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.
It was a typical day at the
Heath Barkley residence. It started out
like any other. The morning was bright
and sunny. Heath had gotten up, checked
on their two year old daughter Leah, and started a fire in the cook stove. When the fire was going well, he made coffee
and brought two cups upstairs. Since their
daughter was still sleeping, they went out to sit on the love seat on their
balcony outside their bedroom, to watch the new day roll in with the pretty
colours of oranges, and reds.
They sat in silence, holding
hands, watching the sky turn from darkness, to the break of day then the
sunrise. This was their favorite time
of day, a time to gather their thoughts and plan their day. The busyness of the day often took them
apart from each other, he at the main ranch while she looked after Leah and
their home. They had a small piece of
land of which they raised horses for the main ranch. They also had a menagerie of animals, chickens, a dog, cats, and
rabbits. There was also a place for
their adopted pets which was empty at the moment. Heath and Janine always seemed to be bringing home a stray
animal, giving them away or keeping them for themselves.
After the morning show was done,
they went back inside, and dressed.
Heath went downstairs to start breakfast while Janine made the bed and
woke Leah up. They went downstairs to
find Heath diligently cooking, Leah gave her father a hug, “G’mornin’ Papa!”
“G’mornin’ Lil One!” greeted
Heath kissing her baby soft cheek. “Do
ya wanna help Papa?” She nodded eagerly, her blonde curls flopping all over the
place. Heath handed her some dishes and
asked her to set the table. Janine watched
this morning scene with pleasure.
Janine squeezed oranges for juice, putting the pitcher on the table for
the meal. She poured some milk in a
glass for Leah, setting it beside her plate.
Leah chatted a mile a minute to who ever would listen to her.
“Papa, wide?” She asked as Heath
dished out the breakfast for them.
“Not today Lil One. Uncle Nick has a lot of work for me to do
today.”
“Remember Leah? You’re goin’ to
spend the day at Grandma Victoria’s?”
“Gama Vic’s? Gama Vic’s?” Leah
clapped her tiny hands together in glee.
“Unca Jawod?”
“I don’t know Leah. Maybe.
Eat your breakfast now.” Janine pushed the plate closer to her.
“Where are ya goin’ today?”
Heath asked, cutting up his steak.
“Audra and I are goin’ to town to
do some shoppin’, didn’t I tell ya?” Heath slightly grinned at her and shook
his head. “Oh I plum forgot. I’m sorry.”
After breakfast, they all did
the dishes, Leah stood on a stool drying a glass that Janine handed her. “Mama, dwy?” Janine handed her a spoon.
“Heath, you goin’ to the ranch
today?”
He nodded, “I’ll take the wagon
and you over to the house and ride Charger home.”
“Sounds fine. I have to pick up Audra anyway. We’re goin’ to the dressmaker to check on a
dress and I’m picking up a few items I need.” Heath nodded in agreement.
“Mama!” Leah was pulling at
Janine’s dress. “Go Gama Vic’s now.”
“Yes honey. We have to get ready first. Why don’t you go upstairs and get your
doll.” Leah got down and ran up the stairs.
“Leah! Walk!”
Heath watched as their daughter
ran up the stairs, chuckling. He took
hold of Janine’s hand as she walked by him and pulled her close. She relaxed against him, then turned around
and kissed him passionately. He
returned the kiss, letting his hands roam through her strawberry blonde
coloured hair. “Papa! Mama!” They broke
apart, picking Leah up.
“Okay Lil One! I have to go
hitch up the wagon. Stay here with
Mama, and she will bring you out when she is ready.” Leah hugged her father and
held her arms out to her mother. Heath
brushed Janine’s cheek with his lips, grabbed his hat and went outside. Janine bustled around the kitchen, making
sure things were put away and cleaned up before they left. She grabbed Leah’s bag with her change of
clothes, holding Leah’s hand, they went out to the wagon.
They arrived at the main house a
while later. Heath untied Charger from
the wagon, while Leah rushed into the house to see her “Gama Vic” Janine
chuckled as she watched Leah. She went
over to Heath. “I’ll see ya later,
Cowboy. Have a good day!”
“Thanks, my pretty. I will be out all day. Have to round up those cattle, and move them
to the South pasture.” They kissed quickly and Janine watched as Heath left the
house, riding away on Charger.
She opened the door and heard
Leah’s excited voice, ”Unca Jawod! Unca Jawod!” They made a pretty
picture. Leah, with her blonde curls
flopping all over and Jarrod’s dark head bent over a book, looking at the
pictures. She watched them for a while,
smiling. Jarrod pointing to the
pictures and asking Leah what they were.
He was as excited as Leah when she got them right. Leah adored her uncle and Jarrod adored his
niece. “Leah” said Janine quietly.
