Heather Malone’s visit to Tight Rope, Arkansas

[thehangingtree]

Heather Malone grew up in New York City in the late 1800s. Having heard stories about ‘the wild west’, Heather decided to see if they were true. After all, in New York all the men near her age seemed only interested in exploring what was under her dresses. Though it can be said, Heather had a body worth seeing!



She took a train west and got as far as Tight Rope, Arkansas where, when reviewing her finances, she decided she was as far west as she could go without adding to her monetary supply.

Heather found a house she could afford. It was a bit run-down, but the price let her enjoy some of her other habits.



Heather quickly found the men of Arkansas were just as interested in what was beneath her dress as the ones in New York but there was a difference. The men of New York expected Heather to reveal herself for their satisfaction, the men from Arkansas were willing to pay to see her body. Heather had matured into a fine woman by the time she got to Tight Rope, Arkansas.



Soon instead of having extra folding cash, Heather moved to a fancy house and was the main attraction at the brothel she opened and was living quite luxuriously in Tight Rope!



Heather was an attractive woman and the way she dressed certainly showed her assets.



It is easy to see why her… um… business did well. Her customers from the area appreciated both her body and what she did with it. One oddity she found was they enjoyed a little bondage when they had sex. Though good at roping cows, their wives and lovers were not opened to being their sex slaves. The women would send their ‘loved ones’ to Heather’s place to sow their wild oats. At first, Heather was a bit put off by their antics, but she grew accustomed to it and actually enjoyed playing the roles they wanted.



After all, a good paying customer kept her bank account full!

Heather was an accomplished card player. She was known for showing up at casinos rather scantily dressed. Who knows if it was her card-playing skills or her risqué outfits, but she rarely left the table empty handed.



Overall, Heather was considered a real leader in Tight Rope, Arkansas- if not exactly a role model for the township’s daughters. Such wealth brings power and attention Heather did not expect…

 

[thehangingtree]

As discussed in the last chapter, Heather has a thriving… um… business in Tight Rope, Arkansas. Between her business and her wealth, Heather has become an unelected power in the area. This hardly keeps her from servicing her clients. Their special requests keep her bank account full and her own desires fulfilled.



Things were about to change though. One day a coach came to Tight Rope, Arkansas.



Aboard the coach was a very wealthy man traveling with his entourage.



His name was Mr. Hardpecker Freightmaster from the city of St. Louis, Missouri. He was what would later be known as the Chief Executive Officer the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad. The railroad never made it to California but it was expanding its footprint. Mr. Freightmaster saw the lack of rail service in northwest Arkansas as a business opportunity. He and his party booked into the Tight Rope Hotel in the business district.

Hardpecker was buying tracks of land that were oddly shaped, barely twenty feet wide but lengthy. No one except those familiar with the railroad business would have guessed he was buying right-of-way for a yet to be built rail line.

Heather heard about the wealthy man that was spending cash as if it was plain paper. She made some inquiries and found he was a railroad baron. Heather was interested in getting some of his cash and though she didn’t own any land he was interested in, she had other assets he may be interested in. She found Mr. Freightmaster was particularly fond of blond women so she purchased a blond French-made wig. It was a small expense for the money that could be made.

She introduced herself to Mr. Freightmaster. He was quite attracted to her body.



His interest became amorous. Heather thought it would be safe to discuss her fees with him but Hardpecker became angry when she started talking money. He slapped Heather, knocking the blond wig off her head. Seeing Heather was not a real blond enraged him. He ripped her dress off her body and yelled “I will be the richest man west of the Mississippi and you treat me like a razorback cowboy! And you aren’t even a real blond!”

Hardpecker shoves his hard pecker into her pussy and shouted “Have you ever had a man as good as me? Have you, you whore?”



Heather cried out “Stop taking me! You are an animal!”

This angered Hardpecker even more. He flipped Heather onto her stomach and rammed his cock into her ass. He yells “Have you ever done it like this, you whore?”



After ass-reaming Heather he climbed off her and poured himself a straight bourbon. Watching her put her torn dress back on, he thought she was not a bad fuck for not being blond. Hardpecker grabs his wallet and pulls out a ten dollar bill. He hands it to Heather and says “Keep the change. That ought to be enough to cover two fucks plus a tip.”

Heather thinks of reaching in her handbag, pulling out her derringer, and putting a pair of slugs through his heart.



