Chapter 7
Nick and Heath rode into Modesto at about eleven, unconsciously scanning every male face they saw even though they didn't know why. They had no idea what the men they were looking for looked like. Modesto was a big enough town that nobody seemed to be paying much attention to them even though they were obviously nosy. They were just as happy about that.
They went to the telegraph office first and sent a wire to their mother in Clayton, letting her know where they were. "We'll check back in an hour or so for a reply," Nick said as they left.
Next they went to one of the three livery stables in town, and they got lucky. The horse they were looking for was there. They felt their hopes rise.
"Who brought this horse in?" Heath asked.
The attendant shook his head. "Came in yesterday. I wasn't here."
Their hopes fell again. They thanked the man and asked him to pay attention if someone came for the horse. They would be back later in the day to check on things again.
They went to the sheriff's office then. The sheriff was there, along with two deputies. Nick and Heath introduced themselves and explained why they were there, but neither the sheriff nor the deputies knew who had brought the horse into town. They also had no knowledge of any stagecoach robbery like the one Jarrod was involved in.
"Although we did hear about the one a couple days ago," the sheriff said. "It's your brother they got locked up for it, you say?"
The Barkley men nodded.
The sheriff said, "Well, I've met your brother several times and never thought him to be a stagecoach robber. I'll testify if you think a character witness might help."
"Thanks, Sheriff, we appreciate that," Nick said.
"And I'll nose around about the robbery a bit more. Might learn something helpful."
"We appreciate that, too, Sheriff," Heath said.
Then they headed back to the telegraph office, and found paydirt. Mark had replied to their wire. Look for man with broken nose, he said.
"I'm not exactly sure what that means," Nick said.
"You seen anybody around town with a broken nose?" Heath asked the telegrapher.
The man shook his head.
"Might have come in yesterday," Nick said.
The man shook his head again.
Nick quickly scribbled a return wire to Mark.
"Well, let's get looking," Heath said to his brother, and they went out.
They went back to the sheriff's office and asked for help finding a man with a broken nose. Then they went back to the livery stable and asked for the same thing. Then they looked up the local doctor, but he hadn't treated any broken nose either. Nick and Heath kept looking and asking. They made sure everyone knew their brother's life depended on it.
"Well, what do you think we do now?" Nick asked then as they stopped on the street outside the livery stable.
"The saloons are open, and I'm hungry," Heath said.
"Yeah, so am I," Nick said.
They went into the first saloon they came to, ordered a couple beers and a couple sandwiches, asked the bartender about anybody with a broken nose and got a negative shake of his head. The place did not have many patrons yet. Nick and Heath ate and finished their beers, then tipped the bartender heavily and asked him to watch out for a man with a broken nose. The bartender nodded.
"We'll touch base a few times during the day," Nick said.
The bartender nodded again, and Nick and Heath left.
Every other saloon in town gave them the same answer – no one with a broken nose had come in.
"He might be lying low," Heath suggested.
"Let's check the livery," Nick said.
They went back to the livery stable, but the horse they were interested in was still there. No one had come for him, and no one with a broken nose had even checked in.
As they went outside and wondered what to do next, Nick sighed and said, "If old broken nose is lying low, I don't know what we're gonna do to find him."
They checked the telegraph office again, and there was another wire from Mark. Nick closed his eyes when he read it.
"What?" Heath asked.
"Jarrod was arraigned today," Nick said. "Trial starts Monday."
Heath moaned. Given that it would take at least half a day to get to Clayton, that left them only two days – Friday and Saturday – to find the men they were looking for. That was no time at all.
"Let's tell the sheriff and keep on looking," Nick said.
XXXXXXXX
Returned to his cell after his arraignment, Jarrod fell on his back on the cot and stared at the ceiling. He was relieved that there was no mob of people out in the street watching him go to court. Oh, people stopped and stared but they kept on about their business. That was the best thing he could have hoped for. But right now, he was thinking more about the legal proceedings. He knew that word would be spreading that his trial was set to start in a few days. That would keep the mob down, but it just put a different kind of terror in Jarrod's mind.
He lay there and just kept staring at the ceiling. He didn't have a window he could look out onto the world from – he hated that for a minute but then was grateful he would not have to watch the scaffold being built.
This was all insane. The evidence against him was so flimsy. This could not be happening. A trial on Monday and if it went as fast as he thought it would and it went bad – dear God, he could be hanged legally in less than a week.
Jarrod rolled off the cot and began to pace, and to think, and to try to remember more, but his stomach was churning and making him sick, and his heart was pounding and his head was hurting more than it did when he was clubbed during the robbery. He stopped pacing and looked up when the cellblock door opened and his mother and his lawyer came in.
"Our best hope is that Nick and Heath find the man with the broken nose in Modesto," Mark said as the sheriff closed the cellblock door, "but even if they don't find him, your testimony about him will be valuable. If you can remember anything else, Jarrod – "
"I can't!" Jarrod shouted. "There wasn't enough time! I was asleep, I was grabbed and pulled out of the stage! I saw three men! I head butted the guy who grabbed me and then I was unconscious! Then I woke up with dead people all around me! That's all there is for me to remember!"
"All right, all right," Mark said. "We'll do the best we can with it, and we'll do the best we can with your personal history."
Jarrod sighed, and remembered Cass Hyatt. He could tell his mother was remembering the same thing, but did Mark even know about it? "Mark, do you know about my wife?"
"Yes, I do," he said, "but I'll bet the prosecutor here in Clayton doesn't know about it and it won't come up."
Jarrod swallowed. "Let's hope not," he said quietly. He was running out of energy. He was scared.
"We'll prepare for it, just in case," Mark said.
"Jarrod – " Victoria said and reached through the bars for his hand. He took hold of hers. "Don't give up. We haven't lost yet."
"I know that, but Mother, there's something I want you to do," Jarrod said, and then he glanced at Mark. "If the trial goes bad for me, I want you to go home directly afterward."
"No," Victoria said flatly.
"Mark, you can wire Nick and Heath and get them back here on Sunday. If it goes bad, I want them to take Mother home right after the trial and not come back."
"No," Victoria said again.
"Mother – "
"I said no!" she said adamantly and took her hand away from him. "No matter what happens at the trial, I intend to stay right here. There are no two ways about it. I am staying."
"Mother, I don't want to stand on the gallows and look down at you!" Jarrod said, just as adamantly. "I don't want you there!"
"You're not gonna hang, Jarrod," Mark said quietly, calmly. "What they have is not enough to hang you on, and if need be, I'll wire the governor to get a stay while we appeal."
Jarrod gave him a cockeyed smile. "You're talking to a lawyer, Mark, remember? I've been here with a client or two. People love a hanging, especially one that happens fast. Even if you wired the governor now, there wouldn't be enough time to get a stay."
"Jarrod, you KNOW the governor," Victoria said.
"And I know he likes to be out of touch over a weekend. If I'm found guilty on Monday, I'll hang by Tuesday. Mother, I don't want my family watching me hang if it comes to that."
"It won't come to that," Mark said, quietly and calmly again. "Believe in me. Believe in yourself. Believe in the law and believe in justice. You are not guilty of robbing that stage and killing those people, and you will not hang."
Jarrod appreciated the way Mark put all that, but his mind went back to a lynch mob - if he were acquitted, would they lynch him anyway?
Victoria read his eyes. "Believe it, Jarrod," she said.
Jarrod gave her a little smile. "All right."
