Summary: A sequel to Prodigal Sons with some of the characters from that story. When Adam receives an urgent telegram, calling in a marker, he has no idea what he is riding into. A tale of brothers and the bonds that hold them together, no matter what comes against them. This story does go into OC territory, but it all ties in with our favourite family along the way.

Word Count: 39,542

Rating: T

Prodigal Sons
A Friend in Need

Chapter One

Harry sat at his desk and ran a finger up and down the length of the barrel of his revolver. He had finished cleaning it twenty minutes earlier and the bullets still sat on the desk in front of him. His mind was elsewhere and the action was almost automatic. He suddenly jolted back to awareness and frowned at himself. He did not have the luxury to lose focus and he quickly pushed each of the bullets into their chambers before standing up and pacing across the room.

It was well past time to go home and he knew his deputy was out on patrol somewhere. He should have left for the night, but the unease that had been building for some time would not allow him to. His thoughts kept tracking around the same well-worn path and yet he could not come up with any more answers. He shoved the pistol back into its holster before pouring himself another cup of coffee and he almost spat it out when he tasted the bitterness of it. Kennedy might be a good deputy, but he sure couldn’t make a decent pot of coffee.

Kennedy.

Harry sat back down at his desk and forced himself to drink down the coffee as he thought about his deputy. Kennedy had been a deputy for a little over eight months and proven himself to be a reliable enough man in most ways. So why couldn’t he shake the feeling that something wasn’t right?

“You’re gettin’ old, Sheriff Collins! Old and suspicious!” Harry snorted at himself as he downed the last of the coffee. He finally stood up and made his way to the door. He needed to sleep and the bunk in the jail cell just wasn’t as good as his own bed. Not that he expected to get a whole lot of sleep if recent nights were anything to go by. Every time he closed his eyes, it seemed he dreamed of Luke. His brother’s laugh was the thing he missed most about him and if he could recapture that for a few moments in his dreams, he was grateful for small blessings. The reason he was suddenly dreaming about him again hadn’t escaped him. It had been well over a year since his kid brother took on a losing argument and as the anniversary had rolled around, he’d found himself struggling with dreams that threatened to derail him. This time it was different. This time the threat seemed to be resurfacing and he had no idea how to deal with it.

“What are you doin’ out here, little brother?” Hoss passed a cup of coffee towards Joe as he stepped down off the edge of the porch. Joe seemed lost in thought as he nodded in thanks and Hoss settled on the floor beside him. “These nights are startin’ to get mighty cold.”

“Hmmm.”

“So how’s about comin’ back on inside, where it’s a mite warmer?”

“Mmmm.”

Hoss stared at his brother’s profile as he sipped at the warm coffee and he smiled. Joe had been present in body, but often absent in mind for the past few days. They’d all noticed it and had their theories on why, but so far, nobody had actually asked him directly.

“Or o’ course you could run off and join that circus troop that’s headin’ through to Carson City.”

“Yeah.” Joe took a mouthful of coffee while his eyes never left whatever he had fixed on in front of him.

“Or you could always paint your hair green like one o’ them circus clowns.”

“Sure.”

Hoss burst out laughing and Joe suddenly turned to look at him.

“What?”

“Little brother, green may be your favourite colour, but I’m pretty sure Pa’d pitch a fit if you turned your hair green.”

“Hoss, have you finally lost your marbles?”

Hoss slapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder and laughed again. “Nope, but you might have.”

Joe frowned at him, completely clueless as to why his brother was looking at him so intently.

“Joe, what’s goin’ on with you? Your head’s been off somewhere else for days now.”

Joe sat for a few minutes without speaking, as if weighing up what to say or if to even answer.

“I got another letter from Stacey.”

When Hoss didn’t answer, Joe stood up and paced a few steps before turning back to look at him.

“And?” Hoss barely smothered the question he wanted to ask.

“And … I don’t know!”

“You dunno what, little brother?”

Joe scratched at the back of his neck before shaking his head again. “She confuses me.”

Hoss laughed at the look on Joe’s face. “Joe, that’s the whole female variety ain’t it? I mean, I ain’t never figured ’em out half as well as you and Adam seem to do. But still, they’re meant to keep us fellas guessin’ ain’t they?”

Joe smiled at his brother’s description and nodded at him. “Well, I’ve never had this much trouble figuring them out before.”

“Maybe that’s ’cause this little gal’s different.”

Joe stared at his older brother and took in the comment. He suddenly sobered as he knew that once again, Hoss could see straight through him. “She is different.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“Me!” Joe eventually sat back down beside his brother and sighed. “You have no idea, Hoss, what it was like … not knowing who I was. I was so busy trying to figure out who I was that I wasn’t really paying attention to who she was. And then, that day with Nate when …” His voice trailed off and Hoss waited as his brother tried to rein in his thoughts. His own memories of that day still woke him at night sometimes.

“When I thought he was going to kill her, I just reacted. Afterwards so many things happened in such a short amount of time and it was all so crazy that I didn’t really have time to think about her. Not like that anyway. And then before I knew it, she was gone.”

Joe twisted the empty coffee cup in his hands and Hoss simply waited while he gathered his thoughts.

“I didn’t figure on how much I’d miss her. But then I got to thinking and I wondered if it was just gratitude. I mean, she did so much for me and maybe I was just feeling grateful.”

Hoss barely stifled a chuckle as Joe twisted around to glare at him.

“What?”

“Little brother … I’ve watched you charm every gal that’s crossed your path since you was knee high to a grasshopper, but I ain’t never seen you like this. So what was in that letter that’s got you all tied in knots?”

“Harry … she talked an awful lot about Harry.”

“Well he is pretty important to her, I s’pose.”

“Hmmm.”

Hoss smiled as he climbed to his feet. “I’m freezin’ out here. Do you reckon we could do some of this figurin’ out inside where it’s warmer?”

As Joe began to stand up too, Hoss reached out a hand to pull him upright.

“I don’t know that the green-eyed monster suits you any better than green hair, but …”

“I’m not jealous of Harry!”

“Course you ain’t.” Hoss nodded while keeping a straight face.

“Hoss … I don’t want to … I mean, she only lost her husband last year.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, how soon is it … I … what’s the right …”

“She’s writin’ to you, Joe. She opened the door.”

“Yeah, but what if I got it all wrong? What if she is just being polite? Checking up out of obligation? I mean if I’m this confused … who’s to say she’s thinkin’ straight?”

“Joe … go see the gal again! Stop tormentin’ yourself …. and alla us!”

Hoss smothered a grin as he nudged his brother towards the door. There were times to tease and times to keep his thoughts to himself. If he pushed too hard, Joe was just as likely to do the opposite and Hoss didn’t think he could spend the entire winter holed up with his ornery little brother if his stubbornness bit him too hard.

As they walked back through the door, Joe was oblivious to the looks his older brother and father shared with Hoss as his mind was elsewhere. He was already trying to figure out how to ask his father for time away for something that wasn’t ranch business when winter was inching closer. There was simply too much to do to prepare for the long, cold months ahead and a flight of romantic folly wasn’t at the top of his father’s priority list. He sighed out loud as he climbed the stairs, totally unaware that three sets of eyes tracked his movement.

“Well?” Adam raised an eyebrow and looked to his younger brother for an answer.

“What you already figured. He wants to go and see that little gal, but thinks he’s maybe crossin’ a line with her bein’ a widow and all.”

Adam dropped his gaze back to his book and tried to keep a straight face. His conversation with Stacey, right here in the same room was still very fresh in his mind. He’d caught her out as she spoke her private thoughts to Joe while he was in a drugged sleep, not knowing that anybody could hear her.

“Well if he doesn’t make a decision soon, he may just regret hesitating. He’s going to be like a bear with a sore head all winter when he finds he can’t get out of here.” Ben noted Adam’s slight head nod and Hoss’ wide grin.

“That’s fer sure!”

As Ben finally turned for the stairs himself, ready to turn in for the night, he found himself smiling. Never one to keep his emotions very far below the surface, his youngest son had been clearly distracted for days. Since riding out to Silver Falls with Adam over three months ago, he’d seen several letters brought in for Joe with the mail. Considering how rarely he received mail, Joe had endured the good-natured ribbing of his two older brothers, which Ben decided was only to be expected. Something had shifted in his son since the last one and he had debated asking Joe what was in the letter. He finally decided his son was old enough to tell him if he chose to, but Joe’s distracted mood had begun to grate on all of them. He didn’t think any of them wanted to face the winter period that kept them all locked in together if Joe was left regretting his actions or lack thereof. He laughed as he considered that having a grumpy bear in the house could actually be better than having his son housebound and frustrated.

As Ben stood in the empty hallway, he couldn’t help but be drawn back to another time and another place. He’d traveled all the way to New Orleans to tell a young woman that she was now a widow and the circumstances behind it. He hadn’t counted on falling in love with that same widow and he’d questioned himself more than once. The voice of doubt had crept into his mind and he’d had to argue it back into silence. As they made the long trek back home to his boys, he’d grown more certain that he had made the right choice. Over the few short years they had together, he had been so very thankful that Marie had loved him back, in spite of what she had suffered.

He could tell his young son that widows did, in fact, move on with life. He could tell him to seize what life presented before it was taken away. Lord knew how easily that things could change on the breath of the wind. He paused outside his youngest son’s door, his hand raised to knock. Finally he changed his mind and made his way to his own room. Joseph needed to make his own choices, but he smiled to himself as he settled on a way to nudge those choices along.

It was another few days before Joe got his chance to head to Silver Falls, but it came about in a rather unexpected manner. He had a string of horses that needed to be delivered to the army and he had planned to send two of the hands on the run. Suddenly his father decided it was time for their newest ranch hand to take his first delivery run and he needed his mentor with him. As Joe tied his bedroll on behind his saddle, he grinned at the sight across from him. Glen had his gear all stowed and looked like a five-year-old with a bag full of candy he’d been told he couldn’t eat yet as he waited impatiently to get going.

“Something wrong?” Joe asked innocently.

“No.”

Joe laughed as he swung himself into the saddle. “Just eager to get going?”

“Well, yeah. It’s just that … well nobody has ever entrusted me with a job like this before.”

Joe grinned at the enthusiasm in the comment. He had spent the better part of the last few months working alongside the young man who had shown a real aptitude for horses. Joe had talked him through training the new black mare he was riding and he’d found a keen and eager student. Of course, it was still Hoss that drew the young man’s attention, as the two of them seemed to talk the same language, but Joe and Glen had quickly developed a good rapport. It had been frustrating waiting for his body to heal enough for him to be ready to take on a wild horse again. He knew his family had held their collective breaths as he climbed onto that first bronc only a few weeks back and he smiled at the memory of that personal victory. His back still ached and he knew the oncoming cold weather would give him grief, but he refused to allow it to keep him down any longer. He shook off the chill that suddenly washed over him and he grasped at the lead rope that one of the hands lifted up to him. He grinned back at Glen as he grabbed the second string and the two of them moved out of the yard in unison.

“See you in a week or so, Pa!”

Ben waved a hand as the cloud of dust swirled around the retreating horses. “See you soon.”

It would be a week later that a hand rode into the yard, clutching a piece of paper from the telegraph office. He pulled up short of the hitching rail and flung the reins over the timber, hastily making his way into the barn. He knew the boss had them working through grain storage tallies and would be somewhere in the general area. The rest of the family was around, but he figured that Ben would be the quickest answer for his son’s whereabouts. Hank almost barreled into Hoss in his haste and waved the paper in his face, almost apologetically.

“Baker at the telegraph office tol’ me to give this to ya brother Adam, as quick as I could.”

Hoss recognised it for what it was and grasped it from the man’s hand. He didn’t like the urgent tone behind it.

“He’s back there.” Without waiting to say anything further, Hoss headed to the loft ladder and called his brother down.

Adam leaned his head over the edge and frowned at the interruption. “Can’t it wait? We’re almost done with this …”

“Nope! Baker said this was urgent.”

Ben had appeared behind Hoss, obviously having spoken to Hank in the yard outside and curious to know what was wrong. Telegrams and urgency rarely meant anything good.

Harry felt his mouth watering as he pulled his horse into the yard. Stacey was a good cook and it had been a while since he’d been out for a meal with her. They’d caught up in town during the week and agreed on supper for a few days later when he was done with a job.

“Hey, Stace! I’m hungrier than a bear and ready for some of that famous stew and biscuits of yours.”

He climbed down from his horse and flung the reins over the railing. As he headed up towards the door, he was a little surprised that she hadn’t pushed it open yet and made some smart remark back. Figuring she was busy doing something, he nudged the door open and called out again.

“Stace?”

The room was lit with the usual lantern and the fire was burning low in the hearth, but there was no smell of stew cooking or anything else for that matter. He called out again and wandered across to the table to where two coffee cups were sitting. One still had coffee in it and he stuck a finger in it to check the temperature. It was stone cold and he dropped it back onto the table before looking around again.

What caught his eye next made his blood run cold. He walked across to the small bench and swallowed down a lump of fear as he looked at the knife embedded in the bench top. He slowly grasped at the handle and snatched up the piece of paper underneath.

We will give you back the girl for the gold. Meet us at midday at Drays Canyon. Come alone or she dies.

Harry pounded a fist into the bench top. “I don’t have any damn gold, you fools!”

As he paced across the kitchen, trying desperately to formulate some kind of plan, he suddenly pulled up short. Lying on the floor was a pearl-handled revolver. He’d seen several like it before, but as he leaned down to pick it up, he knew that he’d seen this very one before. The inlay in the handle was a uniquely crafted gift. As a man whose job often relied on firearms and taking note of details, he was certain he knew this one and who it belonged to. He turned the gun over in his hands before checking the chamber. It was full and he flicked it closed again. He turned again towards the table and noted once again the coffee cups. His mind was racing with possibilities. If Joe Cartwright had been sitting at that table earlier in the day, where was he now? He knew there was no way that Joe would have left his gun lying on the floor by any kind of choice and if he hadn’t fired off so much as a round, he’d probably left unwillingly. A surge of hope flared as he considered that at least Stacey wasn’t alone. Wherever she was. He shoved the gun into the back of his waistband and hurried back outside.

He wanted to ride for Drays Canyon immediately, but his sheriff’s skills kicked in and he forced himself to slow down. There was little chance whoever had Stacey would be waiting all night at the canyon and he needed to think and formulate a plan before rushing off anywhere.

First things first though dictated that he needed to search the immediate area for any sign of Joe and he rushed back inside to grab a lantern. His gut clenched in a knot as he considered the kid could have stumbled into something and been seen as a witness that needed to be disposed of. A sudden vision of Adam Cartwright drifted before his eyes and he wondered how he would ever explain that to another older brother. As he walked the perimeter of the small yard and searched the barn, he was surprised to find Stacey’s horse still in its stall. He stood and scratched at the back of his neck as he considered the implication of that. Either whoever took her, came prepared with another horse, in which case he was dealing with someone who had planned the action, or they had been in a hurry and not stopped to get her horse saddled. The second scenario worried him more as mistakes happened when people were pushed to act quickly. Maybe Joe’s presence had messed with their plan somehow. Maybes began to circle around his thoughts and he swore as he slammed a hand on the railing.

The horse danced sideways as he pounded on the timber and he quickly reached forward to grab at her reins.

“You can’t stay here,” he muttered to himself as he slipped the bridle into place and tugged the horse out of the stall. Before long, he was headed back to town with Stacey’s bay in tow. He prayed that he’d be returning her the very next day, but doubt chewed at him as he made the short trip back into town.

Luke didn’t have the heart to make his horse move any faster and he allowed the animal to have its head. The gelding knew his way home and the rider couldn’t have cared less where he went at that moment. His heart felt like a lead lump within his chest. For as long as he could remember, his brother had been his hero. If Harry said it, it was so. End of story. So how did his hero’s name just become mud in their small town?

Harry dropped Stacey’s horse off to the livery before heading back to the sheriff’s office. He kept his hat pulled low, but his eyes darted across the street as his horse followed the well-known road. Nothing out of the ordinary raised his hackles and the few people out on the streets greeted him as they usually would. His mind was looking for any hint of anything out of the ordinary and he kept his right hand close to his holster as he rode. His gut was churning as he walked into the office and found Kennedy sitting with his feet propped on the desk. His deputy scrambled to his feet as he entered and Harry found himself evaluating the man carefully.

“Wasn’t expectin’ you back so soon.” It was a reasonable comment, but Harry couldn’t help but wonder if there was anything untoward about it.

“Yeah, well, I decided on an early night.” Harry hung his hat on the peg behind his desk and wandered across to pour himself a mug of coffee.

“You feelin’ okay, Boss?”

“Yes!” The abruptness of the answer was unintended and he noted Kennedy eying him strangely. “Just got a headache.”

“Well I hope ya got some of Miss Stacey’s good cookin’ in ya before ya left.”

Harry only grunted in response and took his mug of coffee into the cell area. He settled down on one of the bunks and tried to calm his racing thoughts. He knew only too well what it felt like to be a deputy under suspicion and he didn’t want to taint Kennedy with anything he didn’t deserve. On the other hand, he suddenly had no idea who he could trust. As he swilled the last of the coffee, he dropped the mug to the floor and stretched out on the length of the cot. Sleep was a long time coming and when it finally did, his mind took him to places he had hoped to bury.

Luke lay in his bed and listened as Harry and his mama argued once again. Since their papa died a few years before, Harry had stepped into his boots and kept the ranch turning over. The problem was that it wasn’t producing enough to keep them going and Harry insisted he needed a job. While Mama reluctantly agreed with the general idea, she hated the specifics.

“Why did you need to take on the deputy’s job? There were other options!” The shrillness in her tone made Luke want to pull his pillow over his ears and block it out. It wasn’t often that they argued, but when they did, it was ugly.

Luke could hear the sound of his brother’s voice and he didn’t like what he heard. Harry was usually self-assured and confident in his own decisions. But something was off as he pleaded his case.

“Mama, we need the regular money. Luke’s growin’ like a weed and Ellie’s got needs too. Sarah’s got Malcolm’s family now, but you want to be able to help out your first grandchild don’t you?”

Luke clenched his fists as he glared into the darkness of the room. It was true. He’d grown almost four inches over the winter and his boots pinched his toes. He’d tried to hide it from Harry, but his brother didn’t miss a thing. New boots cost money. As his thoughts trailed away, he heard his mother sobbing softly.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you. I couldn’t bear it if something …”

“Mama, nothin’s goin’ to happen to me. Besides, Deckler Flats isn’t exactly the crime capital of the west!”

“Harry … you’ll be wearing that tin badge and it will draw trouble.”

“Mama, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a big boy. I can handle trouble.”

Luke pulled the blanket up to his chin and vowed that he’d keep an eye on his big brother and make sure that if trouble found him, he’d have trustworthy backup.

Stacey leaned up against the tree and tried to keep herself calm. Her wrists were still tied tightly together and now the rope was also tied to her ankles. She knew there was no escaping and fear crept up her spine as she sat there. It had been a long ride on an unfamiliar horse and with her hands bound to the saddle horn, she had felt very vulnerable as they climbed to higher ground. Their captors had not blindfolded them and she wondered if that was a good sign or a bad one. They had no qualms about being seen and from everything Stacey knew, that didn’t bode well for them. The men had claimed they would be exchanged, but would they really let loose two people who could clearly identify them? The bigger concern was that the men somehow believed that Harry had access to gold, which she knew was ridiculous. What would they do once it became clear there was no gold coming their way?

Stacey shivered as she tried to pull her knees closer to her chest and she tried to hold back the tears that welled in her eyes. The darkness closed in against her and she shivered again as she wondered where Joe was. Their two captors had dragged them into camp and dropped her like a stone, but the leader of the group had been furious when he’d seen Joe.

“What’s he doin’ here? I didn’t tell ya to pick up no strays!”

