Home – # 12 (by Robin)

Summary:  Part twelve of Home

Word Count:  8200

 

 

                                                           Home

 

 

Early May 1874

Virginia City Nevada

 

Chapter 1

 

Fischer mining was facing a major problem. There had been a number of small rock slides and cave ins and three miners had been killed all in one week. The crew said that some of the tunnels still weren’t safe and there was talk of a strike by the miners.  Jack Fischer told the new foreman to keep his workers out of the mine until he had the bracing checked out. He desperately needed production to be up and running but he was afraid of the threats of angry miners against him personally and against Fischer Mines in general. Jack was more a coward about his own neck than concerned about any of his employees or his wife’s well being. But no one ever needed to know that.

Fischer gathered the most vocal ringleaders of the miners and asked them to tell him and his superintendent what the problems were in the mine. Jack soon found out when he talked to some of the angry workers that the foreman and the mine engineer were mishandling the operation and not installing proper timbering and bracing. They were also doing blasting in areas that were not properly designed to be either safe or efficient. Jack immediately fired his own foreman and the incompetent engineer. At least that gave the miners the impression to the miners that the owner was taking action and they calmed down temporarily. Jack Fischer was very good at creating illusions, a talent he inherited from his later father Stanley.

Fischer brought in a new young engineer, Mort Framingham and promoted one of the harder working miners to be the foreman. Then Jack Fisher begged Adam Cartwright to do a walk through with Jack, the new engineer and foreman to double check that his highest producing silver mine was not going to cave in around his ears. There was too much Fischer money at stake for the mine to be closed down for too long.

“What kind of pump are you using? Are you flooding much?” Adam asked. Fischer had pushed his way into Cartwright’s office in Virginia City.

”The same one we have been using for years Adam. The one that Boris Beck designed for us when he worked for my father years ago at Fischer Mine Number Two.”

Adam scratched his chin. “It’s a good pumping system. Beck was ahead of his time with that. Too bad he drank himself to death.”

”Yeah too bad.” Jack smiled. Stanley Fischer, Jack’s late father wound up owning the patent on the popular pump system because Beck sold him the rights for a few dollars to buy some whiskey.  His son Tucker got nothing from his father when he died except the old horse Tucker rode out of Virginia City. On the other hand, Fischer Mining had made loads of money off the pumps that were used in most of the mines in the west. Jack inherited that from his father too.

“Adam, I need you to show my new engineer what he needs to do. It’s your timber from the Ponderosa. Your family has been doing business with Fischer mines since I was a schoolboy. I need you to double check to be sure.”

“Jack, you stinking manipulator. It’s your mine. Don’t blame Ponderosa lumber if your men don’t install the bracing properly. Or are you trying to save money by not using enough timber? Why would I want to go down there for you?”
”I thought you were always the bleeding heart that made sure we mine owners didn’t abuse the miners. You Cartwrights always support the Miners Widow and Orphan fund. Don’t you want to avoid creating more widows and orphans?”

Since when does that mean I work for you? “ Adam shook his head in disgust.

”Look, I’ll pay you what ever you would get for an engineering fee from Stoddard and Bruce. I can’t let this mine shut down for longer than I have to. I have notes to pay that are due soon. I’ll pay you whatever you say Adam. You are the best engineer in Virginia City. The best in the state.”

”Come on Jack. It’s late in the day. I have a meeting later tonight with those men who want me to run for the senate. You are supposed to be there too. And besides that, my father and Joe are coming in from the Ponderosa for dinner at my house” Adam rubbed his chin and sat back in his leather desk chair. The chair creaked as he stretched out his long legs.
Jack bristled at the mention of Joe’s name. They hadn’t gotten along since they were boys, mostly because of Jack’s bullying.

Fischer also resented that his wife still carried a torch for Joe Cartwright years later. She would always remind Jack when she got wind of one of her husband’s other lady friends. On those occasions, Melissa would tell Jack “I should have married Little Joe Cartwright not you! He kept his good looks and wouldn’t be stepping out on me, like you do Jack.”

“Adam, it will take you an hour at most,” Jack cajoled. He had been one of the handsomest young men in Virginia City. His blonde hair was thinning and his waist was thickening. Years of drinking and late nights at the sporting houses had tarnished his shine and all but ended his marriage.

“You won’t even get your handsome suit dirty. I’ll pay you a week’s engineering fee for just one-hour walk through with my new foreman. Then my men can set up the order for Ponderosa timbers and if Ben is at your house for dinner, I can get the estimate over to your house by the time he finishes dessert. It will save me a week of work and get the Ponderosa a big order. They can start the cutting tomorrow if they can.” Jack pleaded. And he would not have to deal with Joe Cartwright at all, Jack thought.

“I don’t know Jack.” Adam scratched his head. “Kate rally hates when I am late. And that meeting… I still can’t make up my mind about running.  Pa and Joe are bringing Eric over and…the boy has a lot of difficulty when we eat too late.”

