79. Father and Son 

“Come on, Chai – one more time!”

Lilyah drove her stallion down the steep slope of the woods, leaning as far back in the saddle as she could, supporting her balance with one arm stretched out as Chai skidded down the needle-carpeted ground, jumping across roots and brushwood in a neck breaking pace, until she finally pulled him up nearly three quarters of a mile further down.

“Good boy, good boy, that’s my fine boy!”

She patted his neck and wheeled him around to ride the whole way back up. Snorting and tossing his head, the stallion fought for traction on the slippery ground, and she bent far over his crest to support his movements. It was an excellent riding exercise, but it also was good exercise for Chai and well suited to take the edge out of him. The grassy fields of the promontory were lush and wide, but they weren’t wide enough for an Arabian stallion who wanted to run to his heart’s delight and who was used to do so in the endless desert lands fringing the Moroccan Sous. He had become bored and pesky, harassing the poor cobs and beginning to chase the sheep around; he had even started pestering Mariah until the big mare had given him a good kicking to put him in place.

“Good boy, Chai, good boy!” Lilyah didn’t give him any rest, but had her eye on the more comfortable stretch of ground leading up to the barely recognizable way from the mountain. It was just about two furlongs before the ground got tricky, yet she kicked him into a rapid gallop to chase down those short two furlongs just to pull him up again and chase him back.

“And again, Chai! Yallah!”

Another breakneck sprint down the two furlongs and another sliding halt that almost caused him to sit on his behind. She laughingly patted his neck and shoulder. This would do for a few days.

“Good boy, Chai, my sweet baby boy… and now I’ll give you a fine, fine grooming and then you can begin sneaking back into Mariah’s favors again!” She heartily rubbed through his long mane. “She was truly mad at you, and you deserved it. Esma isn’t really fond of you, either, naughty boy that you are, starting to quarrel with the ram!”

She broke off as the stallion snorted and abruptly raised his head, glaring at the fringes of the woods.

“What is it, Chai?” Lilyah straightened in her seat and mechanically reached behind her, pulling the thin black veil she had tossed across the back of the saddle over her head and shoulders to be properly covered. Her eyes glided to her bow. Adam had made her a beautiful sheath from suede and leather strips, she wouldn’t need more than one movement of her hand to get the bow and another to get an arrow. She had practised it, she was fast.

“Cautious, Chai… watch out.” She maneuvered him a few yards backwards to have better sight through the trees, turning him half around and collecting him. This way he would present the bow’s side to the intruder which made it easier to shoot and it would save her the turn in case she had to gallop back to the promontory to sound an alert. By now she had also heard the crackling of the underbrush. It couldn’t be more than one horse coming up, two at most. Maybe Hoss and Joe were back, but they certainly would talk with each other. Lilyah narrowed her eyes, her hand poised above the bow. The first glimpses of the horse came in sight through the trees and bushes. It was neither a dark bay nor a pinto. It was of another unusual color never seen in the horses back home in Morocco. A buckskin.

For one moment her hand clutched the reins, her eyes darted across the edges of the woods, half expecting a posse coming up behind the well-known rider, but her initial perception had not been wrong. Ben Cartwright had come alone.

Ben halted his horse and watched the woman rider about twenty yards in front of him, well hidden beneath her black veil. Yes, she was her father’s daughter, it didn’t need the black horse and the colorful Arab tack to remind him of the fact. But for the first time since he knew her, it didn’t bother him. In his own way, the sheikh had been a very strong, determined and dedicated man – and his daughter had given all this strength, determination and dedication to his eldest son. She would stand by Adam’s side, come Hades or highwater. She had proven it more than once.

Ben slowly moved the buckskin forward. Not really knowing how to address her, he tipped his hat. “Miss Lilyah.”

“Mister Cartwright.” She collected herself and moved the stallion another step backwards. Chai’s ears rotated, telling her that she had tensed rather than relaxed. She was glad she had the veil for protection.

