SUMMARY:  The third story in the Confederacy of Dunces series, this story takes the family on a dangerous ride.  Gunmen want to make a reputation by gunning down the fastest Cartwright, but he’s not willing to fight.  They decide on a way to draw him out while another brother faces personal tragedy that makes him examine what he’s doing with his life.

Rating:  T  Word count:  12,774

A Confederacy of Dunces Series:

A Confederacy of Dunces
All the Lies I Tell Myself
Only One Returns
Franklin was Right

 

Only One Returns

Prologue

It was the first hunting trip for Hoss’ son, Matt, mostly because Joe’s son, James, had agreed to take responsibility for the five-year-old. It wasn’t so much that Hoss and Joe wanted to take the youngster along, but it was a step toward maturity that all of them had been hoping to see in the youngster. Although six wasn’t so old, he had been challenging his parents since he was a toddler. Finally he seemed ready to start following some of those lessons and rules they had been trying to teach him. While Hoss and Joe went to scout out the area by horseback, the two boys were told they could explore around the camp on foot but not to go too far. When Hoss and Joe got back, they were alarmed to see James holding a rifle and Matt looking it over.

“What the heck are you doing?”

However when Joe got close to his son, he realized the rifle was old, rusted and certainly not capable of shooting in the condition it was in. James immediately thrust the weapon toward him though not sure at all what he should do with it.

Matt wanted to tell the story. “We found it, Papa. It was leaning up against a tree. The tree was almost dead. That’s why we saw it. The branches were falling off. James was the one who saw it first.” When no one said anything, Matt continued. “I wonder who left his rifle out here. It was leaning against a tree. Maybe it was an outlaw! Papa, do you think it was an outlaw on the Ponderosa? Maybe they ran off before they could get their rifle. Maybe that’s it. What do you think, Papa?”

“I think we are never going to know the whole story about that rifle. Now, why don’t you boys go rustle up some firewood so we can cook up our dinner? We found a spot where we could get some fish and brought back four nice ones.”

The boys were clearly surprised that Hoss didn’t join in on the story telling. Instead, he seemed almost angry. Disappointed, they went to do as they had been told. When they headed out to get the firewood, Joe looked over at Hoss.

“Maybe it’s time you told Adam he could come back home again. Everything that got stirred up is long forgotten now. And maybe now you can tell me how Pa’s brand new rifle ended up leaning against a tree on a part of the Ponderosa where hardly anyone ever sets foot except to hunt.”

“How do you know it’s his?”

“Aw, c’mon, Hoss, I know you. The answer to that was written all over you when the boys said where they found that rifle. What really happened in town that day and why did you tell Adam it was best that he leave?”

“I didn’t tell him that it was best that he leave only that it would be safer for him if he left and he had things to take care of elsewhere.”

“You threw that bullet that was dug out of that gunman at me and told me to never say a word against our older brother. Pa never asked about his missing rifle again after that either. I think I finally figured that out. What I don’t understand is why.”

“Dontcha? Think back to everything that was going on then. It’ll come to ya.”

The memories came back even if Joe had tried to forget. It had been a difficult summer not only for him, but it had been even more of a stressful time for Adam and Georgia.

 

Chapter 1

When Adam returned from town, Ben told him that Georgia was out behind the house sitting on a bench. He said she had been there for several hours.

“I’ve tried talking with her, but it’s clear that she doesn’t want to talk with me.”

Although tired, Adam’s strength and stamina had improved over the year he had spent at home. He didn’t like making the long trek to town and back each day, but because Georgia was in her last month of pregnancy, he thought it best that she stay on the ranch. More experienced now in taking care of childbearing women, Adam thought it wouldn’t be much longer anyway. When he got to the back garden, Georgia only acknowledged him by sliding over on the bench so there would be room for him to sit. He did and waited. She took his hand and put in on her swollen abdomen. Expecting to feel a kick or some movement, Adam was surprised to only feel her warmth.

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Neither do I, Adam. I haven’t felt anything for more than two days. Nothing at all.”

Reaching into his pocket, Adam pulled out a stethoscope and put it up against her belly. He listened for a long time.

“I did that too with an old one that was up in our room. I couldn’t hear anything either. I listened for the longest time, Adam.”

There was nothing to say. The baby was going to be stillborn. With no movement and no heartbeat, it was the only conclusion to be drawn.

“As I sat here, I realized why I was so sad. It’s not only that our baby had died. All the hopes and dreams and joy that were attached have died too. I think I better understand how you felt when that bullet damaged your back. There were things that you could never do again. You had lost them. Now I’ve lost something so important too. It leaves a very big hole, doesn’t it?”

Turning to Adam, Georgia saw the tracks of tears on his cheeks, and it was more than she could bear. She had held in her emotions but could no longer do that. The two of them held each other and shared the sorrow. Inside the house, Ben looked out the window and guessed what the news must be. He told Hop Sing who was already brewing tea and simply nodded. After a half hour, Hop Sing took the cups of tea outside returning quickly to tell Ben that Adam and Georgia would be taking dinner in their room that evening.

The next morning, family members expressed their condolences to Adam, but of course, Georgia still had to carry her dead baby until nature allowed her to deliver it. It was far more difficult for everyone to say anything to her. They tried, but Hoss probably expressed it best when talking with his father and Adam.

“I don’t know what to say. How do you find the words to say you’re sorry to her when she’s still got that baby inside there and yet it’s gone too?”

Adam was having the same problem. “I don’t know. At first, she let me comfort her, but now it seems anger and bitterness have taken over.”

“Son, this is an extremely hard time for her. You’ll have to be patient with her.”

“Pa, don’t you think it’s a difficult time for me too? It wasn’t only her baby.”

That was the last that Adam expressed about his feelings about his lost child, but it was enough. It was over two weeks of misery for the couple and a feeling of helplessness for the family before Georgia went into labor. Her father, Benjamin, had been planning to be there for the birth of his first grandchild. Traveling back with Jamie who was taking the opportunity to visit with his family, Benjamin arrived as expected only to find out the sad news. They had been unable to intercept him in his travels to tell him not to come. At first, Ben thought it was a good idea to have him present as additional help and support for Georgia and for Adam.

It was on a Sunday that the baby was stillborn. Hoss and Joe had taken their families to town to church. By then, many had learned of the tragedy and prayers were said for the couple and the child they had lost. Many women had lost children though and most expected that Adam and Georgia would do as others had done and try again. Talk quickly turned to other topics after the service with the proposed new ordinances in town drawing the greatest response both from the men and the women. It had been suggested that there be a ban on men wearing guns in town and that a hefty fine be imposed on any guns discharged inside the city limits. What had prompted the discussion was a series of deadly shootouts in Placerville. Several men had been killed in the confrontations, but what was more upsetting to almost everyone was that a number of bystanders had been wounded and one of them, a boy of twelve, had died from his head wound.

“I don’t know why we have to change our laws because of trouble that happens way over in Placerville.”

“Joe, you know that it could easily spread here ifn those gunmen decide they want to come here to build up their reputation more or somebody here decides maybe they can get rid of somebody by hiring killers like that.”

