A/N: A short epilogue to the 1958 Gregory Peck film "The Big Country".

Big Enough

Steve Leech awoke to a knock on the door of the small house that served as his home. The building was expressly for the head hired hand and Leech was the foreman of Henry "Major" Terrill's Ladder Ranch - nearly a half-million acres of sprawling land. Now, with the Major dead after the shootout with Rufus Hannassey, it meant that the ranch was in the hands of the Major's daughter Patricia. Wounded in the shootout with the Hannassey group, Leech had seen a doctor in town before coming back home to convalesce. He heard the knock again. "Come on in," he said as he reached to light the oil lamp beside his bed.

Not sure who to expect, he was nevertheless surprised when James McKay walked through the door. "Mr. Leech, I'm sorry to disturb you at such an early hour but I think we should talk and I believe it's imperative to do so soon."

Leech looked at the man. With his bowler hat removed he almost looked like he fit in, but his speech betrayed him as someone raised and educated far from this area. "I hope it's not to say goodbye again," he said while rubbing the cut on his mouth that was just starting to heal. The last time McKay had come knocking to say goodbye, it was followed by a drawn out fistfight between the two that ended in a draw with both men the worse for wear. McKay had the strangest ways, but Leech had to admit that it turned out cowardice wasn't one of them. It was far from the ways of the area where a man's reputation - good or bad - was cast from his public actions and who knew about it.

McKay laughed. "No, I'm not going anywhere. Mind if I sit?" Leech pointed to the one chair in the room and McKay sat in it. "Thanks."

"What brings you out at this hour?" Leech could see through the curtains that it was still fairly dark outside, as the sky was just beginning to show signs of deep blue instead of black.

"Unfinished business. As you may have heard, I bought Big Muddy. Originally it was going to be a wedding present for Pat, but because I insisted on letting the Terrills AND Hannasseys use the water from the river she and I agreed that we shouldn't get married." What had started out as a promising engagement and planned wedding had soured when McKay turned out to be quite different than the way Pat imagined him.

Leech started to get dressed. He didn't know where this was going, but at this point he might as well be prepared for anything. "I heard something. To hear Pat tell it, she turned you out."

"It was mutual, I assure you - although I can't guarantee that we both came to the conclusion at the same time. As it turns out, I'm going to marry Julie Maragon instead and we're going to build up Big Muddy. I tried to get Rufus Hannassey and the Major to agree to the wisdom of my plan to share the water, but...well, you see how that turned out." McKay dropped his gaze at the thought of the needless killing that took place as the two sides fought instead of accepting his brokered peace.

"I did see. I want you to know McKay, I think you was right. I didn't see it at first, but the Major was wrong. Those two were so hellbent on seeing the other die that in the end there was nothin' but them both gettin' their wish. I wasn't even going to go in to Blanco Canyon with him, but when I saw him go in alone I was obligated. I owed him my life. I don't reckon it matters what you do with your water now."

"You're wrong, Leech."

"How?"

McKay stood up and put his hat on his chair to free his hands. "We still have the same situation. Ladder ranch over here," he said with his left hand raised " and Blanco Canyon over here," he said as he lifted his right hand. "Big Muddy is still right in the middle."

Leech shook his head. "Yeah, but the Major's dead and so is old man Hannassey."

"So? Julie's grandfather started Big Muddy, but it didn't end when he died. The ranch has fallen into disrepair certainly, but it still exists. When I bought it, I made certain in my mind that the water was to be shared by Terrill AND Hannassey. Not just the Major and Rufus, but to all those who would follow. Do you honestly think Pat is going to give up Ladder now that her father is dead?"

Patricia idolized her father, and part of the issue with her and McKay was that in her eyes he could never match up to her ideal when espousing potential peace between the two factions. But she was as much a part of the ranch as the dirt under the main house. "No, she loves Ladder. I doubt she would ever want to live anywhere else." She had met McKay while on a trip back east to Baltimore, and she had every intention of getting the retired sea captain fitted to the lifestyle that was the West. McKay had other ideas.

"I agree. Are you going to marry her?" he asked earnestly.

Leech bolted upright. "What?"

"Which part of the question didn't you understand?" McKay asked as he sat down again. He didn't want a fight, but some things had to be settled. Sitting down would help to defuse another round of fisticuffs; he had initiated the first round but had no desire for a rematch.

