Chapter 17
17
Maeve suddenly knew what she wanted to do with her life. Watching the pretty young woman judge was both shocking and wonderful.
Beth and Ginny walked the short distance up the center aisle of the small courthouse to a row of seats in the front. Maeve, with Lydia in hand, went along as if a magnet drew her.
The judge approached them and flashed a smile. "Am I hearing this right?" She looked at Ginny. "I'm supposed to hold a trial and rule whether you're insane or not?"
"Yes, Your Honor. In Illinois, a husband's word is all that's needed to have a woman declared insane and locked in an asylum."
The judge's eyes narrowed. Maeve saw the smile fade. She also saw an intelligent woman who looked like she wasn't afraid to take hold of a situation and run things right.
"You ladies sit down here at this table." She looked at Maeve and Lydia. "We'll need to keep the children out of the front row, but the little ones are welcome as long as someone is handling them."
"These are Beth's children, Ginny's grandchildren." Maeve nodded at her two friends. "I came along to lend a hand in case the children get riled up."
Judge Nolte glanced at her son in her husband's arms. "My little guy is about the same age as your twins. But he won't be staying for court because the child doesn't know how to sit still."
"I'm Brandon Nolte." Her husband took a step forward. "I'll be outside with the children. Come join me if you want. The judge"—he nodded toward his wife and grinned—"needs to give her full attention to her work." He looked down at the girl. "You can stay in court if you want to, Michaela."
"No, I'll come along. Ma can handle whatever happens in here, but you might need help."
The judge laughed and patted the little boy on the back. Her husband and the children headed out. She gave Ginny a long look and then said, "Be seated, ladies. We'll get started soon." It was more like being welcomed into someone's home rather than the beginning of a legal proceeding.
There was a solid oak desk at the front of the room with a fancy chair behind it, very official-looking. Beth and Ginny were directed to a table with three chairs facing the desk. There was an identical table across the aisle from Beth's.
Behind the two tables was a barrier that looked like the pillars along the front of a porch. Behind that barrier were four rows of chairs, five chairs in each row, then an aisle and matching rows of chairs. On the right side of the room, up front, two rows of six chairs each were lined up at an angle to the desk and rows of chairs. That must be where a jury would sit.
The judge seated herself behind the desk.
Maeve moved back to the row behind Ginny and Beth. She'd never been in a courtroom before. This one seemed very imposing. And apparently the city was building a bigger one. Cheyenne was the territorial capital, after all. As she walked back to where the men stood, Kat came in with an elderly gentleman. Sebastian was a step behind the two of them. Kat gestured at Ginny, and the elderly man nodded and headed for the front of the room, Kat with him.
Sebastian went to the gathering of befuddled men and motioned toward the chairs behind where Ginny and Beth were sitting side by side. Sebastian said, "You're blocking the aisle. Let's settle in, gentlemen."
They headed up front, boots thudding on the wood flooring. Dakota was holding Jacob. Lydia had nodded off, her face pressed against Maeve's shoulder. Dakota came in first, taking a spot next to Maeve. Sebastian waited for Kat to finish introducing the older gentleman to Ginny. When finished, she went in ahead of Sebastian so she was centered behind Ginny. Seb took a seat beside her.
Jake came in the next row and sat one chair in, Oscar beside him on the aisle seat.
"That's Mr. Curtis Etherton, the lawyer we found when Kat was trying to learn what she could about the insanity laws," Sebastian said quietly, pointing at the older man.
Jake nodded. "Thank you for finding a lawyer we can all trust."
"Etherton is sharp—he knows the law and is supportive of a woman's rights. In fact, he served with the governor for a time when the territory was legalizing suffrage." Sebastian watched as the lawyer approached the judge and offered his hand in greeting. He gave her a sheaf of papers and began talking, though none of them could hear what he was saying. "Looks like Etherton knows the judge and respects her."
"Did you know the judge was going to be a woman?" Jake asked.
Shaking his head, Sebastian said, "I'd heard we had a few in Wyoming, but no. Actually, Mrs. Nolte is a justice of the peace, not a judge. But Etherton told me she's handled some difficult cases and has earned the respect of the governor. It seems he's given her broad jurisdiction. I've never seen a woman justice of the peace before. This should be an interesting day."
