by Lindabrit
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 short story is an "add-on" to the Big
Valley episode "Court Martial".
It was now two days since that memorable evening when the Government agents
rode away from the Barkley mansion with their prisoner General Alderson and
Jarrod Barkley was sitting at the desk in his Stockton office staring rather
blankly at the papers spread out before him. He had plenty of work to do but so
far he had spent a pretty unprofitable morning, not really getting anywhere
with his business. He didn't seem able to concentrate and wasn't easily able to
pinpoint where the problem lay. He only knew that he was having difficulty
stringing his ideas together, or indeed keeping his mind on his work at all. He
found his thoughts continually straying back to the events of two evenings ago,
which had culminated in Alderson's admission of treachery.
Whilst it was all transpiring, Jarrod had coped well with the pressure of
keeping up the deception, even though it had involved the cruel trick of making
his brother Nick believe that he was about to be hung. Jarrod had played his
part well, buoyed up by the importance of the quest to prove Alderson's
involvement in President Lincoln's assassination. With his customary drive and determination,
Counselor Barkley had enmeshed his whole family in the ruse to unmask Alderson
and ultimately it had worked.
At that amazing moment, the instant when Alderson had confessed, blurting out
his guilt amidst a storm of terrified tears, Jarrod had been experiencing an
adrenaline high, conscious of little but the success of his plan. Not even the
mighty punch to his jaw delivered by the angry fist of his younger brother Nick
had served to dampen Jarrod's satisfaction with the outcome of his scheme. It
was only later, when that rush of elation and satisfaction had subsided that
Jarrod had at last stopped to count the cost.
He had been horrified by the savage burns on his mother's wrists and had felt
shame too, he ought to have known Victoria Barkley was not the woman to stay
tamely locked up awaiting release. He should have guessed she would do her
utmost to escape, as indeed she had, hence the severe burns. Jarrod had
understood why Nick was so furious with him, not just because of the ordeal he
had undergone, for Nick didn't rate his own personal safety very highly. The
safety of his mother and sister was another matter, Nick had been deeply angry
that Jarrod had not made arrangements for the Barkley ladies to be absent from
the house during the charade.
Jarrod had felt that the whole situation would look suspicious if not only Nick
and Heath but the womenfolk too were away from home. That had been his reason
for involving Victoria and Audra in what had been, in retrospect, a very
dangerous situation. He regretted his decision to an extent, although, with wry
self-knowledge, he knew that he would do the same thing over again in so
important a cause.
Jarrod leaned back in his leather chair, thinking over the intervening time
since the night of Alderson's unmasking. He had become reconciled with Nick
almost immediately, the younger brother acknowledging that he would have felt
obligated to help the government just as Jarrod had. His mother and sister had
been equally understanding and so had the imprisoned Silas and Ciego, once they
were released. In fact, the whole affair would be well on the way to blowing
over by now, except for one thing, the continuing and quite pronounced
disapproval being shown towards Jarrod by his younger brother Heath.
Admittedly, Heath too had suffered as a result of Jarrod's machinations, he had
been cut pretty severely when he jumped through the glass window as he made his
dramatic escape attempt and had also taken a bullet in the upper arm but Jarrod
knew his brother pretty well by now and he didn't think that any personal hurt
suffered by Heath was the reason for the young man's continuing coldness toward
him. For Heath Barkley was as indifferent to his own personal safety as Nick
Barkley was. It was beginning to trouble Jarrod that he didn't know exactly
what was wrong. It was an unaccustomed situation for the lawyer, he was usually
able to pinpoint other's feelings with accuracy and his current uncertainty had
him feeling helpless and lost.
With a sigh of exasperation Jarrod abandoned his attempts to bury himself in
his legal business, pushing away his paperwork and standing up from his desk.
He put on hat and jacket and headed for the livery stable. Whatever was eating
Heath had to be confronted and dealt with and the lawyer was not going to solve
any part of the riddle here in Stockton.
Jarrod enjoyed the ride home to the ranch, the midday air was fresh and not too
hot and it felt good even to be trying to do something to resolve the matter.
Anything was better than allowing the present uneasy atmosphere between himself
and Heath to continue any longer. Leaving Ciego to unsaddle Jingo, Jarrod went
indoors to say hello to his mother. He found Victoria seated at the kitchen
table having her burned wrists re- dressed by Silas. The smile of greeting on
Jarrod's face faded as he beheld the red raw consequences of the charade he had
himself orchestrated.
Victoria read his thoughts unerringly, "now don't start all that again,
I'm healing extremely well, with the help of Silas's magic salve, isn't that
right Silas?"
