Chapter 14
It was Tuesday morning in Paradise.
Everybody ate breakfast and then went to work at their daily duties except for Josh, who lay in the jail cell.
Charlie entered the Marshall's Office, where cowboy Sam had the night watch over their prisoner.
"How's our prisoner?" Charlie asked Sam while he walked up to the jail cell.
"The pussy was quiet all night," Sam replied while he got up and poured another cup of coffee from the coffee pot sitting on the potbelly stove.
"Well, boy, are you going to tell me who beat our cowboys?" Charlie asked through the cell door bars.
Josh looked at Charlie, then he looked at the floor and couldn't turn in James. Josh figured Marshall Fisher would still hang him even if he gave up James. He then smiled when he thought about the sexual night he had with Jenny and figured it was an excellent memory to recall just before he died.
Charlie glared at Josh and soon realized he wasn't going to squeal. "Okay, boy, you can eat when you provide me with a name," Charlie said, then walked away and left the Marshall's Office.
Josh's stomach growled while he lay in his bunk and stared at the ceiling and pondered how much longer he had in this crappy world.
At Doc Holloway's Office, cowboys Tim and Butch were released and walked down Paradise Lane.
"I'm going to ask the Marshall if I can pull the lever at the gallows when they put a noose around the neck of the guy that hit me," Butch told Tim still pissed.
"I'll helping," replied Tim, still pissed.
At the General Store, James swept the floor with his broom.
Melvin worked at the cash register while Harriet was buying some toothpaste and shampoo.
"Thank you, ma-am," Melvin said while he placed her items in a paper bag and handed it over to her.
She smiled a Melvin and walked out of the store.
"Ma-am," Wendell said while he removed his cowboy hat at the door and let Harriet walk through the doorway.
Wendell walked up to the cash register. "Give me a pack of chewing tobacco," Wendell told Melvin.
Melvin walked down the counter to some shelves.
"I heard there will be another hanging soon," Wendell told Melvin while he removed a pack of Redman Chewing tobacco off the shelf.
"Oh, really? Who tried to escape this time?" Melvin asked while he walked back to the cash register.
"Nobody tried to escape. The Marshall has a young kid locked up for not telling who attacked two of his cowboys," Wendell responded.
"Attacked his cowboys? When?" Melvin asked a little surprised, as the townsfolk were afraid of the cowboys since they carry two pistols.
"It happened at the rear of the dining hall yesterday morning. The cowboys were integrating Josh Bryant when someone hit them on the back of their heads with some object," Melvin said while he paid for the tobacco.
Wendell looked curiously at James, who was still sweeping the floor. "James, did you hear or see anything yesterday morning?"
"No, sir," James replied while he looked at Wendell and Melvin with a straight face.
"Don't worry, Marshall Fisher will get it out of that Josh kid, and Charlie said he'll still hang even if he does sing like a canary. I heard he was also seen coming out of Doc Holloway's Office the other evening, and Jenny was there," Wendell said while he shoved a wad of tobacco into his mouth.
"That's the way it goes," Melvin replied.
James looked guilty while he swept the floor and watched Wendell leave the store.
It was high noon, and Charlie ate a ham sandwich and drank coffee at this desk.
"This sure is a good ham sandwich," Charlie called out to Josh to taunt him.
In his jail cell, Josh's stomach growled louder, but he wasn't going to let Marshall Fisher have the satisfaction of hanging another man.
While Charlie ate his ham sandwich, Marshall Fisher entered the office with Anita by his side.
"Did our prisoner say anything yet?" Marshall Fisher asked Charlie while he walked up to the desk and looked at the jail cell.
"Nope," Charlie replied, then took a drink of his coffee.
Anita looked over at the jail cell, and her eyes lit up the second she realized it was Josh. "What's he doing in there?" she asked while she ran up to the jail cell.
"He won't tell me who attacked my cowboys, so he'll rot in jail until he does," Marshall Fisher replied while he glared at Josh.
The door opened, and James entered the Marshall's Office looking nervous.
