Now Playing: The Witch of Cooper, Arizona
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Episode Four concluded with:
The main street of Cooper began to resemble a battleground as
people scrambled to grab as many bills as they could. Fist fights broke out and
some men drew their guns. David Martin jumped onto the wagon. Standing on the
bed, he tried to make his voice heard above the tumult.
“People, come to your senses! That money is not yours! We have to--”
“We’ll pray for forgiveness on Sunday morning!” Came one shout. A woman’s voice
could be heard yelling, “You never helped the poor this good, preacher!”
David Martin could spot the sheriff, Buck Stephens, at the edge of the crowd.
The lawman’s gun was drawn. He was arresting three men who had planned on using
their firearms to get to the cash now lying on the ground. The three hardcases
were arguing with the sheriff who had handcuffed one of them. The pastor
realized that Buck had his hands full and it would be a while before he could
help with controlling the mob.
Episode Five:
Martin
heard a cry of pain. Skimming his eyes over the pandemonium, he spotted an
elderly man trying to keep his balance as the crowd jostled him. The old timer
fell. Four men rolled him over to grab the bills he had fallen on, then began
to fight over the money.
Vicki Burke remained calm. She stood
on the bench of the wagon with a benign smile on her face as if she were
watching rambunctious children at play.
The pastor was scared, though he
tried not to show it. Someone would get killed if this riot wasn’t stopped
soon. A sense of desperation tinged his
voice as he tried again to calm the unruly throng. “People, listen to me--”
“No! You listen to us, Martin! Tell
that witch to make more money!” The shout came from one of the jaspers who had
rolled the old man.
“Yeah!” a woman shouted. “There
ain’t enough here fer everbody. That’s not fair. All of us should get rich!
Tell her to make more money!”
The mob chanted, “make more money,
make more money” as it advanced on the buckboard. Judy Martin, who was standing
in front of the wagon, held up her palms in a stop gesture. She was pushed
against the wagon.
“Step back,” David Martin yelled.
“You’re going to crush her!”
A rifle fired. Martin turned to see
Sheriff Buck Stephens standing beside him holding a Winchester which he had
just fired into the air.
“You heard the preacher, step back!”
The mob reluctantly complied. There were now about ten steps between the town’s
folks and the buckboard.
Sheriff Stephens kept his Winchester
pointed above the crowd. David Martin eyed the lawman carefully. Buck Stephens
was an honest man: young, strong and dedicated to his duty. But he had only
been on the job for about six months. Buck could handle unruly drunks and hardcases
trying to shoot up the town. But this was something very different. Buck had
never dealt with a mob of normal citizens who had collectively gone insane.
Buck
took off his hat and set it, upside down, on the buckboard between himself and
the pastor. He started to pat his brown hair into place but abruptly stopped.
Both hands were needed for the Winchester. “Now, I want you folks to come
forward peaceful like and put that money in my hat. I’ll find out where it came
from and where it belongs.”
“The devil!” came an angry shout.
“You’re gonna keep that money for yourself!”
Another male voice sounded from the
middle of the crowd. “He’s going to arrest Vicki and keep her in jail where she
can conjure up stacks of money for him!”
“Let’s take Vicki ourselfes!” This
time the voice was female. “Find a place for her. Somewheres where she can make
us all lots of loot. I’ll bet she can make gold too!”
“Yeah!” This time both the pastor
and the lawman spotted the jasper who was shouting: Hector, a miner who
frequently slept off his drinking binges in jail. “Let’s take her right now!”
Monday: Episode Six of The Witch of Cooper, Arizona