She looks over at the bodyguard who watched Hardpecker assault her already holding a Colt .45 revolver and realizes she would be dead before Freightmaster was. Revenge would have to wait…

 

[Barbaria1]

Mr. Hardpecker Freightmaster

Giggle snort!

Off to a good start. This story could become a TH Tree classic.

 

[thehangingtree]

Heather Malone was hardly a stranger to having sex with strangers- it comes with the business- but Hardpecker Freightmaster’s thought that she or any other women were free for the taking pissed her off. She really would have shot him if it weren’t for the bodyguard being there.

She found that Hardpecker was nearing completion of his land purchases, being held up by the county commissioner wanting far more than Hardpecker was willing to pay. Without the right-of-way through the Tree estate, he owned two long narrow strips of land that ran from the Missouri border to the north and the Texas border to the southwest with no connection in the middle. Though heather was too familiar with Hardpecker’s greed, she also knew of Tree’s ability to get what he wants. Hardpecker would have to accept Tree’s ridiculous price demands if he wanted to build his rail line. And Heather’s chance of her revenge would disappear when Frieghtmaster went back to St. Louis.

She devised a plan to shoot Hardpecker on the streets of Tight Rope. She could never get away doing so in her ‘work outfits’. She was the only woman in town that wore dresses like that. Heather paid a woman from Paris (Arkansas, not France) a huge amount for the grab the woman wore doing her ranch chores. The denim pants and flannel shirt were not her style but that was the point.



If she was to get even with Hardpecker, she couldn’t be recognized. She also bought a shotgun and carefully cut the barrels short and the shortened the stock. Heather made a quite deadly pistol out of the shotgun.

A few days later she met Hardpecker on the main street of Tight Rope. Calmly she asked “Mr. Frieghtmaster, do you remember me?”

He replied “I am sorry, but I don’t remember common women like you.”

Heather drew the altered shotgun and said “Perhaps you would if I were blond.”

Heather fired the first shot into Hardbecker’s gut.



Hardpecker fell to the street. Though already mortally wounded, Heather put the other round into his head. There was no reason not to be sure he was dead. She tossed the gun into an alley and made her escape.

Several people huddled around Mr. Frieghtmaster. One of them yelled “Some cowboy killed him!”

Another said “That was no cowboy. Miss Malone did that.”

“Miss Malone? I never seen her dressed like that!”



“Her shirt was open. I saw her tits, and once you’ve seen those, you don’t forget them” the other man replies.

And the hunt for Heather was on…

 

[Wragg]

I saw her tits, and once you’ve seen those, you don’t forget them”

They may need to be confiscated as evidence...

 

[PeterVl]

He replied “I am sorry, but I don’t remember common women like you.”
Heather drew the altered shotgun and said “Perhaps you would if I were blond.”

I wonder if a blond would remember him...

 

[thehangingtree]

Sheriff Lockup bursts in on Commissioner Tree while he is having- um- brunch. He exclaims “Miss Malone just shot Hardpecker Freightmaster!”

“So, he’s a prick” Tree says “even if he gave me a great price on a strip of land.”

The sheriff excitedly says “But she killed him!”

“Even better” Tree says, delighted he cashed the check Freightmaster had given him for the land. “You sure Malone did it?”

“Someone saw her do it” the sheriff says.

“There are guys that can’t identify their own wives” Tree says. “How can he be sure it was Malone?”

“He saw her tits” the sheriff says “and once you’ve seen her tits you don’t confuse them with someone else’s.”

Tree doesn’t ask how the sheriff knows that but says “Bring her in- and don’t do anything with her till after she stands trial and is convicted!”



“I don’t know where she is” the sheriff says.

“She’s got the biggest house in town. Maybe you should start there” Tree gruffly says.

Sheriff Lockup does start there and finds Heather is there. She greets him at the door wearing nothing, figuring she could distract him that way. It doesn’t work. He knows how Heather operates and visits with her always costs him money. Besides, Tree had ordered him not to touch her and Tree pays him. Sheriff Lockup cuffs her hands and grabs her hair saying “You are going to be tried for shooting Freightmaster. We can discuss your options after you are found innocent- which ain’t likely.”



Heather Malone is taken from her house by the sheriff and his deputy. She is embarrassed she is being taken to jail dressed as she was when she greeted the sheriff.



Heather is marched naked through the streets of Tight Rope on her way to jail. Women lining the street are amazed and appalled by sight of a lady wearing only irons on her wrists. Heather thinks ‘Get over it, ladies. I have the same parts you do!’



