Come Back to Me

Chapter 8-12

by Christy

Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV program "Big Valley" are the creations of Four Star/Republic Pictures and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended by the author. The ideas expressed in this story are copyrighted to the author.

Chapter 8

In the near empty Barkley mansion, Audra Barkley lay fighting for her life. From somewhere she could hear her beloved mother’s voice reading to her. As she regained consciousness, she became aware of a terrific pain that encompassed her head. She moaned as she came around, and then tried hard not to let her mother know how much pain she was in.

“Audra, sweetheart, can you hear me? Honey talk to me,” Victoria Barkley urged her child. Audra fought to open her eyes to see her mother. She opened her eyes for a second, but the light hurt her head even further so she shut them quickly.

“Mother,” she gasped, the words sending further messages of distress to her brain.

“Audra. Open your eyes, sweetheart,” Victoria said with a firm intent. The girl’s blue eyes fluttered, and then opened to focus on her mother. She closed them quickly, unable to tolerate the slow torture of the pain in her mind.

“Audra?”

“Heath,” the girl whispered. “Where’s…Heath?”

“Sweetheart, please look at me,” Victoria begged, her heart fluttering in sorrow as she realized her daughter’s condition wasn’t improved just because she was partially awake.

“Heath,” Audra Barkley called out again. It was obvious her brother was all she could think of. “Help…him!” Victoria jumped at the urgency in Audra’s voice as if she knew something the mother didn’t. Suddenly to the Matriarch’s distress, her beautiful daughter grabbed her blond hair, pushed it against her head and screamed in what appeared to be terrific pain, the angelic face contorted with agony until her slender arms fell listlessly to the bed, and she lost consciousness again. Victoria sat in shock for a minute, unable to comprehend what had just happened. With deliberate thought she took slow deep breaths to keep herself pulling Audra’s body to her and screaming at her to wake up. Such a display would do no good, she told herself. The white haired lady quelled the bile rising in her stomach, wishing she could strangle with her bare hands the man who had nearly murdered her cherished girl and kidnapped her golden son. There was no way to reconcile the pure barbarism of the actions that had been taken against her children. Now Nick and Jarrod were in the fray, their own lives on the line as well. She shook herself as footsteps coming down the hall announced the arrival of Dr. Marlowe and Dr. Merar. They entered the room in a methodical manner that gave the mother strange comfort.

“Victoria,” Dr. Merar announced coming to give her a hug. “I hurried as quickly as I could.”

“I know you did, Howard. Thank God you are back.” Howard could see his friend’s distress. Instead of asking inane questions to her relief, he turned and introduced her to his companion.

“Victoria, this is Dr. Jack Marlowe. Jack, this is Mrs. Barkley, and this pretty young lady is our patient, Audra.” Dr. Marlowe, a medium built man wearing a somber dark blue suit shook Victoria’s hand, while his green eyes went immediately to his patient.

“Thank you for coming so quickly, Doctor,” Victoria greeted.

“I’m glad to be of service, Mrs. Barkley. It’s a pleasure to meet you. The Barkley name is well known in San Francisco, mostly because of your son, Jarrod. I’ve seen him speak at legal lectures. He’s a powerful man.”

“Thank-you,” Victoria demurred. “I’m sorry he’s not here. He and my son, Nick had er pressing business elsewhere.”

“Yes, Howard filled me in. Allow me to extend my sympathies. Now, tell me, has your daughter been awake at any time since she was hurt?”

“Just now,” Victoria told the man as he took off his suit jacket and put it on the end of the bed. The doctor opened his black bag and took out his stethoscope. Victoria walked to the end of the bed while Dr. Merar assisted his colleague in examining the patient.

“How long was she awake?” Dr. Marlowe asked as he did a neurological check, assessing Audra’s brain function with various tests of her reflexes and the pupil size of her eyes.

“Only a few minutes,” Victoria reported. “She…she called for my youngest son. He was with her when she was hurt. I can only imagine what she was thinking. I know my son. He would have done anything to save his sister.”

“I see. Anything else?’

“She seemed to be in pain, a great deal of it. She put her hands to her head and cried out. Then she lost consciousness again.” Victoria couldn’t help the tear that fell down her check. Dr. Merar touched her hand in comfort. Dr. Marlowe took the dressing off the Audra’s wound, and examined the wound that was clean and healing. He lightly touched the swollen area just below the wound, giving Dr. Merar a serious glance and shaking his head slightly. He redressed it with supplies Victoria kept on the dresser, then stood to face the mother whose hopes for Audra’s survival were pined on the man in front of her.

“Mrs. Barkley, I have to agree with Howard. Essentially your daughter’s sustained a fracture of the occipital bone. In addition there does appear to be bleeding in the brain. From your description of her pain, it’s likely the accumulation of blood is causing pressure on the brain. I’m sorry. I don’t believe there is any hope for her condition…”

“NO!” came the unequivocal denial. “NO! I won’t accept that.”

“Now just a minute, Mrs. Barkley, I wasn’t finished,” Dr. Marlowe said. Victoria’s hands trembled in her anxious state. Cold brutal fear the same fear she had felt when Nick held Audra in his arms just over 24 hours ago overwhelmed her. She struggled again to maintain her sanity.

“Please…” she stammered so unlike her normal poised self that Howard came to put an arm around her. She stood ramrod straight but was grateful for the comfort.

“I was saying that Audra needs surgery. I need to go in, and drain out the blood and see if I can stop the bleeding.”

“Then do it,” Victoria snapped.

“You don’t understand. The occipital part of the brain carries messages from the eyes so that a person can see. If I go in there, and cause further damage, at best, Audra may be blind for life. At the worst, the damage will be so great, she will die.” Victoria once again bit on the notion to scream in her fear. She wished fervently that one of her sons was here to support her, to help her make this dreadful decision. Distantly she heard her Tom’s voice.

“First things first,” Tom would say. “What’s the most important thing?” Victoria sighed in relief. She knew that answer without a second thought. Her gray eyes spoke of her understanding as she asked Dr. Marlowe one more question.

“If you don’t do anything, what will happen to my daughter?”

“I believe she’ll die. There’s an outside chance the bleeding will stop on it it’s own and be reabsorbed into the body, but given the amount of pain you describe, it’s unlikely. Without surgery, she has no hope.”

“Then there is no choice. Do the surgery.” Dr. Howard Merar had been working with the Barkley family for many years. He knew that tone in Victoria’s voice. When Dr. Marlowe looked at him for confirmation, he nodded. Both doctors pulled up their sleeves.

“Mrs. Barkley, this is very delicate surgery and would be difficult at best for you to watch. We’ll need hot water and a bowl to put some carbolic acid in to sterilize our instruments. Is there someone who can come and sit with you while you wait?”

“Dr. Marlowe, Howard can attest to the fact that I am an excellent nurse. I won’t leave my daughter. If you want, I will simply sit here and wait, but I won’t leave her.”

“Very well. If you would have your houseman get us the items we requested with some bandages and towels, we can get started.” Victoria nodded. She went to the bedroom door, not surprised to see Silas standing outside the door. The black houseman looked down at being caught eavesdropping. Victoria put her hand on his shoulder. When he looked up he saw his employer’s understanding.

“Please get the hot water, a bowl and towels and bandages, Silas. Hurry,” Victoria ordered. “And thank you!” That thank you went a long way with Silas. He raced to do Victoria’s bidding while she went back to Audra. She watched as Dr. Marlowe gently picked Audra up in his strong arms, and then laid her back down the bed on her stomach. He turned her head so they could easily work on the area in question. Dr. Marlowe turned to Victoria.

“If you want to say anything to her, now would be the time. We’ll have to give her some ether for the surgery. There are no guarantees she’ll make it through the surgery.” Tears filling her eyes again, the petite weary mother came to sit on the side of the bed. She leaned down to whisper to her daughter while Dr. Marlowe and Howard stood at the dresser preparing the instruments they would need for the delicate surgery.

“Audra? Sweetheart,” the girl’s mother began. “My darling. I love you, Audra. You know as well as I do that the boys would be here with you if they could. When Nick, Jarrod and Heath come home, they have to know you are here, healthy and back to your old self. Do you understand me, Audra? You have to fight, the way Heath is probably fighting right now, and Jarrod and Nick too. We’re all fighting, Sweetheart to be a family again. You must do your share. Don’t give up my darling girl. We need you. Oh, Audra, please.” The last three words were choked from the depths of a mother’s soul moving the two doctors to vow to do their very best to save their innocent patient. They couldn’t help overhearing the heartrending plea. The mother stood up. She kissed the pale cheek of the sleeping girl and moved away to make room for the doctors as Silas came into the room with the medical supplies and water. After she had figured out where the two doctors were going to stand, and do their work, she sat on the bed, and held Audra’s hand, never flinching, never moving through the entire surgery. Victoria Barkley closed her eyes in prayer and vowed her daughter would not die. She spoke out loud unconsciously while Howard Merar hid his smile and echoed her prayer.

“Tom Barkley, wherever you are, your children all need you. Keep them safe for us and bring them home. Please keep them safe. Oh, please.”

* * * * * * * *

Hawthorne, California

The Hawthorne Hotel

Jeb was watching the back alley when he heard a key unlocking the door to the room. Not sure if it was Jarrod, Nick or an intruder, the Sheriff’s deputy upholstered his gun. He walked towards the door, aiming it for whoever walked through the door that he didn’t know. Before it opened, he heard Nick’s voice.

“Jeb, it’s me and Jarrod.” Relieved, the man pulled open the door as an exhausted Jarrod and raging Nick fell into the room. Jeb shut the door behind them, and gawked at the two brothers. Jarrod sat down on the bed, blood on his shirt, his dark blue eyes filled with distress and his pants torn. As for Nick he was mumbling something under his breath as he immediately paced back and forth in the room. Something had obviously happened and Nick was in a fine temper it was clear to see. Jeb was glad that anger wasn’t going to be directed at him.

“You boys okay,” he hazarded while beating a retreat back to the window.

“No, we are not,” Nick bellowed his taut face looking from Jeb back to his brother in a blaze of fire.

“Nick, lower your voice,” Jarrod ordered with evident fatigue. You want the entire hotel, including those men to hear you?” Nick did as he was told, but he was like a caged lion that has had about all he can take. Nick Barkley was at the end of his rope, barely resembling the calm man who had been at Dr. Abbott’s office. His coat of armor against the travesty of his current situation was becoming battered and he wondered how much more any of them could take, much less his little brother who seemed to be screaming at him from somewhere that he couldn’t even locate.

“Jarrod, what the HELL were you thinking?” Nick hounded. “Why didn’t you tell me about that note? Why didn’t you let me follow you?”

“Because the note told me to come alone,” came the ragged reply.

“Since when do you listen to anything you are told?” Jarrod looked up in surprise at his brother, unable to hide the smile.

“Point taken.”

“Point, Hell,” Nick swore again. “You do realize if this person had wanted to kill you, you’d be dead right now?”

“The thought had crossed my mind.” By the window Jeb’s eyes went from one Barkley to the other and back again in amusement. Fights between the lawyer and his cowboy brothers were always interesting, but this was downright fascinating.

“Fool Lawyer,” Nick muttered getting his second wind. “If we had gone together this wouldn’t have happened.”

“You don’t know that, Nick. None of us knows what would have happened. I made a call. It was wrong. I admit it. Happy now? Can we drop it?

“No, we can’t drop it. Jarrod, I can’t second guess you through this. We have to be in agreement that for Heath’s sake whatever we do, we do as one. Do you hear me, BROTHER OF MINE?” Jarrod gave Nick a healthy look of his own anger. The older man wasn’t used to being on the scolding end of his relationship with his younger brother, but in this instance, Nick was correct. He should have told him about the note, but it had been explicit that he come alone or Heath would pay with his life. Instead, Jarrod had almost paid with his. He could hear his mother’s voice.

“Come back to me,” she had told him. She wanted all her children to come back to her, alive and well Jarrod thought ruefully. Coming back to her in a wood box was not what she had planned. Frankly it was something Jarrod wanted to avoid as well, he decided.

“I’m sorry, Nick. That’s all I can say. I made a mistake. I was worried about Heath and you. I thought there’d been enough bloodshed.”

“Well obviously this polished enemy doesn’t,” Nick yelled one more time. He slammed his hand down on the desk causing both Jarrod and Jeb to jump. Finally he turned to his brother. The hazel eyes were filled with the intensity of the emotions he felt, speaking some of the same thoughts Jarrod had just had.

“These men are clearly out to destroy this family. I don’t think this is just about money any more, do you Jarrod?”

“No, I don’t.” Nick nodded his approval of Jarrod’s answer.

“So how do you think Mother would feel if even one of us is injured or killed? How do you think I would have felt trying to rescue Heath and finding that this man had actually killed you? Pappy do you have any idea what that would do to Mother…or me?” Nick’s vulnerability was clear in his eyes. Jarrod stood. He put his hands on Nick’s shoulder, seeing the true dread in his younger brother’s entire countenance.

“Nick, I am sorry,” He apologized again. “We’re going to get through this. In a month this will seem like a bad dream.”

