The Camping Trip

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.

This story continues the adventures of the 7-year-old Heath and 11-year-old Nick characters that were introduced in "The Wish". It takes place about a month after "Rule Number 62". It's what might have happened if Nick had taken his little brother on an overnight camping trip.

"Nick?" seven-year-old Heath Barkley whispered loudly to his eleven-year-old brother. "Ya' sleepin' yet?"

"I'm tryin' real hard to," Nick responded from where he lay, wrapped in a blanket, just a couple feet from his blond brother.

"I heard somethin'."

"It's prob'ly just crickets," the older boy tried to dismiss the younger one's fears as he pulled his blanket higher, hoping to cover his ears and block out any further talk.

"It was too loud for crickets, Nick," the little boy scooted closer and leaned over his brother to speak right into his ear. "Sounded loud enough to be an elephant."

"There ain't no elephants around here!" Nick said disgustedly, as he rolled onto his back and looked up into his brother's eyes, just inches away.

Startled by the sudden movement, Heath sat back, his eyes wide. "Then maybe it's a bear!"

"It ain't a bear, neither! Midget, I'm tellin' ya', I wouldn't take ya' campin' where there's bears and elephants! And Father wouldn'ta let me bring ya' out here if there were such things around!"

"Maybe it's lions or tigers then," the boy's imagination was running wild.

"There ain't no lions or tigers around. It was prob'ly just the wind blowing in the trees. It was prob'ly just shakin' the branches and that's what ya' heard," Nick pushed his dark hair out of his eyes and studied his brother for a moment.

The younger boy was clearly scared by whatever he thought he heard and Nick knew he should be more reassuring. But he really just wanted to go to sleep. It had taken them a week to convince Father and Mother that they'd be fine if they camped out overnight. His mother had been the hardest to convince. She was sure that they'd be caught in a rainstorm even though they'd had no rain in at least a month. Only when their father had agreed to go out and help Nick construct a tent from the canvas bonnet of an old covered wagon, had she agreed to their camping trip. But she'd made Nick promise to take care of his little brother and see that they both got to sleep without too much fooling around. Nick knew that if Heath needed a nap the next day to make up for the sleep he was missing now, permission for another camping trip would be a long time coming.

Of course, Nick thought, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Before the elephants, Heath had been sure that they were about to be eaten by hungry wolves. And before they'd gone into their tent to bed down, he was convinced that he saw snakes surrounding their campsite. Nick had to pick up every one of the sticks the boy had pointed to and prove that none of them were alive and about to sink their fangs into the Barkley brothers. Only then would Heath crawl into their makeshift tent and wrap himself in his bedroll.

But then he heard the elephant … or the bear … or the lions and tigers. And Nick knew he had to be more reassuring than he'd already been if he wanted to get any sleep.

"Heath, I'm swearin' to ya' that there ain't no animals out there," he said as sincerely as he possibly could. "'Ceptin' for our own ranch animals, there ain't a livin' creature anywhere nearby."

"We're livin' creatures, Nick," the little boy reminded him.

"Well, I didn't mean people!" Nick's exasperation with the whole situation was clear.

Again, Heath's eyes got wide as he squeaked out in a whisper, "Pirates! It's the barby pirates! Pa told me about 'em when we was down at the river!"

"It's not the barby pirates … it's the barbary pirates."

"I KNEW it was them!" Heath took his brother's words as confirmation that he was right in his fears. "Pa said the pirates steal gold an' silver! We got lotsa gold and silver things in the house! Nick, they's prob'ly surroundin' us right now so's we can't get back ta warn ev'ryone!"

"Yeah…" Nick gave in as any eleven-year-old big brother would. Heck, it was just too much to ask that he reassure his brother when the boy's imagination was going so strong. "Ya' know they don't let anyone get in their way. I think I can hear one of 'em comin' close right now," he suggested and they both held their breath, listening for a moment.

Sure enough, they heard it! The crunch of footsteps in the dried grass that surrounded their tent.

Nick spoke in a hoarse whisper as he said, "I heard tell that they kidnap little boys and sell 'em as slaves in China."

The footsteps were getting closer.