"I understood the question. I wish I didn't." Leech unclenched his involuntarily made fists and sat down again. "Look, I was an orphan and the Major raised me almost like his own. I grew up by his side, so naturally I was the perfect fit to be foreman when I got old enough. Pat has always been there. I wish I just thought of her as just a sister, but it's never been like that. She's never even been the type to be really serious about a man until...until she went off and met you."

"We met by chance, and never really got a chance to know each other very well before she had to come back home. But even though she never mentioned it, I could see there was something there from the way you looked at her even if it was just one-sided."

Leech looked out the window. It was definitely getting less dark out there now, and you could tell the difference between the sky and the horizon. "What difference does it make? She doesn't feel that way about me. Never has."

"You...ah...might be surprised. Let me tell you a story. Once we were sailing out of Bombay on the way to England. Normally we would have called on the port of Cape Town, but due to a delay in our departure we decided to push on and try for Saint Helena. A fierce storm came up which we battled for days, barely making any headway while we waited for calmer seas to return. By then, we had taken some damage and decided to return to Cape Town for repairs. I can tell you, there was a great deal of talk about how we shouldn't have even tried to push on. Fortunately for us, the facilities in Cape Town were superior to Saint Helena and we bypassed that port instead once we were underway again."

"You'll excuse me McKay, I've never been on anything bigger than a skiff on the river here. What's your point?"

The retired sailor smiled. "Sorry, I just tried to make my point from something that happened to me. What I'm trying to say is, and I'm no expert, but I think Pat was trying to find a husband that best matched her ideal man - who was probably her father. She thought I was such a man, but my methods are too foreign for her. No, for her happiness she's going to have to find someone closer to home." He paused to let that sink in.

"Who, Pat? She can't stand the sight of me!"

"You might be mistaken. I think she kind of liked the attention she got from you before, and now with her father gone I would imagine she's going to see you in a whole different light. She's probably going to lean on you a great deal as foreman, and I expect that she'll be surprised herself to find you a whole lot like that port we came back to after the storm. Do you still love her?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then that's half the battle. Give her time and see if she will come to you. In the meantime, be that man she can count on to run things. You've already got water rights in the dry season with Big Muddy. Do you have any quarrel with the Hannasseys now?"

"No. If they leave us alone, I can leave them alone. I'm sick of killing."

"Good, that's the best thing I've heard in these parts since I've got here. I'm heading over to Blanco Canyon tomorrow to make sure they understand the situation. I know Buck was the real trouble, and Rufus...well, he's gone too. That leaves Dude and Rufe to deal with and I don't think they'll have any reason not to agree. If you don't mind, I'd like to hire Ramon for a few weeks to help me get my ranch going again. I've got a lot to learn."

"I think we can do that. Do you want Old Thunder too?" Leech had tried to get McKay to attempt to ride the whirling dervish for a good laugh, but McKay declined only to finally do so later when no one but Ramon was around and he could work through getting thrown a dozen times.

"No. I proved my point with him, and I imagine he's happier if I stay off his back. He belongs here." McKay stood up. "I've said my piece. I think it best to get out before Pat sees me."

"As far as I'm concerned, you're welcome in my house anytime." Leech stuck out his hand. "And call me Steve."

"Call me Jim," McKay said as he returned the handshake.

"Do you always wait until no one's around to prove a point?"

"Of course not. But I learned a long time ago that to believe something - really believe in something - you have to prove it to yourself first. There ARE times when we need the approval of another, like marriage or if you have a superior officer. But between you and me, I'd rather learn to succeed at something on my own first before I go counting on being able to do it for others. Once you prove it to yourself, you don't have to prove it to yourself again."

"I'm starting to understand that. I do have one request," Steve asked.

"What's that?"

"Can you teach me that compass and map trick sometime? I know this ranch like the back of my hand but it might come in handy someday."

"Fair enough. As a sailor it's an essential skill when you're out on the ocean with no land in sight. But here..." McKay said as he glanced outside. It was almost sunrise and he couldn't see anything but land from the house to the distant horizon. "Well, I guess it IS a big country. We just have to grow big enough to find our place in it."

The End

A/N: I've known the theme song for some time, but only just got around to seeing the film. Ironically, I saw this right after watching Ensign Pulver again so I had a Burl Ives double feature.

Some of Burl Ives lines from this film were used in the Ren and Stimpy cartoon for their "Happy Happy Joy Joy" song.