Conspiracies and Unresolved Consequences
Chapter 10
Evening, Sunday 21st August 1876
Heath and Audra rode up to the large barn and dismounted their horses. Heath gathered up Audra's
reins with a sigh. "You best go in and see your brothers and mother, Audra, I'll take care of the
horses and then join you."
"I can take care of my own horse Heath; then we can go in together."
Heath offered his sister a small lopsided smile. "Procrastinating isn't going to help you know."
"I'm not procrastinating Heath, I'm looking after my horse like Father taught me. Besides, they've
waited this long, so another ten minutes won't make much difference."
"Hmmm. If you say so Sis," and Heath gave his sister a wink.
They worked in companionable silence settling the three horses and ensuring they had grain, hay
and water. Heath stopped Audra as they were exiting barn. "I'm sorry Audra."
"For what Heath?" Audra asked in confusion
"I wasn't very good company on the ride back. I didn't mean to ignore you; I just had a lot on my
mind."
"That's alright, Heath. I guess I had a lot to think about too but I'm glad you let me go with you."
Heath nodded, "I'm glad you came too, Audra."
Audra bit her lip, not sure if she should ask but..."Have you decided what you are going to do
Heath?"
Heath sighed as he stared at the façade of the looming white house across the yard. "I don't know
yet, Audra. I guess it will depend on your mother's reaction to the letter, and what your brothers
think."
"And what about what you want, Heath? It shouldn't depend on what everyone else thinks or
wants."
Heath hesitated, "But it does, Audra; how could I even begin to think of staying when I don't know
what your brothers think?"
Audra placed her hand on Heath's arm, "They're your brothers too, Heath, and I know they want you
to stay just as much as I do. I have enjoyed these last few days, getting to know you and Hannah,
seeing your home."
Heath snorted, "It's not much of a home compared to this."
"Oh Heath, that's where you're wrong. It might not be as big or grand as this house, but it was – is -
a home of warmth and love." Audra looked to the house, her home, another place of warmth, love
and family. "Size doesn't always mean love, Heath. Sometimes size can be cold and uncaring. It's the people within that make it a home. You have a home in Strawberry with Hannah, even your
cabin is a home because you are in it and you have a home here, with your family."
Heath drew Audra to his chest and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, Audra."
BV
"Well, it's about time Missy," Nick stated as he stood hands on hips, and glared at his little sister as
she and Heath stood in the foyer. He turned away from Audra and held out his hand to Heath,
"Good to see you again, Heath; thanks for bringing this little hell cat home."
Heath nodded at Nick, "Said I would." Heath looked to his boots before raising his head again and
looking Nick in the eye. "I know it's late but is Missus Barkley awake, Nick? I need to speak with her
if that's alright."
Nick searched Heath's face but couldn't read anything in the closed features. "I believe she is Heath.
Go on up, it's the last door on the right at the end of the hall."
Nick and Audra watched as Heath nodded to Jarrod and Gene, who had come out of the study, and
ascended the sweeping staircase to the upper floor, disappearing around the corner.
"Is he staying Audra?" Nick demanded, as he turned back to his sister.
Audra bit her lip and shook her head, "I don't know Nick. I guess maybe he will decide after he
speaks with Mother."
"Did he find what he was looking for, Sis?" Gene asked.
"Audra smiled, "Yes he did; Hannah found the letter after Mother left and..."
"Mother? What are you talking about Audra? Mother left where?"
Audra threaded her arms through Nick and Jarrod's and led them to the parlour. "I have so much to tell you, but the short version is that it seems that Mother rode to Strawberry at the start of summer. You know that week when Jarrod was in Sacramento, you were buying horses for the army, Nick, and I was visiting friends in Denver? She was here alone. It's the only time that makes any sense. Anyway, she spoke with Hannah, but Hannah couldn't tell her what she wanted to know. After Mother had left, Hannah remembered there had been a letter and found it among Heath's mother's things. She gave it to Heath."
"And he has it now. Is that why he has gone up to speak with Mother?" Jarrod asked. "Do you know
what Father wrote?"
Audra shook her head, "No, not all of it. Heath wouldn't tell me. He said it was between Father and
his mama and Mother, but I do know that Father never knew about Heath. Heath said that much."
"How did he take that news?"
"He seemed relieved to know that Father hadn't abandoned him and his mother, Jarrod."
Jarrod nodded thoughtfully. "As it should be a relief to all us, knowing that Father didn't purposefully abandon Heath and his Mother. At least that is one question we now have an answer too."
