The Hanging Tree

by Serena Mossgraves

     Though I have never understood the fascination with death, the stories of the executions sell papers. Journalistic standards require us to write the truth, though I fair doubt any will believe the tale I will be writing today that was not there to witness in person. I wonder if I shouldn’t just give up the fight and sell the tale to the penny dreadfuls and be done with it. It might end up there anyway.

     I have dutifully witnessed nearly a hundred hangings at the old tree in the town square, all with a sour stomach. I have recorded each scene down to the last detail, including the final words of the condemned. It has begun to feel like I was Charon ferrying the lost souls to their final destination.

     Normally I am not as free with my prose in the description. This one was different. It hit harder.

     Firstly, It was the first woman I had seen meet the noose. Secondly, the weather was odd. If I didn’t know any better I would have claimed that the sky mourned her death afore she had the chance to die. And lastly, She wore the habit of a nun. Everything about this felt wrong.

     The whole week has seemed off. The nun had come to town alone. That was strange enough. She set herself up at the local church to help those who needed her. I am still struggling to understand why she ended up hanging from the noose. The day she arrived in town we had another execution. A killer, He deserved to hang…there was no doubt in anyone’s mind.  The nun insisted that the man at least deserved his last rights. There had not been a proper priest in town for a while, as the last fellow had died of cholera. The magistrate did not seem to know how to deal with such a pushy nun. Women were not allowed to be acting as clergy. At least that is what the whispers around town said.

      Now, don’t misread me here. She did not immediately end up at the noose’s end. Still, her behavior did not put her on the town’s good side. She seemed to have herself opinions, and they were not suitable for a lady…much less a woman of the lord. I believe  she irritated the magistrate the most, though only the devil knows why. She was obviously brash and opinionated. She would feed the negros and the good fer naughts. She crafted potions that she claimed would heal the sick. Though I must be plain that I had not tried them.

      In another place and time this woman might have been celebrated. This was not such a place nor time.  El Paso is barely civilized. Our tiny little town was even worse. The west is still wild, the year of our lord Eighteen ninety five is an innovative time about many a thing…but I believe she was just too much. I am frankly surprised she was not burnt as a witch. I am still unsure if she was a true lady of the Lord or a witch sent from Hell itself. I believe she was a test either way and I am not sure if we passed.

     The nun and the magistrate continued to come to terms several more times during the week after she arrived. She was arrested for causing a disturbance of the peace. That has ne’er been a hanging offense afore. Yet, the notice of execution went up immediately after she was detained.

      I, as the town journalist, tried to interview the magistrate as to the reasons why he was having her hung. He refused to answer my questions. I was also not allowed to visit her to ask any questions of her. I have often been to the capital to argue for laws about executions. I firmly believe that there should be more involved than just a Magistrate’s ruling and the noose. I have yet to be successful there. I am usually told that there is more involved… but that has not changed the way this town works. I don’t know of anyone else being hung for being a disturbance of the peace.

     The wind was strong that day as they led her to the hanging tree. It might have been imagination running wild, but I could have sworn I heard crying in the wind. I swear it should have been called off then and there. The wind was nearly pulling people up and carrying them off, and the clouds were darkening the sky as if night had fallen. The rain had started a slow drizzle coating the entire area in a cold wetness. The dark wetness of the hanging tree nearly looked like it was covered in an unearthly blood seeping straight up from Hell. The crowd that always gathered for these things was uneasy and filled with discontent. A smart man would have cancelled the execution. Our magistrate has never been accused of being smart.

     As they walked her to the tree, she was muttering prayers. She walked straight, with her head high. Most cannot face the noose as they approach the tree and watch their feet as they walk. Not her. She walked straight, watching the noose, rattling prayers beneath her breath. I am firmly believing that the way she faced her death was unnerving to the people gathered. It was not long before half the crowd joined her in prayer. Normally I say that the one place I have never seen God is at an execution… That might have changed after hers.

     The magistrate forced her to remove the wimple before approaching the noose. He was none too gentle in placing the rope about her neck. Eerily her long hair seemed to reach for the tree.

     As tradition demanded he asked if she had any final words. “All are equal in the eyes of the father. what is done to one… shall be given to all.”

      As soon as she said that last word he kicked the lever to drop the door from beneath her. The crack of her neck rattled, echoing around the town square. Imagination starts running wild at times like that. Yet, I swear I heard her say she was coming home. I realize it was impossible as with a broken neck she was dead.

Still, I think I’ll not be going to any more executions. I plan to move as I want to be anywhere that the hanging tree is not.

*This one is going to be added to before I publish it. it is done except the feedback has given me ideas for adding to it*