Twisting Paths

by Jesseca Dawn

Jesseca sent me this unique fan story . . . unique in the fact that Andi does not appear in the story. It is set right after she is settled in San Francisco, after the Fresno flood, and involves the rest of her family. Bet Andi's wishing more than ever that she didn't get sent to that ladies school and has to miss out on all the excitement back home.

Part 1

Chad took off his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead before once again replacing it on his head.

“It sure is hot out here,” Mitch commented, pausing in his work. “How many more cattle do we have to move to the pasture?”

“This bunch here is the last,” Chad said, kicking his horse onto a trot. “Mitch, over there.” 

Mitch looked where Chad pointed. Sure enough, a straggler had drifted away from the herd. Mitch pushed Chase into a gallop and quickly chased the ornery cow back to the herd.

****

“Mother, Mother you here?” Chad asked as he walked into the house and slammed his hat down on the parlor table. Mitch followed, closing the door behind them.

“What is it, Chad?” Mother asked as she slowly descended the staircase.

“Just wanted to let you know that Mitch and I are headed into town. Anything you need while we're there?”

“No, no I don’t think so. You could see if Melinda wants to go with you.”

“Well, where is she?” Mitch asked.

“I’m right here.” Melinda answered as she hurried in from the Parlor. “Yes, I’d like to go into town. How’s the clean up going?”

“Now, wait a minute, sis. You sure that’s a good idea? The streets are still pretty muddy and, well, it doesn’t smell too good.” Chad commented.

“I think I can stand it,” Melinda assured them. “How soon are you leaving?”

“We were planning on leaving right now. I told Paul Goodwin we’d be into town this afternoon to help in the Chinese section of town. It got flooded pretty badly, and it’s taking a little while to get it cleaned up,” Chad explained.

“It would go faster if more of the men from town would help,” Mitch commented.

“Why aren’t they helping?” Mother asked.

“Because the people they’d be helping are Chinese!” Chad exclaimed. “That’s about the only reason.”

“But surely if we offered to pay them, they’d be willing to help. I’m sure some of them are worried about getting back to their jobs.”

“We’ve tried that, Mother, “ Mitch interrupted. “Didn’t make any difference.”

“Well, I'd better go and get ready. I’ll be down in minute,” Melinda said, hurrying up the stairs.

“And I’ll go saddle Snowflake, little sis,” Mitch said, giving her a grin.

“Now hold on a minute! I’m not---”

“You are now,”Chad interrupted her. “With Andi gone, you’re officially the 'little sis' around here.”

“Mother!” Melinda protested.

“They don't mean anything by it, Melinda.” Mother smiled. “Chad, while you’re in town, see if there’s a letter from Andi.”

“Will do. Mitch, let’s go saddle the horses. Better hurry Melinda!” he yelled as they hurried out the door.

******

“Well, why don’t you head over to Justin’s and we’ll meet you there in a couple hours,” Mitch suggested as they rode into Fresno.

“Yeah, sis. That might be a good idea,” Chad chimed in.

“I’ll do that, but I want to go to the mercantile first and see if they have the new issue of Godey's Lady's Book.”

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up. Not too many trains have come through since the flood.”

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to check. I’ll go to Justin’s when I’m finished,” Melinda said, pushing Snowflake into a trot.

“We’d better head over to Chinatown,” Mitch said as Melinda disappeared around the corner.

Chad nodded. “Lets go over to the livery and see if Sam Blake’s coming. We need to get the shovels that are there, anyway.”

They wheeled their horses around and hurried over to the livery. “Hey, Cory,” Chad said, dismounting. “Is your pa home?”

“I’m right here, Chad.” Mr. Blake said walking out of the livery. 

Chad hurried over and shook his hand. “Good to see you, Sam. We’re just on our way over to Chinatown. You going to be coming over?”

“I was just saddling Cloud. Cory can look after things here for a while. We'll need the shovels. They’re around back.”

“Can I rent a horse here?”

All three turned at the new voice. Behind them stood a tall, young man with blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

“You must be new here,” Sam said, shaking his hand warmly. “I’m Sam Blake and this is Chad and Mitch Carter. My son Cory is over there.” He motioned to where Cory was leaning against the hitching post.

“My name is Ben Rodger. I got here on last night's train and I was wondering If I could rent a horse to have a look around the town. You see, I’m here with the orders to find a convenient place to build a ditch that will hold the excess water when the river floods without costing the State a lot of money.

