Summary:  After going into town to buy a present for Hoss, Little Joe runs into a mysterious stranger with a bag of golden coins. Come follow along as Little Joe tells the story of one of his greatest adventures.

To Note: This story started from a Pinecone challenge waaaaay back in 2011.  Thanks Cheaux!

Rating: PG

Word Count: 28182

The Misadventures Series

The Misadventures of Little Joe Cartwright – Book I
The Misadventures of Little Joe Cartwright – Book II

 

 

The Misadventures of Little Joe Cartwright ~ Book I 

~~~

The phrase it is better to give than to receive kept floating through my mind all during my clandestine adventure. I knew exactly what I would be receiving if Pa ever found out about this whole ordeal, and I definitely have to agree that it would be better to be the one giving that particular “discussion” than to be the one receiving it. How I manage to get myself into these messes is something I’ve been contemplating a lot lately. I’ve only been alive for ten years and in that time, I’ve been in more trouble than my two older brothers combined.

“How do I know that?” you ask.

I know because my brothers have been telling me repeatedly for about as long as I can remember. Pa and I feel differently than my brothers. We agree that what’s in the past should stay in the past, and he’s always more than willing to wipe my slate clean and let me start over; after he’s delivered the consequences, of course. Somehow, I think that if I spent just a little more time going over those past consequences, it might help me to stay out of trouble.

This particular mess that I was mixed up in wasn’t my usual kind of mischief though. Adam calls that kind, “my true nature coming out.” This time it was the kind of trouble that just seems to follow me. It started out simple enough a few days ago. I’d gone to town with my Pa, went into Mr. Cass’s store, and presented him with my list. I always write down what I want in a list, just like my Pa. Hoss said he thinks that’s silly since I usually just want candy or marbles, but Pa says it’s real clever of me, so I do it anyway. Everything was going smoothly until Mr. Cass came to the last item.

“Épée? Like a sword? I’m sorry, “he’d said. “But we don’t carry épées this side of the country, and even if I did, I don’t think your father would appreciate my selling one to you without his permission.”

Now I know what you’re thinking, but the épée wasn’t for me. I wanted it for Hoss, so that we could practice together. Being French and all, when my mother died, she left her épée to me. When I’d asked Pa about it a couple of years ago, he’d said I wasn’t to touch it until I was much older, and only than if he or one of my older brothers was with me. I practiced with it for a bit one time just because I wasn’t sure if he’d really meant it or not. He’d meant it, and I haven’t touched it since.

Well, as I said, that was a couple of years ago. I’m much older now and I figured if Hoss has one too, it’s more likely that he’ll be willing to practice with me. I was awfully disappointed when I’d found out the mercantile didn’t and wouldn’t carry them, and I sat outside by myself for a spell while waiting for Pa. I wasn’t pouting mind you, just mulling over how I could get my brother that épée. That’s when I met a tall dark stranger and this whole crazy mixed up story got started.

He just sort of came out of nowhere.

“Hey there,” he’d said as he leaned against the wall.

“Hey,” I answered back trying hard to keep my voice from squeaking.

Now, I wasn’t scared, but I have to tell you this guy was pretty strange. Like I said he was real tall, almost as tall as my brother Hoss, but much skinnier. He had dark hair that stuck out every which way, and he really needed a shave. He wore a real long leather coat all the way down to his knees and his pant legs were rolled up to the tops of his boots. What I thought was most strange was the fact that he was covered in wood chips. I kept staring at a particularly large one on his left shoulder.

“What you lookin at?” he asked me.

“You’ve got a chip on your shoulder,” I answered pointing to the large wood shaving.

The man looked himself over and I think he had just realized what a mess he was, ‘cause he started hitting the dust off his jacket and made me sneeze. He smoothed back his greasy hair and then looked around.

“You all alone?” he asked quietly.

“I’m waiting for my Pa,” I answered. “He’s over at the bank.”

I know, you don’t have to say it. I shouldn’t have told him I was alone, but hey I’m only ten after all, and have gotten into the habit of answering my elders truthfully. Well, most of the time. He surprised me with his next question.

“How’d you like to make some money?” he asked, bending down to look me straight in the eye.

My eyes grew as wide as saucers for two reasons. First, because as he put his face close to mine, I noticed his breath smelled like the inside of a saloon. If you want to know how I know what the inside of a saloon smells like, you’ll have to wait until after I finish telling this story. Anyway, the second reason was because as he spoke, he took a small pile of gold coins out of his pocket and jingled them together in his hands. I had no idea what he wanted me to do, but I knew I wanted those coins, so before taking the time to think things through, as Hoss would say, I slowly nodded my head.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked holding my breath.

“Just a few simple errands,” then standing up he looked around anxiously again. “It’s not safe here though, come into the alley and I’ll tell you.”

He turned and walked around the corner without even glancing to see if I was following or not.

I can hear you screaming at me right now not to follow him, but the trouble is I couldn’t hear you then. All I could hear was the jingle of those coins. And we’ve been living in Nevada now for so long that I think I might have had a touch of what some of the old miners get around here called gold fever. I hesitated for just a minute, only because I was worried Pa would come back and find me missing. Looking across to the bank, there was no sign of him, so I decided to risk it and ran around the corner.

“What was it you needed?” I asked.

“First one’s easy,” he smiled crookedly. “I need you to deliver this package for me. In two days, you need to deliver it to the loft above the blacksmith’s shop precisely at midnight.”

I figured the guy was crazy if he thought that was gonna be easy! He must have noticed the worried expression on my face because he took out the coins again and handed me one.

“Consider this an advance payment,” he said. “You get five more when the package is delivered, and five more for every job after that.”

“What’s after that?” I gulped.

“Don’t worry yourself about that. You just be at that livery in two days, and my partner will give you the rest of the instructions then, okay?”

I thought about refusing, but a small patch of sunlight shone down on my open palm just then, making the coin glimmer in the sunlight.

“Alright,” I agreed.

The man chucked me under the chin and then took off down the alley.

I had made it around the corner and back to the bench just before Pa came out of the bank, and while I helped him load the supplies into the wagon, I carefully slipped the small package into one of the boxes. It was a pretty quiet ride home, which was enough to get Pa suspicious.

“Everything okay, son?” he asked. “Did something go wrong in town?”

I froze for a minute not sure how to answer. My Pa is real particular about his sons telling him the truth, which makes his sons real particular about the way we answer his questions. Somehow I didn’t think he would be too pleased with the secret meeting I’d just had with a strange man, so I decided a half-truth would probably be my best option.

“I’m just disappointed because Mr. Cass didn’t have the gift I wanted to get Hoss,” I answered, hoping it would be enough to satisfy him.

“Oh, I see,” he answered. “Well, Hoss’s birthday is still a few months away. You know he’s been talking about that nice pair of leather gloves for quite a while now. If you need more money, I have a few extra chores you could do for me.”

“I’ve got plenty of money, Pa,” I quickly assured him, fingering the coin in my pocket.

“Oh?” he questioned.

I could have slapped myself, but instead I just changed the subject. “I mean, it’s not the money. I just want to get him the perfect gift,”

The perfect gift being that épée. I hadn’t told Pa about that either. As a matter of fact, my list of things I couldn’t tell him about was getting so long that it was becoming just plain dangerous to talk. Pa must have accepted my excuse ‘cause he didn’t press me any further and much to my relief, we finished the ride in silence.

As soon as we got home, I jumped down and grabbed for the box with my package.

“I’ll get those, son,” Pa said taking the box from me. “I want you to take the buckboard over to your brothers. They should be just about done fixing fences and they’ll need to load up all those supplies.”

Normally, I would have been jumping up and down in excitement that Pa was going to let me drive the buckboard by myself, but I really needed to get that package.

“Pa, couldn’t you do it for me. My arms are feeling kind of weak,” I said lamely.

Don’t laugh, I’ve never been good at coming up with excuses on the spot. That’s my oldest brother’s specialty. He can get out of trouble quicker than I get into it, and that’s saying something!

“Joseph, don’t be ridiculous,” he answered as he pointed to the wagon seat. “You’ll do fine, just take it slow.”

Well, pride overrode my common sense and I puffed myself up.

“I’m not afraid, Pa,” I answered as I climbed up on the seat.

I took the reins and carefully maneuvered the horses around the barn. My brothers weren’t very far away, just over by the old corral making repairs. Pa wasn’t willing to let me drive out of sight of the yard just yet.

“Hey, Little Joe,” Hoss yelled as I got close.

I made the mistake of trying to wave and the horses and I took a little detour. I circled back around as my brothers leaned against the fence watching me with smirks on their faces.

“What?” I questioned. “There was something I wanted to check over there.”

They both started laughing. I tried hard to look dignified.

Anyway, I helped them load up the supplies and let Hoss drive back. It wasn’t until about thirty minutes later when we pulled up in the front yard that I remembered about the package. I took off on the run toward the house, hoping our cook hadn’t started opening things up.

“Whoa there,” Adam said grabbing my arm. “We’ve got chores to do before you go running off.”

“I’ll be right back,” I told him, trying to free my arm.

“You’ll do your chores first,” he said and tightened his grip.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Adam is pretty bossy. Pa says it comes from being the oldest, but I think it’s just because he likes having things his own way. Of course, I do too which is why we butt heads so much.

“Fine,” I answered.

I wasn’t in a very good mood as I stomped into the barn. I hurried through my chores as fast as I dared and then snuck to the house before Adam could check them. As luck would have it, our cook was just leaving the house as I got to the kitchen. I looked around for a minute and spotted the box over in the corner by the cellar door. Thank goodness none of the packages were opened yet. I ran over to the box and that’s when I realized I had a serious problem. About six of the packages all looked the same. I did the only thing I could of. I grabbed them all and stuffed them into my coat. I’m not sure why I thought that would help since it made me round enough to rival Hoss and I crinkled when I walked. Like I said, I don’t always have the best ideas. Well, luck was on my side and the house was empty when I tiptoed through the living room. I ran up the stairs and into my room slamming the door behind me, which was my first mistake. Pa was in his room, and he hates it when I slam doors.

~~~

I had just finished shoving the packages under my bed when he walked in.

“Little Joe, how many times do I have to tell you not to slam the door?” he asked glaring down at me.

That’s when I made my second mistake. I decided to get smart-alecky. I know, I should have known better, even Adam only gets away with that once in a while.

“About twenty more times, Pa,” I answered and grinned.

He wasn’t amused.

“Young man, just for that you can come over here and practice shutting the door quietly until supper time,”

“But, Pa, that’s not fair,” I gasped. “Supper isn’t for another half an hour!”

That was my third mistake; I realized it just after I’d said it and slapped my hand over my mouth. I saw Pa’s face turning darker and gulped. He walked over to me, leaned in close, and his voice got real deep.

“I’m your father, I don’t have to be fair!” he said.

“Yes sir,” I answered as I quickly made my way to the door.

I held it open for him as he passed and then wasted my life away for the next half hour. I thought about going for the packages when Pa had walked down the stairs but decided I had pushed my luck far enough for the time being. Finally, I heard Hoss calling me for dinner and I ran down the stairs. I sat down without saying a word to anyone and put just enough food on my plate to please my father. I was in a hurry to get back to my room before anyone noticed the missing packages, so I didn’t realize how much I was stuffing into my mouth until Hoss asked me a question.

“Mmm, mmm, mmm,” was all I could get out, and I could feel my pooched-out cheeks turn bright red as everyone turned and stared at me.

“Joe, swallow your food please,” Pa said and then glared at my brothers who were both trying hard to hide their snickering.

I decided I’d better slow down a bit or Pa would get suspicious. I think Adam already was, cause he kept giving me strange looks all during supper and that worried me. I know you probably don’t think it’s a big deal, but that’s ‘cause you don’t live with my oldest brother. Once he gets an idea in his head, he’s like an old dog with a bone. Now don’t laugh, you’ll see what I mean in a little bit when he gets tangled up in this story right along with me. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.

So, after dinner I asked to be excused. Pa always makes me do that ‘cause it’s polite. I ran upstairs and closed my door. Quietly. I decided to open the packages from under my bed in case anyone just up and walked in, which when you’re the youngest in the family tends to happen a lot. If I hadn’t been so worried about getting caught, it would almost have seemed like Christmas. Except if these were presents, they were really boring. I got down to the last package and decided I’d better open it up just to make sure I hadn’t missed one. Sure enough, unless that mysterious man wanted tea or spices delivered to the livery stable at midnight, I had missed a package. I quickly rewrapped the food stuffs and then, dumping my pillow onto the ground, stuffed them into my pillowcase then ran out the door for the kitchen.

Hop Sing!” I yelled from the doorway.

I’d made it just in time ‘cause our cook was about to open my small package.

“What you yell for?” he asked.

“Um . . . cause . . . well uh . . .” I stammered as I looked around for some excuse, “‘cause I think some of your packages got left in the wagon, you should go check.”

“Hop Sing busy,” he answered. “You check wagon.”

“But Hop Sing, I’m the one that missed them the first time, so I’m the one most likely to miss them again if I go look. Don’t you think you better go and check instead.”

Hop Sing looked at me strangely for a moment and then muttering something under his breath stormed out the side door. After I breathed a sigh of relief, I quickly dumped the contents of the pillowcase, that I had been hiding behind my back, onto the table, and grabbed the package Hop Sing had left behind. I stuffed it in my shirt and then decided since I was already there, I would try for a donut or two. Hop Sing came back just in time to watch me stuff one into my mouth.

“Out Hop Sing’s kitchen!” he yelled and grabbed the broom.

I ran out of there as fast as I could and headed back upstairs. In case you were wondering my Pa and brothers had all gone out to the corral to look over a couple of new horses, so they weren’t around to hear any of Hop Sing’s yelling.

