I do NOT own The Big Valley or any of the original Barkley characters.
Blindsided
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Brigham, Nick and Heath all stiffened slightly, watching for the first opening to end what Eric seemed intent on starting. Brigham could see himself in the Wyoming sheriff's office, handing him a few wanted posters. Inside a cell sat two men. The young one, whose back was turned, was talking quite loud and was being extremely rude. The sheriff and the prisoner had exchanged a few words before the prisoner turned and shot Brigham a dirty look. The encounter had been so brief, and he'd barely caught the lad's face, but the voice had stuck. Good grief!
Eric could see himself in the cell as his friend, Tyson Anders, had been brought in. The two had started talking up a storm and bad mouthing the man who had the nerve to bring Tyson in. He'd turned and looked at the man, and then turned back to his friend. After all, why should he continue to look at him; the man was just another bounty hunter.
Jonathon stared at Eric. What on earth was the lad thinking! They didn't have time for this! Men were waiting for the guns and if they didn't them it would Jonathon that would wound up paying for it. He moved quickly to put himself between his younger brother and the man he sincerely believed to be on their side. "What on earth on you thinking, boy? Pulling your gun out like that? We're here to do a job, not anything else!"
"He ain't on our side!" Eric shocked Jonathon as he stepped to the side. "He's here to get us! He's here to collect us and take us back to the law and collect the bounty!" That sent shock waves through Jonathon and he whirled around. If he thought he was going to see shock on any of the faces, he was disappointed. He could read nothing as he looked upon Brigham.
"Is what he said true?" Jonathon pulled his gun also. He didn't like the idea of any bounty being collected on him or his brother. If the man was indeed there to collect them, Jonathon meant to see the only thing he collected was a few bullets. After all, Jonathon had no intention of going to any prison.
"You get the guns, we'll take care of the men." Nick's words came back to Brigham. "I came here to collect guns not men." He spoke, his voice flat and without any emotion. To show any kind of fear or nervousness would be their undoing, and Brigham knew it. He kept his eyes on the men before him, as did Heath and Nick.
Jonathon had been many places; he'd seen many men. The look on Brigham's face was that of a man with who knew what he had to do and would do it. He definitely gave the impression he only wanted the guns. His thoughts were interrupted by Eric.
"I tell you," he waved his gun in the air, "he's a bounty hunter! He's the one who brought Tyson in…" Again he aimed his pistol at Brigham and went to pull the trigger. Before he could get a shot off though, the sound of a rifle sounded through the air and Eric's eyes widened in disbelief as he fell to the ground with a bullet near his heart.
The shot sent everyone flying. Nick and Heath darted behind a nearby boulder; Brigham dove behind the wagon while Brad and Jonathon found other nearby places. "Eric was right! You aren't on our side and you brought help!" Jonathon took a shot at Brigham, but missed.
"I have no idea who that was or is!" Brigham didn't either. He was just as confused as everyone else. He wasn't surprised when the two men didn't believe him; he couldn't say he would if he was in their shoes.
"You lie!" Brad stood up and took a shot at Brigham only to miss and get one of Nick's bullets in return.
Jonathon didn't like this. He had no desire to die and he wanted to find out who had shot Eric. He decided the only way to find out was to slip away. Seeing a clump of trees nearby, he yelled, "Take the guns, I'm out of here!" He was almost to the trees when a shot rang out and the man fell to the ground holding his leg.
"Who's out there?" Nick bellowed; his voice carried up and through the air, but there was nothing. No voice, no sound, no nothing. With his gun in his hand, Nick made his way over to where Jonathon lay on the ground still holding his leg. As much as the man might deserve it, Nick hurried to get the bleeding stopped.
"Who are you?" Jonathon glared at the three men; Heath and Brigham had made their way over to Nick and their prisoner. "And, who's out here?" He too did not believe the men were clueless as to who was helping them.
Nick glared at the man and pulled hard on the bandana he was using to stop the bleeding. "Doesn't matter who we are, but," Nick scowled as he helped the man up to his feet, "he already told you; we don't know who's out there!" The words were thrown out like daggers and hit the man right in the face. It wasn't long before they had the man in the wagon with the guns and the two other men draped over one of the horses. Soon they were heading back to Strawberry, each one of them wondering who the blazes had stepped in and saved them.