Ok folks, I felt that I had to write this chapter. I just couldn't leave old Dusty in the town jail, I thought he needed a trail and maybe a hanging...I guess we'll see.

The Trial of Dusty McGuire

Two weeks after Dusty McGuire was hauled in by Frances "Slim" Taft for attacking Emily Munch he was put on trial in small neighboring town of Olton. They did it there to keep the jury from being biased due to the fact that one of there own had been a victim. John Munch and Slim Taft took the prisoner to Olton by wagon and arrived there without incident and two days later were joined there by Emily, Ethan, Oliver and Louise and baby Jesse. Louise's case was also being brought up even though it had taken place over a year ago, the lawyer prosacuting McGuire wanted both of the girls statements.

Ethan was healing, slowly, but he was healing. All he had left of the leg wound was a visible scar and the head wound you couldn't even see anymore due to his dark hair. The rib however were taking more time due to his previous injury that hadn't been one hundred percent healed. The doctor still made him keep them taped up tight to allow the bone to knit together completely and to lower the risk of Ethan further injuring himself.

When they reach Olton which was about half a day's ride away they checked into the hotel. Emily was going to stay with her father in his suite and Ethan was going to stay with Slim. Oliver and Louise also had a room for themselves and Jesse. After checking in they all met in the lobby area to go with John to meet Clancy Weston, the lawyer for the state that would be interviewing Emily and Louise about their experiences with Mr. McGuire. This would allow Mr. Weston to more acurately bring forth evidence for the state of Kansas that Dustin "Dusty" McGuire was a threat to the society of the state. They would also take testimony from Slim and John at the trial when it was held.

They all arrived at Mr. Weston's office together and he ushered them all in at once. After everyone was introduced he said, "Well ladies, I would like to hear each of your stories, individually so that no one can say that it was influenced by the other's and vice versa. Also I would like it if your gentelman friends stayed in the main lobby here of the office so that no once can say that they influenced you either. "Miss Munch would you please come in first?" Weston asked.

Emily rose from her place next to Ethan on a small sofa and standing straight and tall walked into the office with Clancy. After showing her to a seat, Clancy seated himself on the other side of a small desk and folded his hands. "Miss Much can you please state your name and tell me what your experience has been with Mr. McGuire."

Emily straightened herself in the chair before she began. "My name is Emily Kathleen Munch and I didn't meet Mr. McGuire until after my fiance, Ethan Stabler, introduced me to him. He had helped Ethan and another friend of his move some cattle to Ethan's ranch from Dodge City. While working those cattle, Ethan was injuried when he was run over by a cow. Until this time Mr. McGuire was quiet and the only time he or the other young man, Slim Taft came to the house was to take their meals. Otherwise they stayed in the barn. While Ethan was laid up I was having a particularly hard day, dealing with Ethan's injuries and all, and my friend, Louise Munch, suggested that I go out for a walk along the creek. I took her up on this and went out walking. It was a cool day and I had a shawl on. The next thing I knew Mr. McGuire was there. He threw me down and was saying nasty things to me, things that I can't even remember. Then he was on top of me, pulling at my skirts and blouse. I was fighting with him of course and I scratched his face, he cursed at me and then hit me. It was then that I pushed him off of me and run back to the house. He bruised my face but he didn't have the oppertunity to rape me. Shortly after that Mr. Taft was able to catch up with him and he hauled him into town and turned him over to the sheriff."

"Emily," Clancy began another question, "Is your father the sheriff of Rock Springs?"

"Yes sir, he is."

"Ok. I think that's all I'll need. The other lawyer may try to sway the jury to thinking that your father is unfairly persecuting McGuire because he is your father. We can't let them do that, so I just want you to be prepared, they are probably going to drag you and Louise as well through the mud. So I need to ask this, how did you meet Louise?"

"I met Louise on the train to Philadelphia."

"Did you know her from anywhere else?"

"No sir." Emily said, watching as Clancy wrote down each and every answer she gave.

"Alright. When did you learn that Louise was pregnant?"

"She told me, on the train ride to Philadelphia."

"What else did then, Miss White tell you?"

"She told me that she had been attacked and raped by a man near her home. Later on she found out that she was with child, and her family sent her away. Her father was sending her to Philadelphia to get rid of the baby." Emily said.

"Then what happened?" Clancy asked.

