Chapter 31
The morning of September 23rd, 1883, arrived. It was Sunday, and nobody wanted to attend church. They all wanted to see the hanging of a famous outlaw.
Dalton woke up and got dressed and brushed his teeth with a little bit of water in the water pitcher.
He left his room and went downstairs to the lobby.
He walked to the rear of the lobby and went outside through the rear door.
He spotted a wooden outhouse and went inside.
It stunk! He held his breath while he relieved himself.
He left the outhouse and went back inside the hotel.
He saw Chrissy while he went upstairs and headed down the hallway to his room. He knew where she was going. "That smell of the outhouse takes some getting used to."
"I can imagine. I've used the Porta Johns before."
"I'll meet you back here in five minutes, and we'll go across the street and get some breakfast," said Dalton.
"Okay."
He went back into his room while she went downstairs.
Chrissy used the hotel outhouse. It was smelly, but she was able to tolerate it.
Five minutes had passed, and Dalton and Chrissy were able to find a table in the restaurant. It was crowded with people from other towns here to see the hanging.
After an egg and bacon breakfast with coffee, Dalton and Chrissy left the restaurant.
They stood out in the street and glanced down towards the Marshal's Office. They saw the wooden gallows with the rope noose ready. Some of the town folk were already walking down that end of town.
"There's something about the way they handled things here in the old west," said Dalton while they started walking off toward the gallows.
"What's that?"
"No long trials or appeals for a murderer."
"But wasn't the Kissing Bandit really innocent?"
Dalton thought about that for a second. "Yeah, I guess it wasn't a perfect system, but justice was swifter than in our time."
"I'm just glad Professor Mathers managed to escape death," said Chrissy. "Again."
"And we get to witness this piece of history."
Dalton nodded, she agreed.
They walked down to the gallows and were in the front of the crowd. More and more people started heading to the gallows from all areas of town. Except for one lady named Gertrude. She had her bag in hand and was heading to the train station.
They waited and talked amongst themselves. Dalton and Chrissy remained quiet, but Dalton was curious about who this mystery women were that helped Professor Mathers escaped.
At Harvey Robbins' Furniture and Undertaker Shop stood Harvey Robbins. He waited by his horse and wagon to perform his job as the town undertaker. Leaning up against the wall of his shop was a freshly made wooden casket reserved for the Kissing Bandit.
The front door of the Marshal's Office opened.
The crowd turned around and saw Clint walk out of the Marshal's Office, escorting John.
Leaving the Marshal's Office behind Clint and John were Mayor Mason and Bucky Younger.
Clint escorted John to the gallows.
He walked John up the steps of the gallows.
He walked John over and stopped him behind the noose. John swallowed hard when he saw the noose.
At the gallows, John stood behind the hanging noose. Clint loosely tied John's hands behind his back with some rope.
Dalton and Chrissy looked at John and could sense he was scared to death.
Mayor Mason walked up the gallows stairs, and he walked over and stood beside John. Bucky touched his chest for a second as a sharp pain was felt. After a second passed, the pain went away, and he felt better.
Bucky walked up the gallows stairs, and he walked over to a wooden lever and waited.
Clint glanced around the crowd at his office. He got a smirk.
Dalton and Chrissy saw that smirk and knew what that meant.
Mayor Mason looked at the anxious crown then he removed a piece of paper from his shirt pocket. He looked at the paper.
"By order of Judge Wilbur Peabody and the Court of Oak Creek. The town of Oak Creek hereby hang John Mathers for the murder of Elmer Filson, the deputy of Oak Creek," Mayor Mason addressed the crowd while he read the piece of paper.
John glanced at the town folk waiting for his demise.
But two people in the front caught his attention. He hadn't seen them around town before.
It was Dalton and Chrissy, and there was something peculiar about them. Something he felt odd with their presence here at his hanging. He shrugged it off.
It was back to 2016, and Professor Mathers had just arrived in his classroom. He opened up his brief case and removed the textbook. He opened it then all of a sudden he had a flashback…
In his flashback, he was back at the gallows on September 23rd, 1883. He stared at the town folk waiting for his demise. He saw two people in the front that looked familiar. I know them. He thought while Bucky walked over and moved John in front of the noose and on top of the trapped door…
Back in 2016, John glanced at his classroom, where the students waited for his lecture to start.
He looked at the students and saw two desks were empty. Dalton and Chrissy! He said in his head and wondered if they, by chance, found out about Crazy Hole and went back to that day. Naw. He thought and shrugged off that thought.
He started his lecture about the town of Stone Valley.
Back in eighteen eighty-three, Bucky placed the noose around John's neck, and he tightened it. John's face turned pale, and his body shook. He silently prayed that he wouldn't pee his pants in front of all these people.
