“Alright,” Adam interrupted, “Then would you kindly explain to me how her father’s bible got there? How all of her things got there? If she isn’t real, that must have been some fever I had!”

“Adam, I don’t care to argue with you although I could. You’re just not going, plain and simple!” With that, he walked away from his son.

“I’m a grown man, pa. Just try and stop me.” Adam muttered to himself.

Ben sat at his desk thinking about how he had been at odds with his eldest son for quite some time now. First, it was about windmills and now this. Well, he had caved and given in to Adam’s tantrum about the windmills, but he wouldn’t for this. It was far too dangerous of a lesson for Adam to go off and find out for himself that she didn’t exist. Meanwhile, Ben was fighting a different battle of a similar topic with another of his sons. Joe had recently fallen in love with Amy Bishop, the daughter of Luther Bishop who Ben had been in conflict with over a piece of land called the Truckee Strip for years. Joe was hurting, Ben knew that. He also knew that the boy would do anything to see this girl and wouldn’t care who told him not to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other side of the Ponderosa, Joe had done just that. He had ridden off to meet with Amy by the creek where they usually met. He was sure that no one knew where he had gone and no one had followed him there. He rode up and saw Amy dipping her toes in the cool water as she loved to do. He tied his horse to a tree branch and quietly walked over to her.

“Excuse me, ma’me, but would you happen to know where I could find a beautiful girl? She’s about so high with eyes like stars and a mouth like a rose.” He said quoting what he has said to her once before while she had been attempting to read poetry to him, although at the time he had been more focused on her.

She turned around and walked over to him. She then through her arms around him.

“I missed you.” She said.

“I missed you too, sweetheart. I brought you somethin’.” He said holding out a flower that he had picked for her.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you!” She said kissing him on the cheek. He put the flower in her hair.

They sat by the creek quietly for a moment. Joe broke the silence with a sigh.

“Are you alright?” Amy asked.

“Yeah, I’m just thinkin’.”

“About what?” She asked, concerned.

“Oh, about us. And about my brother, Adam. He’s been goin’ through a similar situation to ours except pa don’t believe his girl even exists.” Joe explained.

“How can that be?”

Joe then told Amy the story of how Adam had left after fighting with Ben over the importance of windmills and how his horse coming home riderless had prompted them to go out looking for him. He told her the whole story up to how things were now.

Meanwhile, they two weren’t the only ones present for the story. There was someone hiding in the bushes close to them.

“That’s so sad! I hope that he gets to find her. I hate to see people that love each other forced to be apart, especially now that I know how it feels.” Amy said.

Joe gave her a mournful look at this thought.

“Yeah, so do I. Adam sure is hard to live with when he’s sad like that.” Joe joked.

“I bet you really want him to be happy though anyway.” Amy smiled.

“Yeah I do. We don’t always see eye to eye but he’s my brother and he’s had my back a lot of times in my life and I’d have his too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Joe couldn’t sleep for his incessant thoughts of Amy so he went out to take a ride. When he got out he discovered Adam saddling up his horse.

“I guess I don’t have to ask where you’re goin.”

“Oh, Joe, you startled me. Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Because I’m not a child that has to stay in bed all night if he doesn’t want to. No matter what pa thinks.” Joe smirked.

“Couldn’t sleep then, huh?” Adam guessed.

“Never mind me. Pa ain’t gonna like this.”

“Hopefully I’ll be back before he can stir up too much trouble.” Adam winked.

Joe wrestled with trying to stop him in his mind, but he decided that the best thing to do was to just let him go since he knew what Adam was going through.

“Alright, just hurry back so we don’t have to come rescue ya!”

“You mean like I usually have to do for you?” Adam smiled.

Joe rolled his eyes.

“Be careful and for Pete’s sake, bring that girl back with ya so you can show pa that she’s real!” Joe warned.

“I plan to! ” Adam said after he got on his horse. “Oh, and Joe?”

“Yeah?”

“We don’t always see eye to eye but we are brothers and I’d always have your back and I know you’d have mine.” Adam winked and rode away.

Joe watched him ride off and then started back into the house, now ready to go back to bed. On the way back he thought to himself; “Where have I heard that line before?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, just as Joe suspected would happen, they all got up for breakfast and Ben noticed right away that Adam wasn’t the first one there.

“Where’s your brother this morning?” Ben asked both of his other two sons.

Joe started to sweat and squirmed in his chair a bit. He kept his head low toward his plate and shrugged his shoulders.

“Pa, come to think of it I didn’t see him in his room this mornin’ either. I just thought he was out doin’ his chores early or somethin’.” Hoss said.

“Joseph?”

“I thought the same thing too, pa.” Joe said, without looking up from his plate.

“Well then where the devil could he be?” Ben said, starting to appear agitated.

After they had finished their breakfast, Ben told Hoss to go out and check if his horse was in the barn.

“Well, I’m sure it is, pa.” Joe said, smiling guiltily.

“I’ll go check anyway, pa.” Hoss said shooting Joe a suspicious look.

“Joseph, are you feeling alright?” Ben asked.

“Yeah sure, pa. Never better!” He said, accidently backing up into Ben’s desk.

Just then, Hoss ran back into the house.

“Pa, his horse ain’t there!”

“Well that’s odd…well see ya!” Joe said running toward the door.

“Just a minute there, speedy! I think there’s somethin’ goin’ on around here that you ain’t tellin us!” Hoss said.

“S-s something? Like what?” Joe gulped.

“Well, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me? Now!” Hoss demanded.

“Easy Hoss. I think I know exactly where he went. Am I right Joseph?” Ben asked.

“Well why are you askin’ me? How should I know?”

“You should know young man because-”

They heard a horse ride up.

“Good. Maybe that’s Adam now. I told him he wouldn’t find anything. Looks like he realized that before he bothered riding all that way.” Ben said.

“We’d better not mention it just in case, pa. He might be a little stung about not findin’ her.” Hoss pointed out.

“Your right, son.”

“Or maybe he did find her and you’re both wrong!” Joe smirked.

Then someone knocked at the door.

“Adam wouldn’t knock.” Hoss said.

Ben went to the door. There standing before him was a young girl with blond hair wearing what seemed to be Shoshone clothing.

“Can I help you, miss?” Ben asked.

“Yes, does Adam Cartwright live here?” The girl asked, timidly.

“Why yes he does. He’s my son. He isn’t here at the moment, but you may come in anyway if you’d like.” He offered, still not believing what he was seeing.

“May I ask if you’re Ruth Halverson?” Joe asked.

“Yes, I am.” She replied.

Ben and Hoss looked at each other.

Joe smiled in satisfaction.

“So you’re the stubborn father and two hard headed brothers.” She smiled.

“So that’s how older brother described us, huh.” Hoss laughed.

“I still can’t believe this is happening. With all due respect miss, I was sure that you weren’t real because when we found Adam, you were nowhere in sight and he was burning up with fever!” Ben explained.

“I know. I wouldn’t have left him, but I did it to save his life. You see, Chato, the Shaman of the Shoshones would have killed him had I not gone with them and Adam put up so much of a fight that they hit him. I didn’t want to leave him that way, but I had no other choice and I knew by the way he spoke of you all that you would find him soon and take him home.”

As she told her story, Ben began to look at the situation in a new light. He now knew for sure that she did exist and it seemed that she loved his son very much.

“If you don’t mine my asking, where is Adam anyway?” She asked.

“He’s actually out looking for you!” Joe said.

“He’s what! He shouldn’t have done that! It’s far too dangerous!”

“See what I mean?” Ben said.

“Well there’s no way of stopping him now. We should just wait for him to find out that he’s not going to find her there and come back here and that’s when we’ll tell him.” Joe said.

