Blurry eyed, the doctor left the Barkley house just after dawn. Victoria put her hand on Nick's still pale cheek. "I'll look after him, Mrs. Barkley," Silas promised. "Mister Sawyer is up as well. He's out in the barn."

"I have to see how Heath and Jarrod are," Victoria said. She shook her head. "I know the Lord only gives us what we can handle, but he is really pushing me this time. Is Audra awake yet?"

"I haven't seen her."

Nodding, Victoria leaned down and kissed her son's cheek. "Come find me when he wakes up, Silas," she requested. Silas nodded, and Victoria left the room. She took a deep breath and went into the next bedroom. She went to the bed and put her hand on Heath's forehead. He didn't move. "Oh, Heath."

With a sigh, Victoria left that bedroom and went to the next. She tapped lightly on the door. "Come in," Jarrod called out sleepily after a few moments. Turning the doorknob, Victoria pushed the door open. Jarrod lifted his head and frowned. "Mother, what's wrong?"

"A young man brought Nick home last night. I'm surprised you didn't hear us," Victoria responded, going to the bed. She sat on the edge and put her hand on her oldest son's shoulder to keep him down. "Nick was shot in the stomach on his way here. I'm not sure by who or why. And this young man brought him the rest of the way here."

"Gut shot?" Jarrod said in horror. "How is he?"

Victoria shook her head. "Very weak," she answered, honestly. "But the man who brought him. His name is Liam Sawyer."

Jarrod's frown went deeper. "Lucy's father? He must have been at the auction with Nick."

"Maybe," Victoria said, slowly. "Jarrod, he looks like Heath. When I first saw him, I could have sworn it was Heath standing in front of me."

She could see Jarrod working it out. "Sawyer," he finally said. "His last name is the same as the name of Heath's mother's husband. Could he be Heath's half brother?"

"I don't know," Victoria replied. "But I'm hoping I can find out."

"I'll come down."

Forcing a smile, Victoria shook her head again. "Jarrod, you still need your rest," she told him. "I can handle talking to one man."

"But whoever shot Heath is still out there," Jarrod argued. "Did the sheriff leave a deputy on the grounds to make sure no one else gets hurt?"

Standing up, Victoria sighed. "Everything's been done that is possible, Jarrod," she told him. "Now, stay in this bed. I'll have Silas bring you some breakfast, and I will let you know once I learn anything."

Jarrod scowled. "Yes, Mother."

Smiling in amusement, Victoria left the bedroom. "Good morning, Mother," Audra said, coming into the hallway. She paused. "Did you get any sleep last night at all?

"Not much," Victoria admitted. Audra frowned in concern. "Don't worry, Audra. I'm fine. We need to get breakfast ready."

"Is he still here?" Audra asked cautiously.

Victoria smiled. "As far as I know, yes," she answered. "Silas says he's out in the barn, probably doing the chores." She yawned. "Does that remind you of any one we know?"

"Is he related to Heath?" Audra asked cautiously.

Sighing, Victoria shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "As soon as Lucy is awake, tell her her father is here."

"She'll be ecstatic."

A volley of gunshots sounded. Audra and Victoria both flinched. "Not again," Victoria said. "If that doesn't make Jarrod come down, or bring Nick and Heath to consciousness, I don't know what will. Audra, go make sure Lucy is all right. I'll go see what's going on outside."

"Mother, you can't!" Audra protested.

Before Victoria could say anything, Liam came running into the house, his rifle in his hands. "Stay away from the windows," he snapped. He closed and locked the door behind himself. He moved to the closest window and peeked out.

"What's going on?" Victoria demanded.

"Those men Nick and I ran into on the way here followed us," Liam explained succinctly. "I hoped that since we were here, they'd give up, but they didn't. And they seem to want me dead at the moment."

"Why?" Audra asked.

Liam glanced over his shoulder at her. "Probably because I threatened to put a bullet in their leader's head," he responded, bluntly. "Which, I don't know why they've taken that so personally, after all they shot Nick first."

"Mother?" Jarrod asked, leaning heavily against the wall at the top of the stairs. He stared at Liam as he asked, "What happened?"

"You should go for the sheriff," Victoria said to Liam. She turned towards the stairs. "Jarrod, go back to bed. You're only going to hurt yourself more."

"Papa?" Dressed in a white nightgown, hair messed up, Lucy stared down through the railings of the bannister. Startled, Liam looked up at her. With a happy laugh, the little girl came flying down the stairs. "Papa! Papa, you came!"

"Lucy!" Liam exclaimed, his whole attention on the child. He knelt and set the rifle on the ground. He grabbed Lucy in his arms and hugged her tightly. Laughing, Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck. Liam kissed her cheek. "What are you doing here, sweetheart? Where's your mother?"
Straightening up, with Lucy still hanging from his neck, Liam looked at Victoria. "Is Carolyn here?"

"Carolyn?" Victoria repeated.