“I suppose that’s true. Still, it seems like Roy can handle things like that.”

“Yeah, but not until they make trouble. Somebody could end up dead before he knows to make ’em leave town. I got a wife and daughter and soon another one to protect. I cain’t be waiting on troublemakers to make trouble.”

“Wait. You said you got another one to protect soon. You and Ellen are going to have another baby? Why didn’t you say something?”

“We were gonna say it after Adam and Georgia had their baby, but then they got their bad news. Didn’t seem right to be celebrating our good news when they’re waiting on their baby to be born so they can bury it.”

“So when are you going to say something?”

“Well, you know, and Pa knows, so I guess anybody who needs to know, already knows.”

“Pa needs to know about these new rules they want in town too.”

It was a discussion they had when they got home with Ben thinking they didn’t need such ordinances because they had a different kind of community from Placerville and a population not prone to such displays. The population was also fiercely protective of its rights and any effort to restrict such rights was likely to stir up more trouble than it resolved.

However in town, an entirely different kind of conversation was taking place. Alice’s brother resented how Joe had married Alice and cut him out of any kind of financial assistance from her even though she now had access to more money than ever. He was talking with a few friends about how he might use the situation in Placerville to get revenge.

“How are you gonna do that? You ain’t got no money to hire those gunmen to come over here to shoot him.”

“No, I was thinking on getting them to come here on their own to shoot him.”

“Now, why would they do it for nothing?”

“Not for nothing. They’d do it for the reputation of gunning down a fast-draw high-and-mighty Cartwright and getting their name in the papers. You know that would be a story. Heck, that might even get a book written about you.”

“Wouldn’t that be a little obvious? I mean, you tell ’em to come over here to shoot him so they can get famous and such?”

“Nah, they only happen to hear a conversation where somebody mentions how they’re fast but probably not as fast as those Cartwright boys from the Ponderosa are.”

“But since the War, Adam can’t shoot any more least not with a pistol. He don’t even wear one any more.”

“Yeah, and when they find that out, they’ll naturally decide on Joe as the only one worth gunning down. If the first one doesn’t do it, all the better. It makes it even more of an accomplishment for the next guy. Joe isn’t going to have any peace until he’s six feet under keeping his mama company.”

“That’s cold.”

“Isn’t that what they say revenge is best served as?”

“You been thinking on this a while?”

“A while, yeah. I’ve been thinking on something like this every day since he cut me off from my sister. He called me a bloodsucking leech. He said I needed to get a job. Well I got one. My job is to show him just how dangerous this leech can be.”

Part of their conversation was overheard though because there weren’t as many men in the saloon on a Sunday as there would be on any other day of the week. The men who heard the story then discussed how best to use the information they had obtained by eavesdropping. There was no profit in going to the sheriff, and going to Joe would likely only get them a pat on the shoulder from an angry man. No, the best person to tell was probably Ben Cartwright. The three who had the information decided he was the best one to tell and decided there was no better time than right then to go try their strategy. They weren’t at all sure what kind of reward Ben would offer them but guessed he might give them something in return for their concern for his One was likely to be harassed and the other was most likely going to be killed. By their way of thinking, information about that ought to be worth something. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t worth as much as they were hoping.

“So you’re saying my brother-in-law is trying to set me up to get killed?”

As the men had talked to Ben, Joe and his brothers had been listening and getting angrier at each sentence. Joe had thought he was done with Alice’s brother and his games, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“Pa, I ought to go to town right now and let him know we found out about his plan.”

“Joe, it likely won’t change what he wants to do. It will only cause him to try out some other fool idea that we aren’t ready to face.”

“Yeah, Joe, all you got to do here is say no to a gunfight. It ain’t that hard to do. Adam done it with Bill Enders.”

Except that was probably the wrong thing to say because Joe remembered what people had said at first until they knew the whole story. There were lots of mumblings and questions about whether Adam had turned cowardly. Although Adam had ignored all the talk, Joe knew he wouldn’t be able to do that. Ben saw the concern that Joe had and told him that they could talk more inside. Adam was concerned about Georgia and had already gone back inside. Her father had been sitting with her as she slept, but Adam wanted to check on her and take a turn at her side. That left Hoss and Jamie outside with the men who had brought the information.

“Well, fellas, we can’t thank ya enough for what ya told us. Now, I guess we oughta give ya something for all the time ya spent riding out here and all. Ifn ya want a good meal, Hop Sing makes the best stew around. And here’s five dollars so you can get yourself some drinks when you get back to town.”

“Gee, thanks.”

With the response, Hoss knew that the reward wasn’t enough. Jamie leaned over and whispered to Hoss that he could increase the reward substantially. Hoss did but not as much as Jamie had thought he might.

“I meant, five dollars for each of ya. I’ll hafta go inside though to get a little more money. I don’t carry that much on me.”

“Sure, Hoss, we can wait.”

Inside, Hoss told his father what he had done. Ben said to take twenty each from the cash box. When Hoss reminded him that he had already given them a five, Ben was exasperated.

“Well, don’t ask for it back. Just give them their money and let them go. We have some serious business to discuss in here.”

“Sorry, Pa.”

“I’m sorry too, Hoss. It’s just that things haven’t been going so well and I’m on edge. Please take care of that with those men and then come back inside so we can all talk.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Ben and his younger sons discussing various alternatives to try if the gunmen did try to push Joe into a gunfight. They had Roy too as a backup. He wouldn’t want a gunfight in his town so he would do what he could to see that it didn’t happen.

On Monday, the family held a small private burial service at the lakeshore for the stillborn son of Adam and Georgia placing the small coffin in a grave near Marie’s and marking it with a wooden plaque Adam had created. There were no words on it. It was a carving of hands from the clouds coming down to cradle a dove.

 

Chapter 2

There were more conversations that occurred over the next few weeks on the Ponderosa and all of them left Adam frustrated. The first one was when he tried to talk to Georgia about their future. She cut him off almost immediately.

“I told my father that I want to go to St. Louis with him when he goes back. I need a change of scenery.”

“All right. I can make arrangements and be ready to go in a week or two.”

“No, Adam, I mean I want to go with my father. You and I can’t have relations anyway for five or six weeks so I thought we could be apart. I could get to spend some time with my father and get some time away from here to forget.”

“Forget what? Forget me? Forget our life here?”

“No, of course not.”

Except the flat way she said that left no doubt in his mind that she did want to forget their life in Nevada. Anytime he tried to touch her or move close to her, she moved away from him. After two weeks of that, he was becoming increasingly frustrated. As Benjamin talked of returning to St Louis, Adam tried his best to break through the icy resolve of his wife. The response he got shocked him.

“Adam, there are a number of guest bedrooms up here. Perhaps you would be more comfortable sleeping in one of them. It seems you are not happy sleeping next to me in my present state.”

“This is my bedroom and I damn well intend to sleep in my own bed.”

Slipping out of bed then and gathering her robe, Georgia kept her back to him. “Very well, I don’t mind sleeping in another room.”

