Chapter 12

Jason Linklater was a skinny kid, and still fairly small. He hated that. He wanted to be big and strong enough to deliver his family from the monsters who came in the night and took them away. And brought them here to this nightmare they couldn't get away from. He used to think his father would come get them, but then one day they dragged his father in here, too. At least they let the family stay together, but Jason knew it was just because they'd be easier to control that way. Nobody around here was doing them any favors at all.

Done In was a horrible ruin of a town, but it was better than this. Jason longed for his real home as he stood outside, next to the little cabin. He looked up at the stars in the sky and wished he could fly up there, fly away. But he knew he couldn't fly.

He could run, though.

Jason heard one of the guards moving around in the dark. There was no moon tonight, not yet anyway, so it was impossible to see exactly where the man was. But that meant it would be impossible for the guard to see him, too. Jason knew where the stable was even without being able to see it, but he knew he could never get a horse and get away. They'd hear him and shoot him or chase him. If he was going to run, he'd have to actually run.

He knew where to go – Stockton, wherever that was. To the Barkleys, whoever they were. His parents thought the Barkleys were their best hope. If he was going to run, he'd have to find out where this Stockton place was and he'd have to find the Barkleys.

Jason wondered what they would do to his parents if they found him gone. Would they be beaten? Maybe. That thought scared him almost enough to keep him right here. Almost.

Jason knew the compound really well, especially the area between here and the vegetable garden they had to tend day in and day out. That garden was not too far from the edge of the fenced in area, and he knew he could get beyond the fence and to the road that led away from here if no guard heard him. He remembered a branch of the road that went off to Done In, and another branch that went off somewhere he did not know. That other branch would be the way the Barkleys went, probably.

The more he thought about it, the more he inched his way toward the vegetable garden. To get there he'd have to pass through a lot of open space, and he wasn't sure how to do that. Before he tried, he looked to see if there was any movement, any guard patrolling. He saw something move away toward the front of the house.

Shaking, Jason made a try for the vegetable garden, and he made it. Once there he sat down low to catch his breath and get his courage together to try for the fence. "I gotta do this, Ma," he whispered and hoped, somehow, she would hear him.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod left Millertown even before sunup, hoping to be home by late afternoon, still disturbed that he wasn't able to talk Dawson into starting an investigation and that he wasn't able to think of something else to do to help the people kept at the Wright ranch. During the night, he woke up with a start, suddenly afraid that their "visit" to the place might prompt Wright to do something desperate, like pulling out and abandoning those people, or worse. He knew if he was going to pursue this any further, he was going to have to be furtive about it. If Wright got wind of what he was doing, there was no telling what he might do.

The road from Millertown to Stockton didn't pass any closer to Wright's place than about five miles, and Jarrod was happy to pass on by the closest spot and leave Wright behind. There were only a couple very small towns along that road. Mostly there were farms and ranches, and Jarrod didn't expect to run into anyone along the way. That's why he was surprised to see the kid on foot as he rounded a bend.

Jarrod slowed. The kid stopped. Heading the same way Jarrod was going, the kid turned – and then tried to run.

"Whoa!" Jarrod yelled and rode after him.

The kid ran off the road, but there was no cover here and nothing to keep Jarrod from riding after him. Jarrod caught up fast, dismounted fast, and caught the boy by the collar.

"Hold up, there!" Jarrod yelled. "I'm not gonna hurt you!"

Jason Linklater turned on him, threatening him with both fists.

Jarrod grabbed Jason's wrists. "I won't hurt you! Quit trying to hit me, boy!"

Jason gave up, going limp and almost dragging Jarrod to the ground. Then he started to cry.

Jarrod had to get on his knees to keep hold of those wrists. "I'm not gonna hurt you, son," he said, more quietly. "I'm just out here on my way to Stockton. Where are you going?"

"Stockton," Jason said.

"Well, then, you can ride with me," Jarrod said with a smile. "My name's Jarrod Barkley. What's yours?"

Jason straightened like a lightning bolt had hit him. "Barkley?"

"Yes," Jarrod said, and he and Jason climbed to their feet as Jarrod loosened his grip.

"You came to Mr. Wright's place yesterday," Jason said.

Now it was Jarrod who felt like lightning had hit him. "Yes, I did. Is that where you're coming from?"

Jason didn't want to answer that question yet. "You talked to my mother."

"Your mother," Jarrod said and mentally went over the names of the two women at the Wright place. "Mrs. Linklater is your mother?"

"Yeah," Jason said and wiped the wetness from his face.

Jarrod felt more jolts of electricity run through him. "What's your name, son?"

"Jason."

"Did you run away from Mr. Wright's place?"

Jason nodded. "I heard my mother talking about you. I ran away to get to Stockton and find you."

Jarrod broke into a big grin. "Jason, you're just the man I've been looking for, too."

"Will you help us?"

"You bet I will!"

Jarrod mounted up and pulled Jason up into the saddle behind him. As he did, he wondered whether to keep heading home or go back to Millertown. He decided that since this boy was running from Wright, he didn't want to risk taking him any closer to the Wright place by going to Millertown, not alone.

"We're going to Stockton, Jason," Jarrod said. "We'll get help there. You hang on tight!"

XXXXXXX

"The oldest Linklater boy is gone," Wright's foreman said to him.

Wright looked up from his desk. "Gone?"

"Looks like he skedaddled during the night," the foreman said.

The thoughts that raced through Wright's head all led to the conclusion that that damned Hattie Linklater talked about the Barkleys coming here. Either she talked in the boy's presence, or he overheard her, but he took off because he thought he could get away now. "Get that family together and put them in their cabin. You talk to them and find out when that boy left and what he knows. Rough any of them up you want, but don't leave anything visible, you got that?"

The foreman nodded. "What about the mother? She's upstairs working."

"Leave her to me," Wright said.

The foreman immediately left.

Wright jumped up from behind his desk and strode fast upstairs. He looked into several rooms before he found Mrs. Linklater in the wc, cleaning up. She straightened up when she heard him, startled, and stepped back at the sight of his face.

"Why didn't you say that boy was gone?" Wright asked, almost foaming at the mouth.

She didn't answer.

Wright grabbed her by the wrist and shook her. "You talk, Hattie, or you're gonna get a whooping in front of your family and all."

"We didn't know he ran away," she said, crying.

"Where'd he go?"

"I don't know! He just ran off during the night! I swear it, Mr. Wright!"

He let her go, saying, "I'll ask your husband and your kids."

"No, please!" she begged. "Don't hurt my kids!"

"Then talk."

"All I know is he was gone this morning! I swear it, Mr. Wright!"

Wright still intended to grill the sheriff and their children once they were rounded up. "You keep working and you keep your conversation to yourself. I don't want to hear a word out of you anymore, you got that? You listen to me or I swear, I'll break that family of yours up!"

Mrs. Linklater nodded, cowering, crying.

Wright walked out.