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.
A Trouble Shared
Nick Barkley stretched his booted feet toward the warmth of the camp fire and
settled himself with his back against a convenient boulder. He poured himself
more coffee and held the pot up invitingly, "Heath?"
Similarly sprawled at his ease on the other side of the fire, Heath glanced up
from his contemplative study of the flames and shook his head, "no thanks
Nick."
Nick put the coffee pot down and sipped thoughtfully at his own coffee, his
hazel eyes resting on his younger brother. They were on one of their regular
trips to buy horses at the San Carlos horse sales. It was only a two-day ride
from the ranch and was one of their favourite annual trips. The quality of
stock offered for sale was always high and the brothers had made this trip into
a welcome holiday, a respite from their hard work running the Barkley ranch and
all its off-shoot businesses.
This trip had been made, as all the others had been, on horseback. There were
excellent communications between Stockton and San Carlos these days, trains and
regular stage coaches too. The brothers didn't care, they had always loved
their trail-rides together, they were the foundation of their brotherhood. It
had been trips like this, making camp out on the trail, just the two of them,
that had allowed them to talk, to confide in one another, ultimately to trust
each other.
Nick smiled inwardly, a long time ago now, indeed he could barely recall what
life had been like before Heath became a part of the Barkley family. It was so
different, having a partner, someone to talk things over with, to take
decisions with. Even trips like this were far more fun with a companion, the
tedium of the journey relieved by the customary chat and banter between the
brothers.
Nick's inward smile became rueful, except for one small problem, Heath had
barely opened his mouth for the last two days. He hadn't been sulky or surly,
he hadn't inflicted his own, obviously dark mood on his brother in any way. He
was just, quietly, sadly disconsolate and to Nick's experienced eye Heath was
also deeply worried. The older man had behaved with an uncharacteristic
patience, waiting for Heath to choose to share his troubles, rather than
badgering him to do so.
Now, Nick wondered if he shouldn't make an effort to get Heath to confide in
him. Whatever was on Heath's mind, Nick didn't see how talking about it could
be anything but therapeutic. Lack of confidence was not a thing that ever
troubled Nick Barkley and he didn't doubt that he could be of help to his
younger brother, if only the stubborn younger man would tell him what the
trouble was.
Heath became aware of Nick's penetrative gaze and looked up from his
contemplation of the camp-fire. A sly twinkle lightened the sombre expression
in Heath's gentle blue eyes, big brother was wearing his ‘I'm worried about
you' look.
"Something on your mind Nick?"
Nick wasn't deceived by the mock-innocent tone of Heath's dulcet- voiced
enquiry and he frowned sternly at the blond rancher.
"Well now, it seems to me you're the one with something on his mind, I
might as well have taken this trip alone, for all the conversation I've had
from you these last two days!"
"I know," sighed Heath, "sorry Nick, I'm a little worried about
something."
"I know that!" The asperity in Nick's voice, served only to deepen
the twinkle in Heath's eyes and Nick uttered a short laugh.
"One of these days Heath Barkley you're going to push me that bit too
far," warned Nick with a grin. His face became serious again, I've been
patiently waiting for you to spill the beans but you haven't. I hope you know
that I'll do anything I can to help you."
It was true, Heath reflected, Nick had indeed behaved with unusual restraint
and he was grateful for his fiery-tempered brother's forbearance. He had needed
the peace of the last two days out on the trail, to try to find a solution to
his problem. He sighed heavily, he was no further forward with it though.
Nick's voice interrupted his gloomy thoughts, "what is it Heath? Maybe I
can help."
His tone was unwontedly gentle and Heath knew an impulse to unburden himself to
his brother, what was that saying, a trouble shared is a trouble halved? He
smiled at Nick, "I'm sorry I've been poor company this trip, you're right,
I do have a problem to solve. I hoped to come up with something during the
trip, but I'm no nearer a solution."
Nick's intelligent eyes searched Heath's face, "is it Lucas?"
