Twenty Four

Ruth walked down the main street of Stockton. She'd been with the Barkleys almost three weeks now, doing some odd jobs for the family to pay for her keep and have a bit of spending money on her. It had been an idea that Victoria had fought at first, only to concede that she could see how Ruth felt; not wanting to feel like a freeloader and have some money of her own. Now, Ruth had come into town with Audra. She'd been in town a mere ten minutes, when she learned that Nick had been in a brawl in the saloon and was in jail. At first she hadn't known what to think, but her confusion had quickly vanished when she'd overheard a couple men talking about the incident. Then all she wanted to do was applaud Nick for what he'd done. Soon she was standing inside the sheriff's office.

Fred, who had only heard about Ruth and her son, looked up and smiled. "May I help you miss?"

"I'm here to bail Nick Barkley out of jail." Ruth answered, and then stifled a laugh at the look of shock that appeared on the sheriff's face.

"Yes, ma'am," Fred quickly recovered from his shock and told her how much the fine was. After she paid it, he let his curiosity get the best of him and he asked her name. He wasn't surprised to learn who had walked into his office. "He's a good man, but you sure you know what you're doing, being the one to bail him out that is." He didn't say that out of meanness or because he was turning on the Barkleys; he wasn't. He simply hated see any woman having to bail any man out... no matter who it was and what the reason the man had for being behind bars. He'd have preferred for Jarrod or Heath to show up instead.

"Name's Ruth and I know very well what I'm doing." Ruth assured Fred as he opened the door that led to the cells where the famous hot tempered rancher was being held.

Nick, who was sitting on the cot inside his cell, had shock waves roll over him when he saw who had followed the sheriff into the cell area; he quickly stood up. He was equally shocked as Fried opened the cell door and told him he was free to go.

"You paid my bail? Why?" Nick asked after he'd stepped out and followed Ruth outside.

Ruth turned around and smiled wide. "Next time you decide to corner Barrett in the saloon, do me a favour."

Nick gave her a quizzical look and hesitantly asked her what the favour was, and then busted up laughing when she said, "Come and get me. I want to watch the fight. I hope he looks worse than you do." She knew that wasn't nice of her to say. Still, any man who would be so cruel as to say the things he, Barrett, was supposed to have said around her "son" was asking for the beating Nick had given him.

"To set the record straight," Nick took a hold of her hand as they started walking towards the livery stable where his horse was being held. "I didn't purposely go into the saloon looking for Barrett. I was just grabbing a drink before going home; he happened to already be in there."

"And you just went up and started the fight?" Ruth looked at him, her eyes dancing with amusement in her eyes.

"I didn't throw the first punch," Nick grinned back and then chuckled when he and Ruth both said at the same time that he, Nick, had just purposely pushed Barrett's buttons in order to get the man to make the first move.

"And here I was led to believe you acted before you thought," Ruth's eyes was still laughing.

"Whoever said I stopped and thought when I saw Barrett sitting at the table with his friends, lied or was mistaken. I just went up to him and made a few comments of my own." Nick growled low and then joined Ruth in her laughter.

From where he stood inside his office, Jarrod could see his brother and Ruth talking and laughing. He looked at the report in his hand and smiled as he read it again. The report was from the Pinkerton agency. It confirmed all that Ruth had told them. Her brother's grave on the outskirts of Nashville was empty. Yes, her uncle, Kyle Randall, was well known and well liked in Nashville. And lastly, Ruth's marriage and divorce were indeed on file in Franklin, Tennessee. However, the report also said Kyle Randall wasn't just under suspicion by the law for the death of Ruth's two brothers, but other illegal activities as well. "For all the things the law suspects him of, we're surprised he has such a good reputation with those around him…" were just some of the words the Pinkertons had to write. Jarrod turned away from the window and, sitting down behind his desk, began going through the copy of Ruth's father's will, which had just arrived in his office a few moments before.

~oOo~

Unaware of all the inquiries being made back in Tennessee, or the activities in Jarrod's law office, Kyle Randall stepped off the stage in Abbottsville, Nevada. He would have gone straight to Carson City, only the ten years wasn't quite up and he figured it wouldn't hurt anything to make a cameo appearance at Jim Barkley's home. He would simply tell Jim he had a few weeks to spare before he had to travel to Carson City on a business trip and had decided to drop in for a spell.

Unbeknownst to Kyle, Jim had just walked out of the telegraph office and, upon seeing Kyle climb out of the stagecoach, had quickly gone back inside. The brown haired, thirty year old telegraph officer who was thinner than anything Jim had ever seen looked up in surprised. "Did you forget something, Jim?"

"You could say that." Jim, who had had to fight everything him in order not to fly down the steps of the telegraph office and beat Kyle Randall to a pulp, replied. "I need to send a wire to my nephew, Jarrod Barkley, who lives in Stockton, California."

"Yes, sir," The telegraph officer handed him a paper and pen and waited patiently while Jim wrote the message down.

Not seeing Jim, and not knowing what he was doing inside the telegraph office, Kyle decided to grab a bite to eat at the local cafe before heading out to Jim Barkley's ranch.