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.
Part 1
“Come on Heath, will ya already?” Nick bellowed loud
enough that the entire state of California could hear him. “We should have left twenty minutes ago,” he
shouted up the empty stairs.
Victoria entered by way of the dining room, “Nicholas,
it’s much to early in the morning to be shouting like that, please, we’ve
barely had our morning breakfast.”
“I’m sorry Mother,” he apologized, still in a loud tone,
“but he knows I wanted to be in town by now.”
“You were the one who insisted that you had to have breakfast,
so Heath went off to check on that mare.
He didn’t know he’d get bathed in manure, he’ll be down shortly, and
you’re not that late.”
Nick paced the foyer, glancing up the stairs at the closed
door. “Oh for crying out loud, how long
can cleaning up take?” He threw a
disgusted look at Victoria and headed up the stairs by two.
Jarrod entered from the dining room as well, “What in the
world is he screaming about now?”
“He’s impatiently waiting for Heath,” Victoria explained.
Jarrod grinned and asked, “And to think before Heath came
to live with us, I was the brunt of all that noise.” He reached over and gave his mother a kiss goodbye. “I’ll see you tonight, have a good and quiet
day,” the lawyer emphasized.
Nick barged right into Heath’s room as he stood near the
water basin, washing his face. His
dirty shirt lay in a heap near the door and a clean one lay on his bed. A modest Heath picked up a nearby towel when
he heard the door fling open.
“Geez Nick, a knock might be considered a courtesy. Ever try one?” He tossed the towel down and continued on with his cleaning.
“I’ve been calling you for five minutes, the days wasting
boy, lets go.”
“I ain’t going nowhere smelling like manure,” Heath
explained as he began to dry off.
Nick picked up the clean shirt and tossed it to him, “If
we’re late, I might just make sure you smell like manure again.”
“Boy howdy Nick, I don’t rightly understand why you get so
all fired up about a new wagon for.
It’s just wood, nails and four wheels.”
“Wood, nails and wheels?” Nick repeated with a shout. “You read the catalogue, it’s just the
newest and lightest and fastest wagon yet.
I showed you that article from Philadelphia that said this wagon will
revolutionize ranch work.” Nick stood
flabbergasted by his young brothers lack of excitement.
“I’m all for speed Nick, but when you’re just hauling a
load of supplies back and forth, does speed really matter?”
“If it’s faster, it means you’ll have more time to do more
work around here,” Nick reasoned.
“Well, seeing as how I do most of the work now anyway, I
don’t see it being a big improvement,” Heath smiled as he picked up the smelly
shirt and headed out of the room and down the stairs.
Ciego had their horses ready for them as they headed into
Stockton to pick up Nick’s latest acquisition. There one and only stop this morning was to Mr. Shank’s Wagon
Store to take delivery on ‘Wagon King.’
It was built in Baltimore and Nick had managed to purchase the fifth one
to roll out of the wagon builders building.
He’d read every article that had been written about this new invention
and was eagerly awaiting its arrival.
Heath chuckled to himself as Nick practically galloped his way into
town. He was bound to get there before
Shank’s Wagon Store was even open.
As they made there way down Main Street, Nick saw a crowd
gathered in front of Shank’s. Hidden
from his view, was his beloved, ‘Wagon King.’
He glared back at Heath for slowing him up and said, “Everyone but us
has got a good look at it by now.”
“You’ll be the envy of the Valley Big Brother,” Heath
grinned.
The brothers dismounted and Nick easily cleared back a
path to get up close and personal with his new possession. He poured over every inch of it, running his
hands smoothly across every surface.
The crowd watched him and Heath stood back a ways and got a good look at
his brothers latest obsession.
“Whatta think Heath?” he asked as he continued to eye it
up.
“Looks fast to me Nick,” Heath joked. “Bet you can nearly fly it back to the ranch.”
“Looks like any other wagon to me,” someone from the crowd
called out.
Nick glared in the direction of the comment and couldn’t
see who uttered it. The crowd laughed
when they heard it, much to Nick’s consternation. Annoyed by the comment, he let it run off him and turned his
attention back to ‘Wagon King.’
Heath turned and spotted the man who said it. He was about the same size as Nick, and had
a full head of red hair. Heath had seen
him around town a few times but he didn’t know who he was. Standing next to him was the prettiest
strawberry blonde he’d ever laid eyes on.
The red haired man saw Heath staring and looked down at the woman who
stood beside him. He pushed her to the
side and walked over to Heath. “That’s
my sister you’re staring at cowboy, and I don’t like it.”
Heath stood his ground, there was no law preventing anyone
from looking, he reckoned.
“I think you owe her an apology.”
The young woman came and stood next to her brother. “Oh Jed, just stop it,” and to Heath she
said, “I’m the one who should be apologizing for my brother’s manners, or lack
there-of.”
Jed had forgotten about his sister and turned his
attention back at the new wagon.
Heath tipped his hat to the woman, “Well, your brother is
right, I was staring. It’s not likely I
see such a pretty woman in town.”
She smiled at him.
“I’m Laura Karls and this is my brother Jed.”
“You’re new to Stockton?” Heath asked.
“We’ve been here for a few months now. Trying to start over fresh,” she explained.
“No need to be telling him that,” Jed said, turning and
looking down at Heath. “You’re one of
them Barkley’s ain’t ya?”
“Yeah, I’m Heath,” he said holding out his hand to
Jed. Jed ignored it, “and that’s my
brother Nick, by the fancy new wagon.”
Jed walked by Heath and his sister and headed straight
toward Nick. “Having money and buying a
fancy wagon don’t mean anything,” he said to the back of Nick’s head.
Nick stood up and faced the voice. “I never figured I needed your approval to
spend my money.”
Jed scoffed at his reply.
“I bet my old wagon over there could beat that high fallootin’, fancy
eastern wagon any day of the week.”
Nick cleared his throat.
Jed Karls didn’t know just how much Nick Barkley relished any kind of
competition.
Heath shook his head and said to Laura, “I think we’re
gonna see a race today.” Laura looked
embarrassed by the whole situation.
“You wouldn’t care to put a wager on this would you now?”
Nick was asking Jed.
“Jed, no,” Laura called out to him.
He ignored her comment.
“Sure, I’ll put up my wagon, and everything that’s in it.” Jed
said. Nick peered over across the
street and saw that the wagon had a full load of supplies for a new
building. “And you put up your brand
new wagon, empty.”
Nick glanced over at Heath, who put his head down. He already knew the Nick was itching to
prove this was the fastest wagon around.
He didn’t need much provocation.
“You’re on,” Nick said.
“Empty out your wagon and lets block the street.”
Nick gave the 16 year old McGowan twins, Jake and John,
each a dollar to block off both ends of Main Street to any traffic. It was nearly ¾ of a mile in length and
plenty wide for two wagons to test their speed on.
Jed Karls began to unload his old wagon right in front of
the dressmakers shop. Those building
supplies were for a house he was gonna build for his sister and nothing was
going to keep him from breaking that promise to her. He’d worked and fought hard all his life for everything he
had. Some wealthy rancher with a new
rig wasn’t about to take anything from him.
He angrily tossed board after board on the wooden walkway. The fire inside of him nearly burnt as much
as his head full of red hair.
