Summary: Little Joe’s misadventures continue when he once again finds himself face to face with an old nemesis. This story is a continuation of “The Misadventures of Little Joe Cartwright ~ Book I” and includes many references to that story but can be read as a stand alone :0)

Rated: PG

Word Count : 34,602

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 II 

If anyone ever tells you that dreams don’t come true, then I, Little Joe Cartwright, have got a story that just might change their mind. The whole thing started on my twelfth birthday. I came down the stairs feeling pretty good about myself. Pa was sitting behind his desk looking at me kind of sentimental like. When I asked him about it, he said he was just surprised at how fast I was growing, but if you ask me, I think he was really just surprised that I had managed to make it to eleven in one piece. I know my brothers were ‘cause they both told me. After supper that night, Pa finally gave me my birthday present. I’d known for a week that it was a rifle since my brother Hoss can’t keep a secret to save his life, but it was exactly the kind I’d been hoping for. A real rifle; not just a little squirrel rifle, like he’d gotten me when I was ten, but a real hunting rifle.

Now if you know my pa then you know that rifle came with a long, really really long, lecture on safety and responsibility. I think I did a pretty good job of sitting through the whole thing, considering I’d already heard it once before. That was when Hoss got his first rifle. Pa’s rules were pretty clear. Never hunt alone, keep your gun clean, never hunt alone, keep your rifle locked up when you’re not using it, never hunt alone. Did I mention the one about never hunting alone? I’ve had that rule rattling around my brain since before I could even talk. I also knew the consequences of breaking that rule. Having two brothers older than me does have its advantages and, every once in a while, I actually learn something from their mistakes. Well, later that night as I started to sneak out of my window . . . Okay, so this story isn’t about one of the times I learned from their mistakes. Anyway, my best friend Mitch and me had decided to celebrate our birthdays, since his is just two weeks after mine, by spending the night in that creepy, hidden cave me and my brother Hoss had found. How we found that cave is a whole other long story.

As I said, I had started to sneak out of my window, when I suddenly remembered that I wanted to show Mitch my new rifle. That meant I was going to have to sneak down the stairs. Now, that may sound easy to you but trust me, going out my window was much safer. My brother Adam is a real light sleeper, and there are a few places in the hall where the boards squeak when you step on them. My pa can wake up out of a dead sleep when he hears one of those creaks. Both of my brothers have offered to fix them a hundred times, but Pa says he likes things just the way they are. Thankfully, I know where all the creaks are and I’m pretty good at getting over them. There’s one particular spot though that’s real wide, and of course it’s right in front of Adam’s door. I stood in front of my window for a few minutes trying to decide whether I should just forget the rifle or not when I heard someone whispering my name.

“Hey, Joe,” said a voice I recognized.

I looked outside and saw Mitch standing behind some trees, waiting for me, so I put one leg out the window, deciding to just leave the rifle. I should have known that would be too easy.

“Do you have the rifle?” he asked.

I sighed quietly and pulled my leg back in. I figured one of my brothers must have told him I was getting it, the bigmouths.

“Hold on,” I whispered back to him. “I’ll have to go get it.”

“Well, hurry up will ya?”

Even though he couldn’t see me, I rolled my eyes. It was a new habit I had developed recently. Hoss had told me that it wasn’t very good for my health. I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant by that until I did it one day while Pa was giving me a lecture on keeping my boots clean. Needless to say, it’s a habit that I have been trying very hard to break ever since.

I opened my door just wide enough for me to squeeze out of and then stepped into the hall. My boots which, by the way were clean, were tucked into my pillowcase, along with a bunch of other stuff I thought we might need for our camp out. I started down the hall, dodging all the tricky spots, until I came to the one in front of Adam’s room and, of course, he was still awake. I hadn’t seen the light coming from under his door until I was right on it. I sucked in a deep breath and then, letting it all out, plastered myself against the far wall. Usually, the fact that I’m so scrawny really bothers me, but right at that moment it was serving me just fine. Inch by tiny inch I made my way around the creaky spot, and by the time I was clear of it, I was sweating like crazy. I was also pretty sure I knew why Hoss always seemed to get caught. He was way too big to make it across that trap. I made it past Pa’s room with no trouble and then used the banister, instead of the stairs, to get myself into the living room. I heard Adam telling Hoss once that Pa had purposely left loose boards all over the house just so he would know if one of us were up to something. Hoss didn’t agree with him, but after what I’d just been through, I was sure of it. I grabbed my rifle and, because I wasn’t thinking very clearly, a handful of ammunition. Once I was finally outside with the front door shut safely behind me, I was exhausted.

As I walked toward the barn to collect my horse, I thought about what Mitch and I had planned. I had already done most of my chores for the next morning after my brothers had gone inside for the night, and I figured Pa would let me off the hook for the few that weren’t done. I’d already told him I was planning a real early fishing trip with Mitch, so no one would be surprised when I wasn’t there in the morning. Now I hadn’t told a lie ‘cause Mitch and I really did have every intention of going fishing the next morning. I didn’t bother with Cochise’s saddle, but I slipped on a halter and lead, then met up with Mitch.

“What took ya so long?” he asked.

I was too tired to answer him, so I just shoved him instead. Mitch didn’t have his own horse yet so we both rode mine. I’ll never forget the ride that night. The moon was full, there was a soft breeze blowing, and my arms were covered in goose bumps in anticipation of our secret adventure. Of course, if I had known what kind of adventure was really about to start, I would have raced back up to my bedroom, creaks and all, and locked myself in.

~~~

Mitch and I were about halfway to the cave before we stopped to water my horse and light a lantern. Even though the moon was full, it would be pretty dark once we got inside the canyon. As soon as I had the lantern lit, Mitch started pestering me to see my rifle. I was really just as excited to show it to him as he was to see it, but I didn’t let him know that. Slowly, I raised it to the sky just the way all the knights do in my oldest brother’s books. It glistened in the moonlight just as good as any silver blade would have done. Mitch oohed and aahhed over it the way I’d hoped he would, and then he asked me if I’d shot it yet. Now, Pa had already told me that until he or my brother Adam had gone over a few things with me, I wasn’t to do any practicing, but I wasn’t about to tell Mitch that. In case you’re wondering why Hoss wasn’t on Pa’s list of people to teach me shooting, let’s just say it has something to do with me being so good at sweet talking that big lug of a brother of mine into things.

“I’m not gonna fire this rifle until there’s something worth shootin’ at,” I told Mitch, hoping he would just let it rest at that.

He nodded in agreement and, with a relieved sigh, I uncrossed my fingers from behind my back. We both climbed back on Cochise, who wasn’t real happy with me about bein’ out so late and made our way to the canyon. When we got to where it dead ended, I tied Cochise to an old log and unloaded a small sack of hay I’d packed for her. Mitch and I started climbing and about halfway up, we stopped, and I grabbed the lantern from Mitch. There’s a special rock sticking up from the ground that you have to kick pretty hard in order to open up the secret cave. My brothers and I had been up to the cave so many times since discovering it that the path leading up the side of the hill was clear of any brush, and I found the rock easily.

When the hidden door above us slid open Mitch jumped and scooted closer to me. This was his first time up here, and I hadn’t been helping matters much by telling him how spooky it was. I might have even mentioned something about it being haunted.

“Joe, you sure you don’t just want to camp down by the horse. I mean what if a mountain lion comes around or somethin’?”

I rolled my eyes for the second time that night and jabbed him with my elbow. “What’s the matter? You chicken?”

That worked. You should have seen him puff himself up, and he started climbing so fast, I had to run to catch up with him, and running up hill isn’t as easy as it sounds. We were both puffing pretty hard by the time we got to the top, so we dropped to the ground to rest for a minute before going inside. That’s when my stomach started growling something fierce and I asked Mitch to hand me a sandwich.

“I thought you were bringing the sandwiches,” he said.

“No,” I answered. “I was supposed to bring my leftover birthday cake. You were supposed to bring the sandwiches.”

I didn’t bother telling him that I’d forgotten the cake. I guess it was a good thing we were planning on fishing the next morning, after all.

We both decided to ignore our grumbling stomachs and head inside. Mitch still seemed pretty scared. Looking back, asking him if he’d ever seen a dead body probably wasn’t the smartest thing I’d ever done. It took about fifteen minutes, but I finally convinced him there weren’t really any dead bodies inside, and he agreed to go in, only if I would go first. I laughed at him and then turned toward the entrance. All of a sudden, I got this creepy feeling, the kind that starts out in the pit of your stomach and runs all the way through you, until even the hair on the back of your neck stands up. To this day I’ll never know why I didn’t pay attention to that feeling and turn around and head for home. But having my best friend standing next to me, there was no way I was going to back out, so I took a deep breath, stepped inside, and that’s the last thing I remember until the next morning.
The first thing I noticed when I finally woke up was that I had a really bad headache. The second thing I noticed was a strong smell, kind of like real dark coffee mixed with kerosene, and unfortunately it was a smell I recognized.

“Hey kid,” came a familiar voice.

I swallowed hard and looked up into the face of none other than Lee himself.

“Did you miss me?” he asked, turning his lips up in a sneer.

“You and I have unfinished business,” he said, taking a swig from a huge jug. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about you, and those . . . brothers of yours. And you’ll be glad to hear that I’ve decided not to take my revenge out on you, yet.”

I still couldn’t do much besides sit there and stare at him. Lee was the reason Hoss and I had found the secret cave, and it hadn’t been under the best of circumstances. At the time I’d thought I was just running a few errands in order to earn some gold coins. Yes, I said gold coins. Anyway, that’s a whole ‘nother story. Last I’d heard he and his two sidekicks were in prison. But here he was, standing in front of me. Well, actually he was sitting.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, trying hard to keep my voice steady. I had a feeling I knew what his answer was gonna be.

“I need you to run a few errands for me, kid.”

I was right. You know I really hate it when people call me kid, but it sounds even worse when Lee says it. The way it comes out, sounds like he’s talking about something he stepped in and got stuck to the bottom of his boots. Suddenly I wasn’t scared anymore. I was mad.

“Well, you can just find yourself another, kid,” I said, and I could feel my face turning red. “I’m not gonna do anything for you.”

“Oh you’ll help me alright,” he said, reaching into a knapsack sitting next to him and pulling out a knife.

That helped to cool my temper a little bit. I was worried over nothing though, ‘cause next he pulled out and apple and started slicing himself some pieces. I shook my head when he offered one to me.

“Look around, kid,” he said after a minute. “Do you see anything missing?”

I didn’t know what he was talking about but, for some reason, my mind immediately went to my rifle. My eyes grew wide as I looked around frantically, but no, it was leaning up in a corner across the room, along with the fishing poles Mitch and I had brought. That’s when it hit me.

“What have you done with Mitch?” I demanded, all my anger returning, in spite of the knife. I felt my stomach sink as a slow smile spread across his face.

“Oh, he’s somewhere safe. I have a few of my men looking after him. And the ones that aren’t, well . . . they’re keeping themselves busy watching over that big ranch of yours.”

I gulped when I realized what he was really saying. He had my friend and my family, and there was no way I was going to put them in danger. I was defeated and I knew it.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked.

Lee smiled again, and this time when he offered me a piece of apple, I took one.

~~~

As I made my way toward Virginia City, I tried to think of a way that I could get out of this mess. Lee had promised me that he would let Mitch go as soon as I did what he asked. I was pretty sure he would keep that promise, because there were other things he wanted me to do after my first errand. Plus, a missing kid would get everyone within fifty miles all worked up, and I knew he didn’t want that to happen.

But another thought was making me uncomfortable as I made my way toward Virginia City, and that was the fact that I was alone and carrying my rifle. I hadn’t really thought about my pa noticing it gone the next morning, but even if he had, Mitch could have vouched for me that I hadn’t used it. I know, thinking of myself at a time like that wasn’t the most noble thing to do, but hey, I wasn’t even twelve years old yet.

I wasn’t really nervous about the assignment Lee had given me until I hitched Cochise outside of Sheriff Coffee’s office. That’s when the butterflies came, and my stomach started doing flip flops.

You see when all this started over a year ago, Lee had been after some keys, maps, and who knows what else. Well, everything he had on him got locked up in the sheriff’s safe when Lee and his men got captured. If you’re guessing that my first assignment was to get that stuff, you guessed right. I stood outside the door to the sheriff’s office for a while trying to think of a way to get him out so I could get in, when a ruckus across the street caught my attention. It seemed there was a brawl going on in one of the saloons and a chair had just coming crashing through the front window. I stepped to the edge of the boardwalk to get a better look and it’s a good thing I did because the sheriff and his deputy came crashing out the doors a minute later and ran across the street. It took me a minute in all the excitement to remember what I was doing there in the first place, but when I did, I hurried inside. I checked the cells first. There was one fellow in there, but from the way he smelled and his loud snores I didn’t think he was going to be a problem. I checked out the window and looked across the street real quick and didn’t see anyone. I figured they must be settling up inside. I figured I’d have at least five minutes before the sheriff or his deputy came back. I went over to the sheriff’s desk and reached for the top drawer where I knew he kept an extra set of keys. Now, don’t go getting concerned, it’s not like they were just laying in there open for anyone to grab. There’s a false back in the drawer that opens up to the keys. How I know that is . . . well, another story.

Anyway, getting back to this one. I grabbed the keys and unlocked the cupboard where the safe is kept. It only took me a minute to spin the combination, and then the door popped open. Knowing the combination to the safe is part of the same story I mentioned earlier. Everything had gone good up to then, but I hadn’t known the safe would be such a mess. It was stuffed full of papers, and pouches, and pistols and all kinds of junk. I couldn’t hear anything out in the street anymore, which meant I needed to hurry. As fast as I could, I shuffled papers and opened pouches. I was starting to sweat even worse than when I’d snuck out the night before, and my heart felt like it was gonna pound right out of my chest. I was just about to give up, when my hand brushed an envelope with something hard in it. I took a chance and opened it. It was my lucky day. Shoving everything back in the safe, I slammed the door and locked the cupboard. I jammed the envelope into my pocket and headed for the desk to put the keys back. That’s when I heard a clamor on the steps outside, and my body went cold all over. I had just enough time to put my hand behind my back before Sheriff Coffee came in.

“Oh, hey there, Little Joe,” the sheriff said. “I didn’t know you were in town. Is your pa over at the bank?”

My tongue was in too many knots for me to speak. Thankfully, my body seemed to remember what to do, and I found myself shaking my head.

“Oh, well, I haven’t time to talk to him just now anyway. There’s a real mess to clean up across the street. You tell your pa I said howdy, and that I plan to come out and see him sometime this week.”

I started to shake my head no again but caught myself just in time and nodded instead. I think it was about two whole minutes after he left before I started breathing again. My legs were a little wobbly, but I managed to make it over to the desk and get the keys back in place. When I went outside, the sheriff was just coming back across the street from the Doc’s. I figured whoever was fightin’ must have gotten hurt pretty bad, since they’d gone over to the Doc’s first instead of the jail. I smiled at him as he made his way past me, and he grinned back and pulled my hat down over my eyes. He never did ask me what I was doing in his office.

~~~

Cochise and I made it back to the canyon in no time flat. She can run pretty fast when I really want her to. When I got back inside the cave, Lee was sittin’ in front of a small fire, roasting some kind of meat on a stick. He didn’t even turn around to make sure it was me before he spoke.

“Just set it over there,” he said pointing to a small stool.

I started to do like he said, when all of sudden I got really brave, either that or really stupid, I’m not sure which.

“Not until you let Mitch go,” I said.

Lee did turn around then, and I noticed his eyes were all blurry and red. He got up and sort of staggered in my direction. He had a bottle in one of his hands and I figured he’d had too much to drink. He started to say somethin’ but then grabbed his head, like it was hurtin’ real bad.

“Alright, have it your way,” he said.

I watched as he went across the room to an old bookcase and pulled on a burnt book. The bookcase opened and there was Mitch huddled inside the tunnel behind it. I should have known that’s where he was keepin’ him, but I hadn’t been thinking to clearly.

I called Mitch to come, but Lee stopped him. “The keys first,” he said.

I pulled out the envelope and tossed it over to him. He managed to catch it while Mitch slipped past him. We both turned to leave when Lee’s voice stopped me.

“You can go for now,” he said, “but don’t forget I’ve got more for you to do.”

My shoulders sagged and my heart started pounding hard in my chest again.

“I’ll be letting you know, when the time comes.” Lee turned back to his fire and started digging through the envelope.

“Come on, Joe, let’s go,” Mitch said.

Mitch’s voice sounded so scared that I started to feel real bad about him bein’ caught up in this mess. I’d told him all about the adventures my brothers and I had had over a year ago, but I don’t think he ever really believed me. But after what he’d just been through, I figured he’d never doubt me again. I remembered at the last minute to grab my rifle and we high tailed it out of there.

Mitch and I didn’t talk again until we were out of the canyon. I knew from the position of the sun that it was way past the time Mitch and I were supposed to be back. My stomach was churning something fierce, and I remembered that I hadn’t had anything to eat since the slice of apple Lee had given me that morning. Mitch must have noticed the sun too, cause his voice sounded real worried when he talked to me a minute later.

“Joe, you need to just tell your pa what happened. Maybe, he and your brothers can come back with the sheriff, and . . .”

Mitch must have seen the horrified look on my face ‘cause he stopped talkin’. Now, I know you’re thinking that I should just come clean, that I couldn’t have known Lee was there, and that him forcing me to break into a safe wasn’t my fault. The problem was, I was pretty sure my pa wouldn’t see it that way. At least most of it. He’s always telling me and my brothers that we make our own choices, and I knew just what he would think about most of the choices I’d made since last night. I knew what I thought of them, and I wished like anything that I could go back in time and just stay in bed.