“Well we couldn’t just leave him there and we didn’t want to give our sheriff any distractions, so we brung him with us.” The level of confidence in the explanation almost matched the man’s body language, but Stacey wasn’t convinced. He waited for the older man to step up from where he was seated and she noted his hand hovered over his holster as he waited.

Joe was dragged forward by the rope around his wrists and the boss stared him in the face. “And just who the hell are you?”

“I’m a friend of hers.”

The defiant stare wasn’t lost on the boss and he inched closer.

“Well she don’t need no friends. ‘specially not your kind.”

The man slowly circled around Joe like a wolf sizing up its prey. Stacey flinched as he placed his hand on his gun handle and she held her breath as he made his way back around to stand in front of his prisoner. He grabbed at Joe’s bound hands and inspected the calloused fingers.

“Hmm, you might prove useful after all. Could do with some extra carryin’ power.”

Joe glared at him, but held his tongue, acutely aware that Stacey was still tied up somewhere behind him.

“You got a name, friend?”

For a split second, he debated lying about his name, but figured they could already know who he was and antagonising them seemed like a bad idea.

“Cartwright. Joe Cartwright.”

The man’s face curled into a sinister smile as he stared back at Joe. “From Virginia City?”

“Yeah.”

“Well you might just prove real useful indeed. If our little plan over there don’t pan out, you could be a real useful insurance policy.”

Joe watched as the man’s eyes darted across behind him and he felt his fists clenching in the ropes that bound him. He couldn’t yet figure what they had in mind, but none of it boded well for either of them. He needed to keep his wits about him until Harry figured out whatever he needed to. From what he’d been told of the events leading up to Nate’s trial, Harry had a smart head on his shoulders and good intuition. He loved Stacey and would move mountains to find her. He wasn’t listening as hands grabbed at him and he was shoved backwards to where Stacey was already tied to the tree trunk. Rough hands dragged him to the ground and tied him tightly against the rough bark. More rope pulled his feet together and suddenly he was roped like a calf ready for branding.

He could hear Stacey breathing hard beside him and he leaned back against the tree, waiting for the men to leave them alone.

“It’s gonna be okay. They need us for something. As long as they need us, we’ll be okay.” He wasn’t entirely convinced of that himself, but he felt Stacey relax against his shoulder.

Harry pulled himself up off the cot and scrubbed a hand across his face. The lack of sleep made his eyes feel gritty and he rubbed his thumbs into his eyes in an attempt to clear them. He stumbled across to the stove and lifted the coffee pot. Enough liquid swirled in the bottom of it and he poured a mug of thick black ooze. His nose wrinkled at the look of it, but it would have to do. He reached for a cloth and dipped it in the jug of water before wiping it across his face. The stubble under his fingers made him feel even rougher and he almost groaned when he caught a look at himself reflected in the window. Sleep had eluded him for most of the night.

“You look like hell, Sheriff!”

Before he could answer his own comment, the door pushed open and a young cowboy walked inside. He was about to make a comment about coming back at a civilised hour when he realised he recognised the young man.

“Glen? What brings you here at this ungodly hour?”

“I was hoping you’d remember me. I rode in yesterday with Joe Cartwright and he told me to get us a room at the hotel. Only he never showed up.”

Harry leaned back on the desk and suddenly realised Joe’s gun was sitting on the table behind him. Glen had clearly seen it too and he started forward. His assumption made sense and Harry wished it was correct.

“Joe’s here? You got him locked up for something?” The hope that flared on his face was shortlived as Harry shook his head.

“No, he’s not here. But I think you’d better tell me everything you know.”

Glen quickly outlined the delivery run and Joe’s detour back through Silver Falls. Glen hedged a little as he considered how the sheriff would take the news of Joe heading out to see his sister-in-law and staying away all night. The implication was obvious, but he didn’t think it fit the young man he knew. As he hesitated, Harry saved him by jumping in himself.

“He went out to see Stacey, didn’t he?”

Glen nodded as he stared at Joe’s gun on the desk.

“I’m guessing he made it there, ’cause I found this out at her place.” Harry hefted the gun into his hand as Glen frowned at him.

“Found it? Where was Joe?”

“No idea, but neither of them were there when I got there for supper. Somethin’s real wrong with this picture.” He didn’t elaborate on the note that was stuffed in his pocket and wondered if Glen had any further input. When it was clear that he was at a loss, Harry pointed towards the door.

“Go back and wait at the hotel. I’ve got an idea to follow up and I’ll be back later.”

When Glen tried to object, Harry tapped at his badge. “I’m the law here and you’ll do what I tell you!” He softened a little as he saw the distress in the young man’s eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll find him.”

Glen reluctantly complied and Harry almost felt sorry for him as he pulled the door shut behind him. If the boot was on the other foot, he’d want to be looking for a friend. He pulled his hat off the peg as he made his way outside and shook off the thought. He couldn’t afford mistakes and the young ranch hand would only get in his way.

Harry pulled his horse out into the main street and watched from under the brim of his hat as people came and went around him. He had hours to spare before the midday deadline, but he had another idea up his sleeve. The sheriff’s neck twitched with tension as he rode towards the edge of town and every suspicious bone in his body seemed to be on high alert.

Jack pulled himself out of his bedroll and reluctantly headed over to take his turn on watch. It would only be another couple of hours until dawn, but it was cold. The fire was dwindling and he pulled a couple of logs onto the flames as he walked past. The movement and flare up caught his brother’s attention and he nodded while stretching himself awake as Martin slid past towards the bedroll he’d just vacated. He looked up into the sky and noted how clear it was which explained why it was so cold. The days were still fine, but the nights were definitely edging closer to winter.

He hefted his rifle onto his shoulder and made a quick search of the perimeter. Their two prisoners looked mighty uncomfortable all trussed up like a couple of Christmas turkeys and he grinned to himself in the dark. He’d made the decision to bring the Cartwright kid along and almost regretted doing so when the boss had roared at him. As it turned out, he’d made a good choice and no matter what the outcome with the gold, he planned to make a little extra coin if the boss didn’t take advantage of his decision. The girl’s head was leaning against his shoulder and he smirked as he considered her features in the moonlight. That sure would be some fun right there, but the boss had warned them all. She was bait and needed to be in one piece until they were done with the plan. Jack grinned as he recalled the boss’s face after that. Then you can have at it boys! The added bonus would be the fight the kid would obviously put up. Jack almost laughed out loud when he recalled the kid’s threat to kill him. He stood across the clearing and watched as they both slept, oblivious to the thoughts swirling in his head. Yessiree, this was gonna be some fun times.

Glen was half way back to the hotel when he stopped and turned back to where Harry had just ridden away. Something wasn’t adding up and he stood there, torn as to what to do. He’d gone to bed having given up on Joe coming back any time soon. His body was tired and sore from the ride and taking charge of a string of horses for such a long run. He was beginning to understand why Mister Cartwright had insisted he go as it was an eye-opener. When Joe hadn’t turned up, he figured his plans were going well and he grinned as he climbed into bed. He liked Stacey and could see exactly why Joe was drawn to the feisty young woman. She could hold her own with him. When the first rays of the dawn awoke him and he looked across to an empty bed, alarm bells had begun ringing loudly. Joe had promised he’d be back and he knew they needed to make an early start for home.

The sheriff’s office was just down the street and he was relieved to find Harry there and not just a deputy who might have dismissed his concerns. After all, a cowboy staying out all night after a long job wasn’t unheard of. The sight of Joe’s gun had given him a moment’s pause, but Harry had quickly dashed his hopes. As he stood in the quiet street, just beginning to stir with morning activity, he made a decision. Something was wrong and he owed it to Joe to help.

Luke held his head in his hands and tried to shake the words that strangled his thoughts. It couldn’t be true. It simply could not be true. He knew his brother was an honest lawman and no amount of determined words would ever convince him otherwise. The rumour had circulated for over a week and he’d overheard the gossips in the mercantile as he stepped in to pick up the supplies. Of course, the two old bats had stopped talking as he got closer and he wondered if they were embarrassed or afraid of the look on his face. Either way, he wanted to throw something at them both and it was only his mother’s firm grip on his arm that kept him from letting loose. The ride home had been unnaturally quiet and he’d unloaded the wagon and taken the horses to the barn with barely five words spoken between them. As he sat on the hay bale and stared at his horse, he wondered how long it would be before his brother came home. He needed to ask the sickening questions that burned in his gut and blurred his vision. He desperately needed something to answer the accusations that floated around the town like some kind of vapour. He couldn’t catch them and he couldn’t dispel them.

Harry pulled his horse off into the rocks and quickly clambered up to the top of the rocks. He’d felt the agony of doubt chewing at his insides since the night before and he once again found himself questioning everything and everyone. He’d left Kennedy behind, telling him he had business to attend to, but not specifying where. As he made his way towards Drays Canyon, his mind was working in circles and fear was biting at the edges.

“Is she safe? Really?”

The question from Adam had stirred a protective instinct in him and he’d rushed to assure another older brother. At the time he’d believed his own words.

“As long as she thinks they were after Luke, she’s safe. If she ever starts pokin’ around anywhere else, she’ll stir up trouble and I won’t let that happen again. I failed her once and it won’t happen again!”

“You’re a damn fool!” He had wished a thousand times over that he could go back and change things, but wishes counted for nothing. He glanced up at the sun and knew he had another two hours or so before he needed to be at the canyon. In the meantime, he needed to know if Kennedy was on the level or not. His instincts told him to trust no-one, but he had nothing to guide him other than the man’s work ethic to date. It would be another twenty minutes before he heard the sound of a horse coming his way and he unconsciously slipped his hand down over the top of his holster, wondering just how his deputy would explain following him. As the rider came into view, he swore under his breath and debated for a moment what to do.

“What are you doing here?”

Glen startled as a voice carried down over the rocks above him and he looked up to see Harry standing on the top of the overhang. His face looked like thunder and he swallowed down a gulp of air.

“Looking for Joe. I figured you knew something about where he might be.”

As Harry looked at the hopeful expression on the kid’s face he muttered another oath under his breath.

“I thought I told you to stay put at the hotel!”

“Um, yeah … about that … I kinda …”

Harry clambered back down from the rock and glared at the kid who looked like he wanted to hide. He pointed a finger towards him.

“You listen to me and you listen good. If you want to help Joe, you’ll turn around and head back to town right now! And when you get there, you’ll speak to nobody and you’ll wait until I get back.”

Glen nodded as Harry paced back and forth in front of him. Something was clearly very wrong and he had no idea what it was. Finally Harry stopped and stared at him again, as if weighing something up. He stepped back and slowly pulled something from his pocket.

“You speak to no-one, you understand? No-one!”

Glen nodded vigorously, unable to speak past the dryness of his mouth.

As Harry stepped up closer again, he handed Glen a folded piece of paper. “If I’m not back by sundown, you send a wire to Adam Cartwright and when he gets here, you show him that. And in the meantime … you do nothing and say nothing! You hear me?”

Glen shoved the piece of paper into his pocket without reading it and nodded again. “Sure. But when you find Joe, you come get me, okay?”

Harry nodded as he watched emotions playing across the kid’s face. “You’ll be the first one I tell, I promise. Now get outta here.”

Harry slapped Glen’s horse on the rump as he turned and headed back the way he’d come. He waited until he was well out of sight before pulling up his horse and unfolding the note. The words scrawled on the paper made his blood run cold and it suddenly made sense why the sheriff had sent him away. He wouldn’t risk Stacey’s safety by allowing Glen to be seen by whoever had her. As he continued his ride to town, Glen wondered if Joe was with her as well or if he had met some other fate that was still to be determined.

Stacey had no choice but to climb to her feet as one of the men grasped at the length of rope.

“Where are you taking her?” Joe glared at the man who responded by kicking him in the shin.

“Wherever I want to!” The sneer was sickening and Stacey stumbled as the man pulled her closer. She tried to smile at Joe to stop him from reacting and she righted herself once again. Before either of them could say anything further, another of the men appeared from behind them and shoved a gag in Joe’s mouth. He fought against the hands, but was powerless to stop them from tying a bandana tightly behind his head.

“Just ta make sure you don’t give the game away or nothin’.” Joe glared daggers at the man as he stood back up and he watched helplessly as Stacey was dragged away out of sight.

Harry’s senses were all on full alert as he slowly rode his horse into the canyon. He was acutely aware that eyes were upon him even though he couldn’t see anyone. His neck itched and he barely resisted the urge to fidget as he rode. Suddenly a bullet flew from somewhere above him and hit the dirt only a few feet in front of him. His horse pranced backwards and he gripped at the reins tightly.

“That’s close enough!”

A silhouette appeared on the top of the ridgeline and Harry shoved his hat backwards to see who it was. His breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of Morgan Daniels and his hands fisted around the reins until his knuckles turned white. Before he could speak, another man he didn’t recognise dragged Stacey forward and held her in a vice-like hold. She looked scared, but as far as he could tell, she was unharmed. What he couldn’t see was the gun against her ribs and the whispered threats that kept her silent.

“Stace, you okay?” His words echoed up through the narrow canyon.

“She is currently in one piece. That could change very quickly.”

“You hurt her and I’ll …”

“You’ll do what, Sheriff? I seem to remember you threatening me once before and look where that got you.”

Harry swallowed the bitter bile that threatened to choke him and he glared at the man he wanted to see hanging from the end of a noose. He had no proof whatsoever, but he knew he was looking at his brother’s murderer.

“You tried this once before and I told you then what I’m telling you now … I have no idea where the gold is!”

Morgan grasped at Stacey’s hair and he pulled her head back as he spoke. “Now Sheriff, I’ve heard tell of men being under the spell of gold and wanting to kill for it, but are you really so greedy that you want to lose another family member?”

“I wasn’t lying then and I’m telling you the same thing now … I do not know where they took it! I can’t tell you what I don’t know!”

Morgan yanked at Stacey’s hair again and she yelped with pain. Harry felt his hands contorting around the leather reins and he wanted to scream in frustration.

“Damn it, Morgan, I’m telling you the truth!”

“Well then Sheriff, I suggest you go and find it. You have one week to get that gold here or this little gal is going to find out what happens when I am double-crossed. You, of course, already know what happens.”

The smirk on the man’s face made him sick to his stomach and Harry was madly scrambling trying to find a way to stop history from repeating itself. Before he could speak, a chilling laugh echoed around the rocks surrounding him.

“One week. Don’t disappoint me again.”

Suddenly another shot rang out and a spray of dirt in front of him had his horse pulling backwards. Harry moved back while watching Stacey disappearing out of sight.

“I’m coming for you, Stace! I’m coming back!”

Glen found himself pacing the small room and every few minutes he would look out the window and into the street below. His horse was tethered out the front where Harry could clearly see it and he could make out the Sheriff’s office just down the street. He felt like time had slowed to a crawl as he paced. It was almost mid afternoon when he finally saw Harry’s horse cantering down the dusty street towards him. He’d prayed to see another rider with him on a paint pony, but his hopes were quickly dashed. He’d wondered how Adam would respond to a wire from him saying that Joe was missing and he almost felt relieved that it would be the sheriff’s job to send it instead. He felt a wash of shame as he considered his own thoughts, but he knew he certainly didn’t want to bring any bad news to the family he worked for. He’d seen Hoss’ anguish during the time Joe was gone and nobody knew where he was. In spite of their anger at him, they still missed him and wanted him home. Glen almost bolted from the room when he saw Harry directly below him, but the sheriff had been very insistent that he talk to nobody so he figured any conversation they had needed to be private. It was only a few minutes before Harry pounded on his door and Glen flung it open.

“Well, where’s Joe?”

“I don’t know.”

Glen stared at him as Harry seemed highly agitated. He pulled the piece of paper from his pocket and waved it towards him.

“Any answers on this? Stacey?”

Harry’s face answered his question and Glen felt his stomach clench into a knot.

“I need you to send that wire to Adam. I can’t be seen down there sending it so you make it look like it’s from you. This is what you gotta tell him.”

Glen listened intently as Harry specified the exact words he wanted used and soon found himself in the telegraph office spelling them out to another. He had no idea how long it would take for word to reach the Ponderosa, but he prayed the operator was in his office and somebody would see fit to get it out there as soon as possible.

Adam stared at the words written across the piece of paper and swallowed down the lead lump in his throat. A conversation from a few days after Nate’s trial rose up in his mind and he found his mouth going dry.

Harry had grinned as Adam tried to find the words to thank him for all he had done. The fact he’d found out Nate’s identity and brought his sister to the trial had nailed things and ensured the man who had tortured Joe and tried to destroy his family would never see the light of day again. He’d spend the rest of his days locked behind the walls of an asylum where he belonged. There were no words that were adequate and Adam had tried as best he could. He’d vowed that he owed Harry a debt that he could call upon to be repaid at any point. Harry had joked about what he would do with the marker he held and Adam had seen through the jokes as a way to relieve the intensity of the previous days.

“I’m serious. If you ever need me, just send word. I’ll come.”

While he had every intention of honouring the debt, he didn’t expect it to come so soon. He clenched the paper in his hand before handing it to his father to read with Hoss angling over his shoulder.

Calling in my marker, older brother. Urgent. Speak to no-one. I could not protect Luke.

“What’s this about Luke? Harry’s brother?” Ben seemed confused by the comment and waited for Adam to clarify things.

“Luke got caught up in something and it got him killed. Harry blames himself for not saving him.”

“And?” Ben stared back at him as Adam seemed distracted.

He began to issue instructions for a bedroll and supplies and all the while his mind was racing. He knew what the comment referred to and he prayed that he was wrong. Harry had said he failed his brother, but wouldn’t fail Stacey. The comment was a cryptic hint to him alone and he felt his stomach drop at the implication. Joe had gone to see Stacey and something was seriously wrong. He knew without question that Harry’s wire was somehow connected to his brother too. The older brother jokes and comments had flowed so easily between them and each knew where the other stood.

He suddenly realised that Hoss had said something and he turned back to see his middle brother climbing up onto his horse.

“I said, I’m comin’ with ya.”

Adam smiled tightly as he saw his own determination reflected in his brother’s face.

“Adam? What’s going on?” Ben held onto the reins of his horse as if he would stop his son from leaving.

Speak to no-one.

Harry’s warning obviously wasn’t meant to include his father, but there were far too many hands around for him to speak freely. He prayed he was wrong and he would not have to tell his father any more bad news, given how much grief he had endured already in recent months.

“Pa, I don’t rightly know, but I promised Harry if he ever needed me, I’d come. I owe him. We all owe him.”

Ben nodded as he watched his son’s guarded expression, knowing he was missing something. “I agree.”

“I’ll wire you, Pa, as soon as I can. Wire us when Joe and Glen get back will you?”

“Of course.”

It would have been an odd request only a few months back, but Adam had been concerned at almost everything Joe had done since he’d been back on his feet. Even though they had all been in on it, they had all felt concern about him riding all the way to the fort on the delivery run. His back may have healed, but it still gave him grief and Joe would not admit that to any of them. Still, none of them had missed the occasional grimace as he stood up or moved wrong. Ben knew that Adam would worry just like the rest of them until Joe returned from the long trip.

Ben watched as his sons rode out of the yard and he felt a chill wash over him. He could see Adam’s reaction to Harry’s wire and he knew without a doubt that his son was holding back something. He couldn’t contain the feeling that Harry would not have called on Adam unless things were dire.

“Ride safe, boys.”

The comment was barely audible and he watched as the two of them disappeared out of sight before turning back to the tally sheet and trying to get his head back to the job at hand.

“I promise you, Luke, I’ll take care of her.”

Harry stood over the fresh dirt pile that covered his brother’s body, barely able to keep himself upright. His arm stretched around Stacey’s waist and he vaguely wondered who was holding who together. She shivered against him and he looked up to see her eyes were closed and tears streamed silently down her face.

“I’m so sorry, Stace. I should have been here.”

Stacey didn’t reply, but her hand gripped his shirt a little tighter. Across from them his mother and sisters clustered together along with his brother-in-law. He couldn’t make eye contact with his mama as he couldn’t bear to see condemnation in her eyes. Luke was dead and it was all his doing.

