Chapter 8
We had all the stock that was going with the Barkleys into a corral. The stuff I had planned on keeping we turned back out, till I got the new stallion. The boys had been 'green breaking' some of the stock. When I say 'green breaking' that's what it means. The horses are use to having a saddle on their backs and a bit in their mouths and the weight of a rider, from that they know nothing else. It takes time to really break a horse and there are some that just don't take to the idea. Most everyone has idea on how to break a horse, throw a saddle on it let'ur buck till it gives in.
But not Heath; no his idea goes beyond that, he likes to get into the horse's mind. He uses body language and a soft voice. Body language is something the horse can read and understand. Watch what happens with a toss of the head, a flick of the tail, and the twitch of an ear or the stomp of a hoof, it's all horse talk.
You can tell who the boss is in a herd and who the horse on the bottom is. The boss horse is the one horse that can part the herd; she is usually the first one to get the feed and the first one to the water hole. The horse on the bottom is the last to get to the feed and the last to the water hole and always moves out of the way for the boss horse.
The boss horse doesn't make for a good mount. Always wants its own way but on the same token you don't want the bottom horse, you'll never get anywhere. But sometimes there are surprises.
These were the horses that I had culled from my herd. The very horses that Heath and Nick spent two days green breaking.
I had figured that Jarrod would be back here at the station sometime this evening.
I had done my best to keep the two Barkley boys out of trouble. But it found us anyway. It came in the form of Martha Simmons. I had noticed her first. She arrived in a buckboard with her gold hair done up and wearing a gown that had seen better days. Oh she thought she looked like royalty that's for sure - it took all I had to keep from laughing.
Nick was in the barn putting some tack away and Heath was shoeing his bay horse next to the barn. I was in the middle of doing laundry.
Nick came out of the barn about the time Martha picked up the rifle that had been next to her, hidden by her dress. She didn't aim it she just shot and the bullet hit true. Heath had his back to her when she fired and this time we could see that it hadn't missed. The power of the slug slammed Heath face first into the barn wall; as he started to slide down the wall he managed to right himself enough to get turned around to face Martha. With his back now against the wall he slid down to a sitting position. Nick started toward Heath but another shot just inches from his feet stopped him.
"Mr. Barkley, you move as much as a hair and you'll get the same as that no good bastard." Martha looked my way, "Mrs. Roberts, would you be as kind as to join me for a ride? The fresh air will do us some good and it's been ages since we've talked." It was like we were seeing two different people. But that rifle did do a lot in persuading me to go.
She turned back to Nick. "Now then, Mr. Barkley if you would please load that dirt smelling nephew of mine into the wagon I will be on my way. It seems that it is always left to me to take care of the trash."
Nick slowly made his way over to Heath. As gently as he could he pulled his brother up, then half carried, half dragged him to the buckboard. Carefully he loaded Heath into the back. I watched as Nick leaned close and whispered something and then lovingly ran his hand through Heath's hair, his worry for his brother very obvious.
With a wave of the rifle Martha herded us to the barn. Once there she had Nick go into the tack room and had me close and lock the door. I prayed that Jarrod arrived soon as we headed back to the wagon.
With a wave of the rifle I climbed into the wagon. I adjusted my skirt and decided to play along.
"Mrs. Simmons I was wondering if you were going to stop by. You sure you wouldn't like to stay for some tea?" I said it in my sweetest voice, trying to convince her to stay here at the station.
Well, it didn't work. Martha waved Nick back with the rifle. She expertly picked up the reins in one hand and still holding the rifle with the other, she moved the horse out of the station yard at a trot. I glanced back towards the barn and could see Nick looking out the dirty tack room window, staring after us. I gave him a nod, and then settled down for the ride.
We hadn't gone far when Martha stopped the wagon. Taking out a length of rope she looked at me. I knew what she intended so I complied, not wanting to loose my chance to find out what was going to happen. I had heard that a cooperative captive can get the capture to talk to you like you were long lost friends. Like I said, I had heard that.
Martha set the rifle down and withdrew another length of rope and tied Heath's hands also. She was cruel in her handling of him. She had wretched his arms behind him and tied him so tight that I could tell she had cut the circulation off in his hands.
"Why are you doing this, Mrs. Simmons?" I ventured forth.
"We spent most of our lives trying to support this boy, when his mother couldn't. We fed him and clothed him and when he needed a place to sleep we gave it to him. We even took him to the doctor when he needed it, which seemed often." She gave a bitter little laugh as she climbed back into the wagon. "Do you know what we got in return? Not one thing."
