Summary: A story within a story with a prequel in the main story. Little Joe had a nasty prank played on him when he was ten, and fourteen years later, a similar situation is playing out again. He blamed Adam the first time, but he doesn’t know who to blame the second time.
Rating: T  Word count: 3009

The Vine Series
Cold Fingers Around My Throat (by BettyHT)
Cold Vine (by BettyHT)
Cold Hearts, Warm Hearts (by BettyHT)

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Cold Fingers Around My Throat

Sitting at the breakfast table, Joe Cartwright almost dared his family to challenge what he had said. They didn’t but he could see the smirk on his father’s lips. Hoss was eating as fast as he could as if by keeping his lips busy, he could avoid a grin. With his temper barely under control, Joe looked at Adam and was surprised. It seemed his brother mirrored his own feelings. Joe had no way to explain that so he turned to his father and other brother.

“I’m not making this up. I was asleep and a hand closed around my throat and woke me up. It was cold as ice. Then as suddenly as it was there, it was gone.”

“We didn’t hear nothing, Joe.”

“I’m not that little kid anymore, Hoss. I’m not going to cry out for help. I’m almost twenty-four now. If it had been Adam doing this to me again, he would have found he had a fight on his hands. But this time, there was no Adam standing at the side of my bed smiling down at me and asking if I had a nightmare and telling me it would be all right.”

Pursing his lips, Adam looked to their father as if he hoped he would intervene. He didn’t. Joe didn’t like how that developed either. He turned back to Adam with his anger growing again.

“I’m never going to forget what you did so don’t bother looking at Pa like he’s going to tell me to let it go. I won’t.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I was a kid. For years afterward, I was afraid to fall asleep if the room was completely dark. I always looked under a bed before I would sleep in it.”

Joe couldn’t help it. The memory of over a dozen years earlier rushed back at him. The fear, the anger, and the stress had imprinted every part of those experiences vividly in his mind. He wouldn’t have been able to forget it if he had wanted to let it go forever. He remembered well the first night it had happened and how his father had gone up the stairs.

“I’m going up to bed early. You boys make sure Little Joe gets to bed on time.”

“You’re not feeling sick, are you, Pa?”

“No, Hoss, I’m not sick. It’s been a hard couple of weeks, and I’m very tired. I need to get some extra sleep tonight. You will do as I ask with Little Joe?”

Adam and Hoss both answered in the affirmative as Little Joe tried to think of a way to manipulate them into granting him more time. He failed. He might have succeeded if it had been just Hoss but not with the two of them. Marched to the stairs at the exact time he was expected to go to bed, he gave his brothers, especially Adam, a few choice words of complaint and then described Adam’s character in some particularly negative terms.

“Little Joe, you shush and head up to bed before I decide to turn my back and let our older brother here teach you some manners.”

Little Joe was going to comment more, but even at ten, he was smart enough to know you don’t argue with two older brothers who were a lot bigger and might get angry. He had a few thoughts about what kinds of things he would do when he got as big as they were or at least as big as Adam. But he didn’t say anything about that. Even with his usual dawdling, he was in his bed in less than a half hour and asleep shortly after that. Almost as soon as he fell asleep though, he was awakened by an ice-cold hand around his throat. Jerking awake and away from the hand in the dark, he began to scream. In a moment the door swung open, and Adam was there.

“Little Joe, it’s all right. Did you have a nightmare?”

“Very funny. You’re the nightmare. Never do that to me again.”

“Do what? I didn’t do anything.”

“What’s going on in here?”

Hoss came through the door then carrying the lamp from his room.

“Hoss, Adam snuck in here and grabbed my throat in the dark. He nearly scared me to death.”

“Hoss, I didn’t do anything.”

“Right. You did it to me and then opened the door like you just got here.”

“Aw, c’mon, Adam, who else could have done it. Ain’t nobody else here, and I didn’t see nobody come out of here. Now, let’s get back to bed before we wake up Pa. He was powerful tired tonight.”

There was so much more to the story that Joe didn’t know. Adam was remembering the rest of the story and what happened because of it. Like Joe, he couldn’t forget it no matter how much he wished he could.

Unable to offer an explanation that night which would satisfy his brothers, Adam let the argument go and didn’t challenge Little Joe’s theory. He planned to do that the next day once he had some time to think about it. Hoss went into his room, and Adam walked down the hall. He noticed his father’s bedroom door wasn’t shut tightly. When he got to his room, he left his door open the tiniest bit so that he could see out. He waited and was not disappointed. In about a half hour, Ben Cartwright walked down the hall and into his room. That was something Adam had not considered earlier until he saw that bedroom door slightly ajar, and it all made more sense. His father must have been under Little Joe’s bed after pulling his prank. However, Adam did feel some measure of resentment because his father did not emerge to defend his eldest son when he was unfairly accused.

