Chapter Thirteen

Ben paced across the floor before Paul interrupted his train of thought.

“I don’t want him on that witness stand tomorrow, Ben. He can barely sit up yet, let alone sit in that seat for who knows how long.”

“What about Adam’s idea of a compromise? Roy, you use his written statement for the judge and if it’s not enough, we bring him across from the hotel?” It wasn’t ideal and he still didn’t want to move his son into town, but Joe had been adamant about testifying. Right up until he passed out from the stress of arguing.

Roy nodded in agreement, but as a lawman who knew the sometimes fickle nature of the circuit judges, he would much prefer his actual witness on the stand.

“Could work.” The tone of his voice did not inspire much confidence in anybody.

“You’ve still got all your other witnesses, Roy. That should be more than enough!”

“Now you just stick to doctorin’ and leave the law stuff to me. All the other witnesses can testify to is Nate attacking young Stacey and tyin’ up those two, but those aren’t hangin’ offences. As to his threats against young Glen, it could be dismissed as hearsay.”

“But he nearly killed Joe!”

“Yep. And a half decent lawyer could make a case for self defense. After all, you all told me that it was Joe who attacked Nate first. Without Joe on the stand to refute anything, he could get away with it.” Roy waved a hand to forestall the coming objections as Hoss headed towards him, his face looking like thunder. “Joe is also the only witness to what happened the day he left the Ponderosa and Nate is entitled to face his accuser. It’s the justice system I’m afraid.”

“Justice!” Ben roared at him. He pointed a finger towards the stairs. “What justice has there been for Joe so far? My son has been brutalized and all apparently because of a misguided grudge that is fourteen years old! You heard Joe, Roy. Nate tortured him before leaving him to die. Coyote bait was the term he used. He left my son to die!”

Adam reached a hand to his father and tried to clamp down his own anger. Joe had described Nate driving a knife into his shoulder and when he became agitated with the memory, Joe had fought off anybody who tried to calm him. It wasn’t until he hesitantly told them about Nate kneeling on his arms and pinning him to the ground that they had understood why he was so resistant to being restrained.

Hiram had been listening to everything and making his own notes. “Based on the background information you gave us, I have an idea for a way to play this … but I have to warn you, Ben … it’s not without risk.” Suddenly all eyes were on the lawyer as he moved into the centre of the room. When nobody commented, he continued.

“We need to get Nate to show his true colours in court. He’s been pretty crafty at keeping himself looking like one of your regular hands and the fact he concealed his relationship with his younger brother was all no doubt part of his plan. Roy still hasn’t gotten to the bottom of that death notice and we don’t know much of what his game is. Ben, I need you to rile him up. Publicly. Get him to spill whatever he’s holding back.”

Glen leaned back against the dining table and considered the group in front of him. He’d seen a family who would do anything for each other and the doctor and sheriff were clearly old family friends. Glen knew full well that he was loyal to the family and considered himself brave enough to stand up to be counted, but he wasn’t at all sure of anything. What puzzled him was whether or not the lawyer was on the right track so he held his tongue and listened as the planning continued.

Stacey ran a thumb down the edge of the book she had been trying to read for the better part of half an hour. The words danced across the page as her mind wandered off elsewhere. The afternoon breeze was picking up outside and she stood up to close the window. As she turned back towards the seat, she could see Joe watching her and she smiled at him.

The low-grade fever that had plagued his days seemed to be tailing off and the colour in his face looked more natural. What still didn’t look right was the pain in his eyes as the doctor tried to taper off the laudanum. Without waiting to be asked, she reached for a glass of water and watched as he downed it. The sound of raised voices carried up the stairs and Joe shifted against the pile of pillows he was propped up against. Stacey reached out a hand to steady him and then abruptly pulled back. Her rash moment of night-time madness had made her second guess every thing she did or said since. Adam had not mentioned anything further, although he had been quietly attentive to her needs and she was profoundly grateful he was there, even if she did still feel embarrassed.