"He is the most ungrateful child I have ever known. That boy got into more trouble than you could shake a stick at. He had to be disciplined." She paused, "He had to be disciplined." She repeated it quietly. I could tell that she believed what she was telling me.
We didn't go through Strawberry; instead she took a road to the south that led to the old mines. A shiver went down my spine, were we to meet the same fate as Rachel Caulfield?
"All he had to do was pay us the money." Martha was mumbling incoherent sentences, some of which I caught.
"I killed Rachel." She said it loud and was looking at me. "She was going to stop us from going to the Barkleys."
"But didn't Tom Barkley tell you he wasn't his son?" I asked.
"That was a stupid mistake on Matt's part. But we wanted to get guardianship, so we used another boy, so that Barkley wouldn't claim his kid. Matt thought that Leah would write Barkley and tell him that the boy was his and he would send money for his care, only Leah wouldn't get it, we would. It was going to be our ticket out of this dead end town." Martha pulled the wagon to a stop. "Leah wouldn't write the letter, so we hurt her where it mattered most. We took her son. He was the most unruly child, and needed to be disciplined." She said it like it left a bad taste in her mouth and she had to spit it out. "The day we went to court, I slipped Leah a little something. The judge thought she was drunk, and he signed the papers straightaway. We thought all of our problems were going to be taken care of." By now she had gotten out of the wagon and was standing at the back looking at Heath.
"He left us high and dry. The town died and he left us there to rot with it." She said bitterly, "We heard that he was in a prison camp down in Texas somewhere. Matt wanted to go get the bastard, but me I figured if we left him there he would suffer, just like we had. Matt does everything I say. He was a weak man with no backbone. I needed someone strong to help me make my plan work."
I noticed that she used the word was in reference to Matt. It made me think that Matt was no longer with the living.
"We were surprised to see him just before his mother died. I had hoped he had died in that prison, but no, there he was, standing tall like he was a king or something. Then we heard that the Barkleys had taken him in. I knew that we had been given another chance to reap our fortune. Rachel she didn't want us bothering the Barkleys. She said she would go to the law if we did. She said she knew that we had cheated Leah out of her son and that we had cheated Heath out of the life he could have had with the Barkleys." She paused again looking at me, "But I killed her." She said the last statement with no feeling, even her eyes were cold.
"What did Rachel Caulfield know?" asked a masculine voice from behind me. Startled Martha shifted her rifle to point it at the new comer. Jarrod stood calmly holding his horse's reins, Nick stood beside him.
Martha gave a nervous laugh, as she tried to smooth out her dress with one hand, "She knew that I had drugged Leah. She knew that I had to discipline the boy. She knew that the boy Matt had taken to the Barkleys that day wasn't Heath. She knew everything! She was a nosey busy body and needed to be dealt with." she paused looking around, "We were going to be rich, Mr. Phelps and I. He was going to buy me a carriage with a matching team and a new dress. We were going to be the talk of the town!"
"With Barkley money?" asked Nick as he kept a worried on his brother who was showing signs of coming around.
"Oh, no." laughed Martha. "Mr. Phelps was going to sell shares in the mines. He figured to pepper them to lure in the buyers. By the time they figured out the had been taken we would have been gone." A darkness filled Martha's eyes, "Rachel, found out about that too."
Martha suddenly blinked several times, a shaky hand covered her mouth, "I killed Matt, didn't I." She asked in a husky voice.
Nick nodded his head, "We found him at the hotel, along with your buddy Phelps."
"Well he was a weak man. It must run in the family. I need a strong man, like Mr. Phelps." The change in her was astonishing and quick.
Heath had been awake for most of her confession and was now standing weakly next to the wagon holding his left arm close to his body. Martha turned suddenly and looked at him.
"It's your fault, you know. If you would have paid up like you should have none of this would have happened!" she raised the rifle aiming it at Heath, "You need to be punished!"
Before she could pull the trigger another gun fired off from my right. Martha dropped the rifle and fell to the ground. Nick moved in quickly moving the rifle from Martha's reach. Jarrod knelt down next to Martha. He stood up from where she lay and turned to survey the rest of the scene. Nick had cut my hands free and had freed Heath. He forced Heath to sit next to the wagon and was checking the shoulder wound.
We all looked in shock at the newcomer.