Heather is about to enter the jail when she passes Tree. He takes a swig of his drink and politely says “Hello, Heather. Those cuffs look good against your fine ass.”

Heather does not answer him but silently thinks ‘Fuck off, Tree!’



In the jail, Tree’s sister Joan leads her to a cell. Heather complains how filthy it is. Joan cheerfully says “It is better than it was since we hanged the rapist. I cleaned the sheets of all of our- I mean his cum after he was hanged.”



Heather is locked in the cell.



She prays the discount she gave the judge is enough to get her off with a light sentence…

 

[Wragg]

‘Get over it, ladies. I have the same parts you do!’

Only mine are rather better!

 

[thehangingtree]

The Tight Rope jail is not a place one would want to spend time. It is dark, damp, and filthy. It is hardly like any place Heather has ever seen. She looks out of her cell and wonders how it could get any worse.



It is a good thing she took very good care of the judge. She would hate to be sentenced to do time there.

It was late Friday afternoon when another woman was put in a cell across from Heather. At least there was someone to talk to besides the guards. Heather leaned against the bars of her cell and introduced herself. “Hello, my name is Heather Malone. What is yours?”



The woman looked at Heather and said “Rachel, but don’t think we can be friends. I am out of here tomorrow.”

“You got a light sentence” Heather said.

“Light sentence? Honey, tomorrow they are hanging me in the town square” Rachel snaps.



“Jesus, what did you do” Heather asks.

“Fucked a priest… I didn’t know that was even a crime in Arkansas” Rachel huffed.

“Damn, I didn’t either” Heather exclaimed. “I wonder what they’ll do to me. I shot some guy.”

“The judge is pretty tough” Rachel says.

“It’s a good thing the judge and I are close. He and I have fucked a few times” Heather says as she fakes humping the bars.



Rachel gets up and shuffles to the bars of her cell. With a cold confidence, she says “I’ll try out the noose for you tomorrow…”



“…cause it doesn’t matter how many times you fucked the judge, they are going to hang you by your pretty little neck…”

 

[thehangingtree]

It was late Saturday afternoon when Sister Angel came to Rachel Murdoch’s cell to take her to the gallows to be hanged for her crime. Sister Angel cuffed Rachel’s wrists behind her back.



Rachel said “This is really not necessary.”

But Sister Angel tells her “It will be when you are hanging by your neck.”

Sister Angel leads Rachel from the dingy cells. Rachel asks “So they send a nun to hang me?”



“I am a small part of your execution” Sister Angel says. “It looks better if I take you to the gallows instead of the sheriff or his men. After all, you are quite naked and no one would think I would have anything to do with a priest-fucker.”

The women walk down the jail’s corridor. Just before they step outside, Archbishop Wragg steps before them. Admonishingly, he says “Are they going to hang this woman naked?”

“They don’t have the funds for women’s uniforms so, yes, she will be hanged like this” Sister Angel says. She lifts her habit and says “Besides, you liked the looks of her pussy when you screwed it!”



Bare as the day she was born, Rachel is led to the gallows through the crowd of the citizens of Tight Rope. None seemed concerned Rachel had no clothing or that she was about to be hanged to death. The remarks focused on how long she would take to strangle and how good she would look as she did her last dance as she hanged by her neck.

With weak steps, Rachel is led to the gallows platform. She stood with her feet ten feet above the ground, prominently displayed to the crowd that had come to see her hanged. The county commission Tree sees the fear in her face as she looks at the noose dangling before her. Trying to calm Rachel, Tree says “Don’t worry, the drop is not that far. You’ll have plenty of time to choke to death.”



“Did you pay them all to watch me hang” Rachel asks accusingly.

“No, in fact the people in the stands bought tickets to get a better view” Tree replies.

One of the men from Tight Rope takes the noose and puts it around Rachel’s neck.



He says “I hope I am doing this right. I’ve never hanged anyone before.”

“Then why are you hanging me” Rachel snaps.

“I won the lottery they held” he says. He tightens the noose around Rachel’s neck then checks if he did it right, taking time to grope Rachel’s bare body.



In the basement of the jail, Heather stretches to see what is going on. She has a vested interest since Rachel had assured her she would certainly be facing the same fate she was.



