A/N: I do not own Bonanza or anything from the episodes, only my OC and the altered plots. Sorry for the delay as life and work got in the way of this update. Tonight: The Crime of Johnny Mule
Edited 2-19-21 to add line breaks.
Annie sat between Joe and their pa in the back of the courtroom as the prosecutor outlined his case. Her gaze flicked to Hoss and Candy seated in the jury box. Both of them were alert, listening with rapt interest.
"You say you were out fixing a fence the day your father was killed, Mr. Louden. How long were you gone?"
"All day."
"And that day, did you or your hands see any unauthorized persons on your land?"
"Yes, sir. About noon, we saw a man on a mule cutting across our range." The prosecutor folded his hands behind his back.
"Is that person in this courtroom now?"
"The defendant, Johnny Mule." Her gaze darted to the large man in a worn plaid shirt sitting at the defendant's table, looking like he didn't really understand what was going on. Maybe he didn't. She'd heard the man was a little slow on the uptake, seeming to have the mind of a child sometimes, more than that of a man.
The prosecutor stared at Johhny Mule a moment longer, then drifted back towards the witness stand. "Now, can you recount for the jury, what you and your hands saw when you returned home that day?"
"Well, there was some plates on the table, two people had eaten. My father was face down on the kitchen floor …" He swallowed hard. "There was a knife stuck in his back." The prosecutor said nothing, merely walked back to his table and picked something up, then whirled and drove a knife into the defendant's table, dragging every eye in the room to the glittering blade.
"This knife?"
"Yes." The prosecutor looked back at Johnny Mule, who sat there almost as if he wasn't there, like it was happening to someone else.
"I call Johnny Mule to the stand, Your Honor." The man shuffled up to the chair and waited, staring at the courtroom, again like he didn't see it. Annie chewed on her lower lip. It was either the best act she'd ever seen or he … was he that simple-minded?
The prosecutor snatched the knife from the table and stuck it in Johnny Mule's face. "Did you or did you not own this knife?"
"Yeah."
"And did you have it with you the day you went to the Louden ranch house?"
"Yeah."
"Well, why did you go there?" The prosecutor retreated back towards his table.
"To get me some money."
"That's why you killed him, wasn't it?" The man stormed back, crowding into Mule's personal space. "Oh, you even sat at his table and let him feed you first."
"No." Mule shook his head. "It wasn't me, was … other fella." It took a while for him to get the words out.
"What other fellow?"
"I don't know. Was other fella, I could … I could hear Mr. Louden shouting –"
"What about?"
"I don't know … there was … hollering. He stopped when I knocked on the door."
"Did you see this other man?"
"No." Mule looked down again, looking like he was struggling to string his thoughts together. "I knowed that there was someone there, though. I heard a door slam inside the house. There was two plates on the table," he finished with a slight smile.
"And that's the story you want this jury to believe?" Mule nodded. The prosecutor turned away with a sigh. Silence fell until he turned back around. "Is Johnny Mule your real name?"
"I don't know … that's all I ever was called."
"Did you or did you not, willfully murder David Louden, on the third day of last month, for the two hundred dollars known to be in his possession?" Mule shook his head slowly. "And did you reward his generosity with a knife in his back? And didn't you then rob him and panic, leaving the knife behind? And then didn't you not, four days after your arrest, invent this mysterious stranger, in an attempt to cover up this foul deed, didn't you, Mr. Murderer?" Mule's face twisted and he shook his head silently. "Mr. Mule." Annie looked to the jury box, finding Candy with a detached expression on his face – after almost a year she could read him pretty well when he didn't care to disguise his feelings too much, that is. Hoss on the other hand, had that rare look about him that said he was about to dig in his heels and balk like a mule.
Now what could that be about?
"I got the horses saddled." Joe closed the front door behind him as Annie followed their pa down the stairs.
"Good."
"Did you get the razor strop they asked for?"
"It's in the other saddlebag with Hoss' shirt and socks." Joe shook his head, hands on hips.
"Never would have figured that jury to be out for three days."
"No one did."
"You know what I can't figure out?"
"I'm sure you'll tell us," Annie replied while fastening her saddlebags. Ben tossed her a warning glare.
"Why can't they just let Hoss and Candy come home at night instead of keeping them locked up there in the hotel?"
"They don't want them to discuss the case with any outsiders until they've reached a verdict."
"I guess that makes sense. We got everything?"
"Yes." They all headed outside. "When we get to town, I have to stop at the bank immediately, you take this stuff over to the hotel and I'll meet you at the courthouse."
"Yes, Pa." Annie swung into Reno's saddle and turned the gelding's head. Joe followed suit, a grin splitting his face.
"You know, Hoss would have been happier if we'd filled these saddlebags with some of Hop Sing's fried chicken instead of all those clean socks." Ben swung into his saddle.
"Where are you going to find a size fourteen chicken?"