"Louise told me that she didn't want to get rid of her baby. I helped her come up with the story that she was a young widow who was pregnant and trying to get away from the despair of losing her husband." Emily again honestly replied.

"Ok Miss Munch. I am now going to call in Louise and we are going to make sure that your stories mesh, I will also have her tell me about the actual attack. You may go back out to the lobby to wait." Clancy said.

A few minutes later, Louise stepped into the room. She had left Jesse in the lobby with her husband and sister-in-law.

"Louise, please have a seat." Clancy said.

Louise took a chair and looked right at Clancy. "I'm ready when you are." She said.

Clancy lit another cigar and then laid it in the tray. "Mrs. Munch, can you please state your name and tell me what your experience has been with Mr. McGuire."

Louise took a deep breath and said, "My name is Louise Hannah Miller White Munch. I didn't meet Mr. McGuire until he came to the ranch of Ethan Stabler, but I knew him before. He attacked me over a year ago, as I was walking home from caring for the young man that I thought I would marry. He stopped me along the road, told me that he needed help, his horse was lame. When I stopped and he got down from the horse he pulled me into a bushes, choked me until I passed out and then he raped me." (A/N: I couldn't remember if I had ever said Lou's middle name, if I did, and I screwed up here, sorry!)

"How do you know you were raped?" Clancy asked.

Louise felt tears come to her eyes as she relived the horror of her situation. "My dress was ripped, and I had bleeding for three days. Then a few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. It was then that my parents sent me away, telling me that they would not have an unwed pregnant daughter living under their roof."

"You never had relations with your fiancé?" Clancy asked.

The tears fell then and Louise wiped them away, "No. He had the fever, we intended to marry before then but it never happened."

"When did you meet Emily Munch?"

"On the train to Philadelphia. I was being sent by my parents there to get rid of my child."

"What did Emily Munch help you do?"

"She helped me come up with the story, that I was a widow, that my husband had had the fever and died before I found out I was with child. I was going to Philadelphia to get away for a while."

"Then you went with Emily and stayed with her aunt correct?"

"Yes."

"Until the baby was born, correct?"

"Yes."

"When was your baby born?"

"In April, the first part of April. A boy, Jesse Alfred."

"Ok. Then you and Emily returned to Rock Spring correct?"

"Yes."

"When did you meet Oliver Munch, your husband?"

"I was corresponding with Oliver before we came back to Rock Springs. We met once we came back and started courting." Louise replied softly.

"When were you married?"

"Shortly after."

"Did Oliver Munch take custody of your son, Jesse Alfred White?"

"Yes, he did."

"Did he know the circumstances of Jesse's exsistance?" Clancy asked. Sometimes he hated his job.

"Not at first, but he does now."

"When did you meet up with Mr. McGuire again?"

"At the Stabler ranch. Ethan, uhm, Mr. Stabler, was friends with Mr. McGuire and he helped him move some cattle back from Dodge City and then stayed around to help work the cattle. When Ethan was injuried while working the cattle, Mr. McGuire stayed again to help with the ranch chores that Emily, Miss Munch, was not able to handle on her own. Mr. Taft was there as well." Louise replied.

"When did you recognize Mr. McGuire?"

"I recognized him when he first came to the ranch but I didn't want to say anything, thinking that I may have been wrong for some reason. I also recognized that voice and his face, except when he raped me he had a mustache."

"Why didn't you say something to someone, Mrs. Munch?"

"Like I told you before, I didn't want to possibly be wrong and accuse an innocent man. When he tried to attack Emily, my suspicions were confirmed though."

"I will tell you the same thing that I told, Miss Munch, Mrs. Munch. The defense for Mr. McGuire is going to try and ruin your credibility by dragging everything out. I know that your son is to young to realize what is going on, but you aren't. I want you to be prepared. They may be slashing towards you, your husband and the Munch family in general. Please just be prepared." Clancy said. He then escorted Louise back out to the front and dismissed the family.

The next morning the trial began and Emily, Ethan, Slim, John, Louise and Oliver all sat in the second row watching the trail. They listened to all the evidence that had been brought against Dusty McGuire. It seemed that there were other young ladies in the area that had had run ins with Dusty McGuire and Louise and Emily both gasped in horror when they learned about the young girl from Flaggart that had died as a result of the beating that Dusty had given her before he beat her. Emily felt a shiver run through her. That girl had fought too and had been beaten to death. She felt Ethan's hand on her arm and looked at him. Now there would be murder charges brought against Dusty McGuire along with the rape charges.