“I don’t know about that,” Nick answered.

“I owe you a big one, Nick,” Jarrod told his brother hugging him. Nick, holding back his tears, returned the embrace. Jeb grinned like a Cheshire cat, enjoying the boys as they made up. Jarrod’s body trembled a bit in his brother’s arms. Nick felt the lawyer’s exhaustion. He helped Jarrod to sit down on the bed.

“You need to get some rest.”

“We all do. Nick, I didn’t show the doctor, but when I woke up in the church our nemesis had left me another note. It’s the arrangements for exchanging Heath.” Nick took the note. Jeb listened his ears alert to any plans related to his friend.

“Barkley; Go one mile south of town. Be there at noon. At the end of the mile, there will be a rider waiting for you. Another will be following you. If we see anyone other than you or your brother, we will kill our hostage.” That was it. Nick cursed in frustration.

“That’s not so bad,” Jeb said. “We know what the men look like. I can follow the man who follows you and we can have our men waiting in the area for us so that when I get there, we can figure out maybe where you’ve gone.”

“Jeb, that’s a great idea,” Nick cried. Jarrod shook his head.

“Afraid it’s not that easy, Brother Nick.”

“Why not?” Nick ground out.

“Because we don’t know anymore how many men are involved in this. So far we’ve only seen two. I’m guessing those young men aren’t the ones who so brutally attacked Audra. They don’t look the part. Then there’s the man who attacked me. He made it clear there was a fourth man. Jeb, I’m afraid this is going to be up to Nick and me.”

“No sir,” Jeb answered. “Fred sent me to help you and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Look, it’s my job to follow without being detected. You boys got to trust me. We can do this and you’re going to need my gun.”

“No, Jeb. Don’t you see? Jarrod’s right. We can’t take that risk.”

“You boys is going to get yourselves all killed then and I’m the one going to have to tell Mrs. Barkley. I don’t look forward to that, I’ll tell you.” Jeb looked out the back alley window. Fortunately the window was closed. A shadow crossed the alley.

“Nick, Jarrod. Someone’s coming,” Jeb announced. “And he’s a creeping down the street as if he’s got something to hide.” Nick and Jarrod hurried to the window. Upon recognizing who was opening the hotel door, they exchanged glances. Nick shook his head in confusion while Jarrod muttered under his breath.

“I hope that man is coming to give us good news.” Dark blue eyes already filled with wearisome pain and anguish lifted heavenward as a timid knock sounded at the door. “Father, could you give us a hand here?”

* * * * * * * *

Willa Case Lockwood stared at Joshua trying to come up with an explanation for ostensibly detracting the man so his prisoner, Heath could get to get the gun. She put her hands on her hips feigning indignation.

“Joshua, I didn’t see the gun. I just wanted to be with you. If you don’t believe me, then you’re a bigger fool than I thought.” Joshua’s grip on Willa’s shoulders hurt, he knew. Her brown eyes snapped at him with her usual fight. The fact she had gotten up just after he saw Barkley try to hide the gun was no proof that Willa had seen him. It was just something he thought. The woman had never betrayed him before, but he hadn’t known her long either. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, he released his hold. To his surprise, Willa gave a cry and fell against his chest.

“Please, Joshua, just take me away from here. I can’t stand it, not another minute.” Joshua brushed the brown hair with his hand, and looked at Heath’s prone body on the ground. Their guest was out cold, he thought. There was time to have a good night with Willa. David would be powerfully jealous, but he was helpless against Joshua who was ten years older and years wiser, not only education wise, but worldly wise. David was nothing more than a hoodlum to Joshua who had roamed the state with his brothers to get away from the nightmares that haunted him. When Joshua met him, David was loud mouthed about his intent to get revenge on the Barkley’s but the kid was all talk and no action. He might never have done anything if Joshua hadn’t fed into his frenzy and finally helped him form this plan. What David didn’t know was that he would most likely die in a firefight with the Barkley brothers tomorrow while he would wait till the very end and get the trunk himself and take Willa away. It would work, he was certain. David and his brothers would die. He would be behind the Barkley’s and shoot them where they stood, then finish off any survivors, most especially Nick Barkley whom he wanted to have recognize him for just a minute before he died. Seeing Nick recognize him in his death throes would give Joshua particular pleasure.

“We can’t leave Barkley alone with David. He’ll kill him in a minute,” Joshua mused. “But we can have the cabin to ourselves tonight.” Willa smiled. She let her eyes wonder over to Heath’s still body, lying on the floor after Joshua hit him over the head with the gun.

“I should tend to his wounds. He could die from what David did,” She countered. “Then we can have our time.”

“You turning soft on me?” Joshua demanded again with a slightly lowered tone. Willa shook her head, her face appearing truthful.

“Like you said, he’s no good to us dead, and if we lose, then David might kill me. I’ve got more riding on this than you think.”

“True. David is dangerous, but I can kill him in a minute. You won’t be alone.”

“I’ll just make sure he don’t choke to death on his own vomit or anything and give him a blanket. He’s got a fever I saw before. He could die afore morning if we aren’t careful.”

“Okay,” Joshua consented. “I’ll be in the cabin. I brought some food from the store. It’s in my satchel. I’ll go get it.” Willa nodded watching the man go into the cabin. Quickly she turned to Heath who lay on the ground face down. She turned him over as she had before, almost crying at the bruises on his face. His blue eyes shot open to see who was holding him. She spoke a little harshly while her eyes told Heath another story.

“Mister, you ought to know by now not to go against us. You’re on borrowed time as it is. Come on. I gotta get you cleaned up.” She helped Heath back to sitting up against the wall. He was hot to the touch. His eyes followed her movements, but something kept him from speaking. His silence was eerie. Shaking herself, the woman took her bucket and went back out to the well drawing up fresh cold water, watching around her for her husband. She was so relieved she didn’t see him. She saw Joshua’s horse, but no Joshua either. Was he in the house, she wondered. She didn’t have time to think about that. Quickly she went back to the shack. Inside, Heath hadn’t moved. He appeared to be only half conscious as Willa took her rags and rubbed him down with the cold water, not so concerned about cleaning him up, but bringing him around and getting him a little color. The cold water was effective enough for Heath to become a little more cognizant of his surroundings. Willa’s face was vague in front of him with his blurred vision. From far away, Heath knew someone was helping him. He hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since he had been taken. His parched throat kept him from talking. Feeling the cold water dribbling down his face, he stuck his tongue out to get some.

“Oh, God,” the woman’s voice breathed as she realized his predicament. She disappeared for a second. He didn’t know she was using another bucket to get water from the well for him to drink. Coming back, Willa sat down and used a cup she retrieved from the empty kitchen. She took some of the clean water and helped Heath to drink. As soon as he felt the water going down his throat, Heath’s hands went up grabbing for the cup. It fell, the water going over his filthy clothes. Willa filled the cup again, giving it to Heath this time. He drank the entire cup very quickly. She decided not to give him more afraid of making him sick. From outside she suddenly heard angry voices. She was certain it was David and Joshua. She looked at Heath who had also heard the voices. He grabbed her wrist, his grip made strong by his fear.

“Be careful,” he gasped. “Willa, please.”

“I will, Heath,” She promised. “You have to hang on, for your family, okay? Don’t give into them.” She could see he was having difficulty with his thoughts, his eyes wondering to and fro as the voices outside died down. He looked around the room, grabbing for the water bucket with trembling hands.

“Water,” he begged.

“No. You’ll get sick.” Heath had no strength to fight her as she pulled his hands away from the bucket. Heath’s hands fell to his side and he laid back against the wall, his eyes closed. Willa hoped he could sleep, through the night would be best. Outside the voices escalated again. Willa couldn’t resist as curiosity got the better of her. Running to the door, she saw David and Joshua talking by Joshua’s horse. After several minutes she was surprised to see David get up on the horse and Joshua turn towards the house. The brave woman watched David ride away, her loathing tearing her up inside. How much she hated him for the cruelties he had inflicted upon her. If she had had a gun herself today, she would have shot him dead like the dog he was. Her own head was still splitting from the hit it had taken on the woodpile. Her thoughts wondering, Willa turned around slowly to go back to Heath. She gapped in surprise at the sight of Heath trying to get more water. Somehow the injured man had pulled the bucket of water close. She figured his fever and lack of water must have made him desperate, despite the water Willa had given him a while before. Instead of lifting the bucket, he had lowered his face into it to lap at the cool liquid as if he were a horse at a trough. Willa took several steps to kneel by Heath. She was about to remove the water when she realized Heath wasn’t moving. A fear, more deadly and terrifying than any she had felt that day started to envelope her. She lifted Heath’s heavy head and pushed him back against the wall. Her friend crumbled sideways to the floor as Willa threw the bucket of water aside. Leaning down, she turned Heath on his back again. His blue lips told her all she needed to know. She leaned down in silent horror to listen to his chest, screaming her disbelief as she quickly turned him on his stomach and started to pound on his back just as her mother had done to her when she was a little girl and almost drowned herself in a pond. Her heart was in her mouth as she screamed for help.

“Help! Joshua! He’s dead. Oh my God. He’s dead!”

Chapter 9

Since Jarrod and Nick had seen their visitor enter the hotel in Hawthorne, the timid knock at the Barkley brothers’ room was readily answered by Nick. His brother, Jarrod took a seat on the lone double bed, his back resting his back against the will, supporting his side with a pillow. There was still a devil of pain, Jarrod thought, not that he would admit that to Nick. If he did, his younger brother would probably tie him up to keep him from further injury while rescuing Heath. Jarrod wasn’t about to give Nick a reason to go off on his own, least of all his own physical weakness.

“Dr. Abbott, what are you doing here?” Nick wondered letting the much subdued physician into the room, and shutting the door behind them. “Don’t tell me you have information for us already?”

Jarrod noted how distinctly uncomfortable Dr. Abbott was compared to his jovial mood earlier. The man walked into the room, stopping by the bed and looked at both brothers, ignoring Jeb for the moment, though Jeb listened carefully.

“Well, I suppose I do,” the man admitted. “Martha wondered why I didn’t say anything at the house when you boys were there, but I was rather upset by what I was thinking at the time. My Martha, she has a good heart and she’s worried sick about this. But if you folks are busy, I can come back later.” Dr. Abbott looked towards Jeb who stood by the window, still watching outside. Jarrod and Nick exchanged glances. The two brothers spoke in silent accord as they often did. Dr. Abbott’s next words were the deciding factor as the doctor came bare with his own confession.

“Would it help you to know that it’s possible my sister’s boys are involved in your brother’s kidnapping, and I’m here to see what I can do to stop them before blood is shed?”

“Your sister’s boys?” Nick gapped leaning towards the older man a little threateningly. “Well now, no offense, Doc, but why the hell didn’t you cough up this little gem of information when we were at your place?”

“Mr. Barkley, I think I just explained that,” the doctor replied, his own temper a little short. Jarrod interrupted the two before Nick could scare the man away or worse.

“Dr. Abbott, this gentleman is our friend, Jeb Carter. He’s also a deputy from Stockton. He’s helping us.”

“Mr. Carter.”

“It’s Jeb.”

“And I’m Nick and you can call Jarrod anything you darn well please if you just tell us what you know about Heath,” Nick put in his impatience threatening to boil over. Jarrod, from his position on the bed was observing the doctor. The man seemed sincere. He had a story to tell and they needed to hear it.

“Doctor, why don’t you have a seat,” Jarrod invited. “What my brother is so judiciously asking for is any help you can give us. Whatever you can tell us will be appreciated.”

“I believe you. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here. The truth is my primary concern is for Martha’s safety and then the boys, Rob and John.”

“Rob and John. Those would be the two you followed over here to the hotel, Jeb,” Nick ground out. “They’re kidnappers, Doc, and your concern is for them?” Nick’s incredulous anger was hardly a surprise to the doctor. Still the poor man’s face was pale with his own worry. Jarrod felt sorry for the man.

“Nick, sit,” he ordered his younger brother. With a growl of impatience, the dark cowboy sat on the bed with Jarrod. Jeb stayed by the window.

“Doctor Abbott, maybe you have a plan as to how to deal with your nephews and keep anyone else from being killed or injured by this time tomorrow. We’re all ears.”

“I do have a plan, thanks to Martha,” the doctor said eagerly.

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Nick started. “Why are we sticking our necks out for the scum that has put this family through hell?” Jarrod didn’t have an answer. He looked again towards Dr. Abbott with his lawyer’s curiosity.

“I appreciate your position, gentlemen. You have to understand that my sister actually has three sons, Rob, John and David. David is the one who is leading his brothers. He’s several years older than the boys. If you don’t mind, I’d like to tell where David went astray and why I think he’s behind your brother’s abduction. I believe we all have one common goal here, the safe return of your brother and the safety of at least Rob and John. David, I don’t know about. He’s resisted all my efforts to help him over the years. I have no reason to think he would listen to me now.”

“We’re listening,” Jarrod invited. Dr. Abbott took a deep breath. He looked Jarrod and Nick in the eye as he spoke, sometimes embarrassed, sometimes just intent on getting out what he had to say.