"If one exists," Annie said, tongue in cheek, "Hoss will find it." Joe cackled and they rode off. By the time they got to town, the sun was high overhead. She and Joe left the saddle bags with the hotel clerk since they weren't allowed to speak to Hoss and Candy, then headed for the courthouse. Joe nudged her arm and nodded at a woman dressed in burgundy. He hurried over.
"Ms. Coleman." She turned and the other woman she was talking to drifted away. "Any news?" She sighed.
"No, the jury is still out." She bit her lip. "Joe. Virg is back." Annie followed her gaze and found Cleve's brother, lounging in a chair near the wall. So the former flame was back, that had to be awkward since she was now engaged to his own brother.
"When did he get in?"
"Last night, I suppose. He rode in with Cleve this morning."
"It's been almost two years hasn't it?" She nodded, her hands working at her handkerchief. "He give you any trouble?"
"No. Whatever was between us is long gone, he knows I'm marrying Cleve. He's brooding about his father."
"That's easy enough to understand."
"Why don't you go and talk to him?" Joe smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. Annie bit her tongue. Trust Joe to always fall for the woman in distress ploy. The Larson girl had had it rough the last few years, yes, but there was something about her that Annie had never liked, even before her troubles began. Maybe it was her barely disguised hints about a Cartwright husband that had thankfully died away when Virg Louden finally noticed her. A woman shouldn't try that hard, it reeked of desperation and what man wanted a wife who only looked at him because she had to?
She followed Joe over to the Louden boys near the wall, Virg looking up at them with thundercloud eyes as they approached. "Cleve." He nodded at her greeting. Joe glanced down at Virg.
"Virg, I'm sorry about your father."
"I been hearing that all morning. They need to do something about it." Cleve shot his brother a dark look.
"What's taking the jury so long?"
"You know as much about it as we do," Annie said. Virg stared up at her, sending a shiver down her spine that she didn't show. That one had always been a little too reckless, too wild to be a close friend while they were growing up.
"Your brother's in there, he can do something."
"There's eleven other men in there," Joe protested.
"That hand of yours is one of them."
"There's still ten we're not related to."
"What do you expect Hoss to do?" Joe said softly.
"We heard the same thing the jury did, Joe."
"Sam offered 5-1 they wouldn't be out ten minutes." Cleve shook his head. "No takers."
"I wouldn't have bet him." No, Joe just gambled with other things.
"If I'd been around when they brought that killer in, wouldn't nobody be waiting three days to settle it," Virg said, glaring up at them.
"Virg, I know how you feel, but that's what the law is for, to keep folks from starting more trouble."
"I'm talking about an older law, an eye for an eye. Pa wrote me that Cleve and Marcie were getting married, and I come back to this." The door in the back of the courtroom opened and everyone straightened with anticipation.
"Cleve!" Marcie ran over, the feather on her hat bobbing wildly. "They said it's no verdict!"
"What do you mean?" Cleve stared at her while his brother jumped up, tension pouring off of him in waves more suited for Lake Tahoe during a storm.
"The jury's deadlocked, they couldn't agree."
"They're letting him go?"
"There'll be another trial," Joe said. "And a new jury."
"He'll get off." Virg stared at the floor. "See if he don't." Boots thumped on the floor, heralding Candy's arrival. Annie ran to him.
"Candy." He looked up at halted in his tracks. "What happened in there?" He sighed and looked past her at Joe and the Loudens.
"What happened? We voted 11-1, guilty, five minutes after we got the case. We voted that way for three long days. 11-1." Cleve stepped forward, hat in hand.
"Who voted to let him go?" Candy looked at them all, then nodded at the door he'd just come through, before starting to walk away.
"Your brother." She and Joe looked back in time to see Hoss come out.
"Little brother, Annie." He noticed the Loudens and nodded a polite greeting. "Virg, I didn't know you were here."
"Hoss Cartwright. The big man himself." Hoss looked unsure, just for a moment.
"I'm sorry you had to come home under such circumstances."
"Are you?" Virg snapped. "Then why didn't you do something about it when you were locked up in that jury room?"
"Well, Virg, I'm not sure that Johnny Mule did it."
"Eleven other men did." Hoss' chin rose.
"I have to answer to my conscience, not theirs. The law states that guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and I don't think it was."
"And Pa used to call you his friend." Virg put on his hat and walked away, Cleve hurrying after him. Marcie followed them, stopping only long enough to address Hoss.
"I sure hope you know what you were doing."
"So do I, Marcie." Joe sighed after she left.
"Let's go." They headed for the door.
"Don't have to shove me, Sheriff." Annie turned back, watching the deputy push Johnny Mule towards the door. The duo passed by so close she could have touched Mule's sleeve if she'd moved her hand just a few inches. He didn't seem to see anyone or anything, lost in some world only he knew about.
Had he killed Mr. Louden, or was Hoss right to doubt?
Back home, she sat on her ma's sofa, reading a book, while Joe perched on the arm and their pa read his paper. Hoss clattered down the stairs, rubbing his hands.
