Summary: When Adam goes looking for a wolf, he finds more trouble than he bargained for as he is captured and held for ransom.
Rating and Reader Alerts: PG, some violence
Words:  17,300

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The Brandsters have included this story by this author in our project: Preserving Their Legacy. To preserve the legacy of the author, we have decided to give their work a home in the Bonanza Brand Fanfiction Library.  The author will always be the owner of this work of fanfiction, and should they wish us to remove their story, we will.

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RANSOM AT HIGH NOON 

~CHAPTER ONE~ 

     It was a wet, summer morning on the Ponderosa. Virginia City was currently in the process of recovering from its last drought. Joe and Hoss were still in bed, but Ben and Adam were in the barn. They had started cleaning it up earlier that morning, for opened bags of feed had been strewn all over the floor: but now they had put down their rakes and were having a rather agitated conversation. The wild rain hit hard on the wooden roof as they continued an argument they had started the night before. 

     “Pa, why are you being so stubborn about this?” Adam shouted as he turned away from his Pa’s face and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the tips of his fingers. 

     “I’m not being stubborn, Adam. I just want you to understand my point of view! You would be gone for four years! We can’t afford to lose you for four years!” Ben countered with the calmest tone he could possibly muster.

     “Pa, I…” Adam said, slowly calming himself down and lowering his tone of voice. “I don’t have an answer for you, but if I don’t go to college now, I might not get to go at all. You know how much college means to me!”

     “I do Adam, but you have to try to see it through my eyes! You’re twenty-nine Adam. I need you more than ever around the ranch. What if something happened to me? You’re the only one who knows exactly how to handle the ranch without me!”

     Adam paused, and turned slowly back around to stare into his Pa’s eyes. For a moment, they locked gazes with each other. Adam’s eyes held a longing in their inner core, and Ben’s eyes silently spoke the sternness and worry of a concerned father: each gazed into the very souls of the other. 

     Finally, Adam broke the silence and muttered, “I don’t know Pa. I just don’t know.” Then he strode briskly past his unmoving Pa, and emerged through the barn door into the morning rain. The rainwater beaded and slid silently off of Adam’s black leather vest as he rushed to the house and closed the door. 

     As he usually did when something was upsetting him, he grabbed a book and sat down in his favorite blue velvet chair, so that he could get lost in his own little world, and not have to think about what had happened in the real one. 

     Ben, who was still in the barn holding Adam’s hat, which had been carelessly tossed on the ground, was now kneeling on the ground and praying. “Father, help Adam and I to see each other’s sides. Let us both be open to hear the other’s arguments…” 

     One long hour later, Ben came in the house. He gingerly set Adam’s hat on the table by the door and placed his coat on the hook. “Good morning Hoss, Joe,” he said in a low, but semi-cheerful tone. Then he walked over to his sons and took his place between them at the head of the breakfast table.

     Adam, who was already seated, would not say a word. He was silent through breakfast, except for an occasional “Thanks,” when something was passed to him. 

     When breakfast was over, they all walked over to the desk to decide who would do which chores for the day. There had been a wolf on the loose around the Ponderosa lately and it had gotten a hold of one of the calves, so since it was Adam’s turn to clean the barn, Joe, Ben, and Hoss would watch the herd.  Adam went back to his chair, and curled up with his book. Ben sighed, and tossed Adam’s forgotten hat beside his chair before leaving to go saddle up his horse. Hoss and Joe gave one sorrowful glance at their brother before following Ben out to the barn.

     When they opened the barn door, both Hoss and Joe’s mouths dropped open in surprise. “ Pa! What happened to the barn?” Hoss exclaimed as he looked at the grain strewn about the floor, and the open grain bags in the corner by the loft.

     “It seems we had a visitor last night. There have been many wolf rumors going around. I suspect that we just got our chance to spread it around,” Ben answered as he moved into Buck’s stall and hoisted the saddle onto his horse’s back.

     “It looks like he tore up darn near every bag of feed in here!” Hoss stated as he searched the mess once more.

     “Pa, let me ride out and find it,” Joe pleaded. 

     “Joe, I need you to ride herd with me today. Besides, you said that you wanted to visit Mark while you were up there, didn’t you?” Ben questioned.

     “Yeah, but…” Joe said regrettably. 

     “Not another word on the subject.” Ben said as he tightened the girth on the saddle a little. 

     There was a long pause of silence as Joe moved toward Cochise’s stall. 

     “Hoss,” Ben said in a quieter tone. 

     “Yeah, Pa,” He answered.

     “Hoss, I want you to stay here with Adam. You have a couple of things to do around the house anyway, don’t you?” Ben asked.

     “Well, yes sir. But why do you want me to stay home? I thought you needed me to ride herd with you and Joe today,” Hoss inquired.

     “Adam’s got something on his mind and I want you to be here if he decides to open up. He talks to you,” Ben explained calmly.

     “Oh, all right, Pa. I’ll stay home with him.” And he turned and headed towards the open door.

     “Oh, and Hoss,” Ben added.

     “Yes, sir?”

     “Try to make him feel better if you can.” Ben said softly, and he and Joe walked their horses out of the barn. Hoss went back up to the house, not exactly sure why his Pa had made such a request.
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     “Dadgummit!” Hoss exclaimed. 

     “What is it, Hoss?” Adam asked slowly, trying to hold back a grin at his brother’s appearance. Hoss strode through the door, shaking the water droplets off of his jacket as he went.

     “Oh, dadburned wolf got into the barn last night and tore open every single one of those new feed bags in there. There’s feed all over the floor. Half of those bags are now almost empty,” Hoss said as he dumped the rainwater from his hat.

     “Well, guess I’d better go and find him then,” Adam stated quickly as he grabbed his boots and a rifle and walked briskly towards the door, knowing full well how dirty the barn was and that if he stayed he would have to clean it up. Hoss put out his arm to stop him. 

     “Wait a minute there, Adam; wasn’t it your turn to clean the barn today?” he asked suspiciously.

     Adam looked at Hoss with the same expression as a child who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Then he looked down and finished putting on his gun belt. 

     “Well… I… uh…” came his unsteady answer. He cleared his throat and jerked his head as if coming out of a dream. “If I’m going to catch that wolf I’d better get started,” he stated in distraction, needing a quick excuse to get out of the house. Then he ducked under Hoss’s arm and through the door, struggling to get his boots tight as he did so.

     “That’s what I thought,” Hoss murmured as he grinned and shut the door to keep out the heavy rain.
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     As Adam hurried to the barn he heard the faint cry of a wolf, as if only a few miles away. He quickly saddled Sport and headed that way.

     An hour or so went by. It was now raining harder than ever. The large drops at the house had now become a torrential downpour. The woods around Adam filled his ears with ghostly sounds, and spooked his horse. He now realized that in the rush to get out of the house, he had forgotten his coat, which, he supposed, was still hanging neatly by the door. 

     Adam decided to get off of Sport so that he could concentrate on the wolf instead of keeping Sport calm. He tied Sport to a nearby tree, and had a look around. He now wished he had come up with a different excuse to get out of cleaning the barn. 

     He wandered through the woods for what seemed like ages, though it was only a little while, and he was not very far from Sport. He was about to give up and go back to him when he heard the wolf cry again. He strained to see through the thick blanket of rain as he raised the rifle. He cocked back the hammer, making a small clicking noise as he did so. He found a clearing and stepped to the edge of it. 

     Suddenly, he heard Sport whinny, but when he turned to see what was wrong, Sport was gone! There was someone else in that woods besides the wolf and himself.

     He ran to the spot where he had left Sport just moments before, but as he had expected, the hoof prints were difficult to see because of the pounding of the rain on the ground. But he could definitely see two sets of prints, one right next to the other.

     Just before he was about to set off, Adam heard growling behind him. He drew his rifle closer to his face and turned around as slowly as his legs would let him, under the circumstances. 

     There, standing in the pouring rain, was the wolf. Not a full-bred wolf, but he was a wolf in the places that mattered. The hair on his back was standing straight up, and he was breathing heavily as he showed Adam his large set of razor-sharp teeth. 

     For a split second neither of them stirred. Then, the wolf made its move. It lunged at Adam, knocking him to the ground and the rifle out of his hand. Adam had tried to get a shot off, but the wolf had startled him and he missed. Now, he was defenseless against it, save his fists. 

     Before he knew what had happened, he was lying on his chest with the animal on top of him. The wolf was taking its paws and clawing away at the flesh on Adam’s back and shoulders. Adam let out a long cry of agony, hoping that someone nearby would come to his aid. 

     He was finally able to roll over, grab the beast and yank it off of him. He didn’t have much time of relief though, for, after recovering from the toss, the wolf lunged for another attack. It bit into Adam’s left arm. Red liquid was now oozing slowly through his muddy white shirt. He let out another cry for help. This time someone had heard him! Adam heard some sort of call from a distant voice, and in the next instant, the wolf ran off into the thick downpour, leaving him wounded to lie in the mud and rain. 

     Adam felt a sense of gratitude for whoever had called off the wolf, but it was short-lived. Before long, a man appeared through the thin fog that was now forming on the ground. He had a rifle pointed at Adam’s head.

     “Are you gonna’ come along peacefully, or am I gonna’ have to call him back on ya’?” he asked as he pointed to the wolf-dog beside him. 

     Adam grimaced in pain at the thought of the deep scratches in his back and shoulders, and the sight of blood now dripping down his left arm.

     “I thought so,” the man said as he jerked Adam to his feet and led him to his horse.

     Adam managed to grab the reins and hoist himself into the saddle. After seeing that Adam was on all right, the man got on his own horse and rode out, leaving the wolf to follow at Sport’s heels. 
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Hoss was just scooping up the last of the spilled grain. Suddenly, he heard the splashing of hoofs outside. When the sound stopped, there was a loud splash, and the barn door was yanked open. It was Joe and Cochise. Joe hurried into the barn to get out of the pouring rain. 

     “Hey Hoss, I thought it was Adam’s turn to clean up the barn! What are you doing in here?” he asked as he led Cochise to his stall. 

     “It was,” Hoss said in an aggravated tone as he lifted the last of the feedbags onto his shoulder. “Joe, I thought you were going to visit that friend of yours while you were up there with Pa.”

     “I was, but the mine entrance flooded and they needed him to help clear it out. I’ll get over to see him again soon,” Joe answered as he unsaddled his horse and removed the bridle. 

