Chapter 9
Sandy was in a position he'd never been in before. He rode into the first town he came to in Nevada, and he went straight to the sheriff's office. The whole thing made him incredibly nervous, because the only thing he'd ever done before was avoid the law. Now he needed the law's help, and he wasn't sure if he was going to get it.
He half wondered if he should never have tried this harebrained scheme to earn his freedom, but then he thought he should have. Jarrod Barkley had come to believe in him, and he had a paper in his pocket that should free him once and for all. If he could get someone to believe him. If he could get help to his lawyer lying out there in the wilderness alone.
Sandy sucked his courage in and went into the local sheriff's office. The man inside was Jarrod's age, tall and blond, and he looked at Sandy with a blank expression. "Can I do something for you, boy?"
Sandy wasn't sure how to go about this, but he took the paper out and gave it to the sheriff. "My name is Sandy Bowes."
Sandy saw the sheriff react to his name. Sandy grew more nervous.
"That paper gives me a deal in California that sets me free," Sandy went on. "I'm not wanted anymore, but me and my lawyer were ambushed by a bounty hunter while we were traveling here. We sent the bounty hunter back in California, but he shot my lawyer, Mr. Jarrod Barkley, and he's about six or seven miles back, across the state line, and I need you to go get him and bring him here to a doctor."
"Okay, okay," the sheriff said, stopping Sandy from rambling on too much. "Where is he? What road?"
"West of town, the road that goes up into the pass up there. He's down on this side of it. He's bleeding pretty bad."
The sheriff looked at the paper again, not sure whether to believe it, but he knew the name Jarrod Barkley on it.
"Look," Sandy said, "Mr. Barkley went out on a limb for me and I need you to go get him. I'll lead you there if you want, or you can lock me up until you talk to him if you want. Whatever you want. Just go get him."
The sheriff got up. "You were on that west road?"
"Before it widens out to a decent road, about a mile further back from that," Sandy said.
The sheriff got up. "All right. I'll get the doc and we'll go get him, but I'm locking you up until we straighten this out."
Sandy couldn't believe he was saying this but he said, "Okay, lock me up," and he headed into the nearest cell willingly.
The sheriff locked him in, then locked the nol pros agreement in his desk where it would be safe. "Never seen anything like this before, but I guess I should expect it with Barkley," he mumbled as he went out the door to get the doctor.
XXXXXX
"Mr. Barkley? Mr. Barkley?"
Jarrod heard his name and opened his eyes. Two men he could only see as blurs were with him. One had opened his shirt and was tending his side. It took a moment or two for Jarrod to remember where he was and what was going on, but then he smiled. "Sandy got to you," he said, his voice rough.
"He's in my jail," the sheriff said. "He gave me a paper he says gets him free."
"A nol pros bargain with the court in Stockton," Jarrod said. "He's legitimate."
"I'm not really too keen on having stage robbers in Nevada," the sheriff said.
"His gang is gone," Jarrod said. "I'll vouch for him to get him a job. He's tired. He wants to quit running from the law and bounty hunters. Ugh!"
Jarrod cried out as the doctor probed his side a bit. The doctor turned him a bit then, and Jarrod cried out again as the doctor looked at his back. "The bullet is still in you, Mr. Barkley," the doctor said. "Lucky in a way. It plugged the bleeding up a bit. We have a wagon waiting down where the road widens, but you're gonna have to let us get you down there."
"Tell me what to do," Jarrod said.
"It's about a quarter of a mile," the sheriff said. "You just hold on and let us carry you there."
"My horse – "
"I already took him down," the sheriff said.
Jarrod felt himself lifted then, still wrapped in the blanket. The sheriff took him by the right arm and leg and the doctor took him by the left. It hurt a lot, but Jarrod did not pass out. It wasn't long before he was laid in the back of a wagon and the doctor began driving him to town.
Jarrod stayed awake the entire time, until the doctor put him under while he took the bullet out. Jarrod wasn't out for long. Something inside him kept wanting to be awake, to tell the sheriff Sandy was for real, that the agreement paper was for real. He woke up from the anesthetic mumbling that Sandy was a free man.
"Yes, he is," the doctor said. "He's out in the waiting area and wants to see you."
"Yes," Jarrod said, and in a moment Sandy was beside him. Jarrod gave him a grin. "I see you talked your way out of jail."
Sandy laughed a little. "You talked me out of jail. When they found out you were Jarrod Barkley and your name was on that paper too, they let me go. I wanted to stick around until I was sure you were all right."
"I'm fine," Jarrod said, though his tongue was still thick from the anesthetic. He raised his hand and took Sandy's hand in it. "You best be on your way. The farther you are from California, the better."
"The sheriff has the paper for you to take back to Stockton," Sandy said. "And since I'm not wanted in Nevada, he thinks I'll be all right. He wrote me out a pass that said I wasn't wanted anymore anywhere. Thank you, Mr. Barkley. I knew I took the right man off the Stockton road."
Jarrod laughed, remembering how being abducted by Sandy and his men was what got him into this. "Best kidnapping I've ever been subject to," he said. "Do me one more favor, Sandy. Wire my family in Stockton, tell them where I am. My brothers will come for me. By the way – where are we?"
"Rimfire," Sandy said.
Jarrod nearly fell off the table he was lying on. He looked at the doctor with eyes that were finally clear enough to see him. His old acquaintance, Dr. Saxton, smiled down at him. "Oh, my gosh," Jarrod sighed. "Seems I'm darkening your door again, Doctor."
"You're a lot more sensible this time, Mr. Barkley," Dr. Saxton smiled. "The last time we saw you, I wasn't sure you'd ever get to that point, but we've been reading about you in the papers from Sacramento, and we've been darned happy to see you've come around."
"Was that Sheriff Fain who brought me in with you?"
"It was me," the sheriff's voice said.
Jarrod saw him across the room, and now he was actually embarrassed. "Oh, this is about the last place I expected to end up. But I'm awfully glad to see you two gentlemen again and I hope I'm not creating the havoc I did the last time."
The sheriff smiled. "Not even close, Mr. Barkley, although this is another interesting escapade you've brought with you."
"You didn't tell Sandy about our previous meeting, did you?"
"No, we didn't tell him," the doctor said.
"Do I need to know?" Sandy asked.
"Only that I got myself into a heap of trouble here once a couple years ago," Jarrod said. "I'm not a saint, Sandy."
"You are to me," Sandy said. "I won't forget what you did for me, and I – " He reached into his pocket and pulled out his father's watch. "I have this to remember you by, as well as my father. I'll wire your family and be on my way."
"Get in touch with me if you need to, Sandy," Jarrod said. "And let me know when things work out for you."
"When?" Sandy said. "Not if?"
Jarrod shook his head. "You're gonna be all right. I know it."
"Let's get you moving, boy," the sheriff said and began to escort Sandy out. "Do what the doc tells you this time, Mr. Barkley, all right?"
Jarrod smiled. "Believe me, I will. I learned my lesson the last time."
"Well, two reformed outlaws to my name," Sheriff Fain said as he went out the door. "I'm having a good day."
