Summary:  Ben stops by to visit with an old friend on the occasion of a big change in the family.  It’s a combination of some Pinecone challenges on Bonanza Brand and an April Fool’s challenge on another site with a story line to pull them all together.

rating = T  word count = 3298

 

It’s Time

Stopping by Sheriff Roy Coffee’s office for some sympathy, Ben wasn’t getting any. For several months, he had tried to prepare himself for Adam’s departure, but he couldn’t. They had been together for thirty-six years except for the four years Adam had gone away to school. His oldest son was more than a son. He was a friend, a confidante, and a partner. However, Roy was practical.

“Ben, you always knew this day would come. You’re durn lucky he waited this long. We talked about this many years ago and wondered when he would venture out on his own. I remember you thinking at one time that you thought he would leave when Joe turned eighteen and then again when Joe turned twenty-one. Now, here it is, years later, and he’s decided it’s time.”

“I can’t get used to the idea of him being gone.”

“I know. I reckon it ain’t gonna be the same around here with him gone. He sure has made a difference here. He’s got ideas different than most folks and it’s kept them on their toes.”

“Yes, he does see things quite a bit differently than most do. He’s always been that way.” Ben thought back about ten years or so when they had been up in the mountains and had to get back home ahead of a snowstorm.

“Hey Pa, what do ya see up in them puffy clouds.”

“Snow if we don’t get home soon enough. With the winds blowing like they are, we’re likely to get caught in a blizzard if we don’t move faster.”

“We can’t go no faster through this section. Ifn we try, we could cause the snow that’s here to slide, and then we’re gonna have worse trouble than a blizzard.”

“I know, and I should be thanking you for keeping Little Joe thinking about something other than going fast. I know he’s scared. This is a difficult situation for someone who’s only fourteen. I appreciate that you and Adam have kept the conversation light.”

At that point, Little Joe and Adam emerged from the trees behind Ben and Hoss. “Yeah, Pa, did you hear Joe say every time that the clouds he looked at looked like horses. The boy has a one track mind, Pa.”

“I’ve got a one track mind. Every cloud you looked at was some kind of food. How’s that for a one track mind?”

Little Joe pulled his horse up next to his father so the animal could rest a bit as Adam stopped next to Hoss to do the same. They needed to get down off that steep mountain slope before the snows hit, but pushing the horses too hard could mean disaster. As Little Joe grinned at his father, Ben knew there was going to be some teasing coming.

“Pa, you’ll never believe what Adam sees in those clouds.”

“Oh, and what did Adam see in those clouds.”

“Pa, he saw a city with cathedrals with spires. Spires! Can you believe it? Adam doesn’t have snow blindness. I think he got snow craziness.”

“Yeah, Pa, he told me and Joe that one set of clouds looked like the harbor in San Francisco with the ships sailing out together, a whole fleet of ’em.”

“Yeah, Pa, nobody can see all that in a bunch of clouds, can they?”

“I don’t know, boys, but here’s to the ones who dream foolish as they may seem.” Pausing only a moment to tighten the scarf that held his hat in place, Ben was ready to move the group out again. “Let’s go. One more push and we should be down off this slope. Adam, why don’t you and Little Joe lead us out.”

As they turned to ride out, Little Joe pointed at the clouds rushing in on the winds. “All right, what do you see in those banks of clouds coming in now?”

“I’d say that was the battle of San Jacinto. There’s the smaller force of Houston moving in fast and that other one is the larger force of Santa Anna who is completely unaware he’s about to be attacked.”

“Aw, you can’t see all that in two clouds!”

Behind them, Hoss turned to his father as they began to follow. “Adam sure knows how to keep Little Joe’s mind off his fear.”

“He sure does.”

They had gotten home safely and Little Joe’s confidence grew because he had managed a difficult task without panicking or making a mistake. Ben knew how important Adam and Hoss had been to that success, but he never said anything about that to Little Joe because he didn’t want to shake his new found assurance in his abilities. Of course it didn’t always go so smoothly. Little Joe was a handful growing up testing the limits all the time while Adam was a sober man who took his responsibilities perhaps too seriously. The two of them could be like oil and water, but sometimes they were salt and pepper making the final product taste just right. He remembered the two of them telling a story once that probably should have bothered him somewhat, but it was too entertaining to let any little problems in his youngest son’s behavior interfere with what had been accomplished. Adam had relaxed and had some fun. Joe started the story in dramatic fashion and Ben recalled all the details.

The batwing doors of the saloon slammed back and a dark dusty cowboy with a mean look strode into the smoky interior. For a moment, about twenty men looked worried but they relaxed when they realized that Adam only had his eyes focused on one green jacketed smiling young man who had his arm around a saloon girl and a beer in his other hand.

“Hey, Adam, I’ll buy you a beer.”

“I just finished driving fifty head of cattle out of that muddy slog and up over a dozen hills and brushy ravines to get them to a safe pasture. You rode right on by me and saw I was alone and didn’t stop to help!”

“Nope, Pa said my day was done when I finished fixing that section of fence. You didn’t help me with that.”