~~~

As luck would have it, no one was home when Mitch and I got back. Hop Sing said something about a problem with the cattle over in the north pasture before he headed into the kitchen to get our lunch. Once he was out of the room, I gave my rifle a quick polish and had just finished putting it back in its place when Hop Sing came in with a plate of sandwiches.

“So, what are you gonna do about Lee?” Mitch asked a little later around a mouthful of his third sandwich.

I thought about it for a minute then shrugged. Truth be told I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do. I had enough sense to know that he was dangerous, but at the moment I was feeling more annoyed then cautious.

After lunch Mitch and I were both feeling pretty restless, so we decided to get a start on the evening chores, and before we knew it, we’d not only done mine but my brothers as well. I figured just in case Pa noticed my rifle missing that morning, it wouldn’t hurt to have a few extra chores done. If I’d had any sense, I would have known that all doing those extra chores would accomplish would be to tip him off. After the chores were done, Mitch and I were still restless, so we decided to head into the kitchen for a snack. I distracted Hop Sing while Mitch snatched a handful of cookies then we both darted up to my room. Mitch flopped down on the chair by my desk, and I laid down on my bed, hanging my head over the side.

“Do you still have all that stuff you collected from Lee last year?” Mitch asked me before stuffing a whole cookie in his mouth.

Funny, but I hadn’t thought about all that old junk in a long time. I slid onto the floor and under my bed. I had to wade through all kinds of stuff to get to my secret compartment. Mitch had joined me under the bed now, but I made him turn away while I got the stuff. A boy has to have his secrets, even from best friends. Mitch looked over my treasures. I still had the old map, two keys, and the compass. Lee had never found out that I’d had copies made of the keys and I was pretty sure he didn’t even know about the compass.

“What’s the writin’ on the back of this compass say?” Mitch asked, turning it toward me.

My eyes rolled up toward the ceiling as I tried to remember. “Somethin’ like, north, south, east, west . . .” the words started slipping out as they came back to me. “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’s that supposed to mean?” Mitch asked me.

“I’m not sure,” I answered, taking the compass from him.

We both slid out from underneath the bed and sat on the floor. Mitch was still looking over the old map, while I worked on polishing the compass. A minute later, Mitch and I jumped a mile when we heard the front door slam. I dropped the compass, and we watched in horror as it hit the floor and broke. The whole back had come off and Mitch and I each picked up a piece and examined it.

“Hey,” We both said at the same time . . .

Mitch and I looked at each other in surprise and then quickly traded our pieces of the compass. On the inside of the back cover was more writing, just like the front side. But inside the front cover is what was capturing my attention. In the middle, was the tiniest key I’d ever seen. I pulled it out real careful and held it up to the sunlight coming in through the window. Now, I’d only seen real gold a handful of times, but I was pretty sure the key was made of it. The whole thing was only about half the size of my little finger, and I wondered what such a small key could possibly open.

“What do you suppose this means?” Mitch asked, breaking my train of thought as he held up his piece of the compass.

I handed Mitch the key to look at while I examined the writing. Just like the other writing, it was in French. I was dying to know what it said, but the ranch hand that had translated the front for me didn’t work for us anymore. He’d said he was gettin’ too old to be ranchin’, and my pa gave him some money and he took off, for warmer weather, he’d told us.

“Well. Do you know what it says?” Mitch asked.

“Nope. It’s in French.”

“Wasn’t your ma French?”

I started to roll my eyes but caught myself. “Just because my ma was French doesn’t mean I can speak the language,” I said. “’Sides I was real little when she died.”

Mitch nodded and sighed. “How are we gonna figure out what it says?”

He must have caught me looking at him kind of funny cause he added real quick. “You are gonna let me in on this, aren’t you?”

“Of course, if you want to,” I told him. “But you do remember how I told you things turned out last time, right?”

He grimaced and handed me back the keys. “Yeah, maybe I better not.”

I like Mitch, after all he is my best friend, but I was kind of glad he chickened out on this one because the partner I really wanted was Hoss, and I knew that if Mitch was involved it would give Hoss even more reason to try and get out of it. Mitch and I both turned when we heard someone on the stairs, and I quickly gathered everything up. I had just finished shoving it back under the bed, when Adam showed up.

“And what are you boys up to?” he asked, folding his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

“Just sittin,” I said, trying my best to look innocent.

“Humph,” Adam said, standing up straight. “I noticed all the work you did in the barn, and that tells me you are definitely up to something more than just . . . sittin’.”

He turned and gave Mitch one of his deadliest big brother glares. I could see Mitch starting to squirm, so I quickly darted in front of him and blurted out. “Was there something you wanted?”

Adam looked back to me, then nodded. “Yes, it seems Mitch’s pa needs him to come home tonight instead of tomorrow.”

I glanced at Mitch, who was still looking slightly petrified. You’d have to have experienced one of my oldest brother’s looks in order to know just what he was feeling.

“Oh, everything is alright,” Adam reassured Mitch. “Your ma has a little cold, and he wants you to be near the house in case she needs anything.”

Mitch had to shake his head a few times before he could remember how to talk.

“I . . . I better go then,” Mitch said, standing up to leave. “I’ll see you later, Joe.”

“Wait, I’ll give ya a ride,” I said, hopping up.

“I’ve got a horse all saddled up for him,” Adam said, holding out a hand to stop me. “I’ll swing by and pick it up tomorrow,” he continued, turning to Mitch.

“Well, I’ll ride along with him then,” I said, trying to move around Adam.

I’ll tell you, sometimes he’s just a like a big old rock in the way when I’m trying to get somewhere, and this was one of those times.

“No,” he said. “You and I have something we need to talk about.”

I felt my heart fall into my stomach. I had a whole list of things I’d done wrong since last night, and I didn’t know which one he knew about, but whichever it was things weren’t going to be pretty. Mitch gave me one last sympathetic look before he left, and then Adam turned and shut the door.

“Pa’s downstairs,” he said, turning back to face me.

When just that statement didn’t seem to frighten me, he folded his arms across his chest and stared at me real hard, but I’d learned my lesson a long time ago. Don’t confess unless you know what it is you’re supposed to be confessing. I just stood still, waiting for him to go on. He seemed to sense that I wasn’t going to talk first, so he did.

“Joe, when I got up this morning your rifle wasn’t there. Do you care to tell me where it was?”

I knew the answer I wanted to give him would probably only serve to hasten my demise, so I just shook my head instead.

“You’ve only had that rifle one day,” he continued. “I would think you’d have more sense by now, than to go and break Pa’s rules on the first day.”

I figured I’d better start pleading my case before he had me convicted and sentenced. “I didn’t shoot it honest.” I blurted out. “You can even ask Mitch. He just wanted to see it, so I brought it along. But I never shot it.”

He looked at me real close for a minute and then must have decided I was telling the truth because he started nodding.

“Alright, you didn’t shoot it,” he said. “But you still knew that Pa wouldn’t want you taking it along with you this morning.”

I couldn’t help it; I swallowed hard and started tugging at my collar. I’d completely missed the fact that he’d said, this morning, which meant he didn’t know I’d snuck out last night. One point in my favor. He surprised me with what he said next.

“I won’t say anything, this time,” he said. “But if you ever pull a stunt like that again, you won’t get off so lucky.”

I wasn’t the least bit worried about a next time, because I determined that this one would be the last. My rifle was safe, and I had every intention of keeping it that way. Of course, you know what they say about the best laid plans . . . Anyway, after Adam left, I was so relieved I flopped down onto my bed which ended up not being too comfortable considering I still had the compass in my back pocket. I pulled it out and tried to see if I could read any of the words. Ever since the last adventure I’d had, I’d been working on trying to learn some French. My brother Adam knows some and he’d been trying to teach me but considering he’s not the most patient teacher in the world, and I’m not necessarily the best student, we hadn’t made much progress. I sighed and tossed the compass toward the end of the bed, right as Hoss came into my room.

“What’s this?” he asked reaching for the compass.

I managed to shoot up and grab it before he could. I knew that at some point I was going to have to let Hoss know about what was going on, but I wanted to wait until just the right moment.

“Where’ve you been?” I asked him, trying to change the subject.

He looked at me suspiciously for a minute then answered. “Pa and Adam had to go take care of a problem with some stray cattle,” he said. “Pa sent me into town to pick up some supplies and send a wire.”

“And?” I said, smiling.

“And what?” His face started turning red, and I knew there was story coming.

“And what else did you do while you were in town,” I asked.

“Well, I might have gone to the Silver Dollar for a drink,” he answered.

“Go on.” I sat back on my bed and folded my arms.

He checked over his shoulder, then shut my door.

“Well, there’s this new girl there,” he started.

I managed to keep myself from rolling my eyes. Hoss is forever talking about girls, but that’s about all he ever does. It’s not that he doesn’t want to meet a girl, it’s just that he’s kind of shy about bein’ so big and all. He thinks girls won’t like him the way they do Adam. I keep tellin’ him he’s crazy and that any old girl would be happy to have a guy like him, but he’s still too shy. I was only half listening as he continued to talk about sparklin’ eyes, and curly hair until something else he said caught my attention.

“And she has the cutest little French accent,” he said.

“Does she speak French?” I blurted out.

He blinked in surprise for a minute then answered. “Yeah, I think so, but, “

“Hoss, how would like to go to town tonight and meet that pretty gal?” I said.

Sure enough he started turning red again. I knew this was going to take some persuading and, after a half hour of practically pulling teeth, he said that if pa gave the okay for us to go into town that he would try and meet up with Jeannette.

Well, I had half the battle behind me, okay more like one third, so I headed down the hall. I was suddenly really glad that I had done all those extra chores. I thought about my approach as I made my way down the stairs and decided to go for the sympathy routine.

“Pa,” I said real softly as I walked to his desk. I made sure to keep my shoulders low and my face sad. “Mitch had to go home.”

“I know, son, I’m sorry,” he said, not even glancing up from his papers.

Okay, this was going to take some work.

“We were gonna go out riding, and,”

“You can still go out riding,” he interrupted. “In fact, why don’t you go now, and you can check on the cattle on the south side for me.”

It isn’t very often that I get the brush off during a sympathy routine, but pa’s had a lot of years to practice. I decided to switch tactics.

“Sure, Pa,” I said, “only Hoss will be disappointed.”

“How’s that?” he asked.

“Well, it seems he’s met some new girl, and he kind of likes her . . .”

Pa stopped working then and I finally had his full attention.

“I’ve been trying to talk him into going to see her, maybe asking her to come out here for dinner,” I continued.

Nothing gets my pa excited faster than when he thinks one of my brothers might have found a girl. He says it’s just ‘cause he wants them to be happy and that he wants grandchildren, but I think he really just wants them out of the house.

“I was thinkin’ of maybe goin’ with him to see her, sort of as moral support while he asks her to dinner,” I continued. “But if you’d rather I go riding . . .”

“And what does Hoss think of this idea?” he asked.

Gottcha.

“Oh, he said, he’d do it, if you didn’t mind him headin’ out tonight that is.”

“Well, I think that sounds fine,” Pa answered, smiling. “as long as you make sure that all you do is lend moral support, and not get in the way.”

I plastered a look of shock on my face. “Pa, you know me better than that,” I said.

“Yes, I know you better than you think,” he answered. “And just what is it you are getting out of this little arrangement.”

Dang it, but Pa’s smart.

“Just a chance to get away and be with my brother for a little bit,” I said, sliding my most charming smile on my face.

Pa must have been pretty desperate for Hoss to find a girl ‘cause he agreed to let me go, even though I knew he was still suspicious.

On our way into town, I kept my hand in my pocket fiddling with the compass. I kept glancing around, wondering if maybe Lee or some of his men were watching, and somehow knew that I had it. Lee didn’t stay on my mind very long though. I had bigger problems at the moment, like for one, that Hoss now had to invite some girl he hadn’t even talked to yet to dinner. I didn’t have the slightest clue how I was going to arrange that, but I was nothing if not determined.

~~~

“Alright, Hoss, now let’s go over this again,” I said. “When we get into town you go straight to the barber’s while I go buy you some candy for you to give her.”

I looked to make sure he was paying attention. His face was a little green, so I knew he’d been listening. We dropped off our horses at the livery and Hoss made his way, a little wobbly, over to the barber’s. I knew he was really nervous when he handed me twenty five cents to buy candy with. I got her gumdrops, ‘cause I figured a girl would like all the pretty colors. I spent the rest of the money on a bag of lemon drops for me and a handful of marbles. I figured Hoss wouldn’t mind, since after all I was getting him set up with the newest girl in town. I met Hoss outside of the barber shop. I would have gone in, but every time the barber sees me, he tries to rope me into getting a haircut, and the only time I ever do that is when Pa makes me. I like it over my ears, but he doesn’t. He says he doesn’t want any of his sons looking like riverboat gamblers. I personally don’t think there’s much of a chance anyone is going to mistake a scrawny kid in boots and a cowboy hat for a riverboat gambler, but I’m smart enough not to tell Pa that.

When Hoss came out, I gave a sharp whistle. His hair was trimmed and all slicked back real nice and smooth. He’d changed into a clean shirt and his nicest vest, and I topped it all off by pulling out Adam’s newest string tie.

“I can’t wear that,” Hoss said. “Adam will kill us both.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind you using it to court a pretty girl,” I said as I stood on a box to tie it around his neck.

“If you’re so sure he won’t mind then why didn’t you just ask him?”

“Well, no sense in taking any chances,” I said. “Besides, he was busy. Now there, don’t you look just fine.”

I turned him so he could see himself in the barber shop window and he smiled just a little.

“You got that candy?” he asked.

I gave him the little red and white striped paper bag and then gave him a shove across the street. He stopped at the doors before going in and turned toward me, so I gave him an encouraging wave. I managed to hold back my giggle until he went inside. After I was sure he wasn’t going to come running out again. I decided to sneak over and take a peek. Hoss was in luck, there were only three other men in the saloon and two of them were older than dirt. The other one was sound asleep with his head on one of the tables, so Hoss pretty much had the place, and the girls, to himself. I noticed a couple of them sitting around near the piano, but I figured from the way Hoss was staring like a moonstruck calf, it was the girl near the counter that had caught his attention. The trouble was he wasn’t doing anything but standing there. Every once in a while, she would look over at him, but he would turn the other way. I started waving and making little noises to try and get his attention. Finally, he looked at me and I motioned for him to go talk to her. He shook his head, and I knew a little brotherly motivation was going to be necessary. I started flapping my arms up and down, showing him that he was being a chicken. He glared at me then and started pounding his fist into his palm. Well, during our little game of charades two things happened. Inside, Jeanette had noticed Hoss making faces and gestures and was snickering behind her hand, while outside, Sheriff Coffee had spotted me. I was now squatted down below the batwing doors strutting back and forth and flapping my arms.

“Joseph Cartwright, what in the Sam Hill do you think you’re doin’?” the sheriff asked, grabbing me up by the back of my shirt.

“Uh, just gettin’ some exercise,” I told him.

“Oh exercise,” he said. “Well, why don’t you find someplace else to exercise ‘fore I tell your pa I caught you outside the saloon again?”

I smiled and took off around the corner, running into Sheriff Coffee hadn’t been part of my plans and I kicked myself for not paying better attention. I looked around the corner to see if he’d left and groaned as I watched him go inside. There was no way Hoss was going to talk to the girl with Sheriff Coffee around. He’s been a friend of the family since before I was born, and he has a way of keeping Pa informed of just about everything we do in town. Sure enough Hoss came out a few minutes later looking flustered. I trotted up to him, and I didn’t even have to ask what happened ‘cause he started hollerin’ the minute I was close enough to hear him.

“Why do I listen to you?” he ranted. “You’d think after eleven years of landin’ myself into one scrape after another, that I would know better.”

Since that was probably true I just nodded my head solemnly.

“You know who just walked in on me makin’ a fool of myself?” he asked, stopping in the middle of the street and putting his hands on his hips.

“Sheriff Coffee,” I ventured.

“Yeah, Sheriff Coffee. He came waltzin’ in just as I managed to spill an entire glass of lemonade all over Jeanette’s dress.”

“Lemonade?”

“It wasn’t for me. It was for Jeanette. I’d managed to ask her if I could buy her drink and she said she wanted a cold lemonade. She went and sat at a table while I got if for her, and I sort of tripped on the way back.”

I sighed shaking my head sadly. Why couldn’t anything ever be simple?

“How much money do you have on you?” I asked. I knew Pa had just paid my brothers that morning, so I figured he’d be loaded.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Well, I can deliver a message to her from you apologizing for ruining her dress and give her some money to go buy a new one.”

I didn’t add that it would also be the perfect opportunity for me to invite her to dinner.

Hoss considered it for a couple of seconds and then agreed. I knew he felt bad about the girl’s dress. We went over to the mercantile where Hoss asked Mr. Cass for some paper, and I wandered around the store while he wrote a note. It took him so long that I’d even looked at the fabric by the time he told me he was done. I watched him slip some money inside an envelope, along with the note and then seal it.

“How you gonna get this to her?” he asked as we walked out of the store.

I looked up and down the streets and saw that the sheriff was over by the livery talking to Lafe.

“You keep the sheriff busy and I’ll sneak it in,” I said, darting across the street.

“But, how am I spose to . . . Dadburn it!”

That was all I heard him say before I entered the alley in back of the saloon. I decided it would be too risky to go in the front, but the kitchen entrance was almost always open, and this time of day, the cook would probably be out or taking a nap. As luck would have it, the cook was out, and I walked right in.

I had just screwed up enough courage to sneak into the next room, and had rounded the corner when I ran right into, Jeanette herself.

“Well, and what do we have here?” she said with a heavy French accent.

I couldn’t talk for a minute I was so startled, but then she laughed and all my worries melted away. She was just about the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, and when she smiled at me, my heart was beating so hard I thought for sure it was going to pop right out of my chest.

“Can I help you, Mon petit, Cheri?”

Something about her voice triggered a vague memory I had of being called that name before, and I felt kind of funny inside.

After a minute I finally remembered why I was there, and I handed her the envelope.

“My . . . my brother asked me to give you this ma’am,” I stuttered.

“Your brother?” she questioned.

“Yes, Hoss. He was in here a few minutes ago. He’s real sorry about spillin’ that lemonade on you, and he wanted me to see if you would come to supper tomorrow night at our house.”

She looked kind of unsure, so I added real quick.

“Please, ma’am. Like I said, he feels real bad, and he won’t be able to eat or sleep or nothin’ if he thinks you’re upset with him.”

When she still didn’t answer, I pulled out my ultimate weapon. No woman, and not many men for that matter, had ever been able to refuse my puppy dog expression, and it worked like a charm on this lady too. Laughing again with that musical tone she had, she agreed.

“Oui, tell your brother I would be most happy to accept his . . . unique invitation.”

I gave her one of my biggest smiles and then hurried back out into the alley. That’s when I ran straight into Sheriff Coffee, again.

“I see my warnin’ earlier didn’t do a might of good,” he said putting his hands on his hips. “Boy, you just can’t keep out of trouble, can you? Come on.”

I had all kinds of excuses rolling around inside my head as the sheriff took my arm and hauled me out of the alley, but I was having trouble getting my tongue to work and couldn’t get any words to come out. I looked around frantically for Hoss and finally spotted him over in front of the saloon. He was peeking inside like he was looking for someone. That would be me. He turned for just a second and spotted me being dragged to the jailhouse then rolled his eyes and started over on the run.

Well, it took twenty five minutes of Hoss and I working together with pleading, promises, and tears before Sheriff Coffee finally agreed not to ride me out to the ranch. He’d been a little funny about feeling the need to tell Pa what we were up to ever since the whole incident with Lee last year. I can’t say that I blame him. Pa can be pretty scary when he’s mad if you’re not used to him. Sheriff Coffee gave Hoss instructions to tell Pa what happened, and Hoss agreed. For a second, I was boiling mad at him but then I saw that he had his fingers crossed behind his back, so I relaxed.

The ride home started out real quiet, but when we did start talkin’ things got heated pretty quick. For one thing, he was upset about sort of lyin’ to the sheriff and about not bein’ able to tell Pa the truth. Pa considers anything that’s not truthful a lie whether you actually tell it or just leave it out doesn’t make much difference. But you know, the Bible doesn’t say anywhere that leaving out the truth is a lie, I know, I’ve checked. I chalk it up to bein’ one of those rules you get to make just ‘cause you’re a pa. Kind of like, no running in the house, that’s not in the Bible either. Since Hoss was mad at me anyway, I decided it would be better to tell him about inviting Jeanette to dinner right off, that way by the time we got home he’d be cooled down. Well, he wasn’t real happy about that, and he let me know it, and by the time we got to the front yard my ears were burning. I don’t know what he was so upset about. After all, I’d really done him a favor. The fact that it was going to benefit me too was completely beside the point. I’d been planning to let Hoss in on my discovery about the compass that night also, but considering he wasn’t real happy with me along with the fact that he had something on me, I decided to wait for a better time. That didn’t stop me from thinking about things though. I just knew the message on that compass was gonna be something important, and I couldn’t wait until tomorrow night to find out what it was. I wish I’d known then what I know now, cause I would have buried the compass in about as deep a hole as I could find, and then set the hole on fire.

