Deadly Road to Yuma (11 page)

Angry shouts of disagreement came from the crowd, and Stanfield had to bang the gavel for several minutes before order was restored. When it was, Wilmont said, “That’s all I have to say, Your Honor,” and sat down.

“Well, that’s an…unusual…defense, Counselor,” Stanfield said, “but if you feel it’s the best one you have—”

“It’s the only one we have, Your Honor.”

“Very well.” Stanfield turned to the members of the jury. “You can now begin your deliberations, and continue them until you have reached a true verdict.”

The men glanced at each other for a second. Then the one at the end of the row closest to the judge’s bench stood up. “I reckon we’re done, Your Honor.”

Stanfield sighed, clearly not surprised. “In that case, what say you?”

“We find the defendant guilty of murder, robbery, assorted banditry, and anything else you want to charge him with, Judge. Matter of fact, we find him guilty as hell!”

“A simple verdict of guilty will be entered into the record,” Stanfield said. He turned back to the defense table. “Does the defendant have anything to say before I pass sentence on him?”

Shade struggled against his ropes as if he were trying to stand up, and frenzied grunts came from behind the gag.

“I don’t suppose it matters now, does it?” Wilmont said with a sigh.

Flagg motioned for Matt and Sam to take the gag off of Shade. “Leave him tied in the chair, though,” the sheriff warned.

Sam untied the bandanna around Shade’s head. Matt pulled the gag out of the outlaw’s mouth. Shade’s chin lifted defiantly as he yelled, “The Lord will strike you down! He will visit plagues and abominations on this town and everyone in it! You’ll all die screaming for mercy! Rivers of blood will run in the streets, and your women will cry over the broken bodies of their children!”

From there, the tirade descended into profanity again, until Flagg motioned for Matt to stick the gag back in Shade’s mouth. Matt did so, shutting him up.

“That was an inspired defense, Counselor,” Stanfield told Colonel Wilmont. “Unfortunately, the jury has reached its verdict, and now I shall pass sentence on the defendant. Normally, I would have him rise to hear this, but under the circumstances…” Stanfield cleared his throat. “It is the judgment of this court, the defendant Joshua Shade having been found guilty, that he shall be hanged by the neck until dead, and that this sentence shall be carried out immediately in this jurisdiction.”

Mayor Wiley leaped to his feet. “But, Your Honor,” he protested, “we don’t
want
him to be hanged here!”

“Then you should have thought of that before you put on this trial,” Stanfield snapped. “You tried him here, you can hang him.” He lifted his gavel to signal that court was adjourned.

Before the gavel could fall, though, a new voice spoke up over the clamor, saying, “Just a moment, Judge. Could I have a word with you?”

The crowd parted, and a tall man in a dark suit strode forward. He was middle-aged, with a face tanned to the color of saddle leather and a nose like the beak of a hawk jutting out over a dark mustache that framed a wide mouth.

“Who in blazes are you?” Stanfield demanded.

The newcomer moved the lapel of his coat aside so that the badge pinned to his vest was visible. “Deputy United States Marshal Asa Thorpe,” he said, introducing himself. “I’ve come for Joshua Shade.”

The courtroom exploded with noise in response to that dramatic announcement. Judge Stanfield had to hammer the gavel on the table for a full minute again before everybody settled down enough for him to make himself heard.

“What do you mean by that, Marshal?” he demanded.

Thorpe had stood there calmly during the excitement. Now he reached inside his coat and said, “I meant just what I said, Your Honor. I have here a court order signed by a federal judge placing Joshua Shade in my custody.”

“You can’t have him!” Stanfield snapped. “I’ve already pronounced sentence on him.”

“I didn’t make myself clear, Your Honor. I’m not here to interfere with these proceedings or to set aside the verdict reached by this court, with one exception.” Thorpe strode forward and placed the document he had taken from his coat on the table in front of the judge. “The federal government wants Shade to be hanged at Yuma Prison.”

Sam leaned over to Matt and muttered, “This is unusual.”

Matt grunted. “What do you expect from the government?”

Stanfield leaned forward in his chair to study the paper Thorpe had placed in front of him. “What’s the meaning of this? Why would the Justice Department do such a thing?”

Thorpe shrugged. “I have no idea, Your Honor. All I know is that I happened to be in Tucson after wrapping up another case, and I received a telegram from the chief marshal ordering me to accompany you here to Arrowhead and take charge of the prisoner if he was convicted. But when I went looking for you, I found that you’d already left, so I had to follow you instead.”

“This is highly irregular…”

Thorpe stuck his thumbs in the pockets of his vest and said, “My guess is that Washington wants to have a hand in Shade’s execution because he’s stolen a couple of army payrolls. Those were federal crimes. They could have me take him in for a new trial in those cases, but I reckon they figure since he can only hang once, there’s no point in going to that much trouble and expense. They’ll let the Territory of Arizona take care of it…as long as they get some of the credit.”

