by Leona (Heathisforme)
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.
Nick sat on Coco, his black gloved hand shielding the sun
from his eyes as he watched the buzzards circling high above him. He was out on the range by himself as Heath
went to an auction in Modesto and wouldn’t be back for a few days. Nick sent the hands out to keep an eye on
the cattle out in the north pasture, while he checked out the south pasture for
the missing heifers.
He rode out towards where the birds were circling. When he
got there, he smelled a rancid smell and sniffed around till he found the cause
of the horrendous odor. Lying there in the grass was a saddled black
mustang. Judging by the odor, it had
been there for a couple of days. He
checked it over and saw that the body of the horse was scratched up and the
right front leg had been broken. When he heard a rustle in the bush, he drew
his gun and looked around. As he looked
just ahead of the horse, he saw a woman lying there, moaning silently. He put the colt back into the holster,
leaned over towards the girl and found that she had a large gash on her head
along with a large bump.
He picked up the girl and carefully placed her on Coco and
he jumped up behind her, holding her tightly to him. He looked sadly, at the
horse, knowing there was nothing he could do for it. His main concern was to get this girl back to the house as quick
as possible as she had been without food for a while. With that gash, she could
have a concussion. He raced off towards the house, content in the knowledge
that his mother would take care of the hurt woman.
He got back to the ranch house and managed to get the
woman off the horse with a little help from Ciego. He carried her gently but swiftly into the house, yelling for
Victoria at the same time. She came
down the stairs to tell him to use his inside voice but saw the woman he held
in his arms. “Take her upstairs Nick.
Jarrod send a hand to get the doctor.”
Jarrod had come out to see what the commotion was all about and went to
do his mother’s bidding.
Nick deposited the girl onto the guest room bed, and stood
back while Victoria looked at her. She
was starting to come around, and placed her hand on her head. “Where am I?” she feebly asked, looking
around. Nick was amazed at her eyes.
They were the most beautiful blue he had ever seen. They were the colour of the deepest
ocean. Her hair was the colour of corn, her cheeks rosy red. Nick didn’t realize he had sighed until
Victoria looked at him sharply.
“You are at the Barkley Ranch. My son, Nick, found you and brought you here. What is your name?”
“I gotta leave quick.
He may be following me!”
“No! Young Lady!
You need to stay here, you may have a concussion!” Victoria was firm in telling her to stay
put. She nodded and closed her eyes. The
room was suddenly taking a spin on her.
“Can you please see if anyone followed you?”
“Who would be followin’ ya?”
“My boyfriend.”
“Oh! And who might that be?”
“Lee Sinclair”
There was an audible gasp from all in the room. “I am Trudy
Michaels” Nick couldn’t believe his
luck he just happened to pick up the girlfriend of the most notorious bronco
rider in all of California. He was good
at what he did, bronco riding. He had
all kinds of awards and recognition but his reputation preceded him. He was ornery, and a drunkard. Rumor had it that he had beaten his
girlfriend up a number of times and by looking at this woman, it could just be
true.
Trudy lay in bed, trembling, and went on with her
story. “I just had it with him! He decided to beat up the last man that
talked with me. He’s insanely
jealous! He just about killed him! I told him if he touched anyone else because
of his jealousy, I’d leave! And that’s what I did!” Nick and Victoria listened to her story with
interest as Dr. Merar, the older family physician, walked into the room,
telling Nick to leave while he examined the woman. Nick reluctantly left the room, his emotions all askew.
Nick knew he wanted to help this girl, not because he had
feelings for her, but because she was genuinely scared. She is beautiful, he thought, with those
blue eyes that look like pools of ocean.
That hair, that face, he sighed inwardly. He was going to help her, but didn’t know where to begin.
Dr. Merar came out of the guest room as Nick stood up. “How is she doc?” He started towards the room.
“She has a mild concussion, and will have a headache for a
couple of days but she will be fine as soon as she gets some food in her.” Nick nodded.