Mrs. Longdrop, the county recorder, stood next to Rachel and read the charges she was about to be hanged for committing. “Rachel Murdoch, you have been accused of trying to seduce the archbishop of the Cruxton Abbey and attempting to bribe him to conceal your devious actions. You have been found guilty and sentenced to be…”

“I did fuck the archbishop” Rachel corrects.

“Very well, you did seduce the archbishop and have been condemned to hang by your neck until you are dead” Mrs. Longdrop states. “May you take a long time to fulfill your sentence!”



A loud applause rises from the crowd below. The hangman- the real one- steps up behind Rachel and asks “Are you ready to be hanged?”



Softly but emphatically Rachel whispers “No, I am not…”

 

[thehangingtree]

The hangman steps up behind Rachel and asks “Are you ready to be hanged?”

Softly but emphatically Rachel whispers “No, I am not!”

Rachel says nothing more. She fidgets nervously as she waits to be hanged. Though having seen people hanged before- it was the normal method used to execute criminals back then- Rachel had never seen a woman hanged and all the men wore their own clothing or prison garbs.

Rachel stood on the gallows above the crowd. Her nipples stood erect and hard. The crowd wasn’t sure if it was fear or excitement driving that and did not really care. They wanted to see her naked body dangle as she hanged by her neck.

She turned her head to see the hangman reaching for the lever to open the trap she was standing on. She tried to pull her hands free from the cuffs, but they held firm. Rachel, in no more than a whisper, begged the hangman “Don’t” but he pulled the lever and the platform shook beneath her feet.



And then the platform was gone. Rachel fell just two feet before the noose pulled her to a stop. Her one hundred and ten pounds were not enough to tighten the noose but was enough to jerk the rope against her throat. Rachel jerked violently and her piss streamed between her legs.



Rachel’s hanging pleased the ghoulish crowd that had gathered to see her hanged. They cheered wildly as she searched for something to place her feet on. The town’s nurse, casually reading a book leaned against one of the gallows’ uprights. Casually and without concern Rachel was being put to death, the nurse glanced over at Rachel and thought she was putting on a good show for the citizens of Tight Rope.



The laws of physics works on even a hanged woman and Rachel was no exception. Her weight alone made breathing nearly impossible and every move she made slowly closed the loop of the noose. Rachel’s thrashing from the noose became more frantic as each gasp for air became more difficult. Before five minutes had passed her kicks became smaller as each breath delivered less air she needed to live.



A little over five minutes after she was hanged, Rachel’s kicking stopped and only her final twitches moved her dangling body. Rachel was left hanged until sunset as an example of what would happen to those that ignored the ‘laws’ of northwest Arkansas.

Heather collapsed on the floor of her cell. She had witnessed the slow and terrible execution of Rachel. She looked down at her naked body and remembered Rachel’s words. “I’ll try out the noose for you tomorrow ‘cause it doesn’t matter how many times you fucked the judge, they are going to hang you by your pretty little neck!”



Quietly she says “My god, they are going to do that to me!”

 

[thehangingtree]

Saturday night, Commissioner Tree took Rachel’s body from the noose. He did not cut the noose, because Monday would Heather’s trial and they were sure to find her guilty and sentence her to be hanged. Back then, if a noose worked well, you didn’t waste it and go to the hardware store and buy a new one.

Monday morning, Deputy Bull fetches Heather to take her to court. Since she hadn’t been convicted yet, he brought her a men’s prison shirt to wear to her trial. Heather protested that the shirt did her no justice as she was marched to the courthouse. Bull looked at her finely shaped ass and thought she looked fine for a woman soon to be hanged for murdering Hardpecker Freightmaster but added “Mr. Tree has a dress for you to wear at your convict… um… trial.”



And Tree indeed had one of Heather’s dresses to wear, a nice conservative one. But one could argue the deck was stacked against her as her hands were locked in irons during her trial.



Heather’s trial went pretty much as expected. The witness to Freightmaster’s murder swore that he saw Heather shot the man. Judge Admi asked if he was positive. The man said he saw her breasts and those were not a pair one would forget. The judge made Heather expose her breasts in the courtroom…



…and the man yelled out “Yep, those are the same tits!”

Judge Admi bangs his gavel and says “What more proof do we need?”



“Heather Malone, you are found guilty of the murder of Hardpecker Freightmaster! As a convicted criminal I order you to remove all vestiges of your civilian life!”

Heather says “But I will be naked… in front of all these people!”

“Precisely” the judge acknowledges. “Now take them clothes off- now!!!”