Once I was safely back in my room, I went over to my desk and set the package down. I stared at it for a few minutes trying to decide whether or not to open it. I’m sure you’re not wasting any time wondering what I decided. I tore open the paper and picked up a soft piece of leather tied up with a string and could feel at least two hard objects inside. I slowly untied the string and opened the leather. My eyes grew round as saucers at what I saw, and a cold shiver ran down my spine.

~~~

I was so mesmerized by what I was looking at that I never even heard anyone come into my room. I screamed as a heavy hand came down on my shoulder.

“Hoss, you scared the life out of me!” I yelled as he broke into a fit of laughter.

When he finally stopped laughing he tried to look over my shoulder, which wasn’t too hard for him.

“Whatcha looking at?” he asked.

I grabbed the bundle and turned around putting it behind my back.

“Nothing,” I squeaked.

That has been my standard answer since I was about four, and I’m thinking of coming up with a new one, since nobody ever believes it anyway.

“Well, that nothing must be pretty interesting if you’re hiding it behind your back. Come on, let me see,” he pleaded.

Now everyone thinks I’ve got the puppy dog expression down, but let me tell you, it’s nothing compared to when Hoss turns his baby blues on you. Besides I would have told him anyway. This secret was too good not to share. I quickly walked over to the door and poked my head out to make sure no one else was coming, then closed the door and motioned Hoss over.

“Do you promise not to tell?” I asked.

“Is whatever you got there gonna hurt anyone?” he asked back.

“Shucks, Hoss, these things couldn’t hurt a fly,” I told him.

“Okay, show me,” he said, and his eyes lit up with excitement.

I handed him the leather and he opened it up slowly. I watched his face go from puzzled, to curious, to awestruck.

“Little Joe, is this . . . is this a map?” he asked spreading the leather out flat on my desk.

“Yeah, and that’s a compass,” I said pointing to one of the objects. “And get a good look at that key will ya?”

Hoss gave a low whistle as he turned the key over in his hand. It was made of real old metal. I could tell because it was covered in rust. The top of the key was shaped to look like a human skull.

“Where’d you get this stuff, Little Joe?” he asked.

I’d been smiling up to that point, but I frowned as I thought about how much I should tell him. Now I know I can trust Hoss with just about anything, but he might think that getting mixed up with a crazy man could get me hurt, which meant either he would tell Adam or Pa. I had to think fast.

“Hoss,” I started carefully. “I met a man in town today. He paid me to deliver a package for him.” I handed him the gold coin that had been weighing down my pocket all day. He looked it over and then bit down on it.

“This is real gold,” he said in amazement.

“I know it is.” I grinned.

He must have noticed the gleam in my eye ’cause he handed the coin back real cautious like.

“Is this stuff what was in the package?” he asked pointing at the objects. “And were you supposed to open it?”

“I had to Hoss,” I answered quickly. “The package got all mixed up with the ones from the store and I wanted to make sure I had the right one.”

That was mostly true, although I did feel just the slightest bit guilty.

“When are you supposed to deliver this package?” he asked next.

That was the question I had been dreading.

“In two days I’m supposed to take it to the loft over at the livery in Virginia City,” I paused and watched his face closely. So far so good.

“At midnight,” I finished.

His face changed.

“Now, before you say anything hear me out,” I continued in a rush. “I know it seems kind of strange, maybe a little dangerous even, but if you go with me then you’d be there to protect me in case anything goes wrong.”

“Little Joe, you can’t be serious!” he spluttered. “You don’t even know this man. He could be a bank robber, or a kidnapper, a murderer even.”

“You wanna know what I think?” I asked him my voice getting real low.

“I’m not sure, but what?” he answered.

“I think he’s a pirate!” I said.

“Who’s a pirate?” Adam asked coming into my room. He tossed his hat toward my desk, but he missed.

Hoss and I both jumped at the drop of the hat. Hoss bent to pick it up and managed to hand me the map without Adam seeing.

“You two are awfully jumpy,” he said, looking suspicious.

I told you. He knew I was up to something, and he wasn’t gonna rest until he figured out what it was. I looked at Hoss and I could see him starting to buckle under our oldest brother’s steely gaze. When Adam’s trying, he can do a pretty good impersonation of Pa. I was wracking my brain for an idea when suddenly from out of nowhere came the loudest explosion I’d ever heard.

~~~

My brothers and I raced down the stairs at top speed. I was sure half the house would be gone when we got down there. The first thing we noticed was that Pa’s favorite red leather chair had tipped over. The second thing we noticed was that Pa was in it. Hoss and I ran over to him while Adam grabbed a blanket and worked on putting out the tiny fires in various places around the room.

“Pa, what happened?” Hoss asked reaching to help him up.

“No, Hoss! Don’t touch me!” he yelled.

Adam had finished putting out the fires and joined us looking over our obviously injured father.

“What’s wrong? What is it?” asked Hoss.

“My back!” was all Pa said and then cringed in pain.

By now Hop Sing had joined our huddle and the three of us all looked to him for instructions.

“Adam,” he started, “you go for doctor.”

“Right!” he answered and hurried out the door.

It took me, Hoss, and Hop Sing almost an hour to get Pa into the down stair’s bedroom, with him yelping out in pain the whole time. I was more than a little worried, since Pa hardly ever complained, even when he was real sick. I knew it must be pretty bad. Once we got him settled, Hop Sing made him some of his special tea. I hate that tea ‘cause it tastes awful, but it sure does make you feel better if something is hurting. Adam came with the doctor after what seemed like hours and then we all got sent out of the room. Hoss sat by the fireplace with his head in his hands, Adam paced back and forth, and I mostly just watched him. I was just starting to get a crick in my neck when the doctor finally came out.

“Well, boys,” he said, “it seems your father has a pretty significant back sprain and will be laid up for a bit.”

He must have noticed how concerned we all looked ‘cause he hurried on.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be just fine. It’s painful, but not serious. He just needs to stay still and get lots of rest.”

“Did he say what happened?” asked Hoss.

“From what I gathered, your father had found an old box with bits of paper and was adding them to the fire, when there was suddenly a huge explosion. He fell backwards over the chair and that’s how he hurt his back. He wasn’t sure what caused the explosion, so I think you’d better check it out Adam.”

“Oh, don’t worry, doctor. I intend to,” he answered.

When the doctor left, we started looking around the room for any clues as to what could have caused the explosion. After a few minutes, Hoss came over with a small box he’d found by the dining room table.

“I guess this is the box Pa found,” he said holding it up for us to see.

As soon as I saw the box, I knew what had caused the explosion and I could feel my heart drop down into my stomach. You see, earlier that year, in the summer, during the town’s Fourth of July celebration, I had gotten a few firecrackers from . . . Well, never mind, that’s a whole other story, but anyway when Pa found out I had them he told me to get rid of them. Well, I didn’t want to waste them, but I knew if Pa found them there would be a whole other kind of fireworks, so I hid them in the box Hoss was holding now. I had wrapped them in pieces of old newspaper and then stuck it way back in a closet under the stairs. Well, I guess I had kind of forgotten about them.

“Hey, buddy, you, okay?” Hoss asked.

I looked at him, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get any words to come out. I knew that if Adam found out what really happened, I would be dead meat. Thankfully, he was currently too busy checking out the fireplace to notice me, but Hoss did and, guessing I was in some sort of trouble, took the box and quietly made his way outside. By the time he got back, I was breathing again, and I gave him a crooked smile.

“Later,” I whispered to him when I was sure Adam couldn’t hear.

He nodded at me, and I knew he would wait. Sometimes I think Hoss is just about the best guy in the whole world.

Well, after a while, Adam told us that it must have been an air pocket caught between the logs, although he didn’t quite look like he believed it. Hoss and I went along with his theory almost a little too eagerly, earning us another suspicious glance, and then escaped up the stairs back to my room.

“Little Joe, I just have one question,” said Hoss after I’d closed the door. “Does this whole mess have anything to do with those firecrackers you were supposed to get rid of this summer?”

I nodded my head.

“Are there anymore?” he asked.

“Just what was in that box,” I answered, thinking that was actually two questions.

“Well, I hid it out behind the house,” he said, “You make sure you get rid of it first thing.”

I nodded and let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Hoss,” I said after a minute, “I feel real bad about Pa.”

I could feel my ears burning red. Hoss could see that I was feeling pretty guilty, so he didn’t lecture me.

“You didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt, just let that be a lesson to you,” he said pulling out the chair by my desk.

I plopped down on my bed and we sat real quiet for a few minutes before I suddenly remembered the map in my pocket. I looked over at Hoss and decided, after all that had happened, I’d better wait until tomorrow to try and convince him to help me make that delivery. Besides there were a few things I wanted to do first that I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell him about yet.

~~~

The next morning, the first thing I did was to go check on Pa. He was asleep. Everyone was, probably because it was only four o’clock in the morning. I knew Adam would be in charge now that Pa was in bed for a while, so I wanted to be sure and get on his good side. I went out to the barn and got started on my chores, then Hoss’s, and then even Adam’s. I was just finishing up when Adam walked into the barn whistling. In case you didn’t know, Adam whistling is always a good sign. It means that he’s in a good mood and I really needed him to be in a good mood. I wanted to go see my friend Mitch and with Adam on my case, I knew that wouldn’t be likely to happen. He stopped and looked around the barn in surprise. I expected him to tell me what an amazing job I did and how proud he was of me. I don’t know what I was thinking.

“Okay, what do you want?” he asked folding his arms across his chest.

I tell you sometimes I really wish I was as big as Hoss so I could wipe that silly smirk off his face. Of course, the fact that he was right to be suspicious doesn’t matter at all, he’s my brother and he’s supposed think nice things about me.

“What makes you think I want anything?” I asked pretending to be really hurt. “I just wanted to help out what with Pa being laid up and all.”

“Hmmm,” he said and leaned against one of the stalls. “Could it be that you’re trying to relieve a guilty conscience.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried really hard not to look guilty. He couldn’t possibly know about those firecrackers unless Hoss had told him. I knew he’d never tell, so that meant Adam was just guessing. I decided that letting him think he was right was probably my best option at that point.

“Actually, Adam,” I started, looking down at the ground. “I was really hoping you would let me go fishing today. That’s why I did all these chores.”

I gave him my best impersonation of a pitiful puppy dog expression. It’s a delicate art that I’ve been developing for years now and works on just about everyone. Except Adam.

“Nice try,” he answered. “Now what do you really have planned?”

That got my blood to boiling and suddenly, it was as if I was standing over by Adam watching myself spill my guts.

“Okay, you want the truth? Fine!” I shouted. “The truth is I met a crazy pirate in town who paid me in gold to deliver a map for him, but before I deliver the map I want to take it over to Mitch so he’ll draw me a copy and then I can follow the map myself and find the treasure first.”

I stopped when I ran out of breath and couldn’t believe what I’d just done. Adam was staring at me; his cold dark eyes drilling straight through my skull.

“Alright, Little Joe,” he said finally, “if you don’t want to tell me fine. But rest assured,” he continued as he walked slowly toward me, “I will find out what you’re up to, one way or another.”

He started to walk out of the barn while I just stood there in a daze.

“I suppose,” he said turning around, “if you want to go fishing, it’s okay with me.”

I stood in the middle of the barn for what must have been a full ten minutes. Then it slowly dawned on me that Adam hadn’t believed me. Ha, and he thinks he’s so smart. Now, I was still in the clear and I even had his permission to go. Things were working out much better than I had expected. Now, if things would just go as smoothly for part two of my plan, I might be able to get through this day in one piece.

After breakfast I checked in on Pa once more, but he still hadn’t woken up. Hoss said it was because the medicine the doctor gave him made him sleepy. I said goodbye to my brothers and then left to find our newest ranch hand. I’d heard some of the other hands saying he would be working over in the new field that was being cleared, so I saddled up Cochise, he’s my horse, and rode out. I could smell him working before I ever saw him. As I came over the top of the hill, I saw the huge fire where he was throwing in brush and stumps that needed to be cleared. He was dragging a big log over to the pit when I rode up.

“Whatcha doin?” I asked.

“I’m adding fuel to the fire, kid,” he answered and stopped to wipe some of the sweat off his forehead.

“Oh, can I help?” I asked jumping down from Cochise.

“Sorry, boy,” he said, “but your older brother sent word that he doesn’t want you anywhere near this fire.”

I should have known.

“If you don’t need anything, you better be going or we’re both gonna be in trouble,” he told me looking around as if Adam would suddenly appear at any moment.

“Well, I did need something,” I told him and fished the key that had been with the map out of my pocket. We need a copy of this key made and I heard you were going to town later this afternoon.”

I kept my fingers crossed behind my back hoping that he wouldn’t ask who the “we” was. It was actually me and Hoss, even though Hoss didn’t know anything about it yet.

“Oh, okay,” he said and put the key in his vest pocket.

“Thanks,” I answered and started to mount up. “Oh, um . . . I’ll come get the key from you tonight okay.”

He looked at me kind of strange, so I added quickly.

“My Pa’s not feeling so good right now and we don’t want anyone coming to the house unless it’s an emergency.”

“Whatever you say,” he shrugged. “I should be back around eight o’clock.”

I told him thanks and then headed for Mitch’s house. Mitch and his family had just moved to the area about six months ago. We met during my escapade with the firecrackers in Virginia City. I guess you could say we sort of became partners in crime, but like I said that’s another story. Anyway, Mitch is just about the best drawer I’ve ever seen, other than my brother Adam, and I had no intention of asking him.

I was starting to feel like a real adventurer. Kind of like Robinson Crusoe from the book Pa had read to us last winter. If I had known then what I know now, I would have burned the map and headed for home as fast as I could.

~~~

Mitch finished copying the map for me in no time at all. He never asked me a single question about it, but I’d known he wouldn’t. After the trouble we’d gotten into over the summer, he’d been being real careful to stay out of my schemes, as Hoss would say. I tucked the map into my saddle bag and then headed for my special fishing spot. Surprised? Well, you shouldn’t be. I really was telling Adam the truth when I said I wanted to go fishing. I just didn’t tell him about the other things I wanted to do first, actually I guess I did, he just didn’t believe me. I fished for a while and after I’d caught a nice string of big fat trout I headed back for the ranch. The compass from the package was still hidden under my bed and I wanted to get a good look at it before supper.

The first thing I noticed when I rode into the yard was that I could hear Pa bellowing and Hop Sing ranting. I smiled since I knew that was a sign Pa must be feeling better. I ran to the porch and, using the side door, rushed into the spare room.

“Pa!” I yelled. “Are you feeling better?”

“Little Joe, don’t shout,” he answered. “And close the door.”

Yep, he was feeling better.

“As I was just telling Hop Sing,” he said to me but looked to our cook, “I’m feeling much better and would like to have something to eat besides toast, tea, or broth.”

Hop Sing just threw up his hands and stomped out of the room muttering under his breath. Pa was sitting up some. It looked like somebody had brought him just about every pillow in the house, and he was leaning back with an open book on his lap.

“I’m glad you’re feeling a little better, Pa,” I said. “Can I get you anything?”

“Yes, son,” he answered. “Would you hand me my medicine on the dresser over there? My back is starting to seize up some again.”

“Sure, Pa,” I answered and grabbed the bottle.

I walked over to the bed and plopped down on it, which I probably shouldn’t have done.

“Oh, my back,” Pa said, squeezing his eyes shut.

I stood up real quick, which jiggled the bed again and made him wince even more.

“Sorry, Pa,” I said reaching for the spoon on the nightstand. “Here’s your medicine.”

After a minute he opened his eyes and let out all the air he’d been holding. He ignored the spoon I was trying to hand him and reached for the bottle. My eyes practically popped out of my head when he took the cork out and drank two big swigs full, then sank slowly into the mound of pillows and sighed.

“Gee, Pa,” I said, “you act like you like that medicine.”

“I do, son, I do,” he answered me.

“Can I taste it?” I asked, reaching for the bottle.

“Little Joe, the next time you get sick you can have a taste your own medicine,” he answered pulling the bottle away from me. “This is my medicine, and I don’t want you to touch it, understand?”

“Yes sir,” I answered and watched while he took another long drink before putting the cork back on.

“I need to get some rest now,” he said looking at me. “Why don’t you run along and do your chores now.”

I panicked when he mentioned chores. I’d been so anxious to go see him that I hadn’t even bothered to stable Cochise. I said goodbye and then raced out the door. Sure, enough Cochise was gone. I ran for the barn and saw that he was stabled already. My saddle was put away and Adam was picking my saddle bag up off the ground. He must have dropped it and the map was lying on the ground. He picked it up and started to unfold it before I could finally get my legs to work. I snatched it from him just in time.