Watching his wife walk out of their bedroom, Adam was too surprised to have any idea what to do. Later, he wished he had simply taken her in his arms and forbidden her to leave. However, she had been so cold and determined, he wasn’t sure how she would have reacted if he had tried that.

The other conversation that was unsettling for Adam was news that Nevada was going to license physicians. By the rules they were discussing, there was a possibility that Adam would not be licensed unless he went to school for some formal training or apprenticed to a doctor. He did not have enough years of practice in Nevada to qualify under the rules that were being proposed. Jamie suggested he ought to come back to St Louis and study with him.

“I could use the help. Doctor Dillard is a hard taskmaster. I can barely keep up with everything he keeps trying to teach me.”

Of course, Jamie had no way of knowing that he had touched a nerve with that suggestion and was shocked at Adam’s retort. The negative response was delivered in a way that suggested even asking the question had been stupid. Ben as well as Hoss and Joe were as surprised as Jamie by his response, but Benjamin had a good idea why he had reacted as he did. He sought out Adam who left the house in a huff.

“Jamie had no way of knowing he was suggesting exactly what Georgia is planning on doing.”

“And that you are helping her do.”

“So you’re angry with me too?”

When Adam didn’t answer, Benjamin knew. “Let me tell you that you need to remember just how stubborn my daughter is. If you forbid her from going, it will be that grass is greener scenario. She will imagine that it will all be so much better if only you would let her go.”

Grudgingly, Adam had to admit the validity of that. “So what would you have me do?”

“Let her go, and let her find out that the hole in her heart is just as big in St Louis as it is here. In fact, it will be bigger because she will be alone. She thinks somehow she can recapture her youth when she could come home to papa and everything would be all right. Those days are gone. She needs you, but she is loath to admit it right now. She wants to blame someone for her pain instead of learning to live despite the pain.”

“She blames me.”

“She is still young. She has much to learn yet. She sees you, and it reminds her of what you made together and what you lost together. She’s trying to run away from the pain. Let her go, and then come after her. She will want you when she understands better what her loss truly is. In fact, she will desperately need you then.”

“I need her too.”

“I know, but she has nothing to give to you now. She’s lost her way. This is a kind of suffering she has never had, and she is striking out instead of reaching out. She will learn. I’m sure she already regrets some of what she has done but has no idea how to undo it.”

“All right. You know her best. We’ll try it your way.”

“I can see how this hurts you too. Perhaps Jamie can stay, and then the two of you could come together?”

“I don’t need a nursemaid.”

“No, but a friend, a brother?” Benjamin could see Adam wavering. The anger and hurt were warring with the logic. “He could study with you for a couple of weeks. It would be a plausible explanation for everyone as to why the two of you were not coming with us. Then the two of you could travel to join us in St. Louis with Jamie having some practical experience to help him in his studies.”

When Adam came back inside, he walked upstairs to talk with Georgia. Hoss excused himself to go to his wife and child and Joe left to go home to Alice and their child. Benjamin sat down with Ben and Jamie who waited for some explanation of what was going on.

“Georgia Rae will go with me to St. Louis. Adam plans to stay here a few weeks longer. We thought perhaps it would be a good time for him to teach Jamie some of what he does in his practice. That way, when Jamie comes back to school, he will have a better understanding of how some of what we’re teaching him is applied.”

“That’s great! I’ve wanted to work with Adam for a long time.”

“Now remember that Adam is a strict taskmaster. He doesn’t accept anything less than the best when it comes to the care of a patient. You must be ready to do everything he asks of you.”

“Oh, I will. I’ll do it all.”

“It will only be two or three weeks until Adam decides it’s time for the two of you to travel to St. Louis. I’m hoping he’ll do a little teaching at our school before he decides to come back here.”

Though Jamie was excited and saw the plans as a wonderful idea, Ben saw them for what they were. He knew that Benjamin had interceded to give Adam and Georgia some space for a few weeks and wondered if it was a good idea. Benjamin saw his reaction to the news he had delivered.

“It’s not an ideal situation, Ben, but my daughter has created a difficult problem with her inability to accept what has happened. I’ve seen other women who delivered healthy babies and got melancholia.”

“You think that’s what she has?”

“Not exactly, but she certainly is in some kind of negative mood. I’m hoping that a change in environment will help her to break out of that dark place she’s in. Many a marriage has been broken over things like this. I think that their love for each other and their intelligence should be enough to help them weather the storm, but one can never be sure.”

Not having considered that their marriage could break up over the loss of a child, Ben was silent for a moment remembering others he had known whose marriages had soured or ended because of such tragedy. Sometimes the man had simply gone off when the situation in the home was no longer something he could tolerate. Other marriages were marred by alcohol use by one or both. Still though there were those couples who had withstood hardships even worse than this and had marriages strong as the rock in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

“I think they’ll be stronger for it once they fight the battle.”

“I agree, but it will be easier when my daughter remembers that they’re on the same side in this.”

When Adam told Georgia that he had accepted her father’s plan, he didn’t get the reaction he expected.

“So you’re sending me away. You’ll be rid of the moping unhappy woman in your life.”

“No, I don’t want you to go, but your father told me you wanted to go. I only thought to do what was best for you. I don’t know what to do any more. Nothing I do for you is any good any more.”

“I know. I’m so angry all the time.”

“Maybe it will be best to do it this way.”

“You don’t think so though, do you?”

“I’m not so sure that being apart is the best way for us to get back together, no. But your father wants us to try this.”

“For how long?”

“I’ll be working here with Jamie for a few weeks. Then we’ll come to St. Louis so he can continue his studies. Benjamin wants me to work at the school for a time too.”

“That’s probably for my benefit too. I wish I wasn’t such a bother.”

“You’re not a bother.”

Except when Adam was going to step closer and try to comfort Georgia, she deftly turned and busied herself with some clothing so he couldn’t. He dropped his head knowing that no matter how normal their conversations could get to be sometimes, their relationship seemed to have been drastically altered by the death of their infant.

“Do you need any help with anything?”

“Yes, if you could get the valise please and put it on the bed so I can pack my things. That would be very helpful.”

That was how they finished their contact on the Ponderosa. Georgia was cordial but nothing more. She did her best to stop the caustic comments, but there was no warmth in anything she said to Adam and there were no demonstrations of affection even when she was leaving with her father. It was all very proper. To an outsider, it probably looked quite normal. To the rest of the family, it was clear that something in that marriage was broken.

On the ride home, Adam was quiet. Ben didn’t push the issue at all until they were home. After they put away the carriage and walked to the house, he asked if there was anything he could do.

“If you can think of anything to mend a broken heart or capture one again, then you could let me know. Until then, I have a lot of work to do.”

“Adam, none of this was your fault. You don’t have to feel so guilty about this.”

“Don’t I? It’s a man’s duty to protect his family, and I didn’t do a very good job of that, now did I? All this learning I did as a doctor and none of it mattered when I needed it most.”

“No one could have done anything.”

“How do you know that? How does anyone know that?”