Jack sighed. All of Virginia City knew about the troubles the Cartwright had with the little orphaned boy.
”Sorry about the boy Adam. Is he doing any better?” Jack asked politely. He had no concern at all for the boy but knew Adam was devoted to his family and would think Jack cared.

Adam shook his head. “Joe said Eric is sleeping a bit better and he seems to be happy when he is in my house with Sammy and my little girl Elizabeth. She plays with him like he is a big doll. Eric let Katie give him a bath and put him to bed the last time he was in the house. Like he used to before all this happened. Eric still doesn’t talk though.”
”Still doesn’t talk?” Jack was shocked. It had been a few months since the child came to live on the Ponderosa.

“Or even smile.” Adam sighed and shook his had sadly. “We are trying to convince Joe and my father to have the boy live here in town with us but Joe insists he’s going to be fine.”

“Joe always was a stubborn son of a gun.”

”Maybe that is what Eric needs.” Adam defended his brother. “Maybe Eric needs Joe’s hard headedness.” Adam’s dark eyes stared into Jack Fischer’s blood shot blue eyes.

” Two weeks fee and I’ll do what ever you recommend without any debating. And I’ll send over some toys to Eric or candy whatever the boy likes. Even one of Queenie’s puppies from the next litter. You know they are pure bred and worth a fortune. A pup for your kids too Adam.” Jack pressed.

He was desperate. He had over extended him self on some railroad stocks. His entire fortune could crumble like a house of cards if he couldn’t pay that note when it was due. On the other hand, Jack stood to become an extremely rich and powerful man if his margin bid worked out as he had intended. He would have a major interest in the railroad company serving Nevada and the High Sierras. Jack stood to become very rich and extremely powerful.

Adam took out his pocket watch and checked the time. “Just one hour Jack?”
”Two at most. I promise Adam. You’ll be home right on time for dinner.”

 

Chapter 2

 

Dust and choking smoke filled the air around the entrance to Fischer Mine Number seven. Joe scooped up Eric and ran after his father toward the entrance of the main tunnel. Scared, filthy miners were scrambling out of the lift and other men were running towards the mine entrance to see what had happened or to dig out the caved in mine. The piercing sound of the mine’s steam whistle blasted out a constant ear piercing shriek. Eric clung fiercely to Joe’s neck and hid his face in his uncle’s jacket collar.

“Where’s Adam?” Ben Cartwright demanded from the nearest miner. “Where is my son?” Melissa Fisher stood next to one of the men anxiously waiting to hear news of her husband.

”He’s down in shaft number three with Jack. It all fell in on top of them. My son went down with the superintendent and the foreman.“ She put her hand over her mouth.

The next lift came to the surface and a group of choking and dirty men climbed off. Ben looked at the faces and saw Jack Fischer surrounded by his superintendent, the foreman and his eighteen-year-old son Stanley. The dark haired son was not quite as tall or broad or demanding as his blonde haired father. He attended college back east and had recently arrived back in Virginia City.

Other than a bruise on his cheek and a dusty suit, Jack Fischer looked dirty but unharmed. “Where’s Adam? Where is my son?” Ben grabbed Fischer by his shoulder and spun him around.

”Down there! The whole thing caved in Ben. He and a couple of men are still down there.”

His wife stood silently next to the Cartwrights as young Stanley John stepped off the lift and put his arm around her. “Father is all right, Mother!” Melissa was a bit disappointed but everyone around her was too busy to notice.

Joe, with Eric clinging on to his neck pushed through the chaotic knot of men and shouted at Jack “What do you mean Adam is down there? What was he doing there?”

”I wanted him to check out some of the beams. It’s your lumber.”

”It’s Ponderosa timbers but it’s your damn mine! Weeks ago, Adam told you that your engineers were not doing the bracing right and you were looking for trouble. What did you drag him down there for?” Joe bellowed at Jack. Holding Eric in the crook of his right arm, Joe grabbed Jack’s lapel angrily with his left. Fischer pulled himself away.

Joe had always hated all the Fischers and now, Jack was walking around in the day light while his own brother, Adam, was buried under tons of rock and broken timbers.

“Damn you, Jack!” Joe bellowed pushing his face into Jack’s. “I’ll kill you if anything happens to Adam!”

“Why did you two go down there when you knew the timbers were splintering?” Ben Cartwright shouted above the din.
Jack Fisher just looked down at the dirt.“ I never thought it was so bad down there. I could have gotten killed myself.” He almost whimpered. “I could have gotten killed.”

“Too bad you didn’t” Joe snapped angrily. “Look what you did to my brother you stupid fool!” Just like Jack, Joe thought. His whole life Jack Fischer skidded out of trouble and let everyone else take the fall.

Jack started directing his men in dealing with the cave in.

“Jack, if any thing happened to my brother, I’ll kill you.” He repeated and raised his fist and shook it under Jack’s nose.

Jack Fischer paled knowing that Joe would do it.

“Here, Pa take him,” Joe demanded pushing Eric into Ben’s arms.