Heath followed along after Nick, who was now moving at his
patented, “get out of my way or I’ll make you get out of my way” speed. Regretfully, Heath had politely excused
himself from the company of pretty Laura Karls out of his loyalty to his
brother.
“Nick, are you sure about this, you never even sat behind
the tackle box of that rig yet, you don’t know how it handles,” Heath called
out trying to keep up with him.
“I’ve been driving rigs since I was five, there’s nothing
to driving it. It just better be as
fast as it claims to be.”
“And if it’s not?” Heath posed. Nick stopped and glared at him and didn’t say a word. “You didn’t think about that, as usual did
you?” Heath added.
“Listen, boy, you’ve known me long enough by now to know
that I never back down. I’m not about
to start now. Someday it might catch up
to me, but today’s not that day.”
Heath shook his head.
That’s what made him love Nick so much.
It was part hero worship and part pride in a big brother. Nick backed up what he said, every time in
everything he did, and Heath had learned over the short time to count on
it. It had become one of the greatest
securities in his short life.
Jed Karls stormed his way toward the Barkley
Brothers. “Listen Barkley, what are we
gonna do about teams?”
Nick waved him off, “I’ve already got that figured
Jed. Murphy over at the stables has got
that six-hitch team, all sturdy stock from the same line. You pick out two you like and I’ll pick my
two. Sound fair?”
Jed nodded his agreement and headed off to choose his
pair.
Heath was still concerned that Nick had never driven the
wagon at all. “Nick, how ‘bout just
hitching up the pair we brought and taking it around the corner, just to get a
feel for how she rides. I don’t think
Karls would object to that.”
“The only thing I want is to feel the other end of Main
Street first. You worry too doggone
much Heath. You’re worse than Mother
sometimes, I swear.”
“I just think a quick little ride would insure your
victory. Remember that time you tried
that new aftershave soap. You just
decided to use it before your date with Sallie Ann, instead of trying it out on
your much more objective family,” he paused momentarily, “and as I recall, you
haven’t been out on a date with her since.
She said you smelled worse than a rat.”
Nick scowled, “Now why’d ya have to bring that up, what
does aftershave soap have to do with wagon racing?”
“I just think,” Heath was quickly broken off by Nick.
“That’s your trouble Heath, you’re always just thinking,
well, I’m just doing, I like it that way, so you can either help me here or get
out of my way, cuz either way, I’m going to teach Jed Karls a lesson.”
Nick reached the livery stable and saw that Jed was taking
two of the horses. He made his way to
the corral and selected two of the remaining four and led them back toward
Shank’s to hitch up to his new wagon.
Heath backed off.
Nick was right. He was always
thinking and Nick was always doing.
Maybe this time he’d let his brother get in and out of his own
mess. Talking to him was like talking
to a stonewall. The only thing it did
for Heath was put a strain on his vocal cords.
One thing for sure was that Nick was totally infatuated by
‘Wagon King.’ The wagon was painted
black and had bright red wheels and a thin stripe of red ran half way around
the wagon. In gold script, the words
‘Wagon King’ were hand painted on the side.
Heath couldn’t argue with Nick on the fact that this was one fine
looking piece of wood. He hoped his
brother was right in his praise of what this rig could do.
Nick handed the horses over to Heath as he began to look
over every inch of the wagon. At least
he was taking some time to inspect it, Heath thought. He tied off the horses to a nearby post and also began to look
over the wagon. Neither of the cowboy’s
could find anything to cause them concern.
Nick then began to hitch the team to the wagon.
Jed Karls was already driving his rig past the brothers as
he headed for the east end of Main Street, past Jarrod Barkley’s law
office. Jarrod had peered out and seen
the traffic virtually disappear and he wondered what in the world was going on
in Stockton this morning. He decided to
head outside to find out.
As he walked out he heard two men talking about the
upcoming wagon race and started to dread what he thought it might be
about. As he headed west, he saw Nick
sitting atop a bright painted, shiny new wagon. Heading east, walking toward him was Heath.
“Just what in tarnation is going on now?” Jarrod asked
Heath. “He’s racing his new wagon?”
“Yep,” Heath replied.
“Did you try to stop him?”
“Yep.”
“I’m betting he didn’t listen.”
“Yep.”
Jarrod adjusted his hat on his head. “Was this his idea or did someone else
suggest it?”
“Well, it wasn’t me if that’s what you’re thinking. I’d at least have let him get it back to the
ranch before I tried anything like that.”
Heath explained. “Some new fella
in town egged him on. You know Nick, he
can’t back away from anything.”
“What’d did he bet?”
“Wagon King.”
“Come again?”
“Wagon King, that’s the name of the wagon.”
“The wagon has a name?”
“Yeah, they call it free advertising. You won’t just want a wagon, you’ll want a
‘Wagon King.’
“I guess everyone needs a gimmick huh?” Jarrod and Heath continued to walk down to
the starting line. “And just who is
Nick and ‘Wagon King’ racing?”
“Jed Karls.”
“Is that the wagoneer or the wagon?”
Heath smiled, “that’s the driver, his wagon is one of
those old-fashioned ones, it doesn’t have a name or even a pretty paint
job. In fact, it might just be hand
built too.”
“Seems to me he won’t even stand a chance against ‘Wagon
King.’”
“Well, a couple of minutes and about ¾ of a mile will
tell.”
“Just how much did Nick pay for ‘Wagon King’ anyway?”
“Believe me Jarrod, you don’t want to know.”
“So he better win huh?”
“Uhh huh,” Heath said.
The lawyer cleared his throat. “Well, I’ve gotta get back to the brief I was working on. And I don’t think I could bear to see Nick
lose ‘Wagon King.’ Needless to say,
I’ll be looking forward to hearing all about it tonight at dinner,” he gave
Heath a pat on the back as he turned and went back inside his office.
“I’ll be sure to take notes,” Heath called out after him
and headed up the street to where Nick and Jed were lining up.
Nick wore the look of determination proudly. He thrived in this setting, all eyes upon
him, a warrior ready for battle, a man that all people would follow. A brother who would never let you down. He sat up straight and tall in the driver’s
seat of ‘Wagon King,’ waiting for the
race to begin.
“How’d she feel?” Heath called up to him.
“Great, just great, light as a feather. I think she’ll win by two or three lengths,”
Nick boasted.
“I sure hope you’re right,” Heath said.
Nick hopped down off the wagon for a minute. “Listen, Murphy is taking bets,” he took his
money pouch out of his pocket and handed some money to Heath, “Go put $100 on
me and ‘Wagon King’ for me alright?”
Heath was through trying to talk any sense into him
anymore today. “Sure Nick, good luck.” He stuck out his hand to his brother.
“Thanks Heath.
I’ll see you down at the finish line,” he grinned and hopped back up to
drive the wagon.
Heath spotted Murphy down the road and walked over to him
and gave him the money for Nick. Something
inside him told him not to put any of his own money down. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t been
behind the reigns of ‘Wagon King’
himself.
He saw Laura Karls further down, watching for the race to
begin. He decided to walk down and get
to know her a little better.
“Ms. Karls,” he said, coming up beside her.