Stanfield tugged at his beard. “This document appears to be in order,” he said with a frown. “And since it doesn’t void the verdict of this jury, or affect anything except the place of execution…”

“We didn’t want Shade hanged here anyway, Your Honor,” Mayor Wiley put in.

Stanfield nodded. “Irregular or not, I suppose I have no choice but to honor this court order and place Joshua Shade in your custody, Marshal, to be taken to Yuma Prison and hanged at the earliest possible opportunity.” The gavel came down with a sharp crack. “This court is adjourned!”

Sheriff Flagg turned to Matt and Sam and said, “Keep an eye on Shade. Me and the deputies’ll clear the place out before we take him back to jail.”

They didn’t have to try very hard to do that. Many of the spectators were already pouring out of the town hall, headed for the saloons and a chance to rehash the day’s events over a drink.

The news of Shade’s conviction and the U.S. marshal’s arrival spread rapidly. These were the biggest doings the town of Arrowhead had seen in a long time, maybe ever. By the time Matt and Sam left the town hall, once again dragging the shackled, gagged Joshua Shade between them, the street was crowded with excited citizens who wanted to see the notorious outlaw being taken back to jail.

Once again, Flagg and his deputies surrounded Matt, Sam, and Shade as the procession made its way along the street. But this time, they had the marshal with them, striding alongside with his right hand resting on the butt of the Colt holstered at his hip. Thorpe’s cold-eyed gaze was enough to make most folks step aside.

Shade had stopped trying to talk. He hung limply in the grasp of the blood brothers as they hauled him along. They took him into the jail, and didn’t remove the gag until they had him back in his cell with the shackles and leg irons off.

Even then, Shade didn’t say anything. His expression had turned dull and lifeless, as if all the fight had finally gone out of him.

Maybe he was thinking about the hangrope that was waiting for him, Matt mused as he slammed the cell door closed.

Once they were all in the sheriff’s office, Flagg offered Thorpe a cup of coffee. The federal lawman smiled for the first time since his arrival in Arrowhead and nodded.

“Much obliged, Sheriff. That sounds good. Why don’t you introduce your deputies to me?”

Flagg poured the coffee and carried out the introductions of Johnson and the other men, leaving out Matt and Sam. Thorpe nodded toward them and asked curiously, “What about these two hombres?”

“You said to introduce my deputies, and they ain’t sworn in or nothin’. Reckon you’d have to call ’em volunteers. But their names are Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves.”

Thorpe’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Bodine and Two Wolves, eh? I’ve heard of you. I’d bet there aren’t very many lawmen west of the Mississippi who
haven’t
heard of you.”

“You make us sound like some sort of desperadoes, Marshal,” Matt said.

Thorpe shook his head. “Not necessarily. But you have to admit, hell seems to have a way of breaking loose wherever you two happen to be.”

“If not for these boys, I expect Shade and his bunch would’ve laid waste to our town,” Flagg said.

“Really? I’d like to hear about that,” Thorpe said as he perched a hip on a corner of the desk.

Matt and Sam weren’t given to boasting about anything they had done, so Flagg explained how they had discovered Shade’s gang was about to raid Arrowhead and had warned the town. When the sheriff was done, Thorpe nodded.

“Sounds like these folks owe you a debt of gratitude, all right,” he said. “From everything I’ve heard about you, though, you boys like to drift. What are you doing still here?”

“After being partially responsible for Shade getting locked up, we wanted to see what was going to happen,” Sam explained.

“And we didn’t figure it’d hurt anything if we gave Sheriff Flagg a hand either,” Matt added.

“Darn right it didn’t hurt anything,” Flagg chimed in. “It’s been good havin’ these two hombres around. Might not have been able to stop those lynch mobs without ’em.”

Thorpe sipped his coffee. “Then I suppose the federal government owes you its gratitude, too,” he said to Matt and Sam. “And a reward for capturing Shade, if you care to claim it.”

Matt stiffened. “We’re not bounty hunters. You can keep your damn blood money.”

Anger sparked in Thorpe’s eyes. “I never said you were bounty hunters. But if you’ve got a reward coming to you—”

“We’re fine without it, Marshal,” Sam said as he moved between Matt and Thorpe in an effort to defuse the sudden tension in the room. “All we really want is for justice to be done.”

“It will be. You can count on that. Shade will hang just as soon as I can get him to Yuma.”

Flagg scratched his beard. “I was wonderin’ about that,” he said. “How do you intend to get him there?”

“The railroad’s well south of here. I’ll need a wagon to transport him that far, and then we’ll take the train the rest of the way.”