“I know. I think you know too, but you’re letting Georgia’s reaction color your thoughts.”

“How can’t I? Georgia is on my mind all the time. Everything I do is about her. It’s like a sickness, Pa. I can’t get over it.”

“You don’t want to get over it. It means your love for her is strong. You have to find a way back to her. You’re a smart man. I think you know her well enough to come up with something.”

For the first time in weeks, Ben saw that look that said Adam was thinking about this situation like a problem that required a solution instead of one that was plaguing him and he had to rid himself of it. The furrowed brow and the faraway look in the eyes said that his mind was now fully engaged in the issues instead of bogged down in the hurt he felt. It was progress. Unfortunately, there was one more thing Ben had to add to his troubled mind.

“Roy told me that there are three brothers who showed up in town. He thinks they’re the ones who were making all the trouble in Placerville with the gunfights. It will be a while before he can get an answer to the telegram he sent because the wires are down again because of high winds, but you need to watch yourself in town. He said these men tend to call out anyone who had any kind of reputation with a gun.”

Looking at his father with a raised eyebrow, Adam smirked too. “Pa, I don’t even wear a gun any more. I couldn’t draw fast enough to beat the town drunk. I could hit what I was aiming at once I had a gun in my hand, but unfortunately, in a gunfight, no one would wait for me to do that.”

“I know, but they don’t know that. They may harass you, and in your present state of mind.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t lose my temper and forget that I can’t draw.” With a sigh, his mood changed. “Now I have to go upstairs and get some things done.”

What he had to do was face his empty room. Of course, he had been sleeping alone for some time already, and even before that, Georgia had rejected his advances, but now her presence was gone too. When he cleaned up the spare bedroom where he had stayed, he had to smile at one thing. The shirt he had worn the day before was no longer laying across the bed with his other clothing. He guessed that Georgia must have taken it. He knew that when he was gone, she liked to have something of his in the bed next to her. It was the only hopeful sign he had, but at least it was something.

 

Chapter 3

That night at dinner, Hoss and Joe made a point of being there in support of Adam. Dinner conversation quickly focused on the three gunmen in town and why they had suddenly appeared. Hoss had a theory that the others seemingly dismissed at first.

“I think somebody done talked up Virginia City as a place for them yahoos to build up their reputations even more. I think somebody wants to get rid of somebody here and is using those boys as a way to do it.”

“Oh, yeah, Hoss, and who would they want to get rid of?”

Looking over at Joe, Hoss ate the piece of pork on his fork and pointed the utensil at his younger brother.

“Me? Why would anyone want to get rid of me?”

Not wanting to say what he actually thought, Hoss shrugged a bit and let the question hang there. When no one said anything in response to that question, Alice looked around at the men there and at her husband.

“All right, you all know something that you’re not saying. What is it?”

Joe looked down, Hoss looked up, and Adam rubbed the back of his neck. When Ben cleared his throat, everyone knew it was time for the truth and the patriarch of the Ponderosa was going to deliver it.

“Alice, we got information a short time ago that your brother was going to try to get the gunmen from Placerville to come here to get Joe into a gunfight. There are three of them, all brothers. Even if he would defeat one of them, there are two more. From what Roy says, they are very fast too.”

“I’m pretty fast myself.” Joe didn’t like the idea of hiding out at the Ponderosa.

“Joe, only one returns from a gunfight.”

“I know that, Adam.”

“You can’t be sure the one who returns will be you. You have a wife and son to protect. Protecting your family is more important than anything else.”

“That’s easy for you to say. They’re not going to fight you because you can’t fight. So how are you going to protect your family?”

As soon as Joe said it, he knew that Adam would take it differently than he had meant it. He tried to explain, but it was too late. Adam quietly stood and walked across the room and up the stairs disappearing around the corner at the top of the stairs without having said a word. It was quiet at the table.

“Pa, I’m sorry. I never meant it to mean that Adam, well, you know.”

“I know, Joe, but it’s a raw wound right now. It’s easy to make it bleed. He needs some time.”

Hoss decided it was best to change the subject. “Do ya think those gunmen would try to get Adam into a fight? I mean, he’s got that reputation as a fast gun too.”

“We talked about it. He reminded me that he never wears a gun and couldn’t draw a pistol no matter how much he wished he could. You know he can’t lift his right arm like that. He’s fine with anything he can do with his arm down but lifting it to draw would be an impossibility.”

“What ifn they tried to make him real mad?”

“I think he’s past the stage where anger makes him take an action.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. We jest saw it happen. Now, Joe, how you gonna handle this problem?”

“Alice and I will talk about it and let you know.”

Nodding in approval, Ben suggested they all clean their plates as Hop Sing had dessert ready for them. After serving dessert and coffee, Hop Sing took a tray upstairs returning a short time later to say that number one son had a message for them.

“Mister Adam say he fine.”

It was a code they all understood. Adam wasn’t fine, but nothing too serious was wrong either, and everything should be better by the next day. Things were better the next morning as Adam headed to town with Jamie to work and his other brothers worked on the ranch. Conversation was cordial that morning with Joe apologizing and saying he never meant to hurt with the words he used and Adam saying he understood. They were good. Joe added too that Adam should watch himself in town.

“Those three yahoos as Hoss called them are here to make trouble so they’re unpredictable. Everyone knows you don’t wear a gun so they know it too, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try something. I just want you to be careful.”

“Thanks for caring, Joe.”

“Of course I care.”

“I’ve got Jamie here to watch out for me.”

“Oh, great. He doesn’t wear a gun either.”

That at least got a smile from Adam. “It’s going to be frustrating for those three from Placerville then, isn’t it? Wouldn’t you like to see the looks on their faces when all they get are the two unarmed Cartwrights?”

Even Hoss snorted at that one. “Let’s jest keep it that way for a week, and they like as not will get so bored, they may up and leave.”

“We can hope so. By the way, if you see my brother-in-law, tell him I’ve been looking around for him, and he isn’t going to like it when I find him.” Joe was still seething about the information they had gotten that he was the one who had set this all up.

“Joe, maybe you should let it go for Alice’s sake. She’s got enough to worry about.”

“I don’t know, Adam. Sooner or later, something will have to be done about that man.”

They left it there and Adam snapped the reins to get the carriage started toward town. Once at the office, he went through what amounted to a fairly normal day with a couple of minor surgeries on broken bones that had to be set by him because they were displaced. Jamie assisted and when the work was done and the office was cleaned up, he was surprised to find it was time to head back home.

“I didn’t realize surgery took so long. It didn’t seem so long while we were doing it.”

“There’s the preparation and then the cleaning up as well as the stitching and bandaging of the patient. Then of course we have to make sure the night nurse knows what to do with each one.”

As they walked from the office, they saw three men and assumed they had to be the three gunmen from Placerville. They came out from behind a building presumably they had worked their way toward his office by stealth knowing if they walked there openly, Sheriff Coffee would have stopped them. Two of them hung back and one kept walking until he was in the street with the sun behind him.

“Cartwright, I’m calling you out.”