"I attacked your men," he confessed; the second Marshall Fisher looked at him.
From his jail cell, Josh got up from his bunk and rushed to the cell bars. He looked at James and couldn't believe his ears; he came in and confessed.
Marshall Fisher looked furious with James. "I gave you a cushy job at the store, and this is how you repay me?" he yelled, then punched James in his stomach.
"Daddy!" Anita called out, as she didn't like what she saw.
"Sorry, baby, but he performed a criminal act, and I must be tough on criminals," Marshall Fisher replied.
Anita accepted but disagreed with his rationale.
"Put him in the other cell," he told Charlie.
Charlie got up from behind his desk and brought James up to his feet. He escorted James to the other open cell and threw him inside and slammed the door shut.
"You'll both be found guilty of assault and battery. You'll be hung after my wedding," Marshall Fisher told Josh and James.
Anita's eyes welled up at the thought of losing her boyfriend. "No, daddy! Not Josh."
She walked over and stood on her toes while she got to his ear. "I love him and want to marry him, so let him go," Anita whispered in his ear.
Fisher looked at her and shook his head I disagreement.
She threw one of her temper tantrums and stomped her feet. "Please, daddy! I know you want grandkids. I can run the tours of the set during the day and return here at night to be with my family," she whimpered out while she crossed her arms then pouted.
"I don't know," Marshall Fisher replied.
"I will give you five grandkids!" she responded while she looked at Josh.
"What the hell is she talking about?" Josh said under his breath while he looked at Anita and Marshall Fisher.
"Please!" she said with pleading eyes.
Marshall Fisher walked over, removed a key from his pants pocket. "You can report to your normal work detail tomorrow morning," he said while he unlocked the cell door.
Josh cautiously stepped out of the jail cell intimidated by the Marshall.
"Get the hell out of here before I change my mind," he said to Josh.
"Yes sir," Josh replied, then he rushed out of the office.
Anita rushed over and hugged Marshall Fisher. "I love you, daddy."
Anita gave Marshall Fisher a quick kiss on his cheek, then she rushed to the door and left the office.
James sat down on his bunk and knew he would be hung in a few days, but he knew he did the right thing by coming forward.
Outside the Marshall's Office, Anita looked up and down Paradise Lane for Josh. She got upset when he was not in sight, so she moped toward the mansion.
In the central area of Doc Holloway's Office, Jenny was taking inventory of the medicine cabinet when there was a tapping sound on the glass window of the rear door.
She looked and saw Josh. "Can we talk?" he mouthed the words from outside.
The front door opened, and Jenny looked in that direction.
Marshall Fisher stepped inside the doctor's office. He looked at Jenny but saw Josh's head quickly disappear from outside of the rear door window.
He rushed over to the rear door and opened it up. He peeked outside, and Josh wasn't in sight.
He closed the rear door and stormed over to Jenny. "What the hell was Josh doing at the rear door?" he yelled at her.
Jenny looked at the rear door and saw Josh was gone. "I didn't realize he was there," she replied.
Marshall Fisher slapped her hard across her cheek. "You better be telling the truth," he said and looked pissed.
Jenny's eyes welled up. "I am."
"I better not catch you within five feet of that man. Do you understand?" he barked at her.
Jenny nodded in agreement.
"Good," he said, then he stormed over to the front door and left the office.
Jenny walked into one of the bedrooms, sat down on the bed, and started sobbing.
Outside Doc Holloway's Office, Marshall Fisher walked up to cowboys Steve, Mark, Tony, and Ray. "I changed my mind. Go find that Josh Bryant and have him work with Wilbur today to teach him some more lessons," he ordered.
"Yes sir," cowboy Steve replied, then he ran off with Mark, Tony, and Ray.
Josh rushed back to his hotel room and decided he probably should hang out there to stay out of trouble.
Twenty minutes later, the door of Josh's hotel room slammed open and cowboys Steve, Mark, Tony, and Ray rushed inside while he relaxed on his bed.
"Marshall Fisher changed his mind, and he wants you to work today," Steve said while the four cowboys marched over to Josh's bed.
