Chapter 2

At least the road was fairly level and not very rutted, so the going was not too difficult for the first mile or so. As he walked and pulled, Jarrod wiped his forehead, expecting blood with the sweat, and he was right. It kept running into his eyes, but he kept wiping it away and walking, and trying to remember how far away the last signpost said the next town was supposed to be. Six miles kept tickling his memory, but he didn't know how far back the signpost was. He hoped the next town wasn't very far.

Then he came to a fork. One road continued pretty level, the other went up over a gradual hill. There was a signpost. Jarrod stopped and read it.

He put the tongue down gently. Victoria stirred, gripping the seat more tightly so as not to fall out as it tipped forward. "Why are we stopping?"

Jarrod joined her and took the canteen out from under the seat. He offered it to his mother, who took a drink. Then he drank for himself and wiped his brow again.

Victoria saw the blood smearing his face. "We can't keep going. You're bleeding."

Jarrod chuckled. "Just a cut on my forehead, Mother. You know how they bleed. Here, have another sip."

He handed her the canteen and she drank again. He took another small drink before capping it and putting it back under the buggy seat. Jarrod turned then and took a look at the signpost at the crossroads. The flatter road said that Millertown was three miles away. The road that led uphill said Done In was only one mile.

Done In, Jarrod thought with a laugh. Sounds appropriate. Millertown was the name of the town on the last signpost, but Done In wasn't on that post at all. Jarrod wiped his brow again, peering uphill, peering down the road to Millertown. He wasn't sure he could make it three miles to Millertown, but he also wasn't sure he could make it up the hill. Still, he had to decide, and of course, he had no way of knowing how rough or hilly either of these roads was beyond where he could see now.

Leave her here and take a quick look further down each of these roads? No, when he heard his mother groan, he knew he couldn't leave her, at least not for long. He decided to leave her long enough to get to the top of the hill and see if this place called Done In was in sight from up there. He lifted the tongue of the buggy and placed it on a rock so at least Victoria would be more stable while he went up the hill. He gave his mother a kiss on the forehead.

"Just hang on a bit, Mother. I'll be right back."

Jarrod made it up the hill as fast as his tired legs would carry him – and he got lucky. Not far ahead, he could see buildings, a town. New energy came over him, and he headed back down to the buggy.

"We're almost to a town, Mother," he said as he got back into the sling.

When she didn't answer, he looked her way.

"Mother?"

"I'm fine," she muttered, but she wasn't. He could tell.

Jarrod eyed that hill he'd have to get over, and he steeled himself to make the climb.

XXXXXXX

Nick took another walk out into the yard as the sun started to get low in the sky. He looked down the lane toward the road and fretted again.

"Maybe they didn't take the short cut you told them about," Heath said.

Nick hadn't realized he was there and he jumped. He shook his head. "Jarrod's wire said they would."

"Any chance they got lost?"

"Not if they followed the road to Millertown and picked the Stockton road up there. They should be here by now, Heath."

Heath looked up at the sky. "We don't have but a few hours of light left. If we're gonna go after them, we better go now."

Nick nodded. "Let's go."

XXXXXX

Jarrod was just about done in himself when he rolled the buggy into the town of Done In. At first he was alarmed – there was no one in the street and no one was coming out of any of the buildings. No wonder there were no signposts back up the way they came from. Done In was aptly named.

But the buildings didn't look like they had been abandoned for long, and there was water in the first trough he came to. The trough looked good and solid, too. Jarrod rested the tongue of the buggy on it, and it held. He crawled out, took a handful of water, and it tasted as good as any trough water would.

"Jarrod?" Victoria said.

Jarrod went to her, looking around for a bit as he did. There still were no people here. "Right here, Mother," he said, reaching for the canteen under the seat. He unscrewed the top and let her drink from it.

Once she'd taken some water, Victoria looked around and saw the buildings. "Where are we?"

Jarrod took a drink from the canteen. "A town called Done In. How's that for irony?"

They both chuckled a little, but Victoria noticed. "There's no one here."

