Chapter 10

Nick wasn't really supposed to be on his feet yet, but he heard his mother calling his brother's name and sounding anxious. He crawled out of bed – too slowly, but he couldn't straighten up any faster. He looked out the window and saw Jarrod heading for the stable, his holster over his shoulder. "Jarrod!" he yelled.

Jarrod went into the stable.

Audra came knocking at the door in a few seconds. "Nick?"

"Come on in," Nick said, easing himself back to sit on the edge of his bed. He didn't care if he was shirtless and in long johns.

And neither did Audra when she came in. "I heard you call Jarrod. What's wrong?"

"He's heading out, with his gun," Nick said. "Help me get up."

"No!" Audra said. "You can't even stand up straight!"

"There's nobody else to go after him!" Nick snarled.

"I can," Audra said and hurried out.

She ran down the stairs, just in time to see her mother running out the front door. Audra ran after her, but they were both only in time to see Jarrod mounted and riding out, on a horse that was not his own. The stable hand shrugged at them. "It was for me so I could get a couple mounts from the pasture, but he just took it and took off."

"Help us saddle a couple for ourselves," Victoria said. "I think we best go after him."

"I can go!"

"No, you go upstairs and make sure Nick stays in bed. We'll go.""

The stable hand didn't really understand the two Barkley women going after one of the sons, even though he knew Jarrod had been a little off lately. Jarrod Barkley didn't need their keeping, as a rule, but they looked worried and he knew better than to argue with Mrs. Barkley, so he followed them into the stable and helped them saddle their own mounts. In a few minutes, Victoria and Audra were off after Jarrod.

XXXXXX

Jarrod made it back to town and immediately began riding slowly up and down the streets, looking for the left-handed young man in the tan hat, but he did not see him. He did see Sheriff Madden, coming out of the courthouse, and he called to him.

The sheriff stopped, and Jarrod rode up to him. "Well, now, it's good to see you up and around!" the sheriff said cheerfully.

Jarrod did not dismount. "Fred, I'm looking for a man I saw earlier – young, left-handed, wearing a tan hat."

Sheriff Madden shook his head. "I haven't seen anybody like that. Why do you want him?"

"He shot Duke McCall the other day," Jarrod said.

"You're sure?"

"I saw him."

"Come over to the office with me."

Jarrod rode over to the sheriff's office and was dismounting when the sheriff arrived. At the same time, Victoria and Audra arrived and pulled up beside Jarrod.

"What are you doing here?" Jarrod asked.

Victoria said, "I'm not very happy you rode off the way you did."

"And Nick was about to get up and come after you, so we did," Audra added.

"I'm fine," Jarrod said. "I needed to get here and see Fred."

The women both dismounted and hitched their horses up next to Jarrod's. "Come on in," the sheriff said, not quite understanding why Victoria and Audra were so anxious about Jarrod, but willing to hear everybody out.

They went into the sheriff's office. He had no prisoners and none of his deputies were there, so they were alone.

The sheriff asked, "What's this all about? Jarrod says he saw the man who shot McCall."

"I did see him," Jarrod said.

"You're sure it was him?" Victoria asked.

"I'm sure," Jarrod said, calmly, certainly.

"Why are you tearing into town after him?" the sheriff asked Victoria. "Is something wrong?"

Victoria didn't know how to explain it.

Before she could try, Jarrod said, "I've been ill, Fred."

"I know, I heard," the sheriff said. "We came close to losing you, I heard."

"I'm still here," Jarrod said, "just a bit off-kilter. I haven't been out on my own until now."

The sheriff eyed him, worried. "Off kilter?"

Jarrod just said, "We need to find the kid who shot McCall."

"Describe him more. What else was he wearing?"

Jarrod stared up at the ceiling, then closed his eyes. They thought he was thinking, but that wasn't really it. He was letting himself relax and remember. "Blue shirt. No vest. Brown boots. Tan pants, darker than his hat. Dark hair under that hat."

"Where was he going when you saw him here in town?"

"I don't know."

"He was coming out of the barber shop," Audra said when Jarrod didn't continue.

"Did anyone else see these rustlers when they tried to take the cattle?"

"McCall, maybe," Victoria said. "We'll ask him."

"Is there anything else?"

Jarrod kept his eyes closed, but in a few moments he shook his head. "He was riding a sorrel, white stockings, small white patch on its forehead." He took a big, shuddering breath, as if he were exhausted from remembering, then opened his eyes.

Sheriff Madden could tell Jarrod was not his old self. He could also tell his mother and sister were being very protective. Off-kilter, Jarrod had said. The sheriff decided to leave it at that for now. "I'll get a search going for him," the sheriff said. "Why don't you all head back home? I'll let you know what I find. Jarrod, do you remember anything about anybody who was with this kid when McCall was shot?"

Jarrod closed his eyes again, trying to let himself remember. He shook his head. "No."

"All right," the sheriff said. And then he and Victoria exchanged looks.

Victoria could tell Jarrod's demeanor was off enough to raise Sheriff Madden's curiosity. But even Jarrod could tell that. "Fred, I seem distracted, but I'm not. "

When he didn't say anything more, Victoria said, "The doctor thinks the high fever he had may have left some brain injury."

The sheriff slumped a bit. Suddenly, he doubted the accuracy of everything Jarrod had just described about the man who shot McCall. "Are you sure you really saw this kid shoot McCall? Are you sure you aren't just latching onto him because you didn't know him or something?"

"I'm sure," Jarrod said.

"I'm sorry. It's just a bit tough trusting the word of a witness who tells me he has brain damage."

"Fred," Victoria said, "the other day, before Mac was shot, Jarrod was with his brothers out at the Bigelow ranch. Ewing will verify this, but Jarrod heard a cougar when no one else did, and he prevented what could have been a nasty attack. He also heard or saw the rustlers who shot Mac before anyone else did. Whatever is going on with him, he's not distracted and he's not wrong in what he's seeing and hearing."

Sheriff Madden heaved a sigh. "I'll check into it, but Jarrod – you're a lawyer. You've got to know a witness with brain damage isn't a witness a district attorney is going to be happy about."

Jarrod nodded, but he didn't say anything.

"Go on home," the sheriff said. "I'll check into it. I'll let you know what I find out. And if McCall remembers anything or can verify what Jarrod's said, you let me know right away."

"We will, Fred," Victoria said.

Jarrod opened the door for his mother and sister and they went out ahead of him. The sheriff took a moment to wonder what in the world to do with the information Jarrod had given him, but then decided he had to at least look for the kid Jarrod described. Things would be clearer if he found such a man in town, and if he could question him.

Outside, Jarrod helped his mother and sister mount up. As he handed his mother her horse's lead, he said, "I'm sorry I made you come after me. I shouldn't have frightened you. I was just in a hurry."

Victoria nodded. "I'm sorry if we've embarrassed you."

Jarrod shook his head. "I'm not embarrassed. I'm all right."