To Be or Not To Be, Part 4

by Katlynn

Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV program "Big Valley" are the creations of Four Star/Republic Pictures and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended by the author. The ideas expressed in this story are copyrighted to the author.

Chapter 18

“I DON’T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT ANYMORE,” Heath yelled as he stood up and glared at Nick, some ten feet away, “’CAUSE THERE AIN’T NOTHIN’ YA’ CAN SAY THAT’LL EXPLAIN WHY TWO PEOPLE I THOUGHT I COULD BELIEVE COULDN’T EVEN LOOK ME IN THE EYES AND TELL ME THE TRUTH!”

Heath’s rage was palpable as he turned away and started across the clearing to where the horses were tied. He didn’t really care about the damn watch! It wasn’t about the watch! It was about Mama lying to him. He could count on one hand the number of people he’d believed would never lie to him – and Mama would have been right at the top of his short list. Every time he’d looked at that watch and thought of Mama it had been a lie! She KNEW how much he hated the man who was his father. She KNEW he wouldn’t want something that had belonged to him. And she’d looked him right in the eyes and as good as lied to him by not telling him the truth.

And Nick! By no stretch of the imagination had they been friends or even brothers before they embarked on this trip but still he’d known that Nick Barkley was a straightforward and honest man. Even when Nick seemed to hate him after he revealed that Tom Barkley was his father, he still knew that Nick would tell him the truth. Not that he always liked the truth that Nick told, but he had to admire him for his truthfulness. Until now. Now, just when he’d finally decided that it was time to be brothers – now he listens to Heath’s story and never says a word about recognizing the watch as his father’s. He’d probably been laughing about it ever since, Heath figured. Maybe he’d never called anyone ‘brother’ before but he didn’t imagine that was the way you treated one.

Nick watched Heath cross the clearing and didn’t doubt that he was going to untie the bay stallion and be on his way – and that wasn’t the way Nick wanted to leave things. He wanted to show him that he could look him in the eyes and explain it – if Heath would just let him. He knew if Heath would just calm down he could make him understand that he’d had a good reason for not immediately telling him that he thought the watch had belonged to their father. He was only just getting to know him and he didn’t think he knew him well enough yet to shatter the illusion that Heath was carrying something with him that had belonged to his mother. Something Nick was now carrying in his pocket but was sure Heath would want back when he knew the whole story. He would have told him eventually and knew he could make him understand that if he’d just stop to listen. So Nick tried to stop him.

“Heath, you can’t ride off until you’ve given me the chance to…”

“I SAID I DON’T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT ANYMORE!” Heath swung around to face him.

“But I can explain…”

“NICK!” Heath yelled a warning and in an action so quick that Nick had no time to react, Heath’s gun was in his hand and the small clearing roared with the sound of two shots fired in rapid succession.

He hadn’t seen it when he first turned around. There’d been a moment when all he saw was a slight movement in the shadows cast by the tall pines that rose above the clearing. And then he had only an instant to realize that what he saw was a mountain lion getting ready to pounce. He barely had time to shout his warning before instinct took over and his gun was in his hand and his finger was automatically working the trigger.

Nick heard the bullets pass so close to his ear that they whistled as they went by and he could feel the heat that radiated from the flying lead as it cleared his shoulder. He had hardly a second to register these sensations before he felt a thud as the cougar landed on his back. There was a moment of intense pain as its claws grabbed onto and dug into his shoulder. He tumbled to the unyielding ground where his head cracked against an unfortunately placed rock. The pain faded to blackness and the blackness to oblivion.

Heath’s gun shook in his hand and he could feel his heart pounding furiously in his chest.

Across the clearing, Nick lay unmoving. Face down. Lifeless.

It was probably no more than seconds but seemed like an hour before Heath’s feet moved to carry him to Nick’s side. The animal lay dead across his back, its claws still embedded in his shoulder. Heath was relieved to see two distinct wounds in the cat – one in its neck and the other between its eyes. Only then was he sure that neither of his bullets had hit his brother and that the blood that covered the back of Nick’s shirt was probably the cougar’s. He held his breath as he gingerly reached over the cat’s outstretched paw to place his fingers against Nick’s neck in search of a pulse. He let the breath out loudly as he felt a strong, steady beat. He gently lifted Nick’s eyelid and saw nothing but white.

“Nick…” he groaned for him since the dark-haired cowboy didn’t give the appearance of making any immediate sounds himself, “this is gonna hurt. I’m sorry – but there’s no way around it. Don’t wake up yet.”

The mountain lion’s paw was curled over the top of Nick’s shoulder with its claws buried in the flesh just below his collarbone. Heath was going to have to pull them out but first he needed to have something ready to stop the bleeding that he expected to see when the nails were removed. He went over to the horses and took a precious minute to be sure that the sounds of the gun and the cat hadn’t unsettled them. The stallion was prancing back and forth as far as its tethers would allow and Heath spoke quietly to it as he lightly rubbed his hand down the horse’s face then softly patted the side of his neck. Coco, Magic and Buster were used to the sound of a gun and didn’t appear to be disturbed by that or the animal. The new mare, like the stallion, got a few quiet words to settle her down before Heath pulled his canteen and saddlebag from Magic and returned to his brother’s side.

“Nick? Nick, can ya’ hear me?” he asked as he took a shirt from his saddlebag. When there was no response he continued, “I gotta pull these outta your shoulder Nick so if ya’ can hear me, try not to move. It’s gonna hurt like hell…”

His voice trailed off as he concentrated on ripping the sleeves off the shirt. Starting at the cuff, he rolled each one into a tight compress, tucking them into the pocket of his shirt to keep them bundled while he tried to extract the animal’s claws. He rummaged in his saddlebag for his knife, pulling it from its sheath when he had it in hand. If he could slide the blade between the cat’s paw and Nick’s shoulder, he reasoned, he might be able to ease the claws out without putting too much pressure on the wound. Laying the knife blade flat against the back of Nick’s shoulder, he slipped it under the animal’s paw until the entire blade lay beneath. Then he slowly worked the blade forward, over the shoulder, and down to where the claws pushed into the flesh. He felt the resistance and knew he’d moved the knife as far as he could. And he knew that now he had to pull it out.

He decided to do it fast. Either way it was going to hurt. If Nick was even barely conscious, Heath figured he’d be yelling, ‘just yank ‘em out!’ So after a first, tentative, nudge of the knife to be sure the claws weren’t in the bone, he quickly pulled the knife away from Nick’s shoulder and the nails came out, presumably, as easily as they went it.

It might not be the largest cougar he’d ever seen but it had to be at least five feet long and 150 pounds. Still Heath lifted it slightly and pushed it off his brother as though it was a small sack of grain. He had to turn Nick onto his back before he could take the rolled up shirt sleeve and press it against the wound that wasn’t bleeding nearly as much as he’d expect it to be. He pressed down on Nick’s left shoulder even as he was checking the right side of his head for a visible wound. Except for a bump that was already swelling slightly above and behind his ear, there was no other evidence of an injury.

He was reaching for his canteen when he felt Nick try to pull away from the pressure against his shoulder. He was kneeling on the right side of the dark-haired cowboy and his arm was stretched across him to hold the rolled material in place. Nick’s right arm came up, trying to push Heath’s arm away. The blond tried to keep his voice from shaking as he said, “Nick, ya’ gotta lay still. Your shoulder is…”

“…shot me…” Nick mumbled.

“Nick, if I’da shot ya’, I’da left ya’,” Heath said disgustedly.

The hand that had been trying to push Heath’s arm away, went to Nick’s head instead. As it came in contact with the growing lump, Nick let out a groan. “Owww … what happened?” he opened his eyes and tried to focus on his brother.

“Ya’ got jumped by a cougar,” Heath told him as he released the pressure on Nick’s shoulder to lift his head while he held the canteen for him to take a drink. “Just a little,” he cautioned. “And don’t try to sit up ‘cause you’ll just get sick and that ain’t somethin’ I’m lookin’ forward to cleanin’ up.”

Heath pushed his saddlebag under Nick’s head before stepping over him to get a better look at his left shoulder. The shirt was already torn so he used his knife to cut it open enough to be able to see the wound. He noticed that Nick’s eyes seemed to be focused on the animal lying near his feet so he wasn’t surprised to hear the groggy-sounding question, “You shot the cougar?”

“’Course I shot the cougar. What did ya’ think? That I was shootin’ at you?” Heath sounded surprised. Then he decided the implied accusation was probably just confusion so he ignored it and told him, “Ya’ got three holes in your shoulder. They ain’t too deep but they need to be cleaned. Ain’t no way of knowin’ what was on those claws. Ya’ don’t happen to have a bottle of whiskey in your saddlebag, do ya’?”

Nick sounded a bit unsure as he said, “I don’t think so.”

“All I got to clean it with is water, then.” He let out a loud breath before shaking his head and saying, “Nick, ya’ ain’t gonna be able to sit on a horse and we gotta get ya’ to a doctor. It’s gotta be cleaned out.”

“I can ride…” Nick protested.

“Sure ya’ can, Nick,” Heath humored him. “We’ll figure a way once I’ve got this bandaged. I need to get some more water and find ya’ another shirt. Ya’ ain’t gonna wanna wear this one. So just lay still for a coupla minutes and don’t try to sit up, okay. Ya’ hit your head on a rock and you’re gonna get dizzy if ya’ sit up right now.” He took Nick’s right hand and placed it over the material that covered the wound. “Keep some pressure on that ‘til I get back. It ain’t bleedin’ too much so maybe we can getcha on your feet once it’s bandaged. Come on, Nick,” he reached down and lightly slapped the side of his face a couple time when his eyes closed. “Stay with me. I need ya’ to hold this in place,” he pressed his hand down over Nick’s.

Nick opened his eyes and the first thing they focused on was the cougar. “You sure that thing is dead?”

“Got him right between the eyes, Nick. He’s dead,” Heath assured him. “Ya’ with me now? Can ya’ hold that in place?”

“Yeah…” he just sighed and Heath wasn’t at all sure that Nick would still be conscious when he got back to the prone cowboy.

He refilled both his canteen and Nick’s then took his brother’s saddlebag and jacket off Coco and returned to his side.

Heath kept talking to him as he worked to clean up his shoulder and bandage it, wanting to keep Nick awake as he seemed to drift away and then be startled into awareness every couple minutes. Finally when he’d managed to secure a bandage to the wound without Nick having to sit up, he again brought Nick back to his senses with a couple gentle slaps to his face.

“Nick, I know ya’ ain’t gonna be able to move very far or very fast – but we shouldn’t stay here. If that cougar was lookin’ for food, there’s prob’ly more that are doin’ the same. I gotta get ya’ and the horses away from here,” Heath told him when Nick looked at him with something that resembled recognition. “I’m gonna help ya’ sit up so we can get this shirt on ya’ then we’ll figure out how to get outta here.”

He’d been afraid that sitting up would bring on the nausea that frequently accompanied a head injury and was reassured when Nick was upright and didn’t immediately appear to be affected by the crack to his head. “Always said ya’ had a hard head,” Heath joked about it as he helped him put his shirt on. The jacket took a bit more effort, as Nick seemed to fade away for a moment. But when Heath spoke his name he responded with a slight nod of his head that he was okay.

“Just help me stand up,” Nick’s voice was all the evidence that Heath needed that his dark-haired brother wasn’t himself. The normally booming voice was so soft that Heath had to strain to hear him. “I’m okay.”

“Nick, ya’ ain’t okay,” Heath shook his head. “We gotta have a doctor look at that shoulder so it doesn’t get infected – and I gotta figure the closest one is in Placerville. That’s gotta be forty miles at least and we ain’t gonna get that far today.”

“Placerville’s outta the way,” Nick mumbled but Heath at least felt reassured that his brother remembered that the mining town wouldn’t have been on their route under normal circumstances. “Don’t need a doctor. I’m fine.”

“Sure ya’ are, Nick. And I know it’s outta the way but it’s a helluva lot closer than the ranch. And we can send a telegram from there lettin’ ‘em know we’ll be a day or two longer than planned. Ya’ wouldn’t want ‘em to worry, would ya’?” he decided there was no harm in trying to use guilt as motivation. He’d rather have Nick think he was going to Placerville for the benefit of the family than for himself – because it might be the only way he’d get him there and into a doctor’s office. “Ya’ wanna try to stand up now?”

Nick stubbornly pushed Heath’s hands away as the blond cowboy tried to assist him. He was determined to prove to his little brother that there was no reason not to proceed as planned. But Heath quickly slipped under his right arm as Nick seemed to get dizzy once he was on his feet.

“Come on, Nick, one foot in fronta the other,” Heath encouraged as he turned him towards the opposite side of the clearing where the horses were tied down. “It ain’t far.”

He settled Nick on a boulder then got everything stowed in the saddlebags and the bags secured to the horses. He filled their canteens again then crouched down in front of this brother who was beginning to slump down on the rock.

“Nick --,” he touched his knee as he tried to get a look at his eyes. “Nick, ya’ gonna be able to ride? Ya’ wanna ride double?”

“We don’t need to ride double,” Nick brushed his hand away. “But I don’t know if I can keep an eye on two other horses. You’re gonna have to take…” his voice trailed off as he frowned, trying to remember.

“Yeah, Nick, I’ll take Buster if ya’ can handle the mare,” Heath prompted. “Ya’ think ya’ can take the lead? ‘Cause it’ll be easier to keep an eye on ya’ if I don’t have to keep turnin’ around.”

“Yeah,” Nick nodded then grimaced at the throbbing in his head that resulted from the unconscious movement. “The trail doesn’t go but one place. Should be easy enough to find my way,” he tried to joke but his voice was flat and Heath didn’t really think of it as a joke. If the trail DID go more than one place he’d have serious doubts about Nick’s ability, at the moment, to find his way anywhere.