“One problem. What if he won’t come home until he finds her?” Hoss said.

“He’ll have to eventually. Won’t he?” Joe said.

“Let’s just hope that the boy has enough horse sense to come home after a while of not finding her seeing as how he doesn’t have enough food or water to last him too long.” Ben said.

“What’ll we do in the meantime?” Ruth asked.

“Well the first thing we’re going to do is get Mrs. Shaughnessy here to help fix you up.” Ben said politely.

“Pa, do you want me to go into town and fetch her?” Hoss offered.

“As a matter of fact, son, I would like you to do that.” Ben smiled.

Hoss hopped to his feet and rode into town for Mrs. Shaughnessy.

“Who is Mrs. Shaughnessy?” Ruth asked.

“She’s the dressmaker in town; she’s good about helping in cases like this.” Joe winked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hoss got up to her house and knocked at the door. Within a short moment, she came to the door and opened it with a smile upon seeing Hoss.

“Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise. Good morning, Hoss!” She said happily.

“Mornin’ Mrs. Shaughnessy. Listen, ma’me I sorely hate to bother ya but there’s a lady at the Ponderosa that’ll be needin’ your help.” He explained.

“Hoss what on earth are you talkin’ about?”She asked confused and perhaps believing that the problem was more serious than it actually was.

“It’s a long story ma’me and I would be obliged to ya if you wouldn’t mind me explainin’ it to ya on the way out to the Ponderosa quick before my brother Adam gets home.”

“What on earth does Adam have to do with it?” She said while letting Hoss help her into the buckboard.

As he had promised, Hoss explained the whole story so that by the time they reached the house, she knew exactly what she was needed for.

“Ms. Halverson, I would like you to meet Mrs. Shaughnessy. Mrs. Shaughnessy, thank you so much for coming out here on such short notice. This is Ruth Halverson.” Ben introduced.

“Oh, I didn’t mind at all, Mr. Cartwright. It’s lovely to meet you, dear. Now, let’s get you upstairs and get you cleaned up!”

Before she knew it, Ruth was being carted upstairs by a lady she hardly knew for reasons that she didn’t know at all. The three men stayed downstairs and talked.

“Boy is ‘ol Adam gonna be surprised when he gets home and finds out what we have for him.” Hoss smiled.

“He sure is, ain’t he pa? Pa, are you alright?” Joe asked.

“I just hope your brother doesn’t let his feelings cloud his judgment and he gets home safely.” Ben said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not long after, Mrs. Shaughnessy brought Ruth downstairs. The men hardly recognized her. She looked nothing like the she has when she came in. Mrs. Shaughnessy had bought her new clothes, given her a bath and fixed her hair.

When they came down the stairs, all three Cartwrights stood up and gazed in amazement. She looked absolutely beautiful. Mrs. Shaughnessy had dressed her in a light pink dress and put a barrette in her hair. The make-up on her face gave her the most dramatic change. Lightly painted lips with a gentle shade of eye shadow.  The blush on her cheeks made her face light up.

“Well now, doesn’t she just look radiant gentlemen?” Mrs. Shaughnessy said to break the silence.

“Oh, I’m sorry for staring. Yes, Miss Halverson you look positively lovely!” Ben finally said.

“Thank you Mr. Cartwright.” Ruth said, shyly.

“Gee, ma’me, you look awful purdy.” Hoss said.

“You sure do ma’me. Awful pretty!” Joe said.

“Well now I can see that my work here is done for now.” Mrs. Shaughnessy said.

“Thank you so much Mrs. Shaughnessy for all that you’ve done!” Ruth said.

“Oh honey, don’t give it another thought!”

“Yes, thank you Mrs. Shaughnessy. Let me walk you out!” Ben politely offered.

“That’s very kind of you, Ben!” She responded with a smile.

So Ben walked her out while the boys stayed and continued to gaze at the wonderful transformation that Ruth had undergone.

“Adam’s gonna be so happy when he gets her and sees you!” Hoss told her.

Then the boys noticed that Ruth’s smiling face had seemed to vanish before their very eyes.

“Ma’me, are you alright?” Hoss asked her.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’m just so worried about Ada-”

Just then Ben came running into the door.

“Boys, Adam just rode up!” He said in an excited yet frantic voice.

“Did he see Mrs. Shaughnessy leave?” Joe asked.

“No, she just missed him!”

“Let’s get Ruth upstairs so he doesn’t see her.” Hoss said.

They gently shooed Ruth up the stairs. They got back down just in time for Adam to storm through the door.

They all stood with their hands folded behind their backs guiltily but Adam was too steamed to notice.

“Welcome back, son!” Ben greeted.

“How’d ya make out, older brother?” Hoss asked.

“As if you don’t already know!” Adam said.

“What do ya mean?” Hoss asked, worried that Adam was on to them.

“Well it’s plain to see that I came back alone but you already figured I would didn’t ya? You still think she doesn’t exist. Well let me tell you somethin’! She is real and I will find her!” Adam said throwing down his hat in a familiar scene to Ben.

“Now Adam take it easy! Nobody said anything. In fact we feel really sorry for ya.” Joe said.

“Really? All of you?” Adam asked.

“Yes son all of us.” Ben said, knowing the comment was directed at him.

“In fact we got somethin’ that might make you feel better.” Hoss said.

“Nothing can do that for me right now but go ahead and knock yourselves out.”

“I don’t know son. I think this might be enough to make you change that statement. Joe, go upstairs and get your brother’s ‘surprise’.” Ben said.

“Yes sir!” Joe chuckled as he ran up the steps.

“Well he certainly is giddy.” Adam muttered.

“Yeah and you might be too soon.” Hoss said.

“Why would that b-”

He was silenced by the sight of Ruth coming down the stairs. He hardly recognized her but he would know his love’s face anywhere. Since it was obvious that he was at a loss for words, she took the liberty of speaking first.

“Hello Adam.” She spoke softly.

“Ruth?”He said faintly. Then, all at once he ran to her.

They held on to each other in a twirling embrace for a moment. It was a moment which Adam had lost all hope that he would ever experience.

“How did you get here?” He asked, once the reality settled into his mind.

“It’s a long story, love.” She said.

“Well, I’ve got time whenever you’re ready to tell me. I’m just thankful you’re safe! When I got to the Mountain of the Dead I went to the tribe and, after waiting and observing for a while, saw you weren’t there anymore.” Adam explained.

“I must have left not long before. I was planning on trying to escape soon if I hadn’t have gotten the help I did. One of the elders in the tribe realized that there was nothing more I could do for them and that it wasn’t my fault so he convinced Chato to let me go.” Ruth told them.

Adam sat taking the story in as she told it. He knew she was brave and strong-headed and he now knew how far she was willing to go to get to him. He had known since they were separated that she would try to come to him if she ever thought it would be safe for him. She wouldn’t care what it might cost her.

“And you were willing to come all this way just to get back to Adam.” Hoss said.

“That’s right. There’s nowhere else in this world I’d rather be. But why would you take such a chance like that? You could have been killed!” She said directing the question at Adam.

“Oh you know by now that I’m not the kind to sit around and wait for something I want. Besides it all worked out for the best didn’t it?” Adam winked.

Ruth smiled lovingly at Adam. They gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment until Joe broke the silence.

“So pa, when are you going to tell Hop Sing to fix up that guest room for Ru-I mean Miss Halverson?”

Ben glanced over at Joe, giving him a look of warning not to speak another word of it. Joe looked back at Ben and shrugged not really sure why his father had reacted that way. He decided to let it go anyway since no one said anything else to his remark. Ruth noticed right away that Ben seemed uncomfortable and worried that she really had caused an inconvenience. She decided to shift the focus from the offer to something a bit lighter.

