Rides a Hero

'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.

Shannon sat in the court with Kristin and Matthew and Iris, listening to it all. When the session broke, she was allowed to see Malachi for a few minutes.

'Yankee bastard?' Malachi teased her, his eyes dancing. 'Did I hear you say that? You, Shannon McCahy Slater, called that man a Yankee bastard?'

'Malachi!'

'I could die happy, hearing those words upon your lips!'

'Don't you dare talk of dying!'

'I'm sorry.'

'Damn your pride!' she told him savagely, tears glisten-ing in her eyes. 'You are innocent, and it's as if you're trying to make yourself sound guilty!'

He smiled, tilted her chin and kissed her. 'I can only tell the truth, Shannon.'

She wanted to say more. She wanted to argue and hit him and make him see reason, but an officer of the court came and took him away, and she wasn't able to say anything more.

The days went on, and the situation began to appear bleaker and bleaker.

It wasn't that it didn't seem to be a fair trial. It was just that Taylor Green seemed to know how to make a simple statement of fact sound like a full confession. And the fact remained that Cole had ridden with Quantrill. No matter how briefly he had done so, it was enough to condemn him in many hearts. Still, she knew that his first speech had also touched the hearts of many. The brutal slaying of a young woman was a heinous act to any ordinary man, be he a Yankee or a Rebel.

On the fourth night of the trial Shannon went to see Mr. Abernathy. He was at dinner, and his housekeeper nearly stopped her from reaching him, but she pushed by. He was just about to start eating his dinner—a lamb chop, peas and a roasted potato.

'What are you doing?' Shannon demanded. She was so distraught that she picked up his plate and tossed it into the corner of the room.

He arched his snowy brows, and cleaned his fingers on the napkin that was tied about his throat and covered his chest He smiled slowly at her and glanced remorsefully toward his lamb. 'Mrs. Slater, I could call this assault! At the very least, it's a case of assault against a very fine lamb chop!'

'I'm sorry,' Shannon murmured swiftly. She was sorry. She drew up a chair at the table. 'I'm just so worried—'

Mr. Abernathy smiled again and took her hand, patting it 'Trust me, Mrs. Slater. Trust me.'

'They could hang, sir!'

'I'm not going to let them hang. Now you'll see, you'll see.'

'When?'

'Why, tomorrow, I do believe. The prosecution seems to have finished. I'll start with my case tomorrow. And I'll wager you two lamb chops that I'll need but a day!'

Shannon couldn't believe that he could possibly undo all the harm that Mr. Green had done. But he gave her a glass of sherry, and shooed her out the door.

Shannon went back to the hotel, where she found Kristin red-eyed and puffy-faced from crying. Shannon hugged her sister and lied through her teeth. 'It's going to be all right. Mr. Abernathy has it all well in hand. Why, he says he can have them freed by tomorrow!'

'He can?' Kristin wanted so badly to believe.

In the morning, Mr. Abernathy stood before the court and addressed the judge. 'My defense is simple. I will prove that we've no case against any of these men, no foundation for a charge of murder. And, your Honor, I will request that the case be dismissed!'

The judge invited Mr. Abernathy to proceed. Mr. Taylor looked up in protest, and Mr. Abernathy bowed very politely to him. He looked around, opening his arms to the court.

Then Shannon realized that the courtroom was curiously filled with men, officers in blue and gray.

One by one they stood and addressed the judge.

'Sir, I'm Corporal Rad Higgins, U.S. cavalry. I came here to say that I rode with Malachi Slater back in April, against a horde of bushwhackers. I rode with Jamie and Cole Slater, too. I'd like to testify, sir, that I ain't ever rode with better men.'

'Sir, I'm Samuel Smith. First Sergeant, Darton's brigade,

Union army. I'd been left for dead when these fellows came riding in. The fought and beat Quantrill's offshoots, and they offered me the finest medical care. Their doc even saved my arm, and it had been shot up mighty bad.'

From a man with the stripes of an artillery sergeant on his arms: 'I knew Cole Slater in Kansas before the war. I never met a finer officer.'

One by one, the men stood. Soldiers in blue, soldiers in gray.

Then a woman stood up, plump, dignified, gray-haired.

'I'm Martha Haywood, and this is my husband, and I come to say that I ain't ever met finer people than Captain Malachi Slater and his bride, and that's a fact. And my husband will testify to that fact, too.' Mr. Haywood stood alongside her.

Shannon looked around, incredulous. They were all there. Jamie's Confederate friends from Texas, the people