Chapter Seven

Charity sat in the bay window of the room her father's family had given her and her brother to use while they were visiting. The room had a bunk bed and a small dresser. Thomas had slid his feet under the mattress and, hooking his feet under two of the bars that ran from one side of the bed to the other, hung himself upside down. Now he was swinging back and forth. The two were supposed to be taking a nap, but neither was tired.

Charity, who had watched her brother run around most of the day, spoke up out of the blue, keeping her voice quiet as she didn't want to get into trouble for not lying down. "I think Aunt Brydie and Aunt Audra's right."

"'bout what?" Thomas asked, as he continued swinging from the bed, though he made no attempt to talk quietly.

"You are the spitting image of daddy, but Aunt Jenny only succeeded in calming Uncle Nick down because you-somehow-took most of his wild genes…whatever those things are." Charity hopped down, walked over to the bunk bed and sat on the bottom bed. She then surprised her brother by growing even more serious and asked, "Do you think Uncle Heath is dead or alive?"

Thomas stopped swinging, reached up and took a hold of the side of the bed. Soon he had his foot unhooked and had-somehow-did a back flip and landed on his feet. Charity jumped a little and looked towards the door, sure her Aunt Brydie, her father or one of the Stevenson's would come to see what was going on.

Thomas didn't have to ask what made his sister ask 'such a thing'; he knew. In spite of what the adults in their lives thought, the siblings had heard the rumblings around the ranch…the talk that their Uncle Nick and Aunt Brydie weren't accepting what they'd been told. And then there was this trip. Sure they knew the Stevenson's had wanted their children to see Thomas and Charity, only their Grandma Barkley had said that Jarrod was going to have her watch his children during the trip instead. Then, there was their aunt. Sure, they liked her being with them, only hadn't Silas said Brydie was going to visit some relatives? When had that changed? Thomas sat next to his sister and shrugged his shoulders. "Daddy said Uncle Heath died in a rock slide during the earthquake, said the rocks were too big to move. What do you think?"

Charity's eyes turned downward as she fought tears from coming. Seeing his sister almost in tears had Thomas sliding over quickly and putting his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry I upset you." At least, that's what he thought he had done and he hadn't planned on it.

"You didn't do anything." Charity wiped the single tear that had escaped her eyes. "I just miss Uncle Heath." She then told her brother that their Aunt Brydie had told her that they were going to visit the Stevenson's a while longer. "She said daddy had some other business to take care of. I…I think she's asked daddy to look for Uncle Heath; that is, if he's really alive."

"Maybe, I don't know. But, I do know if Uncle Heath is alive, Father will find him." Thomas hugged his sister and then told her he didn't think they should talk about it anymore. After all, they were only six years old and 'it was adult stuff that only upset her'.

"Thanks, Thomas." Charity laid her head on his shoulder.

"For what?" Thomas couldn't help but wonder what he'd done for her.

"For being my brother." Charity gave him a hug…and then climbed off the bottom bunk and went back to the bay window, leaving Thomas smiling wide…and, moments later, swinging from the bed again.

Unbeknownst to Charity or Thomas, the boy's loud voice-and dropping to the floor-had indeed attracted someone's attention. Jarrod stood to the side of the slightly opened door listening to every word his children saying. The part about Timothy taking Nick's energy was just too funny and almost caused him to burst out laughing. However, that urge quickly evaporated as they talked about their suspicions, and he heard Thomas doing his best to comfort his sister. He felt horrible for the two young children. Sure, he'd been more than aware how bright they were, but he'd never realized until that moment just how much they'd heard and pieced together. When he heard footsteps behind him, he wasn't surprised to hear two children scamper to the beds they were supposed to be in lying in. He quickly turned to see Brydie walking up behind him.

"W…" Brydie started to speak only to have Jarrod put his finger to his lip while he silently moved away from the door.

"Meet me out front," He mouthed as he quietly walked away from the door leaving Brydie to peek in, shut the door completely and then hurry to join her brother-in-law out on the porch.

"What's going on?" Brydie, full of curiosity, looked at Jarrod. She was surprised to see how upset he appeared.

Jarrod took a deep breath and told her everything he'd heard. He wasn't surprised when her eyes widened, or when she gasped. "I never said a word to the wee ones."

Jarrod believed her, but the revelation the children had unknowingly handed him lit a drive within him. No longer was he simply trying to appease Brydie or wondering if the Borden's actually knew something. He needed to know one way or the other. "I'm going to leave right after supper. Since the children suspect the truth anyway, I'll sit down and tell them that, yes, we think there's a possibility…" his sentence was cut off when Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson, who had gone to town, drove up in their buggy and climbed out.

Mr. Stevenson handed him a telegram. "It's from your mother." His eyes were full of concern. Telegrams were notorious for either bearing bad news, as it cost too much to send just any old message.

"What is it?" Brydie stepped closer to Jarrod when his opened the telegram, read it and then had to quickly sit down in the chair. "What be wrong?"

"Heath didn't die under those boulders." Jarrod recovered from his shock and stood up, handing her the telegram. He then turned to face Mr. Stevenson, whose eyes were now wide open, prove of the shock he'd received when he heard Jarrod's reply. "Would I be out of line in asking if you could fix me something that I can eat on the road? I am going to talk to my children, and then I'm leaving."

"Sure, it is no problem." Mrs. Stevenson hurried into the house. Brydie followed her, seeing no reason why she shouldn't help.

"If the Borden's didn't see him on their way home, I know a few good detectives." Mr. Stevenson, wanting to help, offered.

"Thanks, I do too." Jarrod told him before disappearing inside to have a frank talk with Thomas and Charity.