Chapter Thirty Eight

Kyle cursed himself, as he built a fire inside what appeared to be an old abandoned shack. At least, with nothing in the dark brown cupboards, no sign of a table anywhere and the wooden bed frame that stood next to the back wall, it seemed to be deserted. Glancing on his bandaged hand, he shook his head. If only the empty building that stood across from Jarrod's office hadn't been locked up, Kyle wouldn't have had to break the back window in order to get in. Why he hadn't wrapped his hand up in at least a bandanna was something Kyle couldn't explain. The wanted man then asked himself why he had panicked in the livery stable. It's not like Carl Wheeler had asked anything that anybody else wouldn't have asked had they seen his hand. Then again, the coins he'd found on Carl afterwards, had to be worth a lot, but they looked kind of old. Still, his greed might justify attacking him; at least, that's the lie Kyle told himself. Of course, now he had to face the fact that not only was the law looking for him, but he was cold and hungry for something besides dry jerky and the beans he carried with him. His mood didn't exactly improve as he tried to figure out a way to draw the man he was still calling 'John' away from the Barkleys.

Kyle again growled. Despite what he'd written on the note, he didn't believe Jarrod had another brother, nor did Kyle want to wait until after Christmas to get even with John Summers. He might have felt different, only he'd finally woke up to what the old woman had been talking about when she talked about the birds. It had made him angry to think that she might be right, and that he might have lost his chance to get revenge on Steve. However, he was bound and determined to prove her dead wrong when it came to John Summers, Jarrod Barkley and Jarrod's half-brother, Heath.

Once Kyle had a hold of 'John', he would make the man suffer greatly before he ended his life. That was a promise Kyle made himself as he began cooking a few of the beans he had with him. As he did so, his thoughts turned from 'John Summers' and the Barkley family to his own family…either killed in the war, divided and still feuding among themselves, or driven to who knows where. Things had been good before the war. Kyle shook his head and chastised himself, telling himself he had no business getting sentimental when he had 'a man like Summers' to deal with'.

When he heard the sound of rustling outside, Kyle practically jumped through the roof. However, when he looked through the shack's 'window', he saw a deer running up and over a nearby hill. An evil smile spread across Kyle's face as a few questions crossed his mind. Why was he worrying about drawing John away from the Barkley's ranch? Why hadn't he simply made his way to the Barkley's ranch and found a place to wait for his intended victim? Sure the Barkleys had quite the spread; still, sooner or later, John would be working alone, and when he did Kyle would be waiting. The man chuckled as he continued cooking his beans.

~oOo~

"The sun is setting; there's not much daylight left." Fred looked around and shook his head. "Kyle Jensen's got to have made it to the next county by now. Even if he's not, by the time we catch up to him he will be."

Jarrod, Nick and Heath heard what he did not say…unless Carl Wheeler died from his injuries, the sheriff believed the man now to be out of his jurisdiction and could do nothing else. "You and the others can go back if you want to." Jarrod replied, his face as hard as stone. "I'm still searching." Nick and Heath were on Jarrod's side and said as much.

"I'm sorry," Fred looked at them apologetically, but added, "I will definitely keep my eyes and ears open. We all will." He said nodding towards the rest of the posse. He then turned his horse around and headed back to Stockton, as did the rest of his men.

Jarrod, Nick and Heath pushed their horses passed the trees and rocks that dotted the scenery, along with going up and down a couple of hills. Just as Nick and Heath had about decided the sheriff and the other men had been right Jarrod jumped off his horse, ran to the start of an old dirt path and, kneeling on the ground, brushed some dirt off a small shiny object that was half way hidden in the dirt.

"What is it?" Nick leaned forward in his saddle and asked when he heard Jarrod suck in his breath and let out a few choice words.

Jarrod held up a couple of rather old looking coins; each held the traces of casting wax that carl had never finished polishing off; said he'd do it later after he got them appraised. "These are Carl's! I can prove it. We made castings of them with some letter wax in my office, then took some rubbings from the wax surface; less damage that way to the original coins. had the rubbings sent to San Francisco to be authenticated..." Jarrod went on to say that the coins had actually belonged to Carl's uncle, who dealt in valuable coins, before the old man had passed away. "The authentication certificate only arrived last week. I have them and the castings in my safe. Carl was talking about making a trip to Rimfire, to meet one of his cousins and give the man a few of the coins."

Heath dismounted his horse, walked to where Jarrod was kneeling and looked down the path; it led to the base of some hills. He and Jarrod had traveled through these hills on a few occasions. He could see every nook and cranny of the place in his mind and, while he could not explain it, he just knew the man they were hunting was in the area. "He's up in those hills." He said at the exact same time as Jarrod and Nick, who had been gazing up at the hills as well.

Nick looked at his brothers in amazement; he'd seldom had anyone speak the same words as he did…that is, not at the exact same time. "I'm willing if you two are." Nick looked at Jarrod and Heath; he'd found himself speaking without clarifying what he meant…somehow knowing there was no need to do such a thing.

Jarrod looked at Heath and silently sent the message 'I'm going with him; what about you?"

Heath nodded slightly and turned away from the path, remounting Charger as he did so. There was little daylight left; he didn't want to waste time. "Let's go."

"Fine with me," Jarrod said as he stood up and remounted Jingo. Soon the three brothers were heading down the path, keeping an eye out for any more clues and praying that the three of them were right. If they were, the three brothers knew they just had to stop Kyle…dead in his tracks if needs be.