Chapter 3
The trip to Placerville should have taken about 80 miles or about three days one way, but Nick was sorely tempted to get there via Sacramento so he could put them both onto a train and get there faster. It was late on the first day that he'd have to decide to take one road or the other. He paused at the crossroads and looked in both directions – Sacramento straight ahead, Placerville angling to the right.
"Why are we stopping?" Marks asked. "Take the right to go to Placerville. That's the way I came down to Stockton. It's not a bad road, climbs a bit of course, and we're gonna run into snow. You can see it off to the east there, can't ya? Can't tell how deep it is, but it is February after all…."
"Marks, if you don't shut up, I'm gonna gag you!" Nick finally yelled.
"You can't gag me. You can mistreat a prisoner like that."
"And who's around to call me on it?" Nick said before Marks could start up again.
Marks fell quiet, but only as long as it took Nick to decide and start up the road to Placerville. Yes, it did look like snow ahead, but that would tie up the trains, and the last thing Nick wanted was to be stuck with Marks in Sacramento for days on end.
Marks started up again before they were half a mile up the Placerville road. "I came down here around Christmas time. Wasn't but maybe a foot of snow, which ain't a lot. Horse had no trouble with it. Might be up to two or three feet by now and maybe the road is packed down more than that…"
Nick let the lead to Marks's horse out again so that he could get a little out of earshot. He wanted to make a few more miles before stopping for the night. He just couldn't handle the idea of not making it to Placerville by the next day, even if it was midnight when they got there. He couldn't take much more of Marks.
But then it began to snow. It was light at first, didn't even affect visibility much, but it was laying down fast. Soon the ground was so white that the darkness almost looked like day.
And one other thing was obvious – if they were going to stop for the night, they'd need some shelter someplace. Trouble was, nothing looked promising, not even a decent outcropping of rock. Marks was still babbling on about one thing or another, but the snow began to muffle his voice. They kept on going. Nick kept looking for shelter and not seeing it. Soon the visibility began to get tough.
I gotta do something soon or we're gonna be a in world of hurt, Nick thought.
Another half mile up the road, Nick saw a light off to the left. He hated the thought of inflicting Marks on any other human being, but he was getting desperate for shelter. Maybe it was a farmer who would at least let them bunk in the barn. Nick took a guess as where the lane to that house would be and headed up in that direction.
"Where you going now?" Marks yelled. "This ain't the road! You're gonna get us lost!"
"I'm gonna get us shelter!" Nick yelled back. "And you'd better keep your mouth shut because if you keep rattling on like that nobody will take us in for the night, so SHUT UP!"
Marks quieted down. He was so quiet that Nick didn't hear a thing out of him, not a peep all the way to the house where the light came from. It was a farm or a ranch. There was a barn. That would do them fine for the night.
Nick hitched his horse to a hitching rail in front of the house and silently hoped that Marks would try to make a break for it while he went up to the door. Marks just sat there, but at least it was in silence. Nick knocked on the door.
A woman opened it. She was awfully young, plain looking but beautiful to Nick on a night like this. He took his hat off. "Pardon me, ma'am. My name is Nick Barkley. I'm a deputy from Stockton and I'm taking a prisoner to Placerville. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind putting us up in your barn for the night. We're pretty desperate for shelter."
The woman looked beyond Nick and saw Marks as just a hunched dark blob on horseback, but she looked at Nick's badge and believed him. "You're welcome to put your horses in the barn and come inside here. The barn gets drafty and doesn't always keep all the snow out."
"Oh, I don't want to trouble you, ma'am."
"It's no trouble. You won't find any other shelter for many miles. Stable your horses, see to whatever other needs you have out here, and bring your prisoner on inside. I have coffee on and I'll get you some food together."
Nick smiled an exhausted smile. "Ma'am, you are an angel."
She smiled. "Just come on in when you're ready. No need to knock."
