“Nope, no jury necessary.” Sheriff Corly settled into his chair and laced his fingers together across his rather rounded belly. “It don’t matter if you were mad as sin and wanted him dead. He’d shown himself to be a dangerous man with evil intent toward you. And by my reckoning there is no doubt he meant you terrible harm. You acted to protect yourself. It’s only a shame you didn’t get there in time to save your ma. You did the only thing you could do to save your life.” The sheriff nodded at her. Then in a kind voice, he said, “I’m right about this, Miss Garner. I understand the law. And I listened well to your confession. It qualifies as self-defense, and a jury would agree with me. A man who puts his hands on a woman, as your pa did your ma and you, well, there’s no place for such a man, not in Kansas and not in Wyoming.”

Sheriff Gatlin, who was pale and had his arm in a sling, said, “Wish I’d been there to shoot him for you, miss. That’s a powerful burden for a youngster to carry with her all these years. I hope it sets just a bit easier in your mind to have confessed to what happened.”

Through the trembling, through the heat of guilt and fear, Molly could say honestly, “It does set easier. Thank you both kindly. I wish now I’d talked to a lawman right at the time. But there were dangerous forces in Kansas then, and even lawmen chose sides. I was too afraid.”

Both the lawmen nodded. Sheriff Corly said, “You’re free to go. There isn’t even the necessity of any of you speaking at the trial for these men we brung in. Sheriff Gatlin is a witness to the jailbreak. To Hawkins shooting two men, including a lawman, to get his brother free. And we’ve got enough evidence from Hawkins’s house to lock him up without any of you needing to stand as witnesses. We don’t put up with such as he’s done, not here in Wyoming. My only regret is we didn’t know about it sooner. We could have saved a few of these young women.”

Cheyenne said to Wyatt, “We need to bring Jesse in to be arrested.”

Wyatt nodded. “First thing.”

“I’d like to attend the trial anyway,” Rachel said. “Kingston shot me, and I heard him brag of it to his brother, who said they’d planned it right down to the route I was taking to Casper. That’s conspiracy to commit murder. Attempted murder. And gloating about attempted murder.”

“Uh, Miss Rachel.” Sheriff Corly rubbed his belly as if he was fond of being prosperous enough to have it. “Gloating’s not exactly a crime. Probably oughta be, but—”