Chapter 4

The rain had stopped and there was still a little light left when Nick and Heath left Millertown. They determined that their mother and brother had not reached that town at all, so it seemed clear that something had happened to them between there and Palermo. Now Nick was wishing to high heaven that he had never recommended the short cut.

"Come on, Nick," Heath chastised him as the rode out of Millertown. "You and I have both taken this road before and had no trouble at all. Chances are they broke down or something and are either afoot or are just waiting for us to come get them."

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "They'd know we'd come after them when they didn't get home." He sounded like he was trying to talk himself into believing that.

"Sure they would," Heath said.

Nick kicked up the speed a little bit, and Heath followed. By the time they reached the fork where the road to Done In went off, the light was beginning to be difficult. Nick pulled up by the sign anyway. He turned his horse several times, looking both uphill toward Done In and along the flatter road toward Palermo. Heath stopped beside him.

"What do you think?" Nick asked. "Could they have gone toward Done In?"

"I've never been there. Is it the kind of place they'd go if they were having trouble?" Heath asked.

"I've never been there either." Nick frowned, looking further up the road toward Palermo.

Meanwhile, Heath got down to look for tracks, but, "The rain has made any tracks hard to read." Heath started up the hill toward Done In, but soon came back, shaking his head. "I'm not seeing any tracks up this way either. It was a pretty hard rain."

Nick said, "Let's keep going on the road to Palermo. If they had trouble before they got to this point, we might be able to find it. With any luck they'll be sitting there waiting for us."

"Not likely they'd have sat out in the rain," Heath said.

"Unless the rain was the reason they stopped. Come on."

Nick galloped on further up the road toward Palermo, and Heath remounted and followed along. The road was muddy and still there were no tracks to speak of. They had gone nearly two miles and Nick was almost ready to turn around and try for Done In when they spotted it – the wrecked luggage at the side of the road, and clothing scattered around in the mud.

They both dismounted and quickly looked through the debris. Nick picked up a shirt that was torn and missing some pieces. "This is Jarrod's. They're in trouble."

Heath found the wreckage Jarrod had torn off the buggy to make it lighter. He knew it for what it was. "Looks like the buggy wrecked. Do you think they turned back for Palermo?"

Nick shook his head. "They'd have gone for Millertown. It's closer."

"Well, they're not there so that leaves Done In."

They looked at each other, wondering what in the world could have happened and why the only evidence of whatever it was were pieces of the buggy and ruined luggage and clothing. Without a word, they remounted and headed for Done In.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod was only drifting in and out of sleep and after only a short while he woke up completely. He sat up, listening. He didn't hear a thing outside except for the insects.

He had a headache. Whether it was from hitting his head when he fell, or from stress, or from the hard floor or all three, he wasn't sure, but it didn't matter much. He sat up completely, leaning his back against the wall. His mother was snoring softly, so he was sure she was all right.

His mind wandered, off to what Dr. Lane had told him about this rancher named Wright and the little kingdom he had built for himself out here in the middle of nowhere. He still found it hard to believe that such a thing was happening in California. Isolated areas like this were rare these days, but nevertheless, Done In was here and lost to itself, so it was possible Wright could have built himself a fortress and surrounded himself with an army and no one would know. It just seemed ridiculous and very unlikely.

With a sigh, Jarrod gave up thinking about it. Instead, he thought about the food he should have secured before they fell asleep. There were probably some canned beans here in the sheriff's apartment, if nothing else. He hadn't even checked to see if the pump in the kitchen worked, but he'd have bet it did. He hadn't looked for an outhouse, but it was probably out there in the back. He wondered how he'd get his mother there when she needed it.

He heard horses. Alarmed, he got to his feet and unholstered his sidearm. He pulled the shirt-curtain aside slightly and looked out, but it was dark now, or at least too dark to see anything.

Victoria stirred. "Jarrod?"

"Sh – " Jarrod told her quietly. "I heard horses, at least two. You stay still here. I need to have a look out into the street."

"Jarrod, no – "

She was frightened. Jarrod gave her a kiss and a smile. "Don't worry. I'll be right back."