“You know there’s really no need to call me Miss Halverson. Ruth would be just fine.” She said, still holding a trace of that shy insecurity she had when she first arrived.

“Yeah she’s right, pa.” Hoss said.

Ben gave Hoss the same stern look that he had given Joe moments before.

“I think until we get to know Miss Halverson a bit better it is more appropriate that we call her such.” He said lightly but sternly.

“Well, Miss Halverson,” Adam smiled, “I’m sure you’re pretty tired after all that effort to get here. I’ll be the one to help you up to your room and I’ll have Hop Sing fix you some food and I’ll bring it up to you.”

“That would be wonderful. I really am tired.” Ruth started to walk upstairs with Adam. She kept thinking how she had surely embarrassed herself in front of Adam’s family. Adam had suspicion that she might be thinking that so he smiled warmly to try and ease her worry.

“After you, ma’me.” He said opening the door for her.

She walked in cautiously, looking around in awe. It had been many years since she had seen the inside of a real house and even then, never one that great. Part of her couldn’t help but feel that she had no right to be there.

“Well what do you think? I know it’s very different from what you’re used to but I hope it’ll be alright.” Adam said, a bit worried about how she would take to this new environment.

“Oh it’s….it’s beautiful! So beautiful. You built all this yourself?” She remembered him mentioning that he had a big hand in building the Ponderosa ranch house when they were together before.

“Well I had help but I drew all the plans for it, yes.”He explained.

“Well that’s still a very important part isn’t it?” She asked.

“I suppose so. I’ll tell you this much, I intend to build a house just like it, well maybe not exactly like it, nothing could match this house exactly, but quite similar, for myself.”

Those words made her start to think. She really wasn’t sure what they were at that moment and that was part of what made her so uncomfortable. She knew that he had asked her to marry him minutes before they were torn apart from each other and he had even given her his mother’s ring. That was then. When she was taken away she had left the ring in a page of her bible. Did that mean that they were no longer engaged? She was young when she was taken away from the “white man’s world” so she wasn’t too familiar with how marriage was instituted. All she had to go on was what Adam had said when he gave her that ring. He told her that as long as she wore that ring they belonged to each other. Well she had taken it off. Did they still belong to each other?

Adam brought her out of her trance when he asked her if she wanted that food yet.

“Yes, i-if it’s not too much trouble.” She said timidly.

“Trouble?! You ought to know by now that you’re never any trouble.” He winked.

He kissed her cheek and went down to get the food.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he got down, his father and brothers were talking rather seriously.

“Pa I just don’t understand how you can take a girl who has been through all that and put her out like that when we have a perfectly good place for her here!” Joe exclaimed.

“Joseph, for the last time I’m not putting her out. I fully intend on paying her bill at the hotel. Look son I just don’t think it’s appropriate for her to be under the same roof as A-Adam, when did you get down here?”

“Just in time to hear what you’ve been saying. Pa, what’s this I hear about you planning to kick her out?” Adam demanded.

“Son, I am not just going to kick her out. She will be perfectly comfortable and safe at the International house. It’s just not proper for her to stay in the same house with you.”

“But pa, she just barely got here. She don’t know nobody here but us and she barely knows us.” Hoss argued.

“That’s right! Pa I won’t just put her out into a town where she knows no one! She’s just fine here! She’s in a separate room. What do you think I’m going to do? Sneak into her room in the middle of the night and-

“Adam! This is still my house and I won’t have people talking about us and how I’m letting a young lady you’re involved with stay in the same house with you without the benefit of marriage! Now I don’t know if it bothers you to be talked about but I won’t have it!”

“Well I for one never cared what people thought and was sure it was you taught that me that way!” Adam said.

“Adam, that girl’s reputation will be ruined! Now don’t you think that would be the last thing she would need here so soon after she arrived?”

“Alright, well then if she goes, I see no reason why I should stay here. I’ll go with her. I’ll even get a separate room that’s on the other side of the building! That way, no one can do any talking!” Adam stormed into the kitchen where he proceeded to do what he had come down for.

Ben pinched his thumb and forefinger together against the bridge of his nose.

“Pa, I’m sure he’ll come to his senses real soon. He just needs time to process all this just like we do.” Hoss said, trying to ease his father’s troubles.

Joe, on the other hand, wasn’t going to be so quick to be on his father’s side. The reason for this wasn’t meant to be in Adam’s favor but in fact, Joe’s own resentment of their father for not allowing him to be with the one he loved.

“Well I just don’t see what the great harm is in her staying here, that’s all. ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adam took the bowl of soup from Hop Sing and brought it up to Ruth in her room. He stopped in front of the door and decided it would be rude to just walk back in so he balanced the soup in one hand and knocked with the other. Shortly after, Ruth walked up to the door and opened it.

“Oh honey, you didn’t have to do that. I was just knocking to let you know I was back.” Adam chuckled.

“It’s alright. I thought your hands might be full when you came back anyway.” Ruth gave him that same shy smile that she had first given him when he realized he had fallen in love with her.

Adam walked over to the bed and sat the tray down. He noticed Ruth was fidgeting with her hands so he commented on it.

“Something wrong?”

She immediately stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. “No, nothing’s wrong. What gave you that idea?”

Adam just gave her a stern look. “You’re fiddling with your hands. A sure sign that you’re nervous.”

Ruth took a deep breath. “Ok I admit it. I may have heard what you and your father were talking about.” She finally told him.

“Oh eavesdropping is so unbecoming to you my dear.” Adam winked.

Ruth’s face got red believing that she had already messed up her relationship with the man she loved more than anything else.

“I’m sorry it’s just that I heard shouting and I was worried it was on my account and…do you hate me?” She said, almost in tears.

Adam put a hand on each of her shoulders. “Of course not! I was only joking, sweetheart! Besides, it’s me who should be apologizing to you!”

“You apologize to me? Well what in the world for?” Ruth asked, confused.

“If you heard what was said down there, even part of it, then I owe you the utter most apology. You should not have to hear something like that especially on your first day here!”

“Oh that’s alright I just don’t want to come between you and your family who you seem to be very close to! Adam, if it’s best that way maybe I should just go to this hotel your father spoke of at least for a while.”

Adam’s hazel eyes went gray with worry. He didn’t want her to have to stay in a hotel for the first time in her life alone especially in a town full of people she didn’t know. Unfortunately, his father might just have made that the only choice possible. He sighed, his disappointment showing in his face.

“I know that’s not what you want. I just don’t understand why my father has to make such an issue out of this! Yes, I understand that people talk but it’s much better than you having to live in a world that you’re not familiar with and that you don’t know!” He sat on the bed and rubbed his face with his palms.

Ruth put her arm around him and did the best she could to comfort him.

“I know it’ll be difficult for me to get used to this world but I have to sometime, right? I might as well do it right away.”

“Yes, but this is a bit much to expect of you all at once!” Adam noted.

“I know I can do it! I’ve done other things on my own. I can do this. Whatever I have to do to make your father happy with our being together I’ll do it!”

Adam, amazed, heard her words and a smile crossed his worried face. His eyes now restored to their natural bright hazel.

“You never did try your soup.”

Ruth went over to where the soup was sitting and picked it up. She took a large spoonful and put it in her mouth.

“Mmm, Delicious!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, neither Adam nor Ruth, who were in separate rooms at each end of the hall at Ben’s distinct request, got any rest. Adam lie awake worried that Ruth was only doing this for his sake and that she wasn’t really ready. Ruth worried that she was as far as she could possibly be from impressing Adam’s father and she wasn’t getting any closer.

