Never Alone
Chapter Eleven
The two story brick home stood like a soldier guarding a lost treasure. A balcony ran around three of its four sides and windows dotted every side of the building. Flowers and trees decorated the yard, along with a few statues. To look upon the scene would give a stranger the feeling of peace and tranquility. However, looks can be deceiving. So, it was with the Anderson home.
The man known only as Mister Anderson to the majority of people, held little regard for those around him. While he was not a bad looking man in his fine clothes, the man who towered over most men at six feet five inches, cared only his worldly wealth and getting more of it. It had not always been that way, but over the course of time the cold hearted man had driven everyone whoever cared about him away…including his wife who had taken his three children and left him in the middle of the night. Only out of sheer pride had he looked for her, but it was to no avail. How was he to know, she'd boarded a ship with old friends and headed to England?
When his foreman, Mr. Ackerman, knocked on the door and opened it, Mr. Anderson turned away from the storm he'd been watching and sat back down behind his desk. Since he'd sent Mr. Ackerman and some men up to the Barnes' ranch, Mr. Anderson had been waiting impatiently for the men to return and report. Now, seeing Mr. Ackerman in his office with a small box in his hands, Mr. Anderson grew even more impatient. "So? What happened? What do you have there?"
A snake like grin appeared on the man's face as he handed his boss the metal box in his hands. "It was hidden in the barn; I don't know how the men could have missed it. I told them that." He had too; he'd ripped into each and every one of the men who had been assigned to search the Barnes' barn.
"How about that injun's daughter?" Anderson didn't like the idea that some of the men were insisting such a girl existed, nor the fact that she might be an eyewitness to attack upon the Barnes ranch.
Again his foreman's grin held an evil appearance to it. "We burnt the guest house down; she and that Barkley fellow, the fancy lawyer one, were in it."
Mr. Anderson eyes lit up. Because he assumed things, he didn't ask the foreman if he and the others had stuck around to make sure the two had actually perished in the fire, nor did he ask if they'd come across anyone else.
Unlike the box Heath had to pick open, the metal box that Anderson's men had found had a key secured to the box. Mr. Anderson hurried to open the box. Once he had it opened up, he let out a string of cuss words. Jarrod had taken some educated guesses and actually hit the nail on the head on a few of the papers he'd included in the box. When Mr. Anderson found a note in the box concerning additional evidence on the McKinley farm, the man exploded.
"Tell the men not to get too comfortable!" Mr. Anderson slammed the "evidence" down upon the table and stormed over to the window; the rain was not letting up. "The moment this rain stops you are hitting the McKinley ranch again; only this time, do it right!" He glared at his foreman; Ackerman didn't have to ask what his boss meant by that.
"Yes, sir," Ackerman turned around and left the room.
Left alone once more, Mr. Anderson again went through the "evidence". He found himself getting angrier by the minute. Wasn't it bad enough there was evidence of crimes he had committed, why did Mr. Barnes and "that injun" had to put proof of things he not only had nothing to do with, but knew nothing about in the first place? He leaned back in his chair and continued thinking as the rain fell. By the time he retired to his bed, Anderson had decided that once the McKinley ranch fell, he'd pull in a few favors and get the land sold to some acquaintances no one knew he had. Then, after a few months, he would simply buy the land from those men.
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Nick stood by the window and stared off into the darkness. A part of him told himself to go to bed; that Mr. Anderson would send his men to the ranch first thing in the morning. He told himself to go get some rest, but he continued standing by the window. When he heard someone walk into the room, he turned and saw his brothers standing in the room. He couldn't help, but smile. "You couldn't sleep either?"
"Not really," Jarrod answered as he and Heath walked up stood next to their brother, "mornin's gonna come early though. Ya'd think we be smart and get some sleep."
Nick didn't bother asking why they didn't; he knew. There was too tense of a feeling in the air. He couldn't help, but sigh. Mr. Anderson's men were going to show up the moment the sun was up, if the rain had stopped; he was sure of that. He and his brothers might have men hidden who were willing to help in the fight but how many would have to die? He said as much.
Jarrod kept his eyes on the window as he rolled his shoulders, trying to get his own muscles to relax. "Not tellin' us anythin' we don't know. Still, what choice do we have but to take a stand? This trouble Anderson started has to end tomorrow. We'll have to make sure it does. We can't back down."
"I won't back down," Nick barked and then lowered his voice, "none of us will. I just can't help feeling on edge. Good men will die tomorrow. We all know it. I just hate the fact that some things never change…one of those facts is that good men keep dying to stop bad ones."
Jarrod and Heath looked at each other and sighed. They knew Nick spoke the truth and they agreed. Jarrod put his hand on Nick's shoulder, ""We just have to pray we win the fight so any deaths that do occur won't be in vain."
Heath gave Nick a small lopsided grin, "Wait and see… we'll win." He hoped that was the case anyway. If they didn't any spilled blood would indeed be for nothing. They might have continued talking only the Widow McKinley appeared in the living room entrance way and scolded them. That being the case, Heath turned and went back to his room; Nick followed suit and went to the room he was using. They might not sleep, but they had to admit, they still needed to get some rest. However, Jarrod remained by the window staring up at the darkened sky and thinking for a few more minutes.