Chapter Three

He had no idea what time it was or even where he was. In his haste to escape the confines of the Longman’s home, Joe had simply given Cochise his head and let the reins hang loosely in his fingers. He leaned low over his horse’s neck and allowed the miles to disappear beneath the animal’s hooves. Every fibre of his body ached and the dull rhythm of Cochise’s stride seemed to settle into his bones. His heart had finally settled to a respectable beat and he had simply held on for the ride. There was no way to know how much time had passed, but he did know that his horse was tiring and he needed to stop. There was enough moonlight to give him some idea of the area he was traveling through and he finally pulled up in a small, rocky gully that was sheltered on three sides. As he slid down from the saddle, the actions were almost instinctual rather than thought through. He had spent most of his life in the saddle, whether in front of his father or brothers or on his own mount. His horse needed tending and he had been raised to care for his horse’s needs, no matter what.

Always take care of your horse and it could save a life. Maybe your own.

His father’s oft-repeated words echoed in his ear and he almost gagged on the memory. Cochise had undoubtedly saved his life this night, but he wasn’t sure that was what his father had in mind when drumming the edict into his sons.

As he pulled the saddle free and laid out his saddlebag on the ground near his feet, he tugged at the canteen on the ground. He shook it, remembering it was around half full last time he checked it. With no idea where there was any water nearby, he knew he needed to ration it, but Cochise certainly needed water after their wild ride. As he tipped some of the liquid into his hat and held it out for the horse to drink, he almost smiled at Cochise’s enthusiastic response.

“Sorry there isn’t any more. At least you got some grass to chew on over there.”

As he nudged the horse away from him, he knelt down to sort through what kind of provisions he might have for himself in his saddlebag. He pulled his jacket out and thanked whatever had made him stash it in there earlier that day. The small leather saddlebag was only intended to carry his needs for the day and as such, wasn’t a lot of use. There were always matches in any saddlebag on any horse on the Ponderosa and he held the box in his hand, wondering if he dared make a fire or not. He was fairly sure that Becky’s father had not been pursuing him, but he shoved the box back in the bag as he shook his head. He wasn’t ready to take a chance on being discovered just yet. Not until he’d had some time to think and work out some kind of plan of action.

As Joe fumbled around inside the bag, knowing without seeing what he grasped at, he almost sobbed in despair. A small knife, a handful of fencing nails, a hammer and a half-eaten sandwich from lunch combined with the rope looped around his saddle horn weren’t going to get him very far. As his fingers brushed against a forgotten apple buried in the bottom, he laughed bitterly.

“Well I guess I got me a whole feast in there after all!”

The laughter quickly died as he sagged back against the rock and sucked in a sharp breath. He felt the pain of deep bruising and battered muscles as he pulled his knees up to his chin, but he was beyond caring. The pain in his body was nothing compared to the dull ache in his chest. The reality of his situation was beginning to sink in and he closed his eyes and leaned his head on his arms.

“Get out of here, boy, before I blow your head off!”

Joe jolted his head up and almost scrambled to his feet before realising it was just a memory. Becky’s irate father wasn’t really standing in front of him, ready to put a bullet through his skull. Cochise snorted at the sudden movement before going back to grazing on the limited grass.

“They’ll never believe me!”

Joe slowly settled back against the rock and stared up into the night sky. The moon was almost at its fullest and the smattering of clouds did little to hide the stars overhead.

“Nobody will believe me.” The whisper was almost a plea to the heavens and Joe squeezed his eyes closed to stop the tears of frustration that threatened. Maybe if he’d gone home in the first place. Maybe then, his father would have listened and intervened with the sheriff. But instead he’d run and just proven his guilt to everybody, including his own family. Just like Becky’s father didn’t wait to hear the reasons, he could hear the shouts of the posse as they rounded him up and threw a rope over the nearest tree. He’d heard stories of what posses could do and the worst of them crowded into his head like a cattle stampede.

The night was not chilly, but Joe’s whole body trembled as he finally dropped into an exhausted sleep, wedged up against the rock face. By the time he awoke with the first rays of the sun, his mind had run through an extensive list of nightmare scenarios and any thoughts of going home were totally erased. He felt his stomach churning as he tried to squash down the various things he had dreamed of that all ended with both of his brothers face down and dead in the dirt.