“Thanks Doc.” Nick entered the room, intent on seeing for
himself how well Trudy was doing. Dr.
Merar smiled to himself as he went down the stairs, finding his way out.
A few days later, Trudy was up and about, loving the
ranch. She hated to leave as it was fun
to be around. She walked out to the
barn and saw Nick saddling Coco and it brought tears to her eyes. “Lightning is gone, isn’t he?” she asked the
leather dressed cowboy.
He turned, nodding. “I’m sorry Trudy.” He watched as the blonde woman fought back
her emotions. She was not winning at the
battle. She went to Nick and cried on
his shoulder.
After a while, she calmed down and laughed, “I’m sorry
Nick. Its just a horse, after all.”
“No, Lightning was not just a horse, why I’d be upset if
it was ole Coco here. Had him since I
was a kid.” Trudy went and patted the
horse’s nose.
“Lee gave me Lightning. When we first met.” She said it so
quietly that Nick had to lean closer to her to be able to hear her.
“Can I ask you a question?” Nick hated to ask but he wanted to know. She nodded and went on. “Do you think Lee is still following you?”
She regarded him carefully, before answering, “yes.” Nick
looked at her, his hazel eyes full of concern. “Lee was a nice man when I first
met him Nick. No matter what you think
he is a good man. But the excitement of
the rodeo, the pressure of always having to be the best has gotten to him. I don’t like this man. That’s why I am running. And he will follow. He is in Stockton. There is a rodeo close by and he followed me
this far. This I know”
“How do you know?”
“I just know. He will find me and drag me back. Can you
help me?” Nick thought about the question, he wanted to help this woman, kill
for her if he had to. Nicholas Jonathon
Barkley was in love.
He nodded, “Yep.
I’ll help ya.”
Trudy smiled at the cowboy. He was a large man with a generous heart, they hadn’t known each
other that long but she lost her heart to this man. He would be good for me, she thought, as she continued to pet
Coco.
Trudy and Nick were walking around the ranch where Nick
was showing her all the horses. Trudy
had an eye for horses. She wanted to buy a white mustang with the black
hooves. Nick agreed on a price for it,
and Trudy paid for it with cash that she pulled out of her boot. Nick whistled, “you shouldn’t be carrying
that much money with you.” He announced.
“Why not?”
“Cuz you could get killed.”
“You carry that much with ya don’t you?”
“Yeah but I am a man!”
She fumed at that statement then thought about it. He was right, she was running away from a
man. She asked him for help. “Not that I think you’re helpless Trude” he tried
to cover his tracks. Trudy smiled at
him as she listened to him trying to explain himself.
“Nick” she said quietly. He stopped and gaped at her, then
at the same time, they leaned towards each other and ever so softly, kissed
each other. She was the first to pull
away. She lowered her eyes and touched
her lips. Nick placed his large callused hand under her chin and lifted her
face up to his.
“What’s wrong?”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen!” Nick put his hands on
either side of her face, gently and forced her to look at him.
“Why not?”
“Because….” She
couldn’t answer because he was kissing her passionately. When he finally let her up to breathe, she
continued, “ I am not ready for another beau just yet.”
“I’m not Lee.”
“I know you’re not but I’m scared. What if Lee finds out about us?”
“So what if he does?”
“He’ll kill you!”
She looked up at him with fear in her eyes.
“Trust me Trude.
He won’t.” He leaned down to
kiss her again but she pushed him away.
“How can you be so sure, he is ornery.” She was close to tears.
“Please Honey, just trust me, okay?” He wiped the tears away with his thumbs and
kissed her tear stained cheeks. She nodded and he pulled her into his arms,
soothing her and caressing her hair.
Nick and Trudy talked it over, deciding she could move
into town and take a job working at the Cattlemen’s restaurant. She was still worried about Lee but he
hadn’t found her yet. The rodeo was
only a few days away. She wanted to
talk to Lee and tell him it was all
over and she didn’t want Nick around when she did.
