Disclaimer: I do not own The Big Valley or its characters. I'm also making no money from this story.

A/N: Thank you to all those who have taken the time to post reviews for this story. I'm glad you all seem to like it. I hope you enjoy this last chapter.

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Chapter 18

The kidnapper heard the posse approaching and grabbed Nick and carried the boy deeper inside the mine. Jarrod was immediately overcome with fear for his brother's safety. Jarrod struggled to untie himself but the effort was futile. The ropes were too tight. Jarrod began crying in desperation and anger.

A short time later the man returned for Jarrod and picked up the boy. . Jarrod squirmed, trying to wrest himself free of the kidnapper's grasp. Jarrod dropped to the floor, the air knocked out of his lungs. The kidnapper jerked Jarrod up off of the ground.

Jarrod was brought deeper into the mine and placed next to Nick. Neither boy knew that that the other was alive however.

"Don't make a sound or you're both dead. Understand?" The kidnapper warned.

Jarrod and Nick both realized that the other was still alive. They both smiled beneath their neckerchief blindfolds. Jarrod and Nick couldn't speak as they each had a neckerchief stuffed inside their mouths. Another neckerchief was tied around their faces to keep the other neckerchiefs inside the boys' mouths.

Jarrod thought he recognized the kidnapper's voice. It sounded familiar but the boy just couldn't place the voice with a face. Jarrod listened for his brother and heard a small movement next to him. Nick must be right next to me, Jarrod thought to himself.

***

Tom, Sheriff Jenkins, and Zeb Tucker quietly headed up a hill. With the sun climbing over the mountain range to the east, there was now no need for torches.

"We found some tracks downhill but they ended right up here," Jenkins informed as he pointed down at jumbled sets of footprints in the hillside.

"Hmm. Looks like people have been going back and forth here but the trail just ends. I know people don't just disappear into thin air," Tom remarked, the frustration evident in his voice.

"Sheriff I think I found something!" Hank Kimble, another one of the posse members called out from around the other side of the hill.

That sent the three men rushed over to Kimble as quickly as the hill would allow them. Kimble held up a small boot in his hand. "I found this in a shrub right here."

Tom took the boot from Kimble and checked it over. "It looks like Jarrod's boot. It's certainly small enough to belong to one of my boys."

The four men combed the area around where the boot was found. Suddenly, Tom remembered that a mine used to be in the area once. The mine had played out years ago. It was just the kind of place that Nick might go inside to play. It was also dangerous with loose, rooting timbers.

"I seem to remember the old Fools Gold Mine being around here. The boys could be trapped in there," Tom informed before jogging off up the hill.

Jenkins, Tucker, and Kimble followed Tom up the hill. The four ducked around a fallen beam to get through the mine entrance. Jenkins lit a torch and led the way deeper into the mine.

When the foursome came to a section of the tunnel that branched off from the main area, the decision was made to split up into two groups. Tom and Kimble lit another torch and went down the smaller branch of the mine tunnel. Jenkins and Tucker took the main tunnel.

Tom and Kimble made their way further down the tunnel when Tom heard a faint noise to the left. Kimble angled the torch so the light shone on the source of the noise.

"It's just a rat," Kimble remarked as a rodent scurried past their feet.

Tom's shoulders sagged as he realized they hadn't yet found his sons. "No use standing around here wasting time. Let's keep moving."

Kimble turned and led the way through the tunnel. About 50 yards of walking and the two men came to another spur in the tunnel. Tom and Kimble took the offshoot but it came to a dead end. Tom remembered that the miners had started digging another tunnel when the mine owners went broke.

Kimble was shoved from behind and slammed into the wall, dropping the torch. Everything was now dark. Tom grabbed blindly in the direction of the sound of feet shuffling around on the dirt floor.

Tom managed to grab hold of a piece of cloth, pulling the stranger back towards him. Tom wrestled with the stranger before finding the man's jaw and slugging him. Kimble recovered from hitting the mine's wall and jumped into the fray.

The stranger was soon overpowered and subdued. While Tom held onto the stranger, Kimble felt around for the torch. After finding the torch Kimble searched his pockets for another match. Kimble lit the torch and both he and Tom stared at the tall, dark-haired man standing in front of them.

"Who are you? What have you done with my son's?" Tom demanded to know.

Tom heard a noise and motioned for Kimble to aim the torchlight in that direction. There sitting on the floor were Jarrod and Nick, bound up but alive.

Tom handed off Mosley to Kimble, grabbed the torch and rushed over to his suns. "Oh boys, am I glad to see you two. Your mother and I were so worried."

Tom quickly untied Jarrod and Nick who began excitedly reciting the story of their kidnapping.

"You two were lucky. You should never have tried to solve the murder on your own," Tom reprimanded the boys. He tried not to sound too upset as he was grateful that the boys were alive and well.

"We know that now Father," Jarrod replied.