“Yes,” replied the prosecutor, “And it was covered in blood.”

“His father made that knife for him. It’s been missing for weeks!”

“That’s what Balto said!” chimed someone from the crowd.

“It doesn’t matter,” the prosecutor barked, “All I know is he was found with the knife in his hand and the body beside him and that spells guilty to me.”

“How can you have a trial so soon anyway? Without any investigation at all, this seems more than a bit odd to me.”

The judge pounded his gravel twice.

“That’s quite enough, Miss Daniels. Be seated.” Jenna reluctantly took her seat and Flint sat down beside her. “Now, for clarification, I must ask Amos Thane to again recount the events of last night.”

Amos stepped up to the witness stand as Balto took his seat.

“Well, I was making my rounds through the town when the wolf-dog-”

“His name is Balto,” Jenna interrupted angrily.

The judge pounded his gravel again.

“Miss Jenna, if I have to ask you to be quiet just once more you will be removed from the courtroom.”

Jenna fell silent.

“Good,” said the judge quietly, turning to Amos, “If the witness would refer to the accused by his name?”

Amos nodded slowly.

“As I was saying, I was making my rounds when I passed Balto. He seemed no harm at the time, so I let him pass. Just then, someone else darted past me, and I took off after him, but he was faster than me. Whoever he was, he got away. Then, I thought I heard voices, so I made my way toward them and found Steele struggling with Balto, who had a knife in his hand, so I clubbed him across the head. It was only later that I saw the body.”

Balto stood immediately.

“I object! I never saw Amos that night. I was walking through town with Steele until he took off after a runner; I told you twice already!”

“Overruled!” the judge cried, pounding his gravel.

No sooner had he spoken than Jenna stood.

“Your honor, Amos Thane is lying.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know Balto, and he’d never do anything like that.”

“Just how do you know?” the judge countered, “If you have any information regarding the murder, please share it.”

“I…”

“Did you witness the murder?”

Jenna’s voice lost its power.

“No…”

“Then on what are you basing your claim?”

“My feelings, your honor.”

“Feelings?” the judge exclaimed, “Miss Daniels, fact takes prominence over feelings in my courtroom.”

“What facts? You’re basing your judgment on coincidental evidence,” Jenna replied just as loudly, “The only witnesses to this are Steele and Amos Thane; don’t you think it’s the least bit odd that your sole witnesses are brothers. They could be making this whole thing up.”

“A likely story,” the prosecutor laughed, “He’s got quite a case against him.”

“Your honor, if you would give me just one day to prove my claim-”

“I’m sorry, Miss Jenna, but I cannot,” the judge replied, standing up, “Though the sheriff has already confirmed your story, Amos, the law requires one more person to hold you as a truthful man.”

“Ask Flint,” Amos replied, “He was there.”

Flint, a bit shocked, stood up slowly.

“Well I only arrived-”

“Deputy Flint,” the judge said, “Can you verify what Deputy Amos has told the court?” Flint looked at Balto, and then at Amos and Steele. “The answer does not lie on other people’s faces, Deputy. Now please tell me, can you confirm what Deputy Amos has said today?”

Flint glanced at Jenna, and she pleaded with her eyes, but he shut his.

“Yes, your honor,” he replied slowly, “Amos is telling the truth.”

For a moment, the entire courtroom was silent. In that moment, Jenna knew that the last hope for Balto was gone.

“Alright, you may be seated,” replied the judge, turning to the crowd, “Is there anyone in this room who is not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Balto McLain is guilty of murder?”

No one spoke, and none but Jenna stood. She looked around slowly.

“It’s because he’s a hybrid, isn’t it?” she said softly, turning toward the jury, “No wonder you all agreed so quickly. ‘Oh, he’s the outcast; no one will miss him if he’s hung.’” She sighed and lowered her voice slightly. “Well I will. I’ll miss him.”

“Balto’s race has nothing to do with their decision,” the judge said sternly.

This only made Jenna angrier.

“Like hell it doesn’t! This is discrimination. How many of you have actually said ‘hello’ to him when he passed you on the street.” No one said anything. “I thought so.”

“Miss Jenna that doesn’t mean we’re discriminating against him.”

Jenna continued as though she hadn’t heard the judge speak at all.

“Your belief in the sheriff has turned to blind devotion. How did Steele become sheriff anyway? As I recall, no one voted.”

At this, Steele tried unsuccessfully to stifle a chuckle, and the judge turned on him.

“Is something funny about this, sheriff?”

Steele’s smile faded for a moment, but returned so fast that no one noticed the change except for Jenna.