“Which one? We’re both Cartwrights.”

“Don’t be a damn smart mouth. I’m calling you out, Adam Cartwright.”

Moving slowly and carefully, Adam grasped the lapels of his coat and pulled to the side showing he was unarmed.

“Now you wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man and get charged with murder, would you?”

“Where’s your rig?”

“I don’t wear one because I can’t draw a pistol.”

“We saw you come into town, and you didn’t seem to have any trouble driving that carriage.”

“I can use my arm quite well down low. You put a pistol or a rifle in my hands and I could shoot you. What I can’t do is draw a pistol from a holster.”

“Why not?”

“He got shot in the War. He can’t raise his right arm very well. Everybody here knows that.” Jamie had decided to help.

“How about you then? You’re a Cartwright too, ain’t ya?”

“Pa never taught me how to shoot like that. He said Adam taught Hoss and then taught Joe. There wasn’t anybody to teach me. I guess it isn’t something I really need to know anyway.”

That news was a bit of a surprise to Adam, but it was the end of the conversation with the three men. Sheriff Coffee showed up and asked what was going on although he suspected he knew already. Adam answered.

“Just talking, Roy. This time, it was only talk.”

“You boys move along then, and I don’t want to see you hanging around here giving the doctor any more trouble. You hear me?”

For the rest of the week, Roy had a deputy near Adam’s office thwarting the plans of the three gunmen to harass and perhaps physically assault the oldest or the youngest brother to bring out the one they wanted. By Monday of the following week, they were frustrated enough to have a new plan.

“That younger one goes for lunch every day. I say that today, he doesn’t get back with lunch.”

“We gotta do it so they know it’s us but they can’t really prove it’s us.”

“Yeah, we need a really solid plan. All right, today we follow him and see what he does. We’ll figure out what to do and take care of it tomorrow. As long as we’ve waited, one more day won’t matter.”

So avoiding the deputy that watched the office, they staked out the route that Jamie used when he left the office and then followed him the rest of the way noting the shortcuts he took. Taking up positions along that route, they noted that he followed the exact route on the way back. Smiling, they met up after their reconnaissance to plan the next day thinking it was going to be easy especially as Jamie cut behind some warehouses where it was unlikely anyone would see anything that happened. They could make sure of it by preparing the area ahead of time.

“What we gonna do to him? Beat him, stick him, or shoot him?”

“Beating him takes too long. Too big a chance somebody might see us. Shooting him would likely bring some people running and all they need to do is see us anywhere near there and that sheriff would lock us up. Even if he can’t prove it, it would ruin the plan. No, I say stick him. We could do it so fast, he would never know who done it, and we could be gone before he hit the ground. By the time anybody found him, he could be dead or nearly so.”

“They’re gonna know we did it.”

“We’re gonna be sitting in a saloon. How could we do it?”

“Huh?

“Yeah, what he said.”

“There’s a saloon right around the corner. We all three go in there for drinks and cards. About the right time, we take turns, you know, emptying out the drinks. Whoever sees him going for the lunch comes back in and the next one out goes to the spot and sticks him, comes back in, and we keep doing what we was doing like nothing happened.”

“What about the knife?”

“Drop it down the necessary. The gloves too. Nobody will look in there for anything.”

They were all set for the next day.

That night, Adam and Jamie stayed in town. They had dinner at the hotel and then returned to the office where there was a small apartment on the second floor. Adam and Georgia had often stayed there until she had become heavy with child. There weren’t any foodstuffs there any more but the bedding was clean and the beds were comfortable. Jamie got some firewood inside as Adam got water for them to use in the morning and to have to drink. They planned to spend the week in town. If all went well, they would be traveling to St. Louis the following week.

“Adam, I’ve had a funny feeling the last couple of days that I was being watched. Today, I felt like someone was following me when I went to get lunch and bring it back. Yet when I looked, nobody was there.”

“Maybe you’re getting spooked by having those three gunmen waiting around for a Cartwright to gun down in a fight. Listen, they can’t get either of us to fight them.”

“I know, but I still feel kind of funny.”

“Maybe tomorrow, we should go back out to the ranch. It might make you feel more comfortable to be there at night.”

“It’s not the nights that are bothering me.”

“All right. Roy’s been coming by most afternoons to see how things are going. Tomorrow, we’ll sit down with him and tell him what you thought might be happening and he can ask his deputy if he saw anything. Maybe we can get a second man watching here so they can cover more vectors.”

“Ah, what’s a vector?”

So the brothers started out discussing how the military used the term and ended up talking about Adam’s brief service in the War before being wounded and then about his time with Georgia and Benjamin. Jamie was wondering about issues of love and romance so he had a question for Adam.

“How did you know Georgia was the one for you? I mean, was it because she was so pretty? I mean, she’s well, very attractive.”

“I know what you’re saying. Yes, I noticed the physical attributes, but lots of women have those. No, it wasn’t her looks that caught my heart; it was her spirit, her joy, and her almost fierce pride and stubbornness. After a while, I couldn’t imagine life without her in it. No matter what I did, I had Georgia on my mind.”

“So you asked her to marry you?”

“Well, that’s rather the funny part. You see, I think she asked me, or told me, in no uncertain terms that the only way she was staying with me was to be married to me so I said yes. She said well are you going to ask me, and I said that I thought she had already. Of course I did ask her because that’s what you’re supposed to do if you’re the man. It seemed a bit silly as we had already settled it, but she does like things to be done traditionally too.”

“See, that’s the hard part about women. They want to be like men and have all the same rights and things, but then they don’t want to be like men and want to be treated different. Who can keep track of all that?”

“Whoa, there’s the fallacy of your thinking. Women don’t want to be like men at all.”

“They don’t?”

“No they want equality, liberty, and justice which men have or at least most white men have. We’ve got a stagecoach driver who wants to be like a man, but that’s unique. Women want to be women and be treated accordingly. But women should have rights too.”

“It all makes more sense when you say it. When RoseMary says it, it never comes out that clear.”

“Is she the waitress in the restaurant that seems to be the source of all our lunches?”

That got Jamie blushing.

“I’m sure it’s all very new for her too. You should bring her out to the ranch for dinner or invite her to dinner with us. We could all talk about it.”

“Thanks, Adam. That would be great.”

The next day was like any other day until Jamie didn’t come back with lunch.

 

Chapter 4

Walking out of the office, Adam looked around until he spotted the deputy who was watching for the gunmen. Signaling to him, he kept watching for any sign of Jamie, but there was none. When the deputy got there, he had only one concern.

“Was there anyone who followed Jamie when he left here today?”

“No, Doc, just like everyday, Jamie waved over at me and took off down the alley.”

“Down the alley?”

“Yeah, you know youngsters. They always go the shortest way.”

“Damn. I told him to be careful.” Adam immediately hurried to go the way he assumed Jamie had gone.

“You want I should come with you, Doc? I mean the Sheriff said to watch over the area here but seeing as how both of you is gone, it seems I oughta go with ya.”