 “Well, I’ll get you a horse and then why don’t you come along with us? We’re on our way over to Chinatown to help with the cleanup there.”

Ben nodded. “That would be just fine.”

***

As they rode into Chinatown, Chad and Mitch, as well as Sam, dismounted and tied their horses to the hitching post at the edge of town.

“If it's okay with you, I think I’ll ride around a little,” Ben said.

Sam nodded. “When you’re done with the horse you can just take it back by the livery. And be careful. It’s still pretty muddy in some places.”

“Alright. It was good meeting you,” he said, then he wheeled his horse around.

Mitch grabbed two of the shovels and headed over to where the men were working--well, where they had  been working.

“What’s going on here?” asked Chad.

Paul Goodwin stood up. “Chad, Mitch, good to see you.”

“Paul, where is everyone?” 

“You mean other than the Chinese? Well, they all decided to quit working.”

“What! Why?”

"Well, about thirty minutes ago a man rides in here and says he’s from the State. Trying to find a place to have a ditch dug to run the water off when it floods. Then he said it was going to be dug right here in Chinatown. He said we may as well stop working.”

“In Chinatown? But he can’t do that! Where will all these people go?” Sam asked.

Mr. Goodwin shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“This doesn’t add up. What was his name?”

“Said it was . . . Ben. Ben Rodgers.”

“That’s what I thought,” Mitch said. Turning to Chad, he asked. “Didn't’ he say he had just gotten to town?”

“Yep, came in on last night’s train.”

“Sam, did he come to the livery earlier and get a horse?”

“Nope, he sure didn’t. This was the first time I had seen him.”

“This doesn’t seem right,” Chad said with a frown on his face. “I’m going to go over to the office and see if Justin knows anything about this. He should at least be able to find out whether Ben really is from the State or not.”

“Yeah, I’ll go with you,” Mitch agreed.

They hurried over and mounted their horses. Then Mitch turned around. “You may as well go home. We can’t do anything until we figure out if he is from Sacramento or not.”

****

“Justin, I need to talk to you.” Chad hurried into the office with Mitch close behind him.

“Uh, Mr. Carter, I don’t think that would be a very good idea.” Tim interrupted. 

Chad brushed him off and hurried toward the closed door. 

“Chad, Mitch, what is it?” Melinda stood up and walked over to them. “Lucy’s here, I wouldn’t think you should---”

But Chad wasn’t listening. He threw open the door then drew back in surprise. Lucy sat across the desk from Justin. They appeared to be in an animated discussion.

“Oh, hello, Lucy. Sorry, Justin, I didn’t realize she was here.”

“Well, if you would have listened to me, you would have known!” Melinda exclaimed.

“Never mind, Chad. What is it?”

"It can wait a few minutes. I’ll come back later.” He closed the door then turned, only to see Mitch grinning at him.

“What are you laughing at?” Chad asked in a perturbed voice.

“Mitch raised his hands. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Well, keep it that way,” he snapped as he hurried out of the office. 

Mitch looked at Melinda and they both burst out laughing. “Oh boy, that was interesting” Mitch exclaimed when he caught his breath.

“No, it was downright funny. I’ve never seen Chad so flustered before,” Melinda answered

“Well, what do you say we head down to the mercantile and get some lemonade and then go see where Chad’s gone off to”

“That sounds wonderful.” Melinda grabbed her hat off the chair and hurried out after Mitch.

***

“Do you think we should get one for Chad?” Melinda asked as Mitch handed her the cold lemonade.

Mitch considered it a moment. “Sure. One more lemonade please, Jack,” he said, pushing another coin across the counter.

Jack nodded and handed Mitch another cup brimming with the tart, cool liquid. As they walked back outside the sore, Mitch turned to Melinda. “Why don’t you stay here in the shade while I go and find Chad?”

Melinda nodded. “Alright. Want me to keep your lemonade for you?”

Mitch grinned. “Yes, please, little sis.” He gave Melinda a wink as he hurried away down the boardwalk.

Melinda sat down on the bench outside the mercantile. I may be in the shade, but it’s still not cool, she thought. Standing up, she began to walk. She stepped off the boardwalk and turned into the alley behind the store. Well, it's a little cooler.. The tall buildings on either side blocked any beams of sun from finding their way into the narrow alley.

Suddenly Melinda stopped. Footsteps? But who else would be back here?

“Hello, miss.” 

Melinda turned. Behind her, and blocking the entrance to the alley, stood a man she had never seen before. Suddenly realizing she was alone and no one knew where she was, she instinctively took a step back. “C-can I help you?”

