FOUR

Ben Cartwright looked up from his cup of coffee.  He was sitting near the fire he had built at the side of the road, giving Buck a short rest.  He’d pressed the animal hard to keep going through the night and more than half of the new day.  He’d heard something.  It almost sounded like a muffled explosion.  Rising and pitching the grounds in the grass the older man turned toward it, wondering what anyone would be doing blasting out here. This was Ponderosa land, after all.  If he hadn’t been so worried about Little Joe, he would have gone to investigate.  Instead Ben made a note to return once he was sure all was well at home.

The most likely scenario was that someone was looking for gold or silver in one of the lake caves.  There were always rumors about buried hoards and hidden veins.  Ben’s lips quirked at the ends.  One of these days some desperate man was going to find something and then their whole world would be turned upside-down.  He feared it as much as anything.  Men would come in droves to dig and to work the land with no more regard for the earth and its bounty than they would have had for a tic caught lodged in their skin.  He meant to leave this land, whole and beautiful, to his sons.  It was their inheritance and his legacy and he wasn’t about to let anyone devastate it for the sake of greed.

Returning to his horse, Ben checked Buck’s sides and his breathing and decided the animal needed a few more minutes.  He begrudged it.  He was anxious to get home.  While there had been a shooting at the lumber camp and a man had died, he had come to find out that it hadn’t been as a result of a brawl or a dispute.  The man had been standing talking to the foreman one minute, and then dead at his feet the next.  The whole thing left him unnerved.  It seemed to him that someone had deliberately drawn him away from the house.  The first thing that came to mind was the pair of miscreants he had fired the week before.  Jim Appleby had come to him, worried about them.  It had taken a few minutes to pry ‘why’ out of him as Jim hated to carry tales and he hadn’t seen anything himself.  He said one of the younger hands had been coming back from Eagle Station just about the time Little Joe was riding home from school.  The man’s horse had thrown a shoe and Joseph had stopped to help him and then went on.  The hand had taken the horse into the trees to let it drink at a stream when he heard the sound of other horses approaching. He’d looked out to find the Stanley brothers tracking his son.

That was all it had taken.  He had fired them instantly.

Joe was a beautiful boy, so there was always the fear that one of the hands would be attracted to him and try something. It was a terrible thing to think about, but life was real, and reality hard.  There was also the threat of kidnapping.  He made no bones about his love for his sons.  It was known he would do anything – pay any amount of money to get one of them back.  Little Joe, at twelve, was the most likely target.  He knew it.  Adam and Hoss knew it.

It seemed the only one who didn’t know it was Little Joe.

“They are so vulnerable, are they not?  Children,” a woman’s soft voice asked.

Ben turned on his heel, startled.  He couldn’t see anyone.  “Who’s there?” he called.

A young woman with long hair that  curled at the ends stepped out of the trees.  She was dressed simply in a blue skirt and a patterned blouse with a dark shawl tied over the top of it.  Her black hair blew in the wind.  She smiled sweetly, though the light of it didn’t touch her dark eyes, which were haunted.

“A lovely morning, is it not?” she asked.  “Though a bit chilly.”

“There’s rain in the air,” he said, and then felt foolish.  It wasn’t like she wouldn’t know.

“The day is cold, and dark, and dreary.  It rains, and the wind is never weary.  The vine still clings to the moldering wall, but at every gust the dead leaves fall.”  She had a Spanish accent and it made her quoting of Longfellow’s poem, ‘The Rainy Day’, charming.  After a moment she repeated, “And the day is dark and dreary.”

Ben smiled at the thought that he might have just met Adam’s soul-sister.  Then, he remembered himself.  “Will you sit down and have some coffee?  It’s hot.  So is the fire.”

“Thank you.  No coffee, but I will share your fire for a moment.”

Ben followed her over and sat down on the side opposite her  “What are you doing out here, if I may ask?”

Those haunted eyes found his face.  “I am looking for my son.”

“Oh, I see.  How old is he?”

“Twelve.”

Ben smiled.  “I have a boy who’s twelve.  He’s quite a handful too.”

“Please?”

He cleared his throat.  “Forgive me.  From what you said, I assumed the boy had run away.”

“Run away?  No.”  She paused.  “He is a good boy.”

“So is Joseph.  Just a bit headstrong.  When he gets something in that curly head of his, he’s like a bulldog.”

“Yes.  I know.”

Ben eyed her.  “I beg your pardon.”

“My son,” she answered.  “He is the same.”

Ben studied the woman as she spoke.  She was around the age Marie would have been if she had lived.  Thirty-three, maybe a year or two more.  She was a lovely woman, though that loveliness was marred by a deep sadness.

“May I ask you name?” he said.

“You may,” she replied and then her smile broadened.  “Terese.  Terese Navarra.”