Exasperated, Adam took off his hat and slammed it on the table. “Of course not because instead of finding twenty strays, I found fifty. I couldn’t help you because I was too busy to help anyone. I was doing the work of two or three men, and I was alone.”

“But you’re done now. If I had known you needed help so badly, I would have sent someone to help you.” Rolling his eyes, Adam dropped into an empty chair. “Tell you what I will do, I’ll buy you two cold ones.” Smiling his most charming smile at the saloon girl, Joe made his request. “Darling, could you please go get my grumpy older brother a tall cold one. He needs it.”

“Why do you have to be so lazy?”

“Lazy is such an ugly word. I prefer to call it selective participation.”

Blowing his breath out forcefully, Adam didn’t say what he wanted to say because the saloon girl was back with his beer half of which he gratefully drank in one long gulp.

“Now, older brother, I’ve got a peaceful, easy feeling, and I know you won’t let me down.”

“You really have no idea what I’d like to do?”

“Like to do or ought to do, now that is the question.”

“I thought you didn’t like Shakespeare.”

“I don’t, but you do, and I’m being charming.”

“Charming as a snake oil salesman.”

“Now what is snake oil? It’s something that makes you feel good. I make you feel good, don’t I? I mean, you came in here looking meaner than a Mojave sidewinder, and now you’re relaxing and even thinking about smiling.”

“I’m not thinking about smiling.”

Except Adam couldn’t help it with the look that Joe had as he leaned down to study his brother’s mouth. He had to laugh even if it was at his brother and not in true merriment. However that was enough to get Joe giggling.

“Oh, no, not that cackle. I’ll buy you a drink if you’ll stop.”

Immediately Joe sat up sober as a judge with his back as straight as a soldier on revue. “Yessir, Adam, sir. Ready for that drink now.”

Four hours later, two happy, slightly inebriated brothers arrived at home.

That night, Ben’s sleep had been disturbed and he had been irritated. When he heard the whole story though, he decided it had been worth the lost minutes. Adam had needed that time, and he actually thanked Joe for getting his older brother to have a good time. As he finished telling those two stories, Roy had to use his handkerchief to wipe his eyes. Ben couldn’t tell if the tears were from the laughter or if there was more to it than that. It didn’t matter though. Both of them were probably going to be feeling some strong emotions over the next few weeks. Ben knew that Roy loved Adam almost like a son and certainly as a dear friend. It wasn’t going to be easy for him to say goodbye either. Roy reminded Ben though of a more serious event that had occurred. They discussed it until they both knew everything that had happened.

It was something the Paiute never expected to see and something the men in the posse were shocked to see. Adam Cartwright rode out between the two parties with his hands raised in the air and his weapons still in their leathers. Ben Cartwright and his younger sons were stunned to see it. Sheriff Roy Coffee ordered the posse to hold their fire unless he told them to shoot because he didn’t know what was going to happen but didn’t want to start anything as he watched his friend ride to his doom. Adam rode guiding his horse with his knees and stopped a short distance from the Paiute hidden in the trees waiting for what could have been a hail of bullets and arrows or even a spear to cut him down. Instead, he heard a voice.

“What do you want?”

“The girl and nothing more. We can settle this here and now with no more bloodshed and no more harm to anyone.”

“We did not steal her.”

“I know.”

“We got her from the Washoe. They got her from the Apache.”

“She doesn’t belong here though and as long as she is here, there will be trouble.” Adam was relieved that his voice did not betray the pounding of his heart.

“You will tell them the truth.”

“I will tell them and I will make them believe.”

“Come closer. She will walk out to you.”

To the men in the posse, what they saw next amazed them even more. A Paiute man walked out with the girl they had come to save, but she clearly did not want to go with Adam. The Paiute man made her get up on Adam’s horse and ordered her to go. She cried but obeyed. Then Adam said goodbye to the Paiute, wheeled Sport around slowly, and rode back to the posse where he was met by his angry father.

“That was a foolish stunt!”

“It worked.”

Too angry to say anything more, Ben turned from his son and went to his horse as Adam explained to Sheriff Roy Coffee what he had learned from the Paiute.

“Roy, they didn’t steal her and didn’t harm her. Make sure you put that in your report. They got her from the Washoe who got her from the Apache. I don’t know how the Apache got her. She may be able to tell you, but she’s very young.”

“She is. If it wasn’t for that blond hair, nobody woulda known she wasn’t a Paiute. She acts like an Indian and dresses like one. Do you think she knows any English?”

“I said a few things to her on the way back. She only responded when I said something in Paiute.”

“So she probably got taken as a little one. All right then, we’ll hafta see ifn anyone down in Arizona is missing a little blond girl. Would you say she looks to be about five?”

After agreeing with Roy on that, Adam handed the little girl down to Roy, dismounted, and walked to where Hoss waited. He could tell that his brother had about the same opinion of his action as their father did.

“I know. I know. Let’s just go home. I don’t need a lecture about it.”