“Well, we ain’t ridin’ far, Nick. I just wanna get far enough away from that cat that we ain’t additional bait for somethin’ lookin’ for food. There ain’t much of it up here and I don’t plan to be the main course. Come on,” he stood up and took Nick’s arm. “I’ll help ya’ get on your horse and we’ll see how well ya’ can stay on him.”

He wanted to trust Nick that he’d be able to ride on his own but he wasn’t even sure that Nick had been conscious sitting there on the rock. Still, if Nick said he could ride, Heath wasn’t going to tell him he couldn’t until he actually saw him fall out of the saddle. He needed minimal help to mount up, but only when Heath was sure that his brother knew he was sitting on Coco’s back did he tie the mare’s tether to the saddlehorn in front of Nick. Buster’s tether was tied to the back of Magic’s saddle before Heath swung up onto it then leaned over to untie the stallion’s two lead lines and secure them to his own saddlehorn.

With the mare on Nick’s right and the stallion on Heath’s left, the blond guided Magic to the left side of Coco. “Nick,” he reached over and touched his brother’s shoulder, “ya’ ready to move out?”

The only response was a slight nod before Nick nudged Coco forward. Heath stayed at his side long enough to be sure the dark-haired cowboy was heading the horse into California rather than back to Nevada then fell in behind him as they left the clearing and returned to the trail. As they continued their journey through the mountain pass, his eyes rarely left the back of Nick’s head. Every so often, it would start to nod and then snap back up. Finally, when they’d been riding almost two hours, Nick’s head nodded one last time and Heath saw his body give in.

Heath quickly urged Magic forward and came up alongside Coco. He reached out to grab the sleeve of Nick’s jacket and held tight as the other cowboy started to slide to his right. With his left hand he guided Magic even closer, pushing Coco towards a small clearing he could see about fifty feet ahead of them. He used Magic to turn all the horses off the trail and into the tiny space before he swung his left leg over the front of his saddle, kicked his right foot out of the stirrup, and slid off Magic’s back still holding on to his brother’s jacket. Nick’s left boot had pulled free of the stirrup and Heath hoped the right one had as well as he tugged him out of the saddle. The way Nick dropped said he was free of that restraint and Heath positioned himself to catch Nick with his shoulder.

He’d worry about the horses after he had Nick settled, he figured, as he carried the heavier man away from the equines and settled him against a boulder. He went back to the horses and grabbed Nick’s canteen before returning to his brother’s side. The water didn’t revive him; instead it just rolled down his chin and onto his shirt.

“Oh, Nick…” Heath groaned, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for an instant. He opened his eyes and looked at his brother, hoping that he’d miraculously opened his own eyes. He hadn’t. He stood up and looked at their surroundings then back down at Nick, the anger from a couple hours ago forgotten for the moment. With another deep breath, exhaled in a sigh, he promised, “I’ll get ya’ outta here somehow…”

Chapter 19

Under almost any other circumstances, Heath wouldn’t mind sitting high in the mountains watching the sun set far to the west. But sitting there because there was no alternative at the moment made him decidedly uneasy. He looked over to where Nick slept next to the campfire and was relieved to see that he still seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He’d had a devil of a time waking the dark-haired cowboy when he’d passed out on horseback earlier in the afternoon. And once he had awakened, Nick had been alternately sick then dizzy then sweating and, finally, tired to the point that he fell asleep – or lapsed into unconsciousness – in the middle of asking Heath exactly how far he figured they’d traveled that day.

Nick had slept for a bit more than an hour and woke to the same sequence of symptoms with a headache thrown in. He caught Heath unaware when he roused to the point of alertness and sat up. The sudden headache and vertigo brought an immediate nausea that emptied his stomach of whatever remained. His normal tan had faded, leaving a pallor that was alarming in itself. The sweating and fatigue only added to Heath’s concern over his condition.

“Ya’ wanna try some water, Nick?” he knelt next to him, one arm supporting him as he sat up and the other offering the canteen.

Nick took a drink then a deep breath and surveyed their surroundings in the dim light. “What time is it?”

“Don’t know,” Heath said simply. “Don’t care. It’s almost sundown – whatever time that comes around here. We ain’t goin’ anywhere ‘til mornin’.” He looked over at the campfire where steam rose from the spout of the small coffee pot. “I made some broth from some jerky,” he told Nick. “Didn’t think ya’d be in the mood to eat but thought ya’ might wanna give it a try.”

“Yeah,” Nick nodded. “Thanks,” he sounded distracted. He frowned as he watched Heath pour the broth into a cup. There was something he should remember, he thought. Something he should read in the way Heath responded to his question. Then it hit him – time – the watch. The one that had started their argument … whenever that was. The watch that was now in his pocket instead of Heath’s. Well, it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about right now, he decided, his hand massaging his forehead and temples in an effort to get rid of a headache that he knew had staying power.

“Nick?” he hadn’t realized that Heath was back at his side. “Careful. It’s hot,” he warned as he picked up one of Nick’s gloves and wrapped it around the cup so he could hold it without burning himself. “Ya’ might wanna try just a mouthful or two to see how it sits,” he suggested.

“I wasn’t planning to gulp it down,” Nick said irritably as he accepted the cup and broth.

Heath ignored the tone; he knew it was just the effect of the concussion Nick had probably suffered. He’d been around enough men who’d taken a knock on the head to know that they could be friendly one moment, short-tempered the next, and soundly asleep seconds later. Of course, he considered, with Nick he didn’t necessarily have to be hit over the head to be irritable. Sometimes Heath thought he was born that way. But it hadn’t really been that way on this trip, he had to concede. He’d expected daily arguments over anything Nick found convenient but after Nick got mad at him because he thought he took too long to pull him up the mountainside on the way to Walker Lake – and then later apologized for it – they really hadn’t argued about anything. Nick had pretended to get mad a few times but Heath hadn’t taken it seriously. In fact, he’d actually done his best on those occasions to intentionally provoke Nick. He had, in fact, been enjoying that part of their trip – getting to know what would bring that sudden suspicious outburst from his big brother. AND getting to know how far he could push him before that turned to genuine anger.

He knew there were some who’d say he was playing a dangerous game, baiting Nick like that. But even before they’d left Stockton – even before Nick had called him brother for the first time – he knew what he could get away with. He knew that Nick wasn’t nearly as difficult as some people thought him to be. Sure, superficially, that was the impression he gave people but Heath had the advantage of seeing Nick with the family and he knew that behind all the bluster there was often a deep affection. It was what he always imagined a big brother would be like.

He looked over to find that the cup had been placed on the ground and Nick was leaning back against a boulder with his eyes closed. Heath leaned over to place his hand on Nick’s forehead and his eyes twitched open.

“Sorry,” Heath said softly. “Just tryin’ to see if ya’ got a fever. How’s your shoulder feel? Ya’ want me to check it?”

“No…” Nick only mouthed the word as his eyes closed. “Just wanna sleep.”

Heath picked up the cup that was still more than half full, dumped its contents, and swished some water in the bottom so it would be ready if Nick woke up asking for more. Then he got an extra blanket from their pack, knowing it was going to get quite a bit colder now that the sun was almost gone. He laid it over Nick before using the waning light to collect what he hoped was enough wood to keep the fire going during the night. He’d spent enough time in the mountains to know just how cold it could get.

He wandered restlessly around the small clearing before settling on a rock to watch that last pink glow of the day. He wondered what time it was – then wondered what happened to the watch he threw at Nick. He hadn’t seen it on the ground after he’d shot the cougar – hadn’t really looked for it either, he had to admit. If Nick were to ask, he’d tell him he didn’t care – but there was a little something nagging at him that hoped Nick had put it in his pocket before the mountain lion attacked. But he wasn’t curious enough to look.

Still, even though he didn’t know the time, he knew it was too early to be thinking about sleep. Of course, sleep might be the only thing that would keep him from thinking about other things. Like how he was mad at Nick for not telling him that the watch had belonged to Tom Barkley. And how he was disappointed that Mama hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him that herself. God, he wished he could ask her why she hadn’t told him. And he wished he could get mad at Nick for not immediately telling him what he knew – but right now that would fall on deaf ears. It wouldn’t be fair to take advantage of him in his current condition.

He looked out at what was now mostly darkness. He looked at a world he couldn’t see and tried to figure out how long it would take them to get to Placerville. They’d hoped to at least get to Echo Lake and maybe beyond today. And they were still short of achieving that goal. He figured two more days to Placerville if they traveled at the same rate as they had today. They’d probably spend a day or two in Placerville. And then from there to Stockton would be at least another three days. It was going to be a week before they got back to the ranch, he mused. Unless they took the train. They could take the train from Placerville to Sacramento and then down to Stockton. They must have a stock car that they could ship the horses in. He could have Nick home in three or four days if they did that.

Home. He wondered if the Barkley Ranch would ever feel like home to him. He wondered if it was meant to be his home. Except for when he was a boy he’d never stayed in one place very long. He’d always thought that he wanted to find a place to settle down but then he always found a reason to move on before roots took hold. Mama had called it wanderlust. He wasn’t sure if it was really that – or he just hadn’t found what he was looking for yet. He glanced back at Nick and questioned whether he’d found it in Stockton. Only a day before, he was sure that he had. Now…

His thoughts trailed off as he heard Nick on the other side of the campfire. He slid off the rock and rounded the fire to kneel at Nick’s side just in time to hear Nick mumbling about being shot. “That’s all I need, Nick,” he muttered as he rested his hand on his forehead for a moment, checking for fever. “Tellin’ people I shot ya’. I hope when ya’ come to your senses, ya’ remember it was a cougar,” he sat back against the rocks when he didn’t feel an elevated temperature and closed his eyes, telling himself it was only for a moment. That moment was all he needed to fall asleep.

He had no idea how much time had passed when he was jolted awake by a groan. Nick was just sitting up and Heath pushed himself away from the rocks to give him a hand. “Ohhh…” Nick breathed out, his hands pressing against his temples, “…it’s not fair.”

“What’s that, Nick?” Heath helped him shift around so he could use the rocks for support.

“It feels like a hangover,” he said softly, “and I ain’t even had the pleasure of a drink.”

Although he’d broken out in a sweat, Nick was shivering as he rested against the rock. Heath picked up the blanket Nick had pushed away and put it over him again. He got up to put more wood on the fire and pour Nick a cup of broth, thinking maybe they should have turned back towards Nevada in search of a doctor. Of course, he didn’t know where the closest one in Nevada might be. And Nick never would have agreed to turn back, he knew as he carried the cup over to his brother.

“Maybe this’ll warm ya’ up,” he crouched down to hand it to him. Nick’s hands shook as he held the cup between them, trying to steal its warmth. “I’ll get ya’ another blanket,” Heath patted his shoulder.

He wrapped the second blanket around Nick’s shoulders like a shawl so the dark-haired cowboy could hold it tightly around himself. Even with the full cup of broth and a second blanket, he continued to shake as he leaned back into the rock. Heath put still more wood on their campfire then returned to Nick’s side.

“Come on – let’s move ya’ a bit closer to the fire,” Heath suggested. “We’ll get ya’ warm.”

He helped Nick move then sat next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders so he could try to rub some warmth into him.

“You know why I didn’t tell you about the watch,” even Nick’s voice was shaking as Heath tried to keep him warm.

“It doesn’t matter, Nick,” Heath tried to brush it off.

“It DOES matter,” he insisted. “You know the picture in Strawberry? The one you weren’t gonna show me?”

“Yeah,” the blond frowned. “Are ya’ sayin’ ya’ didn’t tell me about the watch because I didn’t show ya’ that picture?”

“NO!” Nick almost bellowed – and then groaned at the resulting throb in his head. It was a moment before he continued quietly and a bit drowsily, “You didn’t plan to show me the picture because you knew it would change how I felt about Father. Well, I didn’t tell you about the watch because I knew it would change the way you felt about your mother. But I WAS gonna tell you … I just had to figure out the right way. I’m sorry I said it the way I did,” Nick’s voice was fading. “Guess I was thinking about it so much that … I just didn't realize I was … saying it out…”

Nick’s head slumped against Heath’s shoulder. Even in his sudden sleep, Heath could still feel him trembling. He pulled the first blanket up higher then held him tighter figuring they’d both be warm that way. As he closed his eyes and tried to sleep himself, he couldn’t help but think of what Nick had been saying. This was a fine time for Nick to suddenly take his feelings into consideration! There was a helluva lot more to this being brothers than he’d realized. Before Nick accepted that they were brothers, he’d been unfailingly honest with Heath – sometimes to the point that they could have easily come to blows were it not for the presence of someone who stepped between them. Now Nick tells him, in effect, that being brothers means you sometimes have to stop and think before you tell the truth – and then you might NOT tell the truth if you think it might be hurtful. That was just too much thinking to have to do before talking. Of course, if Nick was right – well, that was exactly what he’d done in Strawberry when he decided not to show Nick the picture of Tom Barkley. And that had been just as instinctive. He hadn’t really held any internal debate; he just knew he couldn’t show it to him.

If all that was true, he thought on the verge of sleep, then Nick’s instinct – and not just his words – said they were brothers. So maybe he really shouldn’t be mad at him because he was just going on brotherly intuition. AND, Heath smiled to himself, it had been before Nick had called him ‘little brother’. He almost laughed out loud as he thought back to Hannah’s words when he’d told her he was on his way to Nevada to look at some horses that the Barkleys had an interest in. ‘I knowed they would take a shine to you’ she’d told him. Apparently Nick had even before he realized it himself. Okay – so he wouldn’t be so mad at Nick for not telling him.

But he still didn’t want Tom Barkley’s watch. And he was still mad that Mama hadn’t told him the truth about it. And THAT wasn’t going to change.