“Reckon we can supply you with a good sturdy wagon. You’ll need some men to go with you, though.”

Thorpe shook his head. “I have my own shackles and leg irons for the prisoner. I can handle one man without any trouble.”

“One man, sure,” Flagg said, “but what about twenty-five or thirty?”

“Shade’s gang?” Thorpe asked as a frown creased his forehead.

“That’s right. They’re still on the loose, and they’re liable to come after him.”

“How long has Shade been locked up here, almost a week?”

Flagg nodded. “That’s right.”

“And you haven’t seen hide nor hair of his gang during that time, have you?”

“Well…no.”

Thorpe put out a hand. “There you go. They’ve abandoned him. Someone else has taken over the leadership of the gang, and they’ve moved on to greener pastures. You know owlhoots have no loyalty to anything except their own best interests. The concept of honor among thieves is just a myth.”

Matt and Sam weren’t so sure about that. The glance they exchanged said as much.

Flagg tugged at his ear. “I dunno,” he said slowly. “From everything I’ve heard, Shade’s men would follow him right into hell. I can’t see ’em just ridin’ off and forgettin’ about him.”

“Then why haven’t they tried to rescue him?”

Matt spoke up. “Because they know everybody in town has been waitin’ for that very thing to happen? Even a bunch of outlaws have to be smart enough to know that they’d be ridin’ into a real hornet’s nest if they tried to bust him out of this jail.”

“But if Shade’s being taken all the way across Arizona Territory by only one man,” Sam said, “they might see that as a perfect opportunity to rescue him.”

Thorpe shook his head. “They’re not going to be foolish enough to interfere with the federal government.”

“They stole army payrolls, didn’t they?” Sam pointed out. “They didn’t seem too afraid of the federal government then.”

Thorpe glared at them. “What are you suggesting that I do then?”

“Take some guards with you,” Flagg said. “I’ll bet you’d have half a dozen volunteers from around here at least.”

Matt and Sam looked at each other again, and then Sam said, “And we’d ride along, too.”

Without hesitation, Thorpe snapped, “Absolutely not. How would it look if a deputy United States marshal had to enlist the aid of a couple of notorious gunfighters to help him do his job?”

“Like he had enough sense to know when he was outnumbered?” Matt said.

Thorpe shook his head stubbornly. “No, I won’t do it,” he insisted. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything to take some other men with me…but not these two.”

“I think you’re makin’ a mistake,” Flagg said. “Bodine and Two Wolves are two o’ the best fightin’ men you’ll ever see.”

“And as I pointed out, men like them
attract
trouble. Shade’s gang will be more likely to leave us alone if Bodine and Two Wolves don’t come with us.”

Matt opened his mouth to tell Thorpe that he was as loco as Colonel Wilmont had made Shade out to be.

But before he could get the angry words out of his mouth, Sam closed a hand around his arm and said, “Come on, Matt.”

Matt turned to his blood brother in surprise. “But this stiff-necked star packer—”

“If that’s the way Marshal Thorpe feels about the situation, then we’ll just have to honor his decision,” Sam said. “He’s the law. It’s up to him to handle things however he wants to.”

Matt stared at Sam in disbelief. It wasn’t like Sam to cave in like that to some damn fool.

But it was true that Thorpe was now the top dog around here when it came to the law. If the marshal wanted to, he could order Flagg to lock up the two of them until he had left Arrowhead with Joshua Shade. Matt didn’t want that to happen.

“All right,” he said in disgust. “Have it your way, Thorpe. Just don’t look for any help from us if you find yourself facing Shade’s whole gang.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Thorpe said with confidence that bordered on arrogance. He turned back to Flagg. “But if you can find me some good men, Sheriff—men who
aren’t
trigger-happy gunslingers—I’ll interview them and deputize several of them to come with me.”

Matt started for the doorway. “Come on, Sam,” he said. “Let’s get out of here before I say something I regret.”

Sam followed his blood brother out of the jail. They hadn’t gone very far down the street when Sam chuckled.

“What the hell’s so funny?” Matt asked. “Not that damn fool lawman, that’s for sure.”

“Actually, I was thinking that Thorpe really doesn’t know you very well.”

“Of course he doesn’t. I just met the loco hombre an hour ago!”

“No, I mean he can’t have heard all that much about us, or he’d never think that Matt Bodine would go along with a bad idea so easily.” Sam paused. “Or me either, for that matter.”

Matt frowned. “You mean…”

“I mean that we’re going to make sure Joshua Shade reaches Yuma so that the sentence of hanging can be carried out.”

“Whether that varmint Thorpe likes it or not?”

“Exactly,” Sam said. “Whether Marshal Thorpe likes it or not.”