“That’s mine,” I said a little louder than I’d meant to.

He looked at me surprised for a minute and then his eyes narrowed.

“Another secret?” he asked handing me my saddle bag.

“No,” I answered shoving the piece of paper into my back pocket. “Just the map I was telling you about this morning.”

He crossed his arms and looking kind of frustrated said, “You’re still sticking to that story? Okay, but like I said Little Joe, I will find out what it’s all about sooner or later and you’d be helping both of us out if you would make it sooner.”

I didn’t say anything, just glared at him. This telling the truth thing was really working for me. He sighed and started to leave, but then stopped and put his hand on my shoulder, turning me around.

“Joe, if you’re in trouble you can talk to me,” he said softly, “I can’t promise there won’t be consequences, but I can promise that I’ll help you anyway I can.”

Every once in a while Adam surprises me and says or does something real nice. He looked so sincere that I almost started to tell him what was going on, almost.

“If however,” he continued and his voice got louder, “you’re not in trouble but are thinking of getting into trouble, don’t. Because then I promise you there will be consequences.”

I was suddenly very glad I had kept my mouth shut. He turned around and walked away.

“Thanks for stabling my horse,” I yelled after him sarcastically.

“Don’t worry,” he called back. “You’ll be making it up to me.”

Sometimes he makes me so mad I could spit. So, I did and, believe it or not, I felt better. I finished my evening chores up real quick and then ran for my room. I slid under my bed way back against the wall and took the compass out of my secret hiding place. I’d tell you where it is but then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. Anyway, I opened it up and looked it over real careful. The problem was that I couldn’t see very well under the bed because it was too dark. I crawled out and then grabbed my desk chair. I positioned it under the knob of my door so that no one would be able to just walk in. I would never have done that if Pa was up and walking around, but with him in bed, I was starting to feel much braver. I took the compass over to my lamp and turned it around slowly, checking each side. It was real old and covered with rust just like the key. I took off my bandana and used it to rub some of the grime off. That’s when I first noticed the inscription. It was in another language that for some reason looked familiar. I thought real hard, trying to remember where I’d seen it before. I looked up and my eyes settled on my bookcase. That’s when it came to me. It was in one of Adam’s books from college; the language must have been Latin or Greek or something. I was just about to head for Adam’s room when suddenly, someone burst through the door breaking the legs clean off my chair.

~~~

“Gosh, Little Joe,” said Hoss. “Sorry about your chair but what in the world did you have it blocking the door for?”

Putting my hands on my hips I answered, “To keep people out that forget to knock.”

I guess I shouldn’t have blamed Hoss. He doesn’t realize his own strength sometimes. Walking over to the chair I sighed and picked up one of the legs, shaking my head sadly.

“Um . . .” said Hoss. “Don’t worry, I can get that fixed up for you before Pa notices.”

“Thanks,” I said.

Hoss looked as if he was feeling kind of guilty, so I figured it was the perfect time to bring up the delivery for tomorrow night. I held my hand out to show him the compass I was still holding.

“Take a look at the back,” I said.

When he saw the compass, his guilty look turned to worry, but he took it anyway. He looked at it for a few minutes and then, without saying a word, handed it back.

“Well?” I asked him. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know what to think,” he answered shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t speak French.”

Of course I should have known it was French. Our mother had spoken French fluently and had given Adam several books written in French. I’d looked them over from time to time. Suddenly I had an idea and I headed for the door motioning for Hoss to follow. I was surprised when he reached out to stop me.

“Little Joe,” he said, “I’ve been doing some thinking on this and I think that you should tell Adam about your meeting with that man and what he asked you to do.”

I took a step back and looked at him like he was crazy.

“Now, just hear me out,” he continued. “So far you haven’t really done anything wrong and there’s still time for you to back out of this before you get yourself and me into any real trouble. Maybe Adam would even make that delivery for you, and then you could still keep the gold coin the man paid you.”

Now I knew he was crazy. There was no way Adam would ever make that kind of delivery.

“Hoss,” I started, “I already promised the man I’d do it. You wouldn’t want me to break a promise would you?”

“Well, no,” he answered.

I could feel him starting to waiver so I hurried on.

“Look, Hoss, if you’ll go with me then I promise I won’t take any more of those jobs.”

I didn’t mind losing out on the money from any future jobs because if what I had planned worked out, I should end up with way more money than I could make running errands anyway.

“Please, Hoss,” I pleaded clasping my hands and making my lower lip quiver.

He sighed and I knew I had him.

“Alright,” he agreed. “But you promise there won’t be any more deliveries?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” I answered. “Now let’s go.”

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Where are we going?”

“To see Henri,” I answered. “He can tell us what that inscription says.”

Henri was one of our older ranch hands Pa had hired years ago. He was from New Orleans, close to the same area my mother had been from. I think that’s why Pa had hired him. Anyway, he and Adam had become pretty good friends. I’d heard them speaking in French one day in the barn when I was hiding in the loft. I didn’t really count it as eavesdropping, since I couldn’t understand a word, they were saying. Adam’s always offering to teach me some French, but I have enough trouble in school just trying to learn English.

“You’re gonna show him the compass?” Hoss questioned.

He had a point. That would probably raise some unwanted questions.

“Hang on a minute,” I said, going to my desk.

I quickly wrote out the inscription on a piece of paper, checked it over once to make sure I’d gotten all the little lines in the right places, and then showed it to Hoss.

Nord, sud, est et ouest
tu peux chercher toute la journée sans trouver le repos.
Pour trouver le trésor que tu convoites
Ll te faudra regarder á l’intérieur

“Looks good to me,” he said. “Look, why don’t you take it out to Henri, and I’ll take this chair out to the barn?”

That sounded good to me and a few minutes later, I was knocking on the door of the bunkhouse. I got lucky and Henri was the one that answered. Some of the other men like to give me a hard time when my Pa or brothers aren’t around, and I usually try, and steer clear of the bunkhouse. He looked a little surprised when I handed him the paper.

“Is this a project you’re doing for school?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah sure,” I answered.

I figured I could use it for some paper or other that would be due later on so I wasn’t really lying.

He took out a pencil and wrote the inscription out in English for me. As soon as he handed it back, I took off, yelling out a thank you. I didn’t want to give him a chance to ask me any more questions. I ran to the barn and found Hoss already working on the chair.

“Okay, I got it,” I told him trying to catch my breath.

We both scooted closer to the lantern and I read it out loud.

North, south, east and west.
You may search all day but you’ll find no rest.
For the treasure you seek to win,
can only be found if you look within.

“What do you suppose it means?” asked Hoss.

“It means there’s treasure,” I answered with a smile.

“Little Joe,” said Hoss, “I know that look and I’m telling you right now that you can just forget it. You aren’t going after no treasure.”

“Hoss, don’t worry,” I answered patting his arm, “don’t you think I’d let you know if I was going on a treasure hunt?”

He gave me a look that said he had serious doubts, but he never got a chance to say anything more because we heard Adam’s sharp whistle that was a signal for us to come inside.

Supper was pretty quiet that evening. Hardly any of us said anything, but we all kept catching each other’s eye. I was busy going over my plans in my mind. Hoss was looking kind of worried and I figured he was trying to figure out what plan I was coming up with and I knew that’s what Adam was thinking about.

I helped Hop Sing to clear the table after we’d finished eating and then asked Hoss if he wanted to play checkers. I had no doubt that if I headed up to my room this early Adam would know for sure something was up. We played three games, which I won. That proved Hoss’s mind was on other things. Honestly, I don’t know why he worries about me so much. He asked if I wanted to play another game, but I yawned and stretched pretending I was real tired.

“No thanks,” I said. “I think I’m gonna say goodnight to Pa and then hit the sack a little early.”

I could feel their eyes boring into my back as I made my way to the spare room. You would think that with two brothers that are that suspicious I would never be able to get away with anything and most of the time you would be right. This time though I was determined to outsmart them. I knew I could get Hoss on my side eventually, and I was working on an idea that would get Adam off my case. I just needed to give him a bigger problem than me to worry about, but I’d take care of that tomorrow.

Pa was sound asleep when I entered the room, but I stayed there for about fifteen minutes anyway. I wanted to give my brothers a chance to get busy doing something besides think about me. I noticed his medicine was back on the dresser and that it was almost empty. Pa had said that he actually liked it. I had never had any medicine that tasted good before, and I really wanted to try some, but Pa had said I wasn’t to touch it. I stood there staring at the bottle for a few minutes and then realized that he hadn’t actually said I couldn’t taste it. I noticed a small bucket over by the door and quietly went and got it. I pulled my handkerchief out of my pocket and used it to pick up the bottle, that way I wasn’t really touching it. I pulled my hand into my sleeve and used my shirt to pull the cork, then poured a drop in the bucket. I put the cork on and managed to get the bottle back onto the dresser without making a sound, then I used my finger to get the drop and stuck it into my mouth. It was too small of a drop for me to get a good taste, so I grabbed my handkerchief and reached for the bottle again. That’s when I heard the words that almost gave me a heart attack.

“Little Joe, what do you think you’re doing?”.

~~~

I froze with my arm in the air, trying frantically to think up a good excuse. I could have sworn Pa had been asleep. I dropped my hand and turned around slowly. I was tripping over my words as I tried to explain what I was doing when it suddenly occurred to me that I was the only one talking.

“Pa,” I said softly.

The only response was a snort and then he started mumbling something I couldn’t understand. That’s when it dawned on me that he was talking in his sleep. I took a minute to still my beating heart and then decided I’d better quit while I was ahead. I left the room quietly and just as I’d hoped, my brothers had found something to amuse themselves. Hoss was busy braiding a lariat and Adam was plunking away at his guitar. They barely looked in my direction when I said goodnight and headed up the stairs.

Once I got to my room, I turned up the lamp and pulled out a piece of paper from my desk. I spent the next twenty minutes making a list of all the things I needed to do. I like making lists. Hoss says it’s just a phase I’m going through, like my list for the mercantile, but the reason I really like doing it is because it feels so good to check things off as I get them done. When I finished my list, I folded it and tucked it inside my boot so no one would find it. Next, I started collecting all the items I would need for my adventure tomorrow. In case you’re wondering, the answer is yes. I was planning on going after the treasure myself. I piled all of my supplies under my bed and then decided to turn in early after all. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day and I would need a good night’s rest.

~~~

The next morning, I woke up early. Have you ever noticed that when you have something exciting planned you always wake up real early? Anyway, I got dressed in a hurry and headed to the barn to get my chores done. Adam was already in there and looked surprised when he saw me.

“Up early two days in a row?” he said raising an eyebrow. “I hate to say it, little brother, but whatever it is you’ve done or are planning to do must be bigger than I’d thought.”

“Adam, you have a suspicious mind,” I retorted. “It could be that I’m just deciding to become more responsible.”

“Hmmm,” he said pursing his lips. “Could be. But I seriously doubt it.”

I clenched my fists against my legs and bit my tongue so I wouldn’t say anything stupid. If he hadn’t been right about me being up to something, I would have really let him have it. Instead, I just turned my back on him and started my chores. He finished raking out the last stall and then headed for the house. I turned around to make sure he’d left and was surprised to see him watching me. Boy, he was making me nervous. I flashed a smile at him and then turned back to milking the cow, praying that my plans to get rid of him for the day would work. Finally, I heard him sigh and then the sound of his boots walking away. When I’d finished my chores, I went into the house for breakfast. I sat down at the table and the first thing I noticed was that Hoss was glaring at me.

“What?” I asked him.

Just then Adam came down the stairs.

“I want to talk to you after breakfast,” Hoss answered.

I had no idea what he wanted but he looked kind of mad. I decided to worry about him later because it was time for me to take care of Adam.

“Hey, Hoss,” I said making sure not to look at my oldest brother.

“Hm,” he grunted around a mouth full of flapjacks.

“I was hoping that if Miss Jones comes by today and I’m not around that you would give her back the book she lent me. It’s upstairs in my room.”

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Adam stiffen in his seat.

“Gotcha,” I thought to myself.

Hoss looked confused, but before he could say anything, Adam spoke up-or should I say squeaked up.

“Why would Miss Jones be coming here today? Does it have anything to do with whatever it is you’re trying so hard to keep me from figuring out?”

“Heck no, Adam,” I answered, managing quite well to look offended. “It’s just that she’s in charge of the ladies’ group at church that care for the sick and needy and what with Pa bein’ laid up, I expect she’ll be around anytime now.”

I’ll tell you just in case you didn’t know that Miss Jones is cow eyed over my oldest brother. She has been since the minute she saw him walk into church that first Sunday after he got back from college. Since then, she tries everything she can to be around him, and Adam does everything he can to stay away from her. She most likely would be coming by, so again I wasn’t lying. Just using the truth to my advantage, I guess you could say.

“Hoss are you gonna be around or do you have to clear out that drainage ditch today?” I asked and risked a peek to see if Adam was gonna bite.

Hoss’s face fell. Cleaning out ditches and water ways was a cold, wet, and messy job. I put both my hands under the table and crossed my fingers.

“Um, Hoss,” Adam said clearing his throat. “Why don’t you stay close to home today and I’ll go take care of clearing that ditch.”

“Really, Adam, you mean it?” Hoss asked, his whole face lighting up.

“Sure,” Adam answered. “I’ll leave you a list of things to get done around here and you can keep an eye on Pa.”

“Well, if Miss Jones doesn’t come until this afternoon, do you want me to tell her to wait for you so you can say hi?” I asked just for some extra insurance.

“That won’t be necessary, Joe,” he answered. “If I finish with the ditch early, I’ll probably go and check the fence line over by the creek.

I quickly took a drink of milk in order to hide my smile. The creek was a good distance from the ditch so I knew he would be gone at least up until supper time.

“Oh, okay,” I answered sweetly. “Well, I’ll give her your regards.”

He just nodded at me, and we all finished our breakfast in peace.

Adam was gone before the table was even cleared and I was about to run upstairs for my gear when Hoss grabbed my arm.

“Hold on a minute,” he said. “I told you I wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?” I asked.

“About this,” he said and held two keys out with the shape of a skull on them.

How could I have forgotten to pick up those keys?

“How’d you get those?” I asked grabbing for them.

He pulled his hand away before I could get them and answered. “From that new ranch hand Pa hired. He found me in the barn this morning and asked if I would give them to Pa. Said he would have brought them over last night but knew we didn’t want anyone coming around unless it was an emergency.”

He folded his arms and glared at me. If I didn’t know he was really made of butter I might have been scared.

“Well, I’m glad he gave them to you instead of Adam,” I said. “Now come on and give them to me.”

“No,” he answered. “Not until you tell me what you’re planning on doing with them.”

I thought about making up some excuse, but to tell you the truth, I really wanted him in on it so I told him.

“I’m going to go look for the treasure before I deliver the map tonight,” I said excitedly. “I had another copy of the map and key made so I can leave the real ones here. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to them. You’ll come with me, won’t you?”

My brother’s face changed expressions at least ten times while I was talking so I had no idea what he was thinking. I soon found out.

“Little Joe, this is about the craziest idea you’ve come up with yet,” he all but yelled.

That was quite a statement considering some of my other plans we’d managed to survive.

“You don’t know anything about these men. Heck, you don’t even know if it’s a treasure map.”

“Of course it’s a treasure map,” I retorted. “What other kind of map could it be?”

“Well, uh, could be anything.”

“Such as?”

“Well, could lead to a mine or new piece of land or uh, watering hole,” he finished lamely.

“A watering hole,” I repeated sarcastically. “It’s a treasure map and you know it.”

“I’m telling you it ain’t no treasure map,” he answered, and his face started to turn red.

“Ha,” I shouted. “Shows how much you know about anything.”

“Okay, I’ll prove it to ya,” he answered. “We’ll just follow this here map and then when you see I’m right you can just apologize to me, that’s what.”

“Okay, fine,” I answered.

I told you things would work out okay with Hoss. Now he was going with me, and he even thought it was his idea. Sometimes I’m so sneaky, I scare myself.

Well, we were ready to go in no time and after having Hop Sing pack us a lunch we were off. Hoss asked about the list of chores Adam had left, but I told him I’d taken care of them. I didn’t tell him I had taken care of them by pawning them off on the new ranch hand. Like I said, he was new, and nobody had told him not to listen to me yet, besides I figured he had it coming for almost getting me into trouble with Hoss for the keys.

I showed Hoss the map and we both agreed that the best place to start would be Devil Wind Hill. At least we were pretty sure from the drawing and the description that it was Devil Wind Hill. Once we got there, the directions were pretty clear and simple up until we reached the opening of a dead-end canyon. I thought it looked like we were supposed to go up and around, but Hoss thought it looked like we were supposed to go through.

“It’s a dead end. We can’t go through,” I explained for the umpteenth time.

“There must be a way out that we don’t know about,” he answered. “‘cause those directions say to go straight through.”

I could tell he wasn’t going to budge, so rather than waste any more time arguing, I agreed to try his way first. I was just a little grumpy and the whole way through the canyon, I was planning my, “I told you so” speech in my head. When we reached the steep rock wall at the end of the canyon I was about to start my speech when Hoss stole the words right out of my mouth.

“See, told you so,” he said grinning.

I looked where he was pointing and, sure enough, there was a small path leading up the side. It was going to be a rough climb, but according to the map our destination was just at the end of that path. We tied up the horses and then started climbing. You’re thinking one of us is going to slip and find ourselves wounded and helpless at the bottom of the canyon aren’t you. Well, sorry that’s not what happened, although Hoss did twist his ankle a little on a rock that was sticking up out of the ground.

We followed the path for quite a ways and then it ended. I mean really, it just ended in the middle of nowhere. We weren’t at the top of the canyon and there were no caves or trees. Nothing but solid rock. Hoss and I both sat down to rest a spell and tried to figure out what we’d done wrong.

“Well, I don’t know about you,” he said, “but I’m getting awfully hungry. I say we climb back down and eat some lunch. Then we can come at this again with a full stomach.

If you knew my brother Hoss you would realize that to him a full stomach and a clear head go hand in hand. I agreed, even though I really wanted to stay and check things out some more, but he promised we’d come back up after we ate. We started down the steep hill and that’s when I slipped. I had hit my foot on that same stupid rock that Hoss had on the way up. I lost my balance and in no time, I was slipping, sliding, and finally rolling down the hill. I landed in a heap at the bottom and the first thing I noticed was that somebody had started a fire in my shoulder. Well, not really but it sure felt that way. I sat up shakily and grabbed my burning arm. Hoss and a shower of rocks were next to me in no time.

“Little Joe, you alright?” he asked.

I started to say yes but then winced. He saw me holding my shoulder and made me move my hand away. I was surprised when I saw that it was covered in blood.

“Looks like you’ve got a pretty nasty cut there,” he said.

He put my hand back onto the cut and told me to hold it tight, then he ran over to the horses and grabbed my saddle bag. I was glad Pa had insisted we always carry a little bundle of medical supplies. Hoss used water from the canteens to clean the wound, then put some of this horrible medicine that stings like all get out on it.

“You’re doing real good, Little Joe,” he said when he saw me biting my lip to keep from crying out. “I think we better head back. It doesn’t look too serious, but Hop Sing should probably take a look at it just in case.”

After he finished wrapping it, he helped me up and we untied the horses. We mounted up and just before we turned to head for home, I glanced one last time up the hill. That’s when I saw the opening that I could have sworn hadn’t been there just a few minutes before.

