Marshall Lawless-By Bryan Hupperts

September 13, 2008

By Bryan Hupperts
bryanhupperts@hotmail.com

Marshall Lawless

Unheeded cries for "Mercy!" punctuated the moaning drift of prairie wind. An approaching thunder of hoof beats shook the ground. Riders on sweltering horses ridden nigh unto exhaustion had gathered under the unblinking, fiery eye of the sun to witness another exacting judgment executed by Marshall Lawless.

Marshall Lawless; the very name inspired fear. Lawless had erected a gallows to lynch yet another man tried by night. How do you appeal to a judge, jury, and executioner who himself is the embodiment of the Law?

Dressed like a grave preacher clutching the black law book that no one had seen him open in many years, he stood at the gallows near the gate of Haman's graveyard an unmovable messenger, a lone sentinel, the prophet of a loveless god who showed neither mercy nor pity. Lawless was a shepherd of Death.

It is said that in his early years he carried two guns but lost one when he went off-trail, gunning in bloodlust, avenging a crime of passion. A different man returned from that ride. Some whisper that his heart had gone as cold as the steel of his gun. Inscribed on its black barrel were the enigmatic words: Exacting Justice.

"Mercy! Please, please, mercy!"

Writhing on the ground in the shadow of the gallows, his head covered in a coarse granary sack, his bloodless hands cross-lashed together by leather cord, wept the accused. Hombre Honrado's muffled cries for "Mercy!" fell on ears that refused to hear as he vainly struggled against the cords and accusations that bound him for slaughter.

Honrado had been taking his flock to market when a few stray sheep bearing another man's brand were found mixed with his flock, a common occurrence among shepherds who free graze. Still, a complaint was lodged and Lawless quickly arrested and tried him for rustling. The verdict, as always: guilty. The punishment, as always: death.

Surrounded by a dusty cloud of witnesses, the accused was forced to his feet, the suffocating hood suddenly removed leaving him momentarily dazed, squinting in the fiery light. He staggered and stumbled, falling to the ground. At the Marshall's command, the condemned man was lifted up by his hands and feet, though he kicked and thrashed about, they obediently dropped him on the gallows platform in the shadow of the silent, swaying noose.

Lawless motioned to the excited crowd, raising his book-holding hand to bring all to order. The other hand rested lightly on his gun. He called out, almost singing, "A thief has walked among us. What is the penalty for this crime in Haman?"

"Death," came back the solemn cadence.

Pointing at the accused with a lone, boney finger of accusation, the Marshall demanded, "What do you have to say for yourself before this crowd of witnesses?"

His voice parched from thirst, his spirit jangled by fear, Hombre Honrado coughed the strained reply, "I am innocent. Those few sheep, they were strays, nothing more – and you know it! Surely God will judge between us."

Lawless flashed a shark-like smile that never quite reached his eyes as he thrust up his black law book high above his head and, like a lawyer seducing a reluctant jury, cried, "God has already judged!" Twisting, he set his dead eyes on Honrado, and said with his solemn smile, "You have sown to the wind. Now reap the whirlwind. Prepare to die."

Though his hands were still bound, the accused struggled back to his feet finding support from the gallows crossbeams. He looked up to the distant mountains for a brief moment, and then turned to the spectators to state his case, a courtesy granted to the condemned.

He stared into their eyes not blinking. Clearing his throat, drawing his breath, he finally spoke. "There were a few strays in my flock. Has this never happened to you? I am no thief. And exactly what law in the Marshall's book am I guilty of?" He paused as a lion's boldness flooded his soul and turned confrontationally to face Lawless, the accused now the accuser, demanding, "Open your book, Marshall Lawless, and tell me exactly which law I broke. I wanna know. I want them to know!"

No one in living memory dared defy Lawless and certainly no one ever questioned what might be in his black law book. His eyes narrowed to steely slits as the stunned crowd began to murmur, finally asking in herd just exactly what written was in the black law book that demanded Honrados' death. Certainly, he was guilty, no doubt. But guilty of exactly what?

Marshall Lawless stepped up and stood defiant on the death gate door beneath the waiting noose. He was about to upbraid the questioning crowd when the still bound but desperate Honrado suddenly lurched forward, knocking the law book out of his accuser's hand. The book split at the spine, its pages suddenly opened to the light, and they descended spiraling down to the waiting crowd below.

What happened next is debated still. Somehow, like a winning ace drawn to a losing hand, Honrado fell backwards just exactly right, his body hitting the noose which arced it about in a circle. In an instant of perfect justice, Lawless tried to jump to retrieve his black book while the noose swung just exactly right, lassoing the Marshall's neck like a lost sheep exactly as the trap door snapped open. By unseen hand, Marshall Lawless was snared as prey, lynched on his own gallows, his stiff neck snapping as he fell, the demands of justice fully satisfied.

His lone gun fell to the dust.

The crowd of witnesses, stunned by the turn of events, stood transfixed as Lawless dangled broken and lifeless before them amid the silent swirling of the pages of his emancipated black book.

Though shaken, emboldened hands reached for the pages dancing in the prairie whirlwind, anxious to know exactly what was written in the black law book that terrorized both the innocent and guilty. They began reading aloud to each other the startling, sacred words:

Go and learn this, "I desire mercy…"

By the standard you judge, you shall be judged…

Do not go beyond what is written…

Where are your accusers? Go, and sin no more…

Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

A weeping Hombre Honrado was declared Innocent by common consent, his bonds cut, and he continues to shepherd his flock, and he remains watchful for strays.

In time, as the people relearned the precious truths of the Book, it was surmised that somewhere, Lawless had stumbled off-trail, and finally went so far beyond, "It is written," that he stopped reading the Book all together. The distance between the man and the Book had become vast, like a chasm no one could cross.

What is known for certain is that for reasons unknown, Marshall Lawless erected a gallows to murder an innocent man blind to the unsleeping eye of his own Judge, Jury, and Executioner.

His epitaph in Haman's graveyard reads:

Marshall Lawless

Justice Exacted.



http://www.sheeptrax.com/


Bryan Hupperts © 2008