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.
Jarrod Barkley snuck in the house through the kitchen and
on up the back stairs. He hadn’t really
beat the rain, but now since he had gotten in the house, the rain intensified
and the storm began to rage. Thunder
and lightening echoed throughout the house and resounded twice as much in the
fertile valley outside.
He had snuck out the same way, much earlier in the evening
to meet up with a group of friends.
Because of the inclement weather, they ended up not doing what they had
planned and most of them had gone their separate ways. He and Toby, his best friend, had stayed in
the cave near the lake for a while, just talking, but once they heard the
rumbling of thunder, the two old friends parted ways and headed for their
homes.
It had been a strange two weeks for the recently turned
16-year-old boy. He found out he had a
new brother, but not in the usual way, in fact, it seemed to be an
embarrassment to his parents, as the boy was a product of his father but not of
his mother. His own mother had died and
had left instructions by way of a telegram that had come prior to the boy’s
arrival.
Tom and Victoria Barkley hid their true feelings from the
children, but not from each other and there had been nights when Jarrod, their
eldest son, could hear them discussing the small boy’s arrival. To the rest of the family, 4-year-old, Audra
and 2-year-old Eugene, the arrival of Heath was great fun. He was another playmate for them. 12-year-old Nick was another story
altogether, and yet 7, soon to be 8-year-old Heath wanted nothing to do with
the younger Barkley’s, he simply wanted to follow Nick around and copy
everything he did. At 16, Jarrod was a
bit too old for all of them. But he
observed everything that happened around him.
So on this dark and stormy night, Jarrod Thomas Barkley
climbed up the back stairs. It was
nearing midnight and he knew everyone was in bed, except when he padded his way
down the carpeted hall, in the far corner he spotted a set of blue eyeballs and
a blonde head of hair peering back at him.
The little boy sat curled up, covering his ears from the thunder.
Jarrod formed an easy grin when he saw his newest brother.
He walked all the way down the hall to the corner and
crouched down to the boy’s eye level and whispered. “Whatcha doin’ Heath?”
The boy kept his hands over his ears. His eyes were big as plate saucers. Jarrod reached over and pulled one of his
hands away and asked again, “Whatcha doin’ out here Heath? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
Heath shook his head no.
Jarrod couldn’t help but grin. Looking at him, he could tell he was a Barkley. He and Audra resembled each other to a
tee. If they were closer in age, people
would think they were twins.
Getting this boy to talk was another story. And that made him the complete opposite of
Audra.
“You afraid of the storm?” Jarrod whispered.
The little boy had dropped both his hands from his ears
and nodded the affirmative.
“Me too, wanna sleep with me tonight in my room?”
Jarrod didn’t think the boy’s eyes could get any wider,
but they did. He nodded the affirmative
again. Jarrod laughed softly. “Follow me little brother,” he said,
standing and heading back to his room.
Heath jumped up to a standing position and pulled up his
nightshirt so that he could walk without tripping on it. It obviously was one of Nick’s. He skipped his way down the hall and fell
into the same steps that Jarrod had taken.
Jarrod looked back over his shoulder at his newest brother. No matter what the circumstances were that
had brought him to their house, he was just a little boy, that needed a family
and some love. That’s how Jarrod saw
it.
Jarrod opened the door and as he did another crashing
round of thunder smashed and little Heath dashed into the room and jumped up
onto Jarrod’s bed. Jarrod quietly
closed the door and walked over to the table and turned up the light.
“That was a real loud one, wasn’t it?” Jarrod said, trying
to engage the boy in conversation.
“Yeah, real loud,” Heath finally spoke.
Jarrod walked over and sat down on the bed beside
him. “What do you hate more, the
thunder or the lightening?”
Heath scrunched up his face in deep thought and said, “I
hate it when they happen at the same time,” using his hands for emphasis to
describe the lightening striking and the thunder booming simultaneously.
“Oooohh, yeah, I hate that too,” Jarrod replied.
“Or else when you see the lightening,” again, his hands
demonstrated the jagged bolt, “and then at first you don’t hear anything and
then BOOM,” he nearly yelled, “the thunder comes. It’s pretty scary,” he explained.
“Yeah, I know.
Sounds like you’re an expert on thunder and lightening?” Jarrod queried the boy. This was the most he’d heard him talk since
he arrived.
“Well, I’ve seen and heard a lot. In Strawberry, it rained almost all the
time.”
“Hmmm, really, I didn’t know that.”
“Sometimes the streets would flood too. It could be a real mess. Mama hated it when it rained. I think it made her sad,” Heath said. “She said the rain was God’s tears, but I
think she cried cuz God was crying.”
Lightening lit up the room again, followed by another peal
of thunder. The 7 year old leaned into
Jarrod and tucked his arms around him.
Jarrod gave him a hug back.
“For someone who knows so much about rain and storms, why
are you so afraid of them?” Jarrod wanted to know.
“I’m not afraid,” Heath started, feeling safer with his
arms tucked around Jarrod. “Nick
wouldn’t be afraid.”
Jarrod had to laugh at that. “Heath, you know how many times Nick has been in here during a
thunderstorm?”
“I think none, he said he’s not afraid of anything or
anyone.”
“Well, don’t believe any of that. He’s been in here dozens of times during
storms. In fact, I bet before this
storm is through, he’ll come in here.”
“Mama says I can’t bet,” Heath said seriously.
“Sorry about that, but mark my words, he’ll be in here
before too long.” Jarrod stood up and
went to the head of the bed and tossed back the covers. “Why don’t you climb in under there, it’s
pretty late and you should have been sleeping hours ago.”
Heath followed his instructions and got under the blanket
and Jarrod covered him up. Lightening
and thunder crashed again. Heath
grabbed the blanket and pulled it up over his head. After it subsided, Jarrod pulled back the cover and saw that
Heath was grinning at him.
“You’re not afraid of the storm at all are you?”
Heath shook his head negatively.
“Then what were you doing in the hall?”
The little blonde boy wouldn’t answer.
“Heath?” Jarrod persisted.
“Waiting for you,” he answered.
“How’d you even know I was out?” Jarrod asked.
“I saw you leave and I just waited.”
“Why?”
“I never had a 16-year-old brother before, you’re double
my age.”
“But you’re only 7.”
“But I’m gonna be 8 really soon.”
“Not if you don’t get some sleep, you won’t,” Jarrod
said. He was a smart little boy. “Now, lie back there and close your eyes.”
Again, Heath followed the instructions. “Jarrod?” he called out from the prone, eyes
closed position.
“I like that you’re my brother. You understand storms.”
“So do you, and I like you too Heath, now goodnight.”
Jarrod got into his nightshirt and hopped into bed beside
Heath and as he reached over to turn off the light, another clap of thunder and
lightening struck. Heath pulled the
covers over both of them and hugged Jarrod tight. They both heard the door open up.
“Psstt, Jarrod, can I sleep in here with you tonight?”
Nick whispered over the pouring rain and rumbling thunder.
Under the covers Jarrod laughed and Heath giggled.
“What’s so funny?” Nick asked.
“Nothing Nick, come on in,” Jarrod called out. “There’s always room for one more storm understander.”
The next sound that echoed in the room was that of three
laughing boys.