Georgia walked into the room, carrying a tray. Austin got up and took the tray, setting it down on the table by the bed. He helped the man sit up a bit so she could put another pillow behind him to eat. She sat down by the bed and picked up the bowl. "The doctor said this will help you heal faster and help replace some of the blood you lost, so eat as much of it as you can." He nodded, and she slowly fed him six or seven spoonfuls before he shook his head and held up his hand. She set the bowl back on the tray. "Okay, that's fine," she said. "You did really well for your first time eating. Let me help you get a little drink of water, then you can rest."
Austin came forward and helped the man sit enough to take a sip of water, then helped him lay back down. "Is there anything we can get you before you rest again?"
The man shook his head. "Thank you," he whispered, as his eyes closed. Less than a minute later he was sleeping again.
Georgia looked at her husband. "Do you think he'll wake up again when the doctor gets here?"
"I don't know. I hope he'll be waking up intermittently now. Doc will be able to tell us more about that. If I'm not here when the doc gets here, tell him he woke up and ate. He can talk, but is too weak to talk much."
"Okay. The next time he wakes up maybe he can tell us who he is."
"I hope so. I didn't ask him this time because you could easily see how weak he is. Maybe he'll be a little stronger the next time, and we can ask him who he is." He paused a moment, thinking. "I'm sure the sheriff will be interested in that answer. If he wakes up later today and we find out who he is, I'll go in and talk to the sheriff."
"He's been checking on him and keeping you up to date on the investigation. He may come out this evening."
"That's true," Austin agreed. "I'm going to go out and get some work done. If you need me, send someone out to get me. I'll make sure at least Amos knows where I'll be all day."
"Thank you, Austin." She reached up to give him a quick kiss on his cheek, but he intercepted her, taking her in his arms.
"I should be the one thanking you, Mrs. Barrington." He gave her a much better kiss than the quick peck on the cheek she'd planned. Still holding her in his arms, he caught her eye. "Thank you for all you've done. You and Maria have switched off, staying with him, while still running the house and having meals ready. That's a lot of work, and I appreciate all the effort you've put forth."
"We don't know who this man is. True, he could be running from the law. But he could also be an innocent man who was simply passing through and was robbed, or some such thing. If that's the case, I think we should do whatever we can to help him heal and get back to his family."
"I agree," he said, giving her a kiss to her forehead.
"If something like that were to ever happen to you, I would certainly hope a good family took you in and took care of you. I want to do that for him, at least until he or the sheriff give us reason not to trust him."
"That, my dear wife, is one of the things I love most about you. You truly care about other people."
She blushed, which as usual, he found to be very becoming on her. He was smiling as he went outside and headed toward the barn.
Dr. Williams came to check on his patient, but he was sleeping again. He asked the ladies a few questions, and gave them a few things to watch for when he woke up. Georgia or Maria stayed with him all day, but he never woke up again. Austin checked in on him when he came in for supper, but he was still sleeping.
Sheriff Montgomery came that evening after supper. "I talked to Doc today. He said your guest woke up for a short time this morning," he told Austin.
"He did. He swallowed several spoonfuls of broth. He was very weak, though, and wasn't able to talk. He seemed polite, thankfully, and didn't appear to be running from anything."
"That's good," the sheriff agreed, "but I'd like to be able to ask him a few questions."
Georgia knocked and opened the door to Austin's office, where the two men were talking. "Excuse me, but he woke up again. I thought you'd both want to know."
"Thank you," Austin said. He put his arm protectively around her waist and led her toward the stairs, with the sheriff right behind them.
Maria moved from the side of the stranger's bed, allowing Austin and the sheriff to get closer to talk to him. "Hello again," Austin said. "Do you remember me, Austin Barrington?"
He nodded. "Yes." He was able to smile just a bit.
