1870, Philadelphia, USA.
Martha Whitcomb, the wild child of Philadelphia society, is now a grown woman, independent in wealth and in personality. At twenty-three, still unmarried and childless, she is exposed to constant rumors and ridicule, crushed...
Before this chapter begins, I'll put this here for reference in case you don't know what fanning is. The revolvers of the time were single-action, meaning the hammer has to be cocked between each shot. This can be accomplished by thumbing (using your thumb to pull back the hammer and then pulling the trigger) or fanning, which is holding down the trigger while you 'fan' the hammer with a finger or palm:
From what I understand, unless you're REALLY good, fanning sacrifices accuracy for speed, but if the target is close enough, it's not a big deal.
Now onto the chapter!
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By the fourth week without any sign of Frank or Young, public opinion turned toward the likelihood that they had either perished in the desert or fled the area for good. Benjamin prepared a severance motion to remove them as George's co-defendants, deciding he would try them later if they were ever captured. Judge Greiner had subsequently granted it, and the trial was scheduled to begin on August 28th, 1871, in Phoenix.
The manhunt was, for all intents and purposes, called off, the desert surrounding Tucson no longer crawling with U.S. marshals and soldiers searching for the fugitives.
That had been a mistake.
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Martha sat down at one of the tables next to Sadie with a grimace of discomfort, pulling her plate piled high with her breakfast close. She was utterly famished, and Ruth—darling Ruth, Queen Ruth—had slipped her a thick ham steak to go with her bacon, fried potatoes, and pickles on the side. As strongly as she had desired sweets in the last months, she was now ravenous for salt.
Sadie murmured, glancing at her plate. "That ham looks mighty good."
"And it also looks to be entirely mine," Martha teased. "Unless you wish to lose a hand attempting to steal it from me." Even as Sadie laughed, Martha cut a portion of the ham, sliding it onto her friend's plate.
"You sure? You've been real hungry lately," Sadie commented. Martha supposed it was the politest way of saying 'you look like a whale' she had ever heard.