"Sure hope Hop Sing has some of that fried chicken left. Ain't nothing like that hotel food to make a man appreciate home cooking." Joe mumbled something she didn't catch, but Hoss stopped, watching their brother, before he ambled over to stand beside their pa in his favorite chair. "If you got something to say, I'd like to hear it, right out." Annie lowered her book. It had been quite a few years since a sibling argument had descended into a brawl, but this one looked like it might if Joe provoked him just a hair too much.
"Alright. I thought the prosecutor had a darn good case against Johnny Mule."
"What do you think, Pa?" Ben lowered his paper and sighed.
"As much as I hate to think it, what the prosecutor said made a lot of sense."
"Then you think I done wrong, voting to acquit and locking up the jury." No one said anything. "Well, free country, every man to his opinion. Annie?" She laid her book on the table and folded her hands under her chin, staring at the cold fireplace, taking time to choose her words with care.
"As you said, Hoss, every man to his opinion. How many times has one of us, or someone we know, been on the wrong side of a mistaken identity or intentional frame up? I think Hoss took that into account, big brother, as he should. Our opinion wouldn't send Johnny Mule to his death, Hoss' would and he would have to live with that, not us. None of us were at the Loudens' that day, we can't know what exactly happened. Maybe Johnny Mule did do it, maybe he didn't. Hoss was just doing what I hope someone would do for one of us if the roles were reversed."
"Well said, Annie."
"We all listened to the same evidence." She threw her brother a glare, but held her tongue. Hoss didn't.
"Joe, I listened to that evidence, and listened good. Some of it went on this side of the scale and some on that side. After I heard the comments the judge had to make, I had to make a decision and I had to live with it."
"I don't –"
"Joe, Hoss is right. It's a free country and he's entitled to his opinion, let's not discuss it any further."
"Thanks, Pa. I'm going to see if there's any of that chicken left in there, then I've got some work to do out in the barn." Annie jumped off the couch, earning a raised eyebrow from Ben.
"Reno's bridle needs mending, I noticed it on the way back from town. Now's as good a time as any to get it fixed before it gets worse." She headed out the door as Hoss made his way to the kitchen.
It would also give her the chance to find out what Candy thought of this situation, he was bound to be lurking about, waiting for an opportunity to waylay Hoss and get inside his head. Common sense said he should agree with her brother, after all, it wasn't that long ago he'd stood trial for a murder he hadn't committed. What made him vote to convict?
She perched on a hay bale, repairing the headstall, while Hoss marked off measurements on a replacement support beam that needed to be cut and placed that afternoon. Footsteps scuffed on dirt outside and Candy strolled into view, lounging against the barn door. Hoss looked up.
"You work here or you just gonna stand around?"
"I'm waiting for you to tell me." Her eyebrows rose. "Thought maybe you got me fired." What? She lowered the bridle to her lap.
"Why would I do a thing like that?"
"We were at each other's throats for three days."
"And that's never happened before,"Annie said dryly. Candy shook his head.
"Always got to have the last word, doesn't she?" Hoss laid down his tools and straightened.
"That was during the trial, and that's all over now. Time to let twelve other men wrestle that problem. And yeah, that's what little sisters do, I reckon, especially this one. You ever used one of these?" He nodded to the gleaming double handled saw resting on a saw horse.
"Sure."
"Get over here on the other end." Candy ambled over, unbuckled his gun belt, and dropped it in her lap.
"Hold that for me, would you?" He asked with a grin. She briefly debated throwing it at his head, but refrained. The ring of steel on wood filled the barn, leaving it difficult to concentrate on anything else, but she managed.
Until they finally got down to brass tacks.
"I still think you're wrong."
"That's your privilege."
"I wasn't alone, you know. Ten other fellas agreed with me." Annie dropped the bridle and leaned back against the hay bale. Brother Hoss was good at this, and she loved to watch him work. Why wouldn't he let everyone see how smart he really was? Joe might be the brightest Cartwright star, especially after Adam left, but Hoss was their heart and soul.
"That's their privilege," he called over the ring of the saw.
"Johnny Mule was in Louden's house that day, he admitted that."
"And you were in Jed Wheelock's barn that night," Annie said. "You admitted that." Candy shot her a look over his shoulder that clearly questioned whose side she was on, and almost lost his balance when Hoss yanked the saw back his way.
"Louden was killed with Johnny Mule's knife, what more do you need? And don't say I fought with Wheelock," he called over his shoulder. "This isn't the same."
"Ain't it?" Hoss frowned. "I want some answers, like why did he leave his knife there?"
"He panicked and ran."
"Oh. Ran all of three miles, didn't he? Then built himself a fire so he'd be easy to find."
"That crow-bait horse of his threw a shoe and came up lame, he ran as far as he could."
"I don't know about you, but if I'd just put a knife in someone's back, I'd be going a lot farther than three miles, horse or no horse." Candy studied Hoss in silence for a few seconds, then suddenly twisted the saw sideways, stalling the blade. He whipped around and pointed at Annie.
"Hoss would, and you sure as heck would, but Johnny Mule ain't that bright." He turned back around and released the blade. The ring of steel resumed.
