Chapter 6

Judge Stone entered the courtroom, stood at his desk, banged the gavel, and sat down. He motioned to the Bailiff to bring him his file. He looked at the file, and he looked at the faces of both the defendant and the plaintiff. He first looked at Mr. Rochester, Mr. Arlington, and Mr. Benson. Behind Mr. Benson sat a rather mature looking woman of about 50 who was grey haired and slightly plump. Beside her sat three children. Judge Stone wondered about that picture. Then he turned his attention to the Bolts. Three brothers, all of whom worked and helped each other. They worked hard to keep their business going. Another of the group was Mr. Stemple, a sawmill owner who was definitely an expert at business. Then he looked behind them. Three women, one was the wife of the younger Bolt, the other was the Saloon owner, Miss Lottie Hatfield and the third, a special kind of lady, not the sort that the other side had been trying to paint her as but a woman who was confident, intelligent and had been taking care of herself and others for a long time. He smiled as he was about to hand down the verdict.

"Will the both the Plaintiff and Defendant please rise along with their attorneys." The Bailiff said.

"Mr. Bailey, and Mr. Mason, The jury has been dismissed as there has been a settlement in this case." The people in the courtroom started to question what happened. Judge Stone banged his gavel, and everyone was silent again.

"Mr. Rochester, Mr. Arlington, and Mr. Benson, you have been accused of running a scam and attempting to take money from people dishonestly. What do you have to say for yourselves?" He asked as he stared at the three men. Mr. Bailey told all of them to say Guilty.

"Guilty!" said Mr. Rochester

"Guilty!" said Mr. Arlington

"Not Guilty!" said Mr. Benson. Mr. Bailey looked at him and so did the judge and everyone else. Why had he said not guilty?

"Mr. Benson, I am giving you another chance, if you say, 'not guilty another time, you will be placed in custody and set for a new trial!" Now, what is your answer! Mr. Bailey stared at Mr. Benson. So did everyone else. Mr. Benson then said:

"I am not guilty; I was only doing a favor for a friend! I have a wife and three children who will be harmed by my absence. I am asking for the mercy of the court!" The Judge, and Mr. Bailey were surprised at this. It was not what was agreed to! The Judge sat for a moment and looked at his files. He thought long and hard on this and then had a question for Mr. Benson:

"Mr. Benson, did you or did you not come to Seattle with another woman at your side? And did you or did you not say that she was your wife?" asked Judge Stone.

"I did sir come to Seattle, I did not say that she was my wife everyone assumed it and she said it as well to the other ladies! Therefore, I am not guilty of defrauding the good citizens of Seattle! The woman who said she was my wife also defrauded Seattle!" Matilda looked disturbed, so did Jason, who was about to jump up but again, Joshua and Jeremy held on to him. And she reached out and put her hand in his just for a moment. When she took her hand away, he had a note. He was standing but did not move his hand or any other parts of his body. Joshua had seen her leave a note. He glanced at his brother who slightly nodded his head and Joshua surreptitiously took the note and handed it to Mr. Mason.

"Mr. Benson, when we were in my chambers it had been decided for all of you to plead guilty and that after the sentencing, you lawyer would be able to appeal the case. Do you know that if you had followed directions, you could have been out on bail in about 6 months to a year? Now, as it stands, you will not be able to be out on bail for at least a year, and your new trial may take even longer which will do more harm to your family then had you followed procedure?" Judge stone said and waited for that to sink in. Meanwhile, the woman who had posed as his wife and the three children suddenly stood up and walked out of the courtroom. There was no explanation no 'goodbye' she just got up and walked out of the courtroom with the three children in tow. The Judge watched, he had sympathy for the man if indeed the woman and children were his family, but he knew the law.

"Mr. Rochester and Mr. Arlington, you will be remanded into custody, and you will be given a hearing and bail will be set. Mr. Benson, you will be taken back to jail and a new trial will be set to determine your guilt or innocence!" Judge Stone banged his gavel and waited for the men to be taken out of the courtroom. He asked Mr. Mason and the Bolts to remain where they were. He went to his chambers and changed robes. He had a plan and did not want to wear the 'dirty' robes for the next event that was coming up.