     “Where’s that lazy brother of ours?” Joe asked teasingly as he thought of how Adam might have conned Hoss into doing his work for him this time.

     “I think he said something about a wolf,” Hoss answered as he played the scene over in his head.

     Joe had a puzzled look on his face. “I’ll explain it to you later,” Hoss stated as he smiled and heaved the last bag of feed down to the floor next to the others he had piled up. “In the mean time, Joe, you can help me with cleaning up the feed on this here barn floor.” 

     “Oh no you don’t. If I remember correctly, Adam got you to do his chores last week, and you tricked me into doing yours. I’m not falling into the same trap twice!” he replied as he backed away from Hoss and out of the barn tipping his hat to him before turning around.

     Hoss, alone again in the barn, went back to the task of cleaning up the remaining bits of feed. When I get my hands on Adam, I’m gonna’… He thought menacingly as he contemplated the idea of revenge. Where is old Adam anyway? Hoss wondered. He knew that Adam had not wanted to clean the barn, but he didn’t think that Adam would be out this long. Maybe he found his wolf. Oh, well. If he’s not back by suppertime, I’ll assume that something’s gone wrong, he reasoned. He was starting to worry like his father.

     In a couple of hours Hoss had finished the barn and taken care of Cochise, since Joe left in too much of a hurry to rub him down properly, he then went inside to wash up for supper.

     He opened the ranch house door, being sure to dump the rainwater from his hat outside, and came inside. Little Joe was sitting in Adam’s blue velvet chair by the fireplace with his feet propped up on the table. He let out a fast, high-pitched giggle at the sight of Hoss in his drenched clothes and couldn’t help but comment on it. 

     “It still raining out there brother? You look a little damp to me,” he said as he tried to stifle his laughter. Then, on a more serious note, he asked, ”Hey, Hoss, didn’t Adam come home yet? He should have been home ages ago.”

     Hoss, now ringing out his shirt sleeves, answered, “Say, you’re right Joe. Maybe he’s just caught somewhere in the rain and can’t get home.”

     Joe nodded in agreement, though he didn’t really believe it. 

     “We should let it down on Pa easy. We can’t just go blurt it out. That would make him even more worried,” Hoss said in a reassuring tone. 

     “I agree,” Joe added, then he went up to his room, and Hoss went upstairs to get cleaned up.
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Adam, his captor, and the wolf trudged on through the pouring rain. It had let up a little, but not much. They took each step with caution as Adam was led through more woods, a rocky area next to a familiar cliff, and finally, another woods. Adam was almost positive that he’d seen the cliff before, but he couldn’t be really sure of his suspicions. 

     After a while, Adam was especially thankful to reach open areas, for they allowed the raindrops to trickle down his back, somewhat cleansing his white shirt and black vest of the blood that stained them. 

     During the long ride, Adam used his polite charm and persuasive nature to find out a few interesting things from his captor; whom Adam thought to be not much older than Joe. 

     “So, who are you anyway? And what do you want from me?” he asked.

     There was a bit of silence before the man answered, “Anderson, but my brothers call me Andy.”

     “Andy, why do you want me?”

     “My older brothers came up with this whole thing.” Andy replied, trying to change the subject and get Adam’s mind thinking about something else.

     “How many brothers do you have?” Adam questioned as he looked around the woods.

     “Four. I’m the youngest, Johnny is twenty-two, Rick is twenty-seven, Dan is thirty-three, and Curt is thirty-six. Curt is sort of our leader; he arranged this whole thing. When Pa went away Curt sort of took control.”

     Presently, Adam asked, “Andy, where are you taking me?” Andy didn’t answer. He just stared blankly into the distance, hoping that Adam would give up the search for those kinds of answers.

     In a desperate attempt to help Adam’s mind dwell on other things, Andy looked back at the wolf, patted his leg, and called, ”Come Bannock.”

     Adam stared watchfully as the wolf pricked its ears up and trotted next to Andy’s horse. “So, it has a name?” He said aloud. 

     Pleased that he had succeeded for the moment, Andy looked back at Adam and, after a second of silence, he spoke up. “His name is Bannock. I found him near a Bannock tribe’s camp. The camp was burned to the ground: I found him tied to a tree with a leather strap. I loosened the strap, and he’s stayed with me to this day.” 

     Adam glanced quickly at the wolf with pity for a moment, but he soon remembered the deep scratches in his back, and the bite on his arm. He gritted his teeth and sucked the air in quickly as he felt a sharp twinge of pain surge through his wounds. 

     Andy glanced back toward Adam to make sure that he was doing all right when he saw how badly Adam was in pain. He stopped his horse, dismounted, and told Adam to do the same. I wonder what’s going on. Adam thought as he slowly dismounted.

     Andy walked back to Sport and checked to see if he could find any cloth in Adam’s saddlebags. There was one shirt, which Andy proceded to tear into strips.

     “What are you doing?” Adam protested.

     “I’m going to wrap your wounds, unless you would like to do it yourself. My brother wanted you alive, so that’s what I’m going to do; keep you alive. Now hold still so I can get this bandage around your arm.” Andy ordered with a sharp stare to Adam.

     “What makes you think I’d let you get anywhere near my arm or back?” Adam questioned as he pulled himself sharply away from Andy’s grasping hand.

     “Because if you don’t get those wounds covered soon, you’ll get an infection in them, and then I won’t be able to help you at all.”

     Adam still resisted a little and stayed backed up to Sport.

     “My father was a doctor. I learned a few things from him before he…”

     Both Adam and his captor fell completely silent. Adam felt that there was a deeper side to this boy, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. 

     “What happened to your Pa?” Adam asked, suddenly intrigued by his young captor’s past.

     “Yes. It was about… ten years ago. He was the greatest doctor of all times. But one of his patients died, and someone said he was guilty of murder. My Pa hanged on false charges mister. My Pa was a good man, and a good doctor, too. He would have shown the whole town if they… hadn’t hanged him first.” He said, his voice becoming quieter as he talked more about his father’s death.

     Adam held as still as he could while Andy put the strips of cloth over his cuts, but the pain was unbearable. What little comfort he had on this trip was the feeling of the raindrops on his sores, but with the bandages covering his back and arm no rainwater could reach them.

     When Andy was done with the bandages, he got Adam on Sport, mounted his own horse, and had Adam follow close behind him. Then they rode on, saying nothing more to each other.

     The rain died down for a little while, but soon went back to its original downpour. Sport slipped a couple of times in the mud and rocks and, in those times, Adam had to hold on with all of his strength.

     It was pushing suppertime when they rode up to a small cabin in the middle of a wood. The cabin had an old wooden door and one window on the left wall. Right next to the cabin was an even smaller building. It had no windows, but the roof was very rotted and full of holes, so it let in as much light as a window would have. Behind all of this was a barn that was not much bigger than the house. It, too, was old and had holes in its roof, but it looked sturdy enough.

     Adam felt relieved at the site of the cabin, for that meant that the riding was over; but he didn’t feel that comfortable getting off of Sport with Bannock around him. Andy stood next to Adam and waited impatiently for him to dismount.

     “Are you coming?” he asked in an aggravated tone. Adam gave him a desperate glance and motioned with his eyes that Bannock was still there. “Oh,” exclaimed Andy, now realizing what Adam wanted. “I guess I don’t blame you for that- not after what you’ve been through.”

     With that, he called for the wolf. Bannock came to Andy’s side, and Adam dismounted, though he still kept a watchful eye on the wolf dog. 

     As soon as Adam was down from Sport, another young man, Andy’s brother Johnny, rushed outside, grabbed the reins of both of the horses, and disappeared into the nearby barn.

     Adam couldn’t concentrate on much of anything now. His wounds were getting to be more painful and everything was running into a gigantic blur before his eyes.

      Andy motioned for Adam to come in front of him into the cabin. Adam quietly obeyed and clutched at his arm as he clumsily pulled on the wooden handle and slowly opened the squeaky door.
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     “Mister Hoss, Mister Joe!” Hop Sing yelled impatiently. “You come down! Eat right now!” In less than a second, Hoss came flying around the corner, down the stairs, and was sitting in his seat. Soon, Joe came down the stairs as slowly as he possibly could. He loved to toy with his brother’s mind through his hunger. 

     “C’mon Joe! Can’t you run down those stairs or something?” Hoss called as he picked up his eating utensils to further his cause. “Pa, what are you doing? I’m liable to starve if you two keep going like this!” 

     Ben looked up from his work with a smile. “I’ll be done in a minute Hoss. Just wait until I get this timber contract filled out for Mister Hermann.”

     With a disgusted look on his face, Hoss turned back to stare at his empty plate and listen to his rumbling stomach.

     Joe was ready to let out a cackle of laughter, but he restrained himself after looking into his Pa’s stern eyes.

     As they dished up their food, Ben asked,” Boys?”

     “Yeah, Pa,” Hoss answered before stuffing a rather large bite of roast into his mouth.

     “Boys, where is Adam?”

     Joe and Hoss stopped chewing and looked at each other.

     “Well, Hoss, wasn’t he with you all day? It was his turn to clean out the barn today. It should have taken him a while,” Ben stated. Hoss and Joe stared at each other each motioning with their eyes for the other one to tell their Pa. “Well, I know he didn’t just vanish into thin air. Where is he?” he asked impatiently, setting down his utensils to concentrate solely on his sons. Finally, Joe spoke up.

     “You see, Pa, Adam tricked Hoss into doing his work for him this morning, and he made up some excuse about going to find some wolf, and he hasn’t come back yet,” he said in a slightly panicky voice.

     Hoss shot Joe a stare that told him that that was not the right thing to say at that moment. “That was letting it down easy?” he whispered across the table, leaning over a bit to get his point through to Joe without his Pa hearing.

     “Maybe he’s just late getting home. It’s raining awfully hard out there. Hardest rain I think we’ve had in a long time,” Ben reasoned, though he was truly worried about his son’s absence. Adam usually told someone if he was going to be late getting home, unless he was caught somewhere. “Are you absolutely sure he was out chasing a wolf? Adam wouldn’t do such a foolish thing alone,” Ben said, almost demanding an answer by the tone of his voice.

“Well, he didn’t sound that sure about where he was going. And he left his coat behind. Adam wouldn’t have left his coat here if he had gone out to look for a wolf,” Hoss reassured.

