Chapter 17
Across the bridge in the mine section of town, the fighting raged on. The sounds were terrible, with men screaming and guns firing.
“How are we going to show them that this is all for nothing?” Mark asked Steven as they marched Bernini right up to the bridge but not onto it. The cart was still burning, cutting off access to the other side. “They won’t be able to see him from down here.”
“That’s true,” Steven said. “And he can’t climb the ladders with his hands tied.”
“Nonsense. Of course he can,” Lukas insisted. “I’m going to make this lot do it. They need to see that all of their leaders are in custody.”
Mac had picked up a shotgun from somewhere. He aimed it at Bernini. “I think we can keep them in line.”
Mark has his pistol out too, but he hesitated for just a moment. “Heather, you can wait here.”
“No!” she insisted. “I want to be there when we win this battle.”
He smiled at her spirit. “All right.”
They set off, turning to the right and heading to the nearest ladder up onto the walkway.
“Look out!” Mac cried as they passed an alleyway.
A man came flying out of it, his mouth open in a terrible scream.
He was heading for Heather, trying to grab her.
Mark stepped in and hit the man hard on the head, smashing the butt of his pistol into the man’s cheek.
He stumbled to the side, glaring, then came raging at them again.
Mark didn’t even have to aim. The man was coming right at him now with a large knife in his hand. Pulling the trigger was almost reflexive, and then the man fell to the ground, groaning.
“Come on, let’s go,” Mark said to Heather.
She stared at the man but followed along, her eyes wide and her breath coming in quick gasps. Seeing she was in distress, Mark put his good arm around her shoulders.
“It’s okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said. “I just wasn’t prepared. He took me by surprise.”
They finally reached the ladder up to the walkway.
Lukas was climbing up the ladder while Mac and Steven pointed their guns at Bernini, Pedro, and Nick.
The bandits kept looking around as though hoping to find some way to escape.
Mark stepped up and added his pistol to the mix, and he saw the hope of running away disappear from Bernini’s eyes.
Good. You’re going to pay for the trouble and heartache you’ve caused.
Steven went up the ladder next, and then the bandits one at a time.
“I can’t climb like this!” Pedro announced as he approached the ladder. “I’ll fall.”
“You’ll be fine,” Lukas said.
“This is inhumane!” Bernini cried. “We’re being treated unfairly.”
“Oh, shut it!” Mac snapped. “No one cares. Start climbing. And don’t even twitch in a funny way, or I’ll blow your head off.”
There was something in the way that Mac said it that made Mark’s blood run cold. The bandits climbed up the ladder without incident. When they reached the top, Lukas and Steven kept their guns on them as the others climbed up.
Heather was the last to climb up, and Mark helped her the last little way, even if his arm did ache. She was starting to look tired but happy.
Just then there was a loud cry, and a man came charging at them from farther along the walkway. He came at them from Mark’s side, aiming for Heather. Mark deftly stepped in front of her and took aim. In the dim light, his first shot went wide, and then the man was on him.
He knocked Mark back into the banister, trying to pry the gun from Mark’s hand.
There was another shout, and another man came running from the other side.
Mark couldn’t pay too much attention though, as he needed to concentrate on his attacker.
With his weakened arm, he wasn’t fighting back nearly as strongly as he would’ve liked.
Heather came close and slammed her two fists into his side. The man coughed and gasped. She had hit him hard. Mark took advantage and pushed the man away. The man stumbled and his foot slipped. He tipped backward, and his scream was short. He hit the ground hard and didn’t move again.
The other man had been shot, and they continued along the walkway. Soon they reached the section where the most fighting was taking place. Below them was mayhem. They could see their friends in the thick of it all, and Mark was glad to see so many of them still on their feet.
Now all they needed was a way to get everyone’s attention.
“They’ll never hear us over all that noise,” Steven said.
“Hang on,” Mark said. He hurried down the walkway the way the other man had come. He reached the guard tower.
Bang!
Ducking down, he just missed having his head blown off. His heart beating terribly quickly, Mark hunkered down and waited. The man in the guardhouse would have to reload soon. All Mark had to do was wait.
