The others were, understandably, ecstatic that Nick was awake and, coherent; even if he wasn't up and about.

Nick in turn was happy that he still had all the heads they had left Hanford with and that his injuries were the ones considered the most serious.

"Tell me, Luther, I can handle it; how bad are our food rations?"

Nick was confused by Luther's obvious abashment. "Actually, sir, we're good for a few days." At Nick's look he sighed and admitted "Right after the stampede, while we were standing around... debating what to do, who should be in charge — since Mac is not here — Katie left; without telling anyone I might add, though I doubt anyone would have heard or paid attention. She had some success hunting and — though I'm confident we're stocked well enough — I have a feeling that if she felt we were not, Katie would just take it upon herself to replenish the stock again."

Nick nodded, glancing at the woman in question who, once the others had offered their services in keeping an eye on Nick, had retired to a small hill on the north side of their camp, keeping watch.

Luther noticed where, or rather who, Nick was looking at and continued "That girl's got a good head on her shoulders." When he had Nick's attention, he explained "While the rest of us were chasing after our own tails, she had the sense to know exactly how much trouble we were in; and knew that we need help. Now, we know what kind of trouble it's caused not having Mr. Heath on this trip and we were very muc against sending for him and reinforcements until she... reminded us that we weren't in any kind of shape to be doing anything, let alone continuing the drive without you and a wagon."

Nick gave a huff of wry amusement. "A temper as fiery as her hair; it'd have to be for y'all to be so repentant and I missed it."

"Careful, Mr. Barkley. If Mr. Jarrod knows that a bump on the head expands your vocabulary, he might be more inclined to give them to you."

Nick smiled as Kathryn leaned down to pet Raph.

The wolf had not left his side, which suited Nick just fine. That meant... certain people had to stay away or else deal with Raph growling threateningly at them.

"And you're lucky Mr. Barkley that you missed it. Considering that I had pretty much forewarned you and you ignored me, my fire probably would have been directed at you."

Nick shared a smile with Luther. "Well, the men seem to be unharmed."

Kathryn gave him an unamused look. "They didn't ignore me. You? I'm pretty sure you'd have been burned to a crisp."

As Nick joined Kathryn in petting the wolf, he asked quietly "Everything alright? You seem to be on watch a lot."

Kathryn sighed heavily and shook her head. "No immediate danger. I'm just on edge. The cattle are confined and forced to be still. It's a temporary, hastily constructed pen not made of the best materials; we really had to scrounge to find what little wood it's constructed of. We have no wagon. We have no way to replenish our food. I can supplement it with hunting; but last time I did, I was only able to find small game, which in and of itself unnverves me. And I'm fairly certain we're all healing well; however, I'm not a doctor and I pray I didn't miss any serious injures. But those are more... broad concerns. At the moment? I'm most concerned about Jesse, I sent him alone, which I know was the right thing to do, but... he's just a kid."

Nick chuckled. "Kid? He can't be that much younger than you." He stated.

Kathryn smiled. "Nice try, Mr. Barkley; but I'm not telling you how old I am. However, I have talked with Jesse and I can tell you that I am years older than him." The fact that it was only about five years was not something Nick needed to know.

"... So, you're nervous because there's nothing we can do except wait?"

"Exactly, Mr. Barkley. All we can do is wait."

And so they did.

Jesse was panting.

Something was wrong; something was very, very wrong.

Even Twister was acting nervous!

Jesse could have sworn he was finally going the right way, even though he had been badly turned around. However, he'd had to backtrack quite a lot and now that he was finally on the correct path, he could swear he was being...

Hunted; that was the only way to describe it. The forest was eerily silent, except the explosion of sound of branches snapping right behind him. It sounded like something big and it was right on his heels!

Twister's eyes went wide and he gave a high-pitched neigh in terror as he started galloping.

Jesse let Twister have his head; he was terrified, too. And rather than try to rein in the creature, he figured he would just hold on tight.