"So you hang a man because he ain't bright, huh?"
"Hoss, that whole thing about him hearing someone else at Louden's house, that sounds exactly like a man trying to cover up something, and don't you even think about saying it, sweetheart."
"Wouldn't dream of it," she said sweetly. Hoss snorted, then stalled the blade himself, jerking Candy forward.
"You just said he wasn't bright, now you're trying to make him clever, huh?"
"You're more than just ordinary stubborn, you could give a hard-rock billy goat lessons." Hoss stared at him; Annie smothered a snort of her own. "You gonna talk or work?" Hoss released the blade and they kept sawing. "One thing's for sure: the next jury will vote to hang Johnny Mule." The blade ground to a halt again; Hoss eyed Candy over the beam.
"Maybe not. He'll have a better lawyer this time and maybe I can find some of the answers to those questions I want." Candy eyed him back without saying a word. Hoss freed the blade and they went back to work. "Candy," he said after a minute, "I don't mind you hanging on the saw, but if you need a rest, just let me know."
"Thank you kindly, but if anyone hollers for mercy, it won't be me." The pace ratcheted up, the blade flashing back and forth through the heavy timber, until it cut the last splinters, dropping the unneeded chunk to the ground. Dripping sweat, they looked at each other over the rest of the beam. Annie shook her head and tied off the end of the plaited leather before testing her repair. Much better.
"You want some company on the way to town?" Hoss looked at her with a frown. "I presume you want answers sooner, rather than later, right?" She shrugged. "No time like the present. Candy can go with us and we can all hear what Johnny Mule has to say."
"I don't know what they was arguing about," Mule said slowly. Was that his favorite explanation or something? "All I heard was Mr. Louden hollering and yelling … he stopped when I stepped up on the porch and knocked on the door."
"Johnny, let me get this straight. You say you heard Dave Louden yelling, and you still knocked on the door?" The man gripped the bars of the cell, looking surprised at the question.
"Well, I had to let him know I was there, didn't I?" Valid point, she had to admit, but most people, including herself, would come back another time.
"Yeah, sure you did, Johnny. Now, after Dave let you in, what did you see?"
"Well, I seed old Dave, his face was all red like the wattles on a turkey gobbler –" He stopped, like something had occurred to him. "Hey, Hoss, did you know they's wild turkeys again in the brush up on Back Break Ridge? Some old homesteader fella moved out and left his whole flock there to go wild." He smiled. "You and me ought to go get us a couple of them, they's mighty good eating."
"Yeah, yeah, Johnny, we will, later. Right now we got other things to tend to. Now, after Dave let you in, what else did you see?" Hadn't they covered this at the trial?
"Well, there was a table, and chairs, and a door – the door what goes to the bedroom, it was tight closed." Annie rubbed her forehead. He was responding like a child might answer.
"Hoss, I think you're going to have to be a bit more specific."
"Was there anything special about the table?"
"You mean was they eating, like I said in court? Look Hoss, you don't have to go sneaking up on things, you want to know something from Johnny Mule, you just ask him."
"I know that Johnny, but sometimes it's better if you remember all by yourself." The man's chin came up and he turned away, walking slowly to the back of the cell.
"I can't cipher numbers, and I never learned how to read, and I gotta sign my name with a mark, but there's one thing Johnny Mule can do and that's remember what he seen."
"Good. Now, Johnny, what was on that table?" He stared off into the middle distance, looking past the three of them at something only he could see.
"There was a company table cloth with little red and white squares, and company dishes, and bread and butter," he recalled, growing excited as he went. "And a big pitcher of milk, and baked beans. It was fresh bread … there was two plates, one of them was almost full and one was about empty. First time he never asked me to step in and sit. He just give me the three dollars and closed the door." Hoss nodded to himself.
"You say you went out there to sell Louden your knife for three dollars so you could have money for food, right?"
"Yeah. First time he didn't ask me to step in and sit a while." And there they went off into the weeds again.
"Johnny –"
"I could sure have used some of them beans."
"How did you know Dave would buy the knife?" she interrupted, otherwise, they could be here all afternoon listening to him ramble on about baked beans. He could recall a heck of a lot, she'd give him that, but the time it took to drag the information out of him …
"He seen me cleaning a trout with it one time, and said to me, any old time you want to sell that knife, I'll sure buy it. He said he had one just like it when he was a kid."
"Did you tell your lawyer that?" Mule looked at him in confusion.
"He never asked me."
"Doggone it. You should have told him, Johnny. See, everybody thought you were lying. If they'd have known why Dave wanted that knife, they might have believed you, and it would have made a big difference." Mule came closer and gripped the bars.
"This here next trial, you gonna be on the jury?"
"No, Johnny, I can't. But I'll guarantee you this: you're gonna have a better lawyer."
"But you're the only one that knows I didn't kill Mr. Louden. You gotta be on my jury."
"Johnny, it's impossible."
"If you ain't, they're gonna hang me." Annie pushed off the wall and snagged Candy's sleeve on her way through the door to Roy's office. The sheriff looked up when they appeared.
