Synopsis: Adam left the Ponderosa more than ten years before; and now, a letter has arrived announcing his intent to return. This story is his, as well as his family’s. This story is AU, diverges from canon as we know it.
Category: Bonanza
Genre: Western, prequel
Rating: PG – for minor cursing and a mild adult scene
Word Count: 53,360
Chapter One
He was a big man, at home as well as in town. The heart that beat within the man’s chest was just as immense as the smile that greeted his father as he entered their home and walked towards the area where the older man sat behind his desk, working on the ledgers.
“Yeah, it’s me Pa,” Hoss Cartwright cheerfully answered, his boot steps sounded his approach.
“What has you in such a fine mood this afternoon? You missed lunch today,” Ben Cartwright stated, looking looked up and seeing the smile upon his son’s face. He set down his pencil and began massaging his writing hand.
“Sorry about missin’ lunch, but the stage arrived, running late again, and had just dropped off the mail as I was gettin’ ready ta leave. I decided to wait while it got sorted. Glad I did too, got a letter for ya…”
“Only one?” teased Ben on seeing the stack of mail Hoss held.
“Nah, but this one here’s gonna make ya happy,” Hoss replied, reaching out to hand his father a letter with his right hand.
“Adam?” Ben mused after looking at the return address scripted in the upper left-hand corner. With a pen knife, Ben slit open the envelope, pulled out several sheets of paper, and began to read.
“What’s ol’ Adam got to say, Pa?” Hoss asked as he set the rest of the mail on his father’s desk and rested his hip against the same.
“He’s coming… home,” Ben announced, a hint of disbelief at the written words tainted his voice.
“He’s what?” gulped Hoss.
“It appears that… Adam is coming home.”
“He’s coming for a visit?” Hoss saw the expression on his father’s face change. “What else?”
“Adam’s sold Abel’s ship chandler shop as well as resigned his position in the engineering firm.”
“He done what?” Hoss unbelievingly spoke aloud. “Sold the shop and quit? Why’d he do that? That’s all he’s ever talked about in his letters; how he’s contributing to society. That and bein’ on the ground floor of progress.” Hoss heaved his frame from against his father’s desk, then sat down in one of the chairs in front of his father’s desk. “Pa, if he done all that… does that mean he’s comin’ home to stay?”
“I don’t know… It sounds like it, but…” Ben continued to read.
“But what, Pa?”
“He doesn’t say much else except apologizing for being gone so long and hopes that I can forgive him.”
“Forgive him? Whatcha need to forgive him for?”
“I’m not sure, but knowing your brother as I do, probably for not coming home…”
“You’re not holdin’ that against him are ya?” Hoss asked.
“I never held it against him, nor would I hold it against you or Joe if you decided that the Ponderosa wasn’t enough…”
“Aw shucks Pa, the Ponderosa is more than enough for me an’ Little Joe. What else does he say?”
“He says that he plans to get a room in town after his arrival…”
“A room in town?” interrupted Hoss. “Don’t he know his room’s a waitin’ for him upstairs?”
“He’s probably feeling a mite uneasy… But, that doesn’t matter,” Ben made a flourish with his hand as if to dismiss the thought, “However, I get the impression from what he’s not written that there’s more to his coming home.”
“But he’s comin’ home. I don’t care why he’s comin’, as long as he gets his scrawny butt back here. He’s been gone too long. Much too long,” proclaimed Hoss.
“Hoss, you know why he left…” Ben answered.
“I know… And I wished him well, too. Twern’t easy doin’ what he done and all back then… I know why he left… I just kinda had hoped he’da come for a visit or two. Be a heck of a lot easier than writin’ an occasional letter.”
“I just wish he’d written more in this letter…” Ben answered as he looked at the sheets of paper still in his hand.
“When’s he supposed to arrive?” Hoss inquired.
Ben skimmed the letter one more time, but couldn’t find anything that would answer the question.
“He didn’t say. Says only that he planned to leave within the week from when the letter was posted, and that was well over a month ago.”
“Well, we’ll probably get a wire or something when he’s closer, lettin’ us know. Trains run pretty much on schedule between Boston and St. Louis, but once he’s on a stage…”
“I know. Hoss, for now, let’s keep this between us. No sense telling your younger brother until we know more about Adam’s return.”
“Yes sir. How’re ya gonna break the news to Little Joe?”
“I’m not sure… I honestly don’t know how I’m going to tell him his brother is coming home.”
Hoss stood from where he had sat in front of the desk and turned to head across the floor of the great room, heading towards the dining room.
*****
“Mista Hoss, you miss lunch!” scolded Hop Sing who had waited at the corner of the dining room for father and son to finish their discussion.
“I shore did, and I’m plumb ready to pass out,” Hoss answered as he stood straighter and rubbed his hands over his stomach. “You did keep somethin’ for me ta eat, didn’tcha?”
“Not here for lunch, no eat lunch,” ranted the Oriental man, hiding a smile from his face.
“Maybe just a little snack?” Hoss pinched his thumb and forefinger close together, as he followed their housekeeper/cook into his domain.
“Snack for good boy.”
“I been good…” Hoss pleaded.
“Sandwich and milk on table in kitchen,” a smiling Hop Sing replied, waggling his finger towards the man.
Listening to the two, Ben leaned back into his chair and began to worry about what was missing from the letter he still held in his hands, he read it again before slipping the sheets back into the envelope and placing it in the center desk drawer.
*****
Hop Sing set to organizing the evening’s meal while Hoss ate his snack.
“It be good have numba one son home,” Hop Sing announced, keeping his eyes on the knife as he peeled the potatoes.
“Yeah, it’ll be good to have old Adam back home.”
“Honorable fatha hurt by him staying away so long.”
“We all are. You included,” Hoss replied.
“What of Lit’le Joe. Boy not understand…”
“Yeah it was rough on him, and now Pa’s tryin’ ta figure out how to let him know… I shore don’t envy him.”
“Fatha?”
Hoss nodded.
“He wise man. Mr. Cartwright know how to handle youngest son.”
“He does at that, don’t he,” laughed Hoss, finishing eating the last of the cold roast beef sandwich before drinking the glass of milk.
“Son will forgive, when he sees brotha.”
“I hope so. I shore missed Adam, cain’t wait to see him again.”
“Family be whole, soon.”
“Thanks for the snack, Hop Sing. I best get back to the barn and tend to my chores.”
Knowing he had been too agreeable, the Oriental man started berating the large man, “Big man leave mess in Hop Sing kitchen! Go back China!”
Chapter Two
“Come on Joe!” Mitch Devlin called from behind as Joe tightened the cinch to his saddle before he mounted to ride home.
“Can’t,” Joe answered.
“Joe, ya have to!”
“No I don’t.” Stopping what he was doing, Joe took a deep breath and calmly turned around. “Mitch, you know how busy we are this time of year.”
“But how often does…”
“I said no.” Joe was emphatic, “Mitch, look. I don’t know how else to explain it to you, but Pa’s depending on me. I can’t… I don’t want to let him down. Besides, Pa and Hoss haven’t hardly been home for the past five days. They’ve been out working with some of the men to clear out a location for a new lumber mill. I need to get home and do my share so they won’t worry. It’s been practically dark by the time they’ve come home lately.”
“Not for just a little while?”
The two were best friends for as long as they could remember; ever since shortly after Marie’s death, when the Devlin family moved into Virginia City and the two boys were immediately drawn to each other, and mischief.
“Mitch, I’ve got chores to do, my own and Hoss’. You know I’ve worked damn hard to make sure my grades are more than good enough. I want to leave all this behind me.” Joe slowly swung his arm around to indicate the school house and yard. “If I go off and play hooky with you, I’m not going to get my work done. If I do that, do you think Pa’s going to see me as grown up and allow me to finally take my leave? You know there’s talk about extending school… I’ll be sixteen this fall and I don’t really want to have to come back.”
“Is that really such a bad thing? I mean the girls already outnumber us fellas three to one in school,” pleaded Mitch, who had his eye on three different girls to squire to the barn dance for the Independence Day celebration.
“Mitch I know what you’re saying, but you have four older brothers. There’s only Hoss and me,” replied Joe. “I want to work our ranch with my brother; that’s always been Pa’s dream.”
“But your Pa’s got a whole bunkhouse full of hands,” Mitch sounded exasperated.
“Yes, but I’m considered one of the owners, even though I’ve not reached my majority. I’ve listened to Pa and Hoss talking after they think I’ve gone to bed. There’s more to running a ranch the size of the Ponderosa than just hiring men and paying them to do a job. Pa and Hoss are out there, right now, working alongside the men. It makes sense that for the men to want to work for us and do a good job that they have to see that we’re right there with them… …that we don’t think of ourselves as better than them; that we’re willing to get dirty right alongside them. You’ve seen the turnover at some of the other ranches…”
“Yeah, their hands come and go all the time, with little warning.” Mitch began to feel that it wasn’t worth it to hang around town.
“And our men return season after season, and we don’t have to train a lot of new men every year. Sure some move on, but the ones who return are loyal to us.”
“Guess I should head on home, too,” Mitch answered glumly, picking up the reins to his own mount.
“Now don’t go totally shocking your Pa and brothers,” teased Joe as he swung up into the saddle after making sure the straps to his saddlebags were secure so he wouldn’t lose his school books as he raced home. “You can ride with me to the turn off.”
The two signaled their horses into a slow trot down the main street of Virginia City since school had finished for the day.
*****
“HEY JOE!” Clive Morgan yelled, running out the door of the telegraph office after spotting the distinctive markings of the only black and white pinto belonging to the Ponderosa; he tried his best to gain the attention of the youngest Cartwright. He was successful, but caused Cochise to rear in fright, pawing his front hooves in the air.
Joe calmly reined Cochise to the ground and patted the pinto’s neck, encouraging him to stand still. Slightly flustered at the man for startling his horse, he looked over to see the telegrapher waiving something in the air. The boy inhaled deeply after seeing the angry man’s face; worrying what he might have done to upset the man. Joe did well to hide his own anger surrounding almost being dumped, he didn’t want word to get back to his father that he’d lost his temper, or worse yet, that he’d been disrespectful to an adult. It was something he was trying to keep firmly under control in order to show his father that he was responsible. Joe stepped down to face the man, he’d been taught from a young age that when approached by someone on foot, you step down to their level.
“Yes Mr. Morgan?” Joe tentatively answered, having waved goodbye to Mitch.
“Sorry I startled your horse… and I’m not mad at you son.” Clive Morgan rested his hand, as a sign of apology to the boy, on Joe’s shoulder. “I’m mad at my own boy. Seems he took a wire a couple of days ago and misplaced it… Tell your Pa I’m sorry, but that I’m real happy to hear that Adam’s coming home.”
“Huh?” Joe squeaked out, taking the sheet of paper.
“It says it all right there.” The man pointed to the telegram. “He’s going to arrive today. You got about an hour or so until the stage arrives.”
“Adam who?” Joe looked up to the older man.
“Why, your brother,” Clive answered, surprised by the boy’s confusion.
“Hoss hasn’t gone anywhere. He’s been working with Pa and some of the hands on clearing the site for building that new mill by Bear Creek Meadow.”
“Joe, guess it has been some time since Adam’s been gone.” Scratching at his head, Clive continued, “Why I guess it’s probably been nigh on ten years since Adam left. Went to Harvard… If I remember right, it weren’t but a few months after your Ma passed.”
“Oh! Adam’s coming home.” Joe was surprised. Vague images filtered through his memory after he read the wire.
Ben Cartwright
The Ponderosa Ranch
Virginia City, Nevada Territory
Will arrive the afternoon stage June 5 /stop
Can’t wait /stop
Your son, Adam
“Guess it’s too late for you to make it home and get your Pa back here. Tell Ben that I’m truly sorry. I’m gonna tan Jerry’s backside when I get home tonight. That boy…” Clive Morgan turned and left Joe standing next to the boardwalk, staring at the wire. As Joe reread the telegram, he tried to latch on to the memories in hopes they would explain the uneasiness that settled in the pit of his stomach.
Joe startled when he felt a hand placed to his shoulder. He looked up to see Paul Martin, the town’s doctor and one of his father’s best friends.
“Joe, are you alright?” Paul Martin asked as he looked at Joe’s pale complexion, and worried.
“Oh, hi Doc Martin. Yeah, I’m fine.”
Paul raised his eyebrows in surprise, whenever did the boy say he was anything other than fine.
“Everything alright at home?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess. Pa and Hoss haven’t been home much, but that’s to be expected right now,” Joe replied.
“I guess so, your Pa told me about their new project. Anyway, I called your name a couple of times and you didn’t answer. If you don’t mind my saying, you look like you lost your best friend… Did you and Mitch get into trouble at school today?” the physician teased.
“No… uh… Doc… you’ve known my family for a long time…”
“Sure, you know that. You were the first baby I helped bring into the world after my arrival. I remember it like yesterday, you weren’t supposed to arrive for another month. Adam came racing into town to find me and…” Seeing Joe’s face blanch, Paul asked, “What’s wrong son?”
“Adam… He’s coming home…” Joe plaintively stated, looking up from hooded eyes he handed the wire to the family physician.
After reading, Paul understood and nodded.
“Pa doesn’t talk about why he really left, only that he left so he could go to school…” Joe hesitated, “Some of the other guys say he’s some kind of black sheep of the family.”
“Adam is NOT a black sheep. He’s loved by your father and your brother, and you.”
“Yeah…” Joe paused as images of a gangly tall young man with dark hair and dark eyes so lost in hurt peered at him. “Doc, he left because of me… didn’t he…”
“Joe, why don’t you come with me to my surgery… I think it best we speak without everyone else listening in.”
The physician’s hand guided the boy as he walked along beside him as they stayed to the side of the dirt street that ran through the heart of Virginia City.
Arriving at the physician’s surgery, Joe tied Cochise to the hitching rail, loosened his cinch, and followed the man inside.
“Have a seat Joe, I’ll be right back. Marjorie, from the diner, brought over some lemonade earlier this afternoon.”
Handing a glass to the boy, Paul sat down at his desk and began his explanation.
“Joe, what do you remember from… after your mother’s death?” Paul asked.
“Not much, more feelings than anything…”
“Like what?”
“Loneliness, hurt… I remember being scared.” Joe thought back through ten years worth of memories. “After Momma died, Pa had to leave for a long business trip, I thought he was never coming home, and then Adam got hurt and left… I wasn’t a good kid back then; I remember being on trial. I’m surprised you never told Pa to send me to one of them homes for unruly boys.”
“Joe… You were so young…, it doesn’t surprise me that you don’t remember everything exactly right. You have a few of your facts, not quite correct. Joe, your life was turned inside-out. And your brothers and Hop Sing did their best to protect you.”
“Why did I need protected?” Joe asked.
Paul wished that Ben was there, and was the one to explain to his son the tragic events from the past. But there wasn’t time. The boy had a right to know, and since the doctor had played a part all those years ago, he continued…
Chapter Three
Ten years earlier:
“MARIE!!” Ben Cartwright screamed, having watched the horse stumble and fall, throwing his wife to the ground. Jumping from the raised deck and running across the yard, Ben caressed his wife’s face in an effort to help her regain consciousness. “Marie?” Tears streaming down his face.
Charlie Yeagle, the ranch foreman, came from the barn and pulled the limping horse away from the couple on the ground. Charlie was a small man in stature, but that didn’t stop him from knowing his job, and the men respected him. He was always immaculate in his appearance whenever he wasn’t out on the range, punching cattle. His dark hair was just starting to show some grey; however, once the grey appeared in his mustache and beard, he’d shaved them both off and swore he’d never grow them again.
“Boss?” Charlie called.
“Marie?” Ben cried, his wife in his arms.
“Pa?” Adam called as he came from the house.
“Adam! Keep your brothers inside!” Charlie yelled, letting go of the horse’s reins and went to help his employer.
Ben smoothed away the dirt from his wife’s pale complexion, while behind them, a hand who had entered the yard turned his horse around and raced towards Virginia City and the doctor.
*****
Almost three hours after the horse stumbled and fell, Doctor Paul Martin exited from the downstairs guest room and closed the door behind him; the sight in front of him was disheartening.
“Ben?” the doctor approached the grieving man. “I’m sorry Ben, but there was nothing I could do. If it is of any comfort, she didn’t suffer. From what I can tell, Marie died instantaneously.”
“My wife… my beautiful wife,” Ben whispered, trails of tears streaked his face.
Ben stood, crossed the room and climbed the steps to the second floor of the ranch house. Moments later, Paul heard a bedroom door close.
The physician looked at the two youngest Cartwrights, curled up sleeping next to each other on the red and white striped settee. He walked over to the oldest Cartwright son, who hid himself away in the study area, off the side of the great room; sitting at his father’s desk, his head resting on crossed arms.
“Adam,” Paul said as he gently shook the seventeen year old awake.
Struggling to wake, Adam muttered, “Huh?”
“It’s me, Doctor Martin. Adam, I need you to wake up.”
“Doc Martin…” he took in his surroundings and remembered, “Marie died… didn’t she…”
“Yes, son… she died. The force of the fall broke her neck.”
“Pa?”
“He’s grieving; he went upstairs a few moments ago. I wanted to let someone know that I’m heading back to town. I’ll let Fletcher, the undertaker, know that you’re in need of his services. I’ll also let Ada Michaelson know what happened. I’m sure she’ll want to be here to help with Marie… and the boys.”
“Doc, I don’t know what to do…” Adam wiped the tears from his face.
“I highly suggest that you, and your brothers, all get some sleep. I’ll return in the morning. If you’d like, I can carry Hoss up, while you take Joe to his room.”
“Sure… He won’t wake.”
*****
After seeing the Cartwright sons to their beds, Paul Martin returned downstairs seeking out the one person he knew would help take care of the family during their grief, Hop Sing.
“Times dark,” the Chinese housekeeper/cook spoke as the physician entered his kitchen. “They were happy.”
“I know they were, Hop Sing. The family is going to need you… especially the boys.”
“I care for boys, I help.” The smaller man was not ashamed of the tears that streaked his face. He made no move to wipe away his grief.
“I know you will. I’m leaving now, but I’ll be back tomorrow. I strongly suggest that you lock the guest room door, to keep Little Joe and Hoss out of there… at least until Ben can tell them the news.”
“I help Mr. Adam take boys upstairs… put to bed.”
“No need. I’ve already seen to that. You, my good friend, you need to sleep too.”
The man nodded.
*****
“Where’s Momma?” Joe asked, squirming in his chair at the dining room table.
“Hush Joe, an’ eat your breakfast,” Hoss said before he sniffled and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. He’d tried so hard the night before to stay awake. He knew something terrible had happened to his mother, but he had never thought it would be as bad as what Adam had told them earlier that morning.
Both younger brothers had come down the stairs, surprised not to see their father already sitting at the table waiting to greet them for the morning while Marie helped Hop Sing in the kitchen.
Hoss cried when Adam told them of Marie’s death, Little Joe looked confused. They’d sat together on the settee until Hop Sing had called them for breakfast. Adam sent his brothers on to the table while he said he was going to get their father.
*****
A noise from the room beside the dining room caught his attention. “Is Papa in there?”
“No,” Hoss answered. “Don’tcha remember? Adam went upstairs to get him.”
“Who’s in there?”
“Never you mind, eat.”
“Doc Martin!” Joe called, having seen the family physician come around the corner to enter the dining room. “Are Momma and Papa sick? Is that why you’re here?”
Doc Martin had returned to the Ponderosa as promised, his soul saddened to see the tears streaking young Hoss’ face and the look of confusion pasted on Joe’s.
“How are you Joe?” Paul asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you behaving yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good. Hoss, I need to speak with Adam or your father.”
“Adam’s upstairs… with Pa,” the boy answered. Paul could tell he was trying to be brave.
“Hoss, keep an eye on Joe, will you?”
“Sure, Doc.”
Paul slowly walked up the steps to the bedroom Ben and Marie had shared. He paused outside the doorway and listened to Adam talking.
“Pa… Please, Mr. Fletcher will be here later today and Mrs. Michaelson is already here. You need to decide…”
“Go away,” Ben ordered as he hid with his grief in the darkened room, the heavy curtains drawn closed over the windows.
Ben lay in bed, still wearing the clothes from the day before, a blanket drawn up over his shoulders.
“I can’t Pa. You have to decide on a coffin and what dress for Marie, at least come downstairs and share breakfast with Hoss and Joe.”
“I said, go away!” Ben yelled.
Paul decided to make his presence known, “Adam.” It pained the man to see the heartbreak the young man was suffering in trying to deal with his own grief and yet still maintaining some composure.
“I can’t do this Paul,” Adam answered as he walked to the doorway, looking over his shoulder to his father, tears leaching from his eyes.
“I know. I’ll handle your father… go be with your brothers.”
“Doctor Martin?”
“Yes?”
“It’s about Joe… When Pa wouldn’t come downstairs… I… I tried to tell him about Marie. He… I don’t think I explained it right… he doesn’t understand.”
Paul nodded. “He’s young, it’s to be expected. I know you probably don’t feel like eating, but at least spend some time with them. I’ll come down later and talk with him.”
Adam nodded before leaving his parents’… father’s bedroom.
*****
Adam had barely sat in his chair at the dining room table before Joe began asking him questions.
“Adam, Hoss won’t tell me where Momma is… Do you know where Momma is?”
Searching deep within himself, Adam answered, “Joe, I told you this morning, your Momma had an accident…”
“Doc Martin’s here, he’s gonna make her feel better, right?” Joe asked, holding his porridge spoon upright in his left hand.
“No Joe, Doc Martin can’t make her feel… better,” answered Adam.
Another noise came from behind the closed door next to the dining room.
“Who’s in there? What’re they doin’?”
“Mrs. Michaelson is in there taking care of Marie,” Adam honestly replied.
“Momma’s in there?!” Dropping his spoon, Joe jumped from his chair, ran to the door and turned the knob before Adam could reach him. “Momma!” Joe hollered as he opened the door and ran in.
Ada Michaelson had bathed Marie and dressed her in her petticoats and camisole, waiting for Ben to decide which dress she should wear to be buried. It startled her to hear Little Joe enter the room, calling for his mother.
“Oh, Little Joe, you shouldn’t be in here.” Ada turned and tried to stop the boy.
Joe sidestepped the woman and called, “Momma, there you are! You didn’t give me my morning kiss.”
Adam reached Joe as he climbed up to the foot of the bed where Marie laid, the young boy stopped when his mother didn’t wake and smile at him. “Momma?”
“Joe, no,” Adam lifted his brother backwards and turned him to face away from his mother.
“Let me down!” Joe yelled, twisting his body to see his mother. Adam held tight. “I wanna kiss Momma! Momma always kisses me in the morning! I gotta wake her. Let me go!” Joe kicked his legs and swung his fisted hands in an effort to get away from his brother.
“Joe, Marie’s dead!” Adam momentarily lost his temper, but softened before he continued, “She can’t kiss you anymore,” Adam cried as he carried his brother from the room.
“Momma! Wake up! Let me go!” Joe yelled. “I want Momma!”
Even those who knew her, found it hard to believe Ada Michaelson’s age. Her dark raven hair had barely begun to grey at her temples and the creases that lined the faces of many women were absent from her own. She and her husband Archibald had been among the first settlers to greet and befriend Ben Cartwright and his two young sons when they decided to settle in the territory. It was an easy friendship and one that grew when Ben returned from an extended business trip to New Orleans with a French Creole woman as his wife.
In her fifty plus years the strong frontier woman had witnessed her fair share of death, but still it was never easy. Even more so when the victim was young and vibrant; and left behind such a young child. Tears streamed down her face as she stood and watched the brothers leave the room.
Adam carried his fighting and screaming brother to the settee and sat down, cradling him in his arms.
“Shhh, Joe… I know you don’t understand.”
“I want Momma,” Joe cried.
“I know you do, but Momma’s gone,” Adam answered, tears constantly threatening. “Little Joe, she died yesterday. She can’t hug you…” Adam gulped, “or kiss you. She can’t hold you in her arms.”
“Go wake her up Adam…”
“I would if I could, little buddy… But no one can wake her.”
Hoss walked over to his brothers and sat down next to them. “I miss her, Adam,” He rested his head against his brother’s shoulder. “She’s the only Momma I ever knowed. Why’d she havta die?”
“I don’t know.”
“I want Momma,” Joe whispered, placing his thumb in his mouth.
“She’s in heaven, little buddy. Your momma’s in heaven with our mothers, Hoss’ and mine,” Adam answered, closed his eyes and cried, he kissed his little brother on the top of his head.
“Make ‘em send her home,” Joe quietly asked as Adam rocked him and tried to hum a song that Marie frequently sang. His throat constricted in his grief causing him to stop.
Twenty minutes later, Joe was curled up asleep on the settee, thumb still in mouth, and softly hiccupping from his crying. Hoss sat closer to his younger brother as Adam went to speak with Mrs. Michaelson.
“Pa’s not going to be able to choose a dress, Mrs. Michaelson. Why don’t you come upstairs and select one. You’re Marie’s dearest friend and I’m sure you’d know which dress…”
“I think I do. Thank you, Adam.”
*****
That afternoon, Mr. Fletcher arrived at the Ponderosa and waited for someone to answer his knock on the door. When it opened, he removed his hat before entering.
“I’m here to help with Mrs. Cartwright,” he reverently spoke to the servant.
“Missy Ada already in room. Come, I show you.”
*****
By the time Mr. Fletcher was ready to leave the room where Marie lay, he and Mrs. Michaelson had dressed her in the gown that Ben had purchased to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. She wore the necklace and matching earrings Ben had presented to her after the birth of their son. Her hair was beautifully coiffed and just a light touch of makeup adorned her face. The two people who tended to her yearned for her to wake, so lovingly had they treated her… she appeared as if only asleep.
As the undertaker exited the room and looked up, he saw Adam sitting at the dining room table.
“Will your father be able to speak with me? We need to discuss arrangements for transporting Mrs. Cartwright to town and where in the cemetery she should be buried… and when he would like to hold the funeral.”
“Mr. Fletcher, my father is lost in his grief right now… But I know that he… he wouldn’t want Marie to be buried…” Adam struggled, “…in town. There’s a location here on the ranch that Marie loved. I think it would be better if she were buried on the Ponderosa. Can all the… arrangements be made to hold the services tomorrow?”
“Yes, if it could be scheduled for the afternoon. Is there someone here who could show me the location?”
“I can do it…”
“But your brothers…” Mr. Fletcher countered.
“I need to get out of the house for a little while. Let me tell Mrs. Michaelson and then I’ll saddle my horse.”
*****
As Adam turned to leave the spot that would be the eternal resting location for his second step-mother, he nodded at the undertaker’s comment about having a beautiful silk-lined coffin that he thought would perfectly match Marie’s gown. “I’ll bring it to the house tomorrow, late morning.”
Chapter Four
Adam rose early and woke his brothers, insisting both help him in the barn with the chores. Something to help Hoss keep his mind off his grief and to keep Joe out of the house for a while.
The day before, when he’d returned from taking Mr. Fletcher to the location for Marie’s grave, he’d found Joe sitting outside of their father’s bedroom, knocking on the door, crying.
“Joe?”
“Is Papa sick? He won’t let me in.”
“Yeah, Joe. Papa isn’t feeling well. Why don’t you come with me?” Adam knelt down, picked Joe up, and carried him downstairs.
“Can’t Momma make him feel better?” Joe wrapped his arms around Adam’s neck.
“No, Joe. Momma can’t make him feel better. Remember, I told you she… died.”
“Adam, what can you do when you died?”
“Oh, buddy…” Adam pulled Joe’s head to lie on his shoulder as he took him outside and to the corral; hoping the horses would keep Joe’s from asking questions.
*****
As the brothers worked in the barn, Adam kept Joe focused on various tasks he was able to perform… putting hay and oats in the mangers. He kicked up quite a dust cloud while he was raking the ground.
Chores were slowly accomplished for the morning. When the boys returned to the house, Hop Sing greeted them at the door, “I have baths ready, clothes ready.”
“It ain’t Saturday. I don’t need no bath,” Joe replied.
“Joe, we need to take a bath so we can look good and smell nice for when we say goodbye to Momma,” Adam answered.
“Can I see Momma?” Joe looked up at his oldest brother, pleadingly.
“You will, later,” Adam breathed deep to stop his tears. “Hoss will you help Little Joe?”
“Shore, come on there Shortshanks,” Hoss reached for Little Joe’s hand.
Adam and Hop Sing watched the two head to the backroom where they would bathe.
“Mr. Fletcher arrive with coffin,” advised Hop Sing.
“I know, I saw him. Where’s Pa?”
“He still upstairs, honored doctor with him. You go boy, you no need see them place Missy Cartwright in coffin.”
Adam nodded, and headed up the stairs as his tears could no longer puddle in his eyes.
*****
Adam knelt in front of his youngest brother and finished tying the string tie that matched his own and Hoss’. Hoss stood behind his little brother, both hands resting on his shoulders. The older two tried their best to quiet their tears, but seeing Joe and how he really didn’t understand what was happening made it all the more difficult.
Neither of the older brothers had ever known their own mothers, so they felt it was difficult to miss something they’d never had. But this was the second step-mother that Adam had lost. For Hoss, Marie had been the only mother he’d ever known, but he had known a time when there had not been a mother figure in his life. There once was a time when it was only he, Adam, and Pa, a time when they were happier than they were right now.
“Adam, I don’t wanna wear a tie, it’s chokin’ me,” Joe complained, sticking a finger between the collar and his neck.
“You want to look nice for your mother, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but I can’t breathe,” Joe replied as he continued to tug at his collar.
“Neither can I, Shortshanks. But them people downstairs would think we weren’t being respectable…”
“Respectful,” Adam corrected.
“I don’t wanna be rebectful,” Joe answered. “Will Momma let me take this off?” Joe moved his hands to the ends of the tie.
“No, Joe.” Adam stopped Joe from pulling on the string. “Please little buddy, just do this for me. You don’t want the people to think your mother didn’t know how to raise you properly, do you?”
“Momma raised me good! Didn’t she Hoss?” Joe looked up and over his shoulder to the larger boy.
“She raised all of us good,” Hoss agreed, trying to keep the tears in his eyes from falling down his face. His little brother was so innocent in his questions, not understanding the implications of the day.
“Come on, I hear people arriving outside.”
As Adam stood up, Joe reached for his hand and tugged.
“Why are people coming here? Are we having a party? Why didn’t ya say we was having a party, Momma always makes sure I look nice for a party.”
“It’s not a party, Joe.” Hoss answered. “People come to… uh… say their piece.”
“It’s pay their respects,” Adam replied.
“Why are they gonna pay us? Is rebects as good as money?” Joe queried.
Adam reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, dreading how he would ever make it through the afternoon. It had barely been forty-eight hours since Marie’s death and their father had yet to leave his bedroom, Adam wished that he would take some time with Joe, maybe he could help explain what was happening so that the younger child could understand. But then Adam remembered the words of Doctor Martin, and how even he had sat Joe down the day before and attempted to explain what had happened. Joe was just too young to understand what it meant to die.
*****
Hop Sing opened the front door to allow entry to the first guests. Adam carried Little Joe as the brothers came down the staircase.
“Adam, there’s Momma!” Joe squirmed. “Why’s she sleepin’ in that box? Adam, ya gotta wake Momma! She’s gonna miss all the people.”
Archibald and Ada Michaelson stopped once they heard Little Joe. They looked up to see the grief stricken faces of Hoss and Adam.
Ada met the brothers at the foot of the staircase, “I’ll take care of Joe today.”
“Thank you.”
“Where’s your pa, Adam?” Archie asked, placing a consoling hand to the young man’s shoulder.
“He’s still upstairs… in his room.”
“I’ll head on up…”
“Doc Martin and Sheriff Coffee are already there,” Hoss helpfully answered.
“I’ll just head up to see if they need any help,” Archie answered.
Adam nodded as he made his way to the front door, placing a hand on Hoss’ shoulder to encourage him to go with him and greet the others who were arriving.
*****
“NO!” Ben Cartwright emphatically proclaimed to the two men who stood at the foot of his bed.