That resentment that Adam felt was multiplied the next night when the same thing happened. Little Joe was even more upset and said more harsh words to Adam. Hoss was angrier too. The following morning, Adam packed up food and tools to head to a line cabin to do some repairs. His father walked to the barn to question his action.

“I didn’t tell you to do this. In fact, my plans were for you to do something else entirely.”

“My plans are mine. You can blame them on your pranks.”

Ben at least had the grace to be a bit embarrassed by that.

“It wouldn’t be much of a prank if he knew I was doing it.”

“That’s not much of a response after you heard what he said to me. I’m going to make sure there’s no chance for him to blame me tonight.”

Except Ben didn’t do it again so it reinforced Little Joe’s belief that Adam had been the one who tormented him. Adam realized when he returned to the house that he should have anticipated that and made a plan. He vowed to try to plan what he was doing in the future to avoid such unintended consequences.

For years afterward, Little Joe would bring up those incidents during the spooky season and give that accusing look at Adam. Nothing like it had ever happened again until now. Adam didn’t think their father would be hiding under a bed at his age, but he did wonder what was happening because it had been happening to him for weeks. Unlike Joe, he wasn’t planning to tell anyone. Those cold fingers wrapping around his throat and threatening to suffocate him were causing him to put off going to bed every night. Now this situation with Joe complicated things even further. He had been trying to imagine what it could be and wondered if he was hallucinating. However, Joe could hardly have the exact hallucination he was having so it was something else.

Adam had a strange idea about what might be causing his experience. If it was true, he might be infecting Joe with the same thoughts. They did think alike and act alike far more often than either was willing to admit most of the time. That night, Adam began packing to leave. He didn’t have those fingers around his throat that night, but at breakfast, they all found out that Joe did, and again there was a retelling of the old stories. It was then that Adam announced his plans.

“Well, if you have any concern that I was part of that problem, you won’t have to worry much longer. I have been mentioning for some time that I wanted to travel, and I have decided that now is a good time to go. Winter will be here soon, and you won’t need me anyway.”

It was silent for a time before the questions began about how long he would be gone, where he would go, and when he would be back. He left them all with vague answers. When Adam went to the barn to saddle up Sport to ride to town to make arrangements, Ben followed him. Hoss followed after them but stayed outside the barn to let father and son have some time alone.

“You could have given us some warning. That would have shown some respect for me and your brothers.”

“Like you showed respect for me?”

“What does that mean?”

“Once again you had many opportunities to come clean about that prank that you did but you let Joe blame me all these years.”

“Aw, Adam, one little prank like that. You let that bother you all these years?”

“It bothers Joe, and it hurt our relationship. A lot of other things that were your responsibility ended up being blamed on me too. That won’t happen anymore.”

“I have always handled my own responsibilities?”

“Really? Like the first drive I bossed, and I wanted Joe to be able to come along. But you said no, and you said I was the boss so I was the one who had to tell him. You mean like that?”

“You bring up all these little things.”

“Pa, you gave me the path of greatest resistance to taking over and running this ranch, and unfortunately, I accepted that. That’s on me, but I’m up to my neck now in little things as you call them, and I’m being strangled by them. I’m suffocating. You have interfered in every aspect of my life. I won’t accept that any longer. I want to make my own place in the world based on my choices and my decisions.”

“You are ungrateful for all that I’ve done for you.”

“Why not? You are ungrateful for all that I’ve done for you. You don’t even see it. You tell people, even your sons, that this is your ranch that you built. You treat us like employees. Well, I’m leaving, and you will have to be honest and treat my brothers far better. Joe is being strangled too. Now you will have to be honest with him and treat him as a man. No more indulgent father with a spoiled son leaving me to do the dirty work. I’m going to get my bags and make arrangements to leave. I’ll stay in town tonight and I’ll be meeting with my lawyer and banker tomorrow. This place is choking the life out of me.”

“I guess there’s not much more for me to say.”

“You can think about it and come to town to see me off the day after tomorrow if you wish.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Good.”

As Ben walked to the house, Hoss went into the barn. He had a lot of questions, but he thought he might already know the answers.

“So it was Pa who pulled those pranks on Little Joe all those years ago, but he let Joe blame you? You never said nothing.”

“It wasn’t my place.”

“You should have told me.”

When Adam said nothing, Hoss had more to say.