“I’m Ben Cartwright.  So you are Basque then?”

“My people are.”

The Basques were separatists, seemingly eternally at war with Spain over their nation’s independence.  They saw a few of them in Eagle Station.  He’d done business once with a man named Danel Navarra.  He wondered if this woman belonged to the same family.

They sat in silence for a minute or two.  Just as he was about to break it, Terese did.  “Tell me about your children, Mister Cartwright.”

“Call me ‘Ben’,  please.”

Again that rainy day smile.

“Ben.”

“I have three, all boys, ranging in age from twelve to twenty-four.  Adam is the oldest and then Eric, though we call him Hoss.  The youngest is named Joseph.”

“Josépe?”  She crossed herself.  “After our Lord’s father?”

He nodded.  “And my own.”

“So you are a man of belief.”  It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes.”

“Do you believe in visions, seníor?”

The conversation was getting stranger by the minute. Who was this woman and why was she out in the wilderness alone?  Was she alone, or were there others within the trees listening, maybe waiting to strike?

And why was she asking him about visions?

“I do, but….”

“I had a vision.”  Her black eyes remained locked on his face.  “I saw my boy.  He came to me.  He told me of three like him who are in danger.”

Ben felt a chill snake down his spine.  “Three?”

“Si.  They are lost in the dark.  They call for their father.”  Terese paused.  “You must not go home, Benjamin Cartwright.”

Ben rose to his feet.  “What is this all about?  I demand you tell me!”

“Find them,” Terese said as she too rose.  “Find your sons and you will find mine.  They are together.  Bring them home.”

“Madame, I….”

“Find them,” she said again as she stepped back into the trees.  “I will keep them until you come.”

“Madame, I….  Wait!  I….”

He was thrashing about in the darkness.  It was empty.

The woman was gone.

Something struck him on the head.  Hoss blinked awake and reached up to stop it.  Instead he started a second cascade of stones tumbling down that struck not only his head but his shoulders and hands too.

“Ouch!”

“That you, middle…brother?” a weak voice asked.

Hoss shifted, sending the stones falling to the floor.  He looked around for his brother, but there was so much dust in the air that it looked like the aftermath of a battle and he couldn’t find him.

“Adam?  Where are you?”

There was a fit of coughing.  “About five feet…as the…crow flies.”  It was followed by a weedy laugh. “Too bad we…can’t fly.  As it is…it might as well…be miles.”

Hoss shook his head, trying to work the cobwebs out of it.  He remembered holding a gun on that mean-looking galoot who was threatening Little Joe, and then Joe flyin’ past him on the back of that dag-burned black mare.

“Little Joe?  Where’s Joe?”

There was a moment of silence.  “He was ahead of us, Hoss.”

“Can you see him?”

Of course, it was near pitch-black in the cave.  The only light was coming in through a few chinks in the wall of rock the explosion had brought down behind them.

“No.”

“What do you mean ‘no’?”

Adam coughed again.  His chest didn’t sound good.  “There’s…nothing…on the other side of us…but more rock.  The ceiling collapsed.  If…Joe’s there…he’s under it.”

“God, Adam, we gotta get him out!”  Hoss shifted and made to rise.

He couldn’t.

It was only then he became aware that his legs were numb.  Fear for his baby brother and for himself warred within him.

“Adam, I can’t feel my legs.”

“Try to…wiggle…one…of your toes.”

Fighting down panic, Hoss did what his level-headed brother’s voice told him to – concentrated on movin’ just one of his toes.

It didn’t budge.

“It ain’t workin’.”

“Could be…blunt-force…trauma.  Temporary paralysis.”  Adam coughed, longer and louder this time.  “Wait…and…try it again.”

“How are you?”

There was a moment of silence.  “Just…dandy.”

“You ain’t lyin’ to me, are you, older brother?”

“Of course…I’m lying.”  Adam seemed to gasp for air.  “There’s a…boulder the…size…of you pressing on my chest.  I think….  I think…I…have broken ribs.”

“What was that Earl Stanley thinkin’?  How come he wanted to seal us up in here?”

“It has…something…to do…with that damn horse.”

Hoss thought a moment.  “Joe was ridin’ her when he came in here.  Wasn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“So maybe he made it past that pile of rock before it dropped and he’s safe on the other side.”

“Maybe.”

A silence fell between them then, thick as the dust in the air that choked them.  Hoss rested his head against the cave wall.  He could feel blood running down the back of his hair, probably from a scalp wound.  He was dizzy, but more than anything else he was afraid.  Afraid for Adam who was obviously hurt worse than he was admittin’.  Afraid Joe was lyin’, broken, under all that rock.

Afraid he’d never walk again.

“Try…your toes.”

“Huh?”