"I don't see why I have to satay any longer Bolt! I have a sawmill to run, and you have a logging camp with orders to fill!" said Aaron.

"I don't know why he asked us to stay, Mr. Mason, why are we staying?" Jason asked.

"Well, Mr. Bolt, I think that the Judge will tell us in a few minutes. Thank you for the note that helped a lot. When I showed it to the Judge and Mr. Bailey, there was nothing else the Judge could do for Mr. Benson." Said Mr. Mason.

"What was in that note, if I may ask?" Jason questioned. Matilda had walked up to Jason and took his arm. He did not mind it. He had felt a little tingle when she had taken his hand. Again, there was that special feeling when she took his arm as well. He smiled at her, and she smiled at him. The Judge came out of his chambers, the Bailiff called the court to order.

"Mrs. Bolt, Miss Hatfield, and Miss Sweeney, will you go with the Bailiff to my chambers for a minute, I need to talk to the men in private. Candy, Lottie, and Matilda went. Matilda was surprised but it seemed that Candy and Lottie knew something she did not. Jeremy and Joshua and Jason were a little confused. Mr. Mason and his secretary, Mrs. Hale, were not confused. In fact, they were also in on the surprise.

"Well, Gentlemen, I need a little help to set up the court room, we are going to have a wedding. Jeremy, Joshua, and Jason were very surprised. Aaron had left the courtroom for a little while.

The brothers did as they were told. They didn't mind doing it but they wanted to know why?

"Judge Stone, why are we moving furniture around for someone's wedding, isn't there other people for that?" Jason asked.

The judge smiled and said:
"Oh, there are other people, they will be entering the courtroom soon and I wanted to be sure that everything was ready, and I knew you wouldn't mind helping me!" He said with a smile that hinted at something. Just then Aaron came back in with Ben and Emily, Big Swede, Corky, Biddie, and others from Seattle.

Biddie had some decorations and was already working with Emily, Miss Essie, and others to decorate the railings and walls. She went over to Jason and Jeremy and Joshua and said:

"Well, you will need to freshen up so here, I have three new suit jackets for all of you and some flowers for your pockets and yes indeedy, you all look rather handsome if I say so myself and I do!" She helped them change their jackets to the more formal attire, the other men, helped them with a few other things as well.

In the judge's chambers Mrs. Hale had peaked in to find Matilda arguing with Candy, and Lottie.

"But Jason hasn't even asked me?" cried Matilda who was very distraught.

"If he had wanted to get married, I think he surely would have said something to me first!" she said.

"Oh, that wasn't possible, he thinks he is a confirmed bachelor" said a female voice that Candy and Lottie were familiar with.

"Hello, Holly, how did you know about this?" asked Candy before Holly could answer, there was another familiar voice.

"A little Birdie, or was it a Biddie? Told us!" said Julie Stemple. Candy, Lottie, Holly, and Julie, all hugged each other.

"Matilda, this is Holly Houston, she tried to land Jason by saying he was the father of her nieces and nephew! And this is Julie Stemple, she is Aaron's sister and wanted Aaron to allow her to have her own finances, but he wouldn't unless she was married, so her and Jason cooked up a scheme to get her finances for herself." Said Lottie to Matilda. Matilda was overwhelmed, she did not know what to say.

"Matilda, it is good to meet you, I think that you would make a fine wife for Jason!" Both Julie and Holly said Candy chimed in and said:

"Matilda, you needed some bridesmaids. So, besides Lottie and I we decided to have Julie and Holly there in attendance as well!" Matilda started to tear up. She wanted to thank all of them but then she said:
"I am so thankful to you all, but I don't know if I want to get married, I don't think I am finished with my work yet? I don't even know…what if….Jason says no?" The ladies looked at Matilda and tried their best to cheer her up. They all knew Jason, but yes, she was right, what if he did say no?