by dcat
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.
It was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. The sun was still hot and it was baking
everything in sight, including two very opposite Barkley brothers. It had only been five days since Heath had
moved into the ranch house from the bunkhouse.
Things were tense and the hot, and the dry, arid weather of the valley wasn’t
helping in any way, shape or form.
Heath Barkley had just ridden in from the South Meadow,
where 400 of the finest head of beef were chewing away at the fat of the
land. A full crew of men remained with
the herd, so Heath decided to head back to the house for a quick bath, a
peaceful nap and a great meal from Silas.
He’d spent overnight bringing the cattle down and since they were so
close to home, he figured home was where he’d belong, now that he was a
Barkley.
Apparently his ‘figuring’ skills weren’t acceptable to his
older brother, one Nick Barkley. The
moment he rode his Modoc into the paddock area, Nick all but pounced on
him. Victoria and Jarrod witnessed the
entire scene from the rose garden.
Jarrod had just finished up a case in town and Mother was out tending to
her prized possessions.
“What in the blazes are you doing here? Where’s the herd? Is everything all right?”
Nick boomed as he grabbed hold of the Modoc’s bridal. Cold-hearted steel gray eyes penetrated the
straight through to the blue eyes of the blond cowboy. Heath pulled up the head of his pony and
dismounted quickly, knowing that he’d bump and push his way against Nick who
stood inches from the horse.
“I’m talking to you boy,” Nick bellowed as the pushing match
had begun. Nick got right up into
Heath’s face. Heath wondered to himself
how many more of these outbursts he was going to have to withstand. It was becoming a daily occurrence between
the two of them. Was claiming his
heritage worth all this? Mentally and physically, it was becoming
exhausting. This so-called brother of
his loved nothing more than a fight.
Heath had learned that the hard way on day one.
“I heard you, ok?” Heath said, glaring back. He pulled the
canteen off his horse and took a drink of water. As he did, Nick knocked it out of his hands.
Heath cocked his head to the side, he hated given Nick any
type of satisfaction, like he was annoyed or anything. He needed to stand his ground. Heath flashed a smirk in Nick’s direction. He reached down and picked up the canteen
and handed it toward Nick, “I forgot my manners, did you want a drink
first?” Heath took the moment to back a
couple of steps away from Nick. No need
to antagonize him, his fuse was set to fire at any second.
“I want to know what you’re doing back here!” he shouted, as
he pushed Heath’s arm with the canteen away.
Heath pushed back his hat and calmly said, “Well, four
hundred head of cattle are parked down in the south meadow eating their dinner
and fattening up for that big train ride to the sky. Crew’s ready to tuck ‘em all in for the evening and I decided to
come home for some of Silas’ fried chicken.
I hear he makes it every Thursday night.”
Jarrod and Victoria watched closely. They knew Nick all too well. He was like a volcano ready to explode and
he still hadn’t quite accepted Heath with anything remotely close to open
arms. He was scrutinizing every move
that Heath made.
“I don’t remember telling you that it was ok to leave the
herd,” Nick started to say. Nick
stepped toward Heath again.
Heath put his hands up in defense, “look Nick, everything’s
fine, there’s no need to get riled up over this.”
“When it comes to this ranch, it’s my job to get riled up
and the sooner you learn that the better things will be.” Nick turned his back on Heath for a moment
and Heath thought maybe Nick was cooling off.
Boy howdy was he wrong. “When I
give an order I expect it to be followed, do you understand?” Nick shot back around and had fire in his
eyes. He took his finger and gouged it
into Heath’s chest. “I expect you to do
what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it.”
Heath grabbed his wrist and shoved it away. “Like I said, I followed your ‘orders’ and I
don’t need a lesson in finger jabbing.”
Heath felt the fire starting to kindle up inside him. Everyday it was something else for this guy
to attack him for. “If you’re looking
to throw a punch, go ahead and get it over with, because you’ve been itching
for it for five days now. I didn’t ask
him to be my daddy, it’s just what I ended up getting, is that what you want to
hear? Cuz this ain’t about cattle
anymore. I’m sick and tired of going
through this every day. There ain’t
nothing wrong with the work I’m doing around here, I’m pulling my share and
then some. If you can’t accept me as
your brother, you better go have a talk with that stone marker over in the
cemetery.”