Nick nodded and went back to the horses. He unhitched his and led it and Marks toward the barn, saying to his prisoner, "We've got a roof for the night. I want you to keep your mouth to yourself, you got me?"
"Sure, right," was all Marks said.
Nick led the animals into the barn, where Marks dismounted. There were two other horses already stabled there, but two stalls were empty. Nick ordered Marks to unsaddle his horse, and Marks did so, even though it was awkward with his hands handcuffed. Then he gave Marks a brush to brush the horse down with, and Nick did the same for his horse. There was hay and even grain in the barn, and Nick made sure the horses were fed. The pump outside would not work, so Nick gathered up every bucket he could find and filled them with snow, which he put within reach of their horses. That was going to have to do for now.
It took a good half hour or so before Nick led Marks into the house. As requested, he did not knock, but he and Marks stamped the snow off their feet and the woman inside knew they were coming. They went into the small house – a kitchen area just off a living and dining area, and a couple bedrooms off to the side. There was a fireplace with a warm fire going, and Marks immediately sat down on the floor in front of it.
"This is more like it," Marks said. "Nice, warm fire on a cold snowy night. Reminds me of when I was growing up in Kansas –"
Nick threw a glare at him, and Marks quieted down.
Nick went to the kitchen are where the woman was heating some food on the stove. It smelled like rabbit stew, and it sure smelled good. "I can't thank you enough for taking us in."
"It's no problem," the woman smiled. "My name is Nancy Tyler, Mr. Barkley. What is your prisoner's name?"
"Jed Marks," Nick said. "I have to warn you – he talks a lot."
"Oh? He seems all right to me."
"I threatened to gag him," Nick admitted.
Nancy Tyler laughed. "Well, I hope you don't have to do that in here. With any luck, you two are so tired that after a full belly you'll just doze off. Sorry I don't have any indoor facilities – the outhouse is out the back when you need it."
"Forgive me," Nick said, looking around, "but are you all by yourself out here?"
"Temporarily," she said. "My father lives with me, but he took very sick and they put him in the hospital in Sacramento. He's better off there for now. Why don't you have a seat at the table there and I'll bring you a plate and some coffee?"
Nick did as he was told, telling Marks to do the same, and in a few moments they had some of that great smelling rabbit stew and a hot cup of coffee in front of them.
"Oh, my goodness, ma'am," Marks said, "this is wonderful. And I'm not just saying that because I'm in from the cold. This is just the first good food I've had all day, and it's just wonderful."
"All right," Nick said. And then to Nancy he said, "He's right. This is marvelous. Thank you very much."
"I have a couple pieces of apple pie left," she said. "Had to use dried apples this time of year, but it still turned out pretty good."
"Oh, ma'am, I would just die and go to heaven with some of that pie in me," Marks said.
Nick threw him a look. He intended to keep doing that every time he thought he had to.
Nancy sat down at the table with them. "Mr. Barkley, are you one of that prominent family down there in Stockton?" she asked.
Nick nodded and swallowed his food. "I run the ranch down there with my brother Heath. My brother Jarrod is the lawyer – you probably heard more about him, he makes the papers so often."
"Yes, I have," Nancy said. "I didn't realize a Barkley would be a deputy, though."
"It's just for transporting Marks here," Nick said. "I'm doing a favor for our sheriff."
"It's a pretty big favor, to come up this way this time of year. I don't think this will be a big snow, but you never can tell this time of year."
"Well, I'm not planning for us to impose more than this one night," Nick said, and he smiled at her.
She was fairly plain looking, but when she smiled back at him it was such a lovely smile that she turned into a beauty right in front of Nick's eyes. In a way, he wished the snow would get high enough to strand them here for a little while.
"This is just so wonderful I might just cry," Marks said. "My momma was a good cook, too, but this rabbit stew is just about the best I ever had. You ought to be – "
"That's enough," Nick said and gave Nancy a sheepish grin. He remembered why he did not want to be stranded anywhere with Jed Marks.