~~~

The next morning I spluttered awake as the water Hoss had thrown at me trickled down my face. I figured he was still a little upset with me over inviting Jeannette to supper. I figured wrong. He was a lot upset with me. Don’t get me wrong, Hoss is a great brother most of the time, but every once in a while, he gets in . . . a mood. If you can imagine, having Hoss mad at me made for a long day. I tried my best to get on his good side again. I only took one piece of bacon at breakfast, and I’d cleaned all the stalls for him before he even got to the barn, I even dug out his old coonskin cap that I’d taken from him months ago and gave it back, but nothing seemed to work. I couldn’t understand why he was so upset. He liked the girl and now she was coming for supper. I found out a little while later though. I was up in the loft feeling sorry for myself when my brothers walked in. It sounded like they were talkin’ about something real serious, so I ducked down and made sure to stay quiet. I’m not supposed to eavesdrop, and I knew I would be dead meat if they found out.

“I don’t know, Adam,” Hoss said. “I’m just not the kind of fellow that a girl like her would be interested in.”

I hoped they couldn’t hear me roll my eyes from my hiding spot. If that old girl didn’t like my brother, then she was just plain crazy.

“You’ve barely even talked to her,” I heard Adam say. “Look, just relax and be yourself. If she has any sense, she’ll see you for who you really are.”

See, Adam and I don’t always disagree.

“Ah, I’m just bein’ silly I guess,” Hoss said. “I don’t know why it’s so important anyhow . . . it’s just . . .”

I waited for him to finish and was just starting to wonder if they’d left when Adam spoke up.

“It’s just that you think she’s pretty special?”

“Yeah,” Hoss answered. “I’ve been watchin’ her for weeks now, and she’s real nice, and smart, and pretty, and . . .”

Adam laughed and then said something, but his voice was fading as they walked out of the barn so I couldn’t hear what it was. I thought about what they’d said for a few minutes. I hadn’t realized just how much Hoss liked this girl. Well, I made up my mind right then to make sure everything went perfect that night. It was the least I could do considering Hoss was about to help me out on another amazing adventure with me, even if he didn’t know it. I figured I could start helping Hoss with his girl by picking some flowers for him to give her, and the best girl flowers just happened to grow close to the canyon with the secret cave. I’d been planning to head over there and see if Lee was still around, and this gave me the perfect excuse. Lee had said he had men watching and I knew I would have to be careful. I was really hoping that since he had the keys now, he would have taken off in search of who knows what.

After I made sure the yard was empty, I saddled Cochise and headed out. I used a different route to get to the canyon, changing directions, and backtracking a few times. Hoss had been teaching me the best way to lose someone that was on your trail, and I used all of his tricks, just in case anyone was trying to follow. I didn’t find out til much later that someone was, and I only wish it had been one of Lee’s men.

~~~

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is following you? Well, I wish I’d had that feeling as I made my way into the canyon. It would have saved me a lot of trouble, but I didn’t and so I headed in unawares. There really isn’t anyway to sneak into a dead end a canyon and I knew if Lee was up there, he was going to know I was coming. I kind of wished I’d brought my rifle along, but I’d already had a close call and I didn’t want to push my luck any farther, besides Lee was a better shot than me anyway. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I should have just told my brothers or maybe even Pa what was going on, that this was just way too much for me to handle, and that I needed help. All I can say is that something had snapped inside my brain, and I was starting to feel like I could take on the world. Of course, it also could have had something to do with all the adventure novels I’d been reading. You can blame Adam for that. He came up with the idea that those kinds of stories would get me to like reading better. Boy was he right.

Anyway, I didn’t even try to be quiet as I climbed toward the cave, since I at least had enough sense to know that startling Lee would probably be a good way to get shot. It ended up that it really didn’t matter how much noise I did or didn’t make ‘cause Lee wasn’t there. The secret door was wide open and except for a couple of squirrels the place was empty. Me and my brothers had taken anything worth saving out of it a long time ago, so the things that were left were either broken or burned up from the fire. I squinted around, but it was too dark to see much, and decided I would come back later with a lantern in case Lee had left behind some clues. I got sort of an eerie feeling as I looked around the dark, empty space and backed slowly out of the entrance. I nearly jumped out of my skin a minute later when two of the largest hands I’d ever seen came out of nowhere and grabbed me. If you’re thinking that nobody has bigger hands than my middle brother, you’d be right.

“Hoss, what do you think you’re doing?” I yelled after screaming louder than any of the girls at school ever had.

Of course, he was laughing his head off. I didn’t find anything particularly funny about the situation, so I stomped around him and started sliding down to the horses. He’d tied his horse next to mine and that gave me an idea. Hoss probably would have followed me, but he was still laughing so hard, he couldn’t move. I reached the horses way before he did, and since I was still a little sore at him, I hopped on Cochise and grabbed Chubb’s reins. That got Hoss moving. You should have seen him come barreling down that hill, and by the time he got to the bottom I was laughing harder than he had been. I had planned to make him run after me all the way out of the canyon, but then I got to thinking about what he would do to me once he got his second wind, so after a minute or two of prancing around I gave him the reins.

“Joe, what are you doin’ out here anyway?” he asked once he mounted.

It only took me about two seconds to come up with an answer. “If you must know, I was comin’ up here to pick you some flowers for Jeannette.”

Well, that worked like a charm, and I could tell from the way Hoss’s face fell that he felt bad.

“You know, little brother, I have the hardest time figurin’ you out,” he said. “One minute I’m sure that you’re just usin’ me to accomplish one of your schemes and then the next you go and do somethin’ real nice.”

He looked at me for a minute with that puzzled expression that belongs only to him.

“Hoss, trust me,” I answered. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

“Yeah, but it’s what you’re doin’ for you while you’re doin’ for me that causes me to lose sleep at night, little brother.”

I decided to ignore that statement and stopped Cochise in front of a real pretty patch of wildflowers. Hoss and I spent a few minutes gathering up a bunch of them and putting them in an old gunny sack I’d brought along.

“What were you doin’ following me anyway?” I asked after a few minutes.

“I wasn’t at first,” he said. “I was goin’ to check a section of fencing when I saw you . . .”

I looked up when he suddenly got quiet.

“Dadburn it, I forgot about the fence. Joe, I gotta go do that. Can you get these back to Hop Sing for me and ask him to fix them up real nice?”

He was mounting up as he spoke and took off before I even had a chance to answer. Not that I minded, I knew he was in a hurry to get back so that he could get ready for supper. I might have even offered to go check the fence for him if he’d given me a chance. Anyway, I grabbed a few more handfuls of flowers just for good measure and had just finished tying up the sack when I heard someone clearing their throat behind me. My heart started sinking even before I turned around and confirmed what I suspected. Hoss wasn’t the only one that had followed me.

“What do you want Lee?”

“Now is that any way to talk to the man that’s going to make you rich?” he answered, holding up something too small to see, but that glimmered brightly in the sun . . .

~~~

I rode home as quickly as I could, trying to get rid of the thoughts Lee had planted in my head. I couldn’t work with him; the whole idea was crazy. I mean the man was a criminal. I realize that if you know me at all, you know that I have a weakness for treasure, jewels, gold, anything that buys you stuff really, but I would never turn into a criminal, at least not intentionally.

By the time I got back home, an idea of my own was starting to form in the back of my mind, but I had a lot of details that needed to be worked out first. I quickly took care of Cochise, grabbed the flowers, and threw them at Hop Sing as I ran toward my room. That’s as far as I made it before Pa got ahold of me, and no it wasn’t because I was running in the house. It was much worse. He wanted me to take a bath so that I would look nice for our guest. If I had known he was going to take things that seriously I never would have suggested the whole idea. Well, a half hour later, with a towel wrapped around my waist I tried to make myself stand still while Pa gave me a haircut. I was really starting to dislike Jeannette.

“Now, Joseph, I want you to be on your best behavior tonight. Your brother has enough trouble with young ladies without you interfering,” he said.

I was about to blurt out that if it hadn’t been for my interfering, the young lady wouldn’t even be coming over, but thankfully Pa slipped and nicked my ear just then and I forgot all about what I was going to say.

Well, after Pa finished scalping me and convinced me that I wasn’t going to bleed to death, I went to my room to dress for dinner. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wear my jacket, but Pa said I did have to wear my string tie. I hate those things. So does Hoss, but I was pretty sure he’d be wearing one too, so I didn’t complain too much. Honestly, girls are nothing but trouble.

After I dressed, I rummaged around under my bed for the compass, and then wrote down the words I wanted her to translate on a scrap of paper. I figured I would tell her it was for an assignment or something. My stomach was just starting to rumble when I heard a buggy pull up in the yard. I checked out the window and was glad to see that it was Jeanette. She was wearing a real pretty pink dress with white edges and carried a matching umbrella. I thought that was pretty silly, considering there was hardly a cloud in the sky, but girls are funny about things like that. I headed out my door at the same time Adam came out of his.

“Well, don’t you look nice,” he said.

I smiled.

“How many hours did it take Pa this time?”

I stopped smiling.

“Oh yeah,” I said, sniffing the air in his direction. “Well, at least I don’t smell like no field of daisies.”