This was the scene that Archie Michaelson witnessed after entering the master bedroom of the Ponderosa ranch house. Ben Cartwright was as haggard as he’d ever seen him, even after weeks on a cattle drive. Ben’s hair was plastered against his head, stubble on his chin and cheeks, dark shadows under his eyes, holding the blanket tight over his shoulders as he lay curled on his side.
“Ben, your friends are arriving in order to pay their last respects to Marie and to offer their condolences to you and the boys.”
“Tell them to go away,” growled the grieving husband.
“Ben, if not for yourself…” Archie spoke, walking to stand next to the bed. From the looks he saw on the faces of their friends, he knew they had been up here for some time, attempting to coax Ben to leave his room. He grabbed the blanket, pulled, and said, “Get your ass out of bed and get cleaned up! Marie would be ashamed of you! Your boys need their father!”
“To Hell with you!” Ben venomously declared as he pulled the blanket back to his shoulders.
“Sure, hide away all by yourself. You don’t care about anyone but you! Leaving those boys downstairs to fend for themselves!” Archie threw the words at him. “What would Marie think?”
“She’s dead!” Ben declared.
“Yes, Marie’s dead. But ya got three sons downstairs who need their Pa!” Sheriff Roy Coffee replied, thinking that maybe Archie had it right. The best way to get the man moving was not to coddle him; make him angry. “Lying there, wallering in your own grief, not caring anything about them boys; pathetic is what you are!”
“How dare you?!” Ben bolted upright in his bed, eyes glaring anger.
“We dare because we care for those boys!” Paul encouraged. “Your sons need you.”
With his eyes glowering at the three men, he threw back the covers and made his way to the wash stand in his room. “Get out!” He pointed towards the door.
When the door closed, Ben looked at himself in the mirror.
“Oh Marie… why…” Ben stood there, palms of his hands flat on the washstand, leaning onto his straight arms, head hung low. “How can I go on without you?” He shook his head back and forth. “Tell me that this is all just a dream… that you didn’t say goodbye. Please, let me wake from this nightmare and find you in my arms.”
Blocking out the vision entrenched within his soul, he told himself he had to do this for the boys. Ben shaved and gave his body a cursory wash. Tears fell again as he applied a small amount of the bay rum cologne that Marie so loved.
*****
Many of his friends were already downstairs when Ben finally appeared; he saw his eldest and his middle sons talking with Edgar Wistram and his wife, and made his way to them.
“Pa?” Hoss called when he spied his father.
Ben nodded and placed a hand to his son’s shoulder as he looked Adam in the eye and acknowledged him.
“I’m sorry for your loss Ben, Marie was a beautiful person,” Ellena Wistram stated as she patted the man’s upper arm.
“Mighty fine woman,” Edgar seconded.
Throughout the afternoon, stoically, Ben accepted handshakes from the men and hugs from the woman as each one expressed their sorrows. When it was time, Paul walked with Ben outside to the carriage that had been reserved for the family, in order to follow behind the glass-enclosed caisson that carried the sealed coffin of Marie Cartwright. Roy escorted Adam and Hoss, while Ada walked beside Archie who carried Little Joe.
A crying Hoss sat in the front seat next to the driver, while Ben and Adam sat in the seat in back. Adam struggled to keep his tears at bay; Ben sat stiff and straight, his face emotionless. From Archie Michaelson’s arms, Little Joe tried to climb onto his father’s lap, but Adam motioned that he would mind his brother.
“I want Papa,” Joe stated, struggling to reach his father.
“Not now, Joe,” Adam whispered.
“Papa?” Joe pitifully cried and pulled on his father’s suit jacket sleeve.
Ben never acknowledged his youngest as the driver signaled the horses to finally move out.
*****
Hoss stood between his father and his oldest brother. Joe stood in front of Adam, who rested his hands to his littlest brother’s shoulders. Most of the people who had been at the house had followed in the procession to the burial location.
As friends and family settled around the grave, Reverend Hastings began the service, “Friends and loved ones… we are gathered here today to commit the earthly remains of Marie Cartwright to the ground. Marie was a loving wife and mother, and a friend to many. It is a tragedy that her life was ended so young, but as we know from the bible, she has already been received in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Joe tried to be good as the reverend spoke and those around him sniffled. His young mind couldn’t understand the concept of death and he thought this might be some kind of new game his mother was playing. A game he no longer wanted to play, having to stand there and be still, and wearing uncomfortable clothes. He didn’t want his mother in the box anymore.
“She was gonna take me on a picnic after church,” Joe turned around and looked up to his oldest brother. “Please Adam, tell them to let her out of there! I don’t want to play this game no more!”
Joe reached out to his mother, but Adam restrained him, picking the boy up and cradling him in his arms.
“Shhh… Joe. Just go to sleep,” Adam whispered into his brother’s ear. Adam’s hand encouraged Joe’s head to his shoulder. He’d tried to be stoic, but his brother’s pleadings were tearing at his own heartstrings, causing tears to fall anew.
Reverend Hastings spoke for a few more minutes before concluding the service. Those gathered filed past the coffin, not a dry eye in the crowd, especially after everyone heard Little Joe plead for them to let his mother out.
*****
Returning to inside their home, Ben didn’t acknowledge any of his sons, nor did he say anything to the few close friends who returned with the family. He pulled off his tie, dropping it to the floor as he headed towards the stairs and to his refuge.
Chapter Five
Five-year old Little Joe followed his oldest brother, Adam, like a shadow, never letting him too far out of his sight during the first week after his mother’s funeral. Hoss tried to keep Joe occupied so Adam could do his work, but Hoss just didn’t do things the same way as Adam.
“Adam doesn’t do it that way,” was heard more times than not when Hoss attempted to help his brother get dressed or brush his hair. The only time things went smoothly was when the older boy play-struggled with his brother in order to put the boy’s socks and boots upon his feet. Joe would lie with his back on the bed with Hoss holding one foot or the other up in the air, all the while Joe squirmed to prevent from being tickled.
Hop Sing also had tried to find work in the house to keep Joe busy so Adam could run the ranch in his father’s stead, but it seemed the boy always ended up sitting outside his father’s bedroom door, crying himself into a distressed sleep.
As the days passed, Adam grew more frustrated at his father; he wanted… needed the man’s help. The oldest Cartwright son had only turned seventeen a few weeks before his step-mother’s death. He didn’t really know everything about what it took to run the ranch full time as well as to take care of his brothers. He relied heavily on Hop Sing where his brothers and the house were concerned; and on Charlie Yeagle for the running of the ranch. But in his father’s refusal to partake in their lives, he felt compelled to step in to his father’s shoes, he had no choice. He was a Cartwright after all.
Of an evening, once he’d shared bedtime stories with his brothers, he retreated to his own bedroom and felt lost. He knew his brothers were struggling, both with Marie’s death and their father’s apparent abandonment. And he felt those voids as well; however, the Ponderosa still needed to be run and his brothers needed to be cared for, and… life continued. The downstairs long clock would yet to strike the quarter hour before Adam’s eyes closed in exhaustion and he slept.
*****
“It’s been two weeks, Paul,” Roy Coffee stated as he sat in Paul Martin’s office.
“I know.”
“I been out there today.”
“You were?” Paul asked. “Something happen?”
“Cornelius at the post office brought me a letter addressed to Adam…”
“And it couldn’t wait until one of the hands came to town to collect the mail?” Paul couldn’t fathom what letter would spur the lawman to travel out to the Ponderosa as a courier.
“It came from Boston… Harvard College to be exact.”
Paul’s eyes opened wider, he knew what the letter contained or rather what the letter should contain. It was difficult for the physician to believe that it had only been a month before that Adam had received a wire informing him of his acceptance to the college and that a formal letter of acceptance with further instructions would come later. As a good friend of the family, Paul and Roy had both been invited to attend a special dinner Marie insisted be prepared in her step-son’s honor. The reticent young man was all smiles and disbelief at his good fortune when his father handed him the wire, just before Hop Sing brought in the dessert.
“What happened when he opened it?” Paul inquired.
“He looked at the return address and tossed it on the desk in the study area.”
“It’s a shame… That boy worked harder than anyone I’ve ever known, including myself, to make sure he had the background and the grades to attend. Do you think he’ll still go?”
“Depends on what happens next… If Ben starts acting like their pa again, I don’t see why he wouldn’t go.” Roy also had an ulterior motive in taking the letter out to the Ponderosa, “I also wanted to see how the boys are gettin’ along. What I seen… well… It’s just a shame.”
Paul raised his eyebrows, he wondered if Roy had the same inclination as he did.
“Adam’s runnin’ hisself ragged trying to do all and be all. Something has to happen to get Ben living again. If not for himself or the ranch, at least for them boys!” Roy punched his right fight into the palm of his left hand for added emphasis.
“I know… I was out there over the weekend, and I wasn’t happy with what I saw. Ben’s not come from his room and more times than not, he barely eats anything. Hoss is trying his best to help Adam by doing chores around the house and the barn, but there’s only so much that an eleven year old can do.”
“And then there’s Little Joe…” Roy shook his head in heart-felt regret.
“Yes, Joe. He panics anytime he can’t find Adam. Hoss can barely calm him down if Adam hasn’t returned to the house before Joe’s woken from his afternoon nap.”
Roy interrupted, “Hop Sing told me that for the past few days, Adam’s taken to having Joe ride in the saddle with him whenever he feels it’s safe, ya know, depending on what job he needs to do.”
“What about Hoss and Hop Sing looking out for Joe. They were over the weekend,” Paul inquired.
“Things were sorta okay, until the nightmares started, the boy started waking during all hours of the night. Hop Sing said Joe would scream and yell, fighting something that only he can see in his dreams. If anything, that should have alarmed Ben enough to get him out of his damn bed.”
Paul spoke after thinking on all that had happened to the Cartwrights of late, “You remember Marie’s funeral?” When Roy nodded, Paul continued, “He never acknowledged Little Joe…”
“What can we do?” the situation was pulling at the lawman, especially where the youngest Cartwright son was concerned.
“Just be there for the family when the dam finally breaks, and pray it’s soon,” Paul fervently wished.
*****
“Hop Sing!” Adam yelled, hurriedly making his way through the front door, re-entering the house. He had been startled to enter the barn to start chores for the morning and couldn’t believe what he’d seen.
“Mista Adam, what wrong?”
“Has Pa been down here?”
“No see Mista Cartwright, take tray with breakfast up soon,” Hop Sing spoke in his stilted English.
“Buck’s not in his stall.”
“PAPA!” Joe screamed from upstairs. “Papa! Where are you?!”
Adam and Hop Sing raced for the second floor and Ben’s bedroom one behind the other; arriving to see Joe there, shirt buttons askew and his boots upon the wrong feet, crying and looking through the room and under the bed, calling for his father.
“Joe,” Adam hurried towards his brother and knelt down in front of him. Adam wanted to smile at his brother’s disheveled method of dressing himself, but the boy’s distress overrode any humor in the situation.
“Where’s Papa?” Joe asked, tears streaking his face.
“Why are you in here?” Adam pulled his brother close, almost a hug.
“I wanted Papa… The door opened,” Joe pointed back to the doorway.
Standing behind the brothers, the Oriental man saw the doors to the armoire were hanging open; he walked over and looked, “Some clothes gone.”
Leaving the room, Adam ran down the hallway, passing a confused Hoss exiting from his bedroom.
“Adam? What’s goin’ on? What was Joe yellin’ about? Is Pa okay?” Hoss asked, following his brother.
“No!” Adam gasped from the stop of the stairs after realizing what he had missed seeing earlier. He dropped his head to his chest at the sight of his father’s gunbelt missing from the sideboard. And his father’s hat was no longer hanging on the rack on the wall.
“Adam, what’s wrong?” Hoss asked.
“Pa’s gone.”
“Did he go to town?” Hoss wanted to know.
“I don’t know.”
With a sniffling Joe in his arms, Hop Sing approached the brothers, “Maybe father go to Missy Cartwright’s grave.”
Joe cried harder, burying his face in Hop Sing’s shoulder.
“It okay Lit’le Joe, you cry,” Hop Sing crooned to the child.
Joe had stopped asking about his mother, he had come to understand that she wasn’t coming home, that she now lived in the grave. His brothers and Hop Sing constantly reinforced that she had loved him, and if she could, she would come home. But once you were in Heaven… she was now Joe’s guardian angel.
“Hop Sing, would you keep an eye on Hoss and Joe…” Adam left his sentence uncompleted.
“I wanna come too,” Hoss proclaimed.
“No, I’m going to be riding faster than you’re comfortable going. If Pa’s not at Marie’s grave, I need to go to Virginia City to see if he’s there. I won’t have time to keep an eye on you, and you know how Pa feels about you wondering the streets of town without him there…”
“But Adam,” Hoss pleaded.
“Hoss, I know you want to help find Pa, but I need for you to be here. In my absence, someone needs to do the barn chores. Can I depend on you?”
“Sure ya can… ya knows that.”
*****
Adam quickly saddled Beauty and headed to where he prayed he’d find his father. He had felt it was a good sign that his father had finally left his room, but it confused him why he hadn’t said anything to Hop Sing as well as the fact that he’d left some time before the sun had risen.
Disappointment washed over Adam realizing no one had been to Marie’s grave since the day of her funeral, he had wanted to find his father quick. He turned his horse and raced towards town.
*****
Roy was startled when a panicked Adam ran into his office, demanding to know if the lawman had seen his father.
“I ain’t seen him since Marie’s funeral,” Roy answered. “You know he refuses to see me when I visit…”
“He’s gone! No word to anyone.”
“What do you mean he’s gone?” Roy asked, confusion painted his face.
“I… Buck wasn’t in his stall when I got out to do chores; I thought Pa was finally coming around… Like he did after Inger’s death. But Hop Sing said he hadn’t seen him. And then Joe was screaming in Pa’s room and Pa wasn’t there. His gunbelt, rifle, and hat were also missing… Hop Sing said some clothes in his armoire were gone too.”
“Maybe he went on a business trip?” Roy suggested.
“Without telling anyone? Sheriff Coffee, does that sound like my father?”
“Now that you say it that way… Maybe he’s in one of the saloons.”
“I already checked… he wasn’t in any of them. I also went to those… houses.”
“Houses?”
“Houses…” Adam emphasized the word and blushed. “You know the Houses? The ones where the women… um…”
“Oh. I guess it were a long shot to check them as well.”
“I couldn’t see Pa going there either, but where else could he be? I figured he might be trying to drown his sorrow to lose himself in his misery…”
Roy thought on what Adam had said, a saloon yes. A house of ill repute, no way, he knew Ben’s views that one did not partake without the sanctity of marriage. And after the death of the woman who was his life, no.
“Let’s go see if maybe he stopped in and saw Paul.”
Adam insisted that the lawman move faster as they headed to Paul Martin’s medical practice.
*****
Adam listened to the lawman and the doctor discussing the situation concerning his father. No one had any better idea on where Ben Cartwright might have gone.
“Can’t we send out a wire?” Adam inquired, his voice frustrated and worried.
“Son,” Roy turned to face Adam and placed a hand to his shoulder. “Your pa’s a grown man. He’s not done anything illegal, nor is he wanted by the law.”
“But he’s wanted by two small sons who need him!” Adam lost his patience, pulling from the lawman he punched his fist into the door frame.
“I know he is. I’ll see what I can do, but in the mean time, son, you need to go back home and take care of your brothers. I’ll get word to you on anything I find out.”
Shaking his hand at his stupidity, Adam left.
Chapter six
Almost a week had passed and Adam sat heavily in the chair behind the desk in what he had always considered his father’s study. He did well enough to keep up the ledgers and working with Charlie to assign tasks to their various crews; however, he was worried after Hiram Woods stopped him in town earlier in the day.
*****
“Adam!” Hiram called as the oldest Cartwright son drove past the law office.
“Mr. Woods,” Adam greeted, halting the team of horses. The wagon loaded with various supplies for building new corrals, as well as the supplies from the list of goods for Hop Sing.
“How are you holding up? Any word from your father yet?”
“We’re doing as good as one could expect.” Adam motioned with his head to the figure sleeping on the sacks in the back of the wagon, an indication that he couldn’t really answer that question as thoroughly as he would have preferred.
Hiram smiled when he rose up to his toes to peer over the edge of the wagon to see the sleeping Little Joe.
“He sure looks like an angel when he’s asleep,” Hiram stated as he grinned. “I’m glad I caught you in town.”
“Is there something I can do for you?”
“It’s just that there’s a timber contract coming up for renewal… I need to know if the Ponderosa is still interested in pursuing the contract or letting it go.”
“Which contract? I don’t know of any that are due…”
“This is the one with Sun Mountain. If you choose not to renew, I’m sure Will Poavey will win the contract and he’ll do his best to bleed the company dry.”
“I remember Pa talking about that contract last year… It’s a pretty lucrative one for us; he was pleased to have pulled it out from under Mr. Poavey.” Adam was torn, with everything else, “I don’t think Pa has a copy of it at the house. Do you have a copy of the contract and their new specifications that I can review?”
“Sure, they’re right here,” Hiram handed Adam packet. “We only have three weeks to finalize and submit the bid.”
Taking the papers, Adam sighed, “I’ll keep that in mind. Mr. Woods, if Pa’s not back before the due date… I’m shy of reaching my majority… Can I legally sign the contract if ours is the winning bid? Can my bid even be considered?”
“Adam, a long time ago your father gave me his Power of Attorney to sign for anything like this that might come up… You work the figures and I’ll sign the contract.”
“Thanks, Mr. Woods,” Adam secured the specifications under the seat before rein slapping the team of horses to get them moving.
*****
Even though he would have given anything to follow his brothers up to bed, Adam pulled out the folder and reviewed the Sun Mountain contract that was set to expire before the end of the month. As he read, Hop Sing quietly filled his coffee cup before returning to his own domain.
Adam’s eyes were practically crossed by the time he finished reading the contract, and how confusing it was, the party of the first part, the party of the second part, therefore, and the aforementioned… Adam thought, ‘And men pay good money to go to college to learn how to…’
Images flashed through Adam’s thoughts, ‘Son, I’m proud of you. You did it,’ Ben had said as he handed the college notification wire to his oldest, his face and posture expressed his pride in his oldest son’s accomplishments.
“Guess college is out of the question, now.” Adam grieved for one more loss as he set to reviewing how his father had calculated the previous contract.
*****
He’d only slept for four hours before he woke to begin a new day. As Adam exited the house to proceed across the yard to the barn, he encountered their ranch foreman.
“Morning Adam,” Charlie casually greeted.
“Morning Charlie. How are you today?”
“Maybe a fair bit better than you. You look tired son…”
“It can’t be helped.” Adam breathed deeply before exhaling. “You’re out here earlier than usual. Is something up?”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure how to handle the situation.”
Adam struggled with his emotions; he needed to get his chores done before Joe woke. But he knew he needed to deal with any possible ranch problems that Charlie brought to his attention, he motioned for the man to accompany him to the chairs on the raised deck.
“Adam, it makes me mad to have to tell ya what I need to…”
“You’re not leaving are you?” Adam panicked, “Charlie, I need you. I’d be lost without your help.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I ain’t leaving, but there’s a few of the hands well, who aren’t pulling their weight.”
“What do you mean?” Adam asked.
“They never had any trouble takin’ orders from me, when Ben was here. But they know he ain’t and I’ve heard a few grumblin’ about takin’ order from…”
“Someone who’s wet behind the ears?” Adam offered.
“That’s putting it politely,” Charlie replied, almost aggrieved. He knew the young man was struggling and these were exceedingly trying times on the Ponderosa.
“Even though we discuss everything and most of what happens is your suggestion…” Adam tried to smooth over the situation.
“They don’t see it that way… Essentially… you are the boss.”
“What can we do?”
“I don’t know that there is anything WE can do,” Charlie hoped the boy would understand what he was implying.
“Then why bring it to my attention…” Adam was flustered. Deep down he felt there was something more.
Charlie knew what he wanted to have happen, but he wanted to see if his employer’s oldest son had the gumption to figure it out on his own and if so, how he would handle the situation. He sat there watching the young man.
“Charlie… I guess I know why Pa keeps you around.” Adam stood and looked over to the bunkhouse. “Tell all the men I want every one of them present in thirty minutes. That’ll give me time to take care of my morning responsibilities before I address MY employees.”
“Will do, Boss,” Charlie grinned as he slapped him on the shoulder before standing to take his leave.
*****
The employees of the Ponderosa stood in the morning sun as directed by Charlie, and waited to hear what Adam Cartwright had to say. Adam strode purposefully from the house and climbed up a few bales of straw that were stacked in front of the barn. He’d changed into darker clothing since talking with Charlie… he was also wearing his hat, chaps, and his gunbelt; he looked older than his seventeen years of age.
“I know many of you are aware what’s happened here over the past month, the death of Marie Cartwright and the fact that my father is temporarily not here.”
“Temporarily?” Tuff Conners snorted out. “He ain’t been here for neigh on over two weeks. When’s he gonna get back?”
“That’s none of your concern. In my father’s absence, I am in charge of the running the Ponderosa.”
“I ain’t taking no orders from no kid…” someone else, who Adam was not able to identify, proclaimed.
“Each and every one of you are paid by the Ponderosa, and the Ponderosa is owned by the Cartwrights. In case any of you have forgotten… MY name is Adam CARTWRIGHT. In exchange for wages and a place to stay and grub, you are paid to do a job, as instructed by Our ranch foreman, Charlie Yeagle or a member of MY family. If anyone has any problems with their assignments, they are to come directly to me. Charlie’s orders are my father’s orders; keep the Ponderosa running. Take care of the cattle, the horses, and the land. You don’t want to follow these orders… then step forward and draw your pay.”
A few of the men mumbled as the individuals within the group shifted uneasily at the intense stare that Adam directed at each and every man. He took note of those who would not look him directly in the eye, and gave a brief nod of the head in answer to those indicating they accepted his position as their boss.
“Since no one has stepped forward… I take it that every man here will give one hundred percent to the job assigned. Charlie, give them their assignments.”
Most of the men willingly parted as Adam stepped down from the bales and began to stride across the yard. A few men had tried to push the issue, but ultimately gave way as he neared. He walked to where Beauty was tethered and climbed into the saddle. Once in saddle, he signaled his horse to walk to the porch where Hoss and Little Joe waited. Extending his arm, Adam reached down, grabbed his little brother’s arm and hoisted him to sit in front of him in the saddle.
As Joe settled into the saddle, he pulled his hat from his head and hung it by the stampede string over the saddle horn. He’d learned a few weeks earlier that this was the only way he could keep his hat with him; otherwise as he bounced back into Adam’s chest it kept falling off.
“Hoss, you know Hop Sing wants his kindling box filled this morning. Once that’s done, you can ride out to where we’re building the new corrals.”
“Shore thin’, Boss,” Hoss smiled at his brothers, then looked to the men who still waited for their orders. “See ya soon, Adam, Shortshanks.”
“Bye Hoss!” Joe replied as he took the reins from his brother’s hand and directed Beauty out of the yard.
*****
The sun had set by the time Charlie entered the barn to see Adam checking to make sure all was right within, before closing it up for the night.
“Little one already bunked down?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah, he fell asleep on our way in, barely kept his eyes open through dinner. I tucked him in myself a little while ago.”
“Hoss done a good job in here today, and all the woodbins are filled. I think in addition to the men, you inspired him to take your orders seriously and to do what needs done before being asked,” Charlie commented.
“I appreciate the work he did, saved me some time tonight.” Adam turned to where the lantern hung on one of the support beams. “How’d it go with the men today?”
“Your little ‘speech’ shut up most of them,” answered Charlie.
“But not all of them…” Adam understood.
“That would be asking too much.”
“What about the lumberjacks, have you heard any trouble coming from the lumber camps?”
“Not yet, but it probably would be prudent to address them sooner rather than later.”
“Prudent? Kind of a fancy word for you to use Charlie…” Adam teased, trying to ease the situation.
“Well, you and your book learning is kind of rubbing off on me,” Charlie replied. “So, what about a trip to the lumber camps?”
“Let’s get it done.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Sure,” responded Adam as he wearily headed inside.
*****
Breakfast was almost ready to be placed on the table and the two youngest brothers were upstairs when one more burden was placed on Adam. “Mr. Adam, Hop Sing worry about Lit’le Joe…”
Adam looked up from strapping his holster to his leg. “He’s alright, isn’t he?” Adam worried, had he allowed his brother too much and there was more wrong with his brother than just falling asleep the day before.
“I no like him riding with you all the time. You have much work to do, lit’le boy keep you from doing work.”
“I know Hop Sing, but what am I to do? Pa ain’t here, and he screams bloody murder…”
“Boy learn, if you be strong.”
“Hop Sing, I appreciate your concern… But he’s lost so much right now, what with Marie’s death and Pa missing. If it takes longer for me to get my work done so he can sleep through the night, what’s the harm.”
“Harm is… you no take care of you!”
Adam dropped his chin to his chest; he knew the truth in the words the family’s longtime caretaker was speaking. Looking up he said, “I know. But if there were any way I could convince him to stay home… I’m all out of ideas. I don’t want him to think I’m going to leave him too, and taking him with me is the only way.”
“Be careful?”
“I try.”
At that moment, Joe came trampling down the staircase with Hoss close behind, he stopped at seeing Adam already tying down his holster to his thigh. Tears formed in his eyes, “You’re not leaving me…” *sniffle* “are you?”
“No, Little Buddy. Charlie and I are heading up to the lumber camps to have a talk with the men. How about you staying here with Hop Sing and Hoss today. I’m sure they could use your help.” Adam prayed Joe would accept.
“No! Please don’t leave me Adam!” Joe cried, running to his brother and wrapping his arms around Adam’s legs.
Adam looked to Hop Sing, his eyes pleaded for help or understanding.
“Lit’le Joe, we make cookies…”
“NOOOO!” Joe screamed, “Adam don’t go!”
Kneeling down to unwrap his brother from his legs, he said, “You get a quick bite to eat while I go saddle Beauty. Can you do that?” Adam wiped the tears from his brother’s face.
“I’ll see that he eats good and proper,” Hoss stated as he reached for his little brother’s wrist to lead him to the breakfast table. “Me, I think I’m gonna like stayin’ here and lickin’ the batter bowl and snitchin’ cookies from the rack.”
“You snitch, you no get more!” Hop Sing declared, understanding his defeat where Little Joe was concerned.
*****
Five days later, Joe Cartwright sat in the chair beside the solid, double doors that separated Roy Coffee’s office from the jail cells. He alternately swung his legs back and forth while sucking and gnawing one of the licorice whips Adam had purchased for him earlier in the morning. Every now and then, Joe would lean over the arm of the chair and look into the cell area and giggle at Morton Brumble when the man snorted while sleeping off a drunken hangover.
He watched Adam and Sheriff Coffee quietly talk on the other side of the room; he couldn’t hear what they were saying.
*****
“How’s the boy doing?” Roy nodded towards Joe.
“As long as I keep him with me during the day, he does pretty well at night. It’s on the days where I tell him he has to stay home… those nights he screams as if someone is killing him and it takes a while for me to wake him up and even longer to get him to calm down so he can try to go back to sleep.”
“And Hoss?”
“He’s becoming a great help around the house and the barn, taking on a number of the chores himself. He still has his moments where it’s all too much.”
“It’s a shame that Ada and Archie Michaelson had to head over to Denver to help their son and his wife with their newborn twins. I’m sure Joe would love to spend time with Miss Ada.”
“Yeah, whenever he was being obstinate, Mrs. Michaelson could always get him to behave.”
“I wish I knew how to help you boys… ”
“Me too. I just wish someone knew where Pa was and got word to him that I really need him.”
“You, not the boys?” Roy grew curious.
“We all need him, but…” Angry emotions controlled the volume of Adam’s voice. “Charlie and I think we’ve got rustlers striking the Ponderosa. I can’t believe…” In desperation, Adam shook his head, “Has anyone else reported rustlers?”
“I tell ya Adam, none of the other ranches in this area have reported any loss of cattle.”
“Can you at least ask around?” Adam insisted. “They may be experiencing loss but haven’t reported anything yet.”
“Adam, you know that’s not how the ranchers around here work.” Roy Coffee looked up to the young man while he sat behind his desk, papers scattered about. “It’s like them three swordsmen in that … oh… that book… The one Marie was talking about that last time I came over for supper… One man and everyone else for each other…”
“Yes, the Three Musketeers, ‘One for All and All for One’,” Adam replied, remembering the nights he and Marie would read and discuss passages within the book.
“Adam, if anyone else was having a problem with rustlers, they’d let me know and then the Cattlemen’s Association…”
Adam hated the thought that the Ponderosa was specifically being targeted, but it did make sense, especially since his father had been gone for over a month. “I guess I need to let you know that we’re missing cattle.”
“How many?”
“Right now, we think about twenty-five to thirty head,” Adam answered.
“That’s not a lot… Are ya sure they’re just not wandered away?”
“Charlie’s had a crew out looking for three days straight and not found a sign. You know how Pa always has us keep an accurate count…”
“That’s right Sheriff Coffee,” Joe added having finished his licorice whip; he jumped down from the chair and came to stand next to his brother. “My butt hurts.” Joe emphasized his point by rubbing the offended part of his anatomy. “I was out in the saddle with Adam looking for them blasted…”
“Joe!” hissed Adam looking down to his youngest brother.
“Uh… looking for them cows all day yesterday,” Joe corrected.
“Adam, if you really are dealing with rustlers, do you think it’s wise to take Little Joe out riding like ya do?”
“Hey, I’m a Cartwright!” Joe declared. His eyes narrowed at the lawman for talking about him as if he wasn’t there. “You know we do the work we expect our hands to do!”
Roy smiled at the boy’s spunk and understood what Adam was facing when it came to his little brother. But the lawman also knew how dangerous it was for the boy to ride with his brother, especially now with the threat of rustlers.
“Well, don’t you think it might be best if you stay home and help Hoss defend the house?” Roy asked, knowing that Adam had probably argued until he was blue in the face with the boy. Looking into those innocent green eyes of the five year old; who could really refuse the boy? “There’s also Hop Sing to think about, what if those rustlers came to the house, and wanted some grub. He’s pretty well known for his cooking around these parts, his vegetables and those desserts of his. What if there weren’t enough men to chase them off? I mean, Adam probably has most of the men out looking for the thieves…” The lawman waited, hoping the boy would accept what he was saying, without realizing he was trying to keep the boy from harm.
Joe listened to what the lawman said and looked to his brother, “I hadn’t thought about Hop Sing…” His face changed with each passing thought that flittered through his mind. “Adam, Sheriff Coffee does have a point… Would you be okay riding out on your own? I mean you’re not really alone, ya got Mr. Charlie and the others. Hop Sing only has Hoss and I want to help protect him.”
“Well, I hadn’t thought on what it would mean if something happened to Hop Sing…”
Roy continued to help bolster the youngster’s perception of his new assignment. “Joe, you do realize how important this job is, why…” Roy rubbed his chin, “I think it only wise that a real honorary deputy sheriff take the job.”
Joe’s eyes grew large as he heard the title of deputy sheriff.
Roy selected a badge from his desk and asked for Joe to raise his right hand before being sworn in. In closing Roy stated, “Do you promise to do your best to protect Hop Sing?”
Raising his right hand after the badge was pinned onto his shirt, Joe answered, “I promise.”
“Now this badge only gives you the authority to protect Hop Sing at the house, and nothing more. It’s too big of a job for you to take on any other responsibilities, other than the chores that Adam, Hoss, or Hop Sing might ask you to do. Do you understand?”
Joe nodded his head as he continued to touch the badge pinned to his shirt.
“Joe, are you sure you don’t need any additional help to watch the house?” Adam hoped that Sheriff Coffee understood how much he appreciated what the man had done to alleviate any potential temper tantrum from his youngest brother once they returned home.
“Nah, Hoss and I can do that. It ain’t as big as the Ponderosa,” Joe declared as he looked up and puffed up his chest. “Does Hoss need to be deputized?”
