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.
Heath Barkley cast a sideways
glance towards his older brother Nick and shook his head. Never one to let a
chance go by he decided now was the perfect opportunity to raise a bite out of
his brother. Of course Heath realized that the grin he was wearing on his own
face was a perfect match for that of his brothers. Still…
"I swear Nick, you look
like one of Audra’s’ cats that’s just discovered a bucket of cream. If ya keep
grinning like that you’re likely to swallow more than a fly."
Nick looked over at his brother.
He loved to see the sparkle in those blue eyes. All too often they were serious
and brooding, but not today. Today they showed only happiness at their good
fortune.
"Well brother Heath, perhaps
you should try looking in the mirror before you start offering snippets of
wisdom. You look like the cat that’s just discovered two buckets of cream and a
family of mice to boot."
The brothers looked at each
other and grinned even wider if that was at all possible.
While the brothers continued
their good-natured banter, they allowed one pair of startlingly light blue eyes
and a second pair of hazel eyes to roam over the object of their good fortune
walking placidly between them. And what an object he was.
16.1 hands of lithe muscle. Pure
black in colour save for the white blanket that stretched evenly over both
sides of his loins and down his flanks and the small black spots sprinkled
within the blanket as though someone had splattered him with an ink pen. He was
a true black colour, with none of the tell tale signs of brown shading around
the muzzle that would indicate that he was not what he seemed. The only colour
on his head was the darkly mottled skin around his lips and the white sclera
around the eyes that gave him a slightly wild or to some an even mad
appearance. His long black legs ended in four darkly stripped hooves. Again
unusual as most horses of his breed had at least one white stripped hoof. Even
the skin of his sheath area was darkly mottled.
It wasn’t so much his colouring
although outstanding but his build that had first caught the eyes of the
Barkley brothers two days ago at the army auctions. They were only there by
chance, passing through on their return to the ranch from an unproductive
horse-buying trip. They had figured the army horses couldn’t be any worse than
what they had already been offered and so they had stopped to watch the
auction. He was the last horse to be offered and as soon as the brothers laid
eyes on him they knew he was the horse they wanted for their breeding program.
Strong barreled, good sloping shoulders indicating a long stride and speed, a
deep chest, strong well-shaped legs set at just the right angles, small ears
and an intelligent head. This horse was built for speed and stamina. A horse
that could go for miles without raising a sweat. A horse that would give his
heart and then find reserves to go that little bit further. Yes sir, they
thought he was just perfect and then of course there was his colour. Neither
thought they had ever seen such a perfectly marked spotted blanket on a horse
before. This was one horse neither of them was prepared to allow slip through
their fingers.
They ignored the guffaws and
shouts of derision by some of the onlookers when the bidding started. They both
knew the stories about soft feet, pig headiness, bad tempers but they belonged
to the wiry little in-bred Indian ponies that most white men had no idea how to
ride or handle and so their bad reputations grew. But this wasn’t any in-bred
little Indian pony. This horse had been produced through some of the finest
selective breeding they had ever seen.
The bidding started slowly but
it didn’t take long for the brothers to realize that someone else was
interested in the horse as well. The price was rising steadily in lots of 50’s
and they were soon reaching their cash limit. Not that that worried either of
them. They only needed to wire their brother Jarrod back in Stockton and funds
would be readily available to them at the local bank in town. The last bid made
by the as yet unseen second party was $750.00. They heard the auctioneer
calling out 750 going once, the brothers looked at one another and the decision
was made. Nick’s hand went up.
"We have 800, do I hear
850?"
Not a sound was heard from the
watching spectators. The guffaws and shouts of derision had ceased about
$500.00 ago and everybody including the brothers stood with baited breath
waiting to see if their latest bid would be bettered.
The auctioneer called "800
going once, 800 going twice, coming on gentlemen do I hear 850?"
In the hushed silence that
followed the brothers finally heard the words they had been waiting for.
"800 going three times.
Sold to the two gentlemen in the corner. Congratulations men, come and get your
prize."
The brothers had paid the money
collected their prize and left the auction without ever realizing that they
were being watched by two very different sets of eyes. One set of eyes belonged
to their unseen adversary. He stared after the two brothers and remarked to the
man standing beside him "I want that horse and I’m going to get him one
way or another."
"You want for me to kill
them and steal it tonight boss?" asked the man to whom the first comment
was directed with a hopeful glint in his eye.
"Don’t be stupid, they’re
Barkley’s’ and there are too many witnesses that saw them buy that horse fair
and square. They hang horse thieves in this country remember. No, we have to
get him legally and I think I know just the way to do it. It may take a few
months but that horse is going to be mine!" An evil grin spread across the
bidder's face as he started putting his thoughts into order.
The second set of eyes to watch
the brothers’ departure with their prize glared savagely from an unreadable
face. It was this second set of brown eyes that now watched the two brothers as
they rode along the trail looking for a likely place to camp for their last
night on the trail. Over the last two days these same eyes had watched the
brothers carefree banter and easy going natures towards one another and also
the respect with which they treated their horses. The savage glare was now gone
and a begrudging softness was beginning to appear. Especially where the blond
cowboy was concerned. It hadn’t taken the eyes long to realize that the blond
had a way with horses. While the Appaloosa stallion wasn’t totally wild or
unused to a rope he was extremely wary of strangers and especially so of those
men that would wear the garb of the white man. Yet this blond with his quiet
ways and gentle voice had overcome the horses natural fears to the point where
the horse now looked expectantly with ears pricked forward for the mans coming.