"Yes indeed Ma'am," smiled the servant, deftly rebandaging her wrists
and gathering up the medical basket. He poured coffee for mother and son and
left them alone.
Victoria looked shrewdly at her eldest son, "you seem to be finding it
hard to put the events of two evenings ago behind you Jarrod, what's done is
done, you have to move on."
Her words were gently spoken but Jarrod's eyes were filled with pain as he met
his mother's eyes, "I hope you know how deeply I regret putting you and
Audra in any danger."
Victoria smiled, "you've apologized a dozen times Darling and as I keep
saying, I don't blame you any more than I blame myself. You did what you
thought was right and when I tried to escape so did I. Each of us acted
according to our natures and no-one else is responsible for that."
Jarrod smiled but said nothing and his mother wondered what was going on.
"Is Nick giving you a hard time?" she asked sympathetically.
Jarrod shook his head, "no, Nick and I cleared the air pretty quickly, he
and I understand one another I think. It's Heath I seem to be having trouble
communicating with."
Victoria was surprised, "well admittedly Heath didn't exactly come out of
the affair unscathed, but it isn't like him to bear a grudge for any length of
time, there must be something in particular bothering him. I think you should
talk to him."
Jarrod finished his coffee and stood up, "as usual lovely Lady you are
absolutely right and that is just what I'm going to do."
Jarrod needed to find out where Heath was likely to be so he headed over to the
foreman's office which was attached to the bunkhouse. McCall told him that
Heath was in the small meadow attached to the corral, mending a broken section
of fence and Jarrod walked over there at once, determined to force the issue
with his younger brother and clear the air.
Heath was attempting to fix the broken fence section but clearly his wounded
arm was slowing him down. He glanced up as Jarrod approached but there was no
welcoming smile for his eldest brother as there would normally have been.
Jarrod tried for a light and friendly note, "well now, should you be
trying to do work of this nature with a wounded arm young man?"
Heath barely looked his way as he answered shortly, "work needs doing,
ain't nobody else going to take care of it from where I stand."
Jarrod ignored the hostile tone and removed his jacket, "perhaps I can
help?"
"Suit yourself," came the terse reply.
The lawyer gritted his teeth, this was not going to be easy, it seemed that
Heath was deliberately trying to provoke him. Jarrod resolved that he would not
rise to the bait and set to with a will assisting Heath with the fence.
At first, Jarrod tried to engage his younger brother in conversation but
Heath's manner remained frosty and he answered only in monosyllables so
eventually Jarrod gave up. For a time the two brothers worked in silence and
with the lawyer's help it wasn't long before the job was done. Jarrod had had
the forethought to bring a water canteen out with him and he drank some water
gratefully before offering the canteen to Heath, who was wiping the sweat from
his face with his bandanna. The fair haired rancher hesitated for a moment then
took the canteen and drank deeply.
Jarrod fixed his intense gaze on Heath's face and said quietly, "Heath I
hate the way things are between us, I wish you could bring yourself to talk to
me about...whatever it is that's troubling you."
Heath had been staring at the fence, but at Jarrod's words he raised his head
and looked his brother in the eye.
"I doubt you'd understand even if I told you Jarrod," he said flatly.
Jarrod was shaken by the depth of anger he could see in Heath's face and he
knew that little as he might want to hear what Heath had to say, he somehow had
to induce his younger brother to open up to him.
Ignoring the hostile attitude of the rancher, Jarrod laid a hand on Heath's
shoulder, "try me Heath."
Heath didn't seem to know where to start and Jarrod tried to help him, saying.
"I gather this is about the Alderson affair?"
The mention of Alderson's name did it, it was like setting a match to a fuse,
suddenly the pent up dam of Heath Barkley's simmering rage burst over his elder
brother in a torrent of angry, vehement words.
"Well of course it's about Alderson, what the hell else would it be?"
Heath strode angrily over to the fence, punching it with his fist and turning
to confront Jarrod again.
"You know Jarrod, one of these days, you're going to be running one of
your damn puppet shows and things aren't going to turn out the way you expect
them to!"
Jarrod shook his head, "I don't follow you Heath."
"Then I'll tell you Jarrod! You go off on these...crusades of yours and
you weave a web around everyone you involve in them, playing a damn game! What
if your schemes go wrong huh? What if innocent people get hurt by them?"
His vehemence had shaken Jarrod but the lawyer was trying hard to understand
what Heath was getting at.
"If you're speaking of Mother and Audra Heath, I regret the..."
"No," interrupted Heath, "they got hurt sure, but it isn't the
family I'm talking about Jarrod!"
"What then?" Jarrod was losing his patience now and his words were
forcefully uttered.
