Ch 18
Kid and Lou raced into town with their prisoner in tow. They came upon the horrible scene playing out in front of them.
"Stop!" They both yelled while shooting their guns in the air.
The men turned to look. Teaspoon managed to free himself. He ran up to the front followed by Cody and Ike. Buck and Noah made a way for Kid and Lou to pull the man they had up front.
"Stop! This man is the killer not Jimmy!" Yelled Kid.
"You got any proof of that!" Yelled a man.
"Larry right here in town saw him that night! There was another killing in Benton! A girl saw the same man with her!"
"Larry is the town drunk! He don't know what he seen!" Yelled someone.
"Hold on now! We got to consider this!" Yelled Teaspoon.
"We got to consider nothing! I say we just hang both of them!" Yelled someone else.
The men started to rush the porch as Kid and Lou tried to fight them back. The man was taken out their hands and pulled inside as well.
"These two are lying! They are trying to pin this on me so their friend can get off! I ain't done nothing!" The man yelled.
They got the man up on the balcony with Jimmy. They pushed him down to his knees. He looked at Jimmy laying on his side panting.
"Howdy friend. Remember me."
Jimmy turned pained eyes to look at the man's face. He saw him with the saloon girl. He saw him trying to attack that girl. He remembered. He didn't do it. He looked away. He was gonna die for something that he didn't do.
The men seemed to think over what the man said.
"This man is right! Everything points to Hickok! This man ain't done nothing!"
Teaspoon and the others yelled out helplessly as they watched the men drag Jimmy to his feet. They pulled him over to the railing. He leaned against it barely hanging on.
"Wait!" Yelled a saloon girl as she stepped out onto the balcony.
Everyone got quiet.
"He didn't kill Lucia."
"I told you whore that you'd be next if you said anything." Sneered the man with no teeth.
"I ain't scared of you anymore! That young man doesn't deserve to die for something you done! He choked her! He killed her!"
"And what about Matilda?"
"He did it too. I ain't afraid anymore either. That Hickok boy was fighting him as he pushed her in the livery. I saw it all." Said Larry coming forward.
The men looked around at each other not knowing what to say. Teaspoon ran upstairs followed closely by all the others. They reached the top and flung open the doors to the balcony. Cody and Teaspoon pulled their guns.
"This man will stand trial for what he did. Here and in the other towns. Now y'all leave. Go home and think about what you almost did! Who are the murderers now? Ask yourselves that." Said Teaspoon.
Kid and Lou bent over Jimmy. Kid pulled out his bandanna and held it over Jimmy's chest. Jimmy grimaced. Lou tore the rope from around his neck and tossed it away. She untied his hands.
"Teaspoon, we need help." Said Kid.
"Cody, Noah. Take this man and lock him up."
Teaspoon bent over Jimmy watching him breathe painfully.
"Kid, Buck, Ike. Let's get Jimmy over to the Doc's."
They lifted and carried him down. The crowd moved over making a path for them to go through. They all looked down at their feet as they passed. They laid him on the bed at the doctor's and walked outside to sit on the steps. Time to wait.