Heath nodded ruefully, "you know Nick, when I adopted Luke, I knew it
wouldn't be plain sailing, but I was so sure I could handle him, after all, my
eldest daughter is adopted and she and I have always been close."
"Girls are different," commented Nick knowledgeably, "give a
girl some affection and a safe place to live and they settle down well, boys
need a lot more guidance."
Heath knew that Nick was right, all Nick's own kids were adopted and despite many
problems all had turned out well. One of Nick's sons, Jason, had even come from
the same work-camp as Lucas and he had been a good, hard-working boy from the
start.
Nick read his brother's thoughts, "it ain't any use you making comparisons
between Jake and Luke, Jake was only in that hell-hole because his father was
there, poor kid had nowhere else to go. Lucas was there because he's a thief
and when a boy has been thieving all his life, it isn't going to be easy to
teach him to mend his ways."
"I know that Nick, Jarrod said much the same at the camp, when he was
trying to talk me out of adopting Lucas. I knew I'd have to be patient with
him, try to make up for all the bad influences there have been in his life. I
was sure I could do it, I never doubted it, not for a moment, but boy howdy,
I'm surely doubting it now!"
Nick frowned into the fire, "I suppose he's been stealing again?"
Heath sighed, "yeah, he took something from the coat of one of his
class-mates at school. It turns out it was some kind of dare by the rest of the
boys and Luke rose to the bait. He never intended to keep what he took and he
seems to think that makes a difference. I've tried hard to make him understand
that there aren't degrees of honesty, you either thieve or you don't, but he
just doesn't get it."
"Have you punished him?"
"No, not yet, I'm kind of running out of options on that score, I've tried
reasoning with him, lecturing him, confining him to his room, I even got the
sheriff to lock him up for a day, to teach him a lesson. He always seems to be
taking notice, he promises me he'll do better, then a few weeks later, it
happens again."
"I know what I'd do with him," commented Nick grimly.
"Which is?"
"I'd introduce him to the business end of my razor strop!"
Heath shook his head, "I don't want to whip him Nick."
"I know you don't and I know he's been brutalized in the past, but he's
got to learn this lesson somehow."
Heath sighed, "I know it, I hoped if I thought it over on this trip, I'd
come up with a good idea, but no such luck."
Nick smiled across at Heath, his hazel eyes gleaming with humour, "which
proves what I'm always saying, when in doubt, ask your big brother for
help."
Heath looked up, an arrested expression in his troubled eyes, "you
mean...you actually have an idea of how I can handle this without resorting to
whipping Lucas?"
Nick grinned, "as it happens, I do."
Chapter Two
An old family remedy
Nick poured coffee for himself and his brother and handed a steaming tin mug to
Heath.
“What I’m going to tell you about is an old family remedy, something father
told us his father used on him and Uncle Jim a time or two. To my certain
knowledge Father used it on all of his sons...except you of course.” Nick’s
smile robbed his words of any sting and he said, “I don’t doubt that if you’d
grown up on the ranch, he’d have gotten around to using it on you too.”
Heath returned the smile, to let Nick know that no offence had been taken and
he settled back to listen to what Nick had to say. He didn’t yet know what the
old family remedy was, but at this point he was willing to try anything, so
deeply worried was he about Lucas’s future.
Thus far, the various people involved had been understanding and forgiving,
about Luke’s dishonest lapses, but what was forgiven in a boy, wasn’t likely to
be forgiven in a young man. Luke was twelve now, he needed to be broken of his
dishonesty soon, if his behaviour wasn’t curbed, then all too soon, the boy was
going to land himself in trouble from which Heath would be unable to rescue
him.
“All right Nick, tell me about this old family remedy then?”
Nick grinned, “Father used to call it the Fencing Lesson.”
Heath frowned, “fencing, you mean like with swords?”
Nick burst out laughing, “no, not that type of fencing, that ain’t it at all!”