It was a simple exercise to break camp as there wasn’t really any kind of camp to speak of. Or it would have been simple on any other day when he wasn’t cramped and aching from head to toe. Cochise had only wandered a little in the search for grass and he quickly returned at Joe’s shrill whistle. The feel of the horse’s soft muzzle against his cheek almost brought fresh tears as Joe considered that he could possibly never again feel his father’s hand on his cheek. He had already quietly decided it would be worth the cost if it kept his brothers safe. Stan Hamilton’s brothers could not be allowed to fulfill his dying threats.

As Joe pulled himself up into the saddle, he stuffed the ends of his torn shirt into his waistband and tried to ignore the brown tinge to his hands. He needed to find water and wash off the evidence before anybody saw him.

It would be several hours before the muted sounds of water tumbling over onto rocks caught his attention. He groaned at how much his body had stiffened and seemed to mold itself to the saddle in the short time he’d been riding. Sharp pain streaked up his side as his abused ribs objected to him sliding down to the ground. It took a moment to steady himself against the solid horse and the dizziness gradually subsided. Without having to be told what to do, Cochise walked forward into the stream and began taking his fill while Joe leaned in also and filled his canteen. After pushing the stopper back into place and dropping it onto a nearby rock, he slowly stripped off his shirt and tossed it along with his hat onto the same rock. The chill of the water brought goosebumps to his skin as he slowly began to wash away the dried blood and grime that seemed to have worked its way into every pore. His lower lip began to bleed sluggishly as the swollen skin split apart again and he washed the blood away with another swish of cold water. Bruised flesh objected loudly to his efforts and finally Joe decided he was clean enough. As he stood and stretched for his shirt, he wondered how long it would be before he could move again without hurting.

Ben sat at the table and stared at the mug of coffee in front of him. Hoss leaned up against the doorframe and Adam had deposited himself on the edge of the hearth. He knew that none of them had slept a wink the night before as each of them had waited up to see if Joe made it home. The rest of Ed Longman’s confession had come out and Ben had been caught between wanting to plant his fist in his friend’s face and knowing that the father had only reacted to what he saw. If Ben had a daughter, he knew that no doubt he’d have done the same thing. Across the table from him, the object of their collective concern was trying valiantly to fill in the blanks for their questions.

Becky’s face was deeply bruised down one side and her eye was beginning to blacken. Her knuckles were grazed and her left hand was wrapped in a bandage. He could only guess at the injuries that were hidden under the folds of her robe and Ben allowed himself a moment of pride to know his son had stopped a far worse injury to the young girl. She would at least recover from the bruises and scrapes, given time.

“Do you have any idea where Joe planned to go?” Ben had tried the question in several ways already and was getting nowhere.

“He … he wasn’t really planning anything ‘sfar as I could tell. He just said he had to get away and keep his brothers safe. He said no-one’d believe him.”

Becky glanced across the table before her eyes dropped to the table again. “I’m sorry Mister Cartwright … I tried to make him stay … but … well …”

“But I drove him out of here!” Ed slammed his fist on the table and Becky startled before bursting into tears. He quickly moved to wrap an arm around her shoulder, apologizing profusely as he did so.

Ben waited until she had calmed a little before pushing again. “Becky, I don’t understand. Why does Joe think his brothers are in any kind of danger? They had nothing to do with any of it.”

The girl sniffed and rubbed a hand across her face as if willing herself to stop crying.

“He … that … that man …” Becky sucked in a breath as her father gently squeezed her shoulder. “He said that … his brothers will take away Joe’s brothers. That they’d take an eye for an eye. Mister Cartwright … Joe believed him … and so did I.” Once again the girl dissolved into tears as she recalled the threats and the venom in the man’s dying words.

“Pa, I think Joe’s crossed paths with them fellas a coupla times already.” Hoss moved closer to the table as he spoke.

“They came out to the Ponderosa looking for work and Joe told them we didn’t have anything going at present. They didn’t take too kindly to it, but Joe wouldn’t tell me what they said to him. He seemed to shrug it off. Are you telling me he spoke to them again after that day?” Ben frowned as he considered how rattled Joe had been in his own yard, the first time he’d seen the three men. With events unfolding as they were, he wished he’d pushed the point at the time.

“I don’t rightly know for sure, but somethin’ was sure eatin’ at Joe the other day when I mentioned ’em. He clammed right up.”