Hearing a particularly close crash, he whipped around in the saddle to look behind.

Seeing nothing, he breathed a sigh, turned back around...

And his world went black.

Jarrod didn't feel good about leaving Heath alone at the ranch.

Sure, the young man had kept plenty busy, but he just wasn't himself.

Maybe Jarrod could grab what he needed from the office quick and come right back home. However, he had wanted to meet with —

His thought process was interrupted when he glanced up and saw —

"Heath!" He yelled, running toward the horse coming through the gate and, more importantly, the figure slumped over in the saddle.

He grabbed the horse's reins as Heath eased —

"Heath, that's—"

"Jesse, the kid Nick hired in Stockton for the drive." As he cradled him, Heath met Jarrod's concerned gaze. "He's bleeding pretty bad from his head." Looking past Jarrod he ordered "Mac, send someone for the doc!"

Jarrod didn't pay attention as, he assumed, Mac had ordered one of the other hands into Stockton for Dr. Merar. He heard thundering hooves and Mac was next to Heath, helping to carry Jesse's unconscious body.

"Let's get him into the bunkhouse, sir."

As they carried him away, Jarrod felt the reins move in his clasped hands as the steed made to follow.

Jarrod smiled gently. "It's OK, fella; we'll take good care of your mas-..." He trailed off as he got a good look at the horse, a dapple gray with a cream-colored stripe and snip.

"Jarrod?"

When Jarrod turned to Heath, the fair-haired man must have seen something in his demeanor. "Jarrod? Talk to me," he pleaded, as he cautiously approached him.

"Heath, I think this is Twister."

Heath's mouth furrowed in confusion as he stood next to the horse and examined him. "I think you're right. But isn't Twister Earnest's horse?"

Jarrod nodded. "Exactly. So what is Jesse doing with him?"

At that moment, Ben came up and led Twister to the barn.

"I'll ask him when he's awake." Heath informed Jarrod.

Jarrod smiled and slung an arm around Heath's shoulder as he turned them to walk toward the bunkhouse. "You mean we'll ask him."

Heath arched a brow as he gave Jarrod a small smile of his own. "Thought you needed to be in town?"

Though it was asked lightly, Jarrod could see the reluctant hope in his brother's eyes.

Hugging Heath to his side, he stared into those eyes and saw the relief shine through and the broad smile Heath graced him with when he replied "My brother needs me here. I'm not going anywhere."

"You gotta let me up. We gotta go, now!"

"Kid, that isn't happening; not till you get the all clear from the doc." Mac's voice was gruff with exasperation, but Jarrod could detect the underlying concern.

He could now understand why Mac had also sounded strained as he and Heath entered the building to find the man and Frank trying to, gently, restrain Jesse so he was lying on one of the beds.

Jesse was fighting like a wild cat to sit up.

When he saw them enter, he turned his pleading green eyes to Heath. "Mr. Barkley, please we gotta go, now! I should have been here yesterday! I was really trying to get here in one day... it'll take us two days to get to them! I've been gone three! That's too long! Mr. Nick he... he won't wake up..." He slumped in Mac's and Frank's grips, exhausted by his blustery explanation.

Jarrod saw Heath stiffen beside him as he felt his own body do the same. Before he had to think about what to do next, Dr. Merar was walking into the bunkhouse.

"I swear, it seems that every time my services are required, I am waylaid from my other patients, who I'm traveling to see, to come and attend to..." He trailed off as he saw Jesse lying on the bed, panting, blood still oozing down his face.

"Oh, this won't do," barging past Mac he sat on the bed beside Jesse and ordered "Mac, get clean water, bandages and a cloth. I can't see what I'm dealing with when this young man's blood is getting everywhere."

As Mac left to get the requested supplies and the doctor began his examination, Jarrod encouraged "Why don't you tell us what happened?"