Heath sighed, “you know Nick, you never have been able to tell a story the
right way around so’s a person could make any sense of it! Start at the
beginning will you?”
Heath listened intently to what Nick had to say and when his brother had
finished speaking, he sat in thought for a long time. Nick let him think the
matter over in peace and waited patiently for Heath to say something. At
length, Heath glanced up and his intense gaze impaled his brother.
“Did you say that...Father...did this with all three of you boys?”
Nick silently noted Heath’s hesitation, his brother had always found it
difficult to refer to Tom Barkley as ‘Father’. The older brother grinned
reminiscently.
“Yeah, he sure did! He was pretty strict with Jarrod and me when we were boys
but my exploits kind of mellowed him out some and by the time the young ‘uns
came along he was a lot more tolerant. Gene got pretty out of control one time
though and he got the treatment too.”
Heath looked Nick in the eye, “do you think it might work with Lucas?”
“I don’t know,” answered Nick honestly, “it depends on the boy. If he’s got a
good heart, as you believe he has, then it will work, but if not...well, we’ll
cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Heath nodded decisively, “I want to try it Nick. Are you all right with me
taking off in the middle of all this work?”
“So what else is new?”
Heath grinned, “no really, I know we’re real busy can you manage alone?”
There had been a time when Nick would instantly have retorted, ‘look Boy, I was
running this place before you ever came here!’ Not now though, “I’ll scrape by,
you take Lucas and do what you have to do, don’t worry about a thing.”
Heath smiled gratefully, “thanks Nick, I’ll be sure and ask you quicker next
time I’m in a jam.”
“What are big brothers for,” said Nick grinning affectionately at Heath.
Chapter Three
The Lesson Begins
Lucas Barkley was as miserable as he could ever remember being, not even his
time in the hell of the work-camp had ever made him as unhappy as he was now.
He sat disconsolately in his room, wondering when and if his adoptive father
was ever going to speak to him again. He had been in this room since a furious
Heath Barkley had brought him home from school, after the principal had told
Heath about Luke’s latest theft.
In vain, Lucas had tried to explain to his father that it had all been a dare,
he had not intended to keep what he had taken. The wrathful Heath had soon
conveyed to his son that he took a very different view of the matter. Luke
didn’t understand why Heath couldn’t see that it wasn’t really stealing, but he
was sorry that he had let his father down yet again.
Lucas adored Heath, he was glad and grateful for his rescue and wanted to
please the quiet, gentle man who had legally adopted him into a prosperous and
loving home. He knew that the one thing Heath expected of him was honesty, he
had said as much and Luke had promised not to steal. The boy had been sincere,
but old habits were proving hard to break.
Lucas was a tall, slender boy, with short, straight fair hair and blue eyes the
exact same colour as Heath’s. Indeed, he looked so like Heath, that people
often commented on the resemblance between father and son. Paradoxically,
Heath’s own two sons had inherited their mother’s dark hair and eyes.
Lucas scrambled up from his bed as he heard Heath’s step on the stairs and he
was standing, tensely, when his father entered the room.
Heath looked him over in stern silence for a moment and Luke’s heart sank, Pa
was still mad, that was for sure.
Heath’s voice was as cold as his glance, “get your gear together, I need to
work out on the range for a few days and since I can’t trust you out of my
sight, you’d best come with me.”
Ordinarily, Lucas would have been thrilled at the prospect of spending some
time alone with his father, as it was, he flushed up to the roots of his hair
and murmured a subdued “yessir” before turning to pack his saddlebags. The boy
was apprehensive about being in Heath’s company constantly for the next few
days, he knew he had deeply disappointed his father and wasn’t sure how he
could make amends, except maybe by working hard. He made up his mind that he
would do that and hope that Heath would forgive him in time for the theft at
school.
Chapter Four
Father and Son
Lucas was puzzled, for the life of him he didn’t understand what was going on.
