Chapter Thirteen
Modesto and Stockton

Heath glanced back over his shoulder at the sleeping beauty in the bed. Her auburn hair splayed over the porcelain skin of her back. He buttoned his shirt as a twinge of guilt hit due to thinking of Johnna. He hadn't committed to Johnna but he knew the girl loved him. He may love her too but that wasn't something he had time to dwell on.

The auburn haired saloon girl didn't mind he was a kid in age. She wasn't but about five years older than him anyway. Besides, she got her money and a few more coins for the bottle Heath had bought. Heath got more than the moment of pleasure from her. He got the information he was seeking on one of the men.

The man was a tall skinny gambler with a sharp wit and a quick draw. According to the auburn haired female, the man's name was Jamison Briggs. The rest of the his friends had cleared out days ago. Heath figured he would take this one down then hunt down the other six. How to get the man riled up was easy. The man hated to lose at a card game. It seems Jamison Briggs fancied himself as quite the gambler. He was actually rather good at cards. However, Heath Thomson had been taught by one of the bests in Carterson. Passing time with the old Irish gambler when trying not to dwell on their stomachs being empty was going to come in handy now. The problem was Heath wasn't that great with a six shooter yet. Give him a knife or a rifle, he'd come out the winner. He wasn't so sure about pulling a pistol on someone and coming out the victor.

It was too late to think about being scared. He had already riled up Jamison Briggs by bringing the saloon girl upstairs to enjoy her company for the night. Now Heath would have to make his way to the saloon for a poker game around 6 pm. That is when Jamison was known to play cards and take many a man's money. Heath would have to figure out the rest after he spent some time with Cotton and Hank.

Heath remembered the way the boy reacted when seeing Jamison Briggs.

Cotton had almost went into a nervous fit at seeing the gambler. Heath had Hank take the boy to the hotel to keep him safe and his plan a secret.

"I want ta help ya, Heath." Hank had protested.

"Ya are. Get Cotton to the room. I can take care of this one. I'll need ya later, Hank." Heath handed Hank a half bottle of whiskey. "Give him a shot of this. He'll be out in no time."

Hank snarled his nose up at the drink. Hank never touched the stuff. His Pa had turned him against any strong drink due to the abuse. But Hank knew it would help calm Cotton so Heath could get his job done.

"Alright, Boss. But I hear tell he's fast with that gun of his." Hank had heard others in the bar warning about the gambler. He also heard what the auburn haired girl had whispered to Heath. As far as Hank could tell, it seemed like Heath had another female pawing him. The boy was blessed that way, Hank supposed. "I saw ya practicing. You're fast enough but ya ain't got the gunslinging down yet."

Heath flashed a crooked smile at Hank. "I know. I got plans for this other bottle of whiskey. But first I got to spend some time with the pretty little lady named Harriet. Seems she has taken a liking to me but the man I'm seeking has taken a liking to her. Maybe I can get some information to help me take him down."

"Fine. I'll see you later tonight." Hank started towards the door pulling a distraught and whimpering Cotton with him.

Heath called after Hank as he wrapped his arm around the auburn haired beauty named, Harriet. "Make that tomorrow."

Hank placed his arm around Cotton's shoulders as he whispered in his ear. "Looks like ole Heath is going to get lucky tonight."

"Is he playin' cards?" Cotton innocently asked causing Hank to chuckle as he pulled the white haired boy from the saloon.

Nick stomped through the front door straight to the liquor table. He poured himself a whiskey and gulped it down.

"Nicholas Barkley?" Victoria stated in a stern voice.

Before Nick's abrupt entrance, Victoria sat on the floor at her husband's knee. She was watching the flames in the fireplace as her head lay against Tom's knee. Tom was kneading his fingers through her hair.

"Aww, Come on, Mother. I need a drink. I've had a bad week." Nick plopped on the chair adjacent his father.

"I take it the man hunt wasn't successful?" Tom stated as he straightened in his seat.

"Not as far as our part it wasn't." Nick took a quick swig of his whiskey. "Seems this Heath Thomson alluded our trail the whole time. The only reason he got caught was he killed a man in Modesto in front of the sheriff."

"He murdered a man in front of the sheriff?" Victoria held her hand over her mouth in shock. She was thankful Audra was away visiting Tom's brother, James. The girl had a tendency to want to listen to all of Nick's stories even if it wasn't appropriate to do so.

"No. He didn't murder him. The man challenged Heath Thomson to a draw. Heath Thomson killed him fair I reckon. Well, according to what Fred heard from the sheriff of Modesto, the man Heath killed was half drunk when he pulled a gun on Heath. Anyway, the sheriff had already been sent a telegram warning that the Thomson fella was headed their way. We tried to follow his trail. The only reason we got even close was the fact that a friend of Heath Thomson left a trail not Thomson himself. Found two bodies out on the trail. Looked to be at Thomson's hands as well. Sheriff Madden thinks those men tried to rob him or Heath them. Either way, they're dead."

"He's leaving a body count." Tom rubbed Victoria's shoulders.

"You have no idea. That makes five or six dead at his hands." Nick shook his head. "But I don't blame him on a few of those deaths. His mother and her friend were raped and killed. One other woman was brutally beaten and raped too. The three lived in the same house with the man and another boy. Made the man go on a killing spree. Seems the law wasn't concerned as one of the women was a black woman, one was a prostitute and the man's mother wasn't married when she gave birth to him." Nick closed his eyes as he leaned his head back.

Due to Nick's eyes being closed, he didn't see his father's brow crease at the description he gave of the small family. Tom gathered his thoughts before speaking. He remembered Leah's name was Sawyer when they had their brief affair. She was a widow for over two years when they met. However, there was a small tickling in his mind that made him remember the name Thomson. Didn't Hannah mention that Leah's maiden name was Thomson? But it couldn't be her son. Their son! Leah said their child had died at birth. Why would she lie about that? Tom realized the moment he had asked himself that the reason. He was going to take their child from her.

"How old is this man?" Tom sat up even straighter in his chair.

"Didn't ask. Why?" Nick opened his eyes to look at his father.

"Seems a lot of killing being done by him. Made me curious is all." Tom swallowed hoping he wasn't revealing his real reason for asking.

"Never asked. But he is probably about my age. He had not came home from the war for a couple years. He was working for a spread that sold some horses in town to Mr. Morton. Good breeding horses too. Seems this Thomson fella was one of the best of his horse wranglers. At least that is the information we got in town from those who would talk. Strange place. Any way what we heard was he came in to visit his mother and found her grave instead. That's all we found out." Nick sighed out due to his tiredness. "Besides, like I said, he was in the war. I joined at age eighteen. So he has to be around my age."

Tom relaxed a little bit. However, he wanted to ask Nick the name of the woman murdered. He refrained as Leah never had a child before he met her. If it was his son, the boy wouldn't be old enough to join the war. Whoever the woman was couldn't be Leah Thomson. If he had a child with Leah, the child would be around fifteen almost sixteen. Just a boy. Therefore, the man couldn't be his son.