Heath's eyes couldn't have gotten any wider as he gulped, "Aunt Rachel showed me China on a map … and Pa said it's lots farther away than Mexico! I ain't gonna let 'em take me there, Nick!"

"Aw, don't worry, midget … I'll protect ya'," Nick said boldly. "If I live through it."

"We gotta get outta here and warn ev'ryone!" the little blond was clearly in a panic by the time the footsteps stopped outside their makeshift tent.

"Boys…" they heard the softly spoken word from outside.

Heath was out of his bedroll in an instant! "They's gonna get us!" he yelled at his brother as he dove for the side of the tent and slid under the loosely staked canvas.

Nick wasn't fast enough to grab his feet; the seven-year-old was gone before he really had the chance to react. But someone had caught his brother, he knew, as he heard the boy cry out, "NO!"

Heath felt the hands on his waist and tried to twist out of their grip as someone lifted him from the ground and encircled him with their arms. His feet kicked out but found nothing but air.

"No!" he shouted. "Ya' ain't gonna take me! My brother ain't gonna let ya' take…"

The voice stopped him. The gentle voice that said, "Heath … sweetheart, it's okay. No one is going to hurt you."

"Mother…?" it sounded so hopeful that Victoria Barkley tightened her hold around him and assured him that she was there and he was safe.

His struggles ceased and she set him down. He turned and threw his arms around her as she crouched down to be at his level. Wrapping her arms around him to comfort the shaking child, she lightly rubbed his back as she spoke quietly into his ear, telling him that no one was going to take him away. It was at least a minute before she felt him relax. Only then did she stand up, the boy in her arms with his head resting on her shoulder.

"The pirates was gonna get us, Mother," he told her, his absolute belief in what he said, obvious. "They was comin' ta steal our gold an' silver an' they wasn't gonna let no one stop 'em."

"I'm sure they must have run off when they heard me coming," Victoria assured him. "But maybe it would be better if you spend the rest of the night in the house," she suggested.

She felt him nod against her shoulder.

"Nicholas," she said a bit sternly to the eleven-year-old who'd left their tent in the conventional way, "I think it would be a good idea for you to spend the rest of the night in the house as well. I may need your assistance getting your brother to sleep."

"But, Mother, I didn't--"

"Nicholas! I said!"

"Yes, ma'am," he breathed out.

"You can collect your camping gear in the morning," she told him. "Bring the lantern."

With the lantern held out in front of him, Nick led the way to the house, not more than a hundred feet from their 'campsite'. He could hear his mother trying to convince his little brother that there were no pirates on the ranch and by the time they reached the back door he knew he was going to have some explaining to do when things settled down.

"Maybe they came in the house," Nick heard his brother mumble as they climbed the stairs from the kitchen to their bedrooms. "Maybe they's waitin' in my room."

"I'm sure your brother will be very happy to check that for you," Victoria suggested. "Won't you, Nicholas?"

"Yes, Mother," he sighed as they reached the boy's room.

"Ya' better check under the bed first," Heath lifted his head to sleepily tell his brother. "That's the best place ta hide."

"Yeah … yeah … I'll check under the bed. And I'll check the closet, too," Nick agreed as he preceded the others into the room.

She waited by the door, Heath still in her arms, as Nick crossed the room and bent down to look under the bed. When he stood up and went to the closet, Victoria carried Heath to the bed and sat down with him cradled in her lap. By the time Nick finished searching the room, his little brother was soundly asleep against Victoria's shoulder. She stood and waited while Nick turned down the blankets, then gently laid Heath in his bed, lightly placing a kiss on his forehead before straightening up and turning a grim eye on her eleven-year-old son.

"We'll discuss this in the morning," she said firmly, physically turning him around and nudging him towards the door.

"Aw, Mother…" Nick at least waited until they were in the hallway before he spoke, "…he just wasn't ready ta be campin' alone."

"He wasn't alone," she said tensely. "He was with his big brother!"

"It ain't my fault if the midget's got a good imagination," Nick protested.

"Did you have to mention pirates, Nicholas? Since when have we had pirates on the Barkley Ranch?"