He and Pa had been out three days now, camping each night at the end of a
gruelling day’s work. The work itself was hard and boring, they were renewing a
long stretch of the fence that ran along the south side of the Barkley
pastures. It was tough work for one man and a boy and Heath had set a fast pace
from the outset. Luke was weary to his bones, but worked diligently beside
Heath, hoping to atone for his wrong-doing.
Luke didn’t understand what they were doing here, his father and Uncle Nick ran
this ranch, there were thirty ranch hands working for them, so there was no
need for Pa to be stuck out here doing such a gruelling and boring job. This
was only part of Luke’s puzzlement, for the life of him, he didn’t understand
why his father and Uncle Nick worked so hard. They were members of the richest
family in the valley, masters of its biggest ranch. Yet they were up with the
dawn every morning and were usually the last to quit at the end of the working
day. To Lucas this seemed crazy and he had said as much to Pa one day. He could
remember Pa’s answer too.
“Your Uncle Nick and I don’t expect our men to do anything we wouldn’t be
willing to do ourselves, being rich doesn’t relieve you of responsibility, it
gives you greater responsibility.”
Lucas hadn’t understood what Pa meant and looking now at his calloused hands
and feeling the dull ache in his tired bones and muscles he reckoned he still
didn’t. He had stuck doggedly with Heath though, doing all that was asked of
him without complaint and wistfully hoping to be forgiven for what had happened
at school.
So far, Heath was showing no sign of forgiving Lucas. He was coldly stern and
the two worked in near silence most of the time. Heath wasn’t unkind in any
other way and responded whenever Lucas addressed him, but his chilly demeanour
made Luke disinclined to chatter as he would dearly have liked to do.
As Heath rolled himself into his blanket for their third night in camp, he
thought over the day and assessed if any progress had been made, not on the
fencing chore, but on Luke’s lesson. He was inclined to think that no progress
had been made at all. He could still sense Luke’s bewilderment, as yet, the boy
simply didn’t know why they were out there. Before leaving home, Heath had
asked Nick a question.
“How will I know when he’s learned his lesson Nick?”
Nick had smiled, “difficult to say, but something will happen and you’ll know.”
As he composed himself for sleep, Heath sighed inwardly, it was plain to him
that the lesson had not yet been learned, very well then, it would continue a
while longer.
Chapter Five
Lucas Sees the Light
The first thing Lucas did when he opened his eyes on day four of the fencing
lesson was to wince and clench his teeth against the excruciating pain
radiating from the palm of his left hand. He had started a blister on the third
day of work and overnight it seemed to have swelled to the size of a silver
dollar. It was red raw, starting to become infected and as painful as hell.
Lucas hadn't told his Pa about the blister and he didn't plan to. He knew Heath
well enough to know that his father wouldn't expect him to carry on with this
hard labour with a severely blistered hand. Luke was aching in every bone and
despite the fact that his Pa was used to hard work, he knew Heath was just as
sore and weary. But Pa wasn't giving up and so Luke wouldn't either.
Luke didn't really know why he was so determined to press on, only...well...if
it mattered to his Pa, then it mattered to Lucas too. He managed to conceal the
worst of his pain from Heath until they took their lunch break, then Heath
became aware of it with graphic suddenness. Heath hammered home the last nail
in the section of fence they were working on and glancing up at the sky,
decided it was time to eat. He was beginning to mellow toward his adoptive son,
the boy had worked hard and without complaint and Heath had been almost proud
of him.
He gave Luke a half-smile and said, "hungry?"
"Yes Sir, I sure am."
"I'll go get us something to eat, here put this back in the tool-bag for
me," said Heath. Tossing the hammer to Luke who instinctively caught it
with his left hand, letting out an uncontrollable scream of pain as he did so.
Heath was beside him in an instant, one arm around the boy's shoulders and the
other gently turning over Luke's left hand. The boy tried to pull his injured
hand away but Heath's gentle strength compelled him to show the blister. Heath
looked at it for long seconds and then he looked into Luke's pain-filled blue
eyes.
