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"Shouldn't have killed Rose," one man admonished him.
"You desecrated her body. Your filth!" Another man added.
Ferg nodded to Doolin' and Doolin kicked the chair out from under Banks.
The sound of the chair going to the floor, sent a silence over the crowd.
But as Banks swung from the rope, choking, gagging, spitting, snotting, the men in the room watched with a sober intent.
Then shouts of hurrah went up.
Banks shook like a fish on a line. His face started turning purple, his eyes bugged, and his legs quivered for several minutes before everything stopped. Justice was served.
Coon said a few words over him.
Someone started to remove the rope, as two men lifted Banks from the noose, checked for a heartbeat and shook their heads. Then they hauled him out back and dug out enough snow to bury him and laid him in it.
Someone started to undo the rope and take it down but Ferg stopped them. "No, leave the rope. As a reminder to anyone else who thinks of murdering anyone. This is what happens to them. You murder or steal another man's poke, you hang. We have new people all the time coming in, some with no scruples or morals, but we have morals. Let it be a reminder!"
Everyone seemed to agree accept the party that had come here with Banks. Tal was frowning. "He didn't even get a trial." He muttered thickly.
Matt heard him and said loud enough for all to hear. "He didn't need one, it was his knife, and he threatened her only days ago. He also had her blood on his shoes. He deserved it, looks like he raped her after she was dead, and we won't stand for that kind of heathen treatment. No one deserves that. Most of us are God-fearin' men, and justi
ce was served. Justice isn't always pretty or civilized, but good men know when it's been meted out. Banks was guilty as sin itself, and even you know that."
Tal scowled but he said no more. He was outnumbered, and he knew he couldn't put up a fuss.
Ferg heard him and added. "This rope signifies the justice we preserve here. He not only killed her, he raped her afterwards and that is called the scum of the earth. And most of us are decent men. We are not animals."
Most of the men moved away from Tal and his bunch and they talked among themselves.
After that Tal and his men were silent, but there was a real rift with them and the others.
Kat had stood in the background, watching. A tear rolled down her cheek. Obviously, she had been frightened about what happened. "He killed a woman. I can't believe it, and then…. Even she didn't deserve that," she whispered looking up at Margaret and Snow Bird.
Margaret sighed afterwards, "I hate hangings, but like you said, he deserved it."
Snow Bird nodded. "It is good that we have some law here to keep us from becoming animals."
Margaret chuckled, "You're right."
The place settled down once more, every now and then Tal would look at the rope and stare for a long time.
It was a harder than normal winter, because just as the snow seemed to start melting, another blizzard hit, and this time nearly buried the cabin. Stragglers came in, a couple with Squaws, one with a Mexican girl, and two more white women.
Only the trappers with squaws were married, the others were whores. The bunch with the Mexican girl were not trappers. They were outlaws and Ferg knew it. Matt didn't know how Ferg could tell so easily, but he didn't argue with him. He knew Ferg was usually right about his hunches.
"That bunch, with the Mexican gal, keep your eye on them."
Matt studied the lot of them. They were nasty-mouthed and stunk. But this wasn't a place to judge who could and couldn't stay. If only they behaved while they were there, all would be well.
The trappers with squaws were quiet. Snow Bird looked at each squaw closely. One of an Arapahoe and the other was a Lakota Sioux. They saw her, but they did not speak to her. They waited on their husbands and seemed to understand the rules when some of the others didn't.
Still, Matt didn't care for their loud mouths, and nasty manners. The Mexican with his lady friend was not a quiet man. They laughed a lot though, so everyone seemed to settle out around them.
"What is the noose up there for?" The big Mexican man asked as he set his gear down on the floor.
"A warning to all, that we do seek justice." Matt told him.
