An Eye for an Eye
~oOo~
The sun beat down on Sample's farm as various farmers, ranchers and friends gathered to fight the notorious railroad. Jarrod, Nick and their baby brother Eugene were among the group who had joined forces to fight the men who meant to take the Sample's farm by force. It the tension they all felt wasn't bad enough, both Jarrod and Nick had felt an increased sense of stress when each woke up with the feeling that more than a fight for a farm would take place that day. However, neither brother could tell the other one just what 'it' was.
Jarrod looked around at the men and then at the approaching enemy, at least two dozen men led by the railroad's henchman and the sheriff. How he wished those men would wait until the courthouse opened only that wasn't going to happen. He just knew it. When the opposing side stopped and lined it, it was all Jarrod could do to remain standing as he caught sight of a blond haired man who appeared to be around twenty-four. It was like looking at a picture of Tom Barkley in one of his mother's scrapbooks. "You only heard part of our conversation, son. Drop it, it's between your mother and me." Long forgotten words came rushing back to Jarrod, ones his father had spoken when Jarrod had accidentally heard a part of a discussion between Tom and Victoria, one that had taken place just before Tom was murdered. Since one of the words he'd heard was 'affair', Jarrod wondered for a split second if his father had indeed sired a child from another woman. Of course, he had no time to dwell on the memory or the musings as the sheriff started speaking.
~oOo~
Heath Thomson, a man well known for his skill with a gun; a man who had worked for the railroad ever since he'd returned from the war, had thought nothing about joining the railroad in their fight against the Stockton farmer or his friends. Why should he? It was just another job that put food on his table and clothes on his back. Why should he care who lived and who died on the other side? It was then he saw them; three men standing close together. He might thought nothing of it only, for a split second, he was facing an old man who was trying to tell him to leave things alone and not go for his gun. In that moment, he didn't have to ask which of the men were the Stockton Barkleys, he knew. It wouldn't have mattered only, for a split second, he felt an invisible force and was shocked to hear Tom Barkley saying, in a very subdued sad voice 'It shouldn't be like this'. It shook him to the core, but he had no time to think as the shooting began and instinct took over. He tried killing the Barkley who had talked about the courthouse only have the bullet graze Jarrod's arm instead. It was the first time Heath Thomson had missed the man he was aiming for, and the last shot he ever made as he felt a bullet hit him square in the chest, knocking him out of his saddle.
~oOo~
The fighting was over and their enemy had fled. Jarrod, who knew he should check on men who had fought with him and his brothers, found himself walking towards the blond haired gunman who had fallen thanks to a bullet from Nick's gun. Why Jarrod was doing this, he did not know only he felt an undeniable pull; Nick must have felt it too as he was following Jarrod.
"Do you know…" Nick started to ask as Jarrod rolled the blond haired cowboy onto his back only to catch his breath. Like Jarrod, he saw the undeniable resemblance between the dead gunman and the late Tom Barkley. He swore, turned and walked away; he wasn't going to verbally admit to knowing what his head was telling him.
On the other hand, Jarrod remained where he was and sighed. "He was yours father." Jarrod whispered only to himself. "It should have been different." He then turned away, telling himself he would make sure the brother he never knew at least got a decent burial. It was the least he could do for what could have been.