Schoolboys

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.

“No, No, No,” Nick shouted at the little blonde boy who stood in front of him. “How many times do I have to tell you, keep your elbows in?” The barn had been transformed into a training arena and Nick Barkley was conducting the lesson in fighting and defending one’s self.

“I’m trying Nick,” Heath said, breathing hard from all the socking and punching he’d been practicing.

The side door opened up and Jarrod entered. Both of the younger boys quickly dropped their hands to their sides and stood by with a gleam of innocent mischief in their eyes.

“What in the devil are you two up to?” He basically directed the question at Nick.

“Nothing, we’re just looking around,” Nick offered.

Jarrod looked over to Heath who didn’t say a word. He noticed that Heath was drenched in sweat and he took deep breaths to slow down his energized body. “Heath, run on into the house, Mother says it’s time for you to get ready for bed.” Heath obeyed his oldest brother right away and ran toward the door.

As he was leaving, he turned back and asked, “Jarrod, are you gonna come up and say goodnight?”

“Yeah, I’ll be up in a little while, get going now, ok?” Jarrod answered.

Heath went off and closed the door behind him leaving Jarrod and Nick alone in the barn.

“All right now, what were you two doing?” Jarrod asked.

“I told you nothing, we were just looking around,” Nick said, turning his back to Jarrod.

“So why is it important for him to keep his elbows in?” Jarrod continued.

“You know your nose is three miles long, you know that? That’s gonna get you in trouble someday,” Nick spun around and faced him. “I was teaching him how to fight, ok?” he said bluntly.

“Why does he need to know how to fight? He’s only seven,” Jarrod asked.

“Look, you asked me if I’d look out for him at school, so I’m teaching him how to protect himself,” Nick replied. “I don’t want to have to be his nursemaid forever.”

Jarrod shook his head in disbelief, “That’s not exactly what I meant Nick.”

“Well, if you’re so worried about him, you can follow him around school all day long, He’s got to learn to fight his own battles sometime!” ” Nick began, “I got my own life to live. I don’t have time to live his too.

“I’ll remember that the next time you ask me for something,” Jarrod shot back.

“Jarrod, you said yourself he’s just a little kid, nothing’s gonna happen to him, it’s just school. I don’t know why you’re so worried about him. And it’s not gonna hurt to teach him how to defend himself either, he’ll need to know how someday.”

Jarrod turned and was going to go back into the house, “Just keep your eye out for him, please Nick?”

Nick rolled his eyes and shrugged and mumbled something Jarrod couldn’t even make out. He hoped it was a yes.

That left Nick all alone in the barn. He walked over to Coco and fed him a couple of nearby carrots. “I don’t know why I gotta do this. Everything was just fine till he showed up, I didn’t have to worry about teaching Audra anything, she’s just a girl and I’d be running the ranch myself by the time Eugene needs to learn anything. It just ain’t fair.”

“What’s not fair Nicholas?” Victoria had come into the barn. Nick spun around and saw her standing there. She held out her arms toward him and he walked over slowly and she gave him a hug. He quickly broke away. “What is it Nick?”

“No one ever asked me if I wanted that kid here,” he said.

She smiled at him, “Nick, I’m afraid you don’t get a vote on that one, and neither did I.”

“But,” he started and she interrupted him.

“But nothing. What’s done is done, now we have to move forward, it’s the only direction that makes sense. There’s nothing behind us and we can’t stay the way we are, do you understand?”

He took a deep breath, “I’m trying to.”

Victoria decided to try another approach with him. “Nick, everything that Jarrod is to you, well, now you can be for Heath. It’s your opportunity to be that kind of a big brother. If you give it a chance, you might see that you really like it,” she said.

His demeanor wasn’t changing. She hoped she gave him enough to think about. “I came out to tell you to get ready for bed, the first day of school starts awful early tomorrow.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, slowing shuffling his way out of the barn. She followed behind and wondered what tomorrow would bring.

Up in Heath’s bedroom, Jarrod was saying goodnight.

“I wish I could go to your school,” Heath said. “I don’t like going to school.”

“You’re going to have fun, you’ll meet some new friends and maybe in a few more years, after you get through the primary grades you can tackle college just like me,” Jarrod said.

“Do you have to know how to fight to go to your school?” Heath asked. It was his roundabout way of telling Jarrod what he and Nick had been up to.

“Heath, you don’t have to know how to fight to go to any school.”

“Nick says I need to be able to defend myself. Sometimes kids say stuff to me.”

He didn’t go into much detail, but Jarrod understood and tried to reassure him. Jarrod was old enough to hear the whispers and see the eyes staring when he went into town ever since Heath’s arrival. It wasn’t just children who could cause that kind of pain and harm.

“You won’t have to fight. In fact, if you have any trouble at all, you just let Nick know or tell Father or Mother, ok?”

Heath nodded. “How come your school isn’t in Stockton?”

Jarrod was glad the boy changed the topic. “Not every town has a college. I’m lucky there’s one in San Francisco. Otherwise I’d have to go back east and I’d probably only come home for the summer.”

