Slocum's Breakout - Jake Logan [64]
18
Jostled about as he was, Slocum knew he would have a hard time getting a good shot at the warden. Worse, if he missed and only winged the man, he might jerk away and throw the lever, guaranteeing Atencio’s death.
The prisoners all around him were attacking and being attacked by the guards. He pushed forward, desperately hoping that he could reach the gallows before Harriman carried out the death sentence.
Then Slocum heard a high-pitched voice that cut through the din like a knife.
“Stop! Do not kill him!”
Maria rode through the crowd straight for the gallows. It took Slocum a few seconds to realize someone had opened the main gate, giving her the chance to ride in. But she was oblivious to the fight raging all around her and did not realize how enticing it was to an escaping prisoner to ride out on a horse—her horse.
Slocum was torn between helping Maria and saving Atencio from the warden’s easy movement of the lever controlling the trapdoor. He made his decision and fought his way toward the woman.
He clubbed one prisoner trying to pull her from the saddle and kicked another out of her way. The prisoners realized they couldn’t remain inside the walls long or they would be trapped again when Sergeant Wilkinson got his men under control. Right now, the guards fought as individuals and not as a well-disciplined unit. When that changed, they would begin rounding up the prisoners in a methodical fashion, starting with those still inside the walls. Tracking those who had successfully breached the walls would take more time.
Wilkinson would want to hang on to what prisoners he could. The guard sergeant might be many things, but Slocum doubted he was incompetent. San Quentin had been run too efficiently for too long to believe Wilkinson wasn’t capable of clever planning or even outright brutality when it was called for.
“Go to him,” Maria cried when she saw Slocum trying to clear the way for her. “You can stop the warden. I cannot!”
“Yes, you can,” Slocum said. “You caught the warden by surprise. Play on that. Beg him to release Atencio. I’ll be right behind you.”
Slocum followed the woman through the thinning fight. Guards were beginning to gain the upper hand as prisoners realized it was better for them to run than fight.
“Please, I beg you. He is innocent!” Maria sat astride her horse and looked up the few feet to the warden, who simply stared at her as if he had never seen a woman before in his life.
“How’d you get in here?” Harriman finally asked.
The hesitation on his part and her slowness to answer him gave Slocum time to get around to the steps leading to the execution platform. While Maria distracted the warden, Slocum took the steps two at a time to reach the top of the gallows. Only then did the warden realize what was happening.
He tried to throw the lever, but Slocum was already swinging. His meaty fist struck the warden on the cheek and sent him reeling. Slocum quickly followed up with a haymaker that knocked Harriman off the platform. He fell heavily to the ground fifteen feet below. He landed flat on his back. The loud whoosh of breath gusting from his lungs carried over the din of battle throughout the prison yard.
Slocum wasted no time getting the hood off Atencio’s head and then lifting the noose from his neck.
“Gracias . . .” the man started. Slocum didn’t let him get any farther. He slammed his palm against the lever.
Both of them hurtled downward and landed heavily under the gallows floor. Slocum caught the man because his ankles were bound together.
“Let me get you free.”
“Why did you—”
“Wilkinson’s alerted the guards in the towers. They’re going to open fire at any instant.”
The words had barely escaped his lips when the sharp report from a half-dozen rifles filled the prison yard.
Slocum slit the ropes and helped Atencio take a step or two until he got circulation back into his legs.