Steve and Mark each grabbed on of Josh's arms and yanked him off his bed.
They marched Josh out of his room and out of the hotel.
Five minutes later, cowboys Steve, Mark, Tony, and Ray marched Josh over to Wilbur, who started removing the buckets of waste from the outhouses on the other side of Paradise.
"Wilbur, Marshall Fisher wants this turd to help you today," Steve said, then he threw Josh into the dirt.
Wilbur looked down at Josh and felt sorry for him. "Yes sir," he replied to cowboy Steve.
"Have a shitty day," cowboy Steve said with a chuckle.
The four cowboys walked away and headed back to the mansion.
"What did you do now?" Wilbur asked while Josh got up from the dirt.
"He saw me trying to talk with his fiancé," he told Wilbur.
"Come on, let's get to work," Wilbur said while he walked over and opened the bottom rear door of an outhouse.
Josh fought from vomiting the second he smelled the stench coming from that bucket.
Josh had the dry heaves while he removed the bucket of waste, and they carried it to the rear of the wagon.
It was now 4:45 p.m., and Josh was finished with his outhouse duty with Wilbur, and he only vomited once.
After he took a bath and changed into some fresh clothes, he headed out of the hotel to drop his dirty clothes off at the Paradise Laundry.
Josh sat alone at the table in the Dining Hall and was the object of stares and gossip from other folks at nearby tables. Walt had just dropped off their steak dinners with green beans and mashed potatoes, and then Kimmy dropped off their glasses of milk.
Josh had a hard time eating, as all he could think about was the buckets of human wastes he unloaded with Wilbur.
Josh glanced over at Jenny's table, saw her seat was empty and looked a little depressed.
Josh forced himself to eat his steak dinner while he tried to push out the smelly sights of his work detail.
After dinner, it was a beautiful sunset, and Josh moped down Paradise Lane to kill some time.
"Hey, sweetie," Anita's voice came from behind Josh.
Josh cringed, then he turned around and saw Anita while she rushed up to him.
Down the street, Josh saw Marshall Fisher escort Jenny out Doc Holloway's Office, and they headed to the mansion for the evening.
Anita had a loving smile while she placed an arm around Josh's arm then walked him down the street.
"I'm so happy Daddy let you free to be with me," she said then kissed Josh's cheek.
Josh looked at Anita like he preferred to be hung by a rope.
Anita walked Josh to the street back toward the saloon, and she looked at the sunset by the mountains. "Isn't that a beautiful sunset?"
"Yeah, beautiful."
"Daddy sure made a very romantic sunset. Don't you think?" she said with love in her eyes.
Josh discreetly rolled his eyes. "Ah, sure, it's very romantic."
Anita snuggled closer to Josh while they walked past the saloon, where the piano player played a song, and there was the sound of laughter inside the establishment.
Anita saw Jenny and her father heading to the mansion. "I need to get home for dinner, and good news will come soon. Goodnight, my darling," she said with gave Josh a quick kiss on his lips.
Josh watched while she skipped in the dirt, leaving a small dust trail and headed to the mansion.
"My life sucks," he said under his breath while he headed to a side street.
Later that night, Josh relaxed in his hotel room bed and wished Paradise had a movie theater to kill some time.
His room door slammed open, and Maggie appeared in the doorway. "There are mandatory cake and coffee in the dining hall in twenty minutes," she said, then left and slammed the door behind her.
Later that evening, Josh sat alone at table twelve with the rest of the townsfolk.
Everybody chatted and wondered why they were having cake and coffee, as this had never happened before.
Then Josh's eyes lit up when he saw Jenny the dining room, but he soon frowned when Marshall Fisher walked in behind her with cowboys Steve, Mark, Tony, and Ray. Anita strutted in behind the four cowboys with a huge grin and sat down with her father and Jenny at her assigned table.
The waiters started bringing plates of chocolate cake to their tables.
Walt walked over and dropped a piece of chocolate cake, then Kimmy dropped off a mug of coffee.
