by Katlynn
Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV program
"Big Valley" are the creations of Four Star/Republic Pictures and have
been used without permission. No
copyright infringement is intended by the author. The ideas expressed in this story are copyrighted to the author.
Three
witches are known in legend for the disaster they brought upon a house, a loyal
subject, and a king. Three witches who will now bring their lunacies and
prophecies upon a house in the new world and the West. The House of Barkley and
one loyal man
a Barkley son
will be the subject of their spells. That
Barkley son is
the youngest.
"Heath!" Nick Barkley yelled before he'd even crossed the threshold of the front door in search of his younger brother. "Heath! Silas! Anyone??"
Victoria Barkley, seated in the parlor, took a deep, calming breath. "Nick, must you?"
"Mother!" he joined her in the room just off the foyer. "I'm looking for Heath."
"So you've told the whole Valley," she said with all the composure possible. "I believe he went into town."
"INTO TOWN! This is a working ranch! We don't have time for him to be dallying around town!"
"I'm sure we discussed this at breakfast," she tried to remember their conversation. "I seem to recall that he had a very good reason for going to town. I can't call it to mind at the moment but "
"Mother!" Audra came flouncing down the stairs, interrupting the matriarch's words. "Are we expecting guests? Oh, who is it?" she asked excitedly.
"I'm not aware of any guests coming to visit," Victoria shook her head. "Why do you ask?"
"Silas is upstairs cleaning that room right next to mine. I assumed someone would be using it soon."
"Isn't that the room that " Nick stopped, frowning as a thought came and went as quickly as the words could be formed. "That's strange I could have sworn someone was using that room just no, maybe not," he shook his head. "Well, guess it's not important if I can't remember what I was gonna say. So neither of you know where Heath is, huh?"
"No," Audra shook her head. "I haven't seen him since breakfast. Don't know where he might be."
"No I just seem to remember something about going to town but sorry," Victoria shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we'll find out when he gets back."
Heath Barkley stood watching the train pull away from the station and wondered what the hell he was doing, standing there on the platform. There MUST have been some reason that his trip to town took him to the train depot but, try as he might, he couldn't remember what he was doing there. A Barkley carriage was waiting for him at the side of the platform so he figured he must have come in to pick something up that he couldn't carry back to the ranch on Charger but he'd checked with the station manager and nothing was waiting to be picked up. Maybe Jarrod had ridden into town with him and that's why he had the carriage but if that was true what was he now doing at the train depot?
He climbed into the carriage and snapped the reins at the horse, still thinking there was something he was forgetting. Maybe his big brother would know. With a slight pull of one of the reins, he directed the horse towards Jarrod's office. Heath hated the thought of facing Nick's wrath if there was something he was supposed to be taking back to the ranch and he arrived home empty-handed.
Jarrod was just departing when Heath pulled the carriage to a stop in front of the building with 'Jarrod T. Barkley, Attorney At Law' on its front window. "Just in time," the eldest Barkley brother hopped in next to him.
"Was I supposed to meet ya' for somethin'?" Heath asked.
"No," Jarrod laughed. "But you're saving me from having to walk all the way down to Fred's office. I have to talk to him about the Dalton case."
"Well, that doesn't help any," the blond cowboy breathed out. "Jarrod, I can't figure out what I'm doin' in town. I musta come to pick somethin' up. Why else would I be drivin' the carriage 'steada ridin' Charger?"
"I thought you were bringing " Jarrod's voice trailed off as a frown crossed his face. "I have a vague memory of talking about this at breakfast. We were trying to decide who was going to " he stopped and shook his head. "I don't know, Heath. I remember Nick saying he couldn't do it because he had to count the bales of hay in the barn. And I had some filing to do in my office. Mother said she had some socks to darn. And Audra had to pick out a dress for the dance next week. You were the only one who didn't have something important to do. But I sure can't remember what it was that we were talking about."
"Boy howdy, Jarrod, I might need ya' to save my hide when Nick finds out I didn't do whatever I came into town to do," Heath breathed out as he stopped the carriage in front of the Sheriff's Office.
The lawman was seated in a chair that was tilted back against the building. He righted the chair and stood up to shake the hand Jarrod offered in greeting then asked the blond cowboy, still seated in the carriage, "Who was that guy ridin' into town with you earlier?"
"There was someone ridin' with me?" Heath asked quickly.
"Yeah, he had a valise in his lap. Figured ya' were headin' for the train depot. Didn't recognize him," Fred shook his head. "Though I've gotta say he seemed a bit familiar just my imagination, I guess."
"Well, then that's it, Heath!" Jarrod seemed happy to have resolved the issue. "You brought someone into town to catch the train! No reason for Nick to get mad at you now. See you back at the ranch for supper," he disappeared, with Fred, into the lawman's office.
Heath took off his hat, scratched the side of his head, and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. Something wasn't right. It wasn't like him to forget things so easily. Oh, well, like Nick was fond of saying guess it's not important if he couldn't remember it.
Heath was the last to enter the parlor where the family was gathered for a drink before supper. He absently accepted the whiskey Nick poured for him as he listened to Audra chatter on about Silas spending an hour cleaning the room next to hers when they were neither expecting guests nor had received any in at least the last month. Heath was still troubled by his trip into town. He hadn't confessed to anyone that he couldn't remember the reason he'd ridden into Stockton and Jarrod, thankfully, seemed to have forgotten the whole incident.
He walked over and stood in front of the fireplace, resting his arm on the mantel then jumping back as he knocked a book from its perch on the mantelpiece. It hit the floor with a loud thud and fell open. Four pairs of eyes were watching as he picked it up and studied the name on the inside cover for a moment before looking up, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Says it belongs to Eugene Barkley," he told them. "Don't recollect the name but I'm guessin' he's a relative. Who is he?"
Jarrod shook his head and shrugged. "I don't think I've heard the name before."
Victoria, too, shook her head and suggested, "Perhaps it's a distant relative but I don't recall the name, either." She turned back to Audra and asked, "So what did Silas say?"
"He said he thought someone had been staying in the room but he couldn't remember who it was."
"Well," Nick finally weighed in, "guess it's not important if he can't remember. I'm hungry. Let's eat."
In the dark of the night, near the road to town, they danced
and cackled with glee.
Their spell was cast
their work was done
these evil
witches three.
The House of Barkley lost a son
Eugene, the youngest,
he.
Forget him not, this chosen one, who vanished from The Big
Valley.
THE END