“I can’t let myself mess this up! I have to do whatever it takes to make Mr. Cartwright happy, even if that means going out on my own.” She sighed and tried to get back to sleep.

The next morning, Adam and Ruth set out early to head into town and see about getting Ruth a hotel room for the time being. On the way, Adam showed Ruth around the Ponderosa and Virginia City. She seemed to be fascinated with all she was seeing. When they got to the hotel, her eyes lit up! Never before had she seen such a large building with so many rooms.

“Good morning, Tom.” Adam said, greeting Tom Madigan, the hotel clerk at the International House Hotel.

“Well good morning, Adam! What can I do for you today and who’s this lovely lady?” Tom asked.

“Oh this is,” Adam looked at Ruth who he assumed was still standing next to him and realized she had walked off. He saw her on the other end of the room looking like a child in a toy store, fascinated with the beauty of the lobby. He watched her lovingly.

“That’s Ruth Halverson, my erm……”

“Your friend?” Tom winked.

“Yes, my friend.” Adam said in sort of an awkward mutter.

Tom laughed. “And what can I do for you and your ‘friend’ today?”

“Well ya see, she’s new to town and well, pa doesn’t feel comfortable with her staying at the Ponderosa with our eh situation so I was hoping you had a room available that she could stay in for the time being. I’ll be paying of course.” Adam explained.

“Well let’s see. I’ve got about five rooms available right now. How’s about room 16? How would that suit ya?”

“That should be just fine, Tom. Umm Ruth? Come here a moment would you?” Adam called.

Ruth turned around quickly after hearing Adam call her and came running.

“Yes?”

“Well first of all this is Tom Madigan, he’s the clerk here.”

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’me.” Tom smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you too, sir.” Ruth said shyly.

“You already know you’re going to be staying here. He’s going to put you in room 16.” Adam explained.

“And anything you need, anything at all you just come to me and I’ll help in any way I can!” Tom smiled.

“Oh ok, thank you.”

“Now what I was thinking was we could go up to the room now and put what you have in there. Then maybe we can go out and get you some new clothes and-”

Adam stopped when he heard Tom clear his throat.

“On second thought maybe we should get Mrs. Shaughnessy to do that.” Adam corrected himself.

“Mhmm.” Tom smiled.

“But Mrs. Shaughnessy already gave me some close yesterday.” Ruth said.

“Well that certain isn’t enough clothing for a lady! You might need more and there might be some other things you will need.”

Adam thought for a moment and realized that Mrs. Shaughnessy would be out for the day and wouldn’t be able to come help them. Then another thought came to his mind.

“Hey, I wonder where Joe is right about now.”

“Wasn’t he at home when we left?” Ruth asked.

“Yeah he was. Tom, would you keep Ruth company for me while I head out to the Ponderosa for a minute?”

“Why sure.” Tom said.

“Thanks. Ruth, I’ll be right back. Why don’t you go up to your room and check it out or sit here and talk to Tom until I get back?” Adam suggested.

With that he was out the door and on his way back home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn’t take Adam long before he reached the house. Upon riding up, he saw Joe in the yard. He walked up to his youngest brother to ask his help.

“Well you’re back early. Here I thought you might not come back at all after pa made Ruth move into the hotel!” Joe laughed.

“Believe me I wouldn’t be back already but I had to come run something by you!”

Joe’s face lit up in surprise. “You mean you came all the way back home and left Ruth for me? I must say older brother I’m touched!”

“Yeah I’m sure you are but don’t get too excited! I just figured you might want to capitalize on an idea I had.”

“Go on.” Joe said, intrigued.

Adam looked around for signs of anyone else being within hearing range of them. Then he leaned in closer to Joe.

“Ok well Ruth needs another woman to help her get settled in and Mrs. Shaughnessy is out of town today so I was thinking you might be able to get Amy to-”

“Amy! What do you know about Amie?!” Joe said, defensively.

“Let’s just say you don’t cover your tracks very well. Anyway, the point is I need you to go and get Amie to come help Ruth. Do you think you can do it?”

Joe thought for a moment. “Well Luther is out for the day so she’s probably alone. I think I might be able to help.” Joe grinned at the chance to see Amie.

“One thing though, if you have to go on Concho land I don’t want you to risk it! I know you think her father’s gone for the day but you just can’t take that kind of a risk! If she’s up at the house then I’ll have to think of something else.”

“Well older brother, you do care!” Joe smirked.

“Not as much as you think, I just don’t need pa askin’ all kinds of questions when your horse comes in with you slug over him!”

“Well if I know Amie, which I think I do, she’s not even at the house. A beautiful day like this she’s probably soaking her feet in the creek on the Truckee Strip.” Joe explained.

“Well then that should be perfect for you! Let’s go!”

As Joe went towards his horse Adam grabbed his arm. “Oh and don’t forget, we’re there for a reason, no dilly dally understood?!”

“Yes sir!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the hotel, Ruth was still looking around at everything that was all new to her. Tom was behind his desk doing paperwork. Every so often he would carefully raise his head and smile at the sight of her intrigue.

Suddenly, a wealthy businessman who had lived in Virginia City for a long time by the name of Amos Bronson walked into the hotel lobby and up to Tom’s desk.

“Oh good morning, Mr. Bronson! What can I do for you today?” Tom asked.

“I’ve come to secure that back room of yours for a meeting of my investors in a few days.” The man explained.

“Certainly, sir. I will have to ask for your deposit in advance. I will put you down for-what day did you say it was again?”

“That’s fine I have my money right here. And it will be this Wednesday at noon.”

Ruth watched the two men with the corner of her eye. She thought to herself that this man was dressed like he must have had money. Her father was never rich enough to dress that way but she remembered a banker or two who looked like that when she was little. Incidentally, none of those men were ever very nice but she decided it wasn’t her nature to judge a person before at least talking to them first.

“Will that be all for you, Mr. Bronson?” Tom asked.

“Yes, for now that’ll be all, Tom.” As he was about to leave he noticed Ruth looking at a shelf of books on the other side of the lobby. He walked up to her, able to tell right away that he’d never seen her before.

“Excuse me, ma’me. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure. My name is Amos Bronson. I believe you must be new to our humble town.”

Ruth, not knowing what to say and being as shy as she was, simply extended her hand, expecting him to shake it. When he reached down and kissed the back of it, Ruth pulled away, startled.

“Oh, do forgive me. I didn’t mean to startle you!” The man said.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t think Adam would like-”

“Adam? Do you mean Adam Cartwright?” He asked.

Ruth shook her head.

“Why then you must be- no that’s impossible. You’re not that Indian woman that he was ranting and raving about when the Cartwrights found him in the mountains are you?”

Ruth looked at him suspiciously. “Yes, that would be me.”

Mr. Bronson immediately backed away from her as if she had some kind of deadly disease.

“Excuse me, Mr. Madigan!” He called out to Tom, who was already on his way over after sensing trouble between the two.

“Yes, Mr. Bronson. Is there a problem?”

“There most certainly is! Exactly when did you start allowing riffraff into your hotel?!”

Tom looked down at the floor. He knew full well what the man meant but he thought he’d use his sense of humor to try and dismiss the situation.

“I don’t see any rats. In fact, I’ve been here for five years now and I’ve never seen a rodent in this hotel!”

“Now don’t get smart with me, man! You know what I meant! This girl is half savage! She has no business in this town let alone in a fine establishment such as this!”

“I’ll have ya know that there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that gal!” A voice suddenly came from behind the men.

They looked over to see Hoss standing in the doorway.

“Hoss Cartwright, surely your father doesn’t condone this behavior of your brother!”

“I reckon I just don’t know what ya mean Mr. Bronson.”