She was working at the restaurant when she heard his
voice, and she shivered. She didn’t
want this encounter now. Not while she
was working. No such luck, he was
sitting in her section. She had to
serve him. Oh well she thought, here goes nothing.
She stood at his table while he was talking to his rodeo
friends. Lee Sinclair looked up and gasped.
There she was, standing as large as life in front of her. He ran his fingers through his long red hair
and took the menu she offered. She had
the coffee pot and poured them all coffee.
She knew all the men there, Tad Masters, Syd Leonard, and Guy Simmons.
They all stared at her as she poured the coffee. They nodded their heads at her and looked at the menus.
When she went back to put the coffee back on the stove,
she felt a presence behind her. “What
are you doing here?” he growled. She jumped back in fright.
“I work here.” she managed to spit out
“Like hell you are!”
He made a lunge towards her.
“Lee! I’m not with you anymore. Leave me alone! I will
talk to you later. Please go sit down.
I don’t want a scene!” He realized where
he was and nodded.
“Okay. But make
sure you meet me at the rodeo grounds tomorrow morning.”
“Yes Lee. I’ll be
there.” He grunted a response and went
to sit down. She was trembling and
didn’t go out till she felt she was able.
They had their meal and left, knowing that they would see her in the
morning. Nick came in with Heath
for a cup of coffee and to wait for the
evening train. Jarrod was coming home
and Nick used the excuse to see Trudy.
Trudy was very glad to see Nick, she poured them coffee
and spoke to them for a while casually mentioning that she was going to the
rodeo the next morning. “You’re doing
what?” bellowed Nick.
“Nick will you keep your voice down?” She looked around, grateful they were the
only ones in the restaurant. “I said, I
am going to the rodeo to see Lee tomorrow and straighten this whole mess out.”
“You’re not going there by yourself!” ordered Nick. Heath
cringed, one thing he knew about women was to never tell a woman what to do.
She stood there, hands on her hips and stared at this man
who was yelling at her. “Nick Barkley”
she said quietly. Heath sat back and watched the fireworks, smile on his face.
Nick was quiet long enough to hear her. “I will meet Lee and you will not stop
me. You will come to the rodeo as
planned, at the same time and I will meet you there. You will not stop me. You
will not tell me what to do. If you
ever, and I mean ever yell at me like that again, you and I are through. Do you understand?” Nick stood with his mouth open but didn’t
say a word.
Heath chuckled behind him, adding to his frustration. He turned to face his brother, glaring at
him. Heath stopped snickering but
didn’t try to hide his grin. He turned
back to face Trudy who was waiting for an answer. “Okay Trudy,” he finally relented. “I’ll meet ya at the rodeo but I don’t like it.” She smiled at
him and kissed his cheek.
“Thank you” The
men paid for their coffee and left the restaurant. Trudy went home and thought about the two men in her life. Two
very different men, one who thrived on drink and abuse, the other sweet and
kind. Yep, she thought, I think I am in
love with one Nick Barkley. She fell
asleep with thoughts of Nick’s frequent kisses.
She arrived at the rodeo grounds early the next
morning. She looked around and saw
Lee’s horse in the stable. She headed over that way but heard a voice calling
her name. His voice, the voice she
didn’t want to hear just yet but she turned, and faced Lee Sinclair. “Trudy, you came.”
“I did, Lee”
“You’re not going to stay with me are you?” She smiled in spite of herself. That was Lee, direct and to the point. She
shook her head. “It’s that Barkley
fella I heard tell you were keepin’ company with, right?”
“It may be Lee.
But that’s not the reason why I left.”
“Why then?”
“Because, Lee, you are drunk all the time. You need to be in the centre of
attention. You need the excitement of
the rodeo. You aren’t ready to settle
down. I am. I want a husband, children,
a home.”
“And this Barkley fella will give ya this?”
“I don’t know Lee.
