The creaking noise turned out to be a wagon which grew nearer and finally pulled up and stopped. "Something just happened here Bart."
"Yes Miss. Look over there", he motioned with his head. "There's someone's horse. You stay in the wagon and I'll check it out."
"Nonsense", the dark haired woman said. Tying the reins up she nimbly turned and hopped down from the wagon and walked immediately to the horse. "She's a bit spooked but seems gentle enough." She reached out and touched the horse's neck. "There's blood here."
"She's been injured?", Bart asked, walking towards the abandoned horse.
"No, it's someone or something else's blood." She suddenly knelt down. "There's more here and look", she pointed to marks in the dirt. "Something's been dragged." She stood up and followed the marks, followed closely by the man. They reached the edge of the small cliff and looked down. The foliage was so thick that at first it was hard to see anything. "Wait, there's something there", she pointed.
"Be careful Miss, you don't know what it could be."
"I believe it's a man. Watch the horses, I'm going to check." She began an awkward climb down the small gulley until she came to the patch of color she'd seen. She moved some bushes aside until she uncovered the object that had been hidden. "Damn, I was right. There's a man here Bert", she called up. "He's been hurt but he's still alive. I'm going to need your help."
It took them almost half an hour to get the unconscious man to flat ground. "Let's just lay him in the back. Tie his horse to the wagon and I'll stay in the back with him while you drive."
"Where to Miss", he said, looking worried.
"Home. We can give him better care there!" Once they'd gotten the man as comfortably situated as they could she began to gently clean his head wound. At first she'd thought the bullet had gone straight in and hadn't given him much hope. Now, however, she could see that it had simply creased his skull. He'd have a major headache but should survive.
"How is he", Bart turned and asked.
"Holding his own. I don't think he's in any danger of dying on us although it'll be better when we get him inside on a bed. I wonder who he is?"
"Nobody I recognize", Bart answered. "Probably just a drifter."
"He's travelling pretty light for a drifter. He doesn't seem to have anything other than an empty canteen."
She looked at him carefully. It was true he looked rather gaunt and underfed and his face looked pale, although that could easily have been from the wound on his head and blood loss. When she saw his mare however she doubted again that he could be a drifter. "That's a good horse", she said.
"He probably stole it."
She grimaced, knowing what happened to horse thieves. "Maybe, although she did stick around after he was injured and she seemed to know him when we brought him up."
"Maybe he stole her a while ago." Bart was clearly suspicious of the man they'd found and was not happy about her taking him back to the ranch. "You be careful Miss Janet", he told her. "This guy could be bad news and you're a single woman."
"I know Bart", she sighed, sometimes tired by how over protective her employees could be. "Let's get going. I don't know how badly he's hurt. We need to get him home and bandaged.
Sam arrived back home, still upset and angry at herself, but knowing she'd have to face Jack sometime. She didn't know how she was going to deal with what had happened. It's not like she could actually speak to him and explain. She snorted – if she could explain it to him she wouldn't need to as this then wouldn't be an issue. She frowned, confusing herself. Oh well – might as well get it over with.
"Charlie", she called, seeing him over by the barn. "How's Jack?"
"He was okay when I left this morning. I was just going up to check on him but since you're here I'll let you do it. I left him some food for lunch and I think he was just going to stay in his room."
"He – did he seem – okay?" she asked hesitatingly.
"No", he answered baldly. "He watched you leave and I think he was upset at something but since he doesn't talk to me I couldn't tell you what it was about."
She swung and looked at him – worried about Jack and curious at Charlie's words. "He doesn't talk to anyone Charlie. And how do you know he was upset? Was he – throwing one of his tantrums."
The hired man looked at her with a strange look on his face. "I don't think he's done that for a long time Samantha. I could tell because he looked upset. As for not talking to anyone – maybe not, although I think he can understand and do a lot more than you think."
She was startled by his words, wondering if she'd missed something. "I have to go check on him", she told him, refusing to think too closely about his words. "I'll be down shortly if you want to stay for dinner."
She walked slowly up the stairs, knowing she was just procrastinating. God, if what Charlie had said was true – she may have hurt Jack even more than she'd thought. How was she going to fix this? Could she fix this?
She took a deep breath and knocked on his door. After a few moments of silence she tried again, but there was no sound from within. Suddenly remembering back to when she found Henry she panicked and pushed the door open, terrified that she'd see Jack, dead in his bed.
But there was no one. The room was empty. What? Where could he be? She remembered him making his way down to the parlor – was that only yesterday? Damn – she hadn't thought to look there before rushing upstairs. She quickly turned and made her way back down.