Marshall Fisher got up and walked over to the doorway. "May I have your attention before we dig into our delicious dessert?" he called out to the dining room.
All eyes of the dining room were on Marshall Fisher while he walked over and got Jenny up from her table.
He then walked Jenny in the direction of Josh's table.
Anita eyed Josh with a coy smile while she got up from the table and walked behind Jenny and her father.
Marshall Fisher walked to Josh and motioned for him to stand up.
Josh obeyed and got up from the table and was a little nervous.
"It gives me a warm pleasure to welcome Josh into my family," he told everybody.
Josh looked confused.
Anita looked extremely happy.
"We're having a double wedding this coming Saturday morning, as Josh will be marrying my daughter, Anita, while I marry Jenny. I'm throwing a big engagement party in the center of Paradise Lane on Friday at high noon. Then we'll have our wedding reception Saturday after the wedding in the Dining Hall," Marshall Fisher told everybody.
Everybody clapped over the good news.
Jenny looked like she wanted to cry, but she was able to put on a fake smile.
Harold sat at his table and looked like he wanted to cry over the news that Anita would be marrying Josh.
Marshall Fisher leaned over to Josh's ear. "First thing, you will keep your fucking ass away from Jenny. If I catch you two together, you'll be hung. Second, if you give Anita any grief, I'll put a bullet in your head myself. Do you understand?' Marshall Fisher whispered in a threatening tone into Josh's ear.
Josh nodded he understood his two demands.
Marshall Fisher placed an arm around Josh and faked a smile to everybody, but deep inside, he loathed the kid.
Anita rushed over and gave Josh a huge kiss on his lips.
Everybody clapped over the loving sight of Josh and Anita.
Jenny faked being happy while she clapped, but deep inside, she wanted to cry since she was falling for Josh.
Marshall Fisher smiled at Anita being so happy.
"Let's eat some of this delicious cake," Marshall Fisher called out to the dining room, then he walked Jenny and Anita back to their table.
Josh sat down and started eating his cake when he heard footsteps behind him.
"Hey, sweetie. Daddy said this can be my table," Anita said while she sat down next to Josh with her plate of cake and glass of milk in hand.
Josh looked over and saw Jenny eating cake with Marshall Fisher at her table.
Anita scooted her chair next to Josh's chair while she ate her cake.
Josh wished he were dead while he ate his cake and drank his milk.
A little while later, Anita escorted Josh out of the Dining Hall and insisted they take a train ride.
She snuggled by his side while they waited at the dock for the Paradise Express to pull into the station.
"Congratulations on your upcoming marriage," Kelly, a middle-aged woman, said while she walked up with her husband, Bob.
"Why, thank you!" Anita replied while she gleamed from ear to ear.
The Paradise Express blew its train whistle while the train pulled into the station.
As soon as the train stopped, Kelly and Bob got aboard the passenger car.
Anita and Josh got aboard the passenger car, and she moved him to the front since Kelly and Bob sat near the rear.
Cowboy Doug was on train duty tonight, and he sat in the rear seat and looked half asleep.
Anita immediately snuggled next to Josh the second they sat down in their seat.
The train blew its whistle then it bucked while it pulled out of the station.
Anita rested her head on Josh's shoulder while the train rolled down the tracks and headed out of Paradise.
"We'll live in daddy's mansion with his beautiful new bride," she told Josh when the train headed near the mansion.
"That's nice," he said to be polite, but he started to think about how can he get out of his predicament.
The Paradise Express rolled down the tracks through the grassy field.
The Paradise Express rolled down the tracks and headed into the forest.
Anita made her move and planted a kiss on Josh's lips and slipped her tongue into this mouth.
Josh fought from gagging while her tongue probed inside his mouth.
She passionately kissed Josh, and he played along, knowing he didn't have a choice.
The rest of the train ride was unbearable for Josh but he survived, and after another passionate goodnight kiss at the train station, he headed back to his hotel, and Anita headed back to her father's mansion.
Josh tossed and turned the whole night while he thought about Jenny and then thought about Anita.