Page 72 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
Tears burned her eyes.What if it really was him?What would they do?
And how would she survive if they hanged Josiah for a murder she knew he didn’t commit?
ChapterTwenty-One
There were clouds in the sky, thick and gray, when she stepped out onto the sidewalk.The day matched her mood.She’d had a restless night's sleep and her disposition hadn’t improved any while she’d dressed.
She started for the doctor's office but paused when she noticed a line of people going into the mercantile and people coming out with goods.Edwin didn’t have any other kinfolk that she knew of, so was someone actually running the store or were people just stealing merchandise?
Changing course, she headed for the store and waited as people filled inside, then pushed her way through.
The only way to describe the scene inside the building was chaos.There were people everywhere.Granted, the store had been closed for the better part of two days now, so were people just taking what they wanted?
She made her way toward the front and came up short when she saw two men behind the counter.They didn’t look like the sort of men who would run a mercantile.They looked—rough.As if they were your run-of-the-mill trail bums who didn’t call any one place home for longer than a day or two.
The taller of the two noticed her and gave her a gummy grin.He was missing a few teeth and the ones he had were black with decay.
“What can I help you with, pretty lady?”
She glanced at the woman beside her before giving him her attention again.“Who are you?”
He raised a brow.“I’m the owner of this here establishment.”
She scoffed.“Since when?”
His smile looked more predatory than friendly.“Since Edwin passed.”
“And how do you know him?”
His smile fell away.“You sure do have a lot of questions.”
“Oh, well, I’m just curious.I’ve known Edwin for years and he doesn’t have any other relatives that live in town.”
“We was friends,” he said.He nodded to his companion, who was taking money from a gray-haired old lady.“Me and Jake there have known Edwin for a while now.”
“So…you just took his store when someone killed him?”Were these men responsible for Edwin’s death?
It’s not Edwin,she reminded herself.
Something was going on here and it all smelled rotten to her.She turned and left without waiting for an answer from him.He probably wouldn’t have given her one, anyway.
She stopped on the sidewalk and looked back into the window, studying the two men behind the counter.They looked vaguely familiar.
Were these the men she’d seen Edwin talking to the morning she’d come to talk to him?Were they the same ones the sheriff mentioned to Josiah that were seen doing secretive back-door deals behind the mercantile?
She blew out a breath when none of the answers appeared and stared across the road toward the jail.Knowing Josiah was in there, uncomfortable, and unable to move around freely, left her so unsettled, she wasn’t sure she’d ever shake it.
Standing there and taking in the town, she noticed something sticking up in the air behind the jailhouse, a few men on top of the structure.It was made of wood and it took long minutes to make out what it was.When she finally did, her heart skipped a beat.
Gallows, her mind whispered.The moment she thought of the word, she heard the hammers.Her heart sank a moment later.Was that a permanent structure behind the jail she’d failed to notice, or were they building it for Josiah?
Tears burned the back of her eyes and she jumped from the sidewalk, nearly getting hit by a passing wagon in her haste, and ran toward the jail.
He didn’t know who the men shoring up the gallows behind the jail were, but he’d never seen them inside the jail before.Did they work for the sheriff?Or were these just every day citizens fixing to take things into their own hands?
He’d seen it happen more times than he could count.Outraged citizens taking the law into their hands before you had time to get an accused man before a judge.
When the townsfolk outnumbered the law men, it was hard to control them and small towns were even worse because most didn’t have a full-time judge on hand, like this town.Would they wait for the circuit judge to come around, or would they take matters into their own hands, despite what the sheriff and his deputies did?