“Mr. Barkley, looks like we’re both stuck watching this
race, even though we don’t really want to be.”
Heath smiled at her, “I’d say that our brothers could be
twins, stubborn, ornery and always having to prove they’re right.”
She returned the smile.
“My brother lives to race wagons.
He’s never lost a race yet.
Every time I think he’s ready to settle down, he comes home with another
one, I swear there are so many wagons around our spread, and it looks like we
could be selling them.
“Is that a fact?” Heath tipped his head back. Nick was in a race against someone who did
this all the time. He said a silent,
quick prayer, cuz right then he knew that Nick was in for the ride of his life.
Main Street began to fill up a bit, almost as if a parade
was passing through town. Heath walked
Laura down to the end of the street so that they could both be near the finish
line. They heard a roar go up from the
other side of town and knew from the sound of it that the race was underway.
Nick held the reigns so tightly in his powerful fists that
he thought if the race was much longer than Main Street, he’d cut off the
circulation to the rest of his arms. He
screamed his lungs out and slapped the horses on for all they were worth. ‘Wagon King’ was living up to his proud
name. He loved this stuff, simply lived
for it and as soon as he crossed the finish line, he’d let everyone else know
just how much he loved it too.
Prosperous thoughts began to race through his head. One ‘Wagon King’ wouldn’t be near
enough. He’d sit down with Jarrod after
dinner and have him draw up a new contract that would put the Barkley’s into
the shipping and hauling industry.
Maybe he’d even hire Jed Karls to run the new company. The shops along Main Street blurred as Nick
urged ‘Wagon King’ toward the finish.
Out of the corner of his left eye he saw movement, Jed
Karls and his rickety piece of used lumber was right on his heels. This couldn’t be happening. Nick slashed the reigns again and again
against the horses, compelling them for all they were worth, and as he did, Jed
Karls continued to gain ground and in a fleeting second, the two wagons were
side by side, jostling their wagoneers to and fro, kicking up a trail of dust
that appeared to be a tornado whipping through the town of Stockton.
Dreams of glory and future wealth quickly exited the mind
of Nick Barkley, he now focused on winning this race. The end of the street was approaching fast and Jake and John
McGowan stood at the end holding a stream of white ribbon.
Jed Karls turned slightly to face Nick. In his own arrogant way, he grinned at Nick
and took one hand off of his reigns and slapped his team and wagon in a
show-off type maneuver. Nick looked
away quickly and focused on the end. He
saw Heath standing near the finish line, clapping and calling out and he let
out a holler of his own to the team he was leading.
The beating hoofs of the horses along with the roar of the
crowd were deafening. Neck and neck,
side by side, nip and tuck the two teams raced against each other. It was anyone’s guess as to who would win.
And then, in that fleeting moment, between the surge and
the climax, the victory and the defeat, that moment when not a breath is taken,
Jed Karls and his beat up, rag tagged, used wagon slid past the finish line and
took the band of white ribbon with him.
‘Wagon King’ and Nick inched across just a second later.
Heath’s eyes immediately focused on his brother. He could see the steam rising from him
already. Part of him wanted to climb
onto Charger and head out for the ranch right away, because he knew what Nick
was capable of doing, but he knew he couldn’t desert Nick now. Besides, it wasn’t that big of deal to
Heath. It was just a wagon race, he’d
lost his share himself in his time.
Granted Nick was also out $100 bucks and ‘Wagon King’ itself, but he’d
get over it. He decided to offer to buy
Nick a beer to help cool him down.
He walked down to where the two wagons were coming to a
stop. Jed Karls was already down off
his wagon, waiting for Nick as he came to a stop.
“Alright Barkley, let’s have it,” he said, without even
mentioning the race.
“Just hold on there a second Karls,” Nick shouted.
“Everyone here saw it fair and square, this bucket of wood
I got here, beat your fancy eastern rig, so that means it’s mine. You shook on it cowboy.”
“Listen Karls, why don’t you shut your yap for a minute
and let a man have his say,” Nick blasted back at him as he pulled the horses
to a stop and jumped down. Heath caught
up to him quickly, hoping to avert any trouble. “I know you won the race fair and square, but how’s about letting
me buy back the wagon? It’s brand new
and I’d like to take it back to my ranch.”
Nick all but ignored Heath and Heath imagined how hard this was for his
brother to say.
Karls stood their grinning evilly at the two
brothers. He scratched the back of his
neck and spit, “You know what? I don’t
want your precious money Barkley, I want the wagon, and I want you to see me
driving it every time I come to Stockton, back and forth, to and fro, maybe even right by that big old
front door of yours. That makes this
race all the better.”
Heath grabbed hold of Nick, who was about to bust loose
and pounce all over Jed Karls. But
Heath didn’t have to put up much of fight against his older and more volatile
brother. He felt Nick slacken his
temper and he simply turned and walked the other way down the street.
“That’s it Barkley, you run, maybe next time we’ll try a
footrace, just you and me,” Karls called after him. Nick didn’t even turn back.
Heath looked at Karls and the rest of the crowd that had
gathered. “Just take the wagon and get
out of here Jed, otherwise you’ll be in a race against me, and I don’t think
you want that right now.”
Jed Karls finally knew it was time to shut up. Tangling
with one Barkley Brother a day was about all anyone should attempt. He threw up his hands in defense as he
decided to take a closer look at his new possession.
Heath was puzzled by his brother’s behavior as he ran
after Nick and caught up to him.
“Nick, hey Nick, let me buy you a beer, ok?” he said
grabbing his brothers arm.
Nick shrugged it off, “I ain’t thirsty and I got things I
gotta do. Just leave me alone Heath,
leave me alone.”
Heath stopped dead in his tracks and let Nick head off
sulking by himself. He wondered what
was going on inside Nick’s head. This
was a Nick Barkley he hadn’t met yet.
It was dinnertime when Heath rode up the familiar path to
the house. He’d ridden out to the South
range after the wagon race, not only to do some work for the day, but mostly in
hopes of catching up with Nick and finding out what was on his mind. But Nick wasn’t there and didn’t show up at
all. Heath resolved himself to letting
Nick sort things out for himself in his own way. That’s how he’d know he’d want it himself. But as the day wore on, he started to worry
about his brother.
He walked into the familiar foyer and flung his hat onto
to the nearby table. Everyone must have
been sitting down to dinner already, so he headed for the dining room. As he entered, he immediately noticed that
everyone was present, except for Nick.
“Good Evening Heath,” Victoria said.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, taking his chair, “had a job I
needed to finish up.”
“Is Nick with you?” Audra asked.
Heath looked at each of them quickly and said, “No, I
haven’t seen him since this morning, I thought he’d be here.”
“Well, then it must be true,” Jarrod started, “he really
lost the race and the wagon?”
“Yeah, that about sums it up,” Heath said.
“That’s terrible, I don’t understand how that could happen
to Nick,” Audra added.
“What exactly happened?” Mother wanted to know.
Heath proceeded to tell them about Jed Karls and ‘Wagon
King’ and most importantly about Nick’s behavior at the end of the race. “I thought for sure Jed’s blood was gonna be
splattered all over Main Street, but Nick, he just shrugged it off and walked
away. I never thought I’d live to see
the day Nick would back down.”