* * * * *

They woke to fog and a light mist in the air on Tuesday morning. Heath didn’t mind the fog so much. They were still high enough in the mountains that the trail only went one place so the fog wasn’t going to make the travel any harder. But Nick had a fever when he awoke and the mist wasn’t going to help that any. Heath watched him carefully when he first stood up, holding onto the rocks as a wave of vertigo passed over him. But it must have disappeared as quickly as it came because Nick seemed to be himself in just a matter of seconds. They had a breakfast of biscuits and broth and, so it wouldn’t go to waste, some soggy jerky that had been boiled in the coffee pot. Nick hadn’t wanted to eat much and Heath didn’t want to induce nausea by filling the campsite with the smell of food cooking, so he kept breakfast to something minimal and that seemed to satisfy them both.

They rode almost ‘til sunset but had to stop several times along the way as one or another symptom brought Nick out of his saddle. Heath figured that most of the symptoms were now related to his shoulder wound, which appeared to be infected, rather than the blow to his head – although Nick had staggered around like a drunk a couple times when he first dismounted from Coco’s back. And he WAS in a generally cranky mood – but that could have just been Nick being Nick.

At least Heath was able to get some solid food into his brother when they stopped for the day; the nausea seemed to have run its course. But he still had a headache. And he still seemed confused about time – and where they were. He wanted to know why they were going to Placerville. And what day it was. And why they were stopping where they did. And just before he fell asleep he wanted to know what had happened. He wanted to know why he had a headache and why his shoulder hurt – and that was shortly after Heath had done what he could to clean the wound and rebandage it. Heath tried to answer his questions patiently but after he asked for the second time if Heath had shot him, the blond cowboy just stood up and said disgustedly, “Why don’t ya’ think on that while ya’ get some sleep, Nick.”

He went over to check on the horses one last time, spoke a few quiet words to each and promised a livery stable for shelter the next night. They were in the lower foothills and Heath had chosen a campsite next to a small stream with an ample supply of grass. There were still plenty of sheltering rocks but nothing close to a roof over their heads. He’d built their campfire close enough to the rocks that he and Nick could bed down between their protection and the warmth of the fire. As he had the night before, he stockpiled wood to keep the fire going but then they both slept through the night and woke to a cold campfire in the morning.

Heath had figured that if they traveled at the same rate as they had the past two days, they were about three or four hours from Placerville when they set out on Wednesday morning. From the position of the sun when they finally reached the outskirts of the gold rush boom town he guessed it to be within an hour of noon and was satisfied that his prediction had been, more or less, accurate.

Like many such towns, one of the first businesses they encountered as they rode into Placerville was a livery stable where they immediately stabled Buster and the two horses they’d bought from Aaron Whitaker. Then, having seen to the extra horses, they mounted Magic and Coco and continued on in search of a doctor. Even as Nick was protesting that he didn’t need to see one, he was visibly swaying in the saddle and his pallor and the sweat on his forehead reinforced Heath’s resolve to carry him in to see the physician if Nick forced him to. By the time they found the office that the livery owner had directed them to, Nick had decided to go in without protest as the determined look on Heath’s face convinced him that he really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

There was a woman dusting in the outer office when Heath guided Nick through the door and directed him to a chair. She was humming and smiled at the two cowboys as they walked in but took a moment to finish cleaning the top of a bookshelf before she said, “Dr. Goodwin should be back in about five minutes. He just went down to the train depot to pick up some medicine that was due in on today’s train. What can we help you with?”

“My brother got clawed by a cougar a couple days ago up in the mountains. I think it’s infected,” Heath told her. “And he probably has a concussion from hittin’ his head on a rock when he fell.”

“He shot me…” Nick was tired and dizzy and Heath rolled his eyes at the comment.

“I didn’t shoot him,” he told the woman, the doctor’s wife, he figured. “We were in the middle of arguin’ about somethin’ and…”

“Brothers do that,” she acknowledged with a nod.

“…and the cougar jumped him from behind. I guess, when he heard me yell and draw my gun – he thought I was drawin’ on him. Not that I’d ever do that, mind ya’, but that musta been what he thought,” Heath added quickly. “Well, I got the cougar but the claws caught him in the shoulder. I cleaned it up best I could – but I didn’t have nothin’ but water,” he sounded apologetic.

“I’m sure the doctor will be able to remedy that. It appears you got him here as quickly as you could,” a sixth sense seemed to tell her that the younger man needed to be reassured that he’d done nothing wrong. “I’m Mrs. Goodwin. Why don’t we go into the clinic, Mr. – uh…”

“Barkley. That’s Nick. I’m Heath,” the blond removed his hat as an afterthought.

“Well, Mr. Barkley,” she smiled at the gesture, “we can go back into the clinic and I’ll start cleaning it for the doctor to examine him. I think you might need to give your brother a hand.”

Nick had leaned back and was close to sleep as Heath touched his left shoulder. “Come on, Nick,” he gripped his arm to help him to his feet. “We’re gonna get ya’ ready for the doctor to take a look at ya’.”

“I told you … I don’t need a doctor,” Nick muttered even as he let Heath lead him into the room the woman conducted them to.

“Yeah, I know ya’ don’t need a doctor. But humor me, okay?”

“Sure … anythin’ for my little brother,” Nick breathed out.

He fell asleep as Heath was getting him settled on the examination table. It took both Heath and Mrs. Goodwin to remove his jacket and shirt. As she got her first look at the wound in his shoulder, she assured Heath, “You’re right that it is infected but it doesn’t look too bad. I’m sure with a proper cleaning, some medicine, and a couple days rest he’ll be just fine.”

“Nick ain’t gonna rest for a couple days,” Heath shook his head. “I can tell ya’ that now. He wants to get back to Stockton and he ain’t gonna let that hold him up.”

“Is that the Barkley Ranch in Stockton?” she’d clearly heard of the family.

“That’s us. Well – him. Nick runs it,” he wasn’t sure what his role in the family was. “If we took the train, he could travel, couldn’t he?”

“I’m sure the train would be acceptable,” she agreed as she was gathering a few items from a cabinet. “If you want to see about arranging that, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time before the doctor is finished with your brother.”

It was probably her subtle way of telling him that he’d just be in the way if he stayed there in the room, he realized. Still there was something he wanted to mention before he left Nick in her hands. “If Nick says I shot him,” he looked over at her, “you will make sure the doctor knows I didn’t, right? ‘Cause I’d never settle an argument with a gun ‘less the other guy drew first.”

To her credit, she didn’t laugh. But she DID smile as she said, “I’m sure the doctor will be able to see that he wasn’t shot. And I’m also sure that when the effects of the head injury diminish, your brother will realize that as well. Now if you’ll just take a minute to write down the information the doctor will need on this form,” she handed it to him with a pencil and directed him to a desk against the wall, “I’m sure the facts you provide will speak for themselves.”

It was just basic information. Name. Address. Age. Nature of illness or injury. It took only a couple minutes to complete. Heath had just finished and was getting up as the doctor, a gray-haired man of about 50 who looked just like a doctor should look, came into the examining room. He handed the paper back to Mrs. Goodwin and asked if they needed anything further.

The doctor took the paper from his wife and read the information Heath had supplied. “How long ago did this occur?” he asked.

“Just about two days ago. Some time around noon on Monday. We were headed back from Nevada. I didn’t think about turning back until that night – then I figured it was just as far either way so we might as well keep goin’,” he explained.

“Well, no harm done. You’d probably have gotten there as quickly as you were able to get here. If you’ll wait in the front room I’ll let you know when you can rejoin us,” the doctor dismissed him.

“I think I’m gonna go check the train schedule while you’re workin’ on him. I know he wants to get home as quickly as possible. He’d think I was sittin’ down on the job if I didn’t do somethin’ to get us there,” he managed a slight smile. “I’ll be back shortly.”

He caught a glimpse of a clock as he left the office. 12:15. He’d been close in his guess. He missed having a watch, he realized. But not enough to find out if Nick still had the one he’d thrown at him. He’d have to get himself a new one.

There was a train about to pull out when he arrived at the depot and he was glad to see a stock car hitched to the end of it. But when he inquired about shipping the horses to Sacramento then on to Stockton, he found that the stock car was a fixture on the Placerville to Sacramento train only on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – and he was just about to miss the last stock car for five days. He was also about to miss the one daily passenger train. Well, that wouldn’t make Nick happy. He decided not to buy any tickets because he knew Nick wasn’t going to want to wait five days before leaving for home with the horses. Maybe, he thought, they could leave the two new horses and have the livery owner ship them out on Monday – but that was a decision he wasn’t about to make without discussing it with Nick first.

He’d walked to the depot and took his time walking back to the doctor’s office, stopping along the way to procure a room at a local hotel. Regardless of what they did with the horses or how they departed from town, they wouldn’t be leaving Placerville today. There was nothing Nick could say that would convince him to leave any sooner than tomorrow morning. They needed a couple good meals and Nick needed to rest and he wasn’t going to let Nick talk him out of that, he resolved as he left the hotel.

The doctor had just finished cleaning and bandaging Nick’s shoulder when he returned to the clinic but Nick wasn’t about to get up and leave. He was still asleep. “How soon do YOU think he’ll be ready to leave town?” Heath asked when the doctor sat down in a chair across from him in the outer office.

“That depends if it’s by train or on horseback. By train he could leave tomorrow. By horse, I’d say he needs a couple days rest. Saturday, perhaps.”

“What if Nick decides to leave tomorrow by horse. Will he make it to Stockton okay? ‘Cause I expect when I tell him we can’t ship the horses ‘til Monday he’s gonna wanna leave tomorrow and take them with us,” Heath warned.

“Oh, he’ll make it. But probably at a slower pace than he would otherwise. I can’t stop him if he wants to walk out of here and ride out of town. I can only advise him against it for a couple days. If he chooses to leave I’ll see that you have what you need to keep the wound clean. And I’ll give you the medicine he’ll need to treat the infection. I can be stubborn myself about some things so I know it’s best not to stand in the way of a stubborn man.”

“Well, Nick Barkley out-stubborns any other man I’ve ever met,” Heath warned him.

His prophecy proved true. When Nick awoke, he’d have left town on the spot if Heath had been cooperative about it. But to Heath’s amazement, when he listed all the reasons he could think of to stay in Placerville overnight, Nick listened and said simply, “Okay.” And then he even agreed to stay long enough in the morning for the doctor to take a second look at his shoulder before they departed. Heath knew he HAD to be feeling poorly if he’d agree to all that without an argument.

They had lunch in a restaurant near the hotel then the blond cowboy steered his brother across the street to get some rest while he got Magic and Coco settled at the livery and sent a telegram to Jarrod to let him know of their detour to Placerville. With that taken care of, he decided a rest sounded like a good idea. Checking on Nick first and finding him feverish, he chose to use an overstuffed chair next to Nick’s bed to get that rest. As he drifted off he questioned whether telling Jarrod they’d be leaving in the morning was the right thing to do. Well, he yawned and stretched out his legs, if their plans changed tomorrow he could always send another telegram. He fell asleep wondering what the chances were of Nick agreeing to two days of rest.

Slim to none, he figured. Nick Barkley could be an impatient man and didn’t much tolerate delays. Even when they were for his own good.

Chapter 20

“Eugene!” Jarrod Barkley slammed the front door behind himself as he hurried into the house. “Eugene, where are you?” he yelled.

“Jarrod! If I didn’t know better, I’d think Nick was back,” his mother admonished as she glided into the foyer from the parlor. “What is so urgent that you find it necessary to imitate your brother?”

“A telegram from our brother,” he waved the paper in the air as Eugene came hurrying down the stairs, pulling his vest on over his shirt. “Eugene, you might as well start getting a wagon ready and provision it for a week. You and I are heading for Placerville.”

“Why?” Eugene asked him. “What does Nick say?”

“It’s not from Nick. It’s from Heath. Nick has been hurt and they went to Placerville to see a doctor but they’re heading out from there tomorrow morning. And we’re going out to meet them,” Jarrod told his brother.

“What happened to Nicholas?” Victoria asked, taking the telegram from Jarrod’s hand.

“I don’t know,” Jarrod said before she could read the message. “Heath says ‘Nick hurt. Needed a doctor.’ You know Heath. He probably thinks that tells a whole story.”

“There must be more to it than that,” Victoria smiled at her oldest son’s character analysis. She read the telegram out loud. “Detoured to Placerville. Nick hurt. Needed a doctor. Nick says he can travel. No stock car ‘til Monday. Riding out tomorrow morning with horses. Should make Stockton by Sunday.”

Audra had been listening from the landing upstairs and asked, as she started down steps, “Why do you think you need to go out and meet them?”

“Because Nick is hurt,” Jarrod stated as though it should be obvious.

“You don’t really think that Heath would agree to leave Placerville if he thought Nick shouldn’t travel – do you?” she looked into her brother’s eyes.

“I don’t know what to think,” Jarrod conceded. “Heath didn’t supply us with very much information.”

“Oh, Jarrod!” Audra laughed. “If Nick had sent the telegram it would have said, ‘Arrived Placerville – leaving tomorrow – see you Sunday.’ Heath wrote a book in comparison to what Nick would have sent!”

“If Nick had sent the telegram, I wouldn’t be at all concerned,” Jarrod countered. “In fact, I’m concerned because he didn’t. I have to assume that Heath sent it because Nick wasn’t in a position to send it himself. Need I remind you that Nick has been the one to send all the telegrams while they’ve been away?”

“Not the one from Reno,” Eugene pointed out.