I started running after that, but not fast enough to avoid a smack on the back of my head as I reached the stairs. My eyes grew wide when we got to the table. Hop Sing must have been excited about Hoss having a girl over too, because I hadn’t seen that much good, looking food since last Christmas. I just wish I’d know then that I would hardly get to taste any of it . . .

~~~

Supper started out calmly enough, everyone introduced themselves, and then we all sat down. I waited patiently for the food to get passed to me, while everyone filled their plates. Being the youngest can be tough for a lot of different reasons, but one of them is the fact you usually get served last, and with my two brothers . . . Well, you can probably guess why I’m so scrawny.

It didn’t take very long after we’d started eating to find out that Jeannette was not shy. In fact, she seemed to enjoy talking, and when she started talking, things started to get very interesting. Pa set her off by asking how long she’d lived in Virginia City.

“Only one month,” she answered in her heavy French accent. “I will be opening a hat shop before too much longer. The men in Virginia City are most generous.”

Hoss and I both started choking at the same time as she made that last statement. After I managed to swallow my carrots, I frantically tried to think of a way to change the subject, but it was too late. I could tell by the look on Pa’s face that he’d pretty much guessed what kind of work Jeannette did.

“Oh,” Pa said.

You know there’s a whole lot hidden behind that one word when my pa says it. It’s a question, statement, lecture, and warning all wrapped up together in one small package.

“Oui,” she answered as she batted her long eye lashes. “I should be able to order my merchandise within two months’ time.”

“Well,” Pa said, “you must be very good at what you do. Where do you work?”

“At the Silver Dollar, Pa,” Hoss answered for her. “During the day.”

He probably didn’t need to add that last part. I rolled my eyes and Adam snorted, but Pa actually looked a little relieved, and everyone relaxed again after that. I was just bringing a fork full of potatoes slathered in some kind of cream sauce to my mouth when Pa asked his next question.

“How did you and Hoss meet?”

The food wasn’t in my mouth yet so I couldn’t choke, but I did drop my fork. Hoss and I both looked at her desperately, but she was already facing Pa.

“Oh, he was most charming,” she said brightly. “He bought me lemonade and then he bought me this dress.”

Well, lemonade was probably a safe answer, but I sure wish she’d left off the part about the dress.

“He bought you a dress?” Pa asked.

“Oui. Well, I bought the dress, Hoss just provided the money. It was such a sweet gesture.”

I could tell by the look on Hoss’s face that he could tell by the look on Pa’s face that Pa had the wrong idea about why Hoss had given her money.

Hoss and I both started blurting things out at the same time, but out of the jumble of words Pa got the gist of what we were saying and relaxed again. Of course, Adam couldn’t leave well enough alone. He’d picked up on the fact that I was somehow tangled up in the whole mess.

“And I see you’ve met Little Joe also,” he said. “How did that come about?”

I was about ready to turn my fork into a spear when Jeanette saved the day.

“He played the noble messenger and delivered Hoss’s dinner invitation through the back kitchen.”

I chanced a glance at Pa to see his reaction. I wasn’t sure whether being in the saloon’s kitchen was a punishable offense or not, but he just smiled and reached for the rolls. I looked gratefully at Jeannette, and she gave me a wink. I was starting to warm to her. With a big grin on my face, I grabbed a roll and had just finished drowning it in butter when there was a knock on the door.

Pa looked at me and then toward the door. I almost rolled my eyes again but caught myself at the last minute and jumped up to answer the knock. I was surprised and a little worried to see Sherriff Coffee standing there. For a minute I wondered if he was there to check whether or not Hoss had told Pa about my being caught in the saloon.

“Hello, Little Joe. Your Pa home?”

Before I had a chance to answer, Pa came up behind me and reached out to shake the sheriff’s hand. “Roy, what brings you all the way out here?” he asked. “We’re just having supper; won’t you join us.”

The sheriff took off his hat and lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry, Ben, but I come out on business.”

I watched curiously as he handed Pa a piece of paper. I sort of looked over Pa’s arm and almost gasped at what I saw. It was a wanted poster for none other than Lee himself, and my eyes almost bugged out of my head when I saw that it was offering a thousand dollar reward for his capture.

“Seems he escaped a couple weeks back,” Sheriff Coffee continued, “and I just found out a few hours ago that my safe was robbed. The things I took off him when we captured him last year are missin’. I’d say it’s a safe bet to figure he’s in the area.”

I went a little weak in the knees at the mention of the safe and slowly wobbled my way back to the table. Adam had gotten up to join Pa and didn’t notice the look on my face, but Hoss must have ‘cause he was lookin’ at me real concerned.

Adam, Pa, and the sheriff went over to Pa’s desk after that. Hoss and I were real quiet, trying to see if we could hear anything. Jeannette was quiet also, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was listening too. They were too far away for us to catch anything but a few bits of conversation before Pa headed back toward the table. We all got busy acting like we’d been eating.

“Hoss,” he said, laying a hand on my brother’s shoulder, “I’m afraid that the sheriff needs Adam and me to help him get a posse together. “Jeannette, Hoss and Joe will bring you back into to town. With a criminal loose I wouldn’t want you to have to travel by yourself.”

“Joe!” Hoss gasped, “but, Pa, I can . . .”

“Take, Joe along with you,” Pa said, squeezing Hoss’s shoulder a little tighter.

“Yeah,” Hoss answered with a gulp and then let his shoulders droop.

I would have felt sorry for him if it wasn’t the fact that he was upset over having to bring me along. I wondered why Pa wanted me to go with him, but I’d have to ask later, because everyone was getting up to leave. I looked longingly at all the good food on the table and had just managed to stuff a roll into my pocket before Hoss yelled at me.

“Let’s go,” he said, and I hurried out the door after him.

I don’t remember a whole lot about that ride into town. Like I said Jeannette was a talker and she seemed to be getting along with Hoss well enough, so I let my mind wander. And wander it did. I was thinking back to earlier that day when I had talked to Lee.

“I’ll give you until midnight tomorrow to decide, kid,” he’d said.

I told him there was no way that I was going to San Francisco with him and that he could just forget it, but he reminded me that he had men working for him. Men that were watching my house and my family as we spoke. I’m not sure now why I didn’t listen to that little voice inside of me; the one that was telling me that Lee was bluffing, but I shoved it aside and paid attention as he gave me the details of his plan.

But now, after what I’d heard and seen back at the house, I was developing a new plan. One that would make me rich and get rid of Lee all at the same time. I was just trying to decide whether Mitch or Hoss would work best in my plan when we pulled up in front of the Silver Dollar, that’s when I remembered the note in my pocket. Hoss had already jumped down and was coming around to help Jeannette out, and I knew my decision had been made for me. Time was up and I didn’t want to chance missing out on this opportunity.

“Uh, Jeannette,” I all but whispered, “would you mind translating these lines for me? I need them . . . for uh . . . homework assignment?”

In the end it really didn’t matter how quiet I was trying to be because Hoss saw me give her the slip of paper. He frowned at me and then looked at her worriedly.

“What’s he askin’ you to do?”

Jeannette had already finished writing out the words and she held up the piece of paper, looking at it intently. I could just make the outline of her lips moving, as if she were repeating the words to herself. Before I could get too curious, Hoss snatched the paper from her and shoved it into his vest pocket.

“Just never you mind my little brother,” he told her. “He’s always got somethin’ crazy up his sleeve. You know how kids are?”

He shot me a dirty glance after that, and I could feel the heat rising up the back of my neck. Hoss helped her down and whisked her away before I managed to say anything, but I had an earful ready for him by the time he climbed back in the buggy. I had just clenched my fist and opened my mouth to let him have it when he turned to me, looking madder than I’d seen him in a long time.

“You knew ‘bout Lee bein’ around, didn’t you, you little varmint?”

Well, that caught me by surprise, and I spluttered for a few minutes while he steered the wagon down the street. It wasn’t until he rounded the corner into a dark alley and stopped that I started to get nervous.

“Now, Hoss, before you get mad . . .”

“Oh it’s too late for that, little brother. You knew Lee was around and you didn’t tell me? And what was that you were wantin’ Jeannette to translate? Did it have somethin’ to do with Lee? I’ll just bet that the only reason you were so keen on me askin’ Jeannette to supper was so you could get her to translate that note, wasn’t it? How long do you think you’re gonna be able to keep things from Pa? Didn’t you learn anythin’ last time?”

I was feeling a little dizzy after all those questions and was having a hard time sorting them out, and I was trying to rush because I was pretty sure that each one of them was going to require some delicate explaining.

I watched as Hoss tied the reins so that he could concentrate all his energy on me. “Well?” he demanded.

That’s when I caved in. You know most people think that Hoss is this great big old teddy bear, and most of the time they’d be right. But I happen to know that if you get him riled up enough that teddy bear can turn into a pretty fierce grizzly.

Well, after I finished telling him the whole sad story, he was lookin’ a little pale. At least I think he was, it was hard to tell for sure sittin’ in a dark alley. I was surprised when, without a word, Hoss backed up the buggy and headed for home. He was real quiet, and I decided, for the time being, that was probably for the best. I had enough sense to know that telling him about my plans to capture Lee right then would probably be enough to get me flattened.

We were only about a half hour from home when Hoss stopped short and sat up real straight, like he was tryin’ to see somethin’ in the dark up ahead. I sat up too and that’s when I heard what sounded like a horse galloping in our direction. Real quick, Hoss directed our horse into a small grove of trees just off to the side of the road and we sat real quiet while we waited. After a few minutes, the horse slowed down to a trot and by the time it was close enough for us to see it was walkin’ at a clipped pace. I strained my eyes to make out who it was, but I didn’t need to. I would have recognized that horse and rider anywhere. It was . . .

~~~

I’m sure you’ve guessed already that it was Adam riding toward us. Hoss and I both looked at each other and shrugged. We’d thought Adam would still be out with the search party or at least back at home. I was just about to call out to him when Hoss leaned over and elbowed me in the ribs. I gave him a dirty look while I rubbed my side then looked to where he was pointing. There was a small meadow just off the side of the road, and a rider was crossing. I glanced back toward Adam. He had veered off the road, heading toward the rider. Hoss and I looked at each other.

“We should get goin’,” Hoss whispered.

“Yeah,” I answered then we both turned back to Adam.

He and the rider had met and now it looked like they were talking. They were too far away for us to hear anything but that didn’t stop us from straining our ears to listen. The idea to climb out of the wagon and try to get closer had just come to me when I saw the rider hand Adam some sort of package. He then turned around and spurred his horse away at gallop. Adam too turned, but of course, he couldn’t just cut across the field. That would have made things too easy. Instead, he headed for the road, right toward the grove of trees we were hiding in. I’m pretty sure Hoss and I both stopped breathing, but for some reason our horse didn’t seem as concerned as we were about getting caught and he nickered softly. Our eyes snapped toward Adam, and it was obvious that he’d heard it. He stopped Sport and sat up in the saddle taking a look around. I narrowed my eyes at the horse and silently threatened him with the possibility of never getting another carrot or apple again. The horse must have been able to read my mind ‘cause he didn’t make a peep after that. Adam waited another minute or two and then finally took off down the road. Hoss and I both slunk down in our seats and let out the breath we’d been holding. In case you’re wondering why we were so worried, all I can tell you is that my oldest brother doesn’t like being spied on, and whenever he catches us, things get . . . uncomfortable real fast. Of course, that’s never stopped us from spying; it just helped us get a whole lot better at it.

The rest of the ride home was pretty quiet and uneventful, except for one time when Hoss hit a pothole and I almost fell out of the buggy. He said he was sorry, but I think he did it on purpose ‘cause he looked pretty smug. Anyway, by the time we got home my mind was so wrapped up in Adam and the mysterious package that I forgot all about the note Hoss still had in his pocket, at least I did until I was up in bed a few hours later. I’d been tossing and turning for ages, trying to figure out what Adam could possibly have been doing. I’d already rejected the ideas of him helping deliver a ransom or that he was helping an escaped convict, who was really innocent of course, but I was still whirling around the possibility that he was a secret scout for the army. After all, just because he said he was in college for those four years doesn’t mean that’s where he really was. Some of the letters we’d received from him over the years were postmarked from some pretty strange places.

Well, thinking of letters suddenly reminded me of the one I had worked so hard to get earlier that evening, and as soon as I remembered it, I couldn’t think of anything else. Finally, I decided I couldn’t stand it any longer and I climbed out of bed. I’ve already explained to you about all the creaks in our house, but it’s not nearly as hard sneaking into Hoss’s room as it is down the stairs, and a few minutes later I was crawling across the floor of Hoss’s room toward his vest. Now Hoss is just about as opposite from my brother Adam as you can get and where Adam will wake up at the drop of a hat, Hoss could sleep through a tornado, but I was bein’ careful just in case.

After I grabbed his vest I dug through the pocket and found the note, then I slunk back out of his room. I was just about to my door when another thought struck me. Maybe it was the fact that I was already in the mode for sneaking around or maybe it was the fact that it was so late that I wasn’t thinking clearly, but all of sudden, I just had to find out what was in the package Adam had gotten.

I looked toward his door and it was open just a tiny bit. If you remember, the worst squeak in the whole house is right in front of Adam’s door so this was going to be tricky. I decided to go back to my room first to get ready. I quietly shut my door, thankfully the moon was shining nice and bright through my window, so I didn’t need to light a lantern. I stuffed the note in my pocket then hurried over to my dresser and a minute later I was back out the door with no less than three pairs of socks on. I had also rolled up my sleeves and put my pants on over my nightshirt so that I would be sure not to snag any loose clothing. I stared across the hall at his door for a few seconds, breathing deep. Somewhere in the pit of my stomach I had a feeling that things weren’t gonna turn out too good. Of course, that feeling could have just meant that I was hungry, which is why I decided it would be worth the risk . . .

~~~

I stood staring at the wide chasm in front of me. It may as well have been a giant waterfall standing between me and my brother’s door. In fact, I was pretty sure a waterfall would be easier to get over. Now, I was by no means a novice at this. I think the first time I snuck into Adam’s room I was around three, and it was at that tender age that I learned just how dangerous my oldest brother can be. I’d give you a few examples, but I want you to be able to sleep tonight. So needless to say, the feeling in my gut just then was both exhilarating and nauseating.

I decided the best approach would be to step as far over the creaky spot as possible, if I was real lucky, I might even be able to miss it entirely. I got as close to the edge as I dared and then lifted my foot, stretched my leg as far as it would go toward the door, and of course, was just a couple inches too short. Ever so slowly, I lowered my foot toward the floor. I was expecting the creak, I really was. What I was not expecting was for Hoss to suddenly let out a snore loud enough to wake the folks in Virginia City. I jumped at the same time my foot slid out from under me and landed smack dab in the middle of the creaky spot. I don’t know how long I sat there, each leg sprawled in a different direction, not daring to breath, but about the time I started to feel woozy, I suddenly remembered to suck in a breath. My heart was thudding up and down so hard that I thought for sure it was going to leave a dent in the floor. Finally, I figured that Hoss’s snore must have covered up the sound of my fall. I smiled for half a minute and then I realized the predicament I was in.

Just to test things out, I moved the tiniest bit to the left and quickly stopped when the whining started. I took a chance moving to the right, but I had hardly moved an inch before it groaned. I’d heard Pa and Adam talk about something called a defining moment in life, and while I wasn’t exactly sure what that was, I was pretty sure I was having one right then. My blood suddenly ran cold, and my palms got real sweaty, and I was just starting to work up a good panic when things got worse. I heard someone moving around in Pa’s room and then the unmistakable sounds of a lantern being lit. A moment later a soft glow came from under Pa’s door, and I heard footsteps. Each one sent a chill up my spine and I knew I had to make a quick decision. Stay where I was and get caught by Pa or make a mad, but very quiet dash for Adam’s room. I wasn’t really sure which of the two I would rather face, but there wasn’t any time to think about it. Before I even knew what I was doing I had slid into Adam’s room and plastered myself up against the wall between his door and nightstand. I tried to make myself as small as possible and barely breathed as I listened to Pa walk into the hallway. I whispered a silent prayer that he wouldn’t go into my room, since I hadn’t bothered to make it look like I was asleep in my bed. For some reason, God decided to intervene, and I breathed a soft sigh as I heard Pa make his way down the stairs.

I was ready to make a run for my room when I just happened to look up, and right there, hanging halfway off my brother’s nightstand was the package. I couldn’t believe my luck. Now after what I’d just been through, you’d think I would have figured out that I’d pushed my luck about as far as it was going to go, but it was pretty late at night and my thinking processes were a bit muddled. I sat up on my knees and, keeping a close eye on my brother’s bed, slowly began sliding the package off the table. It was one of those packages that was wrapped in brown paper and is real crinkly.

Well, just so you don’t have to go through what I did for the next five minutes I’ll skip ahead a bit. I managed by the skin of my teeth to make it back to my room and shut the door just as Pa got back up the stairs. This time, he did head toward my room, and I quickly dove into bed, package and all, and pulled the covers up to my chin. Pa peeked in just for a minute and then quietly shut the door again. I decided to wait a few minutes just to make sure he was really gone and then I threw the blanket back and sat up. I picked up the package and looked at it. It was square shaped, soft, squishy and, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was a small pillow. Anyway, I decided that if I didn’t hurry up, I was going to lose my nerve, so I started to pull at the string. That’s when I noticed that it was tied in about a hundred knots. I’d been messing with them for about ten minutes before I finally gave an exasperated sigh and that’s when I got the worst scare, I’d ever had in all my life.

“Maybe you should try scissors,” came Adam’s voice from a dark corner of my room.

“Oh, crud!”

~~~

“How did you get in here?” I squeaked then made a quick dive off the bed when Adam stood up. I scooted flush up against the far wall as he crossed to my dresser and lit the lantern. He kept the light low which, in his nightshirt, sort of gave him the appearance of a dark, menacing ghost.

His voice was calm and cool, just like ice when he answered. “I was making myself a sandwich and saw you sneaking around in the hallway on my way back up. That was quite a performance by the way.”

I would have said thank you, but somehow I didn’t think he was being sincere. At the mention of the sandwich though my stomach suddenly started gurgling and I remembered that our supper had ended a bit abruptly. I figured that’s what Pa must have been doing up also.

I watched Adam as he walked to my bed and picked up the package I was beginning to wish I’d never seen. He crossed his arms and sort of waved the package at me with one hand. “How did you know I had this?”

I was right in the middle of thinking up a fantastic lie when it suddenly came to him. “You two were the ones following me, weren’t you?”

I figured I would start with the word two. “We weren’t following you. We were heading home when we saw you ride out and meet somebody. We didn’t know it was you at first.”

I made sure to put extra emphasis on the word we, but it didn’t seem to be doing me any good. Adam’s eyes were real dark and narrow, and in case you’re wondering, that’s a bad sign. See sometimes he likes to make me squirm, and in the time it takes him to do that he cools down a bit which is better for me in the long run. Other times he gets right to the point and . . . well, then I really do squirm. I was just trying to decide if I had enough time to dive under the bed before he could get to me when I heard Hoss’s door open and shut, and then his footsteps heading down the stairs. Apparently, he was hungry too. My eyes darted toward the door. If I could get to Hoss, I might have a chance of making it out of this with all my body parts intact. I looked back at Adam who had now adopted the stance. The one he had learned from pa, and I gulped.

“Well, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?” he asked.

I don’t know what part of any of it he considered easy, but I stood up slowly and sighed. “Okay,” I said keeping my head hung low. I clutched the package and walked toward him, glancing once more at the door out of the corner of my eye. I would only have one chance. If I messed up, not only would he catch me, but the chances were good that we would end up drawing Pa’s attention, too.

Whenever I’m about to do something dangerous, I do two things first. One, I listen to my instincts, and two, I shut off that annoying little voice in my head. The one that’s always trying to tell me to stop and think first. Heck, if I did that every single time I was goin’ to do something risky I’d never do anything. I slowed down when I was about five feet from Adam and two feet from the door and tried one last desperate attempt. I looked up at him with one of my expressions that would turn just about any other human being into a puddle. Not the puppy dog one, Adam quit falling for that when I was two. No, this time I pulled out my ultimate weapon. The sad kitten eyes.

Adam looked at me and sort of startled then slowly uncrossed his arms. For a minute he almost looked like he wanted to hug me and then something from that deep dark corner of his heart must have taken hold again ‘cause he stopped himself and stood up real straight.

“Oh no, you don’t.”

That’s when he took a step toward me, and I bolted for the door. Now Adam’s pretty fast, but I’m just a hair faster, not to mention slipperier. Literally, I slipped as I reached for the door and ended up knocking both of us to the ground. I jumped up like a shot and ran out the door with Adam hot on my heels, and I didn’t stop running until I got to the kitchen and spotted Hoss sitting at the small table. He looked up in surprise as the two of us came barreling into the kitchen and stood up, just in time for me to scoot behind him.

“Hoss, he’s tryin’ to kill me. You gotta save me,” I screeched in between ragged breaths.

“Yes, and if you don’t hand him over, he won’t be the only one,” Adam told Hoss.

“What in tarnation did you do, Little Joe?” Hoss asked with far too much humor in his voice for my taste.

“Nothing, I was just . . . just . . .”

“Just sneaking into my room in the middle of the night, taking my things without permission, and invading my privacy,” Adam finished for me.

Hoss sort of chuckled as he reached around for me, but I kept dodging his hands until he gave up. “Joe, you know how Adam feels about his privacy,” he said.

“Yeah,” I answered. “Stingy!”

Before Adam could answer a bright light filled the kitchen and we all turned and gasped. This time it was all three of us that were in trouble.

“What you doing in Hop Sing’s kitchen. Why not in bed?”

We all started talking at once, but Hop Sing wasn’t interested in listening. He stomped across the room, grabbed a wooden spoon, and then spun around pointing it at us like it was sword. “Get out. Hop Sing need sleep.”