And so Jesse did; from getting the cattle, Chuck and Cody in Hanford — which Nick just must have loved thought Jarrod in amusement — to Kathryn singing for them — Jarrod made sure to store that piece of information safely away — to the stampede — which Jarrod observed out of the corner of his eye as Heath's face drained of all color — to losing the wagon, food rations, all the injuries — seeming very hesitant when it came to describing Nick's — to how "Miss Kathryn" had assigned him the duty of bringing back help. "I don't know how it happened Mr. Barkley, but it sure seemed like when I was on the right path, one thing after another kept getting in my way. And when I tried to go around or find another way? I... I got so, so turned around. I don't know how it happened. Then, Twist got scared so I figured I'd let him have his head and just hold on. I thought I heard something, but when I turned around, nothing was there. I tried to turn back forward and that's the last thing I remember."

"Well, from my experience and the pieces of wood I'm seeing in your wound, I would say you smacked your head on a tree branch. Do you know how long you were unconscious for?"

As the doctor kept gently dabbing and washing the blood away, Jesse's face twisted in thought. "Must have been a few hours. When I came to, I only had an hour or two of daylight left. As it turned to night, I finally came to the road. Since the moon was out and I was so close, I figured I'd ride through the night. I was so tired, but I stayed awake cause I was about done. This morning, when I saw the gate, I just couldn't stay awake anymore."

Merar leaned back "Well, son, the good news is that your injury isn't bleeding as badly anymore; head wounds just usually bleed more generally. However, it's deep and jagged enough that I'll have to stitch it a bit. I don't see any signs of a concussion, but I want you to pay attention. And if you start getting a bad headache, feel nauseous or start vomiting, can't walk straight, get dizzy, or can't see right, light or noise bothers you, or if you have any confusion, trouble remembering or just can't seem to think straight you come see me right away, understand?"

When Jesse nodded his assent, Merar gave a curt nod of his head. "That being said, Heath, Jarrod," he waited a moment, not turning from his patient as he started rummaging around in his bag, "I have to go back into town and let Harriet know I'll be gone for some time. She can handle the little things just fine. And anything big comes up, well she's been shadowing me for quite some time; I'm confident in her skills." Threading a needle he told them "I'll be here bright and early to ride out with you boys."

Jarrod smiled, already guessing the answer and why. "You're accompanying us doctor?"

Merar turned around slowly and arching an incredulous eyebrow intoned. "Nick seems to have gotten himself pretty banged up and without a diagnosis or any medicine, he's already been laid up for three days; by the time we get to him, five days. I pray by now he's woken up." Giving both of them a brutal glare he added "Furthermore, all three of you will be in close proximity, together. Who knows what'll happen?! And I shudder to think of it." He turned his back to them, dismissing them.

As soon as they closed the door behind them, Heath started walking away from Jarrod.

"Heath-"

He whipped around, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "I should've been there!"

Jarrod stood his ground, letting Heath have his space.

Heath whipped around, his back now to Jarrod and pulled at his hair. "Nick's hurt, has been hurt for days and I want to leave right now; just get Charger and go!" Sighing heavily, he hung his head. "But we can't. We don't have the men to leave right now. When we get to them, we'll have to send everyone back, which means we need men to replace them. We have to probably take at least two wagons, one to leave with the new men to use for the rest of the drive, and the other to bring Nick and Sid back. And we need to take enough food rations for the men we're bringing back, enough for us to get to them and to leave for the men staying behind to finish the drive." After a brief moment he murmured "Silas is going to kill us."

Jarrod was impressed with how practical Heath was being.

He smiled sadly when Heath turned back to him and he saw a few tears escape. "Please, tell me that we're not going to lose Nick because I was being bullheaded."

Jarrod pulled Heath into a fierce hug, holding him tight, trying to give his brother some of his determined hope. "We're not. Nick's too stubborn; just like all the other Barkleys."

He felt Heath shudder with a wet laugh.

"Besides, Kathryn's with him."