(Parts 1-9)
by Livvie
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.
Her bright blue eyes smoldered in resentment toward the pacing figure in front
of her. There was no way she was sorry for she did. She had never been sorry
for anything in her entire life, and no stuffed shirt Counselor Barkley was
going to make her start now.
Jarrod Barkley stopped pacing
and placed his uncalloused hands flat on his desk, leaning forward slightly.
His own intense blue eyes were fixed on the teenage girl in front of him.
"Now look," he
began," we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. The
sheriff instructed me to get some basic information from you and I'm going to
do it one way or another."
"That's what you
think," she snapped back," What do you need information for? The
storeowner already dropped the charges against me; you got no right to hold me
here!"
Jarrod fought down the urge to
shout. Something, he thought absently, that he wished his brother Nick would do
more of. Instead what he said was this:
"If you won't tell me what
I want to know, what makes you think I'll tell you what YOU want to know?"
The girl scowled, if there
wasn't anything she hated more than sitting in a stuffy office, it was the
smug, stuffy lawyer that went with it.
"The name's Rose,"
she mumbled.
"Now that's very nice, does
it have a last name to go with it?"
Now it was her turn to be smug.
"You said you wanted BASIC
information, my first name IS basic information...anything else would be
strictly personal."
Jarrod sat down in his desk
chair and folded his hands in front of him.
"Now look Rose, I'll be
happy to let you leave the minute that you provide me with enough information
so that I might contact your parents."
For a moment Jarrod could have
sworn he saw her skin pale slightly.
"Whaddya need to contact them
for?" she asked...sarcasm gone.
"You stole food from the
General Store, now don't you think that's something that they should know
about?"
She regained her composure
quickly.
"Sure thing," she
said, sarcasm back. "If'n I had parents."
Jarrod felt a slight pang of
sympathy.
"You don't have
parents?"
She began to play with the
buttons on her shirt sleeve.
"Nope."
Jarrod sighed," Well then
Little Lady, that presents us with a problem."
"For you maybe, I can just
get up and leave." she stood up and headed for the front door.
"THAT'S the problem,"
Jarrod said stopping her in her tracks.
"WHY is THAT a problem?
You said I could leave as soon as I gave you information."
"Well that was before you
disclosed that you didn't have parents."
Rose stiffened, she was
beginning to understand what he was trying to tell her.
"You can't send me home
because I don't have a home to go to?"
Jarrod nodded as she flopped
back down in her chair.
"Now listen
Counselor," she said defensively," I've been on my own for the past
year now. I don't need a home with parents to depend on. I depend on myself, do
you understand?"
"You depend on yourself
and yet you needed to steal food from someone else to keep from starving to
death? No Rose, you are thirteen, maybe fourteen years old, you need someone
whether you want to admit it or not. The last place in this world that you need
to be is on the streets scrounging to get by!!!"
"But I HAVE been getting
by!!! That's my point!!!" she shouted, rising to her feet. Jarrod rose to
meet her.
"And MY point is that if I
let you go now, knowing what I know, it would weigh very heavy on my
conscience."
"So you don't care what
happens to me anymore than anyone else does. Is that right Counselor."
Jarrod massaged his temple in
frustration. "You're very exasperating for one so young.
"And you very exasperating
for one so old Counselor."
Jarrod resumed his earlier
position of leaning forward on his desk.
"First of all Young Lady, I
am not old...I just want to clear that up. Second of all, what I meant was that
I'm involved now and I couldn't let you go even if I wanted to."
She matched his leaning
position on the opposite side of the desk.
"All right then Mr.
Barkley...what do you propose we do?"
* * * * * * * *
"I propose that you stay
at the Stockton orphanage until we can find a suitable home for you,"
Jarrod suggested.
"Now wait a minute
Counselor, I'm not going to any old orphanage to sit around and be studied by
adults like some horse being sold at auction," Rose snapped in protest.