“Well, I was just taking a walk around the town and I saw you come back here. I thought that there must be some reason a pretty girl like you would use the alley. Would you like to go out for supper sometime?”

As he had been talking, he had been slowly walking closer toward her.

“Please,” Melinda said trying to step around him. “I’m waiting for my brothers.”

“Your brothers? Now why would they leave a girl like you alone?” He took a step over, blocking her from leaving. “How about you show me around the town?”

“No, p-please . . .” Melinda started.

At that moment, both Chad and Mitch hurried into the alley. Mitch reached out and pulled the man away from Melinda.

Chad punched him squarely in the face. “I knew you were up to no good!” he exclaimed as he recognized the man. 

It was Ben Rodgers. “Now, wait a minute! I didn’t do anything to your sister.” 

Neither Chad nor Mitch paid any attention. 

Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, another man entered the alley and, seeing what was happening, punched Chad in the face. Chad, stunned, flew backwards.

Mitch let go of Ben and rushed over, greeting the other man with a punch as he turned.

“All right, all right. Break it up,” Sheriff Tate said, entering the alley. “What’s going on here?”

Melinda hurried over to Chad. "Chad, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” he answered as he sat up rubbing his jaw. “A bruised jaw isn’t that high of a price to pay.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to pay a higher price than that.” the sheriff said.

Part 2

“Justin, finally!” Mitch exclaimed as he stood up and walked over to the door of the cell. “I’ve only been in here about ten minutes, and I’m already ready to leave.”

“Well, well, well. It looks like you two have got yourselves into a predicament,” Justin said with a  smile.

“Never knew it was criminal to protect one's sister,” Chad muttered.

“Protecting is not. But I’m afraid starting a fight is,” Justin said as Sheriff Tate unlocked the cell.

“See, all we needed was a good lawyer, Mitch,” Chad joked.

Mitch nodded. “He does come in handy.”

“Now, what was that you came busting into my office about?” Justin asked as they left the jail.

“That fellow, the same one who was messin’ with Melinda, he came and told everyone who was working in Chinatown to stop.”

“That’s right,” Mitch chimed in. “He said he’d been sent down by the State to find a place where a new ditch could be built to help with the flooding problems. Then he said the ditch was going to be dug right in Chinatown. We thought you could look into it.”

“Hey, where is he, anyway?” Chad asked, realizing for the first time the second cell had been empty when he passed it.

“Sheriff Tate said that someone had come in and bailed him out,” Justin replied.

“Where’s Melinda?” This time it was Mitch who asked the question.

“She's back at the office. Lucy was trying to calm her down when I left. She was pretty shook up.”

“Sorry for interrupting you earlier today,” Chad apologized.

“There’s no harm done. Let’s head over to the depot. I’ll send a wire to Sacramento and ask about . . . What did you say his name is?”

“Ben Rodgers,” Chad growled. “But I say his name is 'trouble.'”

“Oh, don’t be too harsh, Chad. Wait until I get a reply,” Justin admonished.

“And while we’re there, we can see if there’s a letter from Andi,” Mitch reminded them

******

“Ben Rodgers does not exist,” Justin said dropping the telegram on his desk. “At least, he doesn’t exist as far as the State is concerned. Furthermore, the State has no plans to dig a ditch . . . or any other kind of irrigation or drainage here in Fresno, as helpful as that idea maybe.” He sighed and sat down in the chair behind his desk.

“I knew it!" Chad exclaimed. “Now we can get him out of here.”

“Now, hold on a minute, big brother,” Mitch interrupted. “Why in the world would he be here cooking up some big story about an irrigation ditch? He’s got to have some reason to be in Fresno. And why would he want to run the Chinese off their property?”

“Because he wants their land.” Justin sat up as though he suddenly had had an idea. “The Chinese aren’t legally protected by the United States, sadly. They could be run off any time, and as long as it was by the 'government,' no one would question it.”

“But why would anyone want that part of town?” Chad asked. “It’s not like it’s useful. It’s not more than five acres and tucked away on the edge of town. It’s not like they could do much there.”

“Unless it’s a cover-up to hide something.” This time it was Melinda who spoke. Lucy had gone home less than an hour ago, followed shortly by Tim, leaving the Carters alone.

“The other man, the one who came in the alley, had you ever seen him before?”

Melinda shook her head. “I’d never met either of them. There was something about the first man, Ben, that didn’t seem right. He was friendly, too friendly, but his eyes kept darting around as though he was hiding from something or someone.”