“That’s true – but Nick wrote that one,” Jarrod couldn’t believe they failed to understand what he was saying. “You know how Nick has to be in control of what’s happening. If he’s hurt bad enough that he left even a simple detail like a telegram to Heath – AND it sounds like they have some extra horses with them – then Nick probably shouldn’t be traveling and Heath is going to have his hands full. Are any of you really content to just sit here and wait for Sunday to see if they arrive home all right?”

“Not when you put it that way,” Eugene laughed slightly as they were all moving into the parlor. “But, Jarrod, there are a lot of different routes they could travel. We could be within half a mile of them and miss them completely.”

“We’re just going to have to figure out the most logical route they’d take and then trust that we’ve made the right decision. At worst, we’ll miss them and arrive in Placerville,” Jarrod shrugged as he walked over to pour a drink.

“I don’t know how we can make a logical decision about it,” Eugene shook his head. “Nick wouldn’t use logic – he’d just pick the shortest distance between two points. And Heath sometimes analyzes things to the degree that you need a diagram to figure out how he got his answer. So how are we supposed to figure out what the two of them together would decide to do?”

“Why don’t we all sit down and discuss it,” Victoria instructed. “I’m sure we can come to a reasonable decision.”

When Victoria Barkley instructed, her children complied. They all sat down and looked at her expectantly.

“Jarrod?” she, in turn, looked at her eldest expectantly.

He took a moment to consider how to respond. Finally, after what had become an uncomfortable silence with three pairs of eyes focused on him, he said, “Well – we know Nick is hurt but he was clearly able to make it to Placerville in what is probably a reasonable amount of time. But I think it’s significant that Heath says there’s no stock car until Monday. I think he’s indicating that he’d prefer to travel by train but Nick doesn’t want to wait. So, assuming Nick prevails in regard to their travel plans, I would guess that they’d leave Placerville tomorrow morning as Heath says. And, having been there by both train and horseback, I’d say for at least a day they’d more or less follow the tracks.”

“That’s the easy part, Jarrod,” Eugene spoke up, “but where do they go from there? If we set out from here – even tonight – we’re not going to meet up with them in a day. And once they head south instead of following the tracks, there are any number of trails they could follow.”

“You could meet up with them in a day if you took the train,” Audra suggested, almost hesitantly.

“As the telegram says, they’re not taking the train,” Jarrod said patiently.

“I’m aware of that,” she stated emphatically. “But I’m suggesting that YOU take the train instead of a wagon. Figure out how far you think they’ll get on the first day and take the train there. You can easily get there ahead of them, get a wagon and buy provisions.”

Jarrod looked at her silently, his eyes unblinking.

“Don’t stare!” she sounded indignant. “If you think it’s a ridiculous idea, just say so!”

“No,” Jarrod laughed. “On the contrary, I’m a bit ashamed that I didn’t think of it myself.”

“Still – how do we know how far they’ll get? How do you decide where they’re going to stop the first day?” Eugene asked.

“You’ll take the train to Sacramento tonight,” Victoria spoke up, “and tomorrow morning you’ll take the train to Placerville.”

“But they’ll have left by the time we get there,” Eugene protested.

Victoria let out a deep sigh as she looked at her daughter and proposed, “Audra, I think you and I should be the ones to do this instead of your brothers.” As Audra giggled, the Barkley matriarch continued, addressing her sons, “You’ll take the train to Sacramento tonight. Tomorrow morning you’ll take the train to Placerville but get off in Latrobe. It’s the southern-most point on that route. You’ll buy a wagon and provisions and before noon you’ll be on your way towards Placerville and should meet them before they have the chance to detour from the trail you believe they’ll take.”

“Yes, Mother,” Jarrod managed a smile. “Gene, I guess you can forget the wagon and provisions but you might want to pack a saddlebag before these ladies decide to do our job for us.”

“I’m going, too!” Audra stood up and glared at her brother. “It was my idea!”

“And I’m sure you’d be much better company than Eugene,” Jarrod agreed, good-naturedly, “but if I need someone’s help toting Nick around, I’ll need his brawn – such as it is,” he looked the young man up and down, “over your beauty,” he walked over, took her hand, and kissed it. “Besides, you’re still needed at the school for the rest of the week.”

“Oh!” she stamped a foot petulantly. “You men have all the fun!”

“Honey, if you think taking care of Nick when he’s been injured is fun,” Jarrod laughed, “I’m sure we’ll all be quite happy to release him into your tender care when we get him home. Gene,” he turned to his youngest brother, “let’s go pack our bags and catch a train.”

* * * * *

The Next Morning – Placerville

“Nick, there ain’t no reason we can’t stay here one more day,” Heath said for, perhaps, the fourth or fifth time that morning.

“And there ain’t no reason we NEED to stay,” Nick mimicked his brother’s words and tone. “I keep telling you, I’m feeling fine!”

“I know ya’ are right now,” Heath agreed, “but ya’ heard the doctor. It’ll be a few more days before that medicine does anythin’ for ya’. By noon ya’ could be fallin’ over on me.”

“Then I guess that means we’ll stop and rest at noon,” the dark-haired brother said as he tightened the cinch on Coco’s saddle.

“With all the stoppin’ I figure we’ll be doin’, we could as easily stay here and wait for the stock car on Monday,” Heath breathed out. “And even if we ain’t gonna do that, we could still leave the stallion and the mare here and have Mr. Howard ship ‘em to Stockton first of the week.”

“You’re just a little mother hen, aren’t you,” Nick reached over and playfully tousled his hair.

“I’m tryin’ to be sensible to make up for the fact that ya’ ain’t bein’ sensible at all,” the blond swatted his hand away. “What’s the harm if we leave the two horses here?”

“No harm I can think of – until that Howard fella tries to get the horses on the train. I haven’t seen anyone but you get close enough to that stallion to put a lead on him.”

“Then I’ll come back after I get ya’ to Stockton. In fact,” Heath tried another idea, “why don’t you and me take the train and leave all the horses here and I’ll come back for ‘em.”

“Heath, you can’t come back for five horses.”

“I’ll bring a couple of the guys from the ranch with me.”

“Heath,” Nick wrapped his hand around the back of his brother’s neck and looked him in the eyes, “you might be carrying this brother thing a little too far. You’ve done a great job of taking care of me and getting me to a doctor but now I’m fine. And we’ll make it home just fine. We’re gonna leave – and we’re taking all five horses with us. It might take a day longer – but we’ll get there. Okay?”

Heath took in a deep breath that he let out loudly. “Ya’ KNOW I ain’t gonna say it’s okay,” he stated, “but I also ain’t gonna let ya’ get on your horse and ride out on your own. So I guess if ya’ say we’re leavin’, then we’re leavin’.”

“I knew you’d see it my way,” Nick smiled, slapping his shoulder. “Now let’s get moving. We’re wasting daylight.”

They WERE wasting daylight. By normal standards it was late to be setting out. It was already past nine o’clock. On any other day they’d have been on the trail two or three hours already. Heath at least had the satisfaction of knowing that Nick slept late that morning, had a good breakfast, and had seen the doctor. But he also knew that Nick was ‘feeling fine’ BECAUSE he’d slept late, had breakfast, and seen the doctor. He didn’t expect the feeling to last through the day and he planned to stop frequently, whether Nick liked it or not.

As they’d eaten breakfast, the blond had spread out a map on the table between them and managed to convince Nick that the dark-haired cowboy was actually picking the route they’d take home – even though Heath had already chosen it. They weren’t quite following the rail line – that would have added an extra five miles to their trip as the tracks wound their way among the foothills and through several small mining towns on the way to Sacramento. But they WERE heading for a town further along the tracks because Heath wasn’t in too big a hurry to put civilization behind them. He wanted to know there was a doctor nearby if they needed one, at least until he was sure that Nick was alright. And it didn’t hurt that Nick thought he’d been the one to choose Latrobe as their goal by day’s end.

They were able to ride side-by-side for most of the morning and Heath couldn’t help but think what a contrast it was to the day they’d left the ranch when Nick rode a hundred feet ahead of him and did his best not to talk to him even though the trail was just as wide that day. As the morning progressed and their pace slowed, Heath almost wished for the silence in which they’d traveled just a week and a half ago. Nick seemed to talk enough for the two of them. It didn’t matter what Heath said in return. Nick just kept talking and by midafternoon, Heath was beginning to think that it was the fever talking more than Nick.

“Ya’ know,” Nick said well into the day when Heath was sure that he no longer had any idea what he was talking about, “I always wanted a little brother. I don’t mean like Eugene ‘cause he’s too young and he doesn’t wanna be a rancher anyway. I wanted a brother I could go fishin’ with … and get into trouble with … ya’ know it’s not so bad when trouble is shared. Sharin’ is good. ‘Ceptin’ if ya’ tried to share my girl … I’d hafta do somethin’ ‘bout that. Ya’ wouldn’t never try somethin’ like that – would ya’?”

“Not a chance, Nick,” Heath agreed, deciding it was about time to stop.

“’Cause I really would hafta do somethin’ ‘bout that,” Nick repeated. “I wouldn’t hurt ya’ too bad, though. You’re my little brother.”

“That’s right,” Heath reached over and reined in Nick’s horse, “I’m your little brother and right now your little brother says it’s time to stop for a rest. Might be a good place to stop for the night,” he suggested as he dismounted, leaving the stallion tethered to Magic and Magic tied to a sturdy tree branch. “Come on, Nick. Time to get down.”

Nick almost fell out of his saddle and Heath had to drape his brother’s arm over his shoulders to move him away from the horses and settle him against a fallen tree. “You’re a good little brother,” Nick reached up and lightly patted Heath’s cheek. “Couldn’t ask for better.”

“See that ya’ remember that when ya’ know what you’re sayin’,” Heath suggested as he went over to tie down Coco and the mare. He pulled Nick’s canteen from his saddle and returned to his side. “Take a drink, Nick. Ya’ need to get some water in ya’. Don’t want ya’ to get dehydrated. Come on, just a little.”

Nick took a couple swallows before pushing the canteen away. “Ya’ know, Heath … I don’t know why he didn’t come back for ya’.”

“Why who didn’t come back, Nick?”

“Father … he was a good man … he took care of his children. It don’t make sense … he just gave ya’ that watch. I kept it, ya’ know. When ya’ threw it at me … I kept it. Ya’ can have it back if ya’ want it,” Nick was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

“I don’t want it,” Heath told him. “I gotta take a look at your shoulder. The doctor said we gotta keep it clean.”

Nick’s eyes focused on him for a moment. “I forgot what happened … got shot … did you shoot me…”

“Nick, I swear if ya’ don’t quit sayin’ that,” Heath said stronger and louder than he intended, “I’m gonna shoot ya’ just so it won’t be a lie!”

“Well…” a voice behind him said, “I guess we got here in time to save a life.”

Heath whirled around and drew his gun all in the same motion. “Jarrod! Eugene? What are ya’ doin’ here?”

“It looks like we’re saving Nick’s life,” Jarrod said only half-jokingly. “You don’t – plan to use that on us, do you?” he nodded towards the gun.

Heath looked at it as though he didn’t know it was in his hand. As he spun it down into his holster he laughed slightly, “’Course not. Ya’ just took me by surprise. Didn’t hear your wagon. I guess Nick was distractin’ me. What are ya’ doin’ here?” he repeated his question as he crossed to the horses.

“When we got your telegram, we thought you might have your hands full and need some help. Took the train to Latrobe and set out from there.”

“We figured to make Latrobe by nightfall,” Heath told them as he rummaged in his saddlebag for the provisions the doctor had provided, “but I don’t know if Nick is gonna make it much further today. I couldn’t get him to take the train,” he breathed out as he pulled the supplies from the bag. “He’s bein’ damn stubborn about it. Maybe ya’ can change his mind,” he suggested as he went back to where Nick sat, now peacefully asleep.

Jarrod jumped down from the wagon and walked over to crouch down on the opposite side of Nick from Heath. “What happened to him?”

“Ask Nick and he’ll tell ya’ I shot him,” Heath figured he might as well be the one to say it since he expected Nick to make the claim sooner or later.

“I’m not asking Nick. I’m asking you.”

“He got clawed by a cougar and hit his head on a rock when he fell.”

“So why does he think you shot him?” Eugene wanted to know as he joined his brothers.

“’Cause we were arguin’ about somethin’,” Heath confessed as he was unbuttoning Nick’s shirt, “and in the middle of arguin’ I turned around and saw the cougar gettin’ ready to jump behind Nick and I pulled my gun and shot him. The cougar landed on Nick and decked down. That’s when he hit his head on the rock. It knocked him out and when he came to he thought I’d shot him.”

“What was the argument about?” Jarrod asked him.

“Ain’t no one’s business ‘cept mine and Nick’s,” Heath declined to answer.

“Okay,” Jarrod gave in too easily. “Why don’t you let me take care of that,” he indicated Nick’s shoulder. “I imagine you’ve had enough of looking after him.”

“Ya’ wanna see for yourself that it’s not a gunshot wound?” Heath looked over at him, smiling slightly.

Maybe the possibility HAD been somewhere in the back of Jarrod’s mind – but no, he didn’t REALLY think Heath had shot Nick. Unfortunately he wasn’t very successful at keeping that tiny bit of doubt out of his voice when he said, “That’s not at all why I offered. I just thought since we came here to help out, I could start right now. He IS my brother. I can at least help take care of him.”

“Yeah … and I should probably look after the horses. Guess I should warn ya’,” Heath said as he stood up. “Ya’ don’t wanna go near the stallion. He’s a bit particular about who gets near him.”

Neither Jarrod nor Eugene took much notice of Heath or his words as he went over to tend the horses. Their attention was focused on Nick while they finished the job Heath had started.

“So what do you suppose they were arguing about?” Eugene asked his older brother when Heath was out of earshot.

“I haven’t a clue, Gene. And like Heath said, it’s none of our business.”

“It’s our business if things got heated enough that Nick thought Heath would take a shot at him.”

