Remember That I Love You
It was still dark out when her father
shook her awake. "What's wrong
daddy?" The drowsy little girl
asked as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Nothing is wrong. Get up and get dressed into your ridding clothes.
Then meet me in the barn. Be
quiet okay. We don't want to wake your mother."
Her father said as his dark blue eyes shone with excitement in the
lamplight.
"Okay."
The blonde girl answered as she got up.
Her father left the room and she dressed quickly.
She quietly made her way out of the house.
Once she closed the door behind her she raced to the barn.
He met her at the barn door.
"I want you to close your eyes and
promise not to open them until I say so."
He instructed her as he took her hand and led her into the barn.
She closed her eyes as tight as she could.
"Okay you can open them now."
She opened her eyes to find a little
black pony standing in front of her. "Is
she mine?" The surprised girl
squealed with delight.
"You bet she is. I bought her for your thirteenth birthday at the last horse
sale I went to. " Her father
answered
"But my birthday is still a week
away. Why are you giving her to me
today?" The confused girl
asked.
"I just couldn't wait until your
birthday, sweetheart. Now why don't
we saddle her and my horse and go for a long ride along the North Ridge.
I packed us some lunch. We
can spend the whole day together. Just
you and me." He suggested.
"But I have school. I don't think mom would be happy if I miss it."
She replied
"I know that is why I did not want
you to wake her." He said as
sly half smile formed on his lips. "Come
let's do it. We will both play
hooky. You from school and me from
work. I get to spend lots of time
with the boys when we are working, hunting or fishing, but I don't get to spend
much time with you." He
pleaded.
"I bet I can saddle my horse faster
than you." The excited girl
challenged as she went to get her saddle and bridle from the tack room.
They both saddle their horse led them from the barn and mounted.
The sun was just beginning to rise when they rode though the big iron
gates and headed toward the north ridge.
"Bet my horse can beat yours?"
The girl threw a challenge over her shoulder to her father as she urged
the little black mare into a gallop.
The proud father watched as his daughter
raced across the field with her blonde hair whipping in the wind behind her.
He admired how good of a rider she was.
When she as a fair distant ahead of him he urged his tall bay into
gallop.
The happy girl reined in the little mare
and patted its sleek black neck as she turned to watch her father ride toward
her. He looked like the knight from
her favorite fairy tale as he raced to meet her and to her he was her knight in
shinning armor. She knew he would
always be there to protect her and love her.
"I told you she could beat you." She said when he finally pulled up beside her side.
"That you did."
He laughed not letting on that he had let her win.
The father listened with delight, as his daughter talked non-stop as they
rode.
"Oh dear." The girl said
"What wrong." The concerned father asked
"Nothing is wrong. I just mean there is a dear." The girl answered as she pointed to the creek where a big
buck stood. "It is so
beautiful."
"Well this is as good as any place
to stop for lunch." The father
said as he dismounted and led his horse to the water.
He knelt down by the creek and dipped his blond head into the refreshing
cool water. Then he got up
walked over to his daughter and shook his head like a puppy does when it is wet.
"Hey stop that you are getting my
outfit all wet." She
complained.
"There was a time you didn't care if
you got your clothes wet or dirty." He
said
"I was just a kid then.
Now I am a woman and I must care what I look like."
She replied as she tossed her blonde locks over her shoulder and stuck
her nose in the air.
"Well no matter how old you get you
will always be my little girl." The
amused father laughed. "Come
on lets eat.
After they ate the girl lay with her head
on her father's lap as she stared up at the sky.
"That looks like a horse."
She said as she pointed out a formation of clouds.
"A horse?
I swear you are horse crazy. Everything
you see reminds you of a horse. It looks more like a sheep than a horse to me."
He scoffed. They had been playing find the picture in the clouds
for over an hour now and every cloud formation the girl saw she would say it was
a horse.
" I say it’s a horse."
She pouted
"Fine it’s a horse. Well we better head back home now."
He said as looked at the position of the sun in the sky and realized how
late it was getting.
"Do we have to. I don't want this day to end.
Can't we stay just a little longer?" She pleaded.
"No,
we don't want to be late for supper. Your
mother is going to be mad enough at you for making me let you skip school."
He said as he stood up and started to pack away their stuff.
"Hey it was you idea.
Not mine. I just tell her
you forced me to do it." She shot back
"Okay, okay.
We will both take the blame, but it was worth her wrath don't you
think?" He asked.
His little girl's blue eyes shone with enjoyment as she smiled and nodded
her head in agreement. They placed
the stuff in the saddlebags, mounted their horses and headed for home.
*****************
When they arrived home her mother was
furious. "Where were you all
day?" She demanded.
"Went riding on the north ridge.
We needed to try out that new pony of hers."
The father tried to explain.
"That new pony was suppose to be her
birthday present and she should have been in school today. Not riding with you."
The angry mother seethed.