"Hoss finished yet?"
"Still getting his answers," Candy replied.
"Just what does he think he's gonna hear now that he didn't during the trial?"
"Why Dave wanted to buy Mule's knife for one thing." Annie perched on the edge of his desk.
"Oh, don't tell me you're staring to believe him, too." Roy pushed back his chair and came around the desk. "Mule was there and it was his knife, what more can anyone want?"
"Pa and Adam were convicted of murder and almost hung because a witness lied out of spite, you forgot about that?"
"No, I haven't."
"What about the other times you've had one of us back there?"
"I ain't forgot that either."
"He supposedly stole two hundred dollars that wasn't on him when they brought him in, so where is it? Roy, I haven't taken any accusation lightly since I was seventeen, and I'm not about to start now." Hoss joined them, shaking his head. Roy turned to him.
"Why didn't Mule say anything about Dave wanting that knife at the trial?"
"I guess, if no one asks, he assumes it ain't important."
"I don't know about any of you, but after being cooped up in that hotel for three days, I plan on finding me a good poker game and a beer." Candy checked his pockets. "I'll see you back at the ranch in the morning. Night, sweetheart." He tipped his hat and Annie stuck out her tongue at his retreating back. Roy looked amused and Hoss sighed.
"I guess we best get home, nothing more we can do this late at night anyhow. We'll see you Roy."
"Tell your pa I said howdy."
"We will. Night, Sheriff." Annie pulled the door closed behind her as they went out into the night.
"What do you think, Annie?"
"I don't know, Hoss." She collected Reno from the hitch rail and swung into the grulla's saddle. "Some parts don't make sense, I'll admit that much, but if he didn't do it, who did? And why? And where's the money he supposedly killed Louden for?"
"Maybe that's what everyone else should have been asking from the start. Let's get home before Pa sets to worrying."
"He never can rest easy until we're all home at night." They put their mounts to a lope and rode out of town just as the clock down at the railroad station chimed nine.
"Candy isn't back yet?" Ben looked up from coffee. "I need him out checking those fences sooner rather than later."
"He'll come dragging in, probably with a sore head and lighter pockets." Annie picked at her eggs and bacon. "You know how he is."
"He takes too many risks."
"No more than the rest of us," Joe replied.
"Any of you ask for help if you need it, Candy tends to rely only on himself unless one of us forces his hand." Ben shook his head and drank more coffee. "It's going to cost him one of these days."
The clatter of hooves rang out in the yard and they all looked up. "That might be him now," Hoss observed. "Never has missed a meal, you know."
"Not unlike someone else we know," Annie said with a grin. The front door flew opened and Candy rushed in, storming over to the table looking very much like a man on a mission.
"Johnny Mule busted out of jail last night and practically killed the deputy doing it. Roy's forming a posse and asked me to come get you." They exchanged stunned looks and stood in unison, already moving for the door.
"How'd it happen?"
"The deputy was switching Mule to the solitary cell and Mule jumped him."
"Why the switch?"
"Marcie told him the Loudens were coming in to take care of Mule themselves." Hoss jerked upright.
"Cleve, too?"
"Yes, Cleve, too. What did you expect after what you did to that jury?" Disgust laced every word that left his mouth.
Well, well. Not only could he joke now, he could dress down a Cartwright with the best of them.
"I sure didn't expect him to break out of jail, that's for sure."
"Alright, alright." Ben took command. "How is the posse split up?"
"Three groups. The one forming at Lassiter's is going to sweep through the Red Hill country."
"What about the others?" Ben asked on their way outside.
"Roy is heading for the foothills, the rest are starting out by the lake."
"Who are you with?"
"Red Hill country."
"Either of the Loudens with you?"
"I'm not sure."
"Joe, you go to the foothills and I'll join the lake group. Hoss, you and Annie better go with Candy."
"Yes, Pa."
"I'll saddle up and catch you two later." Hoss headed for the barn, Chub the only horse not already saddled and waiting to ride fence. They rode out at a gallop.
She rode hard beside Candy as they scoured the countryside with no sign of Johnny Mule anywhere. He didn't say a word, but she knew he wanted to, wanted to remind them they wouldn't be here now if Hoss had listened to the others. Maybe he should have, maybe not. No one knew why Mule had busted out when he had, maybe there was an explanation that made sense.
And maybe she was grasping at straws in her brother's defense.
The deputy in the lead raised his hand and they all brought their horses to a halt. "There's two ways he could have gone from here: the lake, or past the creek into the hills."
"Won't be hard to find out, the creek bed's muddy, there's bound to be tracks." The deputy nodded.
"Don't take no chances."
"Come on, Gabe." The two men split off and rode out.
"Give the horses a breather," the deputy called. She dismounted and stretched beside Candy, who stared off behind them for the tenth time in as many minutes. She bit her lip. Where was he? The deputy glanced at him. "You hear something?"
"No."
"Well, you been sniffing back there ever since you met us."