~~~

“Hey, Hoss,” I yelled, “look.”

“Well, I’ll be,” he said squinting toward where I was pointing.

“Come on,” I said and slid off Cochise grabbing my saddle bag.

“Little Joe, we need to get your arm looked after,” Hoss said, but I could tell he wanted to go check out the opening as much as I did.

Not a lot of people know it, but my brother Hoss has just as much of a sense of adventure as I do. It’s just that his sense of self-preservation is a little stronger than mine.

“Ah, Hoss,” I answered. “You did a good enough job wrapping it and it hardly even hurts anymore. We’ve gotta check it out.”

Hoss looked at me and then back up at the opening and I could tell he was having his own private discussion trying to decide what to do. Pa always says there are really two voices inside of us telling us what to do and it’s up to us to decide which one to listen to. Hoss had told Pa that he usually didn’t have any trouble deciding which one to listen to, unless the little voice was mine. Pa had answered him that if he wanted to make it to his next birthday in one piece that he’d better get over that. I would have spoken up for myself, but considering the topic, I figured it would be better not to draw attention to myself.

“Well, if you’re sure you’re all right?” he said finally.

“I’m sure,” I smiled and we started back up the hill.

“Where do you suppose that opening came from?” I asked.

When Hoss didn’t answer, I turned to see what he was doing and saw him staring at the rock we had both tripped over.

“I wonder,” he said quietly and then kicked it hard.

I jumped when I heard what I thought was a rock slide and looked up. The opening that had been there a minute ago was now gone.

“Hey, do that again,” I said turning to Hoss.

He kicked the rock again and sure enough the opening reappeared.

“I wonder why it didn’t open up when you tripped the first time?” I asked.

“Maybe it was just stuck,” he answered. “You hit it pretty hard on the way down.”

“Well, it’s open now,” I said taking off on a run.

“Little Joe, slow down,” Hoss yelled, but I didn’t pay him any attention.

When I got to the entrance it was real dark and I couldn’t see in more than a few feet, so I waited for Hoss to catch up. By the time he arrived huffing and puffing, I had a lantern lit and was scarfing down one of the sandwiches Hop Sing had packed.

“Hey, let me have one of those,” Hoss said.

It was all I could do to wait for him to finish eating. I was sure that in just a few minutes I was gonna be the richest kid this side of the Mississippi river.

“Let me carry that saddle bag,” Hoss said, and I handed it over. I was glad to get rid of it. I wouldn’t have told him in a million years, but my shoulder was killing me. We stepped inside the opening and looked around a small hollowed out room. There was an old table and some wobbly looking chairs and a shelf with all kinds of jars and cans covered in dust. There was a filthy old cot in the opposite corner and another shelf that was full of some really old looking books. My brother Adam would have figured he’d found his treasure if he could have seen them.

Hoss headed over to the shelf with all the jars and started dusting things off while I checked over every nook and cranny.

“Hoss,” I said after a minute, “this is dumb. There’s nothing here.”

“I wouldn’t say nothing, little brother,” he answered. “I just found a whole stash of canned peaches, apples, and even cherries.”

I rolled my eyes not even bothering to comment. It seemed this place held a treasure for everyone but me. I picked up one of the chairs that had fallen over, plopped down on it, then went crashing to the floor when it broke. I guess it was older than I thought. Hoss found my predicament highly amusing and was roaring with laughter. I might have laughed too except for the burning pain in my shoulder. Hoss helped me up and then turned back to his shelf full of food. I decided to examine the bookshelf. It looked like they were mostly books on geography and history and boring stuff like that, but there was one that looked like it might be interesting, “The Best Short Stories” by O. Henry. I tried to pull it out and was surprised when it would only come halfway. I was even more surprised a second later when the whole bookcase started to move.

“Hoss,” I yelled as I jumped back.

We both stood and watched as the case slowly swung open to a short tunnel. At the end of a tunnel sitting up on a pedestal was a huge chest.

“The treasure,” I squeaked and started forward.

“Wait a minute,” Hoss said holding me back. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“Hoss, what are you talking about?” I questioned. “That’s the treasure, all we’ve gotta do is go and get it and we’ll be rich.”

“It just seems too easy,” he said looking around suspiciously.

“Ah, I told you not to worry didn’t I,” I answered and stepped into the tunnel. I’d only made it about two feet when once again, I tripped over something. I was really starting to become a world class klutz. This time I didn’t make it all the way to the ground before Hoss caught me and it was a dang good thing he did too. Whatever I’d just tripped over had created another opening in the floor in front of me. Hoss had stopped me from falling by grabbing the back of my shirt and I was now dangling over a deep pit with razor sharp spikes sticking up from the bottom.

“Pull me back,” I screamed.

He jerked me to safety and we both stood wide eyed trying to catch our breath for a few minutes.

“I told you it was too easy,” Hoss said glowering at me.

I was still a little too shaken to answer so I just nodded my head.

“Come on,” he said with a sigh. “Let’s see if we can get around this pit.”

By hugging tight against the wall, we made it past easy enough. Hoss got the idea of throwing some stones ahead of us as we walked to watch out for any more holes, but we made it to the chest without any further problems. This time it was me who decided to be cautious.

“Let’s check it out real careful before we open it,” I said. “It could be booby trapped.”

Hoss turned the lantern up real high so that we could see, and we examined the outside of the box carefully. Sure enough, we found a wire running out of the box onto the ground. We followed the wire and saw that it led up the side of the wall and connected to a pretty shaky looking pile of huge rocks. The rocks were being held back with nothing but a small board and a wedge. It all came down to the wire; from what we could tell, if we had opened the lid, it would have pulled the wedge and we would have been crushed. Hoss took out his pocketknife and cut the wire and after we made sure there weren’t any more, we lifted the lid.

~~~

“That’s it?” Hoss said with a frown.

We were both looking down at what was mostly a big empty chest. The only thing in it was a little bundle tied up with a string that looked awfully familiar. I picked it up and quickly unwrapped it.

“What is it?” Hoss asked holding the lantern higher.

“It’s another key,” I said disgustedly, holding it out for him.

“Well, Little Joe,” Hoss said. “It’s like I’ve been trying to tell you all along…”

“I know, I know. It’s too easy. I wonder why anyone would go to all the trouble of putting this place on a map just to hide another key?”

“I don’t know,” he answered and handed the key back to me.

I held both keys up in the light. The second key looked a lot like the first except, instead of a skull, it had wings on the end, and it was silver.

“Let’s go,” said Hoss tapping my arm and I put both keys in my pocket.

We had just started back down the tunnel when an enormous crash sounded right behind us. We spun around and saw that the wedge holding that big rock hadn’t been as sturdy as we had thought.

“Little Joe,” Hoss said after the dust had settled, “that could have been us under that pile of rocks.”

I was too busy gaping at the now smashed remains of the chest to do anything but nod. This whole business was getting a lot more dangerous than I had figured on.

“Well,” I gulped, “all we have to do now is deliver that package tonight and then we’ll be done with it.”

Hoss waited until we were out in the sunlight again before he said anything.

“Little Joe, you don’t honestly think it’s gonna be as simple as that do you? I mean once those fellows follow that map, they’re gonna know someone’s been here.”

I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose the broken chair, open pit, and the smashed chest just might give us away though.

“Maybe they won’t know there was a map in the first package,” I answered. “Maybe we can just give them both keys and they won’t know any different.”

Hoss was quiet again and I knew he was thinking. We had reached the spot with the rock trigger. He kicked it and I watched as the opening closed. You would never know there was anything but a solid rock wall.

Finally, he spoke. “I think we’re in over our heads. We really need to just tell . . .”

“We’re not telling Adam anything,” I said desperately.

“Now, calm down,” he said. “I was going to say we should tell the sheriff.”

“Hoss, we can’t tell the sheriff,” I answered frantically. “The first thing he would do is ride on out and tell Pa everything that’s happened, and you’d be in an awful lot of trouble.”

“Me,” Hoss squeaked. “This whole thing was your idea. I just came along to keep you from getting killed. Which hasn’t been easy!”

The whole time he talked I was shaking my head.

“They won’t see it that way, Hoss,” I explained. “Nope, Pa and sheriff will hold you responsible because you’re older than me. If those men turn out to be criminals, then the sheriff might even feel the need to throw you in jail for a while for even thinking about helping them out, and I hear what they feed you in jail is just awful.”

I stopped talking and let my words sink in. I knew that last statement would probably win him over, but I crossed my fingers just in case.

“All right,” he answered with a sigh. “We’ll do it your way but so help me if you get hurt, I’ll pound you into the ground.”

It was almost dark by the time we got home but, thankfully, there was no sign of Adam yet. Hoss offered to put up the horses so that Hop Sing could look after my shoulder. I found him in the kitchen pulling a big fat roast chicken out of the oven. My mouth started watering so much I almost couldn’t talk. He noticed my torn and bloody sleeve right away and ordered me to take my shirt off. He took off Hoss’s bandage and started mumbling under his breath. I guess my shoulder wasn’t too bad though ’cause he didn’t mention anything about needing a doctor.

“What happen?” he asked while he got some hot water and a rag.

“I fell down a hill,” I answered.

I was really on a roll for telling the truth lately.

He cleaned the cut, put some more of that stinging medicine on it, and then bandaged it up.

“Wash up for supper,” he said and then scooted me out of the kitchen.

Hoss and I had just finished eating when Adam finally walked in. He was soaked from the waist down and covered in mud. The only thing he said was, “bath”. I think it was safe to say that he hadn’t had the easiest time cleaning out ditches.

Hoss and I both went in to see Pa and I was relieved to see that he looked much better. We didn’t talk long because he was still real sleepy. I noticed he had a new bottle of medicine sitting on the dresser and it was already half empty. After we left Pa, we told Hop Sing to tell Adam that we were calling it an early night and headed upstairs.

“You get some sleep,” Hoss said. “I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.”

I smiled at him and went into my room, but I knew I wouldn’t be doing any sleeping. I was too nervous and excited. I slid under my bed and took out the gold coin I’d been paid. If everything went right, then in a few short hours I would have five more to add to my collection. I put the coin back in my secret hiding spot along with the two keys and the maps and then slid out from under the bed. I stood up and almost had a heart attack when I saw Adam standing in the doorway with his hands on his hips. I tell you it’s a good thing my heart is in excellent condition because that was only the beginning of my scares for the evening.

~~~

“Don’t you knock?” I hollered.

“I do when the door is closed,” he answered.

“Oh…yeah…well you could have let me know you were there instead of scaring me to death.”

“It’s a little early for spring cleaning isn’t it?” he said pointing to the bed.

“Very funny,” I answered. “I was just looking at something.”

He sighed and leaned against the door frame.

“I’ll make you a deal, Little Joe,” he said. “You confess now, and I promise to go easy on you.”

That may sound like a good deal to you, but I happen to know what Adam considers ‘going easy’ and trust me, it’s not worth it.

“I have nothing to confess,” I said out loud. “To you,” I said to myself.

He slowly shook his head and then turned to leave.