“It was during the war when my brother-in-law came west specifically to avoid being conscripted into the army or any field of service. My brother-in-law was a coward and no doubt about it, a drunk too. They settled here in Hawthorne because I was practicing medicine and frankly Alan didn’t know where else to take the family. He did odd jobs to support the family. My sister took in sewing. I gave her money when I could, but people pay in kind around here and I didn’t often have cash. Rebecca was a saint. She never complained about her husband or caring for the boys. She scrimped and did the best she could. Alan often left her for days on end, gambling what little money he had away in saloons around the country. He wasn’t too good to women either. Well, he met up with your daddy during a poker game in Stockton. A man who was with Alan, and also cheating, told my sister Tom Barkley killed Alan in cold blood when he found out Alan was cheating.” Jarrod put a hand on Nick’s arm as Nick started to get up.

“Nick, wait,” Jarrod ordered. Dr. Abbott almost smiled again, wondering what it was about these two that gave him a sense of humor and even some security. Maybe it was the way they handled each other. It was easy to tell Nick was deeply offended by his words, but he listened to his brother’s directions. Dr. Abbott was a physician who observed people for a living. Nick and Jarrod Barkley were two people he wouldn’t mind getting to know when this was all over…if they were all alive to speak of it.

“He’s saying Father was a murderer,” Nick raged. “How can you listen to him?”

“No, he’s stating a fact he knows is a lie, aren’t you, Doctor?”

“As a matter of fact, it was a lie. What my sister ever saw in Alan, I’ll never know, but even she suspected the truth. She begged me to go with her to Stockton to find out what had really happened. I talked to the sheriff and some of the men in the saloon. I even talked to some men who weren’t very reputable, and could have cared less about Tom Barkley’s reputation or accusing him of murder. They all said, to a man, that it was self defense. Alan drew first when Tom Barkley and two other players asked Alan to roll up his sleeves for hidden cards. Your daddy was no murderer, but I’m figuring David would kill without thought just because he is so bitter.”

“That’s quite a story. At least it comes out on our side if it’s the truth,” Nick muttered with bitter sarcasm. Dr. Abbott’s previous good humor was replaced by an intense anger that fumed in his eyes. He gripped the edge of the chair he was sitting on.

“Alan is dead. That’s fact, Nick. My sister is a widow who has had to try and raise her sons the best way she knew how by herself all these years. That’s fact. And I firmly believe David has taken your brother. That’s another fact. I’ve got one more for you. David has earned his living as a professional fighter ever since he was sixteen. His wrath is a powerful thing to witness.” Jarrod’s heart chilled almost stopping in the doctor’s implication. Nick spoke in almost a guttural voice, verbalizing the horror the two brothers were feeling.

“Are you saying David could be brutalizing our brother?” Dr. Abbott didn’t speak, merely nodded, his shame and sorrow giving away his kind heart. Jarrod squeezed Nick’s arm hard knowing his brother’s empathetic heart was constricting in pain hearing their suspicions confirmed that Heath was probably being mistreated by his captors, but Nick wasn’t to be stopped. He jumped up and grabbed the doctor by his shirt, standing him up almost off the floor.

“How can you defend a man like that? Don’t you think he should have been killed like a rabid animal years ago.”

“Nick, he’s my nephew,” Dr. Abbott insisted. “Let me go, right now or I’ll walk through that door, get the boys somehow and let you and David go at it. I won’t be manhandled either.” Nick let go of the doctor as if he were a hot potato, embarrassed at losing his temper.

“I’m sorry, Doc. You probably think the worst of me, but Heath…well David’s already manhandled our sister. If Heath doesn’t come home, I don’t know what the family will do, or what our mother will do.”

“I understand, Nick. Why do you think I’m here? My sister is devoted to her younger boys. How would she feel if they didn’t come home?” Nick simply nodded his understanding. However he couldn’t sit still now. He paced as the doctor went on.

“Look, I can see you are good men. During the war, I had occasion to meet Tom Barkley in Stockton. I was at a meeting at the Cattleman’s club. He was a fine man, I know. So for the love of God, let’s get past the hate and deal with the situation.” Jarrod took a deep breath as Nick slammed his hand on the table in frustration. Jarrod knew where his brother’s anger was and it wasn’t at Dr. Abbott. He spoke quickly.

“Okay, Dr. Abbott. It’s obvious to me anyway that you don’t hold my brothers and I responsible for what our father did. The question is, what do we do about Heath’s kidnapping?”

“And my nephews,” Dr. Abbott added. “I’ve got a plan. I think it will work if you boys don’t mind helping me.”

“If helping you saves Heath, we’ll do what it takes,” Nick replied with a gruff attitude. Dr. Abbott nodded. He was about to say something when the men all jumped at Jeb’s cry. Jeb grabbed his hat and started for the door.

“Jeb?” Nick cried. “Where you going?”

“Those two kids are out back. I’m going after them.”

“I’m going with you,” Nick replied.

“No, Nick, I should go,” Dr. Abbott said. “I can see where they go, and maybe my plan will work better.”

“You two decide,” Jeb snapped. “I’m going.” He was out the door with Dr. Abbott after him. Nick started to follow then threw up his hands. He turned back to Jarrod whose face was half laughing, half serious with his own concern over the unexpected turn of events.

“Well?” Nick asked his brother. “Now what do we do?”

“This may sound like a bit of trivial advice, Brother Nick, but my thought is to get some sleep if at all possible.”

“Go ahead, be my guest. I couldn’t sleep if I tried.”

“Then eat some of the good Mrs. Abbott’s food and bring me some while you’re at it.” Nick looked from the picnic basket still on the table back to his brother. He grinned.

“Brother Jarrod, that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”

“That’s why I’m the lawyer,” Jarrod teased. Nick brought the picnic basket over to the bed. The two brothers, so used to controlling everything around them, now dependent on Jeb and Dr. Abbott tried to put their worries at rest as they delved into the basket. The chicken sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, and biscuits all looked appetizing. However, after one bite, Jarrod felt as though he might vomit. He pushed the food away. Nick ate a little more, but after a few minutes, he too put the food away. Taking the basket over to the table, he came back and sat on the bed. Jarrod’s blue eyes met his brother’s detecting the fear and anxiety that was there.

“What is it?” Jarrod asked. Nick shook his head.

“I don’t know, but it isn’t good. I can feel him hurting, Jarrod. Oh, God.” Jarrod leaned forward, holding his side with the pillow as he reached out to his brother.

“Let it out, Nick.” But Nick couldn’t explain the way he felt. His helplessness was written across his face. The dark cowboy got up walking to the window as Jarrod’s careful scrutiny observed him. Nick felt as though he were bleeding inside, worrying about Heath. Dr. Abbott’s dire prediction was tearing him apart. Would he know if his brother was dead? He didn’t know. He only knew he was almost sick with the pain he could almost feel Heath was in. If only they knew where he was! Why didn’t Dr. Abbott know, he raged inside silently. Tears glistened in the cowboy’s hazel eyes as he whispered just loud enough for Jarrod to hear.

“Hang in there, Little Brother. Hang in there.”

* * * * * * * *

Sitting on her daughter’s bed, with Audra’s head resting in an elevated position against her chest, Victoria Barkley let her petite frame relax against the pillows she had placed there for more comfortable support. Dr. Marlowe was resting in a guestroom down the hall while Dr. Merar had gone home for a much needed reprieve. Audra’s surgery had been arduous at best, not least of all on the patient herself. Unable to sleep, despite her exhaustion the silver-haired Matriarch was extremely anxious because Dr. Marlowe’s prognosis for her daughter’s survival from the surgery was grim. The good news was that a substantial amount of blood, had been drained from the occipital region of the brain and further bleeding had been halted. If the girl did survive, there was a possibility she would be blind, temporarily or for life. Again, Victoria wished one or more of her sons was with her. It was one of the few times since her husband’s death that she had been left alone to face a potential tragedy. Her children, her three sons and her lovely daughter seemed to have made a silent pact to always protect their mother to the best of their ability and till now, they had been fairly successful.

“Oh, Tom,” she prayed again in a soft voice that Audra would have heard if she had been awake. “Please, please be with our children. Please be with Nick and Jarrod. Help them find Heath. Please give Heath the strength to get through…through…” The mother’s voice halted. She gasped, gulping in air to keep from imagining what could be happening to her youngest son. She had no illusions as to how his captors would treat Heath, not after what had happened to Audra. If they would treat a woman so brutally, what kind of respect or care would they have for Heath or any man? Victoria couldn’t help the shudder that encompassed her tiny body at such a thought. She tried to focus on happier times with her family, Christmas, birthdays, Thanksgiving, or the many dinners the family shared. Those meals held her most precious memories. She closed her eyes picturing herself at the head of the table, with Jarrod on the other end and Audra, Heath and Nick gathered round. If she concentrated, she could hear Heath’s laughter, or Nick’s loud teasing. She could see Jarrod’s hidden amusement at his brothers’ constant bantering and Audra’s indignant spirit taking on her brothers when they teased without hesitation. Her daughter was every bit as wild and tempestuous as her brothers. What could you expect from one of Tom Barkley’s children? She remembered Audra confessing how Heath had told her Tom Barkley bred his children wild that first night she went to see Heath in his hotel room. Audra had been embarrassed about the incident but eventually shared Heath’s words to the mother’s delight. She hadn’t told Audra, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. The Matriarch’s eyes were closed as she hugged her unconscious daughter against her. If only she could breathe her own strength into her child. Victoria wanted her child back. She wanted to see her daughter laugh and ride and dance again in all her beauty and innocence.

“Do you remember when she was born, Victoria,” Tom’s voice asked her, the beloved voice barely above a whisper. Refusing to open her eyes or lose the precious moment, the older woman nodded.

“We were so afraid we would lose her after her brother died,” Tom’s words speculated. His touch on her hand was warm, comforting. “Boy, were we wrong. She came into the world kicking and screaming but she quickly became our little princess.”

“She’s been a gift, Tom, just like all the children.”

“They’re a part of you too, Victoria.”

“Yes, they are. All of them.”

“Never forget how they love you. You’ve done a wonderful job with them, Victoria, especially Nick and Heath. They needed you the most, Nick after I died, and Heath when he came. You gave them all the mothering, love and trust you could and they’ve become fine men.”

“Tom, please bring them back to me. If anything happens to any of them, to Audra…I can’t live without them.” The words caught in her throat as she silently begged for reassurance from the husband she adored and missed so terribly. At first it seemed as if he were gone until she felt a wisp of wind on her cheek. Touching the soft skin, she knew her late husband had kissed her. His words whispered in her ear, gave her small comfort.

“They have everything to come back to, Victoria. You made sure of that. They won’t give up easy. Pray for them, Victoria. Have faith in them. They’ll come back to you in ways you never expected.” At the last she heard his “I love you,” echoing like a fine strand of music in the air. She opened her eyes, heartened despite the fact there was no more hope than there had been before.

Someday, she resolved, someday her family was going to be whole again. Her sons would come trooping into the house in their own distinct ways, giving her hugs, and sharing their day. Audra would call her “Mother” with that imperceptible mix of friendship and devotion mother and daughter shared. The girl’s blue eyes would watch her brothers as they always did with admiration, and respect, and Audra would see. Her daughter would see! Victoria’s own eyelids fluttered, lulled to sleep by her dream of Tom and her own vows for the future happiness of her family. One way or another, the Barkley’s would survive. Her last thought was that while it was up to Nick and Jarrod to bring Heath home, it was up to a higher power to save her children. Victoria Barkley fell into a restless sleep, her faith in God and her sons…and perhaps the husband who would never truly leave the woman he cherished deep within his heart, from the grave and beyond.

* * * * * * * *

Subconsciously the sick man knew he was beaten, at least for now. With fever blistering his throat and various parts of his body screaming for relief from his pain, he didn’t care about fighting anymore. He reached out to pull the bucket of water towards him. The blond cowboy didn’t even look to see if Willa was watching. Instead he worked to quench his thirst by trying to lift the bucket and drink out of it. With his movement, a wrenching pain slammed from his ribs to his brain. He held his breath refusing to cry out. He managed to put the bucket down, then lost consciousness, his head falling forward into the bucket. The tortured face hit the surface with a quiet splash that went undetected, never realizing he was breathing in the water that would suck the life from him, not until he felt someone holding his hand, and lifting him up. As the pain seemed to disappear, Heath Morgan Thomson Barkley managed to reach for the outstretched hand and stand on his own two feet.

“What? What’s going on?” he stammered. He looked around the room to see a sight that should have made him shiver. A body was lying on the floor with Willa sobbing and Joshua pushing down on the man’s back. Water came out of the victim’s mouth. Joshua turned him over. Suddenly the body seized. The trembling limbs of the man’s body didn’t mean anything to Heath until he recognized his own face. Confused, his head suddenly spinning at the sudden realization of what might have happened to him, Heath turned to witness the gentle spirit of the one person he had missed with every fiber of his being for too long. His grieving soul was so glad to see her he gave no more thought to what was happening feet away.

