Man of Honor

*I got this story idea after watching the episode "The Prize" in which Heath comes to the aide of a dying woman. After he dies he takes her son with him while a greedy, self centered US Marshall stays behind and waits for her husband, Ben Rawlins. If you wish to watch the episode again, it should be on You Tube.

Chapter One

Heath, who had been visiting friends in Modesto, felt as if he was covered in ten inches of California dirt and been trampled by a thousand head of cattle by the time he rode into Manteca. Seeing how the sun was just beginning to set, he figured he best see if the livery stable had room for Charger for one night, and then head straight to the new boarding house in town. Heath just hoped they had a room. He'd get a bath, something to eat, a good night sleep and then head for home. It wasn't long before he stood inside the boarding house's living room watching as a brown haired, brown eyed young woman dressed in a long black skirt and white lacey blouse descended a short flight of stairs.

The young woman stopped a few feet away from him. One look at the blonde haired cowboy before her and she pretty much knew what he'd be asking for first. Still, she wasn't going to be so rude as to start the conversation out saying to the affect of 'the bathtub is in the back room'. "May I ask yer name and if I can help you, sir?" she smiled politely as she asked the question.

Heath smiled back fully aware of what the young woman must be thinking. "Name's Heath Barkley, I needed a room for the night, though I was hoping there'd be a bath and a bit of supper available also." He answered as he looked around the room and up towards the top of the stairs and the hallway that connected to it. He could see a couple of doors on the main floor and a number lining the upper wall.

"Well, Mr. Barkley, I'll get a key ta one of the rooms." She turned around, but not before pointing to a door off to his left. "If you open that door, it leads into the kitchen. On the far side of the dining room is another door. It leads to the bathroom. There's towels on the shelf inside. You can use whichever one ya want. Just leave it in the hamper when yer done."

"Yes, ma'am," Heath nodded and headed for the door, though he hid a grin when he heard the young woman tell him her name was Rebecca Wilson not ma'am. It wasn't long before he was soaking in the tub; it made him glad the boarding house had water piped into the house. He'd spent many nights in places that didn't and he sure didn't feel like dealing with that hassle tonight.

While Heath took his bath, Rebecca, who had found a room key for him, went up and turned down his bed, and then went to fix the gentleman a bite to eat. Just as she was finishing cooking, Heath opened the bathroom door and stepped out. He took a deep breath and smiled. "Smells good," Heath said as he sat down at the table, "Thanks." He added as Rebecca put a plate of food on the table in front of him.

"No problem…" she started to say as they heard the front door open again. She turned away and went to see who it was. It wasn't long before Heath heard raised voices. When Rebecca started yelling, Heath jumped onto his feet and ran into the rom. He was shocked to see a US Deputy Marshall; the same one that he had seen track Ben Rawlins down for a bounty. He lost out on it when the outlaw forced Heath to kill him. The ruthless Marshall was shaking Rebecca by the shoulders, though he immediately let go upon seeing Heath.

"What's going on here?" Heath took a step towards Rebecca. Somehow, he wasn't surprised when the law officer scowled, "Stay out of this, Mr. Barkley! She knows what I want and I'm not leaving until she tells me where he's hiding. For that matter, he might even be hiding out here!" He threw an accusatory look Rebecca's way.

Rebecca spat back at him worse than a wet hen would, "And I told you to get it through your thick, greedy skull that he's not here; he's dead! And," she threw more chilling words towards the lawman, "If you think I'm going to tell you where he's resting, just so you can dig him up and take him in for some reward!" she said the words not putting it past the Marshall to do such a thing, "You're crazy!"

Heath had no idea what was going on or who they were talking about, but he knew he didn't feel like being under the same roof as Mr. Weaver and, somehow feeling the young woman had not lied to him said, "Why not look around for yourself and then just leave."

"I'll do just that." Mr. Weaver stood as straight as he could and started looking.

Rebecca shook her head and looked at Heath. "While he wastes his time, you can still eat." She gestured towards the door that led to the dining room. Heath took a look at Mr. Weaver who was disappearing into one of the vacant rooms and then followed Rebecca into the dining room.

"Who's he looking for?" Heath asked as he sat back down at the table.

Rebecca sat down look both disgusted and tired. For a moment she didn't answer. When she did, Heath couldn't have been more shocked at the words she spoke, mostly because the young woman didn't look a day over eighteen. "My late husband," she answered as she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before opening them back up and looking at Heath. "Hank was accused of being involved in a bank robbery and a murder when we lived in a small town in near the California border last year, along with a bank robbery in Colorado." She shook her head and continued, "I can honestly say he was innocent, because he was with me during both incidents only..." her eyes hardened and pure distain, "the law thinks I'm lying because we had no witnesses to back us up. Since the men accusing him as being guilty were so insistent that he was the one, we traveled for awhile. We thought of looking for someone who could pass as his twin…" she stopped speaking as she fought the tears that wanted to come. Just as Heath was about to tell her she didn't have to finish, Rebecca started talking again. "I have no proof of what I'm about to say, Mr. Barkley, only I swear, I'm not lying. My husband and I did see a man who could have passed for his twin outside a saloon in Carson City talking to a couple rough looking men. Hank thought it unwise to confront the man right then and there. He wanted to get a sheriff and then take action, only the sheriff was out of town; we couldn't locate the deputy. We decided to camp outside the city limits and go to the law in the morning, but…." Her eyes began to tear up once again.

"He was killed before such a thing could be done." Heath finished her sentence for her.

She nodded. "I went to get some water. I heard some shots. I ran back and found him dead inside the tent we had pitched three miles out of town. I would have had no choice but to bury him there, but a couple who was passing by stopped. Since I had already changed his shirt and cleaned up the area by the time they appeared, there was nothing to tell them he'd been shot. Maybe it was wrong," she looked at Heath, her eyes begging him to understand, "but I didn't want him buried there. I didn't want anyone to disturb him thinking he was the other fellow, so I just told them he'd died in his sleep and begged them to help me to get him back here to California to bury him. And," she stood up her voice growing firm, "Don't ask me to tell you where's he's buried. I'm not giving that information anyone."

Since he couldn't see any reason to press her for such information at the moment, Heath didn't. "So, apparently, Weaver must have sighted this other fellow in his travels and has assumed he's your husband going by another name." Heath said as he took another bite of his food.

"It's all I can figure. Somehow, Weaver learned I was living here and has been hounding me off and on ever since." She again grew angry. "I tried to tell him about the other man and get him to leave me alone, but he thinks I'm just making it up! He won't let it go!"

Somehow that didn't surprise Heath. From what he had seen before, Heath figured Mr. Weaver had tunnel vision when it came to anyone who was wanted and carried a big enough price on his head. Ben Rawlins orphaned baby, proved that. Weaver had followed Heath after he buried the child's mother and had taken the baby to the safety of his ranch. Weaver waited until Rawlins's confronted the Barkley's about his dead wife and the future of his only living child. Yes; Weaver was ruthless and didn't care who got caught in the cross fire between him and whoever he was after.

Heath was brought out of his thoughts and sent into shock as Rebecca added, "The moment my cousin arrives tomorrow morning to take over the boarding house, I'm going to go in search of that man again! It's the only way I'll ever clear Hank's name!"

The wheels in Heath's mind started turning. The young woman was far too young to go after a hardened criminal, and he wasn't a bounty hunter. Still, there had to be a way to help her.