“I need to talk to my son,” Ben said calmly.

“Yes.” She sounded just as calm as he did and nudged Chai into a walk. “Come with me.”

Ben followed, but halted his horse as she pulled up again. The buckskin stood calmly while the stallion danced half a circle.

“Mister Cartwright.” She sat very straight on her horse. “All Adam has done was following his heart. And this is the only good way for any man to go.”

He took a deep breath. “Yeah.” He searched for more words, but she had turned her horse and proceeded to a slow trot.

Ben nudged the buckskin forward to follow.

* * *

Adam needed a moment to gather himself after an excited Pico had told him who was coming up. He barely heard Esma calling the boy and the ever present dog to her, but caught her glance and her slight nod as he grabbed for his cane and clambered to his feet. From the corner of his eye he saw Ruby coming from the direction of the pools, cautiously closing in on her grandmother. Of course, neither of them had much reason to be overjoyed by Ben Cartwright’s appearance.

Adam straightened out, his gaze almost inadvertently gliding across his gun belt that lay rolled up next to the heap of tack he had started oiling to make himself useful. But his father had come alone. There would be no fight – none that would require a gun. Adam pressed his lips together and started to walk around the elderberry. At least he had his pants and boots on again.

He halted his step, leaning on his cane as the two upcoming riders came into his sight. Lilyah had completely veiled up and he could tell by Chai’s dancing how nervous she was. She held the stallion’s head much shorter than was her habit, and she kept her distance from the rider at her side. She had as little reason to be at ease in his presence as had Esma and the children. In a striking difference to the dancing Arabian, the placid buckskin plodded along as if he were half asleep, likely thoroughly tired after the long way up.

Adam took a deep breath and walked on, until he saw his father halting his horse and dismounting, covering the few yards separating him from his son.

And then they stood face to face, neither saying a word, just looking at each other; the young man at the older man, black eyes into hazel eyes, neither dodging or lowering their gaze.

But whatever words each one had planned to say at this very moment, they remained unspoken.

Ben made one more step and within a heartbeat father and son were clasped in each other’s arms, wordlessly, holding on to each other like they hadn’t held on for years, burying their faces on each other’s shoulders, just standing there and holding on as tight as they possibly could to what had almost been lost, hearing the walls between them crumble down.

They didn’t notice that Lilyah slid from the saddle, they didn’t even notice that she gathered the buckskin’s reins and led the horse away to the pools, her own stallion in tow. They did not notice that the old woman and the children retreated, and they did not notice Mariah who had approached in hopes her master might have some time for her.

It took a long, long while until father and son finally loosened their embrace and stepped back just enough to look at each other.

“Adam… son…” Ben couldn’t take his hands from his son’s shoulders, looking him over while rubbing his upper arms, visibly searching for words. “What about your leg?”

“Well taken care of, and getting better every day.” Adam blinked a few times, squeezing away the moistness in his eyes. His cane had fallen to the ground and he bent to reach out for it, but his father was faster and picked it up for him. “Thanks, Pa.”

Ben nodded his head. “Can we walk a few steps? I mean, if it’s not too much for the leg…”

Adam understood. “No, not at all. I’m supposed to do a slow walk now and then, to keep the muscles from stiffening. What about those logs over there?” He pointed to a few tree trunks lying in the grass a little more than twenty yards away. “Just about my walking distance, and we can sit down there.” He took a faster grip on the cane. “And leave the fireplace to the women.”

“Sounds good.” Ben moved his hands, clueless if he should give his son a supporting arm or not. “We’ve gotta talk.”

“Yah.” Adam looked around for Lilyah, but she was gone. Everybody seemed to be gone, even the buckskin. A small smile played around his lips. The horse was likely having the time of his life at the moment. And maybe his father and he needed some time for themselves.

The two men slowly walked towards the logs in the grass, side by side, thinking of how many important words between them had never been spoken, and how many useless ones shouted and yelled.

