Chapter Twenty Three

Previously:

Nick didn't answer at first. He'd been thinking on all those facts since the moment he'd found out she was a Hyatt. A part of him did worry about his family's reaction only he liked Elizabeth. After a few moments of saying nothing, he whispered, "Let's face that bridge when we get to it. For now, I'm hoping Phillip either sees the smoke or that you actually start recognizing the area we're in."

Elizabeth nodded, as she was holding onto the same hope.

The hope that Philip would see the smoke and realize something was amiss was something that did not take long be fulfilled…as the mountain man, Jarrod, Fred and Hank had just past the last of the trees that would hide any such smoke. The moment they entered the wide open clearing, the smoke was more than visible…though it was actually Jarrod who saw the smoke only he quickly drew the mountain man's attention to it. Thinking on the conversation the four men had been having, Jarrod looked puzzled. "I thought you said no one else was up here this time or the year."

"That smoke shouldn't be there." Phillip stopped his horse and frowned, telling them a shortened version of the story of the man who had lived there and how he'd died. "Blasted fool wouldn't let me go for a doctor, said they'd only kill him. He told me he only a little under the weather and would be fine." He leaned forward in his saddle, a look of deep concentration on his face. Finally, he looked at the men with him. "I don't think it would be a bad idea to check it out."

No one had to ask why the man said that-they all had the same thought. "Is there a path that would make getting there a bit faster?" Jarrod asked as they pushed their horses through the snow.

"In another hundred yards there's a path that might be clear. The way the sun hits it—it's usually one of the few paths that are sometimes assessible in the early winter." Phillip answered Jarrod, but kept his face forward, his mind on the fact that Jarrod recognize Elizabeth when they found her and Nick. He wanted the famous attorney to be prepared only he didn't feel comfortable in talking about 'that' issue in front of Hank or Fred. In Phillip's eyes, since Elizabeth hadn't done anything wrong, her relationship to Cliff and Cass was none of their business. However, his train of thought was interrupted when Fred asked how Nick had wound up with Phillip.

Phillip was more than happy to tell him -as he saw it as an opening to insert information that he hoped Jarrod would pick up on. After all, the man had prosecuted Cass. Surely Jarrod would be familiar with some of the man's family names. "That first storm that hit." He went on to tell Fred, Jarrod and Hank everything Elizabeth and Nick had told him. "That 'daughter' of mine never could turn her back on anyone. I mean, not when it meant it would be mean their death. Been like that since a child, at least Cliff told Jason that was the case."

Even though Jarrod had no reason to connect the Cliff the man had just mentioned to Cass' brother, he still felt a cold chill run across the back of his neck. "Cliff? Jason?" He turned his head slightly.

"Elizabeth's oldest brother, Cliff, told her late husband, Jason Kegan, that 'she has too soft of a heart. She can't turn her back on anyone or anything that's hurt or in trouble'…and your brother was in trouble, Mr. Barkley. The Kegan's home is the only shelter for miles around. I mean, in the area it's in. The same thing could be said of my home. If she had turned him away, I'd doubt he'd be alive today." Phillip talked as he began crossing the clearing.

'Man has two siblings…an older brother Cliff and a baby sister-think her name's something like Lizzie or Elizabeth, doubt she'll cause us any trouble when the law arrests Cass. She's too young. If anything, I'd be worried about the brother, Cliff.' The words Jarrod's friend-a brown headed attorney by the name of George Sampson who lived in Sacramento-rang in Jarrod's ears. The cold chill that had ran across the back of Jarrod's neck, made a second round. Jarrod had a ray of emotions start to rage inside him. He had to be putting the puzzle pieces together wrong. For a split second he was back in the court room, and Cass Hyatt had just been sentenced to prison. He had turned and saw the man's sister on the back bench. A look of utter disgust and hatred was in her eyes. He had taken it to mean she hated him, and that she believed Cass's lies and blamed Jarrod for the sentence Cass had received. It had never occurred to him-nor was it now -that the look had been for Cass, not him. 'It can't be Cass Hyatt's sister who had saved Nick…can it?' It was a question Jarrod asked only himself.

"How long has she lived up here?" Jarrod asked as they drew near the path that indeed looked as if it would be okay to travel on.

Phillip, who could see the war going on in Jarrod's eyes, hoped he had done the right thing mentioning Cliff's name. However, he couldn't say he was sorry. The famous attorney deserved some warning before laying eyes on a woman that Phillip knew full well bore some very strong physical Hyatt traits. "Close to six years, Jason brought what I referred to as 'his child bride' up here as soon as they were married. He missed the mountains, missed roaming the hillside. Only, he couldn't move back until he married again. Tabitha needed a mother who could communicate with her. The moment he could provide his daughter such a woman, he was back."

The whole time he'd been talking the small group had turned onto the path and traveled as fast as they dared. By the time he'd finished, the men were on top of a small hill looking through trees and down at the shack. Jarrod pushed the 'coincidences' of the names and time frame out of his mind as they watched Brian mounting Coco and forcing Nick and Elizabeth to start walking. Since the escaped prisoner was forcing the couple to walk towards the hill, Phillip, Fred, Jarrod and Hank hurried and hid themselves and their horses in the trees were grouped together alongside both sides of the path.

Brian, who had his eyes on Nick and Elizabeth, missed seeing the men appear and then quickly disappear-the couple did not. While the four men were too far away for them to make a definite identification, they still pretty well knew who the long haired gentleman was. "He saw it, and it looks like had has men with him." Nick turned slightly and mouthed to Elizabeth-the whole time wondering if he was right in thinking one of the men might be Jarrod. While he had no way of knowing how Jarrod would have crossed paths with Phillip, Nick didn't care. All he cared about was that there were men ready to rescue Elizabeth and him, along with turning their captor over to the law. Any nervous feelings he had when it came to Jarrod being with the group, his seeing Elizabeth and his reaction were all pushed aside for the moment. First things first….which meant being sure he was prepared to pull Elizabeth out of the way when Phillip and the men with him dealt with Nick's and Elizabeth's captor.