I do not own the big valley or any of the characters. This story is not beta-ed so all mistake are mine.
Heath Barkley stared at the stars. He was struggling to stay warm, the night was very cold and he was shivering. He wondered if his brothers were looking for him yet. Nick had a sixth sense when it, came to him, he always seemed to know when he was in trouble. As he lay there he thought about how he had gotten into this mess. He was going to go on a quick trip to a small town called red rock. They had some land up there that was being sold and he was meeting the soon to be owner. It would take him three days to get there and back, plus he would be spending two days in town.
"You sure you got all you need?" Nick asked.
"Yep, I checked the last time you asked me that and the time before that and the time before that..." Heath said teasingly to his brother.
"Heattthhh." Nick growled a warning but Heath choose not to listen.
"I'd say I've checked my supplies about six times now." Heath said with a smile on his face.
"Well your going to be gone for five days and what you got in your saddle bags don't look like enough."
"Don't worry Nick its enough." Heath said as he patted his brother on the shoulder. He mounted his horse and waved goodbye to the rest of his family who had gathered on the porch.
It had been a good start to the day but it had ended bad. "Nick," Heath called to his brother as the fever slowly started to rise, "Please come."
Heath was about ten miles from the ranch when trouble started. A deer ran across the trail he was on and soon after he seen the sun glint on a rifle barrel. The shot echoed through the air, the bullet whizzed past the deer and hit a rock. Heath heard the sound of a ricocheting bullet, and felt it hit him just under his left lung. His right hand want up and clutched the wound. He slumped forward leaning on the saddle horn. He watched as a man came running from the tree's. He took one look at Heath and took off running into the tree's.
"Wait! Help." The help came out as a whisper as Heath slid from the saddle and the world went blsck. His last thought before slipping into the darkness was 'Nick help me, pleasssee'.
It was a few hours after Heath had left and Nick had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He tried to keep his mind off of it by doing extra chores and a few repairs around the house that had been needing done for awhile.
"Ouch!" Nick yelled as he once again smashed his thumb with the hammer.
"Getting a little old to be sucking your thumb aren't you?" Jarrod asked when he seen Nick stick his thumb in his mouth.
"Very funny." Nick grumbled he was to distracted to argue with his brother.
"Something wrong?" Jarrod asked sensing that something was bothering his younger brother.
"It nothing." Nick picked up the hammer and nails and walked away. Jarrod stared after him for a moment before he too left.
Bullet. Blood. Cold. Fever. Pain. So much pain. All the words rocketed through his mind as the fog slowly crept away from his mind. As he opened his eye's he realized that the day had passed and it was now dark out, No wonder he was cold. He lay still for a second remembering the words that came to mind as he slowly woke. The bullet? Was it still in his side? He carefully shifted around so he could slide his hand under his back and see if there was an exit wound. He carefully felt for a wound but when he found none he slumped back down. He knew he had to get to some sort of shelter because the night would be long and cold. He slowly moved his arms to a position that he could push himself up from. He carefully tested the muscle in his arms hoping that they were not to week from lose of blood. He pushed himself up into a sitting position gasping at the pain that immediately shot through his side. He sat with his arms wrapped tightly around his sides, as he tried to catch his breath. Once the pain had eased to a dull throb, he slowly got to his knee's with his right hand on the wound. He carefully got his feet under him and stood. Wobbling for a second before he finally got his balance. He slowly took a step, he stood for a moment as the world threatened to go black again. Taking a deep breath he started walking. He had walked several yards through the tree's before he came to a pile of rocks, the rocks provided shelter from the wind so he decided that it was probably the best place to stay for the night. He leaned against the rocks but didn't dare sit down because he knew if he sat down he wouldn't get up. After leaning against the rock for a few minutes he pushed away from it and started gathering wood. He knew he wouldn't survive without a fire so he was determined to get as much wood as he could. At about midnight he finally sat down and sat to work starting the fire with matches that he had in his pocket. After the fire was started and was piled high with wood, he allowed himself to sleep.
Nick lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He wondered if Heath was alright. After tossing and turning for about two hours, he got out of bed and got dress before going down stairs to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen he made himself a glass of milk then sat down at the table and stared out the window. Nick sat there and worried about Heath the rest of the night.
At five A.M. Silas walked into the kitchen to start breakfast. He smiled slightly at the sight that greeted him. Nick sat with his head his arms crossed and his head laid on them. Silas thought about waking him up but decided it would be better to let him sleep. Soon the smell of eggs and bacon woke Nick up.
"Good mornin' mista Nick." Silas greeted him.
"Mornin' Silas." Nick said, still half asleep.
"You want some milk before you go out side?" Silas asked.
"No thanks, I got some chores to do before breakfast." Nick said as he stood up and went out the back door. He stopped a few feet from the barn, when he seen Heaths horse Charger standing there. He walked up to the horse and gently patted it on the shoulder. He moved to look into the saddle bag to see if Heaths stuff was still in it, but stopped before he even touched it. He stared a the ugly red marks on it. Nick ran his fingers over it, when the blood didn't come of the saddle he knew it was old and dry. He turned and ran for the house shouting as he entered.
"Mother, Jarrod, Audra!"
"Nick must you yell?" Victoria asked as she walked into the room.
"Where's Jarrod?" Nick asked.
"He's upstairs." Victoria had barely finished the sentence before Nick took off upstairs. When Nick got to the top of the stairs Jarrod and Audra were coming out of their rooms.
"Jarrod, Heaths been hurt we have to go find him." Nick said when he stopped at the top of the stairs.
"Find him? How do you know he's hurt if he's not here?" Jarrod asked his younger brother.
