Jarrod was dog tired but he couldn't sleep. He looked over at Mary and Abby and was happy they had been able to sleep with everything going on. Jarrod wanted to get up and walk around but he also needed to stay close to Abby and Mary just in case. He was not able to get a private cabin so they were travelling with the other passengers on the train. He knew it wouldn't be too bad since they'd be back in Lincoln late tomorrow night.

He could have taken a different train but he wanted to arrive in Lincoln after dark, to give them a little bit of cover. Unfortunately for him there were no town's close enough to Lincoln that he could have gotten another horse for Mary and Abby to ride. Jarrod sighed heavily as he continued to look out the window.

According to the wire he received from the church his family and Sister Catherine were headed to Lincoln but Jarrod knew they should have arrived by now. His concern was Wells; where was he?

Jarrod told Mary it had to end but how would he do that? He wasn't related to Abby in any way so if he was able to 'handle' Wells what would happen to Abby? With Sister Catherine following his family he had a bad feeling about Toby Mitchell so that was no longer an option. He would petition the court to get custody of Abby. He knew it would be an uphill fight for him since he had taken her and he wasn't married but he refused to let her be placed in an orphanage.

He looked back at Mary and Abby and smiled. And what about Mary? She hadn't gone into any details but Jarrod was pretty certain she must have been abused at some point in time. He wondered about her past and why she had been travelling and how she ended up in Lincoln. Maybe once all of this was over they could talk. He knew if he was able too, he was going back to the ranch but where would Abby and Mary be going afterwards?

Mary talking softly startled him, "Couldn't sleep?"

Jarrod looked over at Mary and smirked at her disheveled appearance. "No. What's your excuse?"

Mary nodded her head towards Abby, "This little bench hog."

Jarrod chuckled as he understood perfectly since he had shared a bedroll with her several nights on the trail. "I feel your pain, quite literally."

Mary put her chin in her hands and looked at the handsome attorney. "Have you come up with a game plan yet?"

Jarrod sighed as he looked at the ceiling, "No. For all I know Wells has already left."

"Along with your family?"

Jarrod shook his head, "I honestly don't know. This could be a wasted trip. But I have a gut feeling everyone will still be there when we arrive."

They remained silent for several minutes before Mary spoke.

"Since neither one of us can sleep can I ask you a question?" Mary asked.

Jarrod raised his eyebrow and answered, "Yes although I may not answer it."

Mary shook her head and said, "Tell me about your family."

Mary did not miss the gleam in his eye as he started telling her about his family.

"I am the oldest with three younger brothers and a sister. Nick runs the ranch along with Heath. My youngest brother Eugene is in Europe studying medicine. My sister Audra works with children at the orphanage and she sometimes substitutes at both the school and Sunday school classes. Don't let my mother's size fool you as she is a force to be reckoned with."

Mary listened intently as Jarrod spoke lovingly about his family and it was quite obvious to her how close the family was. But if this was the case why didn't he seek out their help with Abby? Before she could finish that thought…

Abby suddenly kicked her feet in her sleep hitting Mary square in the side which caused the woman to grimace in pain. Jarrod smiled sadly and said, "Tell you what why don't I take Abby and you can stretch out on the bench, I can't sleep anyhow." Jarrod stood up to get Abby and move her over to where he was sitting.

Mary frowned as Jarrod got up and said, "Sit back down Jarrod. You need some rest. You look like death warmed over."

"I'll be fine." Jarrod stated as he stared at Mary, her hair was slightly messed up, and all he wanted to do was reach over and fix it. He then looked over to Abby and reached out to touch her forehead. Looking at Mary he said, "I just hope I'm doing right by this little one."

"I know you are Jarrod," Mary replied. "Abby is lucky to have you care about her and sacrifice what you have to protect her."

"Well it's not always easy to protect the ones you love, but I will do everything in my power to keep this little one safe." Jarrod cleared his throat stood up and said, "I am going to see if I can find some coffee."

Mary watched as Jarrod hurried off and shook her head. It was quite obvious he would go to the ends of the earth to protect Abby and she knew he was a good man. From his last statement, she again wondered about his late wife and the circumstances surrounding her death. How long had they been married and how long had it been since she passed? Mary wondered if he was still in the mourning period or not. She noticed he did not have on a wedding band but that didn't mean anything as a lot of men did not wear a wedding ring but she was pretty sure Jarrod Barkley would have worn his proudly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To say the Barkley's were shocked when Sister Catherine showed at their hotel would have been an understatement. Victoria and Audra gasped when they saw the bruises on the Sister's face from the beating Wells had given her and it took the entire family to stop Nick from searching out Wells and working him over.

Victoria asked, "So you are sure?"

Sister Catherine nodded her head as she spoke, "Yes. Jarrod had hired some men to investigate him but unfortunately he had to leave before we found out anything." She handed the paper to Victoria who sighed.

"And I guess no one knows where my son is meeting this man at?" Victoria questioned.

"No, your son refused to tell me where he was meeting him."

Heath said, "I am going back to the train depot and see if anyone saw him or the little girl."

"Wait a minute Heath," Nick said as he paced. He had a feeling and only his mother would understand. "I have a feeling Jarrod is around here."

Sister Catherine frowned at Nick but Victoria knew the bond the brothers shared. "Nick are you sure about that?"

Nick swallowed and said, "Yeah I am pretty sure."

"But you just said he's not here," Sister Catherine said confused.

"He's not but I have a feeling," Nick stated.

Victoria addressed the Sister, "Ever since Nick and Jarrod were small boys they always seemed to know when the other one was in trouble or needed help." Victoria prayed to God Nick was right this time.

"Well I am going to check on the train schedules and check out the departures and arrivals for the next few days." Heath left.

Wells watched from his hotel suite and noticed the blonde headed brother head to the train station. He had already seen Sister Catherine arrive earlier in the day and wondered if she knew something or had found out something. He decided to wait and watch as he knew they would lead him to Barkley and his bratty daughter.