Lady from Boston

Prologue-1

Prologue

“Reno Garvey, on this day, June 17, 1885, this court finds you guilty of murder and sentences you to be hanged from the neck until dead.”

Reno could still hear the haunting echo of those words as he climbed the creaking steps of the gallows, one by one. The dark rain clouds seemed low enough to touch, and the wind howled against him, the flying grit cutting into his skin. Rough hands slipped the rope around his neck, and as he took one last look at Sadie, suddenly a black hood blinded him to the tears she was shedding. While he stood waiting for the rope to tighten around his neck and the trapdoor to open, his thoughts went back twenty-five years to the day his daughter was born.

* * * *

A dust storm held the tiny cabin within its blustery grip. Already the windows had a layer of dirt on them, casting the room in a semi-darkness of gloom. The flickering lamps did their best to lend light, but large shadows climbed the walls as Reno stealthily moved around the small space.

Sadie lay on a hard, lumpy bed, waiting for the birth of their child.

“Oh, God, Reno,” she moaned. “The pain is cutting me in two!”

“Try to hold on a little while longer, sweetheart,” he said as he grabbed her hand and held it tightly. “The doctor’s on his way.”

She’d been in labor the whole night, and Reno knew the child would be coming soon. Sadie was a strong woman, but her face was a nightmare of pain. He tried to hold her down, but she jerked around like she was being hit by a horde of wayward bullets. When the pain had finally passed, he left her side for only a moment and hurried to the window.

“Reno!” she cried out when the pain grabbed her again. The fear in her voice cut through him as she scratched along the bed for his hand.

Reno turned from the window where he was trying to see beyond the wall of dust for the first signs of the doctor, but he knew it was useless. This storm was keeping everyone inside. He was tormented by Sadie’s cries and could almost feel every pain she was having. He leaned over her, wiping the beads of sweat from her face as she struggled with the pain.

“Remember, Sadie, we talked about this. Just do what the doc said, and go with it. Try to steel yourself against the pain and go with it!”

“He’s not coming, is he?” she gritted out. “The storm, it’s keeping him away, isn’t it?” Suddenly, she screamed. “The pains are so close together they—”

The last one was the toughest and hardest. When it finally hit her, Reno could see the child’s head as it came peeking through.

“It’s coming!” he shouted, but when he looked up he saw that Sadie had lost consciousness.