“I’m just laughing at why we’re even conducting this trial.”

“Then perhaps you’d care to explain why the murder weapon that you say Balto used vanished into thin air.”

“It did not vanish, your honor, Balto threw it away just before we took him,” Steele replied, “We have yet to locate it.”

“Why on earth would he discard the weapon when you and Amos clearly saw the entire thing? And why, Steele, did you not stop him?”

“The knife, your honor, was thrown at us; perhaps he had intended to kill us as well,” Steele replied, “And as I said, your honor, I was too shocked to act when action was needed. I never suspected one of our own residents could be so violent.”

He caught Jenna’s eye and dared to flash a grin at her.

Her face grew red in anger.

“If you wanted him dead so bad, you should have just shot him yourself, but then you’d have your own trial to deal with. Or would you rig that one too?”

“That’s enough!” the judge exclaimed, pounding his gravel loudly, “Deputy Flint, would you please escort Miss Jenna out of the courtroom and see that she doesn’t return.”

Flint got up slowly and walked toward his sister, who was staring uncomprehendingly at the judge.

“I’m sorry Jenna,” he whispered.

He took her by the hand and led her toward the door as the judge watched.

“Feelings alone aren’t enough to prove a man’s innocence,” he said.

At this, Jenna turned her head.

“But they seem enough to condemn him…wrongly,” she replied bitterly.

As if in response to this statement, the head juror stood up and delivered the verdict: guilty as charged. The mandatory punishment: Death by hanging.

The judge nodded and sighed.

“Deputy Flint, please escort Miss Jenna home and see that she is not present at the hanging tomorrow. Deputy Amos, please go with him.”

Amos got up and met the two at the door. As Jenna, flanked by Flint and Amos, left the courtroom, she caught the judge’s final words.

“The sentence will be carried out at eleven o’clock tomorrow morning. Case dismissed.”

As the three made their way through the empty streets, an unusual silence hung in the air. The only sound to be heard was the crunching of the deputies’ boots in the dry dirt. They arrived at the Daniels’ store and Amos took a seat on the porch bench while Flint led Jenna inside and to the small staircase in the far corner of the kitchen. He sat down in one of the dining chairs and nodded toward the stairs, but Jenna only glared at him. His eyes fell to the floor.

“I’m sorry, Jenna,” he said softly, “but the law is the law.”

“Why couldn’t you defend him in there? You know him nearly as well as I do. Does it make any sense that he would suddenly turn around and kill someone?”

Flint mumbled something she couldn’t understand.

“Come again?” she said, growing angry.

Flint looked up.

“People change,” he said. Jenna scowled at him. Suddenly uncomfortable, he tried to change the subject a little. “Besides, what could I have done?”

Jenna walked towards Flint until she stood directly in front of him, and crossed her arms.

“Let me ask that another way: Do you trust Steele and Amos to tell the truth?”

Flint opened his mouth and hesitated.

Jenna tilted her head and looked at him suspiciously.

“Yes,” he said finally.

Jenna frowned at him and took to the stairs, but turned back one last time, shook her head, and went up. Flint sighed and put his head in his hands. He’d never been able to lie convincingly to her. Good God, he thought, what have I done?

Upstairs, Jenna lay sobbing into her pillow. Never in her life had she felt so useless. Silently, she cursed herself, the judge, Amos, Steele, and anyone and anything else she could rightly feel angry at. After a while, she got up and walked to the window. Just beyond her window in the town center, she saw the other deputies preparing the gallows and her heart sank. She pulled the curtain, unable to bear the thought of what was to take place there the very next day.

And there’s nothing I can do, she thought in despair.

“Don’t think like that, child,” said a voice nearby.

Jenna felt her blood run cold for a moment. She knew that voice, but she hadn’t heard it for more than fifteen years. She turned around and came face to face with her mother, Luna Daniels.

“Mother?” she said in disbelief.

“You aren’t just going to let them hang that young man, are you?”

“What can I do?”

“Look in the mirror, and tell me what you see.”

Jenna sighed in frustration and glanced over her shoulder. The image she saw only barely resembled her normal self. Now, her eyes were red from crying, her cheeks were stained with tears, and her hair was quite unkempt.

“I see a desperate young woman who’s about to loose someone very dear to her.”

“That is what I see as well,” Luna replied.

“Then why can’t you help me?” Jenna cried, close to tears again.

“Hush,” her mother soothed, “Look again, and look harder this time.”

Jenna turned and peered at the reflection in the mirror. As she did, her