"Missing one day ain't going to hurt
her and I just wanted to spend some time with her.
She is my daughter I have a right to." The father defended himself.
"Of course you do, but couldn’t it
have waited until the weekend. Why
did you have to pull her out of school?"
"Because I might not have another
chance." He answered
"What is that suppose to mean."
The confused mother asked.
"She is growing up so fast and there
is always something that needs my attention on the ranch.
Today there wasn't anything pressing, so I decided to spend it with my
daughter. She can make up the lost
day at school. I promise I won't
ever do it again." He pleaded for his wife to understand, although he himself
did not understand the sudden urgency he had felt this morning to give his
daughter her horse. Nor could he
really understand the overwhelming need to spend time with her.
"I guess what is done is done.
I don't ever want a repeat of this, understood.
Now you both go get cleaned up for supper."
She ordered.
*****************
That night the father sat on the edge of
his daughter's bed reading to her from her favorite book. Finally he stopped reading and closed the book.
He stood up and stretched his back.
"Well I think it is time for you to go to sleep princess."
"Just read a little while longer.
I don't want to say good night yet."
She pleaded
"I am afraid not. Your mother was angry enough tonight at us.
Let's not give her anymore reason, okay."
He said as he bent down and kissed her on the forehead.
"Always remember that I love you.
Goodnight sweetheart."
"I love you too daddy.
Goodnight." She said as he tucked her into bed and then left the room.
******************
The next morning her father and brother's
were already out working when she came down for breakfast. After she finished her breakfast she saddled her new horse
and rode to school. She wanted to
show off her new horse to all of her classmates.
She could not wait to see the envy in their faces.
After school she raced her little black
horse for home. She had not been
disappointed by the reaction of her classmates.
They had all wanted a ride on her new horse, which she allowed.
Her spirits were soaring as she rode though the big iron gates.
She took care of her pony and headed for the house.
She could not wait for her father to get home, so she could tell him
about her day at school.
As the girl walked up to the house she
noticed the doctor's buggy parked outside.
She entered the house and saw her brother's pacing around the sitting
room. The somber looks on their
faces told her something dreadful had happened.
"What is wrong." She
demanded as her heart filled with terror.
Her oldest brother approached her, knelt
down and threw his arms around her. "Father
was shot today sweetheart."
"But he will be okay right?
He has been hurt before and he has always been all right.
You will see he will be alright."
She assured her older brother.
"No, Sweetheart. He won't be all right. He
died instantly. There was nothing
that could be done." Her
brother tried to explain.
"But the doctor's here.
He has to be all right. He
has to be." She screamed as
she broke from her brother's arm to race to her father's room.
But her second oldest brother grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.
"No, he is dead. The doctor came to give mother something to so she could
sleep." He tried to explain.
"No, you are lying. This is a cruel joke. How
can you be so mean." She
screamed as she pushed her brother away, ran to her parent's room and burst in.
She saw her mother lying on the bed crying as the doctor sat beside her.
"Where is my father?"
She demanded. Her oldest brother's who had followed her up to the
room grabbed her shoulders. He
pulled her from the room.
"I am sorry, Audra. Father won't be coming home." Jarrod quietly said
"No! No! He's not dead.
He can't be dead." She
screamed as her whole world just smashed into a million pieces.
Jarrod tried to hug her, but she pulled away and raced down the stairs,
out the front door and out to the barn. She
curled up in the straw of the manger of her new horse and cried. How could he do this? Her mind screamed.
How could he leave her? Did
he not know how much she needed him? He
promised he would be there for her, but now he was gone.
He had left and she did not even get to say good-bye.
She looked at the little black mare her father had given her yesterday
through tear filled eyes. She
remembered the wonderful day they had spent together and realized that it had
been her father's ways of saying good-bye.
"Always remember I love you."
She heard her father's voice whisper as she lay in the straw and drifted
off into a fit full sleep.
Jarrod found her curled up asleep in the
straw. He gently lifted her up and
carried her back to the house. He
took her to her room and put her into bed.
He sat down on the edge of the bed.
He did not know how they would survive this tragedy.
As he watched his little sister sleep he realized that he must be strong
for her. He now was her father
figure. He would be the one who
would have to discipline her when she was bad and the one she would turn to when
she was afraid and needed help. He
buried his face in his hand and wept. How
could he take his father's place? How
could he be strong when his own heart was broken?
But strong he knew he must be for her, his brothers and his mother.
**************
Always
in your Heart
It was still dark when the blonde girl
awoke. She got up and got dressed
into her riding clothes. She made
her way quietly down the backstairs that led to the kitchen.
When she opened the icebox to pack herself a lunch she noticed a bag with
a note attached to it, which read. "Have
a good ride sweetheart say hi to your father for me.
Love Mother." The girl smiled as she remembered a time when her mother was
opposed to her rides with her father. Now
her mother accepted and understood Audra's need to spend one day a year with
him. She picked up the
lunch and headed to the barn.