Heather follows Judge Admi’s orders, reluctantly at first…



…until the spectators begin making loud, lewd comments about her baring body. Even the judge leans over his bench and thinks ‘What a damn good looking woman she is.’



Heather’s wrists are locked behind her back and she is positioned before the judge. Judge Admi looks down at Heather’s fine looking breasts heaving with each breath she takes. In a most solemn tone, he says “Heather Malone, you have been convicted of shooting and killing Mr. Hardpecker Freightmaster. I sentence you to be hanged by your neck in Tight Rope’s town square until you are dead. You execution will take place this Saturday on the town’s gallows to allow all interested in seeing your tits swing while… when you are hanged.



“Deputy Bull, take this woman to the jail to held until she is hanged!”

Note: Judge Admi is a salute to Admihoek who hasn’t been around for a while…

 

[thehangingtree]

Heather Malone is placed in the Tight Rope’s city jail where she will be held until she is executed, hanged from the town’s gallows on Saturday. Commissioner Tree pays her a visit. Heather pleas for his help, saying she is a wealthy woman and should not be put to death. Tree politely explains “I am just the town’s commissioner, not the court that sentenced you to hang.”

“But I pay your salary and most of the town’s employee’s” Heather says.

“That’s why we are selling tickets to your hanging. It should make the payroll until the railroad is built” Tree says.

“But I am being held naked! I have no clothes” Heather protests.

Tree eyes Heather’s bare body and says “We don’t have many women prisoners so we never bought such uniforms.”



Tree left to get a refill of his drink lunch. Heather was not left alone too long. Rarely having a woman prisoner- and such a fine looking one, at that- the guards made sure Heather did not languish in her cell worrying about her execution.



Later that day, Tree meets his sister at the tavern. He tells Joan that Heather does not think she should be hanged, and she did not get a fair trial. Joan angrily says “She shot the son of a bitch in front of witnesses. Does she think she can do that because she is rich?”

Tree says “She claims he raped her and she was just getting even.”



“Let the whore explain that while she’s hanging by her neck before the town’s folk” Joan says…

 

[thehangingtree]

A French woman named Messaline was touring the ‘new world’ and was in Tight Rope when word got out of the execution of Heather. She came to see the woman that was going to be hanged that Saturday. She stands outside the visitor’s cell and after admiring Heather’s body she says “This is an outrage! I tried to stop them from hanging you, but they insist you must be hanged this weekend.”

“Did you try bribing them” Heather asks.

“They said money would not spare you” Messa says. “I told them I could not get a premium French noose here in a week.”

Heather incredulously asks “You did not try to stop them from hanging me?”

“Of course not! That could cause an international uproar. I just wanted them to wait until I could get one of my nooses here” Messaline explains. She looks around to see if anyone was in earshot and softly says “They are going to hang you with a noose made of crude Arkansas rope!”



“It will still kill me?” Heather asks.

“Of course it will” Messa exclaims “but it will chaff you neck horribly before you die!”



“My premium French noose would leave your neck smooth no matter how long it takes to strangle you!”



The following day, Sister Angel from the Sacred Order of the Virgin Martyrs visits with Heather. She treats Heather like she is a long-lost friend. “So you are the one being hanged this Saturday” the nun casually asks.



“I will be unless I get a pardon. They are going to hang me naked. Couldn’t I at least wear a hood” Heather asks.



Sister Angel lifts her habit and says “Women are hanged nude- it is a tradition here.”



“Of course, you have nicer tits than I do. Yours should shake really nice while the noose chokes you to death.”

Heather nearly pukes at Sister Angel's remark.

“How long will that take” Heather asks, genuinely concerned how long she would be alive after she is hanged.

“Well, after the noose is put around you neck, there are the formalities of reading why you are being hanged and the prayers for you soul” Sister Angel explains.



“But once the church bell rings the top of the hour, you will be hanged…”



…but I have never seen a woman last until the bell marks the quarter hour” Sister Angel explains.

The guard advises that the nun’s time is up and Sister Angel leaves. Heather has a sick feeling in her gut that she could be alive for a quarter hour hanged by her neck before she dies.

 

[thehangingtree]

It is Friday morning, the day before Heather’s execution. A large crowd has come to Tight Rope to see her last dance when she is hanged on Saturday. The ‘Bottoms Up’ saloon opened early to accommodate the town’s guests.