Bucky walked over to a lever, and then he looked over at John. He moved the lever, and the trapped door under John's boots opened. The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the town; the second John's body dropped through the hole and dangled. He couldn't breathe as the noose started to cut off his air supply. The sound of more gunfire echoed throughout the town.
The rope to John's noose snapped, and he dropped the rest of the way through the hole and slammed into the dirt.
Everybody in front of the gallows squatted down for safety from more potential bullets.
"Everybody, stay put!" Clint yelled at everybody while he whipped out his pistol and scanned the area over for the shooter.
At the gallows, everybody stayed squatted in the dirt and looked scared.
Angie galloped on a horse through the crowd. They scattered when they realized she wasn't going to stop.
Angie stopped her horse by the gallows, and he turned around, and Alicia wasn't in sight.
Clint and the crowd all looked at Angie on her horse.
The crowd looked at Clint and expected him to react. He looked back at the Marshal's Office. He looked concerned. "Don't move an inch," Clint said, then aimed his pistol at Angie.
At the gallows, Clint still had his pistol aimed at Angie.
John stayed cowered under the gallows.
The crowd hugged the dirt for protection.
Clint still aimed his pistol at Angie.
Alicia stopped her horse, aimed her rifle at Clint, and then she fired her rifle.
Alicia's bullet his Clint's pistol, and it flew out of his hand.
Clint grabbed his hand and appeared to be in pain.
The crowd squatted closer to the dirt.
John crawled out from under the gallows.
Alicia pointed her rifle at the crowd.
"Don't anybody move!" Alicia yelled at them.
The crowd stayed down in the dirt, scared to death.
Angie walked her horse next to the gallows.
John loosened the noose. He removed it and rubbed the red ring around his neck.
"Hop on, John," Angie cried out.
John saw Angie on the horse. She extended her hand and assisted John to the back of her saddle.
Angie galloped away with John.
Alicia galloped her horse after Angie and John.
The crowd stood up and watched while Alicia, Angie, and John's horses galloped away and were soon out of Oak Creek.
The crowd stood up and looked at Clint in anticipation of his reaction.
He looked at Mayor Mason. "Bart Stone and Charlie Chandler are sitting in the jail. Tell Judge Eastwood that Charlie Chandler will testify that Bart actually killed Elmer and not the Kissing Bandit," Clint told Mayor Mason.
Clint jumped off the gallows, and he ran to a nearby hitching post where he staged his horse late last night.
He galloped his horse after Alicia, Angie, and John.
"Marshal Bartley will get em," Bucky said from the gallows.
All the men, the crowd, nodded in agreement. All the women in the crowd looked happy that John was still alive.
They all got up off the dirt.
Some walked away to their usual routines.
Some stayed and watched Clint ride off on his horse into the desert.
Rusty Moore escorted a man with a wound in the tricep of his shooting arm.
This man was Jimmy Templeton.
Rusty escorted him to the front of the Marshal's Office.
He saw the town folk while they walked back to their homes and businesses.
Dalton and Chrissy walked closer to the Marshal's Office. They stopped when they saw Rusty and Jimmy.
"That one guy looks extremely familiar," whispered Dalton to Chrissy. He looked the guy over and saw the four rings on Jimmy's right hand. "That's Jimmy Templeton. You can tell by the four rings on his right hand," he whispered to Chrissy.
She looked at Rusty when Mayor Mason and Bucky walked up to Rusty at the Marshal's Office.
Her eyes widened. "That's Kent's brother. Rusty Moore," she whispered back. "I remembered seeing his picture in Kent's office, and in that book, you showed me."
Dalton looked at Rusty for a few seconds. "You're right."
Dalton and Chrissy stopped and watched, and both had proof that Rusty had found Crazy Hole, and that's why he went missing.
"Where's Marshal Bartley? I have outlaw Jimmy Templeton in my custody. I caught him trying to break Bart Stone out of your jail," Rusty addressed Mayor Mason, who walked up to him.
Zeke stopped when he heard Rusty.
"Marshal Bartley rode off after the Kissing Bandit and two women. They both helped the Kissing Bandit escape from his hanging," Mayor Mason said. "And whom might you be?"
"I'm Rusty Moore. Whom can I talk to about being Town Marshal of Mountain Rock?" said Rusty.
"Judge Peabody should be back later today," said Mayor Mason.
"You'll be the acting Marshal until Clint gets back, Bucky," said Mayor Mason, then he saw the bloody hole in the tricep of Jimmy's shooting arm. "I'll have the doc come right over," said Mayor Mason, then he rushed down the street.
Zeke walked away, disappointed.
Dalton and Chrissy watched while Rusty opened up the front door to the Marshal's Office and escorted Jimmy, still in pain, into the office with Bucky. The door closed.
Dalton and Chrissy walked away.
"What should we do now?" Dalton said.
"Well, we could take a train ride. See the other towns around the area," said Chrissy.