“Mama! Jawod wead me!” Leah
looked at her mother intently as Janine nodded.
“You be good girl, k?” Leah
nodded and went back to the book.
Eagerly turning the pages for “Unca Jawod” Jarrod looked up at Janine
with his expressive eyes and smiled.
She knew her daughter was in good hands. She smiled back and went looking for Audra.
She found Audra and they climbed
into the wagon heading off to town.
They picked up the things they needed and were headed back to town when
they noticed the storm clouds moving in.
Janine flicked the reins harder, hoping to outrun the storm. “Hang on Audra! I want to get home!” Audra
nodded, hanging on to the side of the wagon.
They couldn’t outrun the storm as it was getting darker and
slippery. The rain pelted down on them,
and Janine couldn’t see where she was going.
Suddenly the wagon slid off the road and overturned. The girls were thrown out of the wagon while
the horses kept on running.
The brothers were working side
by side when they saw the storm roll in.
They worked till the wind blew hard and the rain came down in
torrents. They hopped onto the horses
and galloped off towards the safety of the house. They made it to the house and went in. Leah was playing with Victoria, but Janine and Audra were no
where to be seen.
“Where are they?” asked a
worried blond cowboy.
“They haven’t come back yet and
I’m getting worried. They should’ve
been back an hour ago.” Replied Victoria.
Heath and Nick looked at each other, hugged their mother and Leah.
“Don’t worry Mother, we’ll find
them!” They ran out the door, and lit onto their horses. They headed towards Stockton, finding it
hard to peer through the pelting rain.
Thunder roared and lightning flashed making the horses skittish. They came across the wagon and horses after
a bit. The wagon was overturned and
still hitched to the horses, but no girls.
Nick got off Coco and checked the horses. “The horses are tangled up by the reins, Heath. But where are Janine and Audra?” Heath
looked at him panic stricken. They
quickly unhitched the horses and sent them home. They would gather them up later.
“Let’s keep going. They must
have fallen out somewhere close to here.” Heath nodded and walked slowly on one
side of the road and Nick on the other.
Janine slowly woke up, dazed,
looking around to see where she was.
She moved her head, ignoring the waves of pain that shot up the back of
her neck. She turned and saw Audra
lying face down in the mud. Slow by
slow inch she crawled over to the lifeless girl, hoping that she was all right. She made it to Audra and turned her over,
out of the mud. “Audra! Audra!” she
called to her friend, her sister-in-law, “Come on Audra, wake up!” She held
Audra in her arms, trying to wake her up, but she wasn’t responding to
anything.
Finally, after a while, she
groaned. “Oh Audra! Thank goodness!”
She hugged her, brushing the strands of blonde hair out of her face.
“W-w-w-what happened?” asked
Audra, feebly, putting a hand to her pounding head.
“The wagon overturned. I’m sure we are missed at home now, its
dark, so that means we have been out here for hours!” Audra moaned and lay back
down. Janine started shivering. “Come on Audra, let’s move under those trees
over there. They’ll give us some
shelter from this rain.” She half dragged her sister-in-law to the tree
shelter. She sat down, the pain in her
head coming in waves, making her dizzy.
She ignored the pain, and the cold as she tried to keep Audra warm. She was worried about her as Audra drifted
in and out of consciousness.
They sat there for a while,
waiting for someone to come rescue them.
Janine tried to stay awake but the waves of darkness were starting to
take over more often. She often jerked
herself awake when she felt herself drifting off. She shivered uncontrollably and couldn’t stop the tears that
threatened to fall. Janine had the most
discouraging thoughts as she waited for someone, Heath, to rescue them. What if I died, and no one found us? What
would happen to Leah? Leah needed both of her parents. She was learning so fast. She remembered Leah’s birth, the traumatic
details, but to see her now, you wouldn’t know that she had such a hard
beginning. She remembered her wedding
day and her honeymoon. She was so
happy. She loved Heath so much. Would he be angry with her because of this
accident? She closed her eyes trying to shut out the tears and fell asleep
holding her sister-in-law and good friend.
The Barkley men searched both
sides of the road and couldn’t find any sign of them anywhere. Heath thought about the route they would
have taken. There is only one route
they would have taken, and they had to be on it. The tears were threatening as Heath thought about his wife. She was so kind, loving and a great
friend. She listened to him when he had
a problem and tried to help him solve it.
She presented him with a beautiful daughter, who he loved very
much. If anything happened to her, he
would be so lost. He then thought of
his sister, and how close of friends the two became. They enjoyed each other’s company and spent a lot of time
together. They both were working with
the orphans often planning games and parties for them. They also planned fundraisers so they could
plan more fun things for the orphans.
Audra influenced Janine’s life and they were lost with out each
other. Heath often walked in on them,
giggling, and guilty looking.