Nick reared back and landed the first blow, a solid shot to
left cheek that sent Heath reeling.
Mother gasped and Jarrod started heading for the paddock, with Mother
coming right behind. Nick and Heath
continued to pummel each other, until finally Jarrod reached them and grabbed
Nick and hauled him off to the side.
Jarrod knew that Heath wouldn’t attack if he were between them. Nick in his rage nearly hauled off on
Jarrod, until he realized that it was Jarrod.
Mother came into the area shortly thereafter. Heath wiped the blood that was flowing from his nose. He would look the worse for wear after this
one.
“Nick, now that’s enough,” Jarrod said, getting between him
and Heath.
“What is going on with you boys this time?” Victoria stood
on the outside of the fence.
Heath picked his hat up off the ground and shook the dust
from it, he had nothing to say. He knew
they had seen Nick throw the first punch.
The way he saw it, he simply defended himself.
“Nick, I’m waiting?” she said.
Nick shrugged away from Jarrod’s grasp and walked away
without answering either. Coco stood
saddled, so Nick mounted and headed out.
As he left the paddock he shouted, “I’ll be up with the herd.”
Heath watched him ride off and shook his head in
disgust. He certainly didn’t want to
break this family apart, he just wanted to be a part of it. He decided to make amends. He turned to Jarrod and said, “I’ll ride out
and send him back. I guess I didn’t
follow his directions too well.”
“You’ll do no such thing, Heath Barkley,” Victoria
said. “You did what you were told and
you came home to be with your family for dinner and a good nights sleep, that
is perfectly acceptable behavior, wouldn’t you agree Jarrod?”
“You bet I would,” Jarrod said, “and you’re right about
fried chicken on Thursdays.” He walked over to Heath and gave him a brotherly
squeeze on the shoulder. “I’ll stable
your horse, why don’t you go take care of that nosebleed.”
“I’m alright, and I’d just as soon take care of my pony
myself,” he said, “and thanks,” he glanced at both of them.
“Suit yourself,” Jarrod answered. “We’ll see you up at the house for dinner.”
He walked over to Mother and they watched Heath gather up
his pony and canteen and head over to the stable.
* * * * * * * *
A short time later, Jarrod stood out on one of the verandas,
smoking a cigar and he saw Heath ride off on his horse. And he wasn’t headed for the south
meadow. He was leaving.
He quickly went back into the house. “Mother, would you have Silas fix me up
enough of that fried chicken for two hungry men and pack it in some saddle
bags?”
Victoria looked up from her reading and “certainly, are you
going out to see Nick?”
“Nope, he knows where we live, I need to bring another
brother home.”
* * * * * * * *
It was easy for Jarrod to pick up Heath’s trail. He’d mentioned just a day or so before that
his pony needed to be re-shod, one of the shoes had a very distinct crack in
it. Apparently, the cowboy hadn’t
gotten to it yet. Jarrod was glad for
that, it made tracking him a whole lot easier.
And it wasn’t long till he came upon him. He was propped up under an elm tree, hat
covering his face, napping in the late afternoon sun, before him spread a
picturesque lake of sorts. Jarrod grinned
at the site and gently prodded Jingo toward the spot.
Heath didn’t even stir when Jarrod approached. “I’d say our sister brought you out here one
day and told you it was her own private, favorite place on the whole ranch?” he
said standing over his brother.
Heath awoke and flicked his hat off onto the ground,
startled at first by the noise of conversation. He squinted as he glanced up and saw Jarrod. “Yeah, she did, a couple of days ago. It’s a pretty spot.”
“And it’s not private, we all make claim on that. It sure is gorgeous. In fact, Father often talked that he wanted
to build the main house out here, but Mother talked him out of it. She didn’t want anything but nature to
disturb this beauty.”
Heath nodded his understanding and sat up a little
straighter under the big tree. He knew
why Jarrod had followed him. Jarrod
knew he was leaving. One thing he had
learned in five days, nothing got past Jarrod, and he was one smart
lawyer. “Why’d you follow me?” He hated that Jarrod was going to make this
hard for him.
“Well, you said you were hungry for fried chicken,
remember?” Jarrod went to Jingo and
grabbed the saddlebags. “Dinner is
served,” he said, tossing them toward Heath.
