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What happened?

The actual events of the story take place in Part I and the last paragraph of Part III. Everything in between is either exposition (Part II) explaining how Peyton got into such trouble or his hallucinations seconds before he is hanged (all of Part III except for the final paragraph). What happens in the story is what would have happened in real life. When the sergeant steps off the wooden plank that holds Peyton up, Peyton's body falls through the open floor of the bridge. When his body hits the end of the rope, his neck breaks and he dies:

Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge.

You can go to the enotes site below for a more detailed summary of the story.

http://www.enotes.com/occurrence-owl/summary