pointed toward a door behind his desk.
“What did he do?” Dean asked.
“Uh… beat up his wife, I reckon.”
Dean frowned. “Is she dead?”
“No, but—”
The judge’s nostrils flared. He looked down at his shoes and the legs of his pants, then back up at the sheriff.
“Do you mean to tell me that I was summoned all the way out here just because a man and his wife had a fight?”
“Well, yeah, but you should have seen his—”
“Sir! It is not against the law for a man to lay hand on his wife. In fact, I believe that it is no one’s business how a man and woman conduct their personal lives within the bonds of matrimony.”
“Well now… their baby died, too,” the sheriff said.
Dean’s eyes narrowed. “Did he kill the child?”
“No, but the doctor reckoned it starved to death.”
“That is hardly the duty of a husband,” Dean snapped. “It is the mother who’s business it is to suckle her child. If this is all you have to say for this man, then I’m telling you to release him at once.”
Sheriff Ham frowned. “The people ain’t gonna like it none that—”
“I don’t care what the people in this godforsaken place think,” Joshua Dean snapped. “I’ve given you my decision. Let him go!”
The sheriff shook his head as he reached for the cell key.
“All I got to say to you is, it’s a damn good thing you’re leavin’ because when people find out what you’ve done, they’d most likely be hankerin’ to string you up, instead of old George.”
Judge Dean’s heart skipped a beat. He’d witnessed the brutality of this country and its people more than once. He had no intention of staying around to witness this outcome.
“Are you threatening me?” he asked.
The sheriff frowned. “I reckon you’ve talked enough for both of us. I ain’t got nothin’ more to say to you.”
He turned his back on the judge and headed for the jail cell.
George Mellin was lying on his cot. When the door opened, he sat up. But when the sheriff unlocked the cell and swung the door wide, he stood abruptly.
“What’s goin’ on here?” he asked.
Sheriff Ham pointed to the dandy in the other room.
“That there’s the judge. He said to let you go, so I’m lettin’ you go.”
George grinned. It seemed his world had taken a turn for the better. He grabbed his hat and bolted, afraid that someone would change their mind before he got to the door.
“Thank you, sir,” George said, as he moved past the judge.
Joshua Dean nodded once without ever looking at the man, settled his hat a little firmer on his head, and walked out as abruptly as he’d entered.
The stage driver was loading a trunk onto the top of the coach when he arrived. Without comment, he climbed up into the coach, chose a seat by the window, and then leaned back and closed his eyes.
The sooner he left this place, the better.
The next morning, and unaware of her husband’s release, Alice was cooking breakfast, while keeping an eye on the child who sat quietly in a corner with the quilt pulled tight beneath her chin. Katie answered when questioned, and ate when food was put in front of her, but as yet, had to respond normally.
Even so, her appearance into the household had brightened Alice Mellin’s outlook on life. She had latched onto the little girl with a ferocity that would have made a mama bear proud, even taking her to her bed last night in case she might awaken in the night with nightmares.
Alice hadn’t thought once of George, who, she believed, was still sitting in jail awaiting the arrival of a judge. The only thing that was really wrong in her life at the moment was that Baby Mary had yet to be buried. She fretted constantly about the Denver City cemetery, and the fact that it was so close to the rising flood waters.
Later that day, when Letty made an offhand suggestion to Alice that she might prefer to choose a burial site up on their mountain, somewhere near the trees beyond the house, Alice had jumped on the offer. The flood problems regarding the cemetery did not apply this high up the mountain. Drainage was good, and no longer than the grave would be opened, accumulating water was not a problem.
Alice had been subdued and tearful.
“I don’t know as how I’ll ever be able to thank you people for your help,” she said.
“Thanks aren’t necessary,” Letty said, and gave her