He would happily nuzzle the offered hand and nip gently at the fingers if his
treat was not forthcoming in what he deemed a suitable space of time. The
cowboy would only laugh at the horse’s antics and pat it on the neck then wait
for the horse to come to him again. It was these scenes of obvious love between
man and horse that had softened the brown eyes.
"Hey Nick, that looks like
a good place to camp," Heath said as he nodded toward a small clearing off
to their right.
Nick roused himself from his
thoughts of the last two days and looked to where Heath pointed.
"Reckon ya right little
brother," he said with a sigh. "As much as I enjoy camping out I sure
am looking forward to a nice hot bath and soft bed tomorrow night though."
"Speaking of baths
Nick," Heath commented making sure that his brother saw him wrinkling up
his nose "make sure you sleep down wind of me and the horses tonight would
ya? You smell worse than something the cat dragged in."
"Me? Boy you got that all
wrong. It’s you that’s got the odour problem and ya nose is just trying to make
excuses," came the quick retort.
The brothers just grinned at one
another and busied themselves making camp for the night. They were both so used
to the others ways that nothing had to be said. Within a matter of minutes a
fire was going, the horses were un-harnessed, bedrolls laid out, water boiling
in their kettle and a pot of Heath’s famous beans were bubbling in the
saucepan. At the thought of beans again, Nick made a wry face.
"I’ll tell ya one more
thing I won’t miss after tonight is your damn beans boy. How anybody can make a
tin o’ beans taste so bad is beyond me!"
Keeping a straight face Heath
thought of a suitable reply as he stirred his beans before they stuck to the
bottom of the pot.
"Well I can’t help it if ya
don’t know how to appreciate good cooking Nick. I ain’t had no complaints about
my cooking in the past. Why the old Gal and Charger always appreciate what I
put in front of them and I bet the Chief over there isn’t gonna complain
either."
Without looking up Heath scooped
several spoonfuls onto a plate and handed it to his dumbfounded brother. How
could his little brother compare him the great Nick Barkley to a horse! Heath
dished up his own plate and then sat opposite his brother and began shoveling
food into his mouth trying desperately to hide his grin.
"Eat up big brother afore
they get cold. Just remember that was my last tin!" he said between
mouthfuls.
"Well thank the lord for
small mercies. I swear if I ever see another tin a beans it’ll be too
soon."
The brown eyes watched silently
from the trees.
"Hey Heath, do ya reckon
what the Colonel said about that horse back at the auctions is true. Ya know,
about him being one of Chief Joseph’s personally bred mounts?"
Nick watched and waited as his
brother put down his plate, picked up his coffee cup and swirled its contents
before looking past the flames towards the horse in question. He knew what ever
his brother said would be worth listening too.
At the mention of the name Chief
Joseph, the brown eyes narrowed visibly as they too waited for the reply.
Heath thought for a few minutes
before replying.
"I don’t rightly know Nick,
but I do know that Chief Joseph only ever allowed the best stallions and mares
to breed and that stallion is a prime example of selective breeding if I ever
saw it. It was that breeding that allowed Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce
Indians to travel 1300 miles across the states before the army caught up with
them last year and sent them to the reservation. The army horses were no match
for the stamina and speed bred into those appaloosas, that’s why it took them
so long to catch them. If I was a betting man and I am I guess I’d have to
wager that he probably is one of the old Chief’s breeding stock. And now he’s
ours," he added with a grin.
The brown eyes softened again
and nodded silently in agreement. The blond knew the ways of his people too.
With their meager meal finished
and the fire stoked for the night the brothers settled into their bedrolls for
their last night on the trail.
The brown eyes settled in for
the night also.
The brothers were up
early the next morning and broke camp quickly. They were both eager to get
home, have a long hot bath, a nice soft bed and most of all some of Silas’ home
cooking. Two weeks on the trail was more than enough they both figured.
"Nick, what do
ya think our big brother is going to say when we turn up with one horse worth
800 instead of a whole string that he was expecting? He sure weren’t too happy
last time you turned up with one bull that cost that much and then had to shoot
it before he even got the chance to show us if he was worth it or not."
"I only had to
shoot him cause you got in the way remember? Never could work out why anybody
would want ta play chicken with a bull." Nick growled good-naturedly.
Both brothers let
their thoughts wander back to that particular incident. Heath had been riding
one of the newly broken mares while moving some of the breeding cows to the new
bulls pasture. The horse had stepped into a gopher hole and snapped a foreleg
throwing Heath sprawling in the dust. Heath got up only to find the enraged
bull charging him. He had been forced to play a game of chicken with the bull
to avoid been trampled until Nick’s timely arrival had put an end to the bulls
rage and their breeding plans.
"Just promise
me ya won’t shoot the horse Nick." Heath queried grinning.
"I won’t shoot
him if you don’t get tromped by him little brother," grumbled Nick.
The brothers lapsed
into silence, eager to let the miles fall behind them; content to let their
horses carry them towards home. They both sighed in relief when they finally
crossed the boundary onto Barkley land. Picking up speed they allowed their
horses to fall into a gentle lope. Within the hour they were passing under the
wrought iron gates proclaiming the Barkley Ranch.
The brown eyes had
widened in disbelief as they gazed across the vast richness of the landscape
they were traversing. Paddock upon paddock of undulating grass surrounded by
post and wire fencing, copious amounts of wooded and shaded areas, herds of
horses and cattle grazing quietly. The corners of the eyes turned upwards as
though the face beneath were smiling at the sight. The Chief was finally home,
they thought.