The Doing
by Nzie
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 rode Coco hard.
He knew the stallion could handle it and had decided that his beloved horse
loved the challenge as much as he did. They were going amazingly fast and the
wind whipping past felt wonderful on the hot, sticky day. Not much work in the
area he was riding that year, so he knew he was alone. Heath was on a
horse-buying trip and wouldn’t be there to ask for him and it was unlikely that
he’d be needed at the house. He was free to take up a challenge.
Everyone thinks I want to beat everyone. Why? There’s not much fun in that.
Well, I guess that I usually do beat people could have something to do with it.
Gosh, some of those time have been doozies. Nick smiled to himself.
Nick eased Coco to a halt but remained seated. He took out his pocket watch and
checked to see if he’d lessened his time at all. He’d lost two seconds! He let
out a whoop and reared Coco up on his hind legs. Taking a deep breath, he
dismounted and walked to Coco’s front.
“Ah, I knew we could do it, Coco, old boy! Yessir, we did it! What’d I tell ya?
Made it here quicker than last time. Whoopee! As Heath’d say, boy howdy, we did
it! And, by golly we did! For that, you get a treat. Enjoy it now, fella. It’s
well deserved.” Nick fished a few sugar cubes out for his horse and rubbed his
friend’s head as the latter nibbled on the sweet present.
Nick let Coco have free rein and sat down under the shade of a tree. Boy, was
it hot out, even for summer! He lay back and tipped his hat down, dozing off
for about ten minutes. Even sleep took second place when duty called the tired
cowboy. He woke up with only a few minutes before he’d have to leave for the
house to make it home in time for dinner. He looked down where his hand lay in
the dirt near the roots and scratched into it with his fingernails. He took in
his fist what he had scratched and held it before his face. He loved that
ground. The land. The land was his anchor. Something he worked for to improve,
to use it. He loved doing his work. Driving cattle along a dusty trail. There
was just that feeling that came, a love that happened when you poured your
sweat and blood and heart into it. Something inherited from his father.
Something that made the process sweeter than the rewards, the work more
valuable than the results. Something the Nick understood but could never
explain. It was the same thing that drove him to competition. The same thing
that drove him to perform to his greatest, making conquering others secondary to
conquering himself.
His time was up. He grabbed Coco’s reins and mounted up effortlessly. Nick took
his pocket watch out and looked at the time.
“Alright, Coco. Let’s make it home in time to check what’s for dessert!” He dug
in his spurs and they took off rapidly.