“Try to…move the toes…on your foot…you big…galoot!”

“Don’t get cocky!  You ain’t got the energy to spare.”  Hoss thought about it hard.  He pursed his lips and put everythin’ into the effort, as if he was tryin’ to keep his seat on a bucking bronco.  And he did it.

“Hey!  One of them moved.  Weren’t much, but it moved.”

“Try the…other foot.”

“You sure are pushy.”

“Try…it!”

“Yes, sir,” he grumbled as he thought about his toes in a way he had never thought about them before.  “The big one moved!”

“Good.”  Adam paused to draw a breath.  “Are you…hurt…otherwise?”

“Got me a scalp wound.  Don’t seem to be nothin’ else.”

“Give it a…few minutes…then…try to get up.”

Hoss peered into the darkness.  Adam sounded like he might not have much more time than that before he passed out.

“Anythin’ hurt other than your ribs?”

Again, a slight chuckle.  “My…pride.”

“Feelin’ like an idiot?”

“You might…say that.”

The teenager fell silent, listening.  “Any sign of little brother yet?”

The heartache in Adam’s tone almost reduced him to tears.  “No.”

“He’s on the other side, Adam.  I know he is.  Little Joe’s faster than a jackrabbit and he was on that mare.”  Hoss paused.  “How come you think she ran in here with him?”

“There are…two…possible answers.”

“What’s that?”

“To save…him or…to kill him.”

Hoss puzzled that  minute.  “What do you mean?”  He waited.  “Adam?”

“Just…resting.  Getting…harder to talk.”  There was another pause and then he said.  “Couldn’t…get away.  Any of…us.  Stanley would have…taken Joe and…killed him.”

“We’re all gonna die anyhow,” he said sullenly.

“Maybe the mare…knows…something we…don’t.”

He thought about that a minute.  “You said to save or kill him.”

Adam coughed again.  “Stanley talked…about the…mare ‘choosing’ Joe.  Said the only…way to make…her stop haunting…them…was to give her Joe to make up…for what she lost.”

“You ain’t makin’ any sense.  You get hit on the head too, brother?”

“I think…that’s a given,” Adam answered dryly.

“Why would she want Little Joe?”

“I think Stanley…did something…bad.  Killed a child.  I don’t…for one minute…believe the horse is possessed.  But Stanley…does.  He thinks its super…natural.  Can’t be…killed.”  Adam’s voice broke and he coughed.  “Thought sealing…it in here with another child was the…only way.”  After another fit of coughing, his brother asked, “Can you…move yet?”

He hadn’t thought about it.  Now that he did, the teenager could feel pain radiating from his tailbone down his legs.  “Dang!  I can feel my legs now.  They hurt like Hellfire!”

“That’s…good.  Can you…get to me?”

“I can try.”

It took a few minutes, pulling himself with his arms to aid his weakened legs, but he made it to Adam’s side.  With his hands Hoss reached out, feeling around the boulder that was lodged against Adam’s chest.

He whistled.  “Dang!  That’s gotta hurt.”

“You are…as usual…the…master of understatement.”  Adam sucked in air.  “Can you…move it?”

Hoss frowned. “I don’t think I should by myself.  If that things shifts the wrong way, it’ll crush you.”

“Always the bearer of bad…tidings.  Leave…me then.  See if…you can find…any trace of Little Joe.”

The teenager felt around and found a few smaller boulders and wedged them in beneath the one layin’ on top of Adam.  “That should keep it from movin’,” he said.

“Good…thinkin’.”

Hoss touched his brother’s face. “Well, we all know who got the brains and who got the good looks in the family.”

“Yes.  And you…better find him.”

The big teen chuckled and then turned to face the wall of stone.  It was as if the mountain had moved, dropping to fill the cavern from floor to ceiling, cutting Little Joe off from the surface world.  The first thing Hoss did was to slowly move his fingers along its bottom edge, prayin’ he wouldn’t encounter a hand or a booted foot.  When he didn’t, he let out a little sigh of relief and then rose to his feet and pressed his lips against the rock and hollered.

“Joe!  Little Joe!  Can you hear me?”

Nothing.

“Try…again,” Adam urged.  “He might…just be…waking up.”

“Joe!  It’s Hoss!  You in there?”  The teenager waited a moment, listening. When there was still nothing, he had a thought.  Placing his hands to either side of his mouth, Hoss said sternly and in his loudest voice.  “Joseph Francis Cartwright, this is your Pa!  You answer me, boy!”

This time there was a groan.

“I heard something, Adam!  Did you?”

Adam grunted.  “Do it…again.”

“Joseph, you answer me now!”

It was quiet.  So quiet he nearly missed it.

“Pa….”