"Hoss was supposed to have joined us, he should have been here half an hour ago."
"If it weren't for him, none of us would have to be here," the deputy said coldly.
"What happened to innocent until proven guilty?" Annie drew herself up, folding her arms across her chest. "Have you never heard of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
"Sure I have, but that don't happen as often as dime novels would lead you to believe."
"I don't need dime novels, deputy, just being a Cartwright will bring it around sooner or later." The man glared at her before stalking off in a huff. Candy let out a low whistle.
"Struck a nerve, sweetheart."
"What do you think, Candy? You were in town when it happened."
"I don't know. Marcie came busting into the Silver Dollar and drug the deputy out saying Cleve and Virg were coming to kill Johnny Mule. Yeah, I went with them," he said with a shrug. "I may think he's guilty, but that don't mean I want to see him lynched or shot dead in that cell with no chance to defend himself." He looked behind them again. "I wish Hoss would get here."
"He's probably dragging his heels cause he's not convinced the man did it." Candy blew out a breath and turned away from the road.
"Are you?" She pressed her lips together and turned the ends of Reno's reins over in her hands for a minute. She shook her head on a sigh.
"No. There's one part of this no one's really paid much attention to: the money. Remember Cully Mako?"
"I remember."
"Well, where's the two hundred dollars he was said to have stolen? Mule doesn't have it, I doubt the man's ever seen that much in his life, so who does?"
"Good question." Candy leaned against his horse. "That kinda went out the window at the trial. The prosecutor claimed that's why he killed Louden, but nothing else was ever said about it."
"Let's ride," the deputy called out, bringing their heads up. "Few hours of daylight left, we better make 'em count." Annie sighed and swung into Reno's saddle, bringing the grulla around into line.
As darkness fell, they picked their way through the range behind the Louden's ranch house, spread out a few feet apart in the dying light. Annie kept an ear out farther down the line, the Louden brothers having joined up when the posse reached the ranch.
She doubted Mule would be lurking around here, but you never did know what some people would do until push came to shove.
"Find anything?" Virg Louden called out in the twilight. A rifle boomed somewhere in the night, again and again. A man howled in pain, the sound becoming a low moan. Annie kicked Reno into a gallop, charging in the direction of the cry. It was too dark to try and find the shooter, too much risk of whoever went after them getting shot themselves. From the sound of it, they'd have their hands full dealing with whoever got shot.
Voices called above the moaning, shouting back and forth as the rest of the posse tried to make sense of what had just happened. Annie jumped from her horse and landed next to the man sprawled across the ground. She turned him over just as Candy landed beside her.
Virg Louden.
She drew in a sharp breath, the coppery tang of fresh blood filling her nose. Her hands felt sticky and she looked down. Gut shot. Her eyes met Candy's.
"Virg!" Cleve raced up, falling to his knees beside his brother. "Take him to the house, quick. Someone, someone get the doctor and bring him out here."
"We'll go." Cleve found Candy's face in the weak light.
"Hasn't the Ponderosa done enough already?" He said bitterly. "If it weren't for Hoss locking that jury, Virg wouldn't be …"
"You really think it was Johnny Mule that shot him?" Cleve's angry gaze locked on Annie.
"Who else would it be?" Candy pulled her to her feet.
"Let's ride." He called to the deputy and the three of them lit out, driving their horses hard. It seemed to take forever, and the night only got darker as the miles flew by, but the lights of town finally came into view over the horizon. They galloped up the street and drew rein in front of the jail. Candy jumped off his chestnut and scrambled onto the boardwalk, not even bothering to tether Scout to the hitch rail. Annie followed right on his heels. They burst into the sheriff's office, breathing hard.
The deputy Mule had hurt during his escape looked up from talking to Marcie and Hoss. What was he doing here instead of out with the posse like he was supposed to be? Annie fought to catch her breath.
"Where's the doctor?" Tom eyed Candy like he'd lost his mind.
"In his office, I guess, why?" Candy ducked back out the door, calling the news to the other deputy who rode off fast. Candy came back in and shut the door, glaring at Hoss. His mouth opened, but Annie beat him to it.
"Where have you been?" Hoss looked them up and down.
"Busy." Candy's hands landed on his hips and he stalked forward.
"You sure voted right, buddy. We flushed Johnny Mule out of the rocks behind Louden's. He shot Virg." Marcie paled.
"Is Virg dead?"
"I don't know." Candy hung his head. "Even if the doc gets there in time, I wouldn't hope too high."
"He was gut shot." Absolute silence met her quiet pronouncement. She hadn't thought it possible, but Marcie paled even more.
"The rocks back of Louden's," Tom growled, looking sideways at Hoss. "You knew he was hiding there and you wouldn't tell me?" What?
"What have you been up to, Hoss?" She grabbed his sleeve, but he ignored her.
"He wasn't hiding there, deputy. Are you sure it was Johnny Mule?" Candy sighed.
"Who else could it be?"
"You saw him?" Hoss pressed.