Behind the town hall (and jail) Mother Blessed Holy Water escorts Heather to the courtyard. Heather is a most reluctant participant in the ‘confession’ the nun has in mind for her. Mother Blessed Holy Water lectures Heather. “You must confess your sins or after you are hanged, you will spend eternity burning in the gates of hell!”

“But I thought being hanged to death was my punishment” Heather cries as she is led across the yard.

“Being hanged will end your sinful life, but unless you confess your sins, you will be Satan’s servant forever!”



Heather Malone argued she did not belong to their religion and does not know what a confession is. She quickly finds herself tied face-down on a bench. With Archbishop Wragg watching attentively, Friar Limpdick paddles Heather’s bare ass and beseeches her to confess to murdering Mr. Freightmaster. Heather screams with each blow Friar Limpdick delivers but the closest she came to confessing shooting Freightmaster was yell that he raped her and deserved to die.



Heather never confessed to killing the man even though the beating took more than an hour. In the background Sister Angel watched Heather’s flogging. Despite Heather’s cries, Sister Angel hoped that evening she could convince the archbishop to flog her the same way.



She would confess to anything as long as she could suck his cock dry.



Not getting Heather to confess, the nuns tie her arms under the bench and spread her legs. Commission Tree walks up to the naked woman and says “Still won’t confess to killing the guy.”

Heather looks up at Tree and says “These people are nuts! You have to save me from them.”



Tree says “I guess the court was right. You ought to be hanged for your crimes. Think I’ll give you a farewell fuck before they hang you.”

“WHAT?!?!?!” Heather yells.

But Tree steps behind her and pulls out his hard cock. He eyes her raised cheeks and pushes his erection between them. Heather grimaces as he drives his pecker into her butt.



Casually he says “You’ve done this before. A real lady would be screaming by now.”

After thoroughly buggering Heather he takes her to the town square where he has her climb the gallows. Heather stops at the top of the stairs and asks “Why are you doing this?”



“Thought it would better you saw where you’ll hang tomorrow. Maybe then you can act dignified when you are brought to be hanged…”

 

[thehangingtree]

Tree takes Heather back to the jail where she will spend her last night alive. Her visit to the gallows strangely calmed her. She pictures herself standing noosed and naked on the gallows. Though the crowd yells lewd comments about her interspersed with calls to open the trap and hang her, the thought of being hanged by her neck until she is dead is not part of her imagination.



It is still early in the evening as the sun hasn’t set yet. Sister Angel comes to see Heather and says she has some news. Heather asks “Have they canceled my hanging.”

“I didn’t say it was good news” Sister Angel replies. “While you were out the railroad sent a telegram saying they were putting their main line through Fayetteville.”

“What does that mean” Heather asks.

“That means they are bypassing Tight Rope” Sister Angel says.

“And…” Heather asks somewhat confused.



“That means your hanging is the biggest fundraiser the town has” Sister says. “You hanging to death will be the biggest thing in town for a long time to come.”

Sister Angel leaves giving time for Heather to contemplate what she just heard. Heather rubs her neck, and the idea hits her she will be hanged by it until she is dead.



She stands in the light of the setting sun and realizes her life is setting too…

 

[Wragg]

That means they are bypassing Tight Rope” Sister Angel says.

Damn!

And there was me hoping to catch a train to the big event!

 

[thehangingtree]

Heather does not sleep well the night before her execution. She had seen several men hanged and a few women, too, the most recent being Rachel. Heather always found the hangings strangely entertaining. All of the condemned did an animated dance as they were hanged by their necks. The men always wet their pants as they choked to death. Rachel, hanged naked as all women were in Tight Rope, let loose with a stream of her own pee as she hanged. Heather wondered if Rachel knew she pissed in front of everyone. She wondered if she would do the same as she was hanged by her neck.



Again the reality she would be put to death before the sun set wracked her. What did it feel like to hang by her neck. It had to hurt- they all died- and how long would it take to end her life? Heather looked down at her bare body and realized she would be hanged naked.



Having been ‘a woman of the night’ plenty of men and a few women she did not know had seen her entirety but they had paid well to do so. That was what got her here. That prick Hardpecker thought he didn’t owe her anything and she made amends by shooting him. Later that day total strangers would watch her last minutes as she hanged by her neck. Someone would make money from it but not her.

The sun started to brighten the morning sky. Having not been fed since sometime Friday, Heather was hungry and thirsty. She couldn’t do anything about her hunger, but she turned on the sink and drank from the trickle of water that came from the spigot.