“Good night,” he said over his shoulder.

“Night,” I answered and stuck my tongue out at his back.

“Put your tongue back in your mouth, Little Joe,” he said without turning around.

I don’t know how he does that.

After I made sure to close the door this time, I got out my nightshirt and just put it over the top of my clothes. Sometimes Adam comes to check on me when he thinks I’m asleep and I didn’t want him to see that I hadn’t undressed. I turned off the lamp and got in bed, but my mind was racing a million miles an hour. I guess I must have fallen asleep at some point though because the next thing I knew, Hoss was standing over me and telling me it was time to go. I slid under the bed and grabbed the keys and map, making sure to leave behind the duplicates. I forgot all about the compass which was tucked away in my desk drawer. Hoss and I decided it would be better to go out my window than to try and make it to the front door. Over the years we’ve learned where every squeak and creak is and there’s one that’s real tricky to get over right in front of Adam’s door. Of course, I didn’t know it then, but we could have paraded past his room with a marching band, and it wouldn’t have made any difference, because he wasn’t there. But hold on, I’m getting ahead of myself again.

I was halfway down the tree and Hoss was out on a limb below me when suddenly, it snapped, and he fell to the ground with a crash. Almost instantly there was a light coming from the kitchen window and Hoss barely had time to roll behind a bush before Hop Sing came charging out the door with a huge kitchen knife in his hands.

“Who there?” he yelled.

Hoss did some quick thinking and started yowling like one of our barn cats do when they’re trying to court each other. Hop Sing yelled out towards him shaking his fist and then stomped back into the house.

“Whew, that was close,” I told him after I’d dropped out of the tree. “Come on, let’s get the horses.”

We quickly saddled up and if we’d been paying any attention we would have noticed that Adam’s horse was gone, but we weren’t, so we didn’t.

It was one of those nights we get out here in the West where the moon is so big and bright that if the sky wasn’t black, you would think it was daytime. Because it was so easy to see, we made good time into town. We had decided to tie up the horses over by the schoolhouse and then walk to the blacksmiths. We used the side streets and made it to the backside of the livery at ten minutes to twelve.

“Hoss, I’ve been thinking,” I said. “Maybe I should make the delivery alone.”

I saw he was about to argue so I hurried on, “Just listen. I can give them both keys and tell them my curiosity got the better of me. They should believe that ‘cause I’m just a kid. If they see you, they might think we were trying to pull something over on them.”

“Well, all right,” he answered after a minute. “But I’m going to be just below the loft. I’ll hide in one of the stalls and you call out if you think anything’s going wrong.”

“I will,” I answered and we both quietly snuck into the livery.

I waited until Hoss had positioned himself, hoping that whoever I was supposed to meet wasn’t already in the loft watching us. When he was hidden real good, I slowly climbed the ladder. My heart was beating so hard that I had to stop for a minute to catch my breath. I looked around once I got to the top and didn’t see anyone, so I sat down on a bale of hay and waited. And waited…and waited. Just when I was about to climb back down, I heard a creak coming from the main door and then the sound of solid heavy footsteps. When the ladder to the loft began to crack and groan, I realized that whoever this guy was he was a lot bigger than his partner. I quickly ducked behind the bale I’d been sitting on and waited to see who would appear at the top. What I saw almost made me think I was back at home still asleep and having a nightmare. The man that came to the top was huge. He was burly, bald, and ugly as all get out. He wore a leather vest with no shirt so I could see his hairy chest and arms. I thought about calling for Hoss, but for some reason, what Pa always says about not judging people by their appearances kept floating around my head.

“Psst, hey boy,” he said, “I know you’re up here. Come on out. I won’t hurt ya.”

I was too scared to come out from behind the bale, so I took the two keys and threw them towards the guy. They landed with a clunk at his feet, and he jumped back startled. He bent down and picked them up then barreled toward me, but I was frozen to the spot and couldn’t move.

He stood towering over the bale and his deep voice rumbled down to me. “Why’s there two keys here? You was only supposed to deliver one.”

“Because…uh…well…” I whimpered.

I’d really been hoping he wouldn’t know there had only been one.

“Speak up,” he said and then lifted me clear off the ground by the front of my shirt.

That was about the time that I heard a rustling from down below and knew that if I didn’t pull myself together, Hoss would be up here in a second and I didn’t think even he would be able to beat this guy.

“I was just curious, mister,” I answered gaining some courage. “I opened the first package to make sure I had the right one and then saw the map and I just had to follow it, and then I did and found this hidden chamber on a hill, and there was another key at the end of the tunnel, but the rocks fell and so now the chest is smashed…”

“Okay, okay, relax,” he said with a chuckle. “I guess I can’t be upset with you for doing the next job ahead of time.”

I finally realized I hadn’t been breathing and sucked in a huge breath of air. At that moment, all I wanted to do was get away from this guy. After I got paid of course.

“Here’s your coins, kid,” he said, setting me down as he fished around his pant pocket. I was surprised when he handed me not five, but ten gold coins.

“That’s a bonus for getting the second package,” he said when he saw my bewildered expression.

I smiled at him and turned to run when he grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me roughly back to the bale I’d been hiding behind.

“Not so fast, kid,” he said forcing me to sit, “we need to talk about your next assignment.”

~~~

“That’s okay, mister,” I said quickly. “I don’t want any more assignments.”

He gave a low, throaty sort of laugh and if I’d thought he was friendly before, I knew better now.

“You don’t got a choice,” he said bearing down on me.

“Mister, he doesn’t want any more assignments,” came Hoss’s voice from somewhere in the dark below, “I’ll thank you to just leave him be.”

“Who’s there?” the man answered whirling around.

“No one you need to worry about as long as you let the boy go,” Hoss answered.

The man moved away from me and started down the ladder.

“This kid made an agreement,” he said as he looked around the livery, “My partner and I don’t take to kindly to people that don’t hold up their end of the deal.”

I poked my head over the side of the loft and watched as the man continued to search for Hoss. I gasped when he pulled a knife from his boots. I tried to yell a warning but the man stuffed his dirty hand hard over my mouth.

“You let him do the job,” the giant man continued, “and no harm will come to him.”

“He’s already put his life in danger for you once,” Hoss answered his voice now coming from the other side of the livery.

Even though Hoss is big he can move as quiet as a forest animal when he has a mind to.

“His life won’t be worth anything if he doesn’t finish,” the man snarled and tossed an empty barrel to one side.

Everything was quiet for a minute and then Hoss stepped out from the stall he’d been hiding in. He was right behind the big man and I thought for sure he was going to try and knock him out.

“Right behind you, mister,” he said and then dodged as the man whirled around swinging his knife.

“No need for that,” Hoss shouted holding his hands out peacefully, “that’s my little brother you’re holding and if he’s in trouble I just want to help.”

The man eyed him for a minute and then slowly lowered his weapon.

“If you want to help him, then make sure he does what he’s supposed to,” he snapped.

“Why don’t you just tell me just what it is you’re wanting him to do and then I’ll decide,” Hoss answered.

I hope when I’m grown I’m as brave as my brother was that night with that big ugly man standing over him.

“There’s an old house at the edge of town,” the man started, “brown, with a picket fence and an old elm tree in the front yard.”

“Yeah, that’s the Hampton’s place,” Hoss answered. “What about it?”

“These Hamptons have something that belongs to us,” he continued. “Up in the attic you’ll find and old doll house. I need you to bring me the key that opens it. The boy needs to deliver it to my partner over in the mill tomorrow night at midnight. If he’s there on time, he’ll be paid. If he’s not, well, let’s just say he’s the one that will be paying.”

The man sneered and then stepped back waiting for an answer.

“I’ll make that delivery,” Hoss answered after a moment.

“No, my partner wants . . . well, the boy’s the one that made the agreement” he answered.

“Then we’ll both be there,” Hoss said refusing to back down.

The man thought for a minute and then slowly nodded his head.

“Have it your way. I’ll tell my partner to expect both of you,” he said, “but be warned. We know where you live. Any trouble from either of you and that sick daddy of yours will have two less sons to worry about.”

With that, he turned and walked out into the night. I shakily climbed down the ladder and before I could stop myself I had wrapped my arms around Hoss.

“I’m sorry,” I said trying hard to stop trembling.

“It’s all right, just calm down now,” he said patting my back, “Come on let’s get out of here.”

We snuck out the same way we’d come in and started down the side street toward the school. It was just starting to hit me what a mess I’d gotten us into. I looked back at Hoss to apologize once again when suddenly, strong arms reached out from behind some old crates and quickly pulled me around the corner. Hoss came running, but we both froze instantly when the man put a knife to my throat.

“Stop right there,” he said to my brother.

“We don’t need any trouble, mister,” Hoss said putting his hands in the air.

“Good then we at least agree on one thing,” the man said lowering the knife a bit, “it’s only the boy that I need.”

“The boy’s with me,” Hoss answered. “Whatever you want with him, you’ll just have to take up with me.”

The man hesitated and then with a sigh let me go.

“I’m sorry for scaring you,” he said, “I had to make sure you weren’t one of them.”

“One of who?” my brother asked.

“One of the men I’m after,” he answered and pulled a small red leather case out of his jacket pocket.

He quickly opened it and flashed it at us, then said in a hushed voice. “You can call me Graham. I’m a detective that’s been hired to track down a band of criminals. I’ve been tracking these men for years and I’m finally getting close. I need the boy’s help to be able to finally apprehend these desperate men.”

I couldn’t believe it. A real detective was here in Virginia City, asking for my help. I looked at Hoss with a huge smile on my face, but Hoss wasn’t smiling. Instead, he was looking at the man suspiciously.

“If you’re a detective, why don’t you go to the sheriff?” he asked. “He’s the one that should be helping you, not a little boy.”

I elbowed Hoss in the stomach.

“I don’t want to involve any more people than I have to,” Graham said. “The boy is already involved. I know all about their plans to have the him make the next delivery. All I need him to do is make the delivery to me instead. I can use what he brings me as bait to catch these men.”

I had to admit that I liked the idea of making deliveries to this guy instead of the other man a lot better. Hoss still didn’t look sure.

“It just doesn’t make any sense, mister,” he said. “Why can’t those other men, and you for that matter, do all this yourselves? Why do you need a kid to help you out?”

“I suspect their reasoning is the same as mine,” he answered. “They don’t want to risk being seen. These are wanted men, after all. As for me, if they got wind that I was near then they would soon be off again. Please, trust me. Make the delivery to me behind the schoolhouse tomorrow night at eleven o’clock.”

Hoss looked at me and I eagerly nodded my head. He had a badge after all. My brother just stared at me for a minute and then sighed. We would be making the delivery to Graham. I whipped around to tell him yes and was surprised to find the street empty. He had disappeared.

“Wow,” I thought to myself. I decided right then that I wanted to be a detective when I grew up. I was walking on air as we made our way out of town. I was so excited that I didn’t bother to listen to see if anyone was coming before I turned the next corner. The sight that greeted me was the scariest thing I had seen all night and I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

“Adam!” I gasped.

~~~

I turned to run but bumped into Hoss which gave Adam enough time to reach out and grab me.

“What are you two doing here?” he asked.

He was shaking me slightly as he spoke, and my mind went completely blank. I looked at Hoss helplessly; he seemed to have all the answers tonight.

“Oh…hey, Adam,” he said, “we…uh…well we were just…”

He stopped and cleared his throat. I found it kind of funny that Hoss could face two dangerous men in dark places in the dead of night and hardly bat an eyelash and then we run into my oldest brother and suddenly he can’t remember how to talk. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what Adam was doing in town.

My senses slowly returned, and I noticed that Adam was almost as panicky as we were. I heard a small voice come from behind him and suddenly everything made sense.

“Adam, I’ve got to get home,” a girl said urgently.

I knew as soon as I heard her speak that we would be having no trouble from Adam, ‘cause if Pa ever found out he was in town this late at night with none other than Savannah Banks, he wouldn’t live long enough to tell on me and Hoss.

In my ten years of life I’ve only seen Adam in trouble with Pa a handful of times and Savannah Banks was a name that had burned itself into my memory. Adam had just turned sixteen and was a little full of himself, if you ask me. He started courting Savannah a few weeks after his birthday. Well, not long after that, her father came barreling over to the house just as we were all getting ready for bed one night. I still haven’t figured out yet just what Adam did but I remember Savannah’s father saying that if he ever caught Adam near his daughter again, he would skin him alive. He then galloped off on his horse and Pa turned to Adam who was as white as a sheet. The only thing I heard him say before he dragged Adam outside was: “You don’t need to worry about Mr. Banks carrying through on his threat, son, because if I ever hear of you going near his daughter again you won’t have any skin left for him to take!”

Hoss and I had both decided it would be a good idea to go to bed at that point and for the next two months, Pa kept Adam so busy around the ranch he didn’t have time to do any courting. Course that was a long time ago and Adam is much older now, but I’d heard Hoss and Pa talkin’ about Savannah one day and they’d said that as much as her pa had tried to protect her she had developed quite a reputation anyhow. I’d asked Hoss about it later but all he’d done was turn red as a beet and tell me to mind my own business. Anyhow, whatever reputation meant, I knew pa wouldn’t be happy about Adam being with her now. Alone. In Virginia City. In the middle of the night.

Hoss and I both looked at each other and grinned.

“Yeah, brother,” Hoss said, finally finding his tongue, “don’t you think you’d better get the pretty little lady back where she belongs?”

Adam’s eyes went completely black.

“I intend to do just that, Hoss,” he answered, “and then I’m heading straight home where I expect to find you two waiting for me in the barn!”

He took Savannah’s arm and the two hurried down the street toward her house. Even though I knew we had my oldest brother up a tree, I still couldn’t help but feel just a little bit anxious.

“You don’t think he’ll tell on us, do you Hoss?” I asked.

“Not unless he doesn’t mind Pa finding out about what he’s been up to,” he answered.

We managed to make it over to the horses without bumping into anyone else and headed for home. The long scary night was starting to catch up with me and by the time we got into the yard, I was bone tired. Hoss looked in worse shape than I did. I’d at least gotten a little bit of sleep. After we took care of the horses, we both flopped onto a pile of straw to wait for Adam. As tired as I was, I couldn’t fall asleep because I was worried about what Adam would say when he got back.

“Hoss, what if Adam had permission to start seeing Savannah again?” I asked, suddenly worried.

“Little Joe, even if he did,” he answered, “it wouldn’t be in the middle of the night. Don’t you worry about big brother. He’s in just as deep as we are.”

“You don’t think he’ll try to stop us from making that delivery, do you?” I asked.

You know, if I spent as much time worrying about getting into trouble before I did the thing that got me in trouble, I’d probably get in trouble a lot less often. I’ll have to add that to my list of things to think about.

“What delivery?” Adam said coming into the barn.

Hoss and I both shot up and moved as far away from him as possible.

“Now, Adam,” Hoss spoke up, “just give Little Joe here a chance to explain before you do anything he’ll regret.”

“Gee, thanks, Hoss,” I said rolling my eyes.

“Don’t mention it, little buddy,” he answered, “I’m right behind you.”

