Chapter Eighty Eight
The ranch hands pitched in quickly and tore down the corral and burned pens within two days. No horses were lost but several chickens found their freedom. Most of the quail disappeared to the boys' distress. McColl and his men put up some temporary fences and an order for new chickens was sent to town.
New bedding was brought from the guest room for Victoria; the plate glass was brought in from town to fix the window. The blood on the rug was not able to be cleaned; Heath rolled it up and took it to the barn. Slowly the house was returning to its normal appearance but every family member was changed by the brutal day and its conclusion.
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The family buried Brahma in their own family plot.
Herman 'Brahma' Phillips
1800-1875
A beloved friend and cowboy
Original settler of the San Joaquin Valley
A rearing horse was chiseled into the headstone. Henry and Kai left their whittled horses they had been working on at the grave. Tears stung at the eyes of the family and ranch hands at their gesture. Nick did not even hide the tears and grief at the loss of Brahma. Anna stood by his side holding his hand,and allowing him his pain. She knew instinctively that Nick wanted no words from anyone and she understood.
The family gathered around the grave as Reverend Stacy did the service. The men had brought chairs down from the big house so the ladies could sit during the funeral. Audra and Victoria kept their eyes on the women for any sign of distress or exhaustion. Grete was pale and quiet; Anna wore a black sling to protect her stitches for a few days and stayed close to Nick to support him. His face was etched with obvious grief at the loss of his father's oldest friend.
Jarrod stood with Henry, next to Lisette. He had his arm on her shoulder as she sat quietly, almost vacantly reaching for Henry or Jarrod occasionally. Since the attack, they had talked little but Jarrod kept a close watch on her. She had not spoken of killing Buck but quietly went about helping the rest of the family. She had a ugly whelp on her face and neck from his belt. It was misshapen and swollen but Dr Merar believed it would not scar since it had not broken the skin.
He had wanted to talk to her about the papers Nick and Patrice found in the saddle bags but the distant look in her eyes deterred him. They tied up all the loose ends to the case and he had already alerted the federal marshals to come to Stockton.
Macklin had poured through the documents and made an airtight case against Buck, Miller, the five dead ranch hands, and the Bank of Modesto. He sent a wire to the sheriff to look for Miller's body in the Stanislaus river; look for a grave of his housekeeper and discreetly talk to Big Annie to check for the pox among her girls. Doc has said Buck was definitely dying of it and likely it had taken his mind too.
"Tertiary madness from the pox. It explains a lot," Dr. Merar told the men.
Lissy had calmly told him what happened after they stripped the sheets in Victoria's room—and she had not mentioned it again—not once. He felt like she was in shock and going through the motions helping the family.
His mother had told him, "Let me talk to her after the funeral. Maybe I can get her to talk,"
"Thank you Mother. She means the world to me."
"I know son, I know." and she kissed him on the cheek, "She's a strong woman but I admit, she has been through too much, too much. But with you and me and Henry and the whole family, we will get her through this."
He simply nodded, too full of emotion and sipped on his scotch.
He agreed, worried about Lisette and he knew her well enough that she would collapse soon under the weight of the attack. And he still knew she might be carrying their child.
Would the strain be too much for her?
"Jarrod, will you share with me the barriers to the dissolution of her marriage? I hate to ask you to break confidentiality but I really want to help." Victoria asked in her straightforward manner.
"It's simple. He wants money and control of Henry's trust. She won't give him the latter and she has no more funds to barter with. He wants her mother's jewelry and these mythical French diamonds he thinks she has. He has even gone so far to demand part of the Stockton hotel. Nate and I have made several stern proposals."
Victoria muttered a few choice profane words about Paul Franklin.
He kept the information in confidence about the sordid incest procès-verbal that Lisette held him at bay with—-he knew she never wanted anyone to know.
She nodded and sipped on her sherry, "And nothing damning was found in the saddlebags?"
"No sadly. Evidence against Miller and Buck and their cronies—the bank too. Paul is still untouchable."
They both finished their drinks in silence.
Victoria's mind went to work thinking of ways to bring Lisette into the family permanently as Jarrod's wife.
An idea came to her mind as she walked upstairs to her room for the evening. She checked in her bedroom safe. It was there.
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Butch was alert and awake after a blood transfusion from an Indian woman at the orphanage. The gash was deep in his back and Doc said he was lucky to keep his life. He stitched him up and had him stay in town at least for the week so he could keep an eye on him for infection.
Nick and Annie spent the first night in town by Butch and Kai's bedside. Doc stitched up her arm after he stitched Buck and set Kai's leg, Nick kept firm pressure on her arm and kissed the top of her head over and over again—-so grateful she was safe.
Patrice headed to Macklin; she felt like an intruder waiting with Nick and Anna. He was at Esther's when she found him. The three of them rode back out to the ranch and she led him to the well house. They took the saddlebags back to town after checking on Grete and Lisette. Macklin had two hands take Buck and his ranch hand to the mortician in town.
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Heath brought Kai out to the pens in a wheelchair, "Ain't taking any chances with you boy this time. A week before the swelling goes down and you get the new cast. You will be traveling on wheels"
Henry volunteered to push him around and was met with a resounding no from Heath.
"Nope, no chances."
Dr Merar had told Heath that the boy was lucky. "The bone seems to be in place. Won't know until he starts to grow. Betta safe than sorry. He's a strong boy but no chances."
"I will hogtie the boy iff'n I have to—-" his colloquialism shook him remembering how the leg was broken in the first place.
Grete had suffered no ill effects and Heath had made her rest for the past few days, "Just to make sure,"
He kept a close eye on her and Kai; the whole family knew she was in the beginning stages of pregnancy after the incident and no one would let her lift a finger.
She walked out to the quail pens with them. Two of the original quail were still in the area.
"Looky there, Pa."
Heath and Grete looked up, a mother quail and six babies were watching them from the trees. Heath threw a handful of feed their way. Slowly they made their way toward the yard.
"Those aren't ours," Kai whispered.
Grete whispered back, "Maybe they heard we have a good home."
"We do have a good home." Heath gently hugged her and ran his fingers through Kai's curls.
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