Chapter 14
There were no more surprises when Ted finished talking with Ollie. The little boy stayed very close to Audra, though, and when Ted finally said, "All right, Ollie, we're all through with my questions. Now, do you have any questions for me?" Ollie straightened up more and smiled.
"When can I go play with the other children again?" Ollie asked.
"At the orphanage?" Audra asked.
Ollie nodded.
"Just as soon as we get all these other things straightened out," Ted said. "Maybe even tomorrow or the next day."
"Do you like the other children at the orphanage?" Audra asked.
Ollie nodded again. Then he asked, "Will you send Papa away?"
"Do you want him to go away?" Ted asked.
Ollie nodded.
"Then we'll do our best to send him away," Ted said.
When Ted left for town, Victoria and Audra took Ollie inside for a nap, but he was having trouble settling down. Audra had an idea, and took him out the back of the house to where the porch swing was. She sat down with him there and put her arm around him so he could rest against her shoulder. She eased the swing back and forth and hummed an old lullaby she remembered her mother singing to her when she was small, and before long, they were both asleep.
Victoria looked out and saw them like that. She smiled, but it was a sad smile. That little boy deserved so much better than he was getting out of life. She said a small prayer, asking God to look over Ollie and give him the peace and happiness he deserved to grow up with.
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The first thing Ted did when he got back to town was to check with the telegraph operator, asking whether Mitchell had sent a wire to Reno. The operator was a little reluctant to answer, but he finally told him that Mitchell had not done that. Ted was not surprised. By now he was certain there was no church in Reno and there had been no baptism for Ollie.
Ted next went to see the sheriff and found him in his office, alone. "Fred," he said as he closed the door. "Have you contacted the federals in San Francisco?"
The sheriff nodded. "Sent the wire, but don't have a reply yet. I also have my deputy keeping an eye on Mitchell. And I hope you don't mind, but I ran into Judge Farnham at the Stockton House, and I told him what Ollie said about Mitchell not being his father."
"I just talked to the telegraph operator," Ted said. "Mitchell didn't send any message to anybody in Reno."
"Yeah, he told me that, too, when I sent the wire to San Francisco."
"Mitchell's probably going to make a run for it."
"I don't know. I got a bad feeling. I think he's already got another buyer for Ollie, and he's not gonna give up that money."
"If that's true, he's probably going to try to get Ollie away from the Barkleys and then make a run for it."
"The Barkleys will look out for the boy. What I'm worried about is that Mitchell will make a try for him when you bring the boy here in town to go to court."
"I'm not sure when that will be," Ted said. "Tomorrow or the next day, probably. I'll go out to the Barkley place again tomorrow. I'll talk to them then about having some men come in with me when I bring Ollie here."
"Nick and Heath are probably going to want to take that job," Sheriff Madden said. "The hard part may be keeping Victoria and Audra back on the ranch and out of the line of fire."
Ted heaved a big sigh. "They really love that kid."
"He's a loveable kid."
Ted smiled. "I noticed."
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Mitchell and his sisters talked the priest into letting them stay another night. Mitchell still had not completely thought out how he was going to get Ollie back, and that was a problem, because as the next day dawned, Mitchell knew it would bring Mercer with it. Mercer was not going to want to hang around Stockton for long. He was going to want to get Ollie, pay the money for him, and be out of the area as fast as possible. Mitchell's problem was how to make that happen.
Mercer was particular about the boy he wanted. The boy had to be sweet and good-looking and no more than eight years old. Mitchell had no illusions about what Mercer wanted him for, but he didn't care, either. Ollie was a perfect fit, much better than a boy just taken off the streets, and Ollie had no parents to get in the way. Just grab him, give him to Mercer, get the money, and leave town. No one would ever complain.
Mercer arrived in town fairly early. Mitchell saw him go into one of the saloons, a tall man with a beard and glasses, and black hair that hung over his collar. Mitchell made his decision on how to approach Mercer and the problem of getting Ollie away from the people who had him.
Mitchell knew by now it was the Barkley family who had him. It only took asking the right people, people who would not have much information about the boy or the Mitchells and would be happy to help a man find his son. People who would not take his questions to the sheriff. Mitchell found out who the Barkleys were and where they lived. Now it was just a matter of getting to them at a vulnerable time.
Mitchell went into the saloon where Mercer had gone and found the man at a table in the back, drinking a beer. His head was down as he drank. He scarcely looked up as Mitchell sat down with him. Mercer did not want anyone in this town remembering what he looked like.
"Where's the boy?" Mercer asked.
"A family near here has taken him in," Mitchell said. "We're going to have to get him away from them."
Mercer started to say something, but then hesitated. "You're asking me to help you do this?"
Mitchell nodded. "He's the boy you want. They don't come any prettier. And I can always sell him elsewhere once I get him back."
"You do and you'll find a bullet in your head," Mercer said.
"Go get him with me, and you'll be guaranteed to be the one to get him."
Mercer looked away for a moment, as if he were about to laugh at the gall of this character sitting with him. But then he said, "Where is the boy?"
"With a family named Barkley," Mitchell said.
Mercer looked surprised.
"You know them?" Mitchell asked.
Mercer nodded. "Very well known and very rich family. I don't know how you plan to get him away from them. I hear their place is like a fort."
"I've been asking around. They're doing round-up right now and they usually don't have a lot of help around the family home in the middle of the day. Just a houseman and a stable hand, maybe one other, maybe not. The rest are out on the range."
"So your idea is to ride up to the house in mid-afternoon and barge in and grab the boy?" Mercer asked. Then he snorted. "You got more cheek than brains, Mitchell. You'd get us locked up for sure."
"They don't know what I look like, and I'm guessing they don't know who you are at all. We can be in and out of there in five minutes."
Mercer shook his head. "You're crazy."
"He's the prettiest boy you've ever seen."
Mercer looked interested again.
"Easy to tame. He'd give you no trouble at all. I've looked all over for a boy like him and never seen the like."
Mercer looked down at his beer and took a drink. "Do you have a horse?"
"I'll just borrow one, meet you just outside of town on the road toward the Barkley place."
Mercer snorted again. "Borrow means steal, right?"
Mitchell smiled. "I can get it and use it and return it before anybody knows it's been gone. You'd be on your way with the boy and long outta here before anybody knows."
"And what do you plan to do with the people at the ranch, the women and the hands? I am not in this for any murder charge."
"We leave them, and we're gone."
Mercer started to laugh. "You are either insane or incredibly stupid. They'll be after us."
"You want the boy or not?"
Mercer looked like he was thinking again. He finally said, "All right. We'll scope it out. But if there are too many people there or it otherwise looks bad, the whole deal is off. All of it. And I'm out of here. Got that?"
Mitchell smiled and nodded.