“Then I’m glad too, cuz you’re coming home on the weekends right?”

Jarrod agreed. “Most of them, including this coming one. And you or I won’t have time to miss each other because we’ll both have tons of homework, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And?” Jarrod led him to an already pre-determined answer that they had discussed.

“We’ll both work very hard,” Heath answered.

“Right, we’ll do our best.” He reached down and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Good night Heath, have fun at school tomorrow and I’ll see you on Friday night, ok?”

“Ok, goodnight Jarrod,” Heath said.

The next morning, Nick and Heath rode into town for the first day of school. Both of the boys sported new clothes and slicked down hair, courtesy of Victoria. But by the time they got into town, their hair and their clothes were wind blown and dusty, just the way they wanted to look.

They hitched up their horses and were about ready to become part of the schoolyard, but Nick pulled Heath aside. Nick had quasi-accepted the role of big brother at least for the time being. “Listen, just don’t answer a lot of questions, just stay quiet and if you have any trouble at all with anyone, just come and get me or scream out my name, alright?” Heath nodded. “And don’t forget to keep you elbows in,” Nick added, “just in case I don’t get there right away. Let’s go.” It was his own tough way of showing Heath that he did care.

The two of them walked into the schoolyard and some of the children looked and pointed at Heath. He stuck close to Nick and didn’t say anything, just as Nick had instructed him to do.

When they were just about in the middle of the group, Nick stopped and the children formed a makeshift circle around him. The brashness of Nick shown thru in this shining moment when he turned around and looked at all of them slowly and spoke the words, “His names Heath, Heath Barkley and he’s my little brother. Anyone got a problem with that?” Murmurs and mumbles came from the crowd but no one said anything. A couple of boys Heath’s age walked over to him and introduced themselves and then the tiny crowd dispersed.

The school day itself seemed to go rather uneventful, that is except for Miss Baker, the schoolteacher. She took an instant disliking to Heath from the start. When Nick ushered him into the one room schoolhouse, he brought him to the front and introduced him to her and planned to have him sit right up front with the youngest students. Miss Baker wouldn’t let Heath sit there, she made him take a seat in the next to last row, behind Nick. He spent the entire day, straining and fidgeting to see the board, which earned him extra homework, since Miss Baker found his behavior intolerable. The next days included more of the same. Nick didn’t understand it and Heath didn’t seem to mind. Anytime Nick tried to stick up for him with Miss Baker, Heath would put his hand to his shoulder or lean forward and quietly say, “No, Nick, it’s ok.”

He did like Nick told him to do, stay quiet and he tried to be as polite as he could to Miss Baker, but anything he did just riled her all the more. Heath had twice the homework that Nick had, but he didn’t complain and he wouldn’t allow Nick to tell anyone about it either, not Jarrod or even his parents.

That Friday, they rode home together. Heath had all his schoolbooks with him in his saddlebags as he had homework in every subject. Nick had one short spelling assignment to write.

“I’m telling Father,” Nick said, as they dismounted and Heath began to retrieve all his books.

“No, Nick, please don’t. I don’t want to be any more trouble.”

“But she gave you more homework than everyone in the whole school and on the weekend too,” Nick hated the injustice

“I just gotta do better. That’s what my Mama always told me. I had another teacher like this once back in Strawberry,” he explained.

“What happened?” Nick asked.

“My Mama, she pulled me out right before Christmas, and when I went back to school after the new year, I went to the Indian School down by the mines, cuz she worked down there and I could walk home with her after school.”

Nick understood what his mother had done and he knew Heath understood too.

“Nick, please, don’t say anything, it’ll be ok,” Heath asked again.

“Alright,” Nick started, “for now anyway.”

That weekend, when Jarrod came home, he offered to take both Nick and Heath fishing, both of them declined. They dashed off into the woods, armed with Heath’s homework and Nick and Heath both painstakingly did all of it. It wasn’t until later that Jarrod learned that Nick was helping Heath get through all the homework he had.

By the time the second week of school rolled around, the other children, clearly energized by what they saw Miss Baker doing, began their own set of pranks and plots for Heath. They would trip him as he walked to and from the blackboard, they’d hide his lunch and pass notes to him so that he’d get caught.

On that next Wednesday, Nick Barkley was close to reaching the final straw. Miss Baker had blamed an outburst coming from one of the older boys on Heath. Nick started to protest in the classroom, and Heath tried to tell him not to. They both were made to stay after school.

When they left the schoolhouse together and headed for home, some of the older boys surrounded both of them and in a matter of seconds a fight ensued. Two against five was not very good odds, but Nick and Heath managed to hold on until Miss Baker finally came out of the schoolhouse and broke up the fight. The five boys scattered, leaving Nick and Heath holding the bag.

“I’ve really had it with you Barkley boys, I want to see your parents tomorrow,” she angrily wrote out a note and gave it to Nick to take home to them. “You’ll not be allowed back into school till I see them.”

