Chapter 7

The six o'clock train the next morning wasn't terribly crowded. Eugene escorted his "wife" to seats in the back of the first class car. There wasn't anyone close enough to them to hear them if they kept their voices low.

Not that Eugene was planning to discuss Jarrod's case or why Donna was leaving town so suddenly, but he did have some things he wanted to know, and one in particular. He leaned close. "You know, Mrs. Barkley – I don't even know what your maiden name is."

Donna chuckled. She hadn't shared her last name with any of the customers at the Green Man. She really didn't want anyone to be able to look her up. But her "husband" deserved, and might even need, to know. "McCoy," she said quietly.

"A lovely name," Eugene said.

"What can I expect out of my 'in-laws'?" Donna asked. "What kind of people are they?"

"Not much different from Jarrod and me. My mother's name is Victoria, my sister is Audra – "

"And you have two other brothers, Nick and Heath," Donna said. "I've seen each one of your in the newspapers at one point or another."

"Tell me more about yourself," Eugene said. "How did you end up working for your uncle?"

They kept a close eye on who was where in the car, who was getting on and who was getting off, and they kept their voices down as they traded personal information. Donna explained that she had been orphaned when she was 15. Sandy – her mother's brother – took her in and had her work at the saloon with the understanding that she would NOT be "plying her trade." She would stay clean, she would behave herself, she would just be a barmaid.

"You didn't finish school?" Eugene asked.

Donna shook her head. "I've kept up my reading though. Thanks to my memory, I've been able to educate myself."

Eugene told her a bit about his family, about losing his father, about Jarrod stepping in as "Pappy." He told her about his sister and his brothers, but he was uncomfortable explaining about Heath and where he had come from.

But then Donna said, "Heath is the one who turned up a year or so ago as your father's son by another woman."

Eugene was surprised. "How do you know that?"

"It was in the paper, when he was tried for killing that carnival sharpshooter," Donna said. "One of the San Francisco papers made a fuss over it – their way of attacking the Barkleys."

"Well, it didn't work out," Eugene said. "Heath was cleared. He's a good man. It doesn't matter how he came to us. Everyone is glad he's there."

They continued to trade information about themselves – trivial things too, like what they liked for breakfast, whether Donna could ride a horse (she couldn't), whether Eugene had ever traveled long distances (he hadn't, and neither had Donna). The car never did get very crowded, and by the time they reached Stockton in mid-afternoon, it was nearly empty.

Donna looked around as they got off. "It's bigger than I thought it would be, but it's still small to me. I've never been out of San Francisco. I don't know how I'll do in the country."

Eugene said, "We're going to go straight to the ranch and get you settled there. It's going to get a lot more country than you see now."

Donna was open-mouthed when they rented a buggy and drove over the countryside to the ranch. "I've never seen so much – nothing."

Eugene had to laugh at that. "Once I got to the city, I'd never seen so much stuff."

When they got to the ranch, Donna was impressed with the arch with Barkley name they drove under. When she saw the compound with the main house and barns and bunkhouses and other outbuildings, she said, "It looks like a city in itself."

"Hardly," Eugene said with a laugh. "It's home, but it's the center of a business enterprise too. Jarrod runs the business, Nick and Heath run the ranch, and Mother and Audra run Jarrod, Nick and Heath."

Donna chuckled. "And you?"

"Sometimes," Eugene said.

Eugene pulled the buggy up in front of the house. Ciego, the stableman, appeared and took hold of the horse's bridle. "Mr. Eugene! We didn't expect you!"

Eugene helped Donna out of the buggy. "Something's come up," Eugene said. "Ciego, this is – " And then he didn't know how to introduce her.

Donna just smiled and said, "Donna. It's nice to meet you, Ciego."

"Your mother and sister are inside," Ciego said, "but your brothers have gone out to work with the herd."

Eugene nodded and escorted Donna into the house. She stopped as soon as they got inside the door. She stared open-mouthed, but smiling, at the foyer, at the stairway, at the chandeliers there and in the living room.

Victoria and Audra appeared from the library. "Gene! We weren't expecting you!" Victoria said, came to her son for a kiss, and then looked at Donna. She was smiling, but she was curious.

"Mother, Audra this is Donna McCoy," Eugene said.

"It's nice to meet you," Victoria said.

"And this is all very complicated," Eugene said, "but Donna has gotten tangled up uncomfortably in that case Jarrod is trying and we thought it would be better to get her out of San Francisco and someplace safe for a few days."

"Well, by all means, explain what you can explain and in the meantime, how does coffee or tea sound?" Victoria asked, took Donna by the arm and led everyone to the living room.

"Tea sounds very nice," Donna said. "Thank you for putting up with me."

"Not at all," Victoria said.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod leaned forward on his desk and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't really planned on spending the day with Edith Settle's testimony but given what Donna had told him the night before, it deserved a fine-toothed comb. As Eugene and Donna were arriving in Stockton, he was finishing four straight hours of reading and rereading and he could only focus in on one possible reason why Switzer would want to talk to a man who had assaulted Miss Settle.

The Green Man was closed on Sundays, so when Jarrod took a break he went to a café near the Green Man where he often grabbed a quick bite. Today he grabbed a slow bite, thinking, unwinding. Then suddenly, out of the blue, it occurred to him that he needed to talk to Sandy about Donna – but he didn't know where to find the man. Maybe he'd be at the Green Man even if it wasn't open. Maybe if Jarrod knocked at the back door.

Jarrod finished his lunch, paid and headed for the Green Man. Luckily, he didn't need to bang on the back door, because he spotted Sandy coming out of it. "Sandy!"

Sandy stopped. "I was just thinking about coming to see if you were in your office. My niece, Donna, she's taken off for a few days and I just didn't like that she didn't tell me much about it. She's been interested in that brother of yours – "

Jarrod raised a hand to stop him. "I know, Sandy. I know all about it, and it's not what you think, even though it's not something trivial either." Jarrod looked around. No one was near them. "I don't want anyone seeing us talking and definitely not hearing, so I'll make it fast. Donna came to me last night about something she saw and heard that involves that case I'm trying right now. We thought it best she get out of the way, and my brother took her to my family's ranch near Stockton. She's all right, she's fine, she's safe. It was all just a precaution."

"Your case?" Sandy said. "What did she hear?"

"I'd rather leave you out of it too, Sandy. The less you know the better but we ought to have it cleared up in a few days. In the meantime, she's with my family. She's safe. Don't worry. Just tell people she's on a little vacation."

Jarrod looked around quickly and started to leave. He didn't like the unhappy, baffled look on Sandy's face.

"Don't worry," he said one more time. "She's all right. I'll be back to you in a couple days."

Jarrod saw Sandy give a huff of a sigh. He hoped that meant the man understood, but he felt the need to get away before he was seen with him. Jarrod hurried back out to the street and decided from there he was going to find his client, Al Bolen, and find out anything more he could about Edith Settle and A.J. Bonaventure. He gave a huff of a sigh himself. Getting rid of his own worry was going to take more work.