“Yeah, Pa should have told me and he should have told Joe. A lot of those other things you brought up with Pa, I never knew nothing about those neither. Some, of course, I feel the same way about. He makes me feel like I never grew up sometimes.”

“That’s going to change now. At least, I think it will.”

“I’m going to talk to Joe. I’m not waiting for Pa to come round and do it.”

Adam had a slight smile at that.

“Things are already beginning to change.”

“It’s not enough though, is it?”

“It won’t be if I stay. Hoss, I have to leave. It feels right to me.”

“I know. You come back someday, you hear me?”

“I will, but I don’t know when.”

“I figured on that. I’ll see you in town tomorrow.”

“I’m not leaving until the day after.”

“I know. We’re going to have one last day in town together. Now I got to go get rid of some of that vine in the back of the house. I chop at it, and it grows about as fast as I chop it back.”

“Yeah, that’s the one I told you about. Pa planted some of it back there after Hop Sing killed the stuff out by the porch when Marie died.”

“Well, if I have any more trouble with it, I might have to ask him how he did it.”

An hour later, Joe found Hoss in the back of the house chopping away at that vine.

“Pa told me he and Adam had an unpleasant talk.”

“Did he tell you what was said?”

“No, why?”

“Joe, you got a right to know. I’m going to tell you. I told Adam I would because I figured Pa wouldn’t.”

So Hoss told his younger brother what he had learned. Joe didn’t want to believe it, but after hearing so much, it began to sound plausible.

“Why wouldn’t Adam tell me?”

“Think about that?”

“He’d never snitch on Pa just like he never snitched on us. Damn. I have to see him and talk to him before he goes.”

“I’m going to town tomorrow to see him.”

“We should go tonight.”

“Pa ain’t going to like that.”

“And your point is?”

“Yeah, we’re going to town tonight, but first let me tell you about what Adam said about this damn vine. He said when Marie’s horse threw her, he thought this vine out front tangled up one of the horse’s legs. Pa said it was ridiculous. He said the vine was way up there by the porch, but Adam said that was what he saw. He said the vine had been out in the yard and then curled back to the porch. Now he said Marie never liked this vine. She said it was ugly and wanted Pa to get rid of it. Hop Sing said it was evil. Pa liked it though, I guess, and kept it. After Marie died and with what Adam said, Hop Sing killed it out front, but Pa saved some and planted it back here where Hop Sing never saw it. But now it’s overgrown and practically taking over the house. Look how it’s almost covering your window and Adam’s. Doggone, look how the part by Adam’s window has gone kinda all brown now though. That’s happened since yesterday. I wonder why.”

“Hoss, I never mentioned it, but there were leaves on my bedroom floor like whoever tried to strangle me came in through the window.”

Neither one wanted to voice then what they were thinking. Hoss had an idea though.

“Go ask Hop Sing to come here.”

Hop Sing was shocked.

“Dig out of ground and burn. I fix what is up high.”

As Hoss and Joe chopped and dug and then burned vines, Hop Sing poured buckets of lye water down the vine from Joe’s window and then Adam’s. Steam rose from the vine as it twisted and curled away from the house to escape that liquid. By the smells, there was more in those buckets than lye and water. They could smell cinnamon, garlic, and a host of other spices and odors. Hop sing brought one more pail of the concoction and poured it in the holes where they had dug out the vines. There were a few sizzles where small pieces of roots had been missed. All that was left then was the blackened side of the house and blackened earth.

In town, Adam sat up straight and smiled. Suddenly he felt better than he had in weeks. He didn’t know why, but it was a welcome feeling. He didn’t know that Joe was feeling much the same. Ben however wasn’t feeling so well. Inside the house, they found him pale and nauseated. Hop Sing thought he knew why.

“Twenty-five years of enchantment gone. Is lot to endure. He need rest.”

“He’ll be all right.”

“He be fine now.”

“Pa, me and Joe are going to town to see Adam. We’ll see you when you come to see him off.”

“But that’s not until the day after tomorrow. There’s a lot of work to get done.”

“And a lot of men to do the work, Pa. Me and Hoss only have two nights and one day to spend with our older brother. We mean to take advantage of that. We’ll see you like Hoss said.”

“Joe, why don’t you help Pa up to his bed to get some rest. I’ll go saddle our horses.”

“I’ll bring a clean shirt down for you.”

“I can go get my own shirt.”

“Not with those boots, you can’t. Hop Sing will have your hide if you walk up here with that dirt on your boots. You better clean them up some.”

So before saddling the horses, Hoss cleaned his boots knocking dirt and soot and a few charred bits of vine from his boots near the porch. As he went to saddle the horses, he didn’t notice if those charred bits had any life in them or not.