She was hoping to have Harry back on the ranch so she could feel a little less out of place with at least one longstanding ally beside her, but he had not returned as promised. Roy had assured the family that he would be there for the trial and she wondered what the two of them were planning together. Harry had not told her anything and it grated that she was being left out of the loop.

Joe didn’t seem to notice her tense reaction as he swallowed down the groan that threatened to escape. “Let me guess, they’re arguin’ over me testifying.”

Stacey nodded at him. “The doctor doesn’t want you in the court room tomorrow.”

“But I have to tell them what he did!”

The conversation went back around the same road it had traveled for the last few days and Stacey tried her best to keep Joe calm. As with every other conversation on the same topic, it wasn’t working.

Ben placed his hat on the rail beside him and sat down after being sworn in. He looked across the room at the young man who sat staring right back at him. The coldness in those eyes shook him as he considered everything the man had done to his youngest son. His hands itched to reach across the open space and grasp hold of him before pounding him into the floor. He forced himself to keep still and looked across to where two of his sons were seated. Adam still wore the sling around his right arm and even though Ben knew it was healing, he only added that further injury to a very long list. His eldest son wore the same calm face that he could usually manage under most circumstances and Ben was grateful for his calming presence. He knew that underneath that calm exterior, a rage was boiling, but Adam could generally keep a lid on his emotions. Unlike Joe, whose emotions often ruled his life. Ben’s thoughts wandered off to his youngest son who had railed against being left behind that morning. It was only because Hop Sing had threatened to hobble him if he tried getting out of bed that Joe had acquiesced. It would have been funny if it weren’t so serious. Hoss sat beside Adam and Glen sat with Paul in the row behind them while many of the Ponderosa hands filled up other seats. Ben was once again grateful for the solid wall of support.

Hiram had outlined his plan of attack the day before and Ben was still not convinced, but he couldn’t come up with anything better, short of dragging Joe into the courtroom. He would not allow it unless things turned very sour on them.

“Mister Cartwright, do you know the defendant?”

“Yes, it’s Nate Landry.”

“And how do you know Mister Landry?”

“He came to work for me as a ranch hand a few months ago, but I knew him before that.”

A murmur ran through the crowd as it had been assumed by the town gossips that Nate was just some saddle tramp that Ben had hired on.

“How so?’

“Well, his father worked for me many years ago. Nate was just a boy and I didn’t make the connection at the time.”

Hiram glanced across to see Nate had shifted in his seat, but his face remained impassive.

“Could you tell the court about his father’s time working for you?”

“Objection, Your Honour! What is the relevance of this line of questioning?” Nate’s lawyer was on his feet in seconds and the judge looked towards Hiram.

“It’s very relevant, Your Honour, which we will demonstrate if the court will allow.”

“I’ll give you a little latitude, but only a little. Mister Cartwright, please answer the question.”

Ben deliberately stared at Nate as he spoke, as if nobody else was in the courtroom. “His father, Nathaniel came to work for me and I met his wife and children along the way. Nate would have been only seven or eight at the time and his brother Mac was probably five or so. As time went on, I realised there was something wrong with the man. He was a drunkard, but he managed to keep his drinking under control for the most part and I knew his family needed him to have a job. As long as he did his work, I was prepared to keep him on. Until eventually I couldn’t.”

Hiram turned to face the courtroom before speaking again. “Could you tell the court what changed?”

“Nathaniel almost killed my youngest son.”

“That’s a lie!” Nate was on his feet and pointing towards Ben while his lawyer urged him to sit down. Ben was expecting it, but the look of hatred that flashed his way caught him by surprise.

The crowd once again began murmuring and the judge banged on his gavel to gain order.

“Mister Cartwright, I remind you that you are under oath.”

“I know that, Your Honour and what I said is the truth.” Nate growled across the room, but stayed seated.

“Then please continue.”

“Well, Nathaniel and his wife lost a child that winter to pneumonia. I think it drove his drinking even harder and one day he turned up very late for work. He was drunk and riding a horse into the yard full tilt. My son was only seven and was almost trampled by the horse. When I was told later what had happened, I fired him on the spot.”