“I’m sure Heath was joking about that,” Jarrod tried to brush it off. “You can see this isn’t a gunshot wound.”

“Even if it’s not, the way Heath was yelling when we got here – I’d say we got here at the right time. Maybe he didn’t already shoot him but he was threatening to! Nick’s not even strong enough right now to hold his head up and Heath was threatening him. And you saw how quick he was to draw his gun on us,” Eugene reminded him.

“Gene, you’d probably draw your gun that fast, too, if you suddenly heard someone’s voice behind you out in the middle of nowhere.”

“Not if it was my brother’s voice,” the young man argued.

Jarrod couldn’t help a bit of a chuckle. “I’m sure if Heath had been living with us a bit longer, he’d have recognized our voices quicker.”

“Go ahead and laugh about it, Jarrod. But you know he doesn’t plan to stay so what would he care if he recognizes our voices? I think we got here just in time. Left to Heath, Nick might not have gotten home at all.”

“And I think you have an overactive imagination, little brother,” Jarrod laughed out loud.

It was the laugh that seemed to wake Nick. He looked up at Jarrod and Eugene through fevered eyes and mumbled their names.

“So glad you decided to join us,” Jarrod rested his hand on Nick’s shoulder.

Nick reached up and gripped his older brother’s wrist. “Jarrod … I’m glad you’re here … I, uh … I think I need your help … don’t know if I’m gonna make it home…” he muttered. After a moment he added, “Heath said … he’s gonna shoot me…”

“I TOLD YOU SO!” Eugene stood up abruptly, looking down at his two dark-haired brothers, his eyes flashing anger.

He swung around and his angry glare focused on Heath, still tending the horses. Jarrod closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head as he thought that now he had more than the animosity between Nick and Heath to handle. With Eugene added to the mix he figured a cooler head would have to prevail. He just hoped it wasn’t too big a job for one brother to manage.

Chapter 21

As Nick closed his eyes and let darkness wrap him in its embrace, Jarrod stood up and stepped over in front of his youngest brother. “Eugene, be reasonable,” he cautioned, a hand on the other’s shoulder. “Nick has no idea what he’s saying right now. If Heath had it in him to shoot Nick, believe me, he would have done it long before this,” he couldn’t help laughing at the thought. “He certainly wouldn’t have waited until they were only days from home. In fact, he probably wouldn’t have waited at all. He’d have done it weeks ago.”

“Jarrod, how can you joke about this?”

“How can you be serious about this?” Jarrod countered. “Aren’t you the same young man who said not so long ago that Heath was good for the Barkley Ranch? That Heath was just the person to help Nick run it? What happened to that opinion?”

“I don’t know,” Eugene said helplessly. “I’m just trying to protect my brother when he can’t do it himself.”

“Heath is your brother, too. And, although you may have had some suspicions about his motives, you HAVE accepted that he’s your brother.”

“It’s not the same,” Eugene argued. “I didn’t grow up with him. I don’t know him like I know Nick.”

“That isn’t Heath’s fault. Don’t blame him for that. We lost the chance to know him when he was a boy but you’re going to give up the chance to know him now if you don’t do something about it. You’re going off to school for a long time, Gene, and if you don’t get to know him now he’s going to be nothing but a stranger to you for the rest of your life,” Jarrod warned.

“If he leaves the ranch, he’s the one who’s giving up that chance.”

“Well, maybe if Nick hasn’t done too much damage on this trip we can change his mind about that,” Jarrod suggested. “Right now, though, our priorities are to get Nick home as soon as we can and get those horses back to the ranch. I think I have a solution that might work.”

He looked down at Nick to be sure that he was still peacefully asleep before he took Eugene by the arm and directed him towards Heath and the horses. The blond cowboy stepped away from the animals when he saw them coming and asked, “Nick asleep?”

“Yeah,” Jarrod confirmed.

“I was thinking that maybe we should just load him in the wagon while he doesn’t know what’s going on and one of you can take him to Latrobe to catch the train.”

“Great minds think alike,” Jarrod smiled. “I was just about to suggest that Eugene could take Nick to Latrobe and I’ll help you get the horses back to the ranch.”

“I guess great minds don’t think exactly alike,” Heath offered a slight smile. “I was thinkin’ Gene could come with me and you could see to Nick. No offense intended, Gene, but if we put Nick in that wagon and someone heads off to Latrobe with him, I don’t think you’re gonna wanna be the one around when he wakes up and realizes what we’ve done.”

“No offense taken,” Eugene conceded. “I don’t think I’d want to be the one either. But if you think he’s going to be all that difficult, why don’t YOU take him to catch the train and WE’LL take the horses on to the ranch?”

“Because, like I said, the stallion is kinda particular about who handles him,” Heath repeated his earlier warning.

“How difficult can it be sitting on one horse and leading another?” Eugene asked as he headed for the horses about ten feet away.

It was only a moment before Heath realized what he intended but it was enough time for Eugene to get within a couple feet of the stallion. The bay shied away as far as its line would let it move then reared up, its front legs coming dangerously close to Eugene as Heath hurried after him and pulled him away from the flailing hooves. Eugene stumbled backwards as Heath pushed him behind him. Jarrod steadied him on his feet then held on to his brother whose instinct was to take a swing at the blond cowboy. The lawyer caught Eugene’s arm in his own then wrapped his other arm around him and dragged him away from the horses.

“Let me go!” Eugene growled at his brother.

“Not if you’re going anywhere near the horses,” Jarrod held fast. “He told you to stay away from the stallion.”

“Jarrod, I’ve spent my life doing what you told me to do and what Nick told me to do. I don’t need another older brother telling me what to do. I’m not a kid anymore!”

“Then start acting like a man and have the good sense to know when someone is just trying to protect you. It’s a wild stallion, Eugene!”

“Well he doesn’t have to act like he’s the only one around who knows anything about horses,” Eugene sort of mumbled.

“Gene, between you, me and him – he IS the only one who knows anything about horses,” Jarrod laughed at him. “Come on,” he crooked his arm around the younger man’s neck and drew him towards the wagon, “help me get some of the supplies from the wagon packed for you and Heath to take along.”

“So you’re gonna be the one to take Nick to Latrobe?”

“I think I’d better be the one. Clearly Heath has to stay with the horses. And if you were the one driving the wagon when Nick wakes up, first he’d eat you alive and then he’d turn the wagon around and follow our trail. I’m probably the only one who can get him on a train at this point. We’d better get this done fast so we can go our separate ways.”

It took Heath a few minutes to settle the stallion as he calmed him and then walked him away from the other horses to tie him down. When he joined Jarrod and Eugene to help with the supplies, it was Eugene who spoke first.

“Sorry about that,” he gestured with his head towards the horses. “I didn’t mean to get him all riled.”

“I prob’ly shoulda mentioned that we bought him from a man who was about to shoot him ‘cause he’d already injured five or six hands,” Heath said just a bit facetiously.

“And you bought him knowing that?”

“He offered to give him to us if we could get a rope on him,” Heath explained. “Once we knew it could be done, Nick insisted on payin’ for him. When he’s been gentled, he’ll be worth a whole lot more than what Nick paid.” He looked over at Jarrod. “So, what’s the plan?”

“We’re gonna get Nick in the wagon once we’ve made sure you have all the supplies you need for the rest of your trip. Then I’ll head back to Latrobe with Nick and you can head for Stockton with Gene.”

“I’d best get the medicine and supplies the doctor gave us. You’ll need ‘em,” Heath suggested, “and maybe even for yourself after Nick wakes up,” he added jokingly.

It was two hours later when that happened. Oh, he’d been awake enough to know that they were moving him into the wagon. And he heard them saying that they were continuing on to Latrobe. And, contentedly, he’d let himself fall asleep knowing that all three of his brothers were there to take care of him. Every now and then the wagon would hit a hole or a bump in the road that would jolt him awake – but for no more than a moment. The mostly gentle sway of the wagon would rock him back to sleep before he had time to take stock of his surroundings.

“Jarrod,” the dark-haired lawyer heard from the back of the wagon when they were still an hour from Latrobe.

He reined the horses to a stop and turned to face his brother who was sitting up and gazing down the road behind them. Nick turned and looked past Jarrod at the road in front of them. His expression was a puzzled one as he asked, “Where are we?”

“About an hour out of Latrobe,” Jarrod told him.

“Where are Gene and Heath?”

“On their way to Stockton,” Jarrod didn’t hesitate in his response.

“What!” Nick stood up in the back of the wagon and, again, looked at the road ahead of them. He spun around to look back the other way then had to reach for support as a wave of dizziness staggered him and he dropped to his knees. He closed his eyes for only an instant before turning to glare at Jarrod and snarl, “You really think you’re gonna get me on a train?”

“I got you in this wagon, didn’t I?” Jarrod argued with a hint of a smile.

“You didn’t do it on your own,” Nick pointed out. “And when I catch up to that back-stabbing son of a…”

“Nick!” Jarrod cut him off. “Don’t blame anyone for this but me. It was my idea.”

“Oh, I’ll just bet it was! I knew if Heath got the chance he’d…”

“Nick, would you listen to reason! You practically fell out of your saddle from what Heath says. You’re running a fever from the infection in your shoulder. You haven’t said anything coherent since we met up with you. And it would have taken Heath twice as long to get those horses back to Stockton with you tagging along.”

“And you think Eugene’ll do a better job of it?”

“Compared to you in your present condition?” Jarrod laughed. “Yes, I do.”

“Well, he’s gonna be sorry he went along with your plan! Both of ‘em are,” Nick vowed.

“You can discuss it with them when we all get back to the ranch. Now you and I are going to continue on to Latrobe and in the morning we’ll catch the train to Sacramento. From there we’ll get one to Stockton and by tomorrow night we’ll be having supper at home. You’ve got to feel better about that – Heath and Eugene will still be on the trail eating beans,” Jarrod tried to joke him out of his bad mood.

Nick just stared at him silently, his eyes blazing.

“Fine,” Jarrod seemed to give in, “if you want to go after them, I’m not going to stop you. But I’m also not turning the wagon around nor unhitching either of the horses for you to use. You’ll have to do it on foot.”

Nick took in a deep breath, let it out as a loud groan, then sat back against the side of the wagon and scrutinized his older brother out of the corner of his eyes. Clearly the smile Jarrod favored him with before turning his attention back to the horses wasn’t met with good grace. As he flicked the reins to start them on their way again, Jarrod heard his brother’s muttered threat, “You’re all gonna be sorry – just as soon as I get rid of this headache…”

* * * * *

What a difference a few hours makes, Heath thought as he rode along with Eugene trailing behind by a good fifty feet. Just that morning he was thinking how it was so different to have Nick riding at his side instead of a hundred feet in front of him as he’d done when they started their trip. And now that distance was back. He’d deliberately slowed a couple times hoping his younger brother would catch up to him but Eugene either didn’t get the idea or he’d, just as deliberately, slowed his own pace to keep from catching up. Either way – they were still riding far enough apart that the opportunity for conversation was non-existent, giving him plenty of time to think.

Mama had once suggested to him that, no matter what happened, he should try to think of a positive reason that it might have happened. He remembered asking her what positive reason there could have been for James hauling off and slugging him when he crossed paths with the other boy in town that morning. Mama had proposed that the other boy may have seen a spider on his shoulder and was attempting to knock it off. He wanted to ask why James might have followed it up with four or five more punches but he knew when Mama was trying to teach him something it wasn’t a good idea to argue with her teachings. So he’d just nodded and given her what his eight-year-old mind hoped was a thoughtful expression. As he grew older he realized that had been the appropriate response because he HAD learned something from it. He’d learned to think before responding to a situation that angered or confused him. And he’d learned that there was often an entirely different reason for something happening than he’d first imagined.

So now he preferred to believe that Eugene was trailing behind because he thought it was a good idea to stay clear of the stallion in Heath’s care. Maybe he thought Heath would have an easier time of it if he gave him and the stallion some space. That’s what he preferred to believe. He didn’t want to believe that Eugene had suddenly decided that he didn’t want him for a brother – that he’d be happier if Heath left the ranch. But he couldn’t help thinking about the statement he’d heard Eugene make to Jarrod just a short time before – ‘I don’t need another older brother telling me what to do’. He knew that, like all the Barkleys, Eugene had been full of suspicion when Heath claimed to be the son of Tom Barkley. Still, he’d accepted the truth of Heath’s parentage and, although not as embracing as Audra had been, he’d welcomed him into the family. He wondered if he’d worn out his welcome in Eugene’s eyes.

Eugene wasn’t the only Barkley he was worried about. He still had his concerns about Mrs. Barkley. His presence hurt her; of that he had no doubt. Even now, if he thought about it, he could picture the hurt in her eyes when she looked at him. He was sure that she thought no one saw it. She tried so hard to make him feel welcome – but he knew she’d have to be happier if he left the ranch. How could she NOT be happier if she saw him saddle-up and ride out, taking with him the constant reminder of her husband’s infidelity? She reminded him so much of Mama and it pained him to think that he’d been the cause of anguish for both of them. Mama could have had a wonderful life were it not for him. He couldn’t change it for her but maybe he could change it for Mrs. Barkley.

Of course, he HAD made a promise to Nick. The more he thought about it though – well, he hadn’t exactly promised not to leave the ranch. He’d promised not to take that job in Carson City working for George Russell. And he’d promised to give them time to figure things out. But that didn’t mean he’d promised to stay in Stockton. He had a lot more to figure out than he’d realized when he made that promise. Certainly he could be forgiven for not thinking it through as thoroughly as he should have before giving his word not to take the other job. Sure, Nick probably thought he meant he’d stay on the Barkley Ranch. And he should have understood that that was Nick’s intent in asking for the promise. But having just heard Nick call him ‘brother’ for the first time, he WASN’T thinking as clearly as he should have. And now he found himself wondering if leaving the ranch to figure things out would be breaking his promise to Nick.