That was all it took for us to make a mad scramble for the door, and since Hop Sing was effectively blocking the one back into the main house, we all found ourselves standing outside on the front porch. I was still huddled closely against Hoss and felt him jump when we heard the loud click of the kitchen door being locked. Hoss was the first to move and went to test the front door. It was also locked. We all stood for a minute in sort of a daze and then Adam slowly turned to me. “You,” he said through clenched teeth, and I made a bee line for the barn . . .

I made a mad dash for the loft, but the ladder slowed me down and Adam got hold of my leg. The next thing I knew I was being tossed over his shoulder as he marched toward the barn’s water trough which I suddenly remembered I hadn’t cleaned in a couple of weeks. I started to holler which was pretty dumb since all it accomplished was getting me a mouthful of sludgy water. I splashed and spluttered as I came up only to be pushed right back in again. That was about the time Hoss started to lose it, and it’s a lucky thing for me too, because once Hoss gets to laughing it’s really hard for anyone to stay mad. I felt Adam’s grip slacken and took the opportunity to roll out of the trough. I chanced a quick look at Adam’s face to see whether or not I should make another run for it, but the corners of his mouth were twitching. I was safe.

“Okay, Little Joe,” Adam said pulling me up a little more forcefully than necessary. “I give up.” I was about to smile when he shook a long finger in my direction and added sharply, “granted you can get us back in the house without waking up Pa.”

Well, I knew that wouldn’t be too difficult. I could think of at least three ways to get in there off the top of my head, but they weren’t necessarily ways my oldest brother would approve of.

“Will you wait here?” I asked.

“Nope. I’m afraid tonight’s escapade is going to cost you one of your secrets, little brother.”

I exhaled loudly and drooped my shoulders as I shuffled slowly out of the barn. Actually, that was a price I was willing to pay, but it wouldn’t do to let Adam know that.

By the time we got back to the house I’d decided to show them where I kept a hidden key as opposed to one of my more . . . imaginative methods of breaking into the house, and in case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve found myself in the position of having to sneak back in on several occasions, but those are all long stories in and of themselves. They are also why I’d had a spare house key made when I was in town one day a few months ago. My brothers stood over my shoulder as I reached to pull up a loose piece of wood on the siding near the door and grab the key. It could have just been the light of the moon in his eyes, but I think even Adam looked a little impressed.

I still made sure to stick close to Hoss on the way upstairs, and once at the top, we all demonstrated years of diligent training as we masterfully stepped over every creaky spot in the long hallway, but it wasn’t until I was in my room with the door shut behind me that I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

One good thing about my oldest brother making things so difficult is that by the time I’m old enough to be a real detective, I’ll be an expert. Well, even though I’d made it out of the evening alive, I still had trouble getting to sleep and when I did my dreams were full of dark figures, pits with spikes, fires, and a long hand reaching out to grab my leg. That last one is what caused me to bolt upright the next morning, either that or the fact that my pa was hollering for me to get up. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and wondered why I was still so tired. That’s when I remembered that I’d only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before. I started tracing the night’s events in my mind, starting from the back and moving toward the beginning. That’s when it hit me, the note!

I dug through the pile of clothes on my floor until I found the right pants and then pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of the pocket. This was it; I finally had the message. A tingle of excitement started at my feet and worked its way up at the thought of the adventures awaiting me, and I stood for a moment of silence before looking at the tiny piece of paper in my hand.

“Little Joe,” Pa yelled down the hallway, “you’d better be dressed.”

“Okay, Pa,” I hollered back and then started fumbling with the buttons on my nightshirt as I opened up the note.

In the chest, you found the key
But underneath is where you’ll see
The message that was written well
A secret you must never tell

“Joseph!”

“Comin’, Pa,” I said jumping up. Pa’s voice sounded close, and I didn’t aim for it to get any closer. I grabbed the nearest shirt, stuffed the paper in my pocket, and then raced for the stairs.

Pa was waiting for me at the bottom.

“Sorry, Pa,” I said, being careful to keep my backside turned away from him as I slid past.

“Keep me waiting again, young man, and you will be.”

I nodded and hurried to my seat at the table, and as soon as I sat down I started shoveling eggs onto my plate. I glanced at Pa and gave him one of my special smiles, the kind I reserve for when I’m in trouble. Boy, was I relieved when he smiled back. I couldn’t afford to have him mad at me now ‘cause after what I’d just read, I was starting to formulate a plan. I waited until Adam was done telling Pa all about the boring stuff he’d done in the books the day before and then, shoving the last of my fried potatoes into my mouth, I finally worked up the courage to ask Pa about taking off for the day, but at the last second I found myself blurting out a change of plans.

“Pa, can Hoss and I camp out tonight?” I asked.

I’m sure the only one at the table that looked more surprised than Hoss was me. He stared at me kind of funny across the table and I tried to send him a silent signal to just play along.

“I wasn’t aware Hoss wanted to go camping,” Pa said.

He looked at Hoss then, and my goofy brother gave him a crooked sort of smile and shrugged.

I scrambled for some quick thinking. “Well, Pa, Hoss and I haven’t been able to do anything together . . . just the two of us I mean, in a long time. And I thought maybe . . . he could show me a few things about shootin’ and we could do some huntin’.”

That last statement did the trick. I knew Pa was feeling bad about the fact that he and Adam had been too busy to go shooting with me yet. His eyes looked kind of sad for a minute and I almost wished I could take my words back, but it turned out I wasn’t going to get what I wanted after all.

“Well, son, I’m afraid you and Hoss are going to have other plans,” he said.

I heard Adam sigh then and for some reason I could feel my heart begin a slow decent into my stomach.

I turned back to Pa as he pulled a letter from his shirt pocket.

“I got a letter a few days ago from an old friend in San Francisco,” Pa said. “He’s interested in buying a few of our horses and has also invited all of us to spend some time with him at his home.”

“I thought you said we had too much going on right now,” Hoss said.

“Well, I’ve been giving it some thought and I’ve decided that the men should be able to handle things around here for a few weeks. We haven’t had a vacation with all of us together for a long time, and this will probably be our last chance to go anywhere before winter sets in.”

I only half listened after that. Like Hoss, I’d been there when Adam had come in from town with the letter, and Pa had barely even given the invitation a thought before he’d declared we weren’t going. I wondered if his finding out that Lee was in the area had anything to do with his change of mind. I snapped back to attention a minute later when he turned toward me.

“Your brothers are going out to choose which horses to sell and then you boys will leave first thing in the morning and bring them with you. I’m going into Virginia City as soon as I finish packing my things, and I’ll be taking the afternoon stage. Hopefully, by the time you boys arrive I’ll have all the business details worked out and we can spend the rest of the time enjoying ourselves.”

I nodded although I thought the arrangement a little strange. If the reason Pa wanted to leave was because he was worried about Lee, I would have thought he’d want to take me with him. I knew there was more going on than he was telling me, and my curiosity was growing stronger by the minute. First, Adam was picking up strange deliveries late at night, and now Pa was behaving mysteriously. I also had a puzzle of my own to solve with the note Jeannette had translated for me. I suppose most boys would be a little worried or even afraid, but I’m not like most boys. I sensed adventure on the horizon, and I was more than ready to be a part of it. Unfortunately, my pa and oldest brother have made it their life’s mission to keep my sense of adventure in check.

“Now listen, Joseph,” Pa continued, and I knew the fact that he called me Joseph meant I’d better pay attention. “Adam is in charge, and I expect you to follow his instructions the same as you would mine.”

“’Course, Pa,” I answered, giving him as much of a smile as I could manage knowing that I was at Adam’s mercy and that he was probably still holding a grudge.

“Of course,” Pa repeated. “You just see you don’t give him any trouble, young man, or meeting me in San Francisco may not turn out to be a very pleasant experience for you.”

I smiled again and nodded, this time squirming uncomfortably.

Well, Pa was off less than a half hour later and Adam and Hoss fifteen minutes after that. I was left by myself with a list of chores a mile long from Adam. I figured either he was getting a head start on his revenge or he was trying to keep me so busy I wouldn’t have time to get in trouble. I scowled as I looked over the list. I was going to have to really hurry, or I wouldn’t have enough time to check out the secret cave before Adam and Hoss got back.

I managed to amaze even myself with how quickly I got things done. Of course, if anyone took the time to inspect the jobs, I’m sure they wouldn’t have been as impressed as I was. But needless to say, I was heading toward the canyon a short while later with a whole three hours to spare. I had the message Jeannette had written out for me tucked safely in my pocket, a canteen and a sandwich, and I couldn’t wait to see what I would find. As long as nothing went wrong, no one would be the wiser. I know what you’re thinking. When does anything ever not go wrong?

~~~

It was one of those days when everything was going right, and I’ve come to the conclusion that those days are what Pa would call the calm before the storm, but I was determined to enjoy it. Cooch and I made it to the canyon faster than usual. Mostly because I was runnin’ her real hard anytime the ground leveled out enough to get into a full gallop. My family gets real fidgety whenever I race so I don’t do it much around them, but there’s no boy, or horse for that matter, around these parts that loves to run as much as we do. I left Cooch in the shade with some carrot and apple pieces I’d brought and then climbed up to the cave.

I knew Lee wasn’t there anymore. When I’d met up with him the last time, he’d told me he was movin’ on and all about his crazy plan. I won’t go into the details just yet, but I will tell you that me and my family goin’ to San Francisco was really gonna make his day. I’d brought a lantern along with me since the tunnel behind the old bookcase is pitch dark, and then I made my way down to where I’d found one of the keys Lee was after in an old chest the year before.

I pulled out the piece of paper Jeannette had translated and read over it again. The best I could figure was that “underneath where I’d found the key” would be the bottom of the old chest I’d found it in. The only problem with that was the huge rock that had fallen on top of it when I’d accidently triggered a booby trap.

Anyway, I made my way over to the huge rock and began to examine it. I gave it a little shove to test its weight and that’s right about the time that I wished I’d brought Hoss along. The thing wasn’t about to budge. I was tryin’ to come up with a way to move it when I heard a scuffling sound coming from the other end of the tunnel. I’d shut the bookcase behind me, but I still blew out the lantern as quick as I could. I wasn’t worried about Lee finding me, but for all I knew it was bank robber lookin’ for a hideout or a renegade Indian on the warpath, or worse yet, Adam.

“Little Joe, you in here?” came a deep voice.

And nope it wasn’t Adam or my pa, it was Hoss. His voice is kinda deep too, especially when he’s callin’ me in the tone of voice he was usin’ right then.

“Comin’,” I called and then had to fumble around in the dark for a few minutes before I could finally get a match lit.

Meanwhile, Hoss had pushed open the bookcase and once the lantern was burning again, I hurried to meet him. “What are you doin’ here?” we both asked at the same time.

We both started and then stopped a couple more times, before I finally quit and just waited for Hoss to go first.

“We got the horses rounded up quicker than we thought, and Adam wants us to camp out where we’ve got ‘em corralled so we can just leave from there first thing. He told me to come back and get you. I wasn’t figurin’ on havin’ to come this far.”

He folded his arms over his chest as he said that last part and tried to look stern. I just ignored him.

“Come on,” I said, heading back into the tunnel. “I need you to help me with this rock.”

He started to splutter somethin’ about needin’ to go, but I was too far into the tunnel to make it out, and a minute later he followed me.

“You never did tell me what you’re doin’ here,” he said as I stopped and pointed to the boulder.

“I need your help movin’ this thing,” I said.

“What for?”

“There’s somethin’ I’ve gotta check.”

I stood back while Hoss did some of his own strength testing against the rock. It ended up taking the two of us twenty minutes of sweatin’, gruntin’, and groanin’ before it finally rolled far enough for me to get to the chest.

There wasn’t much left of it, but I gathered up the pieces and brought them out into the main part of the cave. After all the work Hoss and I had just done, it was a little frustrating to find out in less than sixty seconds that it had been a wasted effort.

Hoss looked confused when I threw the broken pieces of wood to the ground in disgust. “Little Joe, what in tarnation is goin’ on?”

I hadn’t planned on telling Hoss everything just yet, but I was hot and tired and grumpy, and before I knew it, I’d spilled out the whole story. I even pulled out the translation from Jeannette to show him. For a long time, he didn’t say anything, and usually that’s fine ‘cause you can almost always tell what Hoss is thinkin’ just from the expression on his face, but this time his face stayed blank which was solid proof that he’d been spendin’ too much time with Adam . . .

“Well, aren’t you gonna say somethin?” I asked him.

Hoss pursed his lips and let out a breath real slow, then looked down at the paper in his hand. Him bein’ so quiet was starting to make me nervous although I tried not to show it. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when he finally did speak.

“Joe, since we both know I’m gonna end up in this mess anyway, I think I’ll just save us both a lot of time and start now. It says underneath where ya found the key,” he said tapping at the note. “Maybe there’s somethin’ buried in the ground.”

I’m not quite sure how long I stood staring with my mouth wide open, but I didn’t snap out of it until Hoss was already back inside the tunnel. Not that I wasn’t glad to have Hoss on my side, but somethin’ about it bein’ so easy made it seem . . . well, too easy. I had to run to catch up with Hoss and pretty soon we were back at that big old rock. We both got down and started digging and sure enough, it wasn’t long before we felt something hard. It took another ten minutes before we could tell that it was a second chest and then a few more to dig around it enough for Hoss to grab the handle. I made sure to offer lots of encouragement as he pulled at the dang thing.

“Hoss, come on, hurry up will ya?” Okay, so maybe I’d be closer if I told you I was yelling out motivation.

Hoss had a few choice words for me and then with one last mighty tug the chest came loose. He fell backward with the chest on top of him and it was then that I noticed the string. Of course, by then, it was too late. The chest had triggered some sort of trap and a split second later the tunnel began to quake. I looked to Hoss and figured my eyes must have been about as round as his were.

“Run,” he shouted, and we both took off.

The ground was shaking so hard that Hoss fell again and dropped the chest. I reached down to help him up as he scrambled for the chest. There was debris falling all around us and the shaking grew more violent.

“Leave it,” I hollered, but Hoss wasn’t about to budge.

He staggered to his feet with one hand still on the chest. I didn’t know what had come over him but there was no time to ask, so as quick as I could I grabbed the other side and we headed toward the light at the end of the tunnel. No, not that kind of light. We had a couple of close calls with rocks falling everywhere before we busted out into the main cavern, and if you’re thinkin’ we’d made it, think again. The tunnel collapsed behind us sending a shower of dust and rocks spilling into the room, and then I heard a familiar sound. The scraping of rock against rock as the door to the cave began sliding shut. I looked at Hoss frantically; there were more sounds like locks clinking into place and then the earth began to shake again.

Like a shot we made for the door that was closing fast. The chest was heavy and slowing us down. I yelled for Hoss to drop it, but he shouted back, “No!” and kept running. The daylight was fading fast as the door kept sliding and I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that we weren’t going to make it. We were a couple of feet from the door when Hoss really went into action. I tell you I’ve never seen him move so fast in all my life, except for the times when he’s tryin’ to outrun Hop Sing’s wooden spoon after he’s stolen some goodies. Anyway, in one quick movement he yanked the chest up under his arm, shoved me out the door, then made a dive for it himself, and he almost made it one piece. The heel of his boot got caught as the door slid shut and broke clean off. Unfortunately, the rumbling wasn’t done, and minute later I was in the closest thing I’d ever been to a real earthquake as the whole side of canyon wall shook. Needless to say Hoss and I both ended up in a heap at the bottom. After the shaking stopped, we laid there for a good long while before either one of us felt like moving. I sat up slowly sending a glance toward Hoss, and he sure wasn’t looking too good. He was full of cuts and scrapes and his hat was lying smashed under a pile of rubble. I think the only thing that made it out of the whole ordeal unscathed was that chest.

“You want to explain what that was all about,” I yelled half from fright and half out of frustration. “You could’ve got us killed hanging onto that stupid chest!”

I was surprised when instead of givin’ me some kind of hot retort, he looked down and began to dust off the front of his vest. It was then that I realized something deeper was going on, and I suddenly had the feeling that he hadn’t really been comin’ after me at all, and that running into me had been a coincidence.

“Hoss, what’s goin’ on,” I asked trying to make my voice sound as serious as a eleven year old who’s just been through a cave in and an earthquake all in one day, and whose own brother is keeping something from him can manage.

By the time he finally looked me in the eye, I already knew the answer. “You weren’t coming for me, were you?” I asked him.

Hoss kicked the dirt with his toe and shoved his hands in his pocket which, in case you didn’t know, is a sure sign that he’s feeling bad about something. Finally, he sighed and I knew he was ready to spill the beans.

“Joe, I don’t know how, but Lee knew that you were comin’ back up here to look for somethin’, and he wanted me to make sure that whatever it was you got it out safe.”

Well, that answer popped about a jillion more questions into my mind. I was having trouble sorting them out, but Hoss must have understood my dazed expression ‘cause he started spouting out answers before I had a chance to ask them.

“Lee cornered me a few days ago,” he started. “I was out checkin’ fences and he sorta came out of nowhere. Had a gun pulled on me before I had a chance to do anything. He said he just wanted me to know that he was around and that he hadn’t forgotten that he had a score to settle with me.”

My frown got deeper and deeper as Hoss kept talking. It was pretty clear that I wasn’t the only one Lee had been manipulating. I wasn’t really surprised, but something still wasn’t quite adding up. I didn’t even realize I’d spoken my question out loud until Hoss asked me to repeat it.

“How could he have known I was comin’ back here?” I said a little louder.

I was positive that Lee didn’t know anything about the compass, so it didn’t make sense that he would know about the inscription, unless . . .

“He must have someone else workin’ for him,” I said with a snap of my fingers.

“But who else knows about the compass ‘sides you and me?” Hoss asked.

There was only one other person besides the two of us that knew about the compass and that was Mitch, thanks to me and my big mouth, but there was someone else that knew about the inscription. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to mention that person to Hoss unless I had some solid proof, but a certain beautiful French woman had just made number one on my suspect list.

“Who knows,” I shrugged in answer to Hoss’s question. “Lee’s a tricky guy. Now come on, let’s see what’s in that chest.”

Mentioning the chest was enough to get Hoss’s mind off of what it had been on, and he quickly picked it up and turned toward his horse.

“Hey, what are you doin?” I squeaked. “We almost got killed trying to get that thing. Don’t you think we should at least find out what’s in it?”

“No, I don’t.”

I sensed from Hoss’s tone of voice that I was going to have to play rough if I wanted to get a look inside that chest.

“Okay, fine,” I said as I stomped my way over to Cochise. “What’s the plan now? We just show up to meet Adam covered in dirt with a mysterious chest strapped to the back of your horse?”

I chanced a quick glance over my shoulder and was pleased to see him looking a little startled.

“Dadburn it!” he muttered.

Got him.

“All right,” he said, “I guess we can’t bring the whole chest, but I’m tellin’ you right now, we’re not doin’ anything with whatever’s in here except deliver it to Lee once we get to San Francisco, you got that?”

“Of course,” I answered. “Now come on, hurry up and open it.”

Hoss set the chest back on the ground and made quick work of the old, rusted lock. The lid came off the hinges completely when he opened it and fell to the ground. We both peered inside, and I scratched my head as I stared at what appeared to be an empty sack. I watched curiously as Hoss poked at it and then he declared that something was in there. I couldn’t stand the suspense anymore, so I grabbed the sack and reached inside. I frowned as my hand closed around what was obviously a book.

“We risked our lives for this?” I said as I pulled the book out. “What would Lee want with some old book?”

“That don’t concern us,” Hoss said as he reached to take it from me.

“I can carry it,” I said then quickly turned and crossed to my horse where I deposited the book in my saddle bag. I was more than a little miffed that what I was sure was going to be some great treasure or at least another clue was really just a dumb old book.

“Little Joe, I think you should let me carry it,” Hoss said. “Lee left me the instructions on where to deliver it once we arrive and . . .”

I mounted up before he had a chance to finish. “Lee left me instructions too,” I said. “Now come on, we’ve got to hurry and get cleaned up before older brother comes looking for us.”

“Dadgummit, Little Joe, you never listen. I’m tellin’ you . . .”

“Ah, Hoss, you worry too much,” I interrupted and giving him a wink Cochise and I took off.

I know, you don’t have to tell me. I should have let Hoss finish what he was saying, but don’t worry. He gets me back later . . .

Hoss and I kept up a pretty good pace all the way back home, but it wasn’t fast enough. Adam met us in the yard as we dismounted, and he didn’t look real happy. I figured even if I could manage to somehow hide myself there was no way to get Hoss past him without Adam noticing what a mess we were, but the state we were in actually ended up working in our favor. As soon as Adam got a good look at us, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Both the knees in my pants were ripped and Hoss had a big hole in the shoulder of his shirt, not to mention the fact that every inch of us was covered in dirt, grime, and even a little bit of blood.

I made sure to stay on the side of Cochise opposite Adam as he scanned us head to toe, shook his head, and then slowly folded his arms across his chest, something he learned from my pa. I figured we were about to get blasted, but he surprised me.

“Okay, you two,” he said. “We need to hurry so I’m not even going to ask. I’ll take care of your horses. You get cleaned up.”

A minute later, Adam had the horses in the barn, and Hoss and I were still standing there gaping. Finally, Hoss turned to me. “You suppose he’s sick?” he asked.

I didn’t get a chance to answer him before Adam’s voice bellowed from the barn for us to get moving. We were almost to the front door when I remembered the book. I really didn’t want to have to answer a bunch of questions, especially when it seemed we’d gotten out of explaining so easily, so I told Hoss to go ahead and ran back to the barn. As I got close to the door, I heard a familiar crinkling sound and sure enough, when I walked in Adam was just closing up his saddle bag. He looked up real quick when he heard me come in and we both eyed each other. I reached down to pick up my saddle bag at the same time he lifted his and we both stopped. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to pull out the book with him watching, so I decided to take the whole saddle bag with me. I gave him a lopsided grin and then darted for the door.

“Hold it. What are you doing?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I answered, a little too quickly, and glanced over my shoulder. “What are you doing?”

Adam looked down at the bag in his hand and then shrugged. “Nothing.”

I knew that if his nothing was anything like my nothing then he wasn’t any more anxious to talk about it then I was, so I took a chance, grinned again, and headed toward the house. I’d been right. He didn’t try to stop me, which confirmed that he was hiding something big. I knew it must be the package stuffed into his saddle bag. I was getting more and more curious, but I knew that I would be better off biding my time and waiting for just the right moment, and I had no doubt that moment would come. I mean it’s not like there are a whole lot of places he would be able to hide that thing out on the trail, and he wasn’t going to be able to keep it with him every second of the day. Besides, even if he tried, I’m a pro at creating . . . distractions.

I didn’t realize it, but there was a smile on my face as I entered the house. A smile that quickly vanished once I stepped over the threshold. As a gale force wind of Chinese ranting assaulted me, I suddenly realized why Adam had let us off so easy. Our housekeeper was not at all amused by our appearance or what we’d done to our clothes, and he wasn’t afraid to let us know it. You’d think we’d both be used to it by now. Him used to me getting dirty and scraped up and me used to his yelling. I tried my best to get past him unscathed, but he was determined that I take a bath. I guess that was his way of getting back at me for dirtying up the floor. I tried to tell him that Adam was waiting and that we had to get going, but he just gave me that look. I can’t describe it to you, but you’d know it if you ever saw it. Nobody argues with Hop Sing when he gets that look, not even Pa.

He steered me toward the washroom where Hoss was already scrubbing in one tub, and there was hot water waiting for me in another. Don’t ask me how Hop Sing knew we were going to need it. He just does. Kind of like being able to sense when we’re hungry for a snack. All of a sudden, my stomach will rumble, or Hoss will announce he’s hungry, so we’ll head inside. Sure enough, just about every time, Hop Sing has something scrumptious ready and waiting.

Hoss and I didn’t waste any time and it’s a good thing to because just as I finished shoving the last of my clothes into my saddle bag Adam came barreling in the house, and his mood had gone down several notches since I’d left him in the barn. I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that I’d caught him trying to hide that package, not that I was going to ask him. Nope, there was only one question that I was willing to risk his wrath over and I cleared my throat cautiously as I made my way down the stairs. Adam turned toward me, from where he was standing near the door, and the expression on his face almost made me change my mind but then my eyes drifted over to the gun rack where my new rifle was still sitting. Big, beautiful, and unused.

“Can I please bring my rifle?” I asked quickly. “You and Hoss will both be with me the whole time and I can help you hunt. Please, I haven’t even gotten to try it once yet and Pa said . . .”

I stopped when Adam held up a hand and dropped his head. “All right,” he answered, and I could tell he was trying to hide his irritation. “Just hurry up. We’re already hours later then I’d planned on.”

I restrained my whoop of joy and moved as fast as my legs would go which was pretty fast, and I beat Hoss in getting my horse saddled up. I didn’t have a scabbard for my rifle yet, but Pa had given me an old strap to use and, after attaching it, I slung my rifle over my back. I was about to mount up when I caught Adam’s eye, and the look there told me I wasn’t going to be allowed to carry my gun mountain man style. As he walked toward me, I sighed, took off the rifle, and handed it to him before he even had a chance to talk. I was surprised when instead of taking it, he handed me one of his old scabbards instead.

“Tie it securely and then let’s go,” he said.

I smiled as I slipped my rifle into the worn leather pocket. There’s just something about having your gun right next to you that makes a fellow feel all grown up, and though I couldn’t have known it then, we were all going to end up being really glad that I’d brought it along. Well, after we got over regretting that I’d brought it along. But I’m getting ahead of myself . . .