“Mama!” His cry was heartfelt. Leah Thompson smiled an angel’s smile for her son. He reached towards her, as her own hand extended towards him.

“Heath,” she said softly, so softly it was as if he were a little boy again, and only she could comfort away the insults of the townspeople and the children who should have been his friends, but weren’t allowed to be because of who he was.

“Mama, I’ve waited so long to see you,” the blond cowboy exclaimed. “You look so beautiful and so happy.”

“I am happy, Heath, because you have been happy. You are happy with the Barkley’s aren’t you?”

“I was, Mama, but I’m happy to be with you.”

“Your brothers are looking for you. They’re worried and afraid for you.” Heath tried to block out the sudden distress he felt at hearing Jarrod and Nick were worried about him. That was the last thing he wanted. He again made excuses.

“They haven’t found me, Mama. It’s too late.”

“No Heath!” Leah Thomson cried compassionately. “It’s not too late, never for you! Close your eyes Heath, and feel the love and prayers that are being said for you.”

“Mama, I want to be with you. I want to be with Audra. It’s done now, isn’t it?” Heath strove to stay as close as he could to his mother, to not let her go again. He couldn’t. He couldn’t lose her again. Please God.

“Heath, you’re not listening to me,” Leah scolded. “Now do as I say.” Standing only feet from the trembling body on the floor, the blond closed his eyes, unable to keep from following his mama’s order. He could feel his mama holding his hands as if she were praying for him. Pictures flashed before his eyes, his mother sitting on a bed, holding Audra in her arms, Nick staring out a window, tears in his eyes, and Jarrod, his face as worried as Heath had ever seen. They were all filled with the love he felt every day from them and so much more. Heath had never known such devotion, such intense caring. His family’s warmth was a blanket of love that enfolded him in their embrace. He had had such a short time with them, there was still a great deal to do. Not only did Heath realize he needed his family, but from their prayers, he knew they needed him. It was as if they were standing here with him, holding him up by the essence of their commitment to him. When he opened his eyes, Leah still stood by him. Heath bent over to give his mama a kiss. Their thoughts were conveyed silently.

“You’re right, Mama. I have to go back.”

“Good boy, Heath!” a voice bellowed. A strong hand pulled him back to the body on the floor. “You take care of your brothers and sister and your mother. They love you, Boy, and don’t you ever forget it. We all love you.” The voices spun in the young man’s head as he moaned in a dark agony that over took his spirit again. His body moved slightly, but his azure blue eyes stayed shut.

“He’s alive,” Joshua finally said. “You saved him, Willa. Good thing too. Couldn’t deliver a dead body to Jarrod or Nick Barkley. That wouldn’t do, not at all.”

“He’s alive?” Willa cried. “Oh, Thank God.” Now Joshua gave Willa a funny look. Could he have been wrong before? Was she trying to help the kid escape? She’d made such a ruckus about him. What did she care if their captive was dead or alive?

“Willa?” he inquired with a quiet intensity that was every bit as frightening as David’s rages. Willa had been around the man enough to know what he was thinking. She was a quick one.

“I was so afraid,” She sobbed again. “It was my fault. He was dying and it was my fault. Oh, Joshua, please, please help me. I could have killed him.”

“But you didn’t,” Joshua said. Her act was very convincing. He let his guard down again.

“What happened, Willa?”

“I heard you arguing outside with David. I left the bucket of water close to him. I don’t see how his face ended up in the water. My God, Joshua, he could have drowned in a bucket of water.”

“Would have been a fitting ending for a Barkley,” Joshua grinned. Willa rolled her eyes, hiding the steam that threatened to come out of her ears. Distantly, Heath finally heard the world around him, including Willa’s sobs. He didn’t think, only shivered from the cold that suddenly seemed to envelop him. Willa looked down at him, tears still falling down her cheeks.

“I should get a blanket for him. He’s burning up with fever, Joshua. If he dies…”

“I know, Willa. There goes our meal ticket. Okay, get him a blanket. Then we are going to go to bed and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be some kind of day.”

“What about David?”

“He’s gone into town to talk to his brothers. I wanted to make sure everything was on track for tomorrow.”

“He was angry,” Willa observed.

“He’s a fool. He dared to question my authority. Don’t worry, Willa. David is a puppet on a string. That string, along with his brothers’ is about to be cut…permanently.” Willa tried not to understand what Joshua meant, but his intent was obvious. She went into the cabin to get a blanket for Heath. Joshua followed her, getting the satchel he had gotten off his horse, and proceeding to take out some food. Back out in the shack, Willa put the blanket over Heath. She looked behind her to make sure Joshua wasn’t there. Heath’s body trembled in cold beneath her hand as she pulled the blanket over him. She was shocked to see his blue eyes open and look at her. The anguish in that pleading gaze was enough to remind Willa of the hapless boy she knew so long ago. She brushed his blond hair, and whispered in his ear.

“Remember the old times, Heath. Hang on and don’t you dare let go. Remember the old times.” She got up. She had to. Heath felt her leave, but before she left, she hung a lantern in the shack. Heath felt the warm glow of the flame of light warming him a little despite the shivers that consumed him. If he looked with the strength he had at the wall where the light flickered, he could see them! Nick, Jarrod, Audra and their mother, all keeping him company through the long night. They were with him, keeping him alive. As the light started to fade, so did the images. Heath reached towards them in bleak despair, his lungs gasping for the air he needed to call to the people he loved, the people he needed to make him strong. He held out a weak right arm, his voice a whispered plea from a dying cowboy’s heart while he stared at the disappearing shadows of his mind’s imagination.

“Don’t leave me. Oh, Mother, please don’t leave me.”

Chapter 10

Nick Barkley was as mad as a hornet and buzzing around the hotel room as if he were looking for his next target. Jarrod, his hat positioned over his face to sift out the light from the three kerosene lamps in the room, shook his head. Would his brother never settle down? Of course, Jarrod admitted to himself in ironic dismay, the only reason he wasn’t pacing the room like a caged animal as Nick was, was the knife wound in his side. Despite Dr. Abbott’s care, he felt the flush of fever. He kept dozing off, and then woke again to hear Nick pacing. He allowed the younger man his head per say because to stop Nick would be like trying to stop a volcano in full explosion mode.

“Damn it, Jarrod,” Nick finally growled. “Where are they? It’s been hours.”

“Nick, I know as much as you do.”

“Well how long do you figure they been gone?”

“About ten minutes from the last time you asked me. Do you want to go out and look for them?”

“Where the hell would I look?”

“You found me,” Jarrod said from beneath the hat.

“You think they’re back at Dr. Abbott’s or the Sheriff’s office cause that’s the only two places I know to check.”

“I don’t know, Nick. I’m just as sick about this as you are. Heath’s strong. He’ll fight you know.”

“That’s the problem. He’ll fight when he should just be still. He’ll do what it takes to get away and get beaten in the process. I still think he was already hurt when they took him. Otherwise they’d never have gotten to Audra in the first place.”

“Oh, Nick!” Jarrod snapped. Nick froze as his brother lost his patience while sitting up, his hat falling on to the bed. “Must you go on and on? You can’t borrow trouble. We’re doing the best we can right here, right where we are. Can’t you accept that?” Nick’s hand fell on the desk in his anger. Jarrod wasn’t afraid of his brother. He suddenly felt as though he were deliberately antagonizing him. But if Nick didn’t get rid of this rage that was consuming him, what good would he be to Heath when they finally found him.

“No, I can’t! This is Heath we’re talking about.”

“What does that mean to you, Brother Nick?”

“You know of all people, Jarrod what Heath means to me.”

“What he means to all of us,” Jarrod reminded his sibling with a gentle paternal tone.

“No! What Heath means to me. Damnit, Jarrod it may sound selfish, but Heath…well…he’s with me almost twenty-four hours a day sometimes. He’s strong. He’s funny and I can depend on him for anything. You’re up in San Francisco, and Mother and Audra naturally band together. When Heath is with me, its as if I’ve got the partner and friend I always wanted. He’s half my soul I think sometimes. And I NEED him. If he dies, then what’s it all for?”

“Nick,”

“No, Pappy, don’t you get it? This is the really funny part. When he first came to us, I hated him. I hated everything he stood for which mostly was the fact that Father let us down. Was it his fault? No! Did I treat him respectfully or give him half a chance? No. It wasn’t really until that stupid feud with Wally and Evan Miles that I realized what kind of man my brother was. I realized he was good and kind and gentle. His gentleness didn’t end with just horses. It extended to the care he gave Mother and Audra, to the concern he gave the men and the stubborn temper he gave to me. He held back sometimes when should have hauled off and hit me.”

“and your point is?”

“Well, Counselor, I’ll TELL YOU!” Nick yelled the last three words, not caring who he woke at this ungodly hour. “Our Father left us a little brother, and now, now he could be dying no thanks to me or anyone else. Do you know how much I ache, Pappy? Can you take away the pain, cause I’m telling you it’s killing me.” Exhausted and stunned by his own confession, Nick collapsed on the bed and wept. Jarrod leaned over and took his brother in his arms, ignoring the gut wrenching pain in his side. He held Nick close, trying to comfort him, trying to take away the fires that burned within. His own tears mixed with his brother’s as he allowed himself to feel some of Nick’s anguish, feelings he had tried hard to keep at bay while he fought his own demons. After a while he spoke, still hugging his brother.

“Nick, no one knew how much Heath would come to mean to this family when he stormed into our lives. That’s just what he did you know. He announced himself by beating that train, even though he didn’t know I was watching. Next came the bridge. I’d give my eyeteeth to know what would have happened on that bridge with you two boys confronting each other, each one refusing to back off and one more stubborn than the other, if the bridge hadn’t just broken. You boys both got what you deserved that day. Then that night in the house when he grabbed the bottle and broke it. Do you remember Nick how fierce he was?” Jarrod chuckled as he repeated the words his little brother said.

“Now I’ve had me a day…This one’s gonna be peaceful.” Jarrod rubbed Nick’s back as he sat up, and the brothers shared the memories that would stand with them forever.

“Those baby blue eyes of his were so bound and determined, and so angry, so filled with the same rage you had here tonight. But he got his way, didn’t he, Nick?” Nick nodded as Jarrod went on.

“And the next morning at Semple’s farm when he fought with us. I don’t know if he fought for the Barkley’s or because Coastal and Western was one more big dark enemy he could squelch with a six gun if he only tried. He’s always rooting for the underdog. Maybe if you think of him now fighting for him and Audra, fighting with every last Barkley breath he’s got, you’ll know he’ll make it through this. He just has to, because Heath is a part of all of us now. Losing him would break my heart, Nick. It would just eat me alive.” If Nick Barkley ever questioned how his brother felt about Heath, he never would again. He hugged Jarrod again.

“I’m sorry, Jarrod. I guess I didn’t think,” Nick admitted. “You’ve been so calm and courageous through this.”

“Me courageous? Brother Nick, we gotta have a talk,” Jarrod laughed. Nick was about to reply when the door to the room burst open, broken in by two men the brothers had never seen before. Nick jumped up with Jarrod staying where he was which surprised Nick.

“Okay, Fellas,” one of the men announced. “We come for what’s in that there trunk.”

“What do you mean?” Nick demanded. “Nothing in there but some of our personal possessions. Who the hell are you?” Jarrod was partially hidden from the men by Nick’s body. He quickly reached under his pillow for his gun and put it under his pants leg.

“Mister,” the second man said coming around Nick. “You’re gonna get off that bed and stand, so’s I can keep you in my sights.”

“I can’t,” Jarrod lied. Nick didn’t need a lesson. He took his cue from his brother.

“He’s not lying. He was knifed earlier tonight. Doc says he can’t move.”

“Then if he’s already hurt, he’s not going to mind meeting his maker,” the man said. He was a tall brut of a man with wild crazy eyes. In one move, he had hit Nick across the head sending him to oblivion and turning his gun on Jarrod just as Jarrod fired hitting the man in the heart and then rolling off the bed on to the other side as the second man started to fire. The lawyer barely missed a bullet hitting the head board before he hit the floor. He rolled under the bed, seeing the man’s feet beneath the bed. He fired twice more, right straight through the board, hitting the man in the leg. Hearing a sustained cry, Jarrod, started to crawl out from under the bed. His head had barely gotten out when he looked up into the cruel eyes of the second man who still stood on the injured leg, though how, Jarrod didn’t know. The man cocked his gun.

Jarrod pulled the man’s legs out from under him as the man started to speak. The gun going off grazed the lawyer in the head. Jarrod’s brain swam with the explosion of fire as the bullet pounded him. He dropped his gun on the floor with a clatter. The dark head hit the floor but was barely noticed by the man as something from far away seemed to be pulling at him. He felt someone pulling him up by the hair, his wide blue eyes staring into nothing as the brain fought the mind to stay coherent.

“Ya shouldn’t outta go resisting when you haven’t got enough help,” the man was saying just as another shot thundered through Jarrod’s already tortured head. The man clutched Jarrod’s hair as a long of surprise came over his face. The lawyer’s helplessness was evident as he collapsed again on the floor. Next to him the robber crashed down, ending up next to Jarrod with his eyes wide open in death. The body was pulled quickly away from him as Jeb knelt between Jarrod and Nick. Jarrod tried to move, tried to tell Jeb they were all right. But then again he wasn’t sure. Jeb tried again to rouse his two friends. Neither man moved.

