Chapter 6

Jarrod started yelling as soon as he woke up in the morning. "Sheriff! Sheriff! Come on, Sheriff!"

The cellblock door opened. It was the deputy, not the sheriff. "What's the problem, Barkley?"

"I need to see my lawyer, right away," Jarrod said.

"What, you want me to wake him up, too?"

Jarrod realized he didn't know what time it was. "No, no, of course not. I'm sorry – what time is it?"

"Not even six," the deputy said.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I didn't know, but I need to see my lawyer as soon as possible."

"Whenever he gets here," the deputy said and closed the cellblock door.

"But I – " Jarrod gave up when the cellblock door shut. "I remembered something," he ended up saying quietly to himself, and he began to talk to himself, saying over and over again what it was he remembered so he wouldn't forget again. "I think I broke his nose. I think I broke his nose…."

He was still reciting it when the cellblock door opened, and his breakfast and his mother came in together. He jumped up from the cot.

Victoria was followed by the sheriff and was smiling as she carried the tray in. "The hotel kitchen staff took pity on me and let me cook your breakfast this morning," she said as the sheriff opened Jarrod's cell door.

Jarrod backed up and let his mother put the tray on the cot. "Thank goodness. They don't have a very good cook over there."

"So we found out at breakfast ourselves this morning."

"Is Mark with you?"

"He's at the telegraph office." Victoria noticed Jarrod seemed excited about something, but she didn't say anything until she had backed out of the cell and the sheriff had locked the cell door. "Are you doing all right this morning?"

Jarrod watched the sheriff leave and close the cellblock door before he spoke up. "I remembered something, Mother. I'm not sure, it might be just a dream, but I think I fought back when they grabbed me, and I think I broke the man's nose when they pulled me out of the stage."

"Pulled you out?"

"Yes, I think someone reached in and pulled me out before I was entirely awake, and I think I head butted him and broke his nose. Maybe that's why they knocked me out and left me holding the bag."

"But that means there may not be any other stagecoach robberies like this one."

"True, but it does mean Nick and Heath need to be looking for someone with a broken nose. Maybe, anyway. I'm just not sure if I'm really remembering something or it's a leftover dream. That's why I need to talk to Mark before we talk to anyone else."

Victoria smiled. "But if it is your memory coming back, that's better than not having it back."

"I think so. Maybe more of it will come back. Maybe I can remember what this fellow who hit me looks like, or even one of the others."

"You're sure there were more than one?"

Jarrod realized he had remembered something else. "Yes! I think I saw three – the one who hit me and two more standing in the road behind him. I think. I'm just not sure. But if I am remembering something, it's only a few seconds worth at most. I think this guy who hit me had grabbed me and was pulling me out of the stage, I head butted him, and then he knocked me out. Couldn't have even been five seconds worth of knowing what was going on."

Victoria sighed. "That's better than nothing, Jarrod. I'm going to go find Mark."

Victoria went to the cellblock door and pounded on it. The sheriff opened it, and she was gone in a flash.

Jarrod sat down on the cot and began to eat his breakfast. It was the first time since Modesto that he actually felt like eating.

XXXXXXX

Nick and Heath met the sunrise unhappy. The road was muddy, and whatever tracks there were the night before were gone now. Nick scowled more than Heath did, but that was because Heath was thinking more about what to do now.

"Well, I guess we just follow where the tracks were going last night and move on to Modesto," Heath said out loud and mounted up.

Nick mounted, too. "We oughtta get there before noon. But how are we gonna know who to look for?"

"We know one of the horses was kicking out with its right hind leg. We can go to the livery and see if any horse like that has come into town."

"Things are getting awful thin on us, Heath."

"I know, but the other thing we can do is wire Mark in Clayton and see if he and Jarrod have come up with anything."

Nick looked up at the sky for a moment, then back down. It had stopped raining – the sky was beautiful and blue. But the world did not feel beautiful to Nick. "We don't know when they're gonna put Jarrod on trial, Heath."

"No," Heath said, "but we better assume the worst and get going."

Heath started off, and Nick followed along after him.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod figured it was somebody coming for his breakfast tray when the cellblock door opened; it was Mark and Victoria. Jarrod got up and went straight to the cell door. "Did Mother tell you what I think I remembered?"

Mark nodded. "I'll tell Nick and Heath as soon as I hear from them, but I don't know when that'll be. And I have some news. The judge is in town, and you'll be arraigned this afternoon."

Jarrod felt himself go cold. "They're fast around here. I was hoping we'd have a bit more time."

"I doubt we'll go to trial before Monday, maybe not until Wednesday next week."

It was already Thursday. "How long do you think we can drag the trial out once it starts?"

"Well, we'll think about tactics like that. But there's a lot to think about."

Jarrod didn't like the tone of his lawyer's voice. "What else are you thinking about?"

Mark looked at Victoria, and before he could say anything, Victoria said, "I think Mark has considered the fact that that the legal proceedings moving quickly seems to be keeping the lynch talk down, so the locals have a great deal of incentive to move fast."

Jarrod was shocked for a moment that his mother could talk so straightforwardly about the chance he'd be lynched, but then, looking at her eyes, he realized he should not be surprised. She had been one tough woman all her life, faced mobs and armed men and every manner of despicable human being with barely a flinch. He smiled and sighed. "Well, maybe once I get to trial they'll see they have nothing and they'll let me go."

"Have you remembered anything else about the robbery, Jarrod?" Mark asked.

"I don't think there's much more to remember. I couldn't have been awake more than a few seconds before I was hit on the head."

"At least we can show you tried to resist the robbers and save the people who were shot. That ought to weigh something with the jury," Victoria said.

Mark said, "You know something like that can be the difference between guilty and innocent, Jarrod. Don't give up yet. Even if Nick and Heath don't find the men behind this, we still have ammunition in the arsenal."

Jarrod nodded. "Of course, you're right. Breakfast was delicious, by the way, Mother."

Victoria smiled again. "The kitchen staff is being very kind to me, so maybe you'll at least eat better while you're in here."

Jarrod smiled to her. "Thank you, Mother."

"I want to get back to work," Mark said and headed for the cellblock door. "I'll check with the telegraph office as often as I can to see if there's anything from Nick and Heath, and I'll be back at one. That's when they'll take you over to court for the arraignment."

Jarrod nodded. "I'll be ready."

"I don't have to tell you how to conduct yourself, I'm sure."

Jarrod shook his head. "I've had a lot of practice."

Victoria followed Mark, saying, "I want to help Mark all I can. I'll bring you lunch at about noon, darling."

Jarrod smiled. "I'll look forward to it."