Bang!
Bang!
Click!
Mark rushed into the guardhouse. The man inside was injured. He had been shot in the leg and looked pale and scared.
“I’ll get you help if you surrender now,” Mark said.
The man didn’t even think about it. He threw down his gun and put his hands up. Mark moved about the guardhouse, looking for the warning gong. He found it eventually, stuffed in a corner. Picking it up, he ran out of the guardhouse again and over to where Mac and the others waited.
With a smile, he began to sound the town’s secondary alarm.
The noise was loud, and it rang out over the sea of fighting people. At first only some noticed, but soon more and more of them stopped fighting, turned, and looked up at them on the walkway.
“It’s over!” Mac cried, standing beside Bernini, his gun pointed at the man. “It’s all finally over.”
Mark put his arm around her. Below them, faces turned to them more and more, and soon there were no more bandits left fighting. Seeing their leaders captured and dejected, they began to panic.
Bandits, by their very nature, weren’t known for their inherent loyalty.
As it dawned on them that they weren’t going to win this one, many of them turned tail and ran.
Many of them tried to slip out through the gate.
Mark watched several of them head out into the night, into the grassland, but many of the Unity men took potshots at them, and more than a few hit.
Jeff, Robert, and the others moved into places where they could arrest the bandits, and within thirty minutes, most of the bandits who were still alive were in custody.
Mark had done his bit, climbing down and joining the other deputies.
He felt that he was finally living up to his potential as he clapped manacles on Froggy’s hands. No more random strikes from this bully.
The Pinkertons had several wagons and carts, and they lined up to take the bandits away. It was wonderful to march them out of the gates and out of their lives.
When the last one left, a cheer went up in Unity. They were finally free.
Although several people were hurt, no one from Unity had been killed in the mayhem. Families were reunited, and there was a lot of hugging and kissing and crying in the aftermath. Father Sumner called them all together, and they said a prayer of thanks for their deliverance.
Then folks dispersed to their houses or other places to find peace and process what had happened.
“I can’t believe we did it,” Heather said, leaning on Mark’s good shoulder.
She, Mark, Clary, and Thomas were sitting on the wall, watching the sun rise on a brand-new day.
“Me either,” Clary said, smiling at Thomas. “I thought we were dead there a few times.”
“It would seem that someone was smiling down on us,” Thomas said. “I heard Father Sumner saying that we should all meet later for more prayer.”
“We have a lot to be grateful for,” Clary agreed. “My sister is alive and well. She and Ross are speaking again, which is wonderful. It seems there’s nothing like a little chaos and a bandit invasion to mend relationships.”
“I think they were going to make up again anyway,” Thomas said. “They’re that kind of couple. Fighting just keeps things interesting.”
“And you two?” Clary asked. “Are you all right now? No more little niggling issues?”
“No, no more of those,” Mark said with a smile. He gave Heather a squeeze.
“Hey, it’s the first of August,” Thomas said.
“And?” Clary asked.
“Well, we need to make it a town holiday. I think we should call it Freedom Day,” Thomas suggested with a broad grin.
“Freedom Day? I like that,” Mark said.
“Let’s go tell Michael and Andrew,” Thomas said. He offered Clary his hand and helped her up. They hurried off.
“He’s so excitable,” Heather said, shifting so that she could lean her head on Mark’s shoulder.
Mark nodded. “That he is.”
The sun was cresting the horizon, a big bright yellow ball coming up and turning the whole world golden. Below them, carts and coaches, wagons and buckboards were starting to head out with a whole lot of men bound hand and foot.
They only had two small cells in the sheriff’s office. There was no way they were going to hold that many prisoners, so they had to be ferried elsewhere.
“Do you think he’s in with them?” Heather asked.
“Yes,” Mark said. “He’s in the coach with Lukas and Steven. They’ll make sure that Bernini is charged properly. We’ll have to give statements, and we might need to testify when his trial comes around, but I wouldn’t worry. He’s guilty as sin.”
“I’m not worried,” Heather said. “Actually, I am worried about how I’m going to write all of this in a letter for the Millers. They’re going to want to know, and well … I’m not sure what to tell them and what to leave out.”