“This isn’t making much sense,” Chad admitted. “Why in the world would someone go to all this trouble just to hide something?”

“Wait.” Mitch suddenly sat up and turned to Chad. “Why don’t we go down to the depot and see if there have been any unusual shipments coming into Fresno. If they’re planning on hiding something, they had to have gotten it here one way or another. The agent there would know.”

“But who would be crazy enough to ship it on the train? Surely they would have suspected that someone may catch on.”

“It’s a long shot, but it’s a good idea,” Justin said. “You two can go do that, while Melinda and I go see Sheriff Tate. He needs to be notified about this.”

***

“Will, has there been any unusual shipments coming in lately?” Chad asked as he and Mitch entered the depot. 

Will, looked up. “Well hello, Chad, Mitch. Unusual shipments? What exactly do you mean?”

“Oh, you know. Anything out of the ordinary. Shipments that don’t usually come into Fresno,” Mitch explained.

Will scratched his head. “Unusual shipment. Well, now that you mention it, there have been some crates coming in pretty regularly lately. We’ve had then back in the store room because there were no instructions on where to send them. But then today a man come in and said they were all his. They matched the name on the shipping labels so I took him to them. There were a couple dozen of them. Like I said, they’ve been coming in pretty regularly.”

Chad and Mitch glanced at each other, but it was Chad who asked the obvious question. "Where’d he take them?”

“Not quite sure. He came in about an hour ago. Had two other guys with them and they loaded them into the wagons and drove off.”

“What was his name?”

Will shuffled through some of the papers on the desk. “Here it is. Ben Rodgers. Said he was someone from the State. Rumor around town has it he’s been evicting the Chinese from Chinatown 'cause the state’s planning to build a ditch. Boy, it sure will help when the creeks all overflow!”

“Thank you for the information, Will,” Mitch said as they hurried out of the depot.

“Well, what's that tell you?” Chad asked as they hurried toward the sheriffs office.

“It tells me we better go and talk to Justin. . . and the sheriff.”

They had started down the boardwalk when Chad suddenly pressed himself flat against the front of the depot and drew his pistol out of the holster.

“What is it?” Mitch whispered

Chad put a finger to his lips. Then Mitch heard it too: voices talking in the alley behind the depot.

“Something’s wrong . . . the gold needs hid . . . not yet!”

Suddenly one voice became clear. It was one they both recognized.

“I’ve got us this far, and I’ll take us to the end. Now that we’ve got those Chinese moving out, we’ll have all their land to ourselves. If you haven’t noticed, they’re almost already gone.”

“What good is that gonna do us? We won’t be here more than a day. Why did we have to make this such a big deal? Everyone in the town is going to expect us to start digging the ditch.”

“And we will start digging . . .but not for the ditch. As soon as we get this buried tomorrow night we’ll leave; send a message that the State decided to quit the project. But this gold has got to be hidden and forgotten about. It’s been fifteen years since the the Confederate states lost the War. I’m tired of the headache of it. As soon as it’s buried, we can forget about it and get on with living. And the other gold? Well, I figure we can take out enough to live comfortably and then hide the rest.”

“And what about the Chinese?”

“Your conscience starting to bother you? As soon as they realize we’re not going to build the ditch they can all come back. Until then, I say good riddance.”

Chad turned to Mitch. “Get Justin and the sheriff. I’ll stay here.”

Mitch nodded, replaced the gun in his holster, and quietly hurried off the boardwalk. The sun was beginning to set, and the night air was cool in contrast to the hot day it had been.

Mitch opened the door to the sheriff's office.

“Justin, Sheriff Tate,” he called out. “The men are in the alley behind the depot. 

Sheriff Tate and Justin both stood. up.

“Melinda, you stay here," Justin said.

“But Justin--”

“No buts. He’s right, little sister. You can’t be out there,” Mitch said.

“Do you both have a firearm?” the sheriff asked.

“I do, but Justin doesn’t,” Mitch answered.

“I don't usually need one in my line of work, if you know what I mean,” Justin said, catching the pistol the sheriff threw to him.

“You need one now, big brother," Mitch said. "We all know you can shoot straight; all the Carters can. Well, except for Andi, that is.”

At that Justin chuckled. “That’s true. She and Chad have had their arguments on that subject once or twice.”

“Alright, let's go,” the sheriff said. “They’re behind the depot, Mitch?”

“They were when I left.”

The three men left the sheriff's office and hurried over to the depot.