~~~

Adam had left the horses corralled in an old branding pen near the western border of the Ponderosa, and it took us a good three hours to ride out there. Since the horses were already secured, I thought we should just set up camp, but Adam wouldn’t hear of it. There was no way he was going to tell Pa that in the entire first day we hadn’t even made it off the Ponderosa. I started to tell him that Pa didn’t have to know, but the look on his face shut me up. There were five horses we were supposed to bring and none of them were fully broke, but they were trained enough to follow on a lead, so Hoss and Adam each took two and I took one. Adam said I only got one because Cochise was a smaller horse and not as strong as Chubb or Sport, but I’m thinking he probably just didn’t trust me as much as Hoss.

Now, I’ll be the first one to admit that I’ve given Adam plenty of reason over the years not to trust me on some things, but when it comes to horses, I’m as good as any of our ranch hands. I figured arguing with him at that point wouldn’t do me any good and might even do me some harm so I took my one and tied the lead to my saddle horn.

Normally, Hoss and I would have lagged behind a bit and talked for a while, then we’d start picking on Adam until he joined in too, but unfortunately Adam wasn’t the only one a little miffed at me. I decided to lag behind by myself and I spent my time talking to the pretty brown and white pinto I was leading. I spoke real soft and gentle, every once in a while, pulling him in closer and then letting the lead out again. I knew he was listening because his ears would prick forward every time I talked.

After a while, we were farther than I’d ever gone before, and I began to look around for markers. Hoss taught me to do that. He said whenever I’m in unfamiliar territory I should look for signs that would be easy to remember in case I get lost. It only took an hour of that before I started to get really bored, and I decided it was time to try and make up with my brothers. I figured I’d better start with the toughest one first.

“Hey, Adam,” I said riding up alongside him. “Do you want me to cook tonight? As soon as we camp, I can collect the wood and get the beans boiling.”

In case you’re wondering, the way to Adam’s heart is through plain hard work, at least that’s been my experience, and it worked again this time. He turned to me and gave me half a smile.

“Little brother, I would be happy to let you play chef tonight, but if your offer is an attempt to set up camp early, it’s not going to work.”

Now why does he always have to go and ruin everything by sayin’ stuff like that? I gave him kind of a scowl, told him I was just tryin’ to be nice, and took the rear again. I think he must have felt a little bad because he kept glancing over his shoulder at me, and about a half hour later he called a stop. There was still at least two hours of daylight left so I was a little surprised, but what he said next was what really surprised me.

“Hoss, after Joe and I help you set up camp, do you mind starting the beans while we go and see if we can’t scare up some game?”

Hoss looked between the two of us a couple of times and then it seemed as if his whole body just relaxed. “Sure, I would,” he answered with a grin.

I realized then that Hoss had probably been keeping quiet because me and Adam were at odds. He hates it whenever there’s any friction in the family. I could hardly contain my excitement, over getting to use my new rifle. I’d been hunting plenty of times with my old squirrel rifle; trouble with that one is that just about all its good for is shootin’ squirrels. My new rifle could bring down anything from a good, sized buck to a mountain lion. Since I didn’t think anyone would want mountain lion for dinner, I made up my mind to get a buck. I pitched in full force while we set up the camp and we were done in no time, then I hopped impatiently from foot to foot while I waited for Adam, but I should have known things wouldn’t be that easy. My older brother knows a lot and my pa is always telling me that I could learn a lot from him, the trouble is Adam knows that he knows a lot too and that I could learn a lot from him. Needless, to say, I had to listen to a ten minute lecture on gun safety, again, before we could go anywhere. Eventually, I heard the words, “let’s go,” and after I shook off the glaze that had formed over my eyes we headed into the woods. Of course, we didn’t get very far before the trouble started.

A loud growl about ten minutes later was the first clue that we were in hot water. The second clue was a crashing sound that was quickly heading toward us. I knew enough about the different noises animals make to know that a bear was charging in our direction and, before I even had time to react, Adam had shoved me behind him and brought up his rifle. The bear that finally came through the brush wasn’t nearly as big as all the noise had indicated but it was big enough to do some damage. Damage was the last thing on its mind though, as we soon found out. I’m not sure who was more surprised, Adam or me, when the bear, without slowing down, steered around Adam and kept running as fast as it could. Two seconds later, we understood what the bear was running from as an angry swarm of bees appeared. Quick as a flash we took off after the bear which unfortunately was headed in the direction of our camp, and a minute later there was more chaos in that one camp than I’ve ever seen anywhere else in my whole life.

Hoss had gotten the fire going and that stupid bear ran right into the middle of it and got its foot stuck in the pot of beans. It howled with pain and then stumbled as it tried to get the hot pot off its foot, and that’s about the time the bees arrived. Well, you can imagine how the horses reacted to the disruption in camp. Chubb, Sport, and even Cochise, who were only ground tied all took off immediately, but the other horses were all tied together on a line to a nearby log and were having a hysterical fit. The bees had managed to catch up with the bear and the sorry creature was running every which direction trying to get away from them, all the time with our supper stuck to his foot.

The bear kept moving closer to the horses and if something wasn’t done, they were going to end up killing themselves in their panic. I raised my rifle and then glanced toward Adam who was yelling something in my direction, but between the bees, the bear, and the horses the noise was deafening.

You know, don’t shoot and shoot sound an awful lot alike. Things probably would have turned out just fine if I had actually hit the bear, but of course, I missed . . .

I did hit something. Would you believe I shot the rope that was holding the horses on the line and, of course, they were off like a shot? The good part was that about sixty seconds later our camp was suddenly much quieter. The bad part was that about sixty seconds later our camp was much too quiet. The gun shot had managed to scare the bear away and, thankfully, he took the bees with him, and if Adam hadn’t reached out quicker than greased lightning and grabbed me by the collar, I would have followed the bear all the way back to his den.

I could tell Adam was real mad because his whole arm was shaking. I couldn’t decide whether making eye contact would help or make the situation worse, so I just kept my eyes glued to the ground. Most of the time I don’t worry about Adam because his bark is a whole lot worse than his bite; though if you’ve ever experienced his bite, you tend to remember it well enough to pay attention to his bark in the future. I had a feeling he was going to skip the barking, and the biting, and go straight to mauling this time, so I did the only thing left for me to do. I screamed for Hoss.

Good old Hoss came to my rescue, and I ducked behind him as he stepped between me and Adam and pulled me loose from Adam’s grip. They both argued for a while. Adam justifying his case to play judge, jury, and executioner and Hoss trying to remind him that I was Pa’s baby boy, and that he expected me to arrive in San Francisco with all my limbs intact. In case you’re wondering my vote was for Hoss.

Adam finally decided there was no more time for arguing and ordered us to mount up. I didn’t have a clue how we were supposed to catch those horses and with less than two hours before dark, but I knew that I wasn’t going to dare and come back to camp without them. We eventually decided to split up, which was Hoss’s idea. I think it was partially because the horses had gone in different directions and partially to keep me and Adam apart. Hoss and Adam went together; they’re both real good ropers. I’m pretty good too, if I do say so myself, but I’m not quite strong enough to hold onto what I’ve got once I’ve got it. My job was to track the two that had gone off on a different trail and hole them up somewhere until my brothers could come get them.

The hills were steep and because Cochise wasn’t familiar with the territory, I didn’t want to run her. The escaped horses, in their fright, had left an easy trail for me to follow and it didn’t take me too long to catch up with them. I finally spotted them near a little stream, happily munching on some tufts of grass. I stood up in the stirrups looking for a good place to herd them, but I couldn’t seem to come up with one. I finally decided to try and get them going back in the direction of our camp, hoping that maybe I would meet my brothers halfway. Things started out good. I took my time riding up behind them and they got going in the direction I wanted them to. Eventually, though, one of them started getting the idea that they were being herded and it alerted the other one. Now, anybody that knows me knows that I love horses, but I’ll be the first one to tell you that they can be about the orneriest creatures on earth when they set their mind to it. They both stopped and looked at each other, and then as if they made a mutual decision, they took off on opposite sides. I didn’t waste a second. Grabbing up my rope, I went after the smaller horse, thankfully she had taken to running up the hill and I was able to stay hot on her heels. Quick as a flash I threw out the rope and it sailed over her head and landed nicely on her shoulders. I then wrapped the other end around my saddle horn and then slowed Cochise. I have to admit I was pretty proud of myself a moment later when she stopped pulling and went to a nice walk. I patted my partner’s mane and then dismounted.

The horse was at least tame enough to not shy when I walked up to her, and I exchanged the long rope for a shorter one then tied her tightly to a nearby tree. I was walking back to Cochise, ready to go after the other one when I heard a twig snap. Having grown up spending most of my days outdoors, I was accustomed to the different sounds and calls made by animals, and this wasn’t one of them. Instantly I froze, and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Someone was following me. I stood for a moment listening but there were no other sounds. I did notice that Cochise’s ears were pricked forward, so she knew someone was out there too.

