First Wooden Box

Scene One

Nick's eyes flew open. Heath! He was at his brother's side in an instant, moving instinctively even as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Heath," he whispered.

Heath stared out the window, his face bathed in moonlight. The skyward tilt of Heath's gaze and the gentle glow of the light reminded Nick of a painting he had seen of an angel looking to Heaven. He shuddered as he realized how close Heath had come to actually going, and that he might yet.

"Heath," he hoped the fear didn't show in his voice. Very gently, he helped Heath to sit up. Though Heath let Nick's hands guide him, his eyes never left the open sky outside the window.

Now the hard part. As gently as possible, Nick got Heath up, then turned him back toward the bed. Heath's breathing quickened and, with surprising strength, he fought his brother to turn back to the window. Again, Heath crumbled to the floor, but he seemed not to notice as, once again, his eyes were locked on the sky.

Nick sighed. "Ok, Brother," he said as he almost paternally stroked Heath's head, "I get it. And I got you." Once again, he got Heath up. This time, however, Nick guided Heath toward the bed without turning him around. The going was slow and clumsy, but, finally, Heath was safely back in bed, his gaze never leaving the open sky.

Nick watched him for a minute as Heath seemed to relax. Just as he turned to go back to his bedroll, he felt something brush his hand. He turned back to find Heath watching him. Nick's heart skipped a beat. Their eyes met; Nick saw pain and confusion, and, dare he hope, recognition. He took the hand that had reached out. Reached for him? They stayed that way for a long minute, holding gazes, holding hands.

"Nick?"

Despite the weakness of the whisper, Nick couldn't stop the smile that erupted. In one movement he was kneeling at Heath's side, one hand gripping his brother's, the other in Heath's hair as it had been that terrible night when, for a thankfully brief moment, he thought his brother was gone.

"I'm here," said Nick. "I'm right here with you."

Heath took a deep breath and his lip twitched. Nick would swear it was a smile. Another deep breath, then, barely audibly, "Nick." His eyes slowly closed as Heath drifted off to sleep.

Scene Two

"I'm not going anywhere!"

"Nick- "

"No, Jarrod. I'm telling you, it wasn't a dream, it wasn't my imagination, and it wasn't wishful thinking. He had a bad night, a nightmare or something, but once he came out of it he knew me and he knew me this morning. This is the first time that's happened. Some mornings, rarely at night, but never both! I need to be here when he wakes up."

"You need to be in court. Heath's absence is understandable; it's expected. Not yours."

"Why not mine? Tell them the truth: tell them that I'm taking care of my brother that Rizley tortured almost to death."

Audra took a step toward them, but Victoria took her hand, stopping her. Nick's glare at Jarrod silently dared him to challenge Nick's decision. The silence hung heavy between them. "Our brother," Jarrod finally replied.

"What," Nick snapped.

"He's my brother too, Nick."

"I didn't mean-" Nick fidgeted under his family's collective gaze. "Look, Jarrod, I'm sorry, all right? Mother, Audra, I didn't mean anything by it."

Jarrod allowed himself a small smile. Victoria spoke up before he could respond. "Nick, if Heath does wake up lucid, do you want to be there for him or for yourself, " she asked quietly. He stared at her for a long moment. "You can't do anything for him at his bedside that Audra or I can't do, but--"

"Don't say I can represent him in court, Mother. That's Jarrod's job."

"Jarrod is your legal representation. That's not what we're talking about and you know it. I'm talking about walking into that courtroom with your head held high and proclaiming your innocence, yours and Heath's." She watched him a moment before she added, "I thought you wanted your day in court. Now you're throwing it away along with Heath's."

The anger flashed in his eyes before a knowing smile tugged at his lips. "That's not fair," he growled softly.

"A mother's prerogative, " she smiled softly. "Am I wrong?" He shook his head. "Heath won't be alone; Audra or I will be with him. We'll get through this as a family."

Jarrod's eyes met hers as he laid his hand on Nick's shoulder. "The court is aware of Heart's medical situation. I've already made arrangements with the waitress, she'll go for the doctor and to the courthouse if there are any changes. And don't worry about the clerk, I'll take care of him, too." He looked into his brother's eyes. "Well?"

"Well," asked Audra.

"Well?" Victoria repeated.

"Well," Nick met each of their gazes in turn, ending with Jarrod. "Where's my hat? We don't want to be late for court." He strode from the room, leaving the door open behind him. Jarrod kissed Victoria's cheek and hurried out after him.

Scene Three

"What do you think? How is it going?"

MacGowan looked up at Barnes, fidgeting at the foot of his desk, then over at Rizley in a chair by the door.

"What are you so nervous about," MacGowan snapped.

"I just don't like being here. I thought we weren't supposed to be seen together, that's all."

"That's why you two take separate routes out here in the middle of the night, and why none of us is getting enough sleep.

"Now, you see what's happening, what the prosecutor's saying. What do you think?"

"Well," Barnes took a deep breath, then continued slowly, "It is only the first week. If Rodrigo was here to say that they-- "

"You know we can't do that. So far, our operation only skirted the law. If Captain Rizley hadn't overreacted, we could have simply released those two, called the whole thing an honest misunderstanding and moved on."

Rizley spoke quietly from his chair. "Don't try to put this on me. If you had made sure of who they were before you chose them, if Barnes had confirmed their identity before bringing them out to the Farm, and, yes, me too. If I had known who they were sooner. But overreact? By the time I knew they were the California Barkleys it was too late."

MacGowan sighed. "Let's stop pointing fingers. The fact is, anything Rodrigo would say would be perjury."

"And not us," asked Rizley with barely hidden contempt.

"Actually, as long as you two stick to the facts, no," MacGowan countered. "Sheriff Barnes received a report, he made an arrest based on available evidence, and you incarcerated the prisoners only until trial as is done in this territory. I'm at greatest risk here. I made a report based on a lack of documentation. I just move too much cattle to remember every individual sale and there was no bill of sale on that one. Even the Barkleys themselves had to admit that much.

"I don't think they'll be convicted, but we don't need them to be. We do need the judge to see how we believed what we said, though. That prosecutor just wants folks to see that he's not afraid to take on the rich and powerful, so even with a weak case, he'll fight for us. He thinks he's standing up for regular people, but it's good enough for me. Things seemed to start well, but that Jarrod Barkley is a good lawyer. And something just feels off."

"It's not the lawyer."

"What do you mean, Captain?"

Rizley finally rose and came to stand next to Barnes to answer his question. "It's that Nick Barkley. A lot of our side of the case is his temper. Not just that they didn't have a receipt, but that he didn't handle himself like a professional rancher, that he was too angry, defensive. So, it turned out he has a temper, but under the circumstances it just supported out belief in his -- in their guilt."

MacGowan huffed angrily. "We know all this, Rizley. What's your point?"

"He's been too calm, too quiet."

Barnes chuckled nervously. "It's a trial. His lawyer's supposed to do his talking, at least until he gets on the stand."

"You heard the testimony of his Stockton friends. He's been to court before; even there he's temperamental, acts out. I've been watching. Even his face is calm. He doesn't look angry. He doesn't look like someone who would have reacted like we're saying, at least not right away. And the other one, the lawyer's making a real good case for him being level-headed. If Nick Barkley would show that temper, we might not get a conviction, but we'd get the points we need to keep our own freedom. Even if he keeps his cool, the way things are looking now with all the other testimony, we might still have a chance. But if that Heath Barkley makes it into the courtroom, if this judge and jury see him, if he testifies first hand, we're through. We have to get this wrapped up before he's well enough."

MacGowan finally said what they were all thinking. "Or make sure he's never well enough."