The deputy didn’t get an answer but followed Adam as he moved as quickly as he could toward the restaurant. As Adam walked rapidly, he realized he didn’t recognize the way and had to wait for the deputy.

“What’s the fastest way now to get to the restaurant?”

“I’d guess cutting back around those warehouses there would take you right up to the next street and almost to that restaurant your brother likes so much. He’s sweet on that little waitress there, ain’t he?”

Except he didn’t get an answer as Adam was already on the move again more worried than before when he realized how vulnerable his brother was when he walked alone behind those warehouses. Coming around the corner of the first warehouse, Adam broke into a run that hurt his back, but he ignored the pain because he saw the crumpled figure of his little brother with two food tins spilled in the dirt. Kneeling at Jamie’s side, he did a quick assessment of the damage and called to the deputy to go into the closest saloon to get some men to carry Jamie to his surgery.

“Hurry, man. He needs surgery fast at the rate he’s bleeding.”

Soon probably a dozen men were there although most were there to gawk. Only two had come to help. They had a blanket they had gotten from the bartender and carefully slid it under Jamie and lifted the slight youth with ease carrying him toward Adam’s surgery. The deputy went along. In the crowd, there were murmurings about the large stain of blood on the ground and surprise that the boy wasn’t already dead. The three gunmen were perhaps the most surprised. As all the others headed back into the saloon, two turned on the one who had done the actual deed.

“I thought you said you got him good?”

“I did. You saw how much blood come out of him. I don’t know why he’s still alive.”

“Well, hopefully not for long. He might have seen you or enough of you to identify you. I’d hate to have to kill my own brother to stay out of prison.”

“Aw, Nate, you wouldn’t shoot me.”

“Don’t be too sure of that, Jackson. Now, did you do the rest like we told you?”

“Yeah, I dropped the knife and the gloves down the necessary before I came back inside.”

“All right, let’s go finish our card game and our drinks to remind everybody where we were when this all happened.”

Less than an hour later, the three were questioned by Sheriff Coffee who was sure they were responsible for Jamie’s injury.

“Sheriff, you can ask anyone. We were here playing cards and having a few drinks. Besides, we do gunfights. We don’t stick boys who are out getting lunch.”

“Now how’d you know all that?”

“We went out there with some of the others when your deputy come in here asking for help. They only needed two to help so the rest of us come back in here.”

Turning to the bartender, Roy asked if the three brothers had left at any time.

“No, Sheriff, they were here the whole time, well except one might go out as any other man here to take care of things as you might expect. I don’t think any of them were ever gone more than ten minutes or so. About what you’d think for a necessary trip.”

Swinging his gaze and his attention back to the three men, Roy had a warning that he might be talking to them again. Then he walked out the back door of the saloon to see how far the necessary was from that back door. When he got to the smelly well-used spot, he saw a bloody finger smudge on the door. Opening up the door and stepping inside, he couldn’t see much until he lit a match. Even then, there wasn’t much to see except that there was a glove floating on top of the mass down below. Exiting the premises, Roy guessed that deep in that morass of human waste was a knife too. Those men wanted him to know that they had done it, but had left him no way to prove it. Anyone could have left this evidence behind, and there was no possible way that he could see to tie those gunmen to the nasty deed. There was one cold purpose in what they had done, and that was to stir up the Cartwrights, one in particular. It would be another hour or two before he was in town with his brother and his father but Roy had a good idea of how he would react.

Meanwhile of course, the oldest brother was having a horrible afternoon. He had thought delivering babies for his sisters-in-law was stressful, but nothing could have prepared him for trying to save his brother’s life. Doctor Paul Martin had showed up to help, and he was shocked at what Adam told him had to be done.

“But Adam, that’s a theory. Have you ever done one?”

“No, but I know it’s been done.”

“It’s been done but usually to fatal results.”

“Paul, do you see him having any chance without it?”

Doctor Martin had no answer to that because he knew as well as Adam that Jamie would bleed to death without a surgical intervention. If Adam did a splenectomy, he would have a chance albeit a slim one with all the blood he had already lost. Paul agreed to assist in the surgery and Adam’s regular night nurse showed up when she heard what had happened. Among them, they managed the operation, which concluded about the same time that Ben, Hoss, and Joe got to town.

The nurse and Paul were the first to come out to greet the three men and explain what happened. They were shocked at first that Adam would try an experimental surgery on his own brother, but Paul was insistent that it was the only chance Jamie had. He had been facing certain death otherwise.

“Ben, he could still die, but not because of what Adam did. I saw some of the most brilliant work I’ve ever seen in there. He has an amazing mind for surgery because he sees things as parts of the whole, as an engineer or an architect would.”

“What about the future?”

“If Jamie can recover from the blood loss and fight off any infection, there should be no other ill effects. Those are two huge problems though.”

At that point, Adam stepped out of the surgery. A bit wary as if expecting his family to be upset with him, he was relieved when all they asked was if they could see Jamie.

“He’s highly sedated. He won’t know you’re there, but yes, you can see him.”

Pale and cool to the touch, Jamie looked almost as if he had died. Adam told them it was the blood loss and that Jamie was critical.

“The next day or so are going to be the most significant. If we can get him through those, he should make it.”

As Ben had done so many times but had never thought he would do with Jamie, he sat down by his son’s side and waited to see if he would survive the wound. Hoss and Joe stepped outside with Adam who looked exhausted. He dropped into a chair as Joe had to ask.

“Was that the whole truth you told us when Pa was here?”

“That was it. I’m sure Roy must have filled you in about how it happened. Did he arrest those gunmen?”

“Nah, he was here a little bit ago. He’s sure they done it, but they got themselves an alibi that’s probably good enough.” Hoss told Adam the rest of the story then.

“So they must have known the route Jamie took and set it up so they could do this and not get caught. We’ve got to do something about them.”

“They’re right across the street now gloating. I know what I’m going to do.” Joe was staring out the window.

As he moved to the door, Hoss moved to stop him. “Don’t. It’s what they want. Pa don’t need to be in there sitting with two of you.”

“How about a little more confidence in me than that.”

“Joe, there’s three of them. Are you that confident?” Adam was worried.

“I only have to take care of one and show them that they can’t win.”

“Joe, you’re upset. You shouldn’t do this now. You need to be calm to win. Only one returns from a gunfight.”

“Adam, you always say that. I wish you had more confidence in me too. I’m doing this. You two can sit here and watch over Pa and Jamie. I know what I have to do to end this.”

When Joe walked out, Hoss and Adam walked out with him. They stood by the horses in front of the office as Hoss and Adam made one last effort to talk Joe out of it. Adam hoped that Sheriff Coffee would walk back and kept looking in the direction he would likely come. Joe saw him looking.

“Roy won’t stop it either, Adam. It has to be done. I’m not going to let them shoot you or Hoss or Pa. With these three, they might even go after one of our wives or even one of the children. They have to be stopped and I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”

“You could give Roy time to find the evidence that they attacked Jamie. Or we could wait for Jamie to wake up and identify his attacker. They must have thought they killed him. It had to be a shock to them that he was still alive after losing all that blood.”

