Man of Justice

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

Chapter Twenty-Six

Victoria sat on one end of the living room couch while Nick sat on the other. She'd called him in from helping McCall after reading Tom's letter, but not before talking to McCall and asking him to prepare the men for Jarrod's return. Now she looked at Nick, hoping the child would be able to handle the news. "I heard from your father today; he's bringing Jarrod home."

Nick's eyes widened in shock, his dream came flooding back reminding of the changes that were supposed to have come upon his brother. Sure a part of him wanted Jarrod home, the other half was terrified. The uneasy feeling he had grew as his mother started speaking again; she'd paused as to give him time to digest the news. "There are a few things we need to be prepared to accept, some changes." She added only to herself, not feeling like an eleven year old boy should have to deal with more than necessary. "Changes that will eventually go away, I hope."

Nick felt his heart skip a beat. So, he'd been right from the beginning! "What changes?" He barked louder than he meant to and found his mother giving him a hard glare. "Sorry, mother." Nick lowered his voice and quickly apologized.

Inwardly, Victoria prayed for strength to deal with her middle son. "Your brother won't be dressing like the rest of us, not for some time I'm afraid. He'll be dressed more like Hawk." Hawk, who was a seasonal employee of the Barkleys, had lived in the mountains most of his life and dressed in clothing made from buckskin. "From what your father says Jarrod can understand everything that is said to him." She paused again wondering how Nick would handle the next bit of information, and then she started speaking again, "he won't be able to answer us, not until he can get used to speaking English again. Remember, he's been living among the Shoshone Indians and speaking their language." She wasn't surprised when Nick stiffened and stared at her.

"And, Nick," she took a deep breath and finished, "he has a Shoshone name, one we need to call him until he wants it changed it back to Jarrod. We are to call him Man of Justice." She waited for the explosion she felt was sure would be coming, knowing the last part would upset him. She was right, though she was still shocked by what he said.

Nick jumped to his feet, "I thought you said father was bringin' my brother home! It doesn't sound like it! It sounds like he's bringin' an Indian home! Why didn't he just leave him where he was at?" It's not that Nick had been taught to hate Indians, or that he chose to hate them on his own. He didn't. It's just that he'd heard how the lives of those in such a position were and, at times, how they were treated as outcasts. It made him afraid for Jarrod.

Not knowing the things her son had overheard, Victoria assumed Nick was simply reacting very badly to a situation he had no control over and one he could not understand. Still, stressed with the news her husband's letter brought and tired from a long night with her infant son, Victoria barked back, "Nicolas Jonathon Barkley! He is my son, your brother and he is coming home! The least you can do is accept that and welcome him back! He will need our help! Especially since I am sure others will not be so kind!" Nick was too angry to listen though and he turned around and ran out the front door, slamming it shut on his way out. She might have gone after him, only the slamming door had awakened Eugene and the infant was now crying.

Tears ran down Nick's face as he headed for the corral, though he was brought up short once it came into view. He couldn't believe what he saw. McCall was fighting with one of the men and the other hands were standing off to the side looking as uneasy as a rattlesnake's prey. Nick hurried and wiped away his tears. He then ran up and stood next to one of the hands and watched. By the time the fight was through, Thad Hansen lay on his side in the dirt while McCall started bellowing loud enough even a deaf man would have been able to hear him. "If any of you feel the same way as he does, come and get your pay and get off this ranch! Jarrod was, is and always will be a Barkley! I don't care what name he goes by, how he chooses to dress, or what language he speaks! Now, with that said and done, stop and think! That boy will need to feel loved and accepted by his own kind, if he is to successfully make the adjustment back into our world, the world he never should have been taken from! It's going to be hard enough for him to make the adjustment with the way others will be treating him; he sure doesn't need it from any of us! Do you understand?" McCall bellowed and glared at the men who now looked greatly ashamed of themselves for even listening to Mr. Hansen's ugly, hurtful comments.

As young as he was, Nick too felt ashamed for saying the things he'd said to his mother as he watched Hansen get up and walk off while the other men went, quietly, back to work. "McCall?" Nick walked up to his friend once all the men had left.

McCall looked down at Nick and sighed. He could see the child had been crying and now he'd watched him, McCall, lay into the men. He could only imagine what the lad was thinking. McCall reached down and lifted Nick up onto the top of the nearby fence and then leaned against it himself. "What do you want?" he asked and then waited for Nick to talk.

"I want my brother back, only I'm scared. It don't sound like my brother that my father is bringin' back. It sounds like a stranger." That was the part that was really upsetting him; he was supposed to know his brother and the young man his mother had described didn't sound like him." What if he doesn't know me, what if he doesn't like me, what if I don't like him?" Nick suddenly dropped his head in shame for voicing his fears, knowing they didn't sound fair and right, but feeling them just the same.

McCall didn't say anything for a moment. How was he supposed to explain that, in some ways, that's exactly what Jarrod would be for awhile? A stranger trying to fit back in and, even when he was no longer a stranger, he would never be the same as he was before. McCall rubbed the back of his neck as he slowly answered, "He's still your brother, Nick, and he needs you now more than ever. Things won't be the same, but that don't mean they won't be good. Though," McCall said as he laid his hand upon Nick's shoulder, "you know where to find me if things get to feeling like a bit too much for you."

Nick's face lit up as he threw his arms around the man's neck and gave him the biggest hug he could. "Thanks, I guess I better go apologize to mother for the things I said." McCall might have asked what he'd said to Victoria, but Nick was already off the fence and half way back to the house.