"Well," said Cole, "it's what we wanted when we talked to Judge Woods. Jamie?"
Jamie shrugged his shoulders. "I don't trust Yankee honor much, but I'll go with you and Malachi, Cole."
The two men dropped their guns on the ground.
"I just hope I don't end up hanging," Jamie muttered.
"You won't hang!" Shannon cried. She clung to Mala-chi's hand. She wouldn't let him hang. She couldn't.
Malachi turned to her. He swept off his hat and took her into his arms and kissed her long and deep for everyone to see. Then he broke away from her, replacing his hat on his head. He strode over to the bay and mounted. "Whenever you're ready, major. Your prisoner, sir." He saluted sharply.
Major Taylor saluted in return.
Cole kissed Kristin, and he and Jamie followed Malachi's lead, mounting their horses.
Then they rode away, without looking back.
Kristin started to sob. Matthew came up to her and put his arm around her, and then he gathered Shannon to him, too. "It's going to be all right. I swear to you, it will be all right."
"It will be!" Shannon agreed fiercely. "It has to be."
Iris cleared her throat. "I managed to make the fire, and Jamie managed to shoot the rabbits. Let's sit down and eat. And then we can head back and plan some strategy."
"She learns really fast," Matthew said with a grin. "Let's eat."
She tried to smile. She could not. But she slipped her arm around Kristin's waist and led her to the fire.
They did eat. When they were done, Kristin mounted with Matthew and Shannon sat behind Iris, and they started their cold, lonely trek back home to Missouri.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The trial took place in Springfield. The courthouse was crowded with spectators, and with artists from Harpers and from every other leading paper and magazine.
Shannon had visited Malachi in jail, and she hated the experience. He was distant from her there. She knew that he loved her, and that he was in jail for her sake. But not even for her would he deny any of his brothers, and he explained to her that the brothers had determined to stand together. They would not opt for separate legal representation, nor would Jamie and Malachi seek lesser charges.
Malachi smiled ruefully to Shannon through the heavy iron bars of the jail. "We are all innocent."
"Cole wouldn't want you to hang because he rode with Quantrill."
"Tell me, Shannon, could you bear it if Cole were to hang because he sought to avenge the death of a beautiful and innocent bride? His wife, a woman carrying his child? She was my sister-in-law. I would have joined Cole at any time; I was already in the Confederate cavalry."
"Malachi—"
"If you love me, Shannon, you must love me for the man that I am. My brothers and I stand together."
She turned away, tears in her eyes. Cole already would have tried to convince Malachi and Jamie to save themselves. The Slaters were a stubborn lot.
And no…she could not bear it if Cole were to hang! They had all paid enough; the war was over. She could not accept any further horror—they had to win.
The first day of the trial was wretched, although their lawyer, Mr. Abernathy, was a skilled defender, with a sure belief in the Slater brothers' innocence. Shannon was pleased with him, even if he didn't pressure the men to stand alone. But Taylor Green, the prosecuting attorney, scared her. He seemed to personally want the Slater brothers to hang, all three.
When the trial started, Green immediately struck upon Cole Slater's association with William Quantrill. There were dozens of witnesses to testify to that association. But they weren't necessary, for at the end Cole quietly admitted to it. In a low, controlled voice he described the scene at his own ranch, years before, at the very outbreak of the war, when the jayhawkers had come to kill his wife. Shannon listened to him, and ached for him. He did not break or falter, but she saw it all through his eyes. She saw his young wife, she heard the woman screaming, and running, running, trying to reach her husband. He made them feel what it was like, to catch her as she fell, to feel her blood upon his hands…
The court was still when he finished. Not even Mr. Taylor Green managed to speak for several seconds.
And then there was a recess for the day.
Kristin came to the witness stand the next day and described in graphic detail how Zeke Moreau had murdered their father, and how Cole Slater had ridden to their rescue.
"Against the bushwhackers?" the prosecuting attorney asked her scathingly. "You want us to believe, Mrs. Slater, that your husband rode against his old comrades at arms? Maybe they just made a deal there instead, isn't that possible?"
"No, sir, it isn't possible at all," Kristin said. "He came and saved our lives. And he returned with Malachi and Jamie Slater to save the lives of half a Union company when Zeke Moreau came back again."
Kristin was fierce and beautiful and unfaltering. Taylor Green did not care to have her on the stand long.
Malachi was called.
He walked to the witness stand in full dress uniform, and Shannon's heart felt as if it had been torn. He was tall and straight, distinguished and ruggedly indomitable, and he was the handsome cavalier who had captured her heart.
"Captain Slater—well, of course, you are a civilian now, aren't you, sir?"
"The war is over," Malachi said flatly.
"But you choose to wear that uniform."
"We fought with honor."
"You still deny the Union?"
"The war is over," Malachi repeated.
"You would like it to continue? You still think that the South can rise again and whip the North, eh, captain?''
"No, sir. I think that the war is over, and I damned well would like it to end for good!"
A loud murmur rose in the courtroom. Shannon smiled. It seemed the first ray of hope. The people were with her husband.
"Did you ride with Quantrill?"
"No."
"Never?"
"No, never. But I would have ridden with my brother. If you'd seen his wife, lying in a pool of innocent blood, you'd have ridden, too."
"Captain, you seem to be an ornery sort."
"I'm telling you the truth, and that is all. This is a court of law, and we are sworn to the truth, right?"
"You're bold with your brand of truth."
"I have to be. And I have to believe that there is still justice in this land. If justice has not been lost, then my brother Cole is innocent, and so are James and I."
"You were regular army."
"Southern cavalry. Under John Hunt Morgan."
"Sounds like you avoided the border war, captain. So tell me, why don't you come clean, and give us the truth about Cole Slater."
"The truth is, Mr. Green," Malachi said, his eyes narrowed sharply, "that my brother is one of the finest men I've ever met in my life. In the North or the South. And if Cole is guilty for wanting to hunt down the man who murdered his wife, then I'm guilty, too. I would have been with him if I could have been."
"An admission, gentlemen of the jury, there you have it! You may step down, Captain Slater!"
"Admission!" Shannon didn't know that she was the one who had shouted until everyone turned to look her way. "Admission! Why, you Yankee bastard!"
There was an instant uproar. Some people were laughing, and some, the northern sympathizers, were offended. The judge slammed down his gavel. "Young woman, one more such outburst and I shall hold you in contempt! Are we understood?"
She sank into her chair. Only then did she realize that Malachi was watching her, too, and that a smile curled his lip. She lowered her eyes, then met his once again, and the smile warmed her and gave her courage.
Malachi walked down from the stand, and Jamie was called up for questioning. He was barely civil, but Taylor Green didn't manage to get a single rise out of him. Jamie could be as stubborn and proud a Slater as either of his brothers.