And just as those words came out of Heath’s mouth, Nick
walked in. “Well believe it boy, cuz
you saw it,” he angrily spat out.
“Nick, I’m sorry about the wagon,” Audra said to him as he
still stood in the doorway. Her brother
looked like a fallen idol. It broke his
heart to see her look at him that way.
He held up his hand to stop her from saying anymore.
“Nick, sit down and have some supper,” Victoria tried to
change the subject.
And Heath added, “I’m sorry Nick, I didn’t mean that like
it sounded.”
“Yeah, you did,” he said coldly. And to Victoria he added, “I’m not really hungry, don’t have
Silas save me anything.” And out the
doorway he went. Jarrod stood and
started to follow him, but Victoria called him back. They all sat stunned for the moment, until Heath just got up and
went after him.
He followed him out to the barn. Nick was busily saddling up Coco and getting ready to ride.
“Where ya headed?” Heath called out from the doorway.
“No where in particular, just thought I’d take a ride, do
I need your permission?”
“Nope.”
Nick pulled the horse out of the stall and walked by Heath
who simply let him pass.
As he got out of the barn he stopped and turned back to
him, “Well, are you gonna try and stop me or yack at me or even worse, kill me
with your usual silence?”
“See there, you know me pretty well and I don’t think I’m
gonna do any of those things, cuz right now I reckon I don’t know who you are
at all.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means since you lost that race this morning, I don’t
know who you are anymore. I think what
I said at dinner was right, I never thought I’d live to see the day you would
back down.”
Nick climbed up into the saddle and sat for a moment, he
looked around the ranch and then he turned back to Heath. “It’s not about backing down, I never lost a
race before, ever. I don’t know how to
loose.” Then he rode off.
Nick came back to the house well after 2am, but Heath
heard him quietly stepping down the hallway past his room. He heard Nick’s door open and close and
decided now was the time to talk, so he softly made his way down the hall and
knocked on Nick’s door. He didn’t even
wait for a reply, just as Nick had done to him the day before, he merely walked
in.
“You should be sleeping Heath.” Nick said without even
turning to see who it was.
“So should you,” Heath answered.
“Listen, I really don’t have anything to say, alright,
it’s over.”
“I think it’s a long way from being over Nick, I’d like to
help if I can.”
“There’s nothing to do, you saw it for yourself, I lost
the race, fair and square.”
“It’s not about the race Nick, it’s about you.”
“That’s all it’s about, me losing a race, it’s not a hard
thing to understand. I told you I’ve
never lost before.”
Heath wasn’t buying his explanation. “If it’s about what I said at dinner, I told
you I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like it sounded. You’re the toughest man I know, I know you wouldn’t back down
from anything or anyone. You know,
maybe it was just a shock thing, if you’ve never lost before. I understand that. I’ve lost plenty of times.
I’ll still put my money on you every time,” he gave Nick a smile. He wanted Nick to know that he was still a
hero in his eyes.
“Well, don’t, and don’t keep putting me up on a pedestal
anymore either. I’m nobody’s hero, I’m
just Nick Barkley ok?”
Heath wondered where that came from, there was more to
this than Nick losing a race, but getting down to the bone of it was going to
leave a big scar. He didn’t know what
to say. “Well, goodnight Nick, I’ll see
ya at breakfast,” he left his statement hanging, hoping Nick would take the
bait and fall back into his usual routine.
“Yeah, goodnight,” was all he replied.
This thing wasn’t about to fade away anytime soon as
Jarrod brought in the morning paper.
The front page of the Stockton Eagle carried a ¾ page full
picture of the finish. It clearly showed
Jed Karls beating Nick and above it the banner headline trumpeted, “New King
of Wagon King.”
Jarrod tossed the paper over to Heath who muttered an “Oh
dear” when he saw the bold printing.
Nick had not yet joined them for breakfast.
“What time did he come in last night?” Jarrod asked Heath.
“After 2am.”
“Was he drunk?”
“More sober than I’ve ever seen him,” Heath added.
“Did he say anything to you?”
“Well, basically that he’d never lost before.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s what he said to me, I think there’s more to it,
but he’s not saying, or he’s not ready to yet.” Heath found himself caught with his foot in his mouth again as
Nick hastily entered the dining room and poured himself a cup of coffee. Nick glared at him, knowing that the
conversation was about him. “You really need to stop doing that to me big
brother,” Heath said, biting into a piece of toast.
“Maybe you should mind your own business and talk about
something other than me then.”
“Nick, we’re just concerned about you, that’s all.” Jarrod
added, discreetly trying to pick up the paper and turn it over.
“It’s just a race and a wagon, ok?” Nick said, grabbing
the newspaper. “What are you trying to
hide now?” he asked getting a good look at the front page. “Oh for crying out loud,” he said, throwing
the paper back down on the table. He
slammed his coffee cup down as well and went off to work.
The next three morning’s in a row, the Stockton Eagle
carried some sort of ‘story’ about Jed Karls on the front page. After the story ran on ‘Wagon King’ and the
race, the next day’s edition was all about Jed Karls and his somewhat
illustrious career as a wagon racer.
That was followed by a two-part story about both Jed and his sister and
some of the hardships they’d faced in their lives.
Heath was out in the barn saddling up his horse when Nick
entered waving the third morning’s paper.
“Doesn’t this paper have any news to print besides all this garbage
about Jed Karls?” He slammed the paper
right onto the back of Charger.
Heath grabbed it and scanned the headline and the
article. “No ones forcing you to buy it
or to read it Nick.”
While he stood their reading it, Nick snatched it back out
of his hands. “I should have known
you’d have an answer like that.” He
walked to Coco’s stall and began to saddle up his own horse.
“Listen Nick, I’m sorry you lost the race and that you
lost ‘Wagon King,’ but like you said, it was fair and square. You’re gonna have to get over it. Life goes on. You know the paper’s just having some fun at your expense.”
“Well, I ain’t laughing. They can find someone else’s
expense. Enough is enough. ”
In walked Jarrod, “what’s enough?” he asked.
Nick threw the paper at him and rode off out of the barn.
“Boy howdy, he’s swelling up like one of those volcano’s
and he’s just liable to kill someone before this one blows out of town,” Heath
said as Jarrod read this morning’s paper.
“Let’s hope not.
Maybe I should talk to Sam at the paper?” Jarrod said.
“I wouldn’t if I were you Jarrod, I think that would only
make things worse. I can just see
tomorrow’s headline, Nick Barkley loses race and big brother begs the paper not
to report it.”
Jarrod chuckled, “yep, you’re probably right. He lost the race, he’s gotta learn to deal
with it.”
“So then it’s true?”
“What’s that?”
“Nick’s never lost a race, ever?”
“Don’t ask me, I haven’t been counting, I’ve been trying
to keep my own life on course believe it or not,” the lawyer said, “but that
does give me an idea.” He mounted up on
Jingo and headed off to Stockton for his daily work.
Heath decided to take a ride over to the Karls place. He wanted to see if he could find out why
they continued to be front-page news.
Maybe if he could get Laura alone for a while he could try to find out
what their hidden agenda was all about.
