Chapter Seven

A/N From here on out, I'm going to be writing Tom IF he is not being talked to. If they are speaking, it will be the other name/or nickname he has been using.

After taking care of Jingo, Jarrod followed Heath, who never once thought Jarrod might related to the man he called Father due to the fact Jarrod was actually the spitting image of Victoria's father, into the Thomson home. There they found Tom and Dr. Michael sitting at the kitchen table-which could be seen from the living room, as there was no barrier between the two rooms. The two were playing poker, but stopped when they saw Heath and their visitor enter the house.

"Make yourself at home." Tom gestured to the couch while speaking to Jarrod. "Doc and I are almost done here."

"Only because the old geezer has already lost some money." Dr. Harris Michael joked, naturally Tom made a sarcastic reply and called Dr. Michael's hand. It was then Tom's turn to grin…as the doctor watched Tom collect the winnings. Moments later, Tom was sitting on a chair near the wood stove, Heath was leaning against the back wall while the doctor sat on the couch with Jarrod.

"Doc says you need to talk to me; what may I do for you sir?" Tom looked upon his visitor, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Like I told Heath, my name is Jarrod Barkley." Jarrod wasn't surprised to see his father stiffen-but wondered if it was because the name actually meant something to him or if it was just because he'd been told by others that was the last name of the previous mine owner. He didn't have to wonder long.

"You're related to the last mine owner, the one others have talked about-now and then-through the years?" Tom, like Heath, figured there had to be a connection.

It was all Jarrod could do to answer-as he could see his name had meant nothing to Tom. "He…." Jarrod paused and changed his wording as he couldn't say 'was' with his father sitting in the same room as he. "I'm Tom Barkley's oldest son." He wasn't surprised when Tom's eyebrows went up. Jarrod pulled out the telegram and looked at it. He knew the part about Fred knowing why he went down there would make his father curious. Still, it was the only thing Jarrod could show the Thomsons to show he wasn't lying. He handed the telegram to his father. "Doc here says you have scattered memories of that day. I was hoping you'd share them with me."

Tom read the telegram and frowned slightly. He hadn't been surprised when his sister-in-law had been arrested, but to hear that she was suspected to have a hand in the mine collapsing was more than upsetting. With his thoughts on that subject, he didn't bothering wondering what business Jarrod Barkley was being asked to set aside. He handed the telegram to Heath, who he could tell was curious. He then stretched his legs out and tapped them. "I don't know how the few memories I have of that day could be of any help. Still, can't hurt I guess."

Tom went on to say how he remembered standing in a room, he guessed the office. "I had *a soft cap made of canvas with a leather brim. It had a lamp bracket on it as all mining caps do. Can't tell you what I was doing there, can only guess I was getting my work order for the day…as a fine dressed gentleman was there, just don't ask me to describe him or his name. It's more of a strong feeling that he was there than anything. After that, I remember standing in the mine, can't say what I doing. Again, I can only assume I was work…" Tom voice trailed off as a look of someone who had just saw something that he hadn't seen before appeared in his eyes.

"Father?" Heath stepped away from the wall and took a step towards his father. "What is it? What is wrong?"

Tom stood in the corridor, a pick in his hand, as he turned to his left he caught a glimpse of a shadow-a shadow that was out of place.

"Father?" Heath asked again, his concern growing…as was Jarrod's and the doctor's.

"Someone was in there, someone who wasn't supposed to be. I should know who it was only," Tom growled as he took the telegram back from Heath and reread it. "I don't. All I can tell you is I saw a shadow that I, if I had my memory, could identify. I can also say I could hear other men working and talking. Funny thing about that," Tom ran his hand through his hair, a look of total frustration in his eyes, "I remember being surprised by it. I mean, by the fact the men were working and talking. Don't ask me why either. What else were they supposed to be doing?"

"Have you ever been back to the mine?" Jarrod asked, glancing at his father's legs and the braces they sported. Again, he felt a fire burning inside him.

"No," Tom shook his head, and then handed the message from Fred back to Jarrod. "I never had a reason to go. By the time I was healed up, from what my late wife and others said, all but three of the original miners were gone….either buried in the mine or moved away. The families of the deceased miners couldn't help me…as they too had left the area." He pulled his legs back towards the chair and leaned forward. "My sister-in-law never cared for the men who worked in that mine, just about how much profit she could make. If she had anything to do with that mine collapsing, those men dying, and my living twenty-seven years not knowing who I was before my life as Dustin 'Dusty' Thomson, I want to help bring it to light. Those men in the mine deserve some justice if their deaths could have been prevented."

"Amen!" Both Heath and Dr. Michael agreed at the same time.

"I'll help too. I can talk get to the three men who still live in the area in no time at all." Heath looked at his father.

"Fine." Tom nodded and then sat up straight. "I don't know what you came down here for only, if I may be so bold, please do as this Sheriff Madden asks. We need to know the truth about that cave in…whether it was an accident or not. After that, if you need help with whatever brought you down in here in the first place, we'll give it to you. I mean, Heath and I will."

At the moment Jarrod wanted nothing more to tell his father everything only Tom was right. They needed the truth about the cave in…they didn't need to find their attention elsewhere. "I'll hold you to that." Jarrod smiled wide.