“Oh you know exactly what I mean and I intend to speak to your father about this very soon! And as for you girl, you have no place here and I intend to see to it that you are sent back to wherever you came from!” With that he stormed out.

Ruth didn’t know much about this new world but she did know a threat when she heard it, so did Tom and Hoss.

“Hoss if I were you, I’d watch out for him. He sure does get angry and when he does nothing but trouble tends to surround it.” Tom warned.

“I know, Tom. I just wish my pa wasn’t so determined to move Miss Halverson into a hotel room and not the safety of the Ponderosa.”

“I agree. I will protect her as much as I can but I can’t watch her every minute like you all could.” Tom said.

“Hoss?” Ruth started.

“Yeah Miss Halverson-er I mean Ruth.”

“Do you really think that man will try to hurt me?”

“I hate to say it but, there’s just no tellin’ what a fella like that might do.” Hoss said.

“But what had he got against me? He doesn’t even know me!”

Hoss and Tom looked at each other. They both knew the answer but were too afraid of hurting Ruth’s feelings by telling her the truth. Ruth was a little smarter than they gave her credit for though. She knew there was more to it than they wanted to tell her and she wanted to know what it was.

“Please, Hoss. I need to know what it is I did so wrong in the short time I’ve been in this town.” Her eyes pleaded for Hoss to tell her.

“Well ma’me, it’s just that people like ol’ Mr. Bronson, not common of folks in this town mind ya, don’t really take much of a likin’ to people who might be, well, different.” Hoss felt awkward even saying it.

Ruth tried her best to make sense of what Hoss was telling her.

“So what you’re saying is that this man, who I don’t even know, hates me because I grew up around the Shoshones?”

“I’m afraid so, Miss Halverson.” Tom interjected.

“Umm, Hoss, maybe it’d be better if we didn’t mention this to Adam right now. He may take it the wrong way.” Ruth suggested.

Hoss thought about it for a moment. He hated lying to Adam but the way he thought about it was that there was no reason to flare up Adam’s temper for what had just been words. Besides why worry him if there was no reason to?

“Alright. I see no need to worry Adam about meaningless comments anyway.” Hoss said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adam and Joe reached the Truckee Strip where Joe was sure Amy would be this time of day. Sure enough, she was sitting on a rock by the creek with what looked like a pad of paper and a pencil in her hand. Joe smiled at the sight of her.

“Oh Adam, ain’t she beautiful?”

“Yes that she is. I can see why you love her. Now, are you sure she’s not gonna mind doing this for us?” Adam asked.

“Mind? My Amy, mind? Never!” Joe assured.

With that, Joe came out from behind the bushes and slowly crept up behind Amy. Once behind her, he quietly put his lips up to her ear.

“What’cha drawin’ there, miss?”

All at once Amy turned around half startled to see him standing behind her. When the shock wore off and she realized it was him, she wrapped her arms around his neck. As they embraced, Adam couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward. Finally he just started staring at the ground kicking his leg back and forth.

“Oh, yeah I forgot about that. Um Amy, this is my brother Adam.” Joe finally introduced.

Amy looked up and saw Adam standing there.

“I know Adam! It’s been a long time but I would remember Adam anywhere!” Amy said warmly. Then she ran up and gave Adam a hug.

“Hello, Amy. Yes it sure has been a long time hasn’t it.”

“I’m sure by the fact that Joe brought you here that you know about him and me.”

“That’s right I do.” Adam told her.

“Amy, he’s alright with it and he’s not gonna tell pa so you don’t have to worry.” Joe said.

“Well that’s good to hear!” Amy said, the relief showing in her voice.

“Actually, sweetheart, we kind of have a favor to ask.”

“Anything! What can I do?”

“Well, you remember about the girl I told you about, Ruth?”

“Sure I do.”

Joe went on to explain what they needed and Amy immediately agreed to help. She went to her house first and told her father that she was going to help a friend in town, which wasn’t far from the truth, she thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got back to the hotel, Ruth was up in her room and Hoss was in the lobby waiting for them.

“Howdy, brothers. Oh, howdy miss Bishop.” He said.

“Oh eh Hoss, what are you doin’ here?” Joe asked, worried that Hoss had just seen him with Amy.

“Well I was just here keepin’ miss Ruth company that’s all.”

“Thanks Hoss.” Adam said changing the subject before signaling Amy and Joe to go up to Ruth’s room.

When they reached the door to her room, Adam knocked. Ruth quickly came to the door knowing it must have been Adam.

“Hi darlin’, there’s somebody I want you to meet. Ruth Halverson, this is Amy Bishop. She’s eh…a friend of Joe’s.” Adam said with a wink.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you! Joe has told me so much of what Adam’s told him about you!” Amy shook Ruth’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you too! Thank you for offering to come over here and help.” Ruth said in her usual shy tone.

“It’s my pleasure! Now let’s get to work! I’m sure you gentlemen won’t mind if Ruth and I take a little trip into town alone would you?”

“Oh, uh sure of course not!” Adam said.

Amy took Ruth back into town and spent most of the day shopping with her. Amy never had a sister or a mother so she was thrilled to finally get a chance to spend the day with another lady and perhaps have made a friend.

While they were shopping at the women’s boutique, Amy decided to try and break Ruth’s obvious shy spell.

“Oh this would look amazing on you! You know, this is actually the first time I’ve gotten the chance to go anywhere with another lady. I don’t have a sister and my mother died when I was very young so I am so glad to have this chance!” She said sweetly.

Ruth smiled at her. “I’ve never gotten to do anything with another lady either. I had a sister and a brother too but they died a long time ago when my father died. My mother died when I was a baby and the others when I was six. I really haven’t had much human contact since then. To the Shoshones I was a spirit woman so they never came anywhere near me. Even if they had I wouldn’t have been able to talk to them like a normal person.”

Amy sat taking in Ruth’s story and was almost in tears. She hated to hear that someone so kind had been going through something so hard. She had been lonely her whole life but had never realized that she was so lucky, much more so than Ruth.

When they finished their shopping, Joe hurried and took Amy home so that she didn’t get in trouble. Adam walked Ruth back to her hotel room.

“Well sweetheart, I suppose this is goodbye for now.” Adam said sadly.

“Wait! Do you have to go? I mean, could you stay for just a little while?”

Adam thought about it. He knew that it wouldn’t be considered appropriate if he were to come into her hotel room and be alone with her considering their relationship but he had decided a long time ago that what other people thought just didn’t matter to him.

“Sure I can.” He smiled before coming into the room.

He came in and sat on a chair next to her.

“So it seems to me that you had a pretty nice day with Amy.”

“Yes, she’s a very nice person! I’ve never met someone like her before! C-could I ask you something about her?”

“Sure, I’ll do my best to answer it.”

“Well, why is it that Joe and Amy can’t be together? They seem to be so much in love so I just can’t understand why it is that they aren’t allowed to feel that way about each other.”

Adam took a deep breath.

“Well sweetheart it’s like this; a long time ago Amy’s father, Luther Bishop, claimed a piece of land as part of his own. It came to be called the Truckee Strip. Well my father saw it as a part of the Ponderosa. They argued over it for several years and never got anything settled so they finally took it to court.”

“What happened?” Ruth interjected.

“The judged awarded the land to my father. Luther Bishop didn’t agree with the court ruling though so he continues to act as if the land belongs to him. My father, as you can imagine, agrees with the court ruling so nothing is settled still today.”

“And Amy and Joe are caught in the middle.” Ruth assumed.

“That’s right. They knew of each other’s existence their whole lives but they had never met before now. From what I gather, after they met that was it! They fell in love right away.”

“How sad and unfair!” Ruth said.