But I need you to promise me you will let me go. I don’t want to be hunted like some animal.
I hate your jealousy.”
“I’m not gonna let ya go without a fight.” Trudy braced herself for what was
coming. “I’ll kill him!” He growled.
“Don’t you dare! I
won’t let you.”
“Ya won’t let me!”
he laughed wickedly. “Ya can’t
stop me. Go now woman! I need to
practice for my ride later!” She left
trembling with fear for Nick. She had
to warn him. She ran towards the
grandstands, looking for him, scanning the stands, she finally saw them sitting
near the concession. She bounded up the
stairs and plopped herself down beside him. Nick smiled as she grabbed his
hand.
“Nick, we gotta talk!” she whispered.
“Well talk, honey!” he whispered back.
“Not here, lets go somewhere!” Nick told Heath they were
going for a walk and they would be back soon. Heath nodded, watching the barrel
race. Nick and Trudy left Heath,
walking down the stairs and going to a quiet place beside the fence still
watching the races. Trudy told him what
Lee had said.
“I told ya honey.
Trust me. It’ll be okay. Lets
watch the races from here, k?” She
nodded as Nick put his arm around her.
She moved closer and looked up at him.
“I love you Nick” she whispered. Nick’s smile grew wider and he kissed her passionately.
“I love you too Trude.” They didn’t see who won the race.
Pretty soon they left the fence and went to where Heath was still sitting. They
sat there arms around each other watching the races. They decided to go watch the bronco riding but Trudy
stiffened. “It’ll be all right,
Trude. Trust me.” Trust me is what he said, she thought. I do trust him, I trust him with my
life. But it’s Lee. He is as good as
his word.
They went over to the bronco riding ring and she stood
close to Nick as they watched the riders, Guy Simmons, Syd Leonard, Tad
Masters, then Lee Sinclair. He got on the horse, the rodeo hands holding the
bucking horse. He looked up and saw that
she was watching with her new boyfriend, the anger raising his to his
cheeks. He would get even with her. She
would come back to him, he would make sure of that.
He managed to stay on for the eight seconds needed to win
the money. He threw his hands up in the
air and whooped. Trudy tugged on Nick’s
sleeve and begged him to leave. He
nodded, turning to leave. All of a
sudden he was knocked to the ground. Heath jumped on the man, throwing punches
at him, making their mark each time.
Trudy shouted at them to stop just as Sinclair drew his gun. Nick
anticipated this and drew his colt out of his holster. He shot and made his mark. Sinclair fell to the ground, dead. Trudy screamed and ran over to him. “You killed him Nick! You killed him!” She ran over to him and beat her hands against his chest.
Nick was confused, he was just defending himself. He would have been dead instead of Sinclair.
Why was she beating him up for it?
Heath found the sheriff and they ruled it was self defense. Her life with the rodeo star was over. She was a free woman.
She kept her job at the restaurant and Nick still came to
have coffee to visit her. For a few
weeks she wouldn’t have anything to do with him. She wouldn’t talk to him, she wouldn’t even acknowledge him. Nick was miserable. He tried talking to her, but she wouldn’t
listen. He went home despondent. He had no idea what to do but he was
persistent. He went to the restaurant
every day. He brought her flowers. He brought her candy. Soon she was acknowledging him with a smile
when he came in.
Everyday he asked her out, every day she would say
no. Today, he thought, would be no
different. He asked her with the flowers, “would you go for a picnic with me on
Saturday?” He expected the answer to be
no.
“Yes Nick, I’ll go with you.” Nick almost jumped for joy when the unexpected answer came. But
he smiled and told her he would pick her up at noon on Saturday. “Don’t be late, Nick’
“I won’t be Trudy”
Saturday rolled along and Nick had the surrey in front of
her apartment and jumped out, knocking on her door. She answered the door, grabbing her wrap. She looks like an angel, he thought as he
helped her into the surrey. He drove them to a place by the river. He helped her out of the surrey and took the
picnic basket and blanket that Silas had prepared for them.