     “Yeah. Maybe he’s just gone to the Smith’s for a while. I do recall that he owed George a favor for helping him with his horse. Maybe he’s just late getting home.” Joe answered. “Do you want Hoss and me to go check after dinner?” he offered. Hoss shot him a look of revenge for volunteering him to go.

     “That might be a good idea. Be sure that you’re back in a couple of hours. If Adam’s not there, we’ll go look for him in the morning. And be careful out there. It looks like we might get a storm.” Ben stated as he folded his napkin and placed it gently on the dinner table.

     None of them realized that it was not rain or mud or favors that delayed Adam, but something a lot worse.

~CHAPTER TWO~

     Adam walked slowly into the cabin with the tip of Andy’s gun in his back. Inside there were two men, one of which he assumed was Curt- he was right. The other was Rick. 

     Adam stared blankly into Curt’s cold, dark eyes. Curt was firm looking. He was tall, and had a very menacing appearance. He did not look out of shape by any means, but had strong muscles on his arms and chest. 

     Rick on the other hand was smaller, stood about five and a half feet tall, and had brown curly hair; just being around him made you feel as though you were being watched like a hawk’s prey.

     “Finally, our kid brother is here,” Curt shouted from across the room.

     “Yeah, and he’s got one of those Cartwrights with him,” Rick added with an evil grin.

     Johnny, who had just come inside from the barn, saw the bandages on Adam’s back and arm. “What happened to him?” he asked.

     “What? Where?” Curt demanded. Then he saw Bannock walk through the door. He still had the bloodstain in his fur. “You let that mutt have him? What were you thinking?” he exclaimed! “Do you realize what could have happened?”

     Bannock barred his teeth at Curt, who backed away at the sight of them. Bannock only obeyed Andy and the others didn’t like Bannock for that reason. They were all somewhat scared of him, though most of the time they were very good at hiding it.

     “I got him here in one piece. That’s all I had to do,” Andy retorted.

     “Just barely,” Curt sneered under his breath. He switched his gaze from Andy to Adam. “You can sleep over there,” he said as he pointed to a makeshift bed in the corner. Adam looked around the room, searching every corner of it to familiarize himself with his surroundings. Finally, his eyes came to rest on a small, wooden chair beneath a window. He looked at Curt as if asking permission, and walked over to sit down. As he seated himself on the chair, his face reflected the pain that he suffered as the skin on his back stretched to the right position.

     Andy saw this and remembered that he had some of Adam’s shirt left that he could use to make a fresh bandage. He leapt out the door and returned in a minute with the shirt. Everyone in the room had puzzled looks on their faces. Finally, Curt asked, “What are you going to do with that?” Andy glanced up at him thoughtfully. 

     “I’m going to change his bandages later. Why?” Andy asked.

     “Remember that he’s our prisoner, nothing more. And if you go near him with any bandages while I’m around, you’re gonna get it.” Curt barked.

     “Fine,” Andy replied. “If you want him to get an infection and die, I won’t touch him,” Andy declared as he raised his hands mockingly in front of his face and backed away from Adam’s side.

     Curt thought for a moment, and then replied. “All right. You can change the bandages. Just do it later. He may need it by then. I have to keep this one alive- at least until we get the other two.”

     At the mention of the ‘other two’ Adam’s face turned pale. The other two must be Hoss and Joe! But how will Hoss and Joe fit into this scheme? I hope they’ll be alright, Adam thought, dismayed at the situation.

     At that moment, thoughts unconsciously streamed through his mind about what he had last done with his brothers, and what he had last said to them. How many times had he told his knucklehead brothers how much he loved them? What had been the last thing that he had said to his father? He had gotten into an argument with him over something that morning, but he couldn’t remember what. How many times had he told his father how much he loved him? He certainly hadn’t at all this morning.

     When he came back to the somber reality he decided to familiarize himself with his captors.

     “I thought there were five of you,” He said as he looked up at Curt.

     “There are,” Curt grumbled.

     Adam paused and counted all of the men in the room, jokingly closing one eye and pointing his finger at each one of them as he went. “One…two…three…four…” There was a short pause. “Nope, must be something wrong with my eyes then because I only see four men in here. Unless of course you’re counting me, which I don’t think that you w…” 

     “Shut up, will you?” Curt barked.

     Before anyone could do or say anything else, Curt had his gun out of its holster and pointed at Adam’s skull. Andy tried to plead with him.

     “Wait a minute! You can’t kill him; not when we’re this far!”

     Curt lowered his gun and reholstered it. Then he gave a loud, evil chuckle. “You live, Cartwright, for now.” 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     At the ranch, Ben, Joe, and Hoss had finished supper. Joe and Hoss had already saddled up their horses and were heading out of the barn. They hoped to return, with Adam, in about two hours. Racing out of the barn, they galloped out toward the Smith ranch.

     Ben walked back inside, sat at his desk, and went back to his papers. He prayed that Adam would return that night.

     While they were saddling up their horses, Hoss and Joe had decided that if they couldn’t find Adam at the Smith ranch, they would ask around town the next morning before their Pa even got up. 

     When they reached the ranch house, it was getting quite dark. A small light still showed golden in the windows of the house. Hoss and Joe rode up to the hitching post, tied their horses securely to it, and ran to the door, knocking loudly to make sure they were heard. A young man answered the door. “Hoss! Joe! What are you doing out here at this time of night? Come on in!” he said as he ushered them into his front room. 

     Inside, by a warm looking fireplace, a young woman sat with a sewing basket beside her feet. She slowly turned around. “Hoss. Joe. Did you two need something?” she said politely as a warm smile crossed her lips. 

     “Yes, ma’am,” Joe said, taking his hat off as he stepped closer to her. “Have either of you seen Adam today? We thought he might have come here.”

     “I haven’t,” George said bluntly with a hint of confusion in his reply. Annie, his wife, just shook her head. “I’m sorry Joe.”

     Joe looked at the floor. “Thank you both. We’ll be goin’ now,” he said as he turned to walk out the door.

     George stopped him. “Is Adam in some sort of trouble?” he asked, now truly concerned for his friend.

     “That’s what we mean to find out George,” Joe answered, then he and Hoss left. When they got back to the Ponderosa, they put their horses in the barn and went inside. Removing their hats and coats and placing them on the bureau, they entered to find their Pa sitting on the settee, reading a book.

     Ben looked up at his two sons with a streak of hope across his face, but seeing only two of his three sons in the doorway, the hopefulness soon left his eyes. Silent and restless, the three Cartwrights went to bed. 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Adam was not going to sleep so easily.  That night, when all was calmer, he decided to lie down and get some rest. He got up slowly from his chair and started to move to his cot on the cabin wall. “Wait a minute. Where are you going?” Curt demanded, walking over and putting a firm hand on his shoulder.

     “I was going to go to sleep. But if you want, I can just stay up all night. But then one of you would have to stay up with me unless you want me to escape.” Adam stated dryly as he pointed to his bed. The cot was nothing more than a short, wooden frame with hide stretched across it and a couple blankets piled on top. 

     “I’m going on watch first. You make sure nothing happens in here. You got it?” Curt stated harshly as he looked Rick right in the eyes.

     “Got it,” Rick grumbled as he put his eyes on Adam and left them there.

     Adam walked slowly over to his cot, Rick watching his every move. He reasoned that it would be less painful to lie down on his stomach, and to only pull the blanket up to the bottom of his scratches, using his arms as a sort of pillow. But not long after he got positioned, Bannock trotted over and sat next to him. They stared into each other’s eyes until Curt came in from his turn on watch. Disliking Bannock as much as Adam did, he had Andy handle the dog. 

     “Andy,” he said in a low tone of voice, shaking his little brother violently.

     Andy opened his eyes and stretched his arms out. “What?” he groaned in an irritated tone of voice.

     “You know how I feel about that mutt. Get him out of here!” Curt ordered. Andy stood up with a little help from the wall, patted his leg twice while making a little clicking noise with his tongue, and walked with Bannock outside to sleep in the shed next door.

     After that was taken care of, Curt walked over to Rick and shook him too. “Rick! It’s your turn on watch. I’ll have Johnny relieve you at three o’clock.” Rick unhappily got up and walked over to the door to stand just outside. 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     In the morning, the rain had completely stopped, and Adam had not come home. Ben was still asleep, so Hoss and Joe took their opportunity and crept out of their rooms. They sneaked down the stairs one foot after another. They tried to be as quiet as possible, for they knew that Hop Sing got up very early to get things done. Suddenly, the little cook emerged from the kitchen, singing a little ditty in Chinese. 

     He stopped when he saw them. “Mister Hoss, Mister Joe. What you up for so early?” he questioned.

     Hoss and Joe looked sheepishly at Hop Sing as they continued casually down the steps. “Hop Sing. You have to promise not to tell Pa about this. We’ll be back later.” 

     “I no tell, but where you go?” Hop Sing demanded as he walked quickly towards them, a black, metal pan in his hand.

     Seeing the pan, Joe backed away. He had no desire to be hit by a passing swipe of Hop Sing’s hand. “We’re just going into Virginia City. If you must tell Pa something, tell him that we…”

     “Went in for some supplies,” Hoss finished.

     “Yeah. We went in for some supplies,” Joe agreed, then they both walked out the door. They ran out to the barn, saddled their horses, and were in town later that morning.

     By the time they got there, the rain had almost completely stopped. They rode strait to Sheriff Roy Coffee’s office to see if he had seen Adam lately. Splashing hoof beats were heard beneath them as they rode through the muddy streets filled with puddles. They reached the hitching post, tied their horses to it, and walked briskly to the office door. Inside, there was a man talking to Roy.

     The man was anything but neatly trimmed. He was wearing a slightly torn shirt and a hat that looked like it desperately needed washing off. The man himself was about Adam’s height. He looked as if he was a two-hundred-pound block of rock-hard muscles. His glossy black hair, what they could see under his hat, was shaggy and in desperate need of a trimming.

     “Do you think you could track him down? I need that money back as soon as possible,” the man told Roy, paying little attention to Joe and Hoss in the doorway.

     “Sure I could. But I’ll need a posse. Which way did you say he went?” Roy asked as he turned to see who was in the doorway. “Oh, howdy, boys!” he called from behind his desk, pausing from his previous conversation for a moment.

     “Howdy, Roy! Don’t worry, we’ll wait until you’re done.” Hoss replied as he and Joe stepped towards the door.

     The man turned to face them and stepped aside. “No, no. You boys look like you’re in a hurry. I can wait. Besides, your little friend here looks like he’s about to bust open at the seams,” he said, shooting a teasing glance in Joe’s direction.