Hoss bent and grabbed his brother’s arm.  “He’s alive, Adam!  Did you hear?  Joe’s alive!”

Adam cracked a little smile that faded quickly.

“And on the other…side of…two ton of rock….”

Joe slowly lifted his head.  It was about all he could do.  He put a hand to it and it came away bloody.  Doctor Martin had warned him over and over about hitting his head again and for a moment he was scared, but then it occurred to him that he was in a lot worse trouble than he’d have when the Doc found out about it.  There’d been a cave-in.

He was trapped in a cave.

Before him lay a wall of rock comprised of thousands of big and little boulders.  Behind him, there was nothing but darkness.  Joe swallowed hard over a rising fear.  He’d been riding Mystery.  They’d moved so fast he’d missed it.  The explosion had brought the ceiling down behind him.

Where his brothers were.

Rising shakily to his feet, Joe pressed his face into the rock wall and yelled, “Hoss!  Adam!  Can you hear me?”

“We can hear you, Little Joe!” his middle brother shouted in return. “Are you all right?”

He hadn’t thought about it.   Now that he did, he realized everything hurt, but his head worst of all.  “I’m okay,” he yelled back.  “How are you?  How’s Adam?”

“I’m fine.  My legs are kind of wobbly.  Adam…he’s all right too.”

That slight hesitation chilled him.  “What’s wrong with Adam?”

“I’m…fine, Joe.”  Adam’s reply was almost to low to hear.

“The hell you are!” he shouted back.

“Little Joe, you watch your mouth,” Hoss replied sternly.  “And don’t you go sassin’ your elders.”

He scowled.  They were trapped in a cave and gonna die and Hoss was worrying about manners!

“Can you get out?” he called back.

“I ain’t tried the other side,” his brother answered.  “It looks like less rock.  There’s chinks with light.  How about you?”

Joe turned.  It was black behind him, but not so completely as he had first thought.  There was a little light filtering in from high up.  It was funny.  All the time he’d spent in the dark had made it easier for his eyes to adjust.  He could actually see better than he had on the outside.

“I can see things.”

“Is Mystery there with you?”

He hadn’t thought to look for the mare.  “I don’t think so.  Least I don’t hear her and can’t see her.”

There was a pause.  “Adam thinks maybe she knows somethin’ we don’t.  Like maybe there’s another way out.  You remember, Joe, like that shaft we found once.  You gotta find her, Little Joe.  Find her and follow her.”

“You don’t think I should wait?  Maybe Pa will find us and bring the hands to get us out.”

There was a long pause this time.

“From the look of the size of the boulders in this wall, Joe, I don’t think you’re gettin’ out this way.”

“Couldn’t Pa bring one of the miners and blow it?” he asked in a small voice.

It was Adam this time.  His voice, as ever, calm and cool.  “No, Joe.  It would…bring the cave…down.”

Adam would know, being an engineer.

Little Joe’s fingers gripped the rock.  “Adam, I’m…scared.  If I go, I won’t be able to hear you.  I’ll be…alone.”

“You find Mystery, Little Joe,” Hoss answered.  “Find her and then you won’t be alone.”

“Hoss….”

“Yeah, Joe?”

He sniffed back tears.  “Am I gonna die down here?”

“Of course ya ain’t, Little Joe,” his brother answered cheerfully.  “That black mare loves you and she ain’t gonna let anythin’ happen to you.  Mystery knows another way out, I’m sure of it.  You find her, little brother.”

The tears were falling now, wetting his cheeks.  “I’ll try.”

“Don’t you just try  You do it, Little Joe!  You gotta get out and get help for Adam.”  Hoss paused.  “I wasn’t honest with you.  He’s hurt bad.”

“Adam’s hurt?”

“Bad.  You gotta go get Pa, you hear me?”

Joe’s jaw tightened.  His fingers formed into fists as he turned toward the dark unknown.

“Okay,” he said.  “I’m going.”

“Take care, little brother.  Don’t you go gettin’ yourself hurt.”

“Mystery will look out for me.”

Hoss was standing with his head against the rock wall.

“She sure will, little brother.  You go now.  Joe?  Little Joe?”  The big teen waited a moment and then turned toward his older brother.  “I think he’s gone.”

“You think…he bought…that?”

“What?”

“About finding Pa…and bringing…him back…to help me.”

He’d had to say something to get Little Joe to leave them.  It was one of the hardest things he had ever done.  Hoss looked at the rocks he leaned against.  Adam had explained it to him.  If they tried to blast or even move them, it could bring the whole cave down.  Someone was bound to come along and find them, eventually.

Joe would be lost if he didn’t find a way out on his own.

The teenager knelt beside his brother.  He reached out and placed a hand on Adam’s forehead.  His brother was clammy and shaking.

He could only hope that whoever it was found them in time.