The Trap

       The Trap

Suzanne Marsh

Mary Rankin stood silently watching the crowd clambering to lynch Sam Pike. The crowd was getting louder; leading citizens wanted to lynch Sam, and others wanted to see him put on trial and hanged. Mary knew he was innocent, he had been with her when the bank was robbed and the head of the bank murdered in cold blood. Mary knew now if she wanted to save Sam’s life she would have to tell her father the truth about her and Sam. She stepped into the street crossing it carefully, some ranch hands from the double D were firing shots overhead. Mary brought her father and Sam a dinner of fried chicken. She knocked three times before her father answered. He pulled her into his office:

“Mary, what in thunder do you think you are doing? Between them double D ranch boys

Tim Cassidy bellowing about lynching Sam and now you bringing dinner!”

Mary smiled her sweetest smile;

“Pa, you gotta eat, and so does Sam.” She had to tell her Pa that Sam was innocent. She knew she could prove it; the problem was telling her Pa. Pa hated Sam. He wanted Mary to marry a wealthy man like Tim Cassidy. Mary did not intend to marry Tim; somehow, he did not appeal to her.

That day was so special to Mary, she could still see Sam standing next to her, then kneeling down on one knee asking her to become his wife. Mary was overwhelmed by his proposal but said yes immediately. Mary could not tell her Pa that she had to formulate a plan to break Sam out of jail. Her plan was viable, she would require a small amount of help from Sam’s friend Marty. There was no problem getting the keys to the cell, her Pa kept them hung up on a nail above his desk. She required two horses, but where could they hide from the long arm of her Pa? There were several spots she thought of but then so would her Pa. Then she remembered the little line shack where she played as a child, that would work. She went to find Marty, at the General Store, and explained what she needed, would he help her? Marty thought for a moment:

“Tonight around eight, I will be there with the horses.” Mary smiled a grateful smile at Marty:

“Yes, Pa will be out of the office patrolling the town. We will have to move quickly, once

Sam and I are out of town, Pa will sound the alarm, he always does. Sam knew without a doubt that Mary was planning his jailbreak. He hoped she had a good solid plan in place. He did not want to be lynched, he was innocent but the entire town turned against him when they thought he had robbed the bank and murdered the bank clerk and president of the bank. Now all their money was gone, money most had worked hard for. Sam just happened to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sheriff Rankin began his rounds of town, Mary stayed in the shadows of the jail until she was sure her Pa had left; she crept into the jail. She removed the keys to the cell and then proceeded to Sam’s cell. Sam waited until the cell door creaked open, and held Mary for a moment, Mary waited patiently with Sam until she her signal from Marty. Sam and Mary moved toward the back door of the jail, Marty was holding the reins of the two horses. Sam and Mary mounted, then rode off toward the old line shack. They arrived just before dawn, dismounted; leading the horses to a secluded area in the trees. A posse would not see the horses tipping them as to where Mary and Sam were hiding. Mary had been bringing food up to the shack, clean clothes, and anything else she could think of.

Sheriff Rankin after finishing his rounds returned to the jail, to find Sam’s cell empty. He organized a posse hoping to pick up the trail. They followed the tracks of two horses that led out of town, heading west. The sheriff decided that the posse would be following those tracks leading west. The posse galloped down the road raising dust. Mary and Sam were to the east of town, Sam nervously watching out the dusty, dirty window. He did not wish to disturb the dirt, it would make it look like someone was there, raising the suspicion of the posse.

The next few days were idyllic for Sam and Mary, making a home in the line shack. Sheriff Rankin was desperate to find Sam; he was even more desperate to find his daughter Mary. He thought that Sam might have kidnapped her; he ruled out that idea when he noted most of her clothing was gone. The posse continued west toward New Mexico, a known hideout of outlaws. Sheriff Rankin upon entering New Mexico knew the posse were looking in the wrong places. They spurred the horses to a gallop heading east; once they caught Sam, he would be lynched. They would not wait for a trial, nor for the US Marshall. They rode east the rest of the day; stopped for sleep then continued on.

Mary heard horses approaching, they were a short way away. She grabbed Sam’s hand, and together they ran toward the clump of trees. The posse quickly glanced at the line shack, decided there was no one there, and then continued on. Mary decided she would go into, talk to her Pa, and clear Sam of any wrongdoing. The evening began to fall in the small town, Sheriff Rankin sat quietly in his office. Mary strode into his office:

“Pa I gotta talk to you about Sam and me. I love him Pa, we are gonna marry. Sam could not

have done what he is accused of, he was with me up at the old line shack. He proposed that

day. Pa, please you gotta listen to me, if Ma were here she would tell you to help me clear

Sam’s name.”

Sheriff Rankin looked slowly up into his daughter’s eyes:

“All right Mary, I will do what I can. Sam is still going to have to stand trial but with your

testimony, he will get off. Now where is he?”

Mary smiled:

“I am not going to tell you so you can put him back in jail, we will leave tonight. You can

not stop me Pa. We belong together, just like you and Ma. If you can’t help I understand.”

Sheriff Rankin scratched his chin, Mary knew when he was weighing something in his mind, he always did that.

“Mary bring Sam in, the US Marshall will be here tomorrow morning and so will Judge

Malone. The best way to clear Sam is for him to go to trial.”

Mary stalked out of the Sheriff’s office, she was very angry; she galloped out of town toward the line shack. Sam heard her and opened the door to greet her:

“Mary, what happened? Why are you so angry?”

Mary took a deep breath, then explained what her Pa said. Sam agreed, that tomorrow he would

turn himself over to Sheriff Rankin. Rankin thought more and more about what Mary had said, Sam had been with her, then he began to think about several others that were Sam’s height and weight. Tim Cassidy’s name kept coming up, same hair color, same color eyes, they were very similar to each other. It was more than possible that Sam was innocent.

The sun was just rising in a pink sky, Sam and Mary rode into town together. Sheriff Rankin met them at the courthouse. Judge Malone listened carefully to everything that was being said, he declared amiss trial. Sheriff Rankin arrest Tim Cassidy, who had tried to escape out of town with the money from the bank. He was later hanged.