As promised, ‘Wagon King’ sat right at the very front of
the their property. Virtually everyone
headed into Stockton from the East would be able to see the fancy rig as it sat
up on a little grassy knoll. Behind it,
stretched out all along the property was a veritable who’s who of western
wagons. Heath shook his head at the
display and rode on up to the house.
Laura was just coming out of the house with a load of wash to hang
up. Something was definitely up. A spread this size didn’t have need for that
many wagons, and Jed wasn’t selling any of them. Things just weren’t adding up.
“Howdy Laura,” he called out as he dismounted and tied up
Charger.
“Why Heath Barkley, I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, the race of course silly,” she said, as she began
to hang up her laundry.
“Oh, well, that’s over you know?” Heath said giving her a
hand with the basket.
“And then, that silly newspaper printing story after story
about us. It’s a little embarrassing I
think,” she reasoned.
Heath nodded his agreement, but wanted to let her keep
talking. Sooner or later she was bound
to let something slip out. “I thought
it was a nice article about your and your brother, all the things the two of
you have been through and all.”
“Our life hasn’t been nearly as bad or desperate as that
article made it sound. Jed can really
spin a tale I think.”
“So the paper wasn’t entirely true?”
“Does this look like we’re living in poverty? Just look at all those wagons. If Jed ever decides to sell any of them, I
think we could be living in a house as fine as yours.” Laura was done hanging out her wash and she
decided to invite Heath inside for some coffee.
“I think I better pass this time Laura, I’ve gotta ride
into town and pick up some supplies, but another time for sure, I promise.”
As Heath rode out, he took another look at all the wagons
and let everything that Laura had said to him sink in.
Meanwhile, in Stockton, Jarrod decided to make a little
visit to Sam at the office of the Stockton Eagle. Even as he entered the establishment, Sam took up the defensive
mode.
“Now Jarrod, I know what you’re here for and I’m telling
you right now, I’m not printing any retractions or making any apologies.”
“Sam, did I ask you to do either of those things?”
Sam was nervous.
“You got that shifty lawyer look in your eyes, you come in here all the
time and do it to me and before I know it, I’m printing things I didn’t want to
print.”
“I don’t want you to print anything Sam,” Jarrod began,
“but I would like a favor?”
Sam gave Jarrod a good once over before responding. “I’m listening.”
“I was wondering if I could see a copy of all the pictures
that your photographer took of the wagon race the other day?”
“It was in the paper.”
Jarrod pulled out a cigar and lit it up. “No, not just the finish line picture, all
of them. I know your photographer took
more than just the one. I’ll be glad to
pay for the developing time and the film”
“Now why would you want to do a fool thing like that for,
you really looking to embarrass your brother?”
“Not exactly Sam, not exactly.”
And down in the saloon, that volcano that Heath had a
premonition about was starting to bubble up.
Nick had been in drinking since about 1pm, now it was nearly 3:30pm and
he’d had his share plus. He was leaning
heavily on the bar, not talking to anyone but the bartender, who was ready to
send his bucket boy down the street to have Jarrod come and collect Nick and
take him home. It was too late, Jed
Karls strolled in and asked for a beer.
The bartender motioned to his boy to go get the lawyer anyway, knowing
that trouble was already brewing.
The two men ignored each other for a few minutes, that is until
Jed downed his first beer and saw the shape Nick was in and decided to push the
wrong Barkley to the limit.
“Now I’d ask you to have a little drinking contest
Barkley, but I see you’re playing by yourself this afternoon.”
Nick swallowed down another shot and motioned for
another.
“Must be cuz you can’t stand to lose anymore.” The patrons in the bar let out a collective
sigh.
Nick drank down another and motioned again.
“Maybe you know I’d whip your tail at anything.” A soft roar of laughter went up among the
cowboys.
That was the final straw, drunk or not, Nick Barkley
finally had enough of this. He walked
over to Jed, poured a shot and proceeded to throw it in his face.
Jed threw the first punch and Nick quickly fired
back. The men in the bar quickly got up
from their tables and chairs before Nick and Jed came smashing through
them. Even though Nick was hammered, he
was getting the best of Jed that was until he threw him over the bar and as Jed
got up and shook himself off, he grabbed a bottle and smashed it over Nick’s
head. Nick went down like a stone. He was out cold.
Just then, Heath walked in and saw the damage and then saw
Nick lying on the floor. He ran over to
him as Jed started climbing over the bar.
“Let’s see, Nick Barkley can’t race a wagon, can’t hold
his liquor and can’t fight, sounds like a real loser to me,” Jed boasted, as he
wiped the blood off his face.
Heath checked over his brother closely and saw some blood
oozing out from several cuts on the back of his head. He saw the shards of glass from the broken bottle and knew that
Nick would never stoop to fight dirty, drunk or not. And he also knew because of those cuts that he wasn’t coming to
anytime soon. He gently began to try to
prop him up, so he could figure out how to get him home.
“Maybe his little brother wants to fight his battles for
him, how ‘bout it little brother?” Jed began to taunt.
Nick head bobbed his head up and down as he was trying to
fight for consciousness. Heath stood up
and was ready to take Jed on. “I told
you once before to shut up Jed, maybe you better listen again. I’ll be glad to come back and teach you a
few things, but right now I’m gonna take my brother to a doctor, seeing as how
someone decided to fight like a sissy.”
“I’ll be waiting Barkley, you can count on it.”
Jarrod came into the bar and brought a couple of friends
with him, they helped pick up Nick to take him over to Doc. Merar’s.
“Heath what happened?”
“Looks like Jed and Nick got into it again,” Heath began,
getting right up into Jed’s face, “only Jed didn’t fight fair, he decided to
use a bottle on Nick’s head, ain’t that right Jed? Makes me wonder about the wagon race and just how fair that was.”
Jed scoffed at him and Jarrod pulled Heath away, “come on,
Heath, let’s go see how Nick is doing.”
Heath and Jarrod made their way over to Dr. Merar’s. Nick was still out cold as the doctor
stitched up three different gashes on his head.
“How’s he gonna be Doc?” Heath asked.
“Oh, he’ll live, I’ve seen him come through worse. Remember when he was about 10 or 11
Jarrod? He actually ran through that
plate glass window. He never did tell
anyone why he did that, but we all knew Nate Robbins had something to do with
it.” Doc Merar chuckled and Jarrod
nodded his remembering. Nothing
surprised him about Nick anymore. The
doctor continued, “anyway, he’s gonna need a soft wagon ride home. Besides these cuts, he’s got a concussion
and I don’t even want to think about the hangover he’ll have tomorrow. He smells like he drank the whole saloon.”
“Tomorrow should be another interesting day out at the
Barkley ranch,” Jarrod said with a grin.
“I’ll go get us a buckboard,” Heath said.
Nick slept the entire way home and Heath and Jarrod used
the quiet ride to talk about the predicament their brother was in.
“You know this is a long way from being over Jarrod?”
“I know, if he wasn’t unconscious right now, he’d be going
after Mr. Jedidiah Karls as we speak.”
“I just don’t like this whole thing Jarrod. Something ain’t right. I haven’t been able to put my finger on it
yet, but I’m pretty close to getting something out of Jed’s sister Laura.”