     Joe turned to punch the man, but Hoss’s outstretched arm prevented him from doing anything. “Remember what we came for Joe,” he said as he gave his little brother a shove in Roy’s direction. Then, turning to the stranger he said, “Sorry about that Mister. My little brother here’s just a little worried, that’s all.”

“Oh? What’s he so worried about?” the man asked, now intrigued by his would-be attacker.

     Hoss hesitated for a moment, as he looked the man over. He was muddy, like he had ridden through all of the mud from the night before and had not changed his clothes, and he had no horse tied up outside. Hoss assumed that this meant that he was most likely staying at the hotel

     “Is there something wrong Mister?” the man asked in a curious tone of voice. 

     Hoss turned his eyes toward the man’s face. “Oh! No, nothing’s wrong.” There was a hesitant pause. “By the way, what did you say your name was?” Hoss finally asked.

     “I didn’t friend. It’s Dan,” came his delayed answer.

     “Don’t you have a last name Mister?” Hoss inquired.

     “Yeah, but that’s not important now. What’s your problem? I’m a drifter of sorts. I may be able to help. Though if it involves lending you money, I’m afraid all of mine has been stolen. Someone stole it from my saddlebag last night while I was sleeping. I was fortunate enough to have the old nag that I do. Otherwise, they might have stolen my horse, too.”

     “We’re looking for someone,” Hoss answered in a distracted tone.

     “Mind telling me who? I might have seen them in my travels.”

     “It’s Adam Cartwright,” Hoss said.

     “Well, why are you looking for him? Why not a posse or something? I hear the Cartwrights are pretty well off. Why didn’t the Cartwrights hire someone, or come out to look for him themselves?” Dan questioned mockingly as he put extra emphasis on the last part. 

     Hoss stopped and took a deep breath before answering. “We’re Cartwrights. Adam Cartwright is our older brother.”

     “Oh, sorry, boys. I didn’t mean to joke with you like that. I didn’t know who you were. You know I didn’t mean anything by it, right? Tell you what, you tell me what this brother of yours looks like and I’ll tell you if I’ve seen him or not,” Dan stated as the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile.

     Hoss carefully described Adam. He told him his name, height, weight, and what he was wearing when he was last seen. 

     While Hoss was talking to Dan, Joe, now forgetting about the other man and concentrating on finding Adam, stepped up to Roy and asked, “Roy, have you seen Adam come through town in the last couple of days?”

     Roy stood a moment in deep thought.  “No, can’t say that I have. Why? He missing or in some sort of trouble?”

     “Yeah,” Joe replied quietly. “Hoss was with him yesterday morning, but he left, and he didn’t come home last night.” 

     “Does your pa know about you two being here?” Roy asked with concern.

     “No, and we don’t want him to. Unless we find Adam,” Joe replied with a desperate glance into Roy’s eyes.

     Roy, realizing how desperate Joe really was, said, “Alright. But if you’re not back before dark, I’ll have to tell your Pa everything. But until then, I won’t say a word.”

     “Thanks, Roy,” Joe agreed and was just turning to get Hoss and leave when Hoss grabbed his shoulder and gave him a hopeful smile. “What are you so happy about? We’ve gotta get out there and find older brother,” Joe urged. 

     Hoss turned and pointed to Dan standing by the door. “Dan thinks that he might have seen Adam! He says we’ve gotta follow him and he’ll take us the same direction that Adam was going!” he exclaimed.

     Joe was so excited that he forgot himself and let out a holler that was so loud that it could have awakened everyone in Virginia City. 

     “We’d better get started if we’re going to get to the spot before noon.” Dan urged solemnly. 

     “Are you sure it was him? Which way did he go? How long has it been since you last saw him?” Joe asked excitedly, trying as hard as he could not to ask so many questions

     “Uh, I’m not sure, northwest, and about twelve hours ago.” Dan answered to Joe’s endless questions. 

     As soon as Hoss and Joe were ready, they said good-bye to the sheriff, and mounted up to follow Dan.

     They got to the edge of town where Dan would ride in the front. They were all silent for a long time as they rode. Joe and Hoss were feeling somewhat relieved at finding someone that had seen Adam. But Joe was starting to get suspicious.

     “Hey, Hoss,” Joe said quietly as he slowed down to make sure that Dan was out of earshot. 

     “Yeah, Joe? We’d better speed up a little or Dan will get too far ahead of us.”

     “Hey, Hoss, do you think this guy has really seen Adam? I mean, I get the feeling that his being there this morning at just the right time was no coincidence,” Joe answered.

     “Aw, you’re just a little edgy. He’ll be all right when we find Adam and go home. You’ll see.” Hoss reassured him, although he had been feeling the same thing the whole time. He hadn’t realized until now that this man really could be leading them into a trap of some kind, using the story about Adam as bait. He might not have even seen Adam at all.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     The group at the cabin was getting restless for Dan’s arrival. According to Curt and the others (who always agreed with Curt for fear of what might happen to them if they didn’t) Adam had been making a pest of himself, making smart remarks and asking questions all morning, until he finally pushed it too far. He had made an innocent comment about Curt’s leadership skills.

     Curt furiously leaped up from his chair, slapped Adam across his bad arm, and gave him a hard shove towards the door. Adam was sent sprawling, clutching at his arm. Adam’s flying body hit Andy, who had just come through the door, sending both of them to the ground. Curt let out a menacing laugh, seemingly pleased with his work. 

     “Next time, Cartwright, it’ll be a lot worse,” he bellowed.

     Andy lifted Adam off of him and staggered to a stand, still shaken by the unexpected blow. He rubbed the side of his head, which had unexpectedly hit the door so hard it slammed shut.

     When he had recovered from the shock, he reopened the door to let Bannock come inside. He had been shut out when Andy and Adam slammed into the door.

     Adam staggered to the wall for ready support. Carefully, he leaned on his good shoulder and placed his head softly on the wall. He opened his lips and breathed quick and shallow breaths through his teeth, making a sort of hissing noise as he caught his breath. His arm felt like fire was crawling across his wounds, and the fall had only served to make his back feel worse. He stayed on the wall for a few moments to ease his pain. 

     Curt was just opening his mouth to tell Andy something when he heard horses outside. 

     “Rick, get over there by the door. I don’t want to take any chances,” he said as he put his gun to Adam’s head and a strong, restraining arm around Adam’s chest, pulling Adam’s arms to his sides. Then talking to Adam, “You keep quiet. One sound, and I’ll slam the end of this gun into your skull. Got it?” he said sternly. “Johnny. Check and see what it is.”

     Johnny ran to the window, his pistol drawn, and pulled back a slit in the raggedy curtains. “I think it’s those Cartwright boys,” he said anxiously, returning quickly to his place by Curt’s side.

     Rick, not wanting to be on Curt’s bad side like Adam, went immediately to the wall beside the door, preparing to slam his gun down on the first head that came through.

     Curt looked around. “Andy. You get up there beside Rick. If one of them has a gun, I want to make sure they’re outnumbered.”

     “Right,” Andy groaned, blinking his eyes quickly to make sure he was focused in on the right object.

     The pain in Adam’s arm and back was racing as Curt tightened his grip. All he could do was wait, and hope that his father and brothers would be safe.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Ben, who had unintentionally slept in till about nine o’clock, walked sleepily down the stairs to breakfast. He had told Hop Sing not to cook breakfast as early as usual to give Hoss and Joe some extra sleeping time. But since Hoss and Joe had gone out early that morning, Ben was the only one who had slept in.

     “Hop Sing, have you seen the boys yet this morning?” he yawned, still shaking off his morning sleepiness.

     The little Chinese cook came out of the kitchen holding a skillet full of bacon and wiping his other hand on his apron. “Hop Sing no can tell. Boys say for Hop Sing to finish cooking. They say not tell you were they go.” He stated with a confident smile to Ben.

     Ben stood in the sitting room, now understanding what Hoss and Joe had done. Then he smelled something terrible coming from the kitchen. His face cringed and Hop Sing’s eyes widened with shock.

     “Hop Sing, doesn’t that smell like burning biscuits to you? It does to me,” he said thoughtfully with a grin as he watched the little Chinaman rush back into the kitchen to save the burning biscuits from the stove. Ben chuckled a little at Hop Sing’s reaction to the biscuits. He had a feeling that he knew where Hoss and Joe had run off to, so he got dressed, ate his breakfast as fast as he could, and then saddled Buck. After getting a few idle ranch hands together, he rode out. Since none of that day’s work was crucial, he left his foreman, the young Luke Tennyson in charge of the Ponderosa while he was out. 

     It was about noon when Ben and the hands rode into Virginia City. He and the others searched the perimeter of Virginia City to see if his boys were simply watching for Adam, but they weren’t there.

     Ben turned in his saddle to look at the four hands he had brought along. “Boys, I think we should split up. Uh… Frank, you and Mark go check the east side of town. Virgil, you and Nick go to the west side of town. Ask around. Get any information you can about the whereabouts of my sons. We can meet back here in about three hours. Ok?” he said with all great certainty. “Oh and boys,” he added just before his ranch hands left, “try not to get into any trouble.” Then he rode off towards the center of town to start looking.

     First, he tried the saloon. Whenever there was gossip to be spread, usually it spread there first. “Howdy Pete!” Ben said cheerfully as he stepped through the swinging doors of the Silver Dollar.

     “Hello, Ben! What brings you into town this time?” The bartender stated as he walked over to him, wiping his hands on his apron as he went.

     “Have you seen any of the boys around lately? Adam left last night, and Hoss and Joe went out this morning. I figured they came into town early on.”

     The bartender stood silently a moment, searching his memory for the expected information. “No. Can’t say as I have. I’ll keep an eye out for ‘em though. Sorry, Ben.” He said firmly before he went back to washing some glasses.

     “Hmm. Thanks anyway, Pete,” Ben stated as he walked somberly out the doors back to Buck. 

     Frustrated and baffled by the disappearance of his three boys, he turned to his last hope- Roy Coffee. He rode up to the sheriff’s office about two hours later. He’d had some other stops to make on his way there, so it took him a little longer then expected. Roy was just leaving his deputy to go get some lunch from the hotel restaurant.

     “Roy Coffee, just the person I wanted to see,” Ben said as he rode over to the startled sheriff standing in the street. 

