I do NOT own the Big Valley nor any of the original Barkley characters. Thanks to my Beta Reader, though all mistakes are my own.
Raging River
Chapter One
The saloon was only partially filled when Nick and Heath walked in. They'd just finished a cattle drive and wanted a break before heading home. Seeing an empty table the two men headed for it, soon they were seated and drinking the beers they had ordered.
"How about a friendly card game," Nick pulled out a deck of cards one of their men had given him for his birthday, "winner gets to buy dinner when we get back to Stockton."
Heath grinned. He figured Nick had said that because Abigail was expecting and getting ornerier than usual, when she was in the kitchen. "Fine, you shuffle." It wasn't long until their friendly game caught the attention of one of the regular patrons, a William Burner, known for his love of whiskey and a good card game.
Heath saw the husky built fellow walking towards them; a black dog was by his side. Nick turned his to see what Heath was looking at. "Mind if I join you?"
Nick looked at Heath who merely shrugged his shoulders, "I don't care; we can always play for supper later."
"Stay there, Mister Paul," William looked at the dog, "I ain't goin' nowhere," he looked at the Barkleys, and said, due to the looks that had come upon Nick and Heath's faces, "He won't hurt the game any." They'd heard a dog was a man's best friend, but to bring one into a saloon? Oh well, it's not like the man was asking them to play cards with the dog.
"So, where you from?" the gentleman asked as he watched Nick shuffle the cards.
"Stockton," Nick answered, "what will be it? Five card Stud or Twenty-one?"
William never cared for Twenty-One; he seldom won that blasted game. 'Five Card Stud' was another story; he was great at that and had more luck in winning it. "Five Card Stud." He answered, and then waited for the cards to be dealt.
The minutes rolled along as they started the game. Nick won a few rounds, as did Heath and Mr. Burner. Before they knew it an hour had gone by and Nick had to admit defeat and pulled out. By this time quite a crowd had gathered. Unbeknownst to Nick or Heath, Mr. Burner was known to be quite the card player. That being the case, everyone was shocked when Heath began winning right and left. Before William knew it, he was down to the last twenty dollars he could spare, and he just knew he had a winning hand.
Mr. Burner looked at his dog, a habit he had when he was thinking long and hard, a habit, of course, that everyone but Nick and Heath were aware of. Finally he sat up straight and said, "I only have twenty dollars, but if you are willing I'll put Mr. Paul up, along with Miss Mary with that twenty dollars and call you. I have to put both up as Mr. Paul won't go far without Miss Mary." Murmurs were heard rippling around the room. Things like, 'He can't be serious!', 'He's crazy' and 'He wouldn't do that unless'n he knows he's going to win, would he?'
Heath glanced towards the dog; he assumed Miss Mary was the male dog's companion. He didn't really have need for two dogs, but then again, it couldn't hurt either. "Fine," Heath looked back at Mr. Burner, "what do you have?"
The gentleman laid down two kings and three fours, then looked at Heath who glanced at the dog once more, 'Best be worth it' he thought as he laid down four aces. Whistles, or gasps, could be heard once again rippling throughout the room. A look of disbelief shown on the man's face, then he slowly stood up, and walked to the door. Heath started patting the dog as the man started yelling.
"Miss Mary!" the man's holler was louder than a whole herd of cows, Heath or Nick were sure of that. They watched, dumbfounded, as a young blonde haired woman entered the saloon a few moments later. The gentleman took her arm and guided her over to the table.
"You're his woman now; take good care of that mangy mutt. He goes with you." The man turned and walked out of the saloon.
Nick looked at Heath; his brother was still sitting as in shock. Nick couldn't help it; he hurried and turned his head and covered his mouth to keep from laughing at the situation. However, while he knew Heath wouldn't ever think of using any woman, how on earth was he going to get the woman to leave without offending her?
As far as Mary went, she wasn't blind. She could see the man's shock and knew the man called Burner had to have done something to mislead the man. Up to now, she'd been lucky; the man her drunkard father had sold her to, and Burner, the man to win her from the first gentleman, had only wanted a cook and maid free of charge, as they had other women handy for 'other pleasures'.
Nick cleared his throat, which brought Heath out of his shock. He stood up and put on his hat; he'd have to find a way to deal with this, he knew that. Still, he didn't want to embarrass the young woman more than she seemed to be. "Do you have a horse?" Heath asked.
"Yes, sir. It's down at the livery stable." Mary answered her eyes hard as steel. She had been working on a way to get away from Mr. Burner; she'd just bide her time and find a way from this fellow instead. After all, she'd been lucky up to now, but she since was finally of age and no longer had to worry about her father finding out she'd run off and deciding to come after her, she'd started to plan her escape. She'd bide her time and see what came of this.
Heath headed for the door and said, "My name's Heath Barkley, you can call me Heath. This is my brother, Nick. Let's go get your horse. And you," he looked at Nick who was looking at him as if to say 'Are you serious? You're really going to bring her along', "be quiet." Nick said nothing as he followed Heath and 'Miss Mary' out of the saloon.