"It was dark," Annie said. "We were fanned out. I heard a rifle shot, but couldn't see what exactly happened."
"Whoever it was fired three shots and hit Virg twice."
"So none of you actually saw him."
"No."
"Well, who do you think it was, Mr. Cartwright?" Marcie went up nose to nose wih Hoss. "The mysterious stranger again that no one ever sees? If you hadn't protected that murderer, Virg never would have gotten shot." She whirled and stormed for the door. Candy grabbed her arm.
"Virg is hurt bad."
"All the more reason he needs a nurse." She darted out the door, slamming it behind her. The rest of them looked back at Hoss, the deputy breaking the silence first.
"Don't tell me you were fool enough to hide him."
"I don't know about the fool part, but yeah, I knew where he was. And I didn't tell nobody."
"If you don't cooperate this time, I'm gonna put you under arrest for harboring a known fugitive."
"Tom, give me till daylight, I'll bring him back to you, I promise, I give you my word."
"He's probably halfway to Arizona by now," Candy said. "I'm gonna check and see if they found the doctor." Annie bit her lip, but followed Candy. Something didn't add up, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Candy," she asked as they led their horses down the street, "Why would he shoot Virg? If he broke jail, why hang around?" Hooves clattered behind them. Annie turned, saw Hoss ride out, headed for the Ponderosa. Candy turned, too.
"Maybe he wasn't up in them rocks after all."
"I think brother Hoss hid him the last place anyone would suspect."
"But if Johnny Mule didn't take those shots at Virg, who did? And why?"
"It doesn't make any kind of sense, does it?" Candy shrugged and turned Scout towards the doctor's office.
"Only cause we don't know the motive yet. Let's see if the doc's on his way, then we can head for home." Annie blinked and stopped in her tracks.
"You finally said it." He halted and looked back over his shoulder.
"Said what?"
"Called the Ponderosa home." Something flickered across his face, indistinguishable in the low light. He fiddled with Scout's reins.
"Guess I did." He shrugged. "Don't read nothing into it, been drifting since I was sixteen, don't plan to stop anytime soon." He turned away and kept walking. Annie put a hand on Reno's shoulder and stared after him in silence. Just what did drifting offer that they couldn't give him? What was the draw? Didn't he want a place to call home?
He stuck his head in the door and called for Doc Martin. No one answered and he shrugged. "Guess he's already headed for Louden's."
"We better head home, Cleve isn't going to want either of us hanging around any time soon, especially me."
"He's upset with Hoss, not you."
"I'd rather not add to it, Candy. Let's just go." She swung into the saddle and loped for home. Hooves drummed behind her, but she didn't look back. They slowed to a walk about a mile from the house, giving the horses a chance to begin cooling out before they reached the barn. A few strides later, she dismounted and Candy followed suit, neither one saying a word, the silence lengthening under the light of the moon.
They entered the yard, Annie slightly in front, and headed for the barn, light spilling out the door. Voices drifted on the still air.
"It would give a lot of people comfort if I get my sights on Johnny Mule." Annie froze and reached back, clamping a hand over Reno's nose. Marcie? Why was she here instead of tending Virg? Candy slipped up on her left, handed over Scout's reins, and crept closer to the barn. He eased past the door, glanced inside, then darted past into the shadows on the other side, holding up one hand in a signal to wait.
"You're uh, you're a good shot, are you, Marcie?"
"Good enough," came her confident reply. Uh, oh. Candy mimed holding a rifle and Annie's heart beat double time. Hoss had done it this time, usually it was Joe facing down an angry female with a gun, although he never could lay claim to this particular scenario.
"You know, when something's troubling me, I don't like to get rid of it until I can get all the facts straightened out in my mind. That's why I voted not guilty at the trial, there were too many questions unanswered."
"Never mind the speeches, just tell me where I can find Johnny Mule."
"Virg was shot with a rifle, Johnny ain't got one."
"Your questions will be the death of you." Annie sent Candy a sharp look. Marcie did it? But why? She was going to marry Cleve, why kill her father-in-law? Unless … the other woman's desperation for what she'd lost when her parents died had turned fatal.
She couldn't catch a Cartwright husband – thank God for that – then she'd latched onto Virg. But he'd left, so she set her sights on his brother. But what had precipitated this? She and Cleve were supposed to get married next month, why risk that?
"Had it kind of rough, ain't you, Marcie? Your folks being dead, losing the ranch and all that –"
"Don't worry about me, I'll do alright." How? If she'd killed her soon to be father-in-law, then shot her brother-in-law –
Of course. Two brothers, one ranch. Her head came up. Had the old man's will left it to both of them? Virg had always been restless, could he have wanted to sell his half and said so in front of Marcie?
But why kill her father-in-law in the first place? She had to have guessed such an arrangement might be in place, even with Virg gone for two years.
