I do NOT own The Big Valley or any of the original Barkley characters. Thanks to my Beta Reader, though all mistakes are my own.
To Catch a Falling Star
Chapter Fourteen
"Richard Miller!" Abigail stood in the kitchen glaring down upon her son; he was standing next to his father drenched worse than a drowned cat. "What on earth have you been doing?"
Richard squirmed as Nick waited for the boy to fess up to his mother what he'd been up to. "Answer your mother, boy!" Nick barked with his hands upon his hips. The child again squirmed. Did all adults do that, put their hands on their hips when they were angry that is? Why couldn't his stepfather just tell his mother what he'd done? He knew.
"I," Richard looked up at his mother, "was rolling around in the dirt near the pond and got too close. Papa Nick pulled me out."
Abigail automatically reached for the wooden spoon only to have Nick stop her. "Already taken care of that part, but I've got to go over to mother's for a little while. After what's happened, I didn't want to take him with me."
Richard's face fell; he loved going over to his Grandmother Barkley's. After all, that meant seeing his uncles and their horses, Charger and Jingo. "Go sit on the chair young man," her voice told him there was no room for argument, "Would you at least take Barbara with you?" Abigail looked at Nick, "She's been asking for Aunt Au'ra." Little Barbara was having troubling saying her d's.
Nick smiled, walked into the front room and picked up the young girl, "So, you want to go see your Aunt Audra," he chuckled as he looked upon his stepdaughter, "I think she'd like that."
Barbara put ran her hands up and down his cheeks and giggled, "Papa need to shave!" That only brought a laugh from Nick and Abigail.
"Don't worry 'bout that," Nick laughed as he headed for the door, "I'll shave soon enough."
The wind whipped through the air as Nick rode his horse with little Barbara in front of him. The child laughed and cried out, "Run, Coco, run!" That put a grin on Nick's face, and Coca seemed to know the young passenger on his back was thoroughly enjoying her ride; he never once tried to slow his pace , though Nick made sure the animal didn't go too fast either.
Nick couldn't help but wonder when Abigail and he would be blessed with a child of their own; after all, it wasn't like they were keeping any gates shut. When his mother's house came into sight Heath was in the process of breaking a horse. All the comments that were being shouted out painted a clear picture for the young girl, and she cried out, "Be safe, Uncle Heaf!" Th's were another sound the young girl was having trouble with; still, no one minded, especially Heath.
Nick laughed, "Don't fret yourself over your Uncle Heath, little girl. He'll be fine."
He wanted to roar with laughter when she tilted her head and said defiantly, "Me not little! Me big girl now!" "Whatever" came into his mind, but he did not say it. Knowing Barbara, Nick figured if he made any comment it would make it back to Abigail.
By the time they rode through the gate Heath was dismounting the horse. "Hello there," Heath gave his brother a lopsided grin and walked over, "Hello, Barbara."
"Uncle Heaf!" Barbara reached up and waited to be picked up. Heath's lopsided grin got a tad wider and he lifted the child up. He loved being an uncle; you could spoil the child rotten and send her home! Well, in the case of Thomas Bryan he couldn't; however, he could hand the infant back too his mother or father too.
"Your Aunt Audra's been hopin' you'd come," Heath put the child down, took hold of her hand, and led her towards the house. He figured he'd best leave off the fact the young woman was in the process of making a new dress for her. Heath was sure it was just an excuse for his sister to design yet another article of clothing. Though, he had to admit, Audra was turning out to be quite the clothing designer.
Audra hurried down the stairs when she saw who had entered the door. "Are Nick and Abigail here?" She asked the question as she took her niece's hand.
"Just Nick," Heath answered once he'd convinced Barbara it was okay to give him his hand back, "I need to bet back out there." Audra wasn't going to tell him to do anything different; after all she and Barbara were halfway up the stairs before Heath opened the door back up.
By the time Nick and Heath stepped inside the house two hours had gone by. Neither man was surprised to see the young girl standing on a chair behind the couch brushing their sister's hair; the young child was a girl in every sense of the word. "Can't you do that upstairs?" Nick asked as he walked in the living room.
"We could," Audra answered as she pointed to Barbara, "but she really wanted to play down here."
Nick had just reached for his daughter when McCall came running in, "Nick! Heath! You best hurry and get out here!" The men looked at each other and then ran outside. They were horrified, and Nick's heart froze, as they saw smoke rising in the direction of his house and little Richard riding his mother's horse towards the main house as hard as he could. Nick ran for Coco, while Heath ran for Charger. They were on their horses and headed for the young boy before Richard even got close to the house.