Suddenly, he heard a yell from
Nick. “They’re over here Heath!” He
raced over to where Nick was and leaped off of Charger. The girls were under the tree, huddled
together. Heath gently shook Janine,
who shivered uncontrollably.
“Heath!” She mumbled
incoherently. Nick moved Audra and
noticed that she was unconscious. He
checked for broken bones, didn’t find any so he lifted her onto Coco and headed
off towards home. Heath did the same
for Janine and went home.
They brought the girls home and
carried them upstairs. Janine shivered
and moaned, thrashing around in their old bed.
Heath wiped her feverish forehead, worried about her. Nick had brought Audra to her room, while
Victoria looked after her. She was
going back and forth between the rooms, waiting for Doctor Merar to show up
with Jarrod.
Nick went downstairs to look
after his niece who was sleeping on the couch.
Thumb in her mouth, she was the ultimate in cuteness. Nick had a soft spot for the little girl,
loving how she followed him around, asking “Unca Nick, wide?” She had her
father’s face right down to the button nose.
But the rest of her was Janine.
The way she walked, the way she talked, the way she looked when she was
teasing. Nick watched his niece as she
slept the sleep of babies.
Nick paced the floor, worried about both girls. Presently, Jarrod and Howard walked in the
house. Howard went upstairs and Jarrod
went over to check his princess. Seeing
that she was asleep, he poured them both a drink and waited for news of the
girls.
A while later, Dr. Merar came
down with the news that the girls were in the first stages of hypothermia from
being out in the rain so long. But they
would be okay. Audra suffered a
concussion and would need rest for the next week. Janine, had a sprained wrist from holding on to the reins when
the wagon overturned, and a bump on the head but she would be fine in a couple of
days. She needed rest as well. The brothers thanked the good doctor and
walked him to the door. “I’ll be back
tomorrow to check on them.” They nodded and said good night.
The brothers walked upstairs to
check on the girls. Audra was sleeping,
Victoria was sitting beside her daughter, holding her hand and talking to her
quietly. Jarrod touched her shoulder
and said he would sit with her for a while.
Victoria nodded, saying she wanted to check on Janine.
She walked to Heath’s old room,
knocked on the door and saw Heath sitting beside the bed, head in his hands,
watching his wife. She placed her hand
on his shoulder and squeezed. “How is
she doing, son?”
Heath put his hand on hers and
answered, “She will be okay. She
sprained her wrist and a bump on her head.
She is lucky. How is Audra?”
“She will be fine. Yes both of them are very lucky. If I had known it was going to storm like
that, I would’ve told them to go tomorrow.” Heath nodded, thinking the very
same thing.
“I think Mother, I am going to
go to sleep now. Its okay, I can look
after her. You go get some rest so you
can be with Audra. I will go get Leah
and put her to bed in here with us.” Victoria nodded, and left the room with
Heath.
Heath came up with Leah, put her
in the old crib that was there for her.
He then closed the door and crawled into bed with his wife. He held her close thanking God that she was
still with him.
The next morning Janine woke up
wondering where she was. She saw that
Heath was lying beside her, and she snuggled closer, regretting the move. Her head ached, making her dizzy. She looked at her arm and saw that it was
bound in a sling. She groaned and
wondered how Audra was. She remembered
the accident and felt guilty that she was the one that caused it.
Heath saw that she was awake and
turned on his side to talk to her.
“Mornin’ my pretty.” He greeted her, tracing her face. To his chagrin, she burst into tears.
“How is Audra? Is she okay?” she
asked through her tears.
“Shhhhh. Janey.” He put his arms around her and held
her close. “She has a concussion, and
ya both got very cold from bein’ out in the rain.” He told her quietly.
“I was tryin’ to get back before
the rain started. I was driving a
little fast and the wagon slid and flipped over. Oh I was so scared Heath! I feel bad that I hurt Audra! Are ya
sure she’s gonna be okay?” She gave way to her tears, Heath held and rocked her
while the tears consumed her.
“Shhhh….Janey. It’s okay.
Audra doesn’t blame ya, I’m sure.
Accidents happen, don’t go blamin’ yourself. I’m just glad you’re still here with us!” He held her close,
waiting for the sobs to subside. “We’ll
go see Audra in a little while, k?”
Janine pulled away and wiped her
eyes. “Where’s Leah?”
“She’s still sleepin’.” Answered
Heath. “Want some coffee, my pretty?”
She nodded, laying back on the pillows.
Heath rose from the bed, put his boots on and went quietly downstairs. He spoke to Silas about breakfast and the
black man agreed to bring breakfast to them in their room.
Heath took the coffee up to
their room and saw that Leah was just waking up. “Papa! Up?” she had her arms outstretched to him. He put the coffee cups down on the end
tables and picked up his daughter.
