I do not own The Big Valley nor any of the original Barkley characters.

Weeping Willow

Chapter One

The wind was starting to pick up speed as Audra sat in the stagecoach on her way home to Stockton. She'd been the only one on the stagecoach and while it had been pleasant, it was lonely and quiet trip. That is up until the driver had been stopped by a young, well-dressed young woman with a young child.

The moment the door open, Audra had let out a gasp. The woman might as well be her twin. They were the same height and build, hair coloring, even their fine noses and full lips were similar. Except for the child and her clothing, they could have definitely been related. For a moment it shocked Audra, but then her imagination had her in giggles. She quickly contained them and with the good manners and friendliness of a true Barkley she greeted the young woman with a warm smile.

"Good afternoon. My name is Audra Barkley, how lovely to have someone to share the long ride home with."

The woman, now settling her son next to her, was just as surprised as Audra. They were indeed very similar, except for their voices. It was obvious that the young Miss Audra was well educated and very refined. Her voice was gentle and soft. Rebecca answered shyly trying to cover her speech flaws as she saw them.

"That's right kind of you, Ma'am. My names Rebecca Hannifin and this my boy…."

"So, where are you heading Rebecca?" Audra asked as she looked at the young boy.

Rebecca, who had now recovered from her initial shock and shyness, answered with a smile back at Audra. "My stepson and I are going to live with my parents; my husband was killed last year in a mining accident."

Rebecca then looked nervously out the window closest to her, then to the window on the other side of the coach as if she was keeping a nervous eye out for someone or something. Audra sensed her nervousness and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on, trepidation… fear...? she mused silently. However, before Audra could ask Rebecca why she seemed so anxious, the stagecoach suddenly pitched sharply to the right. They heard the wheel break before they were sent down a steep embankment.

0000

Nick and Heath had just sat down in the living room when a knock came on the door. Heath went to stand up, only to have Jarrod hurry down the stairs to answer it. They were all surprised to see the sheriff on the other side looking rather upset. "What is it, Fred?" Jarrod asked as the lawman stepped inside.

When he didn't answer Nick and Heath stood, the feeling in their stomachs retching silently as they hurried over to join Jarrod.

"What is it, Fred?" Nick barked. He'd been feeling out of sorts all morning; in fact, they all had and Fred's uneasy demeanor wasn't helping any.

"We need your help to look for the stagecoach. It hasn't arrived, and it's way past due." Fred finally spat the news out. He had tried to keep his voice even, but he found it hard to control the sharp edge to his words; knowing Audra was to arrive home today, the lawman feared the worst.

Shock waves ran through the brothers as they stiffened and their eyes widened. Like the sheriff, they feared for Audra. Before they could say a word, they could sense their mother nearby. They turned and looked up the stairs; sure enough Victoria stood half way up the staircase in the landing, the fear they felt clearly displayed in their mother's eyes.

"You'd best hurry," Victoria said. Grabbing the skirt of her evening dress, she hurried as fast and as safely as she could down the rest of the stairs. "Time's wasting," she announced almost like an order.

"Yes, mother." Jarrod hurried to get his coat while his brothers did the same. Soon the four men were joining the search party the sheriff had rounded up and were waiting on their horses outside the gate that surrounded the Barkley home.

OOOO

As they rode their horses down the route the stagecoach should have traveled, Heath found himself wrestling with the familiar uneasy feeling. Actually, he'd been upset since his sister left. They'd had a few words, oh not real harsh ones, but still they'd had them. He'd felt bad and thought about riding after her, but his pride had stopped him. Eventually though, he come to realize she was right and told himself he'd apologize when she got home. Now? He found his eyes roving constantly, hoping to see the stagecoach merely dealing with some minor repair job.

Nick and Jarrod both knew of the minor spat Heath and Audra had had and they could tell from the worry that filled their brother's eyes that he feared he'd not be getting a chance to make it up to her. "She's fine, Heath," Jarrod did his best to ease his brother's troubled mind, and calm his own worries as well, "You'll see. We'll find her."

"I hope so." Heath glanced towards Jarrod as the group came to a halt at a fork in the road. Fred turned his horse around in order to face the men searching with him.

"Accordin' to the stage line, the driver was not supposed to the leave the road. However, this right one runs through a small town and, if they were having problems, they might have taken it in order to take care of those problems. We need to split the group up here." The lawman then began splitting the group up, putting Nick in charge of the second group with Heath. Fred asked Jarrod to stay and help him. Fred then asked Heath and Nick which road they wanted to take. After a few minutes of discussion, the two brothers said they'd take the left one.

The two groups then separated and Nick led Heath and the men with him down the scheduled route. By the time they reached the last bend the stagecoach had taken, rain was falling…just enough be annoying. When they actually went around the bend, their hearts froze and they pulled hard on their reins, spinning their horses in the fine mist. Steadying the animals beneath them, they stared down at the stagecoach and then the driver, who had been thrown a good thirty feet from the wreckage.

Nick, Heath, and the rest of the men with them flew off their horses concerned only now with finding the missing girl. Nick scurried down the embankment just ahead of Heath.

"Audra! Audra!" Nick and Heath both yelled hoping to hear their sister answer. The only answer was the whistle of a slight breeze and a couple of birds. Nick reached the stagecoach first and hurried around to the side hidden from the road. He might as well have hit a brick wall for as fast as he stopped. His heart screamed. He felt as if someone just taken his doubled up fist and punched every bit of air along with his soul right out of his body. He had to grab onto the overturned stagecoach and lower his head to keep from passing out.

"Wh…" Heath started to ask as he ran around the coach only to have his knees buckle like someone had kicked him. He fell to the ground never taking his eyes of the lifeless tangled form pinned under the coach.

The moment the men with them saw the brothers' actions and heard Heath's pained fill cry of "NO!" they knew what the Barkleys had found.