“I agree. Unfortunately for the moment there is not much I can do to change pa’s mind. I’ve got enough to do changing his mind about us.”

“What about us? Your father doesn’t like me?”

“Oh no! No, that’s not what I meant at all! It’s just that, well you know that he wants you here and I would rather have you out at the Ponderosa with me.”

“Oh, well you know if it’s what your father would prefer it’s probably best. If course I would rather be with you but we want to make sure your father likes me!” Ruth smiled.

Adam leaned in close to her.

“Don’t you know that I would love you no matter what he thought?”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t like to have his approval just the same!” Ruth said, giving him a Cheshire cat grin.

“I love you, ya know that!? Alright, sweetheart, whatever makes you happy.” Adam smiled.

“Do you know what else might be a good idea to stay on your father’s good side?”

“What would that be?” Adam asked, playfully pretending to dread the answer.

“If you were to get home at a timely hour. I’ve kept you here long enough.”

“Oh well I think he should start getting used to it. Ya know one day I won’t be leaving you at all anymore!” Adam winked before starting to get up and head toward the door.

“And until that day comes its best not to upset him.” Ruth said before kissing Adam goodnight.

“Well I suppose you right. Goodnight, beautiful.”

“Goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“You just try to keep me away!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, bright and early, a buggy rode up to the ranch house with Amos Bronson sitting in the seat of it. He quickly got out and headed towards the front door of Ben’s home in a march. Hoss was by the barn doing chores and saw the man heading toward the house.

“Mornin’ Mr. Bronson.” He said cheerfully.

“Hoss I haven’t the time right now for pleasantries. Where can I find your father?”

“He’s in the house right now-”

“Good, I’ll go in and speak to him then!”

With that he was back into his march toward the house. Hoss just shook his head and went back to work.

Mr. Bronson walked up to the door, knocked once, and then came right in.

“Ben I need to speak with you! It’s urgent! Where are you?”

“I’m right here, Amos.” Ben got up from his desk and walked over. “What’s the trouble?”

“What on earth do you think the trouble is?”

“Well other than your barging into my home I must admit I have no idea.”

“It’s that girl your son brought here!”

“Well what about her?” Ben chuckled.

“What about her?! She’s part Injun that’s what about her!”

“Now Amos that just isn’t true and even if it were it doesn’t make any difference.”

“It is true and it makes every bit of difference! Now Ben I thought you and your boys were better than that! I must have been wrong because not only is your boy spending time with that savage, he’s the one that brought her here in the first place!”

Suddenly Adam came in the room.

“That girl is not a savage, Amos! She just happens to be the girl I’m going to marry and I’m afraid I just don’t care what you think of it. Now I’ll give you this one chance but the next time you say anything about Miss Halverson, I’ll take care of you myself.”

“Now Ben that boy of yours has bitten off more than he can chew! You’d better do something about him before he goes and ruins your good name!” With that, Amos Bronson stormed out the front door, almost knocking Joe, who was coming in from the other side, to the ground.

“Well what was that about?” Joe asked, while trying to pick himself up.

Adam walked out the door passed Joe to go and cool off.

“Oh nothing, Joseph. It was just Amos Bronson trying to cause trouble again.

“He sure does have a knack for things like that don’t he?” Hoss said, walking up behind Joe.

“Ha! You’re tellin’ me! He dang near killed me just now!” Joe yelped.

Ben raised an eyebrow at his middle son. “Why, Hoss, did something else happen?”

Hoss’ face turned red as he remembered the promise he had made to Ruth not to mention the events of the day before.

“Hoss, if Amos has a knack for doing things like this that would insinuate that he did something before. Now what happened that you are not telling us?”

Hoss looked towards the ground and kicked his leg back and forth in hesitation. “Pa, I promised Miss Ruth that I wouldn’t say anythin’ about it!”

“Well Hoss you know that if something happened with a fella like Amos then it’s got to be serious.” Joe said.

“Your brother’s right, son, you need to tell us what happened.”

“Ya promise you won’t tell Adam?”

“You tell me what happened and then I will decide whether or not Adam needs to be told.”

Hoss paced back and forth while reluctantly informing his father of what had happened between Amos Bronson and Ruth in the hotel lobby the day before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ruth paced back and forth waiting for Adam to stop by. She knew that he had not given her an exact time that he would come calling but she hoped it would be soon. She still didn’t know anyone in town and after her run in with Amos Bronson, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go out and meet new people, at least not by herself. She was just going to go down to the hotel lobby and visit with Tom when a knock came at the door. She hurriedly rushed to open it. When she did, Adam was at the other end leaning against the door frame.

“Well good afternoon, sir!” Ruth smiled.

“Good afternoon, ma’me. Eh, were you thinking about going somewhere? I hope this isn’t a bad time.”

“Oh no, no I was just going to go down to the lobby and visit with Tom until you got here.” Ruth smiled.

“Oh, well ya know I was just down there and Tom looked pretty busy.” Adam pointed out.

Ruth frowned a little bit. She wanted to go beyond the four walls of her room and she thought now that she wasn’t going to get much chance.

“I’ve got it! Why don’t we go get some lunch at the restaurant down the street? After that maybe we can take a buggy ride on the Ponderosa. How does that sound?”

“That sounds wonderful!”

The two left the hotel room and went down to the lobby to leave. Tom was sitting at his desk working on some paper work.

“Tom, we’re going to go out for a while.” Adam told him.

“Alright, you two have a good day now.” Tom smiled.

“Will do!” Adam said.

“Good bye, Tom!” Ruth smiled.

Adam and Ruth quickly arrived to the restaurant and Ruth was once again in awe. It was beautiful inside. There were round tables everywhere with pretty flowers in the middle and a beautiful chandelier on the ceiling. The floors were made of wood and there were soft curtains on the windows. The waiters all wore suits with green jackets. The two were seated at a private table in the corner.

Right away the two were offered a taste of some fine wine. Ruth had never tasted wine before so her nose turned up a bit when she took a sip. Adam chuckled at the sight.

“It’s alright, you’ll get used to it” He smiled.

When their meal came, Ruth timidly pushed it around her place with her fork. It took Adam no time at all to notice.

“What’s wrong, Ruth? Are you uncomfortable? If you are we don’t have to stay!” He insisted.

“Oh no, I’m sorry. I’m fine, it’s just that I’m not used to all of this and I don’t….”

“Don’t what, sweetheart?”

“I don’t want to do anything wrong to make you think what everyone else seems to think.”

“And just exactly what is that you think everyone else thinks?”

“That I don’t fit in, which is true. I try, I really do, I just don’t seem to be able to get used to all of this. The food is wonderful and this place is beautiful, but I don’t know how to use special forks and have proper manners. Is any of this making sense?”

Adam reached over and put his hand over hers. “It’s makes perfect sense. I want you to know something though. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of you! I love you just the way you are! I don’t care if you don’t eat with certain kinds of forks or your nose tickles when you taste wine! To me that’s what makes you who you are and who you are is everything to me!”

“Even if your own father doesn’t approve of me?”

“What? What are you talking about? My father doesn’t think any such thing! I mean sure, he didn’t believe me that you even existed and now he’s being stubborn about you staying at the Ponderosa…..oh! Oh, Ruth, is that why you don’t think he likes you?”

“It’s not just him, Adam. This whole town seems to think that I’m some kind of….”

“Some kind of what?”

“Savage!” Ruth turned her head away.

Adam’s eyes widened. “Who said that about you?!” he demanded.

“N-nobody it’s just what I know they think.” Ruth tried hard not to tell him the truth.

Adam stopped and took a deep breath. His voice calmed the next time he spoke.