“Well, seeing as how you’re my senior honorary deputy, I think I can allow you to deputize an assistant honorary deputy,” Roy smiled and pulled out another badge. “Glad to see you’re thinking, and not trying to take the entire job on your own shoulders.”
“Hoss gots bigger shoulders than I do, so he can help me… uh…”
“Carry the load,” Adam suggested.
“Yeah, carry the load. He’s good at carrying his own weight,” Joe giggled.
“Adam, I’ll start spreading the word to the other owners; you could be right. They might be experiencing rustlers, but don’t know it, yet. I’ll send word to you when the Cattlemen’s Association decides to convene.”
Adam nodded and winked at the lawman, thankful for his intervention and assistance.
*****
Adam lifted Joe to his hip as he prepared to leave the Sheriff’s Office, “Thanks, Sheriff Coffee.”
“Bye Sheriff,” Joe waved to the lawman.
“Adam,” Hiram Woods called as he entered the office. “Glad I caught you in town. Have you finished with the bid?”
“The bid? Mr. Woods, I’m so sorry, I started, but with everything else… I’ll work on it tonight.”
“It’s due day after tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to forget; there’s just a lot going on at the ranch. Thank you for reminding me. I’ll have it to you tomorrow.”
“Adam, are we gonna come back to town tomorrow?” Joe asked.
“No, WE’RE not coming back to town, you are going to stay home and guard Hop Sing.”
“Who’s gonna come with you? I mean, who’s gonna protect you?”
“What if I bring one of the men?”
“I’d like that,” Joe responded, bobbing his head up and down. Joe didn’t want to leave the protective arms of his oldest brother, but he knew that he had promised to protect Hop Sing. And a Cartwright always keeps his promise.
*****
That night, after being tucked into bed, Joe looked at the badge that lay on the table next to his mother’s picture. He picked up the badge and held it in his hands, then turned onto his side and pulled his mother’s picture and placed it on his pillow.
“Momma, Sheriff Coffee made me a deputy this morning… I wish you could be here to see me.” Tears began to fall from Joe’s eyes, streaking his face. “I wish you’d come home… Adam tells me there’s lots of boys and girls in heaven who need a momma to hug them and kiss their boo boos and watch over them as they say their prayers…” *sniffle* “Don’t ya know that I need you too. It’s not the same without you or Papa… I love Adam and Hoss, but I want you to come back home.”
With closed eyes, Joe’s tears continued to fall.
*****
The clock next to the front door was near striking the half hour at two, thirty in the morning when Adam stood from the desk in his father’s study. The bid was inserted into an envelope for delivery. Wearily he trudged up the stairs; before entering his own room, he looked in on his brothers to ensure they were sleeping.
Chapter Seven
As dawn crept over the land, an exhausted Adam quietly bemoaned spending time in the saddle to ride to town and back.
“Charlie!” Adam called out on his way across the yard to where Charlie stood at the corral. “This is the bid for the Sun Mountain logging contract. Do you think you could have one of the men deliver it to, Hiram Woods?”
“Sure, I’ll let the man know how important it is to get this bid to him this morning.”
“Thanks, Charlie.”
Charlie watched the young man slowly walk the rest of the way to the barn, recognizing the exhaustion in his stride. Shaking his head, he turned to walk back to the bunkhouse to see who was still around to make the trip to Virginia City.
*****
Having entered the barn, Adam was surprised to find his middle brother already hard at work cleaning the horses’ stalls.
“What are you doing up so early, Hoss?”
“Doing chores,” Hoss happily answered, tossing a pitchfork full of soiled bedding onto the wheelbarrow. “I got to thinkin’, after your talk with the men… And decided I should be out here helpin’ ya; now that I got Joe to help me protect Hop Sing.”
“Huh? Oh yeah,” Adam smiled at the image that came to mind. “I’m thankful for Roy’s help with that. You know I gave every argument against Joe riding with me, but I didn’t know what else to do… It’s going to take some of the pressure off of me knowing he’s safe, here with you. I know how clingy he can be right now…”
“Don’t worry about that older brother; I’m just thankful Shortshanks accepted the job.” Hoss laughed at the memory of Joe telling him that Roy had deputized him to be an honorary sheriff with his sole responsibility being the safety of Hop Sing. And that the sheriff said he could deputize Hoss to help him. “I didn’t like him out there with ya neither, and I knew how worried ya’s were because ya didn’t have any other way a doin’ it.” Hoss leaned the pitch fork up against the outside of Beauty’s stall before grabbing the handles of the wheel barrow to take the soiled bedding outside. “Anything else I can do for ya today? I know how ya need ta get out to look for them missin’ cattle.”
“Can you handle finishing up the barn, feeding the horses and anything else Hop Sing might need?”
“Shore can.” Setting the wheelbarrow back down, Hoss sniffled and asked, “Adam… do ya think Pa’s comin’ home?”
“I hope so.”
“Adam, don’t he love us no more?” Even though Hoss was big for an eleven year old, he was really a child. And no matter how much he would appear grown-up for Joe’s sake, he still grieved over Marie’s death and their father’s disappearance.
Adam walked to his brother and wrapped an arm around the youngster’s shoulders.
“Hoss, Pa loves all three of us… It’s just that… Marie was the third wife he’s lost… and I guess he lost a lot of himself when she died, seeing how long they were together. It’s going to take some time in order for him to find himself again.”
“He couldn’t a done that here?” With his big, innocent eyes, Hoss looked up to his brother.
“I wish he could have.”
Adam hugged Hoss tight as he shook his head; he looked up in an effort to prevent the tears that were welling in his eyes from falling.
“I want him home, Adam…” Hoss wrapped both his arms around his brother and cried.
“Me too, Hoss. Me too.” Needing to change the subject in order to end his own morose feelings, “Hoss, what help do you need today?”
Stepping back and wiping aside his own tears, Hoss answered, “I got it under control, Adam. I’ll finish up here and check Hop Sing’s kindlin’, and see about choppin’ some wood for the fireplaces, and maybe I can convince Joe ta help me clean out the chicken coop.”
“How are you going to get Joe and his sling shot out of Hop Sing’s kitchen?” Adam lightly huffed at the sight he’d come home to the evening before, Little Joe sound asleep on a pallet of blankets in the corner of the kitchen with his slingshot in his left hand and his right thumb in his mouth.
“That’s easy, I heard Hop Sing say he was plannin’ on workin’ in the garden if the weather were nice. We can protect Hop Sing from the coop; I’ll explain to little brother about how it will be the perfect cover should any of them rustlers come lookin’ around.”
“Hoss, you’re a genius,” Adam laughed as he began saddling Beauty for the day.
*****
Charlie entered the bunk house, Gus Gibraltar was the only one to have not headed out to the range. Of all men to still be in the bunkhouse it had to be Gus; Charlie wasn’t pleased, but what else could he do. The man had been with the Cartwrights for a little over a year and tended to boast of how much bigger everything was in Texas; it got on Charlie’s nerves, considering Texas was his own home state and he knew exactly what was what.
The tall, lanky Texan approached the ranch foreman with his saddlebags thrown over his shoulder and stopped as Charlie acknowledged him.
“Gus, I need you to take this envelope to town this morning and give it to Hiram Woods, the lawyer.”
“I’m supposed to be out looking for cattle…” Gus sourly replied.
“This is important. Mr. Cartwright needs this bid delivered and it has to be delivered this morning.”
“Why can’t Mr. Cartwright deliver it himself?” Gus asked. “I’m a cattleman, not a messenger boy.”
“Gus, as Mr. Cartwright said the other day, you take the assignments given or draw your pay.” Not wishing to antagonize the man, Charlie hoped to turn the conversation to the benefits. “Besides this quick trip to town will allow you the chance to stop by the Bucket O’Blood for ONE beer, before heading out to look for them missing cattle.”
‘Well, now that you put it that way…” Gus took the envelope from the foreman and tucked it into his saddlebag and left the bunkhouse. As he stepped down from the porch, he twisted his blonde, long-handlebar mustache.
*****
Long before Gus had left Texas, he’d heard about the Ponderosa and working for Ben Cartwright. The Ponderosa wasn’t as large as some of the spreads he’d worked for in Texas, but the Ponderosa paid better than most and rumor had it that given time, the Ponderosa would be THE place.
He felt it strange that the owner wasn’t above getting his hands dirty and worked alongside his men, rain or shine. That shocked him, and that the old man insisted his eldest be out there with the men. The sons of all ranchers we’d ever worked for in Texas only ‘dallied’ in the work; they oversaw the workmen, but never stopped to help. Cartwright sure was different, but it irked him that under the present circumstances he was taking orders from a seventeen year old boy.
He’d heard Al Gordon and Cliff Barnstable grumble. He’d also overheard them talking about ways to make more money than they ever had ever seen in their life. The lanky Texan knew the plan they were trying to put into place was well beyond their experience, it was one thing to make off with a few head of ‘branded’ cattle, it was something totally different to ‘get rid of the evidence’ afterwards.
Today’s extra jaunt allowed him to make contact with a long-time friend of his and collect the money for the cattle, keeping fifty percent for himself and allowing the remainder to be split between the other two. The two men were stupid enough to think they were making a killing over the money they received for their stolen cattle.
*****
After arriving in town, Gus headed straight for the Bucket O’Blood; Charlie had said he could stop by for one beer. With his saddlebags hung over his left shoulder, he wound his way through the tables until he reached the bar.
“A beer, Sam,” Gus called, setting his bags to the counter.
“Coming right up,” the bartended answered, reaching for a mug and twisted the tap in the keg. Setting the mug in front of the cowboy, he picked two coins from the countertop and deposited them in the moneybox he kept secure in the back wall.
“Well if it isn’t Gus Gibraltar,” called a dark-haired man, who stood from one of the back tables. “Surprised the Cartwright kid allowed you to come in to town.”
“I don’t need no kid’s permission to come to town. Sides, I’m here on business anyway.”
“Business? A Texas drover… on business in town.” The man set his empty beer mug on the bartop. “Don’t make me laugh, Gus.”
“Poavey, why don’t you go pester someone who gives a rat’s ass about you.” Gus raised his mug to his lips and sipped the frothy brew.
“Oh, I’m scared.” Poavey motioned Sam to pour him another beer. “What’s going on out on the Ponderosa? The old man come back yet?”
Sam poured the beer and turned to walk to the back room.
“Nah, don’t rightly know when he will either. Probably a good thing for that kid to figure out what it’s like living in the real world, not having daddy around all the time to tell him to wipe his nose and what time to go to bed.”
“You’re not that happy working there?”
“Oh, I’m happy, just don’t care to be working for no kid,” Gus took another drink.
“Why not come work for me,” offered Will Poavey.
“I ain’t no tree hugger. Sitting in the saddle is high enough off the ground for me… thank you very much.”
“I have men manning the saws on the ground,” Poavey offered.
“Yeah, back breaking, arm aching work too. I don’t aim to have no logger drop a tree on my head. Sitting in a saddle all day is a heck of a lot easier than what you’re offerin’ me.”
“What business brings you to town anyway?”
“Gotta drop off some stupid paperwork to that lawyer. Was told I had to get it to him this morning.”
“Might this be the bid for the Sun Mountain lumber contract?” Poavey asked as he surreptitiously eyed the saddlebags set on the counter.
“Don’t know. Don’t care. You’re all so eager… Take a look for yourself.”
Will Poavey couldn’t believe his luck, he’d been infuriated the year before when Ben Cartwright had underbid him to win the contract, but this new contract was more demanding. More lumber and a farther distance to travel for delivery. From what Crawford had said the year before, the tipping point for Ben Cartwright’s proposal was his personal oversight in fulfilling the contract. Pulling the pages from the envelope, Will smiled. He knew his own bid was higher than the one being submitted by the Ponderosa, but he figured he had plenty of ammunition in order to convince Crawford and Hawkins that he should be awarded the contract – no one knew the current location of Ben Cartwright.
“See all ya need?” Gus asked as Poavey placed the envelope back into his saddlebags.
“Thanks,” Will Poavey stated and slipped Gus a twenty dollar gold coin before returning to his table.
*****
Gus was glad his morning in Virginia City had gone as smoothly as it had, and he’d been profitably paid for the fifty head of cattle they had managed to rustle from under Cartwright’s nose. With the gold rush in California, buyers were taking all offers of cattle for sale to feed the hungry miners and everyone else who came to strike it rich.
Prior to the California strike, cattle would sell for maybe eight to ten dollars a head at best, but now, buyers in San Francisco and Sacramento were paying upwards of thirty to forty dollars. Gus couldn’t quibble on the fact that he’d accepted only twenty dollars a head; he’d been startled at the profit and they had only to drive the small herd to a hidden valley and make the arrangements for its pick up. He hadn’t spent weeks on the trail driving a herd into California; had he, he’d of demanded the full amount. For a few nights’ secret work, he’d pocketed five hundred dollars with the other half to be split between his two partners.
Before he’d left the location of the exchange, Gus nodded when informed by the buyer that he would be open to taking as many head of cattle as he could… no questions asked.
Chapter Eight
“But Adam!” Little Joe declared as his oldest brother ushered him into the wash house. “I can’t go to church this morning!”
“You will. It’s about time the three of us did. It’s something Pa always said we should do when the weather was good.”
“But I gotta protect Hop Sing!”
“Not today, little buddy. Today I’ll have Charlie and Bayou keep an eye on the house,” Adam explained.
“Then I gotta deputize them!” declared Little Joe as he tried to pull away from his brother’s restraining hand. The young boy was all excited to be able to deputize others but stopped his struggles when he realized and proclaimed, “Sheriff Coffee didn’t give me any other badges!”
“Well, don’t you think it would be better, should the rustlers show up, that they don’t know we have ‘secret’ deputies to keep an eye on Hop Sing.” Adam was thankful for his own quick thinking.
“Secret? Ya mean like that… that… uh… lawman in my book?” A month before Marie’s death, she had purchased Joe one of the latest dime store novels written especially for young children. She hoped the book would encourage Joe to read more, like his oldest brother. Joe’s eyes widened at the thought that he’d actually be able to oversee some real detectives. The little boy looked upwards and backwards over his shoulder as Adam propelled him forward to the tub Hop Sing was preparing for his bath.
“Yeah, just like your book. Tell you what; you get your bath, wash behind your ears and between your toes…”
“Ah Adam, them old ladies at church ain’t gonna see my feet.”
“No, but they shore could smell them,” teased Hoss as he stepped from the tub and began to dry himself off.
Joe wiggled his toes, causing one to protrude through the hole he’d worn in his sock.
“Why you put on holey sock?” Hop Sing chastised as he finished pouring fresh warm water into the tub. He took the socks the boy handed to him. “Socks stink, feet stink. Wash feet when wash body!”
*****
Once Joe was cleaned and dressed for church, he insisted to Adam that he had to deputize his secret posse before they left.
Charlie stood next to Bayou Brown, both attempting to keep a serious demeanor.
Bayou had arrived in Virginia City a few months after the birth of Joe Cartwright, straight from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He’d been in town for less than a week when he encountered a young woman, with a baby in her arms standing next to a buckboard, looking slightly distressed.
He introduced himself and offered his assistance; fifteen minutes later had carried all her packages from the general store and loaded them securely into the buckboard. The stranger was in the process of bidding her good day, hat in one hand, with her hand in his other, he lifted the dainty appendage to his lips.
“My pleasure to help such a beautiful damsel in distress; a true native daughter of the south.”
He placed a kiss to the back of her hand before turning his attention to the bundle in her arms.
“And this child?” he’d inquired.
“A son of the west, a son of Ben Cartwright.” Marie smiled when she heard her husband shout her name, and turned to see him running across the dirt road to the boardwalk.
“Marie?” He spoke out of breath, “are you okay?” Ben watched the stranger step back and fold his arms across his chest after returning his hat to his head.
“I am. You… are late,” Marie declared with a hint of amusement, her face a façade of mock indignation.
“I’m sorry, I… I lost track of time.” Ben noticed Marie’s packages already in the buckboard. “Please forgive me?”
“No need to worry about that, sir,” Bayou drawled out. “All men beg forgiveness in front of such southern charm.”
“And you are?” Ben asked as he stood straight and stared the stranger in the eye.
“Bayou Brown.” He extended his hand in greeting.
“My rescuer,” teased Marie.
“Pleased to meet you, Ben Cartwright.” Ben took the proffered hand and gave a firm hand shake.
“Thank you, Mr. Brown. Your assistance was quite welcomed,” Marie offered as she rocked the child in her arms.
“Yes… Thank you for helping my wife. I see she has been quite busy in emptying my wallet.”
“Ben, Joseph has needs… He’s a growing child… as are Hoss and Adam. All three of your sons are growing like weeds.”
“Surely you can’t be the mother of three children?” Bayou asked, and then begged apologies.
“Adam and Hoss are my sons from previous marriages,” Ben answered sternly.
“I’m sorry. I was raised better than to ask such impertinent questions.”
“Do you have business in town?” Marie asked when the conversation waned.
“Probably not, just passing through unless I can find a job,” Bayou replied.
“What kind of work do you do?” Ben asked, always eager to find good men to work his ever prospering ranch.
“Horses, cattle, sheep, goats… You name it and I’ve probably worked with them. I ain’t picky about work to put food in my belly or my horse’s, but I’m an honest man – ain’t gone against the law.”
“I’m always looking for experienced men to work on my ranch… Pay’s fifteen a month in wages, with a roof over your head and a solid bunk to sleep in. A well-bedded stall for your horse… We have a ranch cook for meals and such.”
“Looks like you have yourself a new hand, Mr. Cartwright.”
“Welcome aboard, Mr. Brown.”
“Bayou, everyone calls me Bayou.”
And so Marie’s knight in western garb found an easy camaraderie with Ben and accepted his offer of employment. The man’s eyes revealed the same depth and compassion for the land, as did Ben’s. His raven hair was always slicked back, almost plastered against his head.
As Joe grew from an infant into a toddler, and then to a young child, he had always enjoyed listening to the man speak in his deep southern drawl; telling tall tales on the porch to the bunkhouse or whenever he was the one assigned to chaperone Marie into town if Ben couldn’t go.
*****
The two men stood straight in front of the five year old, proudly wearing his deputy’s badge and listened as the boy told them about the rustlers and how he and his brother Hoss had been charged with keeping an eye on their home, and more importantly, making sure the rustlers never reached Hop Sing.
“I gotta go to church with my brothers, but I still have to see that Hop Sing is safe. So, I’m gonna deputize ya. I can’t really swear you in, because…” Joe stopped speaking and looked to his feet. He wiped at his eyes when Adam knelt down beside him.
“Joe?” Adam offered.
“I can’t swear ‘em in, because Momma never liked to hear us swear,” Joe whispered and began crying.
“Oh Joe,” Adam wrapped his arm around his brother, “This is a totally different type of swearing in, and your momma would approve.”
“Honest?” Joe looked to his brother with innocent eyes, his grief still apparent.
“Honest.”
Standing away from his brother, Joe stood straight, “Mr. Yeagle and Mr. Brown, ya gotta raise your right hand and promise to do everything you can in order to protect Hop Sing, until me and Hoss get back.”
Both men smiled at the boy as they promised.
*****
Charlie and Bayou waved goodbye as Adam drove the buggy away from the ranch house, with his brothers sitting beside him.
Bayou told Charlie he was going to go clean out the stalls in the back barn.
As the buggy disappeared, Charlie hoped that the morning away from the ranch would help to rejuvenate the oldest brother, or that maybe Doc Martin would see how tired the young man was becoming from all the stress of taking on the mantle of running the Ponderosa. He knew Adam Cartwright was a son who Ben Cartwright could depend upon, with the running of the ranch and caring for his brothers. But that didn’t mean that the boy didn’t need someone to care and watch over him.
“Ah shucks Ben, ya shouldn’t a left them. Adam’s a good man, but he still needs ya, almost as bad as them two young‘ens do.” Charlie turned to walk to the forge.
*****
Hoss did his best to keep his little brother from tugging on his shirt collar, hoping to keep him distracted by pointing out all the different animals he saw a small distance from the road.
Over an hour later, Adam halted the single horse harnessed to the buggy in front of the Virginia City church and, holding his brothers’ hands, they made their way inside.
*****
Virginia City was a growing town and many of her citizens had attended the funeral of Marie Cartwright and were aware that Ben had left his sons home alone. Of those who stood in the church yard, waiting for the church bell to ring, a few of the women discussed how it was wrong that two young children should be left to their own devices while their older brother paid them no mind. In their minds, the ranch was a full-time job and raising children was women’s work.
Almost three quarters of the church pews were filled as the circuit preacher made his scheduled stop in town. Adam appreciated the quiet way in which this man of the cloth chose to deliver the significance of his sermon. The oldest son of Ben Cartwright had never appreciated the previous reverend’s fire and brimstone method of delivery; shouting and all the wild gestures with his hands and arms, and slamming his fist to the surface of the pulpit. What Adam appreciated the most this day, was that the various hymns chosen for the congregation to sing complimented the sermon, helping to instill the day’s message. And they were hymns that suited his range of voice.
He looked down as Joe tugged on his hand during the final hymn and held his arms up, indicating he wanted to be picked up. Adam complied and lifted his brother to where Joe could rest his head on his oldest brother’s shoulder, briefly Joe hummed along. As Joe’s body relaxed in his arms, Adam looked to see that his singing had put his brother to sleep.
As services concluded, Adam and his brothers made their way to the reverend and thanked him for such a fine serve.
Matilda Weatherby was a plump woman in her mid-thirties who stood about five foot, three. Her long, sandy-brown hair was coiffed in a large bun at the base of her skull. The color of her dress contrasted unappealingly to the tone of her fair skin. She watched as Adam began to escort his brothers across the yard.
“Adam, Adam Cartwright!” Mrs. Weatherby called; her shrill voice woke Joe from his nap on his brother’s shoulder.
“Yes, Mrs. Weatherby?” Adam replied as he turned to answer the woman.
As the woman approached, Joe indicated he wanted down. Once his feet touched the ground, his right thumb went into his mouth.
“How are you and your brothers doing?” she sympathetically inquired.
“We’re doing fine!” Joe answered before sticking his thumb back into his mouth, holding onto his brother’s hand with the other.
“That’s nice,” Mrs. Weatherby answered, looking down to the small boy before addressing the oldest brother again. “Adam, it must be quite difficult for you to watch after your brothers and take care of the ranch at the same time… I mean with Marie’s tragic death and Benjamin gone for who knows how long…”
“Pa’s coming back!” Joe declared.
“That’s all well and good, child… but for now…”
“For now, Mrs. Weatherby, my brothers and I are taking care of each other,” Adam replied.
“But surely you can’t watch these children and work out on the range.”
“We have Hop Sing to help take care of Hoss and Joe when I’m required to be elsewhere. And both boys have chores to do around the house and barn.”
“But he’s… they’re so young.”
“Chores never hurt a boy, Mrs. Weatherby.”
“But if all you have to rely on is that… Chinaman…”
“His name’s Hop Sing,” Hoss declared. “And he takes real good care of us when Adam can’t be home. He’s done taken care of us before Pa married Ma!”
“Virginia City is becoming more civilized and having a… foreigner taking care of white children is appalling.”
“Mrs. Weatherby, Hop Sing is a good man; regardless of where he was born. He couldn’t love Hoss or Joe more than if they were his own sons.”
Adam’s statement shocked the woman. “The nerve of that yellow heathen, trying to be their father when he’s not even a Christian!”
“Mrs. Weatherby, there are many religions in the world and just because you don’t subscribe to their faith, doesn’t mean the person can’t be a good provider. Just look at Sheriff Coffee’s wanted board; there are plenty of ‘Christian’ men who have prices on their heads. There is no one else who I would prefer to have watch over my brothers than Hop Sing.”
Removing his thumb from his mouth, Joe retorted, “Hop Sing’s family! Keep your nose outta our family!”
The woman gasped in shock as Adam reprimanded Joe.
“But…”
“No Joe, now apologize to Mrs. Weatherby.”
“I’m sorry,” Joe pouted and returned his thumb to his mouth.
“See that’s just what I mean. If a woman was taking care of these boys… nurturing them with love…”
“I’m sorry, but my step-mother recently passed away, AND I think it is totally improper for you to imply that our father should remarry strictly for someone to watch the boys. We’re doing fine! Good day!”
Adam turned, lifted Joe to his hip and with a hand on Hoss’ shoulder they headed to the Ponderosa buggy.
*****
“Of all the nerve,” Matilda Weatherby stated, taken back at the comments and the abrupt departure of the Cartwright brothers.
“Matilda, are you alright?” Agatha Montgomery asked as she walked up beside her friend. Agatha stood half a head taller than Mrs. Weatherby. Her raven black hair framed a warmer complexion that complimented her hair color. Her dress was stylish and accentuated her femininity appropriately.
“Those poor boys,” Matilda tisk’d.
“The Cartwrights?” Agatha inquired.
“Yes, Joseph and… Eric. They’re left to the whims of a Chinaman while Adam is running the ranch. My Walter’s told me what he’s heard from some of their hands when they come to town. Young Joseph had the audacity to… to… If they only had the love of a woman. If something isn’t done soon, the child will end up on a wanted poster.”
“Matilda, he’s only a child… a five year old, how can you claim he’ll end up one of those posters?”
“Agatha, he’s at a delicate age and situation. His mother’s death, his father’s abandonment. One brother too busy to care for him and another not old enough. Actually, neither are old enough to care for the boy. Who knows what that… ‘housekeeper’ will be teaching him or allowing him to do. You were at the visitation… You saw all those rifles along the wall… just waiting for a child to play with it and accidentally hurt themselves or someone else.”
“Matilda, the rifles were chained against such risk. Besides, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Yes there is. Joseph needs a mother’s love and I can give that to him.”
“And what of young Eric, or Hoss… as they call him,” Agatha inquired.
“Surely after five daughters your Harry would appreciate the help of such a strapping lad. And just to think, he’s a ready-made son… Harry won’t have to wait for him to grow up to help him at the smithy.”
“Matilda, you don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Yes I do. We have to do something. I’m going to talk with Walter. Something has to be done and fast, before that child… those boys are ruined.”
*****
Sheriff Roy Coffee had observed the confrontation between Mrs. Weatherby and Adam, and waited until the boys were on their way to their buggy before he made his way to them. “Adam?”
“Good afternoon, Sheriff Coffee.”
“Afternoon boys,” Roy nodded to each brother in turn.
“What can I do for you Sheriff Coffee?” Adam asked.
“I was wanting to let you know that the Cattlemen’s Association is planning to meet Wednesday afternoon about four o’clock.”
Adam made a mental note, and hoped he would remember.
“Thanks, Sheriff. Would you care to come out to the ranch for supper? Doctor Martin will be coming out shortly,” Adam offered.
“That sounds like a mighty find offer, but I can’t make it out today. Maybe next time.”
“Sheriff, I got me some secret deputies watching Hop Sing while we come to church,” Joe stated as he smiled at the lawman.
Leaning in close to Joe as Adam held him, “Secret, care to tell me who they are?” the lawman whispered.
“They wouldn’t be a secret…” Joe pouted a little.
“Joe, the sheriff’s our boss. He’s gotta know who all ya done deputized,” Hoss answered.
“Oh, I forgot about that.” Leaning into the lawman and cupping his hands over the man’s ears, Joe whispered, “Adam said Charlie and Bayou could watch Hop Sing and since I didn’t have any other badges, Adam suggested they could be secret deputies, like that man in my book.”
“That’s real smart of your older brother, there,” Roy answered. Rocking back on his heels, hands behind his back he looked to Adam. “I saw Mrs. Weatherby stopped you.”
“Old biddy,” Joe replied and received a swift smack from Adam to his posterior. “Ow!”
“Watch your language, Joe,” warned Adam.
Hoss stood to the side, surprised with what his little brother had said.
“Momma said it all the time about her…” Joe answered, rubbing the seat of his britches.
“You’re not Momma,” Adam whispered. “And yes, Mrs. Weatherby wanted to stick her nose into our family business,” he informed Roy.
“She shore didn’t have nothin’ nice to say about Hop Sing,” Hoss added.
“I’m inclined to agree with Joe there,” Roy smirked.
“Well, we can think it, he just shouldn’t say it,” Adam warned, and tilted his head towards the brother in his arms.
“Okay!” Joe squealed as Adam hugged him tight.
*****
Joe had been put down for a nap by the time Paul Martin arrived at the ranch.
“How’re the boys doing, Adam?”
“Joe?” Adam thought that was who the physician was really asking about. “We’re keeping him busy, it seems to help. It’s still pretty rocky putting him to bed of an evening. He wants Marie so much, she always read to him and watched over him saying his prayers.”
“I spoke with Roy earlier; he said that he came up with a solution to keep Joe from insisting on riding out with you?”
Adam laughed and shook his head sideways, in disbelief that it had worked. “Of all the solutions… I never dreamed of him wanting to stay home to protect Hop Sing.”
“How about the nightmares?” Paul asked.
“He’s still having them, but none as bad when he’d wake the entire household up. Most of the time he just comes to my bedroom and crawls into bed with me.” Adam took a drink of coffee from the cup Hop Sing had set on the low table in the great room. “I hope that he never has another one of those hair raisers. It was quite frightening.”
“How about Hoss?”
“He still grieving, but able to help out. I listen to him when he needs a shoulder.”
“What about you?” Paul asked as he thanked Hop Sing for the coffee and cream.
“I’m here.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Knowing it would be fruitless to ask about how he was handling his own grief, Paul instead asked, “How are you holding up? You look tired.”
“I am. Too many long hours out on the ranch, hours working the ledgers and figuring out that lumber bid, trips to the lumber camp, trying to figure out if it is worth it to try to continue to build the business for providing horses to the army…”
“Raising your brothers…” Paul inserted.
“They’re not trouble… Besides, I have Hop Sing to help.”
“I heard Mrs. Weatherby gave you an earful. Care to tell me about it.”
“Only the fact that she believed Pa should remarry to provide a mother for the boys. That woman, I bet she’d consider herself a prime candidate for Pa. Thank heavens she’s already married.”
Hoss had sat quietly on the hearth, listening to Adam and the doctor, but couldn’t keep quiet any longer, “She called Hop Sing a yella heathen, said because he weren’t Christian he had no business tryin’ to help raise us. But Adam done set her straight on that!” Hoss nodded his head for emphasis.
Hop Sing came around the corner and called for Hoss to come to the kitchen.
Paul was thankful for the houseman’s ever perfect timing.
“Adam, I know neither of us thought that your father would be gone this long… and…”
“What?” Adam deadpanned, worrying about what the doctor had to say.
“We don’t exactly know when Ben will return and I’m beginning to worry about you, especially when it comes to the boys.”
“I can handle them. I don’t need you suggesting that we can’t take care of ourselves… you of all people!” Adam lost control of his temper. As much as he tried to ignore it, everything associated with running the ranch and taking care of his brothers was draining.
“I’m only asking that you think about writing to your grandfather… maybe he could come out here, just until Ben returns.”
“My grandfather…” Adam allowed his head to fall backwards in disbelief. Looking to the physician, Adam stated, “Ask my grandfather to travel practically all the way across the country and by the time he would… could arrive, even if he was able to travel, Pa will be home!”
“It was just an idea…to have another family member around to help you.”
“It was one thing for my grandfather to offer to open his home to me when I was getting ready to go to college; it’s totally different to ask a man of his age to come here! He knows nothing of this territory. Besides, you’re asking a lot of a man who I only know through the occasional letters and Christmas presents.”
“But he was opening his home to you; he must have looked forward to getting to know you. That must mean something.”
“Yes, he wanted to get to know HIS grandson… not meet me and help take care of two children!”
“Have you written him to let him know of Marie’s death and your father’s disappearance?”
“No, I hadn’t had the chance to think on that… and I’d hoped Pa would be home long before now.”
“Have you written him of your decision not to go to college?”
“I haven’t decided that yet,” Adam answered.