"Because his horse is in the yard with blood on the saddle. Now come on." Nick said as he went down the stairs with Jarrod only seconds behind him. Both men strapped on their gun belts and went out to the bunk house with Audra and Victoria following. Nick told the men what was happening and soon they had their horses saddled and ready to go.
It was cold too cold. Wait if it was cold why was he sweating? It didn't make since or did it. Heath was confused. The fire had went out sometime during the night and now as the morning sun slowly came up he wished for that fire's warmth. He tried to move but his body wouldn't cooperate, so he just laid there flat on his back while the fever continued to torment him. He was tired, and the fever and the lose of blood was causing him to lose his battle with consciousness.
Nick, Jarrod and the ranch hands were on the same road the Heath had took just yesterday. The were all spread out looking for some sign of the youngest Barkley brother. Nick, who was riding slightly ahead of the rest, spotted something on the side of the road. He rode up to it stopping for a second before getting down and picking it up.
"Jarrod!" Nick yelled to his brother fear evident in his voice. Jarrod looked up at the sound of his brothers voice. The first thing he noticed when he seen his brother standing there, was the hat in his hand. Jarrod quickly rode up to his brother and dismounted.
"It's Heath's," Nick answered the unasked question, "And thats probably his blood too." Nick said as he pointed to the dark crimson circle on the ground.
"Lets look around maybe we can find out where he went." Jarrod said as he began to examine the ground with the trained eye's of a lawyer who had investigated many crime's.
"Look Jarrod, foot prints and the have to be Heath's." Nick said before he turned around and hollered at the men. "All of you come over here."
"Find somethin'?" Hank the ranch forman asked when he was standing beside them.
"Yeah, we found his hat, blood and foot prints. It looks like he went into there." Nick pointed to the forest area. "We'll have to spilt up to find him in there. If you find him fire three shots." All the men nodded and mounted their horses. Each headed a different direction as they entered the forest.
They had been searching for nearly an hour and Nick was wondering how his brother had made it this far into the woods if he was hurt. After a while he decided that a determined Heath Barkley could about do just about anything. The thought had just crossed his mind when he smelled smoke. He rode in the direction of the smoke hoping that he would find his younger brother there. Soon he came to the place where the smoke was coming from. Nick dismounted and went to the burnt out pile of ash and sticks. Beside it his found his younger brother. He quickly fured three shots before kneeling down next to his brother.
Heath heard three shots, they had sounded awfully close but he couldn't be sure. He wanted to open his eye's and look but his body still refused to cooperate. He first felt hands on his arm and then felt them unbuttening his jacket and shirt. He remember the pain when some one touched his wound then his world went black once again.
"How is he Nick?" Jarrod asked as he stood near his brother.
"Its bad, the bullet is still in there and its right under his lung. Judging by his breathing I'd say it probably nicked it." Nick told his brother and the ranch hands who had been standing back waiting for their boss to tell them what to do. "We need to get him home as fast as we can. Johnny get my horse, Bill, go ride to the ranch and tell mother and Audra whats happening, then go get the doctor."
"Yes sir." Both men said before going to do their jobs. Once Johnny brought the horse Nick climbed on its back while Jarrod and the ranch hand lifted Heath up and helped Nick settle him into the saddle.
Half way to the ranch Heath started coughing. It continued to get worse Nick had to stop his horse so he could hold onto his brother. Heath was now doubled over coughing so hard that Nick thought he was going to cough up a lung. Jarrod who had stopped his horse next to Nick's suddenly gasped.
"Nick we have to get him home fast. He's coughing up blood." Jarrod said his voice filled with fear. Nick kicked his horse into a gallop. He knew the fast face was causing his brother a lot of pain, but he also knew that if they didn't hurry Heath would die.
"Nick." Heath moaned in between coughing fits.
"I'm right here Heath don't worry we'll be home soon." Nick continued to talk to his brother trying to keep both Heath and himself calm.
"Mother! They're here!" Audra yelled before running out side. Victoria ran out side right behind her daughter, the doctor follow closely behind the to of them.
"He's real bad doc, he's been coughing up blood and he's running a fever." Nick told the doctor as the hands helped him get Heath out of the saddle. Two of the ramch hands helped carry Heath up stairs to his room. Once Heath was on his bed Nick thanked the two then they went outside to the bunk house. In the bunk house several men paced the floor wondering if the boy would make it.
"How is he doc?" Nick asked when the doctor came down the stairs two hours later.
"He's asleep right now, I got the bullet out and stitched the lung, its the fever i'm worried about. You'll have to work hard to get the fever down, but once the fever is gone he should start to recover from the wound." The doctor told them.
"Thank you doctor," Victoria was the first to break the silence, "Would you like some coffee or tea?"
"No thanks I had better get back to town."
"I'll walk you out." Jarrod said.
It was about three in the morning when Nick went to relieve Jarrod who had been whatching Heath for the last two hours.
"Hows he doin'?" Nick asked.
"He's still running a fever but it isn't as bed as it was when we got him home."
"You'd better go get some sleep." Nick told him.
"I think I'll do just that. Remember to wake Audra up for her turn a five." Jarrod reminded him.
"Don't worry I'll wake her up. Goodnight Jarrod."
"Goodnight brother Nick." Jarrod said just before he shut the door and walked to his room. Nick sat in the chair, that Jarrod had just left, and dipped a cloth into a bowl of cold water. He laid the cool cloth on Heath's forhead before getting another larger cloth and laying it on Heath's chest. He repeated that several times through out the night. At about four thirty the fever broke.
"Nick." Came Heath's weak voice.
"Yeah Heath?"
"Thanks."
"For what?" Nick asked confused.
"For coming to get me."
"Hey, we're brothers that what we're supossed to do."
Heath smiled slightly before falling back into a peacful sleep.
Thanks for reading please review and tell me how I did.