Chapter 5

It was practically impossible to see in the livery, so Nick opened the doors wide in the hopes that some of the moonlight would help. Heath found a buckboard. One horse could pull it, while he, Jarrod and Victoria rode in it. "Nick, give me a hand," he said.

He and Nick pushed the wagon out into the street and stopped right there in front of the livery. "Get your horse, Heath," Nick said. "He's stronger than Coco."

Before Heath could move, they heard horses approaching. Not sure what to do, they just stayed toward the rear of the wagon as three men rode into town. They stopped at the doctor's office, but they eyed Nick's and Heath's horses as they dismounted.

A man came out of the doctor's office, the doctor they hadn't seen, Nick and Heath figured. Two of the men talked to him in the street. The third man started toward the wagon. Nick and Heath took their guns out but kept them hidden from the newcomers.

The third man suddenly saw them and stopped. Exposed in the street, he didn't do anything except say, "Who are you?"

The other two men with the doctor heard him, and they came to join him.

Nick and Heath were stymied, unsure what to do. Nick ended up saying, "I'm Nick Barkley. This is my brother Heath. We lost a wagon a ways back toward Palermo and came looking for a replacement. Who are you?"

All three men stood beside one another. In the background, the doctor eased himself back into his office.

The newcomers looked at each other. "Stockton Barkleys?" one asked.

"That's right," Nick said. "I asked who you were."

"We work around here," the same man asked. "Came to fetch the doc out to our place. Man got hurt."

"We'll be on our way as soon as we hitch one of our horses up," Nick said.

"Those aren't draft horses," one of the other men said, looking back toward Nick's and Heath's horses.

"Lost our draft horse when we lost the wagon," Heath said. "Tongue broke and the horse took off. Our mounts were hitched to the back and we got lucky, they were left behind with the wagon."

Nick said, "We'll be on our way, if you don't mind."

Nick and Heath started pushing the wagon further out of the livery, still holding their guns ready but hidden.

Dr. Lane suddenly came out of his office, carrying his bag. "Let's go," he shouted.

The three men retreated to join him. Nick and Heath stopped and watched. The men had brought an extra horse, and they and the doctor mounted up. The doctor led the way quickly out of town. Nick and Heath got the distinct impression he was hurrying to defuse the situation and give the Barkleys time and room to get out of town unmolested.

Nick and Heath both sighed as they holstered their guns. "I'll hitch my horse up to the wagon," Heath said. "You get Mother and Jarrod ready to go."

Nick hurried back into the sheriff's office and found Jarrod helping their mother out the back door. "The necessary," Jarrod said.

Nick immediately came and helped the two of them. Victoria was able to take care of her own needs so long as Jarrod and Nick got her to and from the outhouse. Jarrod took care of himself, and it wasn't long before he and Nick were helping Victoria into the back of the wagon. Jarrod climbed into the back with her as Nick mounted Coco, saying, "Let's get out of here fast."

Heath slapped the reins, and Heath's horse started pulling as best he was able. Once they were over the hill and turning onto the road to Millertown, the horse was not laboring as much and they were all breathing easier, except for Victoria. The bumping of the road was sending stabs of pain through her leg and back. "Millertown isn't far, Mother," Jarrod said. "We'll be all right there."

"I'd rather keep going home," Victoria said.

"Let's see how things are in Millertown."

They kept going at a fairly good clip and were feeling pretty relieved, until they came to a bend in the road about a mile outside Millertown. There were two men in the road. It was hard to tell for sure in the dark, but it looked like two of the men who had been in Done In. Nick slowed down, and Heath did the same. The road was blocked.

"What's the problem?" Nick asked. "Let us through."

"We need to talk first," one of the men said. They both came closer to Nick, flanking him.

Heath and Jarrod both slipped their hands down to their sidearms, and Jarrod carefully put his body overtop his mother's, protecting her in case trouble was coming.

"Listen, we need to be moving," Nick said. "We've got our injured mother here with us."

"Yeah, so the doc said," the man closest to Nick said. "We think you're better off coming with us."

"Millertown is the closest help," Nick said. "Thanks for your offer, but we'll head there."

The man who had been doing the talking started reaching for his handgun.

Nick abruptly yelled and kicked Coco into gear. Heath got the message and also yelled, slapping the reins hard. Before the two men got their guns out, Nick and Heath had blasted through them and were flying down the road.

Jarrod kept his mother covered with his own body, but turned when he started hearing gunfire. He could see the flashes from the guns of the two men chasing them, and while Nick and Heath concentrated on getting them to Millertown fast, Jarrod drew his gun and fired back. Nobody was hitting anything. Jarrod ran out of ammunition at about the same time as the two men apparently did, but they seemed to have stopped to reload. Jarrod had to try to reload on the move, and the rough ride and trying to hold on was making it too hard. He was bouncing around and had to let go his grip from the wagon to use both hands. He quickly gave it up. "I'm taking your gun!" he yelled to Heath, and he reached up and took Heath's gun out of the holster at his side.

By then the two men were catching up to them again and firing. Nick abruptly pulled Coco aside and let Heath pass on. Nick turned and tried to hold the two men off. Jarrod could only see flashes from handguns and had to stop firing for fear of hitting Nick, not knowing which one was him, but Jarrod kept shielding Victoria with his body, holding onto the wagon tight now with both hands.