"That would be cool," said Dalton, and they both turned around and headed off to the train station.
The walked up to the train station and found the ticket window. Inside sat Winston, and he was the ticket clerk and also operated the telegraph machine.
"How can I help you?" said Winston behind the ticket window bars.
"We would like a ticket to Stone Valley, please," said Dalton.
"That'll be one dollar and eighty cents for the both of you," said Winston.
Dalton reached in his suit jacket and handed Winston two silver dollars.
Winston took the coins, dropped them in the cash drawer, and gave him two dimes in change. He handed Dalton the ticket. "Train should arrive at the station in ten minutes."
"Thank you," said Dalton, then he looked around the dock and saw a lady sitting on a bench waiting for the train.
This lady was Gertrude Perkins, the school teacher. She sat with a small suitcase in her lap. She looked saddened while she waited for the train to take her to Phoenix. She realized that Clint would never marry her. She figured she'd have better luck in Phoenix.
Dalton and Chrissy sat on another bench.
Seconds later and more people arrived at the dock, waiting for the train to take them back home.
While they waited for the train, all they could talk about was what happened at the Kissing Bandit hanging. They all had their speculations where he was heading. Some thought Mexico, while others thought he was heading back east.
Ten minutes had passed, and the train arrived at the station with black smoke billowing from the stack. The train consisted of a locomotive, two freight cars, and a passenger car at the end.
The train stopped. Six people got off the passenger car.
Workers at the station rushed up and opened up the doors of the two freight cars.
Dalton and Chrissy boarded the passenger train with Gertrude and the others. Dalton was the gentleman and motioned for Chrissy to sit by the window.
Ten minutes had passed, and the freight car was unloaded of supplies marked for Oak Creek. The workers slid the doors of the freight cars shut.
The train pulled out of the station. It headed down the track and headed west.
Dalton and Chrissy thought this passenger train was cool with the wood construction. They just sat there and gazed at the passing desert that, in the future, will be filled with people, cars, roads, and hundreds of buildings.
While Dalton and Chrissy sat on the bench seat, they placed a hand on the seat between them. Their hands touched. They didn't move them.
An hour had passed, and the train pulled into the station at Stone Valley.
The trained stopped.
Everybody got off the passenger train.
Dalton and Chrissy walked down the dock and saw the station workers opening up the doors of the freight cars. They started unloading supplies marked for Stone Valley.
Dalton and Chrissy walked out of the train station and headed down to the Main Street of town.
They scanned up and down the, and even though the construction of the buildings was of the same method as in Oak Creek, the town had a different layout. Plus, there was another saloon in Stone Valley, and it was the kind where prostitutes worked out of the second floor.
Dalton and Chrissy walked by Gilbert's Photography store.
Dalton looked at Chrissy. "Let's have a picture of our vacation," he said.
Chrissy looked at the store. She smiled. "I would love that," she said.
Dalton and Chrissy went inside Gilbert's Photography store and had a picture taken by Wally Gilbert. It was the usual pose where Dalton sat in a chair, and Chrissy was standing behind him.
Wally Gilbert stated he could have the picture delivered to Oak Creek in a couple of days.
Dalton paid Wally Gilbert then left the store.
They continued their walk around Stone Valley.
While Dalton and Chrissy were in Stone Valley, Judge Peabody came back to Oak Creek. He made Rusty Moore the Town Marshal of Mountain Rock. Rusty rode out of Oak Creek and headed to Mountain Rock for his new life.
After walking around the town, Dalton and Chrissy went inside the restaurant. They had a ham dinner that included a baked potato and apple pie.
After dinner, they walked back to the train station.
They bought their ticket for the return trip back to Oak Creek.
They had an hour to kill before the train arrived, so they just milled around Stone Valley. During their walk, they saw two prostitutes from the saloon hanging outside, chatting with two cowboys and, hopefully, potential customers.
An hour had passed, and the train pulled into the station at Stone Valley. It was in the opposite direction from when it dropped Dalton and Chrissy off. It's the same train, but after stopping in Phoenix, it reverses it's course and hits all those towns in the opposite direction.
Dalton and Chrissy thought Stone Valley was quaint except for the prostitutes at that saloon.
They boarded the train with two other couples.
An hour passed, and the train pulled back into the Oak Creek train station.
Dalton and Chrissy were the only ones that got off the train.
They walked out of the station and walked down Main Street.
Dalton and Chrissy spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in their hotel room.
After a nice steak dinner at the restaurant, they decided to mill around town again.
They went inside the Master's General Store to check it out. They met the owner, Gus Masters, and found him to be a nice seventy-five-year-old gentleman.
Gus lived on the second floor of their store, as that was a small home. But it was more like a small apartment. Gus lived alone since his wife passed away three years ago. But Gus wondered how much longer he had in this world. He was always feeling bad, and running the store was becoming too much for him to handle.
