NOVEMBER 28, 1861

Stone was in the Dreamville jail. Teaspoon with the help of Kid had brought the murderer back to his jail in order to be tried because the judge was already there, and there was really no need to have the proceedings in Broken Bow. MaryGardner had wanted to travel to Dreamville anyway because her sister’s dead body was there. Of course she had another reason, too, but she didn’t confide it in Teaspoon. She wanted to see Joshua Smith again. She had been smitten by the love bug, and she wanted to see the man again that had captured her heart. She had rented a buggy, and Teaspoon and Kid had loaded her wagon with her things along with her sister’s things.

At first Andy had thought Mary was pulling his leg about not being Raspberry Red, but when Teaspoon told him the whole story, he believed it. He was disappointed that Mary wouldn’t be staying and taking Red’s place because Raspberry had been the main attraction of his saloon. Now he would have to find another attraction to draw in the men and keep them there spending their hard earned money.

Upon hearing about Stone’s arrest and about all the bad things he had done, Jewel denied it at first, but then she wondered if it could be true. She had to know the truth. She went into the jailhouse. She had to see her fianc� and have him explain what had happened. She had to know for herself if it was true what they were saying about him.

Teaspoon rose when Jewel came in. She stopped in the middle of the room and looked over at Stone. The sheriff could see how hurt she was. As he walked past her, he said, “I’ll let you two be alone.” He went out and shut the door behind him.

She walked over to the jail cell. “Stone, Stone tell me it’s not true what they say about you. Tell me you didn’t kill that girl. Tell me it’s not true.” She pleaded as tears began to run down her cheeks.

Stone rose and came over to stand near her, as near as he could with the steel bars in between them. “I didn’t kill anybody. They’re railroading me because they have no other suspects. I didn’t kill her, Jewel. You believe me don’t you?”

“Why do they think you killed her if you didn’t? Teaspoon is a good man. He wouldn’t railroad anybody.” She wasn’t sure whom to believe. She wanted to believe him because she loved him, and she didn’t want him to be a killer.

He could see that he couldn’t convince her that Teaspoon was up to no good. “It’s not Teaspoon. I know he’s just doing his job. It’s Daniel. He’s the one.”

“But why? Why would he want to hurt you?”

“Because he wants to put the blame on somebody else.”

“Are you saying that he’s the one that killed her?”

“No, I’m not saying that, but maybe he did. What I’m saying is that he wanted someone else to blame for him giving away those babies.” Stone gripped the bars and put his head closer to the bars, watching Jewel’s face intently to see if she believed him.

She was getting more confused about everything. “I don’t understand.”

“He’s blaming me. He’s made up some cockin’ bull story about me hypnotizing him and having him get rid of the babies, and then he’s saying that he saw me kill that girl over in Broken Bow because he was going to use her as a witness, but she wasn’t a witness to anything. He just says she was. He probably did kill her, and now he’s blaming me. He doesn’t have any proof that I did anything to him, so he’s pinning the girl’s death on me, so people will believe his ridiculous story about me hypnotizing him.”

Jewel stood their thinking. She wanted to believe him. She was just so confused. She didn’t know what to believe.

“Jewel you got to help me.”

“How?”

“Get me out of here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Get the key, it’s over there. Get me out of here and help me prove my innocence.”

“I can’t get you out. You have to stay in there. I’ll get you a lawyer, and we’ll prove your innocent and then Teaspoon will have to let you out of there.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?” He backed away from the bars looking disgusted.

“No, I mean yes, I do believe you. And somehow we’ll prove it.”

“Do you think I’ll get a fair trial here? Do you think anyone will believe me instead of their precious respectable doctor? You’re kidding yourself if you think that. No one is going to take my word over his. NO ONE!”

“Do you know of a way that we can prove that your innocent?” Jewel hoped that he did.

He turned away from her and began to shake his head, but then he turned back to her, “Wait a minute, I think I can prove to you that I didn’t do it.”

“Prove to me? But-”

“Do you believe in hypnotism?” She shook her head no. “Alright then come closer. I’ll try to hypnotize you, and you’ll see that I’m no hypnotist.” Jewel didn’t move. She was thinking it over. “Don’t you trust me?” He gave her his pitiful look, and she moved closer.

“I trust you.” She loved him. She wanted to trust him and believe him.

“I need something to swing in front of you to try and hypnotize you. He glanced around the room. “Well, those keys would work.” She shook her head. “Alright, how about that pen sitting there on Teaspoon’s desk?” Jewel walked over and retrieved it. She handed it to him.

About thirty minutes later, Jewel picked the keys off their peg and unlocked Stone’s door. They snuck out the back door and made their way over to the livery stable without being seen. There was no one around the livery stable, so they saddled Stone’s horse and a livery stable horse and took off.