“A sure sign that something was going on and he didn’t want us to know about it.” Adam shook his head as he wished he’d prodded a little harder when Hoss had brought his suspicions to him. He’d wanted to allow Joe to come to them if he chose to and now he wished he’d just pushed like he once would have. At least if Joe had blown up in his face, the issue could have been exposed.

“So let me get this right … you think that Joe believes Hamilton’s brothers will take revenge for his death on you two?”

“Yes!” Becky nodded emphatically. She stared at Hoss before glancing across to where Adam was. “It’s why he ran. He said he needed to protect you. If nobody knew it was him who shot their brother, then they had no reason to come after you.”

“Damn fool kid!” Hoss muttered to himself.

“Mister Cartwright.” Becky swallowed a sob as she looked at him once again. “You have to find him soon. He’s hurt. I don’t know how bad … but he’s hurt.”

With more hope than he really felt, Ben reached a hand across the table and smiled as he patted the back of her hand. “Don’t worry. We’ll have him home by nightfall. We’ll head into town and get some help. Now you just rest up young lady and don’t you worry about Little Joe.”

As the trio headed for the door, Ed followed them outside. “I’m so sorry, Ben. I just lost my head and now …”

“Ed, if that were my daughter in there, I’d have shot first and punched later.” He slapped his friend on the shoulder before climbing up into the saddle. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him. He can’t have gotten too far especially if he’s in rough shape.”

Hoss gripped at the reins as he turned his horse away from the hitching rail. Becky’s plea kept ringing in his ears as he kicked his horse into motion. His brother was somewhere out there alone and frightened and she had said he was hurt. It was all he could do to contain a growl of anger at the thought.

As they headed out of the yard and onto the open road, none of them was half as confident in Ben’s words as he had claimed to be. It would be hours later before plans had been laid, supplies had been collected and men had been dispersed. Wires went out to surrounding towns to keep an eye out for a pinto and a young rider, but none of it would be enough until Ben had his youngest son safe in his home once again.

Roy signed off on the last of the paperwork and handed it back to the undertaker.

“Them brothers of his never came back to see about buryin’ him?”

“Nope. Just came in to check it was him and ask how he died. Guess it’s gonna be Boot Hill, just as soon as I can get Jed in ta dig me a hole.”

Roy nodded as he chewed on his lower lip. He didn’t bother explaining his concern to the man that the two brothers had left his jail that morning looking like thunder. The one he had known would be nursing a hangover looked just as dark as his brother after he’d shared the information he’d picked up the night before. Roy had hoped he’d been too drunk to hear Ed’s story, but he realised enough had gotten through and they both knew their brother was shot dead. The eldest of the trio had dragged his younger brother out into the street while vowing vengeance on whoever had left their middle brother in the undertaker’s hands.

Roy had followed them out with a warning to allow the law to investigate and resolve what had happened. Muttered threats and surly looks did nothing to relieve his concerns. As he reflected on Ben’s retelling of events, he decided it was beginning to look as though Joe might have been right to take Hamilton’s threats seriously after all. Roy prayed that any of the men searching would find the boy before either of the dead man’s brothers did and he pulled himself up into his saddle to join them as the last group headed out. Dozens of men had stepped up when Adam had walked into the saloon and several more showed up after Hoss had been to the mercantile. On Roy’s advice, Ben had kept the information limited and simply stated that Joe was injured and probably disoriented. He’d ignored the concerned comments about what had happened and just urged the men to find his son. As quickly as possible.

Cochise picked a way along the streambed as Joe urged him to stay in the water. It went against his instincts, but the animal responded to the rider and continued on until Joe found a rocky enough place to climb out. As the horse found his feet and climbed up the gentle slope, he smiled a little as he noted the ground beneath them.

“Even Hoss’d have a hard time tracking through here.”

As he congratulated himself on his escape route, Joe felt a sudden sense of wild anger rising up through his gut. He knew his brother would be out looking for him and he choked down the fear that Hoss was a better tracker than almost anybody he knew. His anger boiled up again as he remembered all the times Hoss had taught him to track and by doing so, how to hide his tracks as well. Never in his life had he thought he would be using his own brother’s tricks to hide from him.

“Don’t you find me, Hoss! Don’t you dare!” The absurdity of it all made him want to scream in frustration. Instead he pushed his horse onwards and hoped to clear the ridge by the time the noonday sun was overhead.