One of the deputies had told her she would not be fed the day she was hanged. He didn’t explain why but it was to keep her from throwing up and choking on her vomit. Heather managed to get some sleep. It was midmorning when Deputy Gunner woke her from her rest.



He asked how she was, and she said she was starving. Deputy Bull joined Gunner and gave her something to eat though it was hardly what she had in mind.



Deputy Bull put the irons around her wrists and said “It is time to take you to the gallows.”

Heather groaned “You can’t hang me. I shouldn’t be put to death. I am not ready to die!”



“Don’t worry, it is a few hours before you dangle from the noose” Bull says calmly.

Part of Heather’s execution was to have her picture taken before she is hanged. Sister Angel leads her to a room where a photographer from the Crux Chronicle magazine takes pictures of Heather with her hands cuffed behind her. The photographer works with his camera to get a good picture of Heather without her mouth moving.



Being naked, Heather has words that the author cannot quote here as the reporter Spike Sharp tries to question her how she feels about being a convicted murderess about to be hanged to death.

Sister Angel leads Heather down the corridor that leads to the jail’s exit. The very reverend Archbishop Wragg greets them near the end of the hall. In a solemn voice he asks “Is this the woman they are executing today?”

Heather snaps “I am here and I can hear you. Yes, I am the one they are hanging to death!”

“Like that? But she is without clothing” the archbishop says in a horrified voice.

“It is how they execute women here in Tight Rope” Sister Angel replies as if Heather was not there.



She raises her habit and, while winking at the cleric, says “We can ‘mourn’ tonight after she is hanged in this humiliating way.”

Sister Angel puts Heather in a holding cell where Commissioner Tree would get her and take her to the gallows. An hour later Tree comes for her and says “Time for your last walk.”

Heather exclaims “You can’t hang me. Hardpecker didn’t pay me! He raped me.”

Tree took a swig from his drink.



Then he said “I never got involved with your business and you’ve been a good leader in Tight Rope. But the railroad is going through Fayetteville and there are a lot of people that won’t get jobs because of that. Before they announced that, I could have saved you from the noose. I’d have a riot on my hands if I don’t hang you today…”

 

[thehangingtree]

Tree opened the jail’s door and led Heather into the street. She stopped when she stepped off the boardwalk. Tree thought it was the gravel pavement annoying her bare feet until she asks in an amazed voice “They came to see me hanged?”

Tree tool a drag from his smoke and says “I told you I’d have a riot of I don’t hang you.”



Beyond the crowd the wood frame of the gallows looms overhead. Tree pushes her forward and says “That noose is waiting for you.”



Heather scowls “This is not fair!”

Tree replies “No one said ‘justice’ was always fair here.”

“I have to hang so you can keep the crowd in line” Heather asks angrily.

“It’s a small price” Tree replies.

“FOR YOU” Heather says loudly. “I am the one getting hanged to keep this damn crowd happy!”

Tree had to admit Heather was right. Sometimes someone has to make a sacrifice for the good of the people. He was a bit sorry Heather’s sacrifice would be her life but things would only get much worse if he spared her from her execution. Tree pushed Heather towards the gallows. This forced them though the crowd. A group of women made comments about Heather.

One said “Must she be hanged naked?”

“The way it is done, ma’am” Tree replied.

“My, she has fine breasts. They will swing nicely as she is hanged” another said. Tree did not reply but he agreed with her thought.

Heather snapped “You are all perverts coming to see me hanged.”

Tree reminded Heather it was her tits the witness recognized at her trial and that is why she is being hanged.



He pushes Heather through the crowd that continued to make comments. Heather held her head up. She was not going to satisfy them by showing any fear.



She knew she shot Hardpecker but he deserved it. If she has to be hanged for doing so, she will be hanged with dignity.

At the base of the gallows, an official from the State Department of Penal Corrections takes over escorting Heather up the gallows’ stairs (it is Heather’s execution, not a lynching, after all). He says “You are remarkably calm for being about to be hanged. Most people are crying for their lives.”



“I’ll die like a lady for your charade of justice” Heather scowls as she is led up the steps. She does not admit it is taking all her efforts not to piss and shit as she climbs the steps.

At the top of the steps, Heather looks out at the crowd. It is a few hundred people but this is the late 1800s. There wasn’t the internet to get the word out and people didn’t protest the hanging of naked criminals about to be hanged back then.