     “Oh, howdy, Ben. What brings you in town?” Roy asked with a curious smile.

     “Well, Roy, this may sound odd, but I seem to have lost my boys!” Ben explained with a somewhat worried, but still reassuring, grin. “You haven’t seen them have you? I know that they were awfully concerned about Adam last night, but when I got up this morning they had already left the house.

     Roy looked sheepishly down at his feet, then looked back up at Ben and said,” I guess you’re going to find out anyway, Ben.”

     “Find out what, Roy?” Ben asked in an even more worried tone.

     “Ben, your boys, Joe and Hoss, came into my office this morning wanting to know if I’d seen Adam. I told them that I hadn’t, but another man, Dan I think he called himself, said that he had seen him. They left with him about eight o’clock this morning.” Roy explained.

     “Roy, which way were they headed? I’ve got to follow them.” Ben questioned desperately. 

     “Well, they went that way, Ben.” Roy said as he pointed off towards a group of buildings.

     “Thanks Roy.” He said as he rode away as quickly as he could down the street.

    Unfortunately, Dan had taken the boys in that direction as a diversion, in case anyone had wanted to follow them. He led them through a foot of water in a flooded ravine, quickly followed by a thick wood. The woods smelled of wet leaves and dirt. They rode for a long time through the trees without a sound. The only noise was the splashing of the horse’s hooves in the mud.

     They had been riding about an hour already at a fairly slow pace, and Joe was getting impatient.

     “Hey Mister, ”he said rather loudly.

     “Hm? Oh, what do you want?” Dan snapped as he glared back at him.

     “Have you seen any signs of our brother anywhere? I’ve not seen a thing since we left Virginia City, except for a deer track or two. Are you sure that you saw him head this way?” Joe asked impatiently.

     Dan nodded his head. “No, I haven’t. I’m sure he went this way though. Maybe he headed for cover when it started to rain harder.” He explained. It sounded to Joe as if he wasn’t really sure of anything.

     Joe was about to come back with a statement, but he was interrupted. “Hey, look!” Hoss said as he pointed a large finger to their left.

     Joe and Dan turned from their discussion to look in the direction Hoss was pointing. In the distance, they saw a small, worn-out cabin with a smaller building next to it, and a barn behind it. 

     “Do you think Adam could have slipped in there?” Hoss called out in a victorious conclusion.

     Joe looked at the buildings in pleasure. “Hey, Adam!” he yelled. “Adam! You in there?” 

     Dan followed Hoss and Joe as they raced up to the small building and jumped off their horses just outside the door. 

~CHAPTER THREE~

     Adam and Curt were standing next to the wall across from the doorway. Rick was still next to the door, waiting anxiously for a body to come through it’s opening. There was the sound of horses outside as if they were stopping next to the cabin.

     “Adam! You in there?” Adam heard Joe’s voice call faintly. 

     He strained to free himself from Curt’s strong grip, but Curt held his prisoner tight in his arm, and cocked the hammer back on his pistol.

     The doorknob slowly turned, and the old door creaked as it opened.

     “Joe, don’t! It’s a trap!” Adam managed to get out before Curt moved his strong hand over his mouth. But it was too late. The door opened wide to reveal Joe, coming inside with his gun out in front of him. Rick reacted quickly, and brought his gun swiftly down upon Joe’s head. Joe fell to the floor, unconscious. 

     Without a moment to lose, Hoss stepped through the door, his gun also drawn, but also in vane. With another hard swipe of his gun, Rick managed to knock Hoss to the floor to join his brother. 

     Presently, Dan stepped confidently through the doorway, his gun still holstered at his side. This time Rick stepped back and let him through. Curt took the gun slowly away from Adam’s skull, and took his hand away from his mouth.

     Adam breathed heavily for a moment as he looked at his two helpless brothers lying unconscious on the floor, and Dan, safe and sound, by the door.

     “Well?” he asked sarcastically.

     “Well, what?” Curt answered as he slowly released Adam’s body.

     “Isn’t Rick here going to knock him out too? He seems to be fairly good at it,” he joked as he pointed an accusing finger at Dan.

     Both Curt and Dan laughed aloud. “You remember I told you there were five of us?” Curt restated. 

     Adam nodded.

     “Well, Dan here is number five!” He let out another sinister chuckle.

     It was down to the three Cartwright brothers against the five Benson brothers. Adam was feeling a bit outnumbered, but he knew that he had to come up with some sort of plan to get them out of their present situation.

     It was early in the evening before Hoss regained consciousness. He first noticed that both he and Joe had their wrists tied together behind them. He tried to sit up and rest his back against the wall of the cabin. 

     “Finally, one of our new prisoners is awake!” Curt said as he raised his gun out of its holster. “Well, what do you think of our humble hideaway? Oh, I know it’s no Ponderosa, but that’ll be taken care of eventually.”

     Hoss and Adam exchanged confused and worried glances.

     Johnny, who had been sitting quietly in a corner watching the prisoners, asked,” Curt? Aren’t we going to tie him up too?” as he pointed in Adam’s direction. 

     Curt went over and stood next to Joe. “Nope. He won’t do anything we don’t want him to.” He said as he pulled out his gun and cocked it next to Joe’s head.

     Curt could see that he was getting his point across to Adam, so he raised his revolver, and put it back into his holster.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Ben was having no luck finding a trail of any kind. He had been searching for more than forty-five minutes without a single hoof print. He searched the woods until he decided that it was pointless to search at all until the next day when the mud had dried, so he turned Buck around and headed back to town.

     When he got back, he found that all four of his hands were waiting for him. They were quietly talking amongst themselves. Suddenly, one of them noticed him riding up. Soon, all of the men were perfectly silent, concentrating on the look on Ben’s face. “Did you find anything out Mister Cartwright?” Nick asked, breaking the silence. 

     Ben shook his head, disappointed, but not about to give up hope. “What about you boys? Find anything?” he asked, bringing his head up to gaze into their eyes.

     This time it was their turn to shake their heads. They, too, were disappointed.  Some even felt that they had let their boss down. Together, they all rode back to the Ponderosa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Adam, Joe, and Hoss were still in the cabin when night fell. Adam’s arm and shoulders were not improving, though the pain had lost some of its effect; Joe and Hoss’s hands were tied behind them, and Bannock was watching everything that moved with watchful eyes.

     After a while, Curt got tired of Bannock’s watchful eyes, so Andy was instructed to take Bannock outside and to sleep in the shed with him, while Dan, Rick, and Johnny watched the prisoners. 

     It wasn’t until very early the next morning that Joe regained consciousness. He had been hit a lot harder than Hoss, so it took him a lot longer to wake up. When he finally did, he had a severe headache.

     The room was still dark, save a little moonlight peeking in through the tattered roof. Joe noticed that his hands were tied in back of him, and that his head was pounding like an Indian’s war drum. 

     From what he could tell, it was about 5 o’clock in the morning. No one was up yet, so he decided to search the room with his eyes to see if there was any way of an escape. He didn’t see anything that might serve his purpose, except a single window on the opposite end of the room. Rick was sitting right below it. With that information, he now tried to conjure-up a way of escape. 

     Curt woke up about an hour later. Joe pretended he was asleep so that Curt wouldn’t suspect anything. First, Curt made sure that Joe’s and Hoss’s hands were still securely tied, and then went over to Rick, who was snoring quite loudly. 

     “Rick,” Curt said in an irritated voice as he nudged him roughly with his boot.

     Rick sat up with a jolt.

     “Get up. I need you to go into Virginia City and get a few supplies. Here,” he said as he took out a slip of paper from the pocket in his vest,” do everything on that list, and don’t miss a thing.” Then he handed the paper to Rick, who was now standing, and told him to get a horse. 

     Rick went outside, saddled up Cochise, and in another five minutes, he was gone.

     Joe leaned back against the wall, making it look like he was still sleeping, and tried to come up with a plan. He had to admit that Adam was much better at formulating logical plans in tense situations, and his head was pounding at the moment so he couldn’t think clearly anyway, but he had to try before something happened. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     It was about 10:30 when Rick had finished getting the few supplies from town. When he was done, he had a quick beer, and left. His next stop: the Ponderosa.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Remembering that he still had a ranch to run, and confident that his boys would show up by dinnertime, Ben was out in the corral with about ten new hands. He was teaching them how to rope and hog-tie cattle faster. It was supposed to be Joe’s chore, but since he wasn’t around, Ben had to do it. After about an hour of painfully trying to get the men ready for the spring round up, Ben was getting more than a little frustrated.

     “No, no, Sam. You’re trying to chase him down! Cut him off! ”He said as he waved his arms wildly in the frightened calf’s direction. “All right, take a break, men.” He rubbed his forehead with one hand while he propped it up on his arm. “I’ll go on up to the house and get Hop Sing to fix us some lunch; we’ll try it all again when I get back- starting with you, Sam,” he said patiently as he smiled and mounted Buck. He could still hear the men laughing as he rode away. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     After about two hours of aimlessly wandering through the woods, Rick rode into the woods beside the house. After making sure that no one was watching, he dismounted Cochise, ran as quietly as he could to the front door, and hammered a small note to it with the butt of his gun. He had just finished posting the note when he heard a horse coming. Seeing a buckskin horse in the distance, he ran back to Cochise, mounted up, and galloped away as fast as he could. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Ben came riding up to the house, swearing to himself that he had just heard a horse ride away moments before. He shrugged it off, thinking that it might have been a hand looking for him, until he saw the note on the door. A worried look plagued his face as he tore the note from the door and read,

     “If you ever want to see your boys alive again, bring $100,000 to the eastern edge of town. We’ll meet you at High Noon tomorrow. No tricks; no lawmen; or your boys die.”

     Ben ripped the note off the door. Then he crumpled it up and put it in his pocket. He kept repeating the last words over and over to himself, “No lawmen, or your boys die.” It was already about one o’clock when he read the note. He had less than 23 hours to formulate a plan. 

~CHAPTER FOUR~

     When Rick arrived back at the cabin everyone was awake. Joe’s head still hurt, Hoss had discovered that his arms were crimped in a somewhat unusual and painful way, and Adam, whose hands had been tied right after Andy left, was trying to get into a more comfortable position. 

     “Curt, it’s done.” Rick announced as he pulled his hat off, and wiped his forehead.

     “Did he see it? Are you sure he got it?” Curt asked skeptically. 

     “Yeah, he got it. I had to get out of there fast to make sure he didn’t see me,” Rick reassured Curt as he placed his hat back on his head.