“Maybe worry about that once we’ve had some sleep,” Mark said with a chuckle.
“Yes, maybe that would be wise,” Heather yawned. “I don’t want to leave you though. I want to stay with you.”
“I know, me too,” he said.
“You mean it?” she asked, moving so that they could look each other in the eye.
“Of course I mean it,” he said. “I love you. All I could think about while the craziness was going on was how much I want to spend my life with you. Heather, will you marry me?”
The words were out of his mouth before his brain had time to think. He stopped speaking, a little afraid of what he’d just said and what her reaction would be.
For a long moment they stared at each other, neither of them daring to blink. And then Heather smiled. “Are you serious? You really want to marry me?”
“Heck, yes! I want to marry you right this moment!” he said.
“Then yes. Yes, please,” she said. “I love you with all my heart. I was so scared that you would be killed. When Uncle Alex shot you, I thought my life was over too. I never want to go through that again. For the rest of my days, I want to wake up next to you. So, let’s do it.
Let’s go get Father Sumner and make it happen. ”
Mark waited to see if she was joking, but Heather looked deadly serious. He blinked. He definitely wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, so why not? Why not marry her now?
“All right.”
Father Sumner looked a little more shell-shocked than Mark thought a man of God should. He had survived, and this time his church was still standing. It was a day of celebration, and he couldn’t deny them their request.
Despite the madness, the whole town turned out.
“Are you sure?” Mark asked as he and Heather waited for the last of their friends to enter the chapel. “You don’t want to wait for a couple of days to get a dress and a ring?”
“I have a ring,” she said. Digging in her pocket she pulled out a gold ring with a diamond in the center. It was a dainty ring and suited Heather perfectly. “It was my mother’s wedding ring. I always keep it with me.”
Mark took the ring with great solemnity. “Well then,” he said. “Let’s get hitched.”
Walking down the aisle with Heather on his arm, Mark couldn’t stop smiling.
Everyone had tried to neaten themselves up a bit, but there were signs of the horror that had preceded this moment.
Mark had a bandage on his arm and a bruised neck.
Heather had a bruise on her left cheekbone and her temple.
They had changed into clean clothes, but it made little difference, and he didn’t care. It was perfect.
Father Sumner performed the ceremony with great enthusiasm.
“I thought I would have to conduct funerals, so the fact that this is a wedding is just wonderful. We have so much to be grateful for, and there is nothing more wonderful than the celebration of love,” he said, bringing a tear to Heather’s eye and many others in the chapel and garnering applause from many others.
Everyone agreed this was a wonderful way to celebrate being alive and free.
Heather and Mark said their vows, and then it was time to kiss the bride.
Mark smiled as he leaned in and let his lips brush hers, sinking into the warmth and sweetness of Heather’s gentle kiss.
The reception for their wedding was only slightly marred by the bandits’ visit. There were a few broken windowpanes and a couple of broken chairs. But no one let that get them down when a feast was presented.
“We started cooking last night,” Mildred said happily. “We knew that the revolution was on the cards, and we thought that offering more than soup or stew would make everyone truly glad that we won. And now we get to serve all of this as a wedding feast, which is even better.”
As they ate and drank some good wine from Anders’ personal collection, everyone swapped stories about the overthrow of the bandits.
Jullie had shot two bandits with her pistol, and Diane had been the one setting fire to things with the matches.
Despite it all, the town was still standing and all was well.
By late afternoon, folks began to fade. It had been a long couple of days, and no one was up for more.
Mark led his bride to their new home with her things in her suitcase. “We’ll get Ben to help us with the trunk tomorrow,” he promised.
Heather nodded, looking sleepy but very happy.
They walked home, and Mark opened the door and kissed Heather lovingly before taking her hand and walking upstairs with his new wife.
Later that night, with Heather sleeping peacefully beside him, Mark lay awake thinking about how lucky he was. Things could have gone very badly, and it was only through grace and faith that he and the others had made it to this point.
As he rolled over to go back to sleep, gathering Heather close, he offered up a prayer of gratitude and then fell into a deep sleep.