"Then what do you propose
we do?" Jarrod asked, echoing her earlier words.
She plopped down in her chair,
smug smile on her face. At least, to Jarrod, it seemed smug.
"I have an Aunt in New
York, I could stay with YOU until you reach her."
Jarrod's eyes opened wide, she
was definitely forward in her mannerism wasn't she?
"With ME???"
"Well why not?" she
pouted..."If you send me to an orphanage I'll just run away, and you said
that you were too involved now to let me go and it would way heavily on your
conscience."
Why that sneaky little, Jarrod
thought. Eying her eager face Jarrod laughed out loud.
"Well I don't really see a
problem with it, but my family might."
Rose stood back up and drew
herself up to her full height...which, in reality wasn't very tall at all.
"Why would they? I'm
adorable, they'd love me."
Jarrod surveyed her up and
down, "That's debatable" he said.
"Sure, fine," she
said, sounding hurt," you don't trust me?"
"Now I never said THAT and
you know it," Jarrod said defensively. Sighing he added, "Alright
we'll give it a try, just let me talk to the sheriff first."
* * * * * * * *
Rose stood leaning against the
post next to the sheriff's office when Jarrod finally came out. His ears were
still ringing with the load of objections that the sheriff had come up with
before finally, and rather reluctantly, agreeing to let her go with him to the
ranch. The objections were to be suspected though, he'd had several two years
ago when he took in Maybelle Williams, and look how well she turned out.
"So what did he say?"
she asked.
He decided to bypass all the
gristly detail so instead he said," It took a little debating on my part,
but he finally saw my point."
"Which means...?"
"It means he said
yes," Jarrod said, spelling it out.
She breathed a sigh of relief,
happy that she wouldn't have to go to the orphanage after all.
"So..." she said
changing the subject," do you think that since I'm staying with your
family for a spell, that maybe I need to know a little about them?"
They were on their way to the
livery stable to fetch the buggy as Jarrod tried his best to answer her
questions.
"Well let's see...there's my
mother and little sister Audra. Then there's my three brothers, Heath and
Eugene who are the quieter of two. But Nick...well you might have to watch out
for him."
Rose stopped dead in her
tracks, paling considerably. "Watch out for him how?" she squeaked.
Jarrod didn't notice her change
in pallor, but instead kept walking, letting her fall behind.
"I only meant that he can
be a little louder than you might be used to."
Trust me, She thought, I'm used
to a lot. But noticing his relaxed tone she to relaxed and hurried to catch up.
"I ain't scared of
nobody!!!" she informed him.
* * * * * * * *
So the deal had been made and
Rose now found herself seated in a buggy next to a wealthy lawyer, a position
that she NEVER thought she'd ever be in. She hated to admit it to anyone else
but she was extremely nervous. Would the Barkleys mind her staying with them
for a spell? Would she WANT to? Well...she could already answer the second
question, of COURSE she did. If she didn't she wouldn't have lied about her New
York aunt. She might as well enjoy her stay with the aristocracy while the
pretenses lasted.
* * * * * * * *
She had been so wrapped up in
her thoughts that she hadn't noticed when the buggy stopped. She started out of
her seat when a large hand waved in front of her face. She slapped in away in
annoyance.
"Don't do that!" she
snapped.
Jarrod smiled at the burr under
her saddle, she sure could work up a fuss in a hurry.
"You were awfully quiet
during the ride out here, I was just making sure you were still in there."
Rose rolled her eyes as she
jumped down out of the buggy at his mild, but unfunny, joke.
"Where would I go?"
she asked sarcastically.
Jarrod shrugged his shoulders, stepping
down from his own seat in the buggy. He was already headed for the front door
when he looked back at the teenage girl. She stood rooted to her spot on the
ground...neck stretched all the way back....staring at the large white mansion
in awe.
"Rose?" he called to
her.
