Nick, The Horse

by Katlynn

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.

I'm just gonna get the apology outta the way … I'm sorry, I just had to do this! When I was writing "To Be or Not To Be", there was a place in the story where MrsNick posted the comment "…the only way Heath and Nick will ever understand each other, at this point, is if Nick turns into a horse (don't even think of it!)." Clearly this was in reference to the conversations Heath was fond of carrying on with various horses; the comment was made in response to a chapter that included such a chat. A few chapters after this observation, Heath had another talk with a horse … this one was with the stallion that would later be known as Charger. In one part, it goes like this: “Nick and I have some mares to look at. Ya’ got any particular type ya’ favor? I might try to find ya’ one.” Then he laughed. “Nick says he ain’t got any one particular type – but I’ve gotta say he was dancin’ with one a couple weeks ago at the Friday social that looked like she’d be more your type than his type. He musta lost a bet to be dancin’ with her."

Right about then, I was maybe halfway through my story and the brothers were heading home from Nevada. I was trying to decide how to skip over what amounted to a boring ride that would eventually take them to the danger that awaited them as they crossed the mountains. That's when MrsNick's comment about turning Nick into a horse came back to haunt me. Something clearly possessed me because a conversation suddenly came to me and I started typing. Even after I sent it to MrsNick with the vow that it would never see the Writing Desk (a vow I eventually broke), I expanded the scene for my own amusement. It's short … very short … but, again, I hafta say … sorry…



Nick, The Horse

Heath yawned and stretched, blinking several times as he turned his head to look over at Nick. In the moonlight that filtered through the trees, he could easily make out his brother wrapped in his blanket on the other side of their now cold campfire.

"Nick…" he said through a second yawn, "…ya' 'wake?"

"Naa-aay..." came his brother's reply.

Heath ignored the negative response and rolled to his side, resting his head in his hand as he propped himself up on his elbow. "I just had the strangest dream about ya'," he told his dark-haired brother.

"Ya' were dreamin' about ME?" Nick's voice was hoarse as he, too, rolled over and looked at his blond brother.

"Yeah…" Heath frowned as he thought about it, "…leastways, I THINK it was you. Or … maybe not," he breathed out, shaking his head slightly. "I think it was … yeah…" he remembered, "…it was a HORSE named Nick."

"A horse? Named … Nick?"

"Yeah … an' he had a black hat just like yers sitting on his head with his ears pokin' through two holes … one on each side'a the hat. An' he was wearin' a white shirt … 'ceptin' it wouldn't button all the way. Guess that would make sense…him bein' a horse, an' all," he mused. "But it still looked right nice with the black vest and string tie he was wearin'."

"A horse?" Nick questioned again. "Wearin' a black hat … a white shirt … and a black vest?"

"An' a string tie," Heath reminded him. "Just like the one ya' wear to the Friday night social. Yeah, the social!" he just seemed to realize. "THAT'S where he was! He was at the social … dancin' with this other horse. An' let me tell ya', she was a real good-lookin' filly."

"Heath, go back to sleep!" Nick ordered. "It's still the middle of the night and yer still dreamin'!"

"But Nick -- it seemed so real. He even talked real loud! Just like YOU!"

"Boy, ya'd better go back to sleep and dream about somethin' else! 'Cuz if ya' even think of turnin' me into a horse, I'M SENDING MRSNICK AFTER YA'!" Nick threatened.

"MrsNick!?!? Boy howdy, that weddin' musta been sudden-like!"

"WEDDIN'! FIRST YA' TURN ME INTO A HORSE?! AND NOW YER MARRYIN' ME OFF?!"

"Yeah, Nick, that's the way he was talkin'!" Heath tried but couldn't quite hide a slight smile. "Real loud … just like that! An' when he really got goin', them ears pokin' through his hat would just start…"

"I'M TELLIN' YA', BOY, YA' BETTER CUT THAT OUT AND GET BACK TO SLEEP B'FORE I DO SOMETHIN' I'M GONNA REGRET!"

"Ya' don't hafta be so touchy 'bout it," Heath favored Nick with his best 'little brother' look. "B'sides, now that I think on it a minute, he wasn't THAT much like ya' anyway. HE had good taste in dancin' partners."

"ALRIGHT! THAT'S IT!!!" Nick reached out towards his gun and Heath quickly let his head drop to the ground.

"Okay … okay …" the blond mumbled as he rolled away from his brother and pulled his blanket over his shoulders. "But she sure was a pretty li'l filly…"



Well ... there it is. A TBONTB chapter that I said would never see the light of day … bet yer all wishin' I'd kept THAT promise!

THE END