This story is a response to a challenge issued on another board, wondering what would have happened in the episode The River Monarch if Nick hadn't arrived at the mine to find the gold and the government came after the Barkleys to pay back the missing million.

I have set the events from the episode in about February 1877, around six months after Heath arrives at the ranch.

Oh, and Eugene does not exist.

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April 21, 1877

Jarrod rode slowly toward the ranch, the incident when he disembarked the train from Sacramento playing over in his mind.

"It'll have to be cash," Jenkins told him when he went to the livery to borrow a horse for the ride home, "can't take your credit no more. Sorry, Mr. Barkley."

There had been no way to prove Tom Barkley's innocence in the River Monarch affair. With the family founder's abysmal bookkeeping, combined with the presumed death of Cyrus De Land, the man in charge of running the Barkley shipping line, and Jock McLean, Nick's former commander and investigator for the government, in a mine collapse mere hours after Jock telegraphed Washington about his belief Tom Barkley was involved with the ship's sinking, there was no evidence that anyone else had a hand in the gold's theft.

The court's decision to require repayment of the missing one million in gold from Tom Barkley's estate was covered by all the papers the moment it was handed down. And during the ten-day trip back to Stockton from Washington, Jarrod had ample opportunity to read what the fifth estate across the country had to say about it. But until he arrived, the attorney had no idea what the reaction in his hometown would be. The hosteller's comment, combined with averted eyes from people he thought he was on good terms with only served to fuel Jarrod's worst fears.

He arrived at the ranch, relieved to see the familiar white pillars of the house he called home.

"Jarrod!" Victoria exclaimed when he walked through the door. "Oh, Jarrod, darling, it's so good to have you back."

Jarrod leaned over to give his mother a quick kiss on the cheek. "And it's good to be back, lovely lady. I wish it was a more triumphant homecoming, however."

"Oh, nonsense." As Victoria took his hand and led him to the parlour, Jarrod saw behind her cavalier façade to the underlying worry she hid so well. "How was Washington?"

Jarrod sat beside his mother on the settee. "Dreary, dull and lonely," he admitted, "I should have agreed to let Nick come along. He certainly would have livened things up." He was gratified to see a brief smile flit across her face and didn't look forward to the next question he needed to ask. "And how have things been here?" Accustomed as he was to reading people's faces, Jarrod couldn't miss the pain and unease in Victoria's eyes.

"We're managing," was all she said, "but we can discuss that when everybody's home. I'm sure you'd like the opportunity to change before dinner after such a long trip."

Jarrod patted her hand. "You're right, as always, Mother." After all, any fallout from the River Monarch disaster affected the whole family and they needed to deal with it together.

Talk over the dinner table was casual, no one discussing anything more serious than who took whom to the last social and what the weather was like while Jarrod was on the east coast. But the dark haired lawyer noticed not much was being eaten, even Nick was just pushing his food around on his plate. And when Silas came in with the offer of dessert, it was unanimously declined.

"Well, who wants to start?" Jarrod asked, pouring himself a scotch after handing drinks to each of his family members when they withdrew to the library.

"Jarrod, I think we'd like to hear in your own words what happened in Washington," Victoria told him. "The only information we've had is your wire and what's been written in the papers."

"If you can call that pack of lies 'information'," Nick snarled from his position at the fireplace beside Heath. "Jarrod, you should read what Doolin's been publishing. If it's not outright slander, it's pretty darn close."

Jarrod took a seat in the leather armchair. "Nick, you know as well as I do Peter Doolin's too smart to publish anything that could lead to a libel suit."

"Just tell us exactly what happened, Jarrod," Heath requested.

Jarrod took a deep breath. "Well, I guess I'll start with the good news, the part I've noticed the papers aren't covering. The government lost the appeal to seize any assets Father and his estate acquired after the riverboat sunk. There just wasn't enough evidence to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Father took the money, even with the telegram Jock McLean sent saying Father was guilty of sinking the River Monarch."

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief and everyone's posture lost some of its rigidity.

"But," Jarrod went on, "the part that was reported is true. We lost our appeal as well and we have thirty days to pay back the million dollars. With interest."

"But how can that be?" Audra protested. "If Father didn't take the money…"

The attorney just shook his head. "Even though they can't prove Father took it, we can't prove he didn't. And since the gold went missing while in the care of the Barkley shipping line, the court determined that Father's estate was still liable."

"But what about Melanie's statement?" Nick demanded. Melanie De Land knew about her father's involvement with Confederate sympathizers, the Knights of the Golden Circle, and knew they were responsible for the theft. "Why didn't they believe her?"

"It's not that they didn't believe her, Nick," Jarrod said, tired and discouraged from the weeks of legal wrangling and the long cross-country journey. "Her statement was labeled hearsay and wasn't admissible in court."

Everyone was silent for a few minutes to come to terms with the reversal in the Barkley family fortune.

"Can we pay it back, Jarrod?" Heath said finally, asking the question that was surely on everyone's mind.

Jarrod nodded wearily. "I did some calculations on the trip home. If we liquidate all our assets, mining, shipping, lumber, everything, plus some of the land and stock, we should be able to pay it back without having to sell off the entire ranch."

Audra's hand flew to her mouth in disbelief. "But surely all that's worth more than one million dollars," she objected.

"Yeah, well, that's assuming all the vultures out there give us market value," Nick told her bluntly after draining his glass. He walked over to the side table and refilled it. "Word's gotten out and we'll be lucky if we get fifty cents on the dollar." He looked over at Jarrod, who nodded confirmation.

"We'll get by," Victoria told her children with a determined smile, "after all, your father built all this from nothing. We had only a few hundred acres to our name when Jarrod was born." She spared a glance for Heath, whom they all knew grew up with even less. "Our strength is in our family, not our money." She got to her feet and walked over to her eldest son, placing a hand on his cheek. "You look exhausted, Jarrod. Why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep? We can just as easily figure everything out in the morning."

It was only after everyone retired for the night that Jarrod realized he didn't get a chance to ask about the unsettling episode in town and his mother's vague attempt to assure him that everything was fine.