The man they were looking for wasn’t staying at a hotel, but a house on the outskirts of town. That made sense, because if he had Calamity with him, it would’ve been awkward checking into a hotel.
“Calamity knew his name as Devin,” Rosa explained. “He has a scar on the edge of his mouth that makes him look like he’s sneering all the time, just in case he isn’t in his home when we get there. There were two others with them, but Calamity never got their names. They seemed like they all knew each other.”
“Probably more from that same group,” Doc said tightly.
“They hurt others for fun. It’s not going to be a bad thing to kill them,” Harrid grunted.
“I’m glad Sophia isn’t here,” Doc said. “She’d have a fit with what we’re going to have to do.”
“She is very much a lawful person,” Rosa said. “While she understands that some people are terrible and would be better off dead, she can’t condone just killing them.”
“Lia would,” Harrid said.
“She would,” Doc agreed. “She wanted to kill Strongarm back in Furden, but I talked her out of it because of Sophia. Now I’m starting to wonder if I caused myself more trouble by doing that.”
“Hindsight always lets you second guess yourself,” Harrid snorted. “Do we have a plan?”
“No. We just go up and start talking, and Rosa can glean what she can. If he or his friends start a fight, we’ll finish it.”
“The house is just ahead,” Rosa murmured.
Doc and Harrid looked at the home they were approaching. Three horses were saddled and tied up in front of the place. The building itself was clearly not cheap, making Doc again question who was backing what.
They’d barely reached the yard when the front door opened. Three men came out, but stopped when they saw Doc and his friends. There was a second of recognition before the gunfight started.
Doc used immunity bubble to stay safe as he drew his own gun to return fire. Rosa, not wanting to be shot again, lunged for the tree she was near, using it to get out of the area. That left Harrid to take the most fire, though a good number of the bullets went flying through Doc. The sound of his breastplate taking the hits echoed with the gunfire, along with his grunt as he dropped to one knee when he was shot in the leg.
The moment the barrage stopped, Doc sprinted for the porch. He holstered his empty pistol and reached for his Derringer. As he vaulted the few steps up onto the porch, his hand touched the small pistol. Only one of the men— and it wasn’t Devin— was still alive, and he was pulling a second gun. That gave Doc no choice; he triggered missed me as the man got the gun pointed in his rough direction. They both pulled the trigger at the same time. Doc felt the ghostly sensation of the round going through his shoulder while his went into the man’s head.
“Fuck,” Doc grunted.
Harrid came limping up. “Doc…”
Going to Harrid’s side, he healed the dwarf, while Rosa came rushing up to supply energy. A minute later, the dwarf was as good as new, minus his ruined pants. Both men reloaded before they did anything else— they hoped it wouldn’t be necessary, but were not going to chance it. Rosa calmed the horses, which were pulling at their tied reins.
“Now what?” Harrid asked as he stared down at Devin’s corpse.
“Quickly search for any papers they might’ve had, and then we get the hell away from here. We need to avoid the sheriff pinning this on us.”
“Good point.”
“We can ride the horses out and around. I can conceal their trail,” Rosa said. “If we strip their gear, I can send them to the tribes.”
“Done. Let’s check inside, Harrid,” Doc said.
The inside of the home was not as well-kept as the exterior, but Doc chalked that up to the three dead men. There was trash in every room and pieces of food stuck to the floors. Doc was grateful that forensics wasn’t really a thing yet. No one would be able to identify the weapons used to kill the men, nor the blood Harrid had left in the yard.
It took them ten minutes to ransack the house. Doc found a few letters while Harrid found a sack of money. The place Calamity had slept was obvious, too. There was a nest of blankets in the basement that had a chain attached to a support beam near it. They were soon out the door, saddled up, and riding away.
Once they were out of sight of the town, they circled toward their house. Dropping the gear in the scrub, Rosa sent the horses running for the tribes. The group then walked home, as Harrid needed to change his pants.
