Man of Justice

I do not own The Big Valley or any of the original Barkleys.

Chapter Twenty

As time went by, Jarrod was indeed endearing himself more and more to the people of this village. He had quickly become more accustomed to their way of life and, though he was not accepted by all; he was accepted by the majority of the Shoshone. He had also developed a strong bond with a few of the boys his age. However, it was Jarrod's fierce loyalty to those he called his friends, their fierce loyalty to him and Jarrod's sense of justice and the knack he was quickly developing when it came to finding out the truth in any given situation…something many of them had already benefited from… that had really cemented his place in the village.

Jarrod and Raging River's Friend walked through the woods; they had been on yet another hunting trip. Their "friends"… the same ones who had accompanied them before… had turned around and gone home not moments after starting the trip. Jarrod and Raging River's Friend were talking about it too. Though, Jarrod's friend was speaking the loudest. "Probably left because you caught them in another one of their lies," Raging River's Friend chuckled and then sobered up. "I'm glad you did too. If you hadn't, their father would have come after us. They'd probably have claimed we forced them to come. I don't need any more trouble. The village still doubts my innocence."

Jarrod knew what his friend meant. The boy had been falsely accused of stealing from the chief and it had almost cost him dearly, until Jarrod had stepped in and pointed out that when the missing items disappeared the lad had been with him and Straight Arrow. Some said the boys who made the accusation must have the time wrong, but the boys had not corrected their statement. Truth was, the boys were lying and would have changed the time, but the look Jarrod had in his eyes had the boys thinking that no matter what time they claimed the crime took place Jarrod would prove they lying about that too.

"I don't think you…" Jarrod stopped as the wheels in his mind started turning. The boys they had started the trip out with them were the same boys that had claimed they were sure it was Raging River's Friend who had gone, unnoticed, into the chief's hut. The older one, Sly Fox, had an off and on friendship with Raging River's Friend, but time and time again the lad had lost out on some "reward" during some celebration because Raging River's Friend won the contest he happened to be in.

"What is it?" his friend asked as he saw the look of someone deep in thought come upon Jarrod's face.

"Did you say our 'friends' won't let you behind their home anymore?" Jarrod was remembering a comment Raging River's Friend had made the day before. At the time, Jarrod had thought it odd, but said nothing, not wanting to cause any unnecessary trouble.

"Yes, w…" his friend stopped as he saw what Jarrod was getting at. The two turned around and ran back down the hill feeling certain the stolen items were behind their "friends'" home and hoping they could get one of the elders to listen to them so they could look before the items got moved. That is, if they were indeed there.

Straight Arrow was just entering his wigwam when he saw his son and friend running towards him. Instinctively he knew something was wrong and he started towards the boys in great haste. When the three met Straight Arrow looked at his son and asked, "Im-hock-im?"

Jarrod caught his breath and answered, "It's not where we've been that is important; it's where we're going." He hurried to explain what his suspicions were and why he thought the way he did. "Give us a chance to look, please. I am sure the boys took the things and are trying to get my friend thrown out of the village." By this time Jarrod was talking without any trouble and standing as tall as he could with an air of confidence his father had not see before.

"If you are wrong, it is you that the village will throw out my son." Straight Arrow gave Jarrod a firm warning; he had to. For he knew he spoke the truth and two, he did not want to lose another son, not like this anyway.

Jarrod felt a fire rising up inside him, not a wild or angry one, just one that demanded the truth be found and his friend's name cleared once and for all. *"Tow-me-ah." Jarrod answered with his head held high.

Straight Arrow turned and headed for the home of the two boys who made the accusations occupied, but not before insisting they get the chief. If Jarrod was right, the chief needed to be to get his things back. If he was wrong, Straight Arrow made himself stop thinking. He had to or he would have turned around and gone home.

By the time Straight Arrow explained to the chief what was going on and the small group had reached the wickiup where the boys lived that Jarrod was accusing of the theft, most of the village were either with them, or were watching from a distance.

"What is going on?" Sly Fox's father asked, surprised by the crowd gathering, as he stepped out of his home. When he was told that Straight Arrow, his son and Raging River's Friend wanted to look behind the man's home; the man got angry.

"They are just trying to put the blame onto my boys. Who is to say they did not put the items back there themselves?"

"Yes, they are the thieves and making it look like we did it." Sly Fox spoke up.

The accusation might have had some weight only Straight Arrow, who had witnessed Raging River's Friend being chased away from the wigwam on more than one occasion and knew Jarrod well enough to vouch for him, spoke up, "Your boys do not allow them near your home. They are kept a constant eye on them." He then, unknowingly, spilled the beans on the accused. He'd seen the boys join Jarrod at the beginning of the hunting trip but said nothing, assuming the boys had their father's permission, "If my son and his friend were not so forgiving and polite, if they had done as you claim, they'd never have allowed your sons to start on their hunting trip with them."

The father glared at his sons, silently questioning the truth of the situation. He had not known about the hunting trip or given his sons permission to go on one with Jarrod and Raging River's Friend. He wondered what other deceptions his sons had contrived, though he was not about to lose face in front of his people.

Immediately, Straight Arrow and everyone else knew the father had been in the dark when it came to that one as he glared at the boys and began shouting. It would have gone on only the chief demanded that they search the area Jarrod wanted them to look in. Not fifteen minutes later, Sly Fox was being disowned by his father and thrown out of the village. At sixteen the man wasn't worried the boy couldn't fend for himself. His brother would have been kicked out also, but Sly Fox admitted he had acted alone and then forced his brother to keep his mouth shut.

Jarrod watched the boy leave and felt bad for him, but what was he supposed to do? Let an innocent party pay for what another one had done? His attention was drawn off the outcast when he realized his father and chief were talking to him…and the whole village was listening. "You have proven more than once you are a one of honesty," the chief took a step towards him as a hush fell over the gathered Shoshone, "you have proven you will not stand aside when another's reputation is at stake and you know, or suspect, they are innocent. You have kept a young boy, innocent of any wrong doing, from being banished from his family. A boy would not have acted in such a manner. You are no longer a boy," the chief paused and smiled, "You are a man, and your name is Man of Justice."

Jarrod could hear the ripples of approval that rolled through the Shoshone.

Straight Arrow smiled as he took a step towards his son. "Hog-y-nock?"

How did he feel? Jarrod stood even straighter than he had before. His friend's name was cleared, his father was pleased with him and, in the eyes of this people, he was now a man. "I am fine," Jarrod grinned from ear to ear, "I am Man of Justice; I am a Shoshone."

*"Tow-me-ah = Let us go.

* "Hog-y-nock?" =How do you feel?