     “Good. It shouldn’t be much longer now.” Curt said slowly with a maniacal grin.

     The three of his brothers let out whoops and hollers. Curt just stared at Adam as if he were going to burn him up with his gaze.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Ben walked inside to where Hop Sing was busying himself in the kitchen. “Mister Cartwright. You supposed to be with cowboy. What you need?” the Chinaman inquired.

     “Oh, Hop Sing.” Ben said as someone who had just been awakened from a dream.

     “Who else would be in kitchen?” Hop Sing asked sarcastically.

     Ben smiled thoughtfully before asking,” Hop Sing, would you make up some sandwiches for the boys at the corral?”

     Hop Sing nodded happily before heading back into his kitchen. About ten minutes later, Ben was taking the paper-wrapped sandwiches out to his horse, and placing them in saddlebags.

     Ben arrived back at the corral, and passed out the sandwiches. He was tired of thinking about horses or ranching for the day. All of the men could see it, too. A group of the men were waiting for their turn, and talking amongst themselves. 

     “Do either of you two notice a change in Mister Cartwright? I’ve been here nearly ten years, and he’s only acted like this a couple of times- only when something has gone wrong,” Bill, one of the more experienced hands said.

     “Yeah. I was wondering the same thing. What do you suppose is the matter?” Mitch, a young man in chaps asked.

     “I don’t know, but whatever it is, it sure is beating him up,” said another.

     “You think we should ask him about it?” Mitch said with concern.

     “No. The Cartwrights usually handle their problems on their own. Don’t like us asking a lot a prying questions.” Bill answered.

     “Bu.…”

     “Just let it be. Here he comes.” Bill hushed as he watched Ben walk solemnly up to them. 

     “Here you are boys.” Ben said quietly, but firmly.” Mitch, it’ll be your turn to try when Sam is done. And Bill, I need you to work with Hansen over there. I think he’s got it, but I want you to watch his speed,” he added.

     Mitch and Bill hopped down from the fence where they were sitting, and each went their separate ways.

     Ben finished passing out the sandwiches, and sat down on a log to eat his own. He only had one thing on his mind. He had to get his boys back, alive. The only plan he could come up with was to give the men what they wanted. But that would mean selling the Ponderosa. He knew that the boys wouldn’t want him to do that, but, at the moment, all Ben cared about was their safety. 

     Right then and there, Ben prayed. ”Father, lead me down the right path. Show me your will, O Lord.” He then finished his sandwich, and went back to work with the hands, all the while planning a trip later that evening to talk to Roy Coffee.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     That evening in the cabin, everyone was there. Curt, Dan, Rick, and Johnny were waiting anxiously for tomorrow morning. And Adam, Hoss, and Joe were dreading its arrival. 

     “ Hey Curt. What are we gonna do when that old man gets here?” Rick asked. 

     Joe, Adam, and Hoss all turned their heads in worry at the mention of their Pa. 

     “I’ll let you know what to do when the time comes,” Curt stated as he crossed the room and placed his foot arrogantly on the seat of the chair. Then he pulled his gun up to his face as though studying the barrel. 

     Adam moved around squeamishly, trying to get into a more comfortable position. 

     He startled Curt, who swiftly took his foot off the chair and bent down next to Adam and put the gun in his face. 

     “You see this, Cartwright?” Curt asked in a cynical voice.

     Adam pushed his head back away from the gun barrel and nodded his head.

     “Good. Just remember that this gun could go off from anywhere in this room. And I’ll be keeping an eye on you,” Curt added as he jerked the gun up into the air. 

     Adam let out a long sigh of relief, and he let his shoulders fall back into their semi-relaxed positions. 

     After that there wasn’t much talking in the cabin. Later that evening, sleeping arrangements were being decided.

     “Andy, you and Bannock will sleep in that other building tonight,” Curt commanded. 

     Rick snickered at his younger brother.

     “Rick, you’ll join them,” Curt added in all ‘fair’ judgment. “I’ll give you two a prisoner to watch while Johnny, Dan and I watch the other two.”

     He studdied the prisoners until he found the right one for them to handle. “You two will take gimpy over there,” he said as he pointed to Adam with the tip of his pistol. “He seems to get along just fine with your mutt. Then he grabbed Adam off the floor by his tied up wrists, and thrust him in Andy’s direction. 

     Hoss and Joe tried to get up and help Adam as they watched their older brother being pushed out the door with no cares to his injuries; but they were shoved down and guarded with rifles by Dan and Curt. 

     As angry as they were, Joe and Hoss decided to lay low for a couple of hours to let their captors cool down. Then, they would try to come up with a plan of escape.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Adam was just situating himself on the cot in the corner of the room when Rick walked in. Andy was finding a good spot on the floor to lie down. “Hey, don’t we need to tie him to the bed or something?” Rick asked suspiciously. 

     “Be my guest,” Andy replied as he placed his hat over his face. 

     Rick shrugged, and grabbed some rope that Curt had given him before he left the cabin. “I’ll take the first watch. I’ll wake you up to relieve me at 2:00,” Rick said before grabbing his gun and getting up to stand next to the door.

     Nothing happened all night. Adam was so tired that he fell asleep about twenty minutes after Rick took over. The only time that his wounds didn’t hurt was when he was asleep, so he settled right down on his cot and slept through all of Rick’s watch. 

     About 4:00, Adam felt something shaking him. When he opened his eyes he saw that it was Andy. “Cartwright. Adam Cartwright. Wake up,” he whispered, still shaking him violently. “You’ve got to be fast and quiet. Rick’s sound asleep, but you don’t want him to wake up and catch you. Hurry!”

     Adam sat up, slightly confused. “What are you doing? What do you mean hurry?” he asked in a fervent whisper. 

     “You’ve got to get on a horse and ride fast if you want to catch your father in time. You’ve got to help your brothers. Tell your father it’s a trap.” Andy stated as he untied Adam’s wrists and ankles. 

     “You’re letting me go? Why?” Adam questioned, thinking that it might be a clever trap to kill him when he stepped outside.

“How did you…” Adam started, but Andy answered his question before he finished.

      “I saddled your horse as soon as Rick fell asleep. He’s a heavy sleeper, so I don’t think he heard me. It’s waiting for you outside. I’m tired of they way Curt’s been treating you and your brothers. I’ve only gone along with it because I was afraid of what Curt and the others might do to me if they found out,” Andy answered as if fading into deep thought, and he stood to help Adam quietly to his feet. “You’d better hurry if you want to get away. It’s a good, hard ride from your place to this cabin.”

     Adam stood. “Andy.”

     “Hm?”

     “Thanks,” Adam said with his lop-sided grin.

     Rick stirred in his sleep. Both Adam and Andy were startled and looked in his direction. Adam then paused to give Andy one last chance to tell him to stay, then headed quietly out the door.

     He grabbed Sport’s reins, reassuring his animal to keep him calm, and slid into the saddle. As quietly as he could, he kicked Sport into a walk and left.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Andy had to make it look as though Adam had escaped, so he rubbed his face with a little mud, tore a hole in his shirt, and picked up a rock, hitting himself on the head just hard enough to make a bump and a bruise. Then he lay down outside to make it appear that he’d been knocked out. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Adam and Sport were scrambling through the muddy woods. Adam was doing his best to hold on to Sport as they ran through the trees. They had only been riding about two hours when Sport tripped, sending Adam flying off his back and into the mud.

     Adam lay unconscious for a while, unsure of his surroundings. It lasted almost a full hour, putting a rush on his errand. He slowly stood, holding on to a tree for support. He staggered back to Sport, remounted, and once more started out on his journey. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Ben had made that trip into Virginia City the night before. When he got there, he tied his horse to the post outside, and walked on in. 

     “Howdy, Ben,” Roy called from his desk. “Sorry I can’t stay, but I’ve got a posse waiting for me at the edge of town. We’re goin’ after a robber. We should be back later tomorrow evenin’. My deputy will be here if you need anything legal to be taken care of,” he concluded as he buckled a gun belt on his waist. 

     “It’s alright, Roy. I understand,” Ben answered as he watched Roy leave.

     “We can talk when I get back. See ya’, Ben,” he said in a hurry. Then he mounted his horse and raced off into the streets.

     Ben, who was feeling somewhat relieved that Roy would not be in town for a few days, went back to his horse and rode away. After running a few errands in town, he left to go back to the Ponderosa.

     On the way back he said a silent prayer that God would keep his sons safe. He felt somewhat comforted that his sons were in God’s hands now, and rode all the way back with a peaceful mind.

     Ben walked into a quiet house late that evening. Then Hop Sing came out of the kitchen, hopping mad that Ben had eaten in town without telling him not to cook any supper. Now supper was burnt to a crisp and Hop Sing had wasted all that time cooking a supper that would not be eaten! After calming Hop Sing down, Ben decided that it had been a long day, so he went to bed. 

     The next morning, Ben got up about 6:00. He quickly dressed, had breakfast, and went outside for a short ride. He rode out to Marie’s grave. As he stared out over the crystal lake he thought of all the wonderful times he’d had with his sons. As those thoughts overwhelmed him, he started to cry. He was only a mortal man, and there was only so much he could do to protect his sons. He only hoped it was enough.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Adam was on his way. His arm was bleeding again, and the pain was almost too much to bear. But the fire in his heart that burned hot for the love of his family was brighter and hotter than the fiery pain in his arm and back. He had to get to his Pa on time.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     In the cabin, everyone was just starting to wake up. Joe and Hoss had only been up for a few minutes, Curt was waking Dan and Johnny, and Rick was just waking up in the spare room. 

     Rick opened his eyes and stretched his arms. When he stood, he noticed that two figures were missing. He looked at the ropes that had tied Adam to the bed. They had been untied and thrown on the floor. Then he looked outside.

     “Andy!” he shouted, concerned at the sight of his younger brother’s body lying out in the mud. He ran to him and turned him over. “Andy! Hey! You’d better not let Curt catch you like this. C’mon!” he urged as he pulled on his arm. 

     Slowly, Andy opened his eyes. He felt his jaw as if checking to see if it was broken, then he stood up, using his older brother’s arm for support.

     “You alright? What happened to that guy we were supposed to look after? He didn’t get away did he? You know what Curt’s gonna’ do to us?” Rick asked all at once.

     “I must have fallen asleep just long enough for him to untie his ropes. When I saw him he was already out the door and on a horse! I don’t remember anything past that.” Andy stated, being careful of what he said. 

