Courthouse
There was a crowd outside of the courthouse, and as soon as Hope saw it, her stomach lurched up into her throat. It might’ve only been twenty or thirty people, but she knew why they were there. The handful of lawmen keeping them at bay was only mildly reassuring as her father found a place to hitch the wagon and then came around to carefully lift her out of the seat. Her head was still aching, but her mother had given her some medicine, and it was helping. If it didn’t make her sleepy or groggy until after she figured out what their next step needed to be, and until after she’d hopefully had a chance to speak to Judah, then she wouldn’t regret taking it.
If the people in the crowd noticed her, their dispositions didn’t change any, and Hope thought it was just as well until after she’d had a chance to speak to Judah. The last thing she needed was a rush of deputies trying to keep her away from his cell.
The courthouse was just as imposing on the inside as it was on the outside. Luckily, Will had been there earlier in the week and knew exactly where to go. He took Hope by the hand and led her past offices and other official looking rooms to a side hall that led to the jail.
Hope had never actually been inside of a jail before, though there was a small one in Lamar she’d been past a few times. Once again, she found her stomach in knots. She prayed she’d have a chance to talk to Judah. Maybe he would tell her what happened or at least say something to jog her memory.
Inside, there was a desk across from a few cells. Hope’s eyes immediately flew across the faces of the occupants, but Judah wasn’t one of them. There were just a few men who looked like they’d probably gotten picked up on public intoxication charges the night before. One of them had a bloodied lip. She steered clear of them and followed her father across the room, her hand still tight in his, to the desk.
“Why, if it isn’t Miss Tucker! Thank the good Lord!” Deputy Forester shouted, leaping up from his seat. “We sure have been worried about you, young lady.”
“Deputy Forester, it is so nice to see you,” Hope said, smiling in return. “Thank you for your prayers. They must’ve worked. I’m feeling much better now.”
“I’m so glad to hear that. My daughter Jess will be glad to know her teacher’s all right. Have you seen the sheriff? He’ll wanna know right away.”
“Sure is good to see you,” another deputy, one Hope knew from church, by the name of Cal Huckley said with a smile that displayed he was missing a front tooth.
“Thank you, Deputy Huckley,” Hope said, smiling at him in turn. “No, I haven’t seen the sheriff yet, but I’m looking forward to explaining things to him. You see, deputies, this has all been a mistake. Mr. Lawless didn’t do anything to me. It was an accident.”
“An accident?” Forester repeated, looking across the room to Huckley who was just walking over. “You don’t say?”
“Yes, that’s right. Mr. Lawless would never hurt anyone. All of those stories about his past are false. Mr. Canton has documentation to prove he didn’t hurt his wife in Manhattan, Kansas, and he’s on his way to get it right now.”
“Well, if that don’t beat all,” Huckley said, slapping his leg. “I told the sheriff that rock was too big to bash anyone over the head with.”
“I thought the same,” Forester commented.
Hope took that in and nodded, even though she wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about. Her parents exchanged glances but didn’t say anything. Hope realized the deputies likely never met her mother and did a quick introduction of both of her parents before asking, “Did the two of you go out to the Pembroke place and have a look around?”
“I did,” Forester nodded. “Along with the sheriff and several other deputies. Huckley stayed here to man the place.”
“Sure was hard, too. Soon as folks heard, they wanted to lynch ‘im right away.” Huckley shook his head, and Hope fought the bile rising in her throat.
“I thank you for keeping them from doing that,” Hope said with a nod. “What in the world made the sheriff think that Mr. Lawless could lift such a heavy rock and hit me in the head with it before I could get away?” She hoped they would say something to give her a clue as to what they were speaking of.
“Well, I don’t rightly know. I told ‘im, it looked to me like Mr. Lawless was right. That rock sure did have blood on it, but it was buried in the ground so deep, and it didn’t look disturbed. Looked to me like what Mr. Lawless said to Doc Howard was the God’s honest truth, that ye jest fell.” Forester scratched his chin as he thought it over.
“Course it would’ve helped if Mr. Lawless would’ve said somethin’, anything, to the sheriff, but he ain’t said a word to no one ‘cept his sister and your pa since we brought ‘im in. And all he said to them was that he was sorry, which didn’t help much,” Huckley added.
“Now, tell us what did happen,” Forester insisted. “You went out there to return a book and fell and hit yer head on that rock? But what was you doin’ in the back yard?”
“In the back yard?” Hope repeated, thinking as hard as she could. Why would she have gone into the back yard? “You know, Deputy Forester, it is all a little hazy, but I think there was something I wanted to see back there.” She had no idea what it might’ve been, but if the barn was there, maybe an animal. Or maybe she’d had to go around back to find someone? Was it possible no one came to the door?
“I betcha a day’s wages it was that giant treehouse,” Huckley said, removing his hat and running a hand through greasy dark hair. “Sounds like that was somethin’ else.”
“That’s exactly what I was wondering when I noticed it,” Forester agreed. “I come back and told Huckley all about it. Largest treehouse I ever did see.”
“Treehouse?” Hope repeated as her mind flooded with images. She could see it, too, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized exactly what had happened. It all hit her like a wave, and if her father’s arm hadn’t been around her shoulders, she might’ve buckled in half right there in the jailhouse.
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