"How long have you had this Son?"
"It just started yesterday," muttered Luke defensively.
"It must have hurt like hell all morning," commented Heath.
"It's not too bad," asserted Luke unconvincingly.
In his first gesture of tenderness toward his son in many days, Heath stroked
Luke's fair hair.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Heath's gentle question caused tears to well in Luke's eyes, "I...I guess
I didn't want to let you down," he said brokenly.
A spark of hope glowed in Heath Barkley's heart as he recalled his conversation
with Nick. His brother had told him he would know when Lucas had learned his
lesson, was this the first sign that he was getting through to the boy? He kept
his arm around Luke's shoulders and moved the boy gently towards a nearby rock
where the water canteens were.
"Come and sit down Luke, we need to get that blister cleaned up, otherwise
it's going to get more infected."
Father and son sat together and Heath used his bandanna to wipe over the
painful blister with cold water. Luke winced but didn't make any fuss, just sat
passively while Heath attended to his hurts.
When he had bound up Luke's hand, Heath reached out and squeezed the back of
his son's neck, he spoke quietly, to the boy. "Luke, did you think I'd
want you to work all morning with a bad hand?"
Luke was looking steadfastly at the ground, He shook his head, "No Pa, I
knew you wouldn't want me to do that."
"Then why did you do it Son?"
For a long minute the boy didn't answer, then he raised his soft eyes to
Heath's face and spoke more earnestly than Heath had ever heard him speak
before.
"Well, it's been real quiet this last three days and I guess I've been
doing some thinking."
"What have you been thinking about," probed Heath gently.
"All sorts of things," confided Lucas with a shy smile. "I used
to wonder why you and my uncles worked so hard, being a rich family and all,
but I think I know now. It's because it's the right thing to do isn't it
Pa?"
Heath's slow smile embraced his son, "yes it is, go on Luke, tell me more
about what you've been thinking."
Encouraged by Heath's response and by his kindness, Luke opened his heart to
his father. "I thought about what you said, about not asking your men to
do anything you wouldn't do and I think I understand that. I guess if you want
a man to take your orders then he has to respect you and I can see that a man
would respect you more if he knows you're willing to do more than your share.
Am...am I right Pa?"
Heath nodded, "yes Son you're right. Have you done any thinking about what
happened at school?"
Lucas nodded wordlessly, his shoulders shaking with distress and tears spilled
from his eyes and down his face.
Heath drew him close rubbing his back, "easy Luke, don't cry, just try to
tell me what you've been thinking."
Luke pulled away slightly and made a valiant attempt to pull himself together.
"I'm sorry Pa, I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking taking the
money out of that coat pocket. I just didn't think of it as stealing, I just
took the dare the other boys gave me and did it. I never meant to keep the
money, I just wanted to show them all I could do it under the teacher's nose.
I...I can see now that it was stealing, whatever my excuse for it was,
there...there are no excuses for stealing. I'm really sorry."
"I know that Luke and I'm not angry about that any more, not if you really
believe what you've just told me."
"Yes Sir I do," answered Luke with simple sincerity.
Heath ruffled his son's hair, "in life there will always be people who try
to make you do what they want, most times they don't have your best interests
at heart, just their own. Learning to recognize those people will help you to
be your own man and not let yourself be used. Does that make sense to you
Son?"
Lucas nodded vigorously, "yes Sir, it sure does!"
Inwardly, Heath's heart was light, he had almost been able to watch the change
that had come over Luke these past few days, as the boy's natural intelligence
had helped him to think through his situation and come to recognize why his
father was angry with him.
Heath smiled at Luke, "it seems you've been thinking as hard as you've
worked these last few days Son. Have you come to any other conclusions?"
Luke nodded, his voice was serious, "Yes I have Pa. I'm going to try and
do what you and Uncle Nick and Uncle Jarrod do. I'm going to work hard and to
always try my best, that's what the three of you do, don't you Pa?"
