The Diary of Jerrod Bently, J.W. Osborn [the false prince series TXT] 📗

there before he walked Sam down the stairs to her husband. “You seem so sure that fellow up there is Joe,” he said as he struck a match on his boot heel and lit the burnt end of the cigar.
“You will understand once Victoria bears her child,” he said “A father knows his own children no matter how many years it has been since he’s seen them. My heart knows, Elliot. That is all I can tell you.”
Thoughtfully Doc drew on his cigar, letting the smoke flow out and into the air. “I was at Bear Claw the night Emil Caldero and his gang attacked it.” he said “ I rode in with a half a company of rangers, and the whole settlement was on fire. We were too late.”
“There were twenty riders, most of them Mescalero,” Scrub Pot said “I killed many of them that night when they tried to take Sarah. I had to get her to safety and then go back for the children. It was all ready too late for your wife, Elizabeth. She was dead when I found her.”
“We either shot or captured most of them, but Emil Caldero and his brother got away,” Doc said “I went back to look for Joe. I went to the cabin, and that is where I found him. I pulled his body out of the flames after it blew up. Zachariah, he was dead before I got to him. He’d been shot through the forehead. The body was badly burned, but the ring on it was Joe’s. “
Scrub Pot looked long and hard at his friend. “Tonight, Elliot,” he said “I will tell you of a great secret, One only known to my son and myself. If the man upstairs is my son, he will know it too. If he does not, then I will accept what you say about Joseph’s death. “
”Fair enough,” Doc replied.
“You have heard the stories of hidden treasure on this land,’ Scrub Pot said “You have seen people like Hinkley willing to kill for a rumor that such wealth exists but so well hidden no one has ever found it.”
“I have heard the stories for years,” Doc replied “It was what most of Caldero’s men and three of his brothers died for when I caught up with them. I figure that if such wealth in gold and silver is out there somewhere, why has no one found it?”
“What if I told you it all was true, Elliot,” Scrub Pot said, carefully watching his friend’s face as he spoke. “There is a treasure buried in a hillside not far from the back forty acres of this ranch.”
Doc drew thoughtfully on his cigar. “I’d say you were a crazy old coot to believe that.,” he said.
“No Elliot,” Scrub Pot replied “It is there. I have seen it with my own eyes. I am the man who found it all those years ago.”
Doc’s face registered an expression of shock and his mouth fell open in great surprise. “What?”, he questioned as though he had not heard him right.
“You heard me,” the old man replied “”And Joseph was with me. Actually it was my son who stumbled on it..”
“And you never told anyone?,” Doc said in amazement “and Joe knew about it too?”
Scrub Pot shook his head. “We kept our secret well,” he said “and even when I thought my son to be dead, I decided I’d still keep silent. Sam and Brian had no one but me , no legacy, nothing of their father or mother , so I decided to save the secret for them. On the day marking the twenty second anniversary of the massacre at Bear Claw, I will tell them.”
Still in shock, Doc stared back at him as he told the story of how he and his then nine year old son found the treasure and marked its hiding place under a huge formation of rocks that resembled a standing buffalo. “If this man, whom God has given into our care is Joseph,” Scrub Pot said “ He will know all of what I have told you.” He was your blood brother and husband to your sister, Doc. He would reveal the secret to you if he had to.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Doc answered thoughtfully. “Now I understand why Hinkley was so willing to hire someone to kill Sam and then try to go back on his word when it didn’t work out as he’d hoped. He must have known something.”
“He knew nothing.,” Scrub Pot replied “It was kind of funny to see all those holes all over the back forty and know he’d wasted his time. He was never even to close to where it is. “His greed was his undoing and he’ll be in prison for a very long time.”
“So you are telling me that Sam and Brian are the only living heirs to this treasure?”, Doc inquired.
“They are,” the old man replied “ It is buried right behind the back forty.
“Well, Zachariah,” Dog replied as he scrubbed out his cigar. “ As wild a tale as it is. I believe you. What about Sam and Brian?”
“All is legal,” the old man said “Sam and her husband own the ranch out right and all that is on it, including Buffalo Rock.
Doc was silent for a moment, taking in all that he’d just been told. “All these years. I had not idea it was true.”
“It is.,” Scrub Pot replied “And tomorrow I will take you to see where it is if you like.”
“Well, I’ll be a monkey’s butt,” he muttered as he got up from the step. “It is best we keep this between us.,” he added “This kind of thing could get out of hand.”
“You are right.,” Scrub Pot replied “I am going to enjoy a late desert with Esparanza. She promised me one of her special pies.”
Doc rose to his feet and started for the door “You sweet on that old widow?”
Scrub Pot merely grunted as he rose and walked passed him and into the house “Good night, Doc,” he said flatly. Doc headed for the stairs, and chuckled to himself. “Why you old coyote,” he muttered to himself.


++++++++++


The clouds were always inside his head. Sometimes they caused him great pain and others just the usual confusion that had become his life. Once and a while he caught a fleeting glimpse of a memory, but it always seemed to get away. He often touched the deep, ugly scar that marred the right side of his forehead and cheek. Why could he not remember how it got there? But he had a direction he followed, and each time he thought he had reached the destination, he was frustrated by no recognition and no answers. No one knew him. He did not know himself..and he had come to hate the veil that kept him apart from the world that once had been his. But he had heard it.. He had heard a voice. Maybe it had been one of the dreams, but that voice was the one that had given him direction. He tried to speak. It became a challenge as he worked his lips, and forced his eyes to open. “Father?” There he had gotten it out. Would there be an answer this time?
He felt it then, a warm but calloused hand closing over his. It was real. It had to be.
“Joseph.”, Scrub Pot said softly “Awaken, my brave son.”
The clouds rolled wildly, trying to hide the path where he stood alone. He reached out trying to touch the sound. “Come to me Joseph.” Suddenly he was a small boy and he’d fallen off his pony. “Come to me Joseph.” He saw the fringe on the sleeves of his father’s jacket as his arms closed around him. “Get back on, son.”
His eyes flew open.. For a moment the clouds were gone. He stared up into the face of his father. Scrub Pot was holding his hand. Joseph reached up slowly and touched his face. “Are you real”,? he whispered.
“I am,” the old man replied and then began speaking in the Blackfoot language. Joseph stared up at him following the sound of his voice carefully. “It is a prayer,” he said in a rasping whisper. The old man smiled in relief. “The Lord’s prayer in our language,” he said.
“Do you know who I am?”, he asked.
“Yes,” Scrub Pot replied “I do.”
His eyes closed and he uttered a sigh that might have been relief.
“You are my son, “ Scrub Pot said softly “Your name is Joseph Marley Dodge. “ A perplexed expression crossed his face. “Where did I come from?”
“You were born here in Grants Creek.” Scrub Pot said . “Do you remember anything at all, son?”
“Buffalo.,” Joseph said “But I do now know what it means.” The old man sat by the bed thinking of the Spanish treasure they had discovered. It’s