“I think you’re right.
I stopped at the newspaper office earlier and had Sam get me a copy of
all the photos that their photographer took of the whole race,” Jarrod
explained.
“You’re thinking you’re gonna spot something?”
“It’s worth a try, besides, nothing was supposed to be
faster than ‘Wagon King’ right?”
Heath grinned and replied, “That’s right, she’s the
fastest thing on four wheels.”
Nick managed to sleep for the rest of the afternoon,
evening and night. In fact it was
nearly 11am when he managed to swagger and sway down the backstairs to the
kitchen, all the way, keeping one hand securely on the back of his head. He moaned and groaned with every step he
took. He wore his black jeans, long
sleeve undershirt and only socks on his feet.
Both Heath and Jarrod had decided to stick close to home
this morning knowing that once their brother did arise, there’d be no way to
keep him from doing whatever it was he’d get in his head. They’d try to hold him in check as long as
possible, hoping to give him enough time to heal up.
As Nick made his way into the kitchen, Heath was busily
preparing himself a bit of lunch.
Spread before him on the table were the fixings for a sandwich fit for a
king. Nick took one look at all the
food and used his free hand to cover his mouth and he quickly strode over to
the sink.
“Well, good morning to you too, big brother,” Heath
greeted him with a smile.
Nick pumped the cool water into the sink and he quickly
cupped some and splashed it on his face.
He drank a little bit of the cool liquid down. It kept him from really getting sick.
Heath didn’t even wait for a response, “actually, it’s
almost good afternoon, but I guess you don’t really care what time it is.”
Jarrod came in from another part of the house, “well, if it isn’t sleeping beauty? I thought I heard that the dead had
risen. It’s about time you got up and
faced life again.” Nick continued to
lean over the sink, ignoring both brothers for the time being. Jarrod walked over to the sink and put his
hand on his brother’s back. He
chuckled. “Well, I’ve seen better and
I’ve seen worse. I think you’ll survive
though.”
Nick managed to mutter something unintelligible under his
breath.
“Howdy Jarrod, want a sandwich?” Heath tormented Nick with
a louder than usual voice.
“Don’t mind if I do, it all looks wonderful, smells pretty
good too.” The lawyer took a deep
breath. They were enjoying their
beleaguered brother way too much.
Nick quickly worked the pump for more cool water.
“I can’t take credit for all this food, but I’ll tell you
Silas outdid himself this week. Look at
all these leftovers, beef, turkey, chicken, ham, potato salad, pickled livers,
corn relish, and some soured cucumbers.
I think a man could live forever on this food,” Heath teased. “Decisions, decisions. Maybe I’ll just have a little bit of everything,”
he said starting to fix up a plate.
“Oh, and I see some of that kidney bean salad that I love
so much, pass that over here,” Jarrod said, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
“Do we have any coffee?” Nick managed to mutter while
still slumped over the sink.
“What’s that Nick?” Heath said loudly.
“Coffee, we got any coffee?” Nick tried to say quietly.
Jarrod grinned at Heath and motioned for him to watch
closely, unbeknownst to Nick. Jarrod
rose up from his place and went over near the sink. As he grabbed the coffee pot off the shelf, he let it slip from
his fingers and go clanking right near where Nick was posed.
Nick shot straight up in the air, grabbing his head. Jarrod and Heath enjoyed a good laugh at
their brother’s expense.
“I can make you some right away Nick,” Jarrod said as he
reached down and picked up the pot.
“That is unless you’d rather have some whiskey Nick. According to your schedule 11’s not too
early for you to start drinking,” Heath added.
Jarrod laughed again as Nick made his way over to the
table. He pushed as much food away from
where he sat as possible. “Just make
the coffee,” he said through gritted teeth.
Jarrod started the pot and came back to sit at the table. “Are you two really gonna eat all that?”
Nick asked, barely raising his head to look at the food spread out before him.
“We’re growing men,” Heath said, “We need to keep our
strength up, besides, I never you to pass up Silas’s homemade pickled pigs
feet. You always eat them. In fact you said, you didn’t think you could
live without them.” Heath picked one up
with a fork and ate it down, right in front of his brother.
Nick sneered at Heath.
“Uggghhhmmmmm,” Nick managed to mumble.
“Do we have any of that pain powder around here?”
“I think so, it’s over in the cabinet,” Jarrod started to
get up and get it for him, but Nick quickly waved him off and got up and went
to get it himself.
“You make too much noise in the kitchen,” he said, “I’ll
just,” as he started to speak he turned and bumped into Silas’s serving table,
complete with silver ware and Mother’s good china. The clattering and smashing was deafening to Nick’s poor
head. Luckily the china remained
unscathed.
Jarrod and Heath couldn’t contain their laughter.
“Oh for crying out loud,” Nick said, turning back toward
the chair he had just risen from. He
plopped down in defeat.
“Just sit tight, big brother, I’ll get it for ya,” Heath
said, rising to get the powder.
“You two are really enjoying this aren’t you?” Nick said,
his anger and usual mood returning ever so slowly.
“You bet we are,” Jarrod answered as Heath handed the
powder to Nick. He turned back toward
the stove and poured his brother some coffee.
“Here’s your coffee Nick.”
“Thanks Heath,” Nick said, “Are either one of you gonna tell me what happened?”
Jarrod and Heath looked at each other, each one of them
unsure of how or even to tell Nick what had happened to him. Jarrod nodded to Heath.
“Well,” Heath began, “I don’t know the whole story, but
from what we can figure, you tied one on yesterday afternoon in the saloon.”
“I figured that one out already,” Nick said impatiently
and added, “what about these cuts?” he asked pointing to his scalp.
“Those are courtesy of Jed Karls,” Jarrod said.
“JED KARLS,” Nick screamed, hurting his own head some
more.
Jarrod motioned to him to keep his voice down. “That had to hurt.”
“More than you’ll ever know.” Nick paused and then asked in a much quieter tone, “Jed Karls did
this to me?”
“With a bottle, after the two of you tangled,” Heath said.
“Just tell me he
looks worse than I feel.”
“Wish we could,” Heath said, eating his sandwich.
“Oh he will, mark my words, right here and now, when I get
through with Jed Karls, he’ll wish all he had was a hangover and some cuts.”
Nick went back to bed for a while and Jarrod decided to
head into Stockton and see if Sam had the photographs developed yet. Heath told Jarrod he’d stick around the house,
just in case Nick had any wild ideas about going after Jed. The hangover was funny enough, but Nick was
still wobbly from the concussion and the loss of blood, so there was no sense
in having him get any worse by tangling with Jed Karls.
Heath went outside and decided to continue to work with
one of the new horses they had bought.
He brought the horse into the corral and started to put the pony through
its paces when lo and behold Jed Karls came riding up in ‘Wagon King’ no
less. He pulled up to the gate. Heath stopped what he was doing and walked
over.
“Karls, you got a lot of nerve showing up here in that
wagon. I suggest you turn it around and
ride it right back off this property right now.”
“Now that’s not very neighborly of you Barkley,” Jed said
with a cackle.
“Believe me, I’m being neighborly by letting you ride out
of here without me busting your chops.
Now like I said, unless you’re looking for that beating you deserve, you
better just leave the same way you came in.”
