Chapter Two

Jarrod and Jack hurried across town to the only nice hotel in Modesto; Tessa and Jarrod's luggage was already in their room at the establishment.

From the stares they were getting, they were being compared side-by-side for the first time, or the news that Dorothy Darby had checked into a hotel was rampant. Likely both were the cause. They made their way through the small crowd in the lobby to listen to a man orating on the stairs.

Jarrod's stomach dropped. He didn't even have to get closer as Jack was attempting to do. Jarrod pulled Jack back to the edge of the group to listen. They stood in the shadows at the back.

"Stay back here. This is getting more personal by the moment."

"You are telling me, friend. Zella is going to take care of this if we don't. And I don't want to visit her in San Quentin." he whispered.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Modesto, I ask for respect for my client, Mrs. Dorothy Darby. She has traveled very far by stage, been accosted, robbed, and exhausted to travel to your fair city—-for justice. She is the lawful wife of your mayoral candidate, Jackson Darby. It's possible the courts will not recognize her claims—but you, the voters, will see the truth. Bigamy is a sin in the eyes of God. Can you really trust this man who plays so lightly with the weaker vessel's heart?"

Jack hissed, "Dorothy hasn't got a weak bone in her body; if I didn't know better, I think she would have bollocks."

Jarrod shushed him to listen.

The crowd gasped, and conversations were whispered across the room. Jarrod pulled Jack back further into the shadows.

"This isn't the time, Jack. We need to see what or who is behind this. The mayor and rustlers started this sham; someone else is funding it and continuing the message. Who is your opponent in the race?"

"Matthias Finn. Head of the San Joaquin Regulators. The cousin of the Mayor's wife. He took over all legal business interests despite his distaste for the man morally. Wheat farmer. Biggest in area. Hates the Chinese."

"He would have likely known or at least found out about the bigamy charge. Listening to Archer up there, he knows the charge won't stick. It's a ploy to get you out of the race."

"Archer? You know the attorney?"

"Quite well," he whispered as they listened to the man drone on and on about morality in Modesto.

"Jarrod, there isn't a moral bone in Dorothy's body. I know that woman—-in many senses of the word, " as she appeared behind Archer.

Her fine clothes contrasted the picture painted by Archer, but her beauty was stunning the crowd. She had a perfect hourglass figure with blonde curls and big blue eyes as she searched the crowd with her observant eyes. Jarrod was glad they stayed in the shadows.

Another familiar voice boomed in the room, "Doolin here. From the Stockton Free Eagle. Will you take a few questions?"

"No sir. The lady needs her rest. Tomorrow will be plenty of time to enlighten our community." Phil answered.

They turned slowly still working the crowd, and he walked her up the stairway.

Jarrod's stomach knotted up and he wished for a drink. He did not have his flask with him. He was glad it was dark and no one could see his face.

Jarrod and Jack went back to Zella's through the alley.

"We need time to talk. Phil Archer is not to be trifled with. He was brought in to neutralize me. Peter Doolin either. He's as shady as they come as a newspaperman; he literally hated my father."

"We are going to need to neutralize Zella too, Jarrod? Whiskey? Tequila? Laudanum?" Jack nervously laughed.

"I am leaving that to Tessa. I have a suspicion she has had to do that before. But honestly, I need a few shots myself."

"Brother Jarrod, I concur."

—-&—-

Robert Danforth sat in his ornate office at his vast, carved mahogany desk. He looked at the two Pinkerton reports on young men who had expressed interest in Lucy Claire.

"Both unacceptable. Too young. They haven't worked a day in their lives. I want a mature man who knows the value of hard work, good family, and intelligence—Damn you, Barkley. You were perfect for her—my greatest possession. And you, you son of a—. Pride goeth before a fall. And I will push you to the precipice for your fall. You will be sorry you trifled with my daughter and me. She liked you; you made her cry—-she would have loved you in a week or two. You will be sorry."

He picked up the third folder, Contessa Elisabeth Knight Barkley.

"A long description of her family as an early settler of California, Knight's Ferry. Employee of Wells Fargo. What? A stagehand? Disgusting. Owner of three pieces of land in Stanislaus county. Also cousin's plat—- Taxes paid. Trustee of inheritance of Billy much to it. Nephew of Julia Dent Grant, wife of President. Hmmmmmm. Not much value is assessed on any property. Sunken ferry—-daughter Rosemary Elisabeth Knight. No birth certificate filed. Probably one of those family Bible births. No marriage license either. Three years old. What? A child? An illegitimate child? I did not hold Tom Barkley's sins against you; I even admired Victoria's acceptance of the tawdry son. But you?—she was possibly engaged to Dent almost three years ago, according to local sources? Not confirmed— Dent dead. Father of the child? No records? Makes no sense. Something rotten in Denmark?"

He reread the folder. "It leaves more questions than answers."

Robert poured his scotch and opened the envelope. He read a transcript of her testimony to the marshals. A note from prosecutors signed off on its delivery to the defense team. Both sides agreed to a plea bargain.

"Smart defense attorney. A jury would have damned them to hell if she testified. Terrorizing a young helpless woman and child. A heroine who killed evil men. This could be a dime novel."

He reread it and underlined some parts. "Barkley lived with her for ten days. In a house with no chaperone? No wonder he had to marry her. It probably got her in the family way. But she already had a kid?

"This is something to work with? I won't mind if Nate Springer and that Injun run you out of your own firm."

—-&-

Background Information: From 1879 to 1884, Modesto was a prosperous frontier town with lively nightlife. It was so lively, in fact, that a secret vigilante group called the San Joaquin Regulators was formed in an attempt to establish some order. The San Joaquin Regulators raided various businesses. A number of offending characters were invited to leave town and at least one was killed when he refused to leave. The violence and chaos associated with the San Joaquin Regulators and their targets, combined with a major fire that destroyed much of downtown Modesto due to a lack of organized firefighting efforts, apparently convinced Modestans of the need for government. The City of Modesto was incorporated on August 6, 1884.

Modesto's two main newspapers, the Heraldand the Stanislaus News, both applauded the vigilantes' efforts. "The work they have thus far accomplished," the editor of the Newsremarked, "is undoubtedly a good one, and will receive the sanction of all citizens. We have no doubt those who are in charge of the movement will use due caution and see that it does not extend any farther than public morality requires, as well as the laws of the state justify." But the effects of the 1879 raid lasted for only a few months. The saloon faction kept its tight grip on politics and law enforcement, and soon things returned to normal: "There were the brutal pistol duels, the customary bruising, drunken brawls and fights, the wide open gambling, the highway robbery, pocket picking, petty thievery, and thuggery, and all the other accompaniments of saloon and tenderloin control.

SOURCES FOR SAN JOAQUIN REGULATORS IN MODESTO

DocumentCenter/View/6337/History-of-Modesto-PDF?bidId=

/history-1870-1911

blog/wild-west-modesto-ca