Chapter 10
The Barkleys were pretty astonished to get a wire from Sandy Bowes, telling them that Jarrod had been shot and he was all right, but they needed to come to Rimfire, Nevada to get him. "Rimfire?" Nick and Heath said to each other right away.
Victoria and Audra understood. They knew Rimfire was where his brothers found Jarrod after he'd gone haywire with revenge after his wife was killed. "Rimfire," Victoria said. "I don't think he's in any legal trouble, but you better get there as fast as you can and see to him."
"Whoever would have dreamed this would all end up in Rimfire?" Heath asked as he and Nick headed upstairs to pack some things for the trip.
"We probably should have seen something like this coming," Nick said. "This whole thing has been strange from the get-go."
"From Sandy Bowes," Audra said, looking at the telegram. "I can't believe that stage robber would want to go straight, and I can't believe Jarrod figured out a way for him to do it."
"Well, it looks like he did," Victoria said, but she wished she could have seen her son since this business started and talked to him about it. Not that she didn't trust him. She just wanted to hear his reassurances. And now he was lying wounded in Rimfire, of all places. That wasn't a place of happy memories for him, or for any of them.
But then, Victoria thought, if this was really going to turn out the way it seemed to be going, maybe Rimfire could be a place of some good memories after all.
XXXXXXXX
Nick and Heath took the train to the railhead nearest to Rimfire, rented horses and got to Rimfire as fast as they could. Once there, they were almost as nervous as they'd been on their previous time there. Too many bad memories rested in that street. But they put that time aside and went to Sheriff Fain's office.
"Well, here we are again," Sheriff Fain said when they came in. "This place is like a magnet to you Barkleys."
"Not as bad this time as last time, we hope," Heath said.
Sheriff Fain actually smiled. "Don't worry, it's not bad at all. He's in the hotel, he's recovering just fine, and he's not in any trouble."
"What happened to Sandy Bowes?" Nick asked.
"He's not in any trouble either," the sheriff said. "He's already moved on further east."
Nick and Heath both breathed a lot easier. "Looks like we owe you thanks again, Sheriff," Heath said.
"This time it's been a pleasure," the sheriff said.
Nick and Heath went to the hotel and found Jarrod comfortably resting in the very same room he had been in in the hotel nearly two years earlier. "Déjà vu," Jarrod said to them as soon as they came in.
"Whatever that means," Nick said. "You just can't stay out of trouble in this town, can you?"
"No trouble this time," Jarrod said. "It turned out to be pretty lucky in fact."
"Yeah, the sheriff said Bowes has already gone further east," Heath said. "How about you? How are you feeling?"
"Not bad," Jarrod said. "A little weak, a little sore, that's about it."
"Has the doc said when you can leave?" Nick asked.
"As soon as I want, as long as we go home by the nearest rail station," Jarrod said. "I've got a horse in the livery we'll have to ship."
"We'll work it out," Heath said.
"Why don't we head out tomorrow morning?" Nick suggested. "We can't make the northbound today anyway, and one more day taking it easy won't hurt you."
"All right," Jarrod said. "Thanks for coming to get me. I'll bet everybody was just thrilled to get a wire from Sandy Bowes."
"Since it said you were all right, yeah, we were thrilled," Nick said.
"I'll get the horses to the livery and get us a room," Heath said and headed for the door. "We won't need to watch over Jarrod all night this time."
"I'm pretty glad about that," Nick said.
"You're not alone," Jarrod said.
As Heath went out, Nick said, "So, everything worked out with Sandy Bowes. I got to admit, I'm surprised."
"You didn't think I could pull it off?" Jarrod asked.
"No, not that," Nick said. "I didn't think the kid was on the up and up."
"It took me a little while, but I figured out he was," Jarrod said. "I'm glad for him."
"Where's the money he had stashed?"
"In the Stockton bank."
"In the bank?"
"All this time. I have a draft to get it out."
Nick shook his head. "I gotta tell you, this has been one bizarre adventure from start to finish, big brother."
Jarrod sighed. "Pretty satisfying in the end, though. Thanks for hanging in there with me. You could have followed me and grabbed Sandy before we ever left the valley."
"Where were you, by the way? Before you left?"
"In that old rundown line shack of ours. Pretty slick, huh?"
Nick laughed. "Pappy, you've been pretty slick through this whole thing, but I'm glad you're gonna be sliding on home now."
Epilogue
Once Jarrod and his brothers arrived back in Stockton, Jarrod went straight to the bank and cashed the draft Sandy gave him – and breathed a little easier when the money was actually there. He withdrew a hundred and twenty-five dollars from his own account and took the lot, along with the nol pros agreement with Sandy's mark on it, to the sheriff's office. Sheriff Madden looked at everything and laughed. "I really thought you were being had this time, Jarrod," he said.
"I had my doubts too, at first," Jarrod said. "It's never good when a man kidnaps me to be his lawyer. But the kid convinced me. And he came through, in a lot of ways."
"How are you feeling?" the sheriff asked.
Beside Jarrod, Nick said, "He's feeling like he wants to get home and get some more rest. We've got a buggy at the livery, Jarrod. Heath can ride your mount home. The buggy will be easier on you."
"And I've got a bunch of wanted posters to recall," the sheriff said, and he took Sandy Bowes's poster down off his wall.
"Fred," Jarrod said, "may I have that as a souvenir?"
Sheriff Madden smiled and handed him the wanted poster.
Jarrod smiled. "This is better than a fee."
XXXXX
Jarrod got a happy welcome home and for the next few days he took it easy. He was working in the library at home, not quite ready to spend a full day at the office in town yet, when his Mother came in, carrying a telegram.
"Audra picked this up in town," Victoria said. "We thought you'd like to see it right away." She handed it to Jarrod.
Jarrod stood up from behind the desk to read it – and the big smile that came over his face made Victoria smile. "It's from Sandy Bowes. He's got a job at a spread not far from Carson City, learning smithing. He needs a reference."
"I can't believe it, but I think this is all going to work out for him," Victoria said. "I never thought a stagecoach robber as successful as he was would give it up."
"He got tired, Mother," Jarrod said. "Tired of the law and the bounty hunters. I think he just didn't want to die an early death out there on the road."
"I can't say I blame him for that, but few outlaws come to that realization in time," Victoria said. "And while I could box your ears for putting us through all the worry you did, I'm glad you did it. I'm proud of you."
Jarrod took her into a one-armed hug. "I'm glad I did it, too. I hope it all works out for the boy. He worked hard to get a second chance at a good life."
"And he picked the right help," Victoria said, and she gave Jarrod a peck on the cheek.
The End