“I would’ve taken them apart by now if I had a better axe or a saw worth the name.” Adam lowered himself on the logs, more fallen tree trunks most branches of which had been hacked off already. “But as they’re now, they make a nice bench.”

“True.” Ben sat down beside his son. From here they had a wide view of the promontory and the sheep spread out all over the grassy fields. Their contented bleating lingered like a cloud in the air. Ben’s attention was caught by a pair of running lambs so engrossed in their wild chasing one another that they didn’t notice they were on collision course with the logs. He inadvertently pulled up his legs as the lambs scarcely managed to stop in time, one losing its footing and rolling all over itself until it bumped against Adam’s right shin. It bounced back on its feet in a tick of a moment and the wild chase continued back to the pasture, their trilling, piercing baaahs fluttering behind them.

“Sheep!” Ben muttered. It was hard to tell whether it was a chuckle or a grumble.

“Lambs.” Adam pursed his lips and rubbed his shin. “I don’t know about you, Pa, but I actually feel quite happy now it wasn’t a half-grown pair of 400-pound steer calves.”

Ben blew half a laugh. “Yeah…” His gaze glided over the promontory, to what little could be seen of the camp hidden behind the bushes. One had to know that there was a cabin in order to detect the specks of its roof between the foliage, merely a few crates in the grass gave more obvious witness that there were people around.

“You know, Adam, I keep on thinking about a young man I once knew,” Ben finally began, his gaze still wandering across the green meadows and the grazing sheep. “I’ve forgotten about him, and truth be told, he wasn’t the nicest fellow to remember, I actually was rather glad I finally got him out of my mind. Obnoxious bloke, never satisfied with what he had, always wanting more, and if not more then something different. He once had a good life every young man would’ve been happy with – a caring family, a fine, blooming business, a promising future ahead of him, the perfect surrounding to raise his young son. But he threw it all away…” He broke off as he noticed his son’s sidelong glance. “Ah, no, Adam, you’re not half as bad as he was! Believe me, had that been a son of mine, I probably would’ve shot him, or wrung his neck to shake some sense into him.”

Adam plucked a blade of grass and began chewing on it. “What became of him?”

“Oh, he had it coming to him!” Ben nodded his head. “He’d sold everything he had to furnish a team and a wagon and have some silver at hand, but of course he neither took any advice nor heeded any warnings. Within months all sorts of crooks had cheated him out of his possessions, and he was too proud to turn back. And so he drifted along, year after year, from odd job to odd job, with more days going hungry than days with a meal in his pot. But worst of all was that he’d dragged his three-year-old son with him, with hardly the means to feed the boy, or to buy him some medicine when he fell ill. That poor child more or less lived by the side of the road or in the back of a wagon, never knowing a real home while he grew up.”

Adam thoughtfully brushed over the sides of his nose with both hands. “But that man had a dream, didn’t he?”

“Yes, he had a dream.” Ben heaved a deep breath. “A dream for which no sacrifice was deemed too much. A dream that grew so vastly in importance that it clouded everything else.”

“That’s the nature of big dreams, particularly of those that are hard to reach.” Adam picked another blade of grass. “But that big dream came true in the end, didn’t it?”

Ben blew a breath. “Yes, it did – after 13 long years. Fifteen years, if you take the final move to the eastern Sierras into account. And 20 years until it finally started to look like it was supposed to look, like it was meant to be in order to make up for everything…” He paused, before he added, “… for all those lost childhood years, the poverty, the hunger, the drifting… and the home you never had.”

“Pa…” Adam shook his head. “There never was anything to make up for. We had a couple of hard years, there’s no denying that – we both know it. But I’ve always been proud of those years, still am, and always will be. We’ve come a long way, and you’ve taught me a lot in those years.” He smirked a little. “And I don’t believe for one moment you’d ever regret coming out to the West in pursuit of your dreams. Particularly not since they came true, bigger and better than you’d ever thought they could.”