It was six years ago today that she had
first snuck out of the house to met her father for their secret day.
She remembered him waiting at the barn door like a child at Christmas.
He had bought her a horse for her birthday which was still a week away,
but couldn't wait until then to give her the little black mare. He had presented her with the horse that very morning.
Audra walked into the barn and saddled
her bay gelding that her brother's had given her when her black pony had become
to small. She could still remember
her father's pleading blue eyes as he begged her to play hooky from school so
they could spend the day riding at the North Ridge.
Okay she admitted he did not have to beg that hard.
Audra mounted her horse and headed out
through the big Iron gates as the sun began to rise in the sky. She raced across the open range with her hair whipping in the
wind. She could hear his laughter
and feel his presence as she rode to the place they had stopped for lunch.
She dismounted ate her lunch and then lay watching the clouds form
pictures. "Always remember I
love you." A voice whispered
in her mind. "I do remember
daddy and miss you." She cried as the wind touched her cheek like a kiss.
She finally got up mounted her horse and headed for home, but first she
would stop by his grave.
****************
Victoria watched her eighteen-year-old
daughter ride though the big iron gates of the ranch.
She remembered six years ago how angry she had been with her husband when
she discover that he had taken their daughter riding when the girl should have
been in school. She remembered him
saying, "Because I might not have another chance," when she asked him
why he could not have waited until the weekend.
He had been right he did not have another
chance. She could still see the
horror filled faces of her two older sons and their clothes covered in blood as
they returned home. Nick her middle
son had witnessed his father shot down in cold blood.
He and his father had been searching for stray cows.
Her oldest son, Jarrod arrived on the scene only minutes latter to find
his brother cradling their father in his arms.
They had tried to save him, but there was nothing they could do.
They took their father's body into town then they came home to tell her.
That had been her worst night. She
had wanted to die. The only thing
that gave her the strength to face life was her children.
She knew they needed her especially Audra and Eugene.
Nick had blamed himself for his father's
death. He believed that if he had
been at his father's side instead of ten yards away he could have prevented it.
The first month after his father's death he had taken up drinking and
fighting too much. On more than one
occasion Jarrod had to bail his younger brother out of jail.
Jarrod had finally convinced Nick that their father's death wasn't his
fault. That if Nick had been any
closer to their father that day, he too would be dead.
Nick took over the running of the ranch.
He threw all his energy into ensuring that the ranch maintained the
standard that his father would be proud of.
Jarrod had been the rock that held the
family together. He had set up his
law firm practice in Stockton, so he could be around to help raise Audra and
Eugene. The night their father died
he had became his two youngest siblings' father.
The way he took on the burden of responsibility would have made his
father proud. Victoria didn't know
if she could have pulled herself together without him. She was so proud of the strength her oldest boy possessed.
She knew it could not have been easy for him to take his father's place.
All her children were hurting and dealing
with the death of their father in their own way, but Audra's way terrified
Victoria. At the funeral her
daughter did not cry. The girl just
silently started at the casket as she held on to Jarrod's hand.
After the funeral when they had arrived home the blonde girl got changed
into her riding clothes and took her horse for a ride.
Jarrod had to go find her and bring her home.
He had found her on the North Ridge.
The next morning Audra wasn't in her room.
When they found her she was curled up in the manger of the horse her
father had given her. She refused
to talk to anyone and every time Victoria went to hug her she would stiffen up.
At first Victoria thought it was a
natural grieving process on the girl's part and that given time she would be her
old self once again. But as
the months dragged on Audra only seemed to worsen.
She had taken to sneaking out every morning to go riding at the North
ridge. One morning after finding
her daughter gone. Victoria
confronted her eldest son.
******************
"Jarrod she snuck out again this
morning to ride that horse. I don't
know what to do with her. It is
like she is trying to relive that last day with him over and over. I wish he never gave her that horse. Maybe we should get rid of it." Victoria cried in frustration to her eldest son.
"Getting rid of that horse would be
a mistake and you know it. That
mare was the last thing father gave Audra.
She just wants to be close to him. Give
her time she will come around." Jarrod
tried to convince his mother.
"Time Jarrod. It's been almost a year.
She is pulling further and further away form us.
He is the one who died not her, but she has locked herself into the past.
My God, she hasn't even cried. I
have tired to talk to her, but she won't listen to me.
Maybe she will listen to you. Please
have a talk with her. I couldn't
bare to lose my daughter too." Victoria
pleaded.
"I have tried to talk to her mother.
She doesn't respond any better to me.
I will write Uncle Jim and asked him to come for a visit.
She has always felt close to him maybe he can help."
Jarrod said.
Jarrod felt that he had failed his
sister. He could not reach her.
Like his mother he had watched as she lived more and more in her own
world and pulled further away from them. He
had hoped in time she would turn to them, but she did not.