Somehow I would have felt a whole lot safer if he were right in front of me. Anyway, it took about half an hour for Adam to drag the story out of me. I probably could have told it faster, but I had to stop every time he started hollering. Of course, I left out a few teensy details here and there. Hoss noticed, but he didn’t seem to feel inclined to point them out. I finished my tale and then Hoss and I sat back down to wait for judgment.

Adam was fuming. He paced back and forth for a while, and I almost wished he would just punish me so that I could go to bed. Almost.

“What I ought to do is take that horse whip over there,” he said, “and use it to beat some sense into the both of you.”

He sighed and then turned away from us crossing his arms. After a few minutes his shoulders slumped, and I knew then that we were safe. Apparently punishing us wasn’t worth getting himself in trouble. Neither of us had actually said we would tell on Adam if he did anything to us, but it wasn’t exactly something that had to be said-he just knew.

“I hope you two understand just how dangerous this situation is,” he said without turning around.

“I think he knows how dangerous his situation is,” Hoss whispered to me.

I couldn’t help but giggle and Adam whipped around.

“This is no laughing matter,” he said angrily. “Those men are dangerous!”

He sighed again and rubbed his hand roughly over the back of his head. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.”

~~~

As I’m sure you can imagine, we all slept in the next morning. Or at least we tried to. It seemed that Pa was finally feeling well enough to come to the table for breakfast and he hadn’t been too happy to learn that his sons had not only skipped their chores, but that we weren’t even out of bed yet. He had Hop Sing come and wake us up with instructions for us to be downstairs and dressed in ten minutes. Thankfully, we’re all pretty quick when we need to be. We settled around the table in just under seven minutes looking only a little worse for wear. Adam’s hair was sticking up in a few places, plus he hadn’t shaved, and Hoss had a big red pillow mark across his cheek. Thankfully nobody could see that I only had one sock on and that my long johns were inside out. I don’t recommend wearing long johns inside out by the way. They’re itchy enough wearing them the regular way.

“Well,” Pa said, giving each of us a long look, “I see you’ve all been enjoying yourselves while I’ve been recuperating.”

Adam started to say something but changed his mind and reached for the coffee instead. I thought it might be a good idea to try change the subject.

“Pa, all the chores got done yesterday,” I said and gave him a winning smile.

“Yes,” he answered. “Our foreman came over this morning while you were in bed and wanted to know if it would be all right if the new ranch hand did his own work this morning or if we still needed him to cover yours.”

I should have stuck with the subject we were on. Pa, Hoss, and Adam were all glaring at me and in an act of desperation, I decided to choke on the piece of toast I was chewing. That ended up working against me though when Adam slapped my back much harder than was necessary. Hoss almost drowned in his water glass he was trying so hard not to laugh.

“Adam,” Pa said after we’d all settled down.

“Yes, sir,” he answered.

“I’m still not able to be up and about much, so I’m counting on you to make sure these two,” he said gesturing to me and Hoss, “get their ‘own’ work done and stay out of trouble.”

Adam suddenly looked very tired, but he answered sensibly. “Yes, sir.”

I would have almost felt sorry for him if my back wasn’t still stinging. We finished breakfast and Hoss helped Pa back to bed. Hop Sing brought him some tea and mixed a good amount of his medicine with it. Pa was out like a light after just a few minutes.

Hoss and I met in the barn waiting for Adam once again.

“Okay,” Adam said clapping his hands together as he walked in, “I was going to ask the new ranch hand to do our chores today, but since it seems that’s already been done we’re just going to have to do them ourselves. Quickly.”

There was no mistaking the tone in his voice and Hoss, and I wasted no time in getting busy. Like I said, we can be pretty fast when we have to be and in record time we were done and on our way to Virginia City, praying the whole way that no one would notice all the shortcuts we’d used while doing our chores.

Adam had spent a good deal of time the night before going over the plan with us. Adam likes plans, especially when they’re his, so Hoss and I knew exactly what to do. We left our horses at the livery and walked over to the Hampton’s place. I don’t mind telling you that we were more than a little nervous. Mrs. Hampton was a nice enough lady, but her husband was one of those men that just doesn’t seem to like young people. He told Pa after church once that he thought children should be seen and not heard. Normally, Pa wouldn’t have agreed with him, but since I had developed a particularly bad case of hiccups during the middle of the sermon, he’d just nodded his head and steered me toward the buggy. Adam had decided that since he was the closest to being old, okay so those were my words, he would try and get Mr. Hampton outside to look over his barn design. Hoss was to keep Mrs. Hampton busy over tea, which she was sure to offer, and I was to sneak up to the attic and collect the key. You would think that should be simple enough. Think again.

~~~

Hoss and I waited behind a bush while Adam knocked on the front door. Mr. Hampton answered, looking as grumpy as usual, but he seemed to cheer up quite a bit when Adam told him how impressed he was with the designs on his barn. Mr. Hampton had been only too happy to take him out back and show him his work.

When they had walked around the corner, Hoss took his turn knocking on the door. He had to knock twice before Mrs. Hampton finally answered. Her apron and hands were covered in flour. She invited Hoss in, but he managed to keep her outside long enough, by asking about her rose bushes, so that I could sneak in ahead of them. I raced up the stairs and then took a minute to collect my breath. I guess if I’m going to be a detective someday, I’ll have to get used to all this sneaking around. Of course, Hoss says I’m already the sneakiest person he knows.

I wandered the halls for a little while and tried a few wrong doors before I found the one leading up to the attic. I climbed the rickety stairs as quietly as I could, but I had to push pretty hard on the attic door to get it open. It finally gave way and slammed nosily into the wall. I froze holding my breath and hoping that Hoss, could manage on his end of things. After I was sure no one was coming I looked around. I figured it would be a small, cramped attic like ours but, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. I was standing in what had to be the biggest room in the whole house and every single thing in there was covered with white sheets. I groaned and decided to start with the far, left wall. I lifted sheet after sheet and found just about everything you can imagine, except for a dollhouse. This guy must have been some kind of collector or something because he had a lot of weird stuff. I finally got down to where I had one small corner left to check and sighed as I grabbed the first sheet from an odd, shaped lump. I coughed as another shower of dust came down around me. After the dust had settled, I almost yelled for joy when I saw a large very realistic looking dollhouse underneath. I was just reaching to open it up when I heard the attic door slam shut from behind. I yelped and spun around.

“What’s taking you so long?” Hoss asked.

“Would you stop sneaking up on me?” I yelled, “And what are you doing up here anyway? Where’s Mrs. Hampton?” I looked around him nervously.

“She had to go into town,” he said.

“And she left you here alone?”

“No, I followed her out and then snuck back in to see if you were all right.”

“Well, I’m fine,” I answered, still a little miffed with him for scaring me to death.

I showed him the dollhouse and we walked around it looking for the key. Finally, Hoss elbowed me and pointed to the little front door. In the keyhole was the tiniest key I’d ever seen. I pulled it out and examined it. I could have fit ten more of them in my hand just to cover my palm, that’s how small it was, and it was crystal clear with a teensy diamond carved on the top. I grinned at Hoss. He was looking a little nervous.

“Joe, I just don’t feel right about this,” he said, “I don’t care what Adam says, Pa would call this stealing.”

I rolled my eyes and tried to explain things to him one more time.

“Hoss,” I started, “we’re gonna return this after Adam captures the bad guys, right?”

“Well. . . yeah,” he answered.

“Then it’s not stealing, it’s borrowing,”

“I know that’s what you and Adam are calling it,” he answered, “but I also know what Pa said the last time I ‘borrowed’ something without permission.”

“Would you quit worrying about Pa?” I snapped. “He’s never gonna know.”

“There, Little Joe, you see,” he snapped back, “Now I know I should worry ‘cause every time you tell me not to worry, that’s exactly when it is time to worry.”

We argued back and forth a few more minutes before Hoss finally gave in and we decided we’d better hurry and leave before Mrs. Hampton got back. I pulled on the attic door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Here, let me try,” Hoss said and pulled with all his might.

It was no use, the door was stuck solid. We both stood staring at it for what must have been five minutes before Hoss finally spoke.

“Didn’t I tell you it was time to worry?”

That started a whole fresh argument which wasted another ten minutes and got us absolutely nowhere. We decided to part ways and see if we could find something to force open the door. That’s when I noticed a window and came up with a plan.

“Hey, Hoss, look,” I said pointing excitedly.

He looked at the window, looked at me, and then round three of our arguing commenced. But, after trying the door one last time he finally decided to go with my plan. Well, part of my plan anyway. I thought we should tie all the sheets together to climb down, but Hoss found a rope instead. He tied the rope to a big heavy trunk and piled lots of other boxes and things on top of it so it wouldn’t slide. Hoss wanted me to go first but I convinced him that as the elder brother, it was only right that he should go first. I didn’t tell him the real reason was because if he fell, I didn’t want to be crushed. He climbed out the window and started down the rope and I followed after. We were about halfway down when I heard a crash and the rope started to slip. I guess our boxes hadn’t held very good after all. I thought for sure we were gonna die, but suddenly, the rope went taut as the crate hit the wall under the window. I lost my grip and fell, but Hoss managed to catch hold of my foot as I flew past him. He was holding onto the rope with one hand and me with the other and that’s exactly the position we were in when Adam walked around the corner with Mr. Hampton.

~~~

That Adam sure is a quick thinker. Faster than you can even blink, he grabbed Mr. Hampton’s arm and turned him toward a small corral where there were a couple of draft horses.

“Mr. Hampton . . . uh . . . I wonder if you would tell me about your horses,” I heard him say. “They sure are a couple of fine-looking animals.”

Even from my upside-down position, I could tell that the two horses were nothing but a couple of old nags. I said he was a fast thinker, I never said that what he comes up with makes a whole lot of sense. The amazing thing about my oldest brother though, is his ability to spout off a bunch of nonsense and have you believing it hook, line, and sinker. I’ve seen him do it a lot of times with Pa. Anyway, I couldn’t quite make out Mr. Hampton’s answer, but he did follow Adam over to the corral.

“Hoss,” I whispered, “we’ve gotta hurry.”

“I’ll say,” he gasped. “You’re heavier than a bucket of nails, you know that?”

He swung me over just a bit and I was able to catch hold of the rope. I shimmied down as quick as I could. With Hoss now above me, I was in a particular hurry and not without reason because, sure enough, he ended up falling the last couple of feet. He always does that. We signaled to Adam, who had been glancing over his shoulder frantically and waving us to hurry, that we were clear and took off around the side of the house. We didn’t stop running until we reached the livery.

“Little Joe,” Hoss said gasping for air, “how come every time I end up in one of your schemes it seems like I spend the whole time running?”

A few smart-alecky comments floated through my mind, but I didn’t have enough breath to use any of them.

By the time I could breathe again, Adam had joined us. He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, rocking back and forth on his heels. I took a step behind Hoss.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Hoss said, and pulled me in front of him.

“Hey, Adam,” I said, giving a little wave and forcing a smile on my face.

“Hey, Adam?” Adam repeated.

He was getting to be more and more like Pa every day.

“Just what part of the plan did you two not understand?” he asked, his voice getting louder with each word.

“It wasn’t me,” I squeaked. “Hoss is the one that came up to the attic and got us locked in.”

I felt a little bad shifting the blame like that, but Hoss is big enough to take Adam, I’m not.

“Now, Adam,” Hoss said, “just calm down. We got out all right and no one saw us.”

“No one saw you,” he repeated again, “and just what do you think is gonna happen when Mr. Hampton sees his attic window open with a rope hanging down the side of the house?”

He had been slowly moving toward us as he talked and we had been slowly backing away from him until we were now pinned against the wall. Hoss and I looked at each other, then at Adam, and shrugged our shoulders helplessly.

“Honestly, with you two as brothers it’s amazing, I haven’t gone to prison yet!” he yelled.

I knew I probably shouldn’t ask, but I did anyway. “Why would you go to prison, Adam?”

He got real close then and looked me straight in the eye. “For killing you,” he answered.

I gulped and scooted as close to Hoss as possible.

Well, after having to suffer through about another fifteen minutes of him carrying on, we finally left for home. By the time we got back it was time for lunch. Hoss was starving, but I mostly just wanted to go to sleep. If you remember, we hadn’t had much time for sleeping the night before and chances of getting any that night weren’t looking good either. Pa wasn’t up; I guess coming to the table for breakfast had set him back a little bit, so he wasn’t feeling up to joining us. It’s a good thing he didn’t too, ‘cause it wouldn’t have taken a genius to tell that we weren’t our usual selves. Adam grumped and grumbled through the whole meal; Hoss ate like it would be his last, okay, I suppose at least one of us was normal; and I almost fell asleep in my soup. When we finished eating, Adam suggested we take a nap and, for the first time since I was three years old, I didn’t complain. I trudged up the stairs and collapsed on to my nice soft bed.

I had a dream that I was being chased by a giant dollhouse that was searching for its missing key. Needless to say, I woke up covered in sweat and discovered that I had slept straight through to suppertime. I guess my brothers managed to get some sleep too, because we were all a lot nicer to each other during that meal. Hoss and I even helped clear the table after we’d finished eating. I was feeling kind of lonesome for Pa, so I decided to go and see if he was awake. I was happy to see him sitting up reading.

“Hi, Pa,” I said.

“Hi, son,” he answered with a smile.

Something about seeing his smile and him calling me son made me suddenly want to spill my guts, but I managed to hold it back. Pa must have noticed my look.

“Is there something you want to tell me, Little Joe?” he asked.

“No, Pa, there’s nothing I want to tell you,” I answered with a sigh.

I think that was the first real lie I’d told since this whole thing started, because a small part of me desperately wanted to just get everything off my chest. Years of practice helped me to ignore that small part, however. I sat with Pa for a few minutes but found that I had so many secrets I was keeping that there wasn’t much I could talk about without giving myself away. I told him goodnight and left the room feeling kind of sad. All of a sudden, I couldn’t wait to just be done with this whole mess.

Hoss and I tried to play checkers for a while, just like Adam tried to read the paper, but we were all too nervous. Finally, we told Hop Sing we were going to bed, and we all met in Adam’s room to wait until it was time to go. For some reason, he had lost confidence in Hoss and I to carry out our end of the plan and he went over it so many times that I was sure I would still be able to quote it word for word to my future grandchildren. It really was a nice plan. It’s too bad we didn’t get to use it.

~~~

Later that night, we tied our horses just outside of town and then we split up. Hoss and I headed over to the school with the tiny key and Adam went to the mill to wait for us. I was shivering a little bit as we hid behind some trees near the school. Whether it was because of the cold or because I was nervous, I’m not sure. I had one of those funny feelings you get sometimes when you’re just sure something’s about to go wrong. I should have trusted my instincts. At exactly eleven o’clock, there was no sign of Graham. We waited for another ten minutes before Hoss decided we should maybe check around the front. We didn’t find Graham, but we did notice a little pile of rocks near the porch. Underneath the top rock was a piece of paper fluttering in the breeze. Hoss grabbed the note and as he read it his face turned an odd color.

“Let me see it,” I said taking it from his hands.

Boys,
You are in grave danger. I can’t explain but you must meet me
at the Bucket of Blood Saloon no later than eleven-thirty.
I’ll be upstairs in the second room to the right. Trust me!
Graham

I let my hand drop to my side and gaped at Hoss.