The boy clung to his Grandfather and wound his arms tightly around his grandfather’s neck. Ben held Eric to his chest as he cried louder. “Mama!” he screamed. “Mama!”

Eric wailed at the loud noises, frightened and crying, even the strong comforting arms of his grandfather not calming him. Once he saw the dark cave like opening of the mine and heard all the commotion, all Eric could think of was the violence at the Massey Ranch. He thought, perhaps, his missing mother would finally reappear from that cave.

” Get Eric out of here, a. I’m going down there.”

”Joseph!” Ben tried to reason with him. ”Joe, stay here.”

It was too late, Joe jumped on the lift just as the miner closed the gate and it plunged into the lantern lit shaft. He had been unable to do anything to save Hoss, he wasn’t going to stand by and let Adam die buried in a mine tunnel.

Little Eric screamed “Joe joe joemmammama! mama!” In the cacophony of noise and confusion no one really heard what he was saying or paid the boy’s cries much attention. This was the first time since his uncle and Meg had found him in Otis Massey’s mine, that little Eric had come anywhere near a mine or a cave. The last time he saw his mother was in a big dark mine and this seemed very similar to him. He called for her loudly and his grandfather, preoccupied with Adam’s situation just hugged him closer. Ben just assumed, that the boy was crying as he still did frequently and often for no apparent reason.
Chapter 3

“Adam!” The voice echoed down the black mine shaft. “Adam!”

Through the sharp pangs stabbing his back and the driving pain within his head, Adam instantly recognized his brother’s voice.

“Adam! Are you there!” The voice called. “Adam Cartwright!” he heard Joe call from closer to him. A tiny bit of light shined from a lantern as Joe came closer. He squeezed through a small opening he had dug and crawled over the rumble to Adam’s side.

“Joe,” Adam gasped as he tried to move his hand. Joe moved some loose dirt away from his brother’s face as he squeezed in closer. He took the shovel and carefully dug out more space around his head and shoulders. One of Adam’s arms was completely free, but his other arm was buried in dirt and gravel. Joe could see Adam’s legs under the broken beam. Water was running off the walls and dripping onto his brother’s face. Joe wiped some of the wetness off with his own dirty hand and tried to put himself protectively between the trickle of brackish water and his brother.

For Joe Cartwright it was a moment stuck in time. He had found his brother and he was alive. He took off his jacket and tried to arrange it over Adam to keep the dripping water off his face.

“Adam, we’ll get you out of here in a minute. Can you move this arm?”

”No, I’m pinned in here by these rocks and that beam.” Adam groaned. Joe could see Adam was hurting badly. “At least those pumps seem to be working.”

Clenching his jaw, Joe tried to move the heavy wood that was pinning Adam between the wall of the mineshaft and the fallen boulders. He put his shoulder into it and tried to lift it off his brother. Hoss could have done it. Some rocks started to shift as he shoved it.

“Joe! Not that, it will all fall in around us if you push that beam” Adam hollered.”It’s holding up the top of the shaft. You need to get some bracing in here first. Get Fischer’s engineer down here right away. He should be able to figure what to do. But don’t let anyone move anything until you brace up this wall.”

“Ok, I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” Joe patted Adam’s filthy hand and slid back through the hole. As he crawled backwards he realized what a stupid remark he had just made. Adam was pinned under a ton of rock, rubble and broken beams and he had just told him not to move.

“Joe!” Adam called as his brother disappeared “Joe!”

He stuck his head back through the hole, “What?”

”Tell Katie that I love her. Tell her that Joe, that I love her. Don’t forget.”

By the time the men widened the hole and Mort, the engineer got in and figured how to brace the shaft and the crew finished digging Adam Cartwright out of the rubble he had lost consciousness.
Chapter 4

“Mama is in the dining room with Doctor Martin, Uncle Joe. He just finished tending my father.” Sam said as he opened the carved oak door for his uncle.

Joe tossed his hat on the polished mahogany table next to the vase of flowers and the untouched pile of mail. Sammy stood up to grasp Joe in a bear hug, pulling up short when he saw his uncle’s dirty bruised face. Looking closer at his the dim light of the entrance hall, Sam whistled softly between his teeth. “What happened to you Uncle Joe?”
”I had a discussion with Mr. Fischer about your father and what a damn fool Mr. Fischer has always been his entire life. How’s your Pa doing?” Joe asked the boy.

Sam shrugged nervously.” Doctor Martin and Grandpa just came downstairs. Aunt Nancy is keeping Mama company.” Joe walked into the large dining room and Sam followed closely after him.

Paul Martin was sitting at the head of the table drinking the coffee Nancy Foster had just set in front of him. “I’ll go sit with Adam while you talk” she said heading upstairs. Nancy Coffee Foster had been Kate’s best girlfriend since they were schoolgirls. “Sammy come upstairs with me.” Nancy directed.

The boy didn’t move.