He had even tried to confront her a few times after she returned from one
of her rides, but he may as well have been talking to a fence post.
She just stared at him with dull blue eyes that seemed so lost.
Jarrod agreed with his mother that the
relationship she had with the horse that their father had given her was
unhealthy, but he knew that if they got rid of it they would lose her forever.
He also knew that his sister love and trusted their Uncle Jim.
Maybe their Uncle could reach her where he had failed. "Oh God I hope he can, because if he can't then no one
can." He thought as he sat
down and wrote the letter.
*****************
Two weeks after Jarrod wrote the letter
Uncle Jim arrived. The first
morning after his arrival Audra got up to sneak out for a ride.
When she got out to the barn Uncle Jim was waiting for her.
He had saddle the black mare and another horse.
Without saying a word she mounted her horse and took off.
Jim was right behind her. The
next morning she tried to leave earlier so that she would beat her Uncle, but he
was waiting for her. No matter how
early she tried to leave he would be waiting.
At first she resented his intrusion, but as he rode beside her day after
day she started to open up to him.
"I miss him so much.
When I am ridding Blackie out here I can feel his presence."
She explained why her rides were so important to her one day when they
had stopped to eat their lunch at the creek.
"I know you miss him sweetheart.
We all do, but your family is worried about you.
They don't want you to forget him, but they are afraid that you are
forgetting about them. They love
and need you Audra." Her Uncle
told her
"I don't want to say goodbye to
him." Audra sobbed as she
collapsed into her Uncle's arms.
"As long as he is in your heart, you
will never have to say goodbye." Jim
said as he hugged his niece close to him.
After that day Audra stopped her early
morning rides to the North Pasture. But
once a year on the anniversary of their special day she would sneak out and ride
to the North Pasture to relive that day once again. The first couple years she did this, her mother and older
brother freaked, but now they accepted it as something she had to do. Also after
her father's death she refused to celebrate her birthday on the day she was born
because it was too close to when her father was buried.
Instead she started celebrating it a month later.
****************************
Audra was just about at her father's
grave when she spotted him kneeling beside it.
How dare a common trail bum trample the flowers that she planted on her
father's grave? She urged her horse
to a trot as she approached the cowboy with her whip in her hand. She hit him hard with the whip a few times before he pulled
her from her horse and pinned her to the ground.
"Drop it." He ordered
"Let me go." She screamed indigent that this tramp would dare to
touch her. "You are hurting
me."
"I said drop it."
He ordered her again. When
she released her hold on the whip he let her go.
He picked up the whip and threw it away.
"You shouldn't go around hitting
people." He said
"You were trampling them I saw you.
The flowers I planted here."
She watched the cowboy's face turned from
anger to sorrow and remorse as she told him who she was and the story of her
father's death. He told her he was
sorry that a girl so young had to grow up with out a father. He explained that he was looking for the Barkley ranch so he
could get a job, but had got lost and ended up at the gravesite.
He apologized to her for the intrusion.
She pointed him in the right direction and told him to ask for Nick.
The blond cowboy mounted his horse turned
in the saddle and flashed her a half smile as he waved and rode of toward the
house. She watched him ride away.
There had been something that felt so familiar about this young man, but
she could not place it. She turned
walked over to the grave and knelt down beside it.
As she sat at her father's grave she
remembered the day her world had crashed and burned.
At times it seem like a lifetime ago, but at other times like today it
seemed like yesterday. She
remembered awaking in her room the morning after her father died.
She had tried to convince herself it was a bad nightmare, but the wound
in her heart told it was not. She
saw her older brother sleeping uncomfortable in a chair by her bed.
He must have brought her in from the barn, because she remembered going
to the barn. When she sat up her
dark haired brother awoke. He had
tried to comfort her.
"It will be okay Audra."
He soothed as he tried to put his arms around her, but she pulled away.
"No!
It won't be okay. It will
never be okay. He left me."
She yelled back.
"I am here.
Nick, Eugene and mother are all here and we promise we won't leave you,
sweetheart." He tried to calm
her.
"Like he promised. Promises are just lies in disguise. They are made but aren't meant to be kept."
She screamed as she bolted from the room.
She raced down the stairs and out to the barn.
She saddled and bridled her horse. She
was about to exit the barn when Jarrod stopped her.
He asked one of he ranch hands to take the horse and put it away.
Then he forced her back to the house.
She hated him. Oh how she hated him that day for stopping her from joining
her father.
Jarrod
had tried to talk to her to reach her, but she refused to listen.
She had shut the door to her heart and she would not let him or anyone
else in. At the funeral the next
day Jarrod held her hand, but she did not feel it.
She watched as they lowered her father into the dark cold ground, but she
did not cry. She was numb inside,
empty. She stood stoically by her
family as friends and relatives gave their condolences, but they sounded like a
mosquito buzzing in her ear.
When the funeral was over they had
returned home where there was lunch held. Audra had to escape. She could not stand all these people any longer.
