Episode 46
The Price of Madness
Once the six out of the Twisted Tree were locked up, three to a cell, Joe Wiley turned to the Dugans.
“This thing is getting hairy. I can’t expect the two of you to see this through at this point. You’re free to cut out.”
“The Dugan brothers don’t cut out on a fight. We told you that. You bring it up one more time I’ll set you on your ass so’s you remember it,” Len Dugan said. Shaking his head with a sour look.
“You know better than that, Joe,” Seth Dugan added.
Joe stepped to them, face grim.
“You see what’s going on out there? These damned cowboys just about stampeded this town flat, but the good citizens still hate us more. And what was our crime? Trying to bring some order to this shithole town of theirs?”
“You looking for a gold medal and town picnic in our honor?” Seth said and made a face as near to a smile as anyone would ever see on his face.
Seated behind the desk Ben Temple spoke up.
“And don’t bother asking me to leave. Even though I think you’re a damned fool I ain’t going anywhere. I heard that commotion outside. But I didn’t see a thing with these damned eyes. I did get a whiff of a tobacco. Rare stuff. I’ve only smelled it once before but it’s unmistakable. Damned if I can recall where I smelt it first though.”
“Never mind. You three stay here. I’m going to have a look around,” Joe said and left the jail.
After the door slammed shut Ben grunted, “He means check on that Sister Adeline.”
* * *
Joe walked down the main street looking from side to side to survey the damage. He kept an eye out for anyone from either of the big ranches. He stopped where the Holy Crusade tent had been only to find Sister Adeline Tibbets and her followers packing their wagons to depart.
“Where are you going?” Joe asked.
“Far away from here, marshal. Far, far away,” Adeline answered. Her eyes were red. Her pretty face was drawn and pale under a powder of fine ash.
“Giving up?” he asked her, his heart in his throat.
“I have lost three of my sisters. You lost your friend. And those aren’t all that have paid the price for this madness. This place is beyond redemption. It has descended into the pit and you, you, marshal, are a part of it. You think you are standing against hell fire but all you are doing is stoking the coals. So, yes, I am giving up. I know you won’t. And even more than watching this town destroy itself, I do not want to watch you destroy yourself. Goodbye, Joseph.” Adeline touched his cheek with her fingers.
He gripped her wrist, holding it there.
“I don’t want you to go,” he said.
“I’m tired, Joe. Tired to my soul. This town has cost me too much and I’m leaving,” she said. Her eyes pleaded with him.
His grip tightened.
“Come with me,” she whispered, lips barely parted.
He released her then.
Her eyes darkened. The tightness around them went slack. She dropped her hand from his face and turned to the wagons. With the help of the sisters, she climbed onto the driver’s bench of the front wagon.
She gave him one last mournful gaze and then hit the reins. The leather straps slapped the backs of the mules in their traces.
“Get ’em up.”
The mules lunged; the wagon’s wheels broke into a roll. The Holy Crusade rode north out of Mercury Wells.
Joe held his silence. He watched bitterly as they, as she, left. The yellow dust rose behind the wagons. When it had blown clear the wagons were gone, invisible over the horizon, gone deep into the grazing lands. His resolve was now forged in steel. No one was going to take this town away from him—even if he had to level it to the ground.
“Just as well,” he muttered.
Joe’s dark reflections were blasted away by the report of gunfire back from the center of town. He headed at a run toward the jailhouse.