Jed sat tall in the wagon and laughed. “I just wanted to see if that loser brother
of yours was up for another wagon race.
You know, give him a chance to win this ‘Wagon King’ back. She really can race you know.”
Heath methodically climbed over the fence and stood beside
the wagon. “Now, you can either come
down off that seat and face me like a man or get off my property. What’s it gonna be?”
Just then Nick came out of the house leaning heavily on a
nearby fence. He had his gun
drawn. “I think my brother told you to
get off our land,” he said to Karls.
Jed through up his hands in defense. “Look Nick, I’m not wearing a gun, I don’t
want that kind of trouble, I was just looking for a wagon race, that’s all.”
“If you didn’t want this kind of trouble, you should have
used your fists yesterday and not a bottle.”
Nick staggered as he took a few steps closer and nearly fell over. Heath saw him stumble and quickly went over
to help him.
Jed laughed when he saw it, “The two of you together don’t
even add up to one man, what a sorry sight.”
He slapped the reigns and began to exit the property.
Nick was slumped on the ground and Heath carefully helped
him to his feet. Nick clutched his head
in agony. “By God, I’ll give him a race
if he wants one,” he shouted, pushing Heath to the side.
“Nick, you’re in no shape to race him today. You can’t even sit in a chair without
feeling woozy.”
“I’m not gonna let him insult this family any longer, you
heard what he just said.”
“And?” Heath prodded.
Nick gave him a puzzled look, “and what?”
“And you want ‘Wagon King’ back.”
Nick grinned, “I want to WIN ‘Wagon King’ back.”
“Let me help you back into the house,” Heath said, putting
his arm around Nick to steady him.
“Then what are you going to do?”
“Then, I’m gonna go take care of the family honor. I didn’t care for that insult either.”
“But,” Nick butted in.
“And then, I’ll set up a race for you and him and ‘Wagon
King.’” Heath gave his brother a smile.
“I don’t understand it all, but if it means that much to you, it must be
important.”
Heath rode up to the Karls place on Charger. He saw ‘Wagon King’ sitting atop the grassy
knoll again, still hitched to a team, so he knew Jed was somewhere close
by. Laura came out of the house and
greeted him.
“Why Heath Barkley, if a girl didn’t know better, she’d
think you were sweet on her.”
Heath tipped his hat to her. “Afternoon, Laura, but I’m looking for Jed, I got some unfinished
business I need to take care of with him.”
Her mood soured.
“Oh,’ she gave him a disappointed look, “I think he’s out back working
on some of the wagons.”
“Thanks,” he said, tipping his hat again. He quickly walked around back and spotted
Karls hitching up another wagon.
“Alright Jed, you’ve been itching for this fight for days now.”
“Ah, if it isn’t Heath Barkley, half a man, trying to
finish something your big, brawny brother couldn’t do? What makes you think you can?”
“Cuz I’m not drunk and if you aim to fight dirty, I’ll
fight even dirtier. You’ve given me a reason to pound you. No one insults my family like you’ve been
doing and gets away with it.”
“Care to put a wager up?” Jed asked.
“I don’t want your stinking money. I just want to teach you some manners.”
“Well, you just take all the fun out of everything Heath,
it’s all about gambling, taking risks, pushing that other person to the limit
and then taking everything you can from them, money, pride, whatever, it’s a
game.” He laughed right in Heath’s face.
“You do whatever you have to do to win.”
“You mean like cheating?”
“You can’t prove anything.”
Heath noticed a box of various gizmos that included some
weights and something that looked like modified brake fittings.
“I think I can,” Heath made a move toward the box.
Jed went to block him from getting a close look at the
contents of the box and threw the first punch, which is exactly what Heath was
waiting for.
Heath tore into Jed with a fury. They threw everything they had at each other, fists, kicks and
body blocks. They went under wagons and
over the wagons that were strewn about on the Karls property. Wherever Jed tried to cower away too, Heath
kept coming after him and showed no mercy.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, (forgive me…but I’ve always
wanted to write this line J) Jarrod came home from Stockton, armed with a
pile of photographs.
“Heath, Nick?” he called out to the house as he entered
the familiar front door.
“In here Jarrod, Nick called out from the sofa in the
sitting room, where he was resting his head.
“And quit your yelling.”
Jarrod laughed as he entered the sitting room, “I never in
a million years thought I’d ever hear those words coming out of your mouth.”
“Don’t get used to it, cuz it’ll probably never happen
again.”
“Where’s Heath?”
“He went to pay Karls a visit, why?”
“I’ve got some very interesting photographs here and some
information about our new neighbors.
Why’d he go over there?”
“Karls drove over here before, with ‘Wagon King.’ You know the usual, jawing and flaunting
routine of his. I was going to put an
end to it once and for all, but this head of mine is still a little fuzzy.”
“So Heath went to?”
“Something like that.
Now what about these pictures?”
“Take a look at this.
Notice this back wheel? Josh
Gramble took it before the race started, there’s nothing there but the wheel.”
“Yeah, so what?
Both Heath and I checked it out, everything was in order.”
“Well, let me introduce photograph number two, young Miss
Laura Karls, standing next to Heath and ‘Wagon King.’ She’s obviously acting as if she’s enamored with our younger
brother, but look at her hand.”
“I’ll be,” said Nick, staring at the photo. “She’s in on this?” he couldn’t believe
it. Laura Karls was clearly fitting
something on the wheel.
“You bet she is, all the way up to her pretty little
strawberry blonde hair.”
“And the final photograph, is after the so-called
race. You can clearly see there’s
something there.” Nick took the three
photos and compared them side by side.
“I knew it, I knew ‘Wagon King’ couldn’t have lost that race
fairly. All the catalogues were
right. I got swindled by those two.”
“Here’s something else.
I got this wire from the Sheriff in Dead Eye.”
“What does it say?” Nick asked, still looking at the
photos in disbelief that he had been snookered by a con.
“The Karls have been doing this up and down California for
the past year. They’re even wanted for
assault.”
“Well, we better get over there and make sure Heath is
alright.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Over at the Karls place, Heath and Jed were still letting
fists collide. Cut lips and black eyes
were being dished up right and left, till Jed decided, as was quickly becoming
his modus operandi, to fight dirty. The
first thing he did was to reach down and grab a handful of dirt and throw it
directly into Heath’s face. For a
moment, it stunned the blonde cowboy, but he quickly shook it off and wiped his
eyes, and using his body as a battering ram he drilled himself into the gut of
Jed Karls.
While they rolled around the ground together, Jed reached
for anything he could put his hands on and tried to use it on Heath. Heath, knowing that he should expect this
type of foul play, easily stood his ground blocking the foreign objects or
grabbing them and using them on Jed.
Heath finally pinned him to the ground, his knees to Jed’s
shoulders and Heath pounded his head into the ground with his fists. Jed was just about to pass out for good,
when a gunshot echoed around them.
Heath stopped in mid-swing and turned to see Laura Karls pointing a gun
right at his head.
“You just stop it right there, Heath Barkley,” she said.