When no one was looking she slipped out to the barn, saddled her horse
and took off. She rode without
realizing where she was going, but as she rode she felt her father's presence.
Jarrod found her by the creek where her father and her had shared their
lunch. He made her mount her horse
and he took her home. Again she
hated him for taking her away from her father.
How dare he try to take father's place?
The harder Jarrod and her mother tried to reach her to stop her from her
morning rides the further she pulled away.
The more she hated them. How
dare they insist she say good-bye?
Audra traced her father's name on the
tombstone as she thought of how unfair she had been to her older brother and
mother. They had only been worried
about her. They only had wanted to
help. Tears rolled down her cheek
and fell to the ground by the tombstone.
"I so miss you daddy.
I will always love you." She
cried. It was starting to get dark
when Jarrod rode up.
"I thought I would find you here.
Mother was getting worried about you.
You know she does not like you out this late."
Jarrod rebuked her.
"It seems you are always coming to
find me." She sobbed as she
looked up at him through tear filled eyes.
"I would go to the end of the earth
to find you and bring you home pretty lady. "
He replied as he helped her to her feet and put his arms around her
shoulders. He led her to her horse.
"I am so sorry for the way I acted
back then but I just wasn't." Audra
stopped unable to continue
"You were just not ready to let
go." He finished for her.
"I just wished I could have helped you then."
"But you did Jarrod.
You never gave up on me and I know it was you who asked Uncle Jim to
come. You knew he could help me.
Oh Jarrod! It still hurts so
much." She cried as she buried
her head in his chest.
"I know it does honey.
It probably always will, but at least now he can also remember the good
times we had him." Jarrod whispered in his ear.
"Like the time we all went on that fishing trip and you accidentally
hooked Nick's shirt. Father told
you that he was too stubborn and you should throw him back."
"Boy was Nick mad at me for
that." Audra laughed. "You always know what to say to make me laugh. I love
you so much Jarrod."
"I love you too Audra."
Jarrod replied as he kissed her cheek.
"Well we better get home before mother sends out the search
party."
Jarrod held her horse for her while she
mounted then he mounted his horse. They
reminisced about their father as they rode home.
**********************
Audra
was almost asleep when the loud voice of Nick yelling for Jarrod and Eugene
awoke her. She got up and went to
stand on the stairs. She heard her
brother's talking to a man in the study. This
man was saying horrible things about her father.
He claimed that he was the illegitimate son of Tom Barkley and that he
was there to claim what was rightfully his.
She watched as the angry young man exited the study and made his way to
the front door. She recognized him
as the man she met at her father's grave. She
had given him directions to the house. Her brothers had given him a job. Now he was repaying their kindness by slandering their
father's names. As the blond man
exited the house Audra glanced toward her mother's bedroom door. She saw her mother's door closing and knew that she too had
heard all the filthy lies this man told.
How dare he come here to defame her
father's good name and on this night of all nights.
Well, she would find him and she would make him take it back.
She went into her room got dressed and like so many times before snuck
out to the barn to saddle her horse. This time she wasn't riding to North Ridge
to be with her father, she was ridding to Stockton to defend her father's honor.
**********************
Jarrod watched as the angry young man
placed the money into a glass of whiskey and headed to the study door.
At the door the man stopped turned and looked at them.
A fleeting half smile crossed the blond cowboy's lips as he gave a slight
wave of the hand and then left.
The smile was like a slap in the face to
Jarrod. That was his father's
smile. Jarrod walked over to the
bar and poured himself a drink. He
could not shake the feeling he had just made a mistake. He pushed the thought unmercifully aside.
How could he even consider that this two bit con was telling the truth?
How could he even entertain the idea father was unfaithful to his mother?
As Jarrod took a sip of his drink he
remembered that tomorrow was the day their father died six years ago.
He would never forget the sound of the gunshot as he rode to meet his
brother and father. Nor would he forget the horror on his younger brother's face
as he cradled their dead father in his arms begging for Jarrod to help him.
He could do nothing to save his father, because it was already too late.
Tom Barkley had been killed by a hired
gun of the railroad, because he had stood up to them.
Now six years later the railroad was once again trying to run people off
their land. Stockton was full of
their hired men. They were brought
in to intimidate the ranchers of this area.
Jarrod believed that the railroad had purposely chosen to bring in these
men in this close to Tom's death as a reminder what resistance would cause.
Jarrod had been fighting for an injunction to stop the railroad from
taking the ranchers homes. He
desperately wanted to find a peaceful way to end this, but so far with no luck.
Jarrod had hoped that by now his younger
brother, Eugene would have been safe at college, but the boy refused to leave
until the trouble with the railroad was settled.
Eugene wanted to be home in case trouble erupted and his older brothers
needed him.
Nick had been arguing that they should
stand up to the railroad like their father did six years ago. But for Jarrod that was too high a price.