By the time she'd searched the whole house she was frightened. Where the hell could he have gone? She finally made her way outside, only to meet Charlie on the front step. "Jack is gone – "
"Sweet-pea is gone", he said at the same time.
"Sweet-pea?" she asked, sounding confused. "But who – oh my God. He couldn't have taken her – could he?" There was no way Jack was in any shape to actually ride a horse. The man could barely walk!
"I think he did", Charlie replied. "Whoever it was saddled her up, although it looks like he might have had some trouble getting things down. Also, there's a stool in her stall. I think someone used it to get up on her back."
"But – but he can barely walk!"
"But he can walk Samantha. Didn't I tell you – he can do more than you've given him credit for. Look, I asked him some questions yesterday and he answered me – oh, not verbally, but he clearly knew what I was saying. And remember, he did make it downstairs all by himself."
"But why did he pretend? Why did he lie about it?"
"He didn't exactly lie. I just think he wasn't ready to tell us. Maybe he was going to try and surprise you or something."
She briefly closed her eyes, suddenly wanting to cry. Knowing Jack, that was exactly the sort of thing he'd do, the idiot. "I'm going to kill him when I find him! Come on, let's go look for him."
They spent the rest of the day trying to search for him, with no luck. The ground around the ranch was hard and unless you were an expert tracker it was impossible to see any tracks. What made it harder was they had no idea where he'd go.
The next day they enlisted help from people in the town, but with no more luck. James was especially helpful, getting a number of men who worked for him to saddle up to help find Jack.
By the end of the week everyone had quit searching. "I'm sorry Samantha", James had said. "If we haven't found him by now I'm afraid there's little hope. Look, you said yourself you didn't think he took any supplies and the dessert gets hot. It would be hard for him to survive out there if he was in his right mind. As he was - " he let the rest of his words trail off.
"No!" she said. "If anyone is capable of making his way through any terrain it's Jack", she argued. "He's an expert. He knows how to survive."
"Maybe he did once Samantha", James said gently. "But he's a different person now – you have to recognize that."
"But where is he? Why hasn't anyone found – a body", she cried. "And where's Sweet-pea? She would have come back if something happened to him."
"Maybe not. They could have both fallen into a gully. There are a lot of them in the hills here. Look, I'll ask my men to keep looking but I don't think you should get your hopes up."
She nodded and thanked him, although inside she wanted to scream that there was no way the Colonel would just ride off and die. If what Charlie was saying was true, he was better than anyone had thought.
The fact was, he could have simply kept riding and could even now be in a totally different town or even one of the cities a few days ride from Mariscola. She'd hurt him badly – and he probably just decided to leave.
She'd only recently started to wonder if her greater sin hadn't been that she'd slept with him, but that she'd left him the next day. Charlie had told her about Jack standing in the window, watching her leave. He had probably thought she was running away from him. God – what a fool she'd been.
By week two she knew there was almost nothing more she could do. She didn't even know what direction he'd taken so he could be anywhere. The one thing she did do was hire a man to continue searching. He'd go to the nearest towns and cities until he came across some information. James tried to dissuade her, but she insisted. She knew she had to keep looking for Jack.
She also knew she had better start to look again for the Stargate. She'd been remiss in not trying to find it long before now. If she had, maybe all of this wouldn't have happened. She could have gotten Jack back into Janet's capable hands, she would have fixed him, and everything would be the way it was. No, from now on she was going to concentrate on finding the Gate. If she was lucky, maybe she'd find Jack as well.
Crap – another headache from hell! He tried opening his eyes but the spike being drilled slowly into his head convinced him that keeping his eyes closed was the smarter thing to do. He started to feel sick to his stomach but was furiously trying to talk himself out of throwing up, knowing that that would instantly cause his head to launch into outer space, when a cool cloth was laid across his forehead.
He sighed in ecstasy. The coolness of the cloth helped to instantly take away some, although not all, of the pain. When whoever was doing it pulled the cloth away he objected.
"Don't worry", a soft voice said. "I'm just rinsing it out at again." Sure enough, a few seconds later it was laid across his forehead, cooler than before.
"Does your head hurt?" the same voice asked. "I'm sorry – that was a stupid question. Of course it hurts."
Jack was relieved not to have to answer and fully agreed with the speaker that it was a stupid question. On a scale of one to ten it was easily a million. His head hurt!"
The next time he woke up it was a bit better and he was able to open his eyes. Of course it didn't help much because he had absolutely no idea where he was – other than that he was in a bedroom. He must have made a small sound because a body appeared beside him.
"How are you feeling now?" the woman asked. "Is your headache a bit better?"