She looked at him, almost
guiltily. She was only more than a little embarrassed that she'd been caught
staring. She followed him to the front door. Jarrod held it for her as she
walked in...eyes almost bulging out of her skull as she took in her
surroundings. Turning to face Jarrod and forgetting her manners yet again she
asked:
"This IS where you live
right? You ain't foolin' me are you?"
"He most certainly
isn't," a feminine voice said behind them.
Rose turned back around to see
a well dressed elderly woman descending the stairs. At least, Rose SUPPOSED she
was elderly. If the woman didn't have solid white hair she wouldn't have
guessed her to be any older than Counselor Barkley behind her.
"Hello," the woman
continued pleasantly," I'm Victoria Barkley, Jarrod's mother."
If she hadn't been remembering
her few lessons in manners this time, Rose's jaw might have been scraping the
ground. She looked at Jarrod.
"THIS is your
mother?" she asked.
He nodded just as Victoria said,
"Why? shouldn't I be?"
The teenager felt her face
growing hot and just KNEW that it was turning the color of her namesake.
"No Ma'am," she
stammered, "I mean, yes Ma'am. I mean...I just didn't expect Mr. Barkley's
Ma to be so...pretty."
Jarrod chuckled silently as he
watched the girl that was so brash in his office be so awkward in the presence
of his mother. Somehow he got the feeling that this just might work
out...provided that Victoria took the news of their new house guest in good
stride. But it was best to worry about one thing at a time.
"Come on Rose,"
Jarrod interrupted them," let me show you your room."
He noted Victoria's confused
face and added," I'll explain in a minute Mother."
Nodding her consent, Jarrod took
Rose upstairs. As soon as they were in the upstairs hall and out of his
mother's earshot he whispered to Rose..."You know if you keep that
flattery up, my Mother my decide to NEVER let you leave."
Again...Rose felt her face
flush, but she said nothing.
* * * * * * * *
Jarrod found his mother sitting
in the living room when he came back downstairs...waiting for him more than
likely. Entering the room Jarrod poured himself a drink before beginning the
inevitable conversation that he knew they were going to have.
"You know you never cease
to amaze me Mother," he began.
"Oh?" Victoria
questioned...slightly puzzled, "Why is that?"
Jarrod turned around to face
her," You got more respect out of that little lady in the last ten minutes
then I've gotten in the last two hours."
Victoria smiled," I guess
I just have the magic touch."
He tipped his glass toward her
in agreement with her playful remark. "Exactly."
"Jarrod," Victoria
said, becoming serious," why did you bring her here? I'm sure there's more
to all of this than the fact that she's a house guest."
Jarrod stared at the bottom of
his glass, Mother always knew. "Your right of course," he admitted.
"Then what is it?"
He took a deep breath and began
the story.
"Jake Thomas caught Rose stealing
food out of his store, he decided not to press charges because this was her
first offense and because she seemed to be new around town. But he DID want her
parents to be notified of her misdemeanor. Fred tried his hand at questioning
her and wasn't able to get anywhere so he called me over." Jarrod stopped,
a faint smile on his lips as her remembered the state the Sheriff was in when
he handed the teenager over to him for questions.
"Anyway," he began
again," to make a long story short, I didn't get much out of her either.
However, she did manage to tell me that she didn't have any parents. Of course
I couldn't very well let her leave my office after hearing that." He
looked over at Victoria, making sure she was still following, which she was.
"I suggested to her that she stay at the orphanage until a suitable home
could be found. It was an idea that she rejected, and to be quite honest it
wasn't one that I had the heart to go through with anyway. It was clear to me
that she needed proper attention, and that was something she just wasn't going
to get at an orphanage."
"So you brought her
here?" Victoria interjected.
Jarrod nodded.
"How long will she be
staying with us?"
The lawyer swallowed his drink
down and poured himself another before answering, "That's
undetermined."
Victoria let this sink in for a
moment, then she asked, "Did she mention any family members that she could
stay with?"
"She said she had an Aunt
in New York, so if that's true, Rose will have to stay here until her aunt can
be contacted."
