Chapter Three

Heath again sat in the Widow Patterson's kitchen, only this time he was listening to her almost five year old daughter chatting with his Uncle Jim. He'd been around his share of children, but Sarah took the cake. She was asking Jim all sorts of questions, enough to drive a man crazy. Still, Jim smiled and answered patiently. It was easy to see how much he adored his "granddaughter". Heath, himself, kept silent as he the group ate…speaking only when he needed to which meant he spoke very little.

"It was a good breakfast Callie." Jim, who always enjoyed eating at his 'daughter's' place, stood up and set his utensils down. "Thank you."

"You're not going, grandpa, are you?" Sarah asked before her mother could say a word.

Jim was flattered that the child wanted him to stay; however, he also knew he and Heath needed to get to the ranch. He knelt down beside Sarah's chair and laid his hand upon her shoulder. "I'll come back the first chance I get; I promise."

"Now, let your 'grandpa' leave, child." Callie spoke in a loving, but firm voice as Sarah threw her arms around Jim and hugged him. She didn't want him to leave only she knew her mother was right. Besides, her Grandpa Jim never lied to her.

"Okay," Sarah said as she let go of Jim and slid off her chair. Seconds later she was in her room playing with the doll her mother had made for her. Jim went back to eating his food.

While Callie had never had cause to meet Heath before, she-like everyone else in town-knew the story of his brother's disappearance. When Nick had first disappeared, she had only paid a little bit of attention as she honestly didn't know a thing. However, lately, she'd heard a few things that made her wonder if she did indeed know something about what had happened to Heath's missing brother. That is, if what she heard was true. She'd almost said something the night before, only all she had were rumors, nothing concrete. However, when Jim announced it was time for them to leave, she finally decided it couldn't hurt to say something. After all, Heath and Jim could always verify what she would say to be true or false, whichever the case was. This being the case, Heath and Jim were both shocked beyond measure when Callie sat up straight and said, "I might know someone who might be able to help find your missing nephew, Jim. Well, that or give the two of you some answers."

"What?" Jim and Heath both exclaimed; their surprise clearly visible as they looked at Callie, who was folding her napkin again and again.

"My brother," Callie slowly answered. "He busted his leg while up in the hills cutting wood with a friend. When his friend brought Paul back to the doctor's office, I heard them talking. I didn't hear everything, so I might be totally wrong, only I think those two have their suspicions concerning the disappearances of a few men over the past fifteen years."

"Others have disappeared?" Heath's eyes widened. This was a fact that he had not been aware of and he looked at Jim.

"A few… scattered over a period of time. Never enough to make anyone suspicious though." Jim admitted as he nodded in the affirmative. "To be honest, I've been looking for Nick when I could. I would have said something," Jim held up his hand when Heath looked as if he was about to interrupt, "but I kept my mouth shut for the exact same reason you and Jarrod have kept yours shut." His eyes dared Heath to deny what he, Jim, had already figured out.

Heath couldn't help but smile. It felt good to know that his thoughts from the previous night were right; Jim was in his and Jarrod's corner. "Mother would not approve of what any of us have been doing. She grieved something fierce for Nick, but now, she would definitely disapprove at what she'd see as holding onto something that can't be changed."

Jim agreed and then looked at Callie, "We'll talk to him. Thanks," Jim pushed his chair away from the table, having finished his meal. "Now, if you don't mind, we need to get back to town. It looks like we have more than a horse to pick up."

"Bye, ma'am." Heath nodded and gave her a crooked smile as he turned to follow Jim, who was walking out of the kitchen. "Thanks for the food and the information."

"Name's Callie, not ma'am, come back soon, okay?" Callie said as she returned his smile with one of her own. A few minutes later, Jim and Heath were heading back to town to get Charger.

~oOo~

Paul, Cassie's black haired brother who wore his long hair in a ponytail, sat on the porch of his home, which sat two miles from his sister's house. Jim and Heath had ridden up to his home not five minute ago and were now sitting on his porch, in chairs Paul's wife, Carolina, had brought out. He was only half surprised to learn why Jim and Heath had shown up at this place. When asked, Paul confirmed what his sister had said. "There's a mine that sets up in those hills, along with a lumber mill." Paul said as he readjusted his sitting position and his leg which rested on a stool in front of his chair. "The Johnson family owns them and a few of their relatives, along with some friends from a hill community up there, work for them."

"What has that got to do with the disappearances over the years, including Nick's?" Jim, who was fully aware of the mountain community to which Paul was referring to, asked.

"Maybe nothing," Paul shrugged his shoulders and then said in a questioning tone of voice, "How can they bring in the amount of silver- and logs from the lumber enterprise- they do if only a few members of the family and some friends are working the two places?" It was a fact that he had to admit had bothered him for some time.

Jim shook his head. "I admit you have a valid question. Only more than one of us, talking about people here in Abbottsville, have been up that way…including the law and myself. The Johnsons have never tried to stop anyone from looking around, and in, their mines. Also, the other people up there have never stopped us from coming and going as we please."

"I know only," Paul took a deep breath and surprised Heath and Jim when he admitted that his friend and he looked at his broken leg as a blessing. "Call me what you want, but I can tell you, someone was watching us. We couldn't see them, only we knew they were there."

"You think they were going to grab you?" Heath, who had remained silent, spoke up.

"Maybe," Paul turned up the palm of his hands. "If they are using forced labor as William and I suspect they might be, they might need more 'help'."

It made Heath sick to think that perhaps Paul was right, and Nick had been taken to work with the lumber or in a mine. Nick hated mines; that would be a nightmare for him! Then again, he knew his brother well enough to wonder-if Paul was right-how Nick had been kept up there for three years. Heath looked at Jim. "Do you think you could get me up so I could look around?"

Jim hesitated and then, due to what Paul had just admitted, nodded. "I think so, only we'll need the law with us. If they are forcing men into labor, they'll be less likely to cause us trouble if we have a law officer with us."

Heath, who agreed, didn't argue. However, he did ask his uncle and Paul to tell him all they knew about the lumber business and mine Paul was talking about…along with the people who lived in the hills.

A/N The next couple of chapters will be going back in time to 1877. When the story jumps back to 1880, I make a note of it.