“No… of course not.” Ben chortled, but his smile faded again. “I just always prefer to forget there was a price to them, and that I wasn’t the only one who paid it. Adam…” He cut in as his son opened his mouth. “It’s one thing if you make sacrifices out of your own free will, because you have dreams that are worth it. But it’s a different thing if you have no choice in the matter.”

“Pa, that was long in the past.” Adam put his hand on his father’s arm. “What’s done is done.”

“That may be, son, but it’s still the reason why it is so hard on me to see you…” Ben hesitated. “… to see you turning your back on the Ponderosa. Adam, you’ve worked for this ranch from the moment you could walk, years before it ever came into existence, before you could even understand what you were working for. I made you do it, I made you sow and sow and sow – and I justified myself thinking that one day you would reap, that one day the big ranch would be yours…” He took a deep breath. “How could I justify myself if you didn’t reap what you sowed?”

Adam smiled into himself, turning yet another blade of grass between his fingers. “Pa, you remember Hoss’s strawberry field back at Sutter’s Fort?”

Ben startled, his brow knitted while searching for the memory and then rose as it came to him. “Yes…” A small laugh lit his features that had darkened before. “Oh yes, I remember. Marie thought…” His eyes glided off into the past, to the small cabin they had lived in close to Sutter’s Fort in New Helvetia, at the time when the Ponderosa still wasn’t more than Ben’s hunting lodge in the far away eastern slopes of the Sierras. Marie had wanted a strawberry field and he had dug one for her to plant her strawberries in. To protect the fruit from the birds, Marie had covered the plants with nets. And little Hoss, no more than seven or eight years old back then, had felt so sorry for the poor birds that he had dug and planted his own little strawberry field – and stubbornly refused to put a net on it. Ben laughed in the memory. “Marie thought he was a rather odd little boy.”

“Yah.” Adam chuckled. “But he was the happiest little boy around when all his little feathered friends came for dinner.”

Ben nodded his head in amusement. “They ate away all of his strawberries…”

“While he ate away all of Marie’s.” Adam laughed.

For a while they sat laughing, until Ben got serious again, considering his son from the side. “So you’re essentially saying you wouldn’t mind if what you’ve sowed goes to the birds?”

“No, I didn’t mean that.” Adam shook his head. “I wouldn’t have worked for the birds – but I sure don’t mind having done so for my father and my brothers.” He returned his father’s look. “Pa, I also love the Ponderosa, I lived there for 14 years and some good years it’s been – especially the first ones were years I would never want to miss.”

“The first ones?” Ben asked in slight astonishment.

“Yah!” Adam dipped his head. “The first ones – before it got so big. When we still hauled a herd of two dozen head 90 miles across the Sierras to Hangtown in hopes of making a profit, when we had to ride to Sacramento every other month to get the mail, when we rode over to Dayton or Mormon Station to count the newcomers in order to figure out if it might pay off to fell a tree or two.”

Ben had listened in growing bewilderment. Those had been the dark years that he had been so impatient to leave behind, in which he had worked like a mule from sunup to sundown and deep into the night to get forward, to make it all bigger and more profitable. “But, Adam… son, you always were at your best with the big business. When Virginia City started to sprout and the mines started operating… you were so good at everything…”

A lopsided grin stole across Adam’s face. “Yeah, I’m good with numbers, and I’m good with the business stuff. Luckily so. I’m pretty broke now, but I’ve got some good shares and interests running, they just need a couple of months and my accounts will be refurnished.” He blew a breath. “But these are technicalities only. It’s not in the heart, Pa. It’s something I keep doing just to quench that need for financial security I have.”

Ben didn’t quite know what to say, but before he could sort his thoughts, Adam had continued.

“Lilyah said something the other day that really got to me – something her father used to say. He told her that if you cannot tell your horses apart by their names anymore, you know you have too many.” Adam chuckled. “I first thought that was an odd thing for a horse breeder to say, but the more I think of it, the more it grows on me. I don’t want a place where I have to look up the books in order to find out how many head I have. I want a place where I can look out of the window or step out the door and count them.”