Victoria nodded her consent.
"Jarrod, you know I'm willing to help in any way that I can."
He looked at his mother
gratefully. "I was hoping you'd say that."
* * * * * * * *
Rose looked around in awe at
the interior of what was now her bedroom...for the hundredth time since Jarrod
had left her ten minutes before. This was to lavish to be a dream...maybe it
was just a really bad joke. On the other hand, if it was a dream, it was
certainly one she didn't want to awake from. Why would she? She wasn't in any
particular hurry to go back to her little shack in Cold Springs.
She eyed the bed longingly...it
looked so comfortable! She made a mental note to ask when the Barkleys turned
in around here. Her bed where she came from was a hard wood floor...ANYTHING
was better than that.
There she went again...thinking
about the place where she'd come from. Hadn't she promised herself that she
wasn't going to do that? Isn't that why she ran away? So that she WOULDN'T
think about it? She wasn't in Cold Springs anymore, she was in Stockton, and
she was staying with the Barkleys.
A tap on the door interrupted
her thoughts and indicated that Jarrod was back. But when the door opened Rose
was surprised to Victoria entering instead.
"Ma'am?" Rose stammered,"
I didn't expect to see you up here."
Victoria smiled at her. "I
might be getting older these days, but I can still climb a staircase."
No one had to tell Rose that
her face was turning red, she could feel the burning. Why couldn't she say the
right thing in front of this woman? Heck, why did she even open her mouth? All
she managed to do was make an idiot out of herself every time she tried.
"No Ma'am, I just meant
that..." she stopped herself when she saw the humorous glint in Victoria's
eyes.
Great, now she's laughing at
me.
"I know that isn't what
you meant Dear," she said.
Dear? No one had ever called
her "dear" before. People had called her several other choice names
that she didn't care to
think about, but never "dear".
"I just came up to see if
everything was alright."
"Oh yes Ma'am!" Rose
said quickly, and almost childishly.
Ma'am. Eventually Victoria
would have to tell Rose how much she hated being called "ma'am" but
there was a time for everything, and now wasn't time. She'd managed to break
Heath out of the habit, so now it was Rose's turn...not that she expected the
poor girl to call her "mother," but at least something that didn't
make her feel so old.
"Dinner is in a couple of
hours," she said aloud," maybe you would like to clean up before you
eat?"
Rose looked down at her
clothes...she definitely could use a bath. Her shirt was so dirty that you
could hardly tell what color it was anymore...but these were the only clothes
she had.
"I don't have nothin' else
to wear Ma'am," she told her a little sheepishly.
Victoria sympathized with the
girl, she remembered being in the same situation when she was her age.
"That's alright," she reassured, I'm sure that I can find
something." She didn't want to mention that that "something" was
one of her daughter's old things...and that they were in the attic.
"I'll show you where the bathtub is," she turned to leave.
"Ma'am?" Rose
asked," why are you doing this for me? I mean....I'm sure Mr. Barkley has
told you about...about what I did."
"You are a guest,"
Victoria replied," as long as you are here I won't treat you with any less
respect than what you deserve."
"I don't deserve this
much," Rose said," I was stealing food."
Victoria smiled," I'm not
saying you did anything right, but I can tell you that I've been guilty of
doing similar things when I was hungry."
"YOU Ma'am?" this was
surprising news.
Victoria nodded," I
haven't always been rich you know. But enough about me...let's see about that
bath."
Rose grinned," Yes
Ma'am!"
* * * * * * * *
Rose sighed with pleasure has
she lay in the warm bath water. She let her eyes droop as she felt the tension
in her muscles loosen and melt away. She'd never felt anything this good in quite
some time. Come to think of it, she'd never felt anything this good at any
time. She was only faintly aware, in her dreamy state of mind, of the soft tap
that sounded on the door.
"Rose?" the muffled
voice of Mrs. Barkley asked from outside," may I come in?"
