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.
Nick led the horse that carried his brother. He’d been leading for the better part of
four hours now. Nick practically was
riding sidesaddle keeping a close eye to make sure Heath didn’t fall off. Heath did his best to keep himself upright,
though he wished he could just tumble off into somewhere or something nice and
soft and warm. He head was swimming and
the fever and chills poured over every part of his achy body. Nick made sure he was bundled up, but the
cold air of late November chilled him right to his bone. Something had a good hold on him and wasn’t
about to let go anytime soon.
They had entered the familiar valley and the main house
wasn’t too far off.
“Hang on Heath,” Nick slowed up the horses to check on his
brother, “we’re almost there, less than an hour, can you make it there boy?”
Heath managed to lift his head up, “yeah, I can make it, you
gonna take off back with the herd?”
“No, I’m gonna see to it that you get home, safe and
sound. I don’t even know why I let you
come along in the first place. You were
sick four days ago.”
“I made you take me, that’s why,” Heath said, coughing up
some deep-set congestion.
“That’s enough talking out of you, let’s just get you home.”
Heath managed a nod and then let his head loll back down to
a position where it didn’t hurt quite so bad.
About an hour later they rode up to the house and Nick
quickly helped Heath down and assisted in getting him inside the house. In an unusually quiet demeanor, Nick called
out for Victoria.
“Mother? Mother, are
you here?”
She breezed in through the dining room entrance. “Why Nick, you’re home way ahead of
schedule. Oh my gosh, what happened?” Her
tone changed as she saw Heath being held up rather closely by Nick.
“He’s sicker than a dog, some kind of flu, maybe even
pneumonia,” Nick said.
“Not that sick,” Heath managed to blurt out.
“You just let us be the judge of that Heath,” Victoria added,
“let’s get him upstairs and comfortable.”
Nick helped guide him up the stairs to his room and started
to strip off the layers of clothes he wore.
It had only been a few months since he arrived at the Barkley ranch and
when Nick was ready to help him get into his ‘sleeping clothes,’ Heath managed
to protest as long as Victoria stayed in the room. Sensing his modesty, she told them that she’d go downstairs and
fix him some broth. After she left, he
let Nick help him into his nightshirt and ultimately under the warm covers.
“Feel any better yet?”
He tried to smile, but his lips could barely form one,
“better than the trail, but not ready for a barn dance.”
“I thought you didn’t dance?” Nick joked.
“No, what I said was, I don’t care to dance, but I still
know how. Might come in handy for
something someday.”
“Listen now, Mother will fix you right up, her broth has
some sort of medicinal cure in it I swear.
Just do everything she tells you to do and you’ll be back riding with
the rest of us real soon, alright?”
Heath nodded, “Thanks Nick.”
“For what?”
“For bringing me in, I don’t know if I would have lasted
much longer.”
“That’s what brothers are for,” Nick said casually, not yet
comprehending the impact of such a simple statement had on Heath in these early
days. “I’m gonna go grab you another
blanket or two and bring in some wood to keep that fire going good and
hot. We’ll burn whatever it is right
out of you. You just rest, I’ll be back
in a flash.”
Heath closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Nick went downstairs to talk with Victoria.
“Mother, where is everyone?”
“Audra took Eugene into Stockton, so that he could catch the
afternoon train back to Berkley, and she’s staying over night with Amelia
Stevens. Jarrod is in San Francisco and
won’t be back till Saturday.”
“What about Silas?”
“He has the week off.
It’s right before the holiday’s Nick, he always takes off before things
get hectic.”
“So you’re here all alone?”
“Not anymore now that you and Heath are home,” she smiled at
him as she ladled some broth into a bowl.
“Mother, I need to get back up to that herd. One of us has to be up there.”
“You go ahead then Nick, we’ll be fine. I’ve done my share of nursing duties over
the years. You’ve all suffered through
these types of things. Heath will be
fine and it will give us the chance to spend some time together.”
“Are you sure Mother?”
“Yes, I’m sure Nick, you know how much I enjoy spending time
with each one of you. I have a lot of
catching up to do with Heath.”
Nick dropped his head down for a second and shook it
softly. He walked over to his mother
and pulled her into the beginning of a hug, but before he fully engulfed her in
his arms. “You’re really an amazing
woman, do you know that? You’ve
accepted that boy into this home without question and you love him just like
you love all of us.” He put a soft,
tender kiss on her forehead. “You’re
some kind of mother.”
“Of course I accepted him, he’s your brother, your father’s
son, and because of that I love him too.”
“It’s that easy for you?”
“When you’re a parent, you’ll understand it Nicholas,” she
softly said, enjoying his embrace. “Now
this broth is getting cold, I better take it up to him.”
“I’ll bring up some wood, so you don’t have to go
outside. I’ll be right up.”
Heath sat up in bed, spoon-feeding himself some of the hot
chicken broth. It felt good on his
tender throat. Victoria took the extra
blankets that Nick had brought in and began to spread them out on the bed. As much as he wanted to continue to sip at
the broth, Heath was exhausted and the spoon slipped out of his hand onto the
floor.