"Yeah. You were telling around that you and Virg were gonna get married. That is, until he ran out on you. And now, it's you and Cleve. Course, you knew that Cleve would just be a hired hand until his pa died." Silence hung thick in the air. "Marcie, you say you're good with a rifle … how good are you with a knife?" Footsteps shuffled sideways; a shadow shifted on the ground. "You really had it all figured out good for yourself, didn't you? With Mr. Louden dead, Johnny Mule blamed for it, you had Cleve and that whole ranch all to yourself. Until Virg rode back."
Candy jumped; a rifle shot boomed. Annie dropped the horses' reins and ran into the barn, her Colt at the ready.
"Let me go! Let me go!" Marcie squirmed and kicked in Candy's hold.
"Well, you took long enough." Hoss looked up. "The both of you." Candy struggled to keep the woman under wraps.
"I wanted to make sure I heard everything."
"Did you?"
"We both did," Annie answered for him, since Candy had more important matters to attend to at the moment. She bent and picked up Marcie's rifle.
"Enough I'd like to cut my throat," Candy added. Marcie cried out, but it sounded more angry than afraid. Footsteps ran up and Annie spun, the rifle swinging up.
Johnny Mule appeared in the barn door. "I was sleeping out in the bushes and heard a shot." He noticed Marcie and blinked. They all looked at her as the tears began to fall, but Annie was sure they weren't tears of remorse. She was only sorry she got caught.
"Yeah, she wanted to see me dead, Johnny."
"Why?"
"I reckon I was asking too many questions." The man tilted his head and looked back at Marcie.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean, Johnny, that she wanted a ranch and a husband bad enough she put a knife in an old man and was gonna let you hang for it." Mule kept staring at Marcie.
"You took the money to confuse the motive, didn't you?" Annie holstered her Colt. "And it almost worked." Marcie sobbed, refusing to look at any of them. Candy raised his head and caught her eye. He swallowed hard and looked away. "Let's get her to town."
"Johnny, you need to ride in with us."
"But why? You know she did it now."
"Yeah, I know that, but you got to come so the law can officially clear you."
"Oh. Okay, Hoss. Then we'll go hunt those turkeys?" Annie bit her lip to hide her smile.
"Yeah, Johnny, then we'll go see about those turkeys, later."
The cell door slammed behind Marcie and the deputy came back into the main office where they waited. The man put a hand on Johnny's shoulder and said something that had Mule nodding in agreement. He turned, started for the door. Candy cleared his throat and approached the man, turning his hat over in his hands.
"Johnny?" Mule turned. "For three days I kept voting to hang you." Candy swallowed hard. "I guess I decided you were guilty the first time I looked at you." His gaze darted over to Annie and Hoss. "Never in my life, have I judged a horse at first sight … I was ready to judge a man that way, even after … after it had been done to me. I'm never going to do that again." Mule's face cleared and he nodded slowly, a smile on his face. Hoss grinned and made his way over to them, reaching out to lay an arm across their backs. They left the office and Annie sank down on the edge of Roy's desk.
There was no figuring him out, was there? Even after almost a year, what they knew about him could fill a thimble with room left over. It was enough to drive her crazy.
"There a reason you're sitting on my desk, missy? I already got paperweights a plenty."
"Just thinking."
"Think somewhere else, will you? I got paperwork to do and you're occupying most of the territory. Oh, and take a message to your brother, will you?"
"Sure, what?" He gave her the message and she grinned, then bounced off the desk. "Later, Roy." she found Hoss and Candy with Johnny Mule near the livery stable. The man climbed into his saddle and rode off down the street, waving good-bye. "You didn't offer him a job," she asked once he was safely out of earshot.
"Pa did, but he said he'd be better off by himself."
"You're not going after those turkeys?"
"Not now, we got work to do at the ranch."
"You've got another matter to deal with first." Hoss frowned.
"What?"
"Roy said he's going to send a posse after you unless you get back to the jail right now." Candy's smile froze and Hoss blinked. A grin split her face. "So the prosecuting attorney and the rest of that jury can buy you the biggest dinner in Virginia City."
"Well," he grinned and rubbed his hands together. "What are waiting for, little sister?" He caught both of them with an arm around the shoulders and steered them back towards the jail. Candy chuckled.
"You know, I think I just figured out why Joe's always the one getting falsely accused instead of Hoss."
"Why?"
"Are you going to ask him what he wants for a last meal?" Annie snickered and Hoss busted out laughing. Candy grinned.
"Only a very brave man would dare ask that question," she said between giggles. "Even then, I'm not sure there's any place in town that could accommodate his request."
"Oh, hush up the both of you, my appetite is and always has been normal, just ask Doc Martin. Come on, let's get moving, it's past dinnertime." She and Candy shared a look, laughter dancing in their eyes.
Some things never changed.
A/N: I noticed while watching the episode again that after the initial scene in the courtroom, no one mentions the two hundred dollars that was stolen despite it being a major point in the prosecution's case, so I slipped it in where it seemed natural to have someone mention it.
Also, considering Candy was falsely accused not too many episodes back, it seemed a little strange there was no mention of the similarities.
As always, drop me a review if you feel like it, or have a critique about something I might have missed. Next up: The Late Ben Cartwright.