~CHAPTER FIVE~

     “Untie those two for a minute,” Curt ordered pointing to Joe and Hoss.

     “What for?” Johnny asked as he stretched his arms lazily behind his head.

     “They’ve got to eat if we want the old man to think we’ve been treating them alright. Otherwise he may not give us all the money.

     Johnny still didn’t get it, but he went ahead and untied them anyway while Dan covered them with his shotgun. 

     Hoss and Joe gave each other a short grin. As soon as their hands were untied, they reached up and grabbed Johnny by the neck, puling him to the ground face first. Then Hoss grabbed Dan’s rifle before he could get a shot off at them. Joe went over and gave him a punch right in the ribs. Hoss cocked the gun and held it on Dan and Johnny. Curt was startled by all of this and turned around just in time to get shoved into the wall by Joe’s charging body.

     All of the men inside the cabin were taken care of, but Hoss and Joe forgot all about the two outside the cabin. When they emerged from the cabin, they almost fell right on top of Rick and Andy. That gave Curt just enough time to grab his gun and point it at them.

     “You won’t get away so easily,” he said, holding his stomach. 

     Joe and Hoss held their hands out from their sides and Dan took the rifle back from Hoss. 

     Dan motioned for them to go back inside the cabin. Curt stayed outside to talk to Andy and Rick.

     Looking at the mud on Andy’s body and the bruise on his head he asked in a very serious tone, “What happened to you? And where’s that prisoner I gave you last night?”

     “Well, Curt, you see.”

     “Where is he?” Curt demanded.

     “He… He… got away,” Andy said sheepishly, not looking his brother in the eyes.

     “What? You let him escape?” Curt said furiously.

     Andy cowered back a little at his brother’s shouting. Curt carried all of the weight in any and all decisions, and he was afraid of what Curt could do to him. He turned to go inside the extra shed, his back to his brothers. 

     “Don’t you turn away from me, you little…” Curt shouted, and he hit his brother right between the shoulders with the gun he was carrying.

     Andy fell to the ground. This time his unconsciousness was no trick. 

     Because Bannock had been shut up in the cabin when Andy went outside, he suddenly emerged from the shed and ran straight to Andy’s body. Seeing that his master would not get up, the dog laid down next to him in the mud and barred his teeth menacingly at Curt. 

     “C’mon Rick. I’ll need your help with these prisoners, while we still have them.” Curt commanded, and he went inside watching Bannock cautiously until he stepped through the door.

     Rick took one last look at his little brother, and soon followed as Bannock snarled after him.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     In the cabin, Hoss and Joe were being tied back up. “Hey, where’s Adam? Shouldn’t he be here, too?” Joe asked as his feet were being tied.

     “He should, but your brother got away last night.” Curt answered.

     “He got away and he didn’t take us?” Joe added with a hint of teasing in his voice. 

     Curt glared at Joe and resisted the temptation to shoot him on the spot.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     It was almost 8:30 when Ben got back to the Ponderosa. He quickly went inside, grabbed a slip of paper from his desk, and headed back out to Buck.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     At that very moment, Adam was not far from the house. He was only about an hour’s ride from there. It took all of his strength to stay in the saddle, and the pain from his arm and back grew as the bleeding slowly continued. His torn shirtsleeve allowed for the water dripping off the trees to get to the wound. It felt refreshing, but it was not enough to completely eliminate the pain.

     He pushed Sport through the woods. Every minute counted in this race against time. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     At 9:00, Ben decided he couldn’t put it off any longer, so he mounted Buck, and rode out towards Virginia City. He would get there right on schedule.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Curt had decided that Rick would go out to meet Ben at the edge of town, so Rick was already out saddling his horse. 

     “Rick will be back in a while, so make yourselves comfortable.” Curt sneered at his prisoners.

     Joe and Hoss tried to do just that, but wooden floors and walls weren’t the easiest places to get comfortable. But what was really on their minds at the moment was Adam. Where was he? Had he reached their Pa? Or had he collapsed in the middle of the trail?

     They didn’t like to think about it, but they had to consider the possibility that Adam wouldn’t make it. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     At 9:20, Adam, tired and weary, rode into the yard at the Ponderosa. He wanted to run inside and just lay on his bed, but he had to find his Pa first.

     He nearly fell off of Sport and stumbled inside with the help of a few nearby posts to steady himself. “Pa!” he yelled as he entered the sitting room. 

     Hop Sing came out of the kitchen. “Mister Adam? What you doing here? Why you such big mess?” he inquired with surprise, looking mostly at Adam’s cuts and scratches.

     “Hop Sing, where’s Pa?” Adam cried in desperation, paying no attention to the cook’s questions.

     “He go into Virginia City. He say, maybe not come back. What wrong?” the cook stated in pure confusion. 

     Before Hop Sing had even finished his sentence, Adam was struggling out the door. With great effort, Adam mounted his tired horse, and rode out after his Pa. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     When Ben entered Virginia City, he headed straight for the east side. He combed that side of the outskirts until he found a lone rider standing near a clump of trees. As the rider approached, Ben raised his hands in the air, showing that he wasn’t going to go for his gun. The young man pulled the gun out of its holster, and put it in his own.

     “You Ben Cartwright?” Rick asked to make sure.

     “Yes.” Ben said cautiously.

     “Come with me if you want to see your boys.” He said as he motioned for Ben to follow him. They both kicked their horses into a trot, and rode off into the woods. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Adam was just getting into town. He was cantering through the streets as fast as he could. With all of this riding, he was starting to get a little dazed, but he held fast to the reins. Suddenly, Sport slowed and stopped. Someone had stepped out in the street and grabbed the reins. It was Doc Martin. 

     “Lands sakes, boy! What on earth happened?” the elderly man inquired, staring intently on Adam’s bloody shirt and muddy appearance.

     “I’ve got to get to Pa before it’s too late,” Adam said with a resolute voice. 

     “My word, he’s delirious!” the Doc stated in dismay, gazing questioningly at the eldest Cartwright boy’s appearance.

     “Pa! Got to get Pa!” Adam cried out, and he grabbed Sport’s reins away from the old man.

     Doc Martin stepped back for fear of being trampled and reluctantly watched Adam ride away through the streets.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Ben and Rick rode through the woods until they got to the cabin. Rick went on inside, and told Ben to wait out there for a minute.

     When Rick came back outside, he motioned for Ben to come on in.

     Ben walked cautiously to the door and stepped slowly across the threshold.

     Inside, Ben saw Joe and Hoss, tied up and sitting next to the far wall; Curt, Johnny, and Dan guarding them, and Rick guarding him.

     “Hoss! Joe!” Ben cried, seeing that his boys were all right. “Where’s Adam? I thought he was here, too.”

     “Do you have the money?” Curt said.

     “I have a check for the correct amount, yes.” Ben answered as he held out the slip of paper. Curt grabbed it from him and looked it over.

     “There’s no signature.” Curt said as he handed the paper back to him. “Sign it.”

     Ben looked around the room. “I’ll need a pen.” 

     Curt grabbed a knife from the table because it was the only pointed thing available at the moment. “I think there’s an old inkwell by the stove. Johnny, get it.” He handed the knife to Ben, making sure that Rick was holding a gun to his head.

     Reluctantly, Ben dipped the knife in the inkwell, and put his signature on the empty line.

     “Good.” Curt said with a maniacal grin. “Where’s Andy? I need him.”

     “He’s out in the shed, Curt.” Johnny answered.

     “Well, bring him back in here!” Curt demanded.

     Johnny ran out the door, and into the shed to get Andy. “Andy?” he said timidly as he entered the shack. Inside was his younger brother. Andy had his shirt off and looked like he was trying to look at something on his back.

    “What do you want?” Andy asked as he walked over to meet his brother.

     “Curt wants you in the cabin for something,” Johnny stated as he looked his younger brother over from head to toe. “You don’t look so good. Did Curt do that to you?” he asked in concern as he stared at the large black spot on Andy’s exposed, muscular back.

     Andy just looked down at the floor, ashamed that anyone else had seen it. This was something he had wanted to keep to himself.

     “I’m getting sick and tired of this outlaw stuff.” Johnny muttered quietly. “I only go along with it because of my share of the profits. Besides, we can’t even hold on to all of our prisoners.” And with that, Johnny left the room aggravated and feeling spiteful towards Curt.

     Andy tucked his shirt back over his bruise and quickly followed.

     When he got in the cabin, Curt met him at the door. “I need you to tie up our guest. Dan will grab him, and you tie his wrists together. Don’t mess it up.” He whispered to him quietly.

     Andy nodded, and went over to stand with his shoulder on the wall of the cabin.

     “Well, now that you have the check, when do you let my boys go? I upheld my part of the note, now you hold up yours,” Ben demanded, though Hoss and Joe were somewhat disappointed that the Cavalry didn’t come with him. 

     “What note, Mister Cartwright? The way I remember it, you loaned us this money for a while. Isn’t that right, brothers?” Curt said as he gave a little nod to Dan.

     Dan immediately leaped forward and held Ben’s arms at his sides, while Andy walked over and tied Ben’s hands in front of him. What Curt didn’t know was that Andy had tied Ben’s hands in such a way that the knot could be pulled apart at any time.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     At this time, Adam was just getting to the edge of town. He figured that since no outlaw would want to be caught in the middle of town where an ambush could take place, the only other reasonable option was the outskirts of town. He walked Sport quickly around the edge of Virginia City, hoping that the outlaws hadn’t gone somewhere else to meet his Pa.

     Finally, when he got to the eastern edge, he noted some hoof prints in the mud. Seeing the little pine tree brand engraved in the print, he knew they belonged to Buck. The prints were leading into the woods, so he kicked Sport into a canter, desperately trying to hold on to some mane to keep his balance. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     While Adam was riding through the woods again, Ben, Joe, and Hoss were being mounted onto their horses. 

     “Get them up there,” Curt ordered. “We’ve got to get this over with so we can go in town and collect our money.”

     Dan just chuckled as he looked at their prisoners’ faces. 

     “Alright, boys, mount up. Dan, you grab the big man’s horse. Rick, you get his Pa. Johnny and Andy, see if you can handle the kid without him escaping,” Curt commanded. And with that, the group of men and horses rode off into the woods.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Adam was riding Sport to the point of collapse. Between the freshly uncovered rocks that were sticking up from the ground and the slippery mud, Sport was having a hard time maneuvering through them, and Adam was having a difficult time staying in the saddle. 

