Matters To Me

Chapter 27

Billy was shoved into the guardhouse and locked in. He slowly approached the barred window and studied the guards. He would need to figure out their shift changes to escape without being seen.

He slowly took the pin out of his mouth and put it in his pocket.

A few hours passed and Billy had made his way to sitting on the ground, with not much else to do but wait.

"Sir, you can't go any closer," a guard said.

"I'm a certified journalist. I'm here to see a prisoner," a familiar voice said, making Billy stand up and go to the window. "You're a man of the law. Surely you aren't intending to infringe upon the freedom of the press, are you?"

"Let me have your gun," the guard said.

Ash opened his jacket, showing the guard he had no gun on him and then turned his back on him, walking towards his cell.

"Mr. Upson. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I have ears everywhere, Billy."

"Well, it's nice to see a friendly face. I had no choice, Mr. Upson. I would never kill in cold blood."

"They wanna try you for murder. They're all corrupt. They're not interested in the truth."

"I'm not layin' down, Mr. Upson. I'm gonna find a way outta here."

Mr. Upson chuckled. "I don't doubt that for a minute. But when you do... you'll have an eye over your shoulder, a gun in your hand. From here on out, they'll call you a murderer."

"I'm no murderer."

"No. No. You are a good and a decent person, Billy. Wherever you go from here... never forget that."

Mr. Upson slowly turned and started to walk away.

"Will you do me one thing?" Billy asked, his voice shaking. "Find Missie and just tell her... thank you for always pointing me in the right direction. This won't be our last meeting, Mr. Upson."

"Damn sure."

~

Missie could barely do anything. She couldn't work at the saloon, she couldn't sit still, so she paced.

She bit her nails thinking about how Billy was going to be tried for murder. If he was found guilty, which this county would find him as such, he would be hanged.

She rubbed her forehead slowly, trying not to picture it, the flashes of her father's hanging still haunted her.

She jumped when she heard a knock on the door.

She slowly checked the window and saw Mr. Upson.

She quickly opened the door. "Mr. Upson! So good to see you, did you see Billy? How is he?" Missie greeted, talking a mile a minute.

"Good to see you too, and I did see him, he's alright. But may I ask that it's safe to assume you're Mrs. Antrim?"

"Mrs. McCarty, I took his fathers surname, not that awful excuse of a man's name. But yes, we got married shortly after his mother's passing."

Mr. Upson smirked at her spunk and disdain for Antrim.

Missie nodded slowly, eyeing their house. It hadn't been much, but slowly over time, and with a lot of love, the four little walls had become home. Their first home.

"Are you alright?" Mr. Upson asked.

Missie wrapped her arms around herself and shrugged. "I don't know... I can't watch Billy be hanged..." she whispered.

"Billy's a fighter, this isn't the end. He wanted me to tell you he says thanks for always pointing him in the right direction."

Mr. Upson nodded his head at her, squeezing her elbow in encouragement.

"Thank you, Mr. Upson."

"Of course."

Once he left she looked around one more time before she quickly started packing the most valuable things.

She grabbed the couple books and journals Billy had gotten her. She grabbed what money they had saved, food, and water. She then grabbed her gun.

She then headed to her horse and headed to where they were holding Billy's horse.

It was being held in the prison stables.

She took a deep breath as she dismounted her horse a few miles away. She needed to do this and not get caught, otherwise her and Billy would both be in trouble.

She quickly ran towards the stable and hid as she waited for a guard shift change.

She watched closely, wishing she had some darkness to help her hide.

Once the guard left she darted to Billy's horse and stuffed the note she wrote earlier in his pack and quickly ran out.

She didn't dare look back as she ran back to her horse and quickly mounted and took off. She prayed Billy would succeed in escaping and he would find her note.