"This is Sheriff Grant Montgomery. He'd sure like to find and arrest whoever shot you." Austin picked up the bowl of broth Maria had been feeding him and offered him a spoonful. "Doc says this is the best way to get your strength back, so we'll have some for you anytime you wake up." The man nodded slightly and sipped the broth. "Are you strong enough yet to tell us who you are?"
He again nodded slightly, and took a deeper breath. He spoke quietly, but both men listened carefully. "Name is Pete Sanders."
Austin smiled as he offered more broth. "Nice to meet you, Pete. Do you know who shot you?"
Pete nodded again. "Sam Wyler."
The men's eyes met, but neither seemed to recognize the name. The sheriff came closer and asked a few questions while Austin continued to offer broth while Pete was awake. "Is he a friend of yours?"
Pete took another deeper breath and slowly explained. "No. I met him at the saloon. He said he found gold in a local creek and wanted help mining it. He said he owned the land. I was to get thirty percent, but he never paid me anything. Then I found out the real land owner didn't know we were there, so I told him I wouldn't help any more, and I left."
"And he shot you," the sheriff guessed, "when you left."
"Yes."
"Is he mining close by, or did you make it a ways after he shot you?"
"I don't think it's far away. I'm not sure, but I don't think I went too far after I was shot. I stopped at a creek to try to clean the wound, but I don't even remember getting off my horse."
Austin nodded. "My wife found you close to a creek, with your horse nearby, so you probably blacked out trying to get down from your horse."
"Thank you for your help, Pete," the sheriff said. "I can tell you're getting tired again, so I won't ask anything else now. Try to take a little more broth, then get some sleep. I'll be back in the next day or two and we'll talk again. You rest now."
He nodded, but didn't speak. Austin encouraged him to drink a little more broth, but wasn't surprised when he only took a small amount before shaking his head. Austin and Grant helped him lay back, and he was sleeping in a matter of minutes.
The men left, and Maria moved back to his bedside to watch over the patient.
Grant, Austin and Georgia went downstairs to the kitchen, where she got coffee for all of them. Austin was anxious to talk to the sheriff. "So what happens now, Grant?"
"I've got some work to do. Do you know of any possible gold in a creek in this area?"
Austin shook his head. "No, I don't. I've been wondering about that myself. If he didn't go very far before he collapsed, it's quite possible they were mining on my land. There are a couple creeks that run through my ranch. Maybe I'll take the time tomorrow to follow those creeks along my property and see if I find anything."
"That's not a bad idea, but I'd prefer we go together. I want to check this whole area out and see if I can find any evidence of mining that may have been going on along a creek. I'm also going to do some checking on a few things in town, though, so I may not be ready to go first thing tomorrow morning. Will you please wait until I get here before you go out? If I find anything I want to be able to look it over before anyone else adds footprints or hoof prints."
"I understand. I'll wait until you get here, but I would like to go with you. If anyone's been doing any work or mining on my land without my knowledge I may be able to tell, and I want to know about it."
"I understand, and I would like to have you there, as well. You would know better than me what the area normally looks like and if anything looks disturbed. It will probably be noon
or after before I get some things checked out in town and get back out here. Will you be available then?"
"I'll come in around noon for dinner, and afterwards I'll work around the barn until you get here."
"I'll look for you there then if you've already had your dinner."
"If you finish in town early enough, come join us for lunch. Pete seems safe enough to have in my home, but I assume he's part of what you want to check on in town, and I'll be interested to hear whatever you find out."
Grant smiled. "I'll try to do that. I do plan on checking with surrounding towns and see if anyone knows of him, and make sure he's not wanted for anything. I'll be out as soon as I can tomorrow, and we can talk while we follow the creeks."
Chapter Eleven
The next day was a busy day at The Rippling Waters ranch. Grant arrived in time for dinner. Austin and Cord, his foreman that normally ate meals with him, were ready, but Dr. Williams was there, as well, checking on Pete, who was awake again. Grant and Austin were anxious to hear Doc's report. Grant had a few more questions to ask Pete, as well, if Doc felt he was up to it.