Harry found himself reliving that day over and over in his mind as he made his decisions and planned out what to do next. He’d made a promise to his brother and once again he’d failed to do his job.

Kennedy leaned against the wall and chewed on a fingernail as he eyed off the young cowboy in front of him. The boy seemed a little wet behind the ears, but the sheriff seemed to want him along so the deputy shut his mouth and waited. Harry had shown him the note and given a hasty explanation of the details, but it was clearly still full of holes. He’d heard the gossip about the San Francisco gold heist some years back since it was almost legend around these parts. He’d also heard the rumours about his boss that had surfaced every so often over the years. Of course, he’d never asked directly and it wasn’t like Harry was going to volunteer anything until he was forced to, but he couldn’t reconcile the honest lawman he knew with the supposed gold thief that was muttered about behind saloon glasses from time to time. Then again, looks could be deceiving.

“I’ll be riding on over to Deckler Flats. There’s somebody there I need to speak to.” Harry pointed towards his deputy. “I need you to wait here and keep an ear out for any developments. They said I’ve got a week, but I don’t trust that weasel one bit. I should be back in a day or two, but get word to me if anything changes.”

“Sure thing, Harry. What about the kid?”

Harry tugged at Glen’s arm as he headed for the door. “Don’t you worry about him. I’ve got a job for him to do.” Before Kennedy could say anything further, Harry had pulled him right out the door.

“You need to get on the road back to Virginia City.”

“Now wait a minute! I’m not just leaving here and running out on Joe!”

“I’m not asking you to. I need you to meet up with Adam and fill him in. Stop him before he rides into town and starts asking questions in the wrong places. You know the way out to Stacey’s ranch?”

Glen nodded at him as he began to understand the plan.

“I’ll meet you and Adam there as soon as I can. Now just remember something … don’t trust anybody! Not even my deputy.”

As the two men walked towards Harry’s horse, Glen frowned at the last instruction. “You think he’s in on this thing?”

“I have no idea. Right now, all I know is that I’ve been sold out before and it cost my brother his life. It’s not gonna happen again!”

Glen stood next to his horse and watched as Harry kicked his horse into a gallop. He untied his horse’s reins and climbed up onto the mare as Kennedy made his way out onto the verandah.

“Hey, kid! Wait up.”

Glen groaned at having been caught before leaving, but he kept a neutral face as he looked down at the deputy.

“Yeah.”

“You know anything more that’s going on? I mean, Harry seems real spooked and that just ain’t like him.”

Glen licked at his lower lip as he recalled the warning to trust no-one.

“Nope, not really. I just know he’s real worried about Stacey.”

“Yeah, well she’s a stubborn little thing and won’t leave that ranch of hers. Anybody could tell ya she’d be better off livin’ in town, but Harry panders to her too much.”

Glen kept his thoughts to himself that Stacey seemed just fine taking care of herself until he considered recent events. Maybe the deputy had a point after all. He tipped his hat as he walked his horse away from the hitching rail.

“Maybe, I gotta get going.”

Harry pulled his horse up on the crest of the hill and looked down into the place that had both nurtured and almost destroyed him. Deckler Flats was a small community that was only still alive because it was on the main route from San Francisco and the stage had a depot there. He stared at the row of buildings that formed the main street and sucked in a deep breath. He could remember some of those buildings being built. Further back was another row of homes and he wished he had time to call in there and surprise his mother for supper. She would have hugged him and complained that he was too thin and questioned if he had any young ladies hidden away over there in the big town of Silver Falls. He would have kissed the top of her head and laughed at her before gently nudging her questions to other topics before getting her talking about what her newest grandchild was doing. His chest constricted as he turned his horse away and tugged his hat down, hoping that nobody recognised him and reported his presence back to his mother. Today was not a day for social calls.

Instead he turned downhill and began to skirt out to the edge of town. The house had stood there for a good forty years or so and it had seen better days. The single occupant did the best she could, but there weren’t many folks in town who cared too much if the widow was alright or not. Harry knew she pulled a meagre living from her eggs and dressmaking skills, but he knew that Bessie MacGregor lived a lonely life since her husband was gunned down in the main street.

He pulled his horse into the yard and noted that it too looked tired and bordering on unkempt. As he knocked at the door, he half expected it to be slammed in his face. When it cracked open and Bessie stood back to stare at him, he felt like a five-year-old who was waiting for a tanning.

“Well, what would you be wantin’ comin’ around here now?”

Harry twisted his hat in his hands and tried to smile. “Missus Mac, I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

“And what could be so important that I’d be wantin’ ta talk to the likesa you?”

Harry raised a hand as it appeared she really would slam the door shut.

“Please, Stacey’s in trouble.”

Bessie paused as she eyed him up and down. Finally she relented and pulled the door open.

“Come on in then.”

As she pointed to a nearby seat, she headed for the stove and pulled a pot of coffee over to the table.

“What’s wrong with the lass? And what on earth would ya be comin’ to me for?”

Harry took a long sip from the coffee and made a mental note that he really needed to teach Kennedy to make better coffee. The odd thought caught him off guard and he frowned at himself. He placed the mug back on the table and very deliberately unpinned his badge and placed it beside the mug.

“I’m not here in an official capacity.” He lifted his hand across his chest. “I promise you, anything you say will not leave this room.”

Bessie stared at him over the rim of her mug and narrowed her eyes at the strange comment.

“My husband was a lawman for over forty years and it don’t work that way.”

“Ma’am … right now … the law is not my priority.”

“Well ain’t that a turnup for the books? Mister high and mighty, I ain’t never broken my oath of service!”

“Right now, my main concern is saving Stacey’s life.”

“What are you talkin’ about, boy? What’s that girl gone and gotten into?”

Harry knew he’d hit a nerve as everybody had liked Luke’s pretty young girl when he’d first introduced her to his hometown.

“The gold.”

Bessie glared at him before slamming her fist down on the table.

“What?”

“Morgan took Stacey. He still thinks I know where the gold is and we’ve been over this a thousand times, I don’t know anything!”

Bessie stared at the young man across from her and bitter memories twisted in her gut. It was Harry, who as a young deputy, had unwittingly pointed the finger at her husband. The gold had been stolen on the road somewhere between San Francisco and Deckler Flats and the theory at the time was an inside job. Somebody knew something and when the fingers had pointed at the local sheriff, by default they also pointed at his deputy. When Harry’s alibi cleared him, but put his boss in their sights, somebody saw fit to finish that argument with a gun.

She stared at Harry and felt her fists clenching in anger as the memories assaulted her again.

“Morgan is a thief and a liar!”

“Yes, he is. He’s also a murderer!” Harry stared back as he waited for a crack in the armour that had built up for years. “He killed Luke and now he’s going to kill Stacey too and probably an innocent friend of hers if I don’t stop him.”

“And how you gonna do that, boy? My Earl couldn’t stop him.”

Harry dropped his gaze to the table and tried to find the ideas that eluded him.

“Any way I can. Like I said, this conversation didn’t happen. Anything you can tell me … anything … won’t go any further than these walls. I need to find the gold to get her back. Please!”

Bessie stood up and Harry thought she was going to toss him out. Instead she walked across to the shelf above the fire and reached up for a tobacco tin. As she pulled the tin down and returned to her seat, he could see tears welling in her eyes.

“I never could make sense of this, but maybe you can. When they shot down my husband, he kept sayin’ some things over and over. I wrote them down a few days after he passed in case they were ever important. I figured there’d be some kind of inquiry. Course I never figured on Earl bein’ accuseda bein’ in on it all and I kept this ta myself. Them fellas thought they could get him ta show them where it was, but he didn’t know anything. Nothin! Just like you, I guess.”

Bessie looked up again with tears dribbling down her cheeks. “My Earl was innocent. He went to his grave with this whole town thinkin’ he was a dirty gold thief! And then they turned on you with their whispers and looks. Nearly broke your mama’s heart that did.”

As Harry took in the contents of the piece of paper, he could not make sense of them. They looked like nothing more than the ramblings of a man in great pain who knew he was dying.

“I guess I owe ya an apology, boy.”

“Huh?”

Bessie reached a hand across the table and patted the back of his hand. “I figured you was in on it like them other folks did. Guess I was wrong about that.”

Harry barely managed a smile as he watched her wiping away the tears. “It’s past history. I guess we got a lot of things wrong.”

As Harry pushed himself back to his feet, he felt Bessie grasp his hand once again. “You set this thing right! You get the lassie back where she’s safe and then you finish this whole ugly business. You hear me?”

“I hear you, Missus MacGregor.”

“Good! Now you pin that there badge back where it belongs and get on with it, boy!”

Harry felt like a child being scolded as he made his way out into the sunlight again.

“Yes, Ma’am. I intend to!”

Joe had tried rubbing the rope against the rocks near his feet while the men had been focused on Stacey, but it wasn’t making a whole lot of difference. The thick, coarse rope had been chosen with good reason. What he needed was a knife and the only one he’d seen was the one that Jack had stuffed into the back of his belt. He knew that the younger of the two brothers had left his knife behind somewhere at Stacey’s ranch and could only guess at the reason for that. None of the other men carried a knife as far as he could see. Somehow, he needed a diversion that would give him access to that knife.

When he finally heard footsteps coming back through the scrub, he strained to see where Stacey was. He had been afraid that somehow she would not be coming back and he found his heart pounding wildly as he spotted her behind Martin. The man tugged at her rope and seemed to be enjoying dragging her along behind him. Joe felt his breath heaving around the gag in his mouth and the fury in his eyes was unmistakable.

He expected Stacey to be shoved back into place beside him and was surprised when Jack crouched down and began undoing the rope that bound him to the tree.

“On ya feet! I ain’t carrying ya!”

Joe felt himself being hauled upwards and he growled into the fabric that pulled against his jaw. His feet nearly gave out on him as the blood rushed back into them and he staggered forward. Jack wrenched at the rope and Joe had no option but to keep going with him. He sought out Stacey and watched her face intently, looking for any sign of distress. He’d seen the leering looks that had passed her way and he felt sickened at the idea that any one of the animals around them would so much as touch her.

“Where are you taking us?” Stacey’s voice cut across his thoughts and he looked up to where the leader of the group stood up on the rocks above them.

“Well I’m not staying out here all week waiting for that dumb sheriff to get back to us. I’m also not taking any chances that he’ll send anybody back here to try and snatch you back. And before you go getting any fine ideas in that pretty little head of yours, he’s never beaten me yet so I wouldn’t be counting on him this time either. After all, your husband made that mistake already.”

Joe surged forward as Stacey turned white. Her face was like stone as she stared up at the man that taunted her. He tried to grasp at her hands and was wrenched backwards before he could touch her.

“Leave him alone!” Stacey watched helplessly as Joe was thrown to the ground, unable to break the fall as his hands were still bound. He was running on adrenaline and raw fury and it took all he could muster to get himself under control and try to get at that knife. Jack was tugging on the rope and Joe braced his feet against the ground as he twisted the rope around his own wrists and hauled on it for all he was worth. Jack stumbled forward and Joe shot out a foot to trip him up. As the two men rolled around each other in the dirt, Joe’s only focus was on getting a grip on the knife. Jack’s hands were free and his fists rained down blow after blow. Joe made a show of trying to avoid the pummeling until his fingers grasped hold of a bone handle.

Somewhere in the midst of the tussle, he could hear Stacey screaming, but he couldn’t get a view of her to see why. It spurred him on to get a real grip on the knife and he launched himself over Jack’s back and dropped his full weight onto the man. As Jack grunted beneath him, Joe pulled the knife and its thin leather casing free from Jack’s belt and awkwardly maneuvered it down the inside of his shirt. Boots kicked into his back and he felt the only just healed wound screaming at him. As he curled himself into a ball and tried to protect the weapon, he suddenly realised Stacey had stopped screaming.

“Stop wasting time and get them out of here!” The roar pulled them all up short and once again, Joe was hauled to his feet. His body protested, but the feel of the knife against his belly was worth the cost.

Adam saw the dust cloud a fraction sooner than Hoss did and he held up a hand in warning. Neither of them knew just what they were riding into, but Adam had shared his concerns with his brother over the course of many miles and a sleepless night on the road. They had only stopped long enough to rest the horses and make a pot of coffee before pushing on again. Harry had a deputy and other men in Silver Falls that he could call on so Adam figured something was very wrong if he was calling in his marker. The fact that Joe had been in the town and not yet returned had both of them concerned although each of them tried unsuccessfully not to read anything into the situation.

Judging by the amount of dust being thrown up, a rider was approaching at a full gallop and that was unusual. Most men gave their horses a more gentle pace to cover the distance they required to travel and a flat out gallop usually spelled trouble. Or maybe just somebody showing off.

“Think it could be Joe and Glen racing them two horses back?” Hoss looked across at Adam and saw a flicker of hope on his brother’s face. Joe’s exuberance on horseback was well known and one of the things that he shared with Glen. Since breaking the black mare of his, Glen had been eager to test her out against Cochise and Joe had been more than willing to oblige. To date, their little brother held the unbroken record of wins, but Glen was gaining on him and closing the gap. Both of them wanted to be there to see it when Glen finally beat Joe in a race. Some of the hands were already talking about taking bets and Adam had quietly laid a few dollars on his little brother holding his record for a while longer.

“Maybe.” Adam pushed his horse forward again and crested the small rise ahead of them. It soon became obvious there was only one rider and from that distance, it was possible it was the black mare, but definitely not Joe’s pinto.

A sense of urgency seemed to grip them both and the two men simultaneously urged their horses to a faster speed. Within a few minutes they found themselves face to face with their youngest ranch hand and his lathered, heaving horse. As Glen pulled the mare into a walking circle to calm her breathing, Adam and Hoss caught the snippets of his disjointed comments.

“You can’t ride into town. Harry said to take you to Miss Stacey’s ranch.”

As the horse finally seemed to be breathing something more akin to normally, Adam pulled his horse into line with Glen’s.

“Why? What’s going on? And where’s Joe?”

Glen chewed at his lip as he considered how to answer. “Long story. I don’t really know much of it myself, but Harry told me to take you there. Said to keep you out of town and stop you asking questions in the wrong places.”

“Where’s Joe?” Adam glared at the young hand who hadn’t answered the most important of his questions. The hair on the back of his neck was prickling as he already knew instinctively something was very wrong.

“Ahh … I don’t know for sure.”

“What’s that s’posed ta mean?” Hoss stared at the young man who had never lied to him before.

“I haven’t seen Joe since we split up, day before yesterday.”

He swallowed as he saw both brothers glaring at him. He hastened to finish what he had to say.

“We finished the run for the army contract and we made our way back to Silver Falls. Joe told me to get a room at the hotel for us and said he’d be back later. He didn’t say direct, but I knew he was heading out to see Miss Stacey.”

“And?” Adam found his impatience growing by the second.

“And, he never came back! I fell asleep after I figured he’d be back when he was ready. Next morning I went down to the Sheriff’s office and spoke to Harry because I didn’t know where to start.”

Glen hurriedly filled them in on the rest of the details and tried to recall everything he knew or had surmised.

“Harry went off to Deckler Flats this morning and told me to come and find you. Stop you before you got into town.”

Adam looked across at Hoss and nodded slowly. “Harry knows what he’s doing. Until we have a better idea, I say we do as instructed.”

Hoss reluctantly agreed as the trio turned their horses for the ranch road.

Joe felt every inch of the trek as he was once again tied to the saddlehorn and his horse dragged along on a lead rope. Morgan’s demands didn’t get any argument amongst the men and Jack had reluctantly given up the fight as he dragged Joe to his feet. The whispered threat that it wasn’t over still rang in his ears and Joe knew he’d just made himself an enemy. He’d leaned over as if protecting his injured body and nobody had thought twice about it as he awkwardly climbed into the saddle before being bound to it again. He prayed that nobody looked too closely as the leather of the knife sheath itched against his skin as he rode along.

Stacey was silent and he watched her as they rode, trying to determine what had made her scream. There was no sign of injury and she kept casting sideways glances at him, but she kept quiet. Joe cursed the fact he was still gagged and tried to work the fabric out of his mouth. It was a pointless exercise as it wouldn’t budge, but it kept him focused as they rode and allowed him to consider his plan of attack. Neither of them had any idea where they were going as the horses seemed to be led in an aimless direction, but eventually Morgan halted and the rest of the group came to a stop as well. Joe grunted as he was hauled down from his horse and he once again kept his bound hands folded across his middle.

He wasn’t surprised to see that Morgan had climbed back up into the hills and pulled the horses into a rocky area that provided a natural shelter. It was the kind of place he would have chosen to hideout if he needed to as it was well hidden, but an easy place to post lookouts. The mouth of a cave leered at him as he leaned up against Cochise and tried to steady his breathing. The bruising across his back was beginning to make itself known again and he forced himself to plaster on a neutral face and not allow Jack a moment to gloat.

“Get them in the back there.” Morgan pointed towards the cave entrance and both Stacey and Joe soon found themselves being herded inside. It wasn’t a large area, but the low overhanging entrance made it appear even smaller and confined from inside. There was nothing for them to be tethered to as they had been previously, but they were both quickly bound again with the length of rope tied back around their ankles. There was no need for anything further as the only escape route was blocked by Morgan’s men and their rifles. Jack sniggered at Joe and gave his leg one last kick for good measure as he sauntered away from them. Joe glared at the floor and tried not to attract any further attention from the man.

As the men all left the cave and wandered back outside, Stacey wriggled herself closer to where Joe was and tried to reach up to the gag in his mouth. Her hands were bound together still, but her fingers managed to pry the filthy fabric loose and Joe sucked in a deep breath. She cupped her fingers across the bottom of his jaw and made a closer inspection of his face. Blood had trickled down the side of his face from a cut above his eye, but it was almost dried.

“I’m fine,” Joe tried to smile at her and winced as his split lip reminded him that he probably wasn’t. “Really. I’m okay. But did they hurt you? I heard you screaming!” His tone grew more urgent as he lifted his own hands to grasp at her fingers.

Tears welled in her eyes as she continued to search for any further signs of injury under the dust that streaked his face. “I thought he was going to kill you.” The whispered fear seemed like a shout in the still atmosphere of the cave.

“Not gonna happen.” Without thinking, Joe lifted her fingers to his lips and brushed a gentle kiss across her fingertips before squeezing them again. “We are getting out of here, remember?”

When Stacey didn’t answer immediately, he tried again. “Remember? I promised you.”

She slowly nodded as she went back to tracing her fingers across his face and tears dribbled down her cheeks.

“That fight was worth the effort. Take a look at this.” Joe reached down and began to awkwardly work the knife up from under his shirt. Stacey slowly smiled as she watched him and began to understand why he had taken such a risk and provoked Jack so far.

“Now we gotta be smart about this. We’re only gonna get one chance to get out of here. I want you to hide this inside your boot.”

When Stacey frowned at the comment, Joe hurried on to explain. “At some point, he’s gonna notice it’s missing and he’ll come and search me for it. He’ll find it if I have it. He won’t expect me to give it to you. Besides … I want …”

“You want what?”

Joe squashed down an ugly thought before he tried again. “I want you to have some kind of defence if …”

Stacey lifted her hands and placed a finger across his lips, to stop the comment. She did not want to think about it, but she had heard enough comments to make her skin crawl. She slowly nodded and allowed Joe to slide the knife and its leather sheath into the inside of her boot. It was a tight fit and uncomfortable, but it was a measure of hope that she didn’t have before.

“We will get out of here. I promise you.”

Stacey smiled as brightly as she could and then slowly dropped her head onto Joe’s shoulder. “Of course we will.”