Joe sat down next to his father. He tried unsuccessfully to brush away Ben’s efforts to look at the injuries on his face. Dr. Martin took a sip of the steaming coffee and looked across the table at Joseph inspecting the assorted cuts and bruises covering Joe’s face. “Son, how many times have I told you to lead with your fists, not your face? Your jaw must have bruised the other fellows fists pretty bad by the looks of you.” Paul Martin had his suspicions where Joe Cartwright had been for the last hour. The doctor correctly assumed he would be seeing Jack Fischer as a patient after he left Adam Cartwrights home.

Jack, fearing for his life, had gotten in a couple of good punches before Joe pounded him bloody. Clem Foster stood by quietly letting Joe deal with Fischer for a few minutes then he and his deputy pulled him off Jack before Joseph hurt him too badly. They had to hold Joe back for a few minutes but eventually Joe stopped trying to pull out of their grasp.

“Can’t let you kill anyone Joe. I’ll let you whup him but not kill him,” Clem said firmly.

“Shame I got this strange temporary blindness, Mr. Fisher,” Clem smiled. Then the sheriff curtly told Joe to go back to Adam’s house and stay with his family, as he wouldn’t be very blind for too long if Joe continued.

Joe saw the deep fear in Ben’s tired eyes. Ben Cartwright was beside himself with worry for his oldest boy. His father looked exhausted. Joe prayed that the news about Adam was not as bad as he feared when he dug him out from under the rubble in the mine.

“Sam, go upstairs and check on the children,” Kate firmly told her son. She had put Elizabeth and Eric to sleep in Elizabeth’s room.

“No, I want to hear what the doctor has to say about my Pa,” the boy leaned on the back of Joe’s chair.

“Sam, go upstairs and check on Elizabeth and Eric and make sure they are sleeping and then go sit with your father until one of us comes upstairs.” Kate ordered again. “I don’t care that you are taller than me. Go.”
”Not yet.” Sam slid defiantly into the chair next to his uncle.

“Sam, upstairs, right now!” Ben thundered glaring at the boy.

“Yes sir!” Sam rushed out of the room and clattered up the stairs. No one defied Ben Cartwright when he used that tone.

“How is Adam?” Kate asked anxiously.

“Um…Katie, Ben…Joe…Adam has a couple of cracked ribs – several cuts and bruises. He took quite a blow on his head but he has your hard skull, Ben. His left leg isn’t broken just torn up and I bandaged it up. The swelling should be down in a couple of days. You Cartwrights don’t do anything by halves, do you?“ Paul Martin shook his head. He took another sip of the hot coffee. He really hated the idea of tending to Jack Fischer after Joe beat on him. As a doctor he was obligated to treat every patient, even if they deserved even worse than what they got.

“What about his back, Paul?” Katie asked holding Ben’s hand tightly in hers. For years, since Adam had taken a bad fall from the roof of a house he was building for Laura Dayton, he had suffered with reoccurring back problems.

“Think he out did anything you ever did Ben. You too Joe.” Doc added shaking his head and taking another swallow of the hot brew. “Well, maybe not that surgery in Boston, but if you exclude that episode…”

“Doc, what about Adam’s back? “ Joe repeated Katie’s ignored question impatiently. He didn’t really care about Doc Martin’s inventory of which Cartwright had injured himself more than the other over the years. Kate was on the verge of hysterics and Doc Martin was blathering about nonsense.

“His back is quite bad but not so bad he won’t be fine if he stays in bed for a month or so and lets it heal properly. It must be the famous Cartwright stubbornness that keeps him going. Adam has had trouble with that back of his for years since he fell off that roof and this just injured it some more.”

Kate started to weep with relief. For the first time since her unconscious husband was carried into the house on a stretcher by Joe, and some miners the knots in Kate’s stomach loosened.  Instinctively, Ben wrapped his arms around his pregnant daughter in law and pulled her protectively into his broad shoulder. Gently he stroked her soft brown hair trying to soothe her. “Katie, Adam is going to be all right. Don’t cry. He’s going to be fine.”
”I can’t help it. I was so worried that I would loose him. When they carried him upstairs. I thought he was already dead.” Katie sighed with relief and Ben wiped her tears with his hand.  “Thank you for digging him out Joe.”
Joe choked down the lump in his throat that threatened to strangle him. He nodded and swallowed hard fighting back his own tears of relief. “I got to go check on Eric and tell Sammy the good news.” He muttered walking towards the stairs.

 

Chapter 5 

 

Katie wiped her unconscious husband’s forehead again.

Then she walked to the door of the room to see if Sam was managing with Elizabeth and Eric. She heard her dear son singing to his sister and cousin as he put them back to sleep. Her throat caught. Sam was singing the same tunes that Adam had put him to bed with when she and her husband had first married. Sam had adored when his new stepfather put him to bed. The little boy used to tell Kate that Adam was in charge of putting him to sleep from then on. They were singing “Clementine” just the way they did with Adam playing his guitar by the fireplace.