“Haven’t you? That unopened letter on Ben’s desk tells me different,” Paul replied. He knew of the letter’s arrival from Roy Coffee and he knew how much it meant to both Ben and Marie that Adam had been accepted to the prestigious school. They both had looked forward to the time when their oldest could fulfill his dream of a higher education, and meeting his grandfather.
“And just what happens to the Ponderosa?! What am I supposed to do with Hoss and Joe if I were to go to college? I can’t leave unless Pa’s home, and even then…”
“Adam, he’d want to you fulfill your dream.”
“Dream… my only dream right now is for him to walk through that front door and for all of this to be a bad dream. But I have to face reality… As long as Pa’s not here, my only obligation is to my brothers and this ranch. I have to be here for Hoss and Joe.”
“And who’s supposed to be here for you? You can’t carry all of this on your shoulders.” Adam’s attitude brought out Paul’s ire.
“Well I wasn’t left a choice, was I? Pa left in the middle of the night…” Adam stood up and stormed from the house, slamming the door behind him.
“Doc Martin,” Hoss spoke as he came back to the great room, carrying the silverware Hop Sing had asked for him to set on the table. “Where’d Adam go?”
“I think he needed a little time to himself. I said some things he didn’t want to hear.”
‘Oh,’ Hoss mouthed.
Chapter Nine
“Adam!” Charlie called out as he rode his mount into the yard and saw his boss heading towards the barn. “Adam?” Charlie called again as he realized he hadn’t been heard, and sensed something was not right, he stepped from his horse to follow the young man into the building.
“Adam?” Charlie called into the dim interior of the barn. “You okay?”
Adam stood with his hands clutching the half-wall to Buck’s empty stall. The ranch foreman saw the tension across the young man’s shoulders.
“Sorry, Charlie… My mind was elsewhere.”
“Everything okay in the house? That’s Doc’s buggy.”
“Doc Martin? Yeah, he’s here for a social visit,” Adam tried to hide his hurt, but his voice betrayed him.
“Seems like he’s got you a little… riled?”
“He suggested that I wire my grandfather… A man I only know from what Pa’s told me, and through correspondence. At the man’s age, I can’t imagine wiring him and asking him to come all this way… to help take care of two boys he’s never met and aren’t related to him.”
“I take it you haven’t wired him of Marie’s death, nor of Ben not being here?”
“He never met Marie… and what good would it do to tell him about Pa?”
“He might want to come help you, son.”
“I won’t ask that of him…”
“You may not have to ask. Adam, you and your family are good people. And there are good people out in the world who would want to help you, even without your asking, and ask for nothing in return other than a thank you.”
“I can’t do it… All I ever heard before we settled here was that Cartwright’s take care of our own. Pa never took charity off anyone on the wagon train.” Adam remembered the one time ‘charity’ had been forced on Ben Cartwright, and his son who had taken ill; and through that one act of kindness, he’d finally gained a mother. Standing away from the stall, Adam turned to the foreman and said, “Even now, Pa doesn’t rely on charity…”
“It ain’t charity, it’s help.”
“I can’t…” Adam was conflicted. In his heart he knew he should ask for help, but his father’s words rang true in his mind. He didn’t like where his heart was leading him, so he changed the subject. “What are you doing out and about? It’s Sunday, unless you forgot.”
“No… I didn’t forget, not after seeing you and your brothers off to church this morning. We got more problems boss, I hate to say.”
“More cattle missing?” Adam wearily inquired.
“Yeah, probably seventy-five head all told, now. The men finished another count today. If your pa wasn’t as strict about keeping an accurate count every month, it was good of you to suggest the men bump up how often we take the tally. If not for your Pa and you, we could have been bled dry by the time round-up starts, not realizing we were losing any.”
“We’re being bled dry now…” Adam answered with dejection in his voice. “That seventy-five head means we’ve lost almost a thousand dollars.”
“Not at the going rate they’re paying in California. Your pa was planning this fall’s drive to California. Cattle are selling for upwards of forty dollars a head because of the gold rush.”
That’s three thousand dollars we’ve lost!” an exasperated Adam exclaimed.
“But we’re getting more per head for those remaining…”
“It’s still not a wash…” Adam turned away, wanting to punch something, anything… instead; he lowered his chin to his chest, grabbed his right elbow with his left hand and used his right hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, slowly shaking his head from side to side. “Charlie, I’m sorry,” Adam stated as he dropped his arms and looked up to the ranch foreman.
“Don’t be sorry. You’ve got every right to be mad.”
“Post guards on the herds, two men per herd. Sheriff Coffee told me the Cattlemen’s Association has a meeting on Wednesday. I’ll let you know what we need to do next.”
“I’ll tell the men.”
Adam left his foreman and the barn, and walked back into the house. He was a gracious host to the doctor during dinner, paid praises to Hop Sing’s culinary skills, and gave his brothers the attention they craved. When it was only Adam in the great room later that night, he looked at the brandy decanter sitting on the round table by the stairs. His mind screamed for released, ‘One or two won’t hurt, besides… Pa ain’t here to say no.’
Holding his second glass of brandy half-empty, Adam slouched down onto the settee and watched as the flames flitted about within the fireplace. By the time the fire had consumed the logs on the grate; the empty glass had slipped from a sleeping Adam’s fingers and came to rest at a crevice between the cushions.
*****
Gus, Al Gordon, and Cliff Barnstable, were half of the men selected to stand first watch over the three main cattle herds that roamed the Ponderosa. The men couldn’t believe their luck, until they were informed that they would not be watching over the same herd; each man was assigned with one other man and headed out that night.
“You’ll be relieved at midnight,” Charlie stated having given the men their orders.
*****
Early Wednesday afternoon, Adam watched as several men rode back to the ranch, with two helping a third man down from his horse, and acting as supports to help the man walk to the bunkhouse without putting any weight on his left leg.
“What happened to Bayou?” Adam called out as he stood from where he was working on the ledgers while sitting at the table on the deck.
“Horse spooked and threw him. Busted his leg,” Gus answered.
“Has the doctor been sent for?” Adam ran ahead of the men to open the bunkhouse door.
“Yeah, I think Gordon rode for town,” the second man helping their injured co-worker stated.
Paul Martin arrived at the ranch shortly before it was required for Adam to leave for the Cattlemen’s Association meeting. After a brief examination, Paul informed Adam that he would need Hop Sing’s help in order to operate to put the compound fracture back in place.
“But I was going to have him watch the boys while I head into town…”
“I’m sorry, Adam. But my needs for him as a surgical assistant trump your needs for a baby sitter… I know, don’t let Joe hear me say that. Why don’t you take them to town, have supper with them. Treat them out for the evening.”
“But neither of them are dressed…”
“Daisy wouldn’t mind. In fact, she’d probably watch them for you too. You know how much she enjoys having your brothers stop by; she always did when Ben and Marie would take all of you to town to shop and then stop by her diner for a meal. I’m sorry Adam, I didn’t mean to dredge…”
“That’s alright; it’s a fact of our lives that Marie’s gone. Hopefully the bank will still be open and Mr. Hinshaw will allow me another withdrawal from my college fund account.”
“Your college fund… why not the ranch account?”
“Because… since Pa’s missing, the bank has refused me access to the ranch account… my name’s not on the authorization card. As long as Pa’s signature was on the drafts, they had no problem with me cashing or deposing them. But now… Mr. Woods has been working to rectify the situation.”
“But doesn’t he have power of attorney?”
Adam nodded, “Yes, but Mr. Hinshaw is being a stickler and knowing that any requests are coming from me… He’s waiting to hear back from all his backers before he’ll grant my name to the ranch account.”
“So all this time…”
“Supplies, wages, everything… It’s come from the money Pa set aside for me… I know, Pa wouldn’t want me to spend my college money this way, but none of us could foresee Marie’s death and everything else that’s happened since. And, it’s the only money I have access to.”
Paul shook his head as the young man left the bunkhouse, passing the housekeeper in the middle of the yard as the man brought supplies for taking care of Bayou.
*****
Matilda Weatherby and Agatha Montgomery stepped from Mrs. Lewis’ dress shop, when Matilda let out a ‘thank heaven’ comment and fanned her face with a hanky.
“Matilda, are you all right?” Agatha inquired.
“I am, and thank heaven so are those two little boys,” Matilda declared.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Before you arrived, one of the Ponderosa hands came racing through town and stopped at the doctor’s, I thought for the life of me that something might have happened to Little Joe… or Eric. But they both are with Adam just now, and Doctor Martin hasn’t return to town.”
“You were that worried?”
“Walter told me about the Cattlemen’s meeting scheduled for tonight. They’re talking about rustlers. I’m worried about those two youngsters being left home alone. What would happen if those rustlers decided to barge into the house? Those poor boys would be left defenseless.”
“Rustlers… that’s what Harry was talking about. You were right, Matilda. I can see it now, those two orphans. What can we do?” Agatha inquired.
“My Walter is working on it. One of his friends from his time in the cavalry is now a circuit judge. He’s written to Oscar Williams to inform him of what’s happened and asked how best to proceed in a case of parental abandonment of a child.”
“I spoke with Harry, the other day… He said he wouldn’t be against our taking in the middle boy, he’d be right handy to have help working at the forge.”
*****
Daisy Alford was a grandmotherly soul, she took anyone and everyone needing a good meal under her wing. In exchange for a little work around her small restaurant, she made sure everyone had a full belly by the time they left. And when it came to the three Cartwright boys… she was only too happy to oblige without expecting anything in return.
“I’ve got no problem taking care of them while you attend your meeting Adam. I can make sure they’re bathed and changed, shucks maybe I’ll even have the two of them help me in the kitchen.”
“Lord help the folks who come to eat tonight,” Adam said aloud.
“Ah, Adam,” Daisy smiled and batted her hand towards the young man, “you know Wednesdays are my least busy night of the week. It’s so boring that it’ll be a pleasure to have them here.”
Adam paused momentarily, watching Daisy corral his younger brothers and march them upstairs to the residence on the second floor, both pleading against the need to take a bath.
*****
Marcus Grant, president of the cattlemen’s association called the meeting to order shortly after the last of the members arrived. Grant stood approximately six foot, three in height, and was well-muscled from years of working his own ranch. He didn’t stand too much on appearances; he arrived straight off the range, proud to let others know through his attire that he was a working man.
As Grant made his opening remarks, he looked to those present, a number of the other members of the Cattlemen’s Association attempted to put on airs, they came dressed in their ‘go to church’ suits. He struggled to keep a slightly sarcastic smile off his lips as he knew those ‘dressed’ were the smallest of members, and not by their stature, but the size of their ranches and the number of cattle they boasted.
Grant outlined the reason behind the meeting, and stated that even though Adam Cartwright was not a bona fide member, Grant accepted his representation of the Ponderosa without any qualms and expected the others to do the same. As he looked from face to face, he nodded at each man’s own acceptance.
“Everyone, I’ve told you already that Sheriff Coffee has informed me that the Ponderosa has experienced a theft of cattle… I’d like Adam Cartwright to explain what’s been happening and what he’s done so far. Once we’ve heard from Adam, I’ll open the floor up to anyone else.”
“Thank you, Mr. Grant,” Adam stated, standing to address the other cattlemen present. There weren’t that many men present, maybe eight others, but each man’s livelihood was dependent on the knowledge of what happened with their contemporaries, large or small. “The Ponderosa has experienced a theft of about seventy-five head of cattle.”
“I heard it was only twenty-five!” declared one of the members.
“It was,” Adam responded, “when I originally informed Sheriff Coffee. However, my father has always insisted on accurate counts of our herds, and not just during round up. This past weekend, we ascertained another fifty head gone.”
“Any tracks? Surely so many head being taken is going to leave tracks.”
“Not all were taken from the same herd at the same time. I’ve seen possible signs that our foreman, has pointed out… It appears these men know what they are doing, taking the cattle in smaller numbers, maybe five or so at a time. Not enough to draw attention to what they are doing, but we’ve always taken counts every month. Since it was first brought to my attention that we were losing cattle, I’ve had the men take a count every other week.”
“Adam, you said they were taking a few here and a few there?” asked Marcus Grant.
“Yes, it makes sense… we would have noticed twenty-five head at one time right away. A few here and a few there, a hand tends to chalk it up to them being strays and they’ll return on their own or be found during round-up. A couple head aren’t going to go too far away from their herd mates.”
Cliff Barrows addressed the gathering, “When I was first told about what was happening on the Ponderosa, I had my hands keep an eye on my herds, I’ve got hands posted twenty-four, seven.”
“So has the Ponderosa, only I didn’t think about it until Sunday,” admitted Adam.
“You’re doing a good job, Adam. You did what you needed, got the word out in hopes to curtail any additional losses.” Marcus came to stand next to Adam and addressed the gathering, “Has anyone else experienced an over abundance of strays?”
Justin Partlow answered, “My foreman told me I’m missing some cattle, at first he, like anyone else, he chalked it up to them straying. But once I found out about the Ponderosa, I’ve ordered a full count of my herds to see where we stand. I can’t confirm an exact count of the missing, yet.”
Grant took control of the meeting, “I think it best that all of us order counts of our herds and put night guards on watch.”
“What about going after the varmints?”
“Kind of hard, when we’re only beginning to realize that we’ve been robbed,” Grant answered. “I suggest we have all our men keep their ears open when in town, especially those coming to town on Fridays or Saturdays.”
“What about a reward?” someone else asked.
“I think we’re a little too early for that, but it’s a good idea once we have a better understanding of what’s going on,” Grant stated. “Men, I’ll talk with Roy after we’re through here, and ask him to be a central point where our messages can be collected.”
Adam felt somewhat better after the words of Marcus Grant and hearing that others might be experiencing thefts, better that he’d forewarned the others to be on the lookout and that they could take precautions to minimize their losses.
*****
It was nearing six o’clock as Adam excused himself from having dinner with the members of the association, explaining his brothers were waiting for him at Daisy’s diner. He made his way along the boardwalk and encountered Hiram Woods, stepping out of his office.
“Mr. Woods,” Adam greeted, still a little pre-occupied with the events of the meeting he’d just departed.
“Adam, do you have a few minutes?”
“I was on my way to Daisy’s to meet up with Hoss and Little Joe; she was watching them while I was at the Cattlemen’s meeting.”
“Won’t take but a few minutes, I’ve news…”
Adam followed the lawyer into his office.
“Take a seat Adam.” Hiram stood in front of his desk and rested his hip on the edge. He wanted this to be a comfortable meeting, forgoing traditional formalities, even though one piece of news would probably not be well received.
“So, tell me the good news first,” Adam encouraged.
“I heard back from Mr. Hinshaw regarding the Ponderosa accounts and adding your name…”
“And?”
“Well, I wasn’t one hundred percent successful in getting what we wanted, but I was able to work out a compromise. Mr. Hinshaw is opening up a separate account for running of the ranch; he’ll oversee the transfer of funds from the main account to this one, and only transfer enough to cover expenses… He’s audited the master account and has calculated what it takes for supplies, food and clothing for you and your brothers, and anything miscellaneous you might need to get by. He won’t allow any extravagant purchases, such as new saddles, rifles, and the such, during this time… As for the expenses related to the ranch, the Ponderosa is pretty self sufficient, but there are always expenses for repairs and maintenance, and as long as they are viewed as reasonable, they’ll be paid from the main account.”
“What of the hands? We have to pay them somehow…”
“Yes, Hinshaw has transferred the money from the Ponderosa account back into your college fund account for last month’s payroll. Going forward, the payroll will happen from the main ranch account as it has in the past, down to the penny…”
“That means we can’t hire any additional men for the Sun Mountain contract,” Adam interrupted, sitting forward.
“That’s the bad news.”
Adam slumped back in the chair. “I lost the contract?”
“No, you didn’t lose the contract.” When Adam’s eyes brightened, Hiram held up his hand and continued, “According to Mr. Hawkins, the Ponderosa bid was the best submission overall, as far as being reasonable in price, expectations, and the ability to deliver quality and on time. There were others whose bids were lower, but the quality of timber wasn’t the same.”
“So how did I mess up?”
“You didn’t, Adam.” The lawyer knew how much was weighing on the young man’s shoulders, and the burden he was placing upon himself for what he deemed his failure. He needed the young man to understand how cutthroat some people could be. “Will Poavey took advantage of your father’s absence. His own bid was significantly higher than yours, but he stirred the flames, expounded the fact that your father is absent. And these are his words, ‘the bid was computed by a boy still in his teens, and it appears that said minor would be running the operations. And even if Ben Cartwright did return… Sun Mountain didn’t have Ben’s guarantee that there wouldn’t be invoices for additional expenses.’ He bragged that ‘Sun Mountain would probably end up paying added costs that the boy couldn’t foresee.’ Adam, your father and I know how much Poavey padded his own bid last year. I don’t know if you remember, but last year, Sun Mountain’s awarding of the contract to your father was based on his word that his figures were accurate and honest and not low-balled in order to win the contract, nor did your father plan to submit additional invoices to cover the difference of possible unforeseen costs. And your father didn’t incur any additional expenses, either. Your father went over that contract with a fine tooth comb before submitting his bid and gave the guarantee that his numbers were fact.”
“Pa was so happy to win that contract away from Mr. Poavey, and now I’ve lost it.”
“Adam, you didn’t lose it,” insisted Hiram, shaking his head, “if anyone lost this contract it was your father.”
Looking the lawyer square in the eye, Adam commented, “I’d like to hear you tell Pa that when he hears the news.”
“I will!” Hiram relaxed back, seeing the small smile that appeared on Adam’s face, and said, “And then he can fire me being a loud mouth. Adam, I know this is difficult, and for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing an admirable job. It’s just that Poavey played the facts against you.”
“Thanks,” Adam stood, offered his hand to the lawyer, and left to meet up with his brothers for supper.
Chapter Ten
Ever since Matilda Weatherby had learned of Ben Cartwright’s departure and as the days stretched into weeks without his return, she had incessantly pleaded to her husband the idea of adopting Little Joe Cartwright. At first Walter had been against the idea; he knew his wife still grieved over the young son they had lost ten years before due to scarlet fever. They had tried and tried, but had never been able to conceive another child. He remembered when Ben returned home from his trip to New Orleans with a new wife. They had been home for almost six months when Matilda had informed him that had Marie come to town to visit Mrs. Lewis’ dress shop to order new clothes. At first the women had thought the reason was to order clothes more befitting life on the frontier, but then Marie announced to them that Doctor Martin had just confirmed that she was about three months pregnant. Walter had heard the heartache in his own wife’s voice as she spoke of the glow and the fact that Marie’s hands frequently strayed to her stomach, an indication she was ecstatic that she was carrying a child in her womb.
The pregnancy news had quickly spread, by the woman and via her friends, as well as by nosy gossips. Everyone in town had held their breaths when news came months later that Doctor Martin was urgently required at the Ponderosa, Marie Cartwright was in labor earlier than expected. Each woman wondered if this child would be strong enough to survive the rigors or would it too succumb to the harsh reality of life in the territory; many women and child died during childbirth.
After the first time Marie Cartwright had brought her newborn son to church, Matilda Weatherby had engaged the woman in conversation each trip she made to town, just so she could hold the child.
But, of late, the more Walter’s wife spoke of Joseph joining their family; she was becoming the woman he had originally married. She’d sing as she worked around the house, she cooked wonderful meals, and greeted her husband each day with a smile and a kiss as he returned from his leather shop. How could he deny her something of her heart’s desire?
*****
Circuit Judge Oscar Williams arrived in Virginia City and was impressed with its change, it was actually taking on the appearance of a town. It had been a number of years since he had visited Walter and Matilda Weatherby; shortly after they had lost their son. He looked forward to the visit and the possibility of presiding over a case that could very well be in the best interest of all parties involved.
*****
Sitting in the Weatherby home, sipping an after dinner drink, the conversation turned to the situation involving the Cartwrights. Judge Williams listened as Matilda told of the tragic death of the young mother, leaving behind a five-year old son, and what she had witnessed during the visitation. She repeated the story of the first time the boys had come to church since their father’s abandonment. She told of the disrespectful way in which the young child had spoken to her, and the fact that the boy and another brother were left in the care of a Chinese servant when their eldest brother had to be elsewhere.
Walter Weatherby factually informed his long-time friend of the events he’d heard about from some of the Ponderosa ranch hands when they’d visit one of the saloons on payday. He also spoke of the rustlers that had begun to plague the area, at first the Ponderosa and then the other ranches. He didn’t feel the need to embellish the stories, the fact that Ben Cartwright had been missing for well over a month spoke for itself. He did divulge that Paul Martin was a frequent visitor to the ranch, sometimes to perform services, sometimes as a guest. He mentioned in passing that Sheriff Coffee also visited the boys.
“Walter, you said that Doctor Martin visits the family?” Judge Williams repeated.
“I know at least every Sunday he makes a trip out there. He’s also been called out a few times to treat some of the hands.”
“Walter, tell them about the first week after Ben abandoned those boys. You learned they had sent for the doctor because poor, young Joseph woke screaming bloody murder, some of the hands heard him, and then young Eric came to the bunkhouse and asked one of them men to ride for the doctor.”
“Had the boy injured himself or had someone else hurt him?” Judge Williams inquired.
“No, from what I heard, the boy suffered a horrible nightmare, and it wasn’t the first time. I can only imagine that the doctor had to prescribe a sleeping powder to get the boy to sleep.”
“Walter, tell Oscar how Adam would take the boy out with him on the range,” Matilda insisted.
“Their hands spoke of how the child would almost go into hysterics whenever his oldest brother would leave the house. The men said that Adam would always meet them on the range with Little Joe sitting in front of him in the saddle.”
“Is that dangerous?” Oscar inquired.
“It can be quite dangerous if the cattle are spooked into a stampede, and don’t forget the rustlers. If those boys had encountered those thieves, who knows what could happen if the outlaws decided to shoot first…”
Scratching his chin, Judge Williams stated, “It seems that you do have a valid case against Ben Cartwright for abandonment, and considering his eldest has not reached his majority… he cannot be granted guardianship over his brothers.” Williams stood from his chair, walked over to the brandy decanter, refilled his glass, and returned to the comfortable winged-back chair he had been sitting in. “Is there any other family?”
“I’ve heard there might be a brother to Ben back east, and then Adam’s maternal grandfather lives in Boston. The boy was to stay with him when he goes to Harvard,” Matilda answered. “The middle boy might have an uncle somewhere, that’s how he got that despicable nickname. But they have no idea where to find the man. As for Marie, young Joseph’s mother, she had a questionable reputation before Ben married her, but in the six years I knew her, she never spoke of family…”
“The eldest’s been accepted to Harvard, that says a lot for his character, but then that’s another fact in your favor,” Williams admitted. “I think I’d like to meet with Paul Martin before I meet with the boys.”
“What are you going to tell him?” worried Matilda.
“Never you mind; I won’t let him know the real reason behind my inquiries. That can come about once I’ve helped you file the appropriate paperwork.”
Judge Williams relaxed back into the chair, enjoying the fine brandy.
*****
The next day, Judge Williams followed the directions given to him from the man at the livery from where he rented a horse for his trip.
“Hello,” Adam Cartwright greeted, stepping from the barn having heard a rider approach.
“This is the Ponderosa?”
“Yes, and I’m Adam Cartwright. I’d offer you my hand, but I’m quite greasy right now.” Adam held up his hands, still showing grime even after wiping his hands on the apron.
“I understand. I’m Oscar Williams. Is your father home?” The stranger stepped down from his horse.
“I’m sorry, but my father is away for the time being.” Adam pulled a rag from his back pocket and continued to wipe his hands clean.
“Oh, I had hoped to conduct some business with him. I’ve been told that the Ponderosa claims to raise the best cattle around.”
“We like to think so, but there are a few other ranchers around who would also make the same claim,” Adam jovially replied.
“ADAM!” Little Joe yelled and bolted from the back kitchen door. “Adam! Save me!” Joe ran behind Adam, using his older brother’s legs to hide.
“Joe, we have company. Show some respect.”
“That’s alright, son. Seems to me the boy needs some attention.” Leaning over and placing his hands on his knees, Williams asked the boy, “Who do you need saved from?”
“Hop Sing!” Joe pointed towards the kitchen. “He’s gonna chop me up and feed me to the pigs!”
Adam turned and knelt in front of his brother, wiping the tears from the boy’s eyes.
“Joe you know Hop Sing would never do that.”
“Uh Huh! He said he would,” Joe defended, nodding his head up and down.
“Little buddy, tell me what happened.”
“I was only trying to help. I didn’t know there were all them eggs in the basket.”
“You dropped the egg basket and broke a few?” Adam asked.
“No,” Joe quietly answered.
“Then why was Hop Sing mad at you?”
“I broke ‘em all,” Joe whispered.
Adam wrapped his arms around Joe, picking him up as he stood.
“Joe, I think you owe Hop Sing an apology,” Adam suggested.
“Please Adam, you gotta hide me!” Joe declared.
“Mr. Williams, if you’ll forgive me, I need to tend to this.”
“That’s alright son. Do you know when your father plans to return? Maybe I should come back then.”
“Uh… Pa’s away on business right now, and I’m not exactly sure how long it’ll take for him to finish securing this contract.”
“Well, maybe next time I’m in the area, then. Pleasure to meet you.”
Williams held out his hand, which was accepted into Adam’s much cleaner hand.
“Likewise, and thanks for understanding,” Adam offered as he bid goodbye to the stranger and carried his youngest brother back to the kitchen, and Hop Sing. The boy begged his brother not to take him back to Hop Sing, “He’s gonna feed me to the pigs!”
“No he’s not,” Adam soothed.
Oscar Williams watched as the two brothers headed back to the house before he remounted his horse to return to town.
*****
“I tell you Roy,” Paul Martin announced as he returned to the Sheriff’s Office after spending time with the lawman over lunch, “I don’t like the questions that Judge Williams was asking. He knows way too much about the Cartwright boys’ situation.” Paul sat across the desk from the lawman after accepting a cup of coffee. “The meeting I had with him yesterday morning was creepy… I just don’t know how better to explain it.”
“I haven’t had the pleasure of really talking with the man myself. I do know he arrived off the stage three days ago, said he was an old friend of Walter Weatherby, knew him from their days in the cavalry.”
“I’m not sure I like that. You know how Matilda has been lately, harping on Adam that the boys need a mother’s love and that he can’t possibly run the ranch AND take care of ‘Eric’ and ‘Joseph’.”
“I saw Andy at the livery; he said the man inquired of directions to the Ponderosa yesterday afternoon when he rented a horse. I wished I’d a known about your conversation with the man sooner.”
“I would have come, but there was an emergency out at the Bar-C ranch. One of their hands was gored by a steer, it was touch and go… spent most of the day out there and didn’t get back until late.”
“What do you think Williams is up to?” Roy asked.
“I have no idea, but I’m sure we’re not going to like whatever it is,” Paul replied, setting the coffee cup to the desk and standing to his feet. “Well, thanks for sharing lunch with me today… you’ll let me know if you learn anything.
“Any time old friend,” Roy responded. “And of course I’ll let you know if I find out anything that affects Ben’s boys.”
Chapter Eleven
The door to Sheriff Coffee’s office slammed open, admitting a tearful and frightened Hoss Cartwright. Roy and Paul immediately were across the floor and to the boy.
“Sheriff! Ya gotta… come! Adam’s… been shot!” Hoss grabbed the lawman’s vest, tears streaming down his face. “I gotta find Doc!” the boy yelled as he turned to run away.
“Easy there Hoss, Doc’s right here,” Roy announced, preventing the youth from leaving.
“Who shot Adam? Where is he?” Paul asked as he knelt in front of the boy.
“The barn, they shot him in the barn, where the hands keeps their horses,” Hoss cried. “Please, ya gotta save him! He’s all we got!” Hoss’ hands grabbed the doctor as he tried to pull the man along.
“Where was he shot?” Paul asked, stopping the large boy from pulling him outside.
“I told ya, in the barn!” Hoss cried out. By now, Hoss was struggling to get away from the lawman’s hand on his arm; he needed to get back home to his brother.
Roy released his grip when Paul placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders, “Hoss, take a deep breath. Did you see blood on Adam?”
Hoss nodded as he looked to the doctor.
“Where was the blood?”
“On his shirt, right here,” Hoss pointed low on his right shoulder.
“Was Hop Sing taking care of Adam when you came to get me?”
Hoss shook his head, “Charlie was, we… we heard the shots and… ran to the back barn.” Hoss sniffled deeply. “Mr. Gordon… and… and… Mr. Barnstable came running out… and left on their horses. They musta seen who done it… and were going after ‘em.” Hoss gulped a deep breath.
“What else son,” Roy asked.
“We went inside… and Adam was… Oh please… He’s dying!”
Roy and Paul felt they couldn’t obtain any more information from the youth and left the office, both with a restraining, yet comforting hand resting on his shoulders. As they stepped into the bright light of the sun, they almost ran into Agatha Montgomery passing by on the boardwalk.
“Oh Agatha, Paul and I need to make a run to the Ponderosa,” Roy announced. “There’s been some trouble. Can you take care of Hoss?”
“NO!” Hoss screamed. “I gotta get back to Adam!” Hoss used all the strength he had to pull away from the men, and ran to his horse, climbed into the saddle, and was kicking the horse’s flanks to return home.
“What happened?” Agatha worriedly asked.
“Somehow, Adam’s been shot,” Roy stated as he strode to his own horse.
Instantly, Agatha’s hand was to her mouth. She turned and headed towards the Weatherby residence.
*****
Agatha ran up the steps to the porch and urgently pounded on the door.
“Miss Agatha,” Walter greeted, opening the door. “What has you so upset?”
Looking through the doorway, beyond the foyer, Agatha saw her friend approaching and cried out, “You were right, oh Matilda, you were right. Adam’s been shot!”
Only the supporting arms of Walter prevented the woman from collapsing on the spot.
“Agatha, what are you saying? What happened?” Matilda clasped the woman’s hands, gently squeezed, and led her into the living room of their home and helped her settle to the settee.
Judge Oscar Williams returned to the living room from the kitchen and listened with great interest to the story Agatha told.
“I was walking past the sheriff’s office when he and the doctor came out, they said they had to go to the Ponderosa, there had been some trouble. The sheriff asked if I could watch Hoss. The boy screamed he had to get back to Adam.”
“Did Paul or Roy say anything else?” Williams inquired.
Turning to the man she had met several days before, Agatha said, “Yes, I asked what happened and the sheriff said that Adam had been shot.” The woman worried her hands in her lap, unable to accept the cup of hot tea that the Weatherby’s maid was offering her. “Oh Matilda, you tried to tell me that it could happen. When Ben was home those rifles were sure to be chained, but now… Oh, please… Little Joe couldn’t have shot his brother… Could he?”
“It could have been an accident?” Walter offered.
“That or the boy was totally scared. He might have been fearful that their cook really was wanting to kill him,” Oscar Williams stated.
“What?” Walter declared.
“I was there yesterday. The lad was petrified that this Hopsing was going to kill him and feed him to their pigs.”
“That’s preposterous. That Chinaman dotes on them boys!” Walter answered.
“I only know what I saw.” Replaying the events from the day before in his mind, “This Chinaman could have threatened the boy again, and in an effort to protect himself, the child could have accidentally shot his brother. You did say they had guns…”
Walter, Matilda, and Agatha all nodded.
“A child that small could not hope to handle a weapon, but he must have been truly terrified to go to such lengths,” Judge Williams put the facts together in his mind.
*****
Hoss raced his horse back home, praying that the doctor and the sheriff were behind him. He stopped in the back barn and found only the dried pool of blood indicating where his brother had lain. Panic consumed him as he ran for the house.
Throwing open the front door, Hoss yelled, “ADAM!” and searched around the great room before heading to the staircase.
“Hoss, Adam up here. Please, be quiet,” Hop Sing called from the second floor, yet the Oriental man spoke with compassion as he motioned for the boy to come up the steps. “Charlie and I tend to brother. Is honorable doctor coming?”
“I told him, and the sheriff. Is Adam gonna live?”
“Come see, brother worried for you,” Hop Sing stated as he led the boy down the long hallway.
“Me? Why’s Adam worried about me?”