Heath's hard eyes locked onto Jarrod's face, "I believed it you know, Nick
too, we believed it all, right up to the moment when Alderson confessed and you
told us what had been going on."
Jarrod shuffled uncomfortably, "you and Nick were never meant to be
involved, you weren't intended to be there," he said defensively.
"Makes no difference Counselor, we were there, that's what counts!"
Some of Heath's anger was ebbing now, he knew he needed to make his brother
understand so he moderated his tone and spoke more reasonably to Jarrod.
"When I escaped through the window, did it surprise you?"
Jarrod considered his answer, "at the time yes," a small smile
touched his mouth, "in retrospect, no, I should have known you'd try
something!" Heath sat on a nearby tree stump, "what did you think I
would do?"
"I guess I thought you'd try and get the drop on the guards outside,"
answered Jarrod.
Heath nodded, "which is just what I managed to do, not without injuring
either of them, but at least without having to kill."
Jarrod's brows snapped together in a heavy frown, "to kill?"
"To kill," repeated Heath slowly and deliberately, "I was
prepared to kill if I had to Jarrod, I thought those men intended to hang my
brother, I knew they had my mother and sister in their clutches, I was unarmed
and not holding too many cards, so yes, I was prepared to kill if I had
to."
Heath watched as the truth of his words sank in with Jarrod and eventually the
lawyer sighed and looked into Heath's honest face.
"I think I get the point Heath, but don't forget that though you weren't
in on the deception the government agents were, they wouldn't have put you in
that position."
Heath shook his head, "they might not have wanted to, but in situations
like that, things can happen in the blink of an eye, you can't say for sure how
it might have turned out."
Jarrod was silent for a long moment, "no, I guess I can't Heath."
Heath was glad that he was getting through to his brother, he had respected and
admired Jarrod from the first day they ever met, but this needed saying and he
wasn't done yet either.
"When I came back into the living room Jarrod, I wasn't playing games,
even though you and the government men were, I had drawn guns in both hands, I
was prepared to use them, it chills me to the bone to think I might have shot
one of those men."
Jarrod protested, "I wouldn't have allowed that to happen Heath!"
Heath's ire rose again, "See here Big Brother, you're not God! I could
easily have shot one of those men!"
"All right," conceded Jarrod, "say you had, no-one could have
held you to blame."
"Do you think that would have made me feel any better?" flashed
Heath.
"No, I guess not," answered Jarrod quietly.
Heath pursued the argument, staring into the distance, remembering the events
of that night, his voice was quietly convincing, "the most dangerous part
of that whole affair was when we were outside and the agents conned Alderson
into believing he was about to hang. I'm not surprised that Alderson fell for
it, they had me and Nick convinced too! That's why we were about to take
action."
Jarrod's eyes widened in genuine surprise, "you and Nick? But you hadn't
had a chance to exchange a single word, how could you possibly have decided
what to do?"
Heath smiled a little grimly, "Nick and I have been in tight spots before
Jarrod and we know each other pretty well by now. I had caught Nick's eye and
he was just waiting for me to make the first move." Heath looked very
straightly at his eldest brother, "did you really think I would stand
there and let Nick hang?"
Jarrod nearly reminded Heath that there was never going to be a hanging but he
wasn't about to make the same mistake twice and instead he nodded, "your
point being that you and Nick might have taken action and hurt innocent
men?"
Heath's eyes were grave, "that's exactly my point Jarrod."
The two men stood facing one another and before either could say anything else,
a figure appeared walking towards them across the meadow. It was Nick and he
came up to his brothers grinning a welcome, "thought you might be needing
a hand here Heath but it seems you already had one, now how did you get the
Counselor doing manual labour and in his lawyer's suit what's more?"
Heath smiled briefly at Nick but said nothing, it was Jarrod who answered him,
"I couldn't seem to settle to my own work in town so I headed home and I
wanted a word with Heath anyway."
Nick nodded, "yeah I know what you mean, I couldn't settle to work either,
I came to find Heath and see if he fancied an afternoon's fishing." He
glanced at Heath, "good idea?"
Heath nodded, "good idea Nick, I think I can fish one-handed."
Nick turned to Jarrod, "how about it Counselor, you coming too?"
Jarrod's eyes were on Heath, "I don't know Boys, am I?"
Heath's hard gaze held Jarrod's for a long few seconds then his expression
relaxed into its familiar twisted smile. He gestured to Jarrod's town clothes,
"why don't you go change out of your lawyer's suit and I'll find your
fishing gear and saddle Jingo for you?"
Jarrod's contrite eyes smiled into Heath's, "thanks Heath," he said
quietly and both men knew that he was thanking his younger brother for a lot
more than the offer to find his fishing gear and saddle his horse.