Heath smiled, "we try to Son."
Lucas straightened up, "well, I know I've made you lots of promises in the
past so...so I'm not going to promise this time, I'm just going to show you Pa,
show you what I can do."
Heath hugged him, dropping a kiss on the top of Luke's head, "good for you
son! Come on let's head home for a good hot lunch."
Luke looked hopefully at his father, "are...are we done here Sir?"
Heath smiled, Nick had said he would know when the boy had seen the light, Nick
had been right, Heath did know. He smiled at Luke, "yes Luke we're done
here, the fencing lesson is over."
Chapter Six
Luke's new Life
In the weeks following the fencing lesson, Heath watched his son with quiet
satisfaction as Lucas set out on his newly remade life. Heath smoothed the
boy's way with his school principal and teacher but aside from that, he let
Luke forge his own path. Lucas didn't let him down, classmates who tried to
sucker him into thieving got short shrift from a boy who was rapidly gaining in
confidence and self-belief. He worked hard at school and did his chores at home
with a will.
Well-satisfied with the success of the fencing lesson, Heath decided to pay an
evening call on his big brother Nick. Heath and his family still lived with
Victoria in the Barkley mansion, but both Jarrod and Nick had palatial homes of
their own these days. Nick's was only half a mile from the mansion and it was a
common thing for Heath to stroll that way in the evening to visit his brother.
He found Nick alone, in his favourite place in the whole world. Across the back
of Nick's magnificent house, was a long curved terrace of polished stone. Below
it, the huge garden Nick had caused to be created for his wife, sloped gently
down to the river. Nick's wife loved her flowers and the terrace was originally
built for her benefit, but in truth, Nick loved to sit on the terrace himself.
Master of all he surveyed. Over the years, it had become Nick's custom to sit
in the darkened peace of the terrace, after dinner each evening.
Nick looked up as Heath came across the terrace and grinned with pleasure.
"Good to see you Heath, how about a drink?"
"Thanks Nick," said Heath dropping into the chair opposite his
brother with a contented sigh. "Ah this is the life."
Nick poured a scotch for Heath and pushed the glass to him across the table,
"isn't it just," he agreed.
Nick looked narrowly at Heath, "how are things with your tribe?"
"Good, how about yours?"
"Pretty good too. Young Luke doing all right now is he?"
Heath smiled affectionately at his brother, "you know Nick, I think he's
going to be fine. He's settled down well at school again and the last one of
his classmates who dared him to steal, wound up spitting out three of his own
teeth!"
Nick burst out laughing, "good for Luke!"
Heath said quietly, "I wanted to thank you Nick, that old family remedy,
the fencing lesson, it worked real fine with Lucas."
"Told you it would grinned Nick, "it's a tried and tested procedure,
hell it even worked on me!"
Heath grinned, "well that surely is a test, you being as stubborn as you
are, how long did Father keep you out fencing?"
Nick laughed, "pretty near ten days, I thought I was going to die! He had
less trouble with Jarrod and Gene than he did with me though."
Heath's blue eyes sparkled, "I reckon if Father had ever had the
opportunity to give me a fencing lesson it would have only taken a couple of
days."
"Hah! Couple of weeks more like, you're every bit as stubborn as I am
Heath Barkley and don't you think I don't know it!"
Late that night, Heath came softly into Luke's room and drew the quilt up over
his sleeping son. He sat in the chair beside the boy's bed for a few minutes,
silently offering God a prayer of thanks for helping Lucas find his way. Heath
was growing more confident day by day that the intelligent boy was destined for
a bright future.
On this night, neither Heath nor Lucas can know that in eleven years time,
Lucas will come home from University in triumph, having graduated at the top of
his law class. He will be the third of Heath's sons to follow their Uncle
Jarrod into the law. Heath's trio of clever lawyer-sons will make the Barkley
name even more illustrious in the years to come. But all that lies ahead and is
another story.