Adam felt like a caged bear that he’d seen once in a circus show. It was cruel and the animal barely had room to swing itself around and even as a child he knew it was frustrated. He wanted to pace across the small room so he chose to busy himself with other tasks. When they reached Stacey’s home and tethered the horses in the yard, he was immediately drawn back to the first time he had arrived at that front door. Harry had his arms full with firewood and Stacey had been dragged through the door before either of them could react. Adam almost groaned as he recalled his first sight of his brother, barely able to keep himself upright and aiming a rifle at Harry’s chest. He was horrified when Joe swayed and almost landed on his face on the floor. The events of the next few days were forever etched into his memory and the scars buried in his spirit were still raw. No matter what he tried to tell himself, he’d come so very close to losing his brother because he’d failed to see the truth soon enough.

As they walked inside and saw two coffee cups sitting on the table as if they had just interrupted an afternoon tea, he wanted to shout his frustration. Once again, his brother needed him if Glen’s theory was accurate and once again, he had no idea where to even start.

Adam knelt in front of the fireplace and worked at feeding kindling into the flames until he was confident enough to place a bigger log on top. He could hear Hoss rattling around behind him and could smell the unmistakable aroma of coffee brewing. He didn’t want to sit and drink coffee. He wanted to be out looking for his brother, but he trusted Harry’s instructions and reluctantly chose to sit and wait for him.

It was hours later when they heard the sound of hoofbeats as a horse and rider approached. Adam reached for the door as both Hoss and Glen stood on either side of him, guns drawn.

“Cartwright! You in there?” Harry shouted out to him as he tethered the horse and Adam flung the door open.

“Of course we are. You called for me didn’t you?”

Adam noted that Harry looked like he was going to collapse from either relief or exhaustion or maybe both. He reached out a hand and felt Harry’s firm grip on him.

“I’m glad you are here. Thanks for coming.” As he walked in through the door and saw Hoss and Glen, he broke out a tired smile. “And you brought the cavalry, I see.”

Hoss grinned as he stuck out a hand too before pointing to the stove. “We got coffee and beans if you ain’t eaten.”

“Sounds great.” Harry slid into the seat and all three of them could see how exhausted he looked. “I’m sorry to drag you all here, but I need some people I can trust, without reservation.”

Hoss dropped a plate and mug onto the table as Adam settled in the chair across from Harry. Glen felt like he wasn’t sure where he should be so he settled on the hearth in front of the fire.

“I think you’d better start at the beginning. What’s going on and where’s Joe?”

Harry took a long gulp from the coffee mug and began to relay the events of the last few days. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know where Joe is. I’m guessing that he was here with Stacey when she was taken. Glen said he was heading this way and nobody’s seen him since. I checked around the house and all and there’s no sign of him out there.”

Hoss frowned as he understood the implication of the words.

“I’m hoping they took him too, but have to be honest, I didn’t see him out at the canyon. Course, they could be holding him back as some kind of bargaining chip. I just don’t know.”

“But it’s a reasonable assumption.” Adam rubbed a hand across his jaw as he considered where his brother could be if he wasn’t with Stacey.

“So, what’s your plan?”

Harry almost choked on the mouthful of beans. “Plan? I’m not sure you’d call it a plan yet. More like a string of maybes that don’t quite fit together yet.”

“This Morgan fella. You said he’s the leader of the gang what took Stacey.”

“Yeah, he’s a real piece of work. He was always into anything where the money was easy and the legality didn’t matter much. He’s brutal and has no problem getting blood on his hands. He’s also got a knack for bringing like-minded men along with him and we know he was involved in the gold robbery. I don’t know if he was the brains or simply the brawn, but he was there.”

“So why wouldn’t he know where it’s stashed if he was in on it?”

Harry pounded a fist into the table that made his plate jump. “He tried this once before. He threatened me about a year and a half back. Turned up in town and tried to get me to tell him where the gold was. He said that Earl had double-crossed him when they first stole the shipment and he was killed before they could find out what he did with it.”

“What happened? How’d you get ridda him then?”

Harry closed his eyes and rubbed the palms of his hands into his eyes. “I didn’t.”

When he finally opened his eyes again, Harry looked deeply distressed. “Luke found out about it. I don’t know how, but that damn fool, kid brother of mine got wind of it and tried to help me and Morgan killed him for it.”

Adam frowned as he was already putting pieces of the puzzle together. “Stacey told me she didn’t know who shot Luke.”

“She didn’t. I couldn’t prove it and soon after Morgan got himself arrested in Carson City. He was sent to prison for five years and I figured I had time to find the proof I needed to hang him. Another thing I got wrong!” The bitterness in the comment was clear to all of them.

“Five years? What’s he doing out?’

“My guess is that he broke out. Can’t imagine he earned a parole.”

“So we need to find out where the gold could be or find Joe and Stacey ourselves before Saturday.”

“That’s about the size of it.”

Adam nodded towards where Hoss was standing. “Well he’s the best tracker I know, so tomorrow we ride up to this Drays Canyon and see what Hoss can pick up. In the meantime, I have no idea where you start looking for gold that’s been missing for all this time.”

“I don’t either.”

“Did you find anything in Deckler Flats today?” Glen had kept his thoughts to himself, but he suddenly realised the sheriff hadn’t mentioned his trip.

“Just more frustration.” Harry reached into his jacket and pulled out the small tobacco tin. “I was given this today, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. I need some time to think on it and see if I can pull anything out of it.”

“What is it?” Adam leaned forward and gripped at the edge of the piece of paper.

“When the sheriff in Deckler Flats was gunned down, he told his wife some things as he was lying on the ground dying. She wrote them down later and I’ve been going over it on the way back, but it doesn’t mean anything.”

Harry couldn’t stifle a yawn and Adam reached a hand towards him. “You need to sleep. Sorry to tell you this, old friend … but you look like hell!”

“You ain’t so peachy yourself.”

Hoss was already on his way to the door as Adam laughed. “Glen and me’ll get the horses sorted if you two get the bedrolls.”

It would be many hours later that Harry jolted awake from his dream. The words of a dying man suddenly shouted at him with crystal clarity and he needed to go and find out if what he had dreamed of could possibly be true.

Martin watched as his brother rustled his way through his bedroll before stomping off towards his horse and rifling through his saddlebag. The angry look on his face was enough to keep Martin from speaking, as his brother’s temper was notorious. Inside the Nevada State Prison, he was known as somebody to steer clear of and Martin figured it was one of the reasons why he’d gravitated to Morgan Daniels.

As Jack walked back to where he was sitting, Martin felt his gut churning in fear. His brother was not somebody to be crossed.

“You seen my knife anywhere?”

Martin shook his head as he stood up. “Nope.”

“It’s gone! I had it in my belt yesterday and now it’s gone!”

“Well maybe ya lost it when you took on that Cartwright kid yesterday. I mean, it coulda fallen out then.”

Jack glared at him as considered the idea. “Or maybe he took it. He was right on top o’ me. I’m gonna kill him!”

Before Martin could do anything to stop him, Jack was running up towards the cave entrance and he shoved aside the guard who was still rubbing sleepy grit from his eyes.

He found the interior of the cave was a little darker and he took a moment to adjust to the dimmer light. He soon saw Stacey asleep up against Joe’s shoulder and he roared as he charged forward. Joe was barely able to shove Stacey aside before Jack was on top of him.

“Where’s my knife?’

“What?” Joe blocked a punch to the side of his head and felt himself being hauled to his feet.

“My knife! You’ve got it, I know ya do.”

Joe stumbled sideways as his feet were still hobbled and held out his bound hands in front of him. “You think I’d still be trussed up like this if I had a knife! What kinda idiot would that make me?”

Jack grabbed at his shirt and began patting down his pockets, looking for the knife. Joe made a show of objecting and protesting loudly while Stacey shrunk back against the wall and crouched down in between two rocks. As she worked the knife clear of her boot and dropped it down behind the rock, she looked terrified as Jack continued his search. Shouts from outside drew the attention elsewhere and she slowly slid back along the wall and away from the rock.

“I don’t have your damn knife!” Joe was shouting in frustration as Jack shoved him to the ground once again.

“Get off him!” Morgan’s voice roared across the small cavern and Jack only just managed to pull his clenched fist back. “That temper of yours always gets you into trouble, Jack. Time you started using your head and not just your fists.”

“You seemed to like my fists in prison,” Jack growled back at him.

Morgan grasped the back of his shirt and hauled Jack back towards him. “There’s a time and a place for that. When this is all done, I promise you that you can do whatever you want with him. For now, you get on out there and leave him alone. You hear me? Now I gave you and your brother a job to do and you need to get on with it.”

Jack sneered at Joe as he nodded. “This ain’t over, kid. You’re mine when this is done!”

Joe sat on the floor of the cave and watched as Morgan pushed Jack back outside. His heart was still pounding wildly and he stole a glance across to where Stacey was. She looked scared and he found himself wanting to strangle the man who had put that fear there on her face. The only upside to the situation was that Jack had done just what he expected him to do.

It would be another half an hour before he heard several more horses heading out of camp. Breakfast had been a meagre affair with a bowl of lukewarm beans between them and his stomach was growling loudly in protest. Stacey looked up at the noise and he grinned across at her.

“When we get out of here, I’m getting the biggest steak the hotel has on offer.”

The comment was worth the smile he got back and he continued on. “Course, it won’t be as good as a Ponderosa steak, but we can get us one of those soon enough too.”

Suddenly Joe turned serious as he shuffled closer to her. “We need to get out of here while most of them are gone. Nobody will expect us to get loose, so we’ve gotta be smart about this. Trust me … we are going to get home.”

Stacey leaned forward and gripped at the sides of Joe’s face with her fingertips. Her eyes shone with moisture and he watched as she forced on a smile. “I do trust you.”

When Joe considered it later, he had no recollection of making the decision to do so, but he leaned forward and brushed a kiss across her lips. He pulled back a little to gauge her reaction, but Stacey pulled him closer again. The second kiss was more insistent and both of them were breathless by the time they pulled apart.

“Maybe there’s better incentives than a steak to get outta here!” Joe grinned at her once again as Stacey tried to compose herself. “That will be a whole lot more fun without this dang rope.” He held up his hands and winked at her as she blushed.

Harry paced around the small kitchen while Hoss tried to aim a mug of coffee his way.

“It’s so close! It just … damn it! It’s right there … if I could just get it to make sense. I just … I can’t …. Actually,” he paused for a moment and stared at the floor, “I think I don’t want to believe it.”

“Why don’t you try laying it all out and see if we can’t help put it together?” Adam watched as Harry resumed his pacing and his own frustration was building.

Harry finally stopped and grabbed at the mug that Hoss still held out towards him.

“Earl was the sheriff of Deckler Flats for a long time, since I was a kid. He took me on as a greenhorn and taught me to be a good deputy and I respected him for it. When they said that he was in on the heist, I just couldn’t bring myself to believe it. His widow … the woman I spoke to yesterday … she’s convinced he had nothing to do with it. But that note she gave me … she doesn’t know it, but I think that her husband was confessing his guilt and telling her to tell me.”

Harry walked to the far wall and leaned a hand against it as if he needed something to hold him up. Nobody spoke as he slowly turned around. They all just watched as Harry paced back across the room as the memories welled up in front of him.

“Mac had a big heart, but he could also hold a grudge with the best of them. That note with all the things he rambled about before he died …” Harry shook his head as if he couldn’t quite believe his own conclusion. “It makes a lot more sense than his wife thought it did. He talked about leprechauns. Said he knew where they were.”

“Leprechauns?” Adam moved a step closer, trying to draw meaning from the strange comment.

“Earl was a bit like you, Adam. He liked to read and he had all sorts of book learning stuffed away in that head of his. He’d quote weird things at me from time to time and then patiently explain them to a kid who never liked school that much. He was also a bit of a joker and used some of those things like a kind of code, just between him and me… to test me out and see if I was really listening to him. If I didn’t, he just upped the ante. He thought it was hilarious and I guess I just always humoured him because he was kinda funny. Being from what he called good Scottish stock, he liked Scottish myths and legends the best. Said Scotland produced the best heroes of all time. Although he also said that they made the best villains too.”

Adam found himself almost smiling as he considered the likes of Lady Macbeth alongside a few real historical figures.

“He also hated the Irish with a passion. Said once it had something to do with his grandmother’s sister who ran off and married an Irish traveller. The family never forgave her and never talked about her after that. He said that the Irish were deceitful and often said that all the Irish were like leprechauns – only interested in how much of your treasure they could steal. He’d use Irish expressions and twist them to mean something else and then he’d expect me to know the difference. It was his way of insulting them without looking like he was insulting them since we had lots of Irish miners in the area at the time. He’d stand there, large as life and insult them to their faces and they never knew. ”

Adam moved over closer to where Harry had sunk down onto the table edge. “What does all this have to do with what he said?”

“He was dying, right there on the main street and he knew I was out of town. Guess he figured he had one last chance to ‘fess up before he died. He told his wife that there were Scottish leprechauns. To him, that would have been a huge insult if anybody else had said it. Of course she just thought he was rambling, but the more I think about it, the more I’m sure he was telling me the truth. He may or may not have planned it, but he was in on it, somehow.”

Harry’s shoulders slumped as Adam reached out for him. “I’m sorry. It’s never easy to see a hero that turns out to have feet of clay.”

As Harry glanced around the room, he managed a faint smile. “The good news is that I think I have an idea where they stashed the gold.”

“Where?” Three voices answered in unison and he really did smile.

“One of the other things he kept saying was, ‘sick water’. Anybody around him would have taken it to mean he was sick and needing water.”

“Well what else would it mean?” Hoss leaned closer as he considered the two words.

“Deckler Flats has a stagecoach depot. It was moved many years back to where it is now because the old depot had a well that got tainted. Nobody knows how, but horses started getting sick and a couple of folks died after drinking from it. The old depot is on the north side of town and since it’s abandoned, it could make a good place to dump a cargo and hide it with nobody any the wiser.”

“You think they dumped the gold in the well?” Adam was chewing it over even as he asked the question. It certainly sounded possible.

“It’s the best lead we’ve got so far and it sounds like it makes sense, don’t you think? It’s on the main route from San Francisco without actually bringing it into town. Nobody around to see what’s going on and a well that is boarded up and signposted as unusable. Who’d bother looking in a dead well for anything?”

“Well, what are we waiting around here for? We get looking for Joe and Stacey and you get on over to that depot and take a look!” Hoss was already on his feet and reaching for his hat as he spoke.

“Wait a minute. I can’t just go charging off into a town where I’m not the sheriff. The local law is gonna get mighty suspicious if I just suddenly turn up and know what I know. I’ve already been under that cloud before!”

“Well this time you’ve got us to back you up. That’s what you wired me for isn’t it?” Adam stood in front of him and waited for a response.

“Yeah, it’s exactly why I sent for you.” Harry grinned as he felt a glimmer of hope for the first time in days. “Hoss, you and Glen need to get out there and see what you can find. Adam, I need you with me.”

As much as Adam wanted to be riding out with Hoss and looking for his brother, he conceded the wisdom of the plan and simply nodded.

“All right then. We meet back here tomorrow night.”

Kennedy walked the length of the boardwalk and tried to keep himself focused. Something bigger than he’d been told was going on and he itched at the frustration of it. Harry had told him some of it, but not enough. He wondered again who the kid was that Harry had sent on his way and he stopped and leaned on the hitching rail as he tried to pull the pieces together. He couldn’t figure why Harry didn’t trust his own deputy with the details and doubt began gnawing at his insides. Maybe the rumours held a glimmer of truth in them after all. As soon as the thought welled up in his mind, he squashed it back down. Harry Collins had never given him pause for thought before and he didn’t want to start doubting the man now when he might be needed.

As he stared into the street in front of him, he heard somebody calling his name. A young boy was running up to him and he recognised him as the son of the telegrapher.

“Deputy Kennedy, my pa said ta come and get you or the sheriff, quick as I could.” The boy was breathing hard and he’d clearly run the length of the street. As Kennedy hurried back to the telegraph office with him, he noted a stranger riding past on a bay horse with a couple of white socks. It seemed his senses were on edge with the sheriff’s strange behavior and anything out of the ordinary became more notable. By the time he walked out of the office again, he was looking up and down the street for that same horse and rider.

He headed across to the sheriff’s office and pulled his own horse free of the hitching rail. The rider had a good ten-minute start on him, but he needed to find his trail before he disappeared from sight. The man had just sent a wire to a Ben Cartwright in Virginia City and fortunately the wire operator was astute enough to be paying attention and kept note of details. The address was the same place where another man had sent a wire only days ago asking for Adam Cartwright to come at once. Like most telegraphers, the man knew the ins and outs of most things in his town, but he didn’t know that the sheriff was behind the wire. Kennedy did once he heard the description of the young ranch hand who’d sent it.

He also knew it was too much of a co-incidence that his boss was probably off somewhere with Adam Cartwright and now another Cartwright was being threatened in some way. Of course the wire didn’t say so in so many words, but a man who had spent years sending condensed messages across the country could certainly read between the lines. A demand to bring ten thousand dollars to town in two days was a thinly veiled threat. What Kennedy tried to figure as he rode along, was what the money was for and what would happen if it wasn’t delivered on time.

It was only a few miles down the road when he caught sight of the rider ahead of him. Trying to stay out of sight and yet not lose the trail would prove to be difficult as the rider climbed up into the hill country, but the deputy was determined to stick with him.

Joe worked at the rope until the fibres separated and he felt the coarse rope drop away. His wrists were chafed raw from the awkward motion, but he quickly sliced at the rope around his ankles before moving onto Stacey’s. He made short work of the ropes that bound her and she slowly flexed her cramped hands.

“Stay here.” Stacey watched as Joe crept towards the mouth of the cave, the knife tucked into his side. She heard a faint grunt and short scuffle before Joe dragged a limp body back towards her and quickly bound the man’s hands and feet with the rope they had just discarded. He stuffed the filthy bandana that had been used to silence him into the man’s mouth and tied it tightly behind him. As Joe propped the body up against the rock, he prayed it would delay the discovery of their absence for a while.

Joe held a finger up against his lips as he pointed to the cave mouth again. He tugged Stacey in behind him and edged forward again. Every step felt like a lifetime as she held tight to his hand and she fought to keep her breathing as calm as possible. The few remaining horses were tethered across the other side of the small clearing and it was obvious that getting to them was not going to happen. Joe paused and waited as he scanned the area above them. If a guard was posted on top of the rocks there was no way they were going to get clear. Voices carried up from nearby and Joe slowly edged forward once more. He turned back to flash her a smile as he whispered, “Let’s go home.”

Hoss felt the level of frustration building again as he crouched in the dirt and searched for a clue as to which way to go next. Glen still sat in the saddle and held his tongue as Hoss sought out things that he had no idea of. Broken twigs on bushes, scuffles in the dust and depressions in the sand told a story that he just could not read, but was grateful that Hoss apparently could.

“That way.” Hoss pointed uphill as he climbed back into the saddle. Glen just nodded as he nudged his horse forward again and prayed that they would soon find a more convincing sign of life.

It was another hour before they reached the end of the trail as far as Hoss could pick it and Glen felt his gut clenching into a knot. Hoss looked distressed as he failed to find any sign to move forward on.

“We’ve lost ’em in those rocks. The horses can’t climb much higher anyways so we can just leave ’em here and head on up on foot. I might be able to get another shot at findin’ their trail again.”

Glen could hear the desperation in his friend’s voice, but he nodded anyway and slid down from the saddle.

Joe slipped around the next boulder and felt Stacey gripping tightly to his hand. Every time he glanced back to reassure her, she would give him a tight little smile and they’d keep going. Neither one spoke as they were still far too close to be overheard. The voices from the camp had faded and they were beginning to feel like they may have made good on their escape when suddenly shouting carried over the rocky terrain. It was obvious that their ruse had been discovered. Joe looked around to see that they were still too exposed on high ground and he pointed to a gully below them.