She heard her three-year-old daughter singing along with the chorus. Her sweet voice blended perfectly with Sam’s deeper voice. Not only did her raven-haired Elizabeth look like Adam she had her father’s musical ear and ability to sing.

Kate listened carefully. There was absolutely no sound from Eric, not a song or a cry or a whisper. Long ago, the boy used to sing this song too. He sang even louder and more enthusiastically than Elizabeth. At least the poor child was not crying or fussing or giving Sam any difficulty.

She looked over at the bed where Adam was lying so still. The ice Joe had put under him numbed the back pain and the medicine that Doctor Martin had given him was helping him to sleep. Katie had been sure Joe was going to go after Jack Fischer when the doctor told him how badly hurt Adam was but he was surprisingly in control of himself. All he did was order Jack to get out of the house. Ben observed later that it was because Joe had Eric with him and didn’t want to upset the child. At some point, Joe had left her house and came back a quite bedraggled but Kate was too preoccupied with Adam to have really noticed.

She and Adam had weathered so many storms together, but in an instant everything had changed. One misstep in the mine, one misjudged beam and everything had come crashing down. In just an instant she almost lost her beloved Adam.

Her husband had never been seriously ill in all the years they were married and now he was so terribly hurt and would need tending to for months if he was ever going to get better. She remembered she had to send the wire to Dennis telling him that Adam was not going to meet him in San Francisco. Maybe Dennis would come to Virginia City in a few weeks. Adam would be a bit better by then she hoped.

“Is there any change? “ Ben said as he and Joe came up the steps with fresh basins of ice.

Katie shook her head. “No difference, not worse or better but he seems to be sleeping a bit.”
Ben put the ice down on the washstand and stood listening to the singing from down the hall. “At least Eric is quiet. “

”The only places he doesn’t get too upset are here with Elizabeth and when he is home with me and Pa. Or once in awhile he’ll stay with Meg Thackery.” Joe added.

”Meg?” Katie smiled despite everything that had gone on the last few days. “How much had Meg been out at the Ponderosa? She would have to get an update from Little Joe on that topic.

Ben automatically touched Adam’s forehead gently, feeling for fever as he had for a lifetime of fatherhood. He sat down in the blue damask covered armchair next to the bed and rested his chin on his fist. It was going to be a long night once again.

”How do you get any work done?” Kate asked.

Joe shrugged. “Eric will stay with Pa for a few hours at a stretch while I go out on the range. Or Hop Sing or Rebecca Newkirk once in a while if Pa is working. As long as I put him to bed or see him for lunch and supper he sort of manages. Or else I take him with me and he sits and watches. He never wanders off. Never.

“Never?”

” Katie, it is so weird he just quietly sits on the ground or under a tree and watches. Like he is patiently waiting for Andrea to come get him. As long as I stay in his view he is ok.”

“We manage,” Ben said softly watching Adam. He lay in bed, pale and still. His head was bandaged and the blanket was pulled up around his chin.

”We both got so used to how Eric behaves that I forget what children do until I spend time here, with Elizabeth” Ben sighed. He didn’t take his eyes off his unconscious son as if staring at Adam would make him better.

“When I see Elizabeth and watch how she talks and plays; that she smiles so sweet. Then I remember all over again, Katie. I remember how Eric was before all this happened. Then I realize how different Eric has become. He used to be able to do the same things as Elizabeth. Remember how he sang at Pa’s party?” Joe sighed and went to sit on the arm of his father’s chair. Ben put his hand on Joe’s knee.

Joseph sat next to his father watching his brother’s chest rise and fall.   “Katie, the doctor said Adam would be ok. He just has to stay in bed but he is going to be ok.” Joe told Kate but he was really reassuring himself as well.

Joe stood up and put his arms around her. Kate nodded and leaned her face against his shoulder. “You promise?” she whispered.

“You go check on the children and we’ll stay here if you want. And you go rest Katie.” Ben firmly directed. “You need your rest.”

” I’ll have to take Eric back home soon and you might as well take a break for a while.’ Joe added. “Take care of yourself Darlin’.” For once, Kate was glad that the Cartwright men hovered over their pregnant women. When she was expecting Elizabeth, Kate bristled at all their unwanted protectiveness. Now, with Adam injured, she was especially thankful for their continual presence.

“Could you all stay again tonight?” Kate looked hopefully at her father in law. She had never felt so helpless and frightened to be alone. The maid was there and so was the housekeeper but that was not the same as having family around her. “Eric looks like he might just fall asleep.”

Ben nodded,” We wouldn’t go if you threw us out, Katie”

 

Chapter 6

 

It was well past midnight.

The night was suddenly silent except for the occasional soft rattle of the shutters as the wind blew down the mountainside and the snoring of her father in law as he slept in the wing chair by the window. Kate had covered Ben with a crocheted afghan and Joe had gone reluctantly to one of the guest bedrooms.