Ben shook his head. “Who would have thought… I always thought I was the old-fashioned kind of guy, and you, with all your education, and your book-keeping methods…” He broke off. Adam had developed his refined book-keeping methods as the Ponderosa had kept on growing by leaps and bounds. Ben had been so impressed, so proud of his educated and intelligent son. Adam had been proud, too, as he had always been when he could be of good use and service, like he had been all his life, ever since he was a boy. But his heart had not been in it. Not even his much acclaimed business sense came from any particular passion, or any inbred New Englandian practicality his brothers so often joked about. It simply sprang from the same ground that had nurtured his father’s need for the biggest, richest, most prosperous ranch he could possibly build and operate – too many years of poverty and hunger.

“So you want your own place…” Ben finally said.

“Yah.” Adam confirmed.

“Raising… sheep?” The thought wasn’t as revolting to Ben anymore as before. At least sheep could be raised in Nevada territory, or anywhere nearby.

Adam chuckled. “No. Even though we’ll certainly keep at least some sheep. Their milk and the cream from that milk are absolutely delicious. But I think we will mainly focus on breeding horses, even though that might turn out to be a bit tricky…”

“What’s tricky about breeding horses?”

“Well, we can’t do it Ponderosa-style, with a herd somewhere and that’s that – that wouldn’t be ours,” Adam elaborated. “But we also couldn’t breed them Arab-style, seeking to refine pedigrees and such – there wouldn’t be any demand for that in America. So I’ll have to work something out that will on one hand allow Lilyah to have her Arabians, and on the other prevent us from ending up with a bunch of spoilt rotten, overpriced pets that no one will buy.” He softly laughed to himself. “It’s quite a challenge, but I like that. And if it all fails, we’ll always have my businesses to survive on. I guess I will renew some contacts once I’m down in the mundane world again, and make some more when we’re back.”

“Back?”

“Yah.” Adam took a deep breath. “We want to travel for a while.”

“Ah.” Ben nodded his head. “France and Paris, England and London…”

“No.” Adam shook his head. “I don’t think we’ll have the money for that, apart from the fact that we’ll have to drag at least Chai along, most likely Mariah as well.” He laughed, his hazel eyes were shining. “But I want to see Morocco – I want to see the country where my wife was born and bred. I want to see the house in which she grew up, the places where she played as a child, all the places she talks about. And I want to gather some impressions and ideas – I already have drawn plans for a house, but I want to get a feeling for the real Morocco. So when the time comes and we start building our future home, I can build her her own little Morocco as best as I can.”

A growing sadness rose inside of Ben. There was so much love in his son’s words, love that shone from his eyes, warmed his voice and softened his features – a very deep and very special love, but a love that Ben had treated as a threat from the very beginning. He had pushed it so far that his oldest son had even decided to marry without telling his father or his family beforehand. And still at this very moment Ben couldn’t suppress the hurtful little fear that the couple might decide to stay in Morocco altogether. It wouldn’t be tricky there to breed Arabian horses. There wouldn’t be any problems because of her skin color.

“Pa, what is it? Is it really just her likeness to her father?” Adam’s voice was very calm, there was no reproach in it.

Ben fumbled for words. “It was… in the beginning. I really hated the sheikh and everything he stood for, everything that reminded me of him. I didn’t want those memories to come back.” He hesitated. “It also was her mother… a bit.”

“Her mother?” Adam raised an eyebrow.

Ben exhaled a breath. “Son, I loved Valerie – I really did. She was my childhood sweetheart, we grew up together. I wanted to marry her, and when she was abducted, I did what I could to try and get her back. I was devastated when I finally lost her. But later, when I met your mother…” He paused, searching for words. “Adam, your mother… there was something I had never known before… or since.” He broke off.

