Chapter Nineteen

The streets of Carson City seemed to be extremely busy as Jarrod, Steve and John walked alongside the buildings and the buisnesss established there. At least, Jarrod thought they were; there had to be every man, woman and child riding their horses or wagons through town. If it wasn't for the fact that he, his brother and Steve were walking on the boardwalks that ran in front of the various businesses, Jarrod was sure there no place to stand without being hit.

"I wonder if the saloon is as crowded as it is out here." Steve said as the saloon came into view. He hoped not. The idea was to sit down, relax and actually get John talking about his past. If there were too many patrons in the saloon, Steve feared it would be far too noisy to have such a conversation.

"Only one way to find out," John smiled wide as they passed by the last alley that stood near saloon.

Jarrod couldn't help but smile too. From what little he remembered, Nick had never been one to beat around the bush. It would appear that was a trait that had not disappeared over the years. Though, he said nothing as he followed his brother and Steve into the saloon. Soon they were seated at a table in the middle of the room. Everything would have been fine, only Steve and Jarrod both caught sight of Kyle in the corner, and they simultaneously let out a soft groan.

Naturally, their reaction made John sit up and take notice. Turning his head slightly, he followed their gaze. He then shocked his companions by cursing under his breath as he turned his attention back to them.

"You know him too?" Steve asked, giving John a looked that said 'I'm not sure I want an answer to that question only I'm asking it anyway'.

"You could say that." John forced himself to keep his voice low. He surprised his two companions by telling them that the late Mr. Davies was one of Kyle Jensen's former employers. "Man was nothing but trouble. I'd have fired him within weeks of Mr. Davies hiring him, but that was Mr. Davies and William's place; not mine." John purposely left out the fact that he and his "brother" had actually come to blows over Mr. Jensen's employment, to the point where they had an all out fist fight. "I wound up working and staying in a line shack we have the last month of his employment. Later, after Mr. Jensen left the ranch and I returned to my house, Mr. Davies and William both admitted they'd had enough and fired the man. He said they couldn't fire someone who already quit. He didn't quit." John took a swallow of his beer. "Let's say there's no love lost between us, and I'm not exactly eager to talk to him."

Jarrod, who had been told by Heath what Kyle had tried to pull over on Steve, kept a watch on the man out of the corner of his eye. If there was no love lost between Kyle and John, he could well imagine his blond haired brother was right when he said Kyle had an unjustified gripe with Steve as well. He then tried to think of how to bring up the past without pushing his brother away.

"I hope I'm not out of line, only Steve," Jarrod said as he nodded towards Steve, "tells you spent part of your youth with the Indians. Do you mind sharing some stories?" Due to the uneasy look that appeared in his brother's eyes, Jarrod quickly added, "I have nothing against the Indians and am not asking out of any twisted motive. Like I said before, I wasn't trying to go into territory I shouldn't."

John relaxed, even went back to smiling a little. "Not a lot to tell," he took another swallow of his beer. "From what my Indian parents told me they found me roaming the mountains and took pity on me. They said they tried to get my name off me, but that I was so scared my answer was quite mumbled. Only name they could make out was John, so it stuck. They gave me my last name because they found me in mid-July."

'John…Jonathon' While Jarrod could see where a child, terrified out of his mind, would do as the Indians said he had done, he couldn't help but wish it had been 'Nick' that the Indians had heard. "So you lived with them a number of years, you must have had a number of adventures."

John looked at Steve, who simply gave him an 'I'm innocent' look. "Don't give me that look." He growled and then chuckled as he looked back at Jarrod. "No more adventures than any boy that age would have. I played with them and worked with them." He chuckled as he rubbed his chin and added, "I also fought a couple of them at times."

As much as Jarrod wanted to press for more information, he didn't for the simple fact that Steve looked as if he wanted to say 'don't push him to go there unless he offers it first.' Jarrod wouldn't have listened only, whether or not he liked it, Steve knew more about John than he did. "You've done great work on your ranch." Jarrod decided to changed subjects for the moment.

"Not my ranch," John replied as he took another swallow of his beer. Jarrod and Steve-who seemed just as surprised at the statement as Jarrod was. John then turned the palms of his hands inward, even as he kept a hold of his glass. "Mr. Davies left the ranch to his sons by blood. Oh, he ensured I could keep the house I built and would have employment with the family as long as I wanted it, but," he said as a faraway look appeared in his eyes, "I have no real inheritance in it." He quickly added that it didn't make a difference when it came to how Mrs. Davies and the others treated him. "Everyone but Paul does the best they can, even as ornery as William can get, he still does his what he can. When it comes to Paul, we won't talk aobut him; it's not like he lives around here anymore." While the words about the man John called Paul aroused Jarrod's curiosity, he said nothing.

Steve and Jarrod looked at each other as John turned his head to talk to the waitress who had come to see if they wanted their drinks refilled. While the two exchanged no words, a silent message was sent…one where Jarrod told Steve that, after hearing John's statement, Jarrod was going to tell his brother the truth. However, just as the waitress walked away-having been told by John that the three men needed no more drinks-Jarrod was dismayed to realize Kyle Jensen had stood up and was walking their way.