The stillness made her shiver as she sat in the dark by Adam’s bedside. She kept her hand pressed gently against his chest so she could feel his heart beating. She was still so afraid of him dying. The doctor had assured her that Adam would be fine but Kate was still very frightened.

She brushed her hand over Adam’s hair willing him to get better, to regain consciousness. Kate shifted herself a little so she could reach more comfortably and patted her husband’s cheek lightly. She felt the sandpapery, late afternoon stubble she was so familiar with there. She regretted all the times she complained that his whiskers scratched her face when he came home and kissed her in the front hall. She prayed that he would soon be up and around and walking in the door again. She longed for a return to ordinary daily routine.

”I’ll never complain again about anything you do,” she whispered to him as he slept. “ Just get better.” She buried her face in Adam’s hair comforting him with his familiar smell. She felt the faintest flicker of Adam’s eyelashes on her cheek and the whisper of his breath on her throat.

Kate could just feel his lips moving and sat upright. “Adam?”

“Katie,” he gasped calling for his wife. “Katie,” he groaned and fell back into a deep sleep. He was still dreaming his was trapped in the mine and calling for his wife. “Katie!”

 

Chapter  7 

 

Monday morning
“Adam…?”

Gradually Adam’s breathing eased and he sighed and closed his eyes. Kate watched him go back to sleep. She bathed Adam’s forehead then once more sat, quiet and still after a few minutes Adam’s eyes opened again.   Katie smiled tentatively. “Are you okay Adam?” Doctor Foster had discontinued the large doses of painkillers and told Kate that Adam should awaken soon. He wanted her to encourage him to stay awake a bit.

Katie bent down again as she saw the dark lashes flicker. “Adam, wake up.”

Even before his eyes opened, Adam knew he had a really bad headache, one that throbbed through his ears and pounded in his jaw. It hurt so badly that he tried to return to sleep to escape it, but someone’s gentle hands were on him. He woke to the concerned face of his pregnant wife.

“Katie? “He tried to smile but his face was too bruised to muster much of a smile with out being painful. He was never happier to see her than at that minute. The last thing he remembered was being trapped in the mine. Now he was waking up in his own bed.

She smiled back at him and adjusted the blankets around him. “Are you finally awake?”
A tiny soft voice whispered from the foot of the bed “Good morning Papa!”

“You don’t need to whisper. He’s awake now, Elizabeth. Just don’t jostle the bed. Papa is badly hurt.”

“What time is it?” Adam asked Kate.

”It’s nine o’clock. Monday morning. Sam left for school a while ago under great protest. I had to remind him that just because his nickname is Doc, it doesn’t mean he really is a physician.”

”Monday? I was out for three days?”

”Almost four. How do you feel?”

Adam moved slightly and a wave of pain surged through his back. “Like I got hit with a ton of rock.” He tried to smile but his face was so bruised it hurt.” What about Jack Fischer?”

“Jack? Well he barely had a mark on him when he came out of the mine but Ben said Joe punched him so hard for bringing you down there that he broke his nose. I think the sheriff told Jack he would look the other way. Otherwise Jack would have had your brother arrested.”

Adam laughed despite the pain he was in. “Joe never had any use for Jack Fischer.”

“Your father just went home with Eric. They all stayed here the last few days. Eric wasn’t too bad with Sam and Elizabeth. He even slept through one night and Joe had to wake him up to eat breakfast. You should be proud of our daughter. Elizabeth was so kind to him and she just took his hand and lead him from one thing to another like he was a big doll.”

“I was very good Papa. I sang to him too. I shared my toys and my brother and my Grandpa too. And my uncle Joe too.”

Kate sat on the chair that was pulled up close to Adam’s bed.” The doctor says you have to stay in bed for three weeks at least.”

“Three weeks? I’m fine. I need to get out of bed and go to work.”

“You can’t. Doc Foster said at least three weeks or four. Adam you almost got killed!” Now she was getting angry.

“Kate, I’m fine!” Adam hollered back. He hadn’t even noticed his leg was bandaged up and in a splint.
”If you are so fine then get out of bed and get dressed and go to work. No need to yell about it.” Kate challenged him. “See if you can sit up when I am holding you down, Adam.” She put her hands on her hips and thrust her chin at him. Elizabeth, disturbed by her parent’s arguing hid her face in her mother’s skirt.

”Katie, you are pregnant.” Adam was aghast at her ridiculous statement. “I’m twice your size.”

“Then how about letting Princess Elizabeth hold you down? If you can get past either of us you can get up and go to work. How about that? If you can out wrestle a pregnant woman or a three-year-old girl, you can do what ever you want? Your choice Mr. Cartwright.”

Adam looked at her like she was a lunatic. “Kate what the heck is wrong with you?”

She leaned over and put her right hand lightly on her husband’s broad bandaged chest. ”Do it Adam. Sit up”

Adam put his hand on the mattress and tried to sit up. A flash of searing pain surged down his spine and a painful spasm took the breath from his lungs.”Damn!”he growled and fell back on the pillows. Sweat broke out on his forehead.