Rose opened her eyes and sat
up," Yes Ma'am."
Victoria entered and quickly
shut the door. "I forgot to bring you a towel..." her voice trailed
off and she stared blankly at Rose's back.
"Is somethin' wrong
Ma'am?" Rose asked. She followed the older woman's gaze to the area on her
back that she was staring at. "Oh
that?" Rose said, laughing it off nervously," it was a
um...accident."
Covering the space below her
neck and almost the entire length of her spine was a huge mass of discolored
scar tissue, and it didn't look like it had been done by any accident.
"Might I ask how it
happened?" Victoria inquired.
"Oh...um...I can't really
remember too well," Rose said quickly," I was...really little."
Victoria didn't know how anyone
could forget receiving a scar of that type of magnitude, but she decided not to
press the issue. She would figure something out later. For now she just smiled
and handed Rose the towel.
"Here," she
said," I'll be right back with something for you to wear."
Then just as quickly as she
entered, she was gone again with a swish of her skirt. Rose exhaled the breath
that she hadn't known she'd been holding. Did she suspect? This could not turn
out well for her stay with the Barkleys. She just hoped that Mrs. Barkley
wouldn't mention it to the lawyer.
* * * * * * * *
Dinner. Now this was going to
be an interesting experience. At least it was going to be from what Jarrod
could figure. He could sense the poor girl's apprehension from the bottom of
the staircase. He couldn't help but feel a slight pang of sympathy for her
though, he'd always taken for granted the nice things he'd been born into,
seeing someone that had never even been inside of a real house reminded him
just how lucky he was.
"Now this couldn't be the
same girl I spent the morning interrogating, now could it?" he said
lightly.
He smiled warmly at her as he
watched her face turn bright pink. For some reason or another this girl blushed
a great deal.
Victoria wrapped an arm around
Rose's thin shoulders," She looks very pretty doesn't she Jarrod?"
Jarrod grinned," Pretty as
a picture."
What started as a light pink
made a hasty transformation into a deep crimson red. Apparently compliments
were not a commonplace in Rose's world. But indeed she did look very pretty.
She sort of reminded him of Audra when she was that age, probably had something
to do with the dress.
"Where are your
brothers?" Victoria asked her eldest.
Jarrod turned his attention to
the Barkley matriarch. "Oh, um, they said they were going to be a little
late."
Her frown of disapproval did
not go unnoticed by the ever observant lawyer.
"Well," Victoria said
brightly," let's go into dinner shall we?"
* * * * * * * *
Rose pulled her nightgown down over
her head, mindful of touching her back, thankful that the fabric was soft. She
couldn't believe she had been so careless as to let Mrs. Barkley see her scars.
However, there was no mention of them all throughout dinner, maybe she didn't
have cause for alarm. Who knew? Maybe Mrs. Barkley had already forgotten about
them. However, she still had to be more careful in the future.
Dinner had gone better than she
had anticipated. She had expected to make a fool of herself like usual. The
ones named Nick and Heath did come to dinner late, but nevertheless she got to
meet them.
Nick had seemed friendly
enough, but he was kind of...loquacious? No, he was more than that, he was
LOUD. She supposed he had his good qualities once a person got to know him, but
at the moment she didn't want to get to know anyone that made the fatal mistake
of calling her "Rosie."
Now HEATH, Heath was different.
She took an instant liking to him. He was calm, polite, and HE didn't call her
"Rosie." He was also extremely handsome. She knew too well that she
was too young for someone like him, but still, thinking about him caused her
temperature to rise to slightly above normal.
She didn't quite know what to
make of Mr. Counselor Jarrod Barkley, Attorney at Law. She had despised his
with a strong passion earlier that morning. Okay that wasn't entirely true, she
despised his smugness...his way of making you feel like a complete idiot.