“I’m sorry if I seemed to yell. I just don’t want you to feel like that! I won’t allow anyone to say those kinds of things about you and I won’t allow you to believe those kinds of things of yourself.”

“I’m sorry too. I just want to badly to be good enough. If not for this town, than at least for you! I want to be what you see in me!”

“You are not only good enough for me, but you’re better! I don’t deserve a woman like you! Now, let’s finish this meal and not let others spoil it!”

When they finished, they walked back out to the buggy. As Adam helped her into it, Ruth realized that there was something important she had forgotten.

“Oh no!”

“What is it?” Adam asked, concerned.

“I forgot to lock my hotel room door! Do you mind terribly much if we go back to the hotel on our way to the Ponderosa? I would just feel better if I knew the door was locked.”

“Of course we can! I think it’s a good idea to fix that before we go any further.”

The two headed back to the hotel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got closer, they realized that a crowd had gathered around the hotel. Upon getting a better look, they saw the smoke coming from the building.”

“Adam the hotel, it’s in fire!”

Adam drove faster up to the crowd. They realized that there was only one part of the building that had been burned and the fire was pretty well out now. Suddenly, Adam noticed his father talking to the sheriff. He got out of the buggy and, after telling Ruth to stay put, he walked over to them.

“Pa, Roy, what in the world happened here while we were gone?”

“Adam-“Roy began but was silenced by Ben’s hand on his arm.

“Roy, please let me tell him.”

“Tell me what?”

“Son, the fire was set in Ruth’s room. Someone set a cloth on fire that they had put in an empty whisky bottle. Then they threw it in the window. Thank goodness no one was hurt and thank goodness Ruth wasn’t there or she would have been.”

Adam almost fell back when he heard this. His first reaction was to head back over to Ruth to make sure she was safe.

“Did you find out what happened?” She asked as soon as she saw him.

“Ruth it….it was set in your room.”

“What?! What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that whoever set this fire set it to kill you!”

Ruth sat quietly in shock. After a few moments, she finally spoke.

“Was anyone hurt?” She said slowly.

“No, they caught the fire before anyone got hurt.”

“That’s a relief.” Ruth sighed.

Minutes later Ben and Roy walked up.

“Ruth do you know of anybody who would have wanted to hurt you like that?” Roy asked.

“Um Roy, why don’t we head to your office and talk about this?” Ben suggested.

The four walked over to the jail.

“Now Roy, I know there are people in this town who haven’t been too kind to Miss Halverson but to want to set the hotel on fire where there are many innocent people?” Ben said.

“I don’t understand it either, Ben. All I can think is that maybe the person that did it might not have been thinking about the other people or thought that they wouldn’t get hurt because the fire was started in just Ruth’s room. Other than that I don’t know.”

Ben sighed. “Roy, I think my son Hoss might be able to give you an idea as to who may have done this.”

“Hoss? Why Hoss?” Adam asked.

“‘Cause I reckon I heard something that I never should have kept from ya, Adam.” Hoss said as he walked through the door.

“Hoss had just told me about this and we were headed into town to tell Roy. That’s when we got word of the fire.” Ben explained.

“What exactly is it you were going to tell me?” Adam asked.

“He was probably going to tell you that Amos Bronson doesn’t like me at all and thinks I am a savage.” Ruth said all at once.

“I’m sorry, Ruth, I just thought pa should know.” Hoss said, hanging his head.

“It’s alright, Hoss. I should have told Adam anyway so you were right to tell your father.”

“So that’s what you meant when you said that at the restaurant!” Adam realized.

“Yes, that’s what I meant.”

“Excuse me but could somebody please tell me what you’re talking about and who it is you think did this so I can do my job?!” Roy demanded.

“A few days ago when I was in town for the first time and moved into the hotel, I was sitting in the lobby when Mr. Bronson came in. I guess he must have heard about me already because he asked Tom Madigan how he was allowing-“She paused.

“How he was allowing what?” Roy asked.

“How he was allowing a savage into his hotel.” Ruth finished quietly.

Adam’s face became flush with anger. “Well if I’d known that I would have-”

“You would have tried to take matters into your own hands. That is why I asked Hoss not to tell you about it.” Ruth explained.

“How exactly did you come about finding out?” Adam asked Hoss.

“I came into the hotel to check on Ruth and heard the tail end of it. I told him to leave her alone and I had every meanin’ to tell ya, Adam I really did. It’s just that Ruth asked me not to and-”

“And you thought that was best for her!? She was in danger! You should have at least told Pa!”

“Adam, he did tell me. He told me today. That’s when we went into town to talk to Roy about it and found out about the fire.” Ben told him.

Ruth gently wrapped her arms around Adam’s arm. “Adam, dear, he was just doing what I asked of him. Please don’t be angry.” Ruth pleaded.

Adam took a deep breath and his expression lightened. “Oh I’m not angry, sweetheart; I’m just worried that’s all. You could have been seriously hurt or even….that’s why I’m so upset! I can’t be angry at Hoss anyway. I should have known when Bronson stopped by earlier today before I picked you up that he was going to start something!”

“How could you have known!?” Ruth asked.

“I should have known because Amos Bronson has always been prejudice and the things he was saying could and should have been taken as a threat!”

“Well if you’d tried to do something before he actually committed a crime there might not have been anything I coulda done but now there’s plenty I can do! I can arrest him for suspicion!” Roy said.

“How soon can you do that?” Ben asked.

“Just give me a minute to lock up and I’ll go see Mr. Bronson personally!”

Ben thought about it for a moment. “Uh Roy, I think Adam and Ruth should stay here for this one. Hoss and I will go with you gladly.”

“I know what you’re worried about, Pa, but I’m not going to just sit here-“Adam stopped when he felt Ruth’s hand on his shoulder.

“I think it’s best if we wait for them.” She smiled.

“Thank you, Ruth.” Ben said.

“Hey Pa, where’s Little Joe at anyway? I ain’t seen him all day.” Hoss pointed out.

“I don’t know, son, he’s probably back at the house by now. I sent him out to round up some stray cattle hours ago. Either way, let’s get this taken care of and then we’ll head home and see if he’s there.” Ben instructed.

“Right pa.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joe and Amy had just come back from taking a walk around that time. They stopped about five minutes away from the house as they always did to avoid Joe being seen by Amy’s father. Suddenly, as they were about to part, Joe presented an idea to Amy.

“Ya know, I’m getting a little tired of hiding. I think maybe it’s high time I had a talk with your father. Maybe I can show him I’m not such a bad guy. At the very least, I can make sure he judges me based on something a little more concrete than his feelings about my father.”

“Oh Joe, I would love for him to give you that chance, but-“She sighed.

“But what, Amy?”

“I just don’t think he will. I mean, I know we have to do it sometime but I just don’t want to make things worse.”

Joe gently lifted Amy’s chin.

“Sweetheart, our families hate each other. Things can’t get any worse than that. This is just a chance to make things better. Even if it doesn’t go well, we can still do what we’ve been doing and sneak around! Nothing will change.” He assured.

“Alright, I suppose you’re right. Just let me go in first to make sure he’s in a good mood before sending you in.”

Joe agreed. He remained in the same spot while Amy went to go see her father. She went into to the house and was stopped by Luther’s foreman, Jessup.

“Where have you been all this time?”

“What business could that possibly be of yours?” Amy scoffed.

“Your pa tells me to look after ya. If you disappear, he’ll have my hide! Besides,” He moved a little closer to her, “I have an interest in you.”

Just then, Luther Bishop came into the room. “Well, there you are, my dear! Where have you been all day?” He asked, leaning in and kissing his daughter’s cheek.

“Well pa I-“She stopped and glared at Jessup, who was still leaning up against the door frame.