”Three weeks, Adam. No moving for three weeks at least. Now lay down before you scare Elizabeth more than you already did and stop using such rude language in front of her.” As much as Adam loved to win a debate, Kate Cartwright loved to win even more.

“Enough said. I made my point.” She leaned over and kissed her husband gently. “And don’t you ever almost get yourself killed again, Adam. You scared me half to death. Maybe even three quarters to death.“

”Me too Papa!” Elizabeth chirped from behind her mother.

“I love you Adam!”

”Me too Papa.” The little girl cautiously slipped her finger into her father’s large hand. He folded his hand around his daughter’s tiny hand. “Me too” he whispered and rested his head back on the pillows.

 

Chapter 8

 

Monday afternoon

“Adam, I thought you were still sleeping,” she gently kissed his whiskery cheeks. She was careful to avoid the healing abrasions on the right side of his handsome face.

“Just resting my eyes a little, not sleeping,” He lied and tried to smile weakly.

“I’ll leave you alone to rest.” She gently smoothed out the blankets.

Adam’s hand crept from beneath the covers and he groped for his wife’s hand.  “No Katie don’t go yet, please . . . please stay here with me. Keep me company.”  He whispered.

“Do you want something to drink?” she offered.

“No, just sit here,” He closed his eyes.

Whenever she tried to slip his hand out of Adam’s, however, the dark eyes would immediately open and the strong hand grasped her slender smaller hand.  Though uncomfortable, Kate continued to sit, quietly holding her husband’s hand for the rest of the afternoon. “Don’t you dare die Adam Cartwright, don’t you dare leave me.” Kate half ordered and half prayed.

“You can’t get rid of me so easily, Katie.” Adam smiled weakly squeezing her hand again. His face hurt when he spoke. “Maybe I just did this all to get to spend more time with you.”

“Don’t make jokes with me, Adam. Do you want more of that broth?”

“Maybe later. And how is my sweet blue berry pie baby?” he muttered as his eyes closed. “I think we are having another little girl, Kate.”

“Little Blueberry Pie baby is waiting for you to be better, ” Katie smiled stroking his hand. Her eyes welled up with tears. He didn’t hear her answer as he had fallen back to sleep his black lashes rested on his bruised cheeks.

Chapter 9

 

Two weeks later

Before Joe could say something, Ben stirred on the bed. He turned his head to look at the figure sitting on the bed. A hacking cough erupted from his mouth. Ben gasped for air.

Joe laid a hand on his father’s shoulder. “Pa, take it easy,” Joe said soothingly rubbing his father’s forearm.

Ben looked at his youngest son in confusion. “Joe?” he asked in a weak, cracking voice.

“I’m here, Pa,” Joe said. “Eric too.” The little boy looked up at his uncle and then lay down again on the floor at the foot of Ben’s bed. Joe had piled cushions and quilts on the floor for the boy and they all had stayed together in Ben’s room all night. Joe dozed in the chair, Eric sleeping on the floor to be near his uncle and grandfather.

Joe Cartwright poured some of the medicine into a cup and reached for the jug of water on the nightstand. He poured some water into the cup and lifting Ben’s head, held it to his father’s lips. Ben swallowed a bit of water, and then slowly opened his eyes. Then he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep

As Ben slept, Joe took the extra blanket from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around himself. Then he sat back in the armchair. His Pa had done all he could to help his sons their whole lives. Now Joe had to do the same for his Pa. He had to wait to see if the medicine that Doc Martin sent out from town would lower his father’s fever once and for all.

It was almost an hour before Ben began to stir again. He moaned softly and began to shiver. Joe tucked the covers in around him and wiped his father’s hot fore head with a cool damp cloth. Joe hadn’t slept more than a few hours at a stretch for days. The only time he laid down was when Hop Sing came in and was so insistent that Joe couldn’t fight back.

Ben woke to his son gently shaking him. “Come on, Pa,” Joe said as he shook Ben’s shoulder. “Wake up. You have to stay awake a little bit and eat something. Then you can go back to sleep again.”

Ben opened his eyes and looked around. “Guess I was pretty sick, “ Ben whispered hoarsely.

“You and most of Virginia City and the men in the bunk house who weren’t sick the last time. You gave me and Hop Sing a run for our money. Welcome back Pa,” Joe said, his voice dripping relief. He fed his father a few spoons of broth.

“How are you Joe?”

”I’m fine. Tired but fine. Eric too. Doc said I must have had it at some other time or else I would have got it too. Hop Sing said he must have had this when he was in China.”

“And Adam’s family?”

”They were pretty sick but they are doing better now. They are near fine now.” There was no need to bother his father with all the details and how hard it had been for all of them. Ben needed to get his own strength up without worrying about anything.

Ben couldn’t reply with many words so he let his hand drift down Joe’s arm to come to rest on his hand, squeezing his son’s hand for reassurance. “I’m not going to die right now son. Don’t worry. Not this time. Not yet, Joe.”
Joe smiled weakly and nodded. His father always knew what was on his mind since he was a small boy.