Their father had been murdered and his surviving family traumatized.
He had to find a better way, but time was running out.
*************************
As she rode into town men surrounded her
like a pack of wolves brining down their prey.
She tried to fight them off with her whip, but there were to many of
them. She was terrified and didn't
know what to do. Then she felt
someone pull her off her horse and drag her with him.
She fought him to get away, but the man tightly held on to her as he
dragged her into the hotel, up the stairs and into a room.
"You little fool."
The enraged man yelled.
"You hurt me." She yelled back.
"Try them." He said as he angrily pointed to the streets of Stockton.
He dipped cloth into the basin of water
and then led her over to the bed. He
made her sit down. As he tended to
her wound she tried to seduce him, but he only accused her of trying to tempt
her brother. She furiously told him
he was liar and tried to pound him with her fist, which he easily held at bay.
"Boy howdy the stud sure breed them
wild." He said at her
behavior. He also told her how he
wasn't proud that Tom Barkley was his father, but he wanted his name and the
respect that it brought. Then a
couple of the men who had tried to attack her on the streets entered the room.
They told the blond that this was a man's job and that he should leave.
But he didn't leave. He
threw himself at them. They had him
pinned to the bed pounding him with their fists when the sheriff walked in.
She told the sheriff that Heath was a
hired hand that had followed her into town to keep her out of trouble.
The Sheriff escorted them out of town to make sure they would be safe.
She wondered why this blond stranger would risk himself to save her.
As she watched him riding alongside her she could her father' voice
inside her mind saying, "always remember that I love you."
Then she realized that the way this cowboy rode reminded her of her
father.
"Oh
God, could it be true." She
thought. Just then they saw the
smoke in the distance. That was the
Miller ranch. All three urged their
horses into a run at the same time.
*********************
As Jarrod watched the Millers house and
barn burn to the ground he realized his time was up.
Jarrod saw his sister arriving with the sheriff and for the briefest of
seconds he saw his father riding beside her.
As the riders came into the light of the burning buildings Jarrod
realized that the rider beside his sister was the man from last night.
Again he had the uneasy feeling that he had made a mistake.
Jarrod heard one of the ranchers, as he demanded they make a stand at his place
the following morning just like Tom Barkley did. He heard the sheriff tell them that they would only die like
Tom did. As Jarrod heard the
defeated rancher say that their father had gave them nothing but an empty legacy
he saw the disgust and disappointment in the face of the young man that called
himself Tom Barkley's son. Then the
blond man turned and rode away.
Jarrod heard Nick tell the rancher that
he would stand with him the next morning against the railroad. When Nick asked if anyone else would stand with them, Jarrod
walked over and stood alongside his two brothers'. Soon every man except the sheriff was standing along side the
rancher. The time for peace was
over. Now it was the time to fight
for what was right or die trying. Just
like his father did.
*******************
The minute she saw him riding along side
her daughter, she knew this was her husband's son.
He may not look identical to his father, but there was a strong
resemblance. The way he sat tall in
the saddle of his horse was the strongest.
"Oh Tom how could you." Her
mind cried out. She watched as he
turned and rode away. Then her
attention was drawn back to the group of rancher's by her middle son's loud
voice asking who would stand with them. She
watched as Eugene her youngest joined him, but her heart fell when her oldest
stepped up beside his two brothers. She
knew now nothing would stop the blood bath that would occur tomorrow.
She turned her buggy for home and left.
When she arrived home she found him
stuffing apples into his hat. When
he turned to find her there he just grabbed a few more apples. He then made his way toward her and the exit she blocked.
She saw Tom's stubborn pride written all over this young man's features.
She could also see his pain and anger.
She told him that if he had remained at the Miller's he would have seen
her son's band together to full fill their father's legacy. She told him that her husband was not a perfect man, but a
good man. She told him that if he
were her son she would tell him to hold his head high and be proud.
That no one had the right to take away his birth right.
He had listened to her speech and then left.
As Victoria watch the young angry man
leave she remembered the look of joy and pride on Tom's face each time one of
their children were born. She could
still see the love in his eyes as he taught his son's how to ride, shoot, and
rope. She remembered how after a
long day working the ranch how he would pick up Audra as he called her princess.
He would spend hours listening to his little girl chatter away.
He loved all his children. Victoria
could not believe that a man that obviously loved children so much could have
allowed a child of his to grow up with out him.
He must not have known. That
was the only explanation that made sense. If
he had known about the child he would have accepted and loved him as he did his
other children.
Victoria went up to her room threw
herself on her bed and wept. How could Tom betray their wedding vows?
Had his love for her been a lie? How
could he produce a child with this woman and not know?
Had he loved this other woman more than her?
Her mind raced with questions that had no answer.
Then she remembered the way Tom had always looked at her, the way he held
her at night and caressed her check, the words of love he whispered in her ear
and she knew without a doubt that his love for her had been real.
