I do NOT own the Big Valley or any of the original characters. Thanks to my Beta Reader, though all mistakes are my own.
Chapter Eleven Scene Twenty
The stars were just coming out when Jarrod and Peggy made camp. Once they were finished Jarrod sat on a boulder looking up at the sky, and sighed. If only his eyesight would clear up, he would be able to enjoy gazing at the stars again. "You going to be okay?" Peggy smiled and walked up to him and laid her hands on his shoulder.
"Yes," he grinned from ear to ear, as he turned his attention to her, "and once I'm back where I belong your brother's not going to know what hit him. Still amazes me that you and he come from the same family. You're so different."
She had to laugh. She'd heard that same thing from her mother, her father, her siblings, other relatives and more people than she could count. She didn't care though; by the time she'd hit twelve she'd decided she wanted a better reputation than her family. It had not been easy, but by the time she hit eighteen she had done it. Everyone in town knew that 'Peggy was a Caldwell in name only'.
"It's..." Peggy started to explain all that when a shot rang out. Jarrod grabbed his left arm as they both dove behind the huge boulder he'd been sitting on. She had her pistol out before they even hit the ground. "You've been hit!" Peggy gasped as she looked at the blood on his upper arm.
He shook his head as he ran his arm over the 'wound', "Just a scratch, wonder which of Peter's men is out there? Guess we can disguise our looks, but not our voices," he said as he heard movement among the trees. When a man poked his head and shoulders out just far enough to be seen Peggy took a shot, she missed and the man returned fire.
"Hope there's not more out there right now," she said as the man poked his head out again. Again, shots were exchanged, "It's kind of hard to be shooting at someone with what little light the moon and stars are giving us!" Jarrod couldn't agree more.
When the man poked his head out yet again and shot, Peggy shot back. This time the man was hit. Within seconds the man lay on the ground dead.
She held onto Jarrod's arm and ran over to where the man lay; she turned him over. She didn't know him, and once she'd described him to Jarrod, he didn't either. "Ten to one Adam or Peter hired him." She looked at Jarrod. We may only be a day away from Stockton, but," she sighed, "I have the feeling it's going to be the most dangerous part of the journey."
"I.." Jarrod started to agree as he ran his hand down her arm, only to realize she now had blood on her sleeve, "You were hit!" he took a hold of her arm. Up to that moment he'd only said she was in danger, it had never really sunk into his heart.
She chuckled and said, as she looked at it, "Just a scratch. Let's find someplace else to camp, maybe another cave." He wasn't about to tell her different.
Scene Twenty-One
Heath and Nick were getting tired when the small home came into view. With the sun already deciding to go to bed, they too wished to retire for the night. They might not have stopped, as there was no light in the place, only the front door was wide open. They couldn't help but wonder why.
Once off their horses they climbed the stairs with caution. Once inside, Nick lit the lamp that sat on the table to his right with a match he had in his vest pocket. The place was empty. Heath headed for the bedroom, but stopped dead in his tracks. Two small items in the window had caught his eye. He hurried over to it, and picked them up. He couldn't help it; he sucked in his breath.
Nick hurried over, "What is it, H.." he started to ask until he saw what was in his brother's hand, a small pair of cufflinks with the letters JB engraved on them. He and Heath had brought the pair as a birthday present for Jarrod the year before.
"He was here!" Heath looked up.
For a moment neither one of them spoke, then Nick broke the silence, "Brownsville is two miles away. I think we'd best go into town first thing in the morning and find out who was living here and when they left."
More than once they had thought about turning back; now, they were glad they hadn't. Maybe, just maybe, they were closer to finding Jarrod, or at least some answers.
00000 Brownsville's good doctor listened as Nick and Heath took turns talking. Call it coincidence, call it whatever, the man had been the first one they met going into the small town. Now they sat in his office 'laying all their cards on the table per se', and hoping he could give them something, anything to go on.
The good doctor shook his head as they finished explaining just why they wanted the information they were asking for. "I thought that couple was acting a bit strange," he leaned back in his chair, "they went by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bingham, but," he scratched the back of his neck, while his mouth turned up in one corner, "they sure seemed on edge. The fact they're gone does not surprise me. I was out there just today, had to take off Mr. Bingham's cast."
"His cast?" Nick's eyebrows rose, as did Heath's.
"His leg had been busted; he said it was in a freak acci..." the man stopped talking. The doctor stopped and his eyes widened, "Call me crazy, but, I think there may be a chance that he may be your brother in disguise. If that is the case, I'd throw out the amnesia theory. No one with amnesia is going to do that, get in a disguise that is."
"Thanks, a lot." Nick and Heath shook the man's head then headed out the door.
"Let's head back to Stockton, going through the hills to do it. If it is Jarrod and Peggy Caldwell, I'll bet you ten to one they'll not be traveling out on the road; that is, they won't until they have no other choice." Heath said as he mounted his horse.
At first Nick said nothing. He realized, if it was indeed them, Miss Peggy had been fighting for his brother not against him. Thank heavens 'the oddball' of that family had been the one to find him. He shuddered to think about what would have happened otherwise, "I doubt it, too. Let's get moving," Nick said as he and Heath rode out of town.