Ben closed his eyes and fell back into the pillow,” No more soup.”

Joe looked down at the floor near the foot of the bed. Eric was sitting quietly watching him. “Ben Pa?”
Joe smiled. While Ben had been so sick Eric sat hour-by-hour at the foot of the bed and stared at his grandfather. The boy said Ben Pa a few times. Now Joe was delighted that Eric had said one more word.

“Grandpa is better, Sweetie. I think he will feel even better when he hears you say Ben-Pa to him.”

“Ben-Pa?” Eric stood up patted his grandfather’s feet under the quilts. His grandfather opened his eyes and looked at the little boy. Eric looked back, not smiling, not frowning.

”What did he just say?” Ben smiled. It was the first time since his grandson had arrived on the Ponderosa that the little boy had addressed him. It was the first time Eric called him anything. The only one the boy called by name had been Joe.

”He decided to call you Ben-Pa. Hope you don’t think he is being disrespectful, Pa.”

”Joe, I don’t care if he calls me Buck or Cochise or Silver Dollar Saloon or President Lincoln. I’m glad he is talking more. This is the best medicine I could have gotten.”

”Hear that Eric? Ben Pa said that was mighty fine.” Joe scooped the boy into his lap and hugged him.

”Ben Pa?” Eric said again.

 

Chapter 10

 

Katie remembered how much she had admired Adam Cartwright from afar when she was growing up. Her family and the Cartwrights were always close and her father, a mine engineer, Hank Wallace had even tutored young Adam in mathematics to pass the college entrance exams. Kate and Little Joe had been school friends. If she had answered truthfully, he had been her second best friend after Nancy Coffee even though he was a boy.

Kate had been head over heels in love with the handsome oldest Cartwright brother from the time she was nine or ten years old. As a young man, he was totally oblivious to the worship of the clever little girl. It was years until anyone in Virginia City or on the Ponderosa realized that Katie Wallace had a huge crush on Adam Cartwright. When Little Joe finally figured it out, Kate swore him to secrecy. Shortly after, her uncle, owner of the Enterprise was murdered and Kate and her parents moved to San Francisco.

Kate and Adam didn’t see each other again for years. Adam had left the Ponderosa and was working for Stoddard and Bruce and traveling around the world.  Kate was married to her first husband, Al Striker by that point. When Al abandoned Kate and Sammy, she returned home to Virginia City to help her Aunt Mim run the Enterprise. Joe and Hoss, knowing how well suited they were for each other, made a concerted effort to get Kate and Adam together. They were married shortly after.

There were so very many things that Kate always cherished about her husband. Adam was always taking on the hardest jobs and refusing to ask for help with them. Besides his smoldering dark looks, it was her husband’s intelligence and that devotion to his work and family that Kate always adored.

“I am used to carrying my own weight around here. I feel like such a burden.” He complained from his bed. He managed to get some paper work sent around from his office but it was hard to manage from flat on his back.

”But you got hurt, Adam. You make it sound like you are a lazy vagrant or a rich widow’s kept man.”

”But all I do is lay about…”

”But all you do is what the doctor told you to do,” Kate corrected him. “If you don’t ‘lay about’ you foolish man, you will never get better. You can make it up in a few months if you want. You can work double and even wake up and tend this new baby.”

“My blueberry pie baby?” Adam grinned at his wife. She laughed at his foolishness and gently kissed his cheek. She smoothed her hands over his whiskers. Then she carefully adjusted the pillows behind him. He was feeling well enough to be sitting up in bed and read a bit or write some letters. Adam had even begun to take a few steps or sit in the armchair in the bedroom for brief periods of time.

“Do you want me to get a barber to come over and shave you? Sam said he would try but I’m not so sure he would do any better than I did. Or should I ask Joe? I’m afraid I might cut your nose off. I really never shaved a man before and the last time….”

Adam laughed and put his hand to his throat in mock fear. Kate had attempted to shave him a week earlier and she nicked him so badly that she refused to try again. She had even started to cry thinking that here he was he was flat on his back and she had hurt him. His heavy beard had grown in thickly and was very gray.

“Don’t bother. What do you think if I just had a beard for a while? It’s full of gray do you mind, my child bride?” he teased. There was a twelve-year difference in their ages and they loved to tease each other about it.

”That is what I get for marrying an older man, Mr. Cartwright.” Kate squeezed his hand affectionately in hers.
”An older, wiser man, Mrs.Cartwright.” He smiled affectionately at her and pulled her closer.

“ You look very handsome, Adam.” She smoothed her hand over his whiskers. “And it tickles me when we kiss.” She gently leaned into him and kissed him.

Adam reached up and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her still closer. “I missed what you just said.”
”It tickles me when we kiss.” She kissed him a second time.

He held her tightly and wouldn’t let her go. “I love you so Katie-bird.” He was clearly feeling a lot better and Kate was tremendously relieved.