“Jarrod,” he pleaded. “Jarrod talk to me. Nick, come on Nick. Wake up. Help them. Please for the love of God help them before they die. Please!”

* * * * * * * *

Hot orange red flames were licking at his legs. He slapped at his pants to keep the flames away transferring the heat from his legs to his hands. Fire. He was on fire. Why didn’t someone put it out? He couldn’t help swallowing a scorching flame. His throat screamed in protest. Oh, God, so he was going to burn to death. Carterson wasn’t enough. The whip slashing his back to ribbons, wasn’t enough. Bentell still breathed on him, fanning the flames so he would die a slow painful death.

“Heath, No,” her voice cried to him. It was a firm caring voice, a voice that wasn’t going to let him go. Reaching out to her, he begged for help.

“Water. Please…”

“Heath, here’s some water.” He drank the cool liquid. Felt so good. He couldn’t get enough. Some of it fell down his chin. He couldn’t swallow it. Turning he vomited. He felt her holding his head as he retched the water he had swallowed inadvertently earlier, not that he knew it. The flames were close. So very hot. He’s never felt the heat this way. He looked around the shack, pulling on his chains.

“Gotta get out,” he insisted. “Gotta get out before the whole thing comes down on us. Come on, Mother. You can’t stay here. Get the chains off me. We’ll get to safety together.”

“Heath, I can’t leave,”

“I can’t leave you here, Mother. Jarrod, Nick and Audra need you. Mother, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase get the chain off.”

“Heath, there’s no fire. It’s only the fever.”

“Of course…there’s…fire,” Heath reiterated, his voice now raspy and barely discernible even to him. “See…”

“Heath, no.”

“Fire,” Heath went on. “Gonna burn. Mother! Nooooooooooo!” He fought against her hands holding him, but couldn’t stop the flames from lapping at the silver haired lady’s back. He pulled her down, pounding to get the flames off.

“Stop,” she cried. Oh, Heath, Willa thought as he pummeled her back, trying to get what he thought were flames off her. She couldn’t get away from him. Her heart sank when Joshua came into the room, more than likely awakened by Heath’s cries. Joshua took a piece of wood and hit his prisoner in the head, not hard, but enough to get him to release Willa. She scrambled away. Heath fell back on the floor.

“Joshua, leave him be. It’s the fever that’s talking. He’s fighting a fire in him.”

“He is, huh. Well he woke me up out of a sound sleep. I mean to make sure that don’t happen again the rest of the night.” Heath had been struggling to get up, too weak to get further than his knees. He saw a shadow in the flames. Looking up he saw the ceiling collapse on him as Joshua brought the board down on the prisoner’s head. Heath’s scream of terror was cut short as the flames and the heat receded into a black darkness that gave him a relief that for all he knew could very well be permanent.

* * * * * * * *

Audra Barkley felt a terrific pain in her head. She was lying with someone comforting her. She could hear her mother talking, telling her stories about her childhood, about her beloved father. She wanted her father, but there was someone else she was looking for. The head was so painful, she didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to wake up. She wondered if her mother or the boys would just let her sleep today away. Surely she’d feel better tomorrow. Then it hit her, the image of Heath on the ground. Heath! He was being beaten to death on her account.

“Heath,” she whispered once. Her mother who was sleeping didn’t hear the whisper, nor did Audra move enough for her discern any movement. Suddenly Audra sat up in bed, screaming for her brother. Victoria woke to her daughter’s cries.

“Heathhhhhhhhhh!” Audra screamed in a heartfelt cry.

“Audra!” Victoria cried herself. Audra fell back on the bed as quickly as she sat up. Victoria got off the bed, and examined her daughter. The girl was completely unresponsive. Frantic, the woman was about to call the doctor when he came tearing in to the room.

“Good God, was that your daughter, Mrs. Barkley?” Dr. Marlowe demanded.

“She’s not moving,” Victoria answered. “Oh please help her.”

The doctor bent over the patient. He went back to his black bag to get his stethoscope. In a second he was back listening to her heart as Victoria wrung her hands. While the doctor worked, Silas came into the room.

“Mrs. Barkley, wasn’t that Miss Audra screaming for Mr. Heath?”

“Yes, Silas.”

“Dear God,” Dr. Marlowe said. He put his hand on Audra’s chest, then turned to Victoria. His face told her everything she needed to know. She shook her head in denial.

“No! Not my daughter!” Victoria cried in a voice that no one refused. “Help her. Don’t let her go!”

“Mrs. Barkley, she’s gone. The surgery was too much for her.”

“No, she’s not! Get out if you can’t help. Silas, hold Audra while I try something.” The doctor moved. He saw instantly what Victoria was doing. Silas lifted the girl while Victoria pounded on her chest. She delivered three hits to her daughter’s chest. Silas supported Audra so that her body slammed against his with each assault. Silas didn’t mind. The old family servant would have given his life for the child he had helped raise. He took the discomfort gladly.

“Audra!! Audra!” The mother’s voice carried through the house. If her sons had been there, they would have come running.

“Let me try, Mrs. Barkley,” the doctor said. “I see what you are doing. I’m stronger.” Next the doctor delivered three hits to the girl’s chest. He heard a rib break, but figured they would deal with that later. He took his stethoscope and listened again. Victoria’s face was ashen. He shook his head in disbelief.

“She’s breathing. Good God. How in the world did you know to do that? I’ve never tried that before, but it certainly makes sense.”

“One of my sons showed me,” she said. “They did it to men at Carterson prison to try and save their friends.”

“Your son?”

“Yes, my son. Heath,” Victoria Barkley said with a grim determination. “Silas I’ll sit with her now.” Dr. Marlowe was still examining his patient. What he saw made him smile.

“I do believe you’ve done it, Mrs. Barkley. She’s turned the corner. Look at the color coming into her face. Her lips are almost red. She’s got life in her again. It’s a miracle.” Victoria got back onto the bed, and pulled her daughter into her arms, letting the girl rest again her again. She brushed Audra’s blond hair. Her flashing gray eyes met Dr. Marlowe’s.

“Miracles come from God, Dr. Marlowe. Heath taught me how to hit on the chest when his brother was at death’s door. He’s my miracle, Dr. Marlowe. Heath, Nick, Jarrod and Audra, they are my miracles. I won’t let them go. I won’t let any of them go.” Dr. Marlowe gave the older woman a weary smile as she finished her thoughts.

“They’re going to come home to me. You wait and see. All my children are going to come back to me.” The exhausted woman’s eyes closed as the doctor watched this tiny mother clutching her child against the angel of death. He touched her hand, then got up, leaving mother and daughter alone. At the door he turned around.

“With you as a mother, Mrs. Barkley, I bet your children all come back to you, one way or another. They wouldn’t dare leave you, and I can bet they wouldn’t want to. What a woman.” He left the room, shutting the door only to bump into Silas who was standing there, wringing his hands.

“You certain she all right, Doctor, Miss Audra, I means?”

“I think she’s going to be just fine physically, Silas. We still have her eyes to worry about.”

“I just knows that the boys will be home soon and Miss Audra she’ll be able to see fine, just fine.”

“I hope so, Silas. I truly do.” The two men parted, Silas going back downstairs to finish his daily routine of chores and Dr. Marlowe to grab some more sleep. The worst might be over, the doctor thought to himself as he crawled back into the soft bed fully clothed, but if the girl was blind, Mrs. Barkley might find herself up against a wall she couldn’t get over. There were few ways to break down the wall of darkness that could be waiting for the young lady. He fell asleep praying his prognosis was wrong, that Audra would see without difficulty, and that Mrs. Barkley’s sons really did come back to her. After years of working with patients and their families, many in their own homes, Dr. Marlowe knew a true mother. He couldn’t help falling asleep in his exhaustion. At the same time he had a feeling of dread. If Victoria Barkley’s children didn’t come home to her, the doctor knew without a doubt that the woman would have nothing to live for, nothing at all.

Chapter 11

Jarrod Barkley sighed as he opened his eyes. He was instantly assaulted with a pain in his head that reminded him of his worst hangover and more. He groaned, putting his hands over his head as he sat up. Insult was added to injury when the lawyer’s world spun around him forcing him to lie down again. Looking towards the window Jarrod saw the sun shining clear as day through the window. The trunk was gone. With his mind swirling, not just in dizziness, but in worry for Nick and Heath, Jarrod sat up again, this time more slowly. Turning his head again, he saw Dr. Abbott dozing in a chair by the door of the hotel room. Jarrod felt the bandage on his head. He remembered the gunshot and those last seconds of consciousness. Nick had been knocked out on the floor. Obviously his brother was all right and probably thinking straight. Dr. Abbott’s position told the lawyer that he was supposed to keep Jarrod in the hotel room. Well, Jarrod had other ideas. However, Dr. Walter Abbott was way ahead of the man.

“Don’t bother, Jarrod,” the laconic voice said as Jarrod stood cautiously. He fought to stay standing as his head protested his action. Dr. Abbott lifted his hat to give his patient a stern command.

“Get back in bed. You’ve been shot, you fool.”

“I’m going back to bed, don’t worry, but not now, Doc,” Jarrod returned.

“Now. Nick was adamant you stay here and so am I.”

“Where is Nick may I ask?”

“If I tell you, will you go back to bed?” Jarrod didn’t dignify the comment with an answer. His glare was enough.

“Nick said you’d be stubborn. I thought you might have more sense than he did. I didn’t want him to go either.”

“When did he leave?”

“About a half hour ago with Jeb and my nephews.”

“What?” Jarrod’s head snapped to attention. “Your nephews? You found them?”

“Yes, we found them,” Dr. Abbott admitted. Jarrod was attempting to walk across the room. He picked his hat up off the table, and took his gun belt to put around his waist. Dr. Abbott was watching every move the lawyer in his compromised state made. Jarrod wished he were alone. He could do this much easier on his own. He started to put the gun belt on when he looked down to see only his long johns. With the shock of realization written on his face, Jarrod Barkley, lawyer, looked at the good doctor who couldn’t resist a chuckle.

“Now do you want to sit down?” Dr. Abbott asked. He sat on the edge of the bed as Jarrod took a few steps toward him.

“Where are my pants?” the lawyer asked with a distinct irritable tone. Dr. Abbott was not impressed. His smug smile made Jarrod feel like his brother Nick, rage and complete impatience.

“Nick took them. Said you were just foolish enough to walk out of here, but you wouldn’t be caught dead without your pants, so he took them.” Jarrod sat on the other side of the bed stunned. He shook his head, ignoring the pain until he laughed. Dr. Abbott laughed too. The laugh ended quickly when the headache took over. The smiles on his face dissolved, and so did the humor as the seriousness of the situation overwhelmed him.

“Nick is going to be one sorry brother when I get my hands on him,” Jarrod intoned. “What happened? How come I’m not in a pine box?”

“Whoa. You paint a pretty picture.”

“You weren’t shot in the head. He hit Nick too. I take it my brother fared better than I did.”

“In some ways,” Dr. Abbott admitted. The two men sat across the bed facing each other. Dr. Abbott was still dressed in the clothes he had been wearing the day before. Jarrod, in his long johns and the blue shirt he’d been wearing yesterday sported the bandage around his head and a slightly glazed look to his blue eyes. He could see Dr. Abbott was observing him. That didn’t matter to him. The longer he was away from Nick did.

“In what ways?” Nick asked, again his tone rather dangerously low. Dr. Abbott was not impressed.

“Well obviously he didn’t get shot. He had one heck of a headache though. A gun butt can do plenty damage too. I advised him against riding out, but he had other plans once Jeb told him where Heath was.”

“You know where my brother is? For crying out loud, Abbott, give me my pants!”

“Jarrod, what can you do?”

“I can help my brothers!” Jarrod was wild. He was up in a flash, going through the closet where he triumphantly found his saddle bag. He pulled it out and threw it on the bed, ignoring the dizziness that was swirling around him. His drunken gait didn’t go unnoticed by Dr. Abbott. He grabbed the saddle bag and put it on the floor and then pushed Jarrod down on the bed.

“Jarrod, sit down. Listen to me, and then decide what you want to do. I promise, I’ll give you your pants if you want them. Your brother asked me to tell you this. He also wanted me to remind you that if you insisted on following him and died in the process, he’d personally kick your butt from here to hell.”

Jarrod smirked again. Nick was one stubborn Barkley. But then so was he. Still he sat down on the bed to listen to Dr. Abbott. There was still several hours till noon. Hopefully Dr. Abbott didn’t have much to say.

“The floor is yours, Abbott, but be warned. If you think Nick is obstinate, you haven’t seen anything yet. My brothers need me, and I damn well intend to be there for them. You have no idea how important this is to me.”

“Really?” Dr. Abbott questioned, his voice extremely serious. “I believe you would give your life for your brothers, Jarrod. I can see that in you and in Nick. But how would Nick feel knowing that you followed him and died from the effects of a gunshot wound he feels he could have prevented?”