“You go on long trip, you see him bleed. He know you scared. Brother rest better when he see you.”
Hop Sing and Hoss entered Adam’s bedroom together.
“Mr. Adam, Hoss home,” Hop Sing announced.
“Hoss…” Adam opened his eyes and breathily called out as he held out his left hand to his brother. “Glad you made it home okay.”
“Don’t worry about me. I went to the jail, and told the sheriff… Doc was there too. They should be here soon.”
Tears still streamed down Hoss’ face. He carelessly wiped them aside.
“You watch Joe for me…” Adam closed his eyes against the searing pain in his shoulder. “Protect him…” were the final words the oldest brother said before he finally lost his fight against the pain.
Looking up to Charlie, Hoss asked, “Where’s Joe?”
“I ain’t seen the youngster,” Charlie answered, his hand still pressed against the bloody towel on Adam’s shoulder.
“Lit’le boy play outside earlier,” Hop Sing spoke. “Hoss, go find brother.”
Hoss ran to his little brother’s bedroom and saw no sign of the boy inside, he checked everywhere in the great room and under the desk in his father’s study. Hoss couldn’t find Joe in the kitchen or the pantry. Next he cautiously stepped down into the cellar with no better luck.
By the time Hoss returned to the great room, he saw the doctor and the sheriff running up the staircase.
“Joe, where are ya?” Hoss asked of no one. He left the house and headed to the barn.
“Joe!” Hoss hollered once inside. “Joe, please Shortshanks… answer me. It’s Hoss… Come on punkin, where are you?”
As he turned to leave the barn, bits of hay sifting through the loft floorboards filtered down as a board squeaked when the weight shifted.
“Hoss?” the large boy barely heard.
“Joe? You up in the loft?”
“Uh huh. Hoss!” Joe called out.
“I’m comin’ punkin.”
The large boy climbed the ladder and found his younger brother hiding under a pile of loose hay.
“What’cha doing under there?” Hoss asked, helping his brother to his feet. He attempted to brush the hay from the boy’s clothing and hair, but the boy wrapped his arms tightly around his brother’s waist and wouldn’t let go. Hoss felt him trembling.
“Are you cold, Joe?” Hoss wrapped his arms around his brother in an effort to warm him.
Joe answered with a shake of his head to indicate no.
“What’s wrong then?”
“They were mean…” *sniffle* “They shot Adam.”
Hoss startled at his brother’s words, he relaxed his arms around his brother and forced Joe to loosen his grip.
“Did you see what happened?”
Joe nodded, “I saw them shoot Adam.”
Tears streamed down Joe’s face, and his breath hitched as sobs shook his chest.
“There, there now Little Joe… we gotta tell the sheriff.”
“No!”
“Joe, ya gotta tell what ya saw. You don’t want them getting’ away with shootin’ Adam, do ya?”
“No…” Joe whispered.
“Sides, you’re a deputy… It’s your sworn duty to tell Sheriff Coffee what happened.”
“But I wasn’t wearin’ my badge. I wanted to be like Charlie and Bayou, when we went to church…”
“So… that doesn’t mean you weren’t a deputy. Please punkin, ya gotta tell the sheriff.”
“I’m scared, Hoss. What if they’re out there?” Joe pleaded.
“Mr. Gordon and Mr. Barnstable done gone after ‘em.”
“They’re gone?”
Hoss nodded. “Come on, I’ll carry ya if it’ll make ya feel better,” Hoss encouraged. He knew how much his little brother enjoyed piggy-back rides.
*****
The brothers entered the house as Roy Coffee came down the stairs.
“Sheriff Coffee,” Hoss called, seeing the lawman. “How’s Adam? Did ya see him?”
“I saw him, Doc Martin is getting ready to operate on him right now.”
“Is Charlie upstairs?” Hoss asked, setting Joe down from his back and to his own feet.
“No, he’s out getting some of the men to form a search party…” Roy was hesitant to scare the boys by telling them what Charlie had said, it appeared that two of their own ranch hands were responsible for Adam’s condition.
“Sheriff, ya gotta listen to Joe, he saw whoever it were that shot Adam.”
Joe nodded his head when the lawman asked if this was true.
“Who done it? Do you know why?” Roy asked.
“They was mean to me. I didn’t mean to hear them; I was looking for clues…” Joe looked up to Hoss. “Wanted to make sure Hop Sing was safe from them rustlers.”
Hoss knelt in front of the boy and in the light of the great room saw the imprint of a hand on his brother’s face.
“Joe, who done slapped you?”
“Mr. Barnstable.”
Roy came to stand next to the brothers.
“Why? Why would he slap you?” Hoss asked.
“He found me in one of the stalls, I heard ‘em talking about moving cattle and how easy it was.”
“That’s their job,” Hoss replied, wondering why one of their hands would have slapped his little brother.
“Mr. Gordon started yelling at him, telling him they had to get rid of me, that I’d heard everything and that I’d tell Adam.” Joe took the hanky Hoss’ offered to wipe his runny nose. “Then Mr. Barnstable said he had a better idea. Said he had a way to get all the money they’d ever need. He grabbed me and started shaking me, telling me I’d better behave if I ever wanted to see Adam or you again.”
“I don’t understand…” Hoss whispered.
“I do,” announced Roy. He motioned for the brothers to make their way to the settee. Hoss sat down and pulled his brother into his lap, while Roy sat on the low table.
“It’s possible that those men were gonna kidnap Little Joe.”
Joe’s eyes widened, as did Hoss’.
“Our own men were gonna take Joe?”
“It’s possible. I’m thinking they were planning on taking him as a hostage and then asking for ransom,” Roy said. “What else happened, Little Joe? Why’d they shoot Adam?”
“That bad man had me in his arms, and he was hurting me.” *sniffle* “I didn’t want to go with them. I started yelling at them to put me down. Then Adam came in…” *sniffle* “Mr. Gordon pulled his gun and shot Adam…” *sniffle*
“Other than the slap and shakin’ ya, did they hurt ya?” Hoss asked as he hugged his brother closer.
“He dropped me before they ran away, and hurt my leg…” Joe admitted as he reached for his left ankle.
“Let me look at it,” Hoss crooned as Joe pulled up his pant leg.
The larger boy gently pulled off his brother’s short boot, observing that the ankle was slightly swollen and the skin was starting to mottle in color.
“Ya made it all the way to the hayloft in our barn from the back barn with that ankle?” Hoss asked in disbelief.
“It didn’t hurt until you asked if they hurt me,” Joe honestly answered. “Hoss, my ankle hurts.” Joe closed his eyes and leaned into his brother.
Hoss rocked his little brother, trying to offer him comfort.
“Is Adam gonna go away like Momma?” Joe opened his eyes and looked to the lawman.
Sheriff Coffee spoke, “Doc Martin is taking good care of him right now.”
“What’s gonna happen to us if Adam dies?” Joe asked.
“He ain’t gonna die, so just stop fretting about that,” Roy stated. Knowing these two boys as he did, he placed a hand upon their shoulders and gave them each a gentle squeeze.
Hoss and Joe looked at the lawman desperately needing his reassurance. The brothers sat together, taking comfort that they were together.
“Boys, you know that brother of yours is too stubborn to die. ‘Sides, he knows how much ya need him.”
“We needed Ma and Pa, too,” Hoss quietly stated, his own tears began to fall.
*****
Charlie entered the house and saw the lawman sitting with the brothers.
“I got men riding in right now, and others already trailing after… the shooters.”
“We don’t need to keep it a secret from the boys. They know who shot Adam, Little Joe saw them do it.”
Roy stood from the table and approached the ranch foreman.
“Sheriff, I’ve pulled in all the men who were working close to the main house today, so there’s about eleven of us for the posse. It’d take too much time to go after those in the outlying areas to gather a larger group.”
“I think we have enough… I guess we’re ready to ride.” Turning back to the brothers who were looking over the back of the settee to them, Roy said, “Hoss, make sure you tell Hop Sing or Doctor Martin about Joe’s ankle. I want it looked at, okay.”
“Yes, sir, sheriff,” Hoss answered. “Mr. Charlie… When you find them, are they still gonna be our men?”
Charlie walked to the back of the settee, “Those two ain’t our hands no more. I promise you, once we find ‘em, I’ll tell ‘em they’re fired. Why don’t the two of you try to get some sleep… It’ll be a while before the doc comes down.”
He watched as Joe and Hoss snuggled against each other and closed their eyes.
The room was quiet except for the crackle of the fire in the hearth after the foreman and the lawman left to join the posse.
Chapter Twelve
“Adam? It’s Doctor Martin…” the physician stated as he stood next to the bed containing his patient.
When the young man didn’t answer, he worried… Charlie Yeagle had informed them that Adam had been conscious, fighting against the pain, up until the time his brother returned home. Only once Hoss was safely within the walls of their home had Adam given up the struggle and passed out.
“You’re going to be fine Adam. First, I need to get ready before I remove that bullet,” Paul kept a running commentary; even though Adam was not conscious, the physician felt that he could still hear. His words were meant to assure Adam that he was not alone, and to calm his own nerves. Yes he was nervous, he was about to perform surgery on the son of one of his dearest friends, a friend who had now been missing for longer than anyone ever thought possible.
Paul Martin pulled out the various tools of his trade from his Gladstone bag, as well as a couple of needles and catgut thread, and set them on a metal tray placed on the bed-side table. As the physician prepared his surgical needs, Hop Sing carried in a second pan with hot water and several towels hanging over his forearms.
“You did well in arranging the lanterns in the room, Hop Sing,” Paul softly spoke as the finally pulled a bottle of chloroform and a cotton covered strainer from his bag.
“Doctor need anything else?” Hop Sing asked, setting the water pan on the desk in the room.
“I’ll need your assistance. You were present and helped with administering chloroform when Bayou broke his leg… Are you willing to help me with Adam?”
The housekeeper nodded.
“I’ll also need you to help swab, wipe away the blood as I probe for the bullet.”
“Hop Sing can do.”
“All right, let’s begin.”
Paul’s administered the first drops of chloroform, making sure that Adam Cartwright was fully under the effects of the anesthetic; he couldn’t risk the boy regaining consciousness before he’d complete his surgery. From the tray containing the tools of his trade, he picked up a probe and inserted it into the wound created as the bullet pierced the boy’s flesh. He needed to know the trajectory the projectile.
“Yes… boy,” Doc Martin mused aloud. “You’re not old enough to have suffered as you have…”
“Boy be alright?” Hop Sing asked.
“With the Almighty willing, yes. Another drop of chloroform, please.”
Paul worried when his probe angled from the shoulder towards the lung; he’d prayed the bullet had taken a straight path, front to back. ‘It did take a straight path, only its direction wasn’t perpendicular…’ “Damn” he spoke aloud as he pulled out the probe.
“You find?” Hop Sing worriedly asked.
“Yes, but I can’t risk using the extractor just yet, Adam was standing at an angle to his assailant. I fear the bullet is too close to his lung. Another drop, Hop Sing. I’ll need to cut through his flesh and… you did wash your hands before we started?”
“Hop Sing know cleanliness is important.”
“Good man. I’ll need you to help hold the expanded wound open so I can easily see the bullet to pull it out.”
Carefully, the physician picked up a scalpel and skillfully made his first incision, with each subsequent slice going deeper into the young man’s chest. When necessary he requested his assistant to wipe away the pooling blood so he could see within to continue. He sliced through the membranes that connected rib to rib and found more damage. Setting aside his scalpel, he picked up a small retractor and picked out several chips of bone that had broken from the ribs as the bullet continued its path. Using his finger, he ran it along the damaged ribs and was unpleased to find the edges rough.
“I’ll need to file these edges before I proceed. Another drop.”
Returning to the tray, Paul picked up a small metal medical file and set to work smoothing the chipped edges.
Using another device that had been on the tray; those outside of the medical field would have thought a torture device. Paul inserted it between the recently filed ribs. Slowly the instrument expanded the distance between the two ribs. Reclaiming his scalpel, Paul continued to work his way through the ribs.
“Another drop, Hop Sing. And then I need your help. Hold here and here,” Paul pointed.
Setting aside the scalpel, Paul picked up an extractor. With one hand he held the tool while his other hand guided the tool deep into the opening. He silently cursed as his blood soaked hands slightly slipped in controlling its descent. Twice Paul had unsuccessfully clasped the lead projectile, it was his third attempt where he succeeded in pulling out the misshaped bullet, and dropped it to the tray.
Returning his attention to the gaping wound, Paul inserted his finger through the ribs, probing the lung, trying to ascertain if it too had been damaged.
“One small blessing…” Paul heavily breathed, using his upper arm to wipe away the sweat from his brow.
Hop Sing looked to the man.
“I don’t believe the bullet penetrated his lung.”
“That good.”
“That’s very good,” Paul answered with a smile. “Now, I just need to remove this expander.” Paul slightly grunted and released the tension that allowed the tool to close. “Another drop of chloroform, please.” Paul reached for the brown bottle that remained on the tray and poured its liquid contents onto a clean cotton swab to disinfect the area around the wound before he poured the carbolic acid within. A fresh swab was used to wipe down into the opened flesh and another swab was used to absorb the remaining antiseptic within. Assured that he had done all he could, Paul Martin began the tedious process of suturing closed the damage he had inflicted in order to save the young man’s life.
Standing up straight, Paul stretched his back and nodded to Hop Sing. He took the bottle of chloroform from the smaller man’s hands, as well as the strainer that was placed over Adam’s nose and mouth.
“I need to clean my hands and then I want to listen to his heart and lungs before we bandage that wound.”
Within fifteen minutes of the surgery being completed, the only evidence in the room that an operation had been performed was the still form of Adam Cartwright, lying in bed with a bandage wrapped around his upper chest. Hop Sing had removed all the bloody towels and swabs, as well as taken the physician’s instruments to put them in a pan of boiling water in the kitchen.
*****
During one of his final trips downstairs Hop Sing heard the plaintive voice of his employer’s middle son.
“Hop Sing? Is Adam…?”
“He come through surgery, Doctor with him. Brother sleep, you sleep.”
“Hop Sing, them men who hurt Adam, they hurt Joe, too.”
“Lit’le Joe not shot!” Hop Sing worried for the small child.
“No, they was a holdin’ him and dropped him. His ankle hurts and it’s turnin’ funny colors. I promised the sheriff I’d tell you or Doctor Martin.”
“Let me look.”
With loving hands, Hop Sing lifted a still sleeping Little Joe’s left leg and looked at the swelling. He gently manipulated the joint to determine if the bone had been broken.
“Me think sprain. Hop Sing tell honorable doctor he have other patient.”
Moments later, Hop Sing returned downstairs with Paul Martin, who after a thorough examination asked the faithful servant to bring out some bandages to wrap the ankle.
“I agree with your assessment, Doctor Hop Sing. I can’t feel any indication that the bone has been broken, but this is going to be uncomfortable for him until the swelling diminishes and he can bear some weight on it.”
“Chinese elders use special mixture to soak bandages before wrapping, help relieve swelling,” Hop Sing offered. “Like poultice.”
“Your elders have practiced medicine far longer than I have, do you have the ingredients required?”
“Fix in ten minutes,” Hop Sing announced as he hurriedly shuffled out of the great room.
“Are my brother’s gonna be okay?” Hoss asked the physician.
“Joe will be fine. As for Adam, I won’t lie to you Hoss…” Paul always believed that honesty was the best policy, and if this were Ben, he knew exactly what he’d say. But this was an eleven year old child who was asking the question. “There’s always a chance that something could still go wrong with Adam’s recovery, but I’ll do everything I possibly can to make sure you still have two brothers.”
“I cain’t ask no more’n that.”
When Hop Sing returned, Hoss scrunched his face at the smell, “I’m glad I ain’t the one wearing that… gunk.”
Paul reached up to brush Joe’s long bangs from his forehead, thinking how innocent the child appeared. Without thought, he rolled the boy’s head to the side to get a better look and saw the red imprint of a man’s hand. “Hop Sing, do you have any of your ointment that might help reduce the sting from this hand print on Joe’s face?”
Hop Sing nodded.
“Hoss, once I wrap Joe’s ankle, I’m going to carry him to bed. Do you think you can stay with him and make sure he doesn’t get out of bed?” Paul inquired.
“I can do that. Been right here with him while ya’s operatin’ on Adam.”
“You’re a good brother.”
*****
Two hours later, Paul Martin sat in the chair in Adam Cartwright’s bedroom, having been pleased with the young man’s vital signs. He didn’t want to leave until his patient woke and he spoke with him, if only for a few minutes.
The physician was startled from reading a copy of a medical journal by a young child’s screams coming from down the hallway.
By the time Paul reached Joe’s bedroom, Hoss was already comforting the distressed child, rocking him back and forth.
“Hoss? Is Joe okay?” Paul asked.
Hoss shrugged his shoulders in reply. The young child held a death grip on his older brother’s shirt.
“It’s okay Joe, it was just a dream,” Paul soothed as he too sat on the bed.
“They shot ‘em,” Joe pitifully cried.
“What did he say?” Paul asked as he looked to Hoss.
“Joe saw ‘em shoot Adam. Guess he was dreamin’ about it,” Hoss answered.
“Joe saw it?” The facts jolted the physician.
“Sheriff said you were gettin’ ready to operate on Adam, when Joe told him,” Hoss replied.
“Lit’le Joe okay?” Hop Sing asked as he entered the room.
“Hop Sing, I’m going to leave some additional sleeping powders. Hoss just told me that Joe witnessed the shooting… You’ll know when to use them to help the boy sleep.”
Hop Sing nodded and sent a silent prayer to the elders to help watch over his family as their lives became even more strained.
After drinking some water with the sleeping powders, and with tear streams down his cheeks, Joe fell back asleep in Hoss’ arms.
*****
An hour later in Adam’s room, Paul pushed aside the lace curtain that floated gently on the breeze; he’d lost interest in reading from his medical journal after Joe’s nightmare. He looked out over the main yard and thought of how, usually at this time of day, the hands would be returning from out on the range; laughing and joking. Maybe some of them complaining of discomfort from the work performed. The physician grew angry as the yard remained empty, knowing that quite a few of the workers were riding with the posse. ‘Ben where are you? These boys need you.’ Turning to the sounds indicating the young man in the bed was waking, Paul thought, ‘Damn you, Ben Cartwright!’
Sitting down to the edge of the mattress, Paul spoke encouragingly to his patient, “That’s it Adam… Come on, open your eyes.” He gently patted Adam’s face, hoping to further rouse him from the depths of sedation.
‘Pa?” Adam spoke before the dryness in his throat set him to coughing. He tried rolling over on his side, his movement caused him to grab at his chest.
“Adam, I need for you to lie still,” Paul pressed against Adam’s shoulders to hold him still on the bed.
“Pa?” Adam called again.
“Here,” Hop Sing quietly spoke from behind the physician, holding out a glass of water.
“Adam, you need to drink this… just small sips,” Paul encouraged.
Paul held the glass to Adam’s lips while his other hand lifted Adam’s head from the pillows.
The young man dutifully obeyed, though having not yet opened his eyes. When the glass was removed, he rested back into the soft comfort of his bed. His eyelids fluttered as Adam struggled, climbing the rest of the way out of the effects of the chloroform.
“Adam, can you hear me?” Paul inquired.
“Yeah,” Adam answered as in small increments his eyes opened. He looked into the face of the doctor, waiting for his vision to focus, before looking beyond him to see a smiling Hop Sing, to whom he nodded. His eyes traveled the remainder of his room, searching…
“Where’s Pa?” Adam asked breathily.
“Don’t you remember?” Hop Sing asked, standing next to his charge.
As if in defeat, Adam sank farther into the bedding. “I had hoped it was just a nightmare… Pa’s really not here.”
“No… Ben left almost two months ago…” Paul regretfully confirmed.
Images flickered through Adam’s mind until a painful one settled, “JOE!” Adam shouted as he tried to sit up. Paul pushed him back down.
“Brother asleep in own room,” Hop Sing replied, placing his hand on Adam’s uninjured arm.
“Did they hurt him? They…”
“He’ll be fine Adam, he suffered a sprained ankle, but he’ll be fine,” Paul answered.
“He’s sleeping?” Adam starred between the two, and mumbled, “Nightmares…” The effort of staying awake was tiring.
“He had one earlier, that’s when I found out what happened. Hop Sing knows what to do.”
“Hoss…” Adam’s eyes drifted closed.
“He’s keeping an eye on Joe. Speaking of eyes, go ahead and close yours and get some more sleep.”
Once Paul was assured his patient was sleeping comfortably, he stood to leave.
“Hop Sing, I don’t expect any complications, but if they do arise…”
“I send man for you.”
Darkness began caressing all that was the Ponderosa as Paul Martin flicked the long reins to his buggy horse, encouraging the animal to move out.
*****
Hop Sing set the bowl with the medicated bandages on the desk before he opened the window to the youngest brother’s room. The cool morning breeze woke the older youth who slept curled up with his brother in the bed.
“Mornin’ Hop Sing,” called Hoss, wiping the sleep from his eyes and then gently shook his brother’s shoulder.
“Mister Hoss sleep well?”
“I shore did… Shortshank here slept through the night too.”
“ADAM!” Joe screamed, bolting wide awake, arms flinging blankets aside as he jumped out of bed.
Hoss and Hop Sing both missed reaching Joe, who after three steps, landed on the floor in a heap, crying and grabbing his ankle.
“Shhhh… Lit’le one,” Hop Sing soothed as he lifted the boy from the floor.
“I gotta help Adam!” Joe cried, wrapping his arms around his trusted friend’s neck.
“Brother sleeping in his bed. You stay in your bed,” crooned Hop Sing.
“He’s okay?” Joe asked.
“He will be. Doctor take good care of him yesterday, just like he take good care of you. But now Hop Sing turn. I remove bandage and put on new.”
Slipping his thumb back into his mouth, Little Joe watch in fascination as two hands unwound, bathed, and re-bandaged his ankle.
“Breakfast be ready soon. Boys get dressed,” Hop Sing said as he picked up the dirty bandage and the bowl.
“Can we go see Adam?” Hoss asked.
“Brother sleep.”
“Please, Hop Sing,” Joe pouted.
“After dressed. Brothers be quiet, no wake brother.”
*****
Hoss carried Joe piggy-back down the hall. Joe turned the knob and quietly pushed open the door.
“Who’s there?” Adam groggily called.
“Uh oh!” Joe whispered from his perch on Hoss’ back.
The covers on the bed moved as a left arm pushed them down and two bleary eyes looked to where the boys stood.
Having seen Joe peeking over Hoss’ shoulder, Adam closed his eyes and asked, “Hoss, when’d you grow a second head?”
“I didn’t grow no extra head. Don’t need no more brains than I already got,” the large boy giggled. “But I did bring Shortshanks in so he could see ya.”
Feeling the edge of his bed sink, Adam opened his eyes to see his brothers close at hand; Joe sitting at the foot of his bed and Hoss filling a glass of water.
“Hop Sing said we weren’t ta wake ya,” Hoss spoke as he handed over the glass.
“You didn’t, I was sort of awake already.” Adam drank three quarters of the water in the glass before handing it back to Hoss. “Joe, how are you? Hop Sing said you hurt your ankle.”
“I didn’t hurt it, Barnshable dropped me,” Joe replied with his thumb in his mouth.
Adam reached for his brother’s hand and pulled it down.
“Joe, you’re too old to be sucking your thumb. I thought you were a big boy.”
“I am.” Joe whispered. He looked at his thumb and then hid it inside his fist. “Does it hurt?” Joe asked as he pointed to Adam’s bandaged chest.
“Yeah, it hurts, but not as much as seeing those men being so mean to you. I was scared…”
“You scared?” Hoss asked; his eyes wide.
“Even I get scared,” Adam honestly answered.
“I tell no wake brother,” Hop Sing chastised as he carried a tray with fresh bandages, in case they were needed for Adam’s wound.
“They didn’t wake me Hop Sing. But I’m more awake now than I was earlier. It’s good to see you guys,” Adam answered.
“It’s good to see you too,” Hoss said.
“What’s happened since yesterday? It was only yesterday, right?” Adam looked to their housekeeper.
“Yes, only yesterday. Honorable sheriff and posse of our men go look for those two. Doctor operate; remove bullet, then Hop Sing help bandage Lit’le Joe’s ankle. All better soon.”
“Yeah, Mr. Charlie got all our men together for a posse said he was gonna tell them two they’s fired,” bragged Hoss.
“That’s the least they deserve,” Adam answered. “Wait, you said all our men are on the posse? Who’s taking care of the ranch?”
Joe tugged on Adam’s hand, distracting him.
“Yes Joe?”
“I’m hungry…”
“Are you sure you’re not Hoss?” Adam teased, knowing there was nothing to be done to calm his previous alarm. With all the men out on the posse looking for Gordon and Barnstable, there was no one left to take care of the ranch, and he knew he couldn’t, since he felt that he couldn’t mount his horse, let alone attempt to sit up in bed. “Why don’t you and Hoss go on downstairs, I’m sure Hop Sing has breakfast ready for you.”
As the two youngest brothers left the room, Hop Sing carefully lifted the bandage and was pleased to see no seepage of blood. He quietly spoke, “Brothers worried about you.”
“I was worried about Joe, Cliff was treating him roughly.”
“Boy be okay.”
“Did you put your salve on that faded handprint on the side of Joe’s face?”
“You see?” Hop Sing had hoped the oldest brother would not have seen the injury inflicted on his brother.
“Yeah, I saw it yesterday, only it looks a lot better this morning.”
“More salve today, be gone tomorrow. You hungry? Doctor say oatmeal or soft eggs.”
“How about eggs, a couple pieces of slightly toasted bread with apricot preserves, and some coffee.”
“You drink water,” Hop Sing handed Adam a full glass of water, to which Adam grimaced. “I bring food and coffee shortly.”
“Thank you. Hop Sing?”
“Yes Mr. Adam?” The cook turned around, he had begun to leave the room.
“I really mean it. Thank you for watching the boys for me.”
“Mr. Adam very welcome. And not all men go with Sheriff, only those close to house. Men still watch cattle.”
Chapter Thirteen
Sheriff Roy Coffee, Charlie Yeagle, and all the ranch hands who were working close to the house trailed after Al Gordon and Cliff Barnstable as the two men attempted to make good their escape from the Ponderosa.
*****
“Damn that little whelp!” Al cursed as they briefly gave their horses a respite, allowing both to drink greedily from the southbound stream while the men drank from their canteens and refilled them.
“Damn him?!” Cliff yelled, grabbing the shirtfront of his partner and shoving the man down. “Damn you! You had to go and pull your gun and shoot Cartwright! What were you thinking?!”
“You didn’t like taking orders from him no better than I did!” Al ranted, gaining his feet.
“So? Why’d ya shoot him? We’re gonna have a posse on our tails for sure!”
“What was I supposed to do?!”
“USE YOUR BRAIN! Oh, I forgot, you have to have one to use it! All we had to do was threaten his brother. He would have thrown down his gun to keep that little brat from getting hurt. We could have knocked him out and tied him up. Then we could have sent a ransom note.” Cliff stomped around during his rant. “Now… we got no chance of getting any more money out of them! And if Cartwright dies! They’re gonna hang us!”
“He was just a kid! He weren’t no man!”
“Kid or not, killing him was murder! Damn you!” Cliff grabbed up the reins before climbing into the saddle.
“Where’re you going?”
“South! Mexico! At least we’ve got a few hours head start; by the time someone rides for the sheriff and he gets back to the Ponderosa. Get in the saddle, NOW!”
Cliff spurred his horse’s flanks leaving Al to catch up.
*****
Before they set out, Roy had warned the men that unless absolutely unavoidable, these two men were to be brought in ALIVE. “I’ll not have any vigilantes in this posse!”
“You don’t have to worry about that sheriff, we all want the pleasure of seeing them bastards swing… legally!” one of the hands boasted.
En mass, the posse left the front yard of the ranch house and headed south.
*****
The sun was still above the western horizon when the posse came across a downed horse, its leg obviously broken.
Charlie chalked up another mark against the two men; you don’t leave an animal to suffer. With a quiet, “I’m sorry,” Charlie ended the horse’s suffering.
“They can’t have gotten too much farther riding double,” Roy announced as he looked ahead.
“My guess is they’re up there, in the hills and trees,” Charlie answered.
“Men, we have at least another half hour worth of riding to reach those hills. When we get to the tree line, we’ll split up into twos… wind your way in and out of the trees and around them boulders. Anyone finding any signs, you know the drill; if they’re on the run, fire three shots, then wait for us to come to you.”
*****
After the posse had split up, each man who had a watch made note of the time and agreed to return to that location by the end of two hours.
*****
Charlie Yeagle, the Ponderosa foreman, was alone when returning to where the other members of the posse waited. He’d left Bayou Brown on his own to keep an eye on their quarry. Charlie hadn’t been so sure of Bayou heading out with the posse; it had only been a few days since Doc Martin had removed the splints from his leg and allowed him to resume light duties. But the long-time hand had insisted, he wasn’t going to be left behind like no woman, not when it came to running down the men responsible for shooting his boss’ son.
As they trailed over the uneven ground, Bayou’s limp had become more pronounced as they left their horses and followed their quarry on foot. Having confirmed the men were less than fifty yards away, Bayou made his confession.
“You head on back for the posse. I’ll wait here for ya and keep an eye on them. My leg cain’t take much more walking tonight, Boss. I’m sorry.”
“Next time you’ll listen to me,” groused the foreman, only in good nature.
“I just didn’t wanta be left back there if something happened to Adam… And I wanted to help bring these men in.”
“I know. Before I head back, I want to make sure it’s Al and Cliff up there. While I’m gone, keep your head down and your rifle handy, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
*****
“Where’s Bayou?” Roy asked of Charlie.
“We found them camped out, Bayou smelled their fire long before we seen them. Never saw the flames until I was almost in their camp, just smelled the smoke. They’re holed up about two miles over the hill, pretty well hidden from sight, but where they are will make it all the easier for us to arrest them. There’s only the one way in and out.”
“You sure they’re there?” one of the other hands asked.
“This could be a trap,” Roy commented, stroking his mustache.
“They’re there… We got close enough to hear them snoring. ‘Sides I wanted to make sure it was them and not some other travelers. It’s them alright,” Charlie answered.
*****
Having met back up with Bayou, the mounted posse was ordered to wait outside the opening of the draw while Roy, Charlie, and one other man headed in. A few members of the posse didn’t trust the men who’d gunned down their young boss. Bayou suggested a few of them leave their horses and make their way along the ridge on either side of the deep draw, keeping abreast of the three who walked in on foot.
“Evening, gents,” Roy called out with barely a hint of a smile on his face and his rifle resting along his crossed arms as he entered the camp.
Al bolted awake, pulled his hand and his gun out from his under his saddle blanket. As he swung his arm to bring his weapon to bear on the voice, a weapon was discharged at him.
“Drop it Cliff!” Charlie ordered; his gun in hand and pointed at the other man.
Roy Coffee had already kicked away Al’s gun before turning to see who had fired. It didn’t surprise him to see Bayou Brown off to the far side, sitting on his horse, gun arm slowly being lowered to his lap.
“Didn’t hear you ride in,” Roy commented to the hand.
“That’s why I ride an unshod horse… Sorry about that,” Bayou pointed with his gun towards Al Gordon. “Weren’t sure you’d had time to see him pulling his gun. Didn’t damage him too bad, did I, Sheriff?”
Roy bent down and pulled Al’s hand away from his upper arm.
“Not too bad, Doc’s gonna have to patch him up… a little bit,” Roy answered as he pulled his suspect to his feet and began to handcuff him.
“Hey, I need a doctor?” Al Gordon yelled.
“He’ll see you in town. I don’t think you’ll bleed to death.”
A thunder of horses announcing the arrival of the posse members who had waited outside the draw, as the men charged their horses at the sound of gunfire.
While Roy and Charlie dealt with the two men, Morgan Yates, the other ranch hand who had walked in with them began to saddle their prisoners’ horse. Bayou kept watch over the group, never returning his gun to his holster until the two suspects were mounted with their hands tied to the saddle horns.