Again Victoria thought of Tom's
illegitimate child. As much as she
was hurt by the knowledge of her husband's affair she knew that this young man
had been the one who was hurt the worst by it.
Some how she had to make it right. She
knew Tom would want her to.
********************
Audra watched from her bedroom window as
her three brothers rode through the gates and toward the Semple ranch where they
would make a stand against the railroad, a Stand that could cost them their
lives. She was afraid that this
could be the last time she would ever see them.
Like their father six years ago would they too leave her?
The fear in her heart was overwhelming.
"Oh God please bring them home safe.
I couldn't bare to lose anyone of them."
She prayed as she broke down and cried.
Victoria entered her daughter's room and
found her staring out the window crying. She
walked over and put her arms around her little girl. She too feared that she would never see her son's again and
she didn't know how she could live with that.
**********************
Nick sat on the porch of the Semple farm
with his two brothers waiting for the railroad's men to show up.
He could not stop thinking that about this time six years ago he watched
as his father was shot down by the railroad's hired gun.
He and his father were out rounding up strays that day.
They were riding side by side when Nick saw a calf and took off after it.
He was herding the calf back toward his father when he heard the gunshot
and saw his father fall from his horse. Nick
urged his mount into a gallop and was at his father's side in seconds.
He dismounted, knelt down and took his father in his arms.
He tried to find a pulse, but could not.
Nick shook his head to clear the image as
the Sheriff and the railroad's men rode up.
He could not allow himself to think about that today.
If didn't keep his mind in the present it could cost him and his brothers
their lives.
As the sheriff tried once again to talk
the rancher's into surrendering, Nick noticed a rider approach the ranch at a
gallop. He recognized the blond
cowboy as the man claiming to his father's son and wondered why he was here.
Nick watched as the rider urged the horse over the fence, rode up to the ranch
house and pulled the horse to a stop. The
blond man dismounted, grabbed his gun, slapped the horse on the rump, boldly
walked up and took his place along side Nick.
Then the fighting began.
****************
After the fighting was over Jarrod looked
around the yard. The loss of life
sickened him. He saw the blond
cowboy sitting on a barrel trying to roll a cigarette with very shaky hands.
Jarrod walked over and handed the blond a cigar.
The younger man hesitantly took it and put it in his mouth, but his gaze
never left the body of the widow crying over her husband's body.
Jarrod lit the cigar for him as he realized that the young cowboy was
badly shaken by the battle.
"This
wasn't your fight. Why would you
risk your life for people you don't even know?" Jarrod asked trying to start a conversation with the man that
claim to be his brother.
"Standing up for the rights of
others is everyone's fight. What
the railroad was doing was wrong and they have to be stopped." The blond man replied.
"So you see yourself as a crusader
for the rights of others." Jarrod
asked
"No.
I see myself as alone, a drifter with no one to care whether I live or
die. If I die standing up for what
is right at least my life would have meaning.
That man did he have children?"
The blond asked as he nodded his head toward the dead rancher.
"Yes, he has a boy and a girl."
Jarrod answered.
"That's a shame. A child shouldn't have to grow up with out a father.
Please make sure his widow gets this.
She needs it more than me." Heath
said as he reached into his shirt pocket pulled out some money and gave it to
Jarrod. He then stood up and
started to walk toward his horse.
"Wait."
Jarrod asked. When the blond
turned to face him he could see the sorrow and pain etched in the younger man's
face. When Jarrod looked into his
dark blue eyes he saw the same lost look Audra had six years ago and he
remembered that this man had recently lost his mother.
But where they had each other to lean on this man had no one.
"Come back to the ranch with us.
We need to talk."
***********************
When her three sons returned home
Victoria raced downstairs and threw her arms around each of them. She noticed the blood on Jarrod's arm, but he assured her
that it wasn't serious. Then she
saw him nervously standing near the door like a wild colt ready to bolt.
Again she was struck by the strong resemblance this man had to her
husband.
"I am sorry mother, but Jarrod
insisted that we needed to talk to him."
Nick apologized letting his mother know this man's presence here wasn't
his idea.
"Jarrod is right we do need to
talk." She said as walked over
and took the apprehensive man's arm. He
flinched when she touched him, but he did not pull away.
She led him into the sitting room and pointed to a chair.
"Please have a seat."
"Thank you, but I'll stand."
Heath said as he walked over to stand by the fireplace and turned to face
them. He looked like he was facing
a firing squad.
"Could I get you something to
drink." Victoria offered the
young man. He just shook his head.
"Last night you told us that three
months ago on her death dead your mother told you who your father was and that
the only proof she gave you is a newspaper clipping of his death.
Is that correct." Jarrod
asked. The blond man nodded his head in agreement.
"After your mother died did you stay
in Strawberry? Jarrod asked
"Only long enough to bury her the
next morning then I left." Heath
answered confused by the line of questioning.
"What have you been doing for the
last three months." Jarrod
inquired.