Jack peered at her for a few seconds and then let out a small sign of agreement. "Wa –" he managed to squeak out. Fortunately she seemed to understand and helped him sit up a bit to take a drink. Okay, he was officially in heaven, he decided as he allowed the cold liquid to moisten his dry, parched throat
"Where?" he managed to scrape out. Hopefully his nurse would understand.
"You're at my Ranch – the Stone Circle Ranch. My foreman Bart and I found you four days ago in a gully about two miles from here in the hills. Someone had taken a pot-shot at you and you ended up with a groove in your skull and a pretty good sized headache. You're going to be okay though as long as you take it easy. Oh, my name is Janet by the way, Janet Henderson. What's your name?"
He felt a strange feeling in his chest when she introduced herself but couldn't figure out why. He felt like he should know her but he was sure he'd never laid eyes on her before. He the had to think for a minute about his own name and grew worried that his brain had been so scrambled all the knowledge had leaked out. "Uh – Jack", he finally said. "Ma – name's – Jack."
"Well Jack, welcome to my ranch. Say, is there anyone we should be notifying? Do you have family close by?"
"No – no – family", he managed to say. Speaking was difficult and his brain kept getting lost. Eventually he remembered something about his situation, even if all the details hadn't come back.
Over the next few days he slowly got better. He'd begun to talk a little bit, although he still found it tiring. The same was true with walking, although now he could get around his room with no difficulty. His plan was to make it outdoors by the end of the week.
Janet was worried that the bullet had done more damage than she'd thought it should have. She saw Jack's struggle to walk and to talk and to communicate. Sometimes he would do well, other times she'd see him really struggle. It was Jack himself who finally told her about his other accident.
"They – think – I'm – idiot", he managed to squeak out. "Not – just have – trouble – getting words – out."
Janet began to spend more and more time with Jack as he seemed determined to improve and get stronger. She realized, after he'd been there for almost two weeks, that Jack was a very smart and attractive man and someone she wanted to get to know even better.
Jack slowly made his way down the stairs one morning after a couple of weeks recuperating in his room. He was walking pretty well, although he still had a pronounced limp and stairs were hard. At least he was able to get around and he'd begun speaking more.
"So Jack, tell me about yourself", Janet asked, one evening after chores were done. They were both sitting having a cup of coffee in the homey kitchen.
"Not much – to – tell", he said.
"Not much? Somehow I don't believe that. However, in order to pay me back for my care, you have to tell me some things about yourself. First, where are you from?"
Jack spent the next few moments telling her what were mostly made up stories although he had a sense that some of them may have been based on his own reality, that he couldn't quite remember. He hated the thought that he wasn't being totally honest but he couldn't really tell her the truth. He didn't want her to know about Henry or Sam and he couldn't remember enough about earth to sound convincing. He still had too many gaps in his memory.
"I've never heard of a town called Earth. Is it far?" she asked.
"Yes, very far", he answered, without going into detail. He claimed tiredness at that point and made his way slowly up the stairs and to bed.
His convalescence was slow, at least as far as Janet and Bart were concerned, but Jack knew he was actually coming along quickly from where he'd been when at Henry's. He was determined to get better and worked at it religiously
"So, you up for some work?" Janet asked one day. "I could use someone to help with some of the vegetables. I need to do some canning but I also have to help with the ranch. We're getting ready to take a herd to market." She grinned. "I really need a wife."
"Well don't – look at me", he grinned in reply. "I can help but – I refuse – to wear – pretty pink - apron." So Jack became the official 'canner' – once Janet had shown him how. After that he slowly added jobs to help out as much as he could around the house. He had a suspicion, however, that Janet was giving him small things to do primarily to keep him from getting bored.
He'd been at the Stone Circle Ranch for just over a month and finally felt ready to really start helping out for real around the place. He knew how difficult it was to get all the jobs done in a day on a ranch. As far as employees were concerned, Janet only had Bart and one other kid who worked part time – or at the whim of his father. Jack still had some trouble getting around and didn't have a lot of strength in his left arm, but there was still a lot he could do. He knew it would help make him feel less beholden to her.
He'd avoided thinking too much about Sam and what had happened before he'd left. He'd dreamt about it many times, but in the light of day he ruthlessly shut down all thoughts of their night together.
He knew she had to be going crazy and for that he felt sick and full of guilt. On the other hand, he convinced himself that she would be relieved as well. She didn't need him around to remind her of what he'd done. He also worried that as he got better she'd still feel trapped by him, especially after what had happened. She didn't need that or him in her life.
Jack knew that eventually he'd have to do something, would have to contact her, but for now he allowed himself to drift and to avoid making a decision. He convinced himself this was the better way.
He finally began to ride around the ranch, checking for lost cattle and places where the fences needed fixing. He couldn't do much to actually repair them as he wasn't strong enough, but it did help having him check things out as it saved time for both Bart and Janet.