As the posse and their prisoners headed out, Charlie cast a critical eye towards Bayou.
“What you done was foolish, all it would atook was either of them hearing your horse kick a stone.”
“Them two? You’ve not spent a night with them watching a herd. They both sleep dead to the world. Only a stampede would awoke them,” the man drawl.
“Still…”
“I know, next time, I’ll let you handle it all by your lonesome,” was offered with good humor.
“There’d better not be a next time…” Charlie replied.
“You want to ride?”
“Yeah, my boots ain’t made for all this walking.”
“And they used your horse, too.” Bayou grinned at the added insult to the ranch foreman.
Bayou lowered his arm to help grab the ranch foreman up to sit behind him as they made their way following the posse.
The men had all agreed there would be no vigilantes on the posse; however, if looks could kill… Al Gordon and Cliff Barnstable would be long dead.
*****
A tired Roy Coffee rode in front of the hands from the Ponderosa who surrounded his prisoners. Citizens of Virginia City who were out and about for the morning, gawked at the procession making its way to the Sheriff’s Office.
*****
When the iron door clanged closed behind his prisoners, Roy finally felt he could relax.
“Charlie, thank all the Ponderosa men for me, would you?” Roy asked.
“No need, we were just doing what needed done.”
“Still, it coulda gone ugly, I know every last man out there respects the Cartwrights; and I’m glad they didn’t turn vigilante.”
“Not this crew. It’s because they do respect the family. And if they had taken the law into their own hands… They wouldn’t have a job to return to. So… with what Jonesy said… If Gordon and Barnstable are gonna hang, they’re gonna hang because a judge ordered it.”
“Still let them know how much I appreciated riding with them.”
Charlie nodded, heading to the door, only to quickly step back when it was pushed open into him.
Paul Martin entered the office, black bag in hand; “Word on the street is that one of your prisoners might be in need of my services?”
“How’s Adam?” Roy and Charlie asked, simultaneously.
“He survived the surgery and woke a little before night fell. He was sleeping when I left.”
“And the boys?” Charlie asked.
“Scared… I can’t believe those two,” Paul thumbed over his shoulder, indicating the men in the cells. “Hoss said that it was one of them who shot Adam?”
“Yeah, Adam told us that Barnstable was roughing up Joe and that Gordon was the one who shot him,” Charlie spoke.
“Wish I could just ignore them,” Paul whispered as he looked over his shoulder to the cell area.
“You and I both know better than that. The good thing is that it’s not a deep bullet wound, may not even need to knock him out,” answered Roy, with a smirk on his face. His expression made the physician give serious thought to the suggestion.
“Guess I need to wire the circuit judge to let him know he’s needed,” Roy said as he sat back heavily in the chair behind his desk.
“I hate to recommend this, but why not have Judge Williams preside… Would save us a lot of time in having to wait for a judge to arrive,” Paul suggested.
“I guess I could ask him,” Roy replied as he wearily stood to show the physician back to the cell area and opened the door.
*****
“Well?” Paul asked as he met the lawman at Daisy’s diner for lunch later that day.
“He said he’d do it,” Roy answered as he sat down in the chair and hung his hat from the back of one of the empty straight-backed chairs.
“How soon?”
“Do you think you can have Adam up and about, day after tomorrow?”
“Thursday? Good heavens, does that man not have any common sense?”
“I already tried to tell him about Adam’s condition.”
“Could Hiram take a deposition on his behalf?”
“This judge seems to like to hear both sides and allow both sides to cross examine. Both attorneys could be there for the deposition, but not the jury.”
“I guess we can bed down the buckboard with an extra mattress so Adam can lie down, maybe I should heavily dose him with laudanum for the trip. If we transport him early in afternoon, he’d have time to recuperate. It isn’t going to be easy on him.”
“No, I can’t see how any of this is going to be easy on him,” Roy answered.
*****
“I won’t allow it!” Charlie declared when Roy and Paul showed up at the Ponderosa right after lunch on Wednesday. Charlie had stepped out of the house after hearing riders enter the yard.
“You have no choice,” barked Roy. “Adam’s testimony is crucial to this trial. After all it were him they tried to murder.”
“Charlie,” Paul interrupted. “It’s my intention to ride with Adam, he’ll be heavily dosed with laudanum and I want the buckboard bedded deeply with mattresses and covers.”
“I don’t like it,” Charlie grumbled.
“None of us do, but we sort of made our own beds by asking this judge to try the case. We don’t have any choice,” Roy replied. “Otherwise it could be weeks before a circuit judge arrived.”
Charlie scowled at the two men, but gave thought to something else. Something had been niggling at the back of his mind ever since he’d spoken with Little Joe the day before, after he’d returned from riding with the posse.
“Sheriff, let me ask you this? Do you think those two varmints are the only ones involved?”
“They were the only two you said rode out of the barn, and Adam told you that Gordon had shot him while Barnstable was roughing up Little Joe…” Roy spelled out the logic of his thought process. “Joe himself told me it was them.”
“I know, but…” Charlie quibbled and lifted his hat to scratch his head.
“What are you getting at?” Roy inquired.
“We’ve lost over one hundred head of cattle in the past two months, not to mention the other ranchers in the area. Those two you got in jail, they couldn’t be the only ones involved, there has to be more.”
“You think they’re also the rustlers?” Paul asked in disbelief.
“I talked with Little Joe yesterday afternoon, and from what he said, yeah, I do,” Charlie answered.
“They never did tell me why they was roughing up Joe and then shot Adam. Both steeled their lips shut whenever I asked questions. But you know… Joe said he heard them talking about moving cattle, and I forgot about that once Hoss said it were their job.”
“I believe they are our rustlers, or are part of the gang. Joe told me the same thing, and I bet you my next paycheck it was our stolen herd. And… Little Joe overheard them. Then things went downhill from there.”
“If you’re right, there might be more of them out there,” mused Roy.
“I’ll gather a few men to ride guard, and assign a couple of them to be outriders,” Charlie offered.
*****
Charlie pulled in some of the men, men who had felt slighted in not being brought in to ride with the posse, to ride guard over the Cartwright boys as they made their way to Virginia City. After seeing that the buckboard was bedded down to their approval, Charlie, Roy, and Paul made their way into the house.
Roy and Paul explained to Adam the plan, while Charlie explained everything to Hop Sing. Within thirty minutes, overnight bags were packed and Adam was comfortably in a medically induced sleep in the back of the buckboard, with his brothers and Paul Martin keeping an eye on him. Hop Sing sat on the bench seat up front, next to Charlie who insisted on driving the team.
As for the men, they only knew that it was imperative to get Adam and Joe to town to testify against the two men who had tried to kill Adam. The ranch hand, the lawman, and the doctor decided to keep it among themselves the fact that there was also the possibility that the suspects were also guilty of rustling.
The riders and those in the wagon slowly left the yard; Roy Coffee rode in front with his rifle standing upright on his knee, while Bayou Brown and Gus Gibraltar mimicked him, bringing up the rear. As the group traveled towards the Virginia City Road, four other riders rode outlying positions.
*****
Doctor Martin was called away on an emergency shortly after Adam had been settled in an upstairs bedroom in the doctor’s home.
The oldest brother had lain peacefully in the large bed for almost an hour before he started rousing from sleep. Hoss was downstairs in the kitchen with Hop Sing while Little Joe sat in a large overstuffed chair near the bed where Adam lay. The large chair dwarfed the child, only his feet and ankles extended beyond the edge of the cushion. As he watched his brother sleep, he’d subconsciously slip his thumb into his mouth and then pull it out once he realized what he had done, only to find it there again.
As Adam began moaning, Joe sat up on all fours on the chair and climbed over to the bed. Quietly he sat and waited for his brother’s eyes to open.
“Ohhh,” moaned Adam.
“It’s okay Adam,” Joe whispered. “The doctor said you’re gonna be okay.” Joe mimicked what he had seen adults do, he gently patted his brother’s face. “Come on Adam… open your eyes. You can’t sleep the day away.”
“J-Joe… Please, don’t hurt him,” Adam mumbled.
“I ain’t gonna hurt anyone, Adam,” Joe answered. “Adam…? please…? wake up?”
“No! Don’t! Joe, please…” Adam’s arms reached out in a defensive position, unavoidably pushing his brother away. “Joe! Don’t!”
Joe scampered away from his brother and off the bed, and due to his aching ankle, he crawled across the floor and hid in the corner.
Moments later Adam bolted upright in bed and screamed, “JOE!”
Hop Sing entered the room. It took a few moments to bring the young man to full wakefulness. With heavy breaths, Adam looked to the family cook and housekeeper.
“Mr. Adam awake?”
“Yeah… I’m awake. Hop Sing, where are we?”
“We at Doctor Martin house. We come here…”
“The trial. I forgot.”
“You have bad dream?” Hop Sing asked.
“Very bad…” Over Hop Sing’s shoulder Adam saw Hoss standing wide-eyed in the doorway. “I’m okay Hoss, just a bad dream.”
Hoss entered the room and climbed on the bed to sit next to his brother.
“You okay, now?” Hoss asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Where’s Joe?” Adam inquired.
“He was up here…”
All three turned when they heard the door squeaking, from where he was still sitting in the corner, Joe pushed the door closed.
Hop Sing was first to see the crying child and was immediately next to the boy, gathering him in his arms and carrying him to his brothers, speaking gently to the child in his native Cantonese. Joe nodded his head at Hop Sing’s words.
“Joe?” Adam reached out with his left hand as his brother was placed on the bed. “Why were you behind the door?”
“I didn’t do it Adam. I wouldn’t hurt anyone,” the boy answered as the tears streamed down his face; he’d yet to let go of Hop Sing’s hand.
“Do what? Who did you hurt?” Adam asked in confusion.
“Ya yelled my name and told me don’t hurt him… I don’t know who ya thought I was hurting.” Joe sniffled.
Adam stared at his brother and then he remembered his nightmare.
“Joe, I was dreaming… I saw our men…”
“They ain’t our men, remember Adam, Mr. Charlie said he were gonna fire ‘em,” Hoss interrupted.
“Joe, in my dream… those two men had you. I saw Cliff hurting you. I yelled your name, but I was yelling at them not to hurt you. I just kept seeing them hurt you.” Adam lowered his eyes at the pain the memory brought to bear.
“They didn’t hurt me too bad,” Joe answered, finally letting go of Hop Sing’s hand and crawled over to his brother. Joe insinuated himself into Adam’s left arm, snuggling into his brother’s shoulder.
“I’m glad, little buddy,” Adam answered as he planted a kiss to his brother’s head.
“Are ya hungry?” Hoss asked. “Me and Hop Sing been in the kitchen, cooking.”
“I think I could eat… smells like a stew,” Adam answered.
“Beef stew, fresh bread,” Hop Sing replied. “Supper ready later.” Pointing to the oldest, “You sleep like little brother. Take nap, sleep make shoulder better. Hop Sing no want honorable doctor upset you not sleep.”
With that, the cook accompanied the middle brother out of the room and closed the bedroom door.
Chapter Fourteen
That evening, with the brothers having eaten an early supper in the room with Adam; Paul and Roy joined them once Hop Sing had cleared away the dishes.
“Adam, Hiram is going to come over in a little while to discuss the case with you,” Paul answered. “I’ve allowed this only because he has such a short time to prepare for the trial. But when I say you’ve had enough, no arguments. I’m still not happy about putting you on the witness stand just a few days after you were shot.”
“Do I get to tell what happened to me?” Joe asked, nestled on one side of Adam, Hoss on the other; all three brothers on the bed.
“That will be up to Hiram to decide,” Roy answered.
“But I’m a deputy!” challenged Joe. Looking to the lawman he stated, “Boss, I got to thinking…”
“Joe, hush,” Hoss spoke.
“No! I got sompin to say… I was looking for clues to the rustlers…” Joe continued. “I checked our barn and didn’ find anything, but then I got to thinking, and was checkin’ the back barn when I heard them talking about moving cattle…”
“Joe, I done told ya that’s their job,” Hoss answered.
“But what if it were our cattle?”
“Joe, who else’s cattle would they be movin’?” Hoss argued.
“But what if Adam or Mr. Charlie didn’t ‘em tell to… Why would they be so mean to me and shoot Adam if they’s only doin’ their job?” Joe crossed his arms; a mad look on his face.
A surprised Adam looked to the three adults, as Hiram Woods had been shown into the room by Hop Sing while Joe was talking. Adam hadn’t thought much beyond the pain in his shoulder.
“The boy could be right,” Roy answered.
“Told ya!” Joe replied, looking around his oldest brother and stuck out his tongue to his middle brother.
“Roy?” Adam queried.
“Charlie said about the same thing earlier, before we brung you to town,” Roy responded. “He’d talked with Joe the day before, trying to figure out why they woulda shot you.”
“So it appears that this trial might be more than an attempted murder case?” Hiram asked as he set down his portfolio and pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil, and began making notes.
Believing the two events were related, the rustling and the shooting, Hiram thought to ask Joe to tell his story. The boy began his narrative with the sheriff deputizing him to protect Hop Sing from the rustlers and finished by telling of him looking for clues in the barn and watching Adam be shot. As his account of events unfolded, his tale wandered off topic from time to time. Roy smiled as Hiram quietly brought Joe back to the issue with a question or two.
“Well, that is quite the report,” Hiram stated as he pulled out a fresh sheet of paper. “Adam, what else can you add to Joe’s explanation?”
“Not much, only that I was looking for Joe and heard him yelling in the back barn. I entered to find Cliff Barnstable shaking him, and Joe had what looked like a hand print on his left cheek. I yelled Joe’s name and then I saw Al Gordon go for his weapon, I yelled ‘don’t’, and then he shot me. I don’t remember much after that… It’s a little fuzzy.”
“Just tell me what you remember.”
“Like I said, Gordon shot me, I presume they put Joe down…”
“He dropped me, hurt my ankle,” Joe raised up his pant leg to show the lawyer the bandage he still wore.
“He dropped Joe,” corrected Adam, “and then I remember hearing hooves racing away. I think Charlie came in, maybe Hoss… I told him that Gordon shot me… I heard Hop Sing yell something at Hoss… They were outside…” Adam spoke slowly as events replayed in his mind. “Charlie and Hop Sing got me to my bed… Later, Hoss came in and said that Sheriff Coffee and Doc Martin were on their way… I don’t remember anything else until I woke after surgery.”
“Well, with what Joe said he heard the men saying, and knowing there have been rustlers in the area, it makes sense,” Hiram stated. “However, the evidence is pretty circumstantial. I’m not sure we can get it to stand up in court.”
Adam yawned, fighting to keep his eyes opened.
“We can try, can’t we?” Roy asked.
“We can surely try. I wish I had more time.”
“But we don’t,” Paul answered. “Hiram, you’ll have to make your case from what you’ve already heard. I can’t allow this interview to continue any longer. Adam’s still recovering; he lost a fair amount of blood.”
“I can’t understand why the judge is pushing the case for tomorrow… How can I properly prepare a case for the prosecution?”
“Well, we asked Williams to preside, considering those two were responsible for Adam’s condition, we didn’t want the reminder sitting in Roy’s jail while having to wait for a regular circuit judge. We didn’t think he’d schedule it so soon,” Paul explained.
“I can only imagine Alex Blake, he’s probably pulling his hair out over short notice for a defense.”
“Gonna be even shorter when he learns about the rustling,” Roy replied.
*****
The Bucket O’Blood had been closed and all bottles of liquor removed from the shelves as it was transformed into a courtroom. Judge Oscar Williams sat upright as he prepared to preside over the case, happy that it was an open and shut case of attempted murder. But, as Hiram Woods begins his opening remarks for the prosecution, he tied the attempted murder case to the ongoing rustling of cattle in the area; and thus was the reason behind the shooting of Adam Cartwright. He outlined how Little Joe Cartwright had been in the barn, and accidently eavesdropped on a conversation and once found… The events were self evident.
Alex Blake was surprised when his opponent had connected the two cases, and if he’d been the prosecution, he’d have done the same thing. In his discussions with his clients, he’d put two and two together and came up with the same answer. It was every defense attorney’s worst nightmare, defending people known to be guilty; well… the best he could hope for was a lengthy prison sentence for his clients. Anything to prevent a hanging; he’d been instructed back in law school and you saw your case through to its conclusion, seeing your clients to the prison wagon… or to the gallows. From both sides of the court aisle way, prosecution and defense, he’d witnessed too many hangings in his career.
Once Judge Williams accepted the closure of the opening remarks from both sides, he ordered the prosecution to call their first witness.
Hiram stood and faced the jury, then spoke loudly for the packed courtroom to hear, “The prosecution calls Joseph Cartwright as our first witness.”
“I OBJECT!” Blake called out. He’d known this would happen; putting a young child on the stand was only asking for difficulties.
“Why?” Williams asked as he held up his hand, hoping to stop the forward progress of Little Joe Cartwright; he didn’t have to worry, Joe still wasn’t up to walking on his own.
“The witness is a child… You’re willing to accept the testimony of a child and its impact on my clients? Does the child even understand what’s happening?”
“Would you like to ask the child a few questions before he begins his testimony?” Williams asked.
It was worth the shot, but Blake knew his objection had just been over ruled.
“Will Joseph Cartwright please take the stand,” Roy called out.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Williams asked as Hoss lifted his brother to his hip to carry him to the make-shift witness stand.
“I’m Hoss Cartwright and this here is my brother, Little Joe. He cain’t walk on his ankle, because he hurt it,” Hoss announced.
“I didn’t hurt it, he did,” proclaimed Joe, pointing over Hoss’ shoulder towards one of the defendants.
The courtroom snickered and the two defendants groaned.
Williams and everyone else watched as Joe sat up in the chair and tried to straighten out his jacket and pulled at the tie that ran around his collar.
“Joseph, do you know why you’re here today?” Williams asked.
“It’s a trial and I’m here to tell the truth,” Joe answered.
Williams motioned for Hiram Woods and Alex Blake to approach the bench. “I will not allow any derogatory or underhanded tactics in questioning this child. If I feel one question is inappropriate, I will hold either of you in contempt of court. Am I understood?”
Both men nodded.
To the court Williams announced, “I am going to allow both attorneys to question the child to establish their comfort level in the competency of this child to give testimony.”
Hiram deferred to Alex.
“Joseph, do you know what a lie is?” Alex asked.
“Am I in trouble?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Well, I only get called Joseph when I’m in trouble.”
The crowd giggled.
“What name do you go by?” Alex asked, knowing he was going to regret this.
“Little Joe!” Joe puffed up his chest. “Because I ain’t as big as my brothers… yet.”
“Okay, may I call you Little Joe?”
“Sure, all my friends do.”
“So I’m a friend?”
“If ya want to be. Do you want to be my friend?” Joe asked.
The question elicited another round of giggles from those present.
“Yes, I do. And friends don’t lie to each other, do they.”
“Nooooo Sir.” Joe strung out the pronunciation of the word no, with his voice rising and falling.
“What happens when someone lies?” Alex asked.
“It depends on if they get caught lying,” Joe innocently answered.
“Okay, if someone gets caught lying, what happens?”
“Well… I don’t know about anyone else, but me and my brothers…”
Alex tried hard to keep a serious composure on his face, “When you and your brothers are caught lying, what happens?”
“Pa has a little…” Joe’s voice quieted and then he stopped speaking, he looked to his lap here he folded his hands.
“Joe?” Hiram offered. “Are you alright?”
Hoss sat forward in his chair, he saw his brother’s demeanor change.
“I miss my pa,” Joe answered. Looking up, Joe asked, “Is he ever gonna come home?”
Both attorneys looked to each other and then back to Joe.
“We hope so, Joe,” Hiram answered. “Joe,” Hiram said as he knelt down in front of the boy, “Can you answer Alex what happens when you are caught lying?”
“If it’s a little lie, I get extra chores. If it’s a big lie, I get a necessary talk… that means I get spanked and extra chores,” Joe quietly answered.
“And if you were to lie in this court, would it be a little lie or a big lie?” Alex asked.
“It wouldn’t be either because I’m gonna put my hand on the bible and tell the truth,” Joe proclaimed. He glared at the man for thinking he’d lie after promising something with his hand on the Holy Bible.
“Okay, are you satisfied,” Judge Williams asked.
Hiram and Alex nodded. Roy approached with the bible.
“Now Joe, I know you can’t swear…”
“Yeah, I get my mouth washed out with soap,” Joe answered and the people laughed.
“But I need to ask you to put your right hand on the bible and promise to tell the truth.”
Joe did as asked.
*****
The morning progressed with no new revelations as the lawyers asked questions of Joe and he answered. Joe was finally excused.
As Hoss lifted his brother from the chair he said, “Ya done good Shortshanks.”
*****
Ranch foreman Charlie Yeagle was next to testify on what happened once he reached the barn, what Adam had said.
“OBJECTION! Hear say.”
“The testimony will be corroborated later this afternoon when Adam Cartwright takes the stand.”
“Why not have him take the stand now?” Judge Williams asked.
“Because it’s only been three days since he was shot, and Doc doesn’t want him stressed anymore than necessary. He’ll be called after lunch,” Hiram answered.
“Objection over ruled,” Williams stated.
Charlie continued to tell of what happened after hearing the gunfire, getting Adam to his room and stripping his shirt, the doctor’s arrival, and finally, trailing after the two defendants. He explained what happened in the draw. Once both attorneys were satisfied with his testimony, he was dismissed.
Bayou Brown took the stand next, explaining how he and Charlie had trailed the two through the woods and into the draw. He told of telling the men to follow along the ridge, and then him quietly riding into the camp and how he saw Al Gordon drawing his gun, and since the Sheriff and the others were on the opposite side, he wasn’t sure they saw it.
“I fired with the intent to wing him,” Bayou drawled. “Done it, too.”
The last witnessed called before lunch was Doctor Paul Martin. His testimony had more to do with the seriousness of the wound inflected to Adam Cartwright, and he took the chance to dress down the court that if anyone upset his patient, he would stop the trial right then and there.
“My patient is my priority,” Paul answered. “It is my duty to protect his well-being.”
“I’m your patient!” Al Gordon yelled as he stood and held out his arm still in the sling. “Ya gotta protect me too.”
“Quiet in the court! You’ll have your chance to defend yourself once the prosecution is finished.” Turning to the witness, “Doctor, I’ll take your concern under advisement and will warn counsel not to upset the witness.”
*****
After lunch, Paul Martin walked closely beside the eldest Cartwright brother as he made his way into the courtroom and to the witness stand. Judge Williams noted his pale complexion and the deliberateness of his stride; he was beginning to have misgivings for calling the trail so soon after the shooting.
Adam Cartwright was succinct in his explanations of what happened that led up to his shooting; and explained how it was his little brother who put the pieces together, and the adults agreed.
With minimal counter questioning, Adam was released to go back to the doctor’s residence.
“I believe it would be best for the two youngsters to leave the court to see to their brother,” Judge Williams announced.
*****
“I have one last witness to call,” Hiram announced. “I call Sheriff Roy Coffee to the stand.”
Once Roy was seated, Hiram explained himself.
“Sheriff, during the earlier testimony, comments were made reflecting that Joe Cartwright was one of your deputies… I’m surprised my esteemed colleague did not challenge the comments, but I am thankful that he did not press the issue with the child in attendance.”
Alex Blake nodded his head.
“Sheriff, would you care to elaborate on those statements.”
“Sure. As most of you know, there had been several tragedies suffered by the Cartwright family. Most of the burden has fallen to the eldest son, Adam. He told me himself that in order to keep Joe calm, he was having to ride out having the boy with him. I knew this could be dangerous, especially as it came to light that we had rustlers in the area. I know that little boy and he’d fight anyone tooth and nail if told he couldn’t do something…”
This elicited laughter from the crowd still in attendance.
“So, I thought of another way to keep him safe and ease the stress Adam was under. I thought it might be a good idea to deputize him to watch over Hop Sing, their housekeeper and cook. Little Joe took to the idea immediately. He deputized his brother, Hoss, and on another occasion deputized their foreman, Charlie Yeagle, and one of their hands, Bayou Brown, with the sole purpose of watching over Hop Sing.”
“Thank you, Sheriff,” Hiram replied. “Your witness.”
“Sheriff, I applaud you for smart thinking to keep the child safe; however, by his own admission, he was looking for clues to the rustlers. Which I presume was outside of the scope of his authority?” Alex felt silly for the line of questioning, but hopefully his clients would approve of him performing his job.
“Now that you mention it… I’m gonna have to have a necessary talk with my deputy once this is over with.”
“No further questions, your honor.”
*****
The remainder of the afternoon was spent listening to the two defendants attempt to explain themselves. By the end of Al Gordon’s testimony, he grew flustered and shouted out, “I ain’t gonna take the rap for everything, Gus Gibraltar done hooked us up with the money man for the cattle!”
By six o’clock that night, both defendants had been found guilty, and though he wanted to pronounce a hanging sentence, the judge accepted recommendations by both counselors and remanded both prisoners to twenty years hard labor at the Nevada Territorial prison. Before the close of the trial, an arrest warrant was sworn out for Gus Gibraltar.
“I have something else to say,” Judge Oscar Williams announced. “There have been numerous comments made during this trial, regarding the fact that the Cartwright children are without the benefit and protection of any parent. I have received a request to terminate the parental rights of one Benjamin Cartwright, as well as have received two petitions for the adoption of the two youngest children.”
“Ya cain’t!” Roy declared, as did Charlie and Bayou.
“Order! I will hear all testimony pertinent to these petitions tomorrow beginning at one o’clock, sharp.” Hammering his gavel on the bar countertop, “This court stands adjourned.”
*****
Paul Martin opened the front door of his home to find the sheriff and the Ponderosa foreman standing on his porch.
“We got trouble,” Roy announced, making his way inside.
*****
“Guess we know who filed the petitions,” Paul stated after hearing what the two men had to say concerning the events that happened at the closing of the trial, after Paul had left with the Cartwright brothers.
*****
Later that night, Paul Martin walked down the hallway of the second floor of his home only to hear moaning coming from behind one of the doors. He’d expected to hear these sounds from the room in which Little Joe slept with Hoss, he never expected the cries of distress to come from the room in which Adam slept.
Opening the door, the moon shone through the lace curtains, illuminating the room well enough for Paul to see the figure in the bed thrashing about, crying, “No, Not Joe!” “I didn’t mean to.” “I tried my best!” “They can’t!” “PA!” bolted Adam upright in bed, gasping for breath.
Adam was surprised to see the physician so quick to his side.
“Guess I shouldn’t have told you about the tomorrow’s hearing,” Paul quietly spoke feeling guilty for the additional burden placed on the wounded young man.
“I’d have hated you had you not told me, Paul.” It was the first time Adam had ever called the man by his first name. “I have to stop them! They can’t take Hoss and Joe from me!” Adam cried out, the pain in his heart and the pain in his shoulder competed for attention. “I need to tell them, I need to assure Hoss and Joe that I love them.”
“Son, they know that you love them. They both had a very long day, and are sleep. I’ll tell them about the hearing in the morning. You, my young friend, have to lie down. That’s what you need to do,” Paul insisted.
Settling back to bed, Adam thought on his dream and the uneasiness that had settled over his family; Marie’s death and her funeral. The day he found his father missing which eventually lead to a verbal showdown with the ranch hands. Finding out their cattle were being rustled. He’d tried so hard to win the Sun Mountain bid, but ultimately he’d lost the lucrative contract. And finally, Joe’s life in danger by two of their hands who turned out were a part of the gang of rustlers. His subconscious replayed the ‘click’ and he felt the searing pain in his shoulder, again. And now, as a last straw, friends of his father wanted to tear his family apart.
All his life he had wanted to be his father’s right hand man, and now that the growing empire of the Ponderosa was his responsibility, he came to accept he was an absolute failure.
Chapter Fifteen
The hearing was called to order promptly at one o’clock with the early portion involving statements from Roy Coffee and Paul Martin, given in their respective professional opinions. Charlie Yeagle spoke on behalf of the brothers, especially Adam. He’d spoken with the young man earlier in the morning, once it became evident that his injury would prevent him from testifying; his excursion and testimony from the day before had exhausted his energy reserves. He could barely sit up in bed after Doc Martin had been forced to wake him from another nightmare; the second in the same night.
Bayou Brown testified that if Ben Cartwright’s parental responsibility had to be terminated, so be it… but don’t split up the boys. They each, individually and together, had suffered more heartache than children should, and to separate them would only magnify the tragedies they had experienced.
Judge Williams listened to the sincere words of Hoss Cartwright in how his family meant everything to him, and that he didn’t want to live without his brothers. As the man listened he shook his head, he knew how adaptable children really were and knew that the boy would adjust just fine, once the adoption was finalized.
As the Judge spoke with Little Joe, he was not prepared for the hostility reflected back at him from smoldering green eyes. He’d seen the five-year old behave more in line with a grown up when the boy had testified at the previous day’s trial, but now…
“My Pa may not want me anymore, but I know my brothers do. Ya ain’t gonna take me away from them! I’ll run away. You ain’t gonna make me live with that old biddy!”
The court room was filled to capacity, more so than it had been the day before, and they all gasped at Joe’s declaration.
“My momma didn’t like her and I don’t either. She’s a nosy, know-it-all!” Joe declared quite vocally.
“Young man,” Judge Williams warned. “I will not tolerate that tone of voice nor that language in my court room. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Anger poured from Joe’s body as he sat on the bar top, arms crossed and stared at the woman in question.
*****
A rejuvenated Ben rode into Virginia City; planning to clean up before heading home to greet his sons; his face bore several weeks’ worth of beard and his hair was longer than he’d ever worn it before. He laughed to himself as he thought of the argument his youngest would give him the next time he ordered the boy to the barbershop, if the child were to see him now.
Walking his horse along the main thoroughfare, Ben was surprised to see the street as deserted as it was. His curiosity got the better of him; he turned his horse, stepped down in front of the Sheriff’s Office, and tied Buck to the hitching rail.
Clive from the telegraph office had looked up to see a man riding a buckskin horse past his window, something looked familiar, he stared long and hard. “Ben Cartwright,” he breathed and left his station.
Running out the door, Clive called Ben’s name.
“Clive, don’t think I’ve ever seen Virginia City so quiet,” Ben stated in greeting.
“That’s because of the hearing going on over at the Buck O’Blood,” Clive answered.
“What hearing? Roy arrested a gang of outlaws?” jested Ben.
“Nothing like that. Why don’t you head on over.” Clive gave second thoughts to his impetuous action of calling out to Ben. He didn’t want to be the one to tell him the purpose behind the hearing.
“Nah, I just wanted to stop in town, get cleaned up and shaved before heading home to see my boys.” Ben smiled at the just the thought of being clean as he dusted off some trail dirt from his jacket and pants.
“I think it might be best if you go see Roy before heading home, he’s over at the saloon.”
“I’m sure it can wait until later…”
“I think you really need to see Roy before heading home.”
The intensity in which Ben Cartwright looked to the man would cower most anyone, and Clive knew he was in this category.
“Ben, please… just go find Roy.”
“Alright…”
Ben turned and walked across the barren road, barely pausing at the ‘Court in Session’ sign hung next to the doorway.
The long-absent father witnessed his angry, youngest son lifted from where he had sat on the elevated chair by Roy Coffee and carried to a seat in the front row.
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” declared Ben Cartwright, pushing through the entrance, allowing the winged doors to swing closed, back and forth, behind him. “Why is my son here?!”
Hoss turned in his seat and Little Joe looked into the crowd after hearing that voice. They saw the scruffy man and underneath, “PA!” Both boys ran to their father, wrapping their arms around him.
Ben startled at the raw emotions on his sons’ faces, and the fact that Joe was limping.
“I presume you are Benjamin Cartwright?” Judge Williams asked as he looked down, actually and figuratively, to the man from his position in the front of the saloon/courtroom.
“Yes, I am Benjamin Cartwright.”
“What do you have to say for yourself, abandoning these two children?”
Ben looked to Paul Martin and Roy Coffee who both had left their seats and stopped halfway to Ben. The men wore expressions of warning to the returning father. He lifted his youngest to his hip and placed his other hand to his middle son’s shoulder, but moved no closer to the front of the crowd.