“We need to get further down in the treeline. There’s plenty of cover down there.” He tugged at her hand as he spoke and Stacey followed him down the slippery slope towards a thicker stand of trees. It was several hundred feet before the ground began to level out a little, but the undergrowth grew thicker as they rushed further down. Dense shrubs covered the ground and as they hurried, Stacey felt her foot catch on a hidden tree root. She barely squelched down a scream as her foot twisted sideways and the sharp snap of something could be heard clearly in the still morning air.

Joe felt her hand clench onto his and he turned in time to see her pitch forwards towards him. The look on her face told him all he needed to know and he barely managed to stop her forward momentum as she stumbled again. The colour quickly drained from her face as Stacey tried to take another step and a gasp of pain came out through gritted teeth.

“Joe, I …” The words faded into silence as Stacey tried valiantly to keep herself upright, but the pain shooting up her leg was unbearable. Without stopping to ask permission, Joe quickly scooped her up into his arms and felt her trembling against his chest.

“Easy there. I’ve got you. We just need to get to some cover.” Joe desperately searched the immediate area for somewhere to hide and found a small rock overhang. There was not enough room for both of them and he could hear sounds of pursuit coming from above them. Stacey looked like she could pass out at any moment and he made a decision that he prayed wouldn’t bring disaster down on them both. He knelt down in front of the overhang and gently unwrapped Stacey’s arms from around his neck.

“Slide back in there as far as you can. I’ll be back soon.”

“Where are you going?” Fear competed with pain as she grasped at his arm.

“To lead them away from here.” Joe watched as tears trickled down her cheeks and he grinned as he leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. “Don’t worry, I’m coming right back. I want another one of those real soon!” He winked at her as he slithered back out of the small space and quickly disappeared from sight. Stacey felt her heart racing as pain throbbed up her leg, but her fingers moved to her lips of their own accord. She could hear angry voices coming closer and she shrank back against the dirt and tried to keep quiet. The pain seemed to intensify as she tried to calm her breathing and she pulled the end of her sleeve into her mouth to stop herself from crying out. Moments later, a shot sounded through the air, followed quickly by two more. It was all she could do to stop herself from screaming as men scrambled over the rock overhang and boots thudded heavily into the gully below.

Kennedy scrambled up the rocks, trying to keep out of sight of the man he was trailing without losing him in the trees. He’d already left his horse down the side of the ravine and followed on foot once the other man had dismounted and begun to lead his horse into the rocks. He waited as the man tied his horse up against several other horses and began to haul himself up into a rough circular pile of rocks. He could smell smoke from the other side and knew he was close to a camp of some sort. What he didn’t know was how many others were on the far side of that rock. He gingerly climbed higher, trying not to dislodge anything that would give him away. Suddenly a muffled shout carried out across the air and he soon heard cursing from at least two voices. He shrank back against the rock and held his breath as three men rushed out of the rocks and began scrambling down the far side of the rocks. The one he’d been trailing was shouting to the others and Kennedy waited until they had passed before climbing back up the rocks and into the camp. He waved his gun around the general area, not really expecting to see anybody there, but not taking any chances either. He noted the small cave area and saw a body slumped against the rocks as he headed inside. When he crouched down and went to check for a pulse, he didn’t bother to touch the man’s neck as his grey pallor and blue lips stretched taut around a gag told him enough.

“Damn it!” He muttered to himself as he headed back out of the cave and followed in the general direction he’d seen the men heading. He could hear faint shouts from the gully below and he clambered down over the rocks once more, in search of answers. Before he got very far, three shots rang out in rapid succession.

Hoss pulled Glen down beside him as three shots cracked through the air with no way to tell where they had originated. Each of them had their weapons drawn as they waited to hear what was coming at them. For what seemed like hours, they crouched in the thick undergrowth as noises carried back and forth across the gully. Somebody was chasing someone, that much at least was clear.

Joe skimmed down over the fallen trees and made sure he was making enough noise to be heard. A shout confirmed that somebody had spotted him and he kept moving across the gully, hoping to have drawn all of their pursuers. In the absence of a real plan, he was acting mostly on instincts borne of years of avoiding two brothers. He would have given anything to have it be Adam or Hoss who were hunting him down while threatening to dunk him in the lake, but he heard wild cursing following him as he scrambled down the rocky slope. Branches tore at him as he bolted away and the adrenaline that spurred him on meant he took no notice of the assortment of scratches and bruises he was collecting on the way down. His chest was heaving as he ran and sweat stung his eyes as he darted back and forth in a wild kind of zig-zag. Having drawn the pursuit, now his goal was to lose it and hopefully surprise one of them before they saw him.

Finally Joe stopped and slid in behind a small copse of trees, trying desperately to get his breathing under control. It was only moments later that one of Morgan’s men came crashing through the trees with his gun drawn. Joe aimed a swing at his face and was rewarded with a grunt of pain as the man slammed sideways into a tree as he fired a wild shot at his target. Joe heard the bullet whistle past him as he lunged forward and grappled for the weapon. Two more shots echoed around the gully as shouts carried down from above them.

Stacey pulled her arm across her face as she heard the shots. With each one, her whole body seemed to convulse in pain and Joe’s promise whispered in her ears like some kind of cruel taunt. She knew he was unarmed and it would only be a matter of time before the men who had killed him backtracked up the gully and found her. She decided that her best chance was to get to the horses before the men came back so she shimmied her way out of the hiding hole that Joe had wedged her into and almost sobbed as her foot touched the ground. Pain radiated up the length of her leg and she staggered sideways, clutching at tree branches to keep herself upright. Tears blurred her vision as she tried not to think of Joe and keep focused on getting to Harry instead. Justice would be served, but it felt like a cold comfort in the pit of her stomach.

Hoss and Glen moved carefully down the gully again until Hoss caught a glimpse of movement. He pushed Glen behind the nearest tree and raised his gun to take aim until he realised he was watching Stacey slowly making her way towards them. He blew out a sharp breath in relief and moved out into plain sight before calling her name. When she looked up, he saw raw fear flicker across her face only to have it quickly replaced with something else. He would have expected a positive response, but instead he saw what looked almost like grief. A cold hand clenched around his gut and he quickly made his way down towards her.

Stacey looked up to see the two men moving quickly down the gully and she sobbed in relief as they drew closer. The sight of Joe’s brother pulled her up short as she knew she would have to be the one to break his heart. In the time she had stayed at the Ponderosa, she had seen just how close the Cartwright family was and she’d envied the easy-going connections between them all, even during difficult times. She staggered towards him and almost cried as Hoss swept her up into his arms in a motion that only served to remind her of Joe.

“I got you, Miss Stacey. It’s okay, nobody’s gonna hurt you none.”

She felt the pain flare through her ankle once again as her foot flopped around and fresh tears welled in her eyes. Glen was looking around as if expecting something and she closed her eyes before he could ask her anything.

It didn’t deter him though and he continued to scan the area as he stepped closer. “Where’s Joe? Wasn’t he with you?”

Hoss felt Stacey stiffen in his arms and he looked down to see her face scrunched up in pain. He’d seen the way she was limping and had already figured on a sprained or broken ankle, but there was more than just physical pain in her expression.

“I think they just shot him.” It was little more than a whisper and Hoss felt her hands clench around the edge of his vest. Before he could answer her, another two shots rang out from the northern side of the gully.

“Then who else’d they be shootin’ at now?”

Stacey opened her eyes and stared up into Hoss’ concerned face. Hope flared as she heard yet another shot carry up from the gully below.

“Put me down. If he’s still alive down there, he needs you both.”

Hoss hesitated at the idea of leaving her alone again, but the thought that his brother was being shot at overrode everything else.

“I’ll be fine. Please! Go and help Joe.”

Hoss reluctantly knelt down and deposited Stacey against a fallen tree. He looked torn as he stood back up, but Glen had already bolted away into the trees and Hoss heard Stacey as he turned and followed the young ranch hand.

“Find him!”

Another two quick shots cracked through the air and Stacey wrapped her arms around herself in a vain attempt to stop herself from shaking.

Somewhere below them in the gully, Joe leaned over a body and reached a hand inside the man’s collar in search of a pulse. He’d already made the mistake of assuming the last man he’d shot was dead. When he barely dodged a bullet in the back, he made sure that another one wouldn’t be following it. As he straightened up again, he flipped open the revolver’s barrel to find that it was empty as he’d expected it to be. He slammed the barrel back in place, but kept the weapon pointed ahead of him as though he was still armed. It was a poor defence, but it was all he had left. Once again he crouched down beside the dead man and fumbled round inside his vest for any further ammunition. Before he could find any a bullet ricocheted off a nearby tree and he instinctively rolled across the open space before running for the treeline. There were still sounds coming from the far side of the gully and he figured that yet another of Morgan’s men was still stalking him. Suddenly a shot whistled past him from above and he heard the distinctive sound of a bullet hitting flesh. A grunt of pain confirmed the hit and before he could react, Jack staggered out of the treeline and took aim at him again.

“I wouldn’t if I were you!”

Joe looked behind him to see a man wearing a deputy’s badge holding Jack firmly in his sights.

“Throw down that gun and get over here.”

Joe gaped at him as Kennedy made short work of collecting the weapon and grasping Jack’s arm behind him. His other arm dripped with blood and he groaned as the deputy dragged him back up towards where Joe was standing.

“Are you Joe Cartwright?”

“Ahh, yeah. Just who are you, Deputy?”

“My name’s Kennedy and Harry’s been looking for you. I’m hoping you can tell me where to find Stacey or the boss is gonna skin me alive.”

Joe grinned at the comment and pointed back up the gully. “She’s a little banged up, but she’s safe.”

Before he could move, Hoss and Glen came barreling out of the treeline and Joe found himself enveloped in his brother’s grasp. He groaned before he could stop himself and Hoss stepped back, holding his little brother at arm’s length.

“You okay there, Joe?”

“I am now, Brother!” he grinned back at Hoss.

Hoss didn’t look entirely convinced, given the ragged state of Joe’s clothing and the bruising and swelling that he could see. He guessed there was more that he couldn’t see and he knew his brother well enough to know that Joe would never tell him, given the choice.

“Well then, you better get on up there and let that little gal of yours know that, ’cause she was mighty upset when she heard them bullets flyin’ around down here.”

Joe quickly sobered as he realised what she would have thought and he barely checked to see that Kennedy had Jack in hand before bolting for where he had left Stacey.

“She’s up the hill a little bit!” Hoss called after him as Joe surprised him with the speed of his climb.

It was another ten minutes before Joe found where Hoss had left her and he knelt down in front of her as Stacey just stared at him. She reached a hand to cup his face and he smiled at her once again.

“I told you I was coming back, didn’t I?”

Stacey nodded as tears choked back any kind of verbal response. As Joe leaned closer, she felt the warmth of his lips on her face and she felt her fingers twisting into his hair as he once again took her breath away.

“Shut up!” Glen watched as Harry’s deputy growled at his prisoner who was protesting at his rough treatment. “Or I might just let you bleed out instead.”

Jack shot him a filthy look as Kennedy tied off a neckerchief around the top of his arm. The bullet pressed up against the bone and he clenched his teeth against the pain. When he was finally done, Glen handed him a length of rope and he nodded as the man’s hands were tied together in front of him and he was forced to sit down against the cold rock face.

Joe sat on the ground with Stacey leaning up against him as Hoss examined her swollen ankle once he’d managed to unlace her boot and ease it off. She was shivering and he wrapped both arms around her, trying to offer whatever comfort and distraction he could. It wasn’t all that cold once the sun had risen up the rocks and he didn’t need to wait for Hoss to know what was wrong. It was more than a sprained ankle.

Hoss looked up and saw his patient trying desperately to hold back the tears that welled in her eyes. He knew he’d hurt her as he worked, but it couldn’t be helped.

“I need to splint this and then we’ll get you into town to the doc. Have you fixed up as good as new.”

Stacey nodded at him and felt Joe’s hands tighten around her waist. She wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying, but the sound of his voice calmed her a little and she leaned back, trying to control the pain. As Hoss set to work applying the splint, she gripped onto Joe’s arms until he was done. Glen had already readied the horses to travel and Kennedy shoved his prisoner up into the saddle and wrapped the end of the rope around the saddle horn. Joe watched with a grim sense of satisfaction as the man who had helped drag them out into the unknown was now being treated in the exact same manner.

Glen walked Cochise around as close as he could get and he held the horse steady as Joe and Hoss worked together to get Stacey up into the saddle. She bit back a groan as her ankle protested loudly and was grateful to soon find herself with Joe once again seated behind her.

“Are you alright?” The tenderness in the question didn’t go unnoticed and she managed to respond with a small nod. Words would have given away the lie so she settled for leaning back once again and closing her eyes as they began to move. Joe kept the horse at a steady pace and carefully picked his way around anything that would cause Stacey any more distress. As the group headed back down the way they had come, he felt his anger rising again in direct proportion to Stacey’s pain. He dared not look at the man who was traveling behind them or he knew he’d have a problem keeping his anger in check. He wanted to pull the man down from his horse and beat him to a pulp, but his father’s voice seemed to echo around his head and the well-drilled notions of justice and respect for the law rose up.

When he found his thoughts tracking into dangerous territory on that front, he focused himself back on the woman he held in his arms. So much had happened in just a couple of days and he found himself going back over the conversation with Hoss that had sent him to Silver Falls in the first place.

“Joe … go see the gal again! Stop tormentin’ yourself …. and alla us!”

The truth was, he knew he had been tormenting himself and as always, his family had been able to read him better than he’d realised. In spite of himself, Joe felt his mood shifting. Somewhere in the last few days he had come to a place of certainty. He’d promised Stacey that he would return and sealed it with a kiss and a joke, but it was no joke. He wanted so much more than just another kiss. He almost smiled as he realised that he hadn’t even stopped to ask where their rescuers had sprung from as his entire attention had been focused on just one person.

As Hoss rode along just behind him, Joe twisted in the saddle to see where his brother was. Hoss had two horses on a lead rope while the deputy had their prisoner sandwiched in between them. Glen brought up the rear with another horse on a lead. There wasn’t time to deal with the bodies left behind in the gully, but if anyone else returned they would be thrown off the scent if both the men and horses were all gone.

“Somethin’ wrong, Joe?”

“I was just wondering where you lot came from. How’d you even know where to find us?”

“Well, I dunno about him,” Hoss thumbed over his shoulder towards Kennedy,” but Glen and me were out here lookin’ for you two after Harry told us where to start lookin’.”

“Harry?” Stacey murmured and tried to turn towards Hoss.

“Yeah, he sent Adam a wire and we came as soon as we got it.”

“Adam’s here too?” Joe felt a wash of comfort at the idea that both of his brothers had come for him.

“Him and Harry headed over to a place called Deckler Flats. We came to find you two.”

“What’s in Deckler Flats that’s so important?” For a fleeting moment, Joe felt disappointed that Adam had come all the way from the Ponderosa only to go off somewhere else instead. It must have been something important for his brother to miss a chance to give him a ribbing about needing to be rescued. As he continued down the hillside, Joe smiled at the thought he would have rather enjoyed hearing Adam’s teasing, while never admitting that to his brother.

Hoss turned around to see the men behind him before answering. He knew that Harry harboured some doubts about his deputy and his loyalty, but the man had just saved his brother’s life.

“Hopefully some answers.”

“About the gold?” Stacey leaned back against Joe and turned her head towards where Hoss was riding. “They told us that they were holding us in return for gold. But Harry doesn’t have any gold.”

“He said the same thing. He was real angry about it too. But I guess he figured some things ’cause he said there were answers in Deckler Flats.”

“I hope so. This ghost needs to be laid to rest once and for all. Before anyone else dies.”

Joe felt Stacey shudder against his chest and he tightened his arms around her once again. He knew where her thoughts were going and a niggling doubt told him he had no right to offer comfort to a woman who was mourning her husband. As if reading his thoughts, she wrapped her fingers around his hand that held the reins and once again allowed the horse’s swaying gait to lull her into sleep.

Harry peeled back the rotting timber from the well cover and flung it behind him. The stench that wafted up from the enclosed space was enough to make them both take a step back.

“You sure you don’t wanna change your mind on this?”

Adam shook his head as they continued to pull at the rotten wood. “No. We agreed on this. If I go down there, nobody can argue that you found the gold. It might just be enough to shift those who think you were in on it.”

“I know all that. It’s just that … well, I feel responsible for this mess going on this far.”

“Well that’s why we’re here. To put a stop to it. And besides, you’re heavier than me!” Adam grinned at his friend as Harry just shook his head.

‘And that’s why I get to haul you back out of there.”

“Well, we could wait until the deputy finds the sheriff and they get out here too.”

Harry almost laughed as he pulled at the last of the rotting timber. “I think he was too busy trying to sober himself up and remember where his boss is. We could be waiting a while. No thanks, Adam. I’ve waited far too long for answers and I’m not delaying this any longer.”

Adam knew he hadn’t expected anything less and he pulled a coil of rope down from his saddle and began knotting the end of it into a foothold. Harry tugged at the other end and tied it off against the horn on his horse’s saddle. He led the horse away from the well until the rope was almost taut. Adam pulled his boots off and began to roll up the bottom of his jeans. As he climbed up onto the edge of the well, he slipped his foot into the loop in the rope.

“Ready?” Harry held the horse’s bridle as he waited for Adam to get himself in place.

“Ready.” The smell from the well had eased a little the longer it stood open, but as Harry lowered him into the black hole, Adam wished he’d thought to tie a neckerchief over his face. “Wait a minute!”

“What’s wrong?”

“It stinks down there. Just need a little help if I’m going to keep breathing while I’m down in that hole.” Adam pulled the cloth from around his neck and hastily tied it in place over his mouth and nose. He gave a wave and Harry began to edge the horse closer to the well once again. Adam felt the air getting thicker around him as he descended into the long-disused well and began to wonder if he shouldn’t have allowed Harry to take on the job after all.

It took a few minutes before he felt his feet touching water and he tugged on the rope. The pre-arranged signal told Harry how much room he had left to drop and Adam felt himself slipping down into the dank water. Even with the cloth in place, he could still smell the acrid odour and he flinched as he dropped lower into it. He stretched out the foot that was loose and tried to feel if there was anything below him. He only had another foot or so before his head would be underwater and he had no wish to be in that position. If he didn’t make contact with the bottom soon, they’d have to try another tack. He tugged on the rope again and looked up to see a dark silhouette against the rim of the well.

“You okay down there?”

Before he could answer, Adam felt his foot make contact with something solid. It felt smooth under his toes and he nudged at it to see if he could dislodge it. His heart was pounding as it slid away from him and his toes connected with something else.

“Give me a few more inches!” He shouted back up to the shadow above him and felt the rope dropping him down once more. As the water lapped at his chin, he had the barest of margins to try to maneuver what he knew to be a gold bar up against the wall of the well.

“Adam! You all right down there?” He could hear the anxiety in Harry’s voice and he smiled in spite of his situation.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just trying to pull up something here.”

The smell was making him feel light-headed, but he was determined to finish the job. As he nudged at the thing underneath his foot, he tried to visualise what was happening. The smooth bar slid across whatever it was sitting on and then it suddenly dipped. He cursed under his breath as he thought he may have lost it, but once again he got a grip on it with the edge of his foot. Inch by painful inch, he pushed at the thing until he felt it hit the edge of the well. It took some effort, but Adam finally was rewarded when he managed to slide it far enough up the wall to reach it with his fingertips. As he wrapped a hand around it, he lifted it out of the water and tried to make it out in the semi-darkness. It was solid and heavy in his hand and even without sufficient light, Adam knew he was holding a solid gold bar in his hand. He nudged around with his foot and felt the floor underneath him shift again. He had no way to determine how many were there, but there were definitely more gold bars right underneath him.

Adam tucked the bar into his shirt and pulled his belt up against it before he tugged on the rope again.

“Bring me up! I got it, Harry!”

Adam waited for a response and looked up to see that the shadow had gone.

“Harry?”

