Knight In Shining Armour

A Ficlet…

by Catlee

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.

“Nick where are ya? I need ya big brother.”

“Damn fool horse,” gasped Heath, not for the first time as he lay in the dust where he had fallen an hour earlier.

His right hand cradled his injured left side as he squinted up at the sun and then around his current resting place. His hat lay just out of arms reach and his water canteen was probably halfway back to the ranch by now.

“Well Heath Barkley, lying here sure ain’t goin to get ya anywhere. After all this is a working ranch.”

“Come on Nick, don’t ya know I need ya?”

There were no eyes to bare testament to the painful extraction of Heath Barkley from the valley floor. Not even the wild turkey that had startled the fool loco mare in the first place had stayed to watch the show.

Gasping in pain and taking shallow breaths for he could do no more as the fire ripped through his side, Heath slowly dragged his battered body to the shelter of a near by tree.

“Nick please come, I need ya real bad.”

Resting his sweat soaked body against the base of the tree, he tried drawing much needed air into his starving lungs, all the time cradling his injured side. He sighed and shut his eyes.

“Nick where the hell are ya? I really need ya bad.”

“Right here little brother.”

Heath Barkley opened his eyes and squinted into the glare. He smiled and closed his eyes once again.

His knight in shining armour had arrived.

THE END