“That’s all for now, Pete. Why don’t you go on back to work?” Luther instructed.

Jessup reluctantly walked out the door. Amy turned back to her father.

“Pa, there’s something I have to talk to you about. Actually there’s someone I want you to meet.” She said nervously.

Luther grinned. “Well, I had a feeling there would be. You’ve been running off so much lately that I figured there must be some young fella courting you. Now, let’s get a look at this young man!”

“Well, pa, you see he’s waiting for me a little ways off.” She told him.

Luther cocked an eyebrow. “Whatever for?”

“I think you’ll understand once I bring him here.”

“Alright, child, then go on and get him!” He smiled.

Amy hurried out to get Joe, who was waiting patiently for her.

“He’s ready to see you! He’s in a wonderful mood! The only thing is that I didn’t tell him who you are.”

“Well I can’t blame you for that! I wouldn’t want to give him the wrong impression of me right off the bat.” Joe winked.

The two walked back to the house. Joe did his best to contain it, but inside his stomach was twisting and turning like a maze. “I sure hope my big mouth had the right idea doing this.” He told himself.

They got in front of the door and Joe stopped to brush himself off.

“You look fine!” Amy said, getting an idea how he was feeling.

Amy opened the door to see Luther sitting there waiting.

“Alright now, let’s see this mystery man of yours.”

With that, Joe walked in the door to face him for the first time.

“Hello, Mr. Bishop.”

“Little Joe Cartwright? He gasped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before heading to the Bronson residence, Roy, Ben, and Hoss got a warrant from the judge to make sure that they followed proper procedure. The judge, along with the rest of the town, knew how bluntly Amos Bronson expressed his opinions, especially where his prejudices were concerned so he was more than agreeable about giving them a warrant. In fact, he even agreed to go along with them.

The four rode up to Bronson’s home and knocked. It didn’t take him long to come to the door.

“Ah Ben, I see it didn’t take you long to see that I was right about that undesirable that you son brought here! Judge Grant, sheriff, how great of you to come by and talk strategy with us on how to get rid of her!”

“Mr. Bronson, are you admittin’ that you had something to do with the fire at the hotel?” Roy asked.

“Did I have something to do with it? Of course! I’m the one who started the fire! I thought if anything would scare that woman out of here it would be that!”

“Bronson, do you realize that you set the hotel on fire!?” The Judge asked.

“I only set her room on fire! I knew they would get it out before anyone got hurt! I just meant to scare her that’s all!”

The men looked at each other and realized how demented this man really was. At that point, Roy told him he was under arrest and took him to the jail. Ben and the judge walked behind.

The first one to see them when they arrived was Adam. He saw Bronson in cuff’s and felt something inside of him explode. He was inches away from grabbing the man’s shirt when Hoss and Ben held him back.

“Adam, Adam calm down! He confessed! He’ll be going away for what he did, I promise you!” Ben said.

“He confessed?! I’m alright, you can let me go!”

Just to be safe, Roy put him in the cell before allowing Ben and Hoss to release Adam.

Once free, Adam walked over to the cell that held Bronson safely inside.

“You really did do it, didn’t you? You risked the lives of all those people in the hotel just because you didn’t want Ruth here! Well, let me tell you something, she’s going to stay here and you’re the one who’s going away! I hope you go away for a long time for this Bronson!”

“Adam, the maximum prison sentence I can give him is three years. After that though, I will see to it that he is not allowed to step one foot into Virginia City every again!” Judge Grant said.

“Are you sure you can’t give him more than that, judge? Ben asked.

“I’m sorry, Ben, that’s all I can do! Rest assured though, he will never see this young woman again!

Ruth quietly walked up in front of the rest of them to Bronson’s cell. She looked deeply into his eyes.

“I don’t know why you hate me so much, Mr. Bronson, but I don’t hate you. I just feel, very, very sorry for you. Not because you are going to jail, but because you have allowed hate of someone you don’t even know to ruin your life. For that, I’m sorry for you.”

In what was perhaps the first time in his life, Amos Bronson bowed his head in what seemed to be shame. Ruth just turned and walked out of the jail, the Cartwrights not far behind.

Before they got close to the hotel, Ben put a hand on Adam’s shoulder and one on Ruth’s.

“Given the circumstances, I would be happy if you would stay at the ranch with us, Ruth. At least until things improve here.” He smiled.

“Thank you Mr. Cartwright but things have already improved. I think from now on Virginia City will be a safer place for me to live.”

“Ruth, are you turning this offer down because of how I acted before?” Ben asked.

“Not at all, Mr. Cartwright. I think you were right in your thinking before. It would be more appropriate for me to stay in the hotel, in a different room, at least for a while.”

“Darling, are you sure?” Adam asked.

“As long as I’ll still get to see you every day, I’m sure.” She winked.

Adam grinned and pulled her close. “Tom will be tired of seeing me after just one week.”

The two went into the hotel and arranged for Tom to give Ruth a new room far away from the old one. Once her new belongings were moved to the new room, she and Adam walked up to it.

“This is even lovelier than the first one!”

“I have to agree with you! It’s very nice!

They both stammered for a few seconds, knowing this was goodbye until the following day.

“I suppose I should head back now. I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow!” He assured.

“Is that a promise? I hope it is!”

“I give you my word, ma’me”

With that, the two kissed goodbye and Adam walked out slowly. Ruth stayed outside of the room long enough to watch him for as long as she could. Then she let out a deep sigh and went back in. Adam stopped outside of the hotel and looked up to her window.

“Until tomorrow, my love.” He whispered before riding away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mr. Bishop, I know this must be quite a surprise to you but I really do love your daughter very much and I thought it was high time I talked to you and assured you that I mean her no harm at all-”

“Calm down, boy! For heaven sakes calm down!”

Joe suddenly realized how he was rambling on and stopped.

“I’m sorry, sir. I just was hoping you’d give me a chance. I guess I blew it, huh?”

Luther laughed. “Of course you didn’t!” Let me tell you, anyone who is brave enough to come to me knowing that I have that kind of a history with his father earns points with me.  Amy, ask the young man to dinner!”

Joe and Amy grinned at each other.

“Oh thank you sir! I’ll just go home and change into something more suitable and I’ll be back!”

Joe rushed out past Jessup who was standing once again at the doorway. He watched Joe ride off with an evil gleam in his eye.

“If you think I’m going to let you live happily ever after with Amy, you have another thing coming, boy. Go ahead and get on Luther’s good side now, but don’t you worry, I’ll take care of you soon enough.” He said to himself.

“Jessup, for the last time get back to work!” Luther called.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Joe, Amy, and Luther had a dinner and talked. Joe stayed a while and tried his best to impress Luther. When the evening was coming to a close, Joe thanked them both for a wonderful time and expressed the desire to do it again soon.

“Maybe by next time, your father just might want to join you.” Luther said.

“Maybe next time, Mr. Bishop, you and Amy can come for dinner at the Ponderosa?” Joe asked.

“I would like that, son, I really would.”

“Well goodnight!” Joe smiled.

“Goodnight, Joseph.” Luther said.

“Goodnight, Joe.” Amy said fondly.

Luther recognized that sound in her voice right away and knew exactly what she wanted.

“Amy, why don’t you walk Joe out?”

Amy grinned thankfully at her father and saw Joe out the door. Before he mounted Cochise, he softly kissed Amy’s lips. “I’ll see you soon!” He whispered.

“You can count on it!” Amy said softly.

Joe winked at her and rode away into the night. Amy watched him go, already longing to see him again.

“This is only the beginning. Goodnight, my love.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE END

Next in the Adam and Ruth Series:

The Darker Side of the Moon
In a Time of Miracles

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.