Chapter 7
The house seemed so empty when the family got back to the ranch. It was hard for everyone to believe that in one short night and day, a little boy could become so much a part of the thing they all called "home."
"I miss him," Audra said as soon as they got in the door.
Victoria said, "Don't worry. He's in good hands, and you'll see him all the time."
"You're not fooling me, Mother," Nick said. "You miss him too."
Victoria leveled her gaze at all her children. "If you'd get married and start giving me grandchildren, it would help a lot."
Nick and Heath took their hats and gun belts into the hall, where they hung them up. "Not so easy when you're riding herd most of the time," Heath said, loudly enough for everyone to hear.
They all moved to the living room then, Nick and Heath heading for the refreshment table where they each poured themselves some whiskey. "Wine, Mother?" Nick asked.
"Yes, merlot, please," Victoria said as she and Audra sat down on the settee.
"For me, too," Audra said.
"You sure you're up to it?" Heath asked. "You just had a bad bang on the head."
"I'm fine," Audra said.
Nick brought them each a glass of wine, and then returned for his whiskey. Heath had already sat down in one of the armchairs. And then a sad quiet hung in the air for several moments.
Then Nick said, "I wonder how Ollie came to be abandoned. I wonder what happened to make his family give him up."
"Poverty, probably," Victoria said, recalling her conversation with Sister Theresa. "Too many mouths to feed. One of them had to go. At least they left him where someone would take care of him."
Heath said, "I think you're saying at least they didn't kill him."
Everyone looked up at him, startled.
Heath looked into his whiskey glass. "It happened more often than I like to remember in the mining camps. Families having one or two babies too many, and no orphanages or other homes for them to go to, so they just disappeared. But everybody knew what happened to them."
"That's horrible!" Audra said.
Heath looked at her. "That's the way life is for a whole lot of people. Poor people."
"How can they? How can good Christian people do such a thing?"
"Necessity, Audra," Heath said sadly. "Deciding what God would want you to do – kill one baby, or watch six others starve. When you're poor, God's a different God."
"It's still unforgivable," Victoria said.
"You can't leave a baby to fend for itself," Nick agreed. "Heath's right. Praise God we never had to make that choice, but a lot of people do. I don't know what I'd do in their shoes."
"Well, thank heaven Ollie's parents didn't make that choice," Audra said.
There came a knock on the door, and Nick went to get it. The sheriff stood there. Nick was surprised, but let him in. "What are you doing here, Fred? You must have left town just a heartbeat after we did."
"I want to talk to you," the sheriff said.
"Come on in."
The sheriff left his hat on a table in the foyer. Heath got up from his chair and went to the refreshment table. "Drink, Fred?" he asked.
"No, thanks, Heath," the sheriff said. "I need to talk to you about Ollie."
"He's at the orphanage now," Victoria said.
"Yes, I know, but I thought you'd want to know about something that's come up," the sheriff said. "I got a wire from the sheriff in Sacramento. Turns out Ollie wasn't abandoned. He was stolen."
"Stolen?!" every other voice in the room said.
Sheriff Madden nodded. "A family nobody knew very well had a little boy. Fits Ollie's description perfectly, and his name is Oliver. The sheriff tracked them down, and they say Ollie was stolen."
"That makes no sense," Victoria said. "Why would anyone steal a child from his parents and then send him off to an orphanage?"
"Who knows?" the sheriff said. "Did Ollie say anything to you that might shed any light on this?"
"Not a thing," Victoria said. "Have you talked to him at the orphanage?"
"I plan to do that tomorrow morning, or tonight if there's time after I see Sister Theresa," the sheriff said. "In the meantime, his family – or the people who say they're his family are coming to Stockton. They should be here in a day or two."
"You think there's a chance they're not his family?" Nick asked.
"I don't know what's what," Sheriff Madden said. "This is just a can of worms that's gonna take some sorting out – and you know how messy it can get sorting worms."
Heath said, "We'll help you all we can, Fred."
"Sheriff, you're not just going to turn Ollie over to these people without checking them out, are you?" Audra asked.
"No, I'm not, but I'm asking you a big favor. It might be better if he were somewhere more protected than the orphanage until this is settled. I'd like to recommend to Sister Theresa that Ollie come stay with you again for a while."
Sheriff Madden was surprised to see faint smiles on every face in the room. Victoria said, "We were just talking about how much we miss him. Of course we'll have him here if you and Sister Theresa think it's best, Fred."
The sheriff let out a big breath. "It's getting kind of late to bring him back here tonight. He should be all right until morning. If Sister Theresa agrees, I'll bring him back here then."
"Why don't we go in and get him?" Audra said. "I think it would be far less stressful for him. He knows us. He knows he's safe with us. He might be insecure going off with just you. It might even be better if one of us were with you when you talk to him."
"You and I," Victoria said to Audra. "We'll go."
Audra nodded.
"All right," the sheriff said. "I'll look for you at my office about ten tomorrow morning."
Everyone nodded. "I think we'll go with you, Mother," Nick said. "Just in case."
The sheriff nodded again and smiled. He knew he could count on the Barkleys. Now all he had to do was sort things out with the people who claimed to be the boy's family – and that, he had a deep suspicion, was not going to be pretty.
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The next morning they all came into Stockton together – Victoria and Audra in the buggy, Nick and Heath on horseback. They hitched up outside the sheriff's office and went inside. After they exchanged "good morning"s the sheriff said, "I got a little more information from the sheriff in Sacramento about the people who are claiming to be Ollie's family."
"Are they his family?" Victoria asked.
"That's still up in the air," the sheriff said. "There's several of them – boy's father and the father's two sisters."
"No mother?" Audra asked.
"Apparently not," the sheriff said. "We'll find out more when they get here."
"Well, where are they from?" Audra asked. "How was Ollie stolen from them? Who stole him? Why?"
"Audra, I don't know yet!" the sheriff had to interrupt her. "I'll talk to these people when they get here. In the meantime, let's go talk to Ollie and get him off with you and take care of everything else when the family gets here."
They all went over to the orphanage, but Nick and Heath waited outside while Victoria and Audra went inside. The children were having a brief play period inside while the nuns watched over them. Victoria and Audra spotted Ollie right away, playing with some of the other boys, big smiles and laughter all around.
"He fits right in," Victoria said as Sister Theresa joined them.
"He does," Sister Theresa said, "and I hate to let him go even for a minute. He's such sweet child. But for now, he should be somewhere safer, and I know he loves you and feels safe with you."
As if on cue, Ollie spotted the Barkleys and came running over. Audra took him into her arms, saying, "Hello, Olllie!"
"Hello, Miss Audra!" Ollie said cheerfully. "Did you come to play with us?"
"No, not exactly," Audra said. "Actually, we've come to take you home with us again for a little while."
Ollie looked very confused. "Why?"
Victoria and Audra looked at each other. This was going to be difficult, and strange.