Twenty Four

Jarrod opened the door to the last available room at the Lovell Boarding House; Nick, Heath and he had moved their baby brother there the moment Doctor Thayer said it was safe. Nick was sitting next to the bed with his chin in his hands and his elbows on his knees, while Heath was leaning against the window. Both looked more than tired, but at least all the men who had been listed on the papers Gene found were now behind bars.

"What did Doctor Thayer say?" Heath turned from the window and asked in a quiet subdued tone when he saw who had entered the room. The three brothers had come to the conclusion it was either transport Gene back to Stockton where the family could continue watching over him or prepare for their mother to arrive. There was no way she would stay at home if they didn't.

"The doctor reluctantly agreed to allow him to be transported. However, we can only do that if we move him to the Stockton Hospital… and as long as we go straight there." Jarrod said as he walked up and stopped by the bed in which Gene lay. How he wished Gene would wake up and be totally alert once more. As it was, this continued drifting in and out of consciousness, along with the fever that would go up and down, was beginning to worry Jarrod more than ever. "However, you and I can do that." He sighed and looked at Nick. "You need to go home to Hannah and figure out how you're going to get her to Stockton to testify at that trial without anyone discovering who she really is. I should say all of us will have to figure that one out." He then said he'd sent a couple of wires to their mother admitting just how serious things were and asking her to meet them at the train station when they arrived.

Nick bowed his head; he hated being torn in two like this. He didn't want to be away from Gene if the worst should happen. However, Jarrod was right, and he knew it. After a few moments he lifted his head and nodded it letting Jarrod know he had heard him and would comply.

~oOo~

Hannah, who had been searching throughout the house for her mother-in-law, opened front door and stepped out onto the paved porch. Victoria was standing not four feet in front of her; she was reading a letter that had arrived that morning. Since the Barkley matriarch wasn't smiling from ear to ear, Hannah assumed the worst and a strong feeling of fear entered her heart. "Mother?" Hannah said as she approached Victoria cautiously. "What is it?"

Victoria, who had been deep in thought, slightly gasped as she hadn't heard the front door open. Her head whipped around to see Hannah standing next to her. Naturally, her reaction had Hannah feeling more than guilty. However, when she started to apologize, Victoria stopped her. "Don't apologize. You didn't try to startle me."

Hannah did her best to smile even if she was worried. "Is something wrong?"

Victoria sighed a she held up the two-page letter. "Macklin and one of his men are dead. Nick and Heath have been helping the sheriff wind up a few of their cohorts."

"And Jarrod? Gene?" She asked when Victoria stopped and turned her attention back to the letter. Hannah found herself holding her breath praying she wasn't going to hear that her other two brothers-in-laws had been killed. If that was the case, Hannah knew she would have a hard time not blaming herself, even if she knew Victoria would disagree with her.

"Jarrod's been with Gene." Victoria's voice broke as she covered her mouth, shaken by what had happened to her youngest. A part of her wanted to kick him for not waiting for his brothers. Then again, Jarrod did state if Gene had waited they wouldn't have the evidence to put the rest of Macklin's men behind bars. "Gene took a bullet to his back."

Hannah's face paled, and she gasped as her hands flew up to her mouth. "H…he died?"

"No," Victoria looked at her daughter-in-law and assured Hannah that was not the case. "He's still alive. The doctor they have up there happens to have experience in this type of surgery. He got the bullet out." Victoria paused and then said quietly, "While the bullet barely nicked the spine, the doctor's not sure just what the long time results will be." Victoria swallowed hard and then said, "There's a chance that Gene will be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. That is when he does more than drift in and out of consciousness." She went out to explain that Audra and Chad had been sent for. "Jarrod, Nick and Heath feel it's safe now; that is, as long as the two of you continue going by your new names." She then sighed and shook her head, "No one has been able to find out why Chad was a target. Jarrod wrote and said he thought one Jack Roberts and Macklin did know. However, it was just a strong feeling he had overcome him, but he had no proof since he didn't actually talk to the men."

Hannah felt a thousand emotions running through her and asked, after picking up her jaw and without half thinking, "Jack Roberts?"

Naturally her reaction had Victoria frowning and asking questions. "You know him?"

Hannah shuddered a little. "Only met him a few times, he was sweet on my sister. He tried to get her to leave Jeremiah and go with him a few years back. She refused. He got ugly the last time he was at my sister's home. He didn't know I was there; he was too busy yelling at her. He swore he'd make her pay someday, and anyone connected to her. I bet you it was him all along. Though," she shook her head, "I never thought he was so bad he'd want a two-year-old child dead as well." Her mind then turned to Macklin. While she was relieved to hear he was no longer a threat; and that Audra and Chad would return to California, she was upset to learn what price the youngest Barkley had, and might, pay to ensure her and Chad's safety. "I never wanted any member of this family hurt. Maybe we should travel to Wyoming ourselves."

Victoria shook her head and explained that the letter had arrived moments after a telegram Jarrod had sent-and what the doctor had consented to. "Letters are always slower than telegrams. And," she spoke firmly as she could see no other way to get through to her daughter-in-law, "for the last time, do not take any undue guilt upon yourself! Now," she sighed as she looked around the porch and then, walking to the side of the house, looked around the corner. They had some ramps in the barn that they had used when Nick had hurt his back and been stuck in a wheelchair for a while; guess it was time to put those ramps back to use. "I think we best ask McColl and one of the other men to put the ramps in place for Gene's return, just in case he needs them." She turned and looked at Hannah. "Audra and Chad will be home in a few days; you might want to do some cleaning in Chad's room." Not that was that much work to do in that particular room, there wasn't. Victoria simply figured Hannah needed to keep busy at the moment.

"Yes, Mother," Hannah answered, and then turned around and disappeared back into the house.