Lights of town came into view, and Heath slapped his horse into a faster gallop. They roared into town to the liveliest place Heath saw – the saloon – and he pulled to a sliding halt there. Jarrod held on tight, trying not to get thrown out of the wagon, keeping his mother covered and making sure she wasn't hurt in the screaming stop either. Jarrod whacked his head on the back of the bench when he was thrown forward by momentum as Heath stopped. Dizzy, he dropped Heath's gun and rolled over, off his mother.

Heath could see his gun that Jarrod had dropped. He grabbed it and jumped down from the wagon, then ran back up the road to try to help Nick. But Nick came blasting in before Heath got ten feet, and he was alone. Whoever the men were who had been chasing them did not come into town.

Nick jumped down off Coco beside Heath. "I think we're clear. Is everybody all right?"

"I think so," Heath said.

They hurried back to the wagon. Jarrod was lying beside his mother now, groaning. Victoria was calling, "Nick! Heath!"

"Are you all right, Mother?" Nick asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said.

"Jarrod?" Heath asked, reaching for his older brother.

Jarrod moaned and grabbed his head as he sat up. His hand came away with blood. "Oh, hit my head again," he moaned, knowing he had a new gash to add to the old one.

Heath grabbed Jarrod's fallen gun out of the wagon bed and lent him an arm. "Come on, get down if you can."

People were starting to come out of the saloon, and a man who looked to be the sheriff ran up. "What's going on?"

Nick said, "We were ambushed back up the road. Our mother was already injured – looks like our brother took a conk on the head."

Jarrod was on his feet, leaning back against the wagon, looking at his bloody hand. Heath had hold of him. "Do you have a doctor here?" he asked.

The sheriff pointed across the street and said, "Bring your people over. I'll get him up."

XXXXXXX

Victoria did not have any additional injuries, but her back and her leg were hurting terribly. The doctor settled her into his recovery room with some pain killer, then doctored the new bang on the head Jarrod had suffered. He made Jarrod walk across the treatment room and back again before he said, "You be sure to tell me or whatever doctor is around if you have any dizziness."

Jarrod nodded. "I'm fine. Thank you, doctor."

Jarrod went back out into the waiting area, where Nick and Heath were talking to the sheriff. Nick was complaining, "If they're so innocent and 'all right,' then why did they ambush us in the road just now?!"

The sheriff said, "How do you know they were the same men? You couldn't see who they were."

"I saw enough," Nick said. "They were the same men. The third one of them took the doctor out of Done In and these two were sent to round us up before we got here!"

Jarrod put a hand on Nick's arm. "Nick, quiet down. The doctor gave Mother something to ease the pain and help her sleep. You're just giving her a headache and keeping her awake."

The sheriff looked at Jarrod. "Your brothers have just spun me a tale about Dan Wright keeping slaves to help run his property and sending men out to round you up and haul you back there before you could talk. Now, I'm not blowing you off completely, because it's a tale I've heard before, but Doc Lane in Done In is always the one starting it, and frankly, his word is the only evidence I've ever gotten that the tale is true – and if you've talked to the old man, you know he ain't the man he used to be."

Jarrod said, "Maybe he's a bit over the top, but he took care of my mother and me all right."

"Believe me," the sheriff said, "being out there in that town that's practically abandoned has worn on him."

Jarrod tried to resist rubbing the aching spot on his head, even though he now sported a small bandage, as he frowned and asked, "What about the sheriff in Done In? Have you talked to him?"

"More than once," the sheriff said.

"Has he backed up Dr. Lane's story?"

"No."

"Have you tried to talk to him in the last week?"

"Can't say I have."

Jarrod took a deep breath to chase off the headache. "The sheriff and the shopkeeper named Henry were taken off last week. Dr. Lane said they were trying to hatch a plan to get away, so Wright had them taken. I think you better go looking into what Dr. Lane says more seriously."

"What else you got that the sheriff and Henry are gone?"

"The food the sheriff left behind that's gone moldy," Jarrod said. "Look, Sheriff, if they came after us, they're probably figuring Dr. Lane talked to us, and now he's in trouble. You need to round up a posse and check this out now."

The sheriff looked like he was trying to decide what to do. "I know Dan Wright," he finally said. "You two, you two Barkleys," he said, pointing to Nick and Heath, "I saw you with him here in Millertown a couple months ago, doing business with him."

"We've never been to his ranch, Sheriff," Heath said. "We got no idea what's going on there."

"Just check it out," Jarrod said, finally rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"I'll see about this in the morning," the sheriff said. "I suggest the three of you get a hotel room and sleep some. Things might take on a different picture once you get some shut-eye."

The sheriff just walked out then, leaving Nick huffing angrily, Heath exasperated, and Jarrod about to drop from fatigue.

"How is Mother?" Heath asked Jarrod.

"She's all right," Jarrod said. "The doctor will keep her here for the night, and regardless of whatever else happens, we need to get her home tomorrow."

"We've already taken the wagon and horses to the livery. Let's find the hotel and get some sleep," Heath said. Then he saw Nick's unhappy face. "Nick, the sheriff's not gonna do a thing tonight, and we sure can't do anything on our own."

"Heath's right," Jarrod said. "We need to sleep."

Nick finally nodded. "The hotel is a block or so away. Let's go."