I decided to act like I wasn’t worried and walked slowly back to Cochise. I was heading for my rifle, and I it was almost within reach when a voice stopped me. It was the last voice on earth that I had expected to hear.

~~~

“Jeannette?” I squawked, whirling around. I started to say more but the gun she was aiming at my chest knocked the words right out of my mouth.

“Oh, Little Joe, I’m so glad it is you,” she said as she shakily lowered the gun.

I started to breathe a little easier once she took her finger off the trigger, then I stepped back to get a better look at her. She had a long scratch running down the side of her face and she was using a big stick to hop around on one foot; the other was bandaged up. Her riding outfit was torn in a few places and covered in dirt. I’d say it was pretty obvious that she’d met up with some sort of accident.

As she gave me a wobbly smile, I sensed that our travels were going to become even more . . . interrupted. Not that I minded in the least; I was pretty sure that having her around was going to take the heat off of me. There was one thing I couldn’t figure out, though, so I asked her. “What in tarnation are you doing way out here?” I ‘spose I could have asked that a little nicer, but I was still recovering from her scaring the daylights out of me, after all. I really wished I had phrased it nicer a couple of seconds later, though, when she started to cry. I don’t know much about girls to begin with but set one to crying and I’m all thumbs. The only thing I could think to do was hand her my handkerchief. She took it and I decided I’d better help her sit down before she fell over.

Once I had her all settled, she looked up at me through thick batting lashes and said, “Little Joe, you are so gallant.” I wasn’t quite sure what gallant meant, but I figured it must be something good since she was smiling again. I sat down beside her, and she told me her long sad story; only it wasn’t all that long . . . or sad, now that I come to think of it. Anyway, she said she had gotten a letter the day before from a relative that lived in San Francisco. The letter was an offer from her aunt to go and live with her. I guess she was really keen on going ‘cause she packed up and left first thing the next morning.

“I take it your travels didn’t go so well,” I interrupted.

Her eyes snapped up and met mine, and she looked kind of angry, but I guess she saw that I was just teasing because after a minute she grinned.

“No, Little Joe, things did not go well for me. My horse lost a shoe, and when I stepped down to check, he reared back and bolted. I must have slipped halfway down the mountain, I think.”

From the looks of her, I agreed. I was about to tell her that me and my brothers were heading to San Francisco too, but about a second later they saved me the trouble. I turned kind of red and shrugged helplessly as my brothers started shouting my name loud enough for Pa to hear in San Francisco.

“Sorry,” I said. “My brothers are a little . . . irritated with me at the moment.”

To emphasize what I’d just said, Adam called out again, his voice sounding much more like an angry growl than anything else. I cringed, but Jeannette just laughed. I turned to her a little surprised and she winked at me.

“Let’s not keep them waiting, no?”

I decided right there, that my early suspicions had been unfounded and I was going to like having her along.

As I figured, once my brothers got a look at Jeannette, they forgot all about me, especially since they had managed to catch the last horse that had gotten away from me. We brought Jeannette back to our camp, and after we put it back together, minus a few unsalvageable items, she cooked up a real nice pot of beans. She had a travel bag with a whole bunch of little bottles in it. She added a few spices and wow did they make those beans taste good. I was really curious as to what was in all the other bottles, but suffice it to say, I didn’t get as much as a peek at them for the rest of our travels.

Needless to say, it was unanimously decided that she would travel the rest of the way with us. And yes, that was before she cooked us supper. After all, it wouldn’t be proper to let a young woman travel alone. We weren’t quite sure how Pa would feel about us having an unattached female in our company, but we were pretty sure how he would feel about us leaving her stranded so we decided to take the risk.

I probably don’t have to tell you that Hoss didn’t mind having her along in the least. The problem was that Adam didn’t seem to mind having her along either, and of course, the biggest problem was that Hoss had noticed that Adam didn’t mind having her along. For the most part, things went real smooth. The bear scare seemed to have worked all the orneriness out of the horses and they were behaving like, well, like behaved horses. Jeannette was a great cook and she smoothed out all the kinks in my brothers moods. I made sure to stay real close to her in the beginning, in case my brothers got any ideas about paying me back for my mishap, but they were too busy fighting over her attention. I watched real close to try and see which of my brothers she favored most, but for the life of me, I couldn’t tell. Most of the time she just sat on the sidelines with me, while they tried their best to outdo each other. She asked me all kinds of questions about school, and my friends, what kind of things I was interested in, and even about my mother. You would think that at eleven years old, I was smart enough to figure out that someone like her being so interested in me was a little unusual, but I guess I was what my brothers call, being caught in a woman’s wiles.

~~~

Finally, Adam announced one morning that we would reach San Francisco around noontime. I looked over at Hoss and we both smiled; I could tell he was just as excited as I was. I couldn’t help myself, I let out a loud whoop and then had to spend the next ten minutes calming the horses down. Hoss probably would’ve yelled too, but ever since Jeannette had joined our group; he’d been tryin’ to act real grownup. I’d been worried at first that my brothers were going to end up in scuffle over her, but by the second day of our journey it seemed Adam suddenly remembered that Hoss had seen her first. Personally, I think Hoss gave Adam a helpful reminder when they’d both walked down to a creek to water the horses earlier that morning.

Anyway, things smoothed out after that; we got used to havin’ a chatty girl around, the horses gave us no more trouble, and I didn’t suggest using my gun again. Not that I didn’t want to, I just somehow sensed that bringing it up might not be in my best interest.

Every once in a while, my oldest brother is right, and we arrived on the outskirts of San Francisco just as my stomach started announcing that it was lunch time. I couldn’t wait to get into the city and see what all the fuss was about. I could already see more buildings than I’d ever I imagined being all together in one place before, and I could hear all kinds of interesting sounds being carried over to us on the breeze. Unfortunately, the Hamptons lived about a mile outside the city on a small spread. In case you’re thinking that the name Hampton sounds familiar it’s because they’re related to the Hamptons that live in Virginia City. That’s right; John Hampton from Virginia City has a twin brother, Andrew, who lives in San Francisco. I’m not sure what I was more excited to see, the city or someone that looked exactly like someone else. Pa said they were identical twins which means they look well . . . exactly the same. My pa was real good friends with Andrew; I guess he’d served with my pa way back when he was a sailor. John had been a sailor too, but on a different ship so my pa never really got to know him. I’m kind of glad because he’s real cranky and kind of mysterious. Hoss and I had broken into his attic the last time Lee was in town, trying to find what turned out to be a hidden key, and I can still remember all the weird stuff he had locked away in there.

Well, thankfully, Pa says that John and his brother are about as opposite as they come, not in looks, but in just about everything else, and I was anxious to meet him. We stopped when we came to a fork in the road with wooden signposts pointing every which way. Adam turned toward me and Hoss, and shocked us both.

“Hoss, Little Joe and I can take the horses from here, why don’t you go on ahead into the city and make sure Jeannette gets settled?”

He kind of put Hoss on the spot and the poor guy hemmed and hawed as he turned a bright shade of red. I took a quick glance at Jeannette and for some reason, she didn’t seem to be real happy with Adam’s plan either, but she didn’t say anything.

I offered to go along with Hoss, but from the resounding chorus of no’s I got the feeling that I would be intruding, besides I don’t think even Adam could have managed all those horses by himself. Adam assured Hoss we didn’t mind delivering the horses on our own, although I don’t think that’s what Hoss was really worried about, and then taking the leads from Hoss turned and started down the road. Hoss tried to say somethin’ to him a couple of times, but Adam just waved over his shoulder and kept going. Hoss turned to me, looking for all the world like Adam had just told him he was going to jail, and I gave him a sympathetic shrug. I was about to offer him some encouragement when Adam yelled for me to hurry up. Hoss and I both rolled our eyes, and I laughed. I was glad to see that he seemed to relax somewhat and then he turned toward the city while I trotted after Adam.

“Are we meetin’ Pa at the house?” I asked when I’d caught up with him.

“That’s the plan.”

“Are we havin’ lunch there?”

“That’s the plan.”

“And, Mr. Hampton is gonna buy all these horses, even though he’s never even seen ‘em?”

“That’s the plan.

You know sometimes tryin’ to get my big brother to talk can be almost as hard as tryin’ to get me to shut up. If the time ever comes that we both want to talk and listen at the same time it will be a miracle.

I gave Adam my best scowl and then got real quiet. He must have noticed that I wasn’t happy ‘cause a little while later, he started whistling some perky tune and tossed me a peppermint. I gave him a smile and nudged Cochise up closer to him. What can I say, I’m easy. The ranch came into view about ten minutes later and as far as I was concerned it was just in time. My stomach was so empty that it was in knots, even after the peppermint. As we got closer to the house, I started to get a real uneasy feeling in my stomach. It settled right next to my hunger pains, and all I can tell you is that it was real uncomfortable. I knew something was wrong when the horses started pricking their ears and Adam stiffened and sat up real straight. He’s taller than me so he noticed the open door on the ranch house before I did.

He turned and motioned for me to be quiet, then he nodded his head toward a bunch of trees just off the path. I dismounted when he did and helped him to tie the horses’ leads. He whispered for me to stay quiet, stay back, and stay down, and then untied his rifle from his saddle. My eyes got real big as I watched him check the chamber in his pistol and then crouch down and make a run for the yard. I’m not sure exactly what came over me or why I did it, but the next thing I knew, I was pulling my own rifle out and following, literally, in my brother’s footsteps. I’m not sure which one of was more surprised when I came up behind him, but I know which one of us was madder, and it wasn’t me. There wasn’t any time for me to go back though because about a split second later, things started getting real interesting real fast . . .

~~~

I heard a shot go off, felt something hot whizz past my ear, and the next thing I knew Adam had practically yanked my arm off getting me to the ground. I brought a hand up to my ear that was still burning, and when I drew it back down, I saw blood and after that, things got a little hazy. I remember my brother darting up every once in a while, and getting off a shot, but mostly what I remember is a whole lot of noise. There were so many shots being fired that I was sure there must be at least a hundred men surrounding the cabin. I found out later that it was really only three, and that they’d only fired enough shots to cover themselves so they could get to their horses. Now, if you ever hear Adam tell the story, he’ll tell you that once the men had high tailed it out of there in a cloud of dust, I was curled up in a ball with my arms covering my head, and that it took him a good ten minutes to snap me out of it. I’ve tried explaining to him that the only reason my arms were over my head was to try and stop the bleeding, and that because my ears were covered I couldn’t hear him telling me it was safe, but he never believes me.

Well, after we were both standing he looked me up and down and suddenly I was real glad that I’d been grazed by a bullet ‘cause if I hadn’t already been wounded, I’m pretty sure Adam would have fixed that good. Instead, he pulled a clean handkerchief out of his pocket, he’s always got one, and told me to hold it against my ear and then he turned toward the house. The front door was swinging in the breeze and kept banging loudly against the side of the house. Other than that, everything was quiet, too quiet.

“I’m going to check the house,” Adam said turning to me. “You stay here!”

He pointed to the spot I was standing in with those last three words, and his eyes got that certain look which meant I’d better listen or the next words I heard would be my mama saying how much she’d missed me. I nodded my head and then winced at the pain coming from my ear. Just for good measure I let my eyes get a little teary. That did the trick and before Adam left, he laid a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll call you when it’s safe to come out,” he said. “Please don’t move.”

I nodded for real that time and ducked down as Adam crept his way toward the house. My heart started pounding real fierce as he got closer, and I forgot all about my ear as I watched him duck under the window closest to the door and then carefully peer inside. He must have been satisfied with what he saw ‘cause he kept going right up to the door. When he was finally close enough, he stood up, aimed his pistol in front of him and then kicked the door in. I’m not sure exactly what happened next because he went inside, and the door slammed shut behind him. I froze for a minute, not quite sure what to do. If Adam was in danger, I couldn’t just stand there and let him be killed, but if it turned out he wasn’t in danger and I left my spot, then I was the one whose life would be in danger. Before I had a chance to make up my mind, I heard a familiar sharp whistle coming from inside the house and I took off on a run. In case you’re wondering, it was the whistle Adam uses to call me and Hoss whenever we’re too far off to hear him calling. The one that means you better get a move on.

I could hear voices as I neared the house, and I practically charged through the door. I’d been expecting to see Pa, but instead it was just two old people. There was a little gray haired lady standing next to a table wringing her hands, and Adam was still untying the man I knew to be Mr. Hampton from where he’d been bound to a chair. I couldn’t believe how much he looked like his brother.

“Where’s Pa?” I asked when Adam turned to me.

The old man spoke up. “He’s been taken. Those men . . . they had someone here with them . . . their leader, I think . . . and he took your father. Here, they’ve left a note.”

I reached for the paper when the man pulled it out of his shirt pocket, but Adam got to it first. “What’s it say?” I asked, crowding in close. Adam just turned away and kept reading; his expression dark. “What do they want?” I tried again and stepped around to try and read over his arm. The only answer I got was an angry huff as Adam roughly folded the note and stuffed it into his back pocket. When he turned to me his stony expression left no room for argument.

“Little Joe, I want you to stay with the Hamptons . . .”

I started to protest, but then Adam took hold of my arm and squeezed real tight. “I mean it! Don’t leave this house. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I was mad then and jerked my arm away as soon as he loosened his grip and stomped across the room to a window overlooking the back yard. I listened with my back turned as he talked quickly with Mr. Hampton, but he kept his voice low so I couldn’t hear. I did catch something about “near the water” and “It’s a big ship”, but that was all before he quit talking. I heard him walk up behind me and clear his throat, but I wasn’t in the mood to listen.

“Joe, look at me,” he said.

I turned reluctantly, and I could see he wasn’t mad anymore, just determined. “Everything is going to be fine; you have to trust me.” I couldn’t believe it when he gave me a quick hug. I knew then that he was really worried, and I couldn’t help but be worried too. I blame what I did next on that. You see when Adam hugged me my hand fell across his back pocket and the letter just happened to be sticking out a bit. When my older brother pulled away, he never even felt it leave his pocket.

“I’ll leave all the supplies by the horses,” he said. “Come and get them a few minutes after I’ve gone.”

I nodded just a touch too eagerly, and then gave him a wobbly grin in answer to the look of suspicion he gave me. “Hurry back,” I said trying to change the subject, “and bring Pa and Hoss with you.”

He nodded, and a minute later he was out the door, and I was standing next to a clucking and fussing Mrs. Hampton. “Oh, you dear, oh you poor, poor dear.” It was all I could do not to roll my eyes.

Mr. Hampton made me wait a whole thirty minutes before he finally felt it was safe for me to leave the house. I ran out the door to where I’d left Cochise tied along with the other horses and then I pulled the letter out and read it.

You know what I want. If you ever want to see your father alive again, deliver it to me at noon tomorrow. My confidant will be waiting for you at the end of the pier next to the Flounder. No tricks.

My mind was whirling with unanswered questions. How could Adam know what they wanted? For that matter, I wasn’t even sure who the they were, although I had a pretty good guess that it all tied in with Lee somehow. I looked back at the house and thought of the Hamptons. I hoped they wouldn’t be too worried when I didn’t show up again. Adam had left all of our things in a heap on the ground, and I started digging through it, packing what I thought I might need. I was just about done when I opened up his saddle bag and reached inside. I gasped when I heard a familiar crinkling noise . . .

I’d forgotten all about that package. I guess running into Jeannette is what knocked it out of my head. For a minute, all I could think about was opening it up, but then a thought occurred to me. I quickly stuffed the package into my saddle bag and mounted up. A little voice was telling me it wasn’t true, Adam never forgot anything, but what if the package was what Adam was supposed to deliver. I couldn’t risk opening it, and now more than ever, I needed to catch up with my older brother. I knew there was a possibility I’d never walk straight again once he got a hold of me, but I would worry about that later. All I could think of right then was Pa and that he might need my help.

I guess Adam really had expected me to stay behind because he hadn’t even tried to hide his trail, and it was as easy to follow as a rail line, until I got to the city that is. I’d always thought Virginia City was big, well I’ll tell ya, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to San Francisco, and I didn’t have much more than a vague clue as to where I was going. I veered away from the houses and headed toward the busy streets, figuring one of the shop owners would be able to point me in the direction of the ocean. If I hadn’t been so stuck on my mission, I might have been excited about seeing the Pacific for the first time, but my mind wasn’t on anything except finding Adam. I scanned the street up and down and decided to ask for directions at a little bakery. After I tied Cochise at the hitching post, I dug around inside my pants pocket. I only had a few pennies, and I clutched them in my hand as I walked inside the sweet smelling shop. The man behind the counter looked at me kind of funny until I laid my money on the counter.

“I’d like some rolls please,” I said, “and can you tell me which direction the piers are in?”

The man wiped his floured hands on his apron and smiled. “This will buy you six sweet rolls,” he said, “and just keep heading down this street; eventually you’ll run right into the water.”

I watched hungrily as he put the rolls into a paper bag. He didn’t seem to notice or care how much of a hurry I was in or how hungry I was, and he took his time placing them all in a neat row. “Is there a particular pier you’re looking for?” he asked.

I nodded and then remembered that his back was turned to me. “Yes, sir. I’m not sure which one it is exactly, but I think it might be near where they catch fish.”

The man laughed and then turned to me. “Well, that certainly narrows it down,” he said.

I was pretty sure he was making fun of me. “Well, I know it has somethin’ to do with flounder,” I mumbled.

“Ah, well, that’s different, young man. The pier you’re looking for is number six and it’s right next to Sally’s place. That’s where the ship, the Flounder, is docked. You’d better hurry if you need to catch her though. She sails shortly.”

“Gee, thanks, mister,” I said as I reached for the bag he held out.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a big hand reached over my shoulder and grabbed it for me. I whirled around and found myself staring straight into Hoss’s face. Well, actually it was more like the middle of his chest, but I looked up real quick, and he had a smirk on his face.

“Thanks for these, little brother,” he said, holding up the steaming bag in a salute. “Does Adam know you’re here?”

He would ask me that first. Before I could answer, Hoss shoved a whole roll in his mouth and then nodded his head toward the door. When we got outside, he handed me one, and I started to fill him in around mouthfuls of bread. He understood about half of what I said, but after I showed him the note and my ear, he got the idea that we’d better move fast.

“Hey, how’d you find me anyway?” I asked as we mounted up, “and where’s Jeannette?”

“I didn’t find you, I found the bakery, you just happened to be in it, and Jeannette should be at her aunt’s house by now. Once we got into the city, she said she’d rather go on by herself. She wanted to stop at a bathhouse first and freshen up a mite.”

“You left her by herself?”

Hoss’s face started to turn a little pink and he fidgeted in his saddle. “Well, I weren’t gonna follow her inside no ladies’ parlor, and ‘sides she said she knows this city like the back of her hand, and . . .”

“You were hungry?”

Hoss mumbled something about me getting too big for my britches and then I couldn’t hear the rest ‘cause he took off down the street. Getting to the pier took much longer than I’d figured, and the sun was going down by the time I could hear the waves splashing in the distance. The air smelled like a mixture of old rain and fresh fish. I kept sniffing over and over again, trying to decide whether I liked it or not. I had just about decided on not when Hoss stopped and, digging in his back pocket handed me a handkerchief.

“You gettin’ a cold?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes and continued past him. If I’d been worried about finding the pier earlier, I sure wasn’t once we got closer. The baker had been right, and we’d pretty much run smack into the ocean and Sally’s Place. Apparently, it was a pretty popular ‘cause there was sure an awful lot of people crammed inside; some were even spilling out onto the street. The building was three stories high and was all but shaking with the loud music and laughin’ and who knows what else going on inside. I stood gaping for a solid minute before Hoss finally nudged my arm. I turned to him with my mouth still hanging open. His eyes were real wide, and I knew he must have been starin’ too.

“You reckon Adam’s in there?” he asked.

We both shrugged, closed our mouths, and then swallowed. Now that we’d nearly found my oldest brother, I was just a touch nervous, and I hoped like anything that I was doing the right thing.

“Why don’t you go in and get him?” I suggested. “I’ll stay out here and watch our mounts.”

Hoss looked unsure but started to nod. It was then that an idea hit me.

“Hey, how about while you’re inside softening up older brother, I’ll go down to the docks and see if I can find the Flounder.”

I was excited to get started and turned Cochise toward the sound of the waves slapping against the wooden docks, but Hoss caught hold of my arm.

“Oh, no you don’t,” he said. “You’re comin’ with me. Adam and Pa’d both have my hide if you go and get yourself lost, or shanghaied, or . . . or drowned.”

“Drowned! Hoss I’m eleven years old and the son of a seaman. Heck, I was swimmin’ in the water trough by the time I was a year old . . . drowned.”

“Calm down, little brother. I’m not sayin’ it’d happen easy, but if it’s possible you’d find a way. Now come on, we’re both goin’ in.”

I rolled my eyes again, making sure Hoss could see and then dismounted. Right then I made up a new philosophy. It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission. As we got close to the door, I started to ask Hoss how he was going to get me inside, but then I caught a quick flash of someone going inside and stopped dead still. I turned to Hoss and could tell by his dropped jaw that he’d seen her too. I wondered if Jeannette’s aunt knew she was goin’ to a place like that. Dressed like that. I guess seein’ Jeannette made Hoss have a change of heart ‘cause all of a sudden he set his jaw, stood up real straight and placing a hand on my shoulder said. “Wait here.”

As I watched him march into that big old noisy building, I had every intention of staying put. I really did, but then I heard someone calling me from the side alley.