He spread out the blanket on a grassy spot near the
river. They spread out the picnic and
ate in silence. Finally Nick broke the
silence, “I’m so glad you decided to come with me today Trudy.”
“Me too Nick.”
“Do you still care?”
“I thought about this a lot Nick. I was scared of Lee. He hurt a lot of people because of his
jealousy. He even tried to hurt you. I don’t blame you anymore Nick. Whether or not I love you, I don’t know.”
Nick was hurt, but he didn’t let on. He was going to work on winning her
affections. But right now, he would
enjoy every minute with her. They lay
on the blanket and talked about their hopes and dreams. They spoke of the future and what they
wanted out of it. They were very
comfortable with each other. Soon it
was time to leave and neither one wanted to.
“Will you go with me on another picnic next week,
Trudy?” he asked as he helped her out
of the surrey.
“Today was nice, Nick.
Yes I think that would be good.”
Nick smiled a big smile.
A few months went by with them going on picnics every
Saturday. Trudy was beginning to feel
comfortable with Nick and revealed more about herself. She was an orphan from Oregon. She worked in lumber camps and on ranches being a cook and a cook’s helper. A
job she really loved. He loved to
listen to her, she lived a very full life and she was only twenty four.
One Saturday as they sat by their spot on the riverbank,
watching the ducks swimming with their babies,
Nick asked the question, he had been wanting to ask since he first met
her. “Will you marry me Trudy?”
Trudy looked at him with her blue eyes and answered, “yes
Nick. I believe the time is right. I’ll
marry you.” This time Nick yelled with glee.
He took the ring he bought when he was in San Francisco attending a
cattle auction and placed it on his finger.
She looked at the beautiful diamond on her finger and placed her arms
around his neck. “I love you Nick.”
“I love you too Trudy.” They kissed passionately. “I’m so glad ya said yes Trudy. I was gettin’ ready to beg!” he told her,
laughing. She laughed and slapped him.
“You would, wouldn’t you?”
“Ya bet I would, lady love.” Once again their lips met in passion as they announced their love
for one another. The planned to get
married as soon as possible and raced home to tell the family.
The family were overjoyed at the impending nuptials of the
middle son. Victoria had tears in her
eyes as she watched the happy couple accept the congratulations from Jarrod,
Heath and Audra. Nick moved with such
gracefulness, such love and such passion around Trudy. She was ecstatic that he was so content.
The wedding was to be in a month. They spent the month
planning, deciding, arguing as only engaged couples do, so much so, that they
almost called the whole thing off.
Heath, ever the peacemaker, stepped in and calmly told them to kiss and
make up. They had plenty of time to argue
after the wedding. Nick playfully
slapped his brother and took Trudy in his arms. As they made up, yet once again, Heath smiled and left the room,
his job done.
The wedding finally arrived and the couple was
nervous. As soon as Nick saw his bride
in the off white wedding gown, his knees started to buckle. Heath and Jarrod held him steady as she
walked down the aisle, her dressing sweeping the floor. They grasped hands and smiled at one another
as the preacher said the old practiced words of the ceremony. Thus they were married.
Trudy was nervous about the wedding night. She had been with a man before she didn’t
love him and it wasn’t the same. She
was worried that she wouldn’t be good enough for him. Nick reassured her and tenderly held her, soothing away her
fears. He kissed her, gently, but fully, arousing her to wanting more of him.
They couldn’t have been happier as they met together, expressing their love
physically and emotionally. When it was
all over, they lay together, talking in whispers about their future together.
They spent their honeymoon in San Francisco, walking on
the beach, holding hands and spending time getting to know one another. They enjoyed each other as only a married
couple can, not wanting ever to be apart.
The time came for them to go home, neither one wanting to
leave, but knowing that real life awaited for them. They were ready to face the future and the trials and
tribulations together, bound with love.