Nick stood, "We should be up there with them."
"Sit down, Nick," Jarrod ordered "I don't believe Heath will say or do anything that will hurt Mother.
Heath has already told Audra that whatever is in that letter is private between, Father, Leah, Heath
and Mother. If he wants us to know he will tell us. As for you, young lady, "Jarrod continued sternly, turning a steely blue-eyed glare on his sister, "you
have a lot of explaining to do."
Audra had the good grace to look contrite as she took a seat on the settee. "I know I shouldn't have
followed Heath without telling you, but I did leave a note."
Nick snorted, "'Going to Strawberry' isn't a note."
"Oh, I don't know Nick, I seem to remember you leaving a note, 'gone fishing', when you six years
old. You should have seen Father and Mother's reaction when they didn't know which fishing hole
you had headed to. At least Audra told us where she was going," Jarrod commented, "However,"
and Jarrod looked sternly at Audra, "I would like to know why you decided to follow Heath."
Audra sighed, "I was coming down the back stairs when I overheard you and Nick and Silas talking
about Heath leaving to find the letter Father had written." Audra squared her shoulders as she
looked at her brothers, "I was afraid that Heath would leave before I had a chance to get to know my
new brother and I couldn't let that happen."
"It was a very dangerous thing for you to do, Audra; for both you and Heath. What if you hadn't
been able to catch up with Heath? You could have taken a wrong trail, got lost, run into a wild
animal or worse," Jarrod admonished.
"How did you know which way he went Sis?" Gene asked.
Audra sighed, "I caught up with him at the boundary of the ranch."
"What?" Nick growled. "Why didn't he send you back then instead of taking you with him?"
Audra glared defiantly at Nick. "He tried to make me come back but I told him I wasn't going to. I
said I'd just follow him, or ride to Strawberry on my own."
"Of all the stupid..."
"What was it like Audra, Strawberry and Heath's home?" Gene interrupted in an effort to ward off
Nick's outburst.
Audra smiled gratefully at Gene. She really didn't need another lecture from Nick. "Strawberry is
really a ghost town. Most of the businesses are boarded up or falling down but Heath's home,
where Hannah lives, is full of love. It's tiny, only two rooms. In fact the entire house would fit in our
entry, but you can feel how much love Heath, his mama and Hannah had for one another." Audra
paused. "Heath wanted to stay an extra day to do some repairs for Hannah before he left. That's
why we were late coming back. He took me to his mama's favourite fishing spot and we had a picnic
lunch with the left-overs from dinner. He caught two rabbits and a pheasant, and even showed me
which wild greens and mushrooms to pick. Hannah is a wonderful cook and her strawberry pie is to
die for."
"Better not tell Silas that, Sis," Gene laughed.
"Rabbits, huh; the boy sure does have a penchant for rabbit stew," Nick muttered.
"We didn't have rabbit stew Nick; Hannah roasted the rabbits and pheasant, along with potatoes
from her garden and the greens and mushrooms we picked. She even showed me how to do it."
"It sounds like you were well looked after, Sis."
"I was, Gene. Hannah was so welcoming." Audra giggled, "She thought I was Heath's girl when I first
met her, and then she told Heath off for traipsing around the countryside with a girl who wasn't his."
Audra sighed. "Did you know he has an aunt and uncle? They own the hotel. Heath warned me to
stay away from there when we rode past and now I know why. They were horrible, threatened
Hannah and me. Hannah said they tried to get money out of Mother when she was there but
Mother wouldn't give them any."
"What did they think Mother was going to give them money for?" Nick demanded.
"Apparently, they tried to convince Mother that they cared for and supported Heath and his mother,
but Mother didn't believe them. Then, after Heath and I arrived, they came around to the
house, wanting me to give them money. They said vile things before Heath ran them off. I know
Heath is worried about Hannah being there on her own. I think he might be going back to Strawberry to take care of his aunt and uncle. He was really angry with them and threatened to hunt them down if they went near Hannah or his family again. He called me his family. You don't think he would do anything illegal do you?" Audra asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, Honey, we'll make sure he doesn't. Now Missy, I think you should head up stairs and
have a bath, and then you had better go in and visit Mother."
"So that's what the smell is," Nick commented, wrinkling his nose.
"I do not smell, thank you very much. I'll have you know I had a bath at Hannah's on Friday
morning," Audra replied indignantly, as she rose from the settee and headed for the
stairs.
"My point exactly," Nick retorted grinning widely as Audra flounced out of the room. Nick turned to
look at his brothers. "What do you think? It sounds to me like Heath isn't planning on staying here!"