Nick Barkley wasn’t holding back any longer either. “That’s fine Miss Baker, I’m going to tell them everything that’s been happening here at this school since it started. I don’t know why you’re treating my brother the way you are, but I know it ain’t right. He don’t want me to say anything, but I have to now, things can’t go on the same way like this forever. If I can accept him as my brother, then everyone else should be able to too, just as well. It ain’t his fault.” Nick grabbed Heath and pulled him toward their horses. Miss Baker stood for a moment and watched the two of them and shook her head and went back inside the school.

“Nick?” Heath asked.

“Yeah what?” Nick said in a heated tone.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No, I’m not mad at you, why would you think that?”

“Well if I wasn’t here, you wouldn’t be in any of this mess,” Heath explained.

“That’s nonsense, it was the same way for me when I was your age. And I had Jarrod to help me out, now you got me. I reckon you’ll do the same for Audra and she’ll do it for Gene, that’s how it works.”

“Are you really gonna tell?” Heath asked.

“Yes, I am, I can fight the kids, but I can’t fight Miss Baker, but Mother and Father will know what to do. Now come on, let’s go home, we’re already late.”

“Nick?” Heath ran after him.

“Now what?”

“I kept my elbows in, didn’t I?”

That stopped Nick in his tracks. He tousled his hair and said, “Yeah, you did just fine, you’re a good backup to have.”

Heath gave him a lopsided grin.

The next day, Tom and Victoria rode into town to speak with Miss Baker. Nick had spilled his guts and separately, with some prodding, Heath confirmed everything that Nick had said. They knew the exact problem on their hands.

“Miss Baker? You wanted to see us about Nick and Heath,” Tom said, following his wife into the school.

Miss Baker cleared her throat. “Yes Mr. And Mrs. Barkley. I’m afraid to have to tell you that Nick and Heath were caught fighting yesterday and I’m sorry to tell you this as well, as I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to, that time would bring him around, but your son,” when she said the word son, she cleared her throat, “Heath is failing already and I feel he’s too disruptive to keep in this classroom. I’m going to have to expel him and ask that you keep him home. I’ll let Nick remain for now, but I expect his behavior to improve immediately.”

“Miss Baker, what exactly is Heath failing? And how is he disruptive?” Victoria asked.

“He’s failing virtually everything, spelling, math, reading. He’s not keeping up with the homework and his work is very sloppy.”

“And how is he disruptive?” Tom asked again.

“He’s dropping his books, passing notes, and making noises to disturb the other students.”

“Miss Baker, I’ve had Doctor Merar and Reverend Stanton, both members of the school board, look over Heath’s work. They think it’s exceptional for a child of 7. They say he’s doing the work of a twelve-year-old,” Victoria said.

“And I’ve talked with several other parents, including the Millers, the Johnson’s and the Tobias’, and all the children say that Heath is being teased and tormented by others in this school and they all follow your example,” Tom added.

“Well, I never,” Miss Baker answered, shocked by the Barkley’s research into the matter.

“I never thought I’d have to have this conversation with a professional woman such as yourself Miss Baker,” Tom continued, “Is it because my son has a different mother than my other children? Because that’s the only reason I can think of Miss Baker?”

Miss Baker was cornered and had no way out, she decided to speak her mind once and for all. “It’s just sinful,” Miss Baker responded, snootily. “In this day and age, you seem to be proud of it and your wife sitting there right beside you, I declare.”

“What’s sinful Miss Baker is your attitude. He’s a seven-year-old boy and you’re supposed to be a teacher and yet you’re the one who should be learning from him,” Victoria said, rising from her seat. Tom followed her. And Reverend Stanton came in from the back, hearing every word.

“Miss Baker, I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’re fired,” Stanton said. “We can’t afford to keep a teacher like you in Stockton.”

Tom and Victoria continued on outside. They had no need to hear any more. As they walked down the steps, Tom laughed and grabbed Victoria’s arm. “If she’d only realized that a 12 year old did his homework,” referring to Nick. Victoria had to join in the laughter too.

There was no school the rest of the week. That following Monday, Reverend Stanton took over as an able substitute until another teacher could be hired. Heath moved up to the front row and began to enjoy school for the first time.

When they were released from school that day they raced out to the play area and Charlie Walker and his little brother Emmit walked over to Nick and Heath. “Hey Barkley’s,” Charlie began. “You two want to tangle with us, see who’s tougher.” Charlie had challenged them to a playful fight for no other reason than to blow off some boyish energy.

“Whatta ya think Heath?” Nick was poised and ready, but he was leaving it up to Heath.

“Naw, I don’t feel like fighting right now, I’d rather go fishin’,” Heath said.

“Sorry fellas,” Nick said and the two of them started to walk away, but Nick turned around. “You boys wanna come with?”

Emmit nodded right away and he and Charlie ran over toward them. “Yeah, we’ll go along,” Emmit said.

“Hey, maybe we can fight after we get done fishin’?” Nick offered.

And the four of them rode off toward the lake for a late afternoon of boyhood fun.

THE END