not going to sit idly by and see this gifted young lady go to jail for something she didn't do!"

"Exactly how do you know she's not guilty, Edsel?" Even Bradford was curious.

She looked at the young redhead still at her side and in her usual impatient tone explained, "This young lady checks on me regularly. She claims, with great authority, that I make the absolute best pies in the entire state of Kansas. Even better than those sold at a certain little restaurant, in Alton, Missouri."

Matt smiled at that; recalling how a young Calleigh had told him of those superior pies years ago, when first he'd met her. Edsel continued, "She is the person responsible for my pies being on the menu at the Prairie Rose. Calleigh takes the time to sit and talk to an old lady, not to mention that she is my personal physician. A girl like that does not shoot someone—most certainly not in the back!"

Matt hesitantly took a step forward. He played with the brim of his hat, nervously turning it around and around in his fingers. He intended for it to be a smile, but it was bushwhacked along the way and replaced by a grimace. "Uh, I...we...didn't know...you were…friends with…my daughter."

Calleigh hugged the lady closer and grinned shamelessly, as she looked at her surreptitious friend, "Miss Pry doesn't want anyone to know that she has a soft side." The small lady in black made a move as if to pull away from the girl, but Calleigh was not going to allow any such thing.

"Pshaw! You are the brassiest girl!" The words were typical Edsel Pry, but the blush in her cheeks proved her to be the woman Calleigh described. "I am not soft!"

Bradford walked over to his family friend and took Calleigh's place, linking his arm in Edsel's. "I don't know if I would say soft but she is most certainly loyal to a fault. How about if I take you over to this Prairie Rose and we try a piece of your pie?" As they turned to leave, he nodded to Barlow. "I will be keeping tabs, to make sure he keeps his word. Mrs. O'Brian, I wish you the best of luck."

Everyone watched the large man and petite woman leave, still in stunned silence. Calleigh was still watching Bradford and Miss Pry, not realizing that her family had surrounded her. She whirled around, feeling much better about the trial.

Her smile shifted to a more puzzled expression, much like the ones she confronted. "What?" Since no one else seemed to know where to begin, she didn't waste any time expressing her thoughts, "I told you I had a great bedside manner." She left them—all still stunned—and walked back to the defense table.

TBC