Thaddeus Rutledge came limping into the courtroom, Dr. Horecroft a pace behind him. Maeve saw Rutledge's nose was swollen, he had an eye turning black, a split lip that was puffy, and a tear in the leg of his pants. She felt a surge of pride knowing she'd done all that damage to the man. She quickly fought it down, for too much pride was a deadly sin. Still, she was glad she'd stopped Rutledge from kidnapping Ginny. She patted Lydia, who was still dozing against her shoulder. Maybe she should be a lawman instead of a judge. Bring criminals to justice. Or maybe even a lawyer...
Seeing Judge Nolte up front with Curtis Etherton, and Rutledge bruised and limping, gave her all sorts of new ideas about what a woman could do.
No sign of Sykes, so maybe the sheriff had kept him in jail. Speaking of which, Sheriff Peters had walked into the room right behind Horecroft and sat down at the back as if to block any escape attempts his prisoner might make. Or maybe he was just bored, and this was the most interesting thing happening in his town right now.
Two other men and one woman came in and sat in the row behind Rutledge on what Maeve had begun to think of as Rutledge's side. Each held a pad of paper and a pencil. Newspaper folks?
Maeve saw the judge's husband through a window to her left as he rounded the side of the building, bouncing and rocking the little guy. The man walked back and forth just far enough from the courthouse so as not to let any crying disturb the proceedings.
What was it like being married to a lady judge?
Maeve, Dakota, and Jake were occupied similarly to Mr. Nolte, all holding babies, though theirs were asleep. Maeve wondered how long the trial would take. Brandon Nolte might end up with a crowd around him if every baby here finished their naps early.
The older man finished talking to the judge and then sat beside Ginny. He leaned over and talked quietly with her.
The judge picked up her gavel. But before she could rap it on the desktop, Rutledge surged to his feet.
"You're not going to judge this case. This is outrageous. I demand a real judge." Rutledge leaned forward over the table, touching the top with his spread fingertips as if he were in charge of a roomful of businessmen, none of them as powerful as him.
Horecroft remained seated, but his snooty nose was tilted up. Dakota half hoped the man would offer a diagnosis that the judge must be insane to think a woman could do this job. Maybe he'd even offer to lock her up.
The judge rapped the gavel, then studied Rutledge for a long moment. "You must know I'm a real judge. Surely you're aware that Wyoming has women serving as judges these days. Why would you make such an insulting statement right at the beginning of a trial that might set me against you? Is that wise, Mr. Rutledge?"
Rutledge stared at her as if his strength of will could maybe get her to set aside her gavel and robe, get up, and leave.
At last, without making nearly as big a fool of himself as Maeve wished he would, Rutledge sank back into his chair.
"Now then, I am Judge Nolte. I have served in the position of justice of the peace for three years now here in Wyoming. I'm here to rule on a case concerning an accusation against Mrs. Eugenia Rutledge of being insane and needing the medical care offered by the Horecroft Insane Asylum in Chicago. A call went out three days ago, asking for help as Cheyenne is currently short of the services of a judge. I said I was willing to come, my offer was accepted, and here I am. I know very little about this case, as it wasn't mentioned in the telegram. But I do know the services of a jury have been requested. There's no time for that today. I will put the word out for jurors to be summoned, and we will meet again tomorrow. Today, though, I wanted to meet you and find out what is going on here."
"I'm Curtis Etherton, Your Honor. My client, Mrs. Rutledge"—he gestured toward Ginny—"has been accused of insanity with no judge or doctor ruling on this."
"I'm a doctor, and I have ruled that she is insane." Dr. Horecroft pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed at his nose.
"Dr. Horecroft owns the asylum in question, Your Honor. He has a financial interest in having Mrs. Rutledge detained in his care. We want a ruling from a neutral party and an appropriate time allotted to make our case before a jury. We're here to see that my client is ruled sane by the court."
The judge looked at Ginny. Maeve couldn't see Ginny's expression, as she was behind her. But she'd wager Ginny had the usual, very sane, kindly expression on her face she always did.
Rutledge interrupted Judge Nolte's quiet inspection. "We'll need several days to prepare for this trial, madam. My wife has been in the West for a time and planned this court appearance. I just barely got to town. I want to find a lawyer of my own." Rutledge gave the older man sitting with Ginny a dark look. "And we want to be involved in the selection of the jury."
"The correct term to address me isn't ‘madam.' It's ‘Your Honor.' I strongly suggest you use that title." Judge Nolte gave Rutledge a narrow-eyed look. "Several days is not going to be possible, but I can give you until tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow at one o'clock we'll select a jury. Then immediately after that, we'll hear what you all have to say."