The trial only lasted for three days but when it was over, close to fifteen girls and young women had come forward with charges against Dusty McGuire and then of course the family of the girl that had been killed. The jury was only out for an hour before they came back with a guilty verdict. They all breathed a huge sigh of relief and left the court room. The judge would sentence McGuire in the morning and Ethan, Emily and the rest all planned to be there to hear what he said.

Slim and Ethan spent the evening playing cards in their room while Emily rested and Oliver and Louise just spent time together.

"So do you think they'll hang Dusty?" Slim asked. Dusty had been his friend, a person that he had thought that he could trust with his life. Today he had been proved wrong, Dusty was a piece of trash, a person to not be trusted with anything, life or property.

"I don't know." Ethan said, flipping a card out. "I know this probably sounds harsh, he was my friend you know, but I hope they do. Who would have thought that he was such a terrible person."

"Yeah." Slim said, looking down at his cards. "I would never have guessed. I wonder if people think poorly of me for spending time with him?"

Ethan looked at his friend, his real friend, and said, "No. If they know you, they don't." Both the young men were quiet for a few minutes before Ethan changed the subject. "So are you excited about taking over for John?"

"Yeah, I am. I sure will beat sleeping on the ground, eating beans and jerked beef, pushin' cows."

"Yeah." Ethan said. He hadn't spent much time doing that but he still knew what his friend was talking about.

Slim changed the subject again, "So are you ready to get married. I mean the last few weeks you've gotten a taste of it. Are you ready to be attached to the same woman forever?"

Ethan smiled at his friend and looked at the wall where Emily's room was. "Yeah, Slim. I am, I have been ready for quite a while, life just doesn't want to cooperate with me though." He rubbed his still tapped up ribs and smiled.

"You are happy." Slim said, looking across the table at his friend, "I can see it in your eyes. Just the mention of her name makes you light up like a lantern. I hope I can experience that someday."

"You will. You start sheriffin' in Rock Springs all the young, pretty gals are going to be flocked around that jail tryin' to get a look at you." Ethan said.

Slim just laughed at his friends optimisim in the face of all that had happened in the last few months. Slim had never thought his life would turn out this way. He had went from living in a fairly happy family until that family was killed by raiding Indians. Then he was sent to a foster home where he was beaten until he ran away at the age of 11. When he had did that the Pony Express was just starting up, looking for able bodied young man to ride for them. He had joined up, lying and saying he was 13, the minimum age to ride. When the express fell through he started working for ranchers, mainly down in Texas. Then he had made his way to Kansas and here he was, playing cards in a hotel room with his friend waiting to hear the verdict that would most likely end the life of another man he had thought was his friend.

Later that night they all went out to supper down the street from their hotel and when they came back, Slim felt himself feeling a little sad as he stood outside the door and watched Ethan and Emily. Ethan was standing close to her down by her door, looking into her eyes, caressing her cheek. Slim hated to admit it but over the last few weeks he had come to fall in love with Emily Munch and there wasn't a thing that he could do about it. He had to just keep bein' her friend because it was obvious that she and Ethan were very much in love with each other. He wondered if there was another girl out there that was like Emily. If he could get as lucky as Ethan Stabler. He watched as Ethan placed a gentel kiss on Emily's lips and opened her door for her. Yup, he was sure he was in love with Emily and he wasn't going to do a thing about it.

The next morning the group went down to the court house to hear the sentencing of Dustin McGuire. They sat in the quiet of the room and listened as the judge came in and said, "Dustin J. McGuire will you please rise?"

Dusty stood and looked at the judge, his shoulders slumped. He knew that he was beat and it was the end of the road for him.

"Dustin J. McGuire, you are sentenced to hang by the neck until dead. This will take place in seven days, and Mr. McGuire, in those seven days will you please think about the lives you have affected, the life you destroyed and the life you created. I am pleased to know that that little boy will be raised by affectionate, loving parents who will teach him right from wrong and that the only influence you have on him is his creation. Please think about these things Mr. McGuire." Then the judge banged down the gavel and walked out the door.

Everyone remained seated as Dusty McGuire was escorted out, his hand and feet in chains. His head was down the whole way. He was headed to the gallows and there was no way out.

Ok please please please let me know what you thought of this chapter, was it worth the effort or not? Thanks you guy's rock!