“First, just what is going on here?” Ben asked again.
“This hearing is to terminate your rights as their father,” declared Matilda Weatherby as she proudly stood, knowing that soon Joseph would be hers.
“WHAT?!” Ben replied loud enough that the glass chimneys in the overhead lanterns rattled in their bases.
“You heard Mrs. Weatherby. A petition was put forth before this court, requesting termination of your parental rights on the grounds of abandonment and two corresponding petitions were received, one from Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby to adopt Joseph Francis Cartwright, while Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery petitioned to adopt Eric Gunnar Cartwright.”
“How dare you?!” declared Ben staring at the two women who stood side by side.
“You abandoned those boys,” Agatha Montgomery called out.
“You selfishly left without a word to anyone. For over two months no one has known whether you were alive or dead. Not one word was heard from you!” Matilda Weatherby challenged.
“I beg the court’s pardon, but I am home, now. And home I intend to stay,” Ben said as he turned away from the two women, he refused to look at them any longer.
“For now, but what of the next time?” Matilda pressed.
“Your honor… It was not my intention to abandon my sons, I would never abandon them.”
“But you did!” Matilda vehemently spoke.
“Yes, I left, I went away… Surely the court can understand that an unbearable grief can force a man to do something that is totally out of his normal character. Your honor, prior to my leaving… I had recently suffered the death of my third wife.”
“Third? Are you a Mormon?” Judge Oscar Williams inquired.
“No, I am not a Mormon. I have been married and widowed on three separate occasions. Each time I remarried, it was several years after the death of my previous beloved wife. Each wife blessed me with a most precious gift, my three sons. I had been married to Marie the longest, for over six years. I witnessed her fall to her death when her horse fell. I learned the hard way that grief can consume a man. Twice before I was able to continue, to travel west, and to raise my two sons, but this time…”
“What was so different this time?” Judge Williams queried, there was something about this man that made him press for more information.
“Maybe, because Marie and I had been married for longer than either of my previous marriages… I guess I actually saw us growing old together. Also, before… I had no one else who I could rely on to take care of my boys in my absence, but this time… my oldest son… I knew that my oldest son, Adam, was of age and capable, that he would be able to care for his brothers.”
“So you abandoned your younger sons to the care of someone who is still a child himself?” Williams’ voice was accusatory.
“It’s neglect! That’s what it is!” decried Matilda Weatherby.
“I will have order in this court.” Judge Williams stared at his friend, beseeching the man to control his wife.
“I guess it has been such a long time since I have considered Adam a child, he’s been by my side through so much, that I see him as a man. I know what I did was wrong…” Looking to his two sons, Ben continued, “I stand before this court, no longer in absolute mourning over the death of my wife. I will still miss her laughter and presence, but my grief will no longer consume me. Marie will hold a special place in my heart, as do Inger and Elizabeth. But within my heart, I also hold guilt. I left the three most precious gifts my wives ever gave me, to make their own way through their grief and through life these past weeks. I guess, in a way, I did abandon my children, but had I been in my right mind, I never would have.”
The judge intently listened to the man’s heartfelt words, he watched emotions paint the man’s face, and could tell that his mourning was past.
“I have three sons, two of whom are here with me. I love all three of them dearly, but my grief clouded over what I have… I could only see what I had lost. I wasn’t myself when I left home, I had no idea where I was heading or what I was going to do… I just couldn’t stay.”
“Where have you been this whole time?” Williams asked as he looked at his calendar and counted, “It’s been over ten weeks since you… left.”
“Ten weeks since my wife’s death, eight weeks, three days and nine hours since I rode away from my home. While I was gone, I worked here and there, earning just enough money to live day to day… I would work for food and a place to stay… for myself and for my horse.”
“I’ve seen your ranch; surely you had money in the bank to withdraw,” Williams stated.
“In my grief, I had nothing, only loss,” Ben spoke, looking directly at the judge.
“Judge…” Matilda interrupted. “Surely this can’t change the fact that he abandoned these boys?”
“Mrs. Williams, before I take such a drastic measure as to tell these two boys that their father no longer has the right to call them his sons, I will listen to all pertinent information.”
“But Walter is your friend! You said we had a case…” Matilda sat down in a huff as her husband chastised her and pulled her to sit. She did not like the fact that they had been so close and now, she felt a keen sense of loss.
“Your honor, until my dying days, I will do everything in my power to make it up to these two,” Ben looked into the innocent eyes of Hoss and Little Joe, “and their brother. It wasn’t until I reached San Francisco and was ready to sign onto a ship…”
A few in the courtroom gasped.
“Yes, I was lost in my grief, but one night, in talking with an old time sailor about my life previous… I came to realize that I still had a reason to live. In fact, I have three reasons to live, and if they can forgive a foolish old man…”
“Ya ain’t old, Pa,” Hoss proclaimed with happy tears in his eyes as he looked up to his father.
“Yes, I am. As I was saying, if they can forgive me, then I plan to be their father, the father they each deserve for the rest of my life.”
“Mr. Cartwright, as a matter of your housekeeper… What would prevent him from chopping up your youngest son and feeding him to the pigs?”
More gasps came from the spectators, while Ben dared ask, “Joseph, what did you do?”
“It were an akydent. I dropped the basket and broke all the eggs.”
“Did you apologize?” Ben asked.
“Adam made me,” Joe cast his eyes downward.
“What happened next?” Ben inquired.
“I told Hop Sing I was sorry, and he said he wouldn’t chop me up.”
“What else?”
“He said that he loved me too much, but next time, my britches might be warmed. Pa, I don’t think he meant by the woodstove.”
Joe’s comments elicited giggles from those closest.
“Judge Williams, this is outrageous!” Matilda cried out while her husband tried to force her back to her seat.
Judge Williams ignored the latest outburst. “I have listened to the facts presented during this hearing… along with what I learned during the trial that was held yesterday… I have serious reservations about proceeding with my original assessment. I know what grief can do to a man… When a man returns of his own volition, I must also take that into consideration. Adam Cartwright is wise beyond his years and he truly was capable of taking care of his siblings; had there not be such extraordinary interference. As for the father standing before me, he has opened his heart to those present. Which I’m sure was not the easiest thing to do…”
“Actually, your Honor, saying what I said was quite easy. The hardest part,” Ben announced, “is yet to come. I still have to prove to my sons that I am, and will be, here for them. Words are easy… My actions will prove the truth of what I say.”
“The case of the People vs. Ben Cartwright is hereby dismissed, and the petitions for the adoptions of Eric Gunnar Cartwright and Joseph Francis Cartwright are hereby denied.”
Judge Williams hammered his gavel onto the countertop.
“Are ya really home Pa?” Joe eagerly asked, his hands explored his father’s bearded face.
Ben answered, “Yes Joe. I’m home.”
As the ‘courtroom’ reverted back into the saloon, Ben escorted his sons outside.
“Pa, I got me new boots,” Joe stated. “Hop Sing helped me pick them out this morning.”
“You needed new boots?” Ben asked.
“Yeah, Pa, he did. He kinda outgrew the others, that and he wasn’t able to wear his old ones after he sprained his ankle.”
“How did you sprain your ankle?” Ben looked to his youngest, who he still held in his arms.
“I was a special deputy, protecting Hop Sing, and tracking rustlers,” Joe innocently answered.
“Rustlers?” Ben asked, knowing his son held a vivid imagination.
“Ya weren’t supposed to be doing that,” Hoss offered. “Sheriff Coffee already told ya how wrong ya were.”
“Ben, why don’t you and the boys come to my home,” Paul offered.
“By the way, where’s Adam?” Ben answered with a question, curious why his eldest wasn’t present.
“Pa, Adam’s there,” Hoss quietly stated, holding tight to his Pa’s hand.
“Where?” Ben asked.
“He got shot because a me,” Joe answered, he lowered his eyes and rested his head to his pa’s shoulder.
“Paul? Roy?” Ben’s heart beat erratically within his chest. ‘What have I done?’
“This way, Ben,” Roy held out his arm, indicating for Ben to proceed to the doctor’s.
Charlie Yeagle and Bayou Brown watched the family head down the boardwalk before they turned to go to the livery, and back to the Ponderosa.
Chapter Sixteen
As the small group entered Paul Martin’s home, Ben again asked, “Where’s my son?”
“Ben, he’s upstairs sleeping. I had to give him a tonic to force him to sleep, so his body could heal,” answered Paul leading them into his parlor.
“Joe said he was shot.”
“He suffered a bullet would, here,” Paul indicated low on his own shoulder. “I performed surgery and he’s not suffered any adverse complications; however, he did lose a considerable amount of blood and I had to knock him out for the trip to town.”
“You couldn’t perform surgery at the Ponderosa?”
“He did Pa, I came ta town and got the doc and the sheriff, they followed me home,” Hoss explained as he sat in one of the chairs within the room.
“Ben, there’s been a lot going on while you were away. We’ve experience a rash of rustling and three of the rustlers turned out to be Ponderosa hands. We tried two of them yesterday, for rustling and shooting Adam,” Roy explained. “We had to bring Adam to town so’s he could testify, it weren’t easy on the boy, barely three days after his surgery.”
“I’d like to see my son,” Ben stated setting Joe down on the settee.
“Ben, as I said earlier, he’s asleep. Why don’t you leave the boys here, go down to the barbershop, have a bath, shave, and a haircut, and once you’re back, I’ll see about waking Adam,” Paul offered.
“Pa, don’t leave me,” Joe cried, his thumb slipping back to his mouth.
“I can stay here with Adam and Hop Sing,” Hoss declared. “Pa, why don’t you take Little Joe with ya.”
*****
An hour after leaving, Ben re-entered the doctor’s home with his youngest son on his hip. He hurriedly set the child down on one of the chairs in the parlor as he heard his oldest son yelling. The worried father took the stairs two at a time and followed the voices to the right room.
He entered to see Adam struggling with Paul Martin, while it sounded as if Paul was trying to wake him. Forcing the physician out of the way, Ben sat on the bed in order to wake his son and offer him comfort.
“Adam!” Ben gently called. “Wake up, come on son… Wake up.”
Ben slapped his son’s face, moving the boy closer to consciousness.
“Come on son, you’re just having a dream,” Ben continued to encourage his son to wake.
Adam’s eyes opened and as he recognized the man in front of him, he reached forward to embrace the man.
“Pa,” Adam heavily breathed as his father pulled him into a fierce hug.
“When can I take my boys home?” Ben asked.
“Tomorrow,” Paul answered.
“Pa? Is it really you?” Adam asked.
“Yes son, I’m home.”
“I’m sorry, Pa…” Adam held tight to his father.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for, son…” Ben crooned, relishing the fact he was soon to be home with his boys.
As Adam’s grip on his father lessened, Ben allowed him to sit back and sink into the thick pillows. Ben pushed his son’s long bangs back from his face. He looked intently into his son’s eyes and tried to determine what he saw.
“Where are Joe and Hoss?” Adam asked, attempting to control his emotions.
“I left Joe downstairs with Hoss,” Ben answered. “How are you son?”
“I’m fine… At least I will be… now that you’re home.”
“We’re going home tomorrow. Right Paul?” Ben asked the question without looking away from his son.
*****
Ben ate supper with his boys before tucking Hoss and Joe into their bed. Next, he entered the room of his eldest. He grew concerned at what his sons had suffered during his absence; he needed to know the truth.
“Ben, he’s asleep and will be until the morning. We need to talk,” Paul stated as he peeked into the room and saw his friend watching his son.
Paul escorted Ben into his parlor, where they joined Roy Coffee.
“Well… let me have it,” Ben declared as he walked to stand in front of the fireplace, he turned to face his friends.
“Them boys missed ya,” Roy stated.
“I know that… Tell me what I don’t know.”
“The Ponderosa’s had problems. First Hinshaw refused Adam access to your bank account,” Paul answered.
“How much in arrears am I?” Ben defensively crossed his arms. “How many men did I lose because they weren’t paid?”
“You are not in arrears and you didn’t lose any men, other than those three… The first month Adam used his college money to pay for everything while Hiram worked with the bank to remedy the situation.”
“Then there were the rustlers,” Roy offered. “They struck quiet at first, a few on the Ponderosa and then they grew bolder… striking other ranches. They kind of took advantage of the situation… It coulda been a whole lot worse had you not insisted your men keep proper count and Adam maintained that while in charge.” Roy wanted to avoid any accusation by saying while Ben was gone. “Once Charlie and Adam thought something was up, he shortened the interval between the counts, that’s when he realized the Ponderosa was really losing cattle; he came to town, talked to me, and I notified the Cattlemen’s Association.”
“What else?” Ben asked as he finally sat down. “Was Hiram able to work with Hinshaw at the bank? What about the bid for the Sun Mountain contract?” Looking down, Ben admitted, “I totally forgot all about it coming for renewal.”
“The situation with the bank was sort of resolved; at least Adam didn’t have to use his college money for the ranch. As for the logging contract, Adam did his best, from what Hiram stated. It’s just a shame that Will Poavey used your absence against the boy. Adam felt horrible that he’d lost the account for you. Hiram tried to tell him that he would have won it, had you been here,” answered Roy.
“Strike two against me…” Ben stated as he laced his fingers together, resting his forearms on his knees. “How did Adam get shot?”
Paul and Roy took turns explaining the events, the trial and the conviction of the two men, and the arrest of the third once his part had been exposed. Gus Gibraltar confessed his part and had been sentenced as well. All three were seen off to the Nevada Territorial Prison earlier in the day.
“Strike three… Left my sons alone to face all this…” grieved Ben. “How is Adam, honestly?”
“He’s struggling, even more so since I brought them to town so he and Joe could testify… I imagine he feels he’s let you down, that he let his brothers down… What you saw earlier…”
Ben nodded.
“It wasn’t the first nightmare he’s experienced; happens most every time he’s asleep. He keeps seeing those men roughing up Little Joe and then reliving being shot,” Paul informed the father.
“Hopefully with you being home, Ben, it will alleviate a lot of the stress and allow him to sleep and to heal,” Roy offered.
“What about Joe and Hoss?”
“They survived; Joe transferred a lot of his needs to Adam, and eventually to Hop Sing. Joe was so scared about being left alone, there in the beginning Adam would take him out with him. Once we figured there were rustlers, I knew it were too dangerous, so I concocted a plan to keep Joe at home.”
“Joe being a special deputy?” Ben asked. “He told me all about it while I was bathing and getting a shave and a haircut.”
The lawman nodded, “However, he was only supposed to protect Hop Sing, not go looking for rustlers.”
“Mr. Cartwright, glad you home,” Hop Sing offered as he brought in a tray bearing coffee.
“Thank you for watching over my sons,” Ben greeted.
“Sons need father. Sons be better now father home.”
Ben rested back into the chair in which he sat; he had such grand images of his return home. None of his dreams were anywhere close to reality. He thought on what Matilda has said, ‘selfishly, yes, I selfishly left my boys home, alone. And they suffered because I wasn’t here.’
Roy’s bid goodnight to his two friends was unheard by one.
“Not the homecoming he expected, is it?” Roy asked as Paul walked with him to the front door.
“No… But he is home, and that my friend, is all that really matters.”
*****
Paul returned to his parlor and sat across from Ben.
“Tell me truthfully, Paul. Tell me about these nightmares of Adam’s.”
“He took a lot on his shoulders… and not all of it good. I see it in his eyes… He’s scared…”
“Scared? Adam?” Ben scoffed at the idea.
“Ben, he’s a seventeen year old boy who took on running something that he has only had a part-time hand in helping. He took on everything and tried his best…”
“That’s all I’ve ever asked of my sons, to do their best,” Ben’s tone brokered on the edge of anger.
“But the way he’s seeing it, his best wasn’t good enough. He couldn’t keep the rustlers away… He couldn’t secure the Sun Mountain contract for you. He couldn’t keep his brother safe and in the process, he was shot. And last of all, two damn, busy-body women tried to take his brothers away from him. How should he feel?”
“I don’t know…” Ben admitted.
“As Roy said, let’s hope that your return will be the balm that boy needs in order to recover.”
Ben nodded and returned to staring into the fireplace.
*****
As Ben halted the wagon in the front yard, many of the hands were there waiting, Charlie Yeagle and Bayou Brown were in the forefront.
“Hi Mr. Charlie! Bayou!” Joe greeted as Ben restrained him from climbing over Hop Sing to get down. “Look, Pa’s home!”
“Welcome home, Hop Sing, Mr. Cartwright,” Bayou greeted as he approached and offered a hand to steady Hop Sing as he climbed down.
Hoss jumped down from the back, grabbing the overnight bags out of the way so that the hands could lift the sleeping Adam from the back and carry him to his room.
“I see that, young’en,” Charlie answered as he raised his arms up to help Joe down from the wagon seat. Joe eagerly flew into the foreman’s arms.
“Ben,” Charlie said, acknowledging his boss as he rested the boy on his hip and asked the child, “How’s the ankle?”
“Doc said I could start walking on it once I got home,” Joe answered.
“But not yet,” Charlie grinned as Joe gripped him harder as Charlie leaned forward to set the boy down.
Joe shook his head sideways to indicate, no.
*****
After seeing his sons settled in the house, Ben set out to find two of his ranch hands; thankful to find both of them sitting on bales of hay in the back barn. Charlie was working on rebraiding a rope cinch, while Bayou was working on punching holes in a leather strap used to tighten a cinch.
“I’d like to thank you two for sticking with Adam while I was… gone.”
“The boy needed someone,” Charlie stated, knowing he was deliberately adding to the man’s guilt.
“Adam did you proud, Mr. Cartwright,” Bayou spoke in his southern drawl. “He gave it everything he had.”
“There’ll be a bonus in this month’s pay, for both of you. Roy and Paul told me how much you helped…”
“We didn’t do it for no bonus,” Charlie replied, staring his boss straight in the eye as he set aside the cinch.
“I know… And if truth be told, you didn’t do it for me either,” Ben acknowledged.
“No sir, we did it for Adam. He more than proved himself to the rest of the hands,” Charlie answered.
“What about proving himself to you?” Ben looked to Charlie and then to Bayou.
“Mr. Cartwright, he didn’t have to prove himself to us… We already knew he could do it. Damn shame three of our own turned out to be rustlers, and he ended up getting shot,” Bayou answered.
“Still, I want to let the two of you know how much it means to me… That you were here for my boys.”
“Now that you’re home…” Charlie started to say as he stood up, and took a few steps towards Ben.
“Go on.”
“I know you were under a lot of grief… So I understand why ya left. You just make sure you keep your word to them boys, prove to them you’re the father they deserve and you’re here to stay. Next time, I might not be so charitable when you return. I wanted to knock your block off yesterday when you came into the saloon and demanded to know what was going on. I would say worse, but you make sure you never get me that riled again.” Charlie poked Ben in the chest with his forefinger.
“I meant what I said yesterday,” Ben answered.
“And I meant what I just said.”
“Then I think we’re both in agreement that this will never happen, again.” Ben held out his hand to prove there were no hard feelings between employer and, hopefully, his employee.
“Welcome back, Boss,” Charlie smiled as he shook Ben’s hand.
*****
It had been a turbulent three weeks since Ben’s return, and all hopes that Adam’s nightmares would subside with his father’s return we just that, hopes. If the household was lucky, Adam only woke them once a night with his fears breaking through his dreams. Several nights saw Ben entering his eldest’s room twice.
*****
Paul sat on the porch and watched as Hoss and Adam walked the pony around the corral with his young master sitting tall in the saddle.
“It’s good to see him finally having light in his eyes,” Paul stated as Adam laughed at something one of his brothers did or said.
“It’s only when he’s like this, with his brothers, that his smile reaches his eyes.”
“How have things been since I removed his stitches?” Paul asked.
“No better. Nightmares every night, sometimes twice,” answered Ben, sipping from his cup of coffee.
“I thought so… I can see it in his face, even though he tries to hide it.”
“Me too. That and I know he’s losing weight, even before I caught Hop Sing taking in his trousers… What can I do?”
“I think he needs time away from here,” Paul suggested.
“What?!” Ben startled in surprise.
Paul Martin wasn’t a fool, he knew this discussion needed to be held and he was well prepared with his arguments. “Ben, send him to Abel. Let him meet his grandfather. Get him away from the constant reminders of what happened. Petition Harvard to allow Adam entrance after the holidays; for the spring semester. While he’s meeting his grandfather and learning of his mother, hire a tutor to ensure he’s kept ready for admission, that he’s current with his contemporaries.”
“I won’t make him feel guiltier for what happened. I’m not ashamed of him.” Ben answered, his eyes drifting to his sons. “I won’t send him away.”
“Why not? You were ready to let him go before Marie’s death. Maybe that’s the way you should look at it. You’re not sending him away; you’re letting him go…to fulfill his dream of furthering his education.”
Chapter Seventeen
Joe sat listening to the doctor’s explanation of the events from his family’s past; his hazy childhood memories came into sharper focus. Joe queried, “Do you think he’s here to stay?”
“I don’t know. The time away was what he needed in order to heal from the ordeals he suffered, physically as well as emotionally. There were a number of people who cared about your brother and helped him get past this tragedy, and kept your father and I appraised of his progress in putting all the nightmares to rest. It was because of them and his grandfather that Adam was successful during the five years he spent at Harvard, earning a Master’s Degree in Engineering. Your father read his letters home to you and Hoss?”
Joe nodded.
“I know how upset your father was when Adam wrote of his plans not to return to the Ponderosa; he’d been offered a very lucrative position with an engineering firm in Boston. He wrote me once to help explain, in case your father put up a strong argument against his staying… His letter to me also explained how this particular firm also focused on architecture. But, your father put away his own hurt because of what he’d done after your mother’s death and all that Adam had taken upon himself during those months. To Ben, if this was the life your brother wanted to live, your father knew he couldn’t ask Adam to come home. Regardless of the reason, I think you and your family should be pleased that he’s finally coming for a visit.”
“How’s Pa gonna take the news that Adam’s coming home?”
“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.”
Joe’s eyes reverted to the paper in his hand. “He’s arriving here in a little while… From this,” Joe flipped the telegram, “he’s probably expecting Pa to meet him, not me.”
“Why can’t you meet him?” Paul encouraged.
“What if I make him upset… I mean, what’ll we have to talk about? It’s a long way home… What if he hates me for what happened?” Joe’s face clearly reflected his struggling emotions.
“I doubt he could hate you.”
“But it was because of me he was shot, and because of me he had to leave… I kept hearing him cry out my name, screaming no…”
“It wasn’t because of anything you did; his mind was trapped in the memory of seeing those men roughing you up. He was scared that they were going to hurt his baby brother.”
“But…every time he saw me, he was reminded…”
“Joe, your brother was only two years older than you are now, when all of this happened. Do you think that you could handle running the Ponderosa, dealing with men who didn’t care to take orders from a youngster, not winning a contract that was important to your father, dealing with rustlers, seeing your younger brother threatened, and then being shot when confronting those men? And to top it all, learning of the petition to terminate your father’s parental rights and adopting you and Hoss out to, for all intent and purposes, strangers. How do you think you’d handle all of that, so soon after losing your second step-mother?”
“No too good…”
Joe was torn. Adam, his brother, was expecting someone from the family to meet him. “Can you come with me?” Joe begged. “I mean, if he was in such a bad way when he left, and if seeing me makes him upset… Pa’s always telling me how much I look like Momma, I don’t want to upset him.”
“I’d be happy to point him out to you, Joe. And re-introduce him to you.”
“Doc, I don’t want him to know who I am…”
“Joe,” Paul sounded scolding. “He’s your brother.”
“At least not yet… Please… When we get home, I’ll tell him. I want to make sure he doesn’t hate me first. If he knew who I was he might get all upset again, or he’d be asking me all sorts of questions and I might not have the right answers or say something wrong… and he might decide to leave again. Please, Doc?” Joe pleaded.
“Okay, then who are you? If I tell him your name is Joe, he’s bound to put it together with your eyes and how much you look like your mother.”
“Why not call me Frank… Frank Wright…” Joe offered.
“Okay Frank,” Paul agreed, shaking his head from side to side, knowing he was probably going to regret it. But he was one of many people who had a hard time saying no to the boy with the expressive green eyes and irresistible smile.
“Guess I should go see about renting a buggy from the livery to get Adam home.”
“Rent a surrey, he’ll probably have luggage, not an overnight bag.”
*****
Paul Martin and Joseph Cartwright stood on the boardwalk that ran in front of the stage depot. Joe nervously fidgeted with his hat as the stage rounded the bend and made its way towards them.
“Everything will be fine, Joe,” Paul encouraged and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
Both watched as two men disembarked, with Paul shaking his head no as each man looked up from stepping down. A third man stepped from the coach, turned and offered a hand back inside, escorting a young woman and child from within. Paul nodded, indicating this man was indeed his brother.
Paul wished to be a fly on the wall when Ben found out that Adam was married and had a young daughter. He was sure that if Adam had written of such, Ben would have told him. Paul exhaled in relief when Adam pointed down the street, then tipped his hat, and said, “It was a pleasure traveling with you.” The woman took the child’s hand and walked towards the International House; half way there the child pulled from her mother’s hand and yelled, “Daddy” to a man who was kneeling with his arms outstretched.
Joe stared at the dark haired man who reached up to accept two valises from the driver. Joe jumped as Slim, from the stage company, and another worker settled a large trunk from the boot of the stage to the wooden walk next to where he and the doctor stood.
“Adam?” Paul Martin beckoned after watching Adam settle his waistcoat.
“Doctor Martin, it’s good to see you again,” smiled Adam as he turned and extended his hand in greeting. He looked around, “I was hoping Pa would be here to greet me…” Paul heard the disappointment in the man’s voice.
“Adam, please, call me Paul. As for Ben… Unfortunately, there was a slight mix up caused by Clive’s son… the telegrapher…” Paul explained. “Ben didn’t receive your message; however,” turning to Joe, Paul motioned for him to step forward, “one of the hands from the Ponderosa was in town. Adam Cartwright, I’d like you to meet… Frank Wright. I’m sure he’ll see you safely home.”
“I had planned to stay at the International House,” Adam replied and looked to the boy standing closely beside the physician.
“Adam, I think your father would be extremely upset if you stayed in town. Besides, Frank here has already gone through the effort of securing the surrey from the livery and putting his own horse up for the night.”
“He’s a little young to be working for my father, isn’t he?”
Joe hid his bristling at the comment, well.
“Don’t worry about that. His brother is one of your father’s most trusted men… they make a good team.”
“If you say so,” Adam eyed the boy once more.
Paul tipped his hat goodbye, but before proceeding back to his office, he said, “Adam, feel free to stop by my office the next time you find yourself in town. I would enjoy talking over a cup of coffee or maybe even lunch.”
“Thank you Paul, might be sooner than you think.”
“Go home, Adam,” Paul teased and bid goodbye. “Frank, take good care of Mr. Cartwright’s eldest…”
“Frank, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Adam stated, unknowingly addressing his brother.
“Mr. Cartwright,” Frank answered as he reached for the valises and set them on the front seat of the surrey. “I hope you have everything you’ll need for the night in these. I don’t think we have room for that trunk. I can come back in the morning with the buckboard to pick it up and get my horse at the same time.”
“I have everything I need for the next couple of days in these. But I can come back to town in the morning, I’m sure you have school to attend,” Adam answered, unbelieving that his father would honestly employ a child as young as Frank.
“No Mr. Cartwright,” Frank answered.
“You don’t go to school?”
“No sir, I mean yes sir, I do go to school, it’s just that… well, tomorrow is only a half day, so since I already have to come to town, no sense you making a special trip.”
“Okay,” Adam answered as he stepped to the second seat of the surrey and sat down.
Joe sat uncomfortably straight as he guided the two-horse team down the main street of Virginia City and out the Virginia City Road towards the Ponderosa.
Knowing how long the trip would take to reach the main house of the Ponderosa, Adam decided to engage Frank in conversation.
“Frank, how long have you worked for my father?” Adam asked.
“I don’t exactly work for Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Cartwright,” Frank answered, trying not to address his father a Pa, and to make it appear that he was respectful of the man’s family.
“You live there with your brother? Doctor Martin informed me that your brother was one of my father’s top hands.”
“Yes sir,” Frank replied, but kept the, ‘you can say that,’ to himself.
“How long have you lived on the Ponderosa?”
“All my life…” Frank mumbled.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear your answer,” Adam spoke a little louder.
“To me it feels like all my life. Don’t remember calling any other place home.”
“I take it you go to school during the week and help out on the weekends?”
“I’ve got chores to do in the morning and after school, but I work out on the range on weekends.”
“I imagine my father teams you up with my youngest brother? Joseph?”
Frank mouthed, Joseph, but verbalized, “A lot of the times he sends me out with uh… Mr. Hoss.”
“What about Joe? I imagine he’s about your age, maybe a few years older.”
“I’m almost sixteen,” Frank answered defensively.
Adam apologized for not realizing Frank’s age; he commented that the young man appeared younger. He continued, “It would make sense to me that my father would team the two of you together. But then again,” mused Adam.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Frank asked, his tone conveyed attitude.
“Nothing, just from what my father wrote when I was going to school… Joe could be a little precocious one minute and a green-eyed terror the next. But then, it has been quite a while since I’ve been able to properly correspond with my father. Pa probably has you working with Hoss or your brother to make sure you learn ranch management properly. I can imagine how much work would get done with Joe in charge.” Adam smiled at the thought.
“Joe knows about the ranch! He works hard, probably knows more than you do!” Frank defended himself to his brother.
“I didn’t mean to offend your obvious friendship with my brother. But from what my father’s previously written, my youngest brother can be a handful at times; what with all the trouble he created when he was younger. I guess I do need to realize that Joe has grown up while I’ve been away. Anyway, I was only attempting to make conversation,” Adam indirectly apologized.
“Apology accepted,” Frank muttered, sitting rigid in his seat, slapping the reins to the horses’ haunches, asking them to move out at a faster trot.
‘Touchy,’ mused Adam, ‘it appears that my youngest brother’s friends are quite sensitive to what is said about him.”
*****
The surrey pulled around the corner of the barn, stopping in front of the main house.
“I’ll take care of the horse and bring your bags inside,” Frank offered.
“Not necessary, but thank you,” Adam answered, stepping from the surrey.
“You’re welcome, sir,” Frank replied as handed the valises to Adam, then turned and drove the surrey to the side of the barn, where he could unhitch the team before taking care of them for the night.
“Precocious he called me,” mumbled Joe as he led the two horses into the corral and turned them loose once he’d removed their harnesses. “Just who does he think he is? Talking about me like that. Hell, he doesn’t even know me. I’ve busted my butt to prove to Pa and to Hoss that I’m worth the name Cartwright… that I’ll be as valuable a member of this ranch as Hoss is. Precocious my ass.”
*****
Taking a deep breath, Adam entered the home from which he had been long absent. Inside the smells were just as he remembered; a mixture of Hop Sing’s cooking and his father’s pipe tobacco. He looked over the great room and noticed very little had changed in the ten years he had been away. The leather chair his father always sat in, the chairs surrounding the gaming table, and then there was the blue velvet chair that Marie had purchased shortly after her arrival. He wondered about the striped settee, but put those thoughts aside.
“Who there?” Hop Sing asked as he walked through the dining area and saw the back of a man standing in the middle of the room. The Oriental’s eyes opened wide as the man turned around. “Mr. Adam, honorable fatha not say you come home today.” The man reverently bowed to the son who stood before him.
“Hop Sing, it is good to see you again. Paul Martin met me at the stage and said there had been some kind of a mix-up involving the telegrapher’s son. But one of the hands was in town and he drove me home.”
“Mr. Adam’s room wait his return. You come, I air out room while you put clothes away.”
Hop Sing hurriedly led the way upstairs, opening the door to Adam’s room and pulled down the bed sheets. After opening the window to help air out the apparent staleness of being closed up for so long, Hop Sing turned and watched Adam move around his room, looking at the items he had left so long ago. Adam noticed that even though the room was stale in smell, not a speck of dust appeared on any of the surfaces.