“What? What has Nick got to do with this. It was the men who wanted our trunk who did this. It’s nothing to do with my brother.”

“He doesn’t see it that way. When he woke up, you were bleeding like a stuck pig. He was so angry at letting those men knock him out, it was a good thing both of them were dead already, or he would have finished the job somehow.”

“Good for him,” Jarrod answered. “I’d probably have helped.”

“Great. Two hot headed men. What did your old man do, breed em wild?” Jarrod laughed again.

“Seems to me my brother Heath said that once to my sister. She told me and I had to laugh. Why did Nick go? What did you and Jeb find out from your nephews? I can see I was out for hours. What were you doing all that time.”

“Figuring out a plan. And Nick sent a telegram to your mother.”

“He sent a telegram. Did he think that was wise?”

“Why? David knows he’s here. Figures Rob and John are watching you two. Thing is, Jeb and I got to the boys after David had at them and they weren’t too happy.”

“Come again?” Dr. Abbott got up, pacing as he spoke of his encounter with his nephews. Jarrod could see the man was further distressed even more than he had been earlier. The lawyer felt a little cloudy as he listened to the man, but he heard every word, and what he heard was astonishing.

“We followed the boys to the saloon. We thought they were going to get some drinks and then head on back here. Maybe that’s what they planned, I don’t know. Jeb thought it might be better to wait for them to come back to the hotel. We couldn’t confront them in public.”

“Perish the thought,” Jarrod muttered, wishing his headache would just evaporate, or he would. He wasn’t sure which. He reached for the saddlebag. Dr. Abbott held firm.

“They’d been in there about an hour when I saw my nephew, David. He walked into the saloon, serene as you please, took each of his brothers by the arm and dragged them outside. I don’t know what possessed me, maybe because I know when David is about to lose his temper, but I took Jeb’s arm and pulled him back of the alley we were standing in, and behind some stairs that led to the second floor of one of the buildings. Sure enough, David and the boys came into the alley. David was so angry. Before either of them could speak, he had hauled off and hit them across the face, each one. I wanted to go and break it up, but I knew I didn’t have a clue as to what was going to happen next.”

“Doc, I know you’re trying to delay me,” Jarrod broke in. “Could you kind of get the good part and finish the damn story?” Dr. Abbott chuckled.

“You know all your brother’s tricks don’t you?”

“Most of them. He’s not that subtle.”

“Well, the long and short of it, is David was yelling something about the boys blowing the job because you and your brother were still here. I don’t think anyone understood what he was saying. I couldn’t really see their faces, but both of them protested quite a bit. They said they were ready for the morning and that everything was going to plan.”

“Yes indeed, a perfect plan,” Jarrod returned.

“Well, David was apparently just in a foul mood. He actually pulled a gun on his brothers and threatened them. He told them if tomorrow doesn’t go well, he’ll kill them both.” Jarrod’s eyes widened in appreciation as he realized instantly where this threat could lead the two men.

“I’m guessing they weren’t too happy with that turn of events?”

“Hardly. John, the older boy hit David across the face. Threatened him right back. They fought. John got the worst of it and I don’t know that David wouldn’t have killed him if Rob hadn’t got David’s gun from the ground and protected his brother.”

“My God,” Jarrod gapped. “And what happened?”

“David left John lying on the ground. The last I saw David was on his way back to the saloon. Jeb and I got to Rob and John. I didn’t say a word to the boys all the way back to my house. I took them in, cleaned John’s wounds and had my Martha get them both something good to eat. Then I told them I knew exactly what they were up to. The long and the short of it is, I got out of them where Heath was, and I got them to get the hell out of town.”

“You what?” Jarrod cried jumping up. “You let them loose?”

“Yes, Jarrod, I let them loose. They haven’t done anything wrong yet.”

“Yet? Dr. Abbott, I don’t want to offend you. I can tell a good man when I meet one, but you know David couldn’t have done all this without his brothers.”

“If it hadn’t been the boys, he would have got someone else. In fact he did.” Jarrod eyebrows shot up as he met the doctor’s gaze.

“The man who knifed me?” he wondered.

“Yep. Rob said his name was Joshua, Joshua Cutler.”

“Joshua Cutler?” Jarrod mused out loud. “I know that name.”

“Nick did too when I told him. Your brother has one hell of a temper.” Jarrod grinned at those words as the name fluttered through his mind that was actually clearing.

“Really?” he asked a little sarcastically. “How did that come about?”

“He kicked the trunk and almost broke his foot.” Jarrod laughed out loud. That was Nick. Act first and think later, especially when it came to his temper.

“Where did this Joshua take Heath, Doc?”

“There’s a cabin off that path…” Dr. Abbott started then clamped his mouth shut knowing he shouldn’t have told Jarrod. He rolled his eyes.

“I think I’d better get out of town when this is all over. Your brother is going to have my hide.”

“Don’t worry, Doc. I’ll take care of it.”

“Jarrod,” Dr. Abbott said. “You can’t go out there. I don’t know what that bullet did to your head. It looks like just a crease, but it could have done further damage than I can see.”

“Doc, in case you haven’t learned, the Barkley’s have thick heads,” Jarrod teased.

“Really? You’re invincible then?”

“Did I say that?”

“Your brother was very concerned about you. He didn’t want you doing anything foolish, namely anything that would send you home in a six foot pine box.”

“The feeling is mutual, I do assure you.”

“You’re still going to go after Nick aren’t you?”

“Yes, Doc, I am,” Jarrod replied. “I won’t let Nick do this alone. Heath means the world to him and to me. If anything…if Heath or Nick…” Jarrod choked back the tears that threatened him. Dr. Abbott was watching him like a hawk, but he was rapidly becoming aware he couldn’t stop the man, short of handcuffing him and handcuffs he didn’t have. Jarrod would get the pants from the saddle bag some how. He tried another delaying tactic…talk.

“You Barkley’s are amazing,” he complimented. Jarrod wrinkled his forehead in confusion. He picked up his holster and put it on then his hat.

“How’s that, Doc?” he asked as he started towards the door, his footsteps a little slow, but growing more steady.

“Most brothers are close, but since seeing you and Nick together, I can only guess at your brother Heath. Nick doesn’t say much about him, but his eyes light up like a Christmas tree whenever he talks about him. He must be quite the character.” Jarrod nodded, his right hand coming out to meet the doctor’s jaw. With a surprised look on his face, Dr. Abbott collapsed in Jarrod’s arms. Jarrod struggled to hold on to the man, but he wasn’t quite strong enough. He laid him on the floor instead of the bed as he had planned. He spoke as he put a pillow under the doctor’s head and then a blanket over him.

“Doc, you’ll never guess how close to the truth you are. Heath and Nick are both characters … and I’d like to keep them around for awhile, so if you’ll excuse me…” The dark haired lawyer got his pants out of the saddle bag and finished dressing. When he was ready to go, he tipped his hat to the prone figure on the floor, grabbed the key to the hotel room and left Dr. Abbott to his dreams, just as the clock in the hotel lobby was striking eight a.m.

* * * * * * * *

Nick Barkley watched the sunrise with the first hopeful heart he had had since this whole mess started. He was still flaming mad as he comprehended that Joshua Cutler was behind the kidnapping. He could guess Joshua hadn’t meant for Audra to be hurt, but at the same time he couldn’t be sure. Joshua had been under his command during the war. The man had been a decent soldier, a crack shot, almost as good as Heath, but the kid had a hot streak. Kid, Nick thought derisively. Joshua was probably only a year younger than him. But he was a selfish brute who didn’t care much about anyone other than himself. If he hadn’t been conscripted into the war, Nick thought the coward would never have volunteered. Sitting only twenty yards from the tiny cabin Dr. Abbott had shown Jeb, Nick thought it was a relief to actually know who his true enemy was.

“Nick, we’ve got the house surrounded, but we’ve got a visitor coming up the road.” Nick’s heart stopped for a second. He was afraid that Jarrod had gotten away from Dr. Abbott despite the doctor’s promises to keep his brother at bay. Instead, he saw a man creeping towards him with a look of fury in his face.

“Nick Barkley, what the hell are you doing?” Sheriff Todd Martin asked. “I thought you were going to tell me every move you made.”

“I just did,” Nick answered with a bit of irritation in his voice. “I sent my man to tell you what we were doing. Heath is in that house and I intend to get him out.”

“What if he’s not alone?” the sheriff asked. Nick was confused.

“Dr. Abbott’s nephew David and his wife, Willa have been living in that cabin. Your wrangler told me the whole story about David and his brothers and this Joshua character. Now I appreciate you might not care about David, but what about the woman. She’s only about twenty or so. If you get her killed, I’m guessing you might feel powerfully guilty.” Nick threw his gun down on the ground as one more imaginary fence barred his way to get to Heath. None of the Barkley men would be able to live with themselves if they got an innocent woman killed even for Heath.

“Got any ideas?” Nick asked the sheriff.

“It’s what, about 8 O’clock? Why don’t you try going into the lean to first? I’ll come around and knock on the front door. Your men can remain where they are. If we have the place surrounded maybe the men will come out peaceably.”

“Yeah, right. We know David isn’t in there. He was still in town when we came out here. We’ve been watching the road. He hasn’t come home.”

“He is now,” Jeb told Nick. Nick swore when he saw David enter the lean to. Heath had to be either in the lean to or in the house.

“I have to get in there,” Nick ground out. “Heath could be dying.” The sheriff hadn’t heard the part of the story where Nick suspected that David was hurting Heath.

“Mr. Barkley, you’re brother’s a hostage. They aren’t going to kill him, leastways, not yet.”

“You think not? You don’t know Joshua and I’ve heard David has no conscience. He almost killed my sister. I’m not going to lose my brother, not now.”

“We have to wait till they come out to meet you for the ransom,” the sheriff said. “We can’t storm the house.” A scream from the house brought all the men to their feet, seven men surrounding a five hundred square foot cabin and a tiny lean to. Nick started to bolt towards the cabin. Jeb and the Sheriff grabbed him.

“What are you doing,” Nick hissed at them. “That’s Heath. You heard him. David is hurting him.” They could hear a woman’s voice coming through the open door of the lean to that David had left open and then two more voices shouting at each other. At that moment, Nick saw something he had hoped not to see. He groaned, pushing the two men off him.

“Look,” he told the men. They looked to see Jarrod standing by the open door. Jarrod peeked inside the lean to. Nick was done waiting.

“It’s now or never,” he told the Sheriff. “Jeb, keep the men back unless it necessary. Sheriff?” Nick Barkley didn’t wait for an answer. He raced across the yard to Jarrod’s side. Jarrod was leaning against the cabin, his face a pale white. Nick rolled his eyes, but didn’t say a word. This was no place to argue with his brother. Jarrod put his finger to his lips just as David came storming out of the house with Willa. Jarrod pulled Willa out of harms way while Nick drew his gun on the surprised man.

“Drop it,” Nick warned David in a low voice, apparently not low enough. Nick saw Joshua in the open door way. For a split second the eyes of the two men, both intent on getting what they wanted, locked on each with self evident hatred. Joshua raised his gun. In a horrified instant, Nick Barkley saw the man aim the gun, not towards him, but inside the cabin. There was no doubt as to what he was going to do. Sensing Nick’s distraction as the color drained from his rugged cheeks, David saw his chance. Nick was raising his gun to fire at Joshua when David rushed him. Simultaneous shots were fired, echoing through the silence of the early morning in a thunderous roar that rang in Nick’s ears. He fell beneath David, hitting his head hard on the ground…

“Heath!” the dark cowboy whispered as his brain exploded with pain. He tried to get up, but fell back stunned. The cowboy’s hazel eyes saw only darkness overhead as he started to give into the darkness, but all the while his mind screamed in anguish for the brother who was so close…and yet so far. “Heath!

* * * * * * * *

Audra Barkley was dreaming, dreaming of riding Willow across the range, racing her brother, Heath. She smiled to herself at Heath’s strong lean body leaning forward to encourage Charger to ride like the wind. He was one with the horse, Heath was. She knew their father would have been so proud to know his youngest son, so proud of Heath’s courage, his kindness and his sense of humor. She couldn’t imagine her life without Heath, and she never wanted to find out what life would be like without him.

“Heath, you cheated.” the young woman teased as she pulled Willow up beside Charger. Heath, dressed in tan corduroy pants, a blue shirt and a brown vest with brown cowboy boots helped his sister dismount. His laughter echoed through the trees, the wind carrying it like music across the golden land.

“Sis, I never cheat,” he announced. “What makes you think I did?’

“Well, Charger is bigger and faster than Willow, isn’t he?” she asked with a demure gaze. Heath gave her his lopsided grin, cocking his head in amusement.

“I guess he is at that. So if you rode, Charger, you think you would beat me?”

“I know I would.”

“Okay. After we rest the horses a bit, I’ll give you a chance, but if you fall of, you better explain to Mother.”

“I never fall,” Audra said with pride. Heath just smiled. Audra sat down on the ground with her brother. They took a rest under a tree while the horses grazed nearby. Heath leaned back, his hand over his face.