Although Hoss may not have said anything, his look and his reaction were enough. Adam got the message loud and clear. Later he would ask both his father and his middle brother to forgive him for what he had put them through knowing how they probably had felt seeing him ride out there. He hadn’t asked anyone’s advice before he took that action because he knew he would be advised not to do it. However his natural inclination to be the hero had won out as he felt he knew enough about the situation that it could work. He had chosen to ignore that it might not.

Only Joe praised his action, but Adam had about the same response to that. He didn’t want to talk about it. Over the next few weeks, whenever Adam went to town, conversations anywhere near him seemed to include the word fool or various synonyms for it spoken loud enough for him to hear but never directed at him. He ignored them all. Joe however got angry about it and challenged Adam.

“They’re saying those things about you. I hear idiot, goof, dope, dummy, as well as fool all the time when you walk by people. Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Why should it bother me? They’re right.”

Flabbergasted by that response, Joe had nothing more to say. It was later that day though that he had to talk to someone about it and sat on the edge of his father’s desk letting Ben know he had something on his mind. Leaning back in his chair, Ben waited for him to spit it out.

“Pa, Adam was really brave and saved lives and rescued that little girl. Now people call him a fool and worse, and he doesn’t do anything about it. He even told me they’re right. What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing is wrong with him. He’s evaluated his action and knows what he did. He was foolish. He knows it. He set himself up in a situation where he was quite likely going to die and the act was so outlandish, it shocked the Paiute into being curious instead of deadly. It was a tremendous risk and he got tremendously lucky. He knows that.”

“You think he was a fool too?”

“Your brother knows he was a fool. It’s because he’s a wise man. He’s read enough Shakespeare to know the line and I’m sure he agrees with it. A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool. He acted impulsively and successfully, but how would you be feeling now if the Paiute had decided to shoot instead of talk?”

Shivering almost involuntarily as that image appeared in his mind, Joe looked at his father.

“Yes, son, that’s the image that I had when I saw him riding out there. He’s asked me to forgive him, but I can’t forget that image.”

“I know. At least we know he won’t be doing anything like that when he’s gone.”

“Yes, and I know my sons have made peace with his decision to leave.”

“They have?”

“Yes, well you know he and Hoss have always talked without saying many words. It’s as if they can understand what’s in each other’s hearts and in their minds without having to say all the words. I know Hoss told him he wants him to stay, but he said he accepts that Adam has to go.”

“And Little Joe?”

“During this last round-up, I heard the two of them talk.”

Standing with his thumbs hooked in his belt on both sides and his cream colored coat bunched behind him as a result, Adam stared at the morning sun rising in the distance. With his left foot up on a moss-covered log, he leaned that way, and as Joe watched him, he thought about how Adam always seemed to lean. After so many years of bronc busting, calf branding, and general hard work, Adam had enough old injuries to justify needing to lean one way or another and of course falling off a roof hadn’t helped any. But there was something more to the lean these days. There was a weariness there that Joe hadn’t seen before. As the coffee bubbled, he removed it from the fire and poured two cups. Standing, he walked to where Adam stood and handed one to him. With a nod, Adam acknowledged the gesture and sipped the coffee. Up close, Joe continued his observation noting the crow’s feet around the eyes and how the worry lines in the forehead were there even though his oldest brother was relaxed. Those lines were as permanent as the furrow between his brows and similar lines in his neck. Turning toward Joe, Adam noted the scrutiny.

“Didn’t I shave well enough this morning?”

“No, I just noticed how the morning sun when it’s in your face really shows your age.” “Thanks, but I didn’t need to hear that this morning.”

Staying silent which was a major feat for him, Joe finally had to say what was on his mind. “What is it that you want, Adam? We’ve been together for two weeks delivering those horses and now heading home, and you’ve hardly talked to me. You haven’t been unpleasant, and I have appreciated having a good audience for anything I want to say, but what about you? What is it you want to say but are holding back?”

“Who says I’m holding something back?”

“Who do you think you’re kidding. You always hold things back, but right now I get the feeling it’s something bigger than usual. Ever since you had to shoot Howard, you’ve had this look that’s well, different.”

“It wasn’t only shooting Howard.”

“I guessed that. Laura and Will doing what they did, and then more happened until it came to a head with Howard. You’re not happy here. You want to leave.”

Surprised was too mild a word, but shocked was too strong. Adam was somewhere between the two. All he could do was agree. “But Pa needs me and Hoss wants me to stay even if he told me he accepts that I have to go.”

“We all want you to stay, but we want you to be happy too. You need to go to find whatever it is that you need to find. I’ll help Pa and Hoss too.”

A crooked little smile greeted his words. “I just noticed how the morning sun when it’s in your face really shows your age.”

Joe grinned, and a short distance away, Ben smiled too. His boys were pretty darn good men.

“So tomorrow, we say goodbye to your oldest boy.”

“He’s not a boy, Roy. He’s a man heading out to seek his destiny. He’s ready, and now, I’m ready. It’s time.”

 

 

Tags:  Adam Cartwright, Ben Cartwright, Hoss Cartwright, Joe / Little Joe Cartwright