Hearing stated that way shook up Hoss. “That bad, Adam?”

“It was awful.”

“So it was only you that stopped them from being murderers. Adam, I still have to do this. Now, why don’t you go back inside? You can’t help me here anyway.”

Turning his back on Adam, Joe began a deliberate walk toward the three men across the street. Hoss frowned when Adam pulled their father’s rifle from its scabbard. Ben had received the prototype rifle only a week or so earlier from a friend at the Winchester company. They planned to develop the model and sell it in a few years. It had the patent number and not much else stamped on it. Saying nothing, Adam walked back into his office carrying the shiny new rifle. Unable to guess what was going on with Adam, Hoss turned back to try to figure out how to help Joe. People were gathering to see the impending fight although most were carefully selecting spots where they would be protected from stray shots. One of the gunmen walked out to face Joe.

“You tried to kill my little brother.”

“It seems to have worked. You’re here right where we wanted you.”

“You know, when I walked out here, I never thought it was going to be so easy.”

“Easy? What’s easy?”

“To get you to confess to attempted murder. And if Jamie dies, then it’s murder and you’ll hang. But it’s good enough that you confessed to attempted murder in front of all these people. I think we can get the sheriff now and cart you all off to the jail.”

“What is this? You can’t do that. I didn’t confess to nothing.” Looking back at his brothers, the man put up his hands. “I didn’t confess to sticking him, did I. I mean I didn’t anyway. Nate, you tell him. I didn’t stick him. Jackson did the sticking. I only talked about it with the two of you.”

“Shut up, you idiot. Shoot him before you lose your chance.”

With a look of triumph, Joe had turned back to look at Hoss who was smiling until he saw what was happening. Hoss shouted a warning when Jackson drew, and he and others later wondered how Joe’s shot ever found its mark. But Jackson fell back as if poleaxed with a red smear growing in the center of his chest. Joe was hit in the side of his chest, but Hoss could see that it was a grazing wound. Joe had been moving and Jackson hadn’t had good aim. When Joe sagged, Hoss pulled him up and looked toward Adam’s office and saw the upstairs window open all the way with the curtains billowing out. He had thought the windows were closed earlier.

“C’mon, Joe, let’s have Adam take care of that for you.”

“What about them?”

There were men crowded around the two surviving gunmen. They had disarmed them and were shoving them toward the street intent on taking them to the sheriff.

“It’s being taken care of. Now you need to be taken care of too.”

“I did it, Hoss. I got the evidence to put them away and they won’t ever make trouble for any of us again.”

“You sure did. You coulda let us know what you had in mind though.”

In the office, Adam was quietly businesslike and said nothing of the gunfight. Even Joe noticed that he had no opinion to offer. Adam claimed that he was exhausted, and that made sense, but Hoss had another idea. When Joe lay down to rest in the same room where Ben sat with Jamie, Hoss had a question.

“Where’s the rifle you used to shoot that gunman?”

Looking straight at Hoss, Adam couldn’t lie. “Upstairs.”

Hoss went up and got it. “I’ll take care of it. You tell Pa why he ain’t gonna have his new rifle any more. I’ll ride out of town with it and nobody’s gonna think nothing of it. They all saw me out there, and they know I didn’t have nothing to do with it. If they can’t find a rifle here, they can’t prove nothing.”

Both knew that the ‘they’ Hoss meant was Roy. He was their friend, but when it came to the law, he would follow any lead to the truth until he had it. Adam had protected Joe the only way he could. Now Hoss was protecting Adam the only way he could. Hoss left and the story they told Roy was that he went home to get fresh clothing for all of them and to get the carriage. Along the way, he stopped at a remote grove of trees on the Ponderosa and hiked into the center of it high into the rocks leaning the rifle up against the trunk of a tree where no one could see it. He guessed someday it would be found and people would wonder why it was there. By then, the story would be a mystery.

By the next morning, Hoss was back when Roy arrived with some questions. The undertaker had thought the hole was rather large for a pistol shot and had dug out the bullet. He had taken it to Doctor Martin who took it to Roy. Now Roy had some questions for the Cartwrights.

“Joe, you shot at that man with a forty-four yesterday, didn’t ya?”

“I did.”

“Well, the undertaker took this here lead from his chest and it looks more like what come from a rifle.” Roy dropped the lead mass on Adam’s desk. “You got any way to explain that?”

“No, Roy, I can’t. I shot at him. He shot me. That’s all I know. You can ask other people who were there. Did anyone else there see anyone shooting?”

“No, can’t say as anyone has come forward to say they did. With shots going off and echoing around, folks couldn’t even be sure whether they heard two shots or three. That’s always a problem in town. I don’t suppose any of you saw anyone else shoot.”

All four shook their heads.

“Well, that’s what I thought, but I had to ask. Adam, you don’t happen to have a rifle here, do you?”

“No, Roy, I don’t keep any weapons here at all.”

“Would you mind ifn I looked around a mite just so I could tell any curious folk that I did look, and then I could tell them there’s nothing here?”

“Go ahead and look anywhere you want.”

With that easy answer, Roy knew that he wasn’t going to find anything. Adam knew too that Roy suspected him. It didn’t matter though. No one could prove anything. After Roy left, Joe was critical of Adam.

“Geez, Adam, if I had needed your help yesterday, you couldn’t help. Why don’t you keep something here? I mean, you should have a rifle at least or a pistol. Maybe you could have protected Jamie better too if people knew you had a weapon here.”

Hoss picked up the lead bullet that was on the desk and threw it on the bed where Joe was resting. “Don’t say another word against Adam, ever!”

Shocked, Joe said nothing. He watched as both Hoss and Ben put their hands on Adam’s shoulder in passing as if to console him. None of it made sense to Joe. His chest hurt though so he lay back to get some much-needed rest. For the next couple of days, both Joe and Jamie fought fevers although Joe’s fever was worse than Jamie’s. Adam said the blood flow from Jamie’s wound might have actually helped prevent infection. It seemed odd, but it made sense the way he explained it.

When Jamie finally opened his eyes and took water and then broth, there were tears of relief all around. It took two weeks before Jamie was strong enough to be transported home. By then, Adam had sent a wire to St. Louis saying he would be late in arriving and that Jamie was going to miss a semester due to traumatic injury.

 

Chapter 5

Although Adam wrote many letters to Georgia, he received none in return. Getting more and more depressed over the situation, he wondered if he should even go to St. Louis after a month had passed with no communication from his wife. Sitting with Jamie one afternoon, Adam got some advice from the young man.

“You told me she captured your heart because of her spirit, her joy, and her pride.”

“I think I mentioned her stubbornness too.”

“Yeah, well you both have that. What I was going to say is that you write letters and I bet you tell her all about what has been happening here and things like that. What she needs is something to bring back the joy, the spirit, the pride she lost when you two lost your baby. She lost something and she hasn’t found it yet.”

Tilting his head to the side, Adam looked at Jamie not sure of what he wanted to ask him. Jamie understood and simply explained why he had said what he said.