* * * * *

Eugene rode along slowly, keeping his distance from his blond brother, and wondered if he’d ever feel comfortable in his presence. He was hoping Heath hadn’t heard what he’d said to Jarrod about not needing another older brother. It was true – he didn’t think he needed one. But that didn’t mean he wanted Heath to leave. He figured, though, that it was inevitable that he would. He’d said he was thinking about it. And there’d been that telegram from George Russell. Obviously, he’d talked to him about a job when they’d been in Nevada. There was only one reason Eugene could think of that a man who already had a job would talk to someone about another one – he wasn’t happy where he was and wanted to move on. It wouldn’t be as though he was losing someone who’d been part of his family for as long as he could remember – it wouldn’t be like losing Jarrod or Nick. He’d only known Heath for about a month and, as Jarrod had pointed out, he’d be going off to school soon and wouldn’t have the chance to know him anyway. So it wouldn’t be a painful parting if he packed up and left.

He didn’t really believe that anyone would find it a painful parting. Audra would probably take it the hardest. She seemed to have formed a stronger bond with their new brother than the rest of the family had. She’d probably mope around for a week or so and Mother would remedy that by taking her to San Francisco on a quick shopping trip. Why she needed all those clothes, he’d never know, he mentally shook his head. But they did seem to be some sort of a magical elixir. New clothes could cure Audra of almost anything that didn’t respond to medication.

Up ahead of him, Heath was slowing down again. Eugene wasn’t sure why he kept doing that and he was finding it increasingly hard to keep his distance. Even with the mare on one side and Buster on the other, there was only so much slowing down he could do. After what happened with the stallion he didn’t want to get too close for fear of setting him off again. But now Heath was dismounting and moving the stallion and Magic off the trail to tie them to a tree. It must be safe to ride closer, he decided. As he approached, Heath took the mare’s tether from him and tied her to another tree before taking charge of Buster so Eugene could see to Coco. They worked in silence for several minutes, Eugene following Heath’s lead in unsaddling Coco when Heath unsaddled Magic. They removed the pack from Buster’s back before walking all five horses to a stream that ran through the trees a short distance off the trail. And it was all done in silence.

He’s mad at me, Eugene thought. He heard what I said to Jarrod and he’s angry about it. He’s got a right to be. He’s my brother and I said right out that I didn’t need another older brother. But I didn’t mean that I didn’t WANT another brother. Oh, he should just take a swing at me and get it over with, Eugene thought as they were tethering the horses, once again, to trees that surrounded their campsite.

Heath looked over at his younger brother, aching to tell him that he wasn’t trying to be the kind of older brother that Jarrod and Nick were. I just want to be your friend, he thought. I don’t have any idea how to be an older brother. And I know you don’t need one because you’ve got two of the best and there’s no way I’d try to compete with them. That’s what he’d like to say to him if he thought Eugene even wanted to listen.

“Did Jarrod tell you about the telegram that came for you?” Eugene finally broke their silence to ask as they were laying down a ring of rocks to start a campfire.

Heath looked up at him silently for a moment. Frowning. Then, almost as if to himself, he said, “Can’t think of anyone who’d wanna send me a telegram.”

“George Russell,” Eugene told him.

“We just saw him the beginning of the week,” Heath sounded puzzled.

“And he offered you a job, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Jarrod didn’t realize the telegram was for you and he opened it along with the other telegram he got. He didn’t mean to invade your privacy – it was just an honest mistake. But – well, you know – it was only a couple sentences. By the time he realized it was for you, he’d already read it.”

“That’s not hard to do,” Heath conceded. “So what did George have to say?”

“He just repeated his job offer. Said he was looking forward to working with you,” Eugene stopped what he was doing to look at him. “Are you thinking about taking the job?”

“I was,” Heath admitted.

Before he could say any more, Eugene responded, “I think we’d all understand if you did. I know it hasn’t been easy trying to settle in.”

“Ain’t been easy for anyone, Gene,” Heath agreed with him as they began laying the kindling and wood for their fire.

“It’s probably going to be even harder when we get home.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, Nick isn’t going to be very happy about being sent off with Jarrod.”

“Why would he be mad at me for that?”

“He’ll already have gotten mad at Jarrod. In fact, Jarrod is probably getting an earful right now. And they’ll certainly get home before us so he’ll be waiting to give you the same.”

“Why me and not you?” Heath wondered.

“Because I’m his little brother,” Eugene stated with a slight laugh. “I’m the one least responsible. He was with you before we met up and he’s with Jarrod now. Why would he get mad at me? That’s the advantage in being the little brother. I learned that one long ago.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet ya’ did,” Heath mused as he struck a match and stuck it in the middle of the small pile of tinder. When the fire caught, he stood up and suggested, “If ya’ wanna get the food started, I’ll get some water and then gather more wood to keep the fire going.”

He didn’t wait for Eugene to agree or disagree with his suggestion. He just picked up the canteens they’d dropped by their saddles and headed off into the trees towards the stream. The water was hand-numbingly cold but he didn’t seem to notice as his mind was busy on what Eugene had said. Of course Eugene was the little brother! Once they got back to the ranch, Nick would realize that. What could he have possibly been thinking to believe that Nick Barkley would, so easily, embrace him as his little brother when he already had one? Oh, god, he wished he knew more about being a brother! There must be rules about it somewhere – but he doubted that he’d find them written down in the Barkley library.

Right now all he knew about being a brother was that Eugene didn’t want him as a big brother and, once Nick thought about it, he’d probably remember that he already had a little brother. And there wasn’t much left once big brother and little brother were eliminated. So just what, exactly, did that leave for him at the Barkley ranch? He was as confused about that now as he’d been before he left the ranch with Nick. The only difference was – then he knew there was a job waiting for him in Carson City and now he’d promised not to take that job.

Oh, he really did need to get away from it all and figure things out. He wondered if there’d still be a place for him at the ranch if the answers to all his questions eventually took him back there.

Chapter 22

The town of Latrobe was a bustling community that owed its existence to the Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad. Once nothing more than the site where roads crossed, it was transformed into a town when the railroad chose to locate a depot there to service the villages connected by those roads. Named for Benjamin Latrobe, a civil engineer who worked on the construction of the first railroad in the United States, it grew rapidly to support six or seven general stores, four hotels, and three blacksmith shops and provided enough business to keep three doctors and two drug stores busy. It lacked the emerging sophistication of Sacramento and the gold rush fever of Placerville. But it was the hub that tied them to the other area communities through both its train depot and the eight daily stages that departed in all directions.

By the time they’d driven into Latrobe the day before, Nick was seated next to Jarrod in the wagon and had been complaining loudly for the previous half hour about, in his words, the ‘abuse of my trust’. At the very least, he’d argued with Jarrod, they could have waited until he was sufficiently awake to participate in the decision-making. That, Jarrod had told him, was exactly what they’d intended to avoid by taking action before he woke up.

Nick refused to even consider a visit to one of the town’s doctors. As he told his older brother, “If you think you can get me there without the help you had getting me into the wagon … you’re welcome to try.” The evil look in his brother’s eyes was enough to make Jarrod decline the offer even when Nick stumbled getting out of the wagon and had to hold fast to the side of it as a wave of dizziness engulfed him.

He knew that Nick probably should see a doctor but, according to Heath, he’d seen the doctor in Placerville just that morning. And they had the medicine the doctor prescribed and the necessary supplies to clean his shoulder wound, he rationalized. So as long as Nick didn’t pass out on him and remained coherent and mobile, Jarrod would see that he got home to Stockton – and then Mother could deal with him, he thought with a smile.

After a supper that Nick just pushed around on his plate with his fork, they retired to a hotel room where Nick restlessly tossed and turned for most of the night. And, while he woke in a seemingly better mood, Jarrod wasn’t fooled into believing that he was recovered from his encounter with that mountain lion – even though Nick was still insisting that he could have continued the trip to Stockton on horseback as they boarded the train for Sacramento.

“I told you there was no need to take the train,” Nick grumbled as he settled into a seat facing Jarrod. “I feel perfectly fine!”

Jarrod responded with nothing more than a laugh.

“Oh, I suppose you’re gonna say that the fact that I couldn’t walk a straight line to the hotel last night is reason enough for taking the train.”

Jarrod looked out the window and smiled silently.

“And I suppose you’re gonna hold it against me that I was a bit confused last night about exactly what happened up on that mountain.”

Jarrod glanced across at him to see if he had any further arguments.

“It’s just a slight temperature and a minor infection! And the bump on my head is only tender if I touch it,” Nick claimed. “Or wear my hat,” he admitted. “And the light hardly hurts my eyes at all. There’s no need to take the train!”

“I’m sure you’re probably right,” Jarrod nodded solicitously. “It’s too bad our horses are nowhere near here.”

“We could have gotten horses at the livery,” Nick muttered as they felt the jolt of the train as it began to pull out of the station.

“After you’ve made such a good case for taking the train? Believe me, Nick, I know lawyers who’d like their cases to be as strong as the one you just presented. I don’t know why you have a problem with taking the train. The alternative is two or three days on horseback, sleeping on the hard ground, and beans for dinner.”

“I just don’t like my brothers abusing my trust like that,” Nick growled.

“There you go again with that abuse of trust,” Jarrod rolled his eyes. “I don’t know about you but I trust my brothers to take care of me. That’s all we were doing. We decided together that the best way to take care of you was to get you back to Stockton as quickly as possible – and that means the train. And THAT is the last word I’m saying on the subject!”

Nick opened his mouth to reply but Jarrod had that look in his eyes that said ‘I’m the big brother and you’d damn well better shut up before I decide to show you what that means’. So Nick closed his mouth and glared back with a look that he hoped said ‘you might be older but I could take you down if I wanted to’. Clearly that wasn’t the message Jarrod got as he just laughed and turned to stare out the window again. Well, Nick figured, he’d have to work on the look for the next time he needed it.

The train ride from Latrobe to Sacramento was of a shorter distance than the ride from Sacramento to Stockton would be, but the tracks took a winding route that stopped in several small towns before reaching California’s capital city. With those stops and the slower speed forced on them by the many curves along the way, it was a longer trip in duration than the second portion of their trip would take. Nick settled back to sleep and despite the lurching and rocking that resulted from the stops and turns in the track, he seemed to be successful. Jarrod had to wake him as they pulled into Sacramento.

Fortunate timing – or perhaps someone who’d set the schedule of outbound trains based on expected arrival of inbound trains – left them with only a twenty minute wait before they pulled out of Sacramento for Stockton. It was a familiar route to the brothers yet they both gazed out the window watching the city disappear to be replaced by open prairie and gently rolling hills.

They were about a half hour out of Sacramento when Nick asked, “What time are we getting to Stockton?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a watch. It was the one that had started the argument with Heath on the mountain and the dark cowboy stared at it blankly for a moment before visibly shaking himself and flipping it open to check the time.

“New watch, Nick?” Jarrod asked him. “It’s a bit beat up.”

“It’s not mine. It’s Heath’s.” He snapped it shut and held it out to his older brother. “Recognize it?”

“Should I?” Jarrod raised his eyebrows questioningly as he took it, noting first the dent on the back. Then he turned it over and studied it for several seconds before looking up at Nick with a puzzled expression. “This looks like…” his voice trailed off.

“Yeah,” Nick said when Jarrod didn’t finish his comment. “It is, isn’t it? Father’s, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Jarrod nodded slightly. “Yeah, it is.”

“Yeah,” Nick breathed out. “I figured.”

“And you’re saying Heath gave it to you?”

“Not exactly,” Nick shook his head. “It was more like he threw it at me.”

“And … how did Heath come to have this watch?”

“It seems that … Father … gave it to Heath’s mother … to pass on to their son.”

“WHAT!”

“Well, that’s just a guess,” Nick shrugged. “Heath’s mother gave it to him and told him it was a family watch. Because of the ‘T’ on it, he’s always assumed she meant the Thomson family.”

“That would be a logical assumption,” Jarrod agreed.

“He was telling me how it saved his life. That dent,” Nick reached over and turned the watch to show it to him again, “is from a bullet that hit the watch instead of him. He handed it to me so I could take a closer look. I guess I knew right away when I got a good look at it. I don’t know that I would have recognized it without having seen Uncle John’s and hearing the story about Father’s. I don’t really remember it as something Father carried. I guess I was too young when he … lost it,” Nick mused.

“You don’t sound as though you have a problem believing that it was Father’s,” Jarrod observed. “If it is, in fact, his watch – you’d have to admit that he knew her,” he pointed out.

“By the time I saw this, I’d already seen proof that Father knew Leah Thomson. Proof that was a lot more convincing than a watch,” Nick said drily.

“So … does that mean … that you believe Heath is our brother?”

“Yeah, Jarrod, I believe it! You were right and I was wrong!” Nick sounded mad. “Heath is our brother! There, I’ve said it! Are you happy, now?”

Jarrod listened to the anger in his brother’s voice, thinking he was angry at the discovery that Heath was their brother. Nick’s eyes seemed to radiate heat and the lawyer really wasn’t sure if that was from his emotional or physical condition. It never occurred to him that what was really annoying Nick was having to admit that Jarrod had been right.

Trying to defuse the anger, Jarrod asked, “So how did you end up with the watch? You said Heath threw it at you,” he prompted.

Nick nodded reluctantly. “I told him the watch was Father’s.”

“So Heath thought the watch belonged to his mother’s family – and you jumped right in to tell him how wrong he was?”

“Oh, Jarrod, at least give me credit for having more sense than that,” Nick said disgustedly. “I’m not a complete idiot. I could see how much the watch meant to him. I didn’t plan to tell him – at least, not when I did. We were talking and – I just said it without thinking.”