“You don’t need to tell me.” Adam plucked another blade of grass. “Lilyah wasn’t the first woman I fell for. There have been others I have loved before. And still, she reached inside of me and touched a heart I didn’t know was there. Maybe it wasn’t and it was hers she’d put there. It’s a very… different sort of love.”

Ben smiled, but it was a sad smile. “Yes. And maybe that was my main worry about her.”

Adam turned his head to read his father’s face.

Ben didn’t look up. “Maybe I’ve lost too many wives. Maybe I’ve lost the confidence in long-lasting marriages. I couldn’t help thinking what it would do to you, with your feelings growing deeper and deeper, if you’d ever lose that woman.”

“I don’t dare think about it.” Adam shrugged his shoulder. “But I guess that’s a risk I’ve gotta live with, and no father in the world can protect me from that.”

“Yes…” Ben nodded his head, but there still were unspoken words in his heart. “I also feared her color would get you in trouble. And lastly, I guess it was her foreignness, her being so different, that somehow brought it to light you were different, too, and that was something I just couldn’t bear to see. I couldn’t bear to realize that my dream wasn’t your dream, that you would want your own dream, that you would make your own way and turn your back on what you had – just like I did before you, so many years ago.” He paused before he quietly added. “And I couldn’t bear the thought that I was about to lose my son. Foolish, selfish old man that I am…”

“Pa…” Adam put his hand on his father’s arm and pressed it. “You’re not losing a son – you’re gaining a daughter. And even though we won’t live on the Ponderosa, I doubt we’d ever be too far away. Not in the long run.”

“Don’t be so sure, son. You say you want to build a little Morocco for your wife, but the real Morocco is in Morocco. It’s a beautiful country with a rich, old culture – you might love it more than you think. And your wife might be happier there, as well.”

Adam’s eyes thoughtfully wandered across the promontory. “Well, one should never say never, that’s true. And Morocco surely is a beautiful country, one that I’m eager to see, and one that Lilyah loves very much. But it’s not exactly a paradise for free-spirited young women. She’d had more freedom under her father’s protection than any other young woman, but when he died too early to help her future plans come true, she was lost.” He smiled and pointed to Chai who had just trotted onto the pasture, coming from the direction of the pools, apparently freshly groomed and brushed with his black coat shimmering in the sun. “You see that horse? That’s the quintessence of Lilyah’s Morocco, and she needs a country where she can ride that horse to her heart’s delight without worrying what the imam might say.” His smile grew warmer, lingering around his lips. “Pa, she didn’t come all the long way to this country merely to deliver some letters. She had run away from something, she needed to prove something to herself – and lastly, she was looking for something, even though she didn’t know for what, and probably never even knew she did.”

Ben had listened silently. How typical for Adam to look so much deeper than anyone else. And so obvious how deeply he cared. “Son, I’m truly sorry I wasn’t at your wedding. It shouldn’t have been that way.”

“Aw…” Adam began rubbing his nose. “You still can be.”

His father’s eyes became very attentive as he raised his chin. “You said she’s your wife!”

“And she is, we’ve exchanged our vows and all.” Adam threw his father a gaze from the corner of his eye. “It’s just that, due to some more or less unfortunate circumstances, it was a very private wedding. A preliminary marriage, in a sense…”

“A preliminary marriage.” Ben’s face took a distinctive shade of fatherly severity. “What exactly is a preliminary marriage?”

Adam smirked inwardly. “One that needs to be consolidated… preferably with the bridegroom’s family present.”

“Adam, that’s preposterous! That’s… that’s… that’s wonderful!” Ben sat up. “We will have a wedding on the Ponderosa! A big wedding, we…”

“Pa… Pa!” Adam cut him off. “Not a big wedding – I don’t want a repetition of that unfortunate dance party. Just a small wedding – with only the family and a few good friends.”

“Alright, that might be better, indeed.” Ben’s face became serious again. “But, Adam, we’ll have to get that unholy cohabitation law out of the way! I’ll have another talk with Judge Hapshaw, and I know some people in San Francisco I can contact.”