“Don’t,” he said as she took a bird’s feather that she found nearby and started to tickle his neck.

“How did you know?” she grinned.

“You’re my sister,” Heath returned not moving his arm. “You were getting awfully close, so I just figured you were up to no good, and I was right.” Audra shook her head. She sat next to Heath.

“Heath?”

“Yeah, Sis?”

“Promise you’ll always be around?” Heath took his arm off his face and sat up. His baby blue eyes searched Audra’s pretty face.

“Where the heck did that come from?” he queried in a flabbergasted tone.

“I don’t know. It just did.”

“Audra, I’m not going anywhere that I know of, but if I do, I’ll let you know, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay. I feel like you’re going to leave and never come back.” Heath leaned towards his sister. The two looked so much alike with their blond hair and Barkley coloring. Heath put his hand on Audra’s shoulder. The bond between them held them close as Heath gave his sister his word even though he couldn’t guarantee he could keep it.

“Sis, I promise, I won’t leave you.” Audra took a deep breath.

“Good. Now, I’ll beat you back to the ranch.” Her mischievous smile made Heath laugh again at his impetuous sibling. She was up and mounting Charger before he could stop her. In seconds, the blond was on Willow and chasing Audra back to the ranch. Audra heard him behind her. The world around her was so beautiful, so filled with the colors of nature, the green trees, the golden grass, the distant hill and the blue sky with a bright sun shining down seemed so impressionable. She looked back to see Heath gaining on her. Racing with Charger’s muscled body running beneath her, she saw the gates that led to the house coming up. Turning her head back she looked again to see if Heath was gaining. She reined in Charger when she saw he wasn’t following her. He was gone. Heath was just gone. Charger pulled at the bite as Audra suddenly yanked the reins. He threw up his fore feet, throwing Audra backwards to the ground. Suspended in the air for an eternity, the young woman screamed, not for herself but for her missing brother.

“Heath! Heath, where are you?” She hit the ground and all the color in the world around her vanished, along with her breath. She fought to breathe.

“Audra! Audra, Sweetheart.” Victoria Barkley called to her daughter. “Audra, wake up now.” Dr. Marlowe stood on one side of Audra’s bed with Victoria sitting on the other, stroking Audra’s hand to stimulate her.

“Heath,” Audra cried out, her voice carrying through the house again. “Heath, you promised!”

“Audra! Oh, Sweetheart, please wake up,” the mother begged, wishing at the same time that Audra would stop calling for her brother. Each time she heard the torment in her daughter’s voice when she called for Heath, it was like a knife stabbing her in the heart. Slowly Audra’s eyelids fluttered. Victoria held her breath as she looked at Dr. Marlowe. Would her daughter see? Would she be herself again or would she have brain damage from the surgery. Dr. Marlowe nodded. Victoria called to her child again.

“Audra. Sweetheart, come back to me.” At the last plea, Audra Barkley opened her blue eyes, her beautiful face moving from side to side as the girl cried out one more time.

“Mother? Mother, where’s Heath? He promised he wouldn’t leave. Mother, WHERE IS HEATH?”

Chapter 12

Hawthorne, California

Jarrod Barkley pushed Willa out of harms way, then fired his gun simultaneously with Joshua. He cursed realizing he hadn’t stopped the man from probably shooting, maybe killing his own brother. With grim satisfaction, Jarrod witnessed the man grab his chest, his hands rapidly becoming covered with his cowardice blood. With a look of shock Joshua fell to the ground, his smoking gun hitting the dirt beside him. Jarrod started toward the cabin, fighting to keep from collapsing right there. Nick lay on the ground apparently unconscious. David had rushed back into the cabin and Willa raced back to Jarrod pulling on his arm in desperation.

“You have to stop him. He’ll kill Heath. For God’s sake.” Jarrod brushed the woman off him and rushed to Nick’s side on wobbly feet. Kneeling down, he told himself to keep control of himself. Sudden shots from in side the cabin made him freeze as Nick started to come around. Willa fell to her knees in horror, her hysterical screams eliciting a response from one of the men who came up to try and help her.

“He’s killed him. Oh God, Heath!” Nick sprang to his feet, charging through the door of the lean to without thinking. He fell inside, as his own dizziness overcame him. Jarrod followed behind him, his gun drawn, ready to face whatever he had to with quiet courage. Jarrod stood in the doorway, staring in surprise at the man who stood there while the man looked down at Nick sprawled form with obvious amusement.

“Nick…nice entrance,” Jeb teased. “I could use your help, but you might want to get up first.” Nick growled in frustration, and then let Jeb help him up. He stood for a second letting the world around him focus just in time to hear Jarrod’s ragged cry.

“Heath. Oh my God.” Nick literally jumped over David’s dead body, obviously felled by Jeb’s bullet, and knelt by his brother’s side.

“Jarrod, let me look him over,” Nick begged. “Get the doc if you can.”

“It’ll be faster to take him to the Abbott’s,” Jarrod returned. “Jeb go back to the hotel. Dr. Abbott is there.”

“The hell he is,” Dr. Abbott said coming into the room behind the sheriff. “Barkley, I ought to…”

“Shut up, Walter and get over here,” Nick yelled. “He’s barely breathing. That no good son of a b**** shot my brother on top of everything else.” Dr. Abbott stopped for a second when he saw his nephew lying on the ground, his empty eyes staring up in mute recrimination at the man. For a brief instant time stood still as Walter Abbott remembered the boy David had been, wondering if he could have done anything different to avoid this tragedy. If only…

“Doctor,” Jarrod yelled. “For the love of God, we need you.” Dr. Abbott hurried to his patient. Jarrod jumped to the other side of his brother’s body while Nick knelt by his head. Dr. Abbott opened his bag, and used his stethoscope to listen to the battered man’s heart. Lifting the man’s shirt, all three of the men recoiled in shock. Heath’s body was all bruises, some new some a few days old and some in between. Dr. Abbott shook his head. He listened to Heath’s heart, and then checked his ribs. Even unconscious, Heath stiffened as his broken ribs were palpated lightly. Anger at David’s obvious cruelty replaced the grief the good man was feeling. How could any human being do this to another? He looked at Jarrod and Nick whose faces told him how very distressed they were.

“Get those handcuff’s off him. We’ve got to move him to the house. His pulse is very fast and he’s losing blood. Nick take off your bandana and put it over his side to staunch the blood flow. He’s burning with fever. God, it’s amazing he’s alive.” The sheriff and Jeb both hurried to help. The sheriff had keys but they didn’t fit the handcuffs. Nick, his eyes on his brother’s ashen face looked up as Willa rushed to David’s side. She started digging through the man’s pockets. Triumphantly she held up a key.

“Bastard,” she muttered as she stood up. She knelt by Jarrod and tenderly took off the handcuffs that had held Heath captive.

“Lady, you helping my brother?” Nick wondered out loud.

“Nick, this is Willa. Don’t blame her for what David did.”

“She could have told us he was here. She could have told the sheriff.” Willa didn’t defend herself. She simply rubbed Heath’s wrists.

“Nick, we don’t have time for that,” Dr. Abbott said. “We need a wagon to transport him. I’m telling you, he’s running out of time, and I don’t have the equipment I need to help him properly.”

“We’ve got a wagon hidden near by,” Nick said. “I figured…well I knew…” He looked at Jeb. Jeb left quickly. The sheriff stared to look around the room and do his investigation. Nick kept his hand on the bandana that was rapidly becoming soaked with blood. Willa lifted her dress and ripped off a piece of her petticoat. It was clean. He took it and used it to keep pressure on the wound and hopefully staunch the blood. Both he and Jarrod listened in amazement to Willa talking as Dr. Abbott tended to Heath’s cuts and abrasions as best he could.

“Heath, listen to me. You’re safe now. Dr. Abbott is going to fix you right up. You’ll be able to go back to your fancy home and your family. No more mining towns for you, Friend. Oh, Heath, please, please don’t give up now. Please, don’t let David and Joshua win. Please for the past, Heath, for my brother. He wouldn’t want you to give up either. Heath!” Heath’s agonal breathing was pure torture to watch. Jeb came in to the shack with a few of the men. They were going to pick up Heath. Nick waved them off.

“We’ll do it,” he said.

“Nick, for crying out loud, let them help you. Jeb saved Heath’s life. You and Jarrod look like hell,” Dr. Abbott scolded. He stood up. Jarrod and Nick exchanged glances. Wordlessly, they picked up their brother between them despite the doctor’s objection. Foolhardy stubborn men, he thought, his admiration continuing to rise. Stumbling a little beneath their burden, trying to ignore that Heath was a dead weight in their arms, and trying most of all to ignore his tortured breaths, the brothers gently laid Heath on some blankets in the wagon. Dr. Abbott wasn’t surprised when both Jarrod and Nick climbed up into the wagon on either side of their brother. Nick made room for Dr. Abbott. They all were surprised when Willa jumped on the seat next to Jeb.

“Walter, iffn you don’t mind, Heath and me, we’re old friends, and I got nuthin keeping me here. I’d feel a mite safer with you than anywhere’s else right now, and I can help Martha tending Heath, and his brothers.”

“Well, Willa, if you can see these boys need assistance, you’re just the nurse I need,” Dr. Abbott chuckled. Willa turned back, exchanging glances with Jeb. The other men got on their horses. Nick told them to wait on the edge of town for another hour or so and then Jeb would tell them about Heath’s condition. They could at least let their mother know what had happened. Dr. Abbott started barking out orders as the wagon started to move.

“Nick, keep on putting pressure on that wound. It’s a damn good thing he took the bullet in the side and not the stomach. If he lost much more blood, I don’t think he would make it. I’m not sure he will as it is. Jarrod, talk to him. Keep him with us any way you can.” Willa took over Jarrod’s job by bursting into song. Heath, unconscious as he was seemed to hear the song as his eyes moved beneath the lids, then relaxed. Willa kept on singing and the wagon kept on moving towards town. In the woods, Dr. Abbott spotted the trunk that Nick and Jeb had brought with them to the hotel. The trunk was on the ground, but the mule that usually carried it was no where to be seen.

“Nick, don’t you want us to stop and get the trunk?” Nick and Jarrod gave wry smiles. Nick shook his head.

“We don’t have time,” he said simply.

“You don’t have time…for $100,000 dollars. Why don’t you at least have the sheriff watch it?”

“Wouldn’t do any good,” Nick answered. He was watching Heath’s chest, counting his breaths with each one of his own. Dr. Abbott had bandaged him up as best he could, but still the doctor kept taking the blond’s pulse, and checking for injuries he hadn’t seen yet.

“Nick you aren’t making any sense. Your mother is going to have a heart attack. I mean she knew she might lose the money I’m sure to get Heath back, but now you’ve got him back…” The trunk was far behind them as they neared town. Jarrod looked at the doctor with a solemn expression.

“No offense, Walter, but we never intended to pay the ransom.”

“What?”

“Doc do you know what it’s like to think someone you love is dead? Have you ever lost someone close to you?” Jarrod asked.

“Yes, yes I have. I do understand.”

“We thought, my brother, my mother and I, we thought Audra was gone, that we had lost her. Audra is the sunlight in our house, our only sister, my mother’s only daughter. As for Heath, well, he kind of is the legacy our father left us that we didn’t even know existed for most of our lives. Heath brings a wholeness to our family that was missing after our father died. If the men who have done their best to shatter my family’s lives thought we were going to pay them for it, well they had another thing coming. And in case you’re worried about my mother, she had an equal vote. Getting Heath back alive was a long shot. Paying them wasn’t even a decision.”

“Soooo…” Dr. Abbott contemplated, still watching his patient, but hazarding a glance at Jarrod and Nick… “What’s in the trunk.”

“What do you think? Nick dared. “Newspaper clippings of course.” Dr. Abbott’s face turned red with suppressed amusement and admiration for the courage and defiance of these two men. He looked down at the young man he was trying to save. He had a good idea of the extent of Heath’s injuries. He figured most men would have caved in long ago. He shook his head in complete bewilderment.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” he muttered choking on his laughter.

“Promise, Doc, if you don’t save my brother…” Nick replied. Dr. Abbott’s face paled. Jarrod put his hand on the doctor’s arm while giving Nick a fierce look.

“He was just kidding Doc. We know you’ll do your best.” The wagon pulled up in front of the doctor’s house before he could reply. Nick managed a sheepish apology. Martha Abbott threw open the door. Between the three men, they got Heath into the doctor’s surgery quickly. Willa and Jeb followed them into the house.

“Willa?” Martha asked. “You all right?” Willa shook her head. She fell into the woman’s arms sobbing, almost hysterical again. Jeb brushed her hair with his hand. Martha knew her husband would need her help with the Barkley’s brother. She threw Jeb a pleading word.

“Will you stay with her. There’s hot coffee and rolls in the kitchen. Where’s David?”

“He’s dead,” Willa spat out. “Good riddance.” Martha didn’t answer. Like her husband, her heart ached for the boy she had loved once. Maybe it was a good thing he was out of the misery he had created in his life. Jeb touched Willa’s shoulder as Nick and Jarrod came out of the surgery.

