Chapter 10

After an hour or so, the street seemed to return to normal, and the Barkleys took a chance and went to the doctor's office. The child's parents were still there, but they looked far more at ease. "She's going to be all right," the father said.

"She's very groggy and has gone back to sleep," the mother said with a smile. "When I told her that you carried her over here, Mr. Barkley, she said 'Wow.'"

Jarrod had to smile. "I'm just grateful she'll recover and terribly sorry she was hurt."

"It wasn't your fault, Mr. Barkley," the man said. "You were hit, too, weren't you?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Jarrod said, lifting his forearm. "Hardly worth a bandage. I was far more concerned about your daughter."

"Yes, we saw how concerned Mr. Salazar was," the man said, almost sneering. "You ran to help us. He ran away."

"Well," Jarrod said, "I was afraid she needed a doctor fast, and I could see you needed someone to help you. I'm just glad my brothers and I were close by."

After consoling the family a bit more, the Barkleys decided to go to the livery stable for their transportation and go home. As the moved through the street, people stopped and looked, but no one approached them until the owner of the hotel did. "My clerk is arrested and out of a job," he said. "I tried to stop him, but I wasn't quick enough."

"It's all right," Jarrod said. "The child is going to be all right. That's what matters."

"I think it will all start to blow over now," the hotel owner said. "Mr. Barkley, the one thing a lot people in the crowd are talking about, the thing they really noticed today, was that when that child was shot, Mr. Salazar ran into the courthouse for cover, and you ran to help the child. I think it made people remember who you really are. I never doubted you, and I'm sorry that my clerk and so many others did, but that might have changed."

The hotel owner offered his hand, and Jarrod shook it. "Thank you. I hope you're right. I don't want to see anyone else get hurt."

The man at the livery stable had nothing but smiles for the Barkleys, and as they rode out of town, they were completely unmolested. A few people even waved them good-bye. It helped.

They were all pretty exhausted when dinner rolled around, so no one stayed up for very long afterward, except for Jarrod. He needed time to himself, to wind down. Whenever he thought about Salazar, his ire began to rise up again, so he just tried to put the man out of his mind. He poured himself some brandy and sat down in his thinking chair, and he thought. He thought about politics and how difficult it was to believe in anyone involved in that world – except for Jud Robson, at least the Jud Robson who used to be. Jarrod was telling the truth when he said he grieved for the man Robson was. He was an honest, honorable man. But the strain of the political world crushed him. Now that he'd had such a big taste of it himself, Jarrod could understand why that happened even to a man as strong as Robson. It made him grieve more.

In the morning, it was time to get back to as much normalcy as they could. Nick and Heath went out to work in the field, and Jarrod was getting ready to work in the library when he heard a knock at the door. He went to it and opened it.

The sheriff was there. He was holding the newspaper. He said, "I've got some good news and some bad news, Jarrod."

Jarrod sighed. "Come on in."

Victoria and Audra heard the knock and came in from the kitchen. "Hello, Steve," Victoria said. "You have the newspaper."

The sheriff came in, and they all went into the parlor. "Yeah, this is the bad news part," he said as the women sat down on the settee. "Salazar had his statement published in the paper. It's short and not so sweet." The sheriff opened the paper and read from it. "'I deeply regret the incident at the town meeting. In order to see that I am not the cause of any such incident in the future, I am leaving Stockton, and I will not be pursuing my dream of fulfilling the late Senator Robson's term in office.'" Then the sheriff looked up.

"That's it?" Audra said. "That's all he said?"

"That's it," the sheriff said.

"No admission that he lied?"

"Not even any condolences for the child and her family?" Victoria said.

"Not even," the sheriff said and handed the paper to Jarrod. "The good news is that Salazar has gone back to Washington, and the town has been pretty calm since what happened yesterday. And I'm hearing more and more that people were impressed that you helped the family yesterday, Jarrod, while Salazar ran for cover."

Jarrod looked at the paper and nodded. "Well, politicians aren't usually very good at helping out in emergencies, or at admitting they were wrong, either. I'm just grateful the child will recover. What do you think, Steve? Is it safe if I decide to go back to work in town tomorrow?"

"I can't guarantee anything, but it looks that way," the sheriff said. "I think this thing has pretty much blown over."

"Perhaps you should give it a bit longer, Jarrod," Victoria said.

Jarrod shook his head. "I've already given it long enough. I have work to do."

The sheriff said, "Let me know when you get to town. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for you for the next week or so."

Jarrod smiled a little and said, "Thanks, Steve. Thanks for everything in this."

"I'm glad I was able to help," the sheriff said as Jarrod walked him to the door. "You know the Barkleys always have a friend in me."

"We know, Steve," Victoria said. "Thanks for stopping by."

Jarrod said good-bye at the door and then came back into the parlor. Victoria and Audra could tell by the look on his face that he still carried a lot of unhappiness over this whole thing. Victoria said, "I think it's time to let it go, Jarrod."

Jarrod nodded, looking at the newspaper once more before dropping it onto the coffee table. "It'll take a while for me to get rid of the bad taste in my mouth."

"This too shall pass," Victoria said.

Jarrod remembered she had said that to the mayor, and Jarrod chuckled a little. "You know what I think I'll do?" he said then. "I think I'll get myself together and go herd some cattle. Tomorrow is soon enough to get back to being a lawyer."

Victoria and Audra both smiled as Jarrod gave each of them a kiss. Then he headed for the hall for his hat and his gunbelt, and before he went out the front door, he said, "See you at dinner."

The End