“I’ll get it,” Victoria said as she saw Heath attempting to
climb out of bed to retrieve it.
Instead he motioned for her to take the bowl away, “just too
tired,” he said, closing his eyes and drifting back off to sleep. She grabbed the bowl and set it on the night
table and reached down and picked up the spoon. Nick came back in with the extra wood.
“How’s he doing?”
Victoria had the back of her hand on his forehead, checking
for a fever. “He’s burning up with
fever. It’s a good thing he’s
sleeping. I think it’s going to be a
long night.”
Nick was torn, between wanting to stay and knowing that he
had to get back to the herd.
“Nick, you need to go, everything will be alright, I
promise.”
He stood looking from mother to brother and finally made his
decision. “I know he’s in the best
possible hands, I’ll be back in few days.
Take good care of him.”
“I will.”
He reached down and gave her another kiss goodbye and left.
Throughout the rest of the late afternoon and into the
evening and late night, Victoria sat by his bedside, cooling his fever with
cooling water, feeding him broth when he awakened, keeping him warm with
blankets and well stoked fire. She sat
by his bedside and prayed, reading a bible she had found in the room. Tom had apparently left it there many years
ago. His name was on the inside
cover. She found herself looking up
some of her favorite passages. As she
turned the pages through the Psalms, she noticed a piece of paper, near Psalm
127. It was Tom’s handwriting. First she read the Psalm, tears began to
fall from her eyes. As they did, Heath
stirred and woke to see her crying. In
a moment of partial lucidity and partial delirium, he called out to her for the
first time since his arrival, “Mother, what it is, what’s wrong?”
Surprised that he had awoken, she made eye contact with him
and smiled as her heart leapt with joy that he had called her Mother. “Nothing’s wrong Heath, nothing at all.”
“But why are you crying?”
“I just found a letter from your Father and I was about to
read it for the first time,” she explained.
“Will you read it to me?” he asked.
She nodded and began to read it.
My Dearest Victoria,
When I found you, I found everything I have ever needed. If
it were only to be you and I in this life we’ve made, it would be enough. But not only has the Lord blessed me with
you, he has also blessed us with children.
Just as this Psalm says, they indeed are a gift, just as you are a
gift. I treasure all of you, each and
every day of my life.
If anything should ever happen to me, to separate us, I know
that our children will always have you, a loving mother to guide them and love
them, for that is all any of us need in this world. I believe a mother’s love is so great that even if a child is not
of her own flesh and blood, she will have compassion for that child that no one
but a mother could understand. When I
see you with our children, I know you are that kind of a mother.
The moonlight is beaming into our room and you are
asleep. I must sleep now, for these
days we live in are indeed trying times.
When we were children ourselves, we never knew the railroad existed and
now they are practically at our doorstep.
Think of all we have seen and then think of all our little ones will
see. It is truly amazing and you are a
truly amazing woman and mother.
All my love, forever,
Tom
Sick as he was, Heath listened closely and carefully to the
words that his father wrote. It was
almost a foreshadowing of what would be to come for this family. He watched Victoria closely as she read it
and the tears continued to fall from her eyes.
“Your father loved to write letters, he’d leave them all
over the house and mail them from all the places he was,” she explained folding
up the paper, “just like he wrote to your mother.”
“You’ve never read that one before?”
She shook her head, “no, I just found it tonight, I imagine
there are others scattered about in various corners of this house. They still surprise me.”
He gave her a shy smile.
She got up from the chair she sat in and walked over to him and checked
his fever. “I think it’s broken,” she
said, as she placed the back of her hand against his forehead.
“I feel better,” he said softly.
She stepped back from him and turned away for a moment and
took out a hankie to dry her tears.
“I’m sorry,” he started to say. She waved her hand as if to say there was no need for him to
offer her comfort but he continued to talk, “I mean, I didn’t mean to call you
that, I don’t know what I was thinking, it just came out, you crying and all.”
She turned back to face him, “what do you mean?”
“What I called you, I know you’re not my mother, it just
came out,” he explained.
“Oh darling, I’ve been waiting since the day you arrived to
call me that,” she smiled at him and sat down at his bedside. “You’re father understood that so long ago.”
“So then it’s ok? I
want to call you that, but I don’t want to hurt you, or the others.”
“Heath, you’ll only hurt us if you don’t.” She took his hand in hers. “I am your mother, just like Jarrod, Nick,
Eugene and Audra. I love you all just the
same.”
He started to object but she cut him off. “Children are a gift from God. Your father and I both knew that a long time
ago.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Now listen to your mother and get some
rest.”
He took a deep breath and exhaled and slowly closed his
eyes. She got up from the bed and
started to exit the room. As she began
to close the door, she heard his voice call out, “Good night Mother, I love
you.” Her heart leapt with joy once
again. She’d never tire of hearing
those words, ever, from any of her children.
THE END