Adam tugged on the rope and was shocked when the rope jolted down instead of upwards. He dropped into the water and felt himself sinking as he grasped at the rope overhead. The rope jolted again and he hauled himself up the rope a little, gasping and spluttering as he came up for air. The cloth that had meant to protect him stuck to his face like a dead fish and he ripped at it to pull it down from his mouth. The sour taste of foul water made him gag and he spat out the residue from his mouth.

“Harry! What’s going on up there?”

When he got no answer and the rope continue to move up and down randomly, Adam began to haul himself back up the rope. His hands burned against the coarse fibres, but slowly he made his way towards the edge of the well. When he was almost at the top, he heard Harry shouting his name and suddenly the man’s head appeared at the rim once again.

“Adam!” Harry began hauling at the rope and between them they managed to get Adam clear of the well once again. “You okay?”

“Yeah. What the hell happened?” Adam sat on the rim of the well and shook the water from his hair. As he looked behind him towards the horse, he could see what had happened. A body lay sprawled in the dirt and Harry was sporting the beginnings of a black eye.

“He happened! Came outta nowhere. I’m guessing he’s another of Morgan’s men, keeping a watch on us, but we won’t know that until he wakes up.”

“Then how about we wake him up?” Adam grinned as Harry held out a hand to him. “After I show you this, of course.”

Adam pulled at the buttons on his shirt and slowly eased his belt aside to pull the gold bar free. Harry stared at it as if it were poisoned before slowly reaching a hand towards it.

“I was hoping to God I was wrong. You know what this means?”

Adam watched his friend’s face and he knew the man well enough to read what it meant.

“Leprechauns can be Scottish too?”

“Yeah.” The deep sigh that accompanied the comment was enough. Adam clapped him on the shoulder and slid down onto the ground.

“If this buys us back our family, I don’t give a damn about leprechauns!”

“What’s your name?” Harry slapped at the man’s face again and watched with a little satisfaction that his prisoner was barely holding back his fury. Adam stood beside him with his gun trained on the man’s chest. His own rage was simmering away below the surface, but he held it in check as they needed answers.

“Walker! Jeremy Walker.”

“Well Mister Jeremy Walker, it doesn’t take a genius to know who sent you here.”

“I ain’t tellin’ you nothin’!”

Harry grabbed at his shirtfront and smirked at him. “You don’t need to tell me anything at all. But I’m going to tell you a few things. First, you are going to head straight back to your boss and tell Morgan what you found here.”

The man’s face flickered in surprise before he pulled his face into a stony mask once again.

“Make no mistake about it. I know exactly who you work for and what kind of man he is. He doesn’t take kindly to failure. You can pretend we didn’t catch you out, I don’t really care. You will tell Morgan that we found the gold in the well and then you will tell your boss that if he wants to see even one ounce of this gold, bring his two prisoners here, unharmed and we’ll talk about our trade terms.”

“You’re a damn fool if you think he’s gonna let you all up and walk outta here alive!”

“Oh, now that’s where you are wrong. You see, while you were having your little nap in the shade, my friend and I were hauling up gold bars out of that there well. By the time you get back here with Morgan, the gold will be hidden somewhere else. If he intends to harm my sister-in-law or his little brother,” Harry thumbed at Adam beside him, “well us two older brothers are gonna be mighty upset about that. I imagine that after all this time, Morgan is gonna be mighty upset if his gold doesn’t get delivered to him. Now, you don’t want to see any of us getting upset now do you?”

Walker glared at him as Harry spoke calmly and quietly, knowing full well what he was winding up.

“No!”

“Good. It seems you have got a brain underneath that awful haircut of yours. So just to be sure that we’re clear on things; you will bring Morgan back here tomorrow afternoon at four o’clock. That should give you enough time to ride on back and fetch everybody.”

Harry hauled the man to his feet and slowly released his grip on his prisoner. He felt like he was standing in front of a rattler, coiled to strike at him. “Now, you won’t be needing this gun of yours or your rifle so Adam and me don’t end up wearing a bullet in the back.”

Harry glanced up into the sky and pointed towards the man’s horse tied in the treeline. “You better get going if you’re going to make it in time.”

Adam held his gun trained on Walker as he moved across the open space and climbed up onto his horse.

“You’re both dead men walkin’!”

Harry saluted against the rim of his hat as Walker rode out and chewed thoughtfully on his bottom lip. “Not if I have any say in the matter!”

“You think he bought all that?” Adam moved up beside Harry and watched as Walker kicked his horse into a gallop.

“Guess we’ll soon find out.”

Stacey leaned back against the pillow and tried to ignore the droning noise that filled the air around her. The laudanum the doctor had given her was wiping away the last vestiges of the agony in her ankle and she felt herself sinking into the bed once again as if she was slipping underwater.

“It was a bad break. I’ve set it, but she’s going to need to stay off her feet for the next few weeks at least. She won’t be able to manage that ranch of hers and I just know she’s too stubborn to allow Harry to send anybody out there to help her.”

“Don’t you worry, Doc, we’ll make sure she’s taken care of.” Joe leaned across the end of the bed railing and watched as Stacey finally drifted into a drugged sleep. He’d held onto her as the doctor had manipulated the bones in her ankle to bring them back into alignment and the sound of her screams still lingered in the room. Her swollen and bruised foot now rested on top of a pillow and the blanket had been drawn up to her chin. Joe was about to settle on the far side of the bed when the doctor shook his head.

“Not yet, young man. I need to take a look at you next.”

“I’m fine!” Joe began to protest, but Hoss appeared next to his elbow and glared back at him.

“No you ain’t. Now let the doc check you over while he’s here.”

Joe glared at his brother and Hoss merely raised his eyebrows. “The quicker you let him do his job, the quicker you can come back here.”

Joe reluctantly allowed himself to be led back across the room and submitted to the inevitable barrage of questions. The doctor let out a low whistle as he removed his shirt and draped it over the chair. He knew what the man was reacting to, but was in no mood to explain it. He swallowed down a sarcastic response and turned back to face the man.

“A knife wound. It’s healed up just fine.”

The doctor noted the flash in the young man’s eyes and wisely decided to say nothing about the barely healed scar that ran diagonally across the young man’s back. Instead, he began to run practiced fingers over bruises and marks that told their own story. When Joe flinched at a particularly tender spot, the doctor paused.

“Somebody worked you over, but good.”

“I gave back as good as I got.” The heat in the comment wasn’t lost on any of them and the doctor noted how his patient kept his gaze on the young woman now sleeping on the bed. He’d known Stacey since he had arrived in Silver Falls and he’d watched her grieve through the loss of her husband. If the injuries he was now inspecting were the result of protecting her, then he knew that Luke would approve.

“You need to get these cleaned up, but I think you’ll live, young man.” The doctor smiled as Joe pulled his shirt back on. “You also need to take it easy for a few days and get some food into you.”

Hoss clapped Joe on the shoulder and nodded towards the door. “Glen’s got some food coming on up from the dining room now.”

The young ranch hand pushed the door aside and carried a loaded tray across the room. “The deputy’s gone on to the telegraph office to wire the sheriff in Deckler Flats. Let Harry and Adam know what’s goin’ on. Said he’ll be back later.”

Hoss walked the doctor to the door as Joe slipped back around the side of the bed. He settled down by pulling a chair as close as he could and reached out for Stacey’s hand. She didn’t respond to the touch and he knew the laudanum wouldn’t wear off for some time.

“Well, I’d better head on over to the jail and check on that prisoner that Deputy Kennedy’s holding there.”

“You watch out for that snake, Doc. He’s meaner than a rattler.” Joe’s disgust was clear to hear and Hoss patted the doctor on the shoulder as he left the room.

“He’s right. Don’t go lettin’ yourself in to that cell ’til the deputy’s back.”

The smell seemed to have diminished a little as his clothes slowly dried, but Adam could still taste the sour taste in his mouth. He chewed on a strip of beef jerky and took another swig from his canteen, but the taste lingered. He would have given anything to be able to take a bath or even go for a swim to wash off the stench, but there was no water nearby other than what was in the bottom of the well. They would need to drain the well to bring up the rest of the gold bars and he’d been tossing around ideas of how to do that.

It was almost an hour since Harry had ridden off with the single gold bar to go and share a very long story with the sheriff of Deckler Flats. Adam had stayed behind in case Jeremy Walker got any stupid ideas and decided to double back on them and try his luck at fishing for gold. He knew that the lure of gold was a strong siren and many men had given their last breath to get their hands on it.

The air was growing chilly and Adam debated lighting a fire in the derelict way station, but eventually he decided against it. He figured that Walker would be well on his way to Silver Falls, but there was no guarantee that Morgan didn’t have others on his payroll, just waiting to relay information or follow orders. Gold was a powerful incentive for less than scrupulous men. In the end, Adam set a camp a short way from the well within a copse of trees. He decided to forgo a fire to keep himself hidden and rolled out his bedroll on the smoothest stretch of ground. As he stared up into the night sky, Adam almost laughed at the state he was in. His clothes had dried and seemed like they had stiffened against his skin. They chafed in places that he didn’t want to think about and his bare skin itched. His belly growled in protest that beef jerky was not going to assuage and he almost wished he hadn’t argued the point with Harry about who would go down the well.

“You’re a mess, Cartwright!” He muttered to himself as he rolled over in the bedroll, drawing his gun up in front of his face. It wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he’d promised Harry could ask for his help, but he didn’t regret coming. He’d seen how his brother’s death had chewed at the lawman and it seemed that just maybe, they could finally lay a few ghosts to rest. His thoughts automatically followed on to his own youngest brother. He prayed that Hoss had already found their missing brother and Stacey and that they were all safely waiting in Silver Falls. If not, he didn’t know how he was going to explain to his father that he’d lost Joe. It didn’t bear thinking about and he groaned as he pulled the blanket up to his ear and tried to find a comfortable spot to sleep.

Morgan sat down heavily on a boulder and tried to collect his wildly racing thoughts. He’d always been a man who could think on his feet. It was a trait learned early in life when he’d been left to find his own way in the world as a ten-year-old orphan. Life had hardened him to the point where the value of human life meant nothing to him and people were expendable. It didn’t mean he was alright with the loss of his man at the camp site, but it was more a case that he was inconvenienced than upset about his death. He’d heard Jack protesting that the Cartwright kid had his knife and it turned out that he was right. That oversight had cost him his guard and his prisoners were gone along with the rest of his men. He couldn’t figure why they would have moved the prisoners, but the men and the horses were all gone by the time he returned to camp. It was getting on dark and too hard to track, but he’d dispatched a couple of men into town to nose around and see what they could find.

In the meantime, he was still waiting to hear from Walker after he’d sent him after the sheriff. It was several hours later when two of his men rode into camp and spilled the news that Jack was sitting in the sheriff’s jail with a bullet hole in his arm. It wasn’t what he’d expected, but the rest of the news was even more infuriating. Somehow his two prisoners had escaped and were safely holed up in the hotel with men guarding them.

Morgan ground a fist into the rock face and growled as he tried to think of a new plan that would get him his gold. It was entirely possible the deputy was lining up men to raid his camp as they sat there and he suddenly began to issue orders to pull up and get ready to move out. There was no way he was going back to prison, knowing that he would most likely be facing a noose. The only option he had left was to find out where Collins had gone before somebody spilled the beans on the hostages. If the sheriff still believed his pretty little sister-in-law was in danger, he could be persuaded to do almost anything, including handing over the gold he had stashed away.

By the time the last of the horses were ready and all the gear had been stowed, Morgan was irritable and itching for a fight. Somebody needed to bear the backlash for all that had happened and he had to force himself to squash it back down. He needed to think and keep a clear head.

Adam guessed it was an hour or so before dawn when he awoke with a start. He clenched his fist around his gun, certain that he’d been woken by somebody around his camp. The stillness only added to his concern, but suddenly he knew what had really woken him. He groped around for his water canteen as the roof of his mouth felt like sand. His stomach clenched itself into a knot and he felt the burning of bile rising up his throat. Before he could climb out of the bedroll, his stomach erupted. Half digested beef jerky tasted even worse coming up than it had going down the night before and he gagged on the last of it. He found himself shivering in the chilled air as he pulled himself upright and searched out the canteen. Adam swilled the water around his mouth and he suddenly spat it out as pain speared through his body as if somebody had just plunged a knife into his gut. He blindly groped at his stomach before dropping back onto the bedroll and waiting for the pain to ease up. As the first rays of dawn began to decorate the sky, Adam forced himself out of bed to gather some wood for a fire. He needed the warmth to stop the sudden chill that seemed to have grasped hold of him.

Will Forster chewed on a twig as he rode along and allowed his mind to mull over the facts as he knew them. He’d been the sheriff of Deckler Flats for close on three years and he was well aware of the local gossip surrounding a stolen shipment of gold. He knew the young sheriff who ran the nearby town of Silver Falls and had never had cause to question the man’s integrity in his dealings with him. He’d walked the earth long enough to know that sometimes a gut feeling meant more than any kind of stories that circulated and he’d made up his own mind long before Harry Collins rode into his small town with a gold bar stashed in his saddlebag. As he and his deputy rode along with three men who’d been deputized for the day, he couldn’t help but admire the young man who rode in front of them all. It had taken courage to ride in and spin a story that sounded so outlandish and hope not to be arrested.

As they finally arrived at the abandoned way station, he noted the young man that Harry had described was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t until they began to dismount that he heard movement behind him and a man dressed in black emerged from the treeline. Harry waved in greeting and the stranger slowly holstered his drawn gun. The man’s hat was drawn low across his face and his movement was slow and deliberate, but the sheriff decided it may just be a cautious man’s way of approaching them.

“You okay there, Adam?”

Harry had noted it too and he knew better. Something was wrong.

Adam nodded as he made it to the group of men who stood before him. “Yeah, it was just mighty cold out here last night without a fire. I must be getting old because it sure hurt getting up off that ground this morning.”

Harry noted the slow grin and Adam held out a hand to each of the men in turn. He couldn’t define what it was, but something was off. He knew Adam well enough he was not being entirely truthful, but he owed the man too much to embarrass him in front of strangers.

For his part, Adam was just relieved that the cramps from earlier in the morning seemed to be subsiding, even if the chill still lingered. He couldn’t bring himself to stomach any kind of food and the suggestion of coffee almost turned his stomach.

“I’ve got some great news for you. A wire came through from Kennedy. Said they found Stacey and Joe and they’re all back at the hotel.”

Adam felt his mood lift instantly and the pain in his body dropped down several notches. He blew out a sharp breath in relief.

“I always said Hoss could track anything.”

As the sheriff posted his deputies on look out detail, the rest of the group drew their plans for when Morgan and his men eventually showed up. There was no telling how fast Walker had ridden across to where Morgan had been hidden out and it was only a guess as to how far away they all were. Nobody gave any serious thought to the idea that Morgan would not show up, given the gold he’d stolen and had stolen from him in return had finally been found.

Martin pushed his horse to keep up with the rest of the group as Morgan was setting a punishing pace. They’d already been on the move when Walker had caught up to them and hastily relayed the sheriff’s demands that they come to the old way station outside Deckler Flats. Morgan had looked fit to bust when the men had returned from Silver Falls and explained that his hostages had been stolen from under his nose. For his part, Martin had been relieved to hear that his brother was at least still alive, even if he was wounded. There’d be time to figure out later how they would bust his brother out of the jail. For now, he needed to keep riding and stay with Morgan’s group if he ever wanted to see his share of the gold.

The sun was moving towards early afternoon when Adam found himself once again at the mercy of muscle spasms that stole the very breath from his chest. He knew he was sickening for something as his stomach had clenched itself into knots for the better part of the day. It reminded him of the time he’d had food poisoning from a pork pie that he’d eaten in a small town on the ride home from a cattle run. It had hit from out of the blue then and he’d been laid up for two days as the illness ran its course. This felt somehow different as once he’d vomited the first time that seemed to be the end of it. It was the chill that seemed to have embedded itself into his bones alongside the debilitating stomach cramps that almost had him bent double that warned him this was something else instead.

He knew he wasn’t fooling Harry that he was as fine as he said he was, but he also knew the sheriff had his thoughts focused elsewhere and would leave the interrogation until later. Adam was sitting high on the ridge, taking his turn as lookout when it hit him again. The dryness in his mouth had been a constant nag all day and he’d been trying to ration his canteen as best he could while balancing the feel of sand in his mouth. He was trying to get himself under control when he heard the unmistakable sound of multiple horses coming up the valley. He leaned up against a tree and tried to focus his sight along the smooth edge of the rifle. Sweat dribbled down the side of his face and he lifted his shoulder to wipe his cheek while staring down the treeline. Within a few minutes several riders came into view and he could see that they weren’t making any effort to conceal themselves. He wasn’t naïve enough to think that there weren’t others who were making their way quietly towards them and he warily watched the area he’d been assigned to, looking for any other movement.

“Collins! I know you’re here. Show yourself!”

Adam watched as Harry strolled out into the open space in front of the way station, his hand on his hip within easy reach of his holster.

“I’m here. Since I sent for you, of course I’m here.”

Adam could see the lead rider stiffen in the saddle and he easily figured the man wasn’t used to being summonsed. His hands were clenched around his reins and Harry’s apparent nonchalant attitude seemed to irk him.

“You sent for me? I told you to find me my gold or I’d kill your little girl.” The sneer in his tone was obvious, but Harry held his ground. He looked up to see Walker glaring at him and he almost smiled to see the man’s face resembled his own with a deep bruise spreading across his cheek.

“Well I see that Walker got back to you safely. I’m assuming he also told you that we found the gold in the well and have now removed it all. So, I’m assuming you are here to trade the gold for your two hostages.”

Morgan nudged his horse forward menacingly. “Two hostages?”

“Don’t insult my intelligence, Morgan. I know you took Joe Cartwright when you snatched Stacey. There’s more than enough gold there to cover both of them. I’m willing to trade for their lives, but they’d better be in good shape when we get them back.” The menace in his tone was clear.

Morgan swiftly pulled his gun from his holster and aimed it straight at Harry’s chest. “I oughta put a bullet in you right now.”

“Do that and you’ll never see a bar of that gold that you stole from San Francisco. After all, my friend has already been down that well enough times to haul it all up and we’ve got it stashed somewhere you will never find it again. It was a long night, but an oh, so profitable one.” Harry looked up to where Walker was staring at him. “Don’t believe me? Ask your goon here what he found us doing yesterday.”

It was clear that Morgan already knew about the other man who had been down the well and Harry smiled up at him as he glared back.

“I’ve been double-crossed once already, Collins. I ain’t wearin’ it a second time. That gold is mine! Now I might need you alive, but there’s nothing to say that I need you in one piece.” Morgan grinned maliciously as he lowered his weapon and took aim at Harry’s leg. Before he could pull the trigger, Adam fired across from where he was and was dismayed to see the shot go wide and hit a nearby tree, splintering the branch. He wasn’t that far away that he should have missed his shot and he sagged back against the tree trying to steady himself if he needed a second shot. Morgan fired wildly as his horse pranced backwards and Harry had his gun in his hand, aimed his way by the time he got his horse back under control.

“Your partner, I presume? Going into the gold stealing business are you, Sheriff? Or are the rumours of your involvement in things really true after all?”

“I’ve never stolen anything in my life, Morgan. You, on the other hand, orchestrated the gold heist and then got double-crossed by your partners.”

“Well that’s why we’re going to change things today. Don’t forget I’ve still got Stacey and that Cartwright kid. You ever want to see them again, we need to stop dancing around here and start talking about giving me back my gold.”

Harry knew he had enough, but couldn’t resist one last question. “Or what, Morgan? You’re gonna kill them like you killed my kid brother?”

Adam held his breath as he crept lower through the trees. Harry had told him enough for him to know that the lack of justice for his brother’s murder was something that still ate at him every day. If it was Joe or Hoss, he didn’t know how he would deal with that.

“Actually, I enjoyed that one, Collins. He wanted me to back off and leave you alone. Imagine that. A big tough sheriff who needed a kid to watch his back.”

