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.
*For those read 19 before I made the minor changes…Brigham was attacked and then thrown.
Blindsided
Chapter Twenty
It didn't matter that the wind had stopped blowing and the sun was now blazing hot. She didn't care. Audra drove the wagon the Millers had been kind enough to lend her as fast and as hard as she dared; actually, Mrs. Miller had lent it to her as her husband was out of town.
"I don't know, ma'am." Deputy Jackson stood on her doorstep. "Two men brought him in to the doctor's. Said their names were Nick and Heath Barkley, said they found him injured, along with the dead man they brought in, said he muttered the other man had tried to kill him, and he was trying to get back here."
Audra didn't know what to think. Brigham had been attacked? Heath and Nick were in Strawberry? They had been the ones to find her 'husband' and bring him in? Good grief! She could think of a dozen, or more, places she'd rather see them again. What would they think when they learned the truth? As much as those things ran through her mind, the one that pressed itself upon her the most was 'How was Brigham?"
By the time she reached town, Nick and Heath were catching a breath of fresh air outside the doctor's office. A few of the old timers had recognized Heath and said hello as they passed by the office. "What you doing back in town?" That question was the most common one asked. "Visiting," Heath didn't choose to elaborate. When Nick stiffened and stared down the road, Heath turned around. His heart skipped a beat as he too stiffened slightly. They didn't budge an inch as Audra flew down from the wagon and up the steps.
Audra never felt so torn in her life. Here stood two of the brothers she'd thought of every day since she'd ridden off. She wanted to hug them and shed tears of happiness over them yet Brigham was hurt and she needed facts. "How is he?" Although she didn't mean to, Audra stood very straight, as if someone had put a board up her back, and looked at her brothers, her eyes begging them to say the man was all right.
The look in her eyes tore at the two men and they nodded towards the front door. "Doc's with him right now," Nick answered as he kept an eye on Audra. "I had nothing to do with it, really. He said it was the work of the other man." The way he said told her he desperately needed her to know he had NOT been responsible for what had happened to Brigha. It was all she could do to listen as he quickly explained how they'd come to find the man.
"I believe you, Nick. I'm just glad you found him." Audra spoke softly as she headed for the door, and then stopped. She couldn't leave them out in the cold again. "Come on back inside." After a brief pause, she looked at both her brothers and added, "Please."
A sense of relief, relief she wasn't asking them to leave, flooded over both Nick and Heath. A small crooked smile appeared on Heath's face. "Sure." Nick quickly opened the door for his sister and held it open for her.
Once inside, Nick sat on one end of the small couch the doctor's office held while Heath sat on a chair. Heath figured his sister should have the other end of the couch over a hard chair. She didn't take it though; Audra walked over to the window and looked out. The day might be clear and sunny, but there was a storm brewing inside of her.
"How did you find out I was here?" After a few moments, she added quietly, "No one around here knows I'm connected to the Barkleys. After all, when I came here with Heath, I got sick and spent all my time in a hotel room. That owner moved away, the good doctor who treated me died and Hannah's gone too, no one else really ever met me."
Nick had to fight the emotions he was feeling as he told her about the letter Jose had written, but before he could admit they'd had Jarrod's contact, Mac, investigate Brigham, they heard the doctor coming. "Mrs. McCallister?" The doctor, a new arrival in Strawberry, parted the curtains that led to the back room and stepped out. Audra cringed inwardly, not because she didn't like the sound of being referred to as Brigham's wife, but she knew what it must be doing to her brothers to be hearing the title connected to her. If she had looked into Nick and Heath's eyes, she'd have seen she was right.
"How is he?" Audra asked as she turned around, and then froze as Brigham walked out of the back. Her 'husband' was walking slowly, but he was walking on his own.
"I'm fine," Brigham answered as he held his side, "just bruised up a bit. After that gentleman attacked me, I got back on my horse only he got spooked, and I was thrown. I owe you my thanks for finding me and bringing me here." He looked at Nick and Heath, clueless to who his rescuers were.
"Glad to help" Heath spoke up. Nick, for a change, seemed to be speechless. Both brothers looked a bit uncomfortable.
"He is not fine! He has a concussion, a bruised rib, and needs to be in bed!" Doctor Barker answered as he glared at his patient, who was now leaning on Audra. She'd quickly moved to his side and wrapped her arm around him.
"I'll lie in my own bed, thank you." Brigham retorted back, his voice as hard as ice. It only served to make Audra smile and even put a small grin on both Nick and Heath's faces. The man did have a stubborn streak in him!
"We'll get him back home." Audra looked at her brothers, grateful to see them both nod their heads slightly. Both men stood up.
Brigham would have asked who his rescuers were but Audra kept glancing at him and giving him a look that said, 'For goodness sake, BE QUIET!' Since she'd never once told him, in any form, to be quiet, it put Brigham on the alert.
"I want him resting for at least a couple of days and keep an eye on him for any unusual drowsiness, dizziness and such things," Doctor Barker said as he opened the door and held it open as Audra and Nick helped Brigham out of the office and into the wagon.