As they got closer, Mitch stopped. “Chad's not here” was all he said before hurrying to the depot. Leaning up against the side of the depot, Mitch listened for the voices they had heard only minutes earlier.

“To bad . . . you listening . . . gotta keep you . . ."

“They’ve got Chad,” Mitch whispered as Justin and the sheriff caught up. The sheriff crept toward the entrance to the alley. Pulling out his pistol, he cocked the hammer. Justin and Mitch did the same.

“I suggest you throw down your guns and put your hands up.’’

Without warning a shot rang out. Justin, Mitch, and the sheriff quickly ducked behind some of the crates and fired at the men that were now only shadows in the moonlight.

Suddenly there was a cry as one of the men fell to the ground. For a split second the other two men turned toward their fallen companion. That was all the time they needed.

The sheriff stood up and cocked his gun, focusing it on one of the men while Mitch did the same to the other.

“Now, drop your guns.”

The first man threw down the pistol and put his hands up. The second man turned slowly, then suddenly whirled around and fired a shot toward Mitch. Mitch dropped his gun and groaned as the bullet caught him in the shoulder.

Justin fired and the other man dropped to the ground. “Mitch, are you alright?” Justin asked as he hurried over.

“I’m alright,” Mitch said between clenched teeth. “Just don’t let him get away.” He motioned to the man still standing.

“Justin, cuff hi,.” the sheriff said as he tossed Justin a pair of handcuffs.

Justin caught the handcuffs, cocked his pistol, and walked toward the man. “Just don’t move and you’ll be fine.” He placed the pistol in his holster and pulled the man's right arm behind his back, snapped on the cuff, and then reached over and snapped it on the left wrist.

“You know, we didn’t have to go through all this trouble. You could have put down your guns when the sheriff told you to.”

“You got a problem with me, counselor?”

“Well, I normally do have a problem with anyone who breaks the law.” Justin chuckled. “It comes with the job.”

****

“So, all of it was a cover up?” Mother asked as the family sat down for breakfast the next morning.

“Apparently Ben and his gang have been hauling around the gold for nearly fifteen years. They got tired of it and decided to get rid of it once and for all. But it wasn’t only the gold for the Confederate states that they had. They’ve been robbing stagecoaches for the last ten years. There have been several Wanted posters out for them, but, interestingly enough, they never robbed any stagecoaches in California.They’d rob one then lay low for a while, then there’d be another robbery. I guess they just decided they were done. They were planning on going down to Mexico and buying a ranch. They'd shipped everything in on the train, but there was only a little of the treasure in every crate. It was less suspicious than to have three or four heavy crates,” Justin explained.

“The flood here in Fresno provided a perfect opportunity. They needed to bury it in a place no one would look.”

“So all this about working for the State and a new ditch was part of their plan?” Melinda asked.

“Yep. They thought it would throw off suspicion,” Chad said as he placed another piece of ham on his plate.

“Hungry, Chad?” Justin asked.

Chad looked up. “Being kidnapped is hungry work. Besides, we got home so late last night all anyone wanted to do was sleep. I’ve got to catch up on the eating part today.”

Mother sighed. “It’s sad what lengths some people will go through to try and cover up their sin. Even to the point where people get hurt.”

Justin nodded in agreement. “It is. Because of this, one of them died, another is badly hurt, and Ben, their leader, faces life imprisonment. Like it says in the Bible ‘Be sure your sin will find you out.' Those who aren’t following the Lord are bound to be caught in the twisted pathways they’ve created for themselves.”

There was silence at the table as everyone pondered Justin’s words.

“And I face a couple of weeks where Mitch won’t be able to help me out on the ranch,” Chad said, breaking the silence.

“Hey, it’s not like I asked for it! I’m just  afraid I won’t be much use to you with my right arm in a sling.”

Melinda laughed. “Since you’ll be at the house all day, Mitch, maybe you can help me with something.”

“Sure, what is it, little sister?”

“I can’t decide what the best choice of fabric would be for my new dress. And I can’t choose a color.”

“Uhh, maybe you should get Mother to help you with that. I wouldn’t be any good. I think you’d look beautiful in a feed sack.”

Everyone at the table laughed.

As they quieted down, Mother said, “Let’s take a minute to thank God that everything has turned out alright, that no one is badly injured and that we’re all safe. Justin, can you lead us in prayer?”

The room became quiet as the family bowed their heads and Justin lead them in a heartfelt prayer of thanksgiving.

The End