The laughter that carried across the space between them made Harry want to reach up and haul the man from the saddle before beating him to a puddle on the ground.

“Okay, I think you’ve done enough talking, Morgan.” He barely managed to keep himself still as he called out behind him. “Wouldn’t you agree, Will?”

“I’d say that’s about enough to get a jury to bring down a guilty verdict on multiple charges.” Will stepped out from behind the door of the way station as his deputies moved in from the perimeter. Each of them had a rifle trained on the group still on horseback. Morgan kicked his heels into his horse’s flanks and charged towards Harry as he began to fire wildly.

“I’m not going back to prison!”

Adam tried to keep track of the men as the horses began to kick up dust. He could hear shots ring out and he hurried down to the base of the trees as he took aim with his rifle. One of the riders was bearing down on one of Forster’s men and Adam fired to where he thought he should. The shot went lower than he expected, but it still took the man in the leg. He fell from the saddle and the horse galloped off into the far treeline before disappearing from sight.

When he stopped to think about it later, it was all over very quickly. Morgan obviously assumed that Harry didn’t know that Stacey and Joe had escaped and he still planned to make a trade for the gold. Adam had always known the gold-lust could blind a man, but Morgan had had years to stew over it and lay his plans. He’d been blinded by his own greed. When the dust finally settled, Morgan was writhing in the dirt with a bullet in his shoulder. Two of his men were dead and one of Forster’s newly-minted deputies had a broken leg after being trampled by a rider-less horse. Adam helped to bind up men’s hands and find something to use as a splint. His own discomfort faded into the background as he worked, but by the time he was done, he was breathing heavily.

He sat down on a fallen log and took a swig from his canteen as Harry headed his way. “Well done, Sheriff. Looks like you got your man. Or men, rather.”

Harry forced on a smile, but the coldness in his eyes didn’t fool his friend. “I finally got the animal who murdered my brother.”

Adam watched as emotion played across the man’s face and he nodded in agreement.

“Couldn’t have done it without you, Cartwright.”

Adam hauled himself to his feet. “I think you’ve got enough men to cover things here. I need to be getting back to my brothers. Make sure that youngest brother of mine is still in one piece.”

Harry noted again the drawn look on his friend’s face, but thought better of commenting. It had been a long and exhausting few days and he figured he might well look just as haggard himself.

“I need to sort this mess out with the sheriff and then I’ll be right behind you. While you check up on Joe, make sure Stacey’s okay too, will you?”

“What’s a big brother for?” Adam grinned at him as Harry slapped him on the shoulder.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but several hours later Adam was struggling to keep himself in the saddle. Not only were the muscle spasms back with a vengeance, but his chest felt tight and every breath was becoming more painful than the last. His horse was finding its own way along the well-worn road between the two towns, otherwise he may have had trouble knowing where he was going. He debated stopping and taking a rest, but he was afraid that if he did, he’d never get back up into the saddle.

Harry poured himself another mug of coffee and sat down before he plonked his feet onto the sheriff’s desk. The stack of paperwork was only just drying as the two of them had written details of all that had transpired. Neither wanted a clever lawyer getting between their prisoners and justice.

“Helluva story, Collins.” Sheriff Forster watched the other man sink into the chair as an air of exhaustion settled over him.

“I want you to do something for me.”

Forster leaned forward in his chair and waited. “What?”

“There’s a widow out there who has no idea that her husband was involved in all this. He’s dead so you’ve got nothing to lose. When this story comes out, how about you cut a lonely woman some slack and allow her to keep her husband’s memory intact?”

Forster slid back against the back of his chair and took a swallow of his coffee.

“I always did figure if he was involved, it was more by chance than planning. I guess gold-fever really does turn a man’s head.”

“So you’ll do it?”

Forster turned his head towards the closed cell door.

“I’ll think about it.”

Harry pulled himself up to his feet and reached for his hat. “I know another widow who needs some good news. I’m gonna go see my ma before I head home in the morning. I’ll see you ’round, Sheriff.”

The early morning sunshine was barely beginning to lift the temperature as Harry finished saddling his horse. His mother had been pleased to see him for an unexpected visit, especially as one of the town gossips had delighted in telling her that her son was in town and she had no idea about it.

“Luke can finally rest easy … and so can you.” The soft-spoken words were the culmination of a long conversation from the night before and Harry smiled as his mother cupped the side of his face. “And now maybe you can finally forgive yourself.”

Harry lifted his hand to rest over the top of his mother’s hand and he tried to smile back. The truth was, he figured he’d go to his grave bearing the guilt of his brother’s death. It didn’t matter that it was Morgan who pulled the trigger. He’d been the deputy sheriff and he should have protected his young brother. It was as simple as that.

“Maybe.”

“Now you be sure and give Stacey a hug for me and tell her I’ll be over to see her soon.”

“Yes, Ma.”

Harry leaned down to kiss the top of his mother’s head and she wrapped her arms around his waist. Tears glistened in her eyes as she reluctantly released him and he tipped his hat at her before climbing into the saddle. He hadn’t moved before both of them heard the distinctive sound of a horse racing towards them. It was too early in the morning for many people to be on the road and Harry pulled his horse towards the edge of the yard. He was surprised to see Will Forster galloping towards him and he held his horse steady as the sheriff pulled alongside him.

“Mornin’, Will.”

“Harry, that friend of yours, that Cartwright fella, was he sick yesterday?”

The odd question caught him by surprise, but Harry thought back to Adam’s slow movements and drawn features.

“Not that he let on, but maybe. Why?”

“That mongrel, Morgan just got through telling me how he’s gonna die.”

“Die!”

“Seems that Walker fella saw your friend dripping wet after going in the well. Did he swallow any of that well water?”

Harry felt his chest constrict as he remembered the events of the day before. Things had happened so quickly that he’d ignored something vital. “We’d agreed that he’d only go down chest deep, but that damn fool, Walker attacked me and the horse we had him hitched to spooked. He dropped Adam in the water. We were so focused on the gold and knowing that we had leverage to get Stacey and Joe back that I didn’t even think about it until now.” Harry looked stricken as he realised his own lapse. “But, that water was tainted years back. Surely whatever sickness was in it would have flushed out by now. It couldn’t still …”

“It could if it was poisoned.”

“Poisoned? You sure about that, Will? The doc said it had a sickness in it. Something that’d probably die off after enough time. What makes you think it was poisoned?”

“I’m not sure about nothin’ those damn thievin’ rattlers have to say, but they seem to think that the well was poisoned well before the gold heist to give them a legitimate reason to close the stagecoach way station and seal that well. It gave them a safe dump that nobody’d ever check on. Seems to me that Walker fella is keen to try to save his own neck by trading information with us.”

Harry grasped at his horse’s reins and edged around the sheriff’s horse. “I need to get after Adam. God help me if he’s …”

“This ain’t your fault, Harry.”

“Sure. Seems I’ve heard that one once or twice before. I gotta go.”

“Harry, I’ll wire Silver Flats. Get Kennedy out looking from his end. Good luck!” The shout carried after him as Harry bolted out onto the road.

Adam’s horse was growing confused by his rider’s signals. Normally well in tune with each other, something was not working as his rider was almost prone in the saddle. He meandered along the well-traveled stretch of road as there was no real grass or feed anywhere in the rocky area.

The deputy had debated heading down to the hotel and getting one of the trio from Virginia City that were waiting there, but thought better of it. The wire had been explicit enough that he knew he might not be on a rescue mission, but a body retrieval. He’d never met the man he was searching for, but he figured he didn’t need to. If Will Forster’s fear was on the money then he’d know Adam Cartwright without introduction. Assuming the man was still alive.

Sport raised his head and nickered at the sound of an approaching horse. Adam managed to lift his head from his horse’s neck as he too heard the sound. It took what little strength he had left to pull his gun from its holster and fire three shots into the dirt beside him. It was his family’s signal, but he prayed that whoever was coming would take it for what it was – a desperate call for help.

As Kennedy pulled his horse up alongside the large bay, he was grateful for the gunshots only moments earlier because otherwise he would have thought the rider was dead.

“Cartwright? Adam? Can you hear me?”

He tugged at the man’s arm and tried to lift him more upright to get a look at him. Adam felt himself being pulled up and tried to lift his head to see who it was. His whole body ached, but his head felt like somebody had placed it in a vice.

“Help me.” The words were strained, but Kennedy heard them anyway.

“That’s why I’m here. Harry sent me to look for you.” He tried to pull Adam up again, but soon figured that wasn’t going to work. He eventually decided he needed to switch horses and he climbed down off his own horse before pulling himself up behind Adam. He tugged at the back of his shirt and felt the man’s dead weight drop against his chest. A low groan was the only comment he got as he kicked the horse into motion with his own horse trailing along behind him.

“C’mon now, I’m gonna get you back to town to the doc.”

Adam felt himself struggling to focus on the road ahead of him as Harry’s friend pushed Sport towards town. He felt the deep chill that had plagued him since … since he couldn’t remember it not being there. It seemed to have seeped into his bones while he slept and he shivered involuntarily. Sweat dribbled down into his eyes which only added to the blurry scene in front of him and he found himself closing his eyes and letting the stranger carry him to wherever he wanted to. At that point, Adam could not have cared less where they were going.

Hoss watched as Glen flipped a card over, but he had long since lost interest in trying to figure whatever game it was that he was playing. Joe was sprawled in a chair butted up against the bed where Stacey was soundly sleeping. It had been a rough night for her and it was only a dose of laudanum that had finally taken her into a painless and deep sleep. Hoss pushed himself up from the chair and grabbed his hat from a nearby side table.

“Think I’m gonna head down and see if the deputy’s got any news on Adam and Harry. You keep an eye on our two sleeping beauties.” He snagged a leftover sandwich off the covered tray and began chewing on it as he headed for the door.

Glen grinned at the description and nodded. “Sure thing.”

Hoss was half way down the street to the Sheriff’s office when he saw something that almost made him choke on his sandwich. The sight of his older brother slumped in the saddle with Kennedy riding behind him had him running towards them as the deputy pulled up in front of the hotel.

“Adam!”

“Help me get him upstairs.”

Kennedy watched in amazement as Hoss easily hefted his brother from the saddle and began to carry him inside.

“Alright then, I’ll fetch the doc and you take him upstairs.”

Glen heard Hoss shouting from the stairwell and he hurried out into the narrow passageway. Seconds later, Joe was behind him and they both gaped as Hoss carried Adam up the stairs.

Glen held the door open and Joe hurried across to fling back the covers from the bed as Hoss slowly turned sideways and eased his awkward cargo through the doorway. He gently laid his older brother out on the sheets and both brothers went to work trying to rouse him from his listless semi-conscious stupor. Hoss ran expert hands over his brother’s body, searching for any sign of a gunshot or knife wound that would explain his state.

“Adam, wake up, Adam. C’mon … that’s it. Wake up.”

A low groan was the only reaction, but it was enough to bring a little hope.

“Adam? Can you hear me?” Joe grabbed at his brother’s hand and squeezed firmly, hoping he would get a physical response if not a verbal one. Adam’s fingers felt limp in his hand and he was about to try again when Kennedy hurried in the door with the doctor who had recently attended to Stacey’s ankle. He reluctantly released his brother’s hand in order to allow the doctor access and he stepped back out of the way.

“What’s wrong with him?” Hoss grabbed at Kennedy’s arm and spun the man to face him.

Kennedy licked at his lip as he considered the urgent words in the wire that was stuffed into his vest pocket. For a moment, he wavered on whether or not to share what he knew or to allow the doctor to make his assessment first.

“This might explain things.”

The two brothers leaned in to read the sheet of paper and Joe felt his anger rapidly rising.

“Poisoned! If you knew this, why didn’t you come and get us?”

The deputy looked at both men and tried to choose his words carefully. “The sheriff was only guessing. I figured if he was wrong then I’d just cause you a whole lotta grief for nothing. And if he was right … well then … I …”

Hoss shook his head and held up a hand. “If he was right then Adam could have been dead.”

Joe flinched at the comment and turned back to where the doctor was still making his evaluation.

“We need to get some water up here and some washcloths.” They’d all noticed the smell of Adam’s clothes, but none of them felt it was the most concerning issue.

“If what the deputy here says is right and he’s been in poisoned water, his clothes are a problem. We need to get his skin clean.”

Glen was already at the door and making his way to the stairs as Joe hurried after him. He needed to do something to help and if water was what Adam needed, then water was what he was going to get.

Adam groaned as if in pain as gentle hands began to strip away his shirt and boots. Nobody seemed to be concerned that a woman was still in the room as the last vestiges of his clothing was removed and Adam was washed clean for the first time in days. Red, itchy looking blotches marked most of his body and it was clear that at some point Adam had been lucid enough to scratch them. As Joe and Hoss worked on their brother, the doctor kept monitoring his responses while saying very little. By the time they pulled a fresh sheet and a blanket up over his chest, Adam had barely responded to anything.

“Doc, he’s gonna be okay ain’t he?” Hoss watched as the man looked around the group.

“Honestly? I just don’t know. Without knowing any of his symptoms prior to him being found on the road, I’m only making educated guesses. If this is some kind of sickness that was in the water, then this will get worse. I need to keep a close watch on him as some of those sicknesses can spread rapidly. I don’t want any of you leaving town until I know what I’m dealing with.”

“None of us is going anywhere until Adam’s well!” Joe’s vehement response would have made the doctor smile if it weren’t still so uncertain his patient would ever be well again.

“And if it’s poison?” Hoss swallowed hard as the words tumbled out.

“I have no idea what kind of poison so I have no real idea of symptoms or severity or a possible prognosis. I’m sorry gentleman, but I simply don’t know. We are just going to have to wait and see and treat the symptoms as they arise.”

“Adam!” The voice that carried across the room startled them all as Ben moved over to the bed.

“Pa! What are you doing here?”

“I got a wire telling me I needed to bring money if I wanted my son back.” As both brothers absorbed that news, he hurried on. “I’m glad to see it isn’t needed, but what in Heaven’s name has happened to your brother? Did you just say poison?”

Ben leaned over the bed and cupped his hand against Adam’s cheek. The skin felt clammy and his lips had a bluish tinge. The effort to draw breath was obvious and Ben felt his fingers involuntarily stroke his son’s unshaven cheek.

“It seems that’s entirely possible, Mister Cartwright.” The doctor was about to continue when Hoss jumped in.

“We’ll haveta wait ’til Harry gets back so we’ll know for sure, but it sure seems that way, Pa.”

The doctor pushed himself to his feet and gestured to Ben who slid into the vacated seat. “I’ll be back a little later to check on him, but in the meantime, keep him warm, try to get some fluids into him and come and find me if he gets worse.

“That’s it?” Joe stepped into his path as Hoss grasped at his elbow.

“I’m sorry, but there is really nothing to be done, but wait and see. Your brother seems strong and healthy. Keep talking to him. Let him know you are all here with him. And pray.”

Joe didn’t want to pray. He wanted to haul his brother to his feet and drag him back from wherever he had disappeared to.

Harry sat at the small table in the hotel bar and listened as Hoss and Glen filled in the details of the last few hours. He’d arrived in town with a sense of hope still intact as he hadn’t come across Adam anywhere on the road. As he’d bounded up the stairs to their room, he’d almost held his breath as he knocked on the door. The haggard look on Hoss’ face as he opened the door told him all he needed to know. A part of him had breathed in relief to see Stacey sleeping soundly on the far bed, but the grey pallor of his friend’s face told a story he didn’t really want to hear. The anxious faces that surrounded him spoke volumes.

He took a swallow of the third shot of whiskey the bartender had instinctively kept pouring for them.

“So it really was poisoned then?”

“The doc said he doesn’t know. It could be or it could just be whatever sickness they said was in there.”

“It’s been years since they boarded up that well and closed the station. Before that, people kept getting sick and so did the horses.”

Hoss gripped at his glass and stared at the sheriff sitting across from him. If anyone would know the details, he would. “Did alla them folks die? Or did some survive?”

Harry looked up, wanting desperately to give a ray of hope. Not all of the people had died, but some of the horses had. If whatever was in that water was enough to kill a horse, then the odds weren’t good. Then again, horses drank far more than people so maybe it was a numbers game. He considered how long Adam had been in the well and how much water he could have ingested. As he watched the two men staring at him expectantly, he figured hope was required and doom and gloom was not.

“Some of them survived. They were very, very sick, but some of them survived.”

“Well Adam don’t know how to quit so I say big brother’s gonna be just fine!”

Harry raised his glass in salute and nodded as he downed the last of the whiskey.

Joe wandered silently back and forth across the room in the early hours of the morning. He felt torn between the two places he needed and wanted to be. His father had not moved from Adam’s side unless he had to since he’d arrived earlier that day. Adam’s level of consciousness had wavered and at times he appeared to be almost lucid. At those times, each of them had crowded around the bed and tried to get through to him that he needed to keep fighting. Adam seemed almost coherent except that his consistent cry had been to call for his brother. Each time, Joe had assured him that he was fine, but Adam had continued to call for him. It soon became clear that what they were saying was not sinking in and Adam had no idea that Joe was even there.

Over the course of the day they had smoothed on salve for the places where Adam’s skin had reddened and blistered and wiped his face with cooling cloths. For each of them the passage of time had seemed like a cruel, slow march that only sent Adam into a deeper hole. By the time the doctor returned, he had not opened his eyes for hours and the sheen of perspiration had increased as his body tried to sweat out whatever was inside him.

As Joe watched his brother’s tormented sleep, he could see his father’s exhausted posture as he dozed in a nearby chair. A stab of guilt welled up in his chest as he considered again what his father must have felt when he received the wire demanding money from him. It was so very much like his father to ride out with a saddlebag full of cash, willing to give whatever was demanded in exchange for the life of his son. If only a wad of cash could solve the problem this time. As Joe stared at the floor, he heard Hoss shift in his chair and he looked up to see his brother watching him. Hoss was like the earth under his feet. Solid, unmoveable and dependable. As he saw the smile that graced his face, he felt a wash of peace flood over him. He could not have explained it, but Hoss always had a way of cutting through his emotions and getting to the core need.

Before he could respond, a whimper of pain floated across the room and he knew that Stacey was waking up. Glen was stretched out on a bedroll on the floor and Harry was propped up against the wall with his head resting on his knees. Joe carefully picked his way between them and eased himself down onto the bed as Stacey began to stir from the depths of laudanum-induced sleep. She would wake for a few hours, eating a small amount at times and taking in fluids before the pain would intensify and the doctor’s prescription would smooth things over again. Joe was well acquainted with the drug and its after effects and he knew the groggy sense of disorientation upon waking up. As Stacey blinked at the lamplight, he gently lifted her upright and slid in behind her so he could pull her back against him. He didn’t notice as Harry lifted his head and watched his actions as his entire focus was on Stacey.

“You want some water?” He already had the glass in his hand and he helped ease it towards her mouth as she tried to fully wake up. The liquid was soothing and she soon leaned back and closed her eyes once again. Joe settled against the headboard and allowed himself to drift off at last. Harry smiled as he dropped his head back to his knees and figured that at least something of worth had come out of this whole sorry mess.

It had been two days of more or less the same rhythm. Nobody really slept except for snatches as they came. Adam seemed to be slowly sinking further and further out of reach and the doctor’s visits had not held any sort of hope. Hoss had gone off to send a wire to their ranch foreman and Glen had gone to check on some lunch when the doctor had come back again. As he straightened up and began to pack away his medical bag, he sucked in a slow breath and carefully measured his words.

“Mister Cartwright, I wish I could give a different answer, but I don’t believe your son is going to survive this. His breathing is compromised and we just don’t have any kind of medical treatment for whatever is going on inside his body. It will just have to run its course. I’m so sorry … I’m a father too.” The last words were carried across with a hand on Ben’s shoulder and he felt as if he had been slugged with a sledge hammer. He glanced up to see Joe staring at them both with a look of sheer horror plastered on his face. Before he could move or even speak, Joe had bolted for the door.