Heath started to move, but she cocked the trigger and he
stopped. He wanted to explain to
her. “I’m taking your brother in to the
sheriff. I got proof that he rigged
those wagons. He’s got a bunch of weights and brake fittings over there in that
box.” He said as he spat out some blood.
“Just put down the gun, I promise I won’t kill him.” Heath still didn’t realize that Laura was in
on this con too.
“You’re not taking him anywhere,” she said, “and what
makes you think he’s smart enough to come up with this all by himself?”
Heath looked at her and couldn’t believe his ears. “You, you knew all about this?”
“I dreamed this one up over a year ago. It’s just one of the games that Jed and I
play. You see for him it’s just about
the money, for me, well, I just like to destroy people and take away their
possessions. The bigger they are, the
harder they fall. You and your brother
fit in just right. It was truly a
pleasure watching you two tumble.” Jed
started coming around, though still held down by Heath.
“Laura, just shoot him and lets get out here quick,” Jed
said. “His brothers probably aren’t far behind.”
She aimed for Heath’s head, but instead of shooting him,
she took the pistol and smashed it across his head. Jed pushed the dazed Heath off of him and proceeded to kick him
in the guts a few more times, before grabbing a nearby two by four and clubbing
him in the head one more time for good measure.
Nick and Jarrod rode up just in time to see Jed clobber
Heath with the lumber.
“Get in the wagon now,” Jed shouted at Laura. He grabbed the box with the contraband and
tossed it in the back of the wagon.
Both of them got in and Jed began to drive the horses into a lightening
fast frenzy.
Jarrod and Nick quickly dismounted and ran to see how
badly Heath was injured. His forehead
was bleeding profusely and he was unconscious as Jarrod ripped off part of his
shirt and pressed it down on the open wound.
Nick’s adrenaline had kicked in and he glanced around the
ranch and among all the line-up wagons, he noticed ‘Wagon King’ and two horses
were still hitched to it. “Nick, we
gotta get Heath to a doctor,” Jarrod called out to him, but it was too
late. Nick sprinted over to ‘Wagon
King,’ made a fast check to make sure that nothing was impeding the wagon from
moving swiftly and jumped up on the rig and began ‘his race’ to catch up Jed
Karls once and for all.
Jarrod watched him speed away on ‘Wagon King’ and saw that
Heath was trying to come around. He
made sure he didn’t get up.
Nick saw the cloud of dust that Jed Karls was kicking
up. At the rate the two wagons were
traveling, they’d be in town in no time flat.
Nick gave the horses extra slaps to keep them moving. He was enthralled by the speed and lightness
that ‘Wagon King’ really had. He knew
he’d catch up to Karls and God help Karls when he did. After Nick saw him club Heath, he didn’t
need any other incentive to tear him apart from limb to limb. Karls was about to face the wrath of Nick
Barkley.
They approached Stockton, with Nick gaining on them. By the time they hit Main Street, the two
wagons were neck and neck again. Nick
pushed his team and ‘Wagon King’ to the limit and by the time they got to the
other end of Main Street, Nick was in the lead and he swung ‘Wagon King’ around
in a death defying stunt that put him directly in line with the fast
approaching wagon of Jed and Laura Karls.
Jed Karls pulled back on the reigns as hard as he could,
knowing that if he collided with Barkley and ‘Wagon King’ someone would
die. He managed to stop his team just
in the nick of time.
But not in the NICK Barkley of time. Nick flew off of ‘Wagon King’ and threw
himself directly onto the rig of Jed Karls.
Both men let the momentum carry them off the wagon and onto Main Street
in a free for all. This time, Nick
Barkley wasn’t holding anything back and he was as sober as a newborn
baby. He gave Jed Karls the beating of
his life and just when the folks gathered around the fight thought it was over,
Nick Barkley shouted, “that was for my brother, now this is for me and ‘Wagon
King’ you two-timing, worthless piece of garbage.” Nick whipped him until he was passed out cold laying out right
there on Main Street. Sheriff Madden
came up and was about to arrest Nick for brawling on a public street. Nick walked over to Jed’s wagon and pulled
out the box of contraband. “I’m not the
one to arrest Sheriff, it’s Jed here, and his sister. They’ve been running this scam all up and down the state. Here’s your proof.” He tossed the box at the Sheriff’s feet.
The gathered crowd began to clap for the race and fight
they had just seen. Nick waved them off
and walked over to Laura Karls.
“Looks like you and your brother will both be spending
some time in jail.” He grabbed her and
started to walk her over to the Sheriff.
“That’s ok, it’ll just give me more time to think of our
next game. Don’t worry your head over
it Nick Barkley, you haven’t heard or seen the last of the Laura and Jed
Karls. You just remember that. You’ll always be a loser.” She screamed as
the Sheriff led her away.
“That’s where you’re wrong, I’m not a loser, not by a long
shot,” Nick mumbled to himself as he watched them walk away. He strolled over to ‘Wagon King’ and climbed
aboard and drove out of town with a great big smile on his face.
It was about mid-morning the next day, when Jarrod came
riding up to the ranch. He’d been in
town to hear the charges that were filed against Jed and Laura Karls. Nick and Heath were out near the barn, both
there heads wrapped in bandages from yesterday’s fighting. Nick was painstakingly touching up various
spots on his beloved, ‘Wagon King.’
“Nick if you put anymore paint on that wagon, you’ll for
sure slow it down. Have you gone
through a gallon already?” Heath teased
as he reached for the can of paint.
“You just stay away from ‘Wagon King,’” Nick said,
snatched the paint can away from him.
“I don’t want anyone but me riding in this wagon, not for a long time
anyway.”
Heath grinned at his brother’s possessiveness.
Jarrod walked over
to the two of them.
“Well, how are the two hardest heads this side of the
Mississippi this morning?” Both of them
gave him dirty looks, but he continued to talk with them anyway. “Don’t you want to know how court went this
morning?”
“It better have gone the right way,” Nick began.
“Then you’ll be glad to know it did. And Judge Stevens is slapping you with a $50
fine for racing up and down Main Street.”
Nick scowled his face, and Jarrod continued. “The Karls will be spending some considerable time in prison. They’ve been conning folks for so long, they
may end up dying in a cell, once they tack on all the concurrent
sentences. Other cases are already
pouring in from all over the state. You
did California a real favor by losing Nick.”
Jarrod said, lighting up a cigar.
Heath chuckled at the comment.
“Oh and here’s the morning paper,” he tried to add nonchalantly.
“You have got to be kidding me? They did another story on this whole thing?” Heath asked in fear
of the worst. “What’s the angle this
morning?” He plucked the paper out of
Jarrod’s hand and smiled as he saw the picture and read the headline.
The Real Winner – Nick Barkley, and the
picture was Nick and ‘Wagon King’ clearly winning the latest race.
“What does it say?” Nick asked putting down his paintbrush
and going to read over Heath’s shoulder.
“Ha,” he snickered as he read the headline. “Guess that means my record is still intact then,” he grabbed the
paper and started to read the story, “see you have to throw out the first race,
because, well because he cheated, so that means there really wasn’t a race at
all, so I never really lost at all, so I’m not really a loser, just like the
headline says………………”
Nick kept on blabbering and Heath and Jarrod shook their
heads and walked toward the house, leaving Nick to his own reasoning.
The End.