“It might be easier than you think,” Adam remarked. “Lilyah is a citizen of the Kingdom of Morocco, and from a well respected family as well. Morocco has a peace treaty with the United States, and I don’t think anyone wants to snub an old ally – not now when the whole world is looking down their nose at our civil war.”

“That’s good, son, that’s good. I’ll keep that in mind.” Ben’s brow furrowed. “Adam, what kind of a wedding will it be, anyway? I mean, you’re Christian, she’s Mohammedan…”

“We can be wed either by the reverend or by a justice of the peace, I don’t really care which one it will be.” Adam smiled. “We plan to have a Mohammedan ceremony when we’re in Morocco, to be on the safe side and for the sake of her family there.”

“What about your children? Will they be Christians or Mohammedans?”

“They can decide that for themselves when they’re old enough.” Adam cocked his head. “Pa, neither Lilyah nor I are particularly religious people, and we don’t believe we have different gods – merely different names for the same one and a few different traditions. Besides, if our children take anything after their mother, they won’t worry about much more than their horses, anyway. They’ll probably start riding at age two.”

“Oh, yes!” Ben started laughing. “I can already picture them – their father’s mule headed stubbornness combined with their mother’s furious temper! Now they will be a handful! Then it might be your turn growing grey hairs!”

Adam smirked. “Don’t worry, Pa. If they actually turn out as bad as you predict, we’ll drop them at your doorstep.”

“Oh my heavenly days!” Ben exclaimed in feigned shock and started laughing, with Adam chiming in.

“Son…” Ben finally heaved a deep breath. “Why couldn’t we have talked like this before?”

“Who knows?” Adam shrugged his shoulder. “Too busy shouting, I guess.”

“Yes.” Ben regarded his son. “What are you planning to do next? It seems you’re not going anywhere far with that leg right now?”

“No.” Adam twisted his mouth and stretched his wounded limb. “But I think it’s fine to spend a few weeks here on the promontory, or even the rest of the summer. It will give us some quiet and peace of mind, and I think Lilyah really needs it to settle down a tad. She hasn’t had any real quiet before, and wherever we were, I could feel so clearly that she just wanted to stay a while longer and have some rest. Besides, she’s getting along wonderfully with Esma, and I think it’s doing her a great deal of good, just having some woman-to-woman talks from time to time.” He laughed. “And she’s actually learning how to cook, which of course is in my own best interest – greatly enhancing my future survival chances.”

Ben chuckled. “But you do know that you still have a home at the Ponderosa – you and your wife. And I would love you to stay with us for some time before you disappear to Morocco.”

“Sure!” Adam returned his father’s smile. “And like I said, it will take a while until my accounts have recovered. We can’t ‘disappear’ so swiftly.”

“Hm. Adam, as for eventual travel costs, your old father would be happy to contribute…”

“My old father would be well advised to keep his cash resources tightly together!” Adam cut him off. “It’s not like the ranch is flourishing during the drought.”

“Ah, I’ve got some new contracts in sight and…”

“None of which has materialized so far.”

Ben straightened in his seat. “How would you know? You haven’t looked at anything for ages!”

“Didn’t need to,” Adam returned dryly. “That foul mood you’ve carried around with you in the past weeks spoke volumes.”

“Now you keep up the smart talk, young man, and I…” Ben broke off and Adam started laughing.

“Old habits die hard…” Ben shook his head, half laughing. “But before you ask, Edward Whitmarsh needs retimbering of all his mines in Dayton, and that’s the one contract I’m after. There’s also Isaiah Ramsgate of Virginia City, but he merely needs some construction works for his place, wants to redo the facade, nothing much.”