"We can't make him stay, Nick. He's a grown man and has a life of his own. We've already
discussed that. We will just have to accept whatever decision Heath makes but I do suggest if he is
going back to Strawberry to confront this aunt and uncle at least one of us should go with him."
"And what if we get the same response as last time Jarrod, that he doesn't want our help?"
"Well then, Brother Nick, I suppose we could take a leaf out of Audra's book and just follow him."
BV
Heath self-consciously climbed the stairs to the second floor. He could feel the eyes of his
siblings following him up the curving stairway, and felt uncomfortable and overwhelmed at being in
his father's house. Finally reaching the top of the stairs, he rounded the corner that took him out of
the view of his siblings, and let out a shaky breath. Heath shook his head as he stared down the long
hallway with all its closed doors, reminding him of a new book his Aunt Rachel had been excited to
buy from a book peddler not long after the end of the war. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. He
remembered only reading the first chapter, thinking it was ridiculous after Alice fell down the rabbit
hole and found a hallway full of closed doors, and then she began to shrink and grow depending on
what she ate. Suddenly he was beginning to feel a little like Alice. Shaking himself and taking a
breath, Heath headed down the long hallway and realized that it wasn't really that long, it was just his imagination. He stopped outside the door that Nick had indicated was Missus Barkley's room. He
hesitated for a moment before softly knocking on the door. Heath waited nervously, he could here
rustling coming from the room and then the door opened; an unfamiliar woman stepped out. This
must be the nurse he had heard about. Heath cleared his throat. "Hello, my name is Heath
Thomson, Nick said it would be alright to come up and speak to Missus Barkley, if she is still awake."
"Good evening Mister Thomson, I am Nurse Carter. Please go in, Missus Barkley is awake. I'll wait
out here, please call me if you need anything."
Heath nodded, "thank you I will," before he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
He stood just inside the door and looked around the large room. Heath shook his head; like the rest
of this house, their cabin would have just about fitted in this room. Oh, how his mama would have
loved a room like this, with its delicate, rose pastel curtains hanging in the bay window, the large
double bed instead of her single bed that both of them would squeeze into on cold
winter nights. The pillows and quilts on the bed, the dresser, the writing table: Heath sighed, what
was, was, and there was no use in dwelling on the past and the haves or have nots. Heath quietly
moved across the room.
"Missus Barkley", Heath called softly as he took a seat beside her bed.
Victoria slowly opened her eye, a slight smile lifting the right corner of her mouth as she saw who
her visitor was.
Heath fidgeted nervously in his seat before he took a depth breath and looked at Victoria, offering a small lop-sided smile. "I was right sorry to hear about your illness Missus Barkley. I hadn't expected to ever see you or Nick again and certainly not under these circumstances." Heath dropped his eyes and fingered the envelope in his hand. "I never… I mean…" Heath shook his head. "Did this…" Heath nodded to the bed, "Is it because of me?"
Victoria's right eye widened and she fisted the bed quilt with her right hand. "D…n…la…me." She grunted frustration.
"It's alright Missus Barkley."…..
…Heath swallowed nervously, "There was a letter, Missus Barkley...it told me everything. Hannah
found it after you left." He paused, "I want you to know too."
Victoria stared at Heath.
"May I read part of it to you? I think it will answer your questions."
Victoria blinked slowly.
Heath cleared his throat "You're a wonderful woman Leah. Perhaps the only woman in the world I
could have loved, almost as much as I love my wife."
A lone tear appeared in Victoria's eye.
"And someday, very soon, I hope you'll meet someone. You'll fall in love as you deserve to...and he'll
love you as you deserve to be loved. And be as happy as I am, as proud as I am of my family. You
must marry...you must have children someday. You were meant for that."
Heath stopped reading and looked at Victoria, "He didn't know about me... and he loved you, and his
family. There are no more answers to be found." Heath looked at her, lying helpless in the bed,
remembering the strong woman he met just months before. "I hope you and I can learn to live with
and accept the known and the unknown." Heath rose from the chair and quietly left the room,
knowing there was nothing more to be said.
Victoria lifted the right side of her lips in a small smile, before she sighed softly and closed her eyes.
The End
Authors note
Thank you for reading my story. There will be no epilogue to this story, nor will there be a sequel. I started this story with the intention that the ending would be left to the interpretation of each reader.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Alice in Wonderland is an 1865 English children's novel by Lewis
Carroll and was first published in the US in 1866.