Judgement Day

Oliver carefully drove the wagon slowly towards town. There was no hurry and Shane needed time to compose herself. She was obviously struggling to understand what had just happened. He figured this would be a huge awakening for her about the dangers of this wild country.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue. I prayed you would come and you did." Shane said, softly. They looked at each other, Shane baring her heart for the first time, allowing her eyes to tell him the feelings she couldn't say in words and damning the consequences.

"I will always come for you." He said, quietly looking at her.

"I finally understand you, Mr O'Toole. I took your concerns for granted. I was petulant and naive, throwing your well founded apprehensions in your face with contempt. Please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive, Miss McInerney. I'm just grateful I got there in time to stop him." He looked straight ahead and said, without making eye contact, "I'd have gone to hell and back for you."

Shane gasped. Might she dare hope he had similar feelings for her as she had for him?

They rode in silence. As they entered the town, people started coming out of their houses and following them. Seeing the sheriff strapped to his own horse was causing quite a commotion. Oliver could hear the sheriff moaning. He was awake. They stopped in front of the jail. Mr. Walker came out to meet them. "What the…?"

"Mr. Walker, Miss McInerney has a story to tell you. Where do you want this waste of humanity?" Oliver asked, pointing to the man crying and laying across on the horse.

"Bring him in. We'll put him in a cell until I hear what you have to say." Oliver untied the disgraced sheriff, dragged him into his own jail house and locked him up. He was whimpering like a child.

Shane was dishevelled, dirty, and her face was smeared with mud and tears. However, she insisted on telling her story before she went home to clean up. She told Mr. Walker and Oliver how Mr. Kimsickle blocked her way, stolen her rifle and used it on her, kicking her legs out from under her and tying her hands behind her back. He boasted about being an outlaw. He told her about his connection with the kidnapping of the Atkinson girls and the prostitution ring in Denver City. He also planned to rape her and then take her to the brothel himself as a replacement for the Atkinson girls.

Mr. Walker took notes which included what he learned about Oliver's part in the rescue. When the interview was over, he asked Oliver to go across the street and bring the young ladies over to see if they could identify the sheriff as one of the kidnappers. He expressly ordered him not to mention why they were being summoned. In a few minutes, both Kaitlin and Vanessa came in, accompanied by Josh and Matt. They looked at Shane and Oliver and asked, "What's going on?"

Mr. Walker introduced himself to the young ladies and said, "Miss Kaitlin and Miss Vanessa, I'm going to take you to the cell behind this door and show you a man whom you may or may not recognise. If you do recognise him, please tell us from where you know him."

"Alright." They said in unison. Shane got up, placed herself in between them and held their hands. Mr. Walker took them through the door and shouted to the sheriff. "Get up." His voice was hard, with an authoritative tone not heard before.

Kimsickle stumbled and stood up, looking very pale due to the loss of blood from his wounded shoulder. When Kaitlin and Vanessa saw him, they gasped and took a step back.

"Do you recognise him?" Mr. Walker asked, softly.

"Yes." They both said.

"Where from?"

Vanessa started to cry, shaking with fear. Shane let go of Kaitlin's hand and hugged her. "You're safe Vanessa; nothing is going to hurt you here." She said, continuing to hold her, trying to comfort and reassure her.

Kaitlin looked at Mr. Walker and said firmly, "He's one of the men who kidnapped us and took us to the brothel in Denver City." She was holding on strong, but Mr. Walker could tell she was also on the verge of tears.

"Thank you, Miss Kaitlin, Miss Vanessa, you're both very brave. You're free to go."

As the sisters left, Mr. Walker told Shane and Oliver he would send a wire to the judge in Denver City. The judge would then come, and according to the law, hold a trial for the former sheriff. If found guilty, there would be a legal hanging as his sentence. He had no doubt with all the witnesses' testimony; Mr. Kimsickle's days were numbered.

"May I speak to him, Mr, Walker?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, but don't let him get to you. He's beneath you, Oliver."

Oliver nodded and opened the door to the cells. Kimsickle was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Lester?"

He sat up and looked at Oliver. "What do you want, O'Toole?"

"I want the truth please. You may only have a few days left to regain some semblance of dignity. Don't lie to me. Did you sleep with my wife?"

He looked at Oliver and for the first time ever, he felt compelled to be as decent a man as he could or should have been throughout his life. His regrets were catching up with him fast.

"Yes, Oliver, I did. I am very sorry. She came to me because she's the kind of woman who will always be bored with any man who marries her. If she had married me, she'd have gone after you."

"How many times?" Oliver growled. He was certainly not interested in Lester's pity.

"Twice, after you caught us kissing." Oliver nodded. He had a stone hard expression on his face, trying really hard not to show his contempt.

"Thank you, Lester, you've just handed my freedom back to me."

Lester nodded. "Miss McInerney is not like Holly. She will make you a happy man, Oliver. Please tell her I'm really sorry for what I planned to do."

"You should have listened to me Lester, when I told you I'd have you hanged and your days as sheriff were numbered. You didn't listen."

"No, I didn't." He lay back down and turned towards the wall. The conversation was over.

The judge came three days later. The trial was held in the church hall. The entire town was there to witness the first ever trial in Copper Creek.