     After a while, they reached the cabin again. Adam slid off of Sport’s back and ran inside. Later he would have realized that this would have gotten him captured, had anyone been there. But now, in the heat of the moment, and out of a deep concern for his family’s lives, getting in that cabin was all that mattered to him.

     He broke in the cabin door, hoping to have the element of surprise. But the surprise was on him, for the room was empty. On the table was a pistol that he easily recognized as his Pa’s, so he grabbed it and put it in his own gun belt. 

     Adam left the cabin, desperate to find his loved ones. He checked the barn, the extra shack, and all of the surrounding grounds; but it was no use.

     Adam, now aware that the pain in his shoulder and back was slowly growing, staggered back to Sport. With some great difficulty, he mounted once more, and started a search for tracks.

     He finally found a group of tracks, about seven or eight horses he guessed, leading away from the cabin and into the woods. Adam couldn’t understand. These tracks were not leading to Virginia City, or even toward the Ponderosa. The only thing Adam knew of in that direction was a deathly high cliff called Lover’s Leap.

     With a powerful new fear for his family, he raced Sport through the woods. He knew of a shortcut to Lover’s Leap, so he turned Sport off the trail and headed in a different direction.

~CHAPTER SIX~

     By now Curt and the rest of the group were almost to the deadly cliffs, and they were all getting kind of restless. 

     “Keep up back there!” Curt barked at Andy and Johnny, who were starting to lag behind. Bannock was doing all he could to keep up with the horses, and Andy was slowing to let him catch up.

     “Here it is,” Curt said as the area opened up into a clearing. 

     The cliff was about twenty feet away. There was a large, semi-circle shaped clearing with the tree line as a barrier. There was a slow transition from the muddy and grassy wooded terrain to the hard, light brown, rocky terrain of the cliff. If you looked out over the cliff’s edge, there was a large clump of rocks, some of them stained red.

     “Dismount and stand your prisoners over there by that clump of trees,” Curt called out as he pointed to a small group of trees about fifteen feet away.

    Johnny, Andy, and Rick forced Ben, Joe and Hoss off of their horses, and shoved them to the trees. Then Andy and Rick walked back to stand near Curt; Johnny stood between Curt and their prisoners, with his back to Curt. Bannock stuck close to Andy, barring his teeth at anyone else.

     “Dan, guard them,” Curt ordered. He was about fifty feet away himself, and he didn’t trust Johnny to get the job done, for he did not much trust his youngest brothers.

     Dan moved over closer to Johnny, though still about ten feet away, and pointed his rifle at their prisoners to keep them in place. 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Adam rode through the woods as fast as he could. Sport was struggling to dodge the close trees. Eventually, Adam slowed Sport to a walk, and took him around to the right side of Lover’s Leap, where a short hill took them to a small cliff that looked over the open area in front of Lover’s Leap.

     Adam dismounted and tied Sport to a nearby tree. Then he got down low to the ground, and crawled to the edge. He could see everything from up there. There was a lot of brush in front of him, so he could see them, but they couldn’t see him. He would have to figure out how to use this to his advantage.

     He heard two voices down below. He recognized them as Curt and Rick.

     “You got it?” Curt said.

     “Yeah, I think. Are we really going to go through with this?” Rick asked as he used his gun to point to the Cartwrights.

     “Yes. You’re not getting a conscience at the last minute are you?” Curt said in aggravated tones.

     Rick shook his head as his eyes dropped to the ground.

     “Good,” Curt stated with dissatisfaction in his voice. “Now get over there with Dan and help him guard.”

     “Right, Curt,” Rick answered in a very downtrodden tone. 

     Adam had to act quickly if he wanted to help his family and he knew it. He pointed his gun very carefully at Dan’s right arm and shot.

     Dan bent over and clutched at his arm as he dropped the rifle. Johnny ran over to help him.

     Curt reached for his gun, but he didn’t know where to shoot.

     “Don’t try it!” Adam called and let out another shot, this time at the trees behind Curt’s head.

     Curt cautiously leaned over to whisper something to Rick that Adam couldn’t hear. Then Rick dashed into the woods, too quickly for Adam to get out a shot after him.

     After a few moments of making sure that Rick wasn’t coming back with another gun, Adam dropped his pistol and turned to go. He was stopped by Rick’s six-shooter in his face. “Move, Cartwright, and you’re a dead man,” he said in a commanding voice, and he motioned for Adam to start walking down the hill in front of him.

     Adam silently obeyed, mentally kicking himself for firing that last shot, alerting his enemies of his position.

     As Adam and Rick walked down to the cliff, Ben, Hoss, and Joe were getting ready to carry out their own plan of action.

     As Adam turned the corner, Ben noticed his wounds. “Adam! What happened, boy?” He called to his son.

     “I’m alright, Pa.” Adam managed to get out, though he really wasn’t.

     “Where did you find him?” Andy asked in surprise. He had not expected Adam to return so quickly after escaping… and without a posse. 

     “He was up in that clump of brush. He was getting ready to run, but I caught him just before he got away,” Rick answered with a hint of pride.

     “Get him tied up over there with the others,” Curt said as he walked slowly over to Dan. He picked up the rifle that Dan had dropped, and walked back to stand in the open next to the horses.

     “Dan, get out of the way.” Curt commanded. He lifted up the rifle, aiming carefully at Adam, and cocked it. “I’m going to get rid of this one first.”

     Adam slowly glanced up at the gun, beads of sweat rolling down his face.

     Suddenly, Ben tore his ropes off and pushed Adam out of the way. At the same time the bullet hit the trees behind them.

     Quickly, Ben loosened the ropes on Hoss’s hands. Before he got to Joe however, Curt shouted, “Hold it!” and he let out a shot close to Ben’s head. Everyone stood perfectly still. 

     “I’m going to do this the way it should have been done.” Curt cocked the rifle once more, and held it up to his eye to look down the barrel. 

     “Curt! Don’t! You might…” Andy pleaded and he lunged at his brother. 

     With one effort, Hoss broke his bonds and shoved his family out of harm’s way.

     Johnny, who was right next to where Curt was aiming, tried to get out of the way, but his attempts were futile. The shot rang out, and he fell to the ground. Andy, Rick, and Dan rushed to his side. Blood was seeping through his shirt. His face had turned a deathly white. 

     Curt stood perfectly still, shocked at what he had done. The rifle slipped from his hand, making a cracking sound as it hit the rock beneath it. 

     “Wait!” Andy called. “He’s alive! But we’ve got to get him to a doctor!”

     “Are you sure?” Rick asked.

     “Of course he’s sure!” Dan said with hope in his voice.

     Ben quietly walked over and picked the gun up from the ground. “C’mon.” he said quietly as he led Curt to a horse. 

     Curt put up no resistance, but kept looking at his younger brother’s face as he mounted and let Ben tie his hands.

     “We’d best get into town.” Ben said calmly. “Someone lift him up into my saddle.”

     Andy and Rick gingerly lifted their brother into the saddle with Ben.

     When they were sure that he was on all right, everyone else mounted up, and they all rode in to Virginia City. 

     When they reached the outskirts, they divided into two groups. Hoss and Joe would make sure that Curt and Rick got to the sheriff’s office, and Ben would take Johnny, Adam, and Dan over to Doc Martin’s.

     “Mister Cartwright?” Andy said as he turned to face him.

     “What is it son?” Ben replied.

     “Do you… Do you think I could stay with Johnny for a while? Just so he’s not alone,” Andy pleaded.

     Ben looked down at the sick boy in front of him. “I think that would be just fine, Andy,” he said, and he watched Andy gratefully ride over to be next to his brother. 

          Joe and Hoss turned with their group, and left.

     As Ben, Adam, and Andy rode along towards the Doc’s house with Bannock close behind, Adam decided that now was the time to speak.

     “Andy… thanks,” Adam said as he shot a quick smile to his former captor.

     “Don’t mention it,” Andy replied.

     When they got to the Doc’s house, Doc Martin was already standing outside with the deputy. 

     “Ben Cartwright! What do you mean, letting your boy race through the streets shouting his delirium through the town?” the man said with great disappointment.

     “Adam?” Ben asked as he shot him ‘the look’.

     Adam just shrugged, and shot a pitiful smile at Doc Martin.

     “Paul, I need you to hurry. I’ve got a very sick boy right here. He’s been shot.”

     “Oh, my! Bring him in right away and I’ll see what I can do.” The Doc urged.

     “It’ll be alright now, Andy,” Adam reassured. 

     Once Johnny was taken care of, Dan walked into the room to see about his arm. The Doc looked at it, wrapped it up, and told him it would be fine. 

     After a while, Adam sauntered into the little room where the Doc stood ready for him.

     “Now, Adam, let’s see about those scratches.” The doc said as he lifted the shirt off of Adam’s back. “Well, there doesn’t seem to be much of an infection. How long have those scratches been there?”

     “About four days,” Adam replied.

     “Four days?” the doc asked in astonishment. “Who wrapped your arm up like that?” the doc asked insistently.

     “Well, I did. Why, is there something wrong with it?” Andy said before Adam had a chance to answer.

     The Doc walked over to Andy and looked him over. “My boy, wrapping his arm like this is the best thing you could have done short of a liniment. Where did you acquire such knowledge?”

     “Well, my father was a doctor. I guess I learned from him.” Andy humbly answered.

     “Well, I’m looking for an assistant to help me out. Would you like to help me out once in a while? I’d be grateful. You wouldn’t do a whole lot at first, but I see great potential in your future. You might even become as good as me,” the doctor offered with a friendly smile.

     Andy’s face lit up at the thought of it. “I’d like that sir, but first,” he said, and his face dulled down again,“ first there’s this matter with the law that’s got to be taken care of.” 

     “Well, the job’s here whenever you want it,” The Doc said, and he went back to Adam’s wounds.

     “Thank you, sir,” Andy said, and he walked out the door to go see the deputy. 

     “Ya’ know,” Adam pondered as soon as Andy disappeared through the door. “it’s amazing how different two sets of brothers can be.”

     After a minute, Andy and the deputy left for town.

     “I don’t know about that, Adam.” Ben stated as he listened to the hoof beats get softer. 

     “What do you mean, Pa?”

     “You’ve all got something in common.”

     Adam looked at him with a confused stare.

     “You all share a brotherly love.”

THE END