“That’s not hard to believe,” Jarrod said, jokingly. “And is that when he threw it at you?”

“Yeah, about then,” Nick nodded. “Jarrod – you just don’t understand. Things changed between us on this trip – and you were right about that, too, okay? He’s not a bad guy once you get to know him.”

“I could have told you that,” Jarrod smiled slightly.

“You’re enjoying making this as difficult as possible, aren’t you?”

“Actually, yes, I am.”

“Well, it’s not a laughing matter, Jarrod,” Nick’s tone of voice emphasized his seriousness. “We were talking about things we remembered from when we were kids and I said … I wished he could have known Father the way I knew him. And he said it wasn’t his choice that they didn’t know each other. And then I said … I didn’t understand why Father thought a watch could have taken the place of everything else he should have done for him. So you see, I didn’t say it with the intention of giving away a big secret. It just … came out!”

“And THAT’S when he threw it at you?”

“Yeah, about then,” Nick repeated. “He asked why I thought it had belonged to Father and I explained about Uncle John’s watch. He’d shown me the watch three or four days before that and I didn’t tell him then because it seemed to mean so much to him. But HE thought I didn’t tell him because I was treating it like a big joke. You know – he’s been carrying around the watch of a man he grew up to hate,” he explained in case Jarrod wasn’t sure what he meant. “There were just so many things that all kinda came to a head there. And that’s when he threw it at me. He said if he meant so little to Father that he couldn’t give him the watch himself then he didn’t want it – and he threw it at me. I’d never have believed that he could get that mad,” Nick shook his head.

“I guess I might get angry, too, if I’d carried something around thinking it once belonged to the person I’ve loved more than anyone on this earth – and then I was told that it had actually belonged to someone I hated.”

“If you can understand that, then maybe you can understand why I was thinking he shot me. It was during that argument that he pulled his gun and shot the cougar. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Heath pulling a gun and yelling at me.”

“And ever since you’ve been telling people he shot you,” Jarrod laughed. “When we met up with you, he was just telling you if you didn’t quit saying it, he was going to shoot you so it wouldn’t be a lie. Oh, god, I swear Eugene thought he meant it!”

“And you didn’t?”

“I figured he’d have shot you long ago if he was ever going to do it,” Jarrod waved his hand dismissively.

Nick took a deep breath and let it out with a loud sigh. He couldn’t believe that Jarrod was treating this so lightly. He was trying to be serious with him. He was trying to tell Jarrod that he’d accepted that Heath was his brother and they’d made peace. But Jarrod just kept joking about it. Maybe he’d understand the importance of what Nick was saying when he told him about…

“I saw a picture in Strawberry of Father and Leah Thomson together,” Nick told him to jolt him from his lighthearted responses. “He had his arm around her.”

“WHAT!”

“We stopped in Strawberry the first night. Heath stayed with his Aunt Rachel and I guess she must have taken out some pictures for him to look at. The next morning I was alone in the house and saw the pile of pictures. I thought they were just family pictures so I started looking through them. The last one was Father and Heath’s mother. It was a formal picture, Jarrod. Not the kind you have taken with someone you know casually,” Nick stated.

Jarrod suddenly thought of the first telegram Nick had sent from Nevada. The one that he thought included a line from someone else’s telegram. ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ He no longer believed that a careless telegraph operator had inadvertently added the sentence to their telegram. Cryptic though it had been at the time, Jarrod now realized it must have been intended as the first indication to his family that Nick accepted Heath as a Barkley.

“The picture. The watch. You know what it means, don’t you?” Nick broke into his brother’s thoughts.

Jarrod looked at him silently. He wasn’t sure what Nick wanted him to say.

“It means Father knew about Heath and turned his back on him.”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“He gave Leah Thomson his watch to pass on to their son!”

“If Heath believed the watch came from his mother’s family,” Jarrod played devil’s advocate, “then that’s just speculation. Father may have given her the watch for an entirely different reason and she chose to give it to Heath for a reason only she knew. Do you remember when Heath first claimed he was Father’s son and we decided to have Pinkerton investigate him?”

“Yeah,” Nick nodded slowly. “Oh, don’t tell me you’ve decided to do it now. There’s no need to do it now, Jarrod. That boy is our brother!”

“It’s too late for that, Nick. I contacted them right away and got the report while you were gone.”

“And you read it!”

“Yes, I read it,” Jarrod confirmed. “Among other things, it states that there is no conclusive evidence that Father knew about Heath.”

“Well, now, that report doesn’t mention the watch, does it? Because you sure as hell sounded surprised when I mentioned it,” Nick stated.

“No. It doesn’t mention the watch. And I still say there could be a reasonable explanation for why he gave it to her and it may have nothing to do with Heath.”

Nick looked at him angrily, pain beginning to pound in his temples. He massaged his forehead with his fingertips, closing his eyes and ignoring his older brother for a moment. When he looked over at Jarrod again, the anger had been replaced by a look the lawyer couldn’t immediately identify. But when Nick spoke, it was obviously with regret. “Does your damn report tell you that he joined the army and fought in the war when he was fourteen because he didn’t have a father to tell him he couldn’t?”

Blue eyes met hazel eyes and Jarrod saw guilt in his brother’s eyes. “Yes,” he said softly, “but that ISN’T our fault. And this isn’t the place to discuss that report because I can promise you that you don’t want to be sitting on this train when you hear the rest of it.”

“I know the rest of it, Jarrod. I know that he went to work in the mine when he was six. By the time he was eight he was holding down two jobs. You sent us on this trip so I’d get to know him,” Nick said almost resentfully. “And I did! And when we get off this train, you better be moving fast because I’ve got an overpowering urge to take a swing at you for reading that report. Even if we thought there was a need for it when you contacted Pinkerton – you knew by the time you got it that there was no longer that need. You had no right to read it!”

“So you don’t want to know the rest of it?” Jarrod asked him.

“Jarrod, what could be worse than a six-year-old boy setting dynamite charges just to help his mother put food on their table?”

Jarrod just shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you here, Nick. You may think you’re ready to hear it – but you’re not. Mother cried for hours after she read it.”

“You let Mother read it!”

“When you figure out how to say ‘no’ to Mother, then you have the right to ask me that,” Jarrod stated, staring intently into his brother’s eyes. After several seconds of silence, he continued, “Yes, Mother read it. And the only thing in that report that gave her any comfort was that there was no compelling evidence that Father knew about Heath. She was heartbroken when she read the report but at least she can believe that Father’s neglect was from ignorance rather than apathy. How do you suppose she’ll feel when she hears your theory that the picture and the watch prove that Father’s negligence was willful?” he asked rhetorically. “Think about it for a while, Nick, because that’s probably how you’re going to feel when you hear the rest of the story.”

Nick knew from the sound of Jarrod’s voice that he wasn’t going to like what he read when he DID get a look at the report. What, he wondered, could possibly be worse than what he’d learned about Heath’s life as they’d traveled the countryside together buying horses? He couldn’t imagine that it was something that would change the newfound respect he had for his younger brother. Nor that it would make him change his mind about accepting Heath as his partner in running the ranch. But clearly, from Jarrod’s tone, it was unimaginable. Still, it was inevitable that he’d ponder that as he rested his head against the window on his right and closed his eyes. And it was just as inevitable that he’d pull away from the window as the vibrations of the train only increased the ache in his head.

Jarrod reached across to pick up Nick’s jacket and fold it into a cushion. Nick took it silently, the physical – and probably emotional – pain reflected in his eyes as he held Jarrod’s gaze for a moment. Then he shut his eyes and leaned against the window once more, the jacket as his pillow. He tried – he wanted – to shut out all the possibilities racing through his mind. Sleep finally came to chase them away but it was only a temporary reprieve. Even as his thoughts faded into unconsciousness, he knew he’d have to eventually read the report for his own peace of mind – whether he wanted to or not.

Jarrod watched as Nick fell asleep, satisfied that he dodged the subject for the moment. He’d show Nick the report, of course, but his brother’s reaction to what he’d read wasn’t his primary concern right now. It was the reaction of his mother when she heard of the picture and Father’s watch that worried him. She was a strong woman who had accepted the consequences of her husband’s infidelity with an almost unbelievable grace. He knew that she wanted to imagine that his father had been unaware of Heath’s existence and he was afraid that, like Nick, she would accept the two items as confirmation that he’d clearly known about and chosen to ignore him.

For the first time since he’d welcomed Heath into the family, Jarrod found himself wondering if things might not be better if he DID leave. Surely Heath must want to share this further proof of his heritage with the rest of the family and Jarrod really wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. He wasn’t sure that he wanted his mother to know that Father had had more than a passing one-night relationship with Leah Thomson. That belief – or that hope – had sustained her through the turmoil of Heath’s arrival. To have that hope shattered was more than Jarrod thought she should have to face.

Well – there WAS that job offer in Carson City. Heath had sounded interested before he’d left Stockton. And Jarrod had to believe that he’d still been interested when he talked to George Russell. Why would the rancher have said he was looking forward to working with him if he didn’t expect Heath to be returning? So maybe Heath would pack up and leave as soon as he got back to the ranch. If he did that … well, he probably wouldn’t stop to present his evidence if he didn’t plan to stay. And maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. As much as he regretted the thought, Jarrod figured he wouldn’t try to talk him out of it if Heath returned to Stockton still intent on leaving.

Jarrod believed that he would have come to love Heath as much as he loved his other siblings. But he loved his mother more than any other being on earth. For her – he vowed not to stop Heath if he tried to leave. For his mother – he’d let his brother go.

Chapter 23

Eugene Barkley was confused – just as confused as he’d been the day Heath Thomson claimed that Tom Barkley was his father. Everyone in the family had responded differently to his presence. Jarrod had been cautious but accepting. His mother had been hurt but welcoming. Audra was the one who’d embraced him wholeheartedly. And Nick didn’t want anything to do with him from the moment he made his claim. Eugene had followed Jarrod’s lead, mostly because the idea of a brother closer to his age than Nick and Jarrod appealed to his sense of balance. While Jarrod would forever treat him as a father would and Nick had often made it clear that he was too young to be of any practical purpose as a brother, maybe it could be different with Heath.

When he was a child, his mother had been fond of pointing out that the age difference wouldn’t seem as great when they were adults – but long before that came to pass, Eugene knew that medicine was his future. Although he knew that he could count on Nick to be there if he ever needed him, he also knew that it was unlikely that he’d be Nick’s first choice as a drinking companion on Friday night. His interest in medicine, it seemed, gave them very little in common. He’d always figured that the only reason Jarrod’s vocation wasn’t the same sort of stumbling block for Nick was because Jarrod was the older brother. And their age difference was only four years.

Maybe that’s why he was more willing to follow Jarrod’s example in welcoming Heath into the family. It gave the possibility of a brother who might treat him as an equal. But that wasn’t exactly the way it was happening. Despite the antagonism between them, Nick and Heath had bonded in a way that even they didn’t realize. They’d bonded over ranching. They were both passionate about the land, the horses, and even the work. Eugene appreciated the land and the horses and tolerated the work but he’d never be as ardent in his admiration as they were. Still, even with their love of the land in common, Eugene had never expected Nick to relent and accept Heath as a Barkley. And it had taken him quite by surprise when he realized that maybe he had.

The day before, once they’d decided that Jarrod would take Nick to Latrobe while Heath and Eugene continued on to the ranch with the horses, they made short work of packing what each would need for their trip. Jarrod had joked that he’d have to deal with Nick once they parted so he’d leave it to his two youngest brothers to get Nick into the wagon. They’d been doing just that, Heath on his left and Eugene on his right, when Nick had mumbled that his little brother was taking good care of him. For an instant, Eugene had smiled to himself, thinking that Nick was actually acknowledging his presence as helpful rather than a hindrance. But then Heath had sort of patted his back and said, “Yeah, Nick, I’m takin’ care of ya’.”

It had cut through Eugene like a knife. Regardless of the way Nick rolled his eyes when he called him ‘Dr. Eugene’, or laughed sarcastically when he referred to him as ‘medicine man’, there’d always been a familial affection behind ‘little brother’. And now to hear it, perhaps, directed at someone else brought an unexpected reaction. He’d actually felt jealous. He was almost ashamed to admit, even to himself, that it was that exchange that had prompted him to point out to Heath later that day that HE – Eugene – was the little brother who wouldn’t be blamed for Nick finding himself on a train back to Stockton. He didn’t know what had transpired between Nick and Heath since they’d left the ranch but if Heath was responding when Nick called someone ‘little brother’, Eugene wanted to be sure he knew which of them had been there first. And which of them truly WAS Nick Barkley’s little brother.

That wasn’t the only thing that was contributing to the confusion Eugene was feeling. He’d always counted on Jarrod to be the one to weigh both sides of an issue very carefully before changing his mind about something. But he’d certainly changed his mind quickly enough when Heath had suggested that Jarrod, rather than Eugene, should take Nick back to Latrobe to catch the train. Never mind that Heath had said ‘no offense intended’. Intended or not, it just told Eugene that neither of them thought he could handle what should have been a simple job. Sure, he’d agreed with them at the time. It was better than getting into an argument he was destined to lose. And then right on top of that, Jarrod hadn’t even flinched when Heath grabbed hold of him and just about threw him across the clearing because he got a little too close to that precious stallion. Not at all! Jarrod had, instead, told Eugene to start acting like a man!

HIS brothers both seemed to have found a replacement for him. Okay, he was going off to school – but somewhere in the back of his mind was the intention to practice medicine right there in California. Somewhere was the desire to be close to his family as he established his professional life. But even before he was gone they were embracing Heath as his substitute. He hadn’t minded Heath joining the family when he thought of him as a bridge between him and his older brothers. But he didn’t at all like the idea of Heath replacing him as anyone’s little brother.