Dalton and Chrissy left the Master's General Store.
They walked through town then headed to the residential area.
They walked around, checking out the houses.
"I've always wanted a small quaint home like this with a small white picket fence," said Chrissy while they saw one just like that.
"Maybe you will someday after you get married."
Chrissy smiled over the thought of getting married one day. "I hope so after finding the right man," she said and started to think that Dalton might fit that description.
They walked out of the residential area and decided to mill around Main Street. The sun was now falling below the horizon.
They saw Mildred, Mayor Mason's wife, step out of the Marshal's Office. She had just brought the three prisoners, some dinner from the restaurant.
Dalton and Chrissy walked back to the hotel. They sat on one of the three benches out front. They watched while a young kid lit the Kerosene lanterns along both sides of the street.
While they sat, they had some small talk with some of the townfolk that milled around the town.
An hour had passed, and Dalton and Chrissy loved seeing the thousands of twinkling stars and the full quarter Moon up in the sky.
But they decided to get up and take another walk around town before retiring for the evening.
The got up off the bench and headed east down Main Street.
They walked by the front door of the Marshal's Office.
They waked near the alley by the Marshal's Office and Master's General Store.
"I gotta piss!" yelled out Bart Stone from the bars of his jail cell window.
"Someone come git me out, or I'm pissing all over this here floor," Bart yelled out.
Dalton and Chrissy glanced at each other. They got curious and walked down the alley.
They saw Bart's face pressed up against the bars of his jail cell window.
"I gotta piss real bad," said Bart the second he spotted Dalton and Chrissy outside his window.
"Isn't someone in there that can take you to the outhouse?" said Dalton.
"Something's wrong with that old man guarding us," said Charlie with his face pressed up against the bars of his jail cell window.
"We think he went belly upon us," said Jimmy, while he brought his face up to the bars of his jail cell window.
"What are you doing?" said Winston while he walked up to Dalton and Chrissy. He was done working at the train station and was heading home when he spotted Dalton and Chrissy in the alley. He thought they might be trying to help Bart get out of jail.
"He has to go to the bathroom, and they claim there's something wrong with Bucky, "said Dalton.
"We better find out what's going on. You can't trust what that outlaw Bart Stone is saying," said Winston.
Dalton, Chrissy, and Winston rushed out of the alley and rushed inside the Marshal's Office.
They immediately saw Bucky on his back on the floor by Elmer's old desk.
"I'm going to go get Doc Bartholomew and the Mayor," said Winston, then he ran to the door and left the office.
"You better hurry up or I'm peeing all over this here floor," yelled out Bart while he stood at the cell door, squirming with his legs crossed.
"As soon as someone comes to help," said Dalton.
Bart looked like he wasn't going to hold out much longer.
The front door to the Marshal's Office opened, and in walked twenty-eight-year-old Zeke Cooper. "Heard something's wrong with Bucky?" he said while closing the door. He saw Bucky on the floor on his back.
The old man was motionless. They suspected the worse had happened to him.
Dalton and Chrissy looked at Zeke. Dalton noticed that he didn't carry a pistol.
"I need your help with taking Bart to the outhouse," said Dalton.
Zeke saw Bart squirming at his cell door. "I'll help."
Dalton saw the leg and handcuffs hanging on the wall and jail cell and cuff keys ring by the rifle rack that housed four Winchester rifles.
He walked over and removed the cell door keys and hand and leg cuffs off the wall.
He went over and removed the hand and leg cuffs off the wall and walked them over to Bart's jail cell.
"You put them on while I cover you," said Dalton.
Zeke nodded and took the key ring from Dalton.
Dalton removed his Colt 45 Peacemaker pistol from his holster while Zeke unlocked Bart's cell door. He had his pistol ready while Zeke opened up Bart's cell door.
Bart had to piss so bad that he didn't even think about trying to escape.
"" Let's go, Bart," said Dalton and motioned for him to walk to the back door.
Dalton escorted Bart out of the rear of the Marshal's Office and to the outhouse.
Bart went inside the outhouse and closed the door.
Dalton could hear Bart pissing, and from the sound, he wondered how Bart's bladder didn't burst. The music of Bart pissing stopped. It was quiet inside the outhouse.
"It's time to come out, Bart," said Dalton staring at the closed wooden door.
It remained quiet in the outhouse, and Dalton got a little concerned. "Time to come out," she said while he tapped on the outhouse door. It was quiet inside the outhouse. He got worried and placed his hand on the outhouse door the second it slammed open.
Bart jumped out, knocking Dalton down to the ground.
Dalton dropped his pistol in the dirt.
Bart was quick and grabbed the pistol. "Git to your feet," he said while standing up and pointing the pistol at Dalton.
Dalton got up to his feet.