“Come on, we’ve got to hurry,” I said pulling at his arm. “The note says we’re in danger.”

“Little Joe, we can’t go in a saloon,” he whispered, “especially . . . upstairs!”

“Why not?” I asked. “It’s just a bunch of bedrooms up there, isn’t it?”

Hoss’s face went from a chalky white to cherry red in about three seconds flat.

“Well . . . yeah,” he stammered, “that’s just the point.”

“You don’t make any sense at all,” I answered. “Now come on.”

“Little Joe, we’ve gotta go tell Adam about this,” he said. “He’s waiting for us over at the mill remember?”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t know about this note saying that we’re in danger.” I argued. “We’ll tell Graham about Adam when we get there. Now come on.”

Hoss moved like he had rocks in his boots all the way over to the saloon and I was just sure we were gonna be late. We snuck through the back door easy enough. It was wide open, and the cook was snoring away over in the corner. Hoss poked his head out of the kitchen door to check the main room.

“I don’t know about this Little Joe ,” he said. “There’s sure an awful lot of people in there.”

I could tell Hoss was gonna chicken out, so I did what I thought I had to. When he turned his head to check around the corner again, I slipped around him and before he could grab me, I was halfway across the bar. I managed to make it to the stairs by staying low and ducking under tables as I went. There were a bunch of chairs piled up next to the stairs and I hid behind them waving for Hoss to join me. Would you believe he tried to get across the room the same way I did? I mean he was bigger than half the men in that room and sure enough he’d made it about two feet before he bumped into a fellow carrying a bunch of drinks. He spilled the stuff all over Hoss and then hollered at him something fierce. After that, everyone in the bar was staring right at him so he stood up straight and cleared his throat.

“Sorry about that, mister,” he said making his voice go real deep. “I’ll just step over here out of the way.”

“Oh, brother,” I thought.

He had almost made it over to the stairs when someone from across the room called his name. It turned out to be one of Hoss’s buddies that he palled around with sometimes.

“Hey, Hoss,” he shouted, “your old man let you out, did he? Come on and join us.” Hoss looked toward me desperately and I shook my head no.

“Sorry fellows, not tonight,” he shouted back.

But they weren’t going to take no for an answer. Two of them got up and practically dragged him over to the table. I could tell they weren’t planning on letting him go anytime soon. I waited a few more minutes trying to decide if I should come up with some kind of distraction, but before I could come up with a plan, I was the one that got distracted. One of Hoss’s friends waved the bartender over and, very loudly, ordered a bottle of the finest whisky. The man brought over a big bottle that looked just like Pa’s medicine and a bunch of little tiny glasses.

“Cheers,” the fellow said, handing Hoss a drink and raising his glass.

I could hear Hoss trying to make up some excuse, but the other guys all started laughing at him, asking him if he was afraid and stuff like that. I thought for sure Hoss would get up and leave. I never in a million years would have guessed he would take a drink, and I don’t know which one of us was more shocked when he drank that whisky, but he sure did have a coughing fit. His friends laughed at him some more and patted him on the back.

“Okay, guys,” he gasped, “I really have to go now.”

That didn’t work any better than the first time he’d tried to leave and before you could say, “Jack be nimble” he’d downed another glass which brought on an even stronger coughing fit. It sure didn’t look like the stuff tasted very good to me. Hoss started acting kind of funny after that and I just shook my head sadly as I watched him have a third glass. I looked at the clock above the bar and was startled to see that it was eleven forty-five.

I decided I would have to leave Hoss for now and go meet Graham by myself. I would have been better off joining Hoss at the table drinking whiskey, but I didn’t know that then , so I waited until I was sure no one was looking and ran up the stairs.

Looking down the long hallway I suddenly couldn’t remember if the note had said the second door on the left or the second door on the right. I checked my pockets and then remembered that Hoss had the note. I crept slowly down the hall and stopped and looked back and forth between the two doors, I finally decided to knock on the one to the left. I turned and raised my hand and that was when someone grabbed me from behind. I would have screamed, but they covered my mouth and dragged me into a dark room down the hall. My hands and feet were bound in seconds and a gag tied around my mouth. I struggled the best I could until whoever was holding me slapped my face hard. I was as scared as a rabbit cornered by a fox and boiling mad all at the same time. They tied me to a chair and I could hear somebody walking toward me from across the room. They struck a match and lit a lantern, slowly turning it up.
“Hey, kid,” the man said with a crooked smile, “The name’s Lee. I’m afraid Graham won’t be able to make it.”

Lee shoved a smelly rag over my face and then everything went black.

~~~

I woke up a little while later and tried to open my eyes. After a few minutes I realized that my eyes actually were open, it was just so black that I couldn’t see anything. The last thing I remembered was that skunk making me drink some kind of nasty liquid and then everything got kind of fuzzy after that.

I couldn’t quite think straight for some reason, but I was pretty sure I was alone wherever I was ‘cause I couldn’t hear a sound other than some water dripping from somewhere. It was pretty cold, and I guessed that I was in some kind of cave. My hands were untied and thankfully the gag was out of my mouth; that stupid rag sure had made me thirsty. I started to feel around to see if I could find where the water was coming from and that’s when I bumped into a body. That’s right, I said a body! I screamed and tried to back away but ended up tripping over what must have been legs. I slowly felt along the ground and when I found a wall, I scooted as close to it as I could, hugging my knees to my chest. At that particular moment, I didn’t think anything in the world could be scarier than being trapped in the dark with a dead body. I was wrong. The only thing worse than being alone with a dead body is being alone with a live body, as I found out a few minutes later, when a horrible moan came from the corpse. I felt my blood run cold when it started to stir, and I did the only sensible thing to do under the circumstances. I started hollering for all I was worth, as a matter of fact, I yelled so loud that I was hurting my own ears. After a minute or so, I finally quit screaming, not because I wasn’t scared anymore, but because the body had grabbed me and put its hand over my mouth. You would think that I might have put two and two together at that point, but it had been a really long night and like I said, I was half crazed with thirst.

“Little Joe, would you quit that racket?” came Hoss’s voice.

I thought it was a little odd that the dead body should have Hoss’s voice.

“Where are we?” he asked, his words sounding a little slurred, “and. . .ugh. . .I don’t feel so good.”

I found myself being suddenly dropped and the body that talked just like Hoss ran a few feet away and lost its dinner. That’s when it dawned on me that the body really was my brother Hoss. I wondered for a moment how he could have died. I did tell you that Lee had given me something nasty to drink, right? Well, whatever it was had not only made me tired, but I wasn’t thinking very clearly either. You may have noticed that already.

“Hoss,” I said, “What are you doing here? Pa’s gonna be really mad when he finds out your dead.”

“Little Joe,” he answered, coming back over and falling onto the ground, “whatever it is you’re talking about, can you talk about it quieter? I’ve got an awful headache.”

Come to think of it, I had a headache too and I was feeling a little woozy.

“Well, Hoss,” I answered, lowering my voice a little, “we’ve got to get out of here. Lee could be back any minute.”

“Little Joe, I’m perfectly comfortable right here,” he answered and tried to lean on my shoulder. That’s when I got a whiff of his breath and that alone was enough to clear my head.

“Good grief, Hoss,” I said pushing him away. “You stink!”

“Yeah,” he answered with a groan, “and I don’t smell so good either. Come on, we’ve gotta get out of here. That smell is making me sick.”

I’m telling you we were quite a pair. We bumbled around for a few minutes making sure to steer clear of the area where Hoss had lost his. . . well, you know. It was no use though because we couldn’t see a blasted thing.

“Hey, Little Joe,” Hoss said after a minute. “What in tarnation am I doing here? And where are we?”

“How should I know?” I answered. “Lee poisoned me with something and the next thing I knew I woke up here.”

“Lee, huh?” he questioned, sounding puzzled. “That’s right, I seem to remember seeing Lee leaving the bar. I must have followed him and I think at some point he hit me on the head and knocked me out ‘cause my head sure is aching something awful.”

“Well, quit whining and find us a way out,” I snapped.

Being locked up in a dark, smelly place was not agreeing with me and I was pretty sure that if I didn’t get out soon I was going to explode.

Thankfully, that didn’t happen. What did happen though was much worse.

Hoss and I both heard a loud sound like rocks scraping together and whipped around. There was a dim light coming from an opening in the wall. We hadn’t been in a cave at all. Apparently, we were inside of the secret canyon cave where Hoss and I had gotten the second key.

“Hello, boys,” Lee said. “I thought you might be ready for this.”

He tossed a canteen in my direction, and I dove for it. I had guzzled down half the container before Hoss yanked it away from me.

“Slow down,” he said. “You’re gonna make yourself sick.”

I took a good look at my brother and could tell that he didn’t have to worry about getting sick because he already was. He was squinting against the light and his skin was kind of pasty. There was dried blood on his forehead which meant he must have been right about getting knocked out.

“What do you want with us, mister?” Hoss asked rubbing his head gently.

“I don’t want anything from you,” Lee sneered, “just the boy.”

“Say goodbye to your brother, Little Joe,” the man sneered.

“No!” I shouted but try as I might I couldn’t get my feet to move.

“Mister, this doesn’t make any sense,” Hoss stammered. “If you were going to kill me, why wait until now?”

“That’s exactly what I was wondering,” came another voice I recognized.

My heart lurched as I heard the click of a gun and Lee suddenly went still.

~~~

“Just set her down, nice and easy,” Adam said.

Lee twisted his mouth into a snarl. He was boiling mad, but he did what he was told and carefully set the gun on the ground.

“Now, move over to the corner,” Adam said, waving his gun in that direction.

“Who are you?” Lee huffed.

“Well,” said Hoss with a grin, “I’d like you to meet our other brother, Adam.”

“Another brother,” the man said with disgust. “How many of you are there?”

I started to tell him that the three of us were it but Adam cut me off.

“We’re not answering any questions, mister, until you answer some of ours.”

“Look,” Lee said, pasting a fake smile on his face, “I was just giving the kid a hard time. I wasn’t really gonna shoot the big one over there.”

“You were too,” I shouted, giving him an angry glare.

Adam turned and gave me a look that said shut up and, in that split second, Lee made his move. He punched my brother hard in the stomach and in a flash had taken the gun and had it pointed at Adam. Hoss took a couple of steps toward him while I just sat there staring like a ninny, but Lee cocked the gun and fired a shot in the dirt next to his feet. Hoss stopped moving and put his hands in the air.

“As I was saying,” Lee sneered, “the boy will be working for me from now on. I guess I will have two forms of incentive to motivate him. Unless one of you decides to try and be a hero, that is.”

“What do you want with-” Hoss started, but he didn’t get a chance to finish.

This time, we all froze to the sound of two rifles being cocked.

“Drop it!” shouted a big man.

“Pete, Slim,” the man stammered, “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“You shut your mouth you filthy weasel,” said the one I guessed to be Slim on the count of his being so skinny. “Wait till Boss hears about you betraying him.”

I don’t mind telling you, I was more than a little nervous when Lee started chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” Pete asked, glaring at him.

“You thinking I would set out on my own and leave him alive is what,” Lee answered.

He gave them a cold smile and I watched as it dawned on the other two just what he was saying.

“You mean he’s dead?” Slim asked in shock.

“You killed him?” Pete stammered.

“That’s right,” Lee answered. “Took care of him before I left. Looks like you boys are working for me now.”

I watched Pete and Slim as they stood facing each other, looking very confused. Something told me they were going to fall for Lee’s story and if they did, that would mean big trouble for me and my brothers. I looked around for something, anything, that might help us, but it was hard to see in the room, what with there being only one lantern. That’s when it dawned on me. If I could somehow get to the lantern and snuff, it out, then my brother’s and I might be able to make a run for it.

“What do you have planned?” asked Pete, slowly lowering his rifle.

Lee stepped forward and the three started talking. I took a chance and scrambled for the lantern. Picking it up, I swung it hard against the bookcase. It wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done. The kerosene from the lantern splattered all over the musty old books and instead of putting out the flame, I started a bigger one. At least I’d managed to create a distraction, I thought, before the room exploded in confusion.

I’ve never seen Hoss and Adam move so fast in all my life and I’d never seen either of them in a full-on fight before. I didn’t know what a good thing I was missing. Both my brothers are both pretty big fellows and, of course, Hoss is a force to be reckoned with at any time. I knew there was no way I could fight any of those men, but I managed to dodge my way around most of the scuffling, collecting guns as I went. The room was filling with smoke pretty fast as the fire grew and the man abandoned the fight to try and put out the flames. I noticed Pete had Hoss pinned in a corner, and I took one of the rifles and swung it hard at his back. It gave Hoss enough of a break to land a few good punches. I hit him once more with the butt of the gun and he fell to the ground in a heap. Hoss and I both turned to Adam who had just finished laying Slim out cold.

It was too early for us to celebrate yet, though. Lee, who had just finished putting out the fire, had one last trick up his sleeve. Well, it was actually a gun. He pulled it out and aimed it at me!