He’d had a hard time getting to sleep Thursday night as all those thoughts rolled around in his mind. He hated that he seemed to be capable of trying to hurt someone over petty jealousy and resentment. He hated the resentment especially. He knew Heath didn’t deserve it – but that didn’t keep him from feeling it. But he tried to temper it by remembering what Jarrod had said – that if he didn’t get to know Heath now, he’d be a stranger for the rest of his life. The man WAS his brother. He’d probably NEVER know him as well as the rest of the family, but he didn’t want him to be a stranger. He’d fallen asleep promising himself that tomorrow would be different. He wouldn’t ride fifty feet behind Heath. He’d find something to talk about. He’d get to know him – apparently just as Nick had.

Well – he’d fallen asleep with that thought on his mind. But when he’d gotten up in the morning he found that Heath was already awake, had breakfast made, had pretty much broken camp – and was joking about Eugene sleeping in even though the sun was only an inch or two above the horizon. It escaped Eugene that Jarrod and Nick would have kidded him about the same thing – as they had on a number of occasions – and he immediately resented it from Heath. As he’d told Jarrod, he didn’t need another older brother telling him what to do. If Heath had wanted him up sooner, he rationalized, he could have just awakened him.

Still, he tried to keep in mind his promise of the night before to use the rest of this trip to get to know his brother better. So when Heath told him there was no need to ride so far behind – just as long as he rode on the opposite side of him from the stallion – he made it a point to ride on Heath’s left that morning. But when they stopped for lunch he realized that he hadn’t learned a thing about Heath because Heath had been the one to ask the questions while Eugene supplied the answers. At least it told him that Heath wanted to learn about him. Or maybe, he thought suspiciously, it meant Heath didn’t want Eugene to learn any more than was necessary about him. Well, THAT was going to change!

“So I guess you and Nick are getting along now, huh?” Eugene asked, as they got under way after their lunch stop, hoping it sounded like a casual question.

“Yeah, I s’pose we are,” Heath agreed. Then he looked over with a slight grin and drawled, “Why? Did ya’ think I really tried to shoot him?”

“No!” Eugene said quickly. Then the grin got to him and he admitted with a laugh, “Well … maybe for a minute or two … maybe ‘til I realized Nick was slightly delirious.” After a moment of silence between them, he suggested, “I guess riding along with nothing to do could get rough if you didn’t eventually get along.”

“Yeah, I ‘spect so.”

“Do you ever say anything you don’t have to say?” Eugene sounded exasperated.

Heath looked over at him questioningly. “What would be the point of that?”

“How am I supposed to get to know you if you never say anything you don’t have to?”

“Whatta ya’ wanna know about me?”

“I don’t know,” Eugene sort of shook his head.

Heath laughed. “Then how am I s’pose to know what ya’ want me to say, Gene?”

“Well … how about if you tell me what you and Nick did on your trip.”

“We bought horses,” he frowned, thinking it should be obvious. “Some of ‘em shoulda gotten to the ranch by now.”

“I know that!” Eugene stated. “I meant … what did you do besides buying horses?”

“Oh,” Heath nodded. “Well … we camped. And did some fishin’. Nick fell offa mountain. We played some poker. We…”

“Nick fell off a mountain!” Eugene cut him short.

“He didn’t fall very far,” Heath shrugged.

“How did he fall off a mountain?” Eugene demanded.

“We were gonna fill our canteens from a little stream that comes down from a mountain lake. But ya’ know Nick. He doesn’t like takin’ advice. I went one way and he went the other even when I told him it was easier doin’ it the way I was goin’. I guess he had a little trouble gettin’ back down and slipped over the edge. He didn’t fall more than twenty-five or thirty feet.”

“Was he hurt?”

“Only his pride, I think,” Heath joked.

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Eugene breathed a sigh that came close to a laugh. “So where’d you go fishing?”

“Walker Lake. Biggest damn trout I’ve ever seen. Nick said he went fishin’ there with Jarrod and … your father … ‘bout fifteen years ago.”

Eugene looked over at him and wondered if he dared to ask what he wanted to ask. Well, he figured, the worst he could do is not answer. So he asked, “How come you call him MY father? He’s yours, too. Isn’t he?”

“It ain’t a claim I’m proud to make,” Heath said quietly and tensely. “And I don’t think it’s somethin’ ya’ really wanna talk about right now. Do ya’, Gene?”

“I guess not,” Eugene wasn’t sure about that look Heath gave him.

They settled into an uneasy silence for a while until Heath decided it was his fault that they weren’t talking. So he started telling him about their trip. About Nick turning down the opportunity to breed palominos. About the snake. About Sally. He paused frequently waiting for Eugene to contribute, but he seemed satisfied just to listen. It carried them to their final stop of the day – and that’s when the trouble started.

“So how come,” Eugene asked as they were eating, “if you and Nick were getting along so well, he thought you shot him?”

“I told ya’,” Heath swallowed a mouthful of beans to say, “we were arguin’ about somethin’ and in the middle of it all, I saw the cougar about to jump. I barely had time to yell a warnin’ before it was in the air. I pulled my gun and shot but the cougar still landed on him and knocked him over. He hit his head on a rock. When he came to, he only remembered that I’d shot my gun.”

“What were you arguing about?”

“Ya’ don’t need to know that,” he declined to answer just as he had when Jarrod had asked.

“It must have gotten pretty heated if Nick thought you’d shoot him over it.”

“Yeah, I guess it musta gotten pretty heated,” Heath agreed, draining the last of the coffee in his cup.

“Why won’t you tell me what it was about?” Eugene persisted as only a little brother could.

Heath glared at him across the campfire before he set his plate and cup on the rock next to him and stood up. “Ya’ wanna know what it was about, Gene?” he asked. “We were talkin’ about your father. And how he ain’t exactly the model for good fathers.”

“Nick would never have said that!” Eugene declared.

“No, but I would. And ya’ might be surprised at how Nick feels about that.”

Eugene stood up so abruptly that the plate on his lap flew off into the campfire. “Tom Barkley was a good father and Nick knows that!”

“Maybe Nick learned some things on this trip that he didn’t wanna know,” Heath suggested, turning away to check on the stallion that seemed to be getting restless.

“You’re a damn liar!” Eugene yelled, racing after him and tackling him from behind.

They both hit the ground hard, Eugene rolling to one side of Coco and Heath rolling to the other. Heath was on his feet first with Eugene only fractionally slower getting to his feet.

“Gene,” Heath tried to stop him, “I ain’t gonna fight ya’.”

The younger man had pushed Coco out of the way to get to him and threw a punch that Heath stepped away from. He caught Eugene’s arm and spun him around to put a headlock on him and repeated his words.

“I ain’t gonna fight ya’, Gene,” he said menacingly. “But I will defend myself – so if ya’ wanna get home in one piece ya’d be smart to cool down and quit askin’ about things ya’ don’t wanna know about.”

“Let me go!” Eugene struggled to break the hold Heath had on him.

“I’ll let ya’ go when I know I ain’t got a reason to hurt ya’,” Heath agreed, maintaining the grip.

Eugene wrestled against the hold for, perhaps, another fifteen seconds before accepting that he wasn’t going to be able to break it. “Okay,” he finally relaxed. “Okay – let me go!”

“Ya’ done fightin’?”

“I’m done!” Eugene growled his best ‘Nick’ growl but it came out as more of a gasp as Heath released him and pushed him away in the same motion.

Eugene turned on him immediately and Heath held up both hands to stop him. “Don’t try it, Gene, ‘cause I’ve already tended to one brother on this trip and I wasn’t plannin’ on makin’ a habit of it.”

“Well, you don’t need to take care of me. I’ve already got two big brothers,” Eugene said angrily, “and I DON’T need another one. You can tell all the lies you want about what happened and what was said on your trip – but I know my brothers a helluva lot better than you ever will. Nick would never say that Tom Barkley was a bad father!”

“I didn’t say that he did,” Heath replied just as angrily. “I said ya’ might be surprised at how he feels about him bein’ a GOOD father. Nick learned a couple things on this trip that he prob’ly didn’t wanna know. And if ya’ wanna continue thinkin’ that Tom Barkley was a model father, then don’t ask me anymore about it.”

“So you told him some lies and he believed you! Well, I don’t! I don’t believe anything you say about Tom Barkley because you never knew him! Why anyone ever believed you were his son is something I’ll never figure out!”

Heath stepped towards him and grabbed Eugene’s shirt in his fist, pulling him close and looking him in the eyes. “Maybe Nick saw a picture of your father and my mother. And maybe your father had his arm around her. And maybe Nick took one look at the watch I was given by my mother and recognized it as one your father used to own. Now why do ya’ s’pose he had his arm around her? And why do ya’ s’pose he gave her his watch to give to me someday if I ain’t his son?” his voice got louder as he spoke.

Heath shoved him away as he finished. Eugene took a couple steps backwards then stood his ground, staring at him, his hands clenched at his sides. “So where is this picture?” he asked skeptically.

“It’s in Strawberry.”

“And you’re telling me you got Nick to stop in Strawberry,” he said disbelievingly.

“Why don’t ya’ just ask Nick when we get back to the ranch.”

“Oh, believe me, I plan to ask Nick! Why don’t YOU show me this watch that you claim was Father’s,” Eugene challenged.

“I didn’t claim it was your father’s. Nick did. And I don’t have it anymore. Nick has it.”

“That’s convenient. If Nick kept it, it’s probably so he can prove it ISN’T Father’s.”

“I don’t know why he’d tell me it was and then try to prove it wasn’t,” Heath shook his head. “I thought it belonged to my mother and I sure as hell don’t take any pleasure in knowin’ I’ve been carryin’ Tom Barkley’s watch around. Now if ya’ve got any interest in getting back to the ranch in one piece, ya’d best back off right now.”

With everything else he’d felt about Heath since he’d arrived in Stockton – skepticism, curiosity, acceptance, jealousy and resentment – he’d never been afraid of him. But the look in Heath’s eyes as he told him to back off was something he’d never seen from the blond cowboy who claimed to be his brother. And he definitely felt fear for just a moment. He decided he’d take the advice Jarrod had given him the day before. He’d start acting like a man – and a man would back off at this point.

So he actually did. He backed away. And then he turned and walked away, disappearing into the trees as Heath just stood and watched. Heath closed his eyes and let out the breath he’d been holding, dropping his shoulders as he relaxed. He’d seen the fear on Eugene’s face and that was something else he didn’t take pleasure in knowing – that he’d put that look on his brother’s face. Good thing Eugene already had two big brothers because Heath figured he’d just failed miserably at that particular relationship.

* * * * *

Friday evening – Barkley Ranch

“Nick! Jarrod!” Victoria Barkley hurried to the wagon to greet her sons when they arrived home early Friday evening.

Nick looked at her like he wasn’t sure if she was really there or he was just seeing things.

“He’s a bit tired, Mother,” Jarrod explained to her. “I think we just need to get him upstairs to bed,” he recommended.

Victoria reached up to place her hand against Nick’s cheek. Then his forehead. “He has a fever. We should send one of the men for Dr. Merar.”

“I don’t think we need to bother the doctor tonight. A good night’s sleep will do him wonders,” Jarrod suggested. “We have the medicine that the doctor in Placerville prescribed and the supplies to clean the wound. He should be fine for tonight.”

“The wound?” she followed Jarrod as he assisted Nick into the house.

“Don’t ask, Mother,” Jarrod shook his head, “or Nick might start claiming he was shot.”

“Nick was shot!”

“No, he wasn’t,” he laughed. Then he tried to brush it off by saying, “It’s a long story.”

Nick looked over at his mother and frowned. “A long story,” he breathed out in a sigh. “I think … Heath prob’ly wrote it all down. He said … he was writin’ it all down … so he’d remember. I don’t … remember.” His head turned lazily to the other side as he looked at Jarrod. “You remember, Jarrod? I can’t seem to…” his eyes rolled back as his knees gave out.

“Well,” Jarrod looked up at his mother as he eased Nick to the floor, “we might not need the doctor but we probably need a couple of the men to help get Nick upstairs. Or he’ll end up spending the night right here,” he predicted as Audra came bouncing down the stairs.

“Audra,” Victoria said before her daughter could ask why Nick was lying on the floor, “go out and ask Duke to send a couple men in to help us carry Nick upstairs.”

“What happened to him?” Audra stopped at the bottom of the stairs to ask.

Jarrod was so tempted to say ‘he was shot’ that it almost came out. Then he realized that saying it out loud would make it all the harder to explain what had really happened. So he just said, “He has a fever and he passed out. Now I know you don’t want him lying here in the front foyer while we do nothing to help him so you’d better get those men before they all leave for town.”

“And while she does that,” Victoria looked over at her son with one of those gazes that said she expected an answer, “you can tell me this long story. And make it short.”

“Yes, Mother,” Jarrod replied with a nod of his head and then proceeded to tell her as expeditiously as possible about the cougar and the gunshot and the rock that got in the way when Nick fell.

He told her all of it. All except the part about the watch. The watch that had started the argument. The one Nick had handed to him on the train. The one Jarrod had never given back to him. The one that weighed heavily in his pocket at that very moment. He’d been afraid that when they got home Nick would be in no condition to conceal the watch from their mother so he’d held on to it. It was the one part of the story that he wasn’t ready to tell her. He wasn’t sure if he ever would tell her. It was something he’d have to talk to Heath about first. If Heath had no intention of mentioning the watch, Jarrod didn’t see any point in doing it himself.

At least that was his plan at the moment. Unfortunately his plan didn’t take into consideration that Eugene now knew about the watch. And that a practical demonstration of the best laid plans of men going awry was in the not too distant future.