And he went back to his horse and snatched a few other things. Walking back over, he plopped down next to
Heath. “You forgot your jacket, I
thought you might want it.” Jarrod said as he handed it over to him. “It might get colder tonight.”
Heath was taken aback that Jarrod hadn’t mentioned going
back to the house. “Thanks Jarrod,” he
said as he took the jacket from him. He
rolled it up and set it beside him.
Jarrod began opening up the saddlebags, Silas had packed a veritable
feast for the two of them. And Jarrod
secretly had snatched a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. While Jarrod poured the spirits, Heath
latched on to a piece of chicken and hungrily swallowed it down. Jarrod smiled and gave him the glass of
whiskey.
“Long day, huh?” Jarrod said, still no mention of Nick or
leaving.
“One of the longest, I reckon,” Heath said, still munching
on the chicken.
“How do you like it?”
Jarrod asked, referring to the chicken.
“Just about as good as my momma’s I’d say.” Heath wasn’t much for conversation
Jarrod laughed, “Good answer, Mother’s always make the best
cooks, even if they aren’t really, it’s the politically correct answer.”
Heath stopped eating for a moment and studied Jarrod. He was probably the smartest man he’d ever
met. Jarrod always seemed to be a step
ahead in thought to everyone. Maybe
that’s what made him such a great lawyer.
Heath drank down the shot of whiskey.
“Have another?” Jarrod was asking.
“Not yet, I want to enjoy this chicken first.”
“That old fool Nick,” Jarrod said with a laugh, “all he’s
eating for supper tonight is some cold, beef jerky.”
“Well, Cookie is up there at camp, they probably have some
burnt beans too,” Heath added.
“And nobody burns ‘em like Cookie,” Jarrod said raising his
glass to toast the trail cook.
“You been on a lot of trails Jarrod?” Heath questioned.
“I did my share, I still try to get out once or twice a
year, but the cowboy life just isn’t for me.
Not like you or Nick at all. But
I envy the work you do, how much you both love it.”
“You envy us?”
“Out here, out in the open, pretty much free to be your own
man, I think that’s why I still make the time to go. There’s a bit of that in every man”
“You’re a great lawyer Jarrod, it’s clearly what you are
meant to do.”
“I know, and I agree, but I can’t help but feel a little
wanderlust sometimes.”
Heath nodded in agreement.
“You know, this land, it’s part of us, part of all of us,
almost like a member of our family or maybe we’re a member of its family.”
They sat in silence and finished off all the chicken.
Finally, Heath spoke up, “I’m gonna leave Jarrod,” he
blurted out.
“I know,” Jarrod answered.
“So you came out here to stop me or something?”
“Nope, I just came out to bring you some dinner and your
jacket, and I guess to say goodbye.”
Heath dropped his head.
“I just don’t know how to get along with him. If we keep going on like this, one of us is gonna end up dead I
think.”
“I know,” Jarrod said.
“Well, you’re his brother, you got any ideas or anything?”
Heath wanted a reason to stay.
Jarrod chuckled, “We’re both his brothers! I’ve been butting heads with him for 27
years Heath, what makes you think I’d have any answers for you?”
Heath smiled, “So you’re saying that’s just Nick?”
“Something like that.
You gotta know when to pick your fights with him. You’re already getting the hang of it. I enjoyed the little canteen maneuver from
this afternoon.”
Heath smiled again, “You know he can beat the tarnation out
of me?”
“He won’t.” Heath
shook his head in disbelief, and Jarrod added, “I won’t let him.”
“Is that a promise?”
“You have my word on that brother.”
“I think I’d like another shot of that whiskey,” Heath said,
holding out his glass. Jarrod quickly
filled up both and they drank down a toast.
“To brother Nick, and his hot temper,” Jarrod started.
And Heath added, “may he enjoy his cold, beef jerky and
burnt beans.” The brothers laughed
together as they clinked their glasses in unison.
“Listen, I’ve got two bed rolls, two fishing poles and another
bottle of whiskey, I’d say it’s a perfect night for camping out, we’ll catch
our breakfast in the morning, how’s that sound?” Jarrod asked.
“Sounds like home,” Heath replied.
THE END