"Yes, my wife, and my son, Tom," Liam said, frowning at her. "They aren't here? Where are they?"

Victoria hesitated. "I'm sorry, Liam," she started to say. She ducked down as another volley of gunshots rang out.

"Sawyer!" A voice shouted outside. "Come on out Sawyer, or we'll find a way in!"

"Sounds like you have some interesting friends, Liam," Jarrod remarked, coming slowly down the stairs. He flinched in pain. "And its a good thing Heath and Nick are out, otherwise they would be armed and-."

"What in tarnation is going on? Mother? Audra? Silas, get away from me!"

There was no mistaken that shout, even as weak as it was. Victoria shook her head. "Oh, Nick," she said in frustration. She sent up a quick, and perhaps in vain, prayer that Silas would be able to keep her son in his bed. "He's going to pull his stitches out."

"Papa?" Lucy whispered, clinging to her father's neck.

"Go with Miss Audra, Lucy," Liam instructed, prying her off himself with the ease of one who'd done it many times. "You'll be safe with her, all right? I have to take care of this right now, sweetheart."

Quickly, Audra knelt down and hugged the girl. "Audra, take her upstairs, and help Silas calm Nick down," Victoria instructed. "He's probably feverish, which will only make him worse than ever. Get the sedative the doctor left down him, one way or the other. And don't come back down until I tell you to."

Audra nodded and stood up. She took Lucy's hand and hurried upstairs. "I'm not going back up, Mother," Jarrod said as his mother turned to him.

"I haven't asked you to," Victoria responded. "Stay here with Liam. And I will get the rifles."

She swept off towards the gun room. Liam whistled lowly. "Wow," he said.

"You get used to it," Jarrod assured him. He held out his hand. "Jarrod Barkley."

"Liam Sawyer," Liam responded, shaking the man's hand. "I'm sorry I brought these men onto your doorstep like this."

"That's another thing you get used to," Jarrod told him. He sent a look up to the second floor as Nick continued to shout. "Trouble follows the Barkleys all over the state. We should probably figure out how to get rid of this particular problem before Nick gets it into his head that he needs to come take care of it himself."


Groaning, Heath forced his eyes open. He could hear a familiar voice yelling nearby, but it took a moment before his ringing head recognized it as Nick's. His left shoulder was throbbing with a persistent, annoying pain. Using his right arm, Heath managed to push himself up. He took a moment to try and keep from falling on the floor.

As he was waiting for the dizziness to pass, a gunshot sounded. Heath jerked his head up, regretting it as the pain in his head spiked. He pushed himself up, weaved his way to the door and pulled it open. The hallway was empty, but he could hear voices down in the foyer. To his left, Nick was still shouting, and now Heath could hear Audra trying to sooth their brother.

Using the wall as a brace, Heath went towards the bedroom. He pushed Nick's door open and flinched as his older brother's voice became louder. "Nick, please," Audra was begging, trying to help Silas to push Nick down. Heath frowned at the swath of bandages that wrapped Nick's waist. "You have to stay where you are."

"Mister Heath!" Silas exclaimed, looking over. "You shouldn't be-."

Audra's head whipped around in shock. "Nick, can't a guy get any sleep with you yelling?" Heath demanded, wincing as his own voice made his head ache even more.

Nick actually fell silent, his fevered eyes landing on Heath. "Liam," he said, relaxing slightly. "You have to protect the family."

Frowning, Heath lurched towards the bed. Audra scrambled up, stretching her hand out to help him. "Its Heath, Nick," he said. "No one's going to hurt the family."

"They followed us, Liam," Nick said, sweat dripping from his skin. "And we know they hate our family. I should have told you, but I didn't know how. Talk to Jarrod, and Heath. They'll figure the truth out. Promise me, Liam."

Heath grabbed his brother's hand. "I promise," he said. Nick fell back against the pillow with a sigh of relief. "Now you listen to Audra and Silas, you hardheaded mule."

Swiftly, Silas held the medicine bottle to Nick's lips, and the dark haired man swallowed the sedative. In the corner, Lucy sniffed, tears brimming in her eyes. "Lucy, everything's going to be all right," Audra said, hurrying to the girl's side. "Heath, you shouldn't be up."

"What's going on?" Heath asked, rubbing his face with his right arm. "Who's downstairs with Mother? Who's outside?"

"Lucy's father, Liam Sawyer, and Jarrod," Audra responded. "The men who shot Nick are out there."

Nodding, Heath let go of his now drowsy brother's hand. "They're going to need help."

"Heath, you can't! You're not going to be of any help to them!" Audra protested. "Mother wouldn't want-."

"I'll be fine," Heath told her. "Keep Lucy safe."

Without waiting to see if his sister listened, Heath left the bedroom. Using the wall as a brace again, he walked towards the stairs. His balance was returning, but his head and shoulder throbbed even more. He was pleased that he was able to go down the stairs as quietly as ever, since no one in the foyer looked up.