He was getting stronger and all the time in the fresh air was also giving his appetite a boost so he was beginning to fill out and put on some of the weight he'd lost. The problem he was having was that his mental healing was taking longer and was making him angry and frustrated. He still had huge blanks in his memory and there were times when he still got confused about things. He hated those times and they made him feel like he was no longer a whole man. It was also another reason he convinced himself that Sam was better off without him.
"You sure you know what you're doing?" Bart was talking to Janet as they were out checking on a new calf born the night before. "You know he's got something wrong with him."
"Yes, he told me. He was injured – a head wound. He's getting better every day."
"He may be but he has a long way to go and I have a feeling he's never going to be a 100 percent. I've seen lots of head injuries and they often leave permanent damage."
"Maybe, but he's a good man and he can still help out around the ranch."
"It's you I'm worried about Miss Janet. I see the way you look at him. You need a man who's all there, who can look after you and the ranch both. You're doing too much for a woman. You need to be at home, doing woman things and having babies."
Janet shook her head, knowing it was useless to try and argue. The men around here had a certain view of what women should be doing, and there was no changing them. It was one of the things she really liked in Jack. He respected her and didn't think there was anything wrong in the fact that she was in charge of the ranch. She also suspected that Bart was very wrong in that Jack couldn't protect her if need be. She was pretty sure that he was a very strong man. Oh – maybe not physically, not yet – but he was a person she definitely wouldn't want to cross.
Janet had decided a number of years ago that marriage wasn't for her. She'd had a horrible experience with a man and it had almost destroyed her. Since then she'd avoided having anything to do with any of them, even though a number had been interested in her. She was never quite sure if they liked her for herself or for her ranch – and she knew that was part of the problem. She had lost her ability to trust after what had been done to her.
Jack was different. She had at first only looked at him as a victim, as someone to help. She'd quickly grown to like and respect him and was now pretty sure she was falling in love with him. He didn't have anywhere to go, at least that's the way it appeared, so maybe he'd just stay and together they'd make the Stone Circle a real success.
"Just be careful Janet", Bart said again. "I have a feeling he's a man that could really hurt you. He's suffered a lot, that man has, and there are things about him you don't know."
Thank god for James, thought Sam. If it wasn't for his frequent visits she was sure she would have gone crazy. She was worried sick about Jack – and she missed him horribly. Even as hurt and disabled as he had been, he'd been hers. Every day she rushed into his room, hoping that he'd returned and she'd find him lying in that bed. After almost five weeks she'd finally started to give up hope that he'd return. She would never give up hope that he was alive.
She also spent every bit of time she could out searching for the gate – to the point that Charlie was getting frustrated. Still, she felt she had to find it and soon. Once she did, she could get help to locate Jack.
Through all of this James had been a great support. He'd let her talk about Jack and offered her encouragement. She hadn't told him about the gate although she'd asked him many questions about the towns around to see if she could glean any useful information. Above all, he just allowed her to enjoy a few brief moments with someone who found her attractive without asking anything of her. It acted as a balm to her soul.
She'd been feeling tired and out of sorts for the last few days and had bitten Charlie's head off that morning. He was staying away more and more lately as James' visits increased. She knew he really didn't like the man, although she could never get him to give her a reason. Then too things were getting busy on the ranch. Charlie had hired a number of hands and they were busy getting the herd ready to travel to market.
This morning she'd been particularly bitchy to the poor man, and she really didn't know why. He hadn't done anything. Maybe it was because she was feeling so tired and sick. She'd looked after Jack for months and then had to deal with Henry's death and looking after the ranch and finally there was Jack's disappearance. No wonder she felt sick!
She had skipped breakfast that morning but decided it was time to get moving and get some things done around the house. With the extra hands she had less to do outside and more domestic chores inside. She stood up to head to the kitchen when the nausea hit. She barely made it to the kitchen sink before throwing up. Afterward she sat down and drank a cold glass of water. What the heck was wrong with her?
She sat there a few more minutes, waiting for the nausea to pass. She hoped she wasn't coming down with something but she had been feeling tired and rather sick all week. She laughed softly to herself, thinking that her symptoms reminded her of –
Holy crap! She stared at the wall and thought back, counting days and - . She laid her head in her hands, too numb to cry. It couldn't be – it was only the once!
She wished, now more than ever, that she was back home so that she could run out and buy a test and discover the truth instantly. As it was she would have to wait. Although inside, there was a little voice that was telling her she already knew.
"Jack!" she cried, reminded of waking up beside him in the desert. "I really need you." She finally began to cry – knowing that she was all alone and she was pregnant.