Jarrod went through the apartment and the jail office, then quietly opened the door and stepped outside. The sky had cleared and there was a partial moon. Jarrod stayed in the shadow of the jailhouse as he looked around, and he saw movement, off to his left near the doctor's office. There were two men dismounting from two horses there. They had tied the horses to a hitching rail and were going into the doctor's office, the only place in town with a light on.

Jarrod wondered what to do. He wondered who the two men were – were they Wright's men, as Dr. Lane expected? They could have been Nick and Heath, but Jarrod couldn't tell in the poor light. They could have even been strangers just passing through. Jarrod decided to stay where he was, wondering if the two men would find the doctor, or what they would do if they didn't. But it wasn't long before they came back out. If the doctor was in there, he wasn't giving them the time of day.

Jarrod inched through the shadows toward them as they unhitched their horses and started to mount. Then he heard a familiar voice. "Nick – " he said, still quiet, just in case he was wrong.

But the two men stopped and turned, looking. "Did you hear that?" one of them said to the other.

It was Nick's voice. Jarrod stepped out of the shadows and walked slowly toward them. "Nick, it's Jarrod."

The two men saw him then and came to him quickly. "We've been worried sick about you," Heath's voice said.

Jarrod never felt so relieved in his life as when his brothers stopped in front of him and Heath put a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?" Nick asked.

"The buggy wrecked," Jarrod said. "Mother's injured. Come with me."

The three of them went back into the jail and then to the sheriff's apartment. Victoria was still on the bed, but she was up on her elbow again. She couldn't see who was coming in, and she took in a sharp breath when three shadows entered.

"It's me," Jarrod said. "Nick and Heath are here."

Nick went quickly to his mother, and she gave a sigh and a laugh as he hugged her. Heath came to the other side of the bed and hugged her at the same time. "Thank heaven you're here," she said.

Jarrod said, "She's got a broken leg and some bruising. I'm all right, just cuts and scrapes and bruises."

"How in the world did you get here?" Nick asked.

"I rigged up the buggy so I could pull it," Jarrod said. "You didn't happen to find our horse on the way here?"

"No," Heath said. "And I'll bet money there aren't any horses in this ghost town."

"No," Jarrod said. "There isn't anything else either, except for one doctor."

"We saw the light there, but a doctor?" Nick said. "What's a doctor doing here?"

Jarrod explained what the doctor had told him about Daniel Wright and the town of Done In. When he was finished, Nick and Heath looked at each other. Even in the darkness, they could see they were each confused.

"Jarrod, that doesn't make any sense," Heath said. "Nick and I did some business with Dan Wright not three months ago."

"There wasn't anything fishy about him at all," Nick said.

"Were you on his ranch?" Jarrod asked, remembering the doctor had said Wright tended to do his business off the ranch.

"Well, no," Nick said. "We were just buying a couple of yearlings. He met us with them in Millertown."

"I haven't been willing to take any chances that Dr. Lane is wrong about the man," Jarrod said. "We figured you'd be along, so we stayed here. No one else has been by."

"Maybe we can get out of here," Heath said. "I'm gonna go have a look at the livery stable. Maybe there's a wagon here we can hitch one of our horses to to carry mother and get on home."

"Be careful," Victoria said.

"Let me go with you," Nick said. "You best not be out there alone. Jarrod, you and Mother stay here and we'll be back in a few minutes, tops."

"All right," Jarrod said and let them go. It was dark and he could scarcely see Victoria, but he knew she'd be worried. He sat down on the bed next to her and held her hand. "I told you Nick and Heath would turn up. They'll get us out of here."

"I hope so," Victoria said. "I'll use the necessary when they get back, and then the faster we're out of here, the happier I'll be."

Jarrod leaned over and kissed her. "We'll check into this Wright fellow more after we get you home. If he's really running a ranch with slave help, he has to be stopped."

"I don't disagree with you," Victoria said, "but I still wonder if this Dr. Lane is telling us the truth. It just seems so implausible."

"I know," Jarrod said, "but it bears looking into. Once we get you home."