Chapter Thirteen

La'akea had just stepped out onto her porch when she saw Victoria walking towards her house. Inwardly, she sighed. It's not that she didn't like Victoria, because she did. In fact, the more she got to know her, the more La'akea admired the Barkley matriarch…there in lay La'akea's problem. She had given her word to Jeremiah that she would say nothing of the true relationship that existed between her husband and the Barkleys…that, if they were told, it would be by him. However, the more she got to know them, the more La'akea wished the family knew the truth. As Victoria drew closer, La'akea could see how serious of a mood Mrs. Barkley was in. After the conversation she'd had with Jeremiah the night before, La'akea didn't have to wonder what had Victoria Barkley worried.

"Are you sure that's wise? You, Nick, Heath, McColl and Adam Pierce may not shoot to kill, or even to wound anyone. However, I can guarantee you Barrett will be doing exactly that." La'akea stood in their bedroom not pleased what he had come up with—even if Nick, Heath, McColl and Mr. Pierce all thought the plan had merit and had a high probability of working.

Jeremiah let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his hand through his hair and walked over to the window. He could see Barrett off in the distance; he was finishing up a small job Nick had given him. "We could be here for weeks; maybe months, before Barrett will trust me enough to open up to me." Jeremiah turned away from the window and quickly closed the gap between him and his wife. "If Barrett sincerely believes someone is out to get him because of the General, he may very well tell me where the man is. If nothing else, we could follow him when he goes to visit the general… which I'm sure he will do if he doesn't confess everything first."

"He knows everyone but Adam Pierce!" La'akea snapped, doing her best not to raise her voice, thus yelling at her husband.

"Which is exactly why no one but Mr. Pierce will let himself be seen and be the only one talking." Jeremiah said as he pulled his wife to him, covered her mouth with his and worked on changing the course of her thoughts.

La'akea shook off the memory when Victoria stopped a few feet from the porch. "They've gone, haven't they?" She figured there was no need to say anything else-as she just knew she was right when it came to the expression on her guest's face.

"Yes, in spite of my objections, Nick, Heath and McColl left shortly after Jeremiah and Barrett rode away. Mr. Pierce will be waiting for them near the north ridge. Do you mind if we talk inside?" Victoria, who had become more and more convinced Jeremiah had at least some Barkley blood inside him, pointed towards the front door. The conversation she meant to have, the questions she was thinking to ask, was not something she wished for just anyone to overhear.

"Of course," La'akea fought the butterflies in her stomach as she turned around and headed back inside with her guest following. Once inside, Victoria sat on the couch while La'akea excused herself, saying she was going to get some tea and would bring Victoria some if she wanted. It was an offer Victoria thanked her for, but declined.

"I tried to talk Jeremiah out of this." La'akea walked back into the living room and sat in the chair closest to Victoria.

"But he wants to push things along," Victoria nodded. "The others do too. Neither Nick nor Heath wish to keep Barrett employed now since they know the truth. Only," Victoria said as she shrugged her shoulders, "They can't simply fire him after ten years of faithful service either." Victoria paused and then admitted Jeremiah's mission wasn't the main reason for her visit.

"What is it?" La'akea put her partially empty cup on her lap and kept a hold of it.

"Normally, I would not inquire into anyone's family history as that's a very personal subject." Victoria sat up even straighter than she already was. "But the way your husband walks, and his eyes… they're both screaming Barkley at me. I finally got curious enough, I just had to ask if his mother was a Barkley or one of his grandmothers."

It was all La'akea could do to keep from showing how Victoria's inquiry unsettled her. For a split second, she thought about telling the Barkley matriarch that she was right…that it was a very personal matter and to leave it alone. However, she couldn't. La'akea stood up, set her cup on the coffee table and walked over to the window, never looking at Victoria. Naturally, the reaction grabbed any of Victoria's attention that had been tempted to stray.

After a moment, La'akea began talking, having realized there was something she could say without breaking her promise to her husband. "Jeremiah was adopted when he was just over a year old."

"Oh," Victoria quickly started to apologize for putting La'akea in a bad spot only to be told there was nothing to be sorry for.

"My later mother-in-law and I shared a few things in common." La'kea turned away from the window and looked at Victoria. She went onto to admit she'd never been able to conceive a child, and to tell Victoria all about Mrs. Shaw's history when it came to children.

Making an assumption, Victoria smiled and said, "So, they went to an orphanage and adopted a child." She was shocked when La'akea shook her head.

"My father-in-law's journal records how he went riding one night, trying to think of a way to help his wife. Adoption did come to his mind, but before he could really decide if that would really help his wife, he had to hurry and hide from five Indians who looked as if they were on the warpath. Once they were out of sight, he realized he could smell smoke. He pushed his horse forward and was shocked to see a house on fire."

Victoria stiffened as the memory of her own home burning flashed through her mind. When La'akea stopped talking, Victoria pushed her to continue. "And?"

"He was horrified to hear the screams of a small child. He jumped off his horse and ran to an open window. Jeremiah's crib was just close enough to the window that Mr. Shaw could reach in and grab him-even if he had to stretch to do it." La'akea sighed as she remembered the writing in her father-in-law's journal. "He felt so guilty that he couldn't go inside and try to save the parents he just knew were inside only he had no one to leave Jeremiah with…and he wasn't a hundred percent sure that the Indians he'd seen wouldn't come back. Actually, he assumed that Jeremiah's mother was inside, as he could see a someone lying on the ground off to the far side of the house. It was so dark; the only thing he could tell was that it was a man. Anyway, due to the fear of the Indians returning, he got on his horse and rode as fast as he could away from the fire."

Victoria felt shock waves go through her. Tom had found Silas on the ground on the side farthest from Jarrod's room. She remembered how she thought she should know the name Matthew Shaw. Was all this a coincidence or could Jeremiah Shaw and Jarrod Barkley be one in the same?

"Mrs. Barkley?" La'akea, who had noticed Victoria paling slightly, stepped away from the window.

"I'm fine." Victoria Barkley stood up. "Many families lost loved ones in that way. Though, you'll forgive me for cutting this visit short. I need to go home. I promised my daughter I'd work on getting some of my own stories copied. I just haven't taken the time to do it yet." Victoria turned and walked out of the house. There was no way she was going to admit that she was going home to read from the journals, both hers and Tom's…the ones that were being kept at the time of Jarrod's disappearance.

For her part, La'akea stood by the window praying she had done the right thing.