“Joe!”

Ben felt his insides tearing as he looked down at the son he’d just been told he would lose. Adam’s rasping breaths carried across the room and as much as he wanted to chase after his youngest son and wrap his arms around him in their shared turmoil, he could not bring himself to leave his eldest for fear he would not still be breathing when he returned.

He heard Stacey reaching for the bedside table as she tried valiantly to get up off the bed. Before she could get herself up onto her feet, Harry was in front of her, gently swinging her feet back up onto the bed.

“I’ll go after him. You still need to rest.”

He could see the look on her face and knew it only too well. Frustration at her own inability to do anything was patently obvious.

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back.”

Ben nodded mutely as Harry made eye contact and he once again considered just how very much alike this young sheriff and his eldest son were. The thought hit him like a physical pain and he sagged back down into the chair and grasped hold of Adam’s lifeless hand once again.

Harry hurried down the stairs and gave a cursory glance into the small hotel bar. He didn’t figure Joe would have sought out company, but a bottle of whiskey could certainly dull the edge of pain. He saw only a few patrons in the area and he headed out the door for his second choice. It was a ten-minute walk to the livery stable, but he was fairly certain that was where he’d find the youngest Cartwright.

Joe stroked at Cochise’s neck in a rhythmic motion that somehow always managed to calm his inner turmoil in a way that nothing else could. The doctor’s words kept chasing around his head and he found himself struggling to breathe. He’d told them all days ago to pray and Joe had prayed, but things had only grown worse. It wasn’t the way he’d been taught, but desperation called for desperate words. He gripped onto the horse’s mane and turned his face upward as tears streaked down his face.

“You wanna take somebody …. then you take me! Leave Adam here! You hear me? Pa needs him and you should’ve taken me instead.” His voice wavered as he considered the poor trade.

“If only it worked that way.”

Joe startled at the voice behind him and he didn’t need to turn to know it was Harry.

“I tried that argument too.” He dropped a hand onto Joe’s shoulder and felt the tremors under his fingers. When Joe finally turned to face him, he saw his own pain reflected back at him. “And just for the record, your pa needs you both.”

“It’s my fault. If he hadn’t come chasing after me, this would never have happened.”

“If those men had never stolen a gold shipment, none of this would have ever happened! Joe, this is not your fault in any way.”

Joe shook his head as the words he wanted to say failed to come out.

“Joe, I’ve been an older brother for longer than Adam has and you’re just gonna have to trust me on this … he would have come, no matter what. It’s who he is. And I’ve seen enough of your family to know that you would do the same for him.”

“What will I do if he dies?” The whispered fear sounded like a small boy and Harry felt his chest constrict. He’d asked similar questions many times over. He swallowed hard and smiled gently.

“You will carry on with your life and make him proud.”

In that brief moment, Harry looked across at the young man standing in front of him and he saw the face of his kid brother. He saw uncertainty, fear and a desperate need for his older brother. Without thinking, he reached out and pulled Joe towards him with a hand behind his neck. As the younger man wrapped his arms around his back, he felt something shift in his own spirit as he finally accepted why his brother had done what he had done. Nothing in the world could have stopped him.

It would be another three days of watching and waiting and praying. Since their conversation in the livery, Harry had finally settled a few things of his own as he watched the Cartwright family’s cruel drama playing out. His own words came back to him over and over as he caught snatches of sleep on the floor. He’d deputised young Paul Maddison who’d been itching for a chance as a deputy and told Kennedy to only come and get him if he was really needed. For whatever reason, he could not make himself leave the family who felt like his own brothers until he knew one way or another what would play out.

He’d spent over a year berating himself for his brother’s death and yet as he watched and listened, he knew that raising someone to have a strong moral character carried the inherent risk that one day they would be called to put those morals on the line. He would not have wished for Luke to be anybody other than who he was and that meant his brother’s choices were entirely consistent with who he was. He could not have one without the other, which was what he’d tried to convey to Joe. He could not have the brother he looked up to without also having the brother who would lay it all on the line.

He’d watched as Stacey had been gradually eased off the laudanum and her movements were stilted and limited. He smiled to himself as he’d watched Joe attend to her every need, often before she even knew it was a need. He wondered what his ma would make of the young man who looked intent on stealing away her daughter-in-law and he quickly figured she would look at it the same way he did. If Stacey was happy, that was the only thing that mattered.

His deputy decided he’d appreciate any news from Deckler Flats and he dutifully reported as various wires came through from Will Forster. It seemed that Morgan’s gang had begun to turn on each other as the charges began to be tossed around and more details were coming to light. The sheriff had organised a guard detail on the well and eventually had a crew from one of the mines head out there to assess how to drain the well and safely retrieve the gold that was dumped there. Kennedy had even brought in a copy of the Territorial Enterprise that ran a front page story trumpeting the efforts of local law enforcement in the two towns who had uncovered a conspiracy and solved a long-unsolved crime. He skimmed the article and was pleased to see that the reporter had only pointed the finger at Morgan and his gang with no mention of the former sheriff’s involvement. He smiled to himself as he figured that Will Forster would have said he was going soft in his old age.

As Harry carried a coffee pot around the room, he was very glad it was the hotel cook and not Kennedy who’d made it. The aroma brought a sense of calm into the room as it helped mask the smell of sickness that still lingered in the air. As he poured a cup for Ben, he almost laughed aloud as the father wafted the cup in front of his son’s face.

“Time to wake up, Son.” Ben ran his free hand against his son’s scratchy cheek. He decided as soon as he finished his coffee he’d get a shaving kit out and give his son a shave, knowing how much Adam would hate looking so unkempt. It felt ridiculous, but somehow it suddenly mattered to him more than he could explain. As he watched, he was stunned to hear the word he had almost given up hope of ever hearing again.

“Pa?”

Ben’s fingers froze against Adam’s cheek as his son blinked several times before closing his eyes once again. Harry leaned over his shoulder and all thoughts of coffee were banished as he grasped at Ben’s shoulder. He suddenly realised what he had done and self-consciously pulled his hand back.

“You heard that too?” Ben’s eyes looked as if he didn’t dare believe what had just happened.

“Yep! He woke up.” Harry grinned at him as Ben’s eyes filled with tears. He slid back out of the way as Joe and Hoss jostled for a position closer to their brother and Joe grabbed at Adam’s hand and squeezed it.

“Adam? Come on, Brother, wake up!” Days of anxiety poured out as he squeezed Adam’s hand within both of his, but his stubborn older brother refused to respond.

None of them noticed as Glen bolted for the door, intent on dragging the doctor back to reassess his patient’s chances now. It would be another half an hour before Adam’s face showed signs of waking once again. His eyes fluttered open a few times before he finally fixed onto his father’s face.

“Pa?” The almost whispered word sounded like music to all of them and Ben reached forward again.

“I’m here, Son. You’re going to be just fine.”

“Feel like I got trampled by the herd.” Adam’s eyes slid closed once again, but his fingers stayed wrapped around Joe’s and he squeezed back each time Joe squeezed his hand. It was the weakest grip that Joe had ever felt, but he was beyond caring. His brother was alive and responding to them.

As the doctor strode into the room, he smiled at Ben as he eased into his place while opening his medical bag. “I’m more than happy to be proven wrong on this prognosis, Mister Cartwright.” He tugged at his stethoscope and began listening to Adam’s chest. He watched as his patient once again opened his eyes and frowned at his touch as he inspected the red and inflamed skin across his chest. The doctor could see that the family had continued to apply salve long after he had pronounced his patient lost. He smiled to himself as he wondered how much of his patient’s survival was due to his own constitution and how much was owed to the stubbornness of a family that simply refused to let him go. When he was done, he slowly stood up and reached a hand out to Ben.

“He’s a long way from being well. His breathing is still strained and I don’t know if there is any lasting damage to his lungs. Or it may be the muscle weakness that is causing the difficulty and it will pass as he grows stronger. To be honest, I still don’t know what we are dealing with here, although I’m leaning towards the poison theory myself. His symptoms seem to suggest that over any kind of sickness I’ve seen and nobody else here has shown any sign of getting sick either.”

Ben felt his anger rising at the idea that somebody had deliberately laced a well with poison out of pure greed and his son had paid the price for it along with others. He swallowed down his anger and forced himself to focus on his son’s needs instead.

“So what will happen from here?”

“The skin inflammation is healing well so keep putting that salve on him. I can’t say for certain how long this will linger, but it is going to take some time for his health to improve. There will probably be residual muscle weakness, possibly blurred vision and difficulty keeping food down. He’ll be irritable and he may be off-balance for a while. He’s going to need plenty of rest before he gets his feet back under him.”

“We can manage all that, Doctor.” Ben was nodding calmly as he listened. It didn’t matter how much or how long it would take.

“I can’t say for certain that he won’t have any lasting effects.”

“I understand that and I want to thank you for all that you’ve done for my son.”

The doctor nodded at the words, knowing what his previous words had done to the father standing before him.

“I’m very glad I was wrong.” He smiled as he shook hands with Ben.

Adam glared at his father as he reached for the spoon in the bowl. Ben smothered a smile as his son’s stubbornness raised its head once again. It was a trait that he was going to need to draw on over the coming weeks as his body fought against his will.

“I can feed myself, Pa!”

Ben simply nodded and allowed Adam to lift the mouthful of broth for himself. The tremor in his son’s hand almost spilled the liquid down his front, but Ben resisted the urge to help. Adam had been independent since he could walk and talk and the most frustrating part of his recovery was how slowly it was going. It had been four days since he’d awoken in a strange hotel room, feeling like his body had been dragged through a wild stampede. The saga had come back to him in bits and pieces and he’d been relieved to see his youngest brother alive and well.

“Where is everyone?”

Ben didn’t have the heart to tell him that they had made themselves scarce as the food tray had been delivered to spare Adam the humiliation of being spoon-fed.

“Glen has already headed home and Harry’s got a town to take care of.”

“And Joe and Hoss?”

“Your brothers took Stacey out for some fresh air. She’s been cooped up in here as long as you have.”

Adam took another spoonful of broth and leaned back against the pillows. He hated feeling so drained and weak and he longed to get out of the room too.

“How’s her ankle doing?”

“The doctor said it’s healing correctly, but it was a bad break. It’s going to cause her a lot of grief over the winter with the cold I suspect.”

As Adam finished up the bowl, he smiled as Hoss came back through the door with Stacey leaning heavily on his arm. She smiled brightly to see him awake and gestured to the chair. Hoss helped her across the room and settled her comfortably before propping her foot on a small stool.

“Where’s Joe?” Ben looked at the door as if waiting for his other son to have followed behind them.

Hoss looked at the floor and made himself busy with fussing over Stacey. “He said he needed to see Harry ’bout somethin’. Said he’d be right back.”

Ben had a fair inkling what that “something” was, but held his thoughts to himself. Hoss pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and waved it towards his father. “Got a wire from Hank, Pa. Said Glen got back okay and he’s hired on a coupla extra hands to get the winter preparations done on time.”

Adam sighed as he listened to the comments. “I’m sorry, Pa.”

“For what?” Ben turned back to his son and slipped the empty bowl onto the side table.

“For holding everybody up here in town. We were behind before I left the Ponderosa. Now things are even further behind.”

“Adam, Hank’s on top of things. You can’t be held responsible for being sick and we are not leaving here until the doctor says you are fit to travel.”

Adam twisted a hand around the top of the bedsheet and his father ignored the gesture as he stood up and stretched. There were going to be many more days of frustration ahead of them and he could not afford to acknowledge every comment or complaint.

Harry smothered a smile as he watched Joe turning his empty coffee mug back and forth in his hands. The young man looked decidedly uncomfortable and he’d run out of small talk.

“Something else I can do for you, Joe?”

Joe sucked in a breath and straightened in the chair. He had gone over the conversation a thousand times in his head, but somehow the carefully prepared words had fled.

“I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Shoot.”

“I’m guessing you already know how I feel about Stacey.” Joe kept his gaze locked on the sheriff’s face, hoping not to see anger or something else.

“Have to be pretty blind not to have noticed. You aren’t exactly subtle.” Harry kept a straight face, giving nothing away as he watched Joe squirm. There were some fun parts to being an older brother.

When he didn’t seem to be getting any kind of objection, Joe pushed on. “I want to ask her to marry me and I … I wanted your blessing before I did.”

Harry’s face softened as he recalled his brother’s excitement when he described the young lady he’d finally mustered the courage to ask to the spring dance.

“I’m not her father.”

“No, but she loves you and you’re the only family she has here. Your blessing would mean a lot to me.” The sincerity in the words was obvious and Harry smiled. He stood up and slowly walked around the table. Joe stood up to face him as he stopped a foot in front of him.

“You make her happy.” Harry reached a hand out to slap Joe on the shoulder. “I’ll give you my blessing on two conditions.”

Joe nodded at him; the words he wanted to say, stuck in his throat.

“You break her heart and I’ll break your neck! Don’t you ever forget that.” Harry somehow kept a straight face before breaking into a grin. “And your firstborn will be named after me!”

Joe swallowed as he considered the two comments. “And what if our first kid is a girl?”

“Well Harriet’s a fine name.” Harry laughed as Joe slowly smiled back at him.

“You might need to discuss that one with my brothers.”

“I can take them on any day!” Harry made a show of flexing his arm as he pushed out his chest while Joe laughed at the idea of Harry arm-wrestling his brothers for naming rights of a child. “Of course, you do realise that my ma is gonna claim grandma rights too? She will always think of Stace as her daughter.”

“Not a problem.” Joe grinned at the closeness of family as he made his way towards the door.

“I would say good luck, but I don’t think you’re gonna need it.”

If the conversation with Harry had been nerve-wracking, it was nothing in comparison to the one Joe was working up to in his mind. He’d made plenty of comments to girls in recent years that made them blush or had them swooning against him, but there was something entirely different about Stacey. She was no shy wallflower or some schemer who saw her fortunes in the Cartwright family. She was somebody who spoke her mind and held her ground. She had known tragedy and hard times and didn’t need a knight in shining armour to sweep her off her feet. He smiled as he recalled her telling him that months before that she wasn’t a damsel in distress in need of rescuing. No, she wasn’t any of those things. He just hoped that he did have what she needed and more importantly, what she wanted.

“Joe?”

He jolted back to the moment as he heard Stacey calling his name.

“Sorry. I was just … I was just thinking about how I nearly blew Harry’s head off with a shotgun.”

Stacey frowned at the memory as she lifted her glass for a drink. “You weren’t exactly at your finest that day.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“You nearly shooting Harry?” The surprise in her tone was evident and Stacey waited as Joe fiddled with his knife. The meal had been lovely and a welcome respite from the hotel room. She had enjoyed his company, but something was off and she had no idea what it was.

“No!” Joe laughed at her face and smiled as she smiled back at him. The sight relaxed him a little and he drew in a slow breath. “You told me that day that you weren’t a damsel in distress and you didn’t need me to rescue you.”

“I do appreciate the attempt though, misguided as it was.”

Joe reached across the table and slipped his fingers under hers as he leaned closer. “I want you to know that I have never seen you as anything other than a strong, capable, independent woman. You have so much strength in you and I owe you my life. What I wanted to talk to you about … I … Hoss told me a while back that I was tormenting myself and he was right.”

Stacey wasn’t entirely sure where the comment was headed so she waited as Joe took another slow breath.

“I can’t get you out of my head. I go to sleep and I dream about you. I wake up in the morning and I’m thinking about you.”

Her cheeks coloured as Stacey felt Joe’s grip tighten on her hand.

“I know I’m making a hash of this, but that’s the effect you have on me. You mess with my head! And my heart. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with you. What I’m trying to say … is will you marry me?”

Stacey felt her mouth go dry as she looked across the table. An embarrassing conversation with Adam came to mind and she smiled as she simply nodded.

“That’s a yes?”

“That’s a yes.”

Joe whooped loudly as he leaned across and kissed her. The few other patrons in the dining room looked across at the noise and several smiled at the young couple. The waiter had been on notice with a bottle of champagne and he made his way across from the kitchen with two glasses. He smiled to himself as the pair of them ignored him and didn’t even notice he was there. He quietly slipped back to the kitchen and left them alone again.

“I do have a confession to make though.” Stacey paused as Joe looked at her intently. “That first kiss in the cave … it wasn’t our first kiss. It was our third.”

Joe laughed at her as he shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I’d remember if I’d kissed you!”

As Stacey relayed the story in it’s entirety, Joe stared at her.

“So why didn’t you put me out of my misery sooner? Give me a little hint that you felt the same way? And Adam! Adam never even so much as …”

“Adam didn’t interfere. He left me my dignity.”

Joe reached out a hand to help her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her waist so she could lean her weight on him. “What do you say we go and share the news with our family?”

Adam gritted his teeth as his father wedged another blanket in around his legs. He hated feeling weak and he hated the fact he was riding in the back of a wagon instead of on his horse. Most of all, he hated needing to be tended to because he couldn’t manage his own needs. The doctor had finally given him permission to travel home and his family had gathered every possible thing he could need for the trek home. Hoss was already mounted on his horse and both Buck and Sport were tied to the back of the wagon.

“Joe! We need to get goin’ if we’re goin’ to get home before winter arrives.” Hoss rolled his eyes as his little brother took his leave of his fiancée. The night the pair of them had come strolling back into the hotel room with matching grins plastered on their faces was a night to be celebrated for more reasons than one. As the happy couple had been congratulated and hugged and hugged some more, Joe had sat next to Adam and made a simple comment.

“I need both of my brothers standing there beside me when I say my vows. We want a spring wedding so you’ve got the winter to get back on your feet because I’m not doing it without you.”

Adam felt a surge within him as he considered the comment. He had a goal ahead of him and Adam Cartwright had met every challenge he’d ever set for himself. “I won’t let you down, Joe.”

“You never have before, Brother.”

As he felt his irritation rising, he looked across to where Joe stood on the boardwalk with Stacey leaning heavily on a walking cane. His brother needed him so he squashed the frustration back down and began mentally reviewing his own list of ways he planned to rebuild his lost strength. Come spring, he’d be dancing at his brother’s wedding, come hell or high water.

Joe felt Harry’s mother stretch up to brush a kiss on his cheek. The diminutive woman had arrived in town to take care of her daughter-in-law while her ankle healed and she had taken an instant liking to Joe. Her heart beat a little faster as she pressed down memories and kept her tears to herself, but the radiant smile on Stacey’s face was all she wanted.

“Don’t you worry. We’ll be just fine.”

Joe leaned down to kiss her cheek and he whispered something in her ear. She brushed away the tears that welled in her eyes and she slapped her hand against his chest. “Harry was right about you!”

Joe grinned at her before turning to Stacey and walking her carefully a little way down the boardwalk. She leaned against him and he felt her hands wrapping around his waist.

“This is going to be the longest winter of my life!”

“I know. But it will give me time to sew my wedding dress. And prepare all the other things I’m going to need.”

Joe leaned down to kiss her and felt his breath catch in his throat. “The only thing I need is you. Why don’t we run away and get married now? Then we don’t have to spend the winter apart!”

Stacey laughed at the earnest expression on his face and for a split second debated agreeing with the idea. “They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

“Then my heart is going to burst!”

“Joe! We need to get moving, Son.” Ben’s voice cut through his thoughts and Joe leaned down to take one last kiss that was going to have to carry him through the winter snow that would keep him locked on the Ponderosa. As he finally, reluctantly pulled away and climbed up into the saddle, he tipped his hat towards Harry. They’d said their goodbyes earlier and Harry grinned again at Joe’s concern at leaving Stacey behind.

Ben nudged the wagon out into the street as both Hoss and Joe took up point on either side of their brother. Adam watched as they pulled away from the front of the hotel. Harry slowly raised a hand in salute as he watched them leave. What had begun as a friend in need had become so much more.

“So long … Brother.”