“Mama, seep?” Heath held his daughter, talking quietly to her. Janine listened to the quiet drawl that
belonged to her husband and smiled. It
was the happiest sound she had ever heard.
“G’mornin’ Leah. How are ya?”
“Mama!” she struggled to get out
of her father’s powerful arms.
“No Lil One. Mama’s not feelin’ too good today.”
“It’s okay Honey. Just let her sit beside me on the bed.”
Heath nodded, allowing Leah to leave his protective arms. She sat on the bed and Janine held her tiny
hand. “Were ya a good girl for Grandma
Victoria and Uncle Jarrod?” The little girl nodded, her blonde curls flopping
in her face. “Heath, bring me a brush
will ya?” Janine sat up and took the brush from her husband. She tried to brush the curls out of her
daughter’s hair. “Well Mama brought you
somethin’ from town, but I don’t know where it went.” She glanced at Heath.
“I’ll look for your things in a
while, Janey.”
“Mama, ow?” Leah pointed to her
arm.
“Yeah sweetie. Mama hurt.
I’m okay now though. Now that
you’re here. Give Mama a hug.” Leah
gingerly hugged her mother a hug and sat back.
“Hungy Papa” Heath nodded,
loving the scene between mother and daughter.
“Hungy Papa, now!” Heath smiled his lopsided grin.
“Okay lil one. Go downstairs and see if Uncle Nick is
eatin’. You can eat with him if you
like.” In a flash, she was off the bed and out the door before either parent
could say anything. They glanced at
each other and shook their heads, chuckling.
“Quite the young lady, huh?” Janine nodded.
After Silas brought their
breakfast in, they ate slowly, savoring every bite. Heath was a good cook, but he couldn’t hold a candle to Silas,
she thought. Keeping her thoughts to
herself she grinned at her husband.
After they finished their breakfast, Heath took the dishes down to the
kitchen saying he would take her to see Audra when he came back upstairs.
When Janine saw Audra, she
almost burst into tears. “I’m so sorry
Audra. I didn’t mean to hurt ya.” Audra
turned her head, ignoring the wave of dizziness that passed through her.
“You didn’t mean for the wagon
to tip over, Janey. I don’t blame
ya. Honest I don’t.” Audra held her
arms out to her sister-in-law and they hugged each other, while sobbing. Heath left them alone so they could talk
quietly together. “Nick tells me you
tried to keep me warm while it was pouring rain. I don’t remember but I thank you. You did everything you could to save my life. That’s a true friend.”
“I was so scared, Audra. I’m so glad you’re goin’ to be okay. Next time, I won’t drive so fast.” She threw
Audra a slight smile and they both burst out laughing. “I feel so much better now”
“Me too. Where is the stuff we bought?”
“I don’t know. Heath said he was goin’ to look for it.”
“How are you feelin’ Audra?
Really?”
“I have a headache that is
supposed to go away in a few days. They
won’t let me out of bed. But then I
wouldn’t let them when they hurt themselves.
So I guess turnabout is fair play.
Even though I don’t like it much!” They heard a chuckle behind them and
there was Nick listening to them. “Nick
didn’t you know it was impolite to enter a lady’s room with knocking first?”
“I did knock Sis. Ya two were laughing so hard, ya didn’t hear
me!” The girls looked at each other and laughed again. “By the way Neen, I thought I’d tell ya that
Leah is helping Silas with bakin’. She
is havin’ fun throwing the flour ‘round.”
“Gotta go Audra. I’ll be back again later. I gotta rescue Silas from Leah. She does love to help!” With that Janine
wandered out of the bedroom and down the stairs to find her ever helpful two
year old.
A couple of days later, Janine
brought over the packages that Heath found lying on the side of the road. One was the dress that Audra had at the
dress shop and the others had material and sewing supplies to make clothes for
her niece. It was all there and Audra
felt happy.
That night as Janine and Heath
finished reading a chapter in their book, Pride and Prejudice, they snuggled
closer together. They spoke quietly and
turned off the lights. “Heath?”
“Yeah?”
“Were you mad at me for
overturning the wagon that night?”
“No” Heath drew her closer,
kissing her cheek, her mouth. “I was
just so upset that something worse had happened. I was never angry with ya.
Accidents happen, my pretty.”
“Thank ya! Thank ya! Thank ya! I
was so worried that you were angry because I hurt the horses and broke the
wagon.”
“No, I’m thankful that Leah
wasn’t with ya though. She could have
been seriously hurt.” Heath kissed her neck, making it difficult for her to
answer.
“Yes Heath, I know. I thought of that too.” She kissed him back
with a passion of her own.
“Let’s drop it for now. I forgive ya. I have better things in mind!” Janine chuckled and soon after
fell asleep. They had each other and
Leah, that was all that mattered!