“I presume Pa and Hoss are working?” Adam inquired.
“Yes, sun up, sun down.”
“And Joe? I presume he’s somewhere hopefully doing chores?”
“He best come home soon, before fatha finds out he not come straight home afta school.”
“A little side trip to go fishing with one of his friends, I bet.”
“Lit’le Joe work hard, prove fatha he smart enough and old enough to leave school,” defended Hop Sing.
“I didn’t mean to offend,” voiced Adam, concerned that twice now he had offended people who were close to his youngest brother.
“Mr. Adam remember young boy, boy before go east to school. Boy fatha write about in letters. Brotha good boy, you see.”
“I guess it will take a while to erase the images I have of Joe as being a terror on legs as a five year old,” answered Adam.
“Come downstairs when ready, I have coffee for you,” Hop Sing bowed slightly before turning to leave the room
*****
“Now Pa,” Hoss stated while pushing open the door and allowing his father to enter first. “Don’t go gettin’ upset at the boy. His teacher mighta kept him after school.”
Both men were dirty and tired, having spent the better part of four days working to clear the site for their newest lumber mill.
“I don’t care. That teacher knows how far he has to travel to come home and he has no business keeping the boy so late, it’s getting dark out.”
Both stopped their conversation and turned at hearing Hop Sing ‘shhhh’ them. Their eyes followed the housekeeper’s hand as he pointed to the man dozing in the blue velvet chair to the far side of the hearth.
“Mr. Adam tired after long journey,” Hop Sing whispered.
“Adam?” Ben’s voice went silent as his heart pounded within his chest. “It’s not a dream…”
The figure sleeping in the blue chair was the image of the young man who had left home so many years before, but where before youth still showed in his face and his build… Ben now saw a man fully grown.
“Cain’t be a dream, Pa, because I see ‘em too,” Hoss whispered.
Father and son walked across the floor, attempting to be quiet.
Adam roused, sensing a change in the atmosphere within the room. He groggily woke before bolting wide awake, seeing his father and middle brother standing gape-mouthed in front of him.
The three shared individual hugs before they parted to take a seat on the various pieces of furniture in the great room.
Adam was surprised that his middle brother towered several inches taller than him, and had put on considerable weight. He didn’t know what else to expect, Hoss had just turned twelve years old right before he left to head east. A child-like gentleness still shown in his eyes. His father’s hair was almost completely grey, and age was beginning to hint on his face. He wondered how much of that had been because of him. Both oozed exuberance at seeing their long-lost family member.
The silence was deafening, where to begin after so long? How to begin? The men wished Hop Sing to announce supper was ready, but when he didn’t, Ben spoke, “I’m sorry, we weren’t in town to meet you. We didn’t know you were arriving today. How was your trip?”
“Long and tiring.” Adam moved about in an effort to stretch the muscles that had cramped during his earlier confinement in the stage coach. “Paul Martin met me and explained the mix-up at the telegraph office. However, a brother of one of your hands was in town, he rented a surrey and brought me home.” Seeing the expression on the faces of his father and brother, he continued, “Sorry… I didn’t mean to get the boy in trouble for being in town when he shouldn’t have been there.”
Hoss offered. “I wouldn’t call Leon or Clem boys, wonder what they ran out of? They were supposed to be branding cattle today.”
“I’m not sure who Leon or Clem are, but I can’t imagine you’d let a boy as young as Frank work at the pits, even if his brother was there,” Adam stated.
“Who’re ya talkin’ about Adam?” a perplexed Hoss asked.
“Frank Wright, his brother is the foreman.”
“Charlie doesn’t have a brother who works here Adam,” offered Hoss as he looked to his father in confusion. Facing Adam he said, “You remember Charlie Yeagle don’tcha?”
“Charlie’s still the foreman?” queried Adam, happy to know that he knew one of the hands.
“Yep. I know all the men who work here and we don’t have any Frank Wright or anyone with the last name of Wright working for us.”
“Paul was there and introduced us, said the boy’s name was Frank Wright and that…” Sitting forward, Adam hesitated. Memories flashed through his mind; Marie laughing and holding a young child in her arms, his green eyes bright and happy, dark haired with curls.
“What is it, son?” Ben asked as he sat forward, concern etched his face as he looked to Hoss who sat on the low table.
“Paul stated the boy’s brother was one of your most trusted men…” Adam sat back into his seat; a smile graced his lips as the pieces fit into place. Knowing that Frank could only be his youngest brother, Adam described him with mirth on his face as he shook his head casually from side to side. “Dark curly hair, a bit over his ears and closer to his shirt collar than you ever allowed me to wear my hair. Green eyes that change with his emotions. Looks a lot younger than his actual age, which will be sixteen years this Halloween.” Adam laughed out loud. “He became quite upset earlier when I repeated that you had once written that one moment Little Joe could be precocious and the next moment, a green-eyed terror.”
“Ya mean this Frank Wright is Joe?” Hoss asked and when Adam nodded they both began to belly laugh.
“Hop Sing?” Ben shouted.
“Mr. Cartwright, suppa not ready yet. Why you yell?”
“Have you seen Little Joe?” Ben asked.
“Boy come home after Adam arrive, go up backstairs to room. Say he have plenty homework to do, take sandwich up with him. Mr. Adam sleep in chair, I no tell him younger brotha home.”
“Thank you Hop Sing,” Ben answered.
The Oriental man returned to his kitchen to put the finishing touches on supper.
“At least that explains why Cochise wasn’t in the barn. He musta left him at the livery when he rented the surrey.” Hoss replied. “Lucky for him, eh Pa?”
“Maybe,” Ben replied. No exactly sure his son working on his homework would be a good enough reprieve after the events of the afternoon were revealed.
“I don’t understand Pa, if Frank Wright is really Joe… why the subterfuge?” asked Adam.
“Subter-what?” queried Hoss.
“Subterfuge… Deception… Posing as someone else. Why wouldn’t he come right out and greet me?” Adam asked.
Ben looked up towards the ceiling, hoping that he could see a vision of his youngest in his bedroom. How had the boy taken the news of his long absent brother’s return? Why had Paul lied about Joe’s name?
“Adam, Hoss, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to talk with Joe.”
The brothers watched their father make his way upstairs and heard his knocks on the bedroom door. Once the door opened and closed, there was nothing more to hear.
“So… are you going to tell me why Joe lied about his name?” asked Adam, knowing that Hoss couldn’t keep a straight face and lie.
“I’m not sure,” Hoss answered. “He don’t always confide in me that much of his feelings, now if it has to do with him not continuing his education or has something to do out on the range that he don’t understand or he has an idea on how to do it better… watch out, Tornado Joe will keep after ya.”
A few minutes later, Ben returned carrying an empty plate, “He’s sound asleep.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Hey Pa!” Hoss called out as he tromped down the staircase. “Ya seen Joe this morning?”
“Not yet. I’m surprised he’s not already down here. Today’s his final day at school.” Ben answered.
“I’ll go wake him,” Hoss answered as he turned around on the mid landing.
Adam and Ben continued to enjoy their morning coffee until the rest of the family arrived at the table for breakfast.
“Pa, he ain’t in his bed,” Hoss announced as he walked across the great room floor. Pointing to the doorway, “His hat ain’t with ours either.”
Ben pushed back his chair and stood, surprised he hadn’t noticed his son’s hat not with the others, but there was Adam’s hat where Joe’s normally hung.
“Maybe he’s just in the barn getting the team to the surrey ready before he goes to school,” Adam suggested. “He did say he was planning to return the team and to get his horse… and my trunk.”
Ben and Hoss looked at each other and felt that scenario was plausible, but very doubtful. Each slightly jumped at the knock on the front door. Hoss shrugged his shoulders and went to answer.
“Mornin’ Charlie,” Hoss greeted the long-time ranch foreman.
“Morning, Hoss. I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but it appears that one of the horses is missing…”
“Oh, if you’re looking for Cochise, Joe left him in town yesterday when he met up with… Hey Charlie, you’re not gonna guess who come home yesterday!”
Hoss grabbed the foreman’s upper arm and pulled him towards the dining room table.
“Good Morning, Charlie. It’s good to see you,” Adam stood and greeted the man, extending his hand.
“Well I’ll be. Welcome home, Mr. Adam.”
“Just Adam, Charlie.”
“Sorry… But Hoss, I knew Cochise wasn’t in the barn last night and saw the matched set of surrey horses from the livery, so I figured you had company. Na, I’m talking about that chestnut gelding.”
“The one with the blaze and four white socks? The one that Joe’s been working on settling?”
“That’s the one.”
“Charlie, check with the men, see if any of them have seen Joe or someone riding that horse. Joe’s not in the house this morning and didn’t tell anyone he was leaving,” Ben stated.
“He tell me,” Hop Sing stated as he came around the corner from the dining room and overheard the conversation.
“He what?” Ben asked.
“Lit’le Joe wake early, come tell me he leave.”
“Leave? Leave ta go where?” Hoss asked.
“Just leave…say he have something to do,” Hop Sing answered before returning to his kitchen.
Ben turned to their foreman, “It’s too early for him to leave for school. Charlie, go and ask the men if they’ve seen Joe and if so, what direction he was heading.”
“I’ll go saddle up, Pa,” Hoss announced.
“Hoss, saddle a horse for me too,” Adam stated.
Hoss looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Who knew how long it would take to find their little brother and it had been some time since Adam had been in the saddle, he was just asking to be uncomfortable.
“Hoss, he’s my brother too. Even if he thinks otherwise.”
“If you’re going… Hoss saddle Buck for Adam to ride,” ordered Ben.
*****
The brothers had been searching for over two hours without any luck, based on information from a few of the ranch hands who thought they had seen Joe. They were stopped under a large oak tree, resting their horses and offering their mounts water from their canteens.
“Well, what else do you suggest?” Adam asked. “Where might Joe have gone to be on his own? Does he have any favorite hiding places?”
“There’s a couple of places that he don’t know that I know about…” Hoss answered.
“Tell you what… let’s split up.”
“Adam, I don’t think that’s such a good idea… Ya ain’t been home…”
“Hoss, you forget, I used to live here and helped Pa when the Ponderosa was just starting.”
“Oh, alright.”
The brothers split up after agreeing to meet back where they were, on the bluff overlooking where the road to the Ponderosa split from the road to Virginia City by early afternoon.
*****
“Nothing?” Hoss inquired as he rode up to where Adam waited.
Adam shook his head and knew from the fact that Hoss was alone that he had no better luck.
“Where to now?” Adam asked.
“Home. Maybe he returned home on his own.”
The brothers turned their horses to the direction of the ranch house and signaled their horses to walk on, cutting cross country on their way. Both were torn between racing their horses in hopes that Joe was home versus prolonging their trip because Joe might not have returned.
*****
Adam held out his arm, signaling his brother to halt.
“What’s wrong,” Hoss asked.
Adam pointed to something well off in the distance.
“I can’t believe neither of us thought of it,” Adam answered.
“What?”
“Charlie said a chestnut, with four socks and a blaze? And if I’m not mistaken, there’s a pinto next to it. If I remember, Pa wrote that he had finally traded Winnemuca for a black and white pinto for Joe.”
“Well I’ll be…” Hoss said after squinting harder in the direction Adam had pointed. “Dang his ornery hide!”
*****
The brothers entered the clearing to see Joe sitting with his back against the tombstone marking his mother’s grave.
“Dadgummit, Joe! You been here all this time!” Hoss shouted as he stepped down from Chubbs. “I’m gonna pound you, but good.”
“Hoss, hold on there,” Adam warned as he stepped from Buck and stopped Hoss from advancing on their brother. Knowing that the big man wasn’t going to go any farther, Adam turned to face Joe, who was now standing. “Joe.”
“Uh… Hi Adam. Guess you know who I am,” Joe answered, shoving his hands into his front pockets until they were stopped by his thumbs; he shifted nervously from one foot to the other.
“Yes, I know who you really are, Frank,” Adam smiled.
“Sorry about that, but I … uh… I… uh…” Joe looked from one brother to the other, and then down to his feet.
Hoss interrupted, the anger and worry still evident, “Never mind that, where ya been? You been here all this time?”
“Shucks no! I came here early this morning to talk to Momma, and then had to get to school. Oh, and I told Morton at the livery we’d return the surrey later. I also paid him for the extra time. And I got Cochise.”
“Seems to me you’ve grown up a lot while I’ve been gone,” Adam stated.
“If ya been here before school, why’re ya back?” Hoss asked, ignoring Adam’s comment. “Don’t ya think Pa’s worried about ya?”
“I wanted to talk to Momma a little bit more. I wanted to know if she thought Adam blamed me…”
“Blamed you?” Adam asked, ignoring his other brother’s tirade.
“Yeah… for you know… what happened, you getting shot and sent away…”
“That’s why you had Doc Martin introduce you as Frank Wright?” Hoss asked.
“Well… yeah. Doc helped me remember what happened after Momma died, I didn’t want to upset Adam and have him leave again because of me. Pa missed him something fierce.”
“Joe, you said, ‘sent away’ and that you didn’t want me to ‘leave again’ because of you,” Adam stated.
Looking to his feet as he shuffled from one to the other, Joe answered, “Yeah.”
“Joe, I wasn’t sent away, well, in a way I was. Please look at me Joe.” When his brother’s eyes met his own, Adam continued. “I went way, but it was for my own good, not for anything you did or think you might have done. I couldn’t handle everything that happened… emotionally, I was a wreck. Pa and Doctor Martin thought it would be good for me to go meet my grandfather. Being on the Ponderosa was just too much of a reminder of my failures. It was always my intention to enroll in Harvard; I was notified of my acceptance a few weeks before your mother’s death. I always wanted to further my education.”
“Yeah, Doc Martin told me about you graduating and your degrees, he didn’t want me to think you were a slouch when it came to schooling,” Joe grinned.
“As for what happened after I graduated, I accepted a lucrative position with an engineering company and by that time, I had fallen in love with Boston. And my grandfather was there.”
“Doc Martin told me about that too. Can I ask you if you are home to stay?” Joe asked in answer to his brother’s statement, looking at his oldest brother with a hopeful expression.
“Would you like for me to stay?” Adam asked.
“Sure, I mean the Ponderosa is your home too. You are a Cartwright.”
“And how do you feel about having me here?” Adam asked as he casually walked closer to Joe.
“What’s one more person to boss me around, but at least I’m not a tinhorn like you!” Joe cackled, slapping his oldest brother in the stomach with the back of his hand.
“What’s that supposed ta mean?!” Hoss answered with an undignified huff at the audacity of his little brother.
“Well, I’ve been working the ranch and he’s been back east, in the city. If you’ve been looking for me all time, I can only imagine how stiff and sore big brother here’s gonna be. At least I’ll be able to do a full day’s work tomorrow,” Joe cackled as Adam reacted to the reminder that his body was starting to stiffen up and ache.
Hoss saw Adam’s posture change and he too began bellowing in laughter at their oldest brother’s situation.
“Great! Just great!” bemoaned Adam.
“Hey, I warned ya,” Hoss said between his fits of laughter.
“So Joe, tell me. What all do you really remember from before I left?” Adam inquired as the three brothers walked toward their horses.
“After talking with Doc Martin, I remember more than bits and pieces, and I do remember you taking care of me after Momma died. I remember you letting me sit in front of the saddle and hold the reins as we rode out and worked the ranch. And when I had nightmares, you were there. This morning, Momma told me about you teaching me how to skip stones, and taking me fishing. You were the one who put the worms on my hook,” Joe answered.
“That I was, little buddy.”
“That’s where I heard it!” Joe squealed out. “You’re the one who always called me Little Buddy! Hoss always calls me Shortshanks!” Joe jumped forward and wrapped an arm around his brother’s shoulders and then playfully punched him in the stomach. “That’s for all the times you tickled me!”
“I guess I do deserve that, but please… have pity on me. I’m not used to the life of a rancher.”
“Ah, give us a month or so and you’ll remember everything, trust me,” Hoss stated in good humor as he mounted Chubbs.
“So, are you going to tell us what happened and why you came home?” Joe asked as he mounted Cochise and picked up the reins to the chestnut horse he’d ridden out on earlier that morning.
“Joe!” scolded Hoss.
“I guess I probably should, but Pa needs to know too. Let’s get you home, I can only imagine how worried Pa is about you,” answered Adam as he stiffly climbed into the well-broke in saddle on Buck.
Chapter Nineteen
As the brothers neared the ranch house, they fell in line behind the Ponderosa wagon driven by Bayou, while Charlie rested back against the seat rest. Adam’s trunk was tie down in the back.
“Hey what gives?” Joe called ahead. “It takes two of you to get Adam’s trunk?”
Charlie turned around in his seat and gave the youth a warning look. “Just how were we supposed to return the surrey and pick up this here trunk? Didn’t you think about needing the buckboard to get it home? That means one of us had to drive the surrey, while the other drove the buckboard to town.”
Joe looked contrite at his oversight, but then laughed as he teased back, “Well, don’t blame me… Blame Adam for coming home!”
“No, don’t blame me. I gave fair warning of my return,” Adam responded in his own defense.
“Wait! Blame Mr. Morgan,” Joe taunted.
“And why would we blame him? From what Adam said, it were his boy who forgot to get us that telegram,” Hoss answered.
“Well… Mr. Morgan was the one who left Jerry to watch the office while he went and did something. He should have known better than to leave a kid in charge,” replied Joe.
Bayou and Charlie looked to each other, while Adam and Hoss did the same, and then all four men looked to Joe.
“What?!” Joe squeaked out.
“Out of the mouths of babes,” snickered Hoss.
“Hey, I ain’t no babe!” Joe protested.
“No, you’re just a KID!” Adam stated as he smacked his youngest brother in the arm with the back of his open hand.
Joe pouted, his dignity hurt at hearing the words, which set the men to laughing.
“Joe, you might be a kid, but fear not, you’ll grow out of it one day, it’s not a life sentence,” offered Adam.
“Try telling that to Pa,” Joe stated, a wide grin broke out over his face.
*****
Ben looked up at hearing the noise of horses and people laughing. He smiled at seeing the easy camaraderie his sons seemed to be sharing.
“Where did you find him?” Ben asked as he stepped down from the deck to join his sons.
“I was visiting with Momma,” Joe answered, while Charlie and Bayou were busy unloading Adam’s trunk and carrying it inside.
“All morning?”
“No sir, I went there before school as well as after.”
“I see,” Ben replied. “So Frank, how does it feel to have your brother home?”
“Aaww, Pa. I’m sorry, it’s just that I sort of remembered stuff, and then Doctor Martin told me the rest. I knew how much you missed Adam and…”
“There were a lot of misconceptions based on the memories of a child,” Adam concluded. “But I think I’ve dispelled those with this young man, haven’t I?”
“Yeah, older brother,” blushed Joe.
“Hey Pa, Adam said he was gonna to tell us why he come home and if he’s gonna stay,” Hoss offered.
“Well, I think the three of you need to tend to your horses, and get cleaned up. Hop Sing has lunch waiting for you.”
*****
After lunch, the family retired to the great room in preparation for listening to Adam’s story.
“I guess you want to know more than what I wrote in my letters,” Adam stated to his family.
They each nodded.
“You pretty much know what happened after I first began living with Grandfather Stoddard, and working with the tutor, Mr. Arnold. Grandfather and Mr. Arnold kept you informed of my progress. There were also several professors who were quite willing to help me focus on my studies before my classes began, but they recognized that I had to learn to accept the past and move beyond what had happened. I’ll admit, it took a while before I realized…”
“Realize what?” Hoss queried as he sat forward in his seat.
“That I’m only human, that I wasn’t Atlas. I shouldn’t expect to be able to carry the weight of everything on my shoulders as I did. I tried so hard to be everything and prove to Pa that I was capable… And it broke me; in the end it was living with Grandfather and focusing on my future that helped put me back together.”
“You don’t hold it against me?” Ben hesitantly asked.
“No Pa, I hold nothing against you. You were only human too. I can’t imagine losing three wives…” Adam answered, giving Ben his final forgiveness. “Grandfather even agreed with Paul, I should have wired him.”
“So what else ya done after ya graduated?” Hoss wanted to know.
“The last five years or so, I’ve enjoyed working with Adrian Longstreet, at his father’s engineering firm.”
“He was your college roommate, right?” Hoss asked.
“Yes, and together we teamed up to design several remarkable buildings.”
“You wrote that you were able to do a lot of traveling…” Ben offered.
“Yes, up and down the east coast, our buildings were making a name for us. I think the highlight was the year and a half that Adrian and I spent traveling and living in Europe. We had the idea of incorporating some of the European themes into our designs and our clients were impressed. We had a wonderful time, exploring the cathedrals and some of the castles…” Adam quieted as he remembered standing in awe inside the centuries old structures.
Adam described some of the more interesting locations they had visited and described some of the most amazing structures in great detail. His story ended with his return to the States.
“And you gave it all up?” Joe tentatively asked, still unsure if his brother was home to stay.
“Yes, I gave it all up.”
“Your last letter said you sold everything,” Ben answered.
“Grandfather passed away peacefully during his sleep a few months back, I’d only returned to the States about six weeks before. He wrote nothing of his failing health in his letters while I was gone.” Adam reflected of the second man who had such a profound impact within his life.
“Adam, I’m sorry. The Captain was a remarkable man,” Ben conveyed.
“He was at that. It was after his final services that I met a friend of my mother,” Adam replied. “I spent several weeks talking with her of an evening, and occasionally on the weekends we’d meet for brunch… She told me such amazing stories of my mother. Pa, she knew you. I believe she was one of mother’s attendants during your wedding, Eloise Proffit.”
“Yes, I remember Eloise… She went on to marry a politician if I remember correctly.”
“Yes, she did.” Adam thought back to his memories. “Anyway, after she exhausted all the stories of my mother, she asked why I was living in Boston, she knew of your dream and that we had left to travel west.”
“What did you tell her, son?” Ben inquired.
“I told her the truth… I told her of Marie’s death and the events of the following three months… I felt liberated in telling her what happened.”
“But ya done told them others…” Hoss interrupted.
“It wasn’t the same Hoss. My professors helped me see beyond my past, and that everything worked out so that I could travel east, and they helped make sure that I maintained my academic standing. Grandfather and I would casually discuss things… But, I never spoke of those months in such detail… until Eloise. I’m thankful that Eloise came into my life. It’s because of my discussions with her that I came home.”
“I don’t understand,” Ben stated, captivated by what his son said.
“Just a minute, I think I have something that will explain it all.”
Adam made his way upstairs to his bedroom. He returned carrying the music box that had once been his mother’s.
“I remember this,” Ben took the treasured possession lovingly into his hands.
“There’s a letter inside that you should read.”
*****
“Dearest Adam,
I know your mother would be proud of the man you’ve become and all you’ve accomplished here in Boston. Between your father and your grandfather, you have grown into a remarkable man; and I’m not saying that as in regard to your accomplishments with Longstreet & Son.
I have cherished my time in speaking with you about Elizabeth; it was wonderful to have had such a captive audience allowing me to relive my youthful days. Thank you for letting me share my memories of your mother with you. I’m so happy to have met the man who was Elizabeth’s child.
Many a man would turn bitter at life’s events you have experienced, but you persevered. You’ve overcome so much adversity in your young life that I see great things in store for you in your future. Your story of heartache and the subsequent events on the Ponderosa do not speak of your failure; I think you understand that now. God only gives us as much as he knows we can endure. But you didn’t just endure, as with the Phoenix, you arose from your ashes to be an even stronger man. However; the one thing I have realized during our talks, is that this Adam Cartwright, the man who I’ve befriended, is not the real Adam Cartwright… he’s somewhere waiting in Nevada.
There is one thing I have not told you… and maybe you have surmised and that is why you have spent so much time with an old woman. I know my own time is short, the doctors told me months ago that my health was failing. Upon reading of Abel’s death in the papers, I was scared, but after meeting you… You gave me the strength to face what is to come, my heart grows weaker as I write this letter, but I must finish.
As a dear friend of your mother, I do have a favor or two to ask of you, and they say you can never deny a dying person’s request. Forgive yourself, Adam. You did nothing wrong. Once you finally accept that… you’ll be able to accept my second request.
Go home Adam. Return to the folds of your family. Go back to those who love you; go back to where you belong.
My only regret is that I won’t be there to meet the real Adam Cartwright in person, but I will be watching.
A caring friend,
Eloise
Ben refolded the letter and slipped it into the envelope and replaced both within Elizabeth’s music box. He stared at the porcelain vessel, so delicate, just like his first wife. But yet, it held a quiet strength, tempered by fire, just has her son, his son, their son… Adam.
The three brothers looked from one to another before settling on their father, waiting for him to say something.
Hop Sing looked around the corner, from the kitchen, through the dining room, into the great room. Curious if the first son was home to stay.
“Pa, I’m here to stay, if you’ll have me…” Adam tentatively offered.
Joe and Hoss looked to each other when their father didn’t answer. Hoss queried, “Pa?”
“I’ve waited for over ten years to hear those words… I want to pinch myself, to make sure I’m not dreaming,” Ben replied.
Chapter Twenty – Epilogue:
Saturday dawned bright across the Ponderosa as the four Cartwrights headed to the barn to begin their work.
“So, are you going to have Adam break his own horse, like we did Pa?” Joe asked.
“I think your brother might be too rusty for that,” Ben answered.
“Well, he needs his own horse. He can’t ride Buck all the time,” Joe answered, remembering that his oldest brother had ridden their father’s horse the day before when they were looking for him.
“You have something in mind, Joe?” Adam asked, he thought he was getting pretty good in reading his youngest brother.
“Well, I was thinking on Granite Head…”
“Granite Head?” Adam inquired.
“That’s the chestnut he’s been working for nearly two months,” Hoss answered, nodding his head towards the chestnut in the far stall, as he grabbed Chubbs saddle and carried it to his horse. “You wouldn’t believe the time those two have given each other; in the beginning, we weren’t sure who was trying to break who.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Adam asked as he looked from one family member to the next, his hands squarely resting on his hips.
“Nothing just that he’s too good a horse to waste as a second mount…” Joe answered as he uncovered Adam’s old saddle he had spent the morning applying a liberal amount of saddle soap to clean.
“Hey, that’s my old saddle,” Adam said as Joe carried it over and placed it on the half wall next to Granite Head’s stall. “Glad you recognized it, now you can saddle your own horse.”
*****
As the family rode out, Adam had one question to ask, “Do you think we can go by Creekside Meadows?”
“I think we can… I’m sure Beauty will be thrilled to see you,” Ben answered.
“That obvious, huh?”
“You’re not the only one. We all have horses out there. Joe and I swap off riding out there, a couple times a week to check on the old-timer’s herd, making sure they’re doing okay. We bring them in, when necessary, ta keep their hooves trimmed properly,” Hoss added. “You’ll be happy to know we also moved the weanlings and yearlings in with them. Seemed to liven the bunch up having all them youngsters around.”
“Just like having me around, huh Pa?” Joe teased and then Ben saw the mischievous smile develop on the boy’s face.
“Yes, Joseph,” Ben replied.
*****
As they neared the meadow, without warning, Joe signaled Cochise into a flat out gallop. Only a stride or two later, Adam wanting to not let his little brother get the better of him decided to test his own mount, he signaled his horse into a gallop.
Leaning forward in his seat and petting the beast’s neck, Adam called, “Come on Sport, let’s show them what we have.”
Ben and Hoss watched as the two brothers hooted and hollered, yelling above the thundering hooves while racing their horses the remaining half mile to the meadow.
*****
The day for the Independence Day barn dance had arrived, and all four Cartwright men were ready for a night out. Ben watched the good natured bantering among his sons as they made their way down the staircase; all three dressed for the occasion, Joe and Adam looking more alike than ever before.
Gone were the first few days of uncertainty; Adam’s search for where he fit into the family. And Joe… well Joe had proven himself time and time again, being a patient teacher as his older brother relearned life on the ranch. As for Hoss, he enjoyed spending time with both his brothers, together and separate. Ben had watched as Hoss helped one brother conspire against the other, only to turn the tables on the first brother as they devised a pre-emptive strike.
*****
Every female head turned when the Cartwrights entered the barn. Dancers graced the floor, twirling and moving, mirroring the calm waters of the ocean. The women already paired up strained their necks left and right to catch a glimpse of the eldest son returned. Others who stood on the sidelines hid their smiles behind gloved hands, but their eyes spoke volumes.
Hoss was immediately pushed towards Bessie Sue by Adam, as he gave his brother a nod of confidence.
Ben gave a glare as he placed a hand to his youngest son’s shoulder. Joe smiled and nodded back to his father that he understood the implied warning.
Adam accompanied Ben around the building, and was introduced to many residents, some who he remembered and those who had arrived since his departure. As they made their rounds, Adam did ask of Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery.
“Well, Walter and Matilda left a few months after you did. They headed back to Texas, said it was for Matilda’s health.”
“More like to keep you from wringing her neck…” Adam had the good grace to quietly respond.
“As for Agatha and Harry, their little boy will be nine years old right before Christmas. They moved on to San Francisco to be with her parents.”
“Why didn’t you say anything in your letters?”
“It wasn’t worth wasting the ink, I had more important matters to convey,” Ben replied.
“Well, I’m glad for Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery. However, I do think they might have gotten the better part of the deal…” Adam teased as he looked over towards Hoss and Bessie Sue. When he saw the critical eye from his father, Adam answered, “They’re not the ones having to foot Hoss’ food bill.”
After all these years, Ben realized that Adam had come to terms with and accepted the events of the past.
*****
Ben and Adam were forced away from a conversation with Roy Coffee having heard sounds of a fight just outside the barn. Each one expected to see Little Joe Cartwright in the middle of the fray, and they were not disappointed.
Ben grabbed Joe by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back.
“I warned you Joe,” roared Ben, he pointed his finger in an accusing manner to his son.
“I didn’t do nothing! I was trying to stop it!” Joe proclaimed as he pointed back to the ongoing melee’.
When the three young ladies were pulled away by their concerned and embarrassed parents, Hoss stood laughing at the sight of Mitch Devlin sprawled on his backside. From the light shining through the window everyone saw the red punch running from his hair and staining his shirt.
“Honest, Pa. I know better than to invite three girls to the same dance. I want to see the fireworks, not BE the fireworks!” Joe’s laughter cackled across the barnyard, soon followed by the baritone and tenor laughs of his family.
*****
Ben settled into bed that night, content that his family was whole. He knew the past few weeks were just the beginning and that life wouldn’t be all smooth sailing; his sons were still basking in the newness of their being three. With time and patience, Adam would rightfully assume his place as his right-hand man, standing strong and exacting. As Adam relearned the Ponderosa, he’d already offered several ideas to improve plans currently in motion. He’d made vast improvements for the new lumber mill they were constructing.
Ben had seen the subtle signs indicating Joe was soon to bristle against his oldest brother, how could he not; he’d worked so hard to prove himself. Yes, he was taking his place alongside to his father and brothers after leaving school. But now there was one more adult to give instructions, a brother who had been absent for over ten years. And with the twelve years of age difference between the two… Two different lifestyles lived. Two opposite styles of emotions; reserved and controlled versus excitable and unbridled.
And Hoss, Ben smiled that he had a worthy buffer in his middle son to help keep the peace. Hoss worked well individually with both brothers, who tried his patience when all three were together. Hoss could always see both sides of the issue and grew frustrated when they butted heads. Eventually, the middle brother settled the discussion without too much trouble; but heaven help which ever brother ignored the warning signs and pushed him past his restraints.
~The End
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I know that Roy Coffee was not in the first season of Bonanza, and others were the sheriff of Virginia City. However, this story just didn’t feel right, nor would it work, without Roy. So I guess in my reality, Roy was away visiting family during the first season of Bonanza.
Will Poavey, Mr. Crawford, and Mr. Hawkins are characters from the episode, The Quest.
Ada Michaelson was introduced in my story, The Vision.
*****
Thank you for reading this AU version of the Cartwrights. At least they are all home and ready for their adventures to begin, starting with the episode, A Rose for Lotta.
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