However, he seemed like a reasonable down-to-earth type of man. He had a good
head on his shoulders. He seemed like the type of person one could run to for
anything, that a person could tell everything, which was probably why he was a
lawyer. He seemed to inherit these traits from his mother.
Rose was definitely pleased
that she had managed a small friendship with Mrs. Barkley. She hadn't judged
her on outward appearance or on anything she'd done wrong. That was so
different from how anyone else would have treated her, and how most everyone
else treated her already.
She climbed into bed, happy
that she'd managed to be taken in by a family like the one she was with. She
only hoped it would last.
* * * * * * * *
A sharp piercing scream
resounded in Jarrod's ears, jarring him out of his pleasant dreams and snapping
back into consciousness. He bolted out of his room and made his way down the
hall to the guest room and flung open the door.
He ran to Rose's side, and
desperately tried to wake the writhing figure. He tried to pull her up into a
sitting position fighting against her flailing arms.
"Rose!" He said,"
Rose, Honey, come on wake up."
She pushed against him trying
to get him to release his hold on her.
"LET GO!!!" she
screamed.
"Rose WAKE UP!!!" He
shouted.
Her eyes flew open in shock and
scanned her surroundings. They finally settled on Jarrod's face and she burst
into tears.
"I'm sorry Mr. Barkley,
I'm so sorry." she cried.
Jarrod pulled her into a
comforting embrace.
"Shhh," he said,
smoothing her hair," shhh...just calm down Sweetheart, it's alright. It
was just a dream."
"No," she cried
softly, barely audible. "It was real."
* * * * * * * *
Early the next morning Jarrod
found himself positioned in front of Rose's bedroom door, knocking lightly,
wanting to gain entrance. When he received no response he opened the door
slightly, peeking in to make sure she was even present. The quiet figure of the
teenage occupant sat still, back facing away from him, staring out the window.
"Mind if I come in?"
he asked.
Again he received no response.
He took the silence as an unspoken invitation and entered the room, closing the
door quietly behind him. He moved toward the window and took a seat on the
windowsill, placing himself directly in her line of vision. He took a moment to
study the almost comatose form in front of him. The only sign of life was that
her eyes were open, staring blankly ahead, seeing all and yet seeing nothing.
He glanced out of the window at the bright sunshine that flooded the scenery
outside , thinking absently how the mood outdoors and the mood indoors were in
sharp contrast with one another. It was then he decided to break the silence.
"Lovely day today, isn't
it?" he said, thinking of nothing better to start the conversation.
"What do you want
,lawyer?" she asked in a flat monotone.
Finally! He'd received more
than a blank stare! Granted it wasn't much, but in the duration of his career
he'd learned to take what he could get when he could get it.
"I wanted to see if you
were alright," Jarrod said.
She looked at him, eyes
strangely devoid of all emotion, dark and empty, like a fire after it's been
doused with water.
"No, you didn't." she
responded.
Jarrod frowned with concern.
Something was wrong. This was not the same girl he had met yesterday
afternoon. Whatever it was she had dreamed about last night had shaken her
deeply.
"Rose, what's the
matter?"
A flicker of sarcasm touched
her lips and when she spoke her voice was laden with it. "Why ,Counselor?
I thought lawyers couldn't get emotionally attached to their cases."
"First of all,"
Jarrod snapped back," I don't believe I ever referred to you as one of my
'cases.' And second of all, I can get emotionally attached to whomever I
please."
He paused after this statement,
surprising himself with what he had just said. He also knew, just by the
silence in the room, he had surprised her too. She stood up suddenly.
"Excuse me ,Mr.
Barkley," she said, trying to exit the room, but Jarrod grabbed her arm.
"Rose, I want to help
you."
She pulled her arm back
angrily. "No you don't," she hissed back. " You're the one who
wanted to put me in an orphanage in the first place, remember?"
Jarrod stood up, ." If I
had really wanted to put you in an orphanage,, Rose, you'd be there now without
a second thought."
She stared at him,
disbelieving, blue eyes meeting blue.