"There has to be," Jarrod said. "There's water in the trough, and these buildings haven't been abandoned for long, if they're abandoned at all."

Victoria eyed her son and the blood now dried on his face. "Are you all right?"

"Just tired," Jarrod said. He looked around again and sighed. "Well, they have a place with 'town jail' written on it. I'll go have a look."

"Don't be long."

"I won't."

Jarrod felt a ton lighter, moving along without having to drag a buggy behind him, and he went inside the jail in just a few moments. It was a shock.

There was no one there, but the place looked like it was being used. The dates on the wanted posters on the wall were not even a month old. There were rifles locked in the rack, papers on the desk, even a coffee pot on the stove. Jarrod checked it – it was cold, as was the stove. Jarrod stood for a moment and looked around the room. He spotted a curtain over a door and went through it.

The room behind it was someone's home, the sheriff's probably. It too looked inhabited – especially given there were dishes on the table. Jarrod took a look at them. There were remains of some food there, but the food was moldy. The only thing he could think was that someone had left here a few days ago, and they had left in a hurry.

Jarrod went back outside to his mother. Victoria was still awake, but she was perspiring. Jarrod gave her a bit more water, saying, "Somebody's been here very recently, but they're gone now. I'll bet I'd find the same sort of thing elsewhere. I don't know what's going on around here."

Victoria looked around. "What do we do now?"

Jarrod sighed. "I'm going to look around some more, try to find a place to make you more comfortable. I'll look for a doctor. There's bound to be a store here where I can find some food for us, too. Then we'll have to talk and figure something out."

"All right," Victoria said, "but don't be gone long."

Jarrod smiled. "Don't you worry, Lovely Lady. The first place I'm going to look for is the doctor's office, where I might find you a comfortable bed and maybe something to clean up our cuts and scrapes. I'll be back before you know it."

Jarrod took off down the middle of the main street, searching the signs on the buildings for a doctor's office. He was concentrating so hard that he didn't even see the man standing under the sign that said "Dr. Steven Lane" until the man came down into the street. Jarrod was so startled he jumped.

"Who are you?" the man asked. He was an older man, about Jarrod's height, wearing a suit and not carrying a gun.

Jarrod stopped, staring. He finally realized the man was real and let out a weary breath. "My name is Jarrod Barkley. My mother and I were in a buggy accident. I have her back here. She has a broken leg, maybe more injuries. Do you know where the doctor is?"

"I'm the doctor," the man said, coming closer. "Where's your mother?"

Jarrod motioned back the way he came and led the doctor there. Jarrod had a million questions about what was going on in this town, but he saved them for later. Right now, the doctor had to see his mother.

When they reached the buggy, Dr. Lane took one look at her and said. "Bring her down to my office," and he turned and started back.

Jarrod slipped into the harness again and pulled the buggy away from the trough. Victoria moaned out loud. Jarrod was exhausted, but he moved faster. He was very frightened. She needed attention, right now.

When they reached the doctor's office, the doctor waited at the door while Jarrod lifted his mother out of the buggy. "We've got a doctor," he said to her as he carried her into the office. "Everything's going to be all right."

Dr. Lane took them into an examination room, and Jarrod laid her on the table there. "Wait out in the waiting room," Dr. Lane said.

Jarrod nodded, but kissed his mother before he went out to the waiting room. Dr. Lane closed the door behind him, and Jarrod was left there alone, worried. He sat down and wiped his forehead again. At least no more blood was coming onto his sleeve. The cut that had been bleeding seemed to have stopped.

But Jarrod was so exhausted from pulling the buggy that he wasn't sure he'd stay awake until Dr. Lane finished with Victoria. Jarrod sat down and leaned forward, his hands folded in front of him, his head bowed. At one point he heard Victoria cry out and he jumped up, but then he heard her say, "No, no, it's all right." He sat back down again.

He suddenly wondered if there was a telegraph office and a telegrapher in this town. If there was, he could wire his brothers and get them here to help. He didn't know Nick and Heath were already on their way.