“Doc?” Ayla was surprised to see them, but then she saw the blood. “What happened?! Where’s Lia and Sophia?!”
“They’re in town, probably dealing with the judge. We went on a detour; Harrid was the only one injured. We can’t go back to town with him in bloody pants.”
“Did you kill them?” Sonya asked, coming their way from the kitchen.
Harrid excused himself to change— it was clear that Doc wanted to get back to town as quickly as he could.
“Three dead. We didn’t get to talk to them, but on the plus side, Ginger’s old tormentor is dead now.”
“…What?” Ayla asked.
Doc gave them a quick recap while Harrid changed. When he’d finished, he handed over the letters and money they’d taken. “See if there’s anything in that to help us. We need to get back to town to be there for the trial.”
Taking the letters, Ayla nodded. “I’ll handle it.”
Harrid came downstairs. “I’m ready.”
“Let’s go,” Doc said, pausing to kiss both of his wives before leaving.
They walked quickly back to town, heading straight for the courthouse. As they were approaching, Doc saw a man standing on the porch, looking angry before storming inside.
“Preacher’s here and he looks pissed.”
“He was waiting for the dead men,” Rosa whispered. “They were supposed to meet him to take Calamity away.”
Doc started walking faster. “Come on. The judge’s likely waiting for him.”
Hustling inside the building, they dropped back to a walk just before opening the courtroom door. The judge looked up at them— his orange eyes meaning he wasn’t a human— then went back to reading the charges.
“In addition to the final charge of attempted murder with three counts. How does the defendant plea?”
“My client pleads not guilty, Your Honor,” Sophia said serenely.
The sheriff snorted, earning a glare from the judge.
“Very well. With the plea entered, we can move on.”
“Your Honor,” the preacher sitting just behind the sheriff said, standing up, “on behalf of the church, we will take this abomination into custody. Only we are equipped to deal with one of them.”
“Preacher Maxwell,” the judge said stiffly, “if she is sentenced, I will take your recommendation into consideration. The church does not circumvent the law.”
“Your Honor, to defy the church in any matter is to call your character into question,” Maxwell said pointedly. “You might find your life in turmoil in short order by not listening to the wisdom given to you.”
His orange eyes widened slightly before he glared at the preacher. “You are treading dangerously close to threatening a sitting judge, Preacher. I am a Sagesse. We will uphold the law against any who question it, even the church. The law is the law— there is nothing else as sacred.”
Maxwell tugged at his vest. “Very well. Go on with your trial. I will look forward to the next election.” Taking a seat, he was not hiding his anger or disdain.
“As I had been saying, Sheriff, you may take the stand.” Going up to the stand, the sheriff was sworn in by the judge. “Tell us, in your own words, what you saw in regard to these charges, Sheriff.”
“I arrived to see this thing on the ground. Two pistols were on the ground next to it, while its pistol holsters were empty. The dwarf in the seats there was standing over it with a bloody sleeve. The man beside the dwarf was uninjured, and a third man, who has since left town, had been shot three times in the chest.”
The judge made notes, looking up at Doc and Harrid briefly. “The man shot in the chest died?”
“No, sir. He was employed by Doc Holyday there. He was healed and sent out of town.”
“Healed by whom?”
“Doc Holyday. He claims to be a faith healer,” the sheriff said with a sneer.
Maxwell turned to look at Doc, who smiled back at him. Dark anger filled the preacher’s gaze before he turned to face the front again.
The judge nodded, making another note. “Go on.”
The sheriff relayed what he knew, including Wilbur being injured and healed.
“Very good,” the judge said. “Mrs. Holyday…? Hmm…? Are you married to the man behind you?”
“He is my husband, sir. I was Sophia Sagesse before that.”
“Which is obvious,” the judge said with a hint of a smile. “The family resemblance is clear.” Coughing, he went on, “Do you have any questions for the sheriff?”
“I do,” Sophia said, standing to approach the witness box. “Sheriff, did you see the shootings take place?”