"If the two of us can keep their attention here, at the front, Mrs. Barkley, you can sneak around back and can ride for help," the fair haired man was saying to Jarrod and Victoria. "You say the sheriff is in the area with the rest of your hands? You shouldn't have to ride far to find them, right? Its our best option."

"Whether or not you're planning on using yourself as an obvious distraction, they're going to keep someone at the backdoor," Jarrod pointed out. "They'd be fools not to."

"I'll cover Mother," Heath volunteered, leaning on the last balustrade.

Liam glanced up briefly, and then looked again, a frown forming. "Heath, you shouldn't be up," Victoria said, extremely tired of having to repeat the same words to all of her sons.

Jarrod looked between Liam and Heath. Frowning, the two young men were staring at each other, identical blue eyes confused. Liam was half an inch taller than Heath, and much slimmer. "Who are you?" they both asked at the same moment.

Outside, gunshots rang out again. The Barkleys and Liam ducked down, but this time, the shots didn't seem to be aimed at the house. "I think someone else is out there," Liam said in the silence that followed. He crept back to the door and opened it just enough to peek out. What he saw made him straighten up.

"Who is it?" Jarrod asked.

"The sheriff."

Victoria breathed out in relief as Liam opened the door completely. The sheriff was walking through the door moments later. "Mrs. Barkley," he said in relief. He eyed Liam suspiciously for a moment. "I'm sorry. We came as soon as we heard."

"How did you hear?" Jarrod questioned. "It wasn't one of us."

"Mr. McCauwin," the sheriff responded. Liam went very still. "Apparently he'd been on his way here to see you this morning and when he heard the shots, came looking for me. We have the men in custody and are taking them in. There's a good chance these men are the ones who shot your son Heath in the first place."

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Liam shook his head. "Not a chance," he answered. He shrugged as everyone looked at him. "Those men followed Nick and I here. That means they got here in the middle of the night just like I did. No way any of them would have snuck ahead to shoot a Barkley."

"And you are?" the sheriff asked, glancing at Heath.

"Liam Sawyer. Nick and I met at an auction, and I was riding with him here."

"Thank you for coming, Sheriff," Victoria said, moving forward. "We were about to try something desperate."

Nodding, the sheriff went out the door. Heath sagged against the steps. "You know, Liam, up in Nick's room, Nick mistook me for you," he commented conversationally. "He said there was something he should have told you, but didn't. He made me promise to talk to Jarrod and Mother to figure out the truth."

"I don't think is the time or place," Victoria said. "And I am not going to budge on this, Heath. You are going back to your bed. And so are you, Jarrod. Its bad enough that all three of you boys have managed to get yourselves shot these past few days. I won't have all of you taking a fever from over exerting yourselves. Now go!"

"I do believe our mother is very serious, Heath," Jarrod remarked. "Come on. I'll help you upstairs."

Heath shook his head. "I don't think you're in any condition to help any one, older brother," he responded. Nevertheless, he leaned against Jarrod on the way up, and Jarrod leaned against the wall.

"Are you friends of McCauwin?" Liam asked quietly.

Surprised by the question, Victoria turned from watching her sons to face him. "No," she said honestly. "Would that make a difference to you?"

"Yes," Liam responded. "I'll get Lucy and get out of your hair. I assume there's a hotel in Stockton?"

"Nonsense," Victoria told him. Liam frowned. "I mean, of course there is, but you're not thinking of going to stay there, are you? There is more than enough room for you and Lucy here. You must stay until Nick has recovered enough to thank you himself. Now, get yourself cleaned up and I will get breakfast."

Liam hesitated. "I don't think it would be a good idea if McCauwin were to see me here," he admitted. "And I really do need to get to San Francisco for my wife and son."

"As a guest of this family, I don't see any reason why you should be bothered with him at all," Victoria said firmly, ignoring the second part of the young man's objection. "Now, do as I say."

His hands tightening on his rifle, Liam scanned her face. He closed his eyes as he guessed the truth from what she wasn't saying. "There isn't a reason for me to go to San Francisco, is there?" he asked. "Carolyn's dead, isn't she?"

"I'm so sorry, Liam," Victoria said with a sigh. "Lucy's nurse said your wife and son died from influenza only a few weeks ago. She was bringing Lucy to you when...there was an accident."

"Oh, god," Liam breathed. "I was too late. I should have sent for them earlier."

Reacting on instinct, Victoria hurried across the foyer to him. She gently took the rifle out of his hands and wrapped her arms around him. "There was nothing you could have done," she said as he began to shake with suppressed sobs. "But remember. You still have Lucy. You're going to have to be strong for her."

Grief stricken, Liam put his head down on Victoria's shoulder as the tears began to flow. Victoria felt tears prick her own eyes as she recalled the same grief when she'd lost Tom. The widow and the new widower stood in the foyer, releasing their pain.