Tree steps up behind Heather and says “It’s a pretty good crowd to see you hanged.”



“There are strangers out there. Did people travel here to see me hanged” Heather asks.

“Well, your hanging made the front page of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. I’m sure there are some friends and business associates of Freightmaster that came to see you serve justice.”

“It is not justice! You are hanging me for money” Heather hisses.

“Whatever you think” Tree replies. “The result is the same…”

 

[thehangingtree]

Heather pauses for a moment. The noose hangs from the crossbeam overhead. Until now, being hanged was an obscure reality to her. She stares at the thick rope the noose is fashioned with.



Behind her, Tree deadpans “No one else is using it today.”

Heather whimpers “This is not right.”

Tree says “Can’t say it is, but there is a crowd waiting to see try it.”



Tree pushes Heather towards the noose. The hangman gathers her hair to clear her neck. She looks at the noose, its base hanging about at the level of her nipples. Heather says “That’s not much of a drop.”



“You are being hanged to death. I would want to end it too quick by breaking your neck” he says.

He carefully pulls the noose over Heather’s head. She think ‘My hairdresser isn’t that careful.’



Deputy Bull steadies her as the hangman tightens the loop. Heather does all she can to keep from peeing. Tree reminds the hangman “Not too tight. We don’t want to choke her before she’s hanged."



Heather stands naked, bound, and noosed on the trapdoor of the gallows. Tree’s remark about not choking her before they hang her did nothing to ease the knot on her stomach. She would will be hanged but she has no idea what those minutes hanging by her neck will feel like. In a perverse way, she wishes they would pull the lever and get this obscenity done. But Heather’s wish is premature. There is more to her ordeal before they hang her.

In his most pompous gown, Archbishop Wragg from the Cruxton Abbey glides across the gallows platform. Looking sacred and solemn he eyes over Heather’s naked body. In his mind he thinks he should have screwed Heather instead of Rachel Murdoch who was hanged earlier for ‘attempting’ to seduce him but besides breaking his vow of chastity, the archbishop never paid to fuck a woman. Why bother to pay for a fuck when you can make it part of her penance for her confession?

With a stern voice he says “Heather, you have murdered one of you brothers and have been sentenced to hang by your neck until you are dead.”



Heather takes a deep breath- one of her last- as the archbishop pauses. He completes his thought. “In a few minutes you will be dead. I pray in your afterlife you burn in hell as Satan’s personal sex whore.”

Heather manages to say “Fuck you very much, archbishop. I’ll see you there when you kick the bucket!”

The Archbishop politely wishes Heather an eternity in hell and hopes it takes her a long time to die when she is hanged. He saunters off and is replaced by Mrs. Longdrop, the county recorder.

Mrs. Longdrop opens the scroll she carries and begins to read from it. “Heather Malone, you have been accused of murdering Mr. Hardpecker Freightmaster, the benevolent man who was going to bring the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad to our town.”

“Benevolent man? He was a filthy rapist” Heather calls out in an agitated voice.

“I have no experience in your line of ‘work’” Mrs. Longdrop angrily says “but I am certain a woman who is of the oldest profession cannot be raped! Miss Malone, you have been tried by a jury of your peers and…”

“They were horny old men that just wanted to see me hanged” Heather yells.

Heather has a point. They were a batch of dirty old men who really did want to see her dangle naked from a noose.



In modern times, her case would have been thrown out of court and the prosecutor fired but that is not how ‘justice’ was done back then.

Mrs. Longdrop continues “and you were found guilty of murdering Mr. Freightmaster. You were sentenced to death and now stand on the Tight Rope gallows to be hanged by you neck until you are dead.”

A loud cheer comes from the crowd below.

“And, Miss Malone, in case you did not know, the railroad has decided to change the route and go through Fayetteville instead of Tight Rope.”

Jeers come from the crowd along with more than a few demands to ‘Hang the bitch’.

Mrs. Longdrop continues to read from the scroll only louder and more forcefully.



“Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Heather Malone will now be hanged by her neck until she is dead.”

Heather does not feel the trickle of her pee run down her thighs.

“And I and the citizens of the great state of Arkansas pray you wish your death will take an ungodly amount of time to take your life as you hang by your neck!”

A loud applause fills the square. Heather looks about. The coarse surface of the rope chaffs her neck as the knot presses against her skin.



She whispers “They can’t do this to me!”

Next to her the hangman grabs the lever…



…and gives it a sharp pull…