Chapter 4

The Barkleys got up and had breakfast in the hotel dining room. More than one person came up to them saying they'd heard Jarrod been attacked and they hoped he was all right. Victoria thanked them and said they would be going over to see him at the doctor's office this morning. When the first person asked – the desk clerk at the hotel - Nick was quick to ask how he knew about Jarrod's situation, but all the man said was, "It's all over town."

"That doesn't help much," Audra said quietly and they went in to eat.

"Don't go asking anybody else how they knew, Nick," Victoria admonished him, very quietly and privately. "I want to hear from Jarrod before we prod too much."

They could tell by the look on Nick's face that he was still not very happy about this idea of Jarrod's, but they ate peacefully together, Victoria thanking everyone who asked about Jarrod but giving no details, and Nick and his siblings keeping quiet.

When they went to the doctor's office, they found both the doctor and his wife in the sick room with Jarrod. Jarrod was sitting up in bed, not entirely straight up but up enough for Iva Merar to be spoon feeding him some broth. He was taking it fine, if with a bit of a scowl.

"Good morning," Dr. Merar said. "You can see, he's up to a bit of broth this morning."

"He'd rather have coffee," Jarrod said between spoonfuls.

"Later," Dr. Merar said. Then to the family he said, "He had a restful night and woke up hungry, and that's good."

"How are you, Jarrod?" Victoria asked. "Can you hear me?"

Jarrod gave a soft nod. "My hearing has cleared up, and my thinking is clearing up too."

"Do you remember who attacked you?" Nick asked.

"No," Jarrod said. "What I remember is that I never saw who did it, though I think I felt someone near me. I had just gone into the livery stable, and then suddenly I was here, last night. But I've been talking to the doctor, and he's with me on this. Around noon, I'm gonna be getting up and getting around town. Nick, Heath, I want you to be with me. We'll be acting like I can hear but not very well, and I'll still look a bit confused. We just tell people the doc wants me moving around in the world before he releases me to go home. I'm going to be listening in as we go around."

"How is anybody gonna say anything when we're with you?" Heath asked.

"You're not gonna be with me every moment," Jarrod said. "You're gonna leave me here and there, like in a saloon at a table while you go to the bar. People will talk about me because I intend to look pitiful. I can hear well enough to pick up on their conversations, but they won't know that, and they'll think I'm too scatterbrained to understand, too."

"Do you really think you can pull that off?" Nick said.

Jarrod smiled a little. "It worked pretty well for a wounded soldier during the war."

"You did this in Washington," Victoria said.

Jarrod just said, "The thing is, back there I didn't have anyone around me who knew I was doing it, so I didn't have to worry about someone giving me away. Here – let's just say I didn't think it was fair to you to keep you worried." He looked at his mother's somewhat suspicious expression. "And I knew I couldn't get away with it with you, so I'm not trying."

"So you just want us to go along with you as if you can't hear us or understand us," Audra said.

"You'll have to yell at me, as if that's what it takes for me to hear you, and you'll have to be very careful not to give me away, even when you're not around me," Jarrod said. And then said, "You can let Silas in on it, but swear him to secrecy. Don't tell McColl or any of the men, or even Esther."

"How long do you plan to keep this up?" Nick asked.

"I don't know," Jarrod said. "At least the next few days if it takes that long."

"What about your case in San Francisco?" Victoria asked.

"I want you to go over to my office and get that file from Esther," Jarrod said. "Tell her I've been hurt. Tell her I can't hear and I'm not thinking clearly, but you want me to have the file at home. Maybe looking at it will help clear my head. But don't tell her that this is a ruse. The more people who know, the more likely someone will make a mistake. And you all will have to be very careful not to make a mistake."

"All right," Dr. Merar said then, "if you are going to be getting out on the street by noontime, I want everyone out of here so you can get some more rest this morning. I don't want it to look like I'm letting a sick man out of my care too quickly."

"Audra and I will get the file from Esther and then head home," Victoria said. "Nick and Heath will stay here with you and try to help you do what you want to do."

"And go ahead and spread the word that I can't hear well and I'm not thinking very straight," Jarrod said. "But send Fred Madden over here right away so I can explain what I'm doing to him."

With a sigh, Nick said, "All right, but I sure hope you know what you're doing."

"I do," Jarrod said.

Victoria leaned over and gave him a kiss. "I assume all three of you may not be home for dinner."

"Maybe not," Jarrod said.

"We will wait up, unless you send word," Victoria warned him.

Jarrod nodded, a little gingerly still, but said, "Duly noted, your honor."

XXX

Nick and Heath left the women to go over to Jarrod's office, but stood on the street in front of the doctor's office and watched them as they went. No one approached them and they didn't speak to anyone.

"Well," Heath said quietly then, "I reckon we ought to go see Sheriff Madden before we do much else."

"Yeah," Nick agreed.

They found Sheriff Madden in his office, thankfully alone and doing paperwork. He looked up and stood up anxiously. "How's Jarrod?"

Nick and Heath explained everything.

As they set things out the way Jarrod wanted, the sheriff took on a more perplexed and unhappy look. "Do you really think you can pull this off?"

"Us?" Nick asked.

"Jarrod can keep a secret and keep up an act with the best of them, so I'm not too worried about him," Sheriff Madden said, "but you two – you're gonna have to be very careful not to give him away."

"We know, Sheriff," Heath said.

"We're not gonna say anything in public about Jarrod except that he can't hear much and his thinking is still foggy," Nick said.

"Not even to just each other," the sheriff warned. "You may think nobody's listening, but somebody could be."

"Which is what Jarrod is banking on," Heath said. "Somebody talking when they think he can't hear or understand what they're saying."

"He might be right," Sheriff Madden said. "You get back to me the minute he knows anything."

Heath said, "Jarrod wants you to come over to Dr. Merar's and talk to him directly."

"I'll head over there in a few minutes," the sheriff said.

Nick and Heath nodded.

At the same time, Victoria and Audra were trying to calm a distraught Esther at Jarrod's office. The young woman was nearly in tears when they told her Jarrod had been attacked, couldn't hear well, and wasn't thinking clearly.

"We're going to take the file on his San Francisco case home with us," Victoria explained. "Looking at it at home might help him get his thinking straight again, at least we think so and the doctor agrees."

"Should I come out there?" Esther asked.

"We'll let you know if we need you," Victoria said. "In the meantime, just keep things orderly here and let us know if anything very important comes up."

"Try not to worry," Audra said. "You know we'll take good care of him."

"Oh, I know," Esther said.

"And don't worry about your job," Victoria said. "If for some reason Jarrod doesn't recover enough to resume his practice, we'll see you get another job quickly. He's been very happy with your work."

Esther smiled a little. "Tell him – tell him I'll be praying for him to recover completely."

"We'll tell him," Victoria said.

Esther went into Jarrod's inner office to fetch the file they asked for. Victoria and Audra looked at each other, tense, not liking that they were worrying Esther needlessly, but they didn't say anything. When Esther returned with the file, they thanked her and told her they would be in touch.

They left the office and didn't speak again at all until they got the buggy from the livery stable and were well out of town on their way home. "Mother, I don't like this at all," Audra finally said. "I feel terrible about Esther."

"I know," Victoria said. "Misleading Esther is something I don't like either, but I'm hoping this won't be going on for very long. I'm hoping Jarrod's idea works and he learns something today."

"And maybe it will all be over by the time the boys get home tonight," Audra offered.

Victoria nodded and said, "I hope so."