Maria had dinner ready, but the men wanted to wait for Doc, so they waited at the table. While they waited, Austin addressed the sheriff. "So, Grant, did you find anything out about Pete?"
"Not much, but that's probably good. I don't have any wanted posters, and none of the sheriffs in the area have heard of him or are looking for him. I'll ask him where he's from. He may be new to the area."
"We need to find out if he has family we should contact. Someone could be worrying about him," Austin said, thinking out loud.
Doc walked into the room, and heard Austin's statement. "That's a good idea, son. If you go up there now you can ask him. He's doing better, so he'll be awake more often from here on out. He still needs to sleep as much as possible, and keep giving him the broth, but if he keeps improving, in a couple days you can try him on some food. Go slow, though, and don't try very much at first."
"Thanks, Doc. I'd like you to join us for dinner so we can talk a little more, but if you don't mind, I think I will go up and ask if he has family we can contact."
"Go ahead," Doc said. "I haven't had a good home-cooked meal in some time, and if you're sure you have enough, I'd sure be appreciative."
"We have plenty," Maria insisted. "I'll go get another plate while Austin and the sheriff go talk to Pete."
"Thank you, ma'am. I'm going to go outside to the pump and wash up a bit while they talk to Pete."
Ten minutes later Austin, Grant, Cord, Doc Williams, and Georgia sat down to a hearty dinner. Once the food had been passed, Doc started the conversation. "Was Pete still awake?"
"He was," Austin answered. "He says he's from Ohio and just got out to this area. His parents both died of influenza, and he doesn't have any other family. That's why he came out here. He wanted to get away from there and get a fresh start somewhere new. He wasn't headed anywhere in particular; just figured he'd settle wherever he could find a job and liked the area."
Grant took over the conversation. "That's why he tried mining with Sam Wyler. He didn't have anything else to do, and figured that might be fun for a little while and give him a little money."
"Speaking of Sam Wyler," Austin said, "were you able to find anything out about him?"
"Not a thing, which makes me think that's not his real name. I think Pete's right, and he never planned on sharing the gold with him. He wanted someone to help him mine it, then probably planned on riding out of camp with all of it some night while Pete was sleeping. My guess is that's why he used a fake name; so no one would be able to find him."
"So what are you going to do now, Grant?"
"Well, I thought we'd ride out this afternoon and check your creeks for any evidence of mining activity. I doubt that he's still mining in the same place after shooting Pete. We need to be careful, though, just in case he is. He probably assumes Pete's dead, and after working together for several days or even weeks, he probably knows Pete has no family that would be looking for him. That may lead him to believe no one knows about his mining venture, so if he is in fact finding gold, he may be bold enough to stay."
Austin nodded. "We'll be careful. I can't imagine where he claims to have found gold. I talked to my neighbor, Garrett Shambry, who owns The Winding River Ranch. The biggest river around here runs through his ranch and mine. I asked him if he's ever known of any gold found anywhere at all in this area. I didn't mention anything about a river or creek, just a general question about anywhere in this area. He said he's never heard of any around here at all. He said the closest he knows of anyone finding any gold around was about a four or five days ride north of here."
"Yeah, any gold strike around this area would be news to me, as well," Grant said. "We'll follow the creeks in this area and see if we see anything. I also sent out telegrams to other area sheriffs, alerting them of what's happened, and asking about any mining in other areas. I haven't received any answers back yet, but I want them all to at least be aware of this, so if anything strange happens, they'll have a heads up."
When the men had finished discussing what they planned to do, Georgia turned to Doc. "If you said he's getting better, do we still need to stay with him twenty-four hours a day?"
"Give it one more day. Then if he's still improving, I think he'll be fine if you just keep him in bed. Don't let him up and moving around much, but you won't need to be with him all the time."
Georgia looked over at Austin, and he could tell she had something on her mind. She glanced at the other men at the table, but didn't say anything. He knew that meant she wasn't going to say anything in front of the other men.