“You took the word of a stinkin’ yella man over my pa!” Nate was once again shouting and Ben looked towards Hiram. He wanted to respond back and provoke an argument, but he needed the lawyer to play out his hand.

“Order!” The judge pointed towards Nate’s lawyer. “Restrain your client in my courtroom!”

As things settled again, Ben continued to speak while not taking his eyes off Nate.

“I went out to see him some time later … to check on the welfare of his family really … and they were gone. A neighbour said they had moved away and not left any idea of where they were going.”

“That’s another lie! You chased us outta town! My pa said you poisoned folks against him and he couldn’t get no work after that.”

“Order!” The judge banged his gavel again and Hiram nodded towards Ben. He knew there was only a slim window of opportunity left and he took it.

“Your pa was a drunk who made his own bed and couldn’t lie in it. Why would you defend a man who beat alla you young ones along with your ma?”

Nate was on his feet and his lawyer was trying valiantly to pull him back down.

“Order! Take your seats!”

“You ruined my pa! You used your son as an excuse to ruin him so I used your son as way to ruin you!”

The murmurs rose in volume and the judge continued to bang his gavel loudly, to no avail.

Knowing what he was risking, Ben pushed on. “You tried to kill my son! Twice!” Hiram was making a pretense of holding his friend back, while Ben was past acting and genuinely enraged.

“I shoulda finished the job the first time!”

A hush suddenly fell over the room as Nate realised what he had said. The anger embedded in him spewed out of him as he screamed at the man he held responsible for everything that had gone wrong for his family. He gestured wildly around the room as Roy moved over towards him. “The almighty Ben Cartwright! The man all of Virginia City holds on a pedestal. If only you fine citizens really knew the man my father knew. He destroyed my pa. Took our childhood away! Took our home! The fine upstanding man that he is is built on the blood and sweat of men like my pa. He throws them away and just gets new ones when they wear out!”

“That’s a lie!” A voice cut across the tirade and Nate turned to see a young girl of sixteen or so standing just within the doorway with Harry holding her elbow. Nate blanched as he looked at her and his mouth hung open.

“Surprised to see me, brother!” The word was spat at him and Nate simply stared at her. The court room descended into silence as the girl made her way forward with an older couple just behind on either side of her.

“Our pa was an evil man who drank every day of his life after William died. He blamed Mama for that which I never understood. He beat us and drove you out of our home. I heard him tell you if you ever came back, he’d kill you. He told everybody you were dead after that. Even put it in the paper so’s nobody would come looking for you.”

Tears streamed down her face as she took a deep breath and continued. “You probably know from Mac, but not long after that, I ran away too before Pa really did kill one of us. I tried to get Mac to run too, but he was scared that Pa would hunt us down like he said he did to you. I heard the name Cartwright almost every day of my life when our pa blamed that family for all our ills. I hated them too, just like you did, but it was all a lie.”

The judge sat with his gavel suspended in mid-air as he considered the child who held his courtroom enthralled.

“Pa was sick. And he made you sick too. Only different.” At that point the girl’s emotions overwhelmed her and she would have sagged to the floor except for the sheriff standing beside her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and held on tightly as she leaned against him.

Nate stared at her as if weighing the words. No words came out of his mouth as he simply gaped at her.

As if finally recovering his wits, the judge banged his gavel again and pointed it at Roy. “This trial is adjourned! Take the prisoner back to the jail and then get back over here. In the meantime, I want this courtroom cleared except for the two attorneys!” As he slammed the gavel down once again, a ruckus erupted. Roy tugged at Nate’s arm as a deputy moved up alongside him and Ben made his way back to his sons. The girl who had interrupted proceedings so spectacularly was being escorted from the room by the couple who first entered with her and Harry was shadowing along behind. Adam wanted to charge over to chase after her, but managed to turn back to his father instead.

“Pa, you okay?” Hoss had a firm grip on his father’s arm and Adam wasn’t entirely sure he was.

“I think I need a whiskey.”