“When my father died, I was angry, bitter, touchy, and a lot of other things that made me not so nice to be around. I was missing something but I didn’t know what it was. Then Pa found me and gave me what I was missing. All those other nasty feelings went away because I got back what I had lost. I was me again.”

Hearing the familiar tread of Hoss and Joe approaching, Adam spoke loudly enough for them to hear. “It’s so good having a smart little brother. I’ve been stuck with those other two for so long.”

Jamie was grinning broadly when ‘those other two’ came through the door with some frowns.

“Hey, we got an older brother in here fixing on getting another horse trough dunking?”

“Hoss, you grab his feet and I’ll gab the arms.”

“No, no, no, we’ll have none of that.”

Ben followed his sons into the room. “Jamie has a visitor so I think all of you ought to say goodbye for now.” Ben stepped aside and RoseMary was there. She made a couple of visits a week out to the Ponderosa to see Jamie and the two were getting along quite well. Grinning, the three brothers left trailed by Ben who headed to his desk to work. Joe went to the kitchen to tell Hop Sing that he should send up a tray to Jamie’s room while Hoss and Adam went outside.

“Adam, I think it’s about time you packed up and headed to St. Louis.”

“Hoss, you telling me to go.”

“I was in town and heard things. Seems that some folks are hearing a rumor that somebody says they saw you heading into your office that day carrying a rifle and then later saw me carrying it out. By now, Roy is probably trying to track down who said what.”

“They still can’t prove anything.”

“No, but ifn you’re not here, it will all die out too. Besides, you got things to take care of in St. Louis, dontcha?”

“I do, and you’re right. I should go.”

“Go where?”

“Hoss told me to leave and head to St. Louis. He’s kicking me out.”

“Well, I guess you have to go, but it has been nice having the doctor make house calls in the house. Will you be back before we have the next go round of babies?” When Joe asked it, he realized that was a topic he should have avoided. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking when I said that.”

“It’s all right. There’s no reason everyone has to keep dancing around the subject. It might be better if we stay in St. Louis until we’re ready to deal with the situation.”

Hoss and Joe knew it was Adam’s way of saying he didn’t plan to be back for a while. The uncertainty over licensing and all that had happened probably made him want some time to reevaluate his future.

“You will be back at some point though, wontcha?”

“Hoss, I hope so, but I can’t promise what I don’t know at this point.”

There were some things for Adam to organize before he left and there were a number of trips to town and back before he was ready to go. He said his goodbyes a week later, hugged his father, and left once more. Doctor Martin had assured him that one way or another, if Nevada put in a licensing law, Adam was going to be licensed.

“After what I saw when you operated especially when you did that splenectomy on Jamie proved to me that you should be licensed. I know there is a lot of medicine that you don’t know yet, but you don’t claim to know it all. However your surgical skills are unmatched.”

“Thank you, Paul.”

Those kinds of endorsements helped Adam’s confidence in his skills, but he worried most about his relationship with his wife. He had listened to what Jamie had reminded him. In his pocket was something special he hoped would bridge the divide between them. Arriving in St. Louis, Adam took a carriage to Benjamin’s home and knocked on the front door. A maid answered and asked if he had a calling card.

“I don’t need one.” After signaling the driver to bring his bags, he brushed past her and entered the house. “Is Mrs. Cartwright home?”

“Sir, I don’t know that I should tell you that.”

“Well, then, go tell Georgia that her husband is here and would like to see her.”

“Oh, my, sir, follow me, please.” She led the way to the dining room then.

Georgia was clearly surprised to see Adam. Standing, she greeted him and told the maid she could go. “I wondered when you would come.”

“It would have been much sooner, but Jamie was so badly injured, I had to stay.”

“I was hurt too.”

“You were not at risk of dying. I’m sorry, but I had to make a choice. As a doctor and a brother, there was only one way I could do this. I know it hurt you, but it was your choice to walk away. You wanted time away from me.”

“I wanted you to tell me not to go.”

“I did, and you went anyway.”

“You could have been more insistent.”

“Georgia, you should know me better than that by now. I don’t play those kinds of games. Now, let’s not fight over what can’t be changed. I have something for you.” Adam reached into his pocket and took out a blue velvet box, which he handed to her.

“What is it?”

“Open it.”

Georgia opened it and found a locket. She looked up at Adam wondering why he thought that was significant.

“Open the locket.”

She opened the locket and found the date of their stillborn child’s birth only now he had a name: Aaron Adam Cartwright. Adam had given him a name. That and his birth date were engraved on one side. On the other side was a small poem.

In our hearts, you grew,

Dreams and joys of you

Gave promise of love so true.

But then we had to bid you adieu

To God’s arms to hold you, my love

Until we join you one day up above.

Tears rolled down Georgia’s cheeks and Adam took the locket from her hands and gently opened the clasp on the chain and put it around her neck letting the locket fall to her chest still open. She reached up and closed it but kept her hand around it. Looking at Adam, she nodded.

“You do understand.”

“Yes, I always did. We didn’t communicate well. We were both hurting.”

“He’ll always be our first child.”

“Yes, and he will always be with us.”

“I’m glad you’re here. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

 

Epilogue

After coming home with his medical degree, Jamie had opened an office using the building where Adam had his surgery before he left. Jamie and RoseMary had married and occupied the small apartment upstairs. RoseMary was learning how to be a nurse and assisted Jamie as much as possible. When news that Adam was coming home was announced, Jamie contacted him and made arrangements for Adam to work with him. He had a new sign made before Adam even arrived in Virginia City.

When that train rolled toward the platform, there was quite a contingent of Cartwrights waiting. The youngest didn’t know their aunt and uncle but had been told to watch for a tall gray haired man with a pretty and tall woman. What they didn’t expect was the pair of twin toddlers scampering down the steps ahead of the pair.

“Hey, Pa, you finally get to meet the demon twins.”

“Adam, stop calling them that!”

“Georgia, they’re hell to keep up with.”

“Watch your language too. There are children here.”

“They live on a ranch. They’ve probably heard worse.”

After getting a slap on the arm for that, Adam grinned and greeted his brothers. He had been back for Jamie’s wedding, but Georgia had been near delivery time and had not traveled. Then there had been all sorts of problems that had interfered every time they had planned a visit.

“The thin one is AC and the broader, shorter one is Benji. Watch out for AC. He can climb almost anywhere. He climbed up an evergreen at our house last week. I had to use a twenty foot ladder and then beg him to climb down a bit so I could grab him.”

“Ah, what does Benji do?”

“If you can take it apart, he will do it. He gets into all sorts of things.”

“Hey, Adam, you got smart kids with the common sense of rocks.”

“Yeah, Hoss, but they’re only two. I wonder what they’re going to be like when they’re thirteen. Remember Joe at that age, and then think about having two of him and a lot smarter.”

“Oh, Lordy.”

“So, we’re glad to be moving back here. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

Ben got a big grin. “You’re moving back? This isn’t just a visit?”

“You got us for good, Pa. We’re back.”

 

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