Heritage Regained

Chapter 1

Saturday - morning

The family – with Heath and without Uncle Jim – gathered for breakfast. Victoria gave the blessing, and the inquisitions started up right away.

"Are you going to tell us why you locked the library up last night?" Audra asked.

Jarrod looked up just he began his breakfast. He didn't really want to explain last night to his younger siblings – this morning, with the old uncle gone and a new brother at the table was odd enough. Explaining last night and why the library was locked up would be getting into everything that led to throwing their Uncle Jim out of the house for good.

Not that Audra and Eugene minded that. They really didn't like the uncle their mother was planning to marry right after their father was killed. Dinner the night before had been an awkward one, though – Uncle Jim just gone with no explanation and no real explanation yet this morning. Just Jarrod saying that he had locked up the library and no one was to go into it.

Jarrod said, "That's complicated, sweetheart. When Heath and I go into town today, I'm going to fetch the sheriff back out here with us. I just don't want the library disturbed in any way before he sees it."

"Did Uncle Jim do something wrong?" Gene asked.

"I don't know," Jarrod said. "I'm just being careful." Then he realized that explanation wouldn't dissuade his brother and sister from more questions. "It's a lawyer thing," he added.

When Jarrod said that, it usually made his siblings – all of them – lose interest right away. It seemed to work this time too, but given that the issue was their uncle and what was happening was happening here at home – and there still hadn't been a good explanation to them as to why Uncle Jim had been thrown out –Audra still looked a little disturbed.

Victoria said, "We'll see what the sheriff has to say after he comes."

Jarrod saw where she was going. He added, "If I can, without messing up my lawyer business, I'll explain better then."

That seemed to settle the question for Eugene, but Audra still looked like she resented being shut out. And more. She gave a quick glance at Heath that Jarrod and Victoria both caught. Audra was still not comfortable with this new brother and how he got here. Her only interaction with him had been at Tom Barkley's grave, and it had not been a happy one. Now she'd been told this stranger was her new brother. She wasn't sure she liked that but she held her what about Heath question.

She suspected correctly that what might be in the library was tied up with her father's death, her uncle's dismissal, and the acceptance of this stranger as her new brother. She was very uncomfortable about what she didn't know, and both Victoria and Jarrod could see that easily. For now, she kept quiet, but both Victoria and Jarrod looked up at her more often than they usually did at breakfast.

Heath didn't catch Audra's look. He had been cutting up his food and intended to stay very quiet and still a bit apart for now. All this – not only the people, but the whole concept of this well-to-do family being his, this whole business of breakfast together around the table, and all the intrigue that still oozed into this new home of his like a thick fog - was so new to him that he still wasn't sure what to do with it, or whether he really fit into it at all.

Nick saw the interactions and the faces of the people around him. He was uncomfortable with all of it, but not distressed. Jim was gone and that was comforting him just fine for now. For now, he'd leave the open questions about Jim and what might be in that library to Jarrod. For now, he was just ready for whatever was coming.

Eugene wasn't thinking about much of anything except listening at the library door when the sheriff came and his lawyer brother was in there with him.

XXXXXX

"This lawyer thing you mentioned at the table," Heath said as he and Jarrod rode in the buggy to town. "I'm not sure what it means."

Jarrod was driving. He waited until he negotiated a rut in the road before he answered. "Well, generally it means I'm not going to talk about something, at least for the time being. When you're a lawyer, there are things you have to keep secret for your clients. This is a bit different, and the only reason I'm calling it a lawyer thing is because if I don't, the kids won't take it seriously. Mother and Nick probably realize I don't want anyone to disturb the library because there might be something in there that's incriminating to Uncle Jim. If there is, I need the sheriff to be the one to find it, for the sake of using it as evidence if we need to."

Heath said, "I don't know much about the law. I never ran foul of it before."

"Most people never do," Jarrod said.

"How'd you come to be a lawyer? Did your father want that?"

"Our father," Jarrod reminded him. "No, it was Mother's idea actually – to save money. In a few days we'll be getting you familiar with all the workings of the Barkley family, especially the business interests, the land holdings, all the things that the business enterprises of the Barkleys require legal documents for, and sometimes get into lawsuits about."

Heath looked like he being twisted into the seat of the buggy.

Jarrod chuckled. "Don't worry. Most of it you either won't need to deal with or I'll direct you how to deal with it. I'm not going to throw you in and make you swim." Then he thought about it and said, "I don't suppose you have a will."

"Never had anything to leave to anybody except my horse and saddle," Heath said.

"That'll change," Jarrod said. "I'll have to find time to draw up a lot of papers, but you're part of a big business enterprise now, Heath. You're going to be owning a lot more than a horse and a saddle."

Heath gave a low whistle.

Jarrod gave him a sideways glance. "Do you want to bail out?"

"No," Heath said. "No. At least I don't think so. You – " He hesitated and then said, "I never had a brother, and you – well, you make me like the idea of having you as one."

Jarrod understood. "You've been drifting a long time, and you've lost the only family you had."

Heath just nodded.

"You're still not certain about being part of a new family," Jarrod said.

"I wasn't expecting it," Heath said. "I figured if I decided I wanted a part of Tom Barkley's heritage, I was gonna have to fight for it."

"We're not handing it to you on a silver platter, Heath," Jarrod said. "You worked for it. You earned it."

"It wasn't all that hard," Heath said.

"It was all that valuable," Jarrod said. "You brought us everything we needed to deal with Uncle Jim – things we didn't know how to get. And that was a bit risky for you."

"Not really," Heath said. "You kept me out of the line of fire when you put me in town."

"Well, I remind you – we're not sure Jim has actually left town yet," Jarrod said. "I didn't want to remind Mother and Nick of that, but you could tell Nick was wary about it when he said to make sure Jim did leave."

Heath shook his head. "No, I'll bet he's left town. He seemed like the kind of man who won't risk the money in their hand when the cards are really bad. You made sure Jim knew that his cards were really, really bad."

Jarrod chuckled.

"Are you gonna be worried about where he went?" Heath asked.

"Not worried," Jarrod said. "I can find out if I need to. It's hard for a man who likes money and influence to get completely lost in this world."

It wasn't much later that they rode into town and pulled up to the boarding house where Heath had been staying. Jarrod talked briefly to his client who owned the place while Heath fetched his belongings. He didn't have much to carry out. Heath thanked the owner, and then he and Jarrod headed for the sheriff's office.

The sheriff greeted them in a way they didn't expect. "I had a feeling you might be by today, Jarrod, when I saw your uncle get on the train out of town last night."

Jarrod looked at Heath. "That answers our other question, doesn't it?"

"I take it the wedding is off," the sheriff said.

Jarrod nodded. "Fred, this is my brother Heath. Heath, this is Sheriff Madden."

The sheriff reached a hand out. "Well – lose an uncle, gain a brother. You Barkleys are always full of surprises."

As he and Heath shook hands, Jarrod said, "Fred, I need you to come out to the ranch with us. I've got the library locked up and there might be something in there I need you to see for the sake of evidence."

Now the sheriff raised an eyebrow. "Was that uncle of yours up to something?"

"Maybe," Jarrod said. "If he was, I want you to find it, not us."

The sheriff grabbed his gunbelt and his hat. "Let me go get my horse out of the livery and I'll be right with you."