"It was a mistake asking
you to let me stay here," she said, turning away.
Jarrod sighed before
responding, softly and gently, "Then why did you?"
Rose laughed, trying desperately
to stop the tears that threatened to fall. "I don't know," she said
in a small voice. "I guess that for once, I just wanted to know what it
felt like to finally have everything."
Her words went through him like
a dozen knives piercing his skin. His heart ached for this girl. She was so
helpless...so alone. He longed to gather her up in his arms like he had the
night before, to cradle her and take all her pain away, like a father might for
a daughter.
"Rose, I said before that
I wanted to help you. I meant it. But you have to be honest with me before I
can do that. I know you weren't telling me the truth yesterday. You don't have
an aunt back east do you?"
Rose shook her head.
"Then why did you tell me
that you did?" he asked.
"It doesn't matter , Mr.
Barkley, because you can't help me," she said sadly," No one
can."
* * * * * * * *
Jarrod shut the door behind
him, leaving Rose's room no wiser than he had been when he had entered. The
only thing he'd gained out of the entire conversation was extremely minimal
information, and a deep sadness over what the Barkley house guest must have
endured in her short life. He wasn't at all surprised that Victoria was waiting
for him at the bottom of the stairs when he descended.
"How is she?" the
older woman asked.
Jarrod sighed heavily, almost
afraid to say it aloud, thinking that maybe if he didn't say it that it would
disappear. His voice broke slightly when he said," Not good."
Victoria placed a sympathetic
hand on his shoulder,(.)" Is there anything I can do?"
Jarrod scoffed
sarcastically," I seriously doubt that." Realizing his rudeness, he
looked at Victoria apologetically. "I'm sorry Mother. I'm just so
frustrated. I wish I knew what was troubling her."
"Did she give you any
hints?"
"No. She said it didn't
matter if she did tell me anything because 'no one can help her."
"Jarrod, did you ever stop
to consider?"
Jarrod looked at he.
"Consider what?"
"Jarrod, I don't know many
things. But the one thing that I have learned in all my years on this green
earth is that too many people build walls around themselves. They are afraid to
care too much for one person, or open up to one person because they think the
other person might not care at all."
Jarrod sat down on the bottom
stair, contemplating his mother's words of wisdom. Was that true? Did Rose
honestly think he didn't care? He would've thought that last night would have
proved it to her. After all, Jarrod didn't make a point of running into teenage
girl's rooms at night for no reason at all. He almost felt parental toward her,
like he was supposed to protect her. Although, for the life of him, he could
not figure out the reason why. He'd only met her yesterday morning.
"What can I do,
Mother?" he asked. He felt almost as helpless as when he was a boy, coming
to her for all the answers.
"What do you think you
should do?"
Jarrod hated those type of
questions. "I don't know. She told me she didn't have any family at all.
The only thing I can think of to do is take her to the orphanage in town."
Victoria stiffened at this
news. Like Jarrod, she had felt a strange protectiveness over this new
stranger. She couldn't pinpoint it's source either, but something told her that
they should never let this girl out of their sight.
"Jarrod, do you think
that's wise?"
Jarrod shook his head. " I
don't, but I don't know what else to do. I don't want to send her to any
orphanage but it's the only logical thing I can think of."
"Now you listen to me,
Jarrod Barkley," Victoria said firmly. "Logic never did anyone any
good unless they were doing arithmetic at school. Logic won't help that poor,
frightened girl upstairs. Perhaps, logic is good, as far as it goes. But you
must remember to use your heart as well as your head. If you do, I think you'll
find more answers than you know."
* * * * * * * *
A large fist smacked down hard on the thick wooden table in
front it. How dare that little brat? She thought she was so clever! Well he knew
a few secrets too. He'd been in this game too long to see her walk away from
him. He couldn't afford to have her getting mixed up with the Barkleys. He was
going to get her back, and little Miss Jennifer Tate would be in for a rude
awakening.