~~~

I couldn’t make out who it was since they were standing just outside of the light from the streetlamp, and they were calling so low that I didn’t recognize the voice. The prickle on the back of my neck really should have told me all I needed to know, but when you’re a kid sometimes curiosity wins out over common sense. I glanced real quick toward the door Hoss had just entered, licked my lips, shifted from foot to foot and then the voice called more urgently, and I jogged toward the alley. I know, my middle name should be knucklehead.

Well, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, the minute I got into the alley, I was grabbed from behind and had an awful smelling rag shoved in my face, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in the dark with my hands tied behind me. I groaned and tried to sit up, but my feet were tied too. My head was pounding like crazy, and I waited a few minutes for the world to quit spinning, and then sitting up on my elbow, managed to scoot along the hard wooden floor until I came to a wall. It took a bit of doing, and I had one arm and one leg full of splinters, but in the end, I was sitting up leaning my head against the wall. I stayed real quiet trying to get any sort of clue as to where I was. It was so dark I could hardly even make out my own legs. Since my eyes were pretty much useless, I moved on to using my nose. It was a strange mixture of smells that greeted my first sniff. Wherever I was, it was damp and musty, and the smell of fish was so strong that I wouldn’t have been able to pick up other scents even if there were any. Cocking an ear, I listened for . . . well anything. I knew I was close to the ocean because I could hear waves. Sitting there, I was feeling pretty bad. My head ached, my stomach was churning, and even after closing my eyes tight, it still felt like the room was moving. Finally, it dawned on me that the room was moving. I was on a ship!

“Oh no,” I groaned out loud. “I’ve been shanghaied!”

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a voice answered back, from somewhere in the dark. “Not quite, kid.”

I recognized Lee’s voice. I could’ve kicked myself for being so stupid, but of course, my legs were still tied, and the way my stomach was rolling around, I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to try and move around too much.

“You’ve got the wrong Cartwright, Lee. My brother has your package, and he’ll never give it up as long as you have me.”

“Oh, I don’t expect any trouble from you brother,” Lee answered. “He’s already delivered what I wanted; although I must say I wasn’t expecting you until noon tomorrow.”

I flinched when Lee struck a match. He lit a lantern and turned it up real bright before shining it toward me. His lips were twisted into one those smiles that says, “I’ve won”, and as my blood started to boil, I forgot all about being sick to my stomach.

“What do you mean?” I asked between gritted teeth.

He sauntered up to me real slow and then got down on one knee to look me in the eye. “It was you I wanted.” He smiled again, and I tried not to gag as his sour breath hit my face.

As soon as I was sure I wouldn’t lose the rolls I’d eaten earlier I asked him. “What do you want with me?”

“Like I keep telling you, kid . . . I’ve got errands for you to run.”

That didn’t make any sense to me, but then nothing much that had happened since the night of my birthday was making sense. I had about a million questions floating through my mind, but before I could ask any of them Lee turned around and walked to a far corner of the room. He set the lantern on top of an empty barrel and then scooted another one aside, then picking up the lantern again he shone it into the corner. I’d thought I was sick before, but it was nothing compared to what I felt then. I could feel the blood draining from my face as he shone the light on a man bound and gagged.

“Pa!”

I watched as my pa tried to get up. One of his eyes was swollen shut but the other was looking at Lee, dark and fierce. Lee kicked him back down and before I knew it, I was on my feet. I didn’t stay that way long with my legs bound, and Lee laughed as I fell over.

“You see, Mr. Cartwright,” he said, turning to my pa, “the boy has spunk. I like that.” He then crossed the room and jerked me up by the front of my shirt. He pulled out a knife and drew back his hand. The blade glinted in the lantern light, and I could hear my pa struggling to yell out even through his gag. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited. I was surprised a moment later when, instead of feeling the pain of a sharp blade entering my body, my hands were suddenly cut loose. Lee reached down and cut the ropes around my ankles next. For an instant, my instincts took over and before Lee even had a chance to straighten up, I’d kicked him in the shins and turned to run. He was quicker than I was though, and he reached out and caught my arm. As he pulled me back toward him, he squeezed so tight that I almost cried out.

“You try that again, boy, and I’ll find a better use for my knife,” he said, and then gave sharp whistle that left my ears ringing.

A hatch from above the room opened up and two men came thundering down a ladder that I hadn’t noticed before; it was then I realized we were below deck.

Lee shoved me toward one of the men. “Take him up top.”

I winced as the man took firm hold of my already sore arm and moved me toward the ladder. I tried to turn and get a look at my pa, but Lee was blocking my view, so I settled for giving him the meanest glare I could muster before I was forced up the ladder.

Once on the deck it took me several minutes before my eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. I was relieved when I could finally make out the shapes of buildings and other ships. We were still in port. From the way the ship was moving, I’d been worried that we were already out to sea. My relief didn’t last long though. I could hear footsteps behind me and the man holding me turned me around to face Lee.

“Now, boy,” he said, “I’ve a feeling you’ve been holding out on me.”

I watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a dirty cloth, and tried hard to ignore the churning in my stomach as he opened his hand and showed me the items I’d stolen for him from the safe.

“One, two, three,” he counted, and I knew that he knew even before he asked the question. “Where’s the fourth?”

~~~

“Right here,” a voice answered.

Lee spun around and blocked my view, but it didn’t matter, I knew Jeannette’s voice.

I jutted out my chin as she walked around Lee, handing him the tiny key but keeping her eyes on me the whole time. “You are . . . surprised, no?” she said.

I’m not sure why but I was. I mean there were only so many people that knew about the key, and she had been my number one suspect for a while. “Not much,” I lied.

She sort of chuckled and reached out to touch my head, but I jerked away. From behind her, Lee laughed and then stepped forward, draping an arm across her shoulders. “What do you think, love? This little spitfire will make a good addition to our team, I think.”

I shifted my glare back and forth between the two as they stared at me, but I almost fell over a second later when she answered.

“Oui, Papa.”

“This guy’s your pa?” I heard myself yelling.

Lee’s eyebrow’s rose and he smirked, “You find that so hard to believe?”

I looked from Lee’s dirty unshaven mug to Jeannette’s pretty face. “Yeah,” I answered.

Lee shrugged. “She takes after her mother,” then he turned to Jeannette, “The shipman will be here soon, take him to our quarters, and see to it that no one will be able to hear him.”

“What about . . .” Jeannette finished her statement by motioning down below.

“Don’t worry about him, my dear, he’s no longer necessary. I’ll take care of things.”

Lee turned, and I caught sight of something shiny in his hand. My breath caught in my throat, clenched in his hand was the knife he’d used to untie me. He was still holding the tiny key pinched between his two fingers in the other hand. There wasn’t much time for me to think, but quick as a flash I reached out and grabbed the key. I was halfway across the deck before he even reacted, and a split second later I was standing on top of the railing holding the key out over the edge. “You let my pa go, or you’ll never see this key again,” I yelled, trying to sound a lot braver than I felt.

Lee took another couple of steps toward me, but I grabbed hold of a rope and dangled the key even farther out.

“You drop that key and your father won’t be the only member of your family I deal with,” he said.

I might have been worried about his threat if I hadn’t just beheld a beautiful sight.

“Well, here’s your chance,” Adam said, “because the rest of us are right here.”

I nearly laughed when Hoss’s head popped up over the side, his hair was tousled and he was out of breath from climbing, but I thought he looked great. He and Adam had their guns drawn and I relaxed a little bit as Lee took a step away from me. I should’ve known better; Lee’s men must have heard Adam talking and just as he passed the hatch they jumped up on deck.

Everything happened pretty fast after that. One of the men dove for Adam’s legs, knocking him to the ground. Adam’s gun went off, and it’s a good thing I’d been leaning so far over the edge ‘cause that bullet only missed me by about the length of dog’s hair. The bigger of the two men had come up the ladder carrying a thick board and before he was even on deck, he threw it Hoss’s head. Hoss managed to duck out of the way, but it gave the other guy enough time to gain his feet and barrel into him. I’d tell you what came next, but I never got to see it. Like I said, everything happened so fast that I completely forgot about Lee, right up until he grabbed my arm and yanked the key out of my hand. Without thinking I gave him a solid kick where I knew it would count the most. It worked, he let go of me, but unfortunately it threw me off balance and the next thing I knew I did one of the most painful belly flops I’ve ever experienced right into the Pacific. I stayed calm at first, my pa had taught me how to swim when I was around three years old. My mama had made him do it after I’d run off one day and they’d found me an hour later knee deep in my favorite pond. This water was much different though. I wasn’t expecting the huge waves. Waves that seemed determined to take me further away from the ship, and in the opposite direction of the docks. I got hit with three big ones in a row, and the last one was so strong that it pushed me under the water. When I finally came back up, I was at least 20 yards away from the ship, and of course, the biggest wave I’d seen yet was coming in fast. I turned and started swimming for all I was worth, but there was no way I could beat it. It was a strange feeling, being picked up by that wave, my heart sank as it pulled me even farther out to sea, but it wasn’t until a moment later that I really panicked when something brushed past my leg . . .

Another wave covered my yell as whatever it was got hold of my ankle. Suddenly I felt myself being pulled quickly through the water. My ankle was on fire, and so was my chest. I needed air, and I struggled to get my head above water. The trouble was, I was moving too fast and couldn’t tell which way was up. At that point, I also couldn’t decide which would be worse, drowning or being eaten alive. Finally, the burning in my chest became too strong and I tried to breath, only managing to suck in a bunch of salt water. Right then whatever had hold of me tightened its grip, and I opened my mouth to scream as I was sure it was going to pull my foot right off. Then in a sudden burst of light, I was out of the water, and a minute later, laying on the deck of a ship looking into the face of my oldest brother. I don’t remember everything that happened, but I know that I heard my pa’s laugh and Hoss congratulating Adam on some darn good roping.

I laid on the deck sucking in great big gulps of air. My ankle hurt like the dickens, and I was shivering from being so cold. Next thing I knew, Pa had a blanket around me and picked me up, that’s when I realized my ankle wasn’t the only thing that hurt, and my stomach lurched. Pa must have recognized the signs and got me to the edge of the ship just in time for me to lose about a gallon of salt water along with all the sweet rolls I’d eaten. Things were hazy after that, but I remember Pa barking out orders for Hoss to fetch the sheriff and Adam run ahead and let the doctor know we were coming. Turns out, my ankle was sprained, I had a whopper of a black eye, and I’d bruised a couple of ribs from hitting the water so hard. But I was fine with that cause the next morning, at the hotel, Pa sat us all down and made us tell him the whole story. The sorry state I was in not only managed to keep my hide safe, but I also wasn’t in any shape to do all of the back breaking, hand blistering labor Pa had bestowed on Hoss. Pa gave Adam an earful about keeping information from him about Lee, but since he really hadn’t done anything wrong, my oldest brother got off with just a slight ringing in his ears.

About the time Pa’s voice started getting hoarse the sheriff knocked on the door. Pa let him in and from the look of sympathy he gave us, I figured we all must have looked pretty miserable. He told us that Lee was already on his way back to prison and that Jeanette would most likely be following in her father’s footsteps. Even hearing those words, I somehow couldn’t feel complete relief. Lee had escaped once before, and he was mule headed determined to get what he was after.

It took ten days before the doctor said it would be okay for me to travel home. Pa had sent Hoss back early to get started on all his new chores. I really wished Pa would have at least let him stay for Jeannette’s trial because for some reason he and Adam weren’t feeling inclined to share any information with me other than that she did end up getting sentenced to two years in prison for assisting in my kidnapping. One day, while Pa was out at Mr. Hamptons finalizing the sale of the horses, I got up enough courage to ask Adam one of the questions that had been nagging loudly in the back of my mind.
“Hey, Adam,” I said hesitantly.

“Hm?” he replied without looking up from the book he was reading.

“You ever gonna tell me what was in that package?”

He looked up then. “I’ll do better than that.” He got up and pulled the package out from his saddlebag and tossed it to me. “I’ll let you open it.”

I caught it but hesitated, watching him to make sure he was serious. He nodded for me to go ahead, and I tore it open, my hands shaking with excitement.

“What in the . . .” I was flabbergasted. “Why, the heck, did you wrap up this old throw pillow?”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to try and find out what it was, and it kept you busy when I needed you out of the way.”

A decoy! I couldn’t believe it. That sneaky, lowdown, stubborn . . . I made myself stop thinking along those lines as I realized I could have just as easily been describing myself.

“Well, at least I know I come by it honestly,” was all I said out loud. I tossed the pillow at his head, and he laughed as he caught it.

~~~

A week later we were finally home and a week after that Hoss started talking to me again. He probably would have gone on longer than that but since we were both confined to the ranch for most likely the rest of our lives, we figured we’d better make up or we’d go mad from loneliness.

“Friends again?” I’d asked him one night after we’d finished mucking out the stalls.

He’d paused for a minute and then said, “On one condition. You give me everything you’ve got left that has anything to do with Lee.”

“What?” I whined.

“You heard me, keys, maps, compass. I want it all, and if I ever find out you were holdin’ anything back, I swear I’ll go straight to Pa.”

For him to threaten to tell on me, I knew he meant business. I also knew he was probably right. Best to wash my hands of the whole sticky mess. The cave and its tunnel had been destroyed, Lee and Jeannette were in prison, Pa and Adam had mostly forgiven us. It was as good a time as any to just leave it all behind me.
“All right,” I agreed and ran from the barn up to my room and dove under the bed. I pulled out the pouch that held all of the clues to a quest for what I was sure must be some great treasure, and as I handed it to Hoss a few minutes later, I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off my chest. I vowed then and there never to think about it again. And I wouldn’t have, if it hadn’t been for the fact that one half of the compass had managed to roll out of the pouch and wedge itself into a large crack in the floor under my bed where it wouldn’t be discovered until one hot and boring summer a couple of years later. But that is another story.