Chapter Seven

A/N Guest that asked about Audra...I reread Chapter 6 and - oops - I don't know how Audra's name got left out of the one paragraph. I have edited it back in. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

Excerpt from Chapter Six

"Jarrod." The judge sat back down. "How come I get the funniest feeling you already intend to look into the very matter I wanted to pull you into?"

"Because I am, along with another incident." Jarrod began telling the good judge everything Nick had told him the night before; that is, after securing the good man's word to remain quiet….

"Nick! What do you think you're doing!" Jarrod snapped upon walking into his hot-tempered brother's room and seeing him standing off to the side of the window looking out. The man's leg was still bound up in splints. Jarrod was sure moving around had not been an easy task for his brother. "If anyone sees you up like this…"

"They won't." Nick interrupted him. "Silas is down in the kitchen-he would knock on my door and wait for me to call out to him before he entered the room, and the woman Mother hired to clean the house doesn't come until tomorrow. McColl has been told to keep everyone else out of the house unless Silas or I send for them." He then made his way back to the bed grumbling. "I wish there had been another way to justify delaying the wedding." Nick sat on the edge of the bed. "Only, with so little time, it's the best I and Jerusha could come up with." As soon as he said Jerusha Nick could see concern appear in Jarrod's eyes. "What is it, Jarrod? Did you find out she's wrong?"

"No," Jarrod rested his arm on top of Nick's dresser. "Only before I head out for *Bodie, I really need to talk to her." He told his hot-tempered brother what had happened in the judge's chambers. "That saves me much needed time. Only, do you think she'll agree to talk to me?"

Nick frowned slightly. Jerusha hadn't wanted any visitors but him. "I can't promise you she'll accept a visitor only there's always a possibility. I mean, when you tell her who you are. That is, if she believes…" Nick quit talking mid-sentence and then chuckled. "If she doesn't believe you're my brother, tell her I'm not the only one to fall down mine shafts. No," he quickly added, "You've never fallen down a literal one only a few of your girlfriends during your teenage years…"

"Oh, be quiet." Jarrod waved his hand through the air and chuckled. "As if you had any better luck." He then grew serious. "One of the things I want to do is convince her to move into one of our line shacks. We can't have anyone knowing she's here yet only we can't have her five miles away either."

Nick, who had once again propped himself up with more than a few pillows, thought for a moment and then swore. "I know I could talk her into it. Only, I would have to go in the back of a wagon to keep from arousing anyone's suspicion. What excuse would we give them? We'd be gone a couple of days…if we made good time."

Jarrod, who had moved over to the window, shook his head. "There is no way to we can risk you leaving- especially since Dr. Merar just drove up, must be upset Jed set that leg of yours."

"He can't look at it!" Nick's eyes widened; worry was on his face.

"I won't let him, but you stop getting out of bed like you just did even if it's embarrassing at times." He looked at Nick as if to say 'You know what I mean by that!' Jarrod then walked out the door saying he'd deal with the good doctor. He wasn't surprised when Nick-who had grabbed a book-started grumbling and saying he was going to have all the books in his room memorized by the time 'this ordeal' was over.

For Dr. Merar's part, he was indeed extremely unhappy with both Nick and Jed. He wasted no time in telling Jarrod so once the famous Stockton attorney let him into the Barkley's home. After offering the doctor a drink, Jarrod asked him who had sent for him.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not upset you stopped by. It's actually good to see you." Jarrod said as he reached for the decanter.

"Thanks, but no thanks on the drink." Dr. Merar glanced towards the stairs. "No one exactly sent for me only people still talk. My word, Jed is a rancher, not a doctor! Nick's leg could heal wrong. Then what is he going to do?"

Jarrod sighed. He wanted to tell the doctor what was really going only he couldn't risk it. The more people knew, the higher the chance of someone messing things up by talking. "The same way he always deals with matters I suppose…head on with one of us pulling him back when he misses seeing various facts. If it would make you feel better, I'll see if he will at least talk to you. I can already tell you he's not taking the splints off for anyone."

"First smart thing connected to this accident I've heard." Dr. Merar snapped just a little, then apologized only to hear Jarrod chuckling. Though, any laughter quit when he knocked on Nick's door and then opened it.

"I'll leave you two alone. I have to get going. I'll be back sometime tomorrow. However, I'll talk to McColl before I leave." He couldn't keep the laughter out of his eyes, knowing full well Nick knew why he would be doing that.

'You're enjoying this say too much.' Nick thought only to himself as he glared at Jarrod while the Doctor stood next to the bed and began lecturing Nick and giving him instructions.

*A/N The following is an exact quote from the internet.

Located a dozen miles north of the "town" of Wauconda on Highway 20, the old mining town of Bodie is a classic ghost town in Washington. The town had a short history, removing gold from the nearby hills and operating as a mining spot in the late 1800s through the early 1900s.