“If I were you, I’d give Ramsgate preferential treatment.” Adam cast his father a sidelong glance. “Seems like the good folks of Virginia City are heavily renovating the town to gloss over the borasca and keep everything looking impressive for potential investors. It wouldn’t do any harm to remind them that the Ponderosa doesn’t only deliver crude timber for mines and trestles, but also fine lumber for construction works. I’d also have a talk with Natty Turner – his construction business has its fingers in almost every pot around. If you offer him a good price, he’ll spread Ponderosa lumber all over town.” He pursed his lips, smirking. “Would be good for me, too – I have a small share in his business. For the travel costs…”

Ben couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, Adam, son, I sure will miss you!”

“Pa, I’m not leaving the world.”

“I know, son, I know. And still… it will be very different from now on. But maybe…” He broke off and watched the small boy that strolled by in such an overtly inconspicuous manner that it was downright funny. Hands in his pockets, wagging on his heels and looking into the air, the little guy seemed to be on the lookout for birds.

Adam followed his gaze and chuckled. “Pico! You’re looking for something?”

“Oh, Adam!” The boy pretended like he had just noticed the two men sitting on the logs. “Grandma told me not to disturb you and not to make a nuisance of myself, just to let you know that dinner’s ready!”

“Good. Tell your Grandma we’re coming!”

“Alright, Adam!” The boy ran off.

“I’m hungry, and you?” Adam considered his father from the side.

“Oh, yes…” Ben conceded. “I just hope nobody eats me…”

“Aw!” Adam gave him a cheeky grin. “Just take a heart, be nice to the ladies, praise the food and you’ll eventually make it out of here alive.”

“I’ll take your word for it!” Ben scrambled to his feet and lent his son a hand to help him up. “Adam, you think… your wife will ever warm up to me, after these last months?”

Adam smiled. “I’m sure she will; she is a very warm-hearted and understanding woman. Just give her some time, she’s been through a lot.”

“Sure.” Ben placed his hand on his son’s shoulder as they slowly walked the twenty yards to the campsite.

* * *

The meal was delicious and went along nicely without any awkwardness that Adam might have silently feared. This was largely thanks to Esma who didn’t seem to mind in the least that the large, silver-haired man was the one who actually owned the promontory along with the mountain it topped and all the woods and mountains around it. She also graciously ignored the fact that he had previously tried what he could to get them off of his land. She treated him no differently than she had treated Hoss and Little Joe before – a weary wanderer who was invited to share their meal at their place. And it was not without tingling amusement that Adam watched how meekly his powerful father played along in his assigned role as the invited guest at Esma’s very own fireplace. Of course, nobody in his right mind experiencing the old shepherd woman up close and not having at least the cavalry at hand to back him up would’ve harbored any desires to arouse her anger.

Adam suppressed an all too amused smirk and focused on Lilyah who sat so close to his side that her arm brushed against his. She still wore her veil to cover her arms and she was very silent, but he had seen the shine in her dark eyes, sensed her joy for him and her relief that the war was finally over. And while his father was still strangely shy to address her directly, Adam had no doubt that they would eventually come closer, once they started to know each other a little better.

Once again time went by much too fast and Ben Cartwright had to saddle his freshly groomed horse to tackle the long way back. Lilyah held the buckskin’s bridle and absent-mindedly caressed the horse’s muzzle, a loving the gelding gladly enjoyed with his eyes half closed.

“Seems old Buck’s fallen in love already…” Adam quipped, leaning on his cane, but still with a hand on Lilyah’s shoulder.

“Don’t spoil him!” Ben fastened the girth. “Don’t want him to quit along with Hop Sing!” He chuckled and got ready to mount, but then paused. His gaze was friendly on the young woman at his son’s side. “Lilyah…” He still seemed to have trouble dropping the ‘Miss’ before her name. “I might have had my problems with your father, but one thing I’ve gotta hand to him – he raised a fine, fine girl!”

“Oh…” She didn’t quite know how to react, but her shy smile warmed a little. “Thank you…” Turning around to Adam seeking his gaze, her heart swelled as she saw how bright his hazel eyes shone.

* * *