He gave that some thought while they were eating, and toward the end of the meal he had an idea what she may have been thinking. "Doc, Georgia's become good friends with Vera Wagner, and Vera's been a real help for her, giving her instructions on gardening and canning. I know she's been missing their visits. Do you suppose Pete's good enough now that we could get Cord, or maybe Amos, one of the men to sit with him for a day so she could go visit Vera again?"
The smile on his wife's face told him he had, in fact, guessed what was on her mind. She then turned to hear Doc's reply. "I think that would be fine. In fact, I think it's a good idea. In another day or two Pete will be able to sit up, and if he had another man to play a game of checkers with, or just talk to, that would be good for him."
"I'd be happy to spend a day with him," Cord offered. "A day of checkers and talking sounds a lot nicer than branding cattle, and I know that job's coming up." All of them laughed, but agreed.
Doc turned to Georgia then. "You and Maria have done a wonderful job nursing that young man, Georgia. I'm glad to hear you and Vera have become friends. She's a fine lady, and a wonderful cook. I'm sure she can teach you a lot about gardening and canning. I think it would be good for you to get out and visit her again."
"Thank you, Doctor," Georgia said. "Vera has been very helpful, and my husband's right; I do miss her."
"Today's Thursday," Austin said. "Maybe Saturday would be a good day for you to plan to visit her."
Georgia smiled at her clever husband. Saturday was when she normally went to work with the three of them, and that was exactly what she'd been thinking about. They'd all been making such good progress, and she hated to stop. She'd been hoping they've been practicing what they've learned so far.
When they finished eating, Doc left to go back to town, while Austin, Grant and Cord headed out on horses to follow the creek and river that ran through his property. Georgia went back upstairs to check on Pete.
When Austin and Cord came in for supper, Georgia and Maria were anxious to hear if they'd found anything. "There's a spot along the creek at the far north end of my land that looks like someone may have been working. There are footprints around the creek and they go to the edge of a nearby woods, where it looks like someone's made camp for a couple days. I don't know if it's just a drifter passing through that
spent a couple nights there, maybe resting his horse, or if it was someone mining. The water's a little deeper there and there are some fish in the creek, so it may just have been a drifter."
"What's the sheriff going to do now?" Georgia asked.
"He's going to check with the neighbor to the north, Garrett Shamby, and see if he's seen any evidence of anyone on his land."
***
The next day, Pete was feeling better and was awake longer. He talked to Austin, telling him a little more about his background in Ohio. He was able to give him a description of Sam Wyler, which Austin wrote down so he could pass it on to Grant the next time he saw him. He explained a little bit about their mining activity. When he described the area, Austin felt pretty sure it was the spot on his land they'd found the day before.
On Saturday, Austin rode with Georgia to Elliott and Vera's house. He filled Elliott in on who Pete was and what happened. They made arrangements for Georgia to leave at a certain time that afternoon, and Austin would be watching for her. Elliott offered to escort her home, but she insisted she'd be fine.
She worked with the three of them, and was glad to see they'd been practicing and were doing well. She left at the agreed upon time, promising to be back again the following Saturday. Her ride back was uneventful. She wasn't surprised when her husband just happened to be checking fences in that general area and accompanied her home.
Sheriff Montgomery was waiting to talk to them when they reached the house. He didn't have much more to tell them, but wanted to check and see how Pete was doing and if he'd been able to give Austin any more information. Austin filled him in on the information Pete had given him, then they went up to talk to him a bit more. He encouraged Pete to let them know if he remembered anything Sam may have said about his family or places he'd lived, or any names he may have mentioned.
After the sheriff left, Austin led his wife into the parlor and sat down on the couch, pulling her down to sit on his lap. "I'm very proud of you, Mrs. Barrington. You and Maria have done a wonderful job caring for Pete, and that's a lot of work. I don't want you doing too much, though."
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