Shane, Kaitlin and Vanessa were primary witnesses. Oliver and Mrs. Capodiamonte corroborated the Atkinson sisters' story, along with the housekeeper employed by the rich family in Denver City.

The judge didn't ponder the evidence for long before he rendered his verdict of guilty. The judge then announced Lester's sentence. "Mr. Lester Kimsickle, you abused the sanctity of your office as Sheriff of Copper Creek as set by the United States' government. You dishonoured the badge you wore on your chest and turned on the people you swore to protect. Hereby, I condemn you to hang by the neck until you are dead. Let God have mercy on your soul." He banged the gavel on the table as a final blow to Lester's fate.

He looked around and nodded at the sombre faces. He then instructed Mr. Rob Casey, the carpenter, to gather some men to build a makeshift gallows with a trap door. The judge wanted to make sure this hanging would be done following all the requirements as prescribed by the law. Rob, Joey, Henry and Danny Barrett left to build the gallows. Nobody was happy about this turn of events, but they all understood the gravity of Kimsickle's crimes.

The judge looked back at Kimsickle and asked. "Do you have anything to say?" Lester looked at the people and realised he didn't have a single friend in his own town in front of him. His life had been a complete and utter waste. "I'm sorry I let you all down. You deserve better." He then closed his eyes, lowered his head and said no more.

The judge also announced the other man involved in the kidnapping had been apprehended in Denver City, together with the rich man, Mr. Carl Brackner, who attempted to rape the young ladies.

Once the proceedings were completed, the townspeople moved into the town square where the gallows were placed. They all watched as Kimsickle was hanged for his crimes. Shane hid her face in Oliver's chest, as the noise of Lester's neck breaking echoed around the square.

It was a sombre day for Copper Creek. Kimsickle's body was brought down and buried so the town could move on.

Mr. Walker was the new sheriff and he would be a huge improvement.

###

Joe had come to witness the hanging, as he felt guilty for not escorting Shane back to town himself. He apologised to her, giving her a tight hug. She then renewed her invitation to join her for dinner at the Inn's restaurant. He accepted and Shane invited Oliver to join them. To her pleasant surprise, he accepted her invitation too. It was awkward as they were both very nervous. Shane did most of the talking, trying to fill up the silence with an overly bright manner and conversation. Once they finished dinner, she excused herself under the pretext of needing to talk with Eleanor. She then hid in the kitchen, leaving father and son alone to talk through their differences.

"It's good to see you again, son."

"Hummm ummm…"

"How have you been?"

"Ok, I suppose."

"I was sorry to hear your wife left you."

"Oh, well…"

Joe was getting rather frustrated with Oliver's lack of response. He decided to go all in. "Was it your fault she cheated on you and then abandoned you?"

"What? How can it be my fault she lacked character and held our marriage in total disregard?" Oliver spat out angrily.

Joe looked deeply into his eyes and then asked, "How come you blame me for the exact same situation? How are you a victim but I'm a perpetrator?"

Oliver looked at him angrily, but could think of nothing to say to refute what his dad had just said.

"It was Ok for you to blame me as a 13 year old boy who was obviously hurting. But, it's not Ok for you to blame me as a man who experienced the same kind of betrayal. You suffered the same treachery at the hands of a woman, just like me."

Oliver's face twisted in deep emotional pain as he poured his heart out to his dad. "She slept with that disgusting man twice, dad, before she left me. What's wrong with me? Women who are supposed to love me leave me as soon as they get to know me, including my own mother."

Joe grabbed his hand, "That's nonsense, son. Those women were shallow and selfish. And sadly yes, that includes your own mother. You mustn't think you are unworthy of being loved." He stared at Oliver, willing him to see past his pain.

Oliver was on the verge of tears, exposing his broken heart to his dad like he had never before. He realised at that moment what a gaping hole there was in his life because he had shut him out. How much time they had wasted... for nothing!

Joe, wanting to bring Oliver out of his self loathing and misery, threw him a life line. It was one he might not even be aware of. "I know a wonderful woman who deeply loves you and deserves your love in return."

It worked!

Oliver immediately raised his eyebrows at him. "Who?" He asked curiously, completely forgetting he was devastated just seconds before.

Joe smirked at him. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

All of a sudden, Oliver's face split into a beautiful smile he couldn't wipe away. "Does she love me?" He asked, dreamily.

"Who?" Joe asked, smiling.

They looked at each other seriously for a moment and then burst into laughter. They got up and bear hugged each other.

"How I've missed you, son!"

"I've missed you too, dad, God only knows how much."

Shane had been watching from a crack in the door. When she saw them hugging, she started jumping up and down in the kitchen like a woman possessed.

"What on earth are you doing, Shane?" Hazel asked her, and then did a double take.

She ran to Hazel, hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Oh Hazel, it worked. Thank God above, it worked!"

"What worked?" Hazel looked puzzled.

"Oh, never mind. See you later, Hazel. Can you send dessert out, please? Chocolate! Lots and lots of chocolate." She said, giving Hazel another kiss, then running out of the kitchen happily.

"Crazy girl!" Hazel said, shaking her head and smiling.