“Miss, would you like some coffee?” he asked. Willa ran to Heath’s brothers.

“I want to be with him. I can help.”

“Mrs. Abbott, Walter asked us to fetch you. Said we’d be more of a hindrance than a help.” Martha nodded. She whispered something to Willa, then disappeared into the surgery. Jarrod collapsed in complete exhaustion on a chair in the waiting area. Nick sat with him. Jeb and Willa waited. Finally Nick spoke as Jarrod fell into a restless sleep next to him. Neither brother had really slept in over 24 hours.

“Jeb, go tell the men to get on home. They’ve got enough supplies to see them through I think. Tell them there will be a generous bonus in their pay.”

“And your mother?” Jeb wondered.

“We don’t know if she can come. Heath…he’s in bad shape.” Nick choked on the last two words. “Walter told us point blank that he’s critical. But Audra needs her too. I guess if you’re going back, you could tell her what’s what and she can make up her own mind.”

“I’m staying,” Jeb said. “You fellas still might need my help.”

“Duncan is our oldest hand. I know. I’ll write out a note for Mother, and he can give it to her.” Wearily, Nick went behind the desk of the waiting area. In the desk drawer he found writing paper, and a pen with ink on the surface. He wrote a short note almost as if it were a telegram.

“Dear Mother: Jarrod and I are safe. Sorry to report that Heath is injured. His condition is critical, but he’s free. He’s getting the best care possible. Will update you by telegraph as fast as we can. Please telegraph me in care of Dr. Walter Abbott if you can come and/or to update us about our sister. We’re very worried. Love to you, Beautiful Lady and Audra. Nick and Jarrod.”

“Jarrod would like that,” Nick smiled looking over at his sleeping brother. “She needs a little reassurance and Beautiful Lady is something he calls her often.”

“She is a beautiful Lady,” Jeb agreed. “I’ll take the note. Miss Willa, can you get the boys some coffee and rolls.” Willa, still wiping away her tears nodded. To her surprise, Jeb hugged her and patted her on the shoulder.

“You’re safe now, Miss, specially if Heath is an old friend of yours. Your singing may have kept him with us. The Barkley’s owe you I’d say and that’s usually a good thing.”

“Jeb!” Nick bellowed. The deputy raced out of the house, laughing all the way. Nick shook his head, then looked up with a little embarrassment at Willa.

“You wouldn’t know where there was a blanket I could put over my brother? You see he was shot last night.” Willa’s eyes widened.

“I wondered why he had that bandage around his head. You mean he was shot in THE HEAD, and he still came to save Heath?”

“Well, Heath is special,” Nick answered.

“I know. I did know him when he was a boy. My brother and him was best friends.”

“Really? Then how come you didn’t help him?” This was the second time Nick had accused Willa of betraying Heath. He didn’t expect the slap that stung his face. He stood up and grabbed her wrist.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

“Let me go! You don’t know what happened out there. Why didn’t you come sooner? Why couldn’t you find him? He called out for you and you didn’t come. David and Joshua beat him between the two of them and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I tried once and almost got myself killed. I’m not going to defend myself to you or them anymore. Heath knows what I did and why I did it. He’ll tell you!” Willa’s words were like fire singeing Nick’s mind. He released Willa’s wrist.

“He might tell us,” he conceded in a numb tone. “My brother might…if he isn’t dead by morning the way the doc thinks.” Nick sat down and put his hands between his head. To his surprise, Willa knelt in front of him.

“Don’t you worry none, Mister. Compared to what Heath’s been through in his lifetime, this is a walk in the park. He’s going to be fine. I just bet he is.” Nick shook his head and prayed the girl was right. He watched the girl walk away either for coffee or a blanket. He wasn’t sure which. But as he watched her back, he realized he was glad she had been with Heath. Maybe, just maybe in all the horror Heath lived through, this little lady helped him. And anyone who helped Heath was a friend to Nick Barkley. He looked upward and said a silent prayer then started to pace again…while Jarrod slept in a restless slumber. The world still felt as if it were shattering around Nick. He wondered if could survive without Heath. Willa come back into the room with a blanket and two cups of hot coffee. Nick took the coffee and put it on a small table while Willa gently placed the blanket over Jarrod. She turned back to Nick.

“Thank-you,” he said simply.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Barkley. I wish Heath had known you when we were children. I bet he’d be a different man.”

“Yeah? How’s that?”

“Heath always wanted a brother, someone to go fishing with and help him in the mines. My brother did that until Heath went off to war and then my brother got killed in the mines. Heath needed a brother, and a father. His life would have been different.”

“He’s a strong man. He’ll be all right just like you said.”

“Yes, he will,” Willa agreed. “The question is, will you?”

* * * * * * * *

“Mother? Where’s Heath?” Audra Barkley demanded. “Where is he?” The girl was practically hysterical. Victoria pulled her into her arms and hugged her.

“Mother, I’m confused. Where’s Heath. I have to see him.” Dr. Marlowe stood by uncertain as to what to do for the girl until she calmed down.

“Sweetheart, Heath isn’t here. He’s…he’s in a place called Hawthorne.”

“He’s not dead? Oh, please, Mother. Tell me he’s not…” Victoria faced her child. She held her perhaps a little too hard by the arms.

“He’s not dead,” she told him. “You mustn’t think that way, Audra. You mustn’t. Do you hear me?” Audra took some deep breaths. Her eyes wondered around the room. Victoria’s heart leaped as she exchanged glances with Dr. Marlowe. Then the world splintered around her as Audra spoke.

“Mother?”

“Yes, Sweetheart?”

“It’s hazy and dark. Why is that? Did you leave the light dim?” Victoria kept herself from gasping in fright. “It looks like a storm just passed. What happened?” The girl’s voice was becoming more anxious. “Mother?”

“Audra, oh God.” Victoria started to hug her daughter when she saw Dr. Marlowe shake his head. Audra’s appearance was one of sheer terror as she cried out for the only person she knew was close by.

“I can’t see, Mother. I can’t see your face. Mother! It’s dark. It’s a hole I can’t get out of!! Mother!”

“Audra stop it,” Dr. Marlowe said, pushing Victoria gently out of the way. “You’re getting hysterical and that won’t help you or your mother. I’m Dr. Marlowe. I’m a specialist from San Francisco. Now you need to calm down and listen to me. Do you understand?” Sniffling a bit, the young woman took a moment to gulp back her fear. Finally she nodded. Victoria took her hand and Audra squeezed it gratefully.

“Now let me examine your eyes, and we’ll see what the story is.”

“Please, Doctor,” Audra begged. With her mother holding her hand, Audra laid back on the blankets. She didn’t say anything about the headache that she was just starting to feel. Her mind was on seeing anything beyond the dark haziness that fogged her vision. She felt the doctor examining her and answered his questions, but each answer was the same as he asked her his question.

“Do you see this, Audra?” and each time she said no. When he was finished his heavy sigh hung in the air. Audra practically held her breath waiting for the man to speak.

“Dr. Marlowe?” her mother’s voice said. “Please, tell us. My daughter has a right to know what’s happening.” Audra didn’t miss the catch in her beloved mother’s tone. She was almost as afraid as Audra herself. The girl closed her eyes, opening them hoping to see…hoping even as she realized the bitter truth.

“Well, Mrs. Barkley. Right now Audra can’t see. Whether the blindness is from nerve damage or swelling around the optic nerve I do not know. I won’t say she’ll see again, but I won’t say it’s permanent either. We’re just going to have to give it some time.”

Audra felt her mother stiffen, but neither woman said anything as the words sank in.

“Audra, are you having any pain?” Dr. Marlowe asked.

“My head,” She admitted. “It hurts something fierce.”

“Well, I’ve got some headache powders. Here, let’s see if you can drink something and take these powders.” The doctor took the glass of water, Victoria poured from a waiting decanter into the glass and then emptied a powder from his bag into the glass. He swished the water around to stir it up. Audra drank the four ounces slowly. Dr. Marlowe watched her for a second and was grateful she kept the water down. He spoke softly to her to ease her pain.

“Do you remember what happened?”

“Dr. Marlowe, not now,” Victoria cried. “She’s been through enough.”

“No, Mother, I remember,” Audra intervened. “There were some men. They were hurting Heath. Oh Mother are you sure Heath didn’t come home?”

“Audra Barkley, you do beat all,” Victoria laughed.

“Why?” The young woman found herself being hugged close. Then her mother was brushing her blond hair away from her face. She couldn’t see Victoria’s face, but she could imagine it and she felt the pride in her mother’s voice as she spoke.

“You’ve been very ill, Sweetheart. We almost lost you. You just found out you can’t see and you’re worried about your brother.”

“Oh, Mother. I just want to see…” Audra’s voice evaporated as the reality of the situation hit her. She was going to say she wanted to see Heath. But now she knew she might never “see” any of her brothers again. She was blind. Her mother held her close as she wept for what something she never thought she would lose, the privilege of sight, of seeing the beauty in her mother’s face, the strength in her brothers’ hearts, and the delighted eyes of the orphans she cared for. Victoria let her daughter cry until the girl suddenly fell asleep. Victoria felt her daughter’s body grow limp and for a second thought they were losing her again.

“Dr. Marlowe, help her,” she told the man. Lying her daughter back down on the soft bed, she let Dr. Marlowe examine Audra again. He sat back on the bed as he finished.

“She’s all right, Mrs. Barkley. In fact I think she’s going to be just fine.”

“You’re certain?”

“Well, there’s always the potential for complications, but in this instance, I think Audra has won her battle. Her dressing is dry and it likes as though she is just sleeping. It’s the best thing for her.”

“Thank God,” the mother exclaimed. “Dr. Marlowe you may think I’m insane, but I’m going to pray for another miracle. My daughter will see again…if nothing else in a way that allows her to live the most normal life possible.” Dr. Marlowe smiled.

“Mrs. Barkley, after what you did to save your daughter, I believe you. I’ll be leaving on the evening train. Dr. Merar can take over from here. Audra needs to stay in bed for at least a week, with short walks to the bathroom, but that’s all. She’s going to be more sore before she’s better. Any unnecessary jarring could cause more bleeding in the brain and then we would surely lose her.”

“I understand, Dr. Marlowe. Thank you so much. We can never repay you.”

“Yes you can. When Audra is well and ready to dance at the ball, I am certain that will be adequate compensation.”

“You are perfectly correct,” Victoria commented. Dr. Marlowe went back to his room to rest. Victoria sat down by her daughter’s side again. She treasured every minute of watching her youngest child sleep. The natural breathing, the beauty of her face, and the very fact she was out of the woods was a blessing. Victoria spoke in a soft prayer, her voice pleading with the God she knew and loved.

“Dear Lord,” She begged. “I know your plan isn’t always what we want. You gave me a daughter when I wanted one so badly, and she is everything I asked for. She has beauty, courage, spirit and the same fire that her brothers have. Her life is in front of her. Please, please let her see what is coming at her. Please don’t leave her in the dark. I can only ask you to be with her and help her through this time. Just as I ask you to be with all my sons and bring them back to me. Please God, Let them come back to me.” The mother fell asleep in the chair, murmuring her prayer for her children over and over again.

Audra woke before her mother. She was still in pain, but that wasn’t what frightened her. She started at the darkness that filled her room, wondering what time it was. Slowly her gaze focused. Her stomach plummeted to the floor in dread acceptance. The haze hadn’t lifted. She couldn’t even see her own hand in front of her face. Grief for her loss threatened to overwhelm her until she thought of Heath. She remembered that day, how he had defended her so bravely. She could hear, if she listened carefully to someone breathing in the room, a light soft breath that she was fairly certain belonged to her mother. If she cried, she knew her mother would comfort her, but she would also be distressed. The last thing in the world, Audra Barkley wanted to do was upset her mother. She lay quietly until someone knock on the door. She heard her mother move quickly on soft padded feet to the door, her skirts swishing as she opened it.

“Silas, Audra is sleeping. What is it?”

“It’s a note, from Mr. Nick,” Silas said. “Duncan is downstairs. He wants to know what he should do. He didn’t know if you would want him or one of the men to take you back to Hawthorne with him.”

“I can’t leave Audra,” Victoria said. “Silas stay with me, please.” Victoria sat down in the chair. She gasped and burst into tears thinking Audra was still asleep. Audra’s breath caught her up short. She sat up, calling out in renewed terror.

“Mother? What is it? What’s wrong? Is it one of the boys? Is it Heath?” Victoria closed her eyes. What was she going to do? Heath could die, and she might never see him again. He NEEDED his mother, but then so did Audra. Audra was far from well, and now the blindness…Dear God, she couldn’t face adjusting to the blindness alone. If only one of the boys was here.

“Mother.”

“I’m here, Sweetheart,” Victoria said. “Oh, Audra.” The mother walked over to her daughter’s bed, and hugged her close. She clung to her daughter, caught between a rock and a hard place. It was a choice only Solomon could make for a mother torn between two children who needed her equally, and the truth was she could only be with one. The question was, which one was more important? Which one?

Continued…