“No. It was over before I arrived.”
“Did you see anyone wounded? Personally see them?”
“No,” the sheriff spat.
“Did any of these men claim my client tried to kill them?”
“No. Holyday did say that the snake wasn’t right in the head and Wilbur, the train cashier, said he saw it shoot at them.”
“But why did she shoot at them?”
“I don’t know! Damned snake was asleep until you arrived at my office!” the sheriff snapped.
“Your Honor, the sheriff has twice shown demeaning behavior toward my client. Her name is Calamity, the name the church gave her. By birth, she was Jina. She is a lamia, a near-extinct people that the church was prominent in killing.”
“Objection!” Maxwell snarled, getting to his feet. “The church safeguards the world! That thing is an abomination unto Apoc!”
“She is a woman who has been held captive, tortured, drugged, and used as a tool by the church for decades!” Sophia snapped, spinning on Maxwell. “How convenient that you are here to save all of us, isn’t it?”
“Order!” the judge banged his gavel. “Preacher Maxwell, you will mind your manners in my courtroom! Mrs. Holyday, your point on your client being demeaned is noted. Sheriff, please refer to the accused by her name, or as the defendant.”
“Fucking birds always sticking together,” the sheriff snorted.
“You are dangerously close to contempt, Sheriff,” the judge said firmly.
“Who’s going to enforce that? I’m the sheriff and jailor here,” the sheriff sneered.
“I will, if necessary. Now, mind yourself.”
The sheriff rolled his eyes. “Look, the defendant is guilty. The church wants it, so just give it over and stop this.”
“Your Honor,” Doc said softly. He stood up, waiting to be acknowledged.
“Holyday? You have something to add?”
“Sir, neither myself, my bodyguard,” he touched Harrid’s shoulder, “nor my employee who left, felt like there was an attempted murder. The defendant was drugged against her will before I healed her. She was delusional and lashed out. Luckily, I was there to help the injured. If there is any crime, it might be aggravated assault. I will let my wife argue why even that should be lessened, but the defendant wasn’t in her right mind. She was forced to attack people by the people who fed her the drug every day.”
“Hmm… Is there any proof of this claim?”
“I’m sure that if the people who drugged her could be found, the drug itself would be in their possession,” Doc said, knowing he’d left them at the house earlier. “From what I know, it is a rare plant that is heavily controlled by the church.”
Doc took a seat as Maxwell stood up to face him. “You would dare claim the church would—?!”
“Yes,” Doc cut him off with a single word.
“Order!” the judge banged his gavel again. “That is twice I’ve warned you, Preacher. I will hold you in contempt just like I will the sheriff.”
Maxwell looked back at the judge, then snorted before he stalked out of the courtroom.
“Very well. Mrs. Holyday, any other questions for the sheriff?”
“No, Your Honor,” Sophia said.
“Sheriff, you may take your original seat.”
Leaving the stand, the sheriff didn’t take his seat again— he left the room.
Shaking his head, the judge looked at the clerk taking the minutes. “With the sheriff and preacher both having left the court, and without clear evidence of a crime and the supposed victims declaring the defendant not guilty of murder, those charges are being cleared. That leaves the assault charges. Those come head-to-head with the church’s interference in this matter, and the charges of them possibly being behind the defendant’s behavior. It is noted that the preacher never clearly stated they had nothing to do with the defendant. I shall sentence the defendant to twenty days, or a fine of two hundred dollars payable to the clerk. This case is resolved.” Banging his gavel twice, he stood, then left the room.
The bailiff was coming to the table while the clerk was packing her notes up. Sophia held up a hand to stop the bailiff. “I will pay right now. Please just keep her for a moment?”
The man nodded, staying by the desk where Calamity sat, shackled.
“I’ll go pay,” Doc said. “Stay here with her. We need to get her gone before Maxwell gets any funny ideas. It might also be best if we did the same sooner than we wanted.”
“It looks like things might get ugly shortly,” Sophia agreed.