"I ain't the one who first mentioned 'em! Heath did! He said Father told him about the Barbary Coast pirates when they were down by the riverfront!"

Count to ten, Victoria told herself as she took a deep breath. "Just … go to bed, Nicholas. We'll discuss it in the morning. ALL of us."

Wisely, Nick chose to say no more, handing her the lantern and going to his room next to Heath's. Best to leave things as they were, he decided, as a little voice told him that his father just might be in as much trouble as he was.

Victoria returned to her bedroom to find that the voices in the hallway had awakened her husband. He was just pulling his robe on, preparing to investigate his wife's absence.

"What's going on?" he asked her when she'd closed the door and extinguished the lantern in favor of the lamp that Tom had turned up.

"The boys have decided they would rather sleep inside than camp out tonight."

"But Heath was so excited about the adventure they would have," Tom smiled as he remembered the little boy's non-stop chatter as they were preparing their bedrolls for their 'camping trip'.

"Adventure … is exactly the right word," Victoria's tone of voice told him more than her words did.

"What happened?" he asked warily.

"He thought there were pirates invading the ranch to steal our gold and silver. And he thought they were going to sell him to someone in China. Tom, whatever possessed you to tell him about the Barbary Coast pirates!"

"He asked about them when we were down on the riverfront," Tom explained. "You remember … I took him with me when I was checking on shipping rates to see if it would be less expensive to ship our apple crop out by river instead of rail. He doesn't miss a thing, that boy," he said, almost proudly. "I asked Perkins if there had been any trouble on the river that would slow the shipment time. I was referring to something like those pines that fell across the river a few years back when some of the shore eroded. Perkins saw that Heath was hanging on every word we said so he kinda winked and said, 'no, the pirates only go after gold and silver -- they leave the fruit alone'. When we were on our way home, Heath asked me about the pirates. I didn't see any harm in telling him. But I never mentioned anything about China!"

"I'm sure that part was contributed by Nicholas!" she stated. "You might have at least mentioned to him that we'd never seen any pirates on the ranch! Then he might not have thought I was a pirate when he heard me outside that tent that you and Nick put up in the backyard!"

Tom started to laugh as he put his arms around his wife. "And what were you doing sneaking around outside their tent?"

"I certainly was not sneaking around!" she said indignantly. "I thought I heard something so I went in to check on the little ones. When I came back, I looked out the window and saw that the boys' lantern was on. I was concerned that one of them might knock it over in their sleep, so I went down to check on them."

Tom wasn't doing a very good job of hiding his amusement and Victoria was getting more annoyed as she related what had happened.

"I could hear them talking as I approached so all I said was … 'boys?' … and … well, then Heath tried to escape under the side of the tent."

"He tried to escape!" the laughter burst out.

"Thomas Barkley, don't you laugh! This is serious! Whatever Nick added to the tale you told him, it scared Heath so much he was shaking! He thought I was--"

She couldn't help it. She started to laugh as she remembered the way the little blond had slithered out from under the canvas and how he struggled in her arms thinking she was a pirate who'd come to rob the ranch and would then to sail off to China with him.

As she laughed, she told Tom, "He said I wasn't going to take him … that his brother wasn't going to let me." Her laughter inexplicably turned to a sob and she buried her face in her husband's shoulder.

"Victoria?" the sudden change of mood bewildered Tom and he didn't know what to say. He could only stammer, "I'm … I'm sure he'll … um … he'll be alright. You know, in the light of day it won't…"

He stopped as she looked up at him. There were tears in her eyes, but a smile on her face.

"Victoria? What…?"

She took a deep, shuddering breath before she was able to say, "He called me 'Mother'."

Then her face was once more buried in Tom's shoulder and, as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, the tears in her eyes were reflected in his own. It was just a single word … something most children learn to say well before many others. But Tom and Victoria had both been waiting to hear Heath say it. Waiting for that moment when Heath realized that acknowledging Victoria as his mother, didn't take anything away from the love he would always have for his Mama. Clearly his subconscious had come to that conclusion.

And it just took pirates to scare it out of him, Tom thought with a smile. Maybe he wasn't in as much trouble as he imagined himself to be…



THE END