“I’ve changed my mind, kid,” he said, “You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

My eyes grew wide and the last thing I remember hearing before a shot rang out was Hoss yelling my name.

~~~

Everything was black. I couldn’t see. I was floating in darkness, but from somewhere in the distance I could hear the sound of a voice. The voice was calling to me, pulling me back to the ground.

“Little Joe, wake up now, Little Joe,” Hoss said.

Groaning, I slowly opened my eyes.

“Hoss?” I questioned, “Lee, he . . . he.”

“You’re fine, Little Joe,” Hoss said softly. “You fainted.”

“I what?” I snapped suddenly feeling very much awake.

“That’s right, Little Joe,” said Hoss, “thankfully the sheriff got here just in time and shot the gun out of Lee’s hand.”

You’re probably feeling just as confused right now as I was back then, so I’ll back up and explain it to you the way Hoss told me it happened.

The sheriff, during his rounds that night, had noticed our horses tied up. As he’s a pretty good friend of my pa’s and knew that we probably shouldn’t have been in town so late at night, he began looking around and asking questions. Hoss’s friends from the bar told him about Hoss leaving to follow Lee. He wasn’t able to find Adam, but he did notice two shady characters, Slim and Pete, heading out of town. On a hunch, he decided to follow them from a distance and had arrived up in the secret cave just in time to save me from getting shot. I guess when I heard the gun go off I . . . well . . . dog-gone it I was tired, thirsty, and all shook up from the fire and the fighting, so you can’t really blame me for passing out. I still say it was partly ‘cause of whatever Lee had made me drink. Anyway, I sure was glad to see the sheriff. We helped him get the three criminals into town and it wasn’t until after they were locked in a cell that I started to worry about how we were going to explain all of this. Honestly, I was a bit more worried about what the sheriff would tell my pa.

“Well, boys,” the sheriff said setting his keys on the desk, “it would seem that you have some explaining to do.”

Hoss, who was sitting in a chair holding his head didn’t even look up. The sheriff had sent for the doc to come take a look at him, but he hadn’t arrived yet. I looked at Adam and gave him my, “please help me, I’m your baby brother,” expression. He rolled his eyes and then turned to the sheriff, clearing his throat about six times before he finally told him what happened. I noticed he never mentioned why he had been in town, or about me and Hoss going out the attic window at Mr. Hampton’s, or about Hoss drinking in the bar. My oldest brother is real good at giving just the right amount of information. I’ve learned a lot from him.

“That’s the craziest story I’ve ever heard,” the sheriff said when Adam had finished.

“But I’m telling you it’s the truth,” Adam pleaded.

That’s about the time the doc arrived, and Adam got a small break from being questioned. After the doc had finished, he told Adam that most of Hoss’s headache was caused from having too much to drink and that he just needed a good night’s rest. Adam and I both cringed and looked at the sheriff. He was looking at us too and I tell you, his look was enough to send chills down my spine.

“I’m not even gonna ask about Hoss’s drinking if that’s what you two are looking so worried about,” he said. “I’ll leave that particular line of questioning to your pa. But I do have a few more questions about the men in those cells. For instance, why in tarnation were they trying to kill you?”

That’s when the sheriff looked straight at me. I gulped and tried hard to think like Adam. I guess I needed more practice, ‘cause I ended up telling him all about breaking into Mr. Hampton’s and stealing the tiny key. When I finished, he looked just about ready to blow his top and I turned to Adam for help. I saw that he had taken a seat next to Hoss and was now holding his head too.

“Well, you boys sure have been busy, haven’t you?” the sheriff said folding his arms across his chest.

He paced around for a minute and then marched back toward the cells, but not before telling us we had better not move a muscle. We waited for what seemed like forever while he talked to the prisoners. I was getting pretty bored and trying hard to stay awake. Hoss had given up trying and was snoring softly with his chin resting on his chest. Adam looked like a cannon about to explode and started pacing the room. He wandered over to the sheriff’s desk and picked up the little key, turning it around in his hands.

“Seems like a whole lot of trouble for something so little,” said the sheriff, coming back in. “Well, from what little information I could gather from them,” he nodded his head toward the cells, “it seems you boys stumbled onto something pretty big. I’ve got wanted posters on both Slim and Pete. Don’t know much about that other one though. He’s shut up tighter than pickle jar.”

I was feeling pretty excited that we had helped to capture real, live, wanted criminals, but what the sheriff said next had me jumping up and down like a little kid.

“Oh . . . yeah, I guess I should tell you that there’s a reward for the capture of those two. Quite a bit of money too,” he said scratching his chin.

I turned to Adam, about ready to bust, and then stopped when I noticed that certain look in his eyes. He had a plan.

Adam turned that look toward the sheriff and I decided to just sit back and watch the master at work.

“Sheriff,” he began, “don’t you have an election campaign coming up?”

“Yes,” he answered, looking a bit confused, “what’s that got to do with anything.”

“Well, I think if we cooperate we just might be able to help each other out,” Adam said with a grin, “How would you like me to run your campaign for you?”

“That’s right nice of you to offer,” he said, “but if you think that’s gonna stop me from talkin’ to your pa, then you’ve got another thing comin’.”

Up until now I had thought for sure there was no way we’d get out of this with our hides intact, but with Adam now working on the sheriff, my hopes started to rise.

“Now just hear me out,” he tried again. “My brothers and I want to stay out of the limelight if it’s at all possible. But you bringing in three desperate criminals would look pretty good to the people of Virginia City.”

I watched the sheriff’s face. He wasn’t looking quite convinced yet. I sent up a silent prayer that Adam’s charms would convince him. I’m not sure if God answers those kinds of prayers, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to try.

“If it hadn’t been for you, those men wouldn’t even be in those cells right now so there is nothing wrong with you taking the credit for their capture,” Adam added.

He still didn’t look convinced, so I tried crossing my fingers.

“And as for the reward money,” Adam continued, “we would be happy to donate it towards your campaign.”

At first, I was mad at Adam for suggesting that, but when I thought about having to face pa, I realized the money wasn’t worth it. Besides, I had eleven gold coins at home just waiting for me.

“So,” Adam said, “you get credit for capturing wanted fugitives, money for your campaign, plus a campaign manager and all you have to do is save yourself a trip out to see our pa by letting us handle things at home in our own way.”

“Adam, I just can’t do that,” he answered and my heart sank. “It wouldn’t be right. It’s not that I want to get you boys into trouble, but your father’s a personal friend of mine. He wouldn’t take too kindly to me takin’ your side against his.”

We were doomed, Adam had failed. I had never before in my life seen my oldest brother lose when he set out to get something and it just figured that the one time he did was the time it was going to hurt me just as much as him. Or so I thought, it turned out he wasn’t done just yet.

“Sheriff, you do know that Pa is laid up right now with a bad back, don’t you?” he asked.

“Yeah, I heard about that. Too bad, I hope he starts to feelin’ better soon,” the sheriff answered.

“I don’t think it’s going to help his recovery any to find out that his sons were almost killed trying to help capture a bunch of criminals,” Adam continued. “That was our plan after all. Little Joe here was just being used by those men.”

He waved his arm toward me, and I must say, I think I played my part very well. I already had a pitiful expression on my face, and I slumped my shoulders and made my chin quiver at just the right moment.

Well, with Adam and me working together, the sheriff didn’t stand a chance and he reluctantly agreed not to say anything to pa. This time! And, only as long as Mr. Hampton didn’t come in to report a burglary . Next, he woke up Hoss and gave us all a long-winded lecture about safety and responsibility. Hoss said he probably felt he had to do that to help ease his conscience.

Adam, Hoss, and I made it into our yard just as the sun was coming up and boy, were we dragging. I can’t remember a single time in my life when I’ve ever felt that tired. Hoss had moaned and groaned most of the way home and Adam told him that’s what he deserved for letting his friends talk him into drinking.

We put the horses up, then did our morning chores. We had them finished just before the time we would usually be getting up to start them. When we walked in the front door, I could smell Hop Sing cooking breakfast, but even though my stomach was rumbling, I was too tired to even think about eating.

“Well, boys,” came Pa’s voice and we all whipped our heads around toward the dining table, “what are you doing up so early?”

We just stood there, staring silently for a few minutes, before Hoss finally answered.

“Just finished up the chores, Pa,” he said with a sort of hysterical chuckle.

“Oh?” he questioned. “You boys have something you’re planning to do today that you needed to get them done this early for?”

That sounded like a good enough excuse to me, so I piped up, “Yeah, Pa. We’re goin’ fishing.”

Adam and Hoss both glared at me so hard that I thought it would be a good idea to move a little closer to Pa. I hurried over to the table and sat down next to him.

“Are you going to join us, boys?” Pa asked as Hop Sing started bringing in the food. The inside of my mouth still felt like cotton from whatever had been in that stuff Lee gave me and I must have drunk about six glasses of water. That filled me up, so I wasn’t hungry anymore. Neither were my brothers, especially Hoss. Pa kept looking around at us kind of concerned.

“You boys do look awfully tired,” he said. “Maybe it’s good that you take the day off and do a little fishing. I’m sorry I haven’t been much help to you. Little Joe, I hope you haven’t been giving your brothers any trouble.”

Adam and Hoss both started choking at the same time and it was my turn to glare at them. We managed to make it through breakfast in one piece and then left to “go fishing”. As I’m sure you can imagine, we didn’t catch many fish. As soon as we got to the creek, we all fell on the ground and I’m not sure about my brothers, but I was asleep before I’d even closed my eyes.

I had a very strange dream filled with pirates, and treasure, and keys, and something about a . . .

“Compass!” I shouted waking from my dream.

I looked around and saw Adam staring at me from over by a tree he was propped up against. Hoss was still out, snoring loud enough to wake the dead.

“Everything all right, Little Joe?” Adam asked.

“Oh . . . yeah,” I answered then stretched and gave a loud yawn. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten about that compass; it was still upstairs tucked away in my desk drawer. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to get home so I could look it over again. I wondered what all the keys could have been for.

~~~

Later that night, I slid under my bed and took out my secret treasures. I had the duplicate key, the compass, the piece of paper I had written the numbers and address on, and a small bag of gold coins. The sheriff had the other two keys that he’d confiscated from Lee and his men. I put everything away except for the compass and played with it for a while. I knew it was a clue to another key, but it didn’t make any sense to me. Finally, I put it away. I would have to invite my friend Mitch over soon and maybe together; we could figure it out. There was no way I was going to ask my brothers for help.

That night at dinner, for the first time in quite a while, things felt back to normal. Pa was getting much better and ate with us. Hoss had taken a bath and his headache was finally gone, and Adam even seemed to be in a good mood. I couldn’t believe how well things had turned out. I was rich, the bad guys were captured, and Pa didn’t know a thing about any of it. If I had known that not too long from now one of us would suddenly turn Judas and spill out the whole story, I would have headed for the hills.

~~~

Imagine my surprise when I ended up being the one to crack. Here’s how it happened, about three days after the whole ordeal we were sitting around the table poking nervously at our plates. Pa had been unusually quiet during the meal and my brothers, and I kept glancing over at him. Pa has several different types of quiet and this was the type that let us know one of us was in trouble. I was pretty sure that if Pa had found out anything about our adventure that we wouldn’t even be sitting down eating right now, so I racked my brain trying to come up with anything else one of us might have done wrong. I glanced again at the food on my plate; my goose was cooked perfectly but I was too worried to eat. It wasn’t until Hop Sing brought out the apple pie that Pa lowered the boom. I wish he would have waited until after we’d actually eaten the pie, ‘cause as soon as he started talking, I lost my appetite.

“Boys,” he began, looking real serious, “I found out something today.”

I tried hard to look not guilty, but I figured if my face had gone as white as my brother’s just had, it was a hopeless cause.

“Now, you boys know me well enough to know that if you confess, and tell me the truth that things will go easier on you,” he continued.

Of course, Pa focused his gaze on me first. I’m not exactly sure what it was that made me snap. Maybe, the fact that I had been holding so many secrets inside that I was near to bursting anyway, or the fact that his look had me terrified, but I ended up telling him everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. I told him about my first meeting Lee, and about Hoss getting drunk, and even about Adam being in town with Savannah. I think I even told him everything me, Hoss, and Adam had eaten in the past week. Pa never interrupted me, just sat there quietly.. My brothers however, looked as if they were going to be sick.

I finished my tale and glanced anxiously around the table. From the looks I was getting, I figured I was gonna be in for a long night. Finally, Pa stood up and walked into the kitchen. I wondered for a minute if he was getting a knife to kill us with. When he came back, he was holding something in his hands that looked frighteningly familiar.

“I found this behind the house,” Pa said, setting a box on the table, and then looking to me said, “Little Joe, this is what I was asking about just now.”

Adam and Hoss both gasped and I felt all the breath I’d been holding leave my body in a rush. Pa took a small piece of old newspaper out of the box and unwrapped one little firecracker.

“Are these the firecrackers I told you to get rid of over the summer?” he asked.

I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded my head very slowly. I was feeling so weak, I was afraid it might fall off if I shook it too hard.

“Very well,” he said setting the box aside, “We’ll discuss that later. Now, about this other story you’ve just told me. I want you to tell it again, slowly, and from the beginning.”

I learned something very important that day and that was to never confess to anything unless you know what it is you’re supposed to be confessing. Stupid firecrackers.

I looked at Adam and Hoss, hoping against hope that one of them would take over, but they had both dropped their heads into their hands and wouldn’t even look at me. Telling the story, the second time was much harder than the first time. Mostly because Pa kept stopping me to ask questions and I kept stopping myself every time his face started to turn a dark red. My brothers ended up helping me out a little bit because Pa kept asking them questions too. Finally, it was all out in the open and I sat back feeling more spent then I had after that long night a few days ago. Pa just sat there for a while, like a pot simmering on a stove, and we all waited silently for him to boil over. Instead, he quietly told me and Hoss to go up to our rooms and that he wanted to see Adam outside. Hoss and I made our way slowly up the stairs and would you believe that big galoot tripped? He tripped over his own feet and went crashing back down the stairs, through the banister, and onto the floor. He immediately grabbed his leg and started hollering somethin’ awful. Pa looked him over and decided, that since his foot was turned at kind of a funny angle, we’d better have the doctor take a look at it. Adam and I both volunteered to go, a little too anxiously, but Pa said he didn’t want either of us going anywhere near Virginia City, so he sent one of the ranch hands instead. By the time the doc left that night it was pretty late, so Pa told us to go to bed and he would deal with us in the morning.

Well, as I’m sure you figured, Hoss got off the easiest. I talked to him about it later and he said that because he’d mostly been an unwilling participant, as Pa put it, and because he ended up with a broken ankle, that Pa hadn’t thought it necessary to punish him any further. Although he said Pa gave him a fierce lecture about giving in to temptation and the dangers of drinking. Hoss asked me to check his ears for blisters, but they must have been on the inside ‘cause I couldn’t see any.

Adam didn’t get off so easy. You see, Pa had just signed a deal to sell some of our lumber to a big company in Sacramento and if he had his way, Adam would be personally chopping down every tree needed to fill that contract. Pa usually gets his way. Hoss and I figured he’d finish the job just in time to get snowed in for the winter, but at least he still had his skin. I watched him ride out of the yard toward the hills that first day and I’m pretty sure I did see blisters on the back of his ears. I felt a little bad for him and decided that as soon as I was allowed to leave the yard again, I would go up to the secret cave and see if any of those old books had survived the fire.

Me being the youngest, I got the worst of things, well that and the fact that most of the whole mess had been my idea. I was lucky Pa didn’t take me out to the barn, although I didn’t feel too lucky after he took all but one of my gold coins and said I had to use that one to buy Hoss a birthday present like I’d started out to do . He’d said it wouldn’t be fair for Hoss not to get a present just because I didn’t deserve to be rewarded. I think I’m gonna get Hoss that épée after all, but since I’m not sure just what Pa will think of that idea, I’m waiting to order it until he starts smiling at me again.

I went into town with Pa a few days later. He made me apologize to Mr. Hampton and give him one of the coins to make up for his missing dollhouse key and the mess we’d left. Mr. Hampton didn’t say much, but he frowned at me the whole time and I decided after we left that I wasn’t really sorry after all. I was smart enough to keep that information to myself though. Next, we stopped by the jail and Pa made me wait in the wagon while he went inside. I’m not sure what went on exactly, but Pa sure did do some yelling. He and the sheriff made up eventually and we found out from him later that Pete, Slim, and Lee had all been sent to prison. I’ve decided that as soon as I become a real detective, I’ll make finding out what they were all after my first case, after all, I still had a lot of the clues in my possession.

Thankfully, me and my brothers have the type of Pa that doesn’t hold a grudge and things eventually returned to normal, although it was a long time before the three of us saw any place other than our own yard for quite a while. I asked Pa when we’d be able to go into Virginia City again and he said not till the cows come home. Since we just finished moving them all up into the high pastures, I knew it would be a while.

It was a few months later that I had a strange dream during the night. A lot of time had passed, and I was much older. I was on a ship somewhere in the Pacific ocean and Hoss and Adam were with me. In my right hand were two keys and in my left hand was the compass. I turned to the man standing beside me and it was none other than Lee himself. We were going on another adventure filled with mystery and danger.

I told Hoss about my dream later and he said that if I was smart, I’d go bury the compass and keys somewhere where no one could ever find them. Of course, I didn’t. I wonder if dreams really do come true.

To be continued . . .