"I've been drifting around from
place to place getting work where I could just like I did before my mother
died." Heath replied.
"So you drifted all the way up to
Corning. That was the last place
you said you worked wasn't it?" Jarrod
asked. He saw the flash of anger in
the blond man's blue eyes.
Yes, but I don't see what that has to do
with any of this." Heath
snapped in frustration.
"Why didn't you come here straight
from Strawberry after you found out who your father was instead of going all the
way to Corning? Why did you wait
for three months before making your claim?"
Jarrod demanded.
"I don't know, but what difference
does it make." Heath
snapped.
"I am just trying to find out
exactly what you were hoping to find when came here."
Jarrod answered
"I told you last night.
I want what is rightfully mine as the son of Tom Barkley."
Heath answered.
"You have no right to anything.
You are no more my father's son than any other son of whore."
Nick spat before Jarrod could say anything else.
Like a flash of lightning Heath lunged at
Nick and knocked him to the floor. The
two angry men fought on the floor until Jarrod and Eugene pulled them apart.
Don't
ever call my mother that. She
wasn't like that." Heath
seethed as he glared at Nick.
"The truth hurts doesn't it
boy." Nick spat back. Heath tried to attack Nick again, but Jarrod stopped him.
"That's enough Nick.
We are going to talk not fight."
Jarrod rebuked his younger brother.
"Oh don't let his showing up the
Semple's today fool you. He was
just using it to get what he wants."
Nick snapped back at his older brother.
"Nicholas, that is enough.
Now sit down and be quiet. Let
Jarrod handle this." Victoria
ordered her volatile son. Nick
reluctantly sat down.
"Lets start this again shall
we." Jarrod said as he turned
to face Heath. "What did you
hope to find when you came here."
"I already told you."
Heath answered as he turned to face the fireplace.
"You have told me what you expect to
get. Money a name, but if that is
all you cared about you would have came here as soon as you found out who your
father was. What do you really want
from us." Jarrod asked again.
"What else is there?"
The blond cowboy asked as he turned back to face Jarrod.
"Today at the Sample's you told me
you saw yourself as alone a drifter. I
believe you came here hoping to find family.
Someone who would care if you live or die."
Jarrod said throwing the man's words back at him.
"Well I sure didn't find anyone to
care it I live, but I sure as hell found someone who wishes I was dead."
Heath hissed as he glared at Nick. He
cursed himself for letting his guard down and allowing this man to see his
weakness today. Now like a shark after the smell of blood the dark haired
lawyer was using it against him. He
had to get out of here.
"This was a mistake."
Heath said as he pushed past Jarrod and headed for the door
"Heath Barkley. You are my brother and I care if you live or die."
Jarrod yelled after the retreating man.
His words stopped the blond man in his tracks.
He slowly turned to face Jarrod with a look of utter disbelief.
"Now just wait a blasted minute here
Jarrod. How can you defile father's
name by accepting this man's lies? I
thought you lawyers always like hard facts.
Well the fact is this man has no proof." Nick yelled as he leaped up from his chair and confronted his
older brother.
"If you open your eyes Nick, you
will see all the proof you need." Victoria
said before Jarrod had a chance to say anything.
Her statement confused both Nick and Heath.
Victoria walked over and put a hand on
Nick's shoulder as he looked at her like she lost her mind. Then turned to her husband's son. "Now Heath please come and sit down.
There is still a lot that we all must discuss."
They talked half the night away and it
was finally decided that Heath would stay at the ranch with his father's family.
Nick wasn't convinced, but he finally agreed.
Then they all went up to bed except for Jarrod who had some paperwork he
needed to get caught up on.
**********************
Audra could not sleep, so she went
downstairs to get a glass of milk. She
noticed that her older brother was in the study working on some paperwork.
She walked into the study. "Jarrod."
She said
"What's wrong Audra?"
Jarrod asked when he opened the door to find her.
"I was just wondering what made you
believe that he is father's son? She
asked.
"There was actually a couple of
things. Like the way he smiles and
when I saw him riding along side you at the Miller's last night for the briefest
of seconds I saw father. At the
Staples after the fighting he had that same brooding look father always got when
something troubled him." Jarrod
replied
"Yeah, I know what you mean.
He kept reminding me of father as we rode together.
Why can't Nick see the resemblance?"
She asked
"Oh right now he is blinded by his
anger, but given time he will see what we do."
Jarrod answered. "By
the way with everything that happened last night and today I never got to ask
you how you ended up in the presence's of the Sheriff and Heath last night.
Would you care to enlighten me?"
"You know mother was right.
There has been enough talking for one night.
Well good night Jarrod you know I need my beauty sleep."
Audra stammered as backed out of the